# verse

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and I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built.


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I will multiply on you man and animal; and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former manner, and I will do better to you than at your beginnings; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.


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Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even My people Israel; and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no more henceforth bereave them of children.


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Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because they say to you, You are a destroyer of men, and have caused bereavement in your nation;


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therefore you shall destroy men no more, neither cause bereavement in your nation any more, says the Lord Yahweh.


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Neither will I let you hear any more the shame of the nations, neither shall you bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shall you cause your nation to stumble any more, says the Lord Yahweh.


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Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings. Their way before Me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.


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Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols;


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and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. According to their way and according to their doings I judged them.


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When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name; in that men said of them, These are the people of Yahweh, and are gone forth out of His land.


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But I had respect for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.


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Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I don’t do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.


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I will sanctify My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, says the Lord Yahweh, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.


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For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.


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I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you.


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I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.


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I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My laws and do them.


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You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be My people, and I will be your God.


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I will save you from all your uncleanness, and I will call for the grain and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you.


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I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.


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Then you shall remember your evil ways and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.


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Not for your sake do I this, says the Lord Yahweh, be it known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel.


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Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day that I cleanse you from all your wickedness, I will cause the cities to be inhabited and the waste places shall be built.


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The land that was desolate shall be cultivated whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all who passed by.


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They shall say, This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.


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Then the nations that are left around you shall know that I, Yahweh, have built the ruined places and planted that which was desolate. I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and I will do it.


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Thus says the Lord Yahweh: For this also will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them. I will increase them with men like a flock.


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As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the wasted cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Valley of Dry Bones Comes to Life</i></em><br/> The hand of Yahweh was on me and He brought me out in the Spirit of Yahweh, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.


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He caused me to pass by them all around: and, there were very many in the open valley; and, they were very dry.


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Again He said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, you dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh.


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Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: I will cause spirit to enter into you, and you shall live.


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I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.


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So I prophesied as I was commanded. As I prophesied, there was a noise, and an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.


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I saw, and, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.


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Then He said to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.


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So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.


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Then He said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are totally cut off.


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Therefore prophesy and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.


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You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, My people, and caused you to come up out of your graves.


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I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land; and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it, says Yahweh.<br/> <em><i>Unity and United Rule</i></em>


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You, son of man, take one stick and write on it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions. Then take another stick and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions.


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When the children of your people shall speak to you saying, Will you not show us what you mean by these?


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tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in My hand.


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Say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations where they are gone, and will gather them on every side and bring them into their own land.


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I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.


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Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places in which they have sinned and will cleanse them. So shall they be My people, and I will be their God.


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My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd. They shall also walk in My ordinances and observe My statutes and do them.


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They shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they shall dwell therein, they and their children and their children’s children, forever: and David My servant shall be their prince for ever.


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Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them and multiply them and will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore.


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The nations shall know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in their midst forevermore.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him


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and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.


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I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and will bring you out with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armour, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;


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Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north and all his hordes; even many peoples with you.


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Be prepared, yes, prepare yourself, you, and all your companies who are assembled to you, and be a guard to them.


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After many days you shall be visited. In the latter years you shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely all of them.


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You shall ascend, you shall come like a storm, you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you, and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.


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Thus says the Lord Yahweh: It shall happen in that day, that thoughts shall come into your mind, and you shall devise an evil plan.


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You shall say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates;


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to take the spoil and to take the wealth; to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten livestock and goods, who dwell in the middle of the land.


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Sheba, Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all her young lions, shall say to you: Have you come to take the spoil? Have you assembled your company to take the wealth? To carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great spoil?


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Therefore, son of man, prophesy and tell Gog, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In that day when My people Israel dwells securely, shall you not know it?


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You shall come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you, and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army;


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and you shall come up against My people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land. It shall happen in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, that the nations may know Me, when I shall be sanctified in you, Gog, before their eyes.


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Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Are you he of whom I spoke in old time by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?


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It shall happen in that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, that My wrath shall come up into My nostrils.


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For in My anger and in the fire of My wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;


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so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field and all creeping things which creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface of the earth, shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall and every wall shall fall to the ground.


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I will call to all My mountains for a sword against him, says the Lord Yahweh. Every man’s sword shall be against his brother.


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With pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his hordes and on the many peoples who are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and sulphur.


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I will magnify Myself, and sanctify Myself, and I will make Myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Destruction of Gog</i></em><br/> You, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech, and Tubal:


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and I will turn you around, and will lead you on, and will cause you to come up from the uttermost parts of the north; and I will bring you on the mountains of Israel;


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and I will strike your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand.


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You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you, and all your hordes, and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to the birds of prey of every sort, and to the animals of the field to be devoured.


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I will send a fire on Magog, and on those who dwell confidently along the sea coasts; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.


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My holy name will I make known in the midst of My people Israel; neither will I allow My holy name to be profaned any more: and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel.


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Behold, it has come, and it is done, says the Lord Yahweh; this is the day about which I have spoken.


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Those who dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the war clubs, and the spears, and they shall make fires of them seven years.


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They shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall make fires of the weapons; and they shall plunder those who plundered them, and rob those who robbed them, says the Lord Yahweh.


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It shall happen in that day, that I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the valley of those who pass through on the east of the sea; and it shall stop those who pass through. There shall they bury Gog and all his multitude; and they shall call it The valley of Hamon Gog.


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Yes, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them for a renown in the day that I shall be glorified, says the Lord Yahweh.


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After the seven months are over, men will be chosen to travel through the land in order to find and bury those bodies remaining on the ground, so that they can cleanse the land.


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They shall go up and down the land; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, until the undertakers have buried it in the valley of Hamon Gog.


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You, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Speak thus to the birds of prey, and to every animal of the field: Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to My sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood.


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You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.


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You shall eat fat until you be full, and drink blood until you are drunk, of My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.


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You shall be filled at My table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, says the Lord Yahweh.


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I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see My judgment that I have executed, and My hand that I have laid on them.


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The nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they trespassed against Me, and I hid My face from them: so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they fell all of them by the sword.


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According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions did I to them; and I hid My face from them.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name.


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They shall bear their shame, and all their trespasses by which they have trespassed against Me, when they shall dwell securely in their land, and none shall make them afraid;


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when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations.


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They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them to their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there;


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neither will I hide My face any more from them; for I have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The New Temple Area Described</i></em><br/> In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was struck, on that very day, the hand of Yahweh was on me and He brought me there.


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In the visions of God brought He me into the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain, whereon was as it were the frame of a city on the south.


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He brought me there; and, behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.


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The man said to me, Son of man, see with your eyes and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I shall show you; for you are brought here with the intent that I may show these things to you: declare all that you see to the people of Israel.


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See, a wall on the outside of the house all around, and in the man’s hand a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a handbreadth each: so he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.


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Then he came to the gate which looks toward the east, and went up its steps: and he measured the threshold of the gate, one reed broad; and the other threshold, one reed broad.


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Every lodge was one reed long, and one reed broad; and the space between the lodges was five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate toward the house was one reed.


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Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and its posts, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was toward the house.


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The lodges of the gate eastward were three on this side and three on that side; these three were of the same measure: and the posts had the same measure on this side and on that side.


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He measured the breadth of the opening of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits;


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and a border before the lodges of one cubit on this side, and a border of one cubit on that side; and the lodges, six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side.


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He measured the gate from the roof of the one lodge to the roof of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; door against door.


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From the forefront of the gate at the entrance to the forefront of the inner porch of the gate were fifty cubits.


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There were closed windows to the lodges, and to their posts within the gate all around, and likewise to the arches; and windows were around inward; and on each post were palm trees.<br/> <em><i>The Outer Court of the Temple</i></em>


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Then brought he me into the outer court; and behold, there were rooms and a pavement, made for the court all around: thirty rooms were on the pavement.


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The pavement was by the side of the gates, answerable to the length of the gates, even the lower pavement.


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Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate to the forefront of the inner court outside, one hundred cubits, both on the east and on the north.<br/> <em><i>The Gate Which Is toward the North</i></em>


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The gate of the outer court whose prospect is toward the north, he measured its length and its breadth.


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The lodges of it were three on this side and three on that side; and its posts and its arches were after the measure of the first gate: its length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.


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The windows of it, and its arches, and the palm trees of it, were after the measure of the gate whose prospect is toward the east; and they went up to it by seven steps; and its arches were before them.


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There was a gate to the inner court over against the other gate, both on the north and on the east; and he measured from gate to gate one hundred cubits.<br/> <em><i>The Gate Which Is toward the South</i></em><br/>


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He led me toward the south; and behold, a gate toward the south: and he measured its posts and its arches according to these measures.


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There were windows in it and in its arches all around, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.


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There were seven steps to go up to it, and its arches were before them; and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, on its posts.


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There was a gate to the inner court toward the south: and he measured from gate to gate toward the south a hundred cubits.<br/> <em><i>The Inner Court Gates</i></em><br/>


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Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the south gate according to these measures;


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and its lodges, and its posts, and its arches, according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in its arches all around; it was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits broad.


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The arches of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts: and the ascent to it had eight steps.


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He brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures;


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and its lodges, and its posts, and its arches, according to these measures: and there were windows therein and in its arches all around; it was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits broad.


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The arches of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts, on this side, and on that side: and the ascent to it had eight steps.


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its lodges, its posts, and its arches: and there were windows therein all around; the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.


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The posts of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts, on this side, and on that side: and the ascent to it had eight steps.<br/> <em><i>The Sacrifice Preparation Rooms</i></em>


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In the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to kill thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering.


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On the one side outside, as one goes up to the entry of the gate toward the north, were two tables; and on the other side, which belonged to the porch of the gate, were two tables.


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Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon they killed the sacrifices.


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There were four tables for the burnt offering, of cut stone, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high; whereupon they laid the instruments with which they killed the burnt offering and the sacrifice.


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The hooks, a handbreadth long, were fastened within all around: and on the tables was the flesh of the offering.<br/> <em><i>The Priests’ Rooms</i></em>


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Outside of the inner gate were rooms for the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate; and their prospect was toward the south; one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north.


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He said to me, This room, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the duty of the house;


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and the room whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok, who from among the sons of Levi come near to Yahweh to minister to Him.


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He measured the court, one hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar was before the house.<br/> <em><i>The Temple Porch and Details</i></em>


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Then he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side.


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The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; even by the steps by which they went up to it: and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Measurements of the Temple Building</i></em><br/> He brought me to the temple and measured the doorposts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the structure.


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The breadth of the entrance was ten cubits; and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured its length, forty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits.


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Then he went inside and measured each post of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the breadth of the entrance, seven cubits.


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He measured its length, twenty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple. He said to me, This is the most holy place.


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Then he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side room, four cubits, all around the house on every side.


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The side rooms were in three floors, one over another, and thirty on each floor. The outer wall on each floor was thinner than on the floor below, so that the rooms could rest on the wall without being anchored into it.


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The walls of the house, when seen from the outside, seemed to have the same thickness all the way to the top. Against the house's outer wall, on the outside of the rooms, two wide stairways were built, so that it was possible to go from the lower story to the middle and the upper stories.


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I saw also that the house had a raised base all around: the foundations of the side rooms were a full reed of six great cubits.


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The thickness of the wall, which was for the side rooms, on the outside, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side rooms that belonged to the house.


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The doors of the side rooms were toward the place that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the free space that was left was five cubits all around.


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The building that was before the separate place at the side toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.


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So he measured the house, one hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with its walls, one hundred cubits long;


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also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, one hundred cubits.


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He measured the length of the building before the separate place which was at its back, and its galleries on the one side and on the other side, one hundred cubits; and the inner temple, and the porches of the court;


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the thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries around on their three stories, over against the threshold, with wood ceilings all around, and from the ground up to the windows, (now the windows were covered),


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to the space above the door, even to the inner house, and outside, and by all the wall all around inside and outside, by measure.


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It was made with cherubim and palm trees; and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and each cherub had two faces;


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so that there was the face of a man toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. Thus was it made through all the house all around:


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from the ground to above the door were cherubim and palm trees made: thus was the wall of the temple.


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As for the temple, the door posts were squared; and as for the face of the sanctuary, the appearance of it was as the appearance of the temple.


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The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and its length two cubits; and its corners, and its length, and its walls, were of wood: and he said to me, This is the table that is before Yahweh.


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The doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves: two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other.


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There were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm trees, like as were made on the walls; and there was a threshold of wood on the face of the porch outside.


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There were closed windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch: thus were the side rooms of the house, and the thresholds.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>More on the Priests’ Rooms</i></em><br/> Then he brought me forth into the outer court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the room that was opposite the separate place, and which was opposite the building toward the north.


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The length of the building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits, and the breadth was fifty cubits.


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Over against the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and over against the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in the third story.


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Before the rooms was a walk of ten cubits’ breadth inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors were toward the north.


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Now the upper rooms were shorter; for the galleries took away from these, more than from the lower and the middle, in the building.


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For they were in three stories, and they had no pillars like the pillars of the courts. Thus the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and the middle ones.


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The wall that was outside by the side of the rooms, toward the outer court before the rooms, its length was fifty cubits.


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For the length of the rooms that were in the outer court was fifty cubits: and see, before the temple were one hundred cubits.


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In the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, before the separate place, and before the building, there were rooms.


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The way before them was like the appearance of the way of the rooms which were toward the north; according to their length so was their breadth: and all their exits were both according to their fashions, and according to their doors.


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According to the doors of the rooms that were toward the south was a door at the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one enters into them.


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Then he said to me, The north rooms and the south rooms, which are before the separate place, they are the holy rooms, where the priests who are near to Yahweh shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meal offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy.


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When the priests enter in, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the outer court, but there they shall lay their garments in which they minister; for they are holy: and they shall put on other garments, and shall approach to those things which are for the people.


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Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it all around.


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He measured on the east side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed all around.


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He measured it on the four sides: it had a wall around it, the length five hundred, and the breadth five hundred, to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Return of the Glory of God</i></em><br/> Afterward he brought me to the gate that looks toward the east.


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Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the east: and His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shined with His glory.


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It was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city; and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.


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The Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of Yahweh filled the house.


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He said to me, Son of man, this is the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. The house of Israel shall no more defile My holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their prostitution, and by the dead bodies of their kings in their high places;


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in their setting of their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost beside My doorpost, and there was but the wall between Me and them; and they have defiled My holy name by their abominations which they have committed: therefore I have consumed them in My anger.


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Now let them put away their prostitution, and the dead bodies of their kings, far from Me; and I will dwell in their midst forever.


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You, son of man, show the house to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern.


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If they be ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the form of the house, and its fashion, and its exits, and its entrances, and all its forms, and all its ordinances, and all its forms, and all its laws; and write it in their sight; that they may keep the whole form of it, and all its ordinances, and do them.


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This is the law of the house: on the top of the mountain the whole limit around it shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.<br/> <em><i>Details of the Altar</i></em>


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These are the measures of the altar by cubits (the cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth): the bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and its border around its edge a span; and this shall be the base of the altar.


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From the bottom on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser ledge to the greater ledge shall be four cubits, and the breadth a cubit.


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The upper altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar hearth and upward there shall be four horns.


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The ledge shall be fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad in the four sides of it; and the border about it shall be half a cubit; and its bottom shall be a cubit around; and its steps shall look toward the east.


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He said to me, Son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh: These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon.


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You shall give to the priests the Levites who are of the seed of Zadok, who are near to Me, to minister to Me, says the Lord Yahweh, a young bull for a sin offering.


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You shall take of its blood, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the ledge, and on the border all around: thus you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it.


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You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burnt in the appointed place of the house, outside of the sanctuary.


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On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they cleansed it with the bull.


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When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish.


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You shall bring them near to Yahweh, and the priests shall cast salt on them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering to Yahweh.


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Seven days you shall prepare every day a goat for a sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bull, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish.


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When they have accomplished the days, it shall be that on the eighth day, and onwards, the priests shall make your burnt offerings on the altar and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, says the Lord Yahweh.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Prince and the Officials of the Temple</i></em><br/> Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looks toward the east; and it was shut.


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Yahweh said to me, This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, neither shall any man enter in by it; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has entered in by it; therefore it shall be shut.


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As for the prince, he shall sit therein as prince to eat bread before Yahweh; he shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.


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Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh: and I fell on my face.


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Yahweh said to me, Son of man, mark well, and see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I tell you concerning all the ordinances of the house of Yahweh, and all its laws; and mark well the entrance of the house, with every exit of the sanctuary.


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You shall tell the rebellious house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: you house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations,


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in that you have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary, to profane it, even My house, when you offer My bread, the fat and the blood; and they have broken My covenant, to add to all your abominations.


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You have not performed the duty of My holy things; but you have set performers of My duty in My sanctuary for yourselves.


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Thus says the Lord Yahweh, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary, of any foreigners who are among the people of Israel.


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But the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who went astray from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.


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Yet now they are to be ministers in My sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house: they shall kill the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.


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Because they ministered to them before their idols, and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel; therefore have I lifted up My hand against them, says the Lord Yahweh, and they shall bear their iniquity.


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They shall not come near to Me, to execute the office of priest to Me, nor to come near to any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.


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Yet will I make them performers of the duty of the house, for all its service, and for all that shall be done therein.


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But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who performed the duty of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood, says the Lord Yahweh:


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they shall enter into My sanctuary, and they shall come near to My table, to minister to Me, and they shall keep My instructions.


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It shall be that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come on them, while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.


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They shall have linen headware on their heads, and shall have linen breeches on their waists; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat.


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When they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they minister, and lay them in the holy rooms; and they shall put on other garments, that they not sanctify the people with unclean garments.


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Neither shall they shave their heads, nor allow their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair of their heads.


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Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her who is divorced; but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.


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They shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.


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In a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to My ordinances shall they judge it: and they shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts; and they shall make My Sabbaths holy.


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They shall not go near a dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister who has had no husband, they may defile themselves.


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In the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord Yahweh.


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They shall have an inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.


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They shall eat the meal offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.


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The first of all the first fruits of every thing, and every offering of everything, of all your offerings, shall be for the priest: you shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on your house.


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The priests shall not eat of anything that dies of itself, or is torn, whether it be bird or animal.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>How the Land Was to Be Divided</i></em><br/> Moreover, when you shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an offering to Yahweh, a holy portion of the land; the length shall be the length of twenty-five thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand: it shall be holy in all its border all around.


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Of this there shall be for the holy place five hundred in length by five hundred in breadth, square all around; and fifty cubits for its suburbs all around.


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Of this measure you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand, and a breadth of ten thousand: and in it shall be the sanctuary, which is most holy.


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It is a holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to minister to Yahweh; and it shall be a place for their houses, and a holy place for the sanctuary.


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Twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth, shall be to the Levites, the ministers of the house, for a possession to themselves, as places to live in.


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You shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and twenty-five thousand long, side by side with the offering of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.


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Whatever is for the prince shall be on the one side and on the other side of the holy offering and of the possession of the city, in front of the holy offering and in front of the possession of the city, on the west side westward, and on the east side eastward; and in length answerable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.


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In the land it shall be to him for a possession in Israel: and My princes shall no more oppress My people; but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.


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Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Let it suffice you, princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute justice and righteousness instead of dispossessing My people, says the Lord Yahweh.


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The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of a homer, and the ephah the tenth part of a homer: its measure shall be after the homer.


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The shekel shall be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.<br/> <em><i>Offerings and Feast Days</i></em>


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This is the offering that you shall offer: the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of wheat; and you shall give the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of barley;


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and the set portion of oil, of the bath of oil, the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is ten baths, even a homer (for ten baths are a homer);


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and one lamb of the flock, out of two hundred, from the well-watered pastures of Israel--for a meal offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them, says the Lord Yahweh.


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It shall be the prince’s part to give the burnt offerings, and the meal offerings, and the drink offerings, in the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the Sabbaths, in all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering and the meal offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.


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Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the first month, in the first day of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish; and you shall cleanse the sanctuary.


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The priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it on the door posts of the house and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court.


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So you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who errs, and for him who is ignorant: so you shall make atonement for the house.


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In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.


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On that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering.


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The seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to Yahweh, seven bulls and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering.


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He shall prepare a meal offering, an ephah for a bull, and an ephah for a ram, and a hin of oil to an ephah.


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In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, in the feast, shall he do the like the seven days; according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meal offering, and according to the oil.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Prince and His Offerings</i></em><br/> Thus says the Lord Yahweh: The gate of the inner court that looks toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.


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The prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate outside, and shall stand by the post of the gate; and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.


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The people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate before Yahweh on the Sabbaths and on the new moons.


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The burnt offering that the prince shall offer to Yahweh shall be on the Sabbath day six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish;


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and the meal offering shall be an ephah for the ram, and the meal offering for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah.


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On the day of the new moon it shall be a young bull without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram; they shall be without blemish:


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and he shall prepare a meal offering, an ephah for the bull, and an ephah for the ram, and for the lambs according as he is able, and a hin of oil to an ephah.


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When the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and he shall go out by its way.


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But when the people of the land shall come before Yahweh in the appointed feasts, he who enters by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he who enters by the way of the south gate shall go out by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate by which he came in, but shall go out straight before him.


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In the feasts and in the solemnities the meal offering shall be an ephah for a bull and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah.


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When the prince shall prepare a freewill offering, a burnt offering or peace offerings as a freewill offering to Yahweh, one shall open for him the gate that looks toward the east; and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he does on the Sabbath day: then he shall go out; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate.


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You shall prepare a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to Yahweh daily: morning by morning you shall prepare it.


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You shall prepare a meal offering with it morning by morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of a hin of oil, to moisten the fine flour; a meal offering to Yahweh continually by a perpetual ordinance.


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Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meal offering, and the oil, morning by morning, for a continual burnt offering.


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Thus says the Lord Yahweh: If the prince give a gift to any of his sons, it is his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance.


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But if he gives of his inheritance as a gift to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty; then it shall return to the prince; but as for his inheritance, it shall be for his sons.


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Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance by thrusting them out of their possession; he shall give an inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that My people not be scattered every man from his possession.


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Then he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy rooms for the priests, which looked toward the north: and behold, there was a place on the hinder part westward.


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He said to me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the meal offering; so that they do not bring them into the outer court, to sanctify the people.


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Then he brought me into the outer court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and behold, in every corner of the court there was another court.


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In the four corners of the court there were enclosed courts, forty cubits long and thirty broad: these four in the corners were of one measure.


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There was a wall around in them, around the four, and boiling places were made under the walls all around.


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Then he said to me, These are the boiling houses, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifices of the people.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The River </i></em><br/> He brought me back to the door of the house; and see, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward (for the front of the house was toward the east); and the waters came down from under the right side of the house, on the south of the altar.


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Then he brought me out by the way of the north gate, and led me round by the way outside to the outer gate, to the gate that looks toward the east; and, there ran out waters on the right side.


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When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles.


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Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees. Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the waist.


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Afterward he measured one thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass through; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.


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He said to me, Son of man, have you seen this? Then he brought me and caused me to return to the bank of the river.


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Now when I had returned, see, on the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.


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Then he said to me, These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall go down into the Salt Sea Arabah; and the waters of the sea shall be healed.


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It shall happen, that every living creature which swarms, in every place where the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters have come there, and the waters of the sea shall be healed, and everything shall live wherever the river comes.


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It shall happen, that fishermen shall stand by it: from En Gedi even to En Eglaim shall be a place for the spreading of nets; their fish shall be after their species, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.


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By the river on its banks, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for food whose leaf shall not wither, neither shall its fruit fail: it shall bear new fruit every month, because its waters issue out of the sanctuary; and its fruit shall be for food, and its leaf for healing.<br/> <em><i>The Borders of the Land of the Inheritance</i></em>


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Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This shall be the border, by which you shall divide the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions.


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You shall inherit it, one as well as another; for I swore to give it to your fathers: and this land shall fall to you for inheritance.


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This shall be the border of the land: On the north side, from the great sea, by the road to Hethlon, to the entrance of Zedad;


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Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazer Hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran.


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The border from the sea, shall be from the sea to Hazar Enon at the border of Damascus; and on the north northward is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.


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The east side, between Hauran and Damascus and Gilead, and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan; from the north border to the east sea you shall measure. This is the east side.


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The south side southward shall be from Tamar as far as the waters of Meriboth Kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, to the great sea. This is the south side southward.


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The west side shall be the great sea, from the south border as far as over against the entrance of Hamath. This is the west side.


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It shall happen, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you and to the aliens who live among you, who shall father children among you; and they shall be to you as the native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.


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It shall happen, that in what tribe the foreigner lives, there you shall give him his inheritance, says the Lord Yahweh.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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By the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the district which you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in breadth, and in length as one of the portions, from the east side to the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in its midst.


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The district that you shall offer to Yahweh shall be twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth.


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This holy district shall be for the priests: toward the north twenty-five thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south twenty-five thousand in length: and the sanctuary of Yahweh shall be in its midst.


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It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept My instruction, who didn’t go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.


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It shall be to them an offering from the offering of the land, a thing most holy, by the border of the Levites.


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Opposite the border of the priests, the Levites shall have an area twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and ten thousand in breadth: the entire length shall be twenty-five thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.


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They shall sell none of it, nor exchange it, nor shall the first fruits of the land be separated; for it is holy to Yahweh.


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The five thousand that are left in the breadth, in front of the twenty-five thousand, shall be for common use, for the city, for dwellings and for suburbs; and the city shall be in its midst.


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These shall be its measures: the north side four thousand five hundred, and the south side four thousand five hundred, and on the east side four thousand five hundred, and the west side four thousand five hundred.


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The city shall have suburbs: toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty.


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The remainder in the length, alongside the holy district, shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward; and it shall be adjacent to the holy district; and its increase shall be for food to those who labour in the city.


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The entire district shall be twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand: you shall offer the holy district foursquare, with the possession of the city.


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The residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy offering and of the possession of the city; in front of the twenty-five thousand of the offering toward the east border, and westward in front of the twenty-five thousand toward the west border, answerable to the portions, it shall be for the prince: and the holy offering and the sanctuary of the house shall be in its midst.


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Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince’s, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, it shall be for the prince.


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By the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar to the waters of Meribath Kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, to the great sea.


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This is the land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their individual portions, says the Lord Yahweh.


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and the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel, three gates northward: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one.


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At the east side four thousand five hundred reeds, and three gates: even the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one.


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At the south side four thousand five hundred reeds by measure, and three gates: the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one.


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At the west side four thousand five hundred reeds, with their three gates: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one.


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It shall be eighteen thousand reeds around: and the name of the city from that day shall be, Yahweh is there.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Daniel’s Babylonian Education</i></em><br/>In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Jerusalem, and besieged it.


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The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God; and he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god: and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.


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The king spoke to Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in some of the Israelites, those of the seed royal and of the nobles;


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youths in whom was no blemish, but handsome, well educated, knowledgeable, understanding science, and such as had the ability to stand in the king’s palace; that he should teach them the learning and the language of the Chaldeans.


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The king appointed for them a daily portion of the king’s dainties, and of the wine which he drank, and that they should be trained for three years; that at its end they should stand before the king.


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The prince of the eunuchs gave names to them: to Daniel he gave the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.


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But Daniel determined not to defile himself with the king’s dainties, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.


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The prince of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my lord the king who has appointed your food and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse looking than the youths who are of your own age? Do you really want to endanger my head with the king?


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Then Daniel said to the steward whom the prince of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:


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Test your servants, I beg you, for ten days; let them give us vegetables to eat, and water to drink.


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Then let our faces be looked on before you, and the faces of the youths who eat of the king’s dainties; and as you see, deal with your servants.


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At the end of ten days their faces appeared fairer, and they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths who ate of the king’s dainties.


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So the steward took away their dainties, and the wine that they should drink, and gave them vegetables.


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Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.


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At the end of the days which the king had appointed for bringing them in, the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.


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The king talked with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore they served the king.


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In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters who were in all his kingdom.


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<em><i>King Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream</i></em><br/>In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.


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Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.


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Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in the Syrian language, O king, live forever: tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.


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The king answered the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if you don’t make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a compost heap.


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But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.


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They answered the second time and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.


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The king answered, I know of a certainty that you would gain time, because you see the thing is gone from me.


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But if you don’t tell me the dream, there is but one law for you; for you have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, until the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.


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The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, There is not a man on the earth who can show the king’s matter, because no king, lord or ruler has asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter or Chaldean.


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It is an unusual thing that the king requires, and there is no other who can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.


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Therefore the king was angry and very furious, and he commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed.


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So the decree went forth that all the wise men were to be slain; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.<br/> <em><i>Daniel Offers to Interpret the Dream</i></em>


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Then Daniel returned answer with counsel and prudence to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, who was gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon;


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he answered Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so urgent from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.


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Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would appoint him a time, and he would show the king the interpretation.


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that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; so that Daniel and his companions should not die with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.


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Then was the secret revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.


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He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings, and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding;


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He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.


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I thank You, and praise You, You God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and might, and has now made known to me what we desired of You; for You have made known to us the king’s matter.


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Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon and said this: Don’t destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show to the king the interpretation.


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Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said: I have found a man among the captives of Judah who will make known to the king the interpretation.


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The king answered Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?


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Daniel answered before the king, and said, The secret which the king has demanded can neither wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers, show to the king;


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but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these:<br/> <em><i>The Dream Revealed</i></em>


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As for you, O king, your thoughts came into your mind on your bed, what should happen in the future; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what shall happen.


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But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but to the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.


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You, O king, saw, and behold, a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, stood before you; and its aspect was awesome.


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As for this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,


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You saw until a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.


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Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them: and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.


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This is the dream; and we will tell its interpretation before the king.<br/> <em><i>The Interpretation Presented</i></em><br/>


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You, O king, are a king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory.


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Wherever the children of men dwell, the animals of the field and the birds of the sky has He given into your hand, and has made you to rule over them all: you are the head of gold.


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After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you; and then a third kingdom of brass, which shall rule over all the land.


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The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, because iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things; and as iron that crushes all these, shall it break in pieces and crush.


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Then you saw the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, that shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, because you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.


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As the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.


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Whereas you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cling to one another, even as iron does not mingle with clay.


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In the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people; it shall crush to powder and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.


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As you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to the king what shall happen hereafter: and the dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.


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Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an offering and sweet incense to him.


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The king responded to Daniel and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.


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Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him to rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.


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Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel was in the gate of the king.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Burning Fiery Furnace</i></em><br/>Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits, and its breadth six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.


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Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.


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Then the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.


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that whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up;


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and whoever doesn’t fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.


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Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.


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You, O king, have made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image;


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There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not respected you. They don’t serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.


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Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.


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Nebuchadnezzar said to them, Is it on purpose, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?


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Now if you are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image which I have made, well: but if you don’t worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands?


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Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.


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If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.


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But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.


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Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and his face changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.


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He commanded mighty men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to throw them into the burning fiery furnace.


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Then these men were bound in their trousers, their tunics, and their mantles, and their other garments, and were thrown into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.


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Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.


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These three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.


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<span class='blue'>Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste: he spoke and said to his counsellors, Didn’t we throw three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered the king, True, O king.</span>


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<span class='blue'>He answered, Look, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are unharmed; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.</span>


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<span class='blue'>Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace: he spoke and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire.</span>


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<span class='blue'>The satraps, the deputies, and the governors, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed, neither were their clothes changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them.</span>


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<span class='blue'>Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel, and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, these who have set aside the king’s command, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.</span>


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<span class='blue'>Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything evil against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a compost heap; because there is no other god who is able to deliver after this sort.</span>


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<span class='blue'>Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.</span><br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Another Dream for Nebuchadnezzar</i></em><br/>Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.


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How great are His signs! How mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation.


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I saw a dream which made me afraid; and the thoughts on my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.


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Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might explain to me the interpretation of the dream.


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Then came in the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers; and I told the dream before them; but they did not explain to me its interpretation.


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But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and I told the dream before him, saying,


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Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no secret troubles you, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation.


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Thus were the visions of my head on my bed: I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth; and its height was great.


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The tree grew, and was strong, and its height reached to the sky, and its sight to the end of all the earth.


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The leaves of it were beautiful, and its fruit much, and in it was food for all: the animals of the field had their shadow under it, and the birds of the sky lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.


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I saw in the visions of my head on my bed, and behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from Heaven.


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He cried aloud, and said thus: Cut down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit: let the animals get away from under it, and the birds from its branches.


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Nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of the sky: and let his portion be with the animals in the grass of the earth:


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let his heart be changed from man’s, and let an animal’s heart be given to him; and let seven times pass over him.


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The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the judgment decision by the word of the holy ones; to the intent that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He will, and sets up over it the most abased of men.


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This dream I, king Nebuchadnezzar, have seen; and you, Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in you.<br/> <em><i>The Dream’s Interpretation</i></em>


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Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was stricken mute for a while, and his thoughts troubled him. The king answered, Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream, or the interpretation, trouble you. Belteshazzar answered, My lord, the dream is to the side of those who hate you, and its interpretation to your adversaries.


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The tree that you saw, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached to the sky, and its view to all the earth;


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whose leaves were beautiful, and its fruit much, and in it was food for all; under which the animals of the field lived, and under whose branches the birds of the sky had their habitation:


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it is you, O king, that has grown and become strong; for your greatness is grown, and reaches to the sky, and your dominion to the end of the earth.


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Whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from Heaven and saying, Cut down the tree, and destroy it; nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of the sky: and let his portion be with the animals of the field, until seven times pass over him;


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this is the interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which has come on my lord the king:


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that you shall be driven from men, and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field, and you shall be made to eat grass as oxen, and shall be wet with the dew of the sky, and seven times shall pass over you; until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He will.


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Whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree; your kingdom shall be sure to you, after that you shall have known that the Heavens do rule.


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Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you, and break off your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if there may be a lengthening of your prosperity.<br/> <em><i>The Interpretation Is Fulfilled</i></em>


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The king spoke and said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?


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While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from Heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you:


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and you shall be driven from men; and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field; you shall be made to eat grass as oxen; and seven times shall pass over you; until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He will.


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The same hour was the thing fulfilled on Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and ate grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of the sky, until his hair was grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.


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At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honoured Him who lives forever; for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom from generation to generation.


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All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and He does according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand, or ask Him, What are You doing?


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At the same time my understanding returned to me; and the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and brightness returned to me; and my officials and my lords sought to me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent greatness was added to me.


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Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honour the King of heaven; for all His works are truth, and His ways justice; and those who walk in pride He is able to abase.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Writing on the Wall</i></em><br/>Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.


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Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink from them.


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Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of God’s house which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, drank from them.


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They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.


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In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.


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Then the king’s appearance changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; the joints of his thighs were loosened, and his knees struck one against another.


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The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whoever shall read this writing, and show me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.


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Then came in all the king’s wise men; but they could not read the writing, nor reveal to the king the interpretation.


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Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his appearance was changed, and his lords were perplexed.


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Now the queen because of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house: the queen spoke and said, O king, live forever; don’t let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your appearance be changed.


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There is a man in your kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of your father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him. The king Nebuchadnezzar your father, the king, I say, your father, made him master of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;


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because an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, the interpreting of dreams, and revealing of strange messages, solving of problems and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.<br/> <em><i>Daniel Interprets the Words</i></em>


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Then was Daniel brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, Are you that Daniel, who are of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Judah?


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I have heard of you, that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.


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Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and tell me its interpretation; but they could not show the interpretation of the thing.


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But I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations, and dissolve problems; now if you can read the writing, and tell me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.


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Then Daniel answered before the king, Let your gifts be to yourself, and give your rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing to the king, and tell him the interpretation.


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As for you, O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father the kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and majesty:


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and because of the greatness that He gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him: whom he would he killed, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down.


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But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened so that he became proud, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:


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and he was driven from men, and his heart was made like an animal’s’, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys; he was fed with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of the sky; until he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and that He sets up over it whomsoever He will.


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but have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which don’t see, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, you have not glorified.


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Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.


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<em><i>Daniel in the Lions’ Den</i></em><br/>It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, who should be throughout the whole kingdom;


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and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one; so that these satraps might give account to them, and that the king should have no loss.


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Then Daniel was promoted above the presidents and the satraps, because an excellently wise spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole kingdom.


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Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find occasion against Daniel regarding the things of the kingdom; but they could find no case nor fault, because he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.


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Then these men said, We shall not find any occasion against Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.


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Then these presidents and satraps assembled together to the king, and said to him, King Darius, live forever.


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All the presidents of the kingdom, the deputies and the satraps, the counsellors and the governors, have consulted together in order to establish a royal statute, and to make an enforced decree, that whoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, except of you, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.


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Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn’t alter.


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When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he still went into his house (now his windows in his room were open toward Jerusalem) and he kneeled on his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did previously.


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Then these men assembled together, and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God.


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Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king’s decree: Haven’t you signed a decree, that every man who shall make petition to any god or man within thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered, That is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn’t alter.


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Then they responded and said to the king, That Daniel, who is of the captives of Judah, doesn’t respect you, O king, nor the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.


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Then the king, when he heard these words, was very displeased, and set his heart on Daniel to save him; and he struggled until the going down of the sun to save him.


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Then these men assembled together to the king, and said to the king, Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no decree nor statute which the king establishes may be changed.


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Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spoke and said to Daniel, Your God whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.


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A stone was brought, and laid on the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet ring, and with the signet ring of his lords; so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.


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Then the king went to his palace, and spent the night fasting; no musical instruments were brought before him: and his sleep fled from him.


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When he came near to the den to Daniel, he cried with a lamentable voice; the king spoke and said to Daniel: Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whom you serve continually, able to deliver you from the lions?


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My God has sent His angel, and has shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not destroyed me; because before Him innocence was found in me; and also before you, O king, have I done nothing wrong.


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Then was the king exceeding glad, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.


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The king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions mauled them, and broke all their bones in pieces, before they came to the bottom of the den.


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Then king Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.


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I make a decree, that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for He is the living God, and steadfast forever, His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed; and His dominion shall remain to the end.


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He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, He who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.


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So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Daniel’s Dream – Four Beasts</i></em><br/>In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream on his bed: then he wrote the dream and told the conclusion of the matters.


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Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my dream and, behold, the four winds of Heaven broke forth upon the great sea.


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The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I saw until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand on two feet as a man; and a man’s heart was given to it.


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Behold, another beast, a second, like a bear; and it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth: and they said thus to it, Arise, devour much flesh.


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After this I saw, and behold, another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.


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After this I saw in the night visions, and, behold, a fourth beast, awesome and powerful, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet: and it was diverse from all the beasts that preceded it; and it had ten horns.


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I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots: and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.


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I saw until thrones were placed, and One who was the ancient of days sat: his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was fiery flames, and its wheels burning fire.


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A fiery stream came forth from before Him: thousands of thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.


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I saw at that time because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke; I saw even until the beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given to be burned with fire.


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As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.


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I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky One like a son of man, and he came up to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before Him.


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There was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.


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As for me Daniel, my spirit was grieved in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.


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I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.


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But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.


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Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was so different from all of them, exceedingly terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet;


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and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before whom three fell, even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke great things, whose appearance was more aggressive than its fellows.


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until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.


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Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on the land, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole land, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.


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As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be different from the former, and he shall put down three kings.


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He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear down the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.


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But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it to the end.


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The kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole Heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.


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Here is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my thoughts much troubled me, and my appearance was changed: but I kept the matter in my heart.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>A Further Vision of a Ram and a Goat</i></em><br/>In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, even to me, I Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first.


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I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai.


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Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.


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I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward; and no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any who could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.


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As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west over the surface of the whole land, and didn’t touch the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.


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He came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran on him in the fury of his power.


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I saw him come close to the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and struck the ram, and broke his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled on him; and there was none who could deliver the ram out of his hand.


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The male goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and in the place of it there came up four notable horns toward the four winds of the sky.


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Out of one of them came forth a little horn, which grew exceedingly great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious land.


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It grew great, even to the army of Heaven; and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled on them.


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Yes, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the army; and it took away from him the continual burnt offering, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.


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The army was given over to it along with the continual burnt offering on account of disobedience; and it cast down the truth to the ground, and it did according to its will and prospered.


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Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who spoke, How long shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt offering, and the abomination that makes desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the army to be trodden under foot?


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He said to me, To two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.


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It happened when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.


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I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.


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So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was frightened, and fell on my face: but he said to me, Understand, son of man; for the vision concerns the time of the end.


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Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright.


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He said, See, I will make you know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it concerns the appointed time of the end.


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The rough male goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.


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As for that which was broken, in the place where four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power.


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In the latter time of their kingdom, when the wicked have come to the full, a king of fierce appearance and understanding mysteries shall stand up.


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His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; he shall be very destructive, and shall prosper and do his own will; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.


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Through his policy he shall cause deceit to prosper; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in their security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without human hand.


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The vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true: but seal up the vision; for it belongs to many days to come.


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I Daniel, fainted, and was sick for some days; then I rose up, and did the king’s business: and I wondered at the vision, but none understood it.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Daniel’s Prayer</i></em><br/>In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans,


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in the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by the books the number of the years about which the word of Yahweh had come to Jeremiah the prophet for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years.


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I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.


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I prayed to Yahweh my God, and made confession, and said, Oh Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love Him and keep His commandments,


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we have sinned and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from Your precepts and from Your ordinances;


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neither have we listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.


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Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near and who are far off, through all the countries where You have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against You.


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Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against You.


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neither have we obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.


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Yes, all Israel have transgressed Your law, turning aside, that they should not obey Your voice: therefore the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us; for we have sinned against Him.


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He has confirmed His words which He spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, by bringing on us a great evil; for under the whole Heaven such has not been done as has been done to Jerusalem.


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As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil has come on us: yet have we not entreated the favour of Yahweh our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and accept Your truth.


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Therefore has Yahweh watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for Yahweh our God is righteous in all His works which He does, and we have not obeyed His voice.


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Now, Lord our God, You who brought Your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and has gotten Yourself renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.


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Lord, according to all Your righteousness, please let Your anger and Your wrath be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all who are around us.


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Now therefore, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant, and to his petitions, and cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.


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My God, turn Your ear, and hear; open Your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name: for we do not present our petitions before You for our righteousness, but for Your great mercies’ sake.


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Lord, hear; Lord, forgive; Lord, listen and do; don’t defer, for Your own sake, my God, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.<br/> <em><i>The Seventy Weeks</i></em>


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While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God for the holy mountain of my God;


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yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering.


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He instructed me, and talked with me, and said, Daniel, I am now come forth to give you wisdom and understanding.


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At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went forth, and I have come to tell you; for you are greatly beloved: therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision.


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Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.


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Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times.


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After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One shall be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and its end shall be with a flood, and even to the end shall be war; desolations are determined.


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He shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and on the wing of abominations shall come desolation even to the full end, and the wrath that is determined shall be poured out on the one who makes desolate.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>A Vision of a Man</i></em><br/>In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia something was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and it was true, even a great warfare: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.


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I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, until three whole weeks were fulfilled.


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In the twenty fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river which is Hiddekel,


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I lifted up my eyes, and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, whose thighs were adorned with pure gold of Uphaz:


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his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as flaming torches, and his arms and his feet like burnished brass, and his voice like the voice of a multitude.


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I Daniel alone saw the vision; for the men who were with me didn’t see the vision; but a great trembling fell on them, and they fled to hide themselves.


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So I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me; for my moisture was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.


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Yet heard I the voice of his words; and at the time I heard the voice of his words, I had fallen into a deep sleep on my face, with my face toward the ground.


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He said to me, Daniel, you man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright; for I am now sent to you. When he had spoken this word to me, I stood trembling.


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Then he said to me, Don’t be afraid, Daniel; for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard: and I have come for your words’ sake.


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But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; but, behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me: and I remained there with the kings of Persia.


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Now I have come to make you understand what shall happen to your people in the latter days; for the vision is yet for many days.


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And when he had spoken to me according to these words, I set my face toward the ground, and was mute.


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Then behold, one in the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spoke and said to him who stood before me: My lord, by reason of the vision my sorrows are turned on me, and I retain no strength.


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For how can my Lord’s servant talk with my lord? For as for me, immediately there remained no strength in me, neither was there breath left in me.


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He said, Greatly beloved man, don’t be afraid: peace be to you, be strong, yes, be strong. When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, Let my lord speak; for you have strengthened me.


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Then he said, Do you know why I have come to you? Now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia. When I go forth, behold, the prince of Greece shall come.


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But I will tell you that which is inscribed in the writing of truth: and there is none who holds with me against these, but Michael your prince.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The King of the South and the King of the North</i></em><br/>As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.


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Now will I show you the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and when he has grown strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece.


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When he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of the sky, but not to his posterity, nor according to his power with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others besides these.


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The king of the south shall be strong, and also one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion.


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At the end of years they shall join themselves together; and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the strength of her arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm; but she shall be given up, and those who brought her, and he who became the father of her, and he who strengthened her in those times.


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But out of a shoot from her roots shall one stand up in his place, who shall come to the army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail.


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Also their gods, with their molten images, and with their attractive vessels of silver and of gold, shall he carry captive into Egypt; and he shall refrain some years from the king of the north.


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His sons shall war, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall come on, and overflow, and pass through; and they shall return and war, even to his fortress.


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The king of the south shall be moved with anger, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north; and he shall set forth a great multitude, and the multitude shall be given into his hand.


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The multitude shall be lifted up, and his heart shall be exalted; and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail.


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The king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former; and he shall come on at the end of the times, even of years, with a great army and with much substance.


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In those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the children of the violent among your people shall lift themselves up to establish the vision; but they shall fall.


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So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mound, and take a well-fortified city: and the forces of the south shall not stand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to stand.


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But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him; and he shall stand in the glorious land, and in his hand shall be destruction.


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He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of an agreement and perform them. He shall give him the daughter of women, to corrupt her; but she shall not stand, neither be for him.


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After this shall he turn his face to the islands, and shall take many: but a commander shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; yes, moreover, he shall cause his insolence to return upon him.


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Then he shall turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found.


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Then shall stand up in his place one who shall cause a tax collector to pass through the kingdom to maintain its glory; but within a few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.


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In his place shall arise a contemptible person, to whom they had not given the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in time of security, and shall obtain the kingdom by flatteries.


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The overwhelming forces shall be overwhelmed from before him, and shall be broken; even the prince of the covenant.


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After the treaty made with him he shall work deceitfully; for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.


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Without warning he shall come into the richest parts of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers’ fathers; he shall scatter among them prey and spoil and substance: moreover, he shall devise his devices against the strongholds, but only for a time.


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He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall war in battle with an exceeding great and mighty army; but he shall not stand; for they shall devise devices against him.


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Yes, they who eat of his dainties shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow; and many shall fall down slain.


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As for both these kings, their hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table: but it shall not prosper; for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.


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Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do his pleasure, and return to his own land.


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At the time appointed he shall return, and come into the south; but it shall not be in the latter time as it was in the former.


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For ships of Kittim shall come against him; therefore he shall be afraid and shall withdraw, and have indignation against the holy covenant, and shall do his pleasure: he shall even return, and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant.


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Forces from him shall appear, and they shall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.


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Such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he pervert by flatteries; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.


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Those who are wise among the people shall instruct many; yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by spoil, many days.


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Now when they shall fall, they shall be helped with a little help; but many shall join themselves to them with flattery.


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Some of those who are wise shall stumble, to refine them, and to purify, and to make them white, until the time of the end; because it is yet for the time appointed.


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The king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods; and he shall prosper until the indignation be accomplished; for that which is decreed shall be done.


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Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above all.


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But instead he shall honour the god of fortresses; and a god whom his fathers didn’t know shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.


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He shall deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god: whoever acknowledges him he will increase with glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for a price.<br/> <em><i>The Time of the End</i></em>


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At the time of the end shall the king of the south contend with him; and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass through.


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He shall also come into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the chief leader of the children of Ammon.


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But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.


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But news out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him; and he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and to devote many to destruction.


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He shall plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Faithful in the Last Days</i></em><br/>At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who shall be found written in the book.


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Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.


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Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and those who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.


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But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of its fulfilment: many shall run back and forth, and knowledge shall be increased.


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Then I Daniel looked, and behold, two others stood, one on the river bank on this side, and the other on the river bank on that side.


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One said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?


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I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.


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Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but those who are wise shall understand.


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From the time that the continual burnt offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.


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But go you your way until the end; for you shall rest, and shall stand in your lot, at the end of the days.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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The beginning of the word of Yahweh that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.<br/> <em><i>Hosea’s Family</i></em>


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When Yahweh spoke at first by Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and children of unfaithfulness; for the land commits great adultery, forsaking Yahweh.


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Yahweh said to him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.


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She conceived again, and bore a daughter. Then he said to him, Call her name Lo-Ruhamah; for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, that I should in any way pardon them.


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But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by Yahweh their God, and will not save them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.


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Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can’t be measured nor numbered; and it will come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people’, they will be called ‘sons of the living God’.


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The children of Judah and the children of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint themselves one head, and will go up from the land; for great will be the day of Jezreel.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Punishment and Restoration</i></em><br/>Say to your brothers, ‘Ammi! [My people]!’ and to your sisters, ‘Ruhamah! [I will have mercy!]’.


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Contend with your mother! Contend, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her therefore put away her prostitution from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;


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lest I strip her naked, and make her bare as in the day that she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and kill her with thirst.


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for their mother has played the prostitute. She who conceived them has done shamefully; for she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink’.


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Therefore behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she can’t find her way.


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She will follow after her lovers, but she won’t overtake them; and she will seek them, but won’t find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now’.


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For she did not recognize that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.


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Therefore I will take back My grain in its time, and My new wine in its season, and will pluck away My wool and My linen which should have covered her nakedness.


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Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of My hand.


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I will also cause all her celebrations to cease: her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.


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I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, about which she has said, ‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest’, and the animals of the field shall eat them.


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I will visit on her the days of the Baals, to which she burned incense, when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot Me, says Yahweh.


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I will give her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she will respond there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.


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It will be in that day, says Yahweh, that you will call Me ‘my husband’, and no longer call Me ‘my master’.


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For I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by name.


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In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, and will make them lie down safely.


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I will betroth you to Me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion.


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It will happen in that day, I will respond, says Yahweh, I will respond to the heavens, and they will echo down to the earth;


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and the earth will respond to the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they will respond to Jezreel.


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I will sow her to Me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not My people, ‘You are My people;’ and they will say, ‘You are my God!’.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Marriage Reconciled</i></em><br/>Yahweh said to me, Go again, love a woman loved by another, and an adulteress, even as Yahweh loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods, and love cakes of raisins.


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I said to her, You shall stay with me many days. You shall not play the prostitute, and you shall not be with any other man. I will also be so toward you.


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For the children of Israel shall live many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without sacred stone, and without ephod or idols.


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Afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek Yahweh their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to Yahweh and to His blessings in the last days.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Against the Children of Israel</i></em><br/>Hear the word of Yahweh, you children of Israel; for Yahweh has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.


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There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.


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Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells therein will waste away. All living things in her, even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky; yes, the fish of the sea also die.


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Yet let no man bring a case, neither let any man accuse; for Your people are like those who bring charges against a priest.


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You will stumble in the day, and the prophet will also stumble with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother.


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My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to Me. Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.


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It will be, like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and will repay them for their deeds.


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They will eat, and not feel satisfied. They will play the prostitute, and will not increase; because they have abandoned giving to Yahweh.


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My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God.


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They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because its shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the prostitute, and your brides commit adultery.


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I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute, nor your brides when they commit adultery; because the men consort with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with the shrine prostitutes; so the people without understanding will come to ruin themselves.


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Though you, Israel, play the prostitute, yet don’t let Judah offend; and don’t come to Gilgal, neither go up to Beth Aven, nor swear, ‘As Yahweh lives’.


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For Israel has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Then how will Yahweh feed them like a lamb in a meadow!


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Their drink has become sour. They play the prostitute continually. Her rulers dearly love their shameful way.


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The wind has wrapped her up in its wings; and they shall be unfulfilled in the offering of their sacrifices.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Judgments against the Priests and the House of Israel</i></em><br/>Listen to this, you priests! Listen, house of Israel, and give ear, house of the king! For the judgment is against you; for you have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread on Tabor.


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I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; for now, Ephraim, you have played the prostitute; Israel is defiled.


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Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their God; for the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don’t know Yahweh.


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The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity, Judah also will stumble with them.


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They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Yahweh; but they won’t find Him- He has withdrawn Himself from them.


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They are unfaithful to Yahweh; for they have begotten foreign children. Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.


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Blow the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah! Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin!


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Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel, I have made known that which will certainly be.


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The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark. I will pour out My wrath on them like water.


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When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound.


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For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away; I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.


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I will go and return to My place, until they acknowledge their offence, and seek My face. In their affliction they will seek Me earnestly.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Unrepentant</i></em><br/>Come, and let us return to Yahweh; for He has torn us to pieces, and He will heal us; He has injured us, and He will bind up our wounds.


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After two days He will revive us. On the third day He will raise us up, and we will live before Him.


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Let us acknowledge Yahweh. Let us press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth.


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Ephraim, what shall I do to you? Judah, what shall I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew that disappears early.


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Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I slew them with the words of My mouth. Your judgments are like a flash of lightning.


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As gangs of robbers wait to ambush a man, so the company of priests murder in the way toward Shechem, committing shameful crimes.


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In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing. There is prostitution in Ephraim. Israel is defiled.


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Also, Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, when I restore the fortunes of My people.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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When I would heal Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, also the wickedness of Samaria; for they commit falsehood, and the thief enters in, and the gang of robbers ravages outside.


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They don’t consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their own deeds have engulfed them; they are ever before My face.


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They are all adulterers. They are burning like an oven that the baker stops stirring, from the kneading of the dough, until it is leavened.


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On the day of our king, the princes made him sick with the heat of wine so that he joined his hand with mockers.


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For they have prepared their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait. Their baker sleeps all the night- in the morning it burns as a flaming fire.


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They are all hot as an oven, and devour their judges. All their kings have fallen. There is no one among them who calls to Me.


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Strangers have devoured his strength, and he doesn’t realize it. Indeed, gray hairs are here and there on him, and he doesn’t realize it.


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The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they do not return to Yahweh their God, nor seek Him, for all this.


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Ephraim is like an easily deceived dove, without understanding. They call to Egypt; they hop to Assyria.


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When they go, I will spread My net on them. I will bring them down like the birds of the sky. I will chastise them, as their congregation has heard.


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Woe to them! For they have wandered from Me. Destruction to them! For they have trespassed against Me. Though I would redeem them, yet they have spoken lies against Me.


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They haven’t cried to Me with their heart, but they howl on their beds. They assemble themselves for grain and new wine. They turn away from Me.


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They return, but not to the Most High. They are like a faulty bow. Their princes will fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue. This will be their derision in the land of Egypt.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Sowing the Wind, Reaping the Whirlwind</i></em><br/>Put the trumpet to your lips! Something like an eagle is over Yahweh’s house, because they have broken My covenant, and rebelled against My law.


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They have set up kings, but not by Me. They have made princes, and I didn’t approve. Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols, that they may be cut off.


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Let Samaria throw out his calf idol! My anger burns against them! How long will it be until they are capable of purity?


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For this is even made in Israel! The workman made it, and it is no God; indeed, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.


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For they sow the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind. He has no standing grain; the stalk will yield no head of grain. If it does yield, strangers will swallow it up.


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For they have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has hired lovers for himself.


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But although they sold themselves among the nations, I will now gather them; and they begin to waste away because of the oppression of the king of mighty ones.


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As for the sacrifices of My offerings, they sacrifice flesh and eat it; But Yahweh doesn’t accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity, and punish their sins. They will return to Egypt.


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For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send a fire on his cities, and it will devour its fortresses.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Wrath of Love</i></em><br/>Don’t rejoice in jubilation, Israel, like the other nations; for you were unfaithful to your God. You love the wages of a prostitute at every grain threshing floor.


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They won’t dwell in Yahweh’s land; but Ephraim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.


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They won’t pour out wine offerings to Yahweh, neither will they be pleasing to Him. Their sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat of it will be polluted. Their bread will merely be for their hunger, it will not come with acceptance as an offering into the house of Yahweh.


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For, behold, they have marched off to destruction; Egypt will gather them up, Memphis will bury them. Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver, thorns will come up in their tents.


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The days of visitation have come, the days of reckoning have come. Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool, and the inspired man to be insane, because of the abundance of your sins, and because your hostility is great.


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A prophet watches over Ephraim with my God. A fowler’s snare is on all of his paths, and hostility in the house of his God.


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They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity, He will punish them for their sins.


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I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at its first season; but they came to Baal Peor, and consecrated themselves to the shameful thing, and became abominable like that thing which they so loved.


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As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird. There will be no birth, none with child, and no conception.


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Though they bring up their children, yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left. Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from them!


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I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place; but Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.


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All their wickedness is in Gilgal; for there I hated them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house! I will love them no more. All their princes are rebels.


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Ephraim is struck. Their root has dried up. They will bear no fruit. Even though they bring forth, yet I will kill the beloved ones of their womb.


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My God will cast them away, because they did not listen to Him; and they will be wanderers among the nations.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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Israel is a luxuriant vine that puts forth his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars. As their land has prospered, they have adorned their sacred stones.


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Their heart is divided, and so now they will be found guilty. He will demolish their altars, He will destroy their sacred stones.


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Surely now they will say, We have no king; for we don’t fear Yahweh; and the king we have, what can he do for us?


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They make promises, swearing falsely in making covenants. Therefore judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.


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The inhabitants of Samaria will be in terror because of the calves of Beth Aven; for its people will mourn over it, along with its priests who rejoiced over it; because its glory has departed from it.


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It also will be carried to Assyria for a present to a great king. Ephraim will receive shame, and Israel will be ashamed of his own counsel.


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The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle will come up on their altars. They will tell the mountains, Cover us! and the hills, Fall on us!


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Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah, there they remained. The battle against the children of iniquity doesn’t overtake them in Gibeah.


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When it is my desire, I will chastise them; and the nations will be gathered against them, when they are bound to their two transgressions.


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Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh; so I will put a yoke on her beautiful neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim, Judah will plough, Jacob will break his clods.


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Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek Yahweh, until He comes and rains righteousness on you.


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You have ploughed wickedness and you have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, for you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men.


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Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle. The mother was dashed in pieces with her children.


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So Bethel will do to you because of your great wickedness. At daybreak the king of Israel will be destroyed.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>God’s Love for His People</i></em><br/>When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt.


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The more I called to them, so they went away from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals, and burned incense to engraved images.


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Yet I taught Ephraim to walk. I took them by his arms; but they didn’t know that it was I who healed them.


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I drew them with cords of a man, with ties of love; and I was to them like those who lift off the yoke on their necks; and I bent down to him and I fed him.


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They won’t return into the land of Egypt; but the Assyrian will be their king, because they refused to repent.


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The sword will fall on their cities, and will destroy the bars of their gates, and will put an end to their plans.


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My people are determined to turn from Me. Though they call to the Most High, they certainly won’t exalt Him.


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How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within Me, My compassion is aroused.


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I will not execute the fierceness of My anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man, the Holy One in the midst of you; and I will not come in wrath.


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They will walk after Yahweh, who will roar like a lion; for He will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west.


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They will come trembling like a bird out of Egypt, and like a dove out of the land of Assyria; and I will settle them in their houses, says Yahweh.


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Ephraim surrounds Me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit. Judah still remains with God, and is faithful to the Holy One.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jacob to Be Israel’s Example</i></em><br/>Ephraim feeds on wind, and chases the east wind. He daily lies more and more and multiplies his desolation. They make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.


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Yahweh also has a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his deeds He will repay him.


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Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there He spoke with us,


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Ephraim said, Surely I have become rich, I have found myself wealth. In all my wealth they won’t find in me any iniquity that is sin.


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But I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt. I will yet again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast.


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I have also spoken to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables.


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If Gilead is wicked, surely they are worthless. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls. Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field.


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Jacob fled into the country of Aram, and Israel served to get a wife, and for a wife he tended flocks and herds.


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Ephraim has bitterly provoked anger, therefore his blood will be left on him, and his Lord will repay his contempt.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>God’s Anger against His People</i></em><br/>When Ephraim spoke with trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he became guilty in Baal, he died.


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Now they sin more and more, and have made themselves molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, ‘They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves’.


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Therefore they will be like the morning mist, and like the dew that passes away early in the morning, like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor, and like the smoke out of the chimney.


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Yet I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt; and you shall acknowledge no god but Me, and besides Me there is no saviour.


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According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten Me.


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I will meet them like a bear that is bereaved of her cubs, and will tear the covering of their heart. There I will devour them like a lioness, tear them like a wild animal.


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Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes?’.


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The sorrows of a travailing woman will come on him. He is an unwise son; for when it is time, he doesn’t come to the opening of the womb.


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I will ransom them from the power of Sheol, I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction? Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.


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Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind will come, the breath of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness; and his spring will become dry, and his fountain will be dried up. He will plunder the storehouse of treasure.


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Samaria will bear her guilt; for she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Repentance and Blessing</i></em><br/>Israel, return to Yahweh your God; for you have fallen because of your sin.


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Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good: so we offer our lips like bulls.


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Assyria can’t save us. We won’t ride on horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods!’; for in You the fatherless finds mercy.


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I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, and send down his roots like Lebanon.


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His branches will spread, and his beauty will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon.


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Men will dwell in his shade. They will revive like the grain, and blossom like the vine. Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.


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Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? I will answer, and will take care of him. I am like a green fir tree; from Me you will acquire fruit.


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Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Who is prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of Yahweh are right, and the righteous walk in them; but the rebellious will stumble in them.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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Hear this, you elders, and listen, all of you inhabitants of the land. Has this ever happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers?


text:
Tell your children about it, and have your children tell their children, and their children tell another generation.


text:
What the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten. What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten. What the grasshopper has left, the caterpillar has eaten.


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Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.


text:
For a nation has come up on my land, strong, and without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a lioness.


text:
He has laid My vine waste, and stripped My fig tree. He has stripped its bark, and thrown it away. Its branches are made white.


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Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth! The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from Yahweh’s house; the priests, Yahweh’s ministers, mourn.


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The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from Yahweh’s house; the priests, Yahweh’s ministers, mourn.


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The field is laid waste, the land mourns, because the grain is destroyed, the new wine has dried up and the oil wastes away.


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Be confounded, you farmers! Wail, you vineyard keepers; for the wheat and for the barley and the harvest of the field has perished.


text:
The vine has dried up, and the fig tree withered; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all of the trees of the field are withered away; for joy is withered away from the sons of men.


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Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests! Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, for the meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from your God’s house.


text:
Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of Yahweh your God, and cry to Yahweh.


text:
Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is at hand, and it will come as a destruction from the Almighty.


text:
The seeds rot under their clods. The granaries are laid desolate. The barns are broken down, for the grain has withered.


text:
Yahweh, I cry to you because the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.


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Yes, the animals of the field pant to You, for the water brooks have dried up, and the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


text:
<em><i>More Locusts</i></em><br/>Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh comes, for it is near at hand:


text:
a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the dawn spreading on the mountains. A great and strong people! There has never been the like, neither will there be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.


text:
A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and after them- like a desolate wilderness. Yes, and no one has escaped them.


text:
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.


text:
They run like mighty men, they climb the wall like warriors. They each march in his line, and they don’t swerve off course.


text:
Neither does one jostle another; they march each one in his path, and they burst through the defences, and don’t break ranks.


text:
They rush on the city, they run on the wall, they climb up into the houses, they enter in at the windows like thieves.


text:
The earth quakes before them, the skies tremble, the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.


text:
Yahweh thunders His voice before His army; for His forces are very great; for he is strong who obeys His command; for the day of Yahweh is great and very awesome, and who can endure it?<br/> <em><i>A Fast Is Proclaimed</i></em>


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Yet even now, says Yahweh, turn to Me with all your heart, and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning.


text:
Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.


text:
Who knows? He may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering to Yahweh, your God.


text:
Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders. Gather the children, and those who nurse from the breasts. Let the bridegroom go forth from his room, and the bride out of her room.


text:
Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Your people, Yahweh, and don’t give Your heritage to reproach, that the pagan nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’.<br/> <em><i>Yahweh Answered His People</i></em><br/>


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Yahweh answered His people, Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied with them; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.


text:
But I will remove the northern army far away from you, and will drive it into a barren and desolate land, its front into the eastern sea, and its back into the western sea; and its stench will come up, and its bad smell will rise. Surely He has done great things!


text:
Don’t be afraid, you animals of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness spring up, for the tree bears its fruit. The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.


text:
Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in Yahweh your God; for He gives you the former rains in just measure, and He causes the rain to come down for you, the former rains and the latter rains, as before.


text:
I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, My great army, which I sent among you.


text:
You will have plenty to eat and will be satisfied, and will praise the name of Yahweh your God who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people will never again be ashamed.


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You will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Yahweh your God, and there is no one else; and My people will never again be ashamed.<br/> <em><i>The Day of the Lord</i></em>


text:
It will happen in the last days, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.


text:
The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.


text:
It will happen that whoever will call on the name of Yahweh shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


text:
<em><i>Judgment on the Nations</i></em><br/>For behold, in those days, and in that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,


text:
I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment on them there for My people and for My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have divided My land,


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and have cast lots for My people, and have given a boy for a prostitute, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.


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Yes, and what are you to Me, Tyre, Sidon and all the regions of Philistia? Will you repay Me? And if you repay Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your repayment on your own head.


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Because you have taken My silver and My gold, and have carried My finest treasures into your temples,


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and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their border.


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Behold, I will stir them up out of the place where you have sold them, and will return your repayment on your own head;


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and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the men of Sheba, to a distant nation; for Yahweh has spoken it.


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Proclaim this among the nations: Sanctify war! Stir up the mighty men. Let all the warriors draw near. Let them come up.


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Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong!’.


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Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves together. Cause Your mighty ones to come down there, Yahweh.


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Let the nations arouse themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the surrounding nations.


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Put in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the winepress is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.


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Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near, in the valley of decision.


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Yahweh will roar from Zion, and thunder from Jerusalem; the heavens and the earth will shake, but Yahweh will be a refuge for His people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel.<br/> <em><i>God’s People to Be Blessed</i></em>


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So you will know that I am Yahweh your God, dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, and no strangers will pass through her any more.


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It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters, and a fountain will come forth from the house of Yahweh and will water the valley of Shittim.


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Egypt will be a desolation, and Edom will be a desolate wilderness, because of the violence done to the children of Judah; because they have shed innocent blood in their land.


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I will cleanse their blood that I have not so far cleansed: for Yahweh dwells in Zion.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.


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He said: Yahweh will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds will mourn, and the top of Carmel will wither.<br/> <em><i>Judgment on the Nations around Israel</i></em>


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Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Damascus, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron;


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I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him who holds the sceptre from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity to Kir, says Yahweh.


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Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Gaza, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they carried away captive the whole community, to deliver them up to Edom;


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I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him who holds the sceptre from Ashkelon; and I will turn My hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Philistines will perish, says the Lord Yahweh.


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Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Tyre, yes, for four, I will not relent on its punishment; because they delivered up the whole community to Edom, and didn’t remember the brotherly covenant;


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Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Edom, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he pursued his brother with the sword, and cast off all pity, and his anger raged continually, and he kept his anger forever;


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Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead, that they may enlarge their border.


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But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it will devour its palaces, with shouting in the day of battle, with a storm in the day of the whirlwind;


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and their king will go into captivity, he and his princes together, says Yahweh.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Moab, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime;


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but I will send a fire on Moab, and it will destroy the palaces of Kerioth; and Moab will die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet;


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and I will cut off the judge from their midst, and will kill all their princes with him, says Yahweh.


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Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Judah, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have rejected Yahweh’s law, and have not kept His statutes, and their lies have led them astray, after which their fathers walked;


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Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes;


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they trample on the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and deny justice to the oppressed; and a man and his father use the same girl, to profane My holy name;


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and they lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of the condemned.


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Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.


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Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorite.


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I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Isn’t this true, you children of Israel? says Yahweh.


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Flight will flee from the swift; and the strong won’t strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself;


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neither shall he stand who handles the bow; and he who is swift of foot won’t escape; neither shall he who rides the horse deliver himself;


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and he who is courageous among the mighty will flee away naked in that day, says Yahweh.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Inevitability of Judgment</i></em><br/> Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying:


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You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all of your sins.


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Will a lion roar in the thicket, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?


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Can a bird fall in a trap on the earth, where no snare is set for him? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when there is nothing to catch?


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Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city without the people being afraid? Does evil happen to a city and Yahweh hasn’t done it?


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Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, unless He first reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.


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Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see what unrest is in her, and what oppression is among them.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: An adversary will overrun the land; and he will pull down your strongholds, and your fortresses will be plundered.


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Thus says Yahweh: As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.


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For in the day that I visit the transgressions of Israel on him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar will be cut off, and fall to the ground.


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I will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses will have an end, says Yahweh.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>God Tries to Make His People Return to Him</i></em><br/> Listen to this word you cows of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who tell their husbands, Bring us drinks!


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The Lord Yahweh has sworn by His holiness that, behold, the days shall come on you that they will take you away with hooks, and the last of you with fish hooks.


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You will go out at the breaks in the wall, each one straight before her; and you will cast yourselves into Harmon, says Yahweh.


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Go to Bethel, and sin; to Gilgal, and sin more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days,


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offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim freewill offerings and brag about them: for this pleases you, you children of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh.


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I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in every town; yet you haven’t returned to Me, says Yahweh.


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I also have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city. One place was rained on, and the piece where it didn’t rain withered.


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So two or three cities staggered to one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet you haven’t returned to Me, says Yahweh.


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I struck you with blight and mildew many times in your gardens and your vineyards; and your fig trees and your olive trees have the swarming locust devoured: yet you haven’t returned to Me, says Yahweh.


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I sent plagues among you like I did upon Egypt. I have slain your young men with the sword, and have carried away your horses; and I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you haven’t returned to Me, says Yahweh.


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I have overthrown some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a burning stick plucked out of the fire; yet you haven’t returned to Me, says Yahweh.


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Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel; and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel.


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For, behold, He who forms the mountains, and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought; who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the high places of the earth: Yahweh, the God of Armies, is His name.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>A Call to Repentance</i></em><br/> Listen to this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.


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The virgin of Israel has fallen; she shall rise no more. She is cast down on her land; there is no one to raise her up.


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For thus says the Lord Yahweh: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth one hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel.


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but don’t seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and don’t pass to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nothing.


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Seek Yahweh, and you will live; lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.


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seek Him who made the Pleiades and Orion, He who turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh is His name;


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Forasmuch therefore as you trample on the poor, and take taxes of wheat from him- therefore you who have built houses of cut stone will not dwell in them. You who have planted pleasant vineyards shall not drink their wine.


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For I know how many are your offences, and how great are your sins-- you who afflict the just, who take a bribe, and who turn aside the needy in the courts.


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Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be with you, as you say.


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Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the courts. It may be that Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.


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Therefore thus says Yahweh the God of Armies, the Lord: Wailing will be in all the boulevards; and they will say in all the streets, ‘Alas! Alas!’, and they will call the farmer to mourning, and those who are skilful in lamentation to wailing.


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In all vineyards there will be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of you, says Yahweh.<br/> <em><i>The Day of Yahweh</i></em>


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Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It will be darkness for you, and not light.


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As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him.


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Won’t the day of Yahweh be darkness for you, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?


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Yes, though you offer Me your burnt offerings and meal offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals.


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Did you really bring to Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel?


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You also carried the tent of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.


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Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, says Yahweh, whose name is the God of Armies.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Woe to Those Who Are at Ease</i></em><br/> Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!


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Go to Calneh, and see; and from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms? Or is their border greater than your border?


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who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;


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who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.


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Therefore they will now go into captivity with the first who go captive; and the feasting and lounging will end.


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The Lord Yahweh has sworn by Himself, says Yahweh, the God of Armies, that I hate the pride of Jacob, and detest his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.


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When a man’s relative carries his body out of the house to burn it, he will ask him who is in the innermost parts of the house: ‘Is there yet any with you?’. And if he says, ‘No’, then he will say, ‘Hush! Indeed we must not mention the name of Yahweh’.


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For behold, Yahweh says it, and the great house will be smashed to pieces, and the little house into bits.


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Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plough there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness;


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you who rejoice in a thing of nothing, who say, ‘Haven’t we taken for ourselves horns by our own strength?’.


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For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, says Yahweh, the God of Armies; and they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of the Arabah.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Locusts</i></em><br/> Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: and behold, He formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s harvest.


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It happened that when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, Lord Yahweh, forgive, I beseech You! How could Jacob stand? For he is so small.


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Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me and behold, the Lord Yahweh called for judgment by fire; and it dried up the great deep, and would have devoured the land.


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Yahweh relented concerning this. This also shall not be, says the Lord Yahweh.<br/> <em><i>A Plumb-Line</i></em>


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Thus he showed me: Behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand.


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Yahweh said to me, Amos, what do you see? I said, A plumb line. Then the Lord said, Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel. I will not again change My mind about punishing them.


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The high places of Isaac will be desolate, the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.


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Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.


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For Amos says, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land’.


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Amaziah also said to Amos, You prophet, go, flee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:


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but don’t prophesy again any more at Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a royal house!


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Then Amos answered Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was a herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore figs;


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and Yahweh took me from following the flock, and Yahweh said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel’.


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Now therefore listen to the word of Yahweh: ‘You say, Don’t prophesy against Israel, and don’t preach against the house of Isaac’.


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Therefore thus says Yahweh: ‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by line; and you yourself shall die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land’.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>A Basket of Summer Fruit</i></em><br/> Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: Behold, a basket of summer fruit.


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He said, Amos, what do you see? I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then Yahweh said to me, The end has come on My people Israel. I will not again change My mind about them any more.


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The songs of the temple will be wailings in that day, says the Lord Yahweh. The dead bodies will be many. In every place they will throw them out in silence.


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saying, ‘Oh when will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;


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that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the sweepings along with the wheat?’.


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Won’t the land tremble for this, and everyone mourn who dwells in it? Yes, it will rise up wholly like the River; and it will be stirred up and sink again, like the River of Egypt.


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It will happen in that day, says the Lord Yahweh, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the day time.


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I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies, and baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.


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Behold, the days come, says the Lord Yahweh, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Yahweh.


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They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run back and forth to seek the word of Yahweh, and will not find it.


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Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, ‘As your god, Dan, lives;’ and, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives;’ they will fall, and never rise up again.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>God’s People to Be Destroyed</i></em><br/> I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said, Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.


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Though they dig into Sheol, there My hand will take them; and though they climb up to the sky, I will bring them down from there.


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Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out from there; and though they be hidden from My sight in the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them.


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Though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it will kill them. I will set My eyes on them for evil, and not for good.


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For the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, is He who touches the land and it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up wholly like the River, and will sink again, like the River of Egypt.


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It is He who builds His chambers in the heavens, and has founded His vault on the earth; He who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth; Yahweh is His name.


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Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to Me, you children of Israel?, says Yahweh. Haven’t I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?


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See, the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says Yahweh.


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For, see, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall to the earth.


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All the sinners of My people will die by the sword, those who say, ‘Evil won’t overtake us nor meet us’.<br/> <em><i>Rebuilding</i></em>


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After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it as in the days of old;


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that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who makes these things known from of old.


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See, the days come, says Yahweh, that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the one treading grapes him who sows seed; and sweet wine will drip from the mountains, and flow from the hills.


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I will bring My people Israel back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards, and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens, and eat their fruit.


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I will plant them in their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, says Yahweh your God.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Obadiah’s Vision against Edom</i></em><br/> The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord Yahweh says about Edom. We have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, Arise, and let’s rise up against her in battle.


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The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, who says in his heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’.


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Though you mount on high as the eagle, and though your nest is set among the stars, I will bring you down from there, says Yahweh.


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If thieves came to you, if robbers by night--oh, what disaster awaits you!--wouldn’t they only steal until they had enough? If grape pickers came to you, wouldn’t they leave some gleaning grapes?


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All the men of your alliance have brought you on your way, even to the border. The men who were at peace with you have deceived you, and prevailed against you. Friends who eat your bread lay a snare under you. There is no understanding in him.


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Won’t I in that day, says Yahweh, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mountain of Esau?


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Your mighty men, Teman, will be dismayed, to the end that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter.


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In the day that you stood on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots for Jerusalem, even you were like one of them.


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But don’t look down on your brother in the day of his disaster, and don’t rejoice over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction. Don’t speak proudly in the day of distress.


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Don’t enter into the gate of My people in the day of their calamity. Don’t look down on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither seize their wealth on the day of their calamity.


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Don’t stand in the crossroads to cut off those of his who escape. Don’t deliver up those of his who remain in the day of distress.


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For the day of Yahweh is nearly upon all the nations! As you have done, it will be done to you. Your deeds will return upon your own head.


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For as you have drunk on My holy mountain, so will all the nations drink continually. Yes, they will drink, swallow down, and will be as though they had not been.


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But in Mount Zion, there will be those who escape, and it will be holy. The house of Jacob will possess their inheritances.


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The house of Jacob will be a fire, the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble. They will burn among them and consume them. There will not be anyone remaining to the house of Esau. Truly Yahweh has spoken.


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Those of the South will possess the mountain of Esau, and those of the lowland, the Philistines. They will possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria. Benjamin will possess Gilead.


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The captives of this army of the children of Israel, who are among the Canaanites, will possess even to Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem, who are in Sepharad, will possess the cities of the Negev.


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Saviours will come up on Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom will be Yahweh’s.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jonah Tries to Flee from God</i></em><br/> Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying,


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Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.


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But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going down to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, in order to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.


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But Yahweh sent out a great wind on the sea and there was a mighty storm on the sea, so that the ship was likely to break up.


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Then the sailors were afraid, and every man cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship and he was laying down, deeply asleep.


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So the captain came to him and said to him, What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call on your God! Maybe your God will look to us so that we won’t perish.


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They all said to each other, Come, let’s cast lots, that we may know who is responsible for this evil that is on us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.


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Then they asked him, Tell us, please, for whose cause this evil is on us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? Of what people are you?


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He said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.


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Then were the men extremely afraid and said to him, What is this that you have done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh, because he had told them.


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Then they said to him, What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us? For the sea grew more and more stormy.


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He said to them, Take me up, and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you; for I know that because of me this great storm is on you.


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Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.


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Therefore they cried to Yahweh and said, We beg you Yahweh, we beg you, don’t let us die for the sake of this man’s life, and don’t lay on us innocent blood; for you, Yahweh, have done as it pleased You.


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Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jonah Prays from inside the Fish</i></em><br/>Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh his God out of the great fish’s belly.


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He said, I called because of my affliction to Yahweh and He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice,


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for You threw me into the depths, into the heart of the seas. The water was all around me. All Your waves and Your breakers passed over me.


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The waters surrounded me, even to the soul. The deep was around me, the weeds were wrapped around my head.


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I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth barred me in forever: yet have You brought up my life from the pit, Yahweh my God.


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When my soul ebbed away within me, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came in to You, into Your holy temple.


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But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving, I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh.


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So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey across.


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Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried out and said, In forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown!


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The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even to their least.


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The news reached the king of Nineveh and he arose from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.


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He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water;


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but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn each one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.


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Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we might not perish?


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God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which He said He would do to them, and He didn’t do it.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jonah Angry Because of God’s Compassion on Nineveh</i></em><br/>But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.


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He prayed to Yahweh and said, Please, Yahweh, wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee away to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and You relent of doing harm.


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Therefore now Yahweh, take, I beg You, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.


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Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a shelter, and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city.


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Yahweh God prepared a vine, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was very glad because of the vine.


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It happened that when the sun arose, God prepared a hot east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he fainted and requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.


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God said to Jonah, Is it right for you to be angry about the vine? He said, I am right to be angry, even to death.


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Yahweh said, You have been concerned for the vine, for which you have not laboured, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night.


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Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Against Samaria and Jerusalem</i></em><br/> The word of Yahweh that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.


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Hear, you peoples, all of you. Listen, O earth, and all that is therein: and let the Lord Yahweh be witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple.


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For behold, Yahweh comes forth out of His place, and will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.


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The mountains melt under him, and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like waters that are poured down a steep place.


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All this is because of the disobedience of Jacob, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the disobedience of Jacob? Isn’t it Samaria? And what are the high places of Judah? Aren’t they Jerusalem?


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Therefore I will make Samaria like a rubble heap of the field, like places for planting vineyards; and I will pour down its stones into the valley, and I will uncover its foundations.


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All her idols will be beaten to pieces, and all her temple gifts will be burned with fire, and all her images will be destroyed; for as the hire of a prostitute has she obtained them, and to the hire of a prostitute shall they return.<br/> <em><i>Lamentation and Wailing</i></em>


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For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will howl like the jackals, and moan like the daughters of owls.


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For her wounds are incurable; and it has come even to Judah. It reaches to the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.


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Pass on, inhabitant of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame. The inhabitant of Zaanan won’t come out. When you hear the wailing of Beth Ezel, you will know there is no protection there.


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For the inhabitant of Maroth waits anxiously hoping for good, but evil has come down from Yahweh to the gate of Jerusalem.


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Harness the chariot to the swift steed, inhabitant of Lachish. She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion; For the transgressions of Israel were found in you.


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Therefore you will give a parting gift to Moresheth Gath. The houses of Achzib will be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel.


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I will yet hand you over to your enemy, inhabitant of Mareshah. The leader who is the glory of Israel will come to hide in the Adullam cave.


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Shave your heads, and cut off your hair for the children of your delight. Enlarge your baldness like the vulture; for they have gone into captivity from you!<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Plans of Man and the Plans of God</i></em><br/>Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.


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They covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.


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Therefore thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am planning against these people a disaster, from which you will not remove your necks, neither will you walk proudly; for it is an evil time.


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In that day they will take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, saying, ‘We are utterly ruined! My people’s possession is divided up. Indeed he takes it from me and assigns our fields to traitors!’.


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Therefore you will have no one who divides the land by lot in the assembly of Yahweh.<br/> <em><i>There Are False Prophets</i></em>


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Shall it be said, O house of Jacob: Is the Spirit of Yahweh restrained? Are these His doings? Don’t My words do good to him who walks blamelessly?


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But lately My people have risen up as an enemy. You strip the robe and clothing from those who pass by, confidently assuming that they aren’t in danger.


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You drive the women of My people out from their pleasant houses; from their young children you take away My blessing forever.


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Arise, and depart! For this is not your resting place, because of your uncleanness that destroys, even with a grievous destruction.


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If a man walking in a spirit of falsehood lies: I will prophesy to you of wine and of strong drink; he would be the prophet of this people.<br/> <em><i>The Promise of Deliverance</i></em>


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I will surely assemble, Jacob, all of you; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as a flock in the midst of their pasture; they will swarm with people.


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He who opens the breach goes up before them. They break through and pass the gate, and go out. And their king passes on before them, with Yahweh at their head.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>God’s Rebuke of the People’s Leaders</i></em><br/>I said, Please listen, you heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: Isn’t it for you to know justice?


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You who hate the good, and love the evil; who tear off their skin, and their flesh from off their bones;


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who also eat the flesh of My people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces for the pot, and as flesh within the cauldron.


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Then they will cry to Yahweh, but He will not answer them. Yes, He will hide His face from them at that time, because they made their deeds evil.


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Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who lead My people astray; for those who proclaim, Peace!to those who feed them; and whoever doesn’t provide for their mouths, they prepare war against Him:


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Therefore night is over you, with no vision, and it is dark to you, that you may not divine; and the sun will go down on the prophets, and the day will be black over them.


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The seers shall be disappointed, and the diviners confounded. Yes, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer from God.


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But as for me, I am full of power by the Spirit of Yahweh, and of judgment, and of might, to declare to Jacob his disobedience, and to Israel his sin.


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Please listen to this, you heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who hate justice, and pervert all right judgment.


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Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money: yet they lean on Yahweh and say, Isn’t Yahweh in the midst of us? No disaster will come on us.


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Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Mountain of Yahweh’s Temple</i></em><br/>But in the latter days, it will happen that the mountain of Yahweh’s temple will be established on the top of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills; and nations will stream to it.


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Many nations will go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion will go forth the law, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem;


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and He will judge between many peoples, and will decide concerning strong nations afar off. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war any more.


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But they will sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and no one will make them afraid: for the mouth of Yahweh of Armies has spoken.


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Indeed all the nations may walk in the name of their gods; but we will walk in the name of Yahweh our God for ever and ever.


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In that day, says Yahweh, I will assemble that which is lame, and I will gather that which is driven away, and that which I have afflicted;


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and I will make that which was lame a remnant, and that which was cast far off a strong nation: and Yahweh will reign over them on Mount Zion from then on, even forever.


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You, tower of the flock, the hill of the daughter of Zion, to you it will come, yes, the former kingdom will return, the kingdom will come to the daughter of Jerusalem.


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Now why do you cry out aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counsellor perished, that pains have taken hold of you as of a woman in travail?


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Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now you will go forth out of the city, and will dwell in the field, and will come even to Babylon. There you will be delivered. There Yahweh will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.


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Now many nations have assembled against you, that say, Let her be raped, and let our eye gloat over Zion.


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But they don’t know the thoughts of Yahweh, neither do they understand His counsel; for He has assembled them like the sheaves to the threshing floor.


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Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion; for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs brass; and you will beat in pieces many peoples: and I will devote their gain to Yahweh, and their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Bethlehem the Birthplace of the Promised Ruler</i></em><br/>Now you shall gather yourself in troops, daughter of troops. He has laid siege against us. They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.


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But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come forth to Me that is to be the ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.


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Therefore He will abandon them until the time that she who is in labor gives birth. Then the rest of his brothers will return to the children of Israel.


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He shall stand, and shall shepherd in the strength of Yahweh, in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God: and they will live, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth.


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He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land, and when he marches through our fortresses, then we will raise against him seven shepherds, and eight senior leaders of men.<br/> <em><i>Deliverance and Destruction</i></em>


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They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in its gates. He will deliver us from the Assyrian, when he invades our land, and when he marches within our border.


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The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from Yahweh, like showers on the grass, that don’t wait for man, nor wait for the sons of men.


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The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he goes through, treads down and tears in pieces, and there is no one to deliver.


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It will happen in that day, says Yahweh, That I will cut off your horses out of the midst of you, and will destroy your chariots.


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I will cut off your engraved images and your pillars out of your midst; and you shall no more worship the work of your hands.


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I will execute vengeance in anger, and wrath on the nations that didn’t listen.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Yahweh’s Case against His People</i></em><br/>Listen now to what Yahweh says: Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear what you have to say.


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Hear, you mountains, Yahweh’s controversy, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for Yahweh has a controversy with His people, and He will contend with Israel.


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For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage. I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.


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My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of Yahweh.


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How shall I come before Yahweh, and bow myself before the exalted God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?


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Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams? With tens of thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my disobedience? The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?


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He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?<br/> <em><i>The Guilt of the People</i></em>


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Yahweh’s voice calls to the city, and wisdom sees your name: Listen to the rod, and He who appointed it.


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Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a short ephah that is accursed?


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Her rich men are full of violence, her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their speech.


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Therefore I also have struck you with a grievous wound. I have made you desolate because of your sins.


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You shall eat, but not be satisfied. Your humiliation will be in your midst. You will store up, but not save; and that which you save I will give up to the sword.


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You will sow, but won’t reap. You will tread the olives, but won’t anoint yourself with oil; and crush grapes, but won’t drink the wine.


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For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab. You live by their commands, that I may make you a ruin, and her inhabitants a hissing; and you will bear the reproach of my people.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Misery of the People</i></em><br/>Misery is mine! Indeed, I am like one who gathers the summer fruits, as gleanings of the vineyard: There is no cluster of grapes to eat. My soul desires to eat the early fig.


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The Godly man has perished out of the land, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his brother with a net.


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Their hands are on that which is evil to do it diligently. The ruler and judge ask for a bribe; and the powerful man dictates the evil desire of his soul. Thus they conspire together.


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The best of them is like a brier. The most upright is worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, even your visitation, has come; now is the time of their confusion.


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Don’t trust in a neighbour. Don’t put confidence in a friend. With the woman lying in your embrace, be careful of the words of your mouth!


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For the son dishonours the father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.


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Don’t rejoice against me, my enemy. When I fall, I will arise. When I sit in darkness, Yahweh will be a light to me.


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I will bear the indignation of Yahweh, because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case, and executes judgment for me. He will bring me forth to the light. I will see His righteousness.


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Then my enemy will see it, and shame will cover her who said to me, where is Yahweh your God? Then my enemy will see me and will cover herself with shame. Now she will be trodden down like the mire of the streets.


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In that day they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt even to the River, and from sea to sea, and mountain to mountain.


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Yet the land will be desolate because of those who dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.<br/> <em><i>Prayer and Praises</i></em>


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Shepherd Your people with Your staff, the flock of Your heritage, who dwell by themselves in a forest, in the midst of fertile pasture land; let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.


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The nations will see and be ashamed of all their might. They will lay their hand on their mouth. Their ears will be deaf.


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They will lick the dust like a serpent. Like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their dens. They will come with fear to Yahweh our God, and will be afraid because of You.


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Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of His heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, because He delights in loving kindness.


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He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities under foot; and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.


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You will give truth to Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Against Nineveh</i></em><br/> A divine word about Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.


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Yahweh is a jealous God and avenges; Yahweh avenges and is full of wrath. Yahweh takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He maintains wrath against His enemies.


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Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Yahweh has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.


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He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languishes.


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The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at His presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it.


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Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by Him.


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But with an overflowing flood He will make a full end of His adversaries, and will pursue His enemies into darkness.


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For while they are entangled in thorns, and intoxicated with their drink, they will be consumed utterly like dry stubble.


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Thus says Yahweh: Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even so they will be cut down, and he shall pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.


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Yahweh has commanded concerning you: No more descendants will bear your name. Out of the house of your gods will I cut off the engraved image and the molten image. I will make your grave, for you are vile.


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Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, Judah! Perform your vows, for the wicked one will no more pass through you. He is utterly cut off.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>How Nineveh Is to Fall</i></em><br/>He who dashes in pieces has come up against you. Keep the fortress! Watch the way! Strengthen your muscles! Fortify your power mightily!


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For Yahweh restores the pride of Jacob, as the pride of Israel; for the destroyers have destroyed them, and ruined their vine branches.


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The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are dressed in scarlet, the chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the pine spears are brandished.


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The chariots rage in the streets, they rush back and forth in the broad highways. Their appearance is like torches, they run like lightning.


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He summons his picked troops. They stumble on their way. They dash to protect its wall, and the protective shield is put in place.


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It is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating on their breasts.


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Like water from a burst dam the people rush away from Nineveh. Stop! Stop! they cry, but no one looks back.


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Take the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold, for there is no end of the booty, the glory of all goodly jewels.


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She is empty, void, and waste. The heart melts, the knees knock together, their bodies and faces have grown pale.


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Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion’s cubs, and no one made them afraid?


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The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with the kill, and his dens with prey.


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Behold, I am against you, says Yahweh of Armies, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your envoys will no longer be heard.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>A Woe to Nineveh</i></em><br/>Woe to the city of blood! It is all full of lies and robbery- no end to the prey!


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the horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies. They stumble on their bodies,


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because of the multitude of the prostitution of the alluring prostitute, the mistress of witchcraft, who sells nations through her prostitution, and families through her witchcraft.


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Behold, I am against you, says Yahweh of Armies, and I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.


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It will happen that all those who look at you will flee from you, and say, ‘Nineveh is laid waste! Who will mourn for her?’ Where will I seek comforters for you?


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Are you better than No-Amon, who was situated among the rivers, who had the waters around her; whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was of the sea?


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Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity. Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets, and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her senior leaders were bound in chains.


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You also will be drunken. You will go into hiding. You also will seek a stronghold because of the enemy.


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All your fortresses will be like fig trees with the first-ripe figs: if they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.


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Behold, your troops in your midst are like women. The gates of your land are set wide open to your enemies. The fire has devoured your bars.


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Draw water for the siege. Strengthen your fortresses. Go into the clay, and tread the mortar. Make the brick kiln strong.


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There the fire will devour you. The sword will cut you off. It will devour you like the grasshopper. You have multiplied like grasshoppers, bred like the locust.


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You have increased your merchants more than the stars of the skies. The grasshopper strips, and flees away.


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Your guards are like the locusts, and your officials like the swarms of locusts, which settle on the walls on a cold day, but when the sun appears, they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.


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Your shepherds slumber, king of Assyria. Your nobles lie down, your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them.


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There is no healing for your wound, for your injury is fatal. All who hear the report of you clap their hands over you; for who hasn’t felt your endless cruelty?<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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Yahweh, how long will I cry, and You will not hear? I cry out to you Violence!- and will You not save?


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Why do You show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up.


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Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth; for the wicked surround the righteous, therefore justice is perverted.<br/> <em><i>God’s Reply</i></em>


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Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvellously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you.


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For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.


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Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar, they fly as an eagle that hastens to devour.


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Yes, he scoffs at kings, and princes are a derision to him. He laughs at every stronghold, for he builds up an earthen siege ramp, and takes it.


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Then he sweeps by like the wind, and goes on further. He is indeed guilty; his strength is his god.<br/> <em><i>Habakkuk Complains again</i></em>


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Aren’t You from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We also will not die! Yahweh, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish.


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You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do You tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,


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He takes up all of them with the hook; he catches them in his net, and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and is glad.


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Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious, and his food is good.


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Will he therefore continually empty his net, and kill the nations without mercy?<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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I will stand at my watch, and set myself on the ramparts, and will look out to know what He will say to me, and what answer I will get concerning my complaint.<br/> <em><i>God’s Reply</i></em>


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For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it speeds toward the end, and won’t prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It won’t delay.


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Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him; but the justified one will live due to his faith.


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Yes, moreover, wine is treacherous. A proud man who doesn’t stay at home, who enlarges his desire as Sheol, and he is like death, and can’t be satisfied, but gathers to himself all nations, and heaps to himself all peoples.


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Won’t all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases that which is not his, and who enriches himself by extortion! How long?’


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Won’t your debtors rise up suddenly, and wake up those who now make you tremble, and you will be their victim?


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Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you, because of men’s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all who dwell in it.


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Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!


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You have devised shame to your house, by cutting off many peoples, and have sinned against your soul.


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Behold, isn’t it of Yahweh of Armies that the peoples labour for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?


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For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.


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Woe to him who gives his neighbour drink, pouring your inflaming wine until they are drunk, so that you may gaze at their naked bodies!


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You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink, and be exposed! The cup of Yahweh’s right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.


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For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of the animals, which made them afraid; because of men’s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to every city and to those who dwell in them.


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What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols?


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Woe to him who says to the wood, ‘Awake!’ or to the mute stone, ‘Arise!’ Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in its midst.


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<em><i>A Prayer of Habakkuk</i></em><br/>A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, set to victorious music.


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Yahweh, I have heard of Your fame. I stand in awe of Your deeds, Yahweh. Renew your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years make it known. In wrath, You remember mercy.


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God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and His praise filled the earth.


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He stood, and shook the earth. He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled. The age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.


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Was Yahweh displeased with the rivers? Was Your anger against the rivers, or Your wrath against the sea, that You rode on Your horses, on Your chariots of salvation?


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You removed the sheath from Your bow, You called for many arrows. Selah. You split the earth with rivers.


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The mountains saw You, and were afraid. The storm of waters passed by, the deep sea roared and lifted up its hands on high.


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The sun and moon stood still in the sky at the light of Your arrows as they went, at the shining of Your glittering spear.


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You went forth for the salvation of Your people, for the salvation of Your anointed. You crushed the head of the land of wickedness. You stripped them head to foot. Selah.


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You pierced the heads of his warriors with their own spears. They came as a whirlwind to scatter me, gloating as if to devour the wretched in secret.


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I heard, and my body trembled. My lips quivered at the sound. Rottenness enters into my bones, and I tremble in my place, because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, for the coming up of the people who invade us.


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For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls:


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Yahweh, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like deer’s feet, and enables me to go in high places. For the musical director, on my stringed instruments.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Coming Destruction</i></em><br/> The word of Yahweh which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.


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I will sweep away man and animal. I will sweep away the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and the idols along with the wicked. I will cut off man from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh.<br/> <em><i>Against Judah</i></em>


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I will stretch out My hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place: the name of the idolatrous and pagan priests,


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those who worship the army of the sky on the housetops, those who worship and swear by Yahweh and also swear by Malcam,


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those who have turned back from following Yahweh, and those who haven’t sought Yahweh nor inquired after Him.


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Be silent at the presence of the Lord Yahweh, for the day of Yahweh is at hand. For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice, He has consecrated His guests.


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It will happen in the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice that I will punish the princes, the king’s sons, and all those who are clothed with foreign clothing.


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In that day, I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their master’s house with violence and deceit.


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In that day, says Yahweh, there will be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills.


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Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were loaded with silver are cut off.


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It will happen at that time that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and I will punish the men who are settled on their dregs, who say in their heart, Yahweh will not do good, neither will He do evil.


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Their wealth will become a spoil, and their houses a desolation. Yes, they will build houses, but won’t inhabit them. They will plant vineyards, but won’t drink their wine.<br/> <em><i>The Great Day of Yahweh Is Near</i></em>


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The great day of Yahweh is near. It is near, and hurries greatly, the voice of the day of Yahweh. The mighty man cries there bitterly.


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That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,


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I will bring distress upon men, so that they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Yahweh; and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.


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Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath, but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of His jealousy; for He will make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all those who dwell in the land.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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before the appointed time when the day passes as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Yahweh comes on you, before the day of Yahweh’s anger comes on you.


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Seek Yahweh, all you humble of the land, who have kept His ordinances. Seek righteousness; seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of Yahweh’s anger.<br/> <em><i>Against the Land of the Philistines</i></em>


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For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation. They will drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron will be rooted up.


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Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of Yahweh is against you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines. I will destroy you, that there will be no inhabitant.


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The coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah. They will find pasture there. They will lie down in the evening in the houses of Ashkelon, for Yahweh their God will visit them, and restore them.<br/> <em><i>Against Moab and Ammon</i></em>


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I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the insults of the children of Ammon, with which they have reproached My people, and magnified themselves against their border.


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Therefore as I live, says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of My people will plunder them, and the survivors of My nation will inherit them.


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This they will have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of Armies.


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Yahweh will leave them awestruck, for He will starve all the gods of the land. Men will worship Him, everyone from his place, even from every border of the nations.<br/> <em><i>Against Cush</i></em>


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He will stretch out His hand against the north, destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as the wilderness.


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Herds will lie down in the midst of her, all the animals of the nations. Both the pelican and the porcupine will lodge in its capitals. Their calls will echo through the windows. Desolation will be in the thresholds, for He has laid bare the cedar beams.


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This is the joyous city that lived carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none besides me. How she has become a desolation, a place for animals to lie down in! Everyone who passes by her will hiss, and shake their fists.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jerusalem’s Future</i></em><br/>Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, the oppressing city!


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She didn’t obey the voice. She didn’t receive correction. She didn’t trust in Yahweh. She didn’t draw near to her God.


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Her princes in the midst of her are as roaring lions, her judges are as evening wolves; they leave nothing until the next day.


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Her prophets are arrogant and treacherous people, her priests have desecrated the sanctuary; they have done violence to the law.


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Yahweh in the midst of her, He is righteous; He will do no wrong. Every morning He brings His justice to light. He doesn’t fail, but the unjust know no shame.


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I have cut off nations, their battlements are desolate; I have made their streets waste, so that no one passes by. Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.


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I said, Just fear Me. Receive correction, so that her dwelling won’t be cut off, according to all that I have appointed concerning her. But they rose early and corrupted all their doings.


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Therefore wait for Me, says Yahweh, until the day that I rise up to seize the prey; for My determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour on them My indignation, even all My fierce anger; for all the land will be devoured with the fire of My jealousy.


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For then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that they may all call on the name of Yahweh, to serve Him with one neck.


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From beyond the rivers of Cush, My worshippers, even the daughter of My dispersed people, will bring My offering.


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In that day you will not be ashamed for all your doings in which you have transgressed against Me; for then I will take away out of the midst of you your proud exulting ones, and you will no more be arrogant in My holy mountain.


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But I will leave in the midst of you an afflicted and humbled people, and they will take refuge in the name of Yahweh.


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The remnant of Israel will not do iniquity, nor speak lies, neither will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they will feed and lie down, and no one will make them afraid.


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Sing, daughter of Zion! Shout, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem.


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Yahweh has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is in the midst of you. You will not be afraid of evil any more.


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Yahweh your God is in the midst of you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy, He will calm you in His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.


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I will gather those who mourn with longing for the appointed feasts, you will no longer suffer reproach.


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Behold, at that time I will deal with all those who afflict you, and I will save those who are lame, and gather those who were driven away. I will give them praise and honour, those whose shame was once in all the earth.


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At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I gather you; for I will give you honour and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I return your captives before your eyes, says Yahweh.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Come and Build God’s House</i></em><br/> In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,


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This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’s house to be built’.


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You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don’t have enough. You drink, but you aren’t filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it.


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Go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build the house. I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, says Yahweh.


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You looked for much, and, behold, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says Yahweh of Armies, Because of My house that lies waste, while each of you is busy with his own house.


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I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on that which the ground brings forth, on men, on livestock, and on all the labour of the hands.


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Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of Yahweh, their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as Yahweh, their God, had sent him; and the people feared Yahweh.


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Then Haggai, Yahweh’s messenger, spoke Yahweh’s message to the people, saying, I am with you, says Yahweh.


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Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remainder of the people; and they came and worked on the house of Yahweh of Armies, their God,


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in the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Glory of the New House of God</i></em><br/>In the seventh month, in the twenty-first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came by Haggai the prophet, saying,


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Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remainder of the people, saying,


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‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Isn’t it in your eyes as nothing?


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Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel!’ says Yahweh. ‘Be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest! Be strong, all you people of the land’, says Yahweh, ‘and work, for I am with you’, says Yahweh of Armies.


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This is the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, and My Spirit dwelt among you. ‘Don’t be afraid’.


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For this is what Yahweh of Armies says: ‘Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land;


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and I will shake all nations. The precious things of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says Yahweh of Armies.


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‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former’, says Yahweh of Armies; ‘and in this place will I give peace’, says Yahweh of Armies.<br/> <em><i>Blessings</i></em>


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In the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai the prophet, saying,


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‘If someone carries holy food in the fold of his garment, and the garment touches bread, stew, wine, oil, or any food, will it too become holy?’. The priests answered, No.


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Then Haggai said, If one who is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, will it be unclean? The priests answered, It will be unclean.


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Then Haggai answered, ‘So is this people, and so is this nation before Me’, says Yahweh; ‘and so is every work of their hands. That which they offer there is unclean.


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Now, please consider from this day and backward, before a stone was laid on a stone in Yahweh’s temple.


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Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty, there were only twenty.


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I struck you with blight, mildew, and hail in all the work of your hands; yet you didn’t turn to Me’, says Yahweh.


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‘Consider, please, from this day and backward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, since the day that the foundation of Yahweh’s temple was laid, consider it.


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Is the seed still in the barn? Yes, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree haven’t brought forth. From this day on I will bless you’.<br/> <em><i>Zerubbabel Is a Chosen Signet Ring</i></em>


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I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overthrow the chariots, and those who ride in them. The horses and their riders will come down, everyone by the sword of his brother.


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In that day, says Yahweh of Armies, will I take you, Zerubbabel, My servant, the son of Shealtiel’, says Yahweh, ‘and will make you as a signet ring, for I have chosen you’, says Yahweh of Armies.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Return to the Lord</i></em><br/> In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,


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Therefore tell them: Thus says Yahweh of Armies: ‘Return to me’, says Yahweh of Armies, ‘and I will return to you’, says Yahweh of Armies.


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Don’t you be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: Thus says Yahweh of Armies, ‘Return now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings;’ but they did not hear, nor listen to me, says Yahweh.


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But My words and My decrees, which I commanded My servants the prophets, didn’t they influence your fathers? Then they repented and said, ‘Just as Yahweh of Armies determined to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our practices, so He has done with us’.<br/> <em><i>A Man on a Red Horse</i></em>


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On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,


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I had a vision in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in a ravine; and behind him there were red, brown, and white horses.


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Then I asked, ‘My lord, what are these?’. The angel who talked with me said to me, I will show you what these are.


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The man who stood among the myrtle trees answered, They are the ones Yahweh has sent to go back and forth through the earth.


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They reported to the angel of Yahweh who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked back and forth through the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and in peace.


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Then the angel of Yahweh replied, O Yahweh of Armies, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You have had indignation those seventy years?


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So the angel who talked with me said to me, Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of Armies: I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.


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I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity.


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Therefore thus says Yahweh: I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it, says Yahweh of Armies, and a builders’ line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem’.


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Proclaim further, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of Armies: My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and Yahweh will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem’.<br/> <em><i>Four Horns and Four Carpenters</i></em>


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I asked the angel who talked with me, What are these? He answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.


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Then I asked, What are these coming to do? He said, These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head; but these have come to saw them off, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>A Man with a Measuring Line in His Hand</i></em><br/>I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand.


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Then I asked, Where are you going? He said to me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and what is its length.


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and said to him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it.


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For I’, says Yahweh, ‘will be to her a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory in the midst of her.


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Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north’, says Yahweh; ‘for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the sky’, says Yahweh.


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For thus says Yahweh of Armies: ‘For honour He has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.


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For, behold, I will shake My hand over them, and they will be a spoil to those who served them; and you will know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me.


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Sing and rejoice, daughter of Zion; for, behold, I come, and I will dwell in the middle of you’, says Yahweh.


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Many nations shall join themselves to Yahweh in that day, and shall be My people; and I will dwell in the middle of you; and you shall know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you.


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Be silent, all flesh, before Yahweh; for He has roused Himself from His holy habitation!<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Rich Clothing to Replace Filthy Garments</i></em><br/>He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Yahweh, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary.


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Yahweh said to Satan, Yahweh rebuke you, Satan! Yes, Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Isn’t this a burning stick plucked out of the fire?


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He answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, Take the filthy garments from him. To him he said, Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich clothing.


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I said, Let them set a clean turban on his head. So they set a clean turban on his head, and clothed him; and the angel of Yahweh was standing by.


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Thus says Yahweh of Armies: ‘If you will walk in My ways, and if you will follow My instructions, then you also shall judge My house, and shall also keep My courts, and I will give you a place of access among these who stand by.


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Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you; for they are men who are a sign: for, behold, I will bring forth My servant, the Branch.


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For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes: behold, I will engrave its engraving’, says Yahweh of Armies, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.


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In that day’, says Yahweh of Armies, ‘every man will invite his neighbour to come under his vine and under his fig tree’.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Lampstand of Gold and Two Olive Trees</i></em><br/>The angel who talked with me came again, and awoke me, as a man who is awaken out of his sleep.


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He said to me, What do you see? I said, I have seen, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon; there are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are on the top of it;


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Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, This is the word of Yahweh to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit’, says Yahweh of Armies.


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Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain; and he will bring out the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace, to it!’.


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The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it; and you will know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you.


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Indeed, who despises the day of small things? For these seven shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These are the eyes of Yahweh, which run back and forth through the whole earth.


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Then I asked him, What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lampstand and on the left side of it?


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I asked him the second time, What are these two olive branches, which are beside the two golden spouts, that pour the golden oil out of themselves?


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Then he said, These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>A Flying Scroll</i></em><br/>Then again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a flying scroll.


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He said to me, What do you see? I answered, I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its breadth ten cubits.


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Then he said to me, This is the curse that goes out over the surface of the whole land; for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to it on the one side; and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off according to it on the other side.


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I will cause it to go out, says Yahweh of Armies, and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by My name; and it will remain in the midst of his house, and will destroy it with its timber and its stones.<br/> <em><i>Wickedness in the Ephah Basket</i></em>


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Then the angel who talked with me came forward, and said to me, Lift up now your eyes, and see what is this that is appearing.


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I said, What is it? He said, This is the ephah basket that is appearing. He said moreover, This is their appearance in all the land


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(and behold, a talent of lead was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah basket.


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He said, This is Wickedness!; and he threw her down into the midst of the ephah basket; and he put the weight of lead on its mouth.


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Then lifted I up my eyes, and saw, and behold, there were two women, and the wind was in their wings. Now they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah basket between earth and the sky.


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He said to me, To build her a house in the land of Shinar. When it is prepared, she will be set there in her own place.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Four Chariots from between Mountains of Brass</i></em><br/>Again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.


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The angel answered me, These are the four spirits of the sky, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.


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The one with the black horses goes out toward the north country; and the white went out after them; and the dappled went forth toward the south country.


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The strong went out, and sought to go that they might walk back and forth through the earth: and he said, Go around and through the earth! So they walked back and forth through the earth.


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Then he called to me, and spoke to me, saying, Behold, those who go toward the north country have quieted My spirit in the north country.<br/> <em><i>Silver and Gold Crowns for Joshua</i></em>


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Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah; and come the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have come from Babylon.


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Yes, take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest;


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and speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of Armies, Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: and he shall grow up out of his place; and he shall build Yahweh’s temple;


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even he shall build Yahweh’s temple; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne; and he shall be a priest on His throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.


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The crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in Yahweh’s temple.


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Those who are far off shall come and build in Yahweh’s temple; and you shall know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you. This will happen, if you will diligently obey the voice of Yahweh your God’.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Justice and Mercy</i></em><br/>It happened in the fourth year of king Darius that the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.


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and to speak to the priests of the house of Yahweh of Armies, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?


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Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you actually fast to Me, really to Me?


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Aren’t these the words which Yahweh proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and its cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’.


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Thus has Yahweh of Armies spoken, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.


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Don’t oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart’.


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But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.


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Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, in case they might hear the law, and the words which Yahweh of Armies had sent by His Spirit in the previous prophets. Therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of Armies.


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It has come to pass that, as He called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen, said Yahweh of Armies;


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but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they made the pleasant land desolate.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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Thus says Yahweh of Armies: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath.


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Thus says Yahweh: I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called ‘The City of Truth;’ and the mountain of Yahweh of Armies, ‘The Holy Mountain’.


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Thus says Yahweh of Armies: Old men and old women will again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age.


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Thus says Yahweh of Armies: If it is too hard in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be too hard in My eyes? says Yahweh of Armies.


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Thus says Yahweh of Armies: Behold, I will save My people from the east country, and from the west country;


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and I will bring them, and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.


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Thus says Yahweh of Armies: Let your hands be strong, you who hear in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets who were in the day that the foundation of the house of Yahweh of Armies was laid, even the temple, that it might be built.


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For before those days there were no wages for man, nor any wages for an animal; neither was there any peace to him who went out or came in, because of the adversary. For I set all men everyone against his neighbour.


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For they will sow their seed in peace and the vine will yield its fruit, and the ground will give its increase, and the skies will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things.


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It shall come to pass that, as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Don’t be afraid. Let your hands be strong.


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For thus says Yahweh of Armies: As I thought to do evil to you, when your fathers provoked Me to wrath, says Yahweh of Armies, and I didn’t repent;


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so again have I thought in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Don’t be afraid.


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These are the things that you shall do: speak every man the truth with his neighbour. Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates,


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and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbour, and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, says Yahweh.


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Thus says Yahweh of Armies: The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months shall be for the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.


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and the inhabitants of one shall go to another, saying, ‘Let us go speedily to entreat the favour of Yahweh, and to seek Yahweh of Armies. I will go also’.


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Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek Yahweh of Armies in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favour of Yahweh.


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Thus says Yahweh of Armies: In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, ‘We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you’.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Condemnation on the Enemies of God’s People</i></em><br/>An oracle. The word of Yahweh is against the land of Hadrach, and will rest upon Damascus; for the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel is toward Yahweh;


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Tyre built herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver like the dust, and fine gold like the mire of the streets.


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Behold, the Lord will dispossess her, and He will strike her power in the sea; and she will be devoured with fire.


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Ashkelon will see it, and fear; Gaza also, and will writhe in agony; as will Ekron, for her expectation will be disappointed; and the king will perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon will not be inhabited.


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I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; and he also will be a remnant for our God; and he will be as a chieftain in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.


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I will encamp around My house against the army, so that none pass through or return; and no oppressor will pass through them any more: for now I have seen with My eyes.<br/> <em><i>The Coming of the King</i></em>


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Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; humble, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.


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I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow will be cut off; and he will speak peace to the nations: and his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.


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As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water.


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Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope! Even today I declare that I will restore double to you.


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For indeed I bend Judah as a bow for Myself. I have filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and will make you like the sword of a mighty man.<br/> <em><i>The Lord Will Appear</i></em>


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Yahweh will be seen over them; and His arrow will go flashing like lightning; and the Lord Yahweh will blow the trumpet, and will go with whirlwinds of the south.


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Yahweh of Armies will defend them; and they will destroy and overcome with sling stones; and they will drink, and roar as through wine; and they will be filled like bowls, like the corners of the altar.


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Yahweh their God will save them in that day as the flock of His people; for they are like the jewels of a crown, lifted on high over His land.


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For how great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>God’s Care for Judah</i></em><br/>Ask of Yahweh rain in the time of the spring rains; Yahweh will make storm clouds, He will give rain showers to everyone for the plants in the field.


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For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and they have told false dreams. They comfort in vain. Therefore they go their way like sheep. They are oppressed, because there is no shepherd.


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My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the male goats; because Yahweh of Armies has visited His flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as His majestic horse in the battle.


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From Him will come forth the cornerstone, from Him the nail, from Him the battle bow, from Him every ruler together.


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They shall be as mighty men, treading down muddy streets in the battle; and they shall fight, because Yahweh is with them; and the riders on horses will be confounded.


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I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them back; for I have mercy on them; and they will be as though I had not cast them off: for I am Yahweh their God, and I will hear them.


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Ephraim will be like a mighty man, and their heart will rejoice as through wine; yes, their children will see it, and rejoice. Their heart will be glad in Yahweh.


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I will signal for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them; and they will increase as they have increased.


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I will sow them among the peoples; and they will remember Me in far countries; and they will live with their children, and will return.


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I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and there won’t be room enough for them.


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He will pass through the sea of affliction, and will strike the waves in the sea, and all the depths of the Nile will dry up; and the pride of Assyria will be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt will depart.


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I will strengthen them in Yahweh; and they will walk up and down in His name, says Yahweh.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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Wail, fir tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the stately ones are destroyed. Wail, you oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest has come down.


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A voice of the wailing of the shepherds! For their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions! For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.<br/> <em><i>The Breaking of the Covenants</i></em>


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Their buyers slaughter them, and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be Yahweh, for I am rich;’ and their own shepherds don’t pity them.


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For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, says Yahweh; but, behold, I will deliver the men, every one of them, into his neighbour’s hand, and into the hand of his king. They will strike the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.


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So I fed the flock of slaughter, especially the oppressed of the flock. I took for myself two staves. The one I called Grace, and the other I called Union, and I fed the flock.


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I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.


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Then I said, I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those who are left eat each other’s flesh.


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I took my staff Grace, and cut it apart, ‘That I might break My covenant that I had made with all the people’.


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It was broken in that day; and thus the poor of the flock that listened to me knew that it was the word of Yahweh.


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I said to them, If you think it best, give me my value; and if not, keep it. So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver.


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Yahweh said to me, Throw it to the potter, the handsome price that I was valued at by them! I took the thirty pieces of silver, and threw them to the potter, in the house of Yahweh.


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Then I cut apart my other staff, even Union, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.


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For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not visit those who are cut off, neither will seek those who are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound; but he will eat the flesh of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces.


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Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will be on his arm, and on his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Destruction for Jerusalem’s Enemies</i></em><br/>An oracle. The word of Yahweh concerning Israel. Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says:


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Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples, and on Judah also will it be in the siege against Jerusalem.


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It will happen in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who trample upon it will be severely wounded, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.


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In that day, says Yahweh, I will strike every horse with terror, and his rider with madness; and I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.


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The chieftains of Judah will say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in Yahweh of Armies their God’.


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In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they will devour all the surrounding peoples, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem.


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Yahweh also will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not magnified above Judah.


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In that day Yahweh will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of Yahweh before them.


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It will happen in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.<br/> <em><i>Look on Me Whom They Have Pierced</i></em>


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I will pour on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to Me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.


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In that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.


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The land will mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;


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the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart;


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<em><i>Forgiveness of Sins</i></em><br/>In that day there will be a spring opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.


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It will come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Armies, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will be remembered no more. I will also cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land.


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It will happen that, when anyone still prophesies, then his father and his mother who bore him will tell him, ‘You must die, because you speak lies in the name of Yahweh;’ and his father and his mother who bore him will stab him when he prophesies.


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It will happen in that day, that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision, when he prophesies; neither will they wear a hairy mantle to deceive:


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but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondservant from my youth’.


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One will say to him, ‘What are these wounds in your hands?’. Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends’.<br/> <em><i>The Refining of God’s People</i></em>


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Awake, sword, against My shepherd, and against the man who is close to Me, says Yahweh of Armies. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; and I will turn My hand against the little ones.


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It shall happen that in all the land, says Yahweh, two parts in it will be cut off and die; but the third will be left in it.


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I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will hear them. I will say, ‘It is My people;’ and they will say, ‘Yahweh is my God’.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Lord Returns to Reign</i></em><br/>Behold, the day of Yahweh comes, when your spoil will be divided in your midst.


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For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses pillaged, and the women raped. Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.


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His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in two, from east to west, making a very great valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and half of it toward the south.


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You shall flee by the valley of My mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azel; yes, you shall flee, just like you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Yahweh my God will come, and all the holy ones with you.


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It will be a unique day which is known to Yahweh; not day, and not night; but it will come to pass, that at evening time there will be light.


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It will happen in that day, that living waters will go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea; in summer and in winter will it be.


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Yahweh will be King over all the earth. In that day Yahweh will be declared as the one and only, and His name unified.


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All the land will be made like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she will be lifted up, and will dwell in her place, from Benjamin’s gate to the place of the first gate, to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses.


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This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike all the peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will consume away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will consume away in their sockets, and their tongue will consume away in their mouth.


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It will happen in that day, that a great panic from Yahweh will be among them; and they, each of them, will lay hold on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand will rise up against the hand of his neighbour.


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Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered together: gold, and silver, and clothing, in great abundance.


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So will be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the donkey, and of all the animals that will be in those camps, as that plague.


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It will happen that everyone who is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Yahweh of Armies, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.


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It will be, that whoever of all the families of the earth doesn’t go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh of Armies, on them there will be no rain.


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If the family of Egypt doesn’t go up, and doesn’t come, neither will it rain on them. This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike the nations that don’t go up to keep the feast of tents.


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This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that don’t go up to keep the feast of tabernacles.


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In that day there will be on the bells of the horses, HOLY TO YAHWEH; and the pots in Yahweh’s house will be like the bowls before the altar.


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Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of Armies; and all those who sacrifice will come and take of them, and cook in them. In that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Yahweh of Armies.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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I have loved you, says Yahweh. Yet you say, How have you loved us? Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother? says Yahweh, Yet I loved Jacob;


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but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.


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Whereas Edom says, We are beaten down, but we will return and build the waste places; thus says Yahweh of Armies, They shall build, but I will throw down; and men will call them ‘The Wicked Land’, even the people against whom Yahweh shows wrath forever.


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Your eyes will see, and you will say, Yahweh is great--even beyond the border of Israel!<br/> <em><i>Imperfect Sacrifices</i></em>


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A son honours his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, then where is my honour? And if I am a master, where is the respect due me? Says Yahweh of Armies to you, priests, who despise My name. You say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’


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You offer polluted bread on My altar. You say, ‘How have we polluted You?’ In that you say, ‘Yahweh’s table contemptible’.


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When you offer the blind for sacrifice, isn’t that evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, isn’t that evil? Present it now to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? Or will he accept your person? says Yahweh of Armies.


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Now, please entreat the favour of God, that He may be gracious to us. With this, will He accept any of you? says Yahweh of Armies.


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Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on My altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says Yahweh of Armies, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.


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For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same, My name is great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to My name, and a pure offering: for My name is great among the nations, says Yahweh of Armies.


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But you profane it, in that you say, ‘Yahweh’s table is polluted, and its fruit, even its food, is contemptible’.


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You say also, ‘Behold, what a weariness it is!’ and you have sniffed at it, says Yahweh of Armies; and you have brought that which was taken by violence, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring the offering. Should I accept this at your hand? says Yahweh.


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But the deceiver is cursed, who has in his flock a male, and vows, and sacrifices to the Lord a blemished thing; for I am a great King, says Yahweh of Armies, and My name is awesome among the nations.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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If you will not listen, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to My name, says Yahweh of Armies, then will I send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart.


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Behold, I will rebuke your seed, and will spread dung on your faces, even the dung of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it.


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You will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may be with Levi, says Yahweh of Armies.


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My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him that he might be reverent toward Me; and he was reverent toward Me, and stood in awe of My name.


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The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips. He walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity.


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For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Yahweh of Armies.


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But you have turned aside out of the way. You have caused many to stumble in the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says Yahweh of Armies.


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Therefore I have also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according to the way you have not kept My ways, but have had respect for persons in the law.<br/> <em><i>Judah’s Unfaithfulness</i></em>


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Don’t we all have one father? Hasn’t one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers?


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Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the holiness of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.


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May Yahweh cut off out of the tents of Jacob the man who does this, and his descendant; may he not offer an offering to Yahweh of Armies.


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This again you do: you cover the altar of Yahweh with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, because He doesn’t regard the offering any more, neither receives it with good will at your hand.


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Yet you say, ‘Why?’ Because Yahweh has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion, and the wife of your covenant.


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Did He not make you one, although He had the residue of the Spirit? Why one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.


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For I hate divorce, says Yahweh, the God of Israel, and him who covers his garment with violence! says Yahweh of Armies. Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you don’t deal treacherously.<br/> <em><i>The Judgment Day</i></em>


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You have wearied Yahweh with your words. Yet you say, ‘How have we wearied Him?’ In that you say, ‘Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of Yahweh, and He delights in them;’ or ‘Where is the God of judgment?’.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, He comes! says Yahweh of Armies.


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But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap;


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and He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to Yahweh offerings in righteousness.


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Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to Yahweh, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years.


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I will come near to you in judgment; and I will be an alert witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear Me, says Yahweh of Armies.<br/> <em><i>Will a Man Rob God?</i></em><br/>


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From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you, says Yahweh of Armies. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’.


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Will a man rob God? Yet you rob Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’. In tithes and offerings.


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Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this, says Yahweh of Armies, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough for.


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I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field, says Yahweh of Armies.


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Your words have been stout against Me, says Yahweh. Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’.


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You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God;’ and ‘What profit is it that we have followed His instructions, and that we have walked mournfully before Yahweh of Armies?


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Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they put God to the test and escape’.


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Then those who feared Yahweh spoke frequently one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before Him, for those who feared Yahweh, and who honoured His name.


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They shall be Mine, says Yahweh of Armies, My very own possession in the day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.


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Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn’t serve Him.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Day of the Lord is Coming</i></em><br/>For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that comes will burn them up, says Yahweh of Armies, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.


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But to you who fear My name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in his rays. You will go out, and leap like calves of the stall.


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You shall tread down the wicked; for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make, says Yahweh of Armies.


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Remember the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances.


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He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Genealogy of Jesus</i></em><br/> The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.


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So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations and from David to the captivity in Babylon fourteen generations and from the captivity in Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.<br/> <em><i>The Birth of Jesus</i></em>


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Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.


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And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not willing to make her a public example, decided to send her away secretly.


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But as he thought on these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying: Joseph you son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.


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And she shall give birth to a son, and you shall call his name Jesus; for it is he that shall save his people from their sins.


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Now all this happened so what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying:


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The virgin shall be with child and shall give birth to a son; and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us.


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And Joseph woke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife.


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But he did not have sexual intercourse with her until she had given birth to a son; and he called his name Jesus.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Wise Men Visit Baby Jesus</i></em><br/> Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea in the days of Herod the king, astrologers from the east came to Jerusalem, saying:


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Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.


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And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born.


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And you Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the princes of Judah. For out of you shall come forth a Ruler, who shall be shepherd of My people Israel.


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And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said: Go and search carefully for the young child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I may also come and worship him.


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And they, having heard the king, went their way; and the star which they saw in the east went before them until it came and stood over where the young child was.


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And they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary his mother; and they fell down and worshipped him, and opening their treasures they offered to him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.


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And being warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country by another route.


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Now when they had departed, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying: Arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.


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and stayed there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: Out of Egypt did I call My son.


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Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the astrologers, was furious and sent out soldiers and slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem and in all the borders of it aged two years and under, according to the time which he had determined from the Magi.


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A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she would not be comforted, because they are not.


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Arise and take the young child and his mother and go into the land of Israel, for they are dead that sought the young child's life.


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But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he withdrew into the region of Galilee,


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and he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets, that he should be called a Nazarene.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>John the Baptist Baptizes Jesus</i></em><br/> And in those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying:


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For this is he that was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying: The voice of one crying in the wilderness - Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight.


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Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather girdle about his loins and his food was locusts and wild honey.


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But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them: You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the anger to come?


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And think not to say within yourselves: We have Abraham as our father, for I say to you, that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.


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And even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.


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I indeed baptize you in water to repentance, but he that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire;


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whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor and he will gather his wheat into the barn; but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.


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But Jesus answering said to him: Permit it now, for thus it becomes us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he permitted him.


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And Jesus when he was baptized immediately came up out of the water, and the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming to rest on him.


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And a voice came from the heavens, saying: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus is Tempted </i></em><br/> Then was Jesus led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.


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And the tempter came and said to him: If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.


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But he answered and said: It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.


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and said to him: If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down. For it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning you, and on their hands they shall carry you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.


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Again, the Devil took him to an exceeding high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.


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Then said Jesus to him: Away with you Satan! For it is written: You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.


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Then the Devil left him, and angels came and ministered to him.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Begins to Preach</i></em>


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And leaving Nazareth, he went and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali.


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The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles-


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the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and the shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.


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And walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.


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And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.


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And they immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Heals Many</i></em>


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And Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness among the people.


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Then his fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them


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And great crowds followed him, those from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from the other side of the Jordan.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus Preaches About Kingdom Life</i></em><br/> And seeing the crowds, he went into the mountain and when he had sat down, his disciples came to him.


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Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.


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Blessed are you when men reproach you because of me, and persecute you and falsely accuse you of all sorts of evil.


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Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven; for likewise they persecuted the prophets that preceded you.


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You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its savour, with what shall it be salted? It becomes good for nothing but to be thrown out and trodden under the feet of men.


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Neither do men light a lamp and put it under a basket but on the stand; and it shines for all that are in the house.


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Likewise, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. <em><i>Jesus Interprets the Law of Moses</i></em>


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For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle shall in any way pass from the law, until all things be accomplished.


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Whoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men to do so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.


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For I say to you, that unless your righteousness shall exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no way enter into the kingdom of heaven.


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You have heard that it was said to those of old: You shall not kill, and whoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.


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But I say to you, that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever shall say to his brother Raca shall be in danger of the council, and whoever shall say Moros shall be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.


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If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,


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leave your gift before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.


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Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are with him in the street. Lest the adversary deliver you to the judge and the judge deliver you to the officer and you be thrown into prison.


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But I say to you, that everyone that looks on a woman lusting for her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart.


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And if your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away, for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish and not your whole body be thrown into Gehenna.


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And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away, for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish and not your whole body go into Gehenna.


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But I say to you, that everyone that divorces his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery; and whoever shall marry a divorced woman commits adultery.


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Again, you have heard that it was said to them of old: You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.


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nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet. Nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.


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But I say to you: Do not resist him that is evil but whoever hits you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.


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that you might be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.


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<em><i>Jesus Denounces Hypocrisy</i></em><br/> Take heed you do not do your good deeds before men, to be seen by them. Else you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.


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When therefore you do alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward.


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And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward.


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But you, when you pray, enter into your room and shut your door, pray to your Father who is unseen, and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you. <em><i>Jesus Teaches How to Pray</i></em>


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And in praying do not use vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.


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But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.<br/> <em><i>More About Hypocrisy</i></em>


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Moreover when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. For they disfigure their faces, so that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward.


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so you will not be seen by men to fast, but by your Father who is unseen; and your Father, who sees in secret, shall reward you.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Teaches About Treasure in Heaven</i></em>


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Do not store up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break in and steal.


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But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves cannot break in or steal.


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For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Teaches About Light and Darkness</i></em>


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The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is healthy, your whole body shall be full of light.


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But if your eye is bad, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!<br/> <em><i>Jesus Teaches About Money and Possessions</i></em>


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No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.


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Therefore I say to you: Do not be anxious for your life; what you shall eat, or what you shall drink. Nor for your body; what you shall wear. Is not the life more than the food, and the body more than the garment?


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Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow, nor do they reap or gather crops into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of much more value than they?


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So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin!


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Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is here today but tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not more surely care for you, O you of little faith!


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Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, How shall we be clothed?


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For the Gentiles clamour for all these things; even though your heavenly Father knows you have need of them all.


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Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged, and with what measure you use, it shall be applied to you.


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And why do you see the splinter that is in your brother's eye but ignore the plank that is in your own eye?


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Or how will you say to your brother: Let me remove the splinter in your eye, when you have a plank in your own eye?


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You hypocrite, first remove the plank from your own eye and then shall you see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother's eye.


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Do not give that which is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before the pigs, lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Teaches About His Generous Father </i></em>


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For everyone that asks receives, and he that seeks finds, and to him that knocks it shall be opened.


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If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him.


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Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Teaches How to Test for Good and Evil</i></em>


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Enter in by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby.


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Not everyone that says to me: Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that pleases my Father who is in heaven.


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Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name do many mighty works?


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Everyone therefore that hears these words of mine and does them, shall be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock.


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And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house; and it did not collapse, for it was founded upon the rock.


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And everyone that hears these words of mine and does not obey them, shall be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand.


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And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it collapsed, and great was its collapse.


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And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these words that the crowds were astonished at his teaching.


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<em><i>Jesus Heals a Leper</i></em><br/> And when he had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.


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And he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying: I do desire. Be made clean! And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.


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And Jesus said to him: See you tell no one, but go show yourself to the priests and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Commends a Roman Soldier</i></em>


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And the centurion answered and said: Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, but only say the word and my servant shall be healed.


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For I also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers and I say to one: Go! And he goes. And to another: Come! And he comes. And to my servant: Do this! And he does it.


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When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him: Truly I say to you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.


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And I say to you, that many shall come from the east and the west and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,


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but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast into the outer darkness. There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.


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And Jesus said to the centurion: Go your way. As you have believed, so it is done for you. And the servant was healed in that hour.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Heals Many Sick People</i></em>


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And when evening had come, they brought to him many possessed with demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all that were sick,


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so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying: He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Calms a Great Storm at Sea</i></em>


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And Jesus said to him: The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.


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And without warning, a furious storm arose on the sea, so much so that the boat was covered with the waves; but he slept.


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And he said to them: Why are you fearful? O you of little faith! Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.


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And the men marvelled, saying: What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?<br/> <em><i>Jesus Heals a Mad Man</i></em>


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And when he had arrived on the other side, in the country of the Gadarenes, there met him two possessed with demons, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could go that way.


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And they cried out, saying: What have we to do with you, you Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?


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And he said to them: Go. And they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the hill into the sea and perished in the waters.


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And they that fed them fled, and went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to them that had been possessed with demons.


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And all in the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to depart from their borders.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus Heals and Forgives a Paralysed Man</i></em><br/> And he entered into a boat and crossed over and came into his own city.


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And they brought to him a paralysed man, lying on a bed; and Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralysed man: Son, be of good courage. Your sins are forgiven.


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But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he then said to the paralytic: Arise, take up your bed and go to your house.


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But when the crowds saw it they were afraid and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Mixes with Social Outcasts</i></em>


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And as Jesus left there he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him: Follow me. And he arose and followed him.


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And it came to pass, as he sat eating in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples.


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And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples: Why does your Teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners?


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Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. I come not to call the righteous but sinners.


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Then the disciples of John came to him, saying: Why do we and the Pharisees often fast but your disciples do not fast?


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And Jesus said to them: Can the sons of the bride chamber mourn while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they will fast.


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No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth onto an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.


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Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.


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<em><i>Jesus Raises a Dead Girl Back to Life</i></em><br/> While he spoke these things to them, a ruler came and knelt before him, saying: My daughter is even now dead, but come and lay your hand upon her that she shall live.


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And a woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years, came behind him and touched the border of his garment.


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But Jesus turning and seeing her, said: Daughter, be of good courage. Your faith has healed you. And the woman was healed at that moment.


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But when the crowd had been put outside, he entered in and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose.


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And the fame thereof went into all that land.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Heals Two Blind Men and a Dumb Man</i></em>


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And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying out, and saying: Have mercy on us, son of David!


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And when he had arrived into the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them: Do you believe that I am able to do this? They say to him: Yes Lord.


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And when the demon was cast out, the dumb man spoke and the crowds marvelled, saying: Such a thing has never been seen in Israel!


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But the Pharisees said: By the prince of the demons he casts out demons.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Preaches with Compassion</i></em>


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And Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness.


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But when he saw the crowds, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were distressed and scattered, as sheep not having a shepherd.


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<em><i>Jesus Authorises His Disciples to Preach and Heal </i></em><br/> And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal all manner of disease and all manner of sickness.


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Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. The first Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother. James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother.


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Philip and Bartholomew. Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus,


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These twelve Jesus sent out and ordered them, saying: Do not go unto the Gentiles and do not enter into any city of the Samaritans.


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Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.


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no wallet for your journey, neither two coats, nor shoes, nor staff; for the labourer is worthy of his food.


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And into whatever city or village you shall enter, search out who in it is worthy, and stay with them until you go.


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And if the household be worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it be unworthy, let your peace return to you.


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And whoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, as you go out of that household, or that city, shake off the dust of your feet.


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Truly I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.


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I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.


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But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and in their synagogues they will scourge you.


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Yes and before governors and kings you shall be brought for my sake, for a testimony to them, and to the Gentiles.


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But when they deliver you up, do not be anxious how or what you shall speak, for it shall be given to you at that time what to speak.


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And brother shall deliver up brother to death and the father his child, and children shall rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.


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And you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake; but he that endures to the end, the same shall be saved.


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But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next. For truly I say to you, you shall not have gone through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man comes.


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It is enough for the disciple that he be as his teacher, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household!


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Therefore fear them not. For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and nothing hid that shall not be known.


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What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light, and what you hear in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops.


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And do not be afraid of those that kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.


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Are not two sparrows sold for a very small coin? And not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father.


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Therefore, everyone who shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven.


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For I came to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.


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He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.


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He that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward, and he that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.


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And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple; truly I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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And it came to pass when Jesus had finished commanding his twelve disciples, he departed from there to teach and preach in their cities.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Talks About John the Baptist</i></em>


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The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear and the dead are raised up; and the poor have good tidings preached to them.


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And as these went their way, Jesus began to say to the crowds concerning John: What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?


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But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Those that wear soft garments are in king's houses.


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This is he, of whom it is written: Listen, I send my messenger before your face; he shall prepare your way before you.


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Truly I say to you, among those that are born of women there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist. Yet he that is the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.


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And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and men of violence take it by force.


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But unto what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces, who call to their fellows


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The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they say, Look, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners! But wisdom is justified by her children.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Reproves Those Who Fail to Respond</i></em>


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Then he began to chastise the cities wherein most of his mighty works had been done, because they had not repented.


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Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.


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But I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.


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And you Capernaum, shall you be exalted to heaven? You shall go down to Hades, for if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in you, it would have remained until this day.


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But I say to you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Prays and Appeals to His Followers</i></em>


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At that time Jesus answered and said: I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You did hide these things from the wise and prudent, and did reveal them to babes.


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All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son save the Father. Neither does anyone know the Father, save the Son and to whomsoever the Son wishes to reveal Him.


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Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls.


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<em><i>Jesus Challenges the Pharisees About the Sabbath</i></em><br/> At that time, on the Sabbath day, Jesus went through the grainfields, and his disciples were hungry and began to pluck ears of grain to eat.


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But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him: Look, your disciples do what is unlawful on the Sabbath.


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But he said to them: Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and they that were with him-


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how he entered into the house of God and ate the showbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them that were with him, but only for the priests?


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Or have you not read in the law, that on the Sabbath day the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?


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But if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless.


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and saw a man having a withered hand. And they asked him, saying: Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day? So that they might accuse him.


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And he said to them: Which of you, if having only one sheep, and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, will not grab hold of it and lift it out?


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How much then is a man of more value than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day.


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Then said he to the man: Stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out and it was restored whole, as the other.


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Look at My servant whom I have chosen, My beloved in whom My soul is well pleased. I will put My Spirit upon him and he shall declare judgment to the Gentiles.


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A bruised reed he shall not break and a smoking wick he shall not quench, until he sends forth judgment to victory.


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And in his name shall the Gentiles hope.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Heals and is Slandered by the Pharisees</i></em>


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Then was brought to him one possessed with a demon, blind and dumb, and he healed him, so much so that the dumb man spoke and saw.


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But when the Pharisees heard it, they said: This man does not cast out demons but by Beelzebub the prince of the demons.


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And knowing their thoughts, he said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.


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And if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore shall they be your judges.


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Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man and ruin his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then he will ruin his house.


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Therefore I say to you: Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven.


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And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age, nor in the age to come.


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Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit.


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You offspring of vipers, how can you being evil speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.


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The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil things.


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And I say to you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account of it in the day of judgment.


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For by your words you shall be justified and by your words you shall be condemned.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Speaks of Signs, Unspiritual Attitudes and His True Family </i></em>


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Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying: Teacher, we would see a sign from you.


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But he answered and said to them: An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there shall no sign be given it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet.


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For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.


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The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, behold, one greater than Jonah is here!


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The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, one greater than Solomon is here!


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When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none.


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Then it says: I will return to my house from which I came out. And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order.


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Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.


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While he was yet speaking to the crowds, his mother and his relatives stood outside, seeking to speak to him.


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And someone said to him: Look, your mother and your relatives wait outside, wanting to speak to you.


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For whoever shall please my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus Speaks in Parables<br/> The Parable of the Sower</i></em><CM>On that day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea side.


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And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the beach.


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And others fell upon the rocky places where they had not much earth, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth.


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And others fell upon the good ground and yielded fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.


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And he answered and said to them: To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.


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For whoever has, to him shall be given and he shall have abundance, but whoever has not, from him shall be taken away even what he has.


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Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing, they see not, and hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand.


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And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which said: By hearing you shall hear and shall in no wise understand, and seeing you shall see and shall in no wise perceive.


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For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and repent, so that I should heal them.


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For truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see and saw them not, and to hear the things which you hear and heard them not.


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When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and understands it not, then comes the evil one and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the way side.


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And he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that hears the word and immediately with joy receives it.


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Yet he does not have root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.


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And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he that hears the word, and the care of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.


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And he that was sown upon the good ground, this is he that hears the word and understands it- who truly carries fruit and brings it forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.<em><i>Other Parables of the Kingdom</i></em>


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He set another parable before them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field.


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And the servants of the householder came and said to him: Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?


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And he said to them: An enemy has done this! And the servants said to him: Then do you want us to go and gather them up?


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Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up the weeds first and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.


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He set another parable before them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field.


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Which indeed is smaller than all seeds, but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and lodge in its branches.


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He told them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all raised.


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All these things spoke Jesus in parables to the crowds, and without a parable he said nothing to them.


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This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.


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Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying: Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.


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The field is the world and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are the sons of the evil one.


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The enemy that sowed them is the Devil, the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are angels.


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As therefore the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the world.


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The Son of Man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling and them that do iniquity,


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Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.


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The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid, and in his joy he went and sold all that he had and bought that field.


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Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.


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When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad.


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So shall it be in the end of the world. The angels shall come forth and separate the wicked from among the righteous,


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And he said to them: Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out from his treasure things new and old.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Visits His Home Town</i></em>


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And coming into his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so much so that they were astonished, and said: From where has this man received this wisdom and these mighty works?


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Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?


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And they were offended by him. But Jesus said to them: A prophet is not without honour, except in his hometown and in his own house.


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<em><i>Herod Murders John the Baptist</i></em><br/> At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report concerning Jesus,


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and said to his servants: This is John the Baptist! He has risen from the dead and therefore do these powers work in him.


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For Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.


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And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet.


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And she, being encouraged by her mother, said: Give me here the head of John the Baptist on a platter.


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And the king was grieved, but for the sake of his oaths and of his dinner guests, he commanded it to be given.


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And his disciples came and took away the corpse and buried him, and they went and told Jesus.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Feeds 5000 Men Plus Their Families</i></em>


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Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place to be alone; but when the crowds heard, they followed him on foot from the cities.


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And when evening had come, the disciples came to him, saying: This place is deserted and the day is now over. Send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy for themselves food.


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And he commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass; and he took the five loaves and the two fishes and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples and the disciples to the crowds.


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And they all ate and were filled, and they collected what was left over of the broken pieces- twelve baskets full!


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And they that ate, besides women and children, were about five thousand men.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Walks on Water</i></em>


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Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side of the sea, while he dismissed the crowds.


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And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.


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And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were disturbed, saying: It is a ghost! And they cried out for fear.


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And Peter answered, and said: Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you by walking on the water.


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But when he saw the wind was strong, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying: Lord, save me!


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And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and took hold of him and said to him: O you of little faith, why did you doubt?


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And when the men of that place recognised him, they sent word to all in that region and brought to him all who were sick,


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and they pleaded with him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus Criticises Traditions </i></em><br/> Then there came to Jesus Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem, saying:


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Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.


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And he answered and said to them: Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?


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For God said: Honour your father and your mother, and he that speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.


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But you say: Whoever shall say to his father or his mother: That with which you might have been profited by me is given to God-


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But in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines which are the precepts of men.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Teaches About the Source of Evil</i></em>


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It is not what enters into the mouth which defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.


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Then came the disciples, and said to him: Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?


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Let them alone. They are blind guides. And if the blind are guided by the blind, both shall fall into a pit.


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But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart, and it is they that defile the man.


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For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immorality, thefts, false witness and slander.


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These are the things which defile the man - but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Goes to Other Countries<CM>He Heals a Gentile Girl</i></em>


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And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying: Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.


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But he did not answer her. And his disciples came and begged him, saying: Send her away, for she cries out after us.


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Then Jesus answered and said to her: O woman, great is your faith. Be it done to you even as you wish. And her daughter was healed from that moment.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Heals and Feeds Many Gentiles</i></em>


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And Jesus departed from there and came near to the Sea of Galilee; and he went up the mountain and sat there.


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And there came to him great crowds, having with them the lame, blind, dumb, maimed and many others; and they put them down at his feet, and he healed them;


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so much so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking and the blind seeing.And they glorified the God of Israel.


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Then Jesus called his disciples to him, and said: I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.


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And the disciples said to him: Where can we get so many loaves in this deserted place to fill so great a crowd?


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He took the seven loaves and the fish; and he gave thanks and broke the bread and gave it to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.


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And they all ate and were filled, and they collected what was left over of the broken pieces- seven baskets full!


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And he sent away the crowds, boarded the boat and went into the region of Magdalla.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus Describes Pharisees And Sadducees as Evil </i></em><br/> And the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test him, and asked him to show them a sign from heaven.


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But he answered and said to them: When it is evening, you say: It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.


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And in the morning: It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening. You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.


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An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there shall be no sign given to it except the sign of Jonah. And he left them and departed.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Teaches the Meaning of Yeast</i></em>


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And Jesus, aware of it, said: O you of little faith! Why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?


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Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered


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How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.


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Then they understood that he told them not to be careful concerning the yeast in bread but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Leaves Israel Again and Tests His Disciples’ Understanding</i></em>


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Now when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying: Who do men say that the Son of Man is?


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And Jesus answered and said to him: Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you but my Father who is in heaven.


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And I also say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the grave shall not prevail against it.


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I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.


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Then he ordered the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Teaches His Disciples about His Forthcoming Death and Resurrection</i></em>


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From that time Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised


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And Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying: Be it far from you, Lord. This shall never happen to you!


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But he turned, and said to Peter: Get behind me, Satan. You are a hindrance to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.


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Then said Jesus to his disciples: If anyone wants to be my follower, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.


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For whoever would save his life shall lose it, and whoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.


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For what shall a man be profited if he shall gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?


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For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then shall he repay every man according to his deeds.


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Truly I say to you: There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus is Transfigured</i></em><br/> And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.


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And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone as the sun and his garments became white as the light.


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And Peter said to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us to be here. If it pleases you, I will make here three tabernacles- one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.


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While he was yet speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, saying: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him!


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And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying: Tell the vision to no one, until the Son of Man be risen from the dead.


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But I say unto you, that Elijah came already and they knew him not, but did to him whatever they would. Likewise shall the Son of Man suffer by their hands.


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Then understood the disciples that he spoke to them of John the Baptist.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Heals an Epileptic </i></em>


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Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is epileptic and suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire and often into the water.


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And Jesus answered and said: O faithless and perverse generation! How long shall I be with you? How long must I tolerate you? Bring him here to me.


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And he said to them: Because of your little faith. For truly I say to you: If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move. Nothing shall be impossible for you.


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And while they stayed in Galilee, Jesus said to them: The Son of Man shall be delivered up into the hands of men,


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and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised up. And they were greatly distressed.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Teaches About the True Freedom of Sons of God</i></em>


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And when they arrived in Capernaum, they that collected the tribute money came to Peter, and said: Does not your teacher pay the tribute money?


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He said: Yes. And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first of all, saying: Simon. What do you think? The kings of the earth, from whom do they receive toll or tribute? From their own children, or from strangers?


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However, not to give offence to them, go to the sea, cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a coin. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus Teaches About Greatness and Humility</i></em><br/> At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?


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and said: Truly I say to you, except you turn and become as little children, you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.


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Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.


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But whoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him that a great millstone should be hung about his neck and that he should be drowned in the depths of the sea.


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Woe to the world because of temptations to stumble! For it is necessary that the temptations occur, but woe to that man through whom the temptation comes!


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And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or lame, rather than having two hands or two feet to be thrown into the perpetual fire.


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And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna.


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See you do not despise one of these little ones. For I say to you, that in heaven their angels do always see the presence of my Father who is in heaven.


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For the Son of Man came to save those which were lost.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Teaches About Sin and Forgiveness</i></em>


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What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?


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And if he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.


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And if your brother sins against you, go show him his fault, between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.


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But if he does not hear you, take with you one or two others, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.


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And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church, and if he refuses to hear the church also, let him be to you as the Gentile and the tax collectors.


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Truly I say to you: Whatever things you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever things you shall release on earth shall be released in heaven.


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Again I say to you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.


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Then Peter came and said to him: Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Until seven times?


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Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to a certain king who would make a reckoning with his servants.


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And since he could not pay, his master ordered that he be sold with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.


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The servant therefore fell on his knees, saying: Lord, have patience with me and I will pay you all that I owe.


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But that servant went out and found one of his fellow-servants, who owed him a hundred denarii, and he laid hold on him and took him by the throat, saying: Pay what you owe.


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When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.


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Then his lord summoned him and said to him: You wicked servant; because you pleaded with me I forgave you all that debt.


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So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Divorce</i></em><br/> And it came to pass when Jesus had finished these words, he departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea on the other side of the Jordan.


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And Pharisees came up to him and tested him, by asking: Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?


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And he answered and said: Have you not read, that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female,


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and said: For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?


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So they are no more two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, do not let man separate.


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He said to them: Moses for your hardness of heart allowed you to send away your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so.


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And I say to you, whoever shall send his wife away, except for porneia and shall marry another, commits adultery; and he that marries a divorced woman, commits adultery.


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For there are eunuchs that were born so from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs that were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs that made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Teaches the Cost of True Discipleship</i></em>


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Then little children were brought to him, so that he should lay his hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked them.


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But Jesus said: Let the little children come to me and do not prevent them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.


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And someone came to him and said: Teacher, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?


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And he said to him: Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only One who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.


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He said to him: Which? And Jesus said: You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness,


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Jesus said to him: If you would be perfect, go sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven, and come follow me.


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But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he was one that had great possessions.


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And Jesus said to his disciples: Truly I say to you: It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.


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And again I say to you: It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.


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And Jesus looking upon them said to them: With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.


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Then asked Peter, saying: We have left all and followed you. What then shall we receive as a reward?


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And Jesus said to them: Truly I say to you: You who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.


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And everyone that has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold and shall inherit eternal life.


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<em><i>Jesus’ Parable of Labourers in the Vineyard</i></em><br/> For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard.


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And to them he said: You go also into the vineyard and whatever is right I will give you. And they went their way.


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And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he said to them: Why do you stand here idle all the day?


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And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward: Call the labourers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.


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And when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more, but likewise each received a denarius.


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These last have spent only one hour but you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.


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And he answered and said to one of them: Friend, I do you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?


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Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own money? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?


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So the last shall be first and the first last.<br/> <em><i>The Importance Of Being A Servant</i></em>


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And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them:


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Listen, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered to the chief priests and scribes; and they shall condemn him to death,


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and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify; and the third day he shall be raised up.


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Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling before him and asking a certain thing of him.


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And he said to her: What do you desire? She said to him: Command that in your kingdom these my two sons may sit, one on your right hand, and one on your left hand.


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But Jesus answered and said: You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink? They said to him: We are able.


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He said to them: You shall drink my cup indeed - but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand, is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.


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But Jesus called them to himself, and said: You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them.


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Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give his life as a ransom for many.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Heals Two Determined Blind Men</i></em>


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And two blind men who were sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying: Lord, have mercy on us, you Son of David.


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And the crowd rebuked them, that they should hold their peace; but they cried out the more, saying, Lord, have mercy on us, you Son of David!


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And Jesus, being moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately they received their sight and followed him.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus Enters Jerusalem </i></em><br/> And when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,


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saying to them: Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.


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And if anyone says something to you, you shall say: The Lord has need of them. And immediately he will send them.


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Tell the daughter of Zion: Look, your King comes to you, meek and riding upon an ass and upon a colt the foal of an ass.


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Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.


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And the crowds that went before him and that followed shouted: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!


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And the crowds said: This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Clears the Temple </i></em>


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And Jesus entered into the temple of God and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple. and overthrew the tables of the money-changers and the seats of them that sold the doves.


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And he said to them: It is written, my house shall be called a house of prayer; but you make it a den of robbers.


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But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David!, they were moved with indignation, and said to him:


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Do you hear what these are saying? And Jesus said to them: Yes. Did you never read: Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have perfected praise?


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And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Condemns a Fig Tree</i></em>


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And seeing a fig tree by the roadside, he went to it and found nothing thereon but leaves only; and he said to it: Let there be no fruit from you again. And immediately the fig tree withered away.


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And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying: How did the fig tree immediately wither away?


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And Jesus answered and said to them: Truly I say to you, If you have faith and doubt not, you shall not only do what is done to the fig tree, but even if you shall say to this mountain: Be taken up and cast into the sea, it shall be done.


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And all things, whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.<br/> <em><i>Jesus is Challenged In The Temple</i></em>


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And when he had entered into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said: By what authority do you do these things? And who gave you this authority?


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And Jesus answered and said to them: I also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things.


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The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men? And they discussed it among themselves, saying: If we shall say, from heaven, he will say to us, why then did you not believe him?


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And they answered Jesus and said: We do not know. He replied to them: Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.<em><i>Jesus’ Parable of the Two Sons</i></em>


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But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said: Son, today go and work in the vineyard.


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Which of the two did the will of his father? They replied: The first. Jesus said to them: Truly I say to you, that the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.


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For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and afterwards when you saw it, you still did not repent and believe him.


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<em><i>Jesus’ Parable of the Vineyard and the Husbandmen</i></em><br/> Hear another parable. There was a man that was master of a house, who planted a vineyard and set a hedge about it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen; and went into another country.


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But the husbandmen, when they saw the son, said among themselves: This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.


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They said to him: He will miserably destroy those miserable men and will let out the vineyard to other husbandmen, who shall pay him the fruits in their seasons.


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Jesus said to them: Did you never read in the scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner. This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.


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Therefore say I to you: The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits of it.


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And he that falls on this stone shall be broken to pieces, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust.


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And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke of them.


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And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus’ Parable About the Wedding Feast</i></em><br/> And Jesus answered and spoke again in parables to them, saying:


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and sent out his servants to call them that were invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come.


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Again he sent other servants, saying: Tell them that were invited: Look, I have made ready my dinner. My oxen and my fatlings are killed and all things are ready. Come to the marriage feast!


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And those servants went out into the highways and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good; and the wedding was filled with guests.


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But when the king entered to see the guests, he saw there a man who was not wearing a wedding-garment.


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And he said to him: Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding-garment? And he was speechless.


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Then the king said to the servants: Bind him hand and foot and throw him outside into the darkness, where there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.


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For many are called but few chosen.<br/> <em><i>The Pharisees Try to Trap Jesus – Tribute Money to Caesar</i></em>


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And they sent to him their disciples, along with the Herodians, saying: Teacher. We know that you are true and teach the way of God in truth and care not for anyone, for you regard not the person of men.


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They said to him: Caesar's. He then said to them: Therefore give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.


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And when they heard it, they marvelled and left him and went away.<br/> <em><i>The Sadducees Try to Trap Jesus - Resurrection</i></em>


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Teacher. Moses said that if a man dies having had no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed to his brother.


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Now there were with us seven brothers; and the first married and died having no seed, and thus left his wife to his brother.


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But Jesus answered and said to them: You are mistaken, as you neither know the scriptures, nor the power of God.


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For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven.


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But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying:


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I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.


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And when the crowds heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.<br/> <em><i>A Pharisee Lawyer Tries to Trap Jesus – The Greatest Commandment</i></em>


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And he said to him: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.


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On these two commandments hang the whole law and the prophets.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Tests the Pharisees – Who is the Son of David?</i></em>


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And no one could say a word in reply. From that day nobody dared to ask him any other questions.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus Warns About Hypocrisy </i></em><br/> Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying:


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Therefore all things whatever they tell you, do and observe; but do not you copy their works, for they say and do not.


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Yes, they bind heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders; but they will not move them with their finger.


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But they do all their works to be seen by men. For they make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long,


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And whoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, and whoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.


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But woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.


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Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, while for a pretence you make long prayers. Therefore you shall receive greater condemnation.


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Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he has become so, you make him twofold more a son of Gehenna than yourselves.


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Woe to you, you blind guides, who say: Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.


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And, Whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing! But whoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, he is bound by his oath.


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Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you tithe mint and anise and cumin, yet have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy and faith.These you ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone.


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Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.


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You blind Pharisee! Cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside of it may become clean also.


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Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful but inwardly are full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness.


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Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.


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Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and garnish the tombs of the righteous,


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and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.


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Therefore, look, I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes. Some of them you shall kill and crucify, and some of them you shall scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city.


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That upon you may fall the guilt for all the righteous blood shed on the land, from the blood of Abel the righteous to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you slew between the sanctuary and the altar.


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Truly I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Laments Over Jerusalem</i></em>


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O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings- but you were not willing!


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For I say to you, you shall not see me from this time forward, until you shall say: Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus Predicts the Temple Destruction, His Return and the End of the Age</i></em><br/> And Jesus came out of the temple and was going on his way when his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple.


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But he answered and said to them: Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you. There shall not be left here one stone upon another, which shall not be thrown down.


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And as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying: Tell us, when shall these things be? And what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?


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And you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. Ensure you are not alarmed, for this must happen- but the end is not yet.


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For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and earthquakes in various places.


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Then shall they deliver you up to tribulation, and shall kill you; and you shall be hated by all the nations for my name's sake.


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And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations- and then shall the end come.


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Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let him that reads understand),


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For then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be.


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And except those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved- but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.


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Then if anyone shall say to you, Here is the Christ, or another, Here is the Christ- do not believe them!


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For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, which shall show great signs and wonders so as to lead astray- if possible- even the elect.


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Therefore, if they shall say to you: Look, he is in the wilderness! Do not go. Look, he is in the inner chambers! Do not believe it.


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For as the lightning comes from the east and is seen even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.


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But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.


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And then the sign of the Son of Man shall appear in heaven.Then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.


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And he shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.


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Now from the fig tree learn her parable. When her branch has become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that the summer is near.


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Heaven and earth may pass away, but my words shall not pass away.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Warns that the Time of the End is Only Known to God</i></em>


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But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the Angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.


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For as in those days which were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,


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and they did not realize until the flood came and took them all away. So shall the coming of the Son of Man be.


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But know this! That if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.


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<em><i>Jesus Describes the Wise Servant</i></em><br/> Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has set over his household to give them their food in due time?


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the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he does not expect him and in an hour when he does not know,


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and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus’ Parable of Ten Virgins</i></em><br/> Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.


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But the wise answered: Perhaps there will not be enough for us and you. Instead, you should go to them that sell oil and buy some for yourselves.


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And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came- and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.


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Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know the day nor the hour.<br/> <em><i>Jesus’ Parable About the Servants and the Talents</i></em>


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For it is as when a man, going into another country, called his own servants and delivered to them his goods.


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And to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one- to each according to his abilities; and he went on his journey.


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Immediately he that received the five talents went and traded with them and made another five talents.


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And he that received the five talents came and brought another five talents, saying: Lord, you gave me five talents. Look, I have gained another five talents.


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His lord said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, so I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord!


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And also he that had received the two talents came and said: Lord, you gave me two talents. Look, I have gained another two talents.


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And also he that had received the one talent came and said: Lord, I knew you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed.


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But his lord answered and said to him: You wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter seed.


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You should have deposited my money with the bankers, so that on my return I would have collected my own money with interest.


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For to everyone that has shall be given, and he shall have abundance, but from him that has not, even what he has shall be taken away.


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And cast out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There, shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.<br/> <em><i>Jesus’ Parable About Sheep and Goats</i></em>


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But when the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the Angels with him, then he shall sit on the throne of his glory.


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And before him shall be gathered all the nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.


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Then the King shall say to those on his right hand: Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.


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For I was hungry and you gave me to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me.


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Then the righteous shall answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see you hungry and fed you? Or thirsty and gave you drink?


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And the King shall answer and say to them: Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of these my brothers, even the least, you did it to me.


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Then he shall also say to them on the left hand: You who are cursed, depart from me, to the perpetual fire which is prepared for the Devil and his messengers.


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For I was hungry and you did not give me anything to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink.


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I was a stranger and you did not welcome me. Naked and you did not clothe me. Sick and in prison and you did not visit me.


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Then they shall also answer, saying: Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you?


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Then he shall answer them, saying: Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of these least, you did not do it to me.


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And these shall go away into eternal punishment; but the righteous into eternal life.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus Predicts Two Days to His Death</i></em><br/> And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these words, he said to his disciples:


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You know that after two days the Passover comes, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.


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Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered at the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas.


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But they said: Not during the feast, lest a riot arise among the people.<br/> <em><i>Jesus is Anointed</i></em>


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a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.


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But Jesus perceiving it, said to them: Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work upon me.


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Truly I say to you: Wherever in the whole world this gospel is preached, what this woman has done shall also be spoken of as a memorial to her.


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and said: What are you willing to give me if I will deliver him to you? And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.


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And from that time onward he sought opportunity to betray him.<br/> <em><i>Jesus’ Last Supper</i></em>


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Now on the first day of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Where do you want us to prepare the Passover for you to eat?


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And he said: Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him: The Teacher said, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.


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The Son of Man goes, even as it is written of him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better if that man had not been born.


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And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed and broke it, and he gave it to the disciples, saying: Take, eat. This is my body.


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But I say to you, I shall not drink of this fruit of the vine from this time forward, until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom.


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Then Jesus said to them: You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written: I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.


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Jesus said to him: Truly I say to you, that this night, before the cock crows, you shall deny me three times.


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Peter said to him: Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you. Likewise said all the disciples.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Prays in Gethsemane</i></em>


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Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples: Sit here, while I go yonder and pray.


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And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.


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And he went forward a little and fell on his face and prayed, saying: My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from me. Nevertheless, not as I will but as You will.


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And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter: What! Could you not watch with me for one hour?


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Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.


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Again a second time he went away and prayed, saying: My Father, if this cup cannot pass, except I drink it, Your will be done.


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Then he came to the disciples and said to them: Sleep on now and take your rest.<br/> <em><i>Jesus is Arrested</i></em><CM>The hour is at hand and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.


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And while he yet spoke, Judas, one of the twelve, came; and with him a great crowd with swords and staves, from the chief priest and elders of the people.


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And Jesus said to him: Friend, do what you came to do. Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took him.


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And one of those with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.


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Then said Jesus to him: Put away your sword into its place, for all that take the sword shall perish with the sword.


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Do you think I cannot ask my Father and He shall, even now, send me more than twelve legions of Angels?


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In that hour Jesus said to the mob: Have you come out as against a robber with swords and staves to seize me? I sat daily in the temple teaching and you did not take me.


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But all this is happening so that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples left him and fled.


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And they that had taken Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together.


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But Peter followed him afar off, to the court of the high priest; and entered in and sat with the officers, to see the end.


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Now the chief priests and the whole council sought false witness against Jesus, that they might put him to death.


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And the high priest stood up and said to him: Do you answer nothing? What is it that these testify against you?


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But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest said to him: I bind you under oath to the living God, tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.


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Jesus said to him: You have said it; nevertheless I say to you, from this time forward you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.


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Then the high priest tore his garments, saying: He has spoken blasphemy. What further need have we of witnesses? You have now heard the blasphemy.


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Then they spat in his face and beat him with their fists, and some slapped him with the palms of their hands,


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saying: Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is he that struck you?<br/> <em><i>Peter Denies he Knows Jesus</i></em>


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Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a maid came to him, saying: You also were with Jesus the Galilean.


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And when he went out to the entrance, another maid saw him and said to the bystanders: This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.


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And after a little while they that stood by came and said to Peter: Of a truth you also are one of them, for your dialect makes you known.


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And Peter remembered the words which Jesus had said: Before the cock crows, you shall deny me three times. And he went out and wept bitterly.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus is Brought to Pilate </i></em><br/> Now when morning had arrived, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.


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Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders,


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saying: I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood. But they said: What is that to us? See to it yourself.


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And he threw the pieces of silver into the sanctuary and departed, and he went away and hanged himself.


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And the chief priests took the pieces of silver and said: It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is the price of blood.


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Then was fulfilled what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying: And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel.


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Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him: Are you the King of the Jews? And Jesus said to him: You say it.


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Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted.


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Therefore, when they were gathered together, Pilate said to them: Who do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?


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And while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent a message to him, saying: Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.<br/> <em><i>Jesus is Condemned</i></em>


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Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds that they should ask for Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.


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But the governor answered and said to them: Which of the two do you want me to release to you? And they said: Barabbas!


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Pilate said to them: What then shall I do to Jesus who is called Christ? They all said: Let him be crucified!


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And he said: Why, what evil has he done? But they cried out exceedingly, saying: Let him be crucified!


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So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying: I am innocent of this man's blood. See to it yourselves.


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Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium, and the whole battalion gathered around him.


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And they plaited a crown of thorns and put it upon his head and a reed in his right hand, and they knelt down before him and mocked him, saying: Hail, King of the Jews!


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And when they had mocked him, they took the robe from him and dressed him in his own garments, and led him away to crucify him.


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And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, whom they forced to carry the cross.<br/> <em><i>Jesus is Crucified</i></em>


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And over his head they put the written accusation against him, which read: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.


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and saying: You that would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.


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He saved others; he cannot save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in him.


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And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice: Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?


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And immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink.


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And the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom; and the earth quaked and the rocks were split.


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and coming forth out of the tombs after his resurrection they entered into the holy city and appeared to many.


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Now the centurion and those that were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that happened, were terrified, saying: Truly this was the Son of God.


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And many women were there watching from afar, those who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him.


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Among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.<br/> <em><i>Jesus is Buried </i></em>


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And when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus.


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and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a great stone as the door of the tomb, and departed.


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Now the next day, which is the day after the Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together before Pilate,


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saying: Sir, we remember that that deceiver said when he was still alive, After three days I will rise again.


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Therefore, command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him away and say to the people, He is risen from the dead; and so the last error will be worse than the first.


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So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus is Resurrected</i></em><br/> Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.


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And there was a great earthquake, for an Angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.


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And the angel said to the women: Do not be fearful, for I know you seek Jesus, who has been crucified.


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And go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and that he goes ahead of you into Galilee. There you shall see him. Look, I have told you.


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And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring this message to his disciples.


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Then Jesus said to them: Fear not. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee and there shall they see me.


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Now while they were going, some of the guard came into the city and told the chief priests all the things that had happened.


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And when they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave much money to the soldiers,


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So they took the money and did as they were told; and this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Commissions His Disciples</i></em>


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And Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying: All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.


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Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,


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teaching them to observe all things whatever I commanded you; andI am with you always, even to the end of the age.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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Just as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Look, I send My messenger before your face, he will prepare your way.


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John came and baptized in the wilderness, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.


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And there went out to him all the country of Judea and all they of Jerusalem: and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.


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And John was clothed with camel's hair and had a leather girdle about his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey.


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He preached, saying: There comes after me he that is mightier than I, whose shoelaces I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.


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And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the river Jordan.


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And immediately coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens open and the Spirit as a dove descending upon him.


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And he was in the wilderness forty days tempted by Satan, and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels took care of him.<br/> <em><i>Calling the Disciples</i></em>


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and saying: The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.


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And passing along by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.


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And going on a little further, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending the nets.


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And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and went after him.


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And they went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught.


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And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.


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saying: What have we to do with you, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are- the Holy One of God.


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And they were all amazed, so much so they questioned each other, saying: What is this? What a new teaching! With authority he commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him!


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And the report of him went out immediately everywhere into all the region of Galilee and thereabout.<br/> <em><i>At Simon’s Home</i></em>


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And immediately, when they had come out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.


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And he came and took her by the hand and raised her up; and the fever left her, and she served them.


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When evening came, and when the sun had set, they brought to him all that were sick and those possessed with demons.


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And he healed many that were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons; and he did not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.


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And in the morning, a great while before daybreak, he rose up and went out, and departed into a deserted place; and there prayed.


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And he said to them: Let us go elsewhere, into the next towns, so that I may preach there also; for this is why I came.


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And throughout all Galilee he went into their synagogues, preaching and casting out demons.<br/> <em><i>Healing a Leper</i></em>


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And a leper came to him, begging him as he knelt down before him, saying to him: If you will, you can make me clean.


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And being moved with compassion, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him: I will. Be cleansed.


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saying to him: See you say nothing to anyone, but go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing the things which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.


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But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news, so much so that Jesus could no more openly enter into a city, but stayed in deserted places. But still they came to him from every quarter.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Healing a Paralyzed Man</i></em><br/> And after some days, when he entered again into Capernaum, it became known that he was in the house.


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And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even about the door; and he spoke the word to them.


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And when they could not come near to him for the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was; and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed whereon the paralyzed man lay.


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And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit what they questioned within themselves, said to them: Why do you question these things in your hearts?


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Which one is easier to say to the paralyzed man? Your sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, pick up your bed and walk- ?


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But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins (he said to the paralyzed man):


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And he arose and immediately picked up the bed, and went out in full view of them all. They were all amazed and glorified God, saying: We have never seen anything like this before!<br/> <em><i>The Call of Levi</i></em>


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And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office; and he said to him: Follow me. And he arose and followed him.


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And it came to pass, that as he was dining in Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners sat down with Jesus and his disciples. For there were many, and they followed him.


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And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples: How is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?


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And when Jesus heard it, he said to them: They that are whole have no need of a doctor, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.<br/> <em><i>Old and New Wine</i></em>


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And John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they came, and said to him: Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?


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And Jesus said to them: Can the sons of the bride chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.


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But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them. In that day, they will fast.


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Nobody sews a piece of unshrunk cloth onto an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.


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And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, otherwise the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. New wine must be put into new wineskins.


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And it came to pass, that he was going on the Sabbath day through the grain fields; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of grain.


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And he said to them: Have you never read what David did when he had need and was hungry- he and they that were with him?


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How he entered into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the showbread, which it is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and gave also to those that were with him?


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<em><i>Healing a Withered Hand</i></em><br/> And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there who had a withered hand.


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And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day- so that they would have an excuse to accuse him.


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And he said to them: Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do evil? To save a life, or to kill? But they remained quiet.


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And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man: Stretch out your hand. He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.


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And the Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel against him with the Herodians, how they might destroy him.<br/> <em><i>Establishing a Core Group of Disciples</i></em>


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And Jesus with his disciples withdrew to the sea; and a great crowd from Galilee and from Judea followed,


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and from Jerusalem and from Idumaea and on the other side of the Jordan and about Tyre and Sidon, a great crowd, hearing what great things he did, came to him.


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And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, in case they crushed him.


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For he had healed many; so much so that as many as had illnesses pressed upon him that they might touch him.


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And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried, saying: You are the Son of God!


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And James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James he surnamed Boanerges, which means, sons of thunder.


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And Andrew and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew and Thomas and James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus and Simon the Cananaean,


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And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying: He is out of his mind.<br/> <em><i>False Allegations from the Scribes</i></em>


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And the scribes that came down from Jerusalem said: He has Beelzebub, and by the prince of the demons he casts out the demons.


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But no one can enter into the home of a strong man and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his home.


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Truly I say to you: All the sins of the sons of men shall be forgiven and their blasphemies with which they shall blaspheme.


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But whoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is never forgiven but is guilty of an eternal sin.


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And then came his mother and his brothers and standing outside, they sent a message to him, calling him.


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And a crowd was sitting about him, and they said to him: Look, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you.


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For whoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother and sister and mother.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Parable of the Sower</i></em><br/> And again he began to teach by the sea side. There gathered to him a very great crowd, so he entered into a boat and sat in the sea, and all the crowd were gathered along the shore.


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And other fell on the rocky ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil.


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And others fell into the good ground and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing; and brought forth, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.


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And he said to them: To you is given the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those that are without, all things are done in parables-


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that seeing, they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn again and it should be forgiven them.


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And he said to them: Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables?


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And these by the way side, where the word is sown, represent those who, when they have heard, have Satan immediately come and take away the word which has been sown in them.


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And these in like manner are they that are sown upon the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy.


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But they have no root in themselves and only endure for a while. Then, when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they stumble.


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Others are represented by those that are sown among the thorns. These are they that have heard the word,


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and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.


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And these are they that were sown upon the good ground: such as hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.<br/> <em><i>The Purpose of the Parables</i></em>


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And he said to them: Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a lamp stand?


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For there is nothing hid, save that it should be manifested; neither was anything made secret but that it should come to light.


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And he said to them: Pay attention to what you hear. What measure you use shall be applied to you, and more shall be given to you.


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For he that has, to him shall be given. And he that has not, from him shall be taken away even that which he has.


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It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown upon the earth, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the earth,


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yet when it is sown, grows up and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great branches so that the birds of the sky can lodge under the shadow of it.


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And with many such parables he spoke the word to them, according as they were able to understand it.


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Without a parable he did not speak to them, but in private he explained all things to his own disciples.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Calms the Storm</i></em>


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And on that day, when evening had come, he said to them: Let us go over to the other side of the lake.


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And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.


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And there arose a great wind storm and the waves slammed into the boat, so much so that the boat was now filling.


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And he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they awoke him, and said to him: Teacher, do you not care that we perish?


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And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea: Peace! Be still. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.


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And they feared exceedingly, and said to each other: Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus Heals a Mad Man</i></em><br/> And they came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes.


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And when he got out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,


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For he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him.


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Always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out and cutting himself with stones.


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and crying out with a loud voice, he said: What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I solemnly implore you by God, do not torment me.


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And he asked the spirit: What is your name? And the spirit replied: My name is Legion. For we are many.


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So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the hill into the sea and were drowned in the sea.


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And they that fed them fled and told it in the city and in the country. And they came to see what it was that had happened.


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And they came to Jesus and saw him who had been possessed with demons, that previously had the legion, sitting, clothed and in his right mind- and they were afraid.


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And they that saw it described to them what had happened to him that was previously possessed with demons, and about what had happened to the pigs.


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And as he was entering into the boat, he that had been possessed with demons pleaded with him that he might go with him.


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But Jesus did not permit him. Instead he said to him: Go to your home, to your family, and tell them how great things the Lord has done for you and how he had mercy on you.


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And he went his way and began to publish in Decapolis the great things Jesus had done for him, and all men marvelled.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Heals Jairus’ Daughter</i></em>


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And when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great crowd was gathered to him; and he was by the sea.


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And there came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and seeing him, he fell at his feet,


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and implored him earnestly, saying: My little daughter is at the point of death. I beg you to come and lay your hands on her, that she may be made whole and live.


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and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was nothing bettered but rather grew worse,


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And immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her illness.


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And immediately Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power proceeding from him had gone forth, turned towards the crowd and said: Who touched my garments?


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But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had been done to her, came and fell down before him and told him all the truth.


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And he said to her: Daughter, your faith has made you whole. Go in peace and be free of your illness.


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While he was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying: Your daughter is dead. Why do you trouble the Teacher any further?


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And they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue; and he saw a tumult, and many weeping and wailing greatly.


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And when he had entered, he said to them: Why make you a tumult and weep? The child is not dead but sleeps.


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And they laughed him to scorn. But he, having put them outside, took the father of the child and her mother and those that were with him, and went to where the child was.


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And taking the child by the hand, he said to her: Talitha cumi, which means, little girl, I say to you, rise!


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And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.


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And he strictly ordered them that no one should know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Jesus in Nazareth</i></em><br/> And he left there and went to his own country; and his disciples followed him.


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And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard him were astonished, saying: Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom given to him? What mighty works are done by his hands!


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Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended by him.


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And Jesus said to them: A prophet is not without honour, save in his hometown, and among his own kin, and in his own family.


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And there he could not do his mighty work, except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them.


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And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages teaching.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Sends Out the Disciples</i></em>


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And he called the twelve and began to send them out in pairs; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits.


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And he instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a staff. No bread, no wallet, no money in their purse;


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And whatever place shall not receive you and they will not hear you, as you leave there, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony against them.


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And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.<br/> <em><i>Herod and John the Baptist</i></em>


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And king Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become well known; and he said: John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these powers work in him.


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For Herod himself had had John arrested and thrown into prison to please Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her.


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for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was much perplexed; and he heard him gladly.


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But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles, military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.


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And when the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests, and so the king said to the girl: Ask of me whatever you will, and I will give it to you.


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And he made an oath to her: Whatever you shall ask of me, I will give it to you, to the half of my kingdom.


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And she went out and said to her mother: What shall I ask? And she said: The head of John the Baptist.


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And she rushed to the king and asked, saying: Here and now, I want you to give me on a platter the head of John the Baptist.


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And the king was exceeding sorry; but for the sake of his oaths and his dinner guests, he could not reject her request.


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And immediately the king sent a soldier of his guard and commanded that he bring John's head. And the soldier went to the prison and beheaded John,


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And when his disciples heard of it, they went and took his corpse and laid it in a tomb.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Feeds 5000 Men</i></em>


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And he said to them: Come, we shall depart for a deserted place and rest for a while. For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure time, even to eat.


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Now many saw them going and recognised them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.


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And when Jesus came ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion on them, because they were as sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.


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And when the day was far spent, his disciples came to him and said: The place is deserted and the day is now far spent.


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Send them away, that they may go into the country and villages round about and buy themselves something to eat.


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But he answered and said to them: You give them something to eat. And they said to him: Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?


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And he said to them: How many loaves have you? Go and see. And when they knew, they reported: Five loaves and two fishes.


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And he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves; and he gave them to the disciples to set before them; and the two fish he divided among them all.


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And immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and to go without him to the other side to Bethsaida, while he sent the crowd away.


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And seeing they were having difficulty rowing, for the wind was against them, about the fourth watch of the night he went to them, walking on the sea; and he would have passed by them.


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For they all saw him and were disturbed. But he immediately spoke to them and said to them: Be of good courage! It is I! Be not afraid.


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ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard he was.


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And wherever he went, into villages, or into cities, or into the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and pleaded with him that they be allowed to touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched him were cured.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>Controversy with the Pharisees</i></em><br/> The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus;


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The Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they first wash their hands, observing the tradition of the elders;


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and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they first purify themselves; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.


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And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him: Why don't your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unclean hands?


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And he said to them: Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honour me with their lips but their heart is far from me.


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And he said to them: You are good at rejecting the commandment of God so that you can establish your tradition!


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For Moses said: Honour your father and your mother, and, He that speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.


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But you say: If a man tells his father or his mother: Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban (that is to say, an offering to God),


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making void the word of God by your tradition which you have delivered; and you do many similar things.<br/> <em><i>The Source of Sin</i></em>


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There is nothing from outside the man that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man.


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And he said to them: Are you without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever from without goes into the man, it cannot defile him;


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because it does not go into his heart but into his belly and is eliminated [this he said, thus making all foods clean].


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For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,


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All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.<br/> <em><i>Jesus Responds to Requests for Healing</i></em>


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From there he arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and wanted no one to know it; but he could not be hidden.


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But immediately a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, came and fell down at his feet.


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Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. And she pleaded with him to cast out the demon from her daughter.


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And he said to her: Let the children first be filled, for it is not right to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs.


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But she answered and said to him: Indeed, Lord. But even the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.


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And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.


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And again he left from the borders of Tyre and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis.


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And they brought to him one that was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand upon him.


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And he took him aside from the crowd, and in private put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue;


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And he ordered them that they should tell no one. But the more he ordered them, the more widely they proclaimed it.


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And they were astonished beyond measure, saying: He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Feeding of the 4000 </i></em><br/> In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him, and said to them:


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And if I send them away to their homes without food, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from far away.


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And his disciples answered him: Where shall one be able to find bread for these men here in such a desolate place?


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And he commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and they set them before the crowd.


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And they had a few small fishes; and having blessed them, he commanded to set these also before them.


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And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and said: Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly I say to you, No sign shall be given to this generation.


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And he ordered them, saying: Take heed! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.


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And Jesus perceiving it said to them: Why do you so reason, because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart so hardened?


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When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you gather? They said to him: Twelve.


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And when the seven among the four thousand, how many basketfuls of broken pieces did you gather? And they said to him: Seven.


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And he said to them: How is it that you do not yet understand?<br/> <em><i>The Identity of Jesus</i></em>


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And he took hold of the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village; and when he had spat on his eyes and laid his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw anything.


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Then Jesus put his hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And his sight was restored, and he saw everyone clearly.


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And Jesus went with his disciples into the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way he questioned his disciples, saying to them: Who do men say that I am?


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And he asked them: But who do you say that I am? Peter answered and said to him: You are the Christ!


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And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.


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But he, turning about and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter, and said to him: Get behind me, Satan! For you are mindful of the things of men instead of the things of God.


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And he called to him the crowd with his disciples, and said to them: If any of you wants to be my follower, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.


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For whoever would save his life shall lose it, and whoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, he shall save it!


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For whoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also shall be ashamed of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.<br/> <br/> <br/> <i>


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<em><i>The Transfiguration</i></em><br/> And he said to them: Truly I say to you: There are some standing here, who shall in no way taste death, before they see the kingdom of God come with power.


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And after six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John and brought them to a high mountain where they could be alone; and he was transfigured before them.


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And Peter said to Jesus: Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.


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And there came a cloud overshadowing them, and there came a voice out of the cloud: This is My beloved Son. Hear him.


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And as they came down from the mountain, he ordered them that they should tell no one about the things they had seen, until the Son of Man should have risen from the dead.


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And he said to them: Elijah indeed comes first and restores all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man, that he should suffer many things and be set at nothing?


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But I say to you, that Elijah came, and they have also done to him whatever they wanted, even as it is written of him.


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And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd about them, and scribes arguing with them.


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And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed; and running to him saluted him.


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And wherever it takes him, it dashes him down and he foams and grinds his teeth and pines away: and I spoke to your disciples that they should cast it out, and they were not able.


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And he answered them saying: O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I tolerate you? Bring him to me.


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And they brought him to him, and when he saw him, immediately the spirit tore at him grievously and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.


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And often it has cast him both into the fire and into the waters to destroy him; but if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.


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And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter no more into him.


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And having cried out and torn him much, it came out; and the boy became as one dead. So much so that the many said: He is dead.


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And when he had come into the house, his disciples privately asked him: Why could we not cast it out?


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And he said to them: This kind can come out by nothing except by prayer and fasting.<br/> <em><i>The Importance of Humility</i></em>


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For he taught his disciples, and said to them: The Son of Man is delivered up into the hands of men, and they shall kill him, and when he is killed, after three days he shall rise again.


