God's Faithfulness: He Never Fails

The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.

After Methuselah’s birth, Enoch walked with God for three hundred years, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

All the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.

Enoch walked with God, and he was not found, for God took him.

This is the history of the generations of Noah: Noah was a righteous man, blameless amongst the people of his time. Noah walked with God.

Thus Noah did. He did all that God commanded him.

The LORD said to Noah, “Come with all of your household into the ship, for I have seen your righteousness before me in this generation.

Noah did everything that the LORD commanded him.

Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth.

After the seven days, the floodwaters came on the earth.

Those who went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him; then the LORD shut him in.

God remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in the ship; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided.

He waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; and she didn’t return to him any more.

While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”

“As for me, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your offspring after you,

I will establish my covenant with you: All flesh will not be cut off any more by the waters of the flood. There will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”

God said, “This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.

I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood.

All the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and then he died.

This is the history of the generations of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood.

I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.

The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” He built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

He went on his journeys from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,

to the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. There Abram called on the LORD’s name.

Abram moved his tent, and came and lived by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.

that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’

I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion.”

He said to Abram, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.”

The LORD’s angel said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, that they will not be counted for multitude.”

I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”

Your name will no more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you.

I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you.

I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are travelling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God.”

God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.

He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

God said, “No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.

But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”

Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money: every male amongst the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day, as God had said to him.

Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes around, and Sarah will have a son.”

since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him?

For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that the LORD may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him.”

The LORD went his way as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

Abraham went up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD.

When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had spoken.

Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.

She said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”

God said to Abraham, “Don’t let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your servant. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For your offspring will be named through Isaac.

I will also make a nation of the son of the servant, because he is your child.”

God was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and as he grew up, he became an archer.

At that time, Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do.

Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner.”

Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because they both swore an oath there.

Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines many days.

Abraham called the name of that place “The LORD Will Provide”. As it is said to this day, “On the LORD’s mountain, it will be provided.”

and said, “‘I have sworn by myself,’ says the LORD, ‘because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,

Abraham was old, and well advanced in age. The LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.

The LORD, the God of heaven—who took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my birth, who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, ‘I will give this land to your offspring—he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.

The servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

The servant took ten of his master’s camels, and departed, having a variety of good things of his master’s with him. He arose, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.

He said, “LORD, the God of my master Abraham, please give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will also draw for your camels, until they have finished drinking.”

She hurried, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again to the well to draw, and drew for all his camels.

He said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his loving kindness and his truth towards my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the way to the house of my master’s relatives.”

He said, “I am Abraham’s servant.

The LORD has blessed my master greatly. He has become great. The LORD has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, and camels and donkeys.

Then you will be clear from my oath, when you come to my relatives. If they don’t give her to you, you shall be clear from my oath.’

I came today to the spring, and said, ‘The LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if now you do prosper my way which I go—

Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. If not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.”

Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The thing proceeds from the LORD. We can’t speak to you bad or good.

They ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and stayed all night. They rose up in the morning, and he said, “Send me away to my master.”

He said to them, “Don’t hinder me, since the LORD has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.”

They sent away Rebekah, their sister, with her nurse, Abraham’s servant, and his men.

Rebekah arose with her ladies. They rode on the camels, and followed the man. The servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

Isaac entreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren. The LORD was entreated by him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” He swore to him. He sold his birthright to Jacob.

Live in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For I will give to you, and to your offspring, all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.

because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my requirements, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. The LORD blessed him.

Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

He left that place, and dug another well. They didn’t argue over that one. So he called it Rehoboth. He said, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

The LORD appeared to him the same night, and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.”

He built an altar there, and called on the LORD’s name, and pitched his tent there. There Isaac’s servants dug a well.

They rose up some time in the morning, and swore an oath to one another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

The same day, Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.”

He called it “Shibah”. Therefore the name of the city is “Beersheba” to this day.

Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.”

Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on its top.

He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.

so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, and the LORD will be my God,

then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God’s house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give a tenth to you.”

Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east.

While he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she kept them.

Jacob loved Rachel. He said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.”

Jacob served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her.

Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.”

In the morning, behold, it was Leah! He said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Didn’t I serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?”

Fulfil the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you will serve with me for seven more years.”

Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week. He gave him Rachel his daughter as wife.

He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him seven more years.

God listened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son.

God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb.

Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service with which I have served you.”

Laban said to him, “If now I have found favour in your eyes, stay here, for I have divined that the LORD has blessed me for your sake.”

Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you, and how your livestock have fared with me.

For it was little which you had before I came, and it has increased to a multitude. The LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. Now when will I provide for my own house also?”

Laban said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it.

He set three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

The LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”

and said to them, “I see the expression on your father’s face, that it is not towards me as before; but the God of my father has been with me.

Your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times, but God didn’t allow him to hurt me.

and he took away all his livestock, and all his possessions which he had gathered, including the livestock which he had gained in Paddan Aram, to go to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan.

“These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven’t eaten the rams of your flocks.

That which was torn of animals, I didn’t bring to you. I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.

These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.

Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”

Laban said, “This heap is witness between me and you today.” Therefore it was named Galeed

Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD, who said to me, ‘Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,’

I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses, and of all the truth, which you have shown to your servant; for with just my staff I crossed over this Jordan; and now I have become two companies.

You said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which can’t be counted because there are so many.’”

Therefore the children of Israel don’t eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.

Let’s arise, and go up to Bethel. I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me on the way which I went.”

They travelled, and a terror of God was on the cities that were around them, and they didn’t pursue the sons of Jacob.

So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.

He built an altar there, and called the place El Beth El; because there God was revealed to him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him.

God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be Jacob any more, but your name will be Israel.” He named him Israel.

The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and to your offspring after you I will give the land.”

Israel travelled, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

Jacob came to Isaac his father, to Mamre, to Kiriath Arba (which is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac lived as foreigners.

Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend, the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, but he didn’t find her.

The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

His master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did prosper in his hand.

Joseph found favour in his sight. He ministered to him, and Potiphar made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

From the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake. The LORD’s blessing was on all that he had, in the house and in the field.

He left all that he had in Joseph’s hand. He didn’t concern himself with anything, except for the food which he ate. Joseph was well-built and handsome.

But he refused, and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, my master doesn’t know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand.

About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside.

But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

The keeper of the prison didn’t look after anything that was under his hand, because the LORD was with him; and that which he did, the LORD made it prosper.

But remember me when it is well with you. Please show kindness to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house.

Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It isn’t in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”

The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?”

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one so discreet and wise as you.

Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons, if I don’t bring him to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him to you again.”

I’ll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don’t bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever;

He said, “Peace be to you. Don’t be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money.” He brought Simeon out to them.

They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing!

Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again to you out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal silver or gold out of your lord’s house?

For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I don’t bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.’

Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.

So now it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.

He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation.

I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”

Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.”

Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers.”

Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years. The days of the years of my life have been few and evil. They have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”

Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.

Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household with bread, according to the sizes of their families.

Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.

They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year.

The time came near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, “If now I have found favour in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don’t bury me in Egypt,

but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place.” Joseph said, “I will do as you have said.”

Israel said, “Swear to me,” and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself on the bed’s head.

He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day,

His father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a multitude of nations.”

He blessed them that day, saying, “Israel will bless in you, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh’” He set Ephraim before Manasseh.

Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.

But his bow remained strong. The arms of his hands were made strong, by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, (from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel),

‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying. Bury me in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come again.’”

Pharaoh said, “Go up, and bury your father, just like he made you swear.”

His sons did to him just as he commanded them,

for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, as a possession for a burial site, from Ephron the Hittite, near Mamre.

Joseph returned into Egypt—he, and his brothers, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees.

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”

Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”

Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.

The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

He said, “Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations.

Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt.

Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak.”

You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.

The LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead.”

Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took God’s rod in his hand.

Moses told Aaron all the LORD’s words with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had instructed him.

Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name the LORD I was not known to them.

I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their travels, in which they lived as aliens.

Moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant.

I will take you to myself for a people. I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am the LORD.’”

The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand on Egypt, and bring the children of Israel out from amongst them.”

Moses and Aaron did so. As the LORD commanded them, so they did.

Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as the LORD had commanded. Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as the LORD had spoken.

Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

Moses said to Pharaoh, “I give you the honour of setting the time that I should pray for you, and for your servants, and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, and remain in the river only.”

The LORD did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields.

I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, to the end you may know that I am the LORD on the earth.

I will put a division between my people and your people. This sign shall happen by tomorrow.”’”

The LORD did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses. In all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies.

We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us.”

Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you. I will pray to the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only don’t let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.”

The LORD did according to the word of Moses, and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one.

The LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt; and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.”’”

The LORD appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.”

The LORD did that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died.

The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.

and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done to Egypt, and my signs which I have done amongst them; that you may know that I am the LORD.”

Moses said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go out into the middle of Egypt,

But against any of the children of Israel a dog won’t even bark or move its tongue, against man or animal, that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel.

The LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh won’t listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go out of his land.

The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

You shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever.

It shall happen when you have come to the land which the LORD will give you, as he has promised, that you shall keep this service.

The children of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

The people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes on their shoulders.

The LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. They plundered the Egyptians.

They baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought out of Egypt; for it wasn’t leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt, and couldn’t wait, and they had not prepared any food for themselves.

Now the time that the children of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.

At the end of four hundred and thirty years, to the day, all of the LORD’s armies went out from the land of Egypt.

All the children of Israel did so. As the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

That same day, the LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the children of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones away from here with you.”

the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, didn’t depart from before the people.

The children of Israel went into the middle of the sea on the dry ground; and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

He said, “If you will diligently listen to the LORD your God’s voice, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from the sky for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.

Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening, you shall know that the LORD has brought you out from the land of Egypt.

“I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’”

They laid it up until the morning, as Moses ordered, and it didn’t become foul, and there were no worms in it.

Moses said, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded, ‘Let an omer-full of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot, and put an omer-full of manna in it, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept throughout your generations.”

As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

The children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan.

Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.

Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships that had come on them on the way, and how the LORD delivered them.

In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that same day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.

‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself.

All the people answered together, and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,

and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

You shall labour six days, and do all your work,

You shall most certainly not make gods of silver or gods of gold for yourselves to be alongside me.

But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’

then his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.

“He who sacrifices to any god, except to the LORD only, shall be utterly destroyed.

If you take advantage of them at all, and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry;

“Be careful to do all things that I have said to you; and don’t invoke the name of other gods or even let them be heard out of your mouth.

No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfil the number of your days.

Moses wrote all the LORD’s words, then rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the base of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “We will do all that the LORD has said, and be obedient.”

The poles shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it.

In the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil which is before the covenant, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute forever throughout their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

You shall put the two stones on the shoulder straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel. Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders for a memorial.

They shall be on Aaron and on his sons, when they go in to the Tent of Meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place, that they don’t bear iniquity, and die. This shall be a statute forever to him and to his offspring after him.

“Now this is that which you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually.

The one lamb you shall offer in the morning; and the other lamb you shall offer at evening;

It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the Tent of Meeting before the LORD, where I will meet with you, to speak there to you.

I will dwell amongst the children of Israel, and will be their God.

They shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell amongst them: I am the LORD their God.

When Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’”

So The LORD turned away from the evil which he said he would do to his people.

then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the LORD’s side, come to me!” All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.

The LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. He turned again into the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, didn’t depart from the Tent.

The LORD said to Moses, “I will do this thing also that you have spoken; for you have found favour in my sight, and I know you by name.”

He said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the LORD’s name before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”

The LORD said to Moses, “Chisel two stone tablets like the first. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.

He chiselled two tablets of stone like the first; then Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two stone tablets.

The LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The LORD! The LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth,

He said, “Behold, I make a covenant: before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been worked in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people amongst whom you are shall see the work of the LORD; for it is an awesome thing that I do with you.

for you shall worship no other god; for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

“Don’t make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice;

and you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters play the prostitute after their gods, and make your sons play the prostitute after their gods.

“You shall make no cast idols for yourselves.

Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.

For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire your land when you go up to appear before the LORD, your God, three times in the year.

They came, everyone whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing, and brought the LORD’s offering for the work of the Tent of Meeting, and for all of its service, and for the holy garments.

They came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought brooches, earrings, signet rings, and armlets, all jewels of gold; even every man who offered an offering of gold to the LORD.

Everyone who offered an offering of silver and bronze brought the LORD’s offering; and everyone with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it.

He overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold as places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

He made the veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. He made it the work of a skilful workman.

He made four pillars of acacia for it, and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold. He cast four sockets of silver for them.

He made a screen for the door of the tent, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer;

and the five pillars of it with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals and their fillets with gold, and their five sockets were of bronze.

Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Its length was two and a half cubits, and its width a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height.

He overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a moulding of gold for it around it.

He cast four rings of gold for it in its four feet—two rings on its one side, and two rings on its other side.

He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark.

These are the amounts of materials used for the tabernacle, even the Tabernacle of the Testimony, as they were counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.

Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses.

They bound the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be on the skilfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not come loose from the ephod, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting was finished. The children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses; so they did.

According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work.

Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it as the LORD had commanded. They had done so; and Moses blessed them.

You shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. Their anointing shall be to them for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.”

Moses did so. According to all that the LORD commanded him, so he did.

He set the bread in order on it before the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.

He lit the lamps before the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.

and he burnt incense of sweet spices on it, as the LORD commanded Moses.

He set the altar of burnt offering at the door of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, as the LORD commanded Moses.

When they went into the Tent of Meeting, and when they came near to the altar, they washed, as the LORD commanded Moses.

He raised up the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.

When the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward, throughout all their journeys;

For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not go out; and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning. He shall lay the burnt offering in order upon it, and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.

Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.

“This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer to the LORD in the day when he is anointed: one tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering perpetually, half of it in the morning, and half of it in the evening.

“‘But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow, or a free will offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice. On the next day what remains of it shall be eaten,

Aaron and his sons did all the things which the LORD commanded by Moses.

They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat idols, after which they play the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.’

“‘Don’t turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don’t seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.

“‘You shall observe all my statutes and all my ordinances, and do them. I am the LORD.’”

But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples.

“Therefore you shall keep my commandments, and do them. I am the LORD.

who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. I am the LORD.”

You shall do no kind of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

He shall keep in order the lamps on the pure gold lamp stand before the LORD continually.

Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before the LORD continually. It is an everlasting covenant on the behalf of the children of Israel.

You shall sow your field six years, and you shall prune your vineyard six years, and gather in its fruits;

then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bear fruit for the three years.

You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits from the old store until the ninth year. Until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store.

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

“‘If you walk in my statutes and keep my commandments, and do them,

then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

“‘I will have respect for you, make you fruitful, multiply you, and will establish my covenant with you.

then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham; and I will remember the land.

Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly and to break my covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God.

But I will for their sake remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the LORD.’”

He shall not alter it, nor exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good. If he shall at all exchange animal for animal, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be holy.

If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand.

Thus the children of Israel did. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so they did.

These are those who were counted of the children of Israel by their fathers’ houses. All who were counted of the camps according to their armies were six hundred and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

But the Levites were not counted amongst the children of Israel, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Thus the children of Israel did. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so they encamped by their standards, and so they set out, everyone by their families, according to their fathers’ houses.

They shall keep his requirements, and the requirements of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle.

They shall keep all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, and the obligations of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.

You shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons. They are wholly given to him on the behalf of the children of Israel.

You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood, but the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”

for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I made holy to me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal. They shall be mine. I am the LORD.”

Moses counted them according to the LORD’s word, as he was commanded.

According to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand and six hundred keeping the requirements of the sanctuary.

Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, the screen, and all its service.

Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be prince of the princes of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the requirements of the sanctuary.

The appointed duty of the sons of Merari shall be the tabernacle’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service,

“The duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the continual meal offering, and the anointing oil, the requirements of all the tabernacle, and of all that is in it, the sanctuary, and its furnishings.”

These are those who were counted of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.

These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the LORD.

These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.

from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting,

even those who were counted of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and eighty.

According to the commandment of the LORD they were counted by Moses, everyone according to his service and according to his burden. Thus they were counted by him, as the LORD commanded Moses.

The children of Israel did so, and put them outside of the camp; as the LORD spoke to Moses, so the children of Israel did.

The priest shall cause her to take an oath and shall tell the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you haven’t gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband’s authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse.

When he has made her drink the water, then it shall happen, if she is defiled and has committed a trespass against her husband, that the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become bitter, and her body will swell, and her thigh will fall away; and the woman will be a curse amongst her people.

“‘This is the law of the Nazirite: when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the Tent of Meeting,

“‘This is the law of the Nazirite who vows and of his offering to the LORD for his separation, in addition to that which he is able to afford. According to his vow which he vows, so he must do after the law of his separation.’”

“So they shall put my name on the children of Israel; and I will bless them.”

On the day that Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed it and sanctified it with all its furniture, and the altar with all its vessels, and had anointed and sanctified them;

Aaron did so. He lit its lamps to light the area in front of the lamp stand, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel did so to the Levites. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them.

After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and before his sons: as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

They kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, in the wilderness of Sinai. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did.

So it was continually. The cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night.

When the cloud stayed on the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the LORD’s command, and didn’t travel.

Whether it was two days, or a month, or a year that the cloud stayed on the tabernacle, remaining on it, the children of Israel remained encamped, and didn’t travel; but when it was taken up, they travelled.

At the commandment of the LORD they encamped, and at the commandment of the LORD they travelled. They kept the LORD’s command, at the commandment of the LORD by Moses.

The children of Israel went forward on their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud stayed in the wilderness of Paran.

They first went forward according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.

First, the standard of the camp of the children of Judah went forward according to their armies. Nahshon the son of Amminadab was over his army.

Nethanel the son of Zuar was over the army of the tribe of the children of Issachar.

Eliab the son of Helon was over the army of the tribe of the children of Zebulun.

The standard of the camp of Reuben went forward according to their armies. Elizur the son of Shedeur was over his army.

Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai was over the army of the tribe of the children of Simeon.

Eliasaph the son of Deuel was over the army of the tribe of the children of Gad.

Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are journeying to the place of which the LORD said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well; for the LORD has spoken good concerning Israel.”

It shall be, if you go with us—yes, it shall be—that whatever good the LORD does to us, we will do the same to you.”

The LORD said to Moses, “Has the LORD’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.”

But two men remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad; and the Spirit rested on them. They were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp.

My servant Moses is not so. He is faithful in all my house.

With him, I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see the LORD’s form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?”

Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of the LORD. All of them were men who were heads of the children of Israel.

They returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days.

They went and came to Moses, to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them and to all the congregation. They showed them the fruit of the land.

They told him, and said, “We came to the land where you sent us. Surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes.

They spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.

If the LORD delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us: a land which flows with milk and honey.

The LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? How long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked amongst them?

They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you LORD are amongst this people; for you LORD are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.

‘Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.’

But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully, him I will bring into the land into which he went. His offspring shall possess it.

Tell them, ‘As I live, says the LORD, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so I will do to you.

surely you shall not come into the land concerning which I swore that I would make you dwell therein, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive of those men who went to spy out the land.

For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and you will fall by the sword because you turned back from following the LORD; therefore the LORD will not be with you.”

Of the first of your dough, you shall give to the LORD a wave offering throughout your generations.

even all that the LORD has commanded you by Moses, from the day that the LORD gave commandment and onward throughout your generations—

It shall be to you for a fringe, that you may see it, and remember all the LORD’s commandments, and do them; and that you don’t follow your own heart and your own eyes, after which you used to play the prostitute;

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.”

Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the LORD’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;

Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works; for they are not from my own mind.

If these men die the common death of all men, or if they experience what all men experience, then the LORD hasn’t sent me.

Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the middle of the assembly. The plague had already begun amongst the people. He put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.

On the next day, Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony; and behold, Aaron’s rod for the house of Levi had sprouted, budded, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.

Moses did so. As the LORD commanded him, so he did.

Behold, I myself have taken your brothers the Levites from amongst the children of Israel. They are a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting.

The LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion amongst them. I am your portion and your inheritance amongst the children of Israel.

But the Levites shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. Amongst the children of Israel, they shall have no inheritance.

“Therefore you shall tell them, ‘When you heave its best from it, then it shall be credited to the Levites as the increase of the threshing floor, and as the increase of the wine press.

Moses did as the LORD commanded. They went up onto Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.

Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain, and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

The LORD listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. The name of the place was called Hormah.

Balaam answered the servants of Balak, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.

The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long until today? Was I ever in the habit of doing so to you?” He said, “No.”

The LORD’s angel said to Balaam, “Go with the men; but you shall only speak the word that I shall speak to you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you. Have I now any power at all to speak anything? I will speak the word that God puts in my mouth.”

Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” He went to a bare height.

The LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom the LORD has not defied?

He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD puts in my mouth?”

God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good?

But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that the LORD speaks, that I must do’?”

Balaam said to Balak, “Didn’t I also tell your messengers whom you sent to me, saying,

‘If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond the LORD’s word, to do either good or bad from my own mind. I will say what the LORD says’?

It shall be to him, and to his offspring after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’”

Notwithstanding, the sons of Korah didn’t die.

These are those who were counted of the children of Israel, six hundred and one thousand and seven hundred and thirty.

These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, and the family of the Korahites. Kohath became the father of Amram.

The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. She bore to Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister.

These are those who were counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who counted the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

But amongst these there was not a man of them who were counted by Moses and Aaron the priest, who counted the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.

For the LORD had said of them, “They shall surely die in the wilderness.” There was not a man left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

You shall offer these in addition to the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering.

Besides the continual burnt offering and its meal offering, you shall offer them and their drink offerings. See that they are without defect.

Moses told the children of Israel according to all that the LORD commanded Moses.

When a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

“But the vow of a widow, or of her who is divorced, everything with which she has bound her soul shall stand against her.

Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.

even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who performed the duty of the LORD’s tabernacle, as the LORD commanded Moses.

They said to Moses, “Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our command, and there lacks not one man of us.

‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me,

except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, because they have followed the LORD completely.’

We will not return to our houses until the children of Israel have all received their inheritance.

The children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do as my lord commands.

The children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, “As the LORD has said to your servants, so will we do.

We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.”

Moses wrote the starting points of their journeys by the commandment of the LORD. These are their journeys according to their starting points.

They travelled from Rimmon Perez, and encamped in Libnah.

They travelled from Libnah, and encamped in Rissah.

They travelled from Rissah, and encamped in Kehelathah.

They travelled from Kehelathah, and encamped in Mount Shepher.

They travelled from Mount Shepher, and encamped in Haradah.

They travelled from Haradah, and encamped in Makheloth.

They travelled from Makheloth, and encamped in Tahath.

They travelled from Tahath, and encamped in Terah.

They travelled from Terah, and encamped in Mithkah.

They travelled from Mithkah, and encamped in Hashmonah.

They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph. Their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.

In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them,

Behold, I have set the land before you. Go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—to give to them and to their offspring after them.’”

The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as the stars of the sky for multitude.

May the LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you!

Behold, the LORD your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the LORD the God of your fathers has spoken to you. Don’t be afraid, neither be dismayed.”

The LORD your God, who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,

and in the wilderness where you have seen how that the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place.”

except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it. I will give the land that he has trodden on to him and to his children, because he has wholly followed the LORD.”

For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has known your walking through this great wilderness. These forty years, the LORD your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.

The Horites also lived in Seir in the past, but the children of Esau succeeded them. They destroyed them from before them, and lived in their place, as Israel did to the land of his possession, which the LORD gave to them.)

The days in which we came from Kadesh Barnea until we had come over the brook Zered were thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the middle of the camp, as the LORD swore to them.

The LORD our God delivered him up before us; and we struck him, his sons, and all his people.

From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. The LORD our God delivered up all before us.

The LORD said to me, “Don’t fear him; for I have delivered him, with all his people and his land, into your hand. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”

So the LORD our God also delivered into our hand Og, the king of Bashan, and all his people. We struck him until no one was left to him remaining.

I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, “Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. So shall the LORD do to all the kingdoms where you go over.

You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

But you who were faithful to the LORD your God are all alive today.

For what great nation is there that has a god so near to them as the LORD our God is whenever we call on him?

But the LORD has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as it is today.

For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.

Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their offspring after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt;

The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

The LORD didn’t make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive today.

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

and you said, “Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the middle of the fire. We have seen today that God does speak with man, and he lives.

For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as we have, and lived?

The LORD heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me; and the LORD said to me, “I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have well said all that they have spoken.

You shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn away to the right hand or to the left.

Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

then beware lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you,

You shall not tempt the LORD your God, as you tempted him in Massah.

You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you.

and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers.

It shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.”

You shall not make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son.

But you shall deal with them like this: you shall break down their altars, dash their pillars in pieces, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their engraved images with fire.

but because the LORD loves you, and because he desires to keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Know therefore that the LORD your God himself is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness to a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments,

It shall happen, because you listen to these ordinances and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the loving kindness which he swore to your fathers.

the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So shall the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

You shall observe to do all the commandments which I command you today, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers.

You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.

Your clothing didn’t grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years.

For the LORD your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills;

then your heart might be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;

But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is today.

Know therefore today that the LORD your God is he who goes over before you as a devouring fire. He will destroy them and he will bring them down before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the LORD has spoken to you.

Not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

It came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights that the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, even the tablets of the covenant.

lest the land you brought us out from say, ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’

I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are as the LORD commanded me.

(The children of Israel travelled from Beeroth Bene Jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest’s office in his place.

At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the LORD’s covenant, to stand before the LORD to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day.

Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD your God spoke to him.)

I stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights; and the LORD listened to me that time also. The LORD would not destroy you.

The LORD said to me, “Arise, take your journey before the people; and they shall go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give to them.”

Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

Only the LORD had a delight in your fathers to love them, and he chose their offspring after them, even you above all peoples, as it is today.

You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve him. You shall cling to him, and you shall swear by his name.

Your fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons; and now the LORD your God has made you as the stars of the sky for multitude.

Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep his instructions, his statutes, his ordinances, and his commandments, always.

and what he did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place;

but your eyes have seen all of the LORD’s great work which he did.

and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey.

a land which the LORD your God cares for. The LORD your God’s eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.

For if you shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you—to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him—

You shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you today.

When the LORD your God enlarges your border, as he has promised you, and you say, “I want to eat meat,” because your soul desires to eat meat, you may eat meat, after all the desire of your soul.

Whatever thing I command you, that you shall observe to do. You shall not add to it, nor take away from it.

You shall walk after the LORD your God, fear him, keep his commandments, and obey his voice. You shall serve him, and cling to him.

you shall not consent to him nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him;

You shall stone him to death with stones, because he has sought to draw you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

certain wicked fellows have gone out from amongst you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods,” which you have not known,

Nothing of the devoted thing shall cling to your hand, that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy, and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he has sworn to your fathers,

However there will be no poor with you (for the LORD will surely bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance to possess)

if only you diligently listen to the LORD your God’s voice, to observe to do all this commandment which I command you today.

For the LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. You will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

It shall be, if he tells you, “I will not go out from you,” because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you,

You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality. You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.

You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the LORD your God’s altar, which you shall make for yourselves.

Neither shall you set yourself up a sacred stone which the LORD your God hates.

If there is found amongst you, within any of your gates which the LORD your God gives you, a man or woman who does that which is evil in the LORD your God’s sight in transgressing his covenant,

that his heart not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he not turn away from the commandment to the right hand, or to the left, to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the middle of Israel.

If a Levite comes from any of your gates out of all Israel where he lives, and comes with all the desire of his soul to the place which the LORD shall choose,

You shall be blameless with the LORD your God.

If the LORD your God enlarges your border, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers;

and if you keep all this commandment to do it, which I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to walk ever in his ways, then you shall add three cities more for yourselves, in addition to these three.

When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses, chariots, and a people more numerous than you, you shall not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, is with you.

for the LORD your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”

If your brother isn’t near to you, or if you don’t know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother comes looking for it, and you shall restore it to him.

So you shall do with his donkey. So you shall do with his garment. So you shall do with every lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost and you have found. You may not hide yourself.

Nevertheless the LORD your God wouldn’t listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing to you, because the LORD your God loved you.

When you vow a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not be slack to pay it, for the LORD your God will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you.

You shall observe and do that which has gone out of your lips. Whatever you have vowed to the LORD your God as a free will offering, which you have promised with your mouth, you must do.

Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam, by the way as you came out of Egypt.

You shall answer and say before the LORD your God, “My father was a Syrian ready to perish. He went down into Egypt, and lived there, few in number. There he became a great, mighty, and populous nation.

Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers. The LORD heard our voice, and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.

and he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

You shall say before the LORD your God, “I have put away the holy things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandment which you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, neither have I forgotten them.

I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor given of it for the dead. I have listened to the LORD my God’s voice. I have done according to all that you have commanded me.

Today the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart and with all your soul.

You have declared today that the LORD is your God, and that you would walk in his ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, and his ordinances, and listen to his voice.

The LORD will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and walk in his ways.

The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.

and shall not turn away from any of the words which I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Moses called to all Israel, and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that the LORD did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land;

the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders.

I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not grown old on you, and your sandals have not grown old on your feet.

You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.

We took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites.

that you may enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, and into his oath, which the LORD your God makes with you today,

that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he spoke to you and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

but with those who stand here with us today before the LORD our God, and also with those who are not here with us today

If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you back.

For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it.

to love the LORD your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

The LORD your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua will go over before you, as the LORD has spoken.

The LORD will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them.

Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or scared of them, for the LORD your God himself is who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you.”

The LORD himself is who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged.”

He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and courageous; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them. I will be with you.”

The Rock: his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness who does no wrong, just and right is he.

Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you.

When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the children of men, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.

For the LORD’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

The LORD alone led him. There was no foreign god with him.

Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth.

He said, “I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.

How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had delivered them up?

For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves concede.

For the LORD will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large.

For I lift up my hand to heaven and declare, as I live forever,

This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.

About Levi he said, “Your Thummim and your Urim are with your godly one, whom you proved at Massah, with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah.

He said of his father, and of his mother, ‘I have not seen him.’ He didn’t acknowledge his brothers, nor did he know his own children; for they have observed your word, and keep your covenant.

The LORD said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.”

So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the LORD’s word.

Since then, there has not arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,

in all the signs and the wonders which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land,

and in all the mighty hand, and in all the awesome deeds, which Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying,

I have given you every place that the sole of your foot will tread on, as I told Moses.

No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you.

“Be strong and courageous; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

They answered Joshua, saying, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.

Just as we listened to Moses in all things, so will we listen to you. Only may the LORD your God be with you, as he was with Moses.

For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed.

Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a true sign;

The men said to her, “Our life for yours, if you don’t talk about this business of ours; and it shall be, when the LORD gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.”

She said, “Let it be as you have said.” She sent them away, and they departed. Then she tied the scarlet line in the window.

Then the two men returned, descended from the mountain, crossed the river, and came to Joshua the son of Nun. They told him all that had happened to them.

The LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down towards the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people passed over near Jericho.

The priests who bore the ark of the LORD’s covenant stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the nation had passed completely over the Jordan.

When all the nation had completely crossed over the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,

Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, a man out of every tribe.

that this may be a sign amongst you, that when your children ask in the future, saying, ‘What do you mean by these stones?’

then you shall tell them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the LORD’s covenant. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.’”

The children of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the middle of the Jordan, as the LORD spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel. They carried them over with them to the place where they camped, and laid them down there.

Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.

For the priests who bore the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and passed over.

When all the people had completely crossed over, the LORD’s ark crossed over with the priests in the presence of the people.

About forty thousand men, ready and armed for war, passed over before the LORD to battle, to the plains of Jericho.

On that day, the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.

When the priests who bore the ark of the LORD’s covenant had come up out of the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet had been lifted up to the dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks, as before.

The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho.

Joshua set up those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, in Gilgal.

Then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.

For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we had crossed over,

that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD’s hand is mighty, and that you may fear the LORD your God forever.’”

This is the reason Joshua circumcised them: all the people who came out of Egypt, who were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness along the way, after they came out of Egypt.

For all the people who came out were circumcised; but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised.

The manna ceased on the next day, after they had eaten of the produce of the land. The children of Israel didn’t have manna any more, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

The LORD said to Joshua, “Behold, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty men of valour.

So he caused the LORD’s ark to go around the city, circling it once. Then they came into the camp, and stayed in the camp.

Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the LORD’s ark.

The seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the LORD’s ark went on continually, and blew the trumpets. The armed men went in front of them. The rear guard came after the LORD’s ark. The trumpets sounded as they went.

The second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. They did this six days.

On the seventh day, they rose early at the dawning of the day, and marched around the city in the same way seven times. On this day only they marched around the city seven times.

At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the LORD has given you the city!

The city shall be devoted, even it and all that is in it, to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

So the people shouted and the priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight in front of him, and they took the city.

Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house, and bring the woman and all that she has out from there, as you swore to her.”

The young men who were spies went in, and brought out Rahab with her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. They also brought out all of her relatives, and they set them outside of the camp of Israel.

But Rahab the prostitute, her father’s household, and all that she had, Joshua saved alive. She lives in the middle of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land.

For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. What will you do for your great name?”

and you shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city; for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.

Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live. The princes of the congregation swore to them.

The children of Israel didn’t strike them, because the princes of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. All the congregation murmured against the princes.

But all the princes said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Now therefore we may not touch them.

We will do this to them, and let them live; lest wrath be on us, because of the oath which we swore to them.”

The princes said to them, “Let them live.” So they became wood cutters and drawers of water for all the congregation, as the princes had spoken to them.

The LORD said to Joshua, “Don’t fear them, for I have delivered them into your hands. Not a man of them will stand before you.”

There was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD listened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.

The LORD delivered it also, with its king, into the hand of Israel. He struck it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining in it. He did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.

The LORD delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel. He took it on the second day, and struck it with the edge of the sword, with all the souls who were in it, according to all that he had done to Libnah.

So Joshua struck all the land, the hill country, the South, the lowland, the slopes, and all their kings. He left no one remaining, but he utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded.

Joshua took all these kings and their land at one time because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.

The LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them, and chased them to great Sidon, and to Misrephoth Maim, and to the valley of Mizpah eastward. They struck them until they left them no one remaining.

Joshua did to them as the LORD told him. He hamstrung their horses and burnt their chariots with fire.

Joshua captured all the cities of those kings, with their kings, and he struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the LORD commanded.

As the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua. Joshua did so. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.

So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD spoke to Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land had rest from war.

Moses the servant of the LORD and the children of Israel struck them. Moses the servant of the LORD gave it for a possession to the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

But Moses gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The LORD, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as he spoke to them.

I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. I brought him word again as it was in my heart.

Nevertheless, my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; but I wholly followed the LORD my God.

Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where you walked shall be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’

“Now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as he spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. Now, behold, I am eighty-five years old, today.

Joshua blessed him; and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.

Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel wholeheartedly.

However, the Levites have no portion amongst you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance east of the Jordan, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.”

The men arose and went. Joshua commanded those who went to survey the land, saying, “Go walk through the land, survey it, and come again to me. I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.”

The men went and passed through the land, and surveyed it by cities into seven portions in a book. They came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh.

Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD. There Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions.

This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities with their villages.

This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.

So they finished distributing the land for inheritance by its borders. The children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun amongst them.

According to the LORD’s commandment, they gave him the city which he asked, even Timnathserah in the hill country of Ephraim; and he built the city, and lived there.

These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the LORD, at the door of the Tent of Meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “The LORD commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their pasture lands for our livestock.”

The children of Israel gave these cities with their pasture lands by lot to the Levites, as the LORD commanded by Moses.

They gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which are mentioned by name:

They gave them Kiriath Arba, named after the father of Anak (also called Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, with its pasture lands around it.

But they gave the fields of the city and its villages to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.

Jattir with its pasture lands, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands,

Holon with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands,

Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth Shemesh with its pasture lands: nine cities out of those two tribes.

Out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands,

Anathoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands: four cities.

So the LORD gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers. They possessed it, and lived in it.

The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that he swore to their fathers. Not a man of all their enemies stood before them. The LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.

Nothing failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you.

You have not left your brothers these many days to this day, but have performed the duty of the commandment of the LORD your God.

Now the LORD your God has given rest to your brothers, as he spoke to them. Therefore now return and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan.

Only take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

“Therefore we said, ‘Let’s now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice;

but it will be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings;’ that your children may not tell our children in time to come, ‘You have no portion in the LORD.’

“Therefore we said, ‘It shall be, when they tell us or our generations this in time to come, that we shall say, “Behold the pattern of the LORD’s altar, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.”’

“Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn away today from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides the LORD our God’s altar that is before his tabernacle!”

Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, “Today we know that the LORD is amongst us, because you have not committed this trespass against the LORD. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the LORD’s hand.”

The children of Reuben and the children of Gad named the altar “A Witness Between Us that the LORD is God.”

You have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you; for it is the LORD your God who has fought for you.

The LORD your God will thrust them out from before you, and drive them from out of your sight. You shall possess their land, as the LORD your God spoke to you.

“Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you not turn away from it to the right hand or to the left;

that you not come amongst these nations, these that remain amongst you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow down yourselves to them;

but hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day.

“For the LORD has driven great and strong nations out from before you. But as for you, no man has stood before you to this day.

One man of you shall chase a thousand; for it is the LORD your God who fights for you, as he spoke to you.

“Behold, today I am going the way of all the earth. You know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have happened to you. Not one thing has failed of it.

I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his offspring, and gave him Isaac.

I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it. Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.

“Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve the LORD.

If it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;

for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and amongst all the peoples through the middle of whom we passed.

The LORD drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD; for he is our God.”

The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD.”

Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD yourselves, to serve him.” They said, “We are witnesses.”

“Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are amongst you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.”

Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the LORD’s words which he spoke to us. It shall be therefore a witness against you, lest you deny your God.”

After these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred and ten years old.

Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of the LORD, that he had worked for Israel.

They buried the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver. They became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove the three sons of Anak out of there.

The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them.

He showed them the entrance into the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go.

The man went into the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.

The LORD’s angel came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, “I brought you out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to give your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you.

The people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD that he had worked for Israel.

Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred and ten years old.

that by them I may test Israel, to see if they will keep the LORD’s way to walk therein, as their fathers kept it, or not.”

When Ehud had finished offering the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute.

He said to them, “Follow me; for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” They followed him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and didn’t allow any man to pass over.

I will draw to you, to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand.’”

So God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel on that day.

The princes of Issachar were with Deborah. As was Issachar, so was Barak. They rushed into the valley at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben, there were great resolves of heart.

I said to you, “I am the LORD your God. You shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not listened to my voice.’”

The LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

Please don’t go away until I come to you, and bring out my present, and lay it before you.” He said, “I will wait until you come back.”

It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

God did so that night; for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

The LORD said to Gideon, “I will save you by the three hundred men who lapped, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, each to his own place.”

That same night, the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down into the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.

His fellow answered, “This is nothing other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has delivered Midian into his hand, with all the army.”

It was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshipped. Then he returned into the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD has delivered the army of Midian into your hand!”

When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon!’”

So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch. Then they blew the trumpets and broke in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands.

Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you, your son, and your son’s son also; for you have saved us out of the hand of Midian.”

“But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I stop producing my oil, with which they honour God and man by me, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’

“But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’

“The vine said to them, ‘Should I leave my new wine, which cheers God and man, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’

“Now therefore, if you have dealt truly and righteously, in that you have made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him according to the deserving of his hands

(for my father fought for you, risked his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian;

After Abimelech, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, arose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.

He judged Israel twenty-three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.

After him Jair, the Gileadite, arose. He judged Israel twenty-two years.

Jair died, and was buried in Kamon.

The LORD said to the children of Israel, “Didn’t I save you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?

The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD will be witness between us. Surely we will do what you say.”

The LORD, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they struck them. So Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.

So now the LORD, the God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and should you possess them?

Won’t you possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whoever the LORD our God has dispossessed from before us, them will we possess.

At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. She was a virgin. It became a custom in Israel

Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in the cities of Gilead.

After him, Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel; and he judged Israel ten years.

After him, Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel.

God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but Manoah, her husband, wasn’t with her.

The woman bore a son and named him Samson. The child grew, and the LORD blessed him.

But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out of it. When he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived. Therefore its name was called En Hakkore, which is in Lehi, to this day.

He judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He awoke out of his sleep, and said, “I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.” But he didn’t know that the LORD had departed from him.

Samson called to the LORD, and said, “Lord GOD, remember me, please, and strengthen me, please, only this once, God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.”

His master said to him, “We won’t enter into the city of a foreigner that is not of the children of Israel; but we will pass over to Gibeah.”

Behold, an old man came from his work out of the field at evening. Now the man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he lived in Gibeah; but the men of the place were Benjamites.

Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab; for she had heard in the country of Moab how the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.

Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May The LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”

Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Let me now go to the field, and glean amongst the ears of grain after him in whose sight I find favour.” She said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “May The LORD be with you.” They answered him, “May The LORD bless you.”

The servant who was set over the reapers answered, “It is the Moabite lady who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab.

She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers amongst the sheaves.’ So she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she rested a little in the house.”

Boaz answered her, “I have been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father, your mother, and the land of your birth, and have come to a people that you didn’t know before.

May the LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given to you from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

So she gleaned in the field until evening; and she beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.

She took it up, and went into the city. Then her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned; and she brought out and gave to her that which she had left after she had enough.

Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? Where have you worked? Blessed be he who noticed you.” She told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.”

Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not abandoned his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Naomi said to her, “The man is a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen.”

So she stayed close to the maidens of Boaz, to glean to the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and she lived with her mother-in-law.

She said to her, “All that you say, I will do.”

She went down to the threshing floor, and did everything that her mother-in-law told her.

He said, “Who are you?” She answered, “I am Ruth your servant. Therefore spread the corner of your garment over your servant; for you are a near kinsman.”

He said, “You are blessed by the LORD, my daughter. You have shown more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, because you didn’t follow young men, whether poor or rich.

Now it is true that I am a near kinsman. However, there is a kinsman nearer than I.

Stay this night, and in the morning, if he will perform for you the part of a kinsman, good. Let him do the kinsman’s duty. But if he will not do the duty of a kinsman for you, then I will do the duty of a kinsman for you, as the LORD lives. Lie down until the morning.”

Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there. Behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by. Boaz said to him, “Come over here, friend, and sit down!” He came over, and sat down.

Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from amongst his brothers and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses today.”

All the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which both built the house of Israel; and treat you worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem.

The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you today without a near kinsman. Let his name be famous in Israel.

and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of Salmon,

and Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed,

and Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.

This man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of Armies in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to the LORD, were there.

They rose up in the morning early and worshipped the LORD, then returned and came to their house to Ramah. Then Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her.

Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems good to you. Wait until you have weaned him; only may the LORD establish his word.” So the woman waited and nursed her son until she weaned him.

I prayed for this child, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of him.

Therefore I have also given him to the LORD. As long as he lives he is given to the LORD.” He worshipped the LORD there.

Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. The child served the LORD before Eli the priest.

But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, clothed with a linen ephod.

The LORD visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. The child Samuel grew before the LORD.

The child Samuel grew on, and increased in favour both with the LORD and also with men.

“Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father should walk before me forever.’ But now the LORD says, ‘Far be it from me; for those who honour me I will honour, and those who despise me will be cursed.

I will raise up a faithful priest for myself who will do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind. I will build him a sure house. He will walk before my anointed forever.

The LORD called Samuel. He said, “Here I am.”

The LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak; for your servant hears.”

In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even to the end.

Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!” He said, “Here I am.”

Samuel told him every bit, and hid nothing from him. He said, “It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him.”

Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.

All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.

The LORD appeared again in Shiloh; for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the LORD’s word.

The LORD’s ark was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

The men did so, and took two milk cows and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.

The cows took the straight way by the way to Beth Shemesh. They went along the highway, lowing as they went, and didn’t turn away to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh.

When the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.

and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages, even to the great stone on which they set down the LORD’s ark. That stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

They sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the LORD’s ark. Come down and bring it up to yourselves.”

The men of Kiriath Jearim came and took the LORD’s ark, and brought it into Abinadab’s house on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the LORD’s ark.

Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from amongst you, and direct your hearts to the LORD, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”

Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “The LORD helped us until now.”

Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, in that they have forsaken me and served other gods, so they also do to you.

The cook took up the thigh, and that which was on it, and set it before Saul. Samuel said, “Behold, that which has been reserved! Set it before yourself and eat; because it has been kept for you for the appointed time, for I said, ‘I have invited the people.’” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

Let it be, when these signs have come to you, that you do what is appropriate for the occasion; for God is with you.

It was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those signs happened that day.

Saul also went to his house in Gibeah; and the army went with him, whose hearts God had touched.

Now, behold, the king walks before you. I am old and grey-headed. Behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth to this day.

Here I am. Witness against me before the LORD and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Of whose hand have I taken a bribe to make me blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.”

They said, “You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

He said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand.” They said, “He is witness.”

Samuel said to the people, “It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.

Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers.

“When Jacob had come into Egypt, and your fathers cried to the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place.

But they forgot the LORD their God; and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them.

The LORD sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you lived in safety.

If you will fear the LORD, and serve him, and listen to his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you are followers of the LORD your God.

Samuel said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. You have indeed done all this evil; yet don’t turn away from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.

Don’t turn away to go after vain things which can’t profit or deliver, for they are vain.

For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself.

Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and the right way.

Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things he has done for you.

But now your kingdom will not continue. The LORD has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and the LORD has appointed him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept that which the LORD commanded you.”

including Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of the LORD in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. The people didn’t know that Jonathan was gone.

His armour bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go, and behold, I am with you according to your heart.”

Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armour bearer after him, and they fell before Jonathan; and his armour bearer killed them after him.

Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before and who went up with them into the camp from all around, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

Saul built an altar to the LORD. This was the first altar that he built to the LORD.

The people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with God today!” So the people rescued Jonathan, so he didn’t die.

Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from amongst the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from amongst the Amalekites.

Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the LORD’s voice, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.”

Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.”

David came to Saul and stood before him. He loved him greatly; and he became his armour bearer.

Now David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the place of the wagons as the army which was going out to the fight shouted for the battle.

David said to Saul, “Your servant was keeping his father’s sheep; and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,

David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely; and Saul set him over the men of war. It was good in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and had departed from Saul.

David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him.

Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David; and Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him.

David swore moreover, and said, “Your father knows well that I have found favour in your eyes; and he says, ‘Don’t let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved;’ but truly as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.”

Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever your soul desires, I will even do it for you.”

Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you; but if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?”

Jonathan said, “Far be it from you; for if I should at all know that evil were determined by my father to come on you, then wouldn’t I tell you that?”

Jonathan said to David, “By the LORD, the God of Israel, when I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if there is good towards David, won’t I then send to you and disclose it to you?

The LORD do so to Jonathan and more also, should it please my father to do you evil, if I don’t disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in peace. May the LORD be with you as he has been with my father.

You shall not only show me the loving kindness of the LORD while I still live, that I not die;

but you shall also not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not when the LORD has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the surface of the earth.”

So Jonathan made a covenant with David’s house, saying, “The LORD will require it at the hand of David’s enemies.”

Concerning the matter which you and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.”

In the morning, Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little boy with him.

He said to his boy, “Run, find now the arrows which I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.

When the boy had come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the boy, and said, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?”

Jonathan cried after the boy, “Go fast! Hurry! Don’t delay!” Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.

But the boy didn’t know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have both sworn in the LORD’s name, saying, ‘The LORD is between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” He arose and departed; and Jonathan went into the city.

He brought them before the king of Moab; and they lived with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.

Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, “Who amongst all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, captain of your body guard, and honoured in your house?

When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, he came down with an ephod in his hand.

David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God didn’t deliver him into his hand.

Now therefore, O king, come down. According to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part will be to deliver him up into the king’s hand.”

They arose, and went to Ziph before Saul; but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert.

Swear now therefore to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house.”

David swore to Saul. Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds have now been with us, and we didn’t harm them. Nothing was missing from them all the time they were in Carmel.

So David’s young men turned on their way and went back, and came and told him all these words.

But the men were very good to us, and we were not harmed, and we didn’t miss anything as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields.

They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.

It will come to pass, when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel,

that this shall be no grief to you, nor offence of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. When the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”

For indeed, as the LORD the God of Israel lives, who has withheld me from harming you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there wouldn’t have been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall.”

David said to Abner, “Aren’t you a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy your lord the king.

This thing isn’t good that you have done. As the LORD lives, you are worthy to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the LORD’s anointed. Now see where the king’s spear is, and the jar of water that was at his head.”

Now therefore, please let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is so that the LORD has stirred you up against me, let him accept an offering. But if it is the children of men, they are cursed before the LORD; for they have driven me out today that I shouldn’t cling to the LORD’s inheritance, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods!’

The LORD will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; because the LORD delivered you into my hand today, and I wouldn’t stretch out my hand against the LORD’s anointed.

Behold, as your life was respected today in my eyes, so let my life be respected in the LORD’s eyes, and let him deliver me out of all oppression.”

David arose and passed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.

The number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.

David said to Achish, “Therefore you will know what your servant can do.” Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you my bodyguard forever.”

Then the princes of the Philistines said, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, “Isn’t this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or rather these years? I have found no fault in him since he fell away until today.”

Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the LORD lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good in my sight; for I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords don’t favour you.

David said to Achish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant so long as I have been before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

all the valiant men arose, went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and burnt them there.

(and he commanded them to teach the children of Judah the song of the bow; behold, it is written in the book of Jashar):

David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead, and said to them, “Blessed are you by the LORD, that you have shown this kindness to your lord, even to Saul, and have buried him.

Now may the LORD show loving kindness and truth to you. I also will reward you for this kindness, because you have done this thing.

The time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely then in the morning the people would have gone away, and not each followed his brother.”

Abner and his men went all that night through the Arabah; and they passed over the Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and came to Mahanaim.

Then Abner was very angry about Ishbosheth’s words, and said, “Am I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to your father Saul’s house, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hand of David; and yet you charge me today with a fault concerning this woman!

God do so to Abner, and more also, if, as the LORD has sworn to David, I don’t do even so to him:

David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

David grew greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of Armies, was with him.

David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel’s sake.

David came to Baal Perazim, and David struck them there. Then he said, “The LORD has broken my enemies before me, like the breach of waters.” Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.

David did so, as the LORD commanded him, and struck the Philistines all the way from Geba to Gezer.

The LORD’s ark remained in Obed-Edom the Gittite’s house three months; and the LORD blessed Obed-Edom and all his house.

For I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought the children of Israel up out of Egypt, even to this day, but have moved around in a tent and in a tabernacle.

In all places in which I have walked with all the children of Israel, did I say a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’”’

Now therefore tell my servant David this: ‘The LORD of Armies says, “I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people, over Israel.

I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. I will make you a great name, like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.

When your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will set up your offspring after you, who will proceed out of your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

but my loving kindness will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you.

Your house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before you. Your throne will be established forever.”’”

Nathan spoke to David all these words, and according to all this vision.

For your word’s sake, and according to your own heart, you have worked all this greatness, to make your servant know it.

You established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever; and you, LORD, became their God.

“Now, LORD God, the word that you have spoken concerning your servant, and concerning his house, confirm it forever, and do as you have spoken.

“Now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are truth, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.

Now therefore, let it please you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you; for you, Lord GOD, have spoken it. Let the house of your servant be blessed forever with your blessing.”

Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought tribute. The LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.

There was of Saul’s house a servant whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” He said, “I am your servant.”

The king said, “Is there not yet any of Saul’s house, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “Jonathan still has a son, who is lame in his feet.”

David said to him, “Don’t be afraid, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your father. You will eat bread at my table continually.”

So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table. He was lame in both his feet.

David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent by his servants to comfort him concerning his father. David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.

Be courageous, and let’s be strong for our people and for the cities of our God; and may the LORD do what seems good to him.”

At the return of the year, at the time when kings go out, David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.

When Uriah had come to him, David asked him how Joab did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered.

But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and didn’t go down to his house.

Uriah said to David, “The ark, Israel, and Judah, are staying in tents; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open field. Shall I then go into my house to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing!”

When David had called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. At evening, he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but didn’t go down to his house.

So the messenger went, and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for.

and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he named him Jedidiah, for the LORD’s sake.

Jonadab said to the king, “Behold, the king’s sons are coming! It is as your servant said.”

Then she said, “Please let the king remember the LORD your God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son.” He said, “As the LORD lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the earth.”

The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” The woman answered, “As your soul lives, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken; for your servant Joab urged me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your servant.

For your servant vowed a vow while I stayed at Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If the LORD shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD.’”

The king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses.”

All his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.

Whereas you came but yesterday, should I today make you go up and down with us, since I go where I may? Return, and take back your brothers. Mercy and truth be with you.”

Ittai answered the king and said, “As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king is, whether for death or for life, your servant will be there also.”

Behold, Zadok also came, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God; and they set down God’s ark; and Abiathar went up until all the people finished passing out of the city.

Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried God’s ark to Jerusalem again; and they stayed there.

but if you return to the city, and tell Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king. As I have been your father’s servant in time past, so I will now be your servant; then will you defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.’

Don’t you have Zadok and Abiathar the priests there with you? Therefore whatever you hear out of the king’s house, tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son, and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son. Send to me everything that you shall hear by them.”

So Hushai, David’s friend, came into the city; and Absalom came into Jerusalem.

When David was a little past the top, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of donkeys saddled, and on them two hundred loaves of bread, and one hundred clusters of raisins, and one hundred summer fruits, and a container of wine.

The king said to Ziba, “What do you mean by these?” Ziba said, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that those who are faint in the wilderness may drink.”

Hushai said to Absalom, “No; but whomever the LORD and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, I will be his, and I will stay with him.

Again, whom should I serve? Shouldn’t I serve in the presence of his son? As I have served in your father’s presence, so I will be in your presence.”

Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En Rogel; and a female servant used to go and report to them, and they went and told King David; for they couldn’t risk being seen coming into the city.

Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house; and they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook of water.” When they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they passed over the Jordan. By the morning light there lacked not one of them who had not gone over the Jordan.

The man said to Joab, “Though I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I still wouldn’t stretch out my hand against the king’s son; for in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Beware that no one touch the young man Absalom.’

Joab came into the house to the king, and said, “Today you have shamed the faces of all your servants who today have saved your life, and the lives of your sons and of your daughters, and the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines;

in that you love those who hate you and hate those who love you. For you have declared today that princes and servants are nothing to you. For today I perceive that if Absalom had lived and we had all died today, then it would have pleased you well.

Now therefore arise, go out and speak to comfort your servants; for I swear by the LORD, if you don’t go out, not a man will stay with you this night. That would be worse to you than all the evil that has happened to you from your youth until now.”

Then the king arose and sat in the gate. The people were all told, “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” All the people came before the king. Now Israel had fled every man to his tent.

Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; and he had neither groomed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace.

When he had come to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why didn’t you go with me, Mephibosheth?”

He answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me. For your servant said, ‘I will saddle a donkey for myself, that I may ride on it and go with the king,’ because your servant is lame.

Mephibosheth said to the king, “Yes, let him take all, because my lord the king has come in peace to his own house.”

Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim; and he went over the Jordan with the king to conduct him over the Jordan.

Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even eighty years old. He had provided the king with sustenance while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very great man.

Your servant will just go over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king repay me with such a reward?

Please let your servant turn back again, that I may die in my own city, by the grave of my father and my mother. But behold, your servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good to you.”

The king answered, “Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good to you. Whatever you request of me, that I will do for you.”

All the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over. Then the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him; and he returned to his own place.

So the king went over to Gilgal, and Chimham went over with him. All the people of Judah brought the king over, and also half the people of Israel.

So all the men of Israel went up from following David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah joined with their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.

I am amongst those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the LORD’s inheritance?”

and Ira the Jairite was chief minister to David.

But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.

Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water poured on them from the sky. She allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day, nor the animals of the field by night.

David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.

So David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged them in the day that the Philistines killed Saul in Gilboa;

and he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son. They also gathered the bones of those who were hanged.

They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father; and they performed all that the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer for the land.

In my distress, I called on the LORD. Yes, I called to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry came into his ears.

They came on me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support.

For I have kept the LORD’s ways, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

For all his ordinances were before me. As for his statutes, I didn’t depart from them.

I was also perfect towards him. I kept myself from my iniquity.

Therefore the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in his eyesight.

With the merciful you will show yourself merciful. With the perfect man you will show yourself perfect.

As for God, his way is perfect. The LORD’s word is tested. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.

The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock! Exalted be God, the rock of my salvation,

He gives great deliverance to his king, and shows loving kindness to his anointed, to David and to his offspring, forever more.”

Isn’t my house so with God? Yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, for it is all my salvation and all my desire. Won’t he make it grow?

He said, “Be it far from me, LORD, that I should do this! Isn’t this the blood of the men who risked their lives to go?” Therefore he would not drink it. The three mighty men did these things.

Wasn’t he most honourable of the three? Therefore he was made their captain. However he wasn’t included as one of the three.

He was more honourable than the thirty, but he didn’t attain to the three. David set him over his guard.

Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty: Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,

Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,

Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite,

Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,

Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin,

Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash.

Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,

Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,

Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite,

Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maacathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,

Hezro the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,

Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,

Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, armour bearers to Joab the son of Zeruiah,

Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,

and Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.

David went up according to the saying of Gad, as the LORD commanded.

The young lady was very beautiful; and she cherished the king, and served him; but the king didn’t know her intimately.

He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest; and they followed Adonijah and helped him.

But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.

Go in to King David, and tell him, ‘Didn’t you, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, “Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then does Adonijah reign?’

Behold, while you are still talking there with the king, I will also come in after you and confirm your words.”

She said to him, “My lord, you swore by the LORD your God to your servant, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’

The king vowed and said, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

most certainly as I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place;’ I will most certainly do this today.”

The king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.

As the LORD has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”

So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon.

Jonathan answered Adonijah, “Most certainly our lord King David has made Solomon king.

and keep the instruction of the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, according to that which is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn yourself.

Then the LORD may establish his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your children are careful of their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you,’ he said, ‘a man on the throne of Israel.’

But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be amongst those who eat at your table; for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.

The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

Now therefore as the LORD lives, who has established me and set me on my father David’s throne, and who has made me a house as he promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death today.”

To Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your own fields, for you are worthy of death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you bore the Lord GOD’s ark before David my father, and because you were afflicted in all in which my father was afflicted.”

So Solomon thrust Abiathar out from being priest to the LORD, that he might fulfil the LORD’s word which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

Shimei said to the king, “What you say is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

Solomon said, “You have shown to your servant David my father great loving kindness, because he walked before you in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with you. You have kept for him this great loving kindness, that you have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today.

If you will walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder;

Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was chief minister, the king’s friend;

Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth;

Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar;

Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin;

Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer who was in the land.

Those officers provided food for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon’s table, every man in his month. They let nothing be lacking.

They also brought barley and straw for the horses and swift steeds to the place where the officers were, each man according to his duty.

“You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the wars which were around him on every side, until the LORD put his enemies under the soles of his feet.

Behold, I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place shall build the house for my name.’

Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you have sent to me. I will do all your desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning cypress timber.

My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea. I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place that you specify to me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and you will receive them. You will accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.”

So Hiram gave Solomon cedar timber and cypress timber according to all his desire.

Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat for food to his household, and twenty cors of pure oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year.

The LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.

“Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in my statutes, and execute my ordinances, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father.

I will dwell amongst the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.”

So Solomon built the house and finished it.

He overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. He also overlaid the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary with gold.

In the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and according to all its specifications. So he spent seven years building it.

Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.

Hiram made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished doing all the work that he worked for King Solomon in the LORD’s house:

Thus all the work that King Solomon did in the LORD’s house was finished. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the vessels—and put them in the treasuries of the LORD’s house.

The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen outside. They are there to this day.

I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in forever.”

He said, “Blessed is the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David your father, and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

“Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

But the LORD said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart.

The LORD has established his word that he spoke; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

and he said, “LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keeps covenant and loving kindness with your servants who walk before you with all their heart;

who has kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is today.

Now therefore, may LORD, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, ‘There shall not fail from you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’

“Now therefore, God of Israel, please let your word be verified, which you spoke to your servant David my father.

For you separated them from amongst all the peoples of the earth to be your inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord GOD.”

“Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. There has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant.

May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us or forsake us,

Let these my words, with which I have made supplication before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as every day requires;

“Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as it is today.”

On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad in their hearts for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David his servant, and to Israel his people.

The LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.

The LORD said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before me. I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put my name there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.

As for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances,

then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised to David your father, saying, ‘There shall not fail from you a man on the throne of Israel.’

and they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshipped them, and served them. Therefore the LORD has brought all this evil on them.’”

King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, in addition to that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.

When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father was.

Solomon did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and didn’t go fully after the LORD, as David his father did.

The LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, for David your father’s sake; but I will tear it out of your son’s hand.

However, I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.”

The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour; and Solomon saw the young man that he was industrious, and he put him in charge of all the labour of the house of Joseph.

(but he shall have one tribe, for my servant David’s sake and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel),

“‘However, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant’s sake whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes,

I will give one tribe to his son, that David my servant may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for myself to put my name there.

The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.

So the king didn’t listen to the people; for it was a thing brought about from the LORD, that he might establish his word, which the LORD spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

The king answered the man of God, “Now intercede for the favour of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again.” The man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him again, and became as it was before.

The man of God said to the king, “Even if you gave me half of your house, I would not go in with you, neither would I eat bread nor drink water in this place;

For it was said to me by the LORD’s word, ‘You shall eat no bread or drink water there, and don’t turn again to go by the way that you came.’”

After he had eaten bread and after he drank, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back.

He went and found his body thrown on the path, and the donkey and the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body nor mauled the donkey.

For the saying which he cried by the LORD’s word against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely happen.”

and tore the kingdom away from David’s house, and gave it you; and yet you have not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in my eyes,

The dogs will eat he who belongs to Jeroboam who dies in the city; and the birds of the sky will eat he who dies in the field, for the LORD has spoken it.”’

All Israel will mourn for him and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam will come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing towards the LORD, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.

All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the LORD’s word, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet.

The rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

He walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.

Nevertheless for David’s sake, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem;

because David did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, and didn’t turn away from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

Asa did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, as David his father did.

But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with the LORD all his days.

He brought into the LORD’s house the things that his father had dedicated, and the things that he himself had dedicated: silver, gold, and utensils.

Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in his father David’s city; and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

As soon as he was king, he struck all the house of Jeroboam. He didn’t leave to Jeroboam any who breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite;

Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the LORD’s word which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet,

In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel for twelve years. He reigned six years in Tirzah.

Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he showed, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. He laid its foundation with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the LORD’s word, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

You shall drink from the brook. I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”

So he went and did according to the LORD’s word, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith that is before the Jordan.

The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.

“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you.”

For the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘The jar of meal will not run out, and the jar of oil will not fail, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth.’”

The jar of meal didn’t run out and the jar of oil didn’t fail, according to the LORD’s word, which he spoke by Elijah.

The LORD listened to the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

Elijah took the child and brought him down out of the room into the house, and delivered him to his mother; and Elijah said, “Behold, your son lives.”

Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly;

He answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold, Elijah is here!’”

As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ he took an oath of the kingdom and nation that they didn’t find you.

It will happen, as soon as I leave you, that the LORD’s Spirit will carry you I don’t know where; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he can’t find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have feared the LORD from my youth.

Elijah said, “As the LORD of Armies lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.”

Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the LORD’s word came, saying, “Israel shall be your name.”

With the stones he built an altar in the LORD’s name. He made a trench around the altar large enough to contain two seahs of seed.

He said to his servant, “Go up now and look towards the sea.” He went up and looked, then said, “There is nothing.” He said, “Go again” seven times.

On the seventh time, he said, “Behold, a small cloud, like a man’s hand, is rising out of the sea.” He said, “Go up, tell Ahab, ‘Get ready and go down, so that the rain doesn’t stop you.’”

The LORD’s hand was on Elijah; and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

Yet I reserved seven thousand in Israel, all the knees of which have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him.”

A man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “The LORD says, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The LORD is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’”

As the king passed by, he cried to the king, and he said, “Your servant went out into the middle of the battle; and behold, a man came over and brought a man to me, and said, ‘Guard this man! If by any means he is missing, then your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’

Naboth said to Ahab, “May the LORD forbid me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”

He said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle to Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

Micaiah said, “As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak.”

Micaiah said, “If you return at all in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.” He said, “Listen, all you people!”

They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood where the prostitutes washed themselves, according to the LORD’s word which he spoke.

Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he built, and all the cities that he built, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in his father David’s city. Jehoram his son reigned in his place.

He said to him, “The LORD says, ‘Because you have sent messengers to enquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? Therefore you will not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you will surely die.’”

So he died according to the LORD’s word which Elijah had spoken. Jehoram began to reign in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, because he had no son.

When the LORD was about to take Elijah up by a whirlwind into heaven, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.

Elijah said to Elisha, “Please wait here, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.” Elisha said, “As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please wait here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” He said, “As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.

Elijah said to him, “Please wait here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” He said, “As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” Then they both went on.

Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance; and they both stood by the Jordan.

When they had gone over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be on me.”

He also took up Elijah’s mantle that fell from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan.

When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho facing him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

So the waters were healed to this day, according to Elisha’s word which he spoke.

Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother.” The king of Israel said to him, “No, for the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”

Elisha said, “As the LORD of Armies lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I respect the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look towards you, nor see you.

In the morning, about the time of offering the sacrifice, behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

So she went from him, and shut the door on herself and on her sons. They brought the containers to her, and she poured oil.

When the containers were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.” He said to her, “There isn’t another container.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

The woman conceived, and bore a son at that season when the time came around, as Elisha had said to her.

The child’s mother said, “As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So he arose, and followed her.

But he said, “Then bring meal.” He threw it into the pot; and he said, “Serve it to the people, that they may eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

So he set it before them and they ate and had some left over, according to the LORD’s word.

But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” He urged him to take it; but he refused.

Naaman said, “If not, then, please let two mules’ load of earth be given to your servant; for your servant will from now on offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD.

Naaman said, “Be pleased to take two talents.” He urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants; and they carried them before him.

One said, “Please be pleased to go with your servants.” He answered, “I will go.”

He said, “If the LORD doesn’t help you, where could I get help for you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?”

Elisha said, “Hear the LORD’s word. The LORD says, ‘Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’”

So they came and called to the city gatekeepers; and they told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, not even a man’s voice, but the horses tied, and the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.”

Then the gatekeepers called out and told it to the king’s household within.

The people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the LORD’s word.

The king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to be in charge of the gate; and the people trampled over him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.

It happened as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria;”

and that captain answered the man of God, and said, “Now, behold, if the LORD made windows in heaven, might such a thing be?” and he said, “Behold, you will see it with your eyes, but will not eat of it.”

It happened like that to him, for the people trampled over him in the gate, and he died.

The woman arose, and did according to the man of God’s word. She went with her household, and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years.

Hazael said, “But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he could do this great thing?” Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Syria.”

However, the LORD would not destroy Judah, for David his servant’s sake, as he promised him to give to him a lamp for his children always.

The rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

So the young man, the young prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead.

When Jehu came out to the servants of his lord and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this madman come to you?” He said to them, “You know the man and how he talks.”

Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, “Pick him up, and throw him in the plot of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember how, when you and I rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden on him:

In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah.

Therefore they came back, and told him. He said, “This is the LORD’s word, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘The dogs will eat the flesh of Jezebel on the plot of Jezreel,

select the best and fittest of your master’s sons, set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.”

Know now that nothing will fall to the earth of the LORD’s word, which the LORD spoke concerning Ahab’s house. For the LORD has done that which he spoke by his servant Elijah.”

He said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD.” So they made him ride in his chariot.

When he came to Samaria, he struck all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed them, according to the LORD’s word which he spoke to Elijah.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Jehu slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria. Jehoahaz his son reigned in his place.

The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

He was with her hidden in the LORD’s house six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.

In the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the captains over hundreds of the Carites and of the guard, and brought them to him into the LORD’s house; and he made a covenant with them, and made a covenant with them in the LORD’s house, and showed them the king’s son.

The captains over hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they each took his men, those who were to come in on the Sabbath with those who were to go out on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.

The priest delivered to the captains over hundreds the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the LORD’s house.

Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD’s people; also between the king and the people.

When they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king’s scribe and the high priest came up, and they put it in bags and counted the money that was found in the LORD’s house.

They gave the money that was weighed out into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the LORD’s house; and they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the LORD’s house,

Moreover they didn’t demand an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to give to those who did the work; for they dealt faithfully.

Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria; and Joash his son reigned in his place.

In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria for sixteen years.

Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat on his throne. Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

But the LORD was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and favoured them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them and he didn’t cast them from his presence as yet.

In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria for forty-one years.

He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to the LORD, the God of Israel’s word, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath Hepher.

This was the LORD’s word which he spoke to Jehu, saying, “Your sons to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” So it came to pass.

Now the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

Now the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

He did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes. He did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.

Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

For he joined with the LORD. He didn’t depart from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says ‘You have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, and I have heard you.

For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape. The LORD’s zeal will perform this.

“Therefore the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there. He will not come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.

He will return the same way that he came, and he will not come to this city,’ says the LORD.

‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.’”

“Remember now, LORD, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.”’”

I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.”

He walked in all the ways that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them;

and he abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and didn’t walk in the way of the LORD.

Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

He did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and didn’t turn away to the right hand or to the left.

Let them deliver it into the hand of the workers who have the oversight of the LORD’s house; and let them give it to the workers who are in the LORD’s house, to repair the damage to the house,

However, no accounting shall be asked of them for the money delivered into their hand, for they deal faithfully.”

Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hands of the workmen who have the oversight of the LORD’s house.”

because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you,’ says the LORD.

The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book; and all the people agreed to the covenant.

As Josiah turned himself, he spied the tombs that were there in the mountain; and he sent, and took the bones out of the tombs, and burnt them on the altar, and defiled it, according to the LORD’s word which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.

Surely there was not kept such a Passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;

There was no king like him before him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; and there was none like him who arose after him.

The LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, bands of the Syrians, bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the LORD’s word which he spoke by his servants the prophets.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him from the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life.

Arpachshad became the father of Shelah, and Shelah became the father of Eber.

Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,

Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.

Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah,

Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border! May your hand be with me, and may you keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” God granted him that which he requested.

For many fell slain, because the war was of God. They lived in their place until the captivity.

Uzzi became the father of Zerahiah. Zerahiah became the father of Meraioth.

Meraioth became the father of Amariah. Amariah became the father of Ahitub.

Ahitub became the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Ahimaaz.

Ahimaaz became the father of Azariah. Azariah became the father of Johanan.

Johanan became the father of Azariah, who executed the priest’s office in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem.

Azariah became the father of Amariah. Amariah became the father of Ahitub.

Ahitub became the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Shallum.

Shallum became the father of Hilkiah. Hilkiah became the father of Azariah.

Azariah became the father of Seraiah. Seraiah became the father of Jehozadak.

Jehozadak went into captivity when the LORD carried Judah and Jerusalem away by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

but the fields of the city and its villages, they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

To the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of refuge, Hebron, Libnah also with its pasture lands, Jattir, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands,

Hilen with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands,

Ashan with its pasture lands, and Beth Shemesh with its pasture lands;

and out of the tribe of Benjamin, Geba with its pasture lands, Allemeth with its pasture lands, and Anathoth with its pasture lands. All their cities throughout their families were thirteen cities.

To the rest of the sons of Kohath were given by lot, out of the family of the tribe, out of the half-tribe, the half of Manasseh, ten cities.

To the sons of Gershom, according to their families, out of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

To the sons of Merari were given by lot, according to their families, out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

The children of Israel gave to the Levites the cities with their pasture lands.

They gave by lot out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, and out of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, these cities which are mentioned by name.

and Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph,

and Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun; and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.

The gatekeepers: Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their brothers (Shallum was the chief),

who previously served in the king’s gate eastward. They were the gatekeepers for the camp of the children of Levi.

Shallum was the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brothers, of his father’s house, the Korahites, were over the work of the service, keepers of the thresholds of the tent. Their fathers had been over the LORD’s camp, keepers of the entry.

Phinehas the son of Eleazar was ruler over them in time past, and the LORD was with him.

Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper of the door of the Tent of Meeting.

All these who were chosen to be gatekeepers in the thresholds were two hundred and twelve. These were listed by genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer ordained in their office of trust.

So they and their children had the oversight of the gates of the LORD’s house, even the house of the tent, as guards.

On the four sides were the gatekeepers, towards the east, west, north, and south.

Their brothers, in their villages, were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with them,

for the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were in an office of trust, and were over the rooms and over the treasuries in God’s house.

They stayed around God’s house, because that was their duty; and it was their duty to open it morning by morning.

Certain of them were in charge of the vessels of service, for these were brought in by count, and these were taken out by count.

Some of them also were appointed over the furniture, and over all the vessels of the sanctuary, over the fine flour, the wine, the oil, the frankincense, and the spices.

Mattithiah, one of the Levites, who was the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had the office of trust over the things that were baked in pans.

Some of their brothers, of the sons of the Kohathites, were over the show bread, to prepare it every Sabbath.

These are the singers, heads of fathers’ households of the Levites, who lived in the rooms and were free from other service, for they were employed in their work day and night.

These were heads of fathers’ households of the Levites, throughout their generations, chief men. They lived at Jerusalem.

David grew greater and greater, for the LORD of Armies was with him.

The three broke through the army of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, took it, and brought it to David; but David would not drink any of it, but poured it out to the LORD,

and said, “My God forbid me, that I should do this! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy?” For they risked their lives to bring it. Therefore he would not drink it. The three mighty men did these things.

Behold, he was more honourable than the thirty, but he didn’t attain to the three; and David set him over his guard.

Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite,

Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite,

Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite,

Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite,

Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite,

Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite,

Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite,

the sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shagee the Hararite,

Ahiam the son of Sacar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur,

Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite,

Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai the son of Ezbai,

Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri,

Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite (the armour bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah),

Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,

Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai,

Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite (a chief of the Reubenites), and thirty with him,

Hanan the son of Maacah, Joshaphat the Mithnite,

Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite,

Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite,

Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai, and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite,

Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

Now these are those who came to David to Ziklag while he was a fugitive from Saul the son of Kish. They were amongst the mighty men, his helpers in war.

The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah; Jehu the Anathothite;

Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man amongst the thirty and a leader of the thirty; Jeremiah; Jahaziel; Johanan; Jozabad the Gederathite;

Eluzai; Jerimoth; Bealiah; Shemariah; Shephatiah the Haruphite;

Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites;

and Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

Some Gadites joined David in the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valour, men trained for war, who could handle shield and spear; whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as the gazelles on the mountains:

Ezer the chief, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third,

Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,

Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,

Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,

Jeremiah the tenth, and Machbannai the eleventh.

Some of the children of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David.

Then the Spirit came on Amasai, who was chief of the thirty, and he said, “We are yours, David, and on your side, you son of Jesse. Peace, peace be to you, and peace be to your helpers; for your God helps you.” Then David received them and made them captains of the band.

Some of Manasseh also joined David when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle, but they didn’t help them, for the lords of the Philistines sent him away after consultation, saying, “He will desert to his master Saul to the jeopardy of our heads.”

As he went to Ziklag, some from Manasseh joined him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, captains of thousands who were of Manasseh.

Of the children of Benjamin, Saul’s relatives: three thousand, for until then, the greatest part of them had kept their allegiance to Saul’s house.

Of Zebulun, such as were able to go out in the army, who could set the battle in array with all kinds of instruments of war: fifty thousand who could command and were not of double heart.

All these were men of war who could order the battle array, and came with a perfect heart to Hebron to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.

God’s ark remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house three months; and the LORD blessed Obed-Edom’s house and all that he had.

David made himself houses in David’s city; and he prepared a place for God’s ark, and pitched a tent for it.

Remember his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations,

the covenant which he made with Abraham, his oath to Isaac.

He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant,

They went about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people.

He allowed no man to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes,

For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.

to offer burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to all that is written in the LORD’s law, which he commanded to Israel;

Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart; for God is with you.”

for I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tent to another.

“Now therefore, you shall tell my servant David, ‘The LORD of Armies says, “I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people Israel.

I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. I will make you a name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.

It will happen, when your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your offspring after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom.

I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will not take my loving kindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you;

but I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom forever. His throne will be established forever.”’”

According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

This was a small thing in your eyes, O God, but you have spoken of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have respected me according to the standard of a man of high degree, LORD God.

LORD, for your servant’s sake, and according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness, to make known all these great things.

What one nation in the earth is like your people Israel, whom God went to redeem to himself for a people, to make you a name by great and awesome things, in driving out nations from before your people whom you redeemed out of Egypt?

For you made your people Israel your own people forever; and you, LORD, became their God.

Now, LORD, let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant, and concerning his house, be established forever, and do as you have spoken.

Let your name be established and magnified forever, saying, ‘The LORD of Armies is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel. The house of David your servant is established before you.’

For you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build him a house. Therefore your servant has found courage to pray before you.

Now, LORD, you are God, and have promised this good thing to your servant.

Now it has pleased you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you; for you, LORD, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.”

Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. The LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.

David reigned over all Israel; and he executed justice and righteousness for all his people.

Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;

and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of David were chief officials serving the king.

Be courageous, and let’s be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. May the LORD do that which seems good to him.”

David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spoke in the LORD’s name.

David said to Solomon his son, “As for me, it was in my heart to build a house to the name of the LORD my God.

Now, my son, may the LORD be with you and prosper you, and build the house of the LORD your God, as he has spoken concerning you.

Now, behold, in my affliction I have prepared for the LORD’s house one hundred thousand talents of gold, one million talents of silver, and bronze and iron without weight; for it is in abundance. I have also prepared timber and stone; and you may add to them.

“Isn’t the LORD your God with you? Hasn’t he given you rest on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand; and the land is subdued before the LORD and before his people.

The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was separated that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons forever, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister to him, and to bless in his name forever.

But as for Moses the man of God, his sons were named amongst the tribe of Levi.

For David said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people; and he dwells in Jerusalem forever.

This was their ordering in their service, to come into the LORD’s house according to the ordinance given to them by Aaron their father, as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded him.

Of the Levites, Ahijah was over the treasures of God’s house and over the treasures of the dedicated things.

Now the children of Israel after their number, the heads of fathers’ households and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and their officers who served the king in any matter of the divisions which came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year—of every division were twenty-four thousand.

Over the first division for the first month was Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel. In his division were twenty-four thousand.

He was of the children of Perez, the chief of all the captains of the army for the first month.

Over the division of the second month was Dodai the Ahohite and his division, and Mikloth the ruler; and in his division were twenty-four thousand.

The third captain of the army for the third month was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the chief priest. In his division were twenty-four thousand.

This is that Benaiah who was the mighty man of the thirty and over the thirty. Of his division was Ammizabad his son.

The fourth captain for the fourth month was Asahel the brother of Joab, and Zebadiah his son after him. In his division were twenty-four thousand.

The fifth captain for the fifth month was Shamhuth the Izrahite. In his division were twenty-four thousand.

The sixth captain for the sixth month was Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite. In his division were twenty-four thousand.

The seventh captain for the seventh month was Helez the Pelonite, of the children of Ephraim. In his division were twenty-four thousand.

The eighth captain for the eighth month was Sibbecai the Hushathite, of the Zerahites. In his division were twenty-four thousand.

The ninth captain for the ninth month was Abiezer the Anathothite, of the Benjamites. In his division were twenty-four thousand.

The tenth captain for the tenth month was Maharai the Netophathite, of the Zerahites. In his division were twenty-four thousand.

The eleventh captain for the eleventh month was Benaiah the Pirathonite, of the children of Ephraim. In his division were twenty-four thousand.

The twelfth captain for the twelfth month was Heldai the Netophathite, of Othniel. In his division were twenty-four thousand.

Furthermore over the tribes of Israel: of the Reubenites, Eliezer the son of Zichri was the ruler; of the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah;

of Levi, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel; of Aaron, Zadok;

of Judah, Elihu, one of the brothers of David; of Issachar, Omri the son of Michael;

of Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah; of Naphtali, Jeremoth the son of Azriel;

of the children of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah; of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah;

But David didn’t take the number of them from twenty years old and under, because the LORD had said he would increase Israel like the stars of the sky.

However the LORD, the God of Israel, chose me out of all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever. For he has chosen Judah to be prince; and in the house of Judah, the house of my father; and amongst the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel.

I will establish his kingdom forever if he continues to do my commandments and my ordinances, as it is today.’

Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the LORD’s assembly, and in the audience of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever.

David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do it. Don’t be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you, until all the work for the service of the LORD’s house is finished.

and they gave for the service of God’s house of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand darics, of silver ten thousand talents, of bronze eighteen thousand talents, and of iron one hundred thousand talents.

People with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the LORD’s house, under the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite.

LORD, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this desire forever in the thoughts of the heart of your people, and prepare their heart for you;

Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.

The time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Samuel the seer, and in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the history of Gad the seer,

Solomon the son of David was firmly established in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him, and made him exceedingly great.

But David had brought God’s ark up from Kiriath Jearim to the place that David had prepared for it; for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.

Solomon said to God, “You have shown great loving kindness to David my father, and have made me king in his place.

Now, LORD God, let your promise to David my father be established; for you have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.

Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, “As you dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build him a house in which to dwell, so deal with me.

Huram made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Huram finished doing the work that he did for King Solomon in God’s house:

Thus all the work that Solomon did for the LORD’s house was finished. Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, even the silver, the gold, and all the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of God’s house.

They brought up the ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent. The Levitical priests brought these up.

The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the ark in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen outside; and it is there to this day.

There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

He said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David my father, and has with his hands fulfilled it, saying,

‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house in, that my name might be there, and I chose no man to be prince over my people Israel;

but now I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’

Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

“The LORD has performed his word that he spoke; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

Then he said, “LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth—you who keep covenant and loving kindness with your servants who walk before you with all their heart;

who have kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is today.

“Now therefore, LORD, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’

Now therefore, LORD, the God of Israel, let your word be verified, which you spoke to your servant David.

that they may fear you, to walk in your ways as long as they live in the land which you gave to our fathers.

if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray towards their land which you gave to their fathers, and the city which you have chosen, and towards the house which I have built for your name;

“LORD God, don’t turn away the face of your anointed. Remember your loving kindnesses to David your servant.”

The priests stood, according to their positions; the Levites also with instruments of music of the LORD, which David the king had made to give thanks to the LORD, when David praised by their ministry, saying “For his loving kindness endures forever.” The priests sounded trumpets before them; and all Israel stood.

Thus Solomon finished the LORD’s house and the king’s house; and he successfully completed all that came into Solomon’s heart to make in the LORD’s house and in his own house.

Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to prayer that is made in this place.

For now I have chosen and made this house holy, that my name may be there forever; and my eyes and my heart will be there perpetually.

“As for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances,

then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, according as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a man to be ruler in Israel.’

even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses on the Sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts, three times per year, during the feast of unleavened bread, during the feast of weeks, and during the feast of booths.

He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required, the doorkeepers also by their divisions at every gate, for David the man of God had so commanded.

They didn’t depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter or concerning the treasures.

Now all the work of Solomon was accomplished from the day of the foundation of the LORD’s house until it was finished. So the LORD’s house was completed.

She said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom.

Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you and set you on his throne to be king for the LORD your God, because your God loved Israel, to establish them forever. Therefore he made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”

Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

So the king didn’t listen to the people; for it was brought about by God, that the LORD might establish his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

The priests and the Levites who were in all Israel stood with him out of all their territory.

For the Levites left their pasture lands and their possessions, and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest’s office to the LORD.

After them, out of all the tribes of Israel, those who set their hearts to seek the LORD, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong for three years, for they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon.

King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house.

Ought you not to know that the LORD, the God of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?

Haven’t you driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves according to the ways of the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of those who are no gods.

“But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests serving the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites in their work.

They burn to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense. They also set the show bread in order on the pure table, and care for the gold lamp stand with its lamps, to burn every evening; for we keep the instruction of the LORD our God, but you have forsaken him.

Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the LORD, the God of their fathers.

The rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways, and his sayings are written in the commentary of the prophet Iddo.

Asa did that which was good and right in the LORD his God’s eyes,

The Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded.

He went out to meet Asa, and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin! The LORD is with you while you are with him; and if you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

But when in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.

But you be strong! Don’t let your hands be slack, for your work will be rewarded.”

He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who lived with them out of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon; for they came to him out of Israel in abundance when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

They entered into the covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul;

All Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found by them. Then the LORD gave them rest all around.

But the high places were not taken away out of Israel; nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him, “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped out of your hand.

Weren’t the Ethiopians and the Lubim a huge army, with chariots and exceedingly many horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand.

For the LORD’s eyes run back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him. You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars.”

Behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

The LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and didn’t seek the Baals,

but sought the God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not in the ways of Israel.

Therefore the LORD established the kingdom in his hand. All Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had riches and honour in abundance.

These were those who waited on the king, in addition to those whom the king put in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.

Micaiah said, “As the LORD lives, I will say what my God says.”

Micaiah said, “If you return at all in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.” He said, “Listen, you people, all of you!”

When the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel!” Therefore they turned around to fight against him. But Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.

Nevertheless there are good things found in you, in that you have put away the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.”

Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem; and he went out again amongst the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

He commanded them, saying, “You shall do this in the fear of the LORD, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.

Didn’t you, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it to the offspring of Abraham your friend forever?

They lived in it, and have built you a sanctuary in it for your name, saying,

Now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned away from them, and didn’t destroy them;

So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign. He reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

He walked in the way of Asa his father, and didn’t turn away from it, doing that which was right in the LORD’s eyes.

However the high places were not taken away, and the people had still not set their hearts on the God of their fathers.

However the LORD would not destroy David’s house, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a lamp to him and to his children always.

He sought Ahaziah, and they caught him (now he was hiding in Samaria), and they brought him to Jehu and killed him; and they buried him, for they said, “He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart.” The house of Ahaziah had no power to hold the kingdom.

But Jehoshabeath, the king’s daughter, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stealthily rescued him from amongst the king’s sons who were slain, and put him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah, so that she didn’t kill him.

He was with them hidden in God’s house six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.

All the assembly made a covenant with the king in God’s house. Jehoiada said to them, “Behold, the king’s son must reign, as the LORD has spoken concerning the sons of David.

This is the thing that you must do: a third part of you, who come in on the Sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be gatekeepers of the thresholds.

So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. They each took his men, those who were to come in on the Sabbath, with those who were to go out on the Sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest didn’t dismiss the shift.

Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds the spears, bucklers, and shields that had been king David’s, which were in God’s house.

Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, all the people, and the king, that they should be the LORD’s people.

Joash did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

After this, Joash intended to restore the LORD’s house.

So the workmen worked, and the work of repairing went forward in their hands. They set up God’s house as it was designed, and strengthened it.

When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, from which were made vessels for the LORD’s house, even vessels with which to minister and to offer, including spoons and vessels of gold and silver. They offered burnt offerings in the LORD’s house continually all the days of Jehoiada.

They buried him in David’s city amongst the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and towards God and his house.

For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men; and the LORD delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. So they executed judgement on Joash.

Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.”

Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold, aren’t they written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel?

He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the vision of God; and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper.

He built towers in the wilderness, and dug out many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the lowlands and in the plains. He had farmers and vineyard keepers in the mountains and in the fruitful fields, for he loved farming.

Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, wrote.

He did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, according to all that his father Uzziah had done. However he didn’t enter into the LORD’s temple. The people still acted corruptly.

He built the upper gate of the LORD’s house, and he built much on the wall of Ophel.

So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God.

In the time of his distress, he trespassed yet more against the LORD, this same King Ahaz.

For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him. He said, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them, that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel.

Ahaz gathered together the vessels of God’s house, cut the vessels of God’s house in pieces, and shut up the doors of the LORD’s house; and he made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem.

Now the rest of his acts, and all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

He did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, according to all that David his father had done.

Then they went in to Hezekiah the king within the palace and said, “We have cleansed all the LORD’s house, including the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, and the table of show bread with all its vessels.

Moreover, we have prepared and sanctified all the vessels which King Ahaz threw away in his reign when he was unfaithful. Behold, they are before the LORD’s altar.”

For if you turn again to the LORD, your brothers and your children will find compassion with those who led them captive, and will come again into this land, because the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you if you return to him.”

As soon as the commandment went out, the children of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey, and of all the increase of the field; and they brought in the tithe of all things abundantly.

The children of Israel and Judah, who lived in the cities of Judah, also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the tithe of dedicated things which were consecrated to the LORD their God, and laid them in heaps.

Azariah the chief priest, of the house of Zadok, answered him and said, “Since people began to bring the offerings into the LORD’s house, we have eaten and had enough, and have plenty left over, for the LORD has blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.”

They brought in the offerings, the tithes, and the dedicated things faithfully. Conaniah the Levite was ruler over them, and Shimei his brother was second.

Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers under the hand of Conaniah and Shimei his brother, by the appointment of Hezekiah the king and Azariah the ruler of God’s house.

Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the gatekeeper at the east gate, was over the free will offerings of God, to distribute the LORD’s offerings and the most holy things.

Under him were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their office of trust, to give to their brothers by divisions, to the great as well as to the small;

in addition to those who were listed by genealogy of males, from three years old and upward, even everyone who entered into the LORD’s house, as the duty of every day required, for their service in their offices according to their divisions;

and those who were listed by genealogy of the priests by their fathers’ houses, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their offices by their divisions;

and those who were listed by genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, through all the congregation; for in their office of trust they sanctified themselves in holiness.

Hezekiah did so throughout all Judah; and he did that which was good, right, and faithful before the LORD his God.

In every work that he began in the service of God’s house, in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart and prospered.

After these things and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, entered into Judah, encamped against the fortified cities, and intended to win them for himself.

His servants spoke yet more against the LORD God and against his servant Hezekiah.

Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of this, and cried to heaven.

This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon, and brought them straight down on the west side of David’s city. Hezekiah prospered in all his works.

Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the ascent to the tombs of the sons of David. All Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honoured him at his death. Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

He set the engraved image of the idol, which he had made, in God’s house, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.

I will not any more remove the foot of Israel from off the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them, even all the law, the statutes, and the ordinances given by Moses.”

Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places, but only to the LORD their God.

Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, behold, they are written amongst the acts of the kings of Israel.

He did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, and walked in the ways of David his father, and didn’t turn away to the right hand or to the left.

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

They delivered it into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the LORD’s house; and the workmen who laboured in the LORD’s house gave it to mend and repair the house.

The men did the work faithfully. Their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to give direction; and others of the Levites, who were all skilful with musical instruments.

Shaphan carried the book to the king, and moreover brought back word to the king, saying, “All that was committed to your servants, they are doing.

They have emptied out the money that was found in the LORD’s house, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers and into the hand of the workmen.”

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

He caused all who were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand. The inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that belonged to the children of Israel, and made all who were found in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. All his days they didn’t depart from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.

He said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to the LORD, “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built. It will no longer be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God and his people Israel.

Josiah gave to the children of the people, of the flock, lambs and young goats, all of them for the Passover offerings, to all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bulls. These were of the king’s substance.

Afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests the sons of Aaron were busy with offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night. Therefore the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests the sons of Aaron.

The singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place, according to the commandment of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the gatekeepers were at every gate. They didn’t need to depart from their service, because their brothers the Levites prepared for them.

So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day, to keep the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings on the LORD’s altar, according to the commandment of King Josiah.

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

He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God; but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel.

to fulfil the LORD’s word by Jeremiah’s mouth, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. As long as it lay desolate, it kept Sabbath, to fulfil seventy years.

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

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

The children of Parosh, two thousand and one hundred and seventy-two.

The children of Shephatiah, three hundred and seventy-two.

The children of Arah, seven hundred and seventy-five.

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

The children of Elam, one thousand and two hundred and fifty-four.

The children of Zattu, nine hundred and forty-five.

The children of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty.

The children of Bani, six hundred and forty-two.

The children of Bebai, six hundred and twenty-three.

The children of Azgad, one thousand and two hundred and twenty-two.

The men of Anathoth, one hundred and twenty-eight.

The children of Azmaveth, forty-two.

The children of Kiriath Arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty-three.

The children of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one.

The men of Michmas, one hundred and twenty-two.

The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred and twenty-three.

The children of Nebo, fifty-two.

The children of Magbish, one hundred and fifty-six.

The children of the other Elam, one thousand and two hundred and fifty-four.

The children of Harim, three hundred and twenty.

The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-five.

The children of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five.

The children of Senaah, three thousand and six hundred and thirty.

The priests: the children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three.

The children of Immer, one thousand and fifty-two.

The children of Pashhur, one thousand and two hundred and forty-seven.

The children of Harim, one thousand and seventeen.

The Levites: the children of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the children of Hodaviah, seventy-four.

The singers: the children of Asaph, one hundred and twenty-eight.

The children of the gatekeepers: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, in all one hundred and thirty-nine.

The temple servants: the children of Ziha, the children of Hasupha, the children of Tabbaoth,

the children of Keros, the children of Siaha, the children of Padon,

the children of Lebanah, the children of Hagabah, the children of Akkub,

the children of Hagab, the children of Shamlai, the children of Hanan,

the children of Giddel, the children of Gahar, the children of Reaiah,

the children of Rezin, the children of Nekoda, the children of Gazzam,

the children of Uzza, the children of Paseah, the children of Besai,

the children of Asnah, the children of Meunim, the children of Nephisim,

the children of Bakbuk, the children of Hakupha, the children of Harhur,

the children of Bazluth, the children of Mehida, the children of Harsha,

Some of the heads of fathers’ households, when they came to the LORD’s house which is in Jerusalem, offered willingly for God’s house to set it up in its place.

Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak stood up with his brothers the priests and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his relatives, and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.

Now in the second year of their coming to God’s house at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began the work and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of the LORD’s house.

But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves together will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”

Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not appropriate for us to see the king’s dishonour, therefore we have sent and informed the king,

Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem. They prophesied to them in the name of the God of Israel.

But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they didn’t make them cease until the matter should come to Darius, and an answer should be returned by letter concerning it.

Be it known to the king that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, which is being built with great stones and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on with diligence and prospers in their hands.

Thus they returned us answer, saying, “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth and are building the house that was built these many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.

Then the same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of God’s house which is in Jerusalem. Since that time even until now it has been being built, and yet it is not completed.

Then Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and their companions did accordingly with all diligence, because Darius the king had sent a decree.

The elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

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

and kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy; because the LORD had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of God, the God of Israel’s house.

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

the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,

the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,

the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,

the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest—

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

The vessels that are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver before the God of Jerusalem.

I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers who are beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, requires of you, it shall be done with all diligence,

and has extended loving kindness to me before the king and his counsellors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. I was strengthened according to the LORD my God’s hand on me, and I gathered together chief men out of Israel to go up with me.

and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty;

and of the temple servants, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty temple servants. All of them were mentioned by name.

For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is on all those who seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all those who forsake him.”

So we fasted and begged our God for this, and he granted our request.

Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them,

Watch and keep them until you weigh them before the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and the princes of the fathers’ households of Israel at Jerusalem, in the rooms of the LORD’s house.”

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

Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the bandits by the way.

We came to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days.

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

Everything was counted and weighed; and all the weight was written at that time.

They delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s local governors and to the governors beyond the River. So they supported the people and God’s house.

For we are bondservants; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended loving kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to set up the house of our God, and to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the palace,

and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house that I will occupy.” The king granted my requests, because of the good hand of my God on me.

I told them about the hand of my God which was good on me, and also about the king’s words that he had spoken to me. They said, “Let’s rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.

Next to him the men of Jericho built. Next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.

The sons of Hassenaah built the fish gate. They laid its beams, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

Next to them, Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz made repairs. Next to them, Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel made repairs. Next to them, Zadok the son of Baana made repairs.

Next to them, the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles didn’t put their necks to the Lord’s work.

Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the old gate. They laid its beams and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

Next to them, Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, repaired the residence of the governor beyond the River.

Next to him, Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, made repairs. Next to him, Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs, and they fortified Jerusalem even to the wide wall.

Next to them, Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs.

Next to them, Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs across from his house. Next to him, Hattush the son of Hashabneiah made repairs.

Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahathmoab repaired another portion and the tower of the furnaces.

Next to him, Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, he and his daughters made repairs.

Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the valley gate. They built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and one thousand cubits of the wall to the dung gate.

Malchijah the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth Haccherem, repaired the dung gate. He built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the spring gate. He built it, covered it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars; and he repaired the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king’s garden, even to the stairs that go down from David’s city.

After him, Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth Zur, made repairs to the place opposite the tombs of David, and to the pool that was made, and to the house of the mighty men.

After him, the Levites—Rehum the son of Bani made repairs. Next to him, Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district.

After him, their brothers, Bavvai the son of Henadad, the ruler of half the district of Keilah made repairs.

Next to him, Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, repaired another portion across from the ascent to the armoury at the turning of the wall.

After him, Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired another portion, from the turning of the wall to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.

After him, Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz repaired another portion, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib.

After him, the priests, the men of the surrounding area made repairs.

After them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs across from their house. After them, Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah made repairs beside his own house.

After him, Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another portion, from the house of Azariah to the turning of the wall, and to the corner.

Palal the son of Uzai made repairs opposite the turning of the wall, and the tower that stands out from the upper house of the king, which is by the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs.

After him the Tekoites repaired another portion, opposite the great tower that stands out, and to the wall of Ophel.

Above the horse gate, the priests made repairs, everyone across from his own house.

After them, Zadok the son of Immer made repairs across from his own house. After him, Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the east gate, made repairs.

After him, Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another portion. After him, Meshullam the son of Berechiah made repairs across from his room.

After him, Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths to the house of the temple servants, and of the merchants, made repairs opposite the gate of Hammiphkad and to the ascent of the corner.

Between the ascent of the corner and the sheep gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.

I looked, and rose up, and said to the nobles, to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them! Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and God had brought their counsel to nothing, all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work.

Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally there to us. Our God will fight for us.”

So neither I, nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes. Everyone took his weapon to the water.

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

Yes, I also continued in the work of this wall. We didn’t buy any land. All my servants were gathered there to the work.

Remember me, my God, for all the good that I have done for this people.

I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I can’t come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and come down to you?”

They sent to me four times like this; and I answered them the same way.

So the wall was finished in the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days.

I put my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the governor of the fortress, in charge of Jerusalem; for he was a faithful man and feared God above many.

who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:

The children of Parosh: two thousand and one hundred and seventy-two.

The children of Shephatiah: three hundred and seventy-two.

The children of Arah: six hundred and fifty-two.

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

The children of Elam: one thousand and two hundred and fifty-four.

The children of Zattu: eight hundred and forty-five.

The children of Zaccai: seven hundred and sixty.

The children of Binnui: six hundred and forty-eight.

The children of Bebai: six hundred and twenty-eight.

The children of Azgad: two thousand and three hundred and twenty-two.

The children of Adonikam: six hundred and sixty-seven.

The children of Bigvai: two thousand and sixty-seven.

The children of Adin: six hundred and fifty-five.

The children of Ater: of Hezekiah, ninety-eight.

The children of Hashum: three hundred and twenty-eight.

The children of Bezai: three hundred and twenty-four.

The children of Hariph: one hundred and twelve.

The children of Gibeon: ninety-five.

The men of Bethlehem and Netophah: one hundred and eighty-eight.

The men of Anathoth: one hundred and twenty-eight.

The men of Beth Azmaveth: forty-two.

The men of Kiriath Jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth: seven hundred and forty-three.

The men of Ramah and Geba: six hundred and twenty-one.

The men of Michmas: one hundred and twenty-two.

The men of Bethel and Ai: one hundred and twenty-three.

The men of the other Nebo: fifty-two.

The children of the other Elam: one thousand and two hundred and fifty-four.

The children of Harim: three hundred and twenty.

The children of Jericho: three hundred and forty-five.

The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono: seven hundred and twenty-one.

The children of Senaah: three thousand and nine hundred and thirty.

The priests: The children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua: nine hundred and seventy-three.

The children of Immer: one thousand and fifty-two.

The children of Pashhur: one thousand and two hundred and forty-seven.

The children of Harim: one thousand and seventeen.

The Levites: the children of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, of the children of Hodevah: seventy-four.

The singers: the children of Asaph: one hundred and forty-eight.

The gatekeepers: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai: one hundred and thirty-eight.

The temple servants: the children of Ziha, the children of Hasupha, the children of Tabbaoth,

the children of Keros, the children of Sia, the children of Padon,

the children of Lebana, the children of Hagaba, the children of Salmai,

the children of Hanan, the children of Giddel, the children of Gahar,

All the temple servants and the children of Solomon’s servants were three hundred and ninety-two.

Some from amongst the heads of fathers’ households gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury one thousand darics of gold, fifty basins, and five hundred and thirty priests’ garments.

Some of the heads of fathers’ households gave into the treasury of the work twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand and two hundred minas of silver.

You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees, gave him the name of Abraham,

found his heart faithful before you, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it to his offspring, and have performed your words, for you are righteous.

and showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that they dealt proudly against them, and made a name for yourself, as it is today.

and gave them bread from the sky for their hunger, and brought water out of the rock for them for their thirst, and commanded them that they should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them.

and refused to obey. They weren’t mindful of your wonders that you did amongst them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But you are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and didn’t forsake them.

Yes, when they had made themselves a moulded calf, and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed awful blasphemies,

yet you in your manifold mercies didn’t forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud didn’t depart from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither did the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go.

You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and didn’t withhold your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.

“Yes, forty years you sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing. Their clothes didn’t grow old, and their feet didn’t swell.

Moreover you gave them kingdoms and peoples, which you allotted according to their portions. So they possessed the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

You also multiplied their children as the stars of the sky, and brought them into the land concerning which you said to their fathers that they should go in to possess it.

“So the children went in and possessed the land; and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they pleased.

Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who distressed them. In the time of their trouble, when they cried to you, you heard from heaven; and according to your manifold mercies you gave them saviours who saved them out of the hands of their adversaries.

But after they had rest, they did evil again before you; therefore you left them in the hands of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them; yet when they returned and cried to you, you heard from heaven; and many times you delivered them according to your mercies,

“Nevertheless in your manifold mercies you didn’t make a full end of them, nor forsake them; for you are a gracious and merciful God.

Now those who sealed were: Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah,

joined with their brothers, their nobles, and entered into a curse and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes;

For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the wave offering of the grain, of the new wine, and of the oil, to the rooms where the vessels of the sanctuary are, and the priests who minister, with the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not forsake the house of our God.

and their brothers who did the work of the house, eight hundred and twenty-two; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah,

and his brothers, chiefs of fathers’ households, two hundred and forty-two; and Amashsai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer,

Of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni;

and Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who had the oversight of the outward business of God’s house;

All the Levites in the holy city were two hundred and eighty-four.

Moreover the gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon, and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were one hundred and seventy-two.

The residue of Israel, of the priests, and the Levites were in all the cities of Judah, everyone in his inheritance.

But the temple servants lived in Ophel; and Ziha and Gishpa were over the temple servants.

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

Also Bakbukiah and Unno, their brothers, were close to them according to their offices.

In the days of Joiakim were priests, heads of fathers’ households: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;

of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam;

of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai;

of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan;

of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi;

of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber;

of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

As for the Levites, in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, there were recorded the heads of fathers’ households; also the priests, in the reign of Darius the Persian.

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

Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers keeping the watch at the storehouses of the gates.

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

All Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the portions of the singers and the gatekeepers, as every day required; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron.

because they didn’t meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them; however, our God turned the curse into a blessing.

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

Remember me, my God, concerning this, and don’t wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its observances.

It came to pass that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. I set some of my servants over the gates, so that no burden should be brought in on the Sabbath day.

Then I testified against them, and said to them, “Why do you stay around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on, they didn’t come on the Sabbath.

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

Shall we then listen to you to do all this great evil, to trespass against our God in marrying foreign women?”

One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I chased him from me.

Thus I cleansed them from all foreigners and appointed duties for the priests and for the Levites, everyone in his work;

and for the wood offering, at appointed times, and for the first fruits. Remember me, my God, for good.

There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite,

Mordecai walked every day in front of the court of the women’s house, to find out how Esther was doing, and what would become of her.

When the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gate.

Esther had not yet made known her relatives nor her people, as Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther obeyed Mordecai, like she did when she was brought up by him.

This thing became known to Mordecai, who informed Esther the queen; and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name.

Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily to him, and he didn’t listen to them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew.

“Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in Susa, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I and my maidens will also fast the same way. Then I will go in to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.”

So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus.

The king said, “What honour and dignity has been given to Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”

The king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

So the couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king’s commandment. The decree was given out in the citadel of Susa.

The Jews accepted the custom that they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them,

Therefore they called these days “Purim”, from the word “Pur.” Therefore because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and that which had come to them,

the Jews established and imposed on themselves, on their descendants, and on all those who joined themselves to them, so that it should not fail that they would keep these two days according to what was written and according to its appointed time every year;

and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from amongst the Jews, nor their memory perish from their offspring.

Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim.

He sent letters to all the Jews in the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus with words of peace and truth,

to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had decreed, and as they had imposed upon themselves and their descendants in the matter of the fastings and their mourning.

The commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.

For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great amongst the Jews and accepted by the multitude of his brothers, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his descendants.

It was so, when the days of their feasting had run their course, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned, and renounced God in their hearts.” Job did so continually.

He said, “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked will I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the LORD’s name.”

In all this, Job didn’t sin, nor charge God with wrongdoing.

The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause.”

But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job didn’t sin with his lips.

Behold, he puts no trust in his servants. He charges his angels with error.

He will deliver you in six troubles; yes, in seven no evil will touch you.

Let it still be my consolation, yes, let me exult in pain that doesn’t spare, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

“Behold, God will not cast away a blameless man, neither will he uphold the evildoers.

(which wise men have told by their fathers, and have not hidden it;

Yet the righteous will hold to his way. He who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.

You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you. You will pay your vows.

But he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I will come out like gold.

My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned away.

I haven’t gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

For he performs that which is appointed for me. Many such things are with him.

Yet God preserves the mighty by his power. He rises up who has no assurance of life.

(for the length of my life is still in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils);

I hold fast to my righteousness, and will not let it go. My heart will not reproach me so long as I live.

this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have denied the God who is above.

“Behold, God does all these things, twice, yes three times, with a man,

Yes surely, God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert justice.

For truly my words are not false. One who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

He doesn’t withdraw his eyes from the righteous, but with kings on the throne, he sets them forever, and they are exalted.

It was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you, and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has.

I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father.

I cry to the LORD with my voice, and he answers me out of his holy hill. Selah.

But know that the LORD has set apart for himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to him.

For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their heart is destruction. Their throat is an open tomb. They flatter with their tongue.

The LORD has heard my supplication. The LORD accepts my prayer.

Those who know your name will put their trust in you, for you, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

For he who avenges blood remembers them. He doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever.

For the Chief Musician; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David. Help, LORD; for the godly man ceases. For the faithful fail from amongst the children of men.

Everyone lies to his neighbour. They speak with flattering lips, and with a double heart.

The LORD’s words are flawless words, as silver refined in a clay furnace, purified seven times.

You will keep them, LORD. You will preserve them from this generation forever.

I will sing to the LORD, because he has been good to me.

in whose eyes a vile man is despised, but who honours those who fear the LORD; he who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn’t change;

For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.

You have proved my heart. You have visited me in the night. You have tried me, and found nothing. I have resolved that my mouth shall not disobey.

My steps have held fast to your paths. My feet have not slipped.

The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands, he has recompensed me.

For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

For all his ordinances were before me. I didn’t put away his statutes from me.

With the merciful you will show yourself merciful. With the perfect man, you will show yourself perfect.

As for God, his way is perfect. The LORD’s word is tried. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.

the God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect?

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever. The LORD’s ordinances are true, and righteous altogether.

For the king trusts in the LORD. Through the loving kindness of the Most High, he shall not be moved.

Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them.

They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.

But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust while at my mother’s breasts.

I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb. You are my God since my mother bore me.

For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.

Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord.

They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it.

Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the LORD’s house forever.

LORD, remember your tender mercies and your loving kindness, for they are from old times.

All the paths of the LORD are loving kindness and truth to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

By David. Judge me, LORD, for I have walked in my integrity. I have trusted also in the LORD without wavering.

For your loving kindness is before my eyes. I have walked in your truth.

When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.

The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood. Yes, the LORD sits as King forever.

Oh love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, and fully recompenses him who behaves arrogantly.

For this, let everyone who is godly pray to you in a time when you may be found. Surely when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach to him.

For the LORD’s word is right. All his work is done in faithfulness.

The counsel of the LORD stands fast forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

He protects all of his bones. Not one of them is broken.

The LORD redeems the soul of his servants. None of those who take refuge in him shall be condemned.

Your loving kindness, LORD, is in the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Oh continue your loving kindness to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart.

Commit your way to the LORD. Trust also in him, and he will do this:

The LORD knows the days of the perfect. Their inheritance shall be forever.

A man’s steps are established by the LORD. He delights in his way.

Though he stumble, he shall not fall, for the LORD holds him up with his hand.

I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his children begging for bread.

For the LORD loves justice, and doesn’t forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

The law of his God is in his heart. None of his steps shall slide.

The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.

The LORD helps them and rescues them. He rescues them from the wicked and saves them, because they have taken refuge in him.

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. I waited patiently for the LORD. He turned to me, and heard my cry.

Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, and doesn’t respect the proud, nor such as turn away to lies.

Many, LORD, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are towards us. They can’t be declared back to you. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be counted.

Then I said, “Behold, I have come. It is written about me in the book in the scroll.

I delight to do your will, my God. Yes, your law is within my heart.”

I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly. Behold, I will not seal my lips, LORD, you know.

I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart. I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great assembly.

The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive. He shall be blessed on the earth, and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.

As for me, you uphold me in my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.

For the Chief Musician. By the sons of Korah. A contemplative psalm. We have heard with our ears, God; our fathers have told us what work you did in their days, in the days of old.

All this has come on us, yet we haven’t forgotten you. We haven’t been false to your covenant.

Our heart has not turned back, neither have our steps strayed from your path,

If we have forgotten the name of our God, or spread out our hands to a strange god,

God is within her. She shall not be moved. God will help her at dawn.

The LORD of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

The LORD of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.

As we have heard, so we have seen, in the city of the LORD of Armies, in the city of our God. God will establish it forever. Selah.

Notice her bulwarks. Consider her palaces, that you may tell it to the next generation.

For this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even to death.

I don’t rebuke you for your sacrifices. Your burnt offerings are continually before me.

Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Pay your vows to the Most High.

Do well in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.

For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, “David has come to Ahimelech’s house.” Why do you boast of mischief, mighty man? God’s loving kindness endures continually.

But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in God’s house. I trust in God’s loving kindness forever and ever.

Evening, morning, and at noon, I will cry out in distress. He will hear my voice.

You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your container. Aren’t they in your book?

I cry out to God Most High, to God who accomplishes my requests for me.

For your great loving kindness reaches to the heavens, and your truth to the skies.

My God will go before me with his loving kindness. God will let me look at my enemies in triumph.

For you have been a refuge for me, a strong tower from the enemy.

He shall be enthroned in God’s presence forever. Appoint your loving kindness and truth, that they may preserve him.

So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name.

For you have been my help. I will rejoice in the shadow of your wings.

My soul stays close to you. Your right hand holds me up.

who preserves our life amongst the living, and doesn’t allow our feet to be moved.

For you, God, have tested us. You have refined us, as silver is refined.

which my lips promised, and my mouth spoke, when I was in distress.

But most certainly, God has listened. He has heard the voice of my prayer.

The earth has yielded its increase. God, even our own God, will bless us.

God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness... Selah.

You, God, sent a plentiful rain. You confirmed your inheritance when it was weary.

Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign? Yes, the LORD will dwell there forever.

The Lord said, “I will bring you again from Bashan, I will bring you again from the depths of the sea,

Your God has commanded your strength. Strengthen, God, that which you have done for us.

Because for your sake, I have borne reproach. Shame has covered my face.

For the zeal of your house consumes me. The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

For the LORD hears the needy, and doesn’t despise his captive people.

The children also of his servants shall inherit it. Those who love his name shall dwell therein.

I have relied on you from the womb. You are he who took me out of my mother’s womb. I will always praise you.

Yes, even when I am old and grey-haired, God, don’t forsake me, until I have declared your strength to the next generation, your might to everyone who is to come.

I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, my God. I sing praises to you with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.

They shall fear you while the sun endures; and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.

A Psalm by Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

If I had said, “I will speak thus”, behold, I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have held my right hand.

My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance: Mount Zion, in which you have lived.

Yet God is my King of old, working salvation throughout the earth.

But I will declare this forever: I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

For the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A Psalm by Asaph. A song. In Judah, God is known. His name is great in Israel.

Has his loving kindness vanished forever? Does his promise fail for generations?

I will remember the LORD’s deeds; for I will remember your wonders of old.

You led your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done.

that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; who should arise and tell their children,

that they might set their hope in God, and not forget God’s deeds, but keep his commandments,

and might not be as their fathers— a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that didn’t make their hearts loyal, whose spirit was not steadfast with God.

They forgot his doings, his wondrous deeds that he had shown them.

For all this they still sinned, and didn’t believe in his wondrous works.

They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God, their redeemer.

For their heart was not right with him, neither were they faithful in his covenant.

They didn’t remember his hand, nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;

But he led out his own people like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

He led them safely, so that they weren’t afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, to this mountain, which his right hand had taken.

He also drove out the nations before them, allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, and didn’t keep his testimonies,

but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were twisted like a deceitful bow.

He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he has established forever.

So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.

So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever. We will praise you forever, to all generations.

You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations, and planted it.

You cleared the ground for it. It took deep root, and filled the land.

So we will not turn away from you. Revive us, and we will call on your name.

He appointed it in Joseph for a covenant, when he went out over the land of Egypt, I heard a language that I didn’t know.

You called in trouble, and I delivered you. I answered you in the secret place of thunder. I tested you at the waters of Meribah.” Selah.

There shall be no strange god in you, neither shall you worship any foreign god.

I am the LORD, your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

Oh that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!

But he would have also fed them with the finest of the wheat. I will satisfy you with honey out of the rock.”

LORD of Armies, blessed is the man who trusts in you.

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. LORD, you have been favourable to your land. You have restored the fortunes of Jacob.

Is your loving kindness declared in the grave? Or your faithfulness in Destruction?

But to you, LORD, I have cried. In the morning, my prayer comes before you.

A contemplation by Ethan, the Ezrahite. I will sing of the loving kindness of the LORD forever. With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.

I indeed declare, “Love stands firm forever. You established the heavens. Your faithfulness is in them.”

“I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David, my servant,

‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build up your throne to all generations.’” Selah.

The heavens will praise your wonders, LORD, your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.

LORD, God of Armies, who is a mighty one, like you? The LORD, your faithfulness is around you.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Loving kindness and truth go before your face.

I have found David, my servant. I have anointed him with my holy oil,

with whom my hand shall be established. My arm will also strengthen him.

But my faithfulness and my loving kindness will be with him. In my name, his horn will be exalted.

I will keep my loving kindness for him forever more. My covenant will stand firm with him.

But I will not completely take my loving kindness from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail.

I will not break my covenant, nor alter what my lips have uttered.

Once I have sworn by my holiness, I will not lie to David.

It will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah.

Lord, where are your former loving kindnesses, which you swore to David in your faithfulness?

A Prayer by Moses, the man of God. Lord, you have been our dwelling place for all generations.

He will cover you with his feathers. Under his wings you will take refuge. His faithfulness is your shield and rampart.

“Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high, because he has known my name.

I will satisfy him with long life, and show him my salvation.”

to proclaim your loving kindness in the morning, and your faithfulness every night,

Your throne is established from long ago. You are from everlasting.

Your statutes stand firm. Holiness adorns your house, LORD, forever more.

For the LORD won’t reject his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.

When I said, “My foot is slipping!” Your loving kindness, LORD, held me up.

But the LORD has been my high tower, my God, the rock of my refuge.

He has brought on them their own iniquity, and will cut them off in their own wickedness. The LORD, our God, will cut them off.

when your fathers tempted me, tested me, and saw my work.

He has remembered his loving kindness and his faithfulness towards the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Moses and Aaron were amongst his priests, Samuel was amongst those who call on his name. They called on the LORD, and he answered them.

He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud. They kept his testimonies, the statute that he gave them.

Know that the LORD, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

For the LORD is good. His loving kindness endures forever, his faithfulness to all generations.

I will set no vile thing before my eyes. I hate the deeds of faithless men. They will not cling to me.

My eyes will be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me. He who walks in a perfect way, he will serve me.

But you, LORD, will remain forever; your renown endures to all generations.

I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the middle of my days. Your years are throughout all generations.

Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of your hands.

They will perish, but you will endure. Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment. You will change them like a cloak, and they will be changed.

But you are the same. Your years will have no end.

The children of your servants will continue. Their offspring will be established before you.”

He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the children of Israel.

He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.

I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.

you offspring of Abraham, his servant, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations,

the covenant which he made with Abraham, his oath to Isaac,

and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute; to Israel for an everlasting covenant,

He allowed no one to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes,

until the time that his word happened, and the LORD’s word proved him true.

Israel also came into Egypt. Jacob lived in the land of Ham.

He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

For he remembered his holy word, and Abraham, his servant.

Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power known.

Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had Moses, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, so that he wouldn’t destroy them.

That was credited to him for righteousness, for all generations to come.

He remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.

A Song. A Psalm by David. My heart is steadfast, God. I will sing and I will make music with my soul.

For your loving kindness is great above the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

The LORD has sworn, and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

He has given food to those who fear him. He always remembers his covenant.

The works of his hands are truth and justice. All his precepts are sure.

They are established forever and ever. They are done in truth and uprightness.

For he will never be shaken. The righteous will be remembered forever.

He will not be afraid of evil news. His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign language,

Not to us, LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your loving kindness, and for your truth’s sake.

The LORD remembers us. He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron.

Because he has turned his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.

Precious in the LORD’s sight is the death of his saints.

LORD, truly I am your servant. I am your servant, the son of your servant girl. You have freed me from my chains.

For his loving kindness is great towards us. The LORD’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise the LORD!

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.

Let Israel now say that his loving kindness endures forever.

Let the house of Aaron now say that his loving kindness endures forever.

Now let those who fear the LORD say that his loving kindness endures forever.

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.

Blessed are those who keep his statutes, who seek him with their whole heart.

Yes, they do nothing wrong. They walk in his ways.

You have commanded your precepts, that we should fully obey them.

Oh that my ways were steadfast to obey your statutes!

Then I wouldn’t be disappointed, when I consider all of your commandments.

I will observe your statutes. Don’t utterly forsake me.

With my whole heart I have sought you. Don’t let me wander from your commandments.

I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

I will delight myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word.

GIMEL Do good to your servant. I will live and I will obey your word.

My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times.

I have chosen the way of truth. I have set your ordinances before me.

HE Teach me, LORD, the way of your statutes. I will keep them to the end.

Give me understanding, and I will keep your law. Yes, I will obey it with my whole heart.

Fulfil your promise to your servant, that you may be feared.

VAV Let your loving kindness also come to me, LORD, your salvation, according to your word.

So I will obey your law continually, forever and ever.

ZAYIN Remember your word to your servant, because you gave me hope.

The arrogant mock me excessively, but I don’t swerve from your law.

I remember your ordinances of old, LORD, and have comforted myself.

I have remembered your name, LORD, in the night, and I obey your law.

This is my way, that I keep your precepts.

HETH The LORD is my portion. I promised to obey your words.

I sought your favour with my whole heart. Be merciful to me according to your word.

I will hurry, and not delay, to obey your commandments.

The ropes of the wicked bind me, but I won’t forget your law.

TETH You have treated your servant well, according to your word, LORD.

The proud have smeared a lie upon me. With my whole heart, I will keep your precepts.

LORD, I know that your judgements are righteous, that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke. I don’t forget your statutes.

All of your commandments are faithful. They persecute me wrongfully. Help me!

They had almost wiped me from the earth, but I didn’t forsake your precepts.

LAMEDH LORD, your word is settled in heaven forever.

Your faithfulness is to all generations. You have established the earth, and it remains.

I will never forget your precepts, for with them, you have revived me.

I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commands are boundless.

I have not turned away from your ordinances, for you have taught me.

How sweet are your promises to my taste, more than honey to my mouth!

I have sworn, and have confirmed it, that I will obey your righteous ordinances.

I am afflicted very much. Revive me, LORD, according to your word.

My soul is continually in my hand, yet I won’t forget your law.

The wicked have laid a snare for me, yet I haven’t gone astray from your precepts.

I have taken your testimonies as a heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.

I have set my heart to perform your statutes forever, even to the end.

Uphold me according to your word, that I may live. Let me not be ashamed of my hope.

You have commanded your statutes in righteousness. They are fully trustworthy.

Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.

I am small and despised. I don’t forget your precepts.

Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness. Your law is truth.

QOPH I have called with my whole heart. Answer me, LORD! I will keep your statutes.

Of old I have known from your testimonies, that you have founded them forever.

Many are my persecutors and my adversaries. I haven’t swerved from your testimonies.

All of your words are truth. Every one of your righteous ordinances endures forever.

My soul has observed your testimonies. I love them exceedingly.

I have obeyed your precepts and your testimonies, for all my ways are before you.

He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD will keep you from all evil. He will keep your soul.

The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in, from this time forward, and forever more.

A Song of Ascents. By David. If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, let Israel now say,

if it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us,

A Song of Ascents. Those who trust in the LORD are as Mount Zion, which can’t be moved, but remains forever.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people from this time forward and forever more.

A Song of Ascents. By Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, they who build it labour in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman guards it in vain.

May the LORD bless you out of Zion, and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life.

Israel, hope in the LORD, from this time forward and forever more.

A Song of Ascents. LORD, remember David and all his affliction,

until I find out a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah. We found it in the field of Jaar.

For your servant David’s sake, don’t turn away the face of your anointed one.

The LORD has sworn to David in truth. He will not turn from it: “I will set the fruit of your body on your throne.

If your children will keep my covenant, my testimony that I will teach them, their children also will sit on your throne forever more.”

I will make the horn of David to bud there. I have ordained a lamp for my anointed.

Your name, LORD, endures forever; your renown, LORD, throughout all generations.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of gods, for his loving kindness endures forever.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his loving kindness endures forever;

to him who alone does great wonders, for his loving kindness endures forever;

to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his loving kindness endures forever;

to him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his loving kindness endures forever;

to him who made the great lights, for his loving kindness endures forever;

the sun to rule by day, for his loving kindness endures forever;

the moon and stars to rule by night, for his loving kindness endures forever;

to him who struck down the Egyptian firstborn, for his loving kindness endures forever;

and brought out Israel from amongst them, for his loving kindness endures forever;

with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, for his loving kindness endures forever;

to him who divided the Red Sea apart, for his loving kindness endures forever;

and made Israel to pass through the middle of it, for his loving kindness endures forever;

but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for his loving kindness endures forever;

to him who led his people through the wilderness, for his loving kindness endures forever;

to him who struck great kings, for his loving kindness endures forever;

and killed mighty kings, for his loving kindness endures forever;

Sihon king of the Amorites, for his loving kindness endures forever;

Og king of Bashan, for his loving kindness endures forever;

and gave their land as an inheritance, for his loving kindness endures forever;

even a heritage to Israel his servant, for his loving kindness endures forever;

who remembered us in our low estate, for his loving kindness endures forever;

and has delivered us from our adversaries, for his loving kindness endures forever;

who gives food to every creature, for his loving kindness endures forever.

Oh give thanks to the God of heaven, for his loving kindness endures forever.

If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.

Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you, if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.

I will bow down towards your holy temple, and give thanks to your Name for your loving kindness and for your truth; for you have exalted your Name and your Word above all.

The LORD will fulfil that which concerns me. Your loving kindness, LORD, endures forever. Don’t forsake the works of your own hands.

Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence?

If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!

If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea,

I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the needy.

A Psalm by David. Hear my prayer, LORD. Listen to my petitions. In your faithfulness and righteousness, relieve me.

I remember the days of old. I meditate on all your doings. I contemplate the work of your hands.

You are he who gives salvation to kings, who rescues David, his servant, from the deadly sword.

Happy are the people who are in such a situation. Happy are the people whose God is the LORD.

Every day I will praise you. I will extol your name forever and ever.

One generation will commend your works to another, and will declare your mighty acts.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Your dominion endures throughout all generations. The LORD is faithful in all his words, and loving in all his deeds.

The LORD is near to all those who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps truth forever;

He has also established them forever and ever. He has made a decree which will not pass away.

He lays up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God;

Don’t let kindness and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart.

so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

for the LORD will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being taken.

Don’t say to your neighbour, “Go, and come again; tomorrow I will give it to you,” when you have it by you.

The LORD will not allow the soul of the righteous to go hungry, but he thrusts away the desire of the wicked.

Good understanding wins favour, but the way of the unfaithful is hard.

A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a trustworthy envoy gains healing.

The unfaithful will be repaid for his own ways; likewise a good man will be rewarded for his ways.

Don’t they go astray who plot evil? But love and faithfulness belong to those who plan good.

Honest balances and scales are the LORD’s; all the weights in the bag are his work.

A friend loves at all times; and a brother is born for adversity.

A man of many companions may be ruined, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

There are many plans in a man’s heart, but the LORD’s counsel will prevail.

Many men claim to be men of unfailing love, but who can find a faithful man?

Love and faithfulness keep the king safe. His throne is sustained by love.

The LORD’s eyes watch over knowledge, but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.

Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve kings. He won’t serve obscure men.

Don’t let your heart envy sinners, but rather fear the LORD all day long.

Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful amongst men.

These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

Debate your case with your neighbour, and don’t betray the confidence of another,

As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to those who send him; for he refreshes the soul of his masters.

Confidence in someone unfaithful in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a lame foot.

The wounds of a friend are faithful, although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.

Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend. Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster. A neighbour who is near is better than a distant brother.

Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit. He who looks after his master shall be honoured.

Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds,

One who works his land will have an abundance of food; but one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

A faithful man is rich with blessings; but one who is eager to be rich will not go unpunished.

“Every word of God is flawless. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

lest I be full, deny you, and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonour the name of my God.

The heart of her husband trusts in her. He shall have no lack of gain.

She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.

She seeks wool and flax, and works eagerly with her hands.

She is like the merchant ships. She brings her bread from afar.

She rises also while it is yet night, gives food to her household, and portions for her servant girls.

She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp doesn’t go out by night.

She opens her mouth with wisdom. Kind instruction is on her tongue.

She looks well to the ways of her household, and doesn’t eat the bread of idleness.

Give her of the fruit of her hands! Let her works praise her in the gates!

I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God has done it, that men should fear before him.

When you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow.

It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay.

I say, “Keep the king’s command!” because of the oath to God.

Though a sinner commits crimes a hundred times, and lives long, yet surely I know that it will be better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him.

Unless the LORD of Armies had left to us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom. We would have been like Gomorrah.

How the faithful city has become a prostitute! She was full of justice. Righteousness lodged in her, but now there are murderers.

I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counsellors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called ‘The city of righteousness, a faithful town.’

He dug it up, gathered out its stones, planted it with the choicest vine, built a tower in the middle of it, and also cut out a wine press in it. He looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.

What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?

If there is a tenth left in it, that also will in turn be consumed, as a terebinth, and as an oak whose stump remains when they are cut down, so the holy seed is its stump.”

This is what the Lord GOD says: “It shall not stand, neither shall it happen.”

and I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”

Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David’s throne, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of Armies will perform this.

It will come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and those who have escaped from the house of Jacob will no more again lean on him who struck them, but shall lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

A remnant will return, even the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.

Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his waist.

There will be a highway for the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, like there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land. The foreigner will join himself with them, and they will unite with the house of Jacob.

The LORD of Armies has sworn, saying, “Surely, as I have thought, so shall it happen; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:

For the LORD of Armies has planned, and who can stop it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?”

What will they answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people will take refuge.

A throne will be established in loving kindness. One will sit on it in truth, in the tent of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.

For the LORD said to me, “I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

The LORD will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day. Yes, they will worship with sacrifice and offering, and will vow a vow to the LORD, and will perform it.

The LORD said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia,

He cried like a lion: “Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post.

You are my threshing, and the grain of my floor!” That which I have heard from the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, I have declared to you.

and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, will be few; for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken it.”

It will happen in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,

and I will clothe him with your robe, and strengthen him with your belt. I will commit your government into his hand; and he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.

I will fasten him like a nail in a sure place. He will be for a throne of glory to his father’s house.

The LORD, you are my God. I will exalt you! I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago, in complete faithfulness and truth.

Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter: the one which keeps faith.

You will keep whoever’s mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you.

Trust in the LORD forever; for in the LORD, the LORD, is an everlasting Rock.

LORD our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, but we will only acknowledge your name.

I, the LORD, am its keeper. I will water it every moment. Lest anyone damage it, I will keep it night and day.

He will give the rain for your seed, with which you will sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground will be rich and plentiful. In that day, your livestock will feed in large pastures.

As birds hovering, so the LORD of Armies will protect Jerusalem. He will protect and deliver it. He will pass over and preserve it.”

But the noble devises noble things, and he will continue in noble things.

Search in the book of the LORD, and read: not one of these will be missing. None will lack her mate. For my mouth has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them.

He has cast the lot for them, and his hand has divided it to them with a measuring line. They shall possess it forever. From generation to generation they will dwell in it.

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “The LORD, the God of Israel says, ‘Because you have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria,

“‘Have you not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it in ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to destroy fortified cities, turning them into ruinous heaps.

For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and survivors will escape from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of Armies will perform this.’

“Therefore the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither will he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.

He will return the way that he came, and he won’t come to this city,’ says the LORD.

‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.’”

and said, “Remember now, the LORD, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight.” Then Hezekiah wept bitterly.

I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.

This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he has spoken.

Behold, I will cause the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down on the sundial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps.”’” So the sun returned ten steps on the sundial on which it had gone down.

The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do today. The father shall make known your truth to the children.

The LORD’s glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.”

The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.”

He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skilful workman to set up a carved image for him that will not be moved.

Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. By the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is lacking.

Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint. He isn’t weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

but those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.

Who has worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last, I am he.”

you whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from its corners, and said to you, ‘You are my servant. I have chosen you and have not cast you away.’

The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

He won’t break a bruised reed. He won’t quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice.

I will bring the blind by a way that they don’t know. I will lead them in paths that they don’t know. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. I will do these things, and I will not forsake them.

I will tell the north, ‘Give them up!’ and tell the south, ‘Don’t hold them back! Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the ends of the earth—

I myself am the LORD. Besides me, there is no saviour.

I have declared, I have saved, and I have shown, and there was no strange god amongst you. Therefore you are my witnesses”, says the LORD, “and I am God.

Yes, since the day was, I am he. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand. I will work, and who can hinder it?”

Yet you have not called on me, Jacob; but you have been weary of me, Israel.

Don’t fear, neither be afraid. Haven’t I declared it to you long ago, and shown it? You are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? Indeed, there is not. I don’t know any other Rock.”

Remember these things, Jacob and Israel, for you are my servant. I have formed you. You are my servant. Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.

who confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers; who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited;’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be built,’ and ‘I will raise up its waste places;’

who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure,’ even saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built;’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”

For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel my chosen, I have called you by your name. I have given you a title, though you have not known me.

I am the LORD, and there is no one else. Besides me, there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not known me,

that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is no one besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no one else.

I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways straight. He shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward,” says the LORD of Armies.

Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation. You will not be disappointed nor confounded to ages everlasting.

For the LORD who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, who established it and didn’t create it a waste, who formed it to be inhabited says: “I am the LORD. There is no other.

I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I didn’t say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the LORD, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.

“Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been carried from their birth, that have been carried from the womb.

Even to old age I am he, and even to grey hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear. Yes, I will carry, and will deliver.

Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me.

I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. I say: My counsel will stand, and I will do all that I please.

I call a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. Yes, I have spoken. I will also bring it to pass. I have planned. I will also do it.

I have declared the former things from of old. Yes, they went out of my mouth, and I revealed them. I did them suddenly, and they happened.

For my own sake, for my own sake, I will do it; for how would my name be profaned? I will not give my glory to another.

“Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he. I am the first. I am also the last.

I, even I, have spoken. Yes, I have called him. I have brought him and he shall make his way prosperous.

“Come near to me and hear this: “From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it happened, I was there.” Now the Lord GOD has sent me with his Spirit.

Your offspring also would have been as the sand and the descendants of your body like its grains. His name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.”

They didn’t thirst when he led them through the deserts. He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them. He also split the rock and the waters gushed out.

Listen, islands, to me. Listen, you peoples, from afar: the LORD has called me from the womb; from the inside of my mother, he has mentioned my name.

He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

But I said, “I have laboured in vain. I have spent my strength in vain for nothing; yet surely the justice due to me is with the LORD, and my reward with my God.”

Now the LORD, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, says to bring Jacob again to him, and to gather Israel to him, for I am honourable in the LORD’s eyes, and my God has become my strength.

The LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, says to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and rise up, princes, and they shall worship, because of the LORD who is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

The LORD says, “I have answered you in an acceptable time. I have helped you in a day of salvation. I will preserve you and give you for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritage,

I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be exalted.

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you!

Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are continually before me.

Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; and those who wait for me won’t be disappointed.”

“Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the LORD. Look to the rock you were cut from, and to the quarry you were dug from.

Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, I blessed him, and made him many.

For I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. the LORD of Armies is his name.

Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore they shall know in that day that I am he who speaks. Behold, it is I.”

For you shall not go out in haste, neither shall you go by flight; for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

For your Maker is your husband; the LORD of Armies is his name. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of the whole earth.

“For a small moment I have forsaken you, but I will gather you with great mercies.

“For this is like the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah will no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.

For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed, but my loving kindness will not depart from you, and my covenant of peace will not be removed,” says the LORD who has mercy on you.

No weapon that is formed against you will prevail; and you will condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgement. This is the heritage of the LORD’s servants, and their righteousness is of me,” says the LORD.

Turn your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.

so is my word that goes out of my mouth: it will not return to me void, but it will accomplish that which I please, and it will prosper in the thing I sent it to do.

The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “I will yet gather others to him, in addition to his own who are gathered.”

then you will delight yourself in the LORD, and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father;” for the LORD’s mouth has spoken it.

Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it can’t save; nor his ear dull, that it can’t hear.

“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your offspring, nor out of the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from now on and forever.”

The little one will become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation. I, the LORD, will do this quickly in its time.”

“For I, the LORD, love justice. I hate robbery and iniquity. I will give them their reward in truth and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their offspring will be known amongst the nations, and their offspring amongst the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge them, that they are the offspring which the LORD has blessed.”

I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem. They will never be silent day nor night. You who call on the LORD, take no rest,

and give him no rest until he establishes, and until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

For he said, “Surely, they are my people, children who will not deal falsely;” so he became their Saviour.

Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, “Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his Holy Spirit amongst them?”

As the livestock that go down into the valley, the LORD’s Spirit caused them to rest. So you led your people to make yourself a glorious name.

For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, LORD, are our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.

For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides you, who works for him who waits for him.

The LORD says, “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for a blessing is in it:’ so I will do for my servants’ sake, that I may not destroy them all.

I will bring offspring out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains. My chosen will inherit it, and my servants will dwell there.

You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen, and the Lord GOD will kill you. He will call his servants by another name,

They will not build and another inhabit. They will not plant and another eat; for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my chosen will long enjoy the work of their hands.

They will not labour in vain nor give birth for calamity; for they are the offspring of the LORD’s blessed and their descendants with them.

It will happen that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to be delivered?” says the LORD. “Shall I who cause to give birth shut the womb?” says your God.

“For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me,” says the LORD, “so your offspring and your name shall remain.

The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.

The LORD’s word came to him in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

Now the LORD’s word came to me, saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Don’t be afraid because of them, for I am with you to rescue you,” says the LORD.

Then the LORD stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. Then the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well; for I watch over my word to perform it.”

They will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you”, says the LORD, “to rescue you.”

“Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘The LORD says, “I remember for you the kindness of your youth, your love as a bride, how you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

The LORD says, “What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and have walked after worthless vanity, and have become worthless?

They didn’t say, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that no one passed through, and where no man lived?’

Has a nation changed its gods, which really are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which doesn’t profit.

“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut out cisterns for themselves: broken cisterns that can’t hold water.

“For long ago I broke off your yoke, and burst your bonds. You said, ‘I will not serve;’ for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself, playing the prostitute.

Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a pure and faithful seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me?

Generation, consider the LORD’s word. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? Or a land of thick darkness? Why do my people say, ‘We have broken loose. We will come to you no more’?

“Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number.

I said after she had done all these things, ‘She will return to me;’ but she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

I saw when, for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, had no fear, but she also went and played the prostitute.

Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretence,” says the LORD.

The LORD said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.

“But I said, ‘How I desire to put you amongst the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations!’ and I said, ‘You shall call me “My Father”, and shall not turn away from following me.’

“Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so you have dealt treacherously with me, house of Israel,” says the LORD.

For this the earth will mourn, and the heavens above be black, because I have spoken it. I have planned it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it.”

For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me,” says the LORD.

“But even in those days,” says the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.

then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even forever more.

Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them.

Why then have the people of Jerusalem fallen back by a perpetual backsliding? They cling to deceit. They refuse to return.

But the LORD is the true God. He is the living God, and an everlasting King. At his wrath, the earth trembles. The nations aren’t able to withstand his indignation.

The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. The LORD of Armies is his name.

that I may establish the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as it is today.” Then I answered, and said, “Amen, LORD.”

You have planted them. Yes, they have taken root. They grow. Yes, they produce fruit. You are near in their mouth, and far from their heart.

It will happen, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the LORD lives;’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the middle of my people.

So I bought a belt according to the LORD’s word, and put it on my waist.

So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.

This is your lot, the portion measured to you from me,” says the LORD, “because you have forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.”

Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name, LORD, God of Armies.

Therefore the LORD says, “If you return, then I will bring you again, that you may stand before me; and if you take out the precious from the vile, you will be as my mouth. They will return to you, but you will not return to them.

“Therefore behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that it will no more be said, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;’

but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the countries where he had driven them.’ I will bring them again into their land that I gave to their fathers.

LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be disappointed. Those who depart from me will be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living waters.

As for me, I have not hurried from being a shepherd after you. I haven’t desired the woeful day. You know. That which came out of my lips was before your face.

then there will enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on David’s throne, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city will remain forever.

Will the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? Will the cold waters that flow down from afar be dried up?

For if you do this thing indeed, then kings sitting on David’s throne will enter in by the gates of this house, riding in chariots and on horses—they, their servants, and their people.

He judged the cause of the poor and needy; so then it was well. Wasn’t this to know me?” says the LORD.

“As I live,” says the LORD, “though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on my right hand, I would still pluck you from there.

“Am I a God at hand,” says the LORD, “and not a God afar off?

They intend to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they each tell his neighbour, as their fathers forgot my name because of Baal.

The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat?” says the LORD.

“The LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, as good.

For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land. I will build them, and not pull them down. I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God; for they will return to me with their whole heart.

From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years, the LORD’s word has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; but you have not listened.

The LORD has sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them (but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear),

Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and to all the people, saying, “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.

Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants; for in truth the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets: “This man is not worthy of death; for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.”

But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they didn’t give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant. I have also given the animals of the field to him to serve him.

But the nation that brings their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, that nation I will let remain in their own land,’ says the LORD; ‘and they will till it and dwell in it.’”’”

For I have not sent them,” says the LORD, “but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you, and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

But if they are prophets, and if the LORD’s word is with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of Armies, that the vessels which are left in the LORD’s house, in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, don’t go to Babylon.

For the LORD of Armies says concerning the pillars, concerning the sea, concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city,

yes, the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says concerning the vessels that are left in the LORD’s house, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem:

‘They will be carried to Babylon, and there they will be, until the day that I visit them,’ says the LORD; ‘then I will bring them up, and restore them to this place.’”

“The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

Within two full years I will bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon.

I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, who went to Babylon,’ says the LORD; ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

even the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the LORD do so. May the LORD perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the LORD’s house, and all those who are captives, from Babylon to this place.

As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet happens, then the prophet will be known, that the LORD has truly sent him.”

Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “The LORD says: ‘Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from off the neck of all the nations within two full years.’” Then the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

“Build houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit.

For they prophesy falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them,” says the LORD.

For the LORD says, “After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word towards you, in causing you to return to this place.

You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

You shall seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.

I will be found by you,” says the LORD, “and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD. I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.”

“The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

Then the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah, saying,

“Send to all of the captives, saying, ‘The LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didn’t send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie,”

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

“The LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Write all the words that I have spoken to you in a book.

“You shall be my people, and I will be your God.

The fierce anger of the LORD will not return until he has accomplished, and until he has performed the intentions of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it.”

“At that time,” says the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”

The LORD appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.

They will come with weeping. I will lead them with petitions. I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they won’t stumble; for I am a father to Israel. Ephraim is my firstborn.

“Hear the LORD’s word, you nations, and declare it in the distant islands. Say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.’

I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness,” says the LORD.

Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I still earnestly remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him. I will surely have mercy on him,” says the LORD.

It will happen that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” says the LORD.

not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which covenant of mine they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says the LORD.

“If these ordinances depart from before me,” says the LORD, “then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before me forever.”

The LORD says: “If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done,” says the LORD.

The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate towards the east, will be holy to the LORD. It will not be plucked up or thrown down any more forever.”

I bought the field that was in Anathoth of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.

I signed the deed, sealed it, called witnesses, and weighed the money in the balances to him.

So I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed, containing the terms and conditions, and that which was open;

and I delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of the purchase, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the guard.

the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase which is sealed, and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last many days.’

who performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even to this day, both in Israel and amongst other men; and made yourself a name, as it is today;

“Behold, siege ramps have been built against the city to take it. The city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, of the famine, and of the pestilence. What you have spoken has happened. Behold, you see it.

Therefore the LORD says: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it.

“Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries where I have driven them in my anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them again to this place. I will cause them to dwell safely.

Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.

I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their good and the good of their children after them.

I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good. I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me.

Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.”

For the LORD says: “Just as I have brought all this great evil on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them.

Men will buy fields for money, sign the deeds, seal them, and call witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captivity to be reversed,” says the LORD.

“The LORD who does it, the LORD who forms it to establish it—the LORD is his name, says:

“Behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah.

For the LORD says: “David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel.

The Levitical priests won’t lack a man before me to offer burnt offerings, to burn meal offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.”

“The LORD says: ‘If you can break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the night, so that there will not be day and night in their time,

then my covenant could also be broken with David my servant, that he won’t have a son to reign on his throne; and with the Levitical priests, my ministers.

As the army of the sky can’t be counted, and the sand of the sea can’t be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant and the Levites who minister to me.’”

“Don’t consider what this people has spoken, saying, ‘Has the LORD cast off the two families which he chose?’ Thus they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.”

The LORD says: “If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth,

then I will also cast away the offspring of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his offspring to be rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for I will cause their captivity to be reversed and will have mercy on them.”

“The LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying:

But they said, “We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, neither you nor your children, forever.

We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters;

and not to build houses for ourselves to dwell in. We have no vineyard, field, or seed;

but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

“The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father’s commandment; but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking, and you have not listened to me.

I have sent also to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘Every one of you must return now from his evil way, amend your doings, and don’t go after other gods to serve them. Then you will dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers;’ but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to me.

The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to me.”’

Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he commanded you,’

therefore the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jonadab the son of Rechab will not lack a man to stand before me forever.’”

Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the LORD’s words, which he had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book.

Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the LORD’s words in the LORD’s house.

Then Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the book in the LORD’s house, in the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of the LORD’s house, in the ears of all the people.

Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.

Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll in which you have read in the ears of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand, and came to them.

They asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words at his mouth?”

Then Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.”

“Take again another scroll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burnt.

Then Jeremiah took another scroll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burnt in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.

So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the LORD lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”

So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

But I will deliver you in that day,” says the LORD; “and you will not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.

For I will surely save you. You won’t fall by the sword, but you will escape with your life, because you have put your trust in me,” says the LORD.’”

and the LORD has brought it, and done according as he spoke. Because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing has come on you.

As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who will come to us; but you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.”

Likewise when all the Jews who were in Moab, and amongst the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan,

Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your words; and it will happen that whatever thing the LORD answers you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you.”

Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness amongst us, if we don’t do according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to tell us.

Whether it is good, or whether it is bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.”

now therefore hear the LORD’s word, O remnant of Judah! The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to live there,

For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the LORD our God; and according to all that the LORD our God says, so declare to us, and we will do it.’

I have declared it to you today; but you have not obeyed the LORD your God’s voice in anything for which he has sent me to you.

When Jeremiah had finished speaking to all the people all the words of the LORD their God, with which the LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words,

The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, “We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her.” “‘Establish then your vows, and perform your vows.’

Those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah few in number. All the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, will know whose word will stand, mine or theirs.

“‘This will be the sign to you,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for evil.’

“As I live,” says the King, whose name is the LORD of Armies, “surely like Tabor amongst the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so he will come.

Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,” says the LORD, “for I am with you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you, but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.”

“Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD negligently; and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.

“But afterward I will reverse the captivity of the children of Ammon,” says the LORD.

They will enquire concerning Zion with their faces turned towards it, saying, ‘Come, and join yourselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.’

Therefore the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.

Their Redeemer is strong. The LORD of Armies is his name. He will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God, by the LORD of Armies; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.

Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon! Make the watch strong! Set the watchmen, and prepare the ambushes; for the LORD has both purposed and done that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.

The LORD of Armies has sworn by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will fill you with men, as with locusts, and they will lift up a shout against you.’

The portion of Jacob is not like these, for he formed all things, including the tribe of his inheritance. The LORD of Armies is his name.

The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief quartermaster.

It will be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the middle of the Euphrates.

For his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

The LORD has done that which he planned. He has fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old. He has thrown down, and has not pitied. He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you. He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.

It is because of The LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his mercies don’t fail.

They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.

For the Lord will not cast off forever.

You, LORD, remain forever. Your throne is from generation to generation.

They, whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that there has been a prophet amongst them.

You shall speak my words to them, whether they will hear or whether they will refuse; for they are most rebellious.

Go to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse.”

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and warn them from me.

Then I said, “Ah Lord GOD! Behold, my soul has not been polluted; for from my youth up even until now I have not eaten of that which dies of itself, or is torn of animals. No abominable meat has come into my mouth!”

“‘“Yet I will leave a remnant, in that you will have some that escape the sword amongst the nations, when you are scattered through the countries.

They will know that I am the LORD. I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.”’

Behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, “I have done as you have commanded me.”

“Therefore say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Whereas I have removed them far off amongst the nations, and whereas I have scattered them amongst the countries, yet I will be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they have come.”’

that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

Then I spoke to the captives all the things that the LORD had shown me.

I did so as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for moving, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my hand. I brought it out in the dark, and bore it on my shoulder in their sight.

Tell them therefore, ‘The Lord GOD says: “I will make this proverb to cease, and they will no more use it as a proverb in Israel;”’ but tell them, ‘“The days are at hand, and the fulfilment of every vision.

For I am the LORD. I will speak, and the word that I speak will be performed. It will be no more deferred; for in your days, rebellious house, I will speak the word and will perform it,” says the Lord GOD.’”

“Therefore tell them, ‘The Lord GOD says: “None of my words will be deferred any more, but the word which I speak will be performed,” says the Lord GOD.’”

Israel, your prophets have been like foxes in the waste places.

You have not gone up into the gaps or built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the LORD’s day.

They have seen falsehood and lying divination, who say, ‘The LORD says;’ but the LORD has not sent them. They have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed.

Haven’t you seen a false vision, and haven’t you spoken a lying divination, in that you say, ‘The LORD says;’ but I have not spoken?”

Therefore you shall no more see false visions nor practise divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

I will set my face against that man and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from amongst my people. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

“‘“But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by. It was his.

As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters.

Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.

I will establish my covenant with you. Then you will know that I am the LORD;

“‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the middle of Babylon he will die.

For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things. He won’t escape.

“Therefore the Lord GOD says: ‘As I live, I will surely bring on his own head my oath that he has despised and my covenant that he has broken.

All the trees of the field will know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree flourish. “‘I, the LORD, have spoken and have done it.’”

has walked in my statutes, and has kept my ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live,” says the Lord GOD.

“‘Your mother was like a vine in your blood, planted by the waters. It was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.

Tell them, ‘The Lord GOD says: “In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God;’

in that day I swore to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.

But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations amongst which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

So I caused them to go out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.

But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.

Nevertheless I withdrew my hand and worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.

“‘“That which comes into your mind will not be at all, in that you say, ‘We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.’

You will know that I am the LORD when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers.

You will know that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, you house of Israel,” says the Lord GOD.’”

In you have they taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbours by oppression, and have forgotten me,” says the Lord GOD.

“‘“I, the LORD, have spoken it. It will happen, and I will do it. I won’t go back. I won’t spare. I won’t repent. According to your ways and according to your doings, they will judge you,” says the Lord GOD.’”

“‘“All the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am the LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

“‘For the Lord GOD says: “At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered.

I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he served, because they worked for me,’ says the Lord GOD.

“When this comes to pass—behold, it comes—then they will know that a prophet has been amongst them.”

“As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd, and my shepherds didn’t search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn’t feed my sheep,

“‘For the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.

As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is amongst his sheep that are scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down,” says the Lord GOD.

I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David prince amongst them. I, the LORD, have spoken it.

The tree of the field will yield its fruit, and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them.

I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they will no more be consumed with famine in the land, and not bear the shame of the nations any more.

They will know that I, the LORD, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord GOD.

You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God,’ says the Lord GOD.”

I will lay your cities waste, and you will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

“‘“Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two countries will be mine, and we will possess it,’ although the LORD was there,

For, behold, I am for you, and I will come to you, and you will be tilled and sown.

I will multiply man and animal on you. They will increase and be fruitful. I will cause you to be inhabited as you were before, and you will do better than at your beginnings. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even my people Israel. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will never again bereave them of their children.”

“I won’t let you hear the shame of the nations any more. You won’t bear the reproach of the peoples any more, and you won’t cause your nation to stumble any more,” says the Lord GOD.’”

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

Again he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, ‘You dry bones, hear the LORD’s word.

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 will live. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”’”

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

Therefore prophesy, and tell them, ‘The Lord GOD says: “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.

I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live. Then I will place you in your own land; and you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,” says the LORD.’”