The Holy Bible
Catholic Public Domain Version
Original Edition


Translated from
the Pope Sixtus V and Pope Clement VIII
Latin Vulgate Bible,
using the Challoner Douay Version as a guide,
in accord with the teachings of the
Roman Catholic Church.
Translation completed on March 28, 2009.
This printing includes the latest errata,
through April of 2010.


Translated, edited, and published by
Ronald L. Conte Jr.


The Holy Bible
Catholic Public Domain Version
Old Testament


** The Book of Genesis **


[Genesis 1] {1:1} In the beginning, God created heaven and
earth. {1:2} But the earth was empty and unoccupied, and
darknesses were over the face of the abyss; and so the Spirit
of God was brought over the waters. {1:3} And God said,
“Let there be light.” And light became. {1:4} And God saw
the light, that it was good; and so he divided the light from
the darknesses. {1:5} And he called the light, ‘Day,’ and the
darknesses, ‘Night.’ And it became evening and morning, one
day. {1:6} God also said, “Let there be a firmament in the
midst of the waters, and let it divide waters from waters.”
{1:7} And God made a firmament, and he divided the waters
that were under the firmament, from those that were above
the firmament. And so it became. {1:8} And God called the
firmament ‘Heaven.’ And it became evening and morning,
the second day. {1:9} Truly God said: “Let the waters that
are under heaven be gathered together into one place; and let
the dry land appear.” And so it became. {1:10} And God
called the dry land, ‘Earth,’ and he called the gathering of the
waters, ‘Seas.’ And God saw that it was good. {1:11} And he
said, “Let the land spring forth green plants, both those
producing seed, and fruit-bearing trees, producing fruit
according to their kind, whose seed is within itself, over all
the earth.” And so it became. {1:12} And the land brought
forth green plants, both those producing seed, according to
their kind, and trees producing fruit, with each having its own
way of sowing, according to its species. And God saw that it
was good. {1:13} And it became evening and the morning,
the third day. {1:14} Then God said: “Let there be lights in
the firmament of heaven. And let them divide day from night,
and let them become signs, both of the seasons, and of the
days and years. {1:15} Let them shine in the firmament of
heaven and illuminate the earth.” And so it became.
{1:16} And God made two great lights: a greater light, to rule
over the day, and a lesser light, to rule over the night, along
with the stars. {1:17} And he set them in the firmament of
heaven, to give light over all the earth, {1:18} and to rule
over the day as well as the night, and to divide light from
darkness. And God saw that it was good. {1:19} And it
became evening and morning, the fourth day. {1:20} And
then God said, “Let the waters produce animals with a living
soul, and flying creatures above the earth, under the
firmament of heaven.” {1:21} And God created the great sea
creatures, and everything with a living soul and the ability to
move that the waters produced, according to their species,
and all the flying creatures, according to their kind. And God
saw that it was good. {1:22} And he blessed them, saying:
“Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea. And let
the birds be multiplied above the land.” {1:23} And it
became evening and morning, the fifth day. {1:24} God also
said, “Let the land produce living souls in their kind: cattle,
and animals, and wild beasts of the earth, according to their
species.” And so it became. {1:25} And God made the wild
beasts of the earth according to their species, and the cattle,
and every animal on the land, according to its kind. And God
saw that it was good. {1:26} And he said: “Let us make Man
to our image and likeness. And let him rule over the fish of
the sea, and the flying creatures of the air, and the wild beasts,
and the entire earth, and every animal that moves on the
earth.” {1:27} And God created man to his own image; to
the image of God he created him; male and female, he
created them. {1:28} And God blessed them, and he said,
“Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the flying
creatures of the air, and over every living thing that moves
upon the earth.” {1:29} And God said: “Behold, I have given
you every seed-bearing plant upon the earth, and all the trees
that have in themselves the ability to sow their own kind, to
be food for you, {1:30} and for all the animals of the land,
and for all the flying things of the air, and for everything that
moves upon the earth and in which there is a living soul, so
that they may have these on which to feed.” And so it
became. {1:31} And God saw everything that he had made.
And they were very good. And it became evening and
morning, the sixth day.


[Genesis 2] {2:1} And so the heavens and the earth were
completed, with all their adornment. {2:2} And on the
seventh day, God fulfilled his work, which he had made. And
on the seventh day he rested from all his work, which he had
accomplished. {2:3} And he blessed the seventh day and
sanctified it. For in it, he had ceased from all his work: the
work whereby God created whatever he should make.
{2:4} These are the generations of heaven and earth, when
they were created, in the day when the Lord God made
heaven and earth, {2:5} and every sapling of the field, before
it would rise up in the land, and every wild plant, before it
would germinate. For the Lord God had not brought rain
upon the earth, and there was no man to work the land.
{2:6} But a fountain ascended from the earth, irrigating the
entire surface of the land. {2:7} And then the Lord God
formed man from the clay of the earth, and he breathed into
his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
{2:8} Now the Lord God had planted a Paradise of
enjoyment from the beginning. In it, he placed the man
whom he had formed. {2:9} And from the soil the Lord God
produced every tree that was beautiful to behold and pleasant
to eat. And even the tree of life was in the midst of Paradise,
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. {2:10} Anda
river went forth from the place of enjoyment so as to irrigate
Paradise, which is divided from there into four heads.
{2:11} The name of one is the Phison; it is that which runs
through all the land of Hevilath, where gold is born;
{2:12} and the gold of that land is the finest. In that place is
found bdellium and the onyx stone. {2:13} And the name of
the second river is the Gehon; it is that which runs through
all the land of Ethiopia. {2:14} Truly, the name of the third
river is the Tigris; it advances opposite the Assyrians. But the
fourth river, it is the Euphrates. {2:15} Thus, the Lord God
brought the man, and put him into the Paradise of enjoyment,
so that it would be attended and preserved by him.
{2:16} And he instructed him, saying: “From every tree of
Paradise, you shall eat. {2:17} But from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in
whatever day you will eat from it, you will die a death.”
{2:18} The Lord God also said: “It is not good for the man to
be alone. Let us make a helper for him similar to himself.”
{2:19} Therefore, the Lord God, having formed from the soil
all the animals of the earth and all the flying creatures of the
air, brought them to Adam, in order to see what he would
call them. For whatever Adam would call any living creature,
that would be its name. {2:20} And Adam called each of the
living things by their names: all the flying creatures of the air,
and all the wild beasts of the land. Yet truly, for Adam, there
was not found a helper similar to himself. {2:21} And so the
Lord God sent a deep sleep upon Adam. And when he was
fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and he completed it with
flesh for it. {2:22} And the Lord God built up the rib, which
he took from Adam, into a woman. And he led her to Adam.
{2:23} And Adam said: “Now this is bone from my bones,
and flesh from my flesh. This one shall be called woman,
because she was taken from man.” {2:24} For this reason, a
man shall leave behind his father and mother, and he shall
cling to his wife; and the two shall be as one flesh.
{2:25} Now they were both naked: Adam, of course, and his
wife. And they were not ashamed.


[Genesis 3] {3:1} However, the serpent was more crafty than
any of the creatures of the earth that the Lord God had made.
And he said to the woman, “Why has God instructed you,
that you should not eat from every tree of Paradise?”
{3:2} The woman responded to him: “From the fruit of the
trees which are in Paradise, we eat. {3:3} Yet truly, from the
fruit of the tree which is in the middle of Paradise, God has
instructed us that we should not eat, and that we should not
touch it, lest perhaps we may die.” {3:4} Then the serpent
said to the woman: “By no means will you die a death.
{3:5} For God knows that, on whatever day you will eat
from it, your eyes will be opened; and you will be like gods,
knowing good and evil.” {3:6} And so the woman saw that
the tree was good to eat, and beautiful to the eyes, and
delightful to consider. And she took from its fruit, and she ate.
And she gave to her husband, who ate. {3:7} And the eyes of
them both were opened. And when they realized themselves
to be naked, they joined together fig leaves and made
coverings for themselves. {3:8} And when they had heard the
voice of the Lord God taking a walk in Paradise in the
afternoon breeze, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the
face of the Lord God in the midst of the trees of Paradise.
{3:9} And the Lord God called Adam and said to him:
“Where are you?” {3:10} And he said, “I heard your voice in
Paradise, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and so I hid
myself.” {3:11} He said to him, “Then who told you that you
were naked, if you have not eaten of the tree from which I
instructed you that you should not eat?” {3:12} And Adam
said, “The woman, whom you gave to me as a companion,
gave to me from the tree, and I ate.” {3:13} And the Lord
God said to the woman, “Why have you done this?” And she
responded, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” {3:14} And
the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done
this, you are cursed among all living things, even the wild
beasts of the earth. Upon your breast shall you travel, and the
ground shall you eat, all the days of your life. {3:15} I will
put enmities between you and the woman, between your
offspring and her offspring. She will crush your head, and
you will lie in wait for her heel.” {3:16} To the woman, he
also said: “I will multiply your labors and your conceptions.
In pain shall you give birth to sons, and you shall be under
your husband’s power, and he shall have dominion over
you.” {3:17} Yet truly, to Adam, he said: “Because you have
listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree,
from which I instructed you that you should not eat, cursed is
the land that you work. In hardship shall you eat from it, all
the days of your life. {3:18} Thorns and thistles shall it
produce for you, and you shall eat the plants of the earth.
{3:19} By the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, until
you return to the earth from which you were taken. For dust
you are, and unto dust you shall return.” {3:20} And Adam
called the name of his wife, ‘Eve,’ because she was the
mother of all the living. {3:21} The Lord God also made for
Adam and his wife garments from skins, and he clothed them.
{3:22} And he said: “Behold, Adam has become like one of
us, knowing good and evil. Therefore, now perhaps he may
put forth his hand and also take from the tree of life, and eat,
and live in eternity.” {3:23} And so the Lord God sent him
away from the Paradise of enjoyment, in order to work the
earth from which he was taken. {3:24} And he cast out
Adam. And in front of the Paradise of enjoyment, he placed
the Cherubim with a flaming sword, turning together, to
guard the way to the tree of life.


[Genesis 4] {4:1} Truly, Adam knew his wife Eve, who
conceived and gave birth to Cain, saying, “I have obtained a
man through God.” {4:2} And again she gave birth to his
brother Abel. But Abel was a pastor of sheep, and Cain was a
farmer. {4:3} Then it happened, after many days, that Cain
offered gifts to the Lord, from the fruits of the earth.
{4:4} Abel likewise offered from the firstborn of his flock,
and from their fat. And the Lord looked with favor on Abel
and his gifts. {4:5} Yet in truth, he did not look with favor on
Cain and his gifts. And Cain was vehemently angry, and his
countenance fell. {4:6} And the Lord said to him: “Why are
you angry? And why is your face fallen? {4:7} If you behave
well, will you not receive? But if you behave badly, will not
sin at once be present at the door? And so its desire will be
within you, and you will be dominated by it.” {4:8} And
Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go outside.” And when
they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel,
and he put him to death. {4:9} And the Lord said to Cain,
“Where is your brother Abel?” And he responded: “I do not
know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” {4:10} And he said to him:
“What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood
cries out to me from the land. {4:11} Now, therefore, you
will be cursed upon the land, which opened its mouth and
received the blood of your brother at your hand.
{4:12} When you work it, it will not give you its fruit; a
vagrant and a fugitive shall you be upon the land.”
{4:13} And Cain said to the Lord: “My iniquity is too great
to deserve kindness. {4:14} Behold, you have cast me out this
day before the face of the earth, and from your face I will be
hidden; and I will be a vagrant and a fugitive on the earth.
Therefore, anyone who finds me will kill me.” {4:15} And
the Lord said to him: “By no means will it be so; rather,
whoever would kill Cain, will be punished sevenfold.” And
the Lord placed a seal upon Cain, so that anyone who found
him would not put him to death. {4:16} And so Cain,
departing from the face of the Lord, lived as a fugitive on the
earth, toward the eastern region of Eden. {4:17} Then Cain
knew his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch.
And he built a city, and he called its name by the name of his
son, Enoch. {4:18} Thereafter, Enoch conceived Irad, and
Irad conceived Mahujael, and Mahujael conceived
Mathusael, and Mathusael conceived Lamech.
{4:19} Lamech took two wives: the name of one was Adah,
and the name of the other was Zillah. {4:20} And Adah
conceived Jabel, who was the father of those who live in tents
and are shepherds. {4:21} And the name of his brother was
Jubal; he was the father of those who sing to the harp and the
organ. {4:22} Zillah also conceived Tubalcain, who was a
hammerer and artisan in every work of brass and iron. In fact,
the sister of Tubalcain was Noema. {4:23} And Lamech said
to his wives Adah and Zillah: “Listen to my voice, you wives
of Lamech, pay attention to my speech. For I have killed a
man to my own harm, and an adolescent to my own bruising.
{4:24} Sevenfold vengeance will be given for Cain, but for
Lamech, seventy-seven times.” {4:25} Adam also knew his
wife again, and she gave birth to a son, and she called his
name Seth, saying, “God has given me another offspring, in
place of Abel, whom Cain killed.” {4:26} But to Seth also
was born a son, whom he called Enos. This one began to
invoke the name of the Lord.


[Genesis 5] {5:1} This is the book of the lineage of Adam. In
the day that God created man, he made him to the likeness of
God. {5:2} He created them, male and female; and he blessed
them. And he called their name Adam, in the day when they
were created. {5:3} Then Adam lived for one hundred and
thirty years. And then he conceived a son in his own image
and likeness, and he called his name Seth. {5:4} And after he
conceived Seth, the days of Adam that passed were eight
hundred years. And he conceived sons and daughters.
{5:5} And all the time that passed while Adam lived was nine
hundred and thirty years, and then he died. {5:6} Seth
likewise lived for one hundred and five years, and then he
conceived Enos. {5:7} And after he conceived Enos, Seth
lived for eight hundred and seven years, and he conceived
sons and daughters. {5:8} And all the days of Seth that
passed were nine hundred and twelve years, and then he died.
{5:9} In truth, Enos lived ninety years, and then he conceived
Cainan. {5:10} After his birth, he lived eight hundred and
fifteen years, and he conceived sons and daughters.
{5:11} And all the days of Enos that passed were nine
hundred and five years, and then he died. {5:12} Likewise,
Cainan lived seventy years, and then he conceived Mahalalel.
{5:13} And after he conceived Mahalalel, Cainan lived for
eight hundred and forty years, and he conceived sons and
daughters. {5:14} And all the days of Cainan that passed
were nine hundred and ten years, and then he died.
{5:15} And Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and then he
conceived Jared. {5:16} And after he conceived Jared,
Mahalalel lived for eight hundred and thirty years, and he
conceived sons and daughters. {5:17} And all the days of
Mahalalel that passed were eight hundred and ninety-five
years, and then he died. {5:18} And Jared lived for one
hundred and sixty-two years, and then he conceived Enoch.
{5:19} And after he conceived Enoch, Jared lived for eight
hundred years, and he conceived sons and daughters.
{5:20} And all the days of Jared that passed were nine
hundred and sixty-two years, and then he died. {5:21} Now
Enoch lived for sixty-five years, and then he conceived
Methuselah. {5:22} And Enoch walked with God. And after
he conceived Methuselah, he lived for three hundred years,
and he conceived sons and daughters. {5:23} And all the
days of Enoch that passed were three hundred and sixty-five
years. {5:24} And he walked with God, and then he was seen
no more, because God took him. {5:25} Likewise,
Methuselah lived for one hundred and eighty-seven years,
and then he conceived Lamech. {5:26} And after he
conceived Lamech, Methuselah lived for seven hundred and
eighty-two years, and he conceived sons and daughters.
{5:27} And all the days of Methuselah that passed were nine
hundred and sixty-nine years, and then he died. {5:28} Then
Lamech lived for one hundred and eighty-two years, and he
conceived a son. {5:29} And he called his name Noah, saying,
“This one will console us from the works and hardships of
our hands, in the land that the Lord has cursed.” {5:30} And
after he conceived Noah, Lamech lived for five hundred and
ninety-five years, and he conceived sons and daughters.
{5:31} And all the days of Lamech that passed were seven
hundred and seventy-seven years, and then he died. In truth,
when Noah was five hundred years old, he conceived Shem,
Ham, and Japheth.


[Genesis 6] {6:1} And when men began to be multiplied
upon the earth, and daughters were born to them, {6:2} the
sons of God, seeing that the daughters of men were beautiful,
took to themselves wives from all whom they chose.
{6:3} And God said: “My spirit shall not remain in man
forever, because he is flesh. And so his days shall be one
hundred and twenty years.” {6:4} Now giants were upon the
earth in those days. For after the sons of God went in to the
daughters of men, and they conceived, these became the
powerful ones of ancient times, men of renown. {6:5} Then
God, seeing that the wickedness of men was great upon the
earth and that every thought of their heart was intent upon
evil at all times, {6:6} repented that he had made man on the
earth. And being touched inwardly with a sorrow of heart,
{6:7} he said, “I will eliminate man, whom I have created,
from the face of the earth, from man to other living things,
from animals even to the flying things of the air. For it grieves
me that I have made them.” {6:8} Yet truly, Noah found
grace before the Lord. {6:9} These are the generations of
Noah. Noah was a just man, and yet he was predominate
among his generations, for he walked with God. {6:10} And
he conceived three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
{6:11} Yet the earth was corrupted before the eyes of God,
and it was filled with iniquity. {6:12} And when God had
seen that the earth had been corrupted, (indeed, all flesh had
corrupted its way upon the earth) {6:13} he said to Noah:
“The end of all flesh has arrived in my sight. The earth has
been filled with iniquity by their presence, and I will destroy
them, along with the earth. {6:14} Make yourself an ark from
smoothed wood. You shall make little dwelling places in the
ark, and you shall smear pitch on the interior and exterior.
{6:15} And thus shall you make it: The length of the ark shall
be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height
thirty cubits. {6:16} You shall make a window in the ark, and
you shall complete it within a cubit of the top. Then you shall
set the door of the ark at its side. You shall make in it: a
lower part, upper rooms, and a third level. {6:17} Behold, I
shall bring the waters of a great flood upon the earth, so as to
put to death all flesh in which there is the breath of life under
heaven. All things that are on the earth shall be consumed.
{6:18} And I shall establish my covenant with you, and you
shall enter the ark, you and your sons, your wife and the
wives of your sons with you. {6:19} And from every living
thing of all that is flesh, you shall lead pairs into the ark, so
that they may survive with you: from the male sex and the
female, {6:20} from birds, according to their kind, and from
beasts, in their kind, and from among all animals on earth,
according to their kind; pairs from each shall enter with you,
so that they may be able to live. {6:21} Therefore, you shall
take with you from all the foods that are able to be eaten, and
you shall carry these with you. And these shall be used as
food, some for you, and the rest for them.” {6:22} And so
Noah did all things just as God had instructed him.


[Genesis 7] {7:1} And the Lord said to him: “Enter the ark,
you and all your house. For I have seen you to be just in my
sight, within this generation. {7:2} From all the clean animals,
take seven and seven, the male and the female. Yet truly,
from animals that are unclean, take two and two, the male
and the female. {7:3} But also from the birds of the air, take
seven and seven, the male and the female, so that offspring
may be saved upon the face of the whole earth. {7:4} For
from that point, and after seven days, I will rain upon the
earth for forty days and forty nights. And I will wipe away
every substance that I have made, from the surface of the
earth.” {7:5} Therefore, Noah did all things just as the Lord
had commanded him. {7:6} And he was six hundred years
old when the waters of the great flood inundated the earth.
{7:7} And Noah entered into the ark, and his sons, his wife,
and the wives of his sons with him, because of the waters of
the great flood. {7:8} And from the animals both clean and
unclean, and from the birds, and from everything that moves
upon the earth, {7:9} two by two they were brought into the
ark to Noah, male and female, just as the Lord had instructed
Noah. {7:10} And when seven days had passed, the waters of
the great flood inundated the earth. {7:11} In the six
hundredth year of the life of Noah, in the second month, in
the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the
great abyss were released, and the floodgates of heaven were
opened. {7:12} And rain came upon the earth for forty days
and forty nights. {7:13} On the very same day, Noah and his
sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and his wife and the three
wives of his sons with them, entered the ark. {7:14} They and
every animal according to its kind, and all the cattle in their
kind, and everything that moves upon the earth in their kind,
and every flying thing according to its kind, all the birds and
all that can fly, {7:15} entered the ark to Noah, two by two
out of all that is flesh, in which there was the breath of life.
{7:16} And those that entered went in male and female, from
all that is flesh, just as God had instructed him. And then the
Lord closed him in from the outside. {7:17} And the great
flood occurred for forty days upon the earth. And the waters
were increased, and they lifted the ark high above the land.
{7:18} For they overflowed greatly, and they filled everything
on the surface of the earth. And then the ark was carried
across the waters. {7:19} And the waters prevailed beyond
measure across the earth. And all the lofty mountains under
the whole heaven were covered. {7:20} The water was fifteen
cubits higher than the mountains which it covered.
{7:21} And all flesh was consumed which moved upon the
earth: flying things, animals, wild beasts, and all moving
things that crawl upon the ground. And all men, {7:22} and
everything in which there is the breath of life on earth, died.
{7:23} And he wiped away all substance that was upon the
earth, from man to animal, the crawling things just as much
as the flying things of the air. And they were wiped away
from the earth. But only Noah remained, and those who were
with him in the ark. {7:24} And the waters possessed the
earth for one hundred and fifty days.


[Genesis 8] {8:1} Then God remembered Noah, and all
living things, and all the cattle, which were with him in the
ark, and he brought a wind across the earth, and the waters
were diminished. {8:2} And the fountains of the abyss and
the floodgates of heaven were closed. And the rain from
heaven was restrained. {8:3} And the waters were restored to
their coming and going from the earth. And they began to
diminish after one hundred and fifty days. {8:4} And the ark
rested in the seventh month, on the twenty-seventh day of the
month, upon the mountains of Armenia. {8:5} Yet in truth,
the waters were departing and decreasing until the tenth
month. For in the tenth month, on the first day of the month,
the tips of the mountains appeared. {8:6} And when forty
days had passed, Noah, opening the window that he had
made in the ark, sent forth a raven, {8:7} which went forth
and did not return, until the waters were dried up across the
earth. {8:8} Likewise, he sent forth a dove after him, in order
to see if the waters had now ceased upon the face of the earth.
{8:9} But when she did not find a place where her foot might
rest, she returned to him in the ark. For the waters were upon
the whole earth. And he extended his hand and caught her,
and he brought her into the ark. {8:10} And then, having
waited a further seven days, he again sent forth the dove out
of the ark. {8:11} And she came to him in the evening,
carrying in her mouth an olive branch with green leaves.
Noah then understood that the waters had ceased upon the
earth. {8:12} And nevertheless, he waited another seven days.
And he sent forth the dove, which no longer returned to him.
{8:13} Therefore, in the six hundred and first year, in the first
month, on the first day of the month, the waters were
diminished upon the earth. And Noah, opening the cover of
the ark, gazed out and saw that the surface of the earth had
become dry. {8:14} In the second month, on the twenty-
seventh day of the month, the earth was made dry.
{8:15} Then God spoke to Noah, saying: {8:16} “Go out of
the ark, you and your wife, your sons and the wives of your
sons with you. {8:17} Bring out with you all the living things
that are with you, all that is flesh: as with the birds, so also
with the wild beasts and all the animals that move upon the
earth. And enter upon the land: increase and multiply upon
it.” {8:18} And so Noah and his sons went out, and his wife
and the wives of his sons with him. {8:19} Then also all
living things, and the cattle, and the animals that move upon
the earth, according to their kinds, departed from the ark.
{8:20} Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. And, taking
from each of the cattle and birds that were clean, he offered
holocausts upon the altar. {8:21} And the Lord smelled the
sweet odor and said: “I will no longer curse the earth because
of man. For the feelings and thoughts of the heart of man are
prone to evil from his youth. Therefore, I will no longer
pierce every living soul as I have done. {8:22} All the days of
the earth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and
winter, night and day, will not cease.”


[Genesis 9] {9:1} And God blessed Noah and his sons. And
he said to them: “Increase, and multiply, and fill the earth.
{9:2} And let the fear and trembling of you be upon all the
animals of the earth, and upon all the birds of the air, along
with all that moves across the earth. All the fish of the sea
have been delivered into your hand. {9:3} And everything
that moves and lives will be food for you. Just as with the
edible plants, I have delivered them all to you, {9:4} except
that flesh with blood you shall not eat. {9:5} For I will
examine the blood of your lives at the hand of every beast. So
also, at the hand of mankind, at the hand of each man and
his brother, I will examine the life of mankind.
{9:6} Whoever will shed human blood, his blood will be
poured out. For man was indeed made to the image of God.
{9:7} But as for you: increase and multiply, and go forth
upon the earth and fulfill it.” {9:8} To Noah and to his sons
with him, God also said this: {9:9} “Behold, I will establish
my covenant with you, and with your offspring after you,
{9:10} and with every living soul that is with you: as much
with the birds as with the cattle and all the animals of the
earth that have gone forth from the ark, and with all the wild
beasts of the earth. {9:11} I will establish my covenant with
you, and no longer will all that is flesh be put to death by the
waters of a great flood, and, henceforth, there will not be a
great flood to utterly destroy the earth.” {9:12} And God said:
“This is the sign of the pact that I grant between me and you,
and to every living soul that is with you, for perpetual
generations. {9:13} I will place my arc in the clouds, and it
will be the sign of the pact between myself and the earth.
{9:14} And when I obscure the sky with clouds, my arc will
appear in the clouds. {9:15} And I will remember my
covenant with you, and with every living soul that enlivens
flesh. And there will no longer be waters from a great flood to
wipe away all that is flesh. {9:16} And the arc will be in the
clouds, and I will see it, and I will remember the everlasting
covenant that was enacted between God and every living soul
of all that is flesh upon the earth.” {9:17} And God said to
Noah, “This will be the sign of the covenant that I have
established between myself and all that is flesh upon the
earth.” {9:18} And so the sons of Noah, who came out of the
ark, were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now Ham himself is the
father of Canaan. {9:19} These three are the sons of Noah.
And from these all the family of mankind was spread over the
whole earth. {9:20} And Noah, a good farmer, began to
cultivate the land, and he planted a vineyard. {9:21} And by
drinking its wine, he became inebriated and was naked in his
tent. {9:22} Because of this, when Ham, the father of Canaan,
had indeed seen the privates of his father to be naked, he
reported it to his two brothers outside. {9:23} And truly,
Shem and Japheth put a cloak upon their arms, and,
advancing backwards, covered the privates of their father.
And their faces were turned away, so that they did not see
their father’s manhood. {9:24} Then Noah, awaking from the
wine, when he had learned what his younger son had done to
him, {9:25} he said, “Cursed be Canaan, a servant of
servants will he be to his brothers.” {9:26} And he said:
“Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, let Canaan be his servant.
{9:27} May God enlarge Japheth, and may he live in the
tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.” {9:28} And
after the great flood, Noah lived for three hundred and fifty
years. {9:29} And all his days were completed in nine
hundred and fifty years, and then he died.


[Genesis 10] {10:1} These are the generations of the sons of
Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and of the sons who were
born to them after the great flood. {10:2} The sons of Japheth
were Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal,
and Meshech, and Tiras. {10:3} And then the sons of Gomer
were Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. {10:4} And the
sons of Javan were Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and
Rodanim. {10:5} The islands of the Gentiles were divided by
these into their regions, each one according to his tongue,
and their families in their nations. {10:6} And the Sons of
Ham were Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan.
{10:7} And the sons of Cush were Seba, and Havilah, and
Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were
Sheba and Dadan. {10:8} And then Cush conceived Nimrod;
he began to be powerful on the earth. {10:9} And he was an
able hunter before the Lord. From this, a proverb came forth:
‘Just like Nimrod, an able hunter before the Lord.’
{10:10} And so, the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon,
and Erech, and Accad, and Chalanne, in the land of Shinar.
{10:11} From that land, Assur came forth, and he built
Nineveh, and the streets of the city, and Calah, {10:12} and
also Resen, between Nineveh and Calah. This is a great city.
{10:13} And truly, Mizraim conceived Ludim, and Anamim,
and Lehabim, Naphtuhim, {10:14} and Pathrusim, and
Casluhim, from whom came forth the Philistines and the
Caphtorim. {10:15} Then Canaan conceived Sidon his
firstborn, the Hittite, {10:16} and the Jebusite, and the
Amorite, the Girgashite, {10:17} the Hivite, and the Arkite:
the Sinite, {10:18} and the Arvadian, the Samarite, and the
Hamathite. And after this, the peoples of the Canaanites
became widespread. {10:19} And the borders of Chanaan
went, as one travels, from Sidon to Gerar, even to Gaza, until
one enters Sodom and Gomorrah, and from Admah and
Zeboiim, even to Lesa. {10:20} These are the sons of Ham in
their kindred, and tongues, and generations, and lands, and
nations. {10:21} Likewise, from Shem, the father of all the
sons of Heber, the elder brother of Japheth, sons were born.
{10:22} The sons of Shem were Elam, and Asshur, and
Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. {10:23} The sons of Aram
were Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. {10:24} But truly,
Arphaxad conceived Shelah, from whom was born Eber.
{10:25} And to Eber were born two sons: the name of the
one was Peleg, for in his days the earth became divided, and
his brothers name was Joktan. {10:26} This Joktan
conceived Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, Jerah
{10:27} and Hadoram, and Uzal and Diklah, {10:28} and
Obal and Abimael, Sheba {10:29} and Ophir, and Havilah
and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. {10:30} And
their habitation extended from Messa, as one sojourns, even
to Sephar, a mountain in the east. {10:31} These are the sons
of Shem according to their kindred, and tongues, and the
regions within their nations. {10:32} These are the families of
Noah, according to their peoples and nations. The nations
became divided according to these, on the earth after the
great flood.


[Genesis 11] {11:1} Now the earth was of one language and
of the same speech. {11:2} And when they were advancing
from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and
they dwelt in it. {11:3} And each one said to his neighbor,
“Come, let us make bricks, and bake them with fire.” And
they had bricks instead of stones, and pitch instead of mortar.
{11:4} And they said: “Come, let us make a city and a tower,
so that its height may reach to heaven. And let us make our
name famous before we are divided into all the lands.”
{11:5} Then the Lord descended to see the city and the tower,
which the sons of Adam were building. {11:6} And he said:
“Behold, the people are united, and all have one tongue. And
since they have begun to do this, they will not desist from
their plans, until they have completed their work.
{11:7} Therefore, come, let us descend, and in that place
confound their tongue, so that they may not listen, each one
to the voice of his neighbor.” {11:8} And so the Lord divided
them from that place into all the lands, and they ceased to
build the city. {11:9} And for this reason, its name was called
‘Babel,’ because in that place the language of the whole earth
became confused. And from then on, the Lord scattered them
across the face of every region. {11:10} These are the
generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old when
he conceived Arphaxad, two years after the great flood.
{11:11} And after he conceived Arphaxad, Shem lived for
five hundred years, and he conceived sons and daughters.
{11:12} Next, Arphaxad lived for thirty-five years, and then
he conceived Shelah. {11:13} And after he conceived Shelah,
Arphaxad lived for three hundred and three years, and he
conceived sons and daughters. {11:14} Likewise, Shelah
lived for thirty years, and then he conceived Eber.
{11:15} And after he conceived Eber, Shelah lived for four
hundred and three years, and he conceived sons and
daughters. {11:16} Then Eber lived for thirty-four years, and
he conceived Peleg. {11:17} And after he conceived Peleg,
Eber lived for four hundred and thirty years, and he
conceived sons and daughters. {11:18} Likewise, Peleg lived
for thirty years, and then he conceived Reu. {11:19} And
after he conceived Reu, Peleg lived for two hundred and nine
years, and he conceived sons and daughters. {11:20} Then
Reu lived for thirty-two years, and then he conceived Serug.
{11:21} Likewise, after he conceived Serug, Reu lived for two
hundred and seven years, and he conceived sons and
daughters. {11:22} In truth, Serug lived for thirty years, and
then he conceived Nahor. {11:23} And after he conceived
Nahor, Serug lived for two hundred years, and he conceived
sons and daughters. {11:24} And so Nahor lived for twenty-
nine years, and then he conceived Terah. {11:25} And after
he conceived Terah, Nahor lived for one hundred and
nineteen years, and he conceived sons and daughters.
{11:26} And Terah lived for seventy years, and then he
conceived Abram, and Nahor, and Haran. {11:27} And these
are the generations of Terah. Terah conceived Abram, Nahor,
and Haran. Next Haran conceived Lot. {11:28} And Haran
died before his father Terah, in the land of his nativity, in Ur
of the Chaldeans. {11:29} Then Abram and Nahor took
wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai. And the name
of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the
father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. {11:30} But Sarai
was barren and had no children. {11:31} And so Terah took
his son Abram, and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and
his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and he
led them away from Ur of the Chaldeans, to go into the land
of Canaan. And they approached as far as Haran, and they
dwelt there. {11:32} And the days of Terah that passed were
two hundred and five years, and then he died in Haran.


[Genesis 12] {12:1} Then the Lord said to Abram: “Depart
from your land, and from your kindred, and from your
father’s house, and come into the land that I will show you.
{12:2} And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless
you and magnify your name, and you will be blessed.
{12:3} I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who
curse you, and in you all the families of the earth will be
blessed.” {12:4} And so Abram departed just as the Lord had
instructed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-
five years old when he departed from Haran. {12:5} And he
took his wife Sarai, and Lot, the son of his brother, and all
the substance which they had come to possess, and the lives
which they had acquired in Haran, and they departed in
order to go to the land of Canaan. And when they arrived in
it, {12:6} Abram passed through the land even to the place of
Shechem, as far as the famous steep valley. Now at that time,
the Canaanite was in the land. {12:7} Then the Lord
appeared to Abram, and he said to him, “To your offspring, I
will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord,
who had appeared to him. {12:8} And passing on from there
to a mountain, which was opposite the east of Bethel, he
pitched his tent there, having Bethel to the west, and Hai on
the east. He also built an altar there to the Lord, and he called
upon his name. {12:9} And Abram traveled, going out and
continuing further on, toward the south. {12:10} But a
famine occurred in the land. And Abram descended to Egypt,
to sojourn there. For famine prevailed over the land.
{12:11} And when he was close to entering Egypt, he said to
his wife Sarai: “I know you to be a beautiful woman.
{12:12} And when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘She
is his wife.’ And they will put me to death, and retain you.
{12:13} Therefore, I beg you to say that you are my sister, so
that it may be well with me because of you, and so that my
soul may live by your favor.” {12:14} And so, when Abram
had arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was
exceedingly beautiful. {12:15} And the princes reported it to
Pharaoh, and they praised her to him. And the woman was
inducted into the house of Pharaoh. {12:16} In truth, they
treated Abram well because of her. And he had sheep and
oxen and male donkeys, and men servants, and women
servants, and female donkeys, and camels. {12:17} But the
Lord scourged Pharaoh and his house with great wounds
because of Sarai, the wife of Abram. {12:18} And Pharaoh
called Abram, and he said to him: “What is this that you
have done to me? Why did you not tell me she was your wife?
{12:19} For what reason did you claim her to be your sister,
so that I would take her to me as a wife? Now therefore,
behold your mate, receive her and go.” {12:20} And Pharaoh
instructed his men about Abram. And they led him away
with his wife and all that he had.


[Genesis 13] {13:1} Therefore, Abram ascended from Egypt,
he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him,
toward the southern region. {13:2} But he was very wealthy
by the possession of gold and silver. {13:3} And he returned
by the way that he came, from the meridian into Bethel, all
the way to the place where before he had pitched his tent,
between Bethel and Hai. {13:4} There, at the place of the
altar he had made before, he again called upon the name of
the Lord. {13:5} But Lot also, who was with Abram, had
flocks of sheep, and cattle, and tents. {13:6} Neither was the
land able to contain them, so that they might dwell together.
Indeed, their substance was so great that they could not live
in common. {13:7} And then there also arose a conflict
between the shepherds of Abram and of Lot. Now at that
time the Canaanite and the Perizzite lived in that land.
{13:8} Therefore, Abram said to Lot: “I ask you, let there be
no quarrel between me and you, and between my shepherds
and your shepherds. For we are brothers. {13:9} Behold, the
entire land is before your eyes. Withdraw from me, I beg you.
If you will go to the left, I will take the right. If you choose
the right, I will pass to the left.” {13:10} And so Lot, lifting
up his eyes, saw all the region around the Jordan, which was
thoroughly irrigated, before the Lord overthrew Sodom and
Gomorrah. It was like the Paradise of the Lord, and it was
like Egypt, approaching toward Zoar. {13:11} And Lot chose
for himself the region around the Jordan, and he withdrew by
way of the east. And they were divided, one brother from the
other. {13:12} Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan. In truth,
Lot stayed in the towns that were around the Jordan, and he
lived in Sodom. {13:13} But the men of Sodom were very
wicked, and they were sinners before the Lord beyond
measure. {13:14} And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was
divided from him: “Lift up your eyes, and gaze out from the
place where you are now, to the north and to the meridian, to
the east and to the west. {13:15} All the land that you see, I
will give to you, and to your offspring even forever.
{13:16} And I will make your offspring like the dust of the
earth. If any man is able to number the dust of the earth, he
will be able to number your offspring as well. {13:17} Arise
and walk through the land in its length, and breadth. For I
will give it to you.” {13:18} Therefore, moving his tent,
Abram went and dwelt by the steep valley of Mamre, which
is in Hebron. And he built an altar there to the Lord.


[Genesis 14] {14:1} Now it happened in that time that
Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Pontus, and
Chedorlaomer, king of the Elamites, and Tidal, king of the
Nations, {14:2} went to war against Bera, king of Sodom,
and against Birsha, king of Gomorrah, and against Shinab,
king of Admah, and against Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and
against the king of Bela, that is Zoar. {14:3} All these came
together in the wooded valley, which is now the Sea of Salt.
{14:4} For they had served Chedorlaomer for twelve years,
and in the thirteenth year they withdrew from him.
{14:5} Therefore, in the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer
arrived, and the kings who were with him. And they struck
the Rephaim at Ashteroth of the two horns, and the Zuzim
with them, and the Emim at Shaveh-Kiriathaim. {14:6} and
the Chorreans in the mountains of Seir, even to the plains of
Paran, which is in wilderness. {14:7} And they returned and
arrived at the fountain of Mishpat, which is Kadesh. And
they struck the entire region of the Amalekites, and the
Amorites who dwelt in Hazazontamar. {14:8} And the king
of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah,
and the king of Zeboiim, and indeed the king of Bela, which
is Zoar, went forth. And they directed their point against
them in the wooded valley, {14:9} namely, against
Chedorlaomer, king of the Elamites, and Tidal, king of the
Nations, and Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of
Pontus: four kings against five. {14:10} Now the wooded
valley had many pits of bitumen. And so the king of Sodom
and the king of Gomorrah turned back and they fell there.
And those who remained, fled to the mountain.
{14:11} Then they took all the substance of the Sodomites
and the Gomorrahites, and all that pertained to food, and
they went away, {14:12} along with both Lot, the son of
Abram’s brother, who lived in Sodom, and his substance.
{14:13} And behold, one who had escaped reported it to
Abram the Hebrew, who lived in the steep valley of Mamre
the Amorite, who was the brother of Eshcol, and the brother
of Aner. For these had formed an agreement with Abram.
{14:14} When Abram had heard this, namely, that his
brother Lot had been taken captive, he numbered three
hundred and eighteen of his own armed men and he went in
pursuit all the way to Dan. {14:15} And dividing his
company, he rushed upon them in the night. And he struck
them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is on the left
hand of Damascus. {14:16} And he brought back all the
substance, and Lot his brother, with his substance, likewise
the women and the people. {14:17} Then the king of Sodom
went out to meet him, after he returned from the slaughter at
Chedorlaomer, and the kings who were with him at the
valley of Shaveh, which is the valley of the king.
{14:18} Then in truth, Melchizedek, the king of Salem,
brought forth bread and wine, for he was a priest of the Most
High God; {14:19} he blessed him, and he said: “Blessed be
Abram by the Most High God, who created heaven and earth.
{14:20} And blessed be the Most High God, through whose
protection the enemies are in your hands.” And he gave him
tithes from everything. {14:21} Then the king of Sodom said
to Abram, “Give me these souls, and take the rest for
yourself.” {14:22} And he responded to him: “I lift up my
hand to the Lord God, the Most High, the Possessor of
heaven and earth, {14:23} that from one thread within a
blanket, even to a single shoelace, I will not take anything
from that which is yours, lest you say, ‘I have enriched
Abram,’ {14:24} except that which the young men have
eaten, and the shares for the men who came with me: Aner,
Eshcol, and Mamre. These will take their shares.”


[Genesis 15] {15:1} And so, these things having been
transacted, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision,
saying: “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your protector, and
your reward is exceedingly great.” {15:2} And Abram said:
“Lord God, what will you give to me? I may go without
children. And the son of the steward of my house is this
Eliezer of Damascus.” {15:3} And Abram added: “Yet to me
you have not given offspring. And behold, my servant born in
my house will be my heir.” {15:4} And immediately the
word of the Lord came to him, saying: “This one will not be
your heir. But he who will come from your loins, the same
will you have for your heir.” {15:5} And he brought him
outside, and he said to him, “Take in the heavens, and
number the stars, if you can.” And he said to him, “So also
will your offspring be.” {15:6} Abram believed God, and it
was reputed to him unto justice. {15:7} And he said to him,
“I am the Lord who led you away from Ur of the Chaldeans,
so as to give you this land, and so that you would possess it.”
{15:8} But he said, “Lord God, in what way may I be able to
know that I will possess it?” {15:9} And the Lord responded
by saying: “Take for me a cow of three years, and a she-goat
of three years, and a ram of three years, also a turtle-dove and
a pigeon.” {15:10} Taking all these, he divided them through
the middle, and placed both parts opposite one another. But
the birds he did not divide. {15:11} And birds descended
upon the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
{15:12} And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon
Abram, and a dread, great and dark, invaded him.
{15:13} And it was said to him: “Know beforehand that your
future offspring will be sojourners in a land not their own,
and they will subjugate them in servitude and afflict them for
four hundred years. {15:14} Yet truly, I will judge the nation
that they will serve, and after this they will depart with great
substance. {15:15} But you will go to your fathers in peace
and be buried at a good old age. {15:16} But in the fourth
generation, they will return here. For the iniquities of the
Amorites are not yet completed, even to this present time.”
{15:17} Then, when the sun had set, there came a dark mist,
and there appeared a smoking furnace and a lamp of fire
passing between those divisions. {15:18} On that day, God
formed a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your offspring I
will give this land, from the river of Egypt, even to the great
river Euphrates: {15:19} the land of the Kenites and the
Kenizzites, the Kadmonites {15:20} and the Hittites, and the
Perizzites, likewise the Rephaim, {15:21} and the Amorites,
and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”


[Genesis 16] {16:1} Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, had not
conceived children. But, having an Egyptian handmaid
named Hagar, {16:2} she said to her husband: “Behold, the
Lord has closed me, lest I give birth. Enter to my handmaid,
so that perhaps I may receive sons of her at least.” And when
he agreed to her supplication, {16:3} she took Hagar the
Egyptian, her handmaid, ten years after they began to live in
the land of Canaan, and she gave her to her husband as a
wife. {16:4} And he entered to her. But when she saw that
she had conceived, she despised her mistress. {16:5} And
Sarai said to Abram: “You have acted unfairly against me. I
gave my handmaid into your bosom, who, when she saw that
she had conceived, held me in contempt. May the Lord judge
between me and you.” {16:6} Abram responded to her by
saying, “Behold, your handmaid is in your hand to treat as it
pleases you.” And so, when Sarai afflicted her, she took flight.
{16:7} And when the Angel of the Lord had found her, near
the fountain of water in the wilderness, which is on the way
to Shur in the desert, {16:8} he said to her: “Hagar,
handmaid of Sarai, where have you come from? And where
will you go?” And she answered, “I flee from the face of
Sarai, my mistress.” {16:9} And the Angel of the Lord said to
her, “Return to your mistress, and humble yourself under her
hand.” {16:10} And again he said, “I will multiply your
offspring continuously, and they will not be numbered
because of their multitude.” {16:11} But thereafter he said:
“Behold, you have conceived, and you will give birth to a son.
And you shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has
heard your affliction. {16:12} He will be a wild man. His
hand will be against all, and all hands will be against him.
And he will pitch his tents away from the region of all his
brothers.” {16:13} Then she called upon the name of the
Lord who had spoken to her: “You are the God who has seen
me.” For she said, “Certainly, here I have seen the back of
the one who sees me.” {16:14} Because of this, she called
that well: ‘The well of the one who lives and who sees me.’
The same is between Kadesh and Bered. {16:15} And Hagar
gave birth to a son for Abram, who called his name Ishmael.
{16:16} Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave
birth to Ishmael for him.


[Genesis 17] {17:1} In truth, after he began to be ninety-nine
years of age, the Lord appeared to him. And he said to him:
“I am the Almighty God. Walk in my sight and become
complete. {17:2} And I will set my covenant between me and
you. And I will multiply you very exceedingly.”
{17:3} Abram fell prone on his face. {17:4} And God said to
him: “I AM, and my covenant is with you, and you will be
the father of many nations. {17:5} No longer will your name
be called Abram. But you will be called Abraham, for I have
established you as the father of many nations. {17:6} And I
will cause you to increase very greatly, and I will set you
among the nations, and kings will come forth from you.
{17:7} And I will establish my covenant between me and you,
and with your offspring after you in their generations, by a
perpetual covenant: to be God to you and to your offspring
after you. {17:8} And I will give to you and to your offspring,
the land of your sojourn, all the land of Canaan, as an eternal
possession, and I will be their God.” {17:9} Again God said
to Abraham: “And you therefore shall keep my covenant,
and your offspring after you in their generations.
{17:10} This is my covenant, which you shall observe,
between me and you, and your offspring after you: All the
males among you shall be circumcised. {17:11} And you
shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, so that it may be a
sign of the covenant between me and you. {17:12} An infant
of eight days will be circumcised among you, every male in
your generations. So also servants born to you, as well as
those bought, shall be circumcised, even those who are not of
your stock. {17:13} And my covenant shall be with your flesh
as an eternal covenant. {17:14} The male, the flesh of whose
foreskin will not be circumcised, that soul shall be eliminated
from his people. For he has made my covenant void.”
{17:15} God said also to Abraham: “Your wife Sarai, you
shall not call Sarai, but Sarah. {17:16} And I will bless her,
and from her I will give you a son, whom I will bless, and he
will be among the nations, and the kings of the peoples will
rise from him.” {17:17} Abraham fell on his face, and he
laughed, saying in his heart: “Do you think a son can be born
to a one hundred year old man? And will Sarah give birth at
the age of ninety?” {17:18} And he said to God, “If only
Ishmael would live in your sight.” {17:19} And God said to
Abraham: “Your wife Sarah shall give birth to a son, and you
shall call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant
with him as a perpetual covenant, and with his offspring after
him. {17:20} Likewise, concerning Ishmael, I have heard you.
Behold, I will bless and enlarge him, and I will multiply him
greatly. He will produce twelve leaders, and I will make him
into a great nation. {17:21} Yet in truth, I will establish my
covenant with Isaac, to whom Sarah will give birth for you at
this time next year.” {17:22} And when he had finished
speaking with him, God ascended from Abraham.
{17:23} Then Abraham took his son Ishmael, and all who
were born in his house, and all whom he had bought, every
male among the men of his house, and he circumcised the
flesh of their foreskin promptly, the very same day, just as
God had instructed him. {17:24} Abraham was ninety-nine
years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin.
{17:25} And his son Ishmael had completed thirteen years at
the time of his circumcision. {17:26} On the very same day,
Abraham was circumcised with his son Ishmael.
{17:27} And all the men of his house, those born in his house,
as well as those who were bought, even the foreigners, were
circumcised with him.


[Genesis 18] {18:1} Then the Lord appeared to him, in the
steep valley of Mamre, when he was sitting at the door of his
tent, in the very heat of the day. {18:2} And when he had
lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three men, standing
near him. When he had seen them, he ran to meet them from
the door of his tent, and he reverenced them on the ground.
{18:3} And he said: “If I, O lord, have found grace in your
eyes, do not pass by your servant. {18:4} But I will bring a
little water, and you may wash your feet and rest under the
tree. {18:5} And I will set out a meal of bread, so that you
may strengthen your heart; after this you will pass on. It is for
this reason that you have turned aside to your servant.” And
they said, “Do as you have spoken.” {18:6} Abraham hurried
into the tent to Sarah, and he said to her, “Quickly, mix
together three measures of the finest wheat flour and make
loaves baked under the ashes.” {18:7} In truth, he himself ran
to the herd, and he took a calf from there, very tender and
very good, and he gave it to a servant, who hurried and
boiled it. {18:8} Likewise, he took butter and milk, and the
calf which he had boiled, and he placed it before them. Yet
truly, he himself stood near them under the tree. {18:9} And
when they had eaten, they said to him, “Where is Sarah your
wife?” He answered, “Behold, she is in the tent.”
{18:10} And he said to him, “When returning, I will come to
you at this time, with life as a companion, and your wife
Sarah will have a son.” Hearing this, Sarah laughed behind
the door of the tent. {18:11} Now they were both old, and in
an advanced state of life, and it had ceased to be with Sarah
after the manner of women. {18:12} And she laughed
secretly, saying, “After I have grown old, and my lord is
elderly, shall I give myself to the work of delight?”
{18:13} Then the Lord said to Abraham: “Why did Sarah
laugh, saying: ‘How can I, an old woman, actually give
birth?’ {18:14} Is anything difficult for God? According to the
announcement, he will return to you at this same time, with
life as a companion, and Sarah will have a son.”
{18:15} Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh.” For she
was terribly afraid. But the Lord said, “It is not so; for you
did laugh.” {18:16} Therefore, when the men had risen up
from there, they directed their eyes against Sodom. And
Abraham traveled with them, leading them. {18:17} And the
Lord said: “How could I hide what I am about to do from
Abraham, {18:18} since he will become a great and very
robust nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be
blessed? {18:19} For I know that he will instruct his sons, and
his household after him, to keep to the way of the Lord, and
to act with judgment and justice, so that, for the sake of
Abraham, the Lord may bring about all the things that he has
spoken to him.” {18:20} And so the Lord said, “The outcry
from Sodom and Gomorrah has been multiplied, and their
sin has become exceedingly grievous. {18:21} I will descend
and see whether they have fulfilled the work of the outcry
that has reached me, or whether it is not so, in order that I
may know.” {18:22} And they turned themselves from there,
and they went toward Sodom. Yet in truth, Abraham still
stood in the sight of the Lord. {18:23} And as they drew near,
he said: “Will you destroy the just with the impious?
{18:24} If there were fifty of the just in the city, will they
perish with the rest? And will you not spare that place for the
sake of fifty of the just, if they were in it? {18:25} Far be it
from you to do this thing, and to kill the just with the impious,
and for the just to be treated like the impious. No, this is not
like you. You judge all the earth; you would never make such
a Judgment.” {18:26} And the Lord said to him, “If I find in
Sodom fifty of the just in the midst of the city, I will release
the entire place because of them.” {18:27} And Abraham
responded by saying: “Since now I have begun, I will speak
to my Lord, though I am dust and ashes. {18:28} What if
there were five less than fifty of the just? Would you, despite
the forty-five, eliminate the entire city?” And he said, “I will
not eliminate it, if I find forty-five there.” {18:29} And again
he said to him, “But if forty were found there, what would
you do?” He said, “I will not strike, for the sake of the forty.”
{18:30} “I ask you,” he said, “not to be angry, Lord, if I
speak. What if thirty were found there?” He responded, “I
will not act, if I find thirty there.” {18:31} “Since now I have
begun,” he said, “I will speak to my Lord. What if twenty
were found there?” He said, “I will not put to death, for the
sake of the twenty.” {18:32} “I beg you,” he said, “not to be
angry, Lord, if I speak yet once more. What if ten were found
there?” And he said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the
ten.” {18:33} And the Lord departed, after he had ceased
speaking to Abraham, who then returned to his place.


[Genesis 19] {19:1} And the two Angels arrived at Sodom in
the evening, and Lot was sitting at the gate of the city. And
when he had seen them, he rose up and went to meet them.
And he reverenced prone on the ground. {19:2} And he said:
“I beg you, my lords, turn aside to the house of your servant,
and lodge there. Wash your feet, and in the morning you will
advance on your way.” And they said, “Not at all. But we
will lodge in the street.” {19:3} He pressed them very much
to turn aside to him. And when they had entered his house,
he made a feast for them, and he cooked unleavened bread,
and they ate. {19:4} But before they went to bed, the men of
the city surrounded the house, from boys to old men, all the
people together. {19:5} And they called out to Lot, and they
said to him: “Where are the men who entered to you in the
night? Bring them out here, so that we may know them.”
{19:6} Lot went out to them, and blocking the door behind
him, he said: {19:7} “Do not, I ask you, my brothers, do not
be willing to commit this evil. {19:8} I have two daughters
who as yet have not known man. I will bring them out to you;
abuse them as it pleases you, provided that you do no evil to
these men, because they have entered under the shadow of
my roof.” {19:9} But they said, “Move away from there.”
And again: “You have entered,” they said, “as a stranger;
should you then judge? Therefore, we will afflict you yourself
more than them.” And they acted very violently against Lot.
And they were now at the point of breaking open the doors.
{19:10} And behold, the men put out their hand, and they
pulled Lot in to them, and they closed the door. {19:11} And
they struck those who were outside with blindness, from the
least to the greatest, so that they were not able to find the
door. {19:12} Then they said to Lot: “Do you have here
anyone of yours? All who are yours, sons-in-law, or sons, or
daughters, bring them out of this city. {19:13} For we will
eliminate this place, because the outcry among them has
increased before the Lord, who sent us to destroy them.”
{19:14} And so Lot, going out, spoke to his sons-in-law, who
were going to receive his daughters, and he said: “Rise up.
Depart from this place. For the Lord will destroy this city.”
And it seemed to them that he was speaking playfully.
{19:15} And when it was morning, the Angels compelled
him, saying, “Arise, take your wife, and the two daughters
that you have, lest you also should perish amid the
wickedness of the city.” {19:16} And, since he ignored them,
they took his hand, and the hand of his wife, as well as that of
his two daughters, because the Lord was sparing him.
{19:17} And they brought him out, and placed him beyond
the city. And there they spoke to him, saying: “Save your life.
Do not look not back. Neither should you stay in the entire
surrounding region. But save yourself in the mountain, lest
you also should perish.” {19:18} And Lot said to them: “I
beg you, my lord, {19:19} though your servant has found
grace before you, and you have magnified your mercy, which
you have shown to me in saving my life, I cannot be saved on
the mountain, lest perhaps some misfortune take hold of me
and I die. {19:20} There is a certain city nearby, to which I
can flee; it is a little one, and I will be saved in it. Is it not a
modest one, and will not my soul live?” {19:21} And he said
to him: “Behold, even now, I have heard your petitions about
this, not to overturn the city on behalf of which you have
spoken. {19:22} Hurry and be saved there. For I cannot do
anything until you enter there.” For this reason, the name of
that city is called Zoar. {19:23} The sun had risen over the
land, and Lot had entered into Zoar. {19:24} Therefore, the
Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire,
from the Lord, out of heaven. {19:25} And he overturned
these cities, and all the surrounding region: all the inhabitants
of the cities, and everything that springs from the land.
{19:26} And his wife, looking behind herself, was turned into
a statue of salt. {19:27} Then Abraham, rising up in the
morning, in the place where he had stood before with the
Lord, {19:28} looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and
the entire land of that region. And he saw embers rising up
from the land like smoke from a furnace. {19:29} For when
God overthrew the cities of that region, remembering
Abraham, he freed Lot from the overthrow of the cities, in
which he had dwelt. {19:30} And Lot ascended from Zoar,
and he stayed on the mountain, and likewise his two
daughters with him, (for he was afraid to stay in Zoar) and he
dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters with him.
{19:31} And the elder said to the younger: “Our father is old,
and no man remains in the land who can enter to us
according to the custom of the whole world. {19:32} Come,
let us inebriate him with wine, and let us sleep with him, so
that we may be able to preserve offspring from our father.”
{19:33} And so they gave their father wine to drink that night.
And the elder went in, and she slept with her father. But he
did not perceive it, neither when his daughter lay down, nor
when she rose up. {19:34} Likewise, the next day, the elder
said to the younger: “Behold, yesterday I slept with my father,
let us give him wine to drink yet again this night, and you
will sleep with him, so that we may save offspring from our
father.” {19:35} And then they gave their father wine to drink
that night also, and the younger daughter went in, and slept
with him. And not even then did he perceive when she lay
down, or when she rose up. {19:36} Therefore, the two
daughters of Lot conceived by their father. {19:37} And the
elder gave birth to a son, and she called his name Moab. He
is the father of the Moabites, even to the present day.
{19:38} Likewise, the younger gave birth to a son, and she
called his name Ammon, that is, ‘the son of my people.’ He is
the father of the Ammonites, even today.


[Genesis 20] {20:1} Abraham advanced from there into the
southern land, and he lived between Kadesh and Shur. And
he sojourned in Gerar. {20:2} And he said about his wife
Sarah: “She is my sister.” Therefore, Abimelech, the king of
Gerar, sent for her and took her. {20:3} Then God came to
Abimelech through a dream in the night, and he said to him:
“Lo, you shall die because of the woman that you have taken.
For she has a husband.” {20:4} In truth, Abimelech had not
touched her, and so he said: “Lord, would you put to death a
people, ignorant and just? {20:5} Did he not say to me, ‘She
is my sister,’ and did she not say, ‘He is my brother?’ In the
sincerity of my heart and the purity of my hands, I have done
this.” {20:6} And God said to him: “And I know that you
have acted with a sincere heart. And therefore I kept you
from sinning against me, and I did not release you to touch
her. {20:7} Now therefore, return his wife to the man, for he
is a prophet. And he will pray for you, and you will live. But
if you are not willing to return her, know this: you shall die a
death, you and all that is yours.” {20:8} And immediately
Abimelech, rising up in the night, called all his servants. And
he spoke all these words in their hearing, and all the men
were very afraid. {20:9} Then Abimelech called also for
Abraham, and he said to him: “What have you done to us?
How have we sinned against you, so that you would bring so
great a sin upon me and upon my kingdom? You have done
to us what you ought not to have done.” {20:10} And
remonstrating him again, he said, “What did you see, so that
you would do this?” {20:11} Abraham responded: “I thought
to myself, saying: Perhaps there is no fear of God in this
place. And they will put me to death because of my wife.
{20:12} Yet, in another way, she is also truly my sister, the
daughter of my father, and not the daughter of my mother,
and I took her as a wife. {20:13} Then, after God led me out
of my father’s house, I said to her: ‘You will show this mercy
to me. In every place, to which we will travel, you will say
that Iam your brother.’ ” {20:14} Therefore, Abimelech took
sheep and oxen, and men servants and women servants, and
he gave them to Abraham. And he returned his wife Sarah to
him. {20:15} And he said, “The land is in your sight. Dwell
wherever it will please you.” {20:16} Then to Sarah he said:
“Behold, I have given your brother one thousand silver coins.
This will be for you as a veil for your eyes, to all who are with
you and wherever you will travel. And so, remember that you
were taken.” {20:17} Then when Abraham prayed, God
healed Abimelech and his wife, and his handmaids, and they
gave birth. {20:18} For the Lord had closed every womb of
the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, the wife of
Abraham.


[Genesis 21] {21:1} Then the Lord visited Sarah, just as he
had promised; and he fulfilled what he had spoken.
{21:2} And she conceived and gave birth to a son in her old
age, at the time that God had foretold to her. {21:3} And
Abraham called the name of his son, whom Sarah bore for
him, Isaac. {21:4} And he circumcised him on the eighth day,
just as God had instructed him, {21:5} when he was one
hundred years old. Indeed, at this stage of his father’s life,
Isaac was born. {21:6} And Sarah said: “God has brought
laughter to me. Whoever will hear of it will laugh with me.”
{21:7} And again, she said: “Hearing this, who would believe
Abraham, that Sarah breast-fed a son, to whom she gave
birth, despite being elderly?” {21:8} And the boy grew and
was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day of
his weaning. {21:9} And when Sarah had seen the son of
Hagar the Egyptian playing with her son Isaac, she said to
Abraham: {21:10} “Cast out this woman servant and her son.
For the son of a woman servant will not be heir with my son
Isaac.” {21:11} Abraham took this grievously, for the sake of
his son. {21:12} And God said to him: “Let it not seem harsh
to you concerning the boy and your woman servant. In all
that Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice. For your
offspring will be invoked in Isaac. {21:13} Yet I will also
make the son of the woman servant into a great nation, for he
is your offspring.” {21:14} And so Abraham arose in the
morning, and taking bread and a skin of water, he placed it
upon her shoulder, and he handed over the boy, and he
released her. And when she had departed, she wandered in
the wilderness of Beersheba. {21:15} And when the water in
the skin had been consumed, she set aside the boy, under one
of the trees that were there. {21:16} And she moved away
and sat in a distant area, as far as a bow can reach. For she
said, “I shall not see the boy die.” And so, sitting opposite
her, he lifted up his voice and wept. {21:17} But God heard
the voice of the boy. And an Angel of God called to Hagar
from heaven, saying: “What are you doing, Hagar? Do not be
afraid. For God has heeded the voice of the boy, from the
place where he is. {21:18} Rise up. Take the boy and hold
him by the hand. For I will make of him a great nation.”
{21:19} And God opened her eyes. And seeing a well of
water, she went and filled the skin, and she gave the boy to
drink. {21:20} And God was with him. And he grew, and he
stayed in the wilderness, and he became a young man, an
archer. {21:21} And he lived in the desert of Paran, and his
mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
{21:22} At the same time, Abimelech and Phicol, the leader
of his army, said to Abraham: “God is with you in everything
that you do. {21:23} Therefore, swear by God that you will
do no harm to me, and to my posterity, and to my stock. But
according to the mercy that I have done to you, you will do
to me and to the land, to which you have turned as a
newcomer.” {21:24} And Abraham said, “I will swear.”
{21:25} And he reproved Abimelech because of a well of
water, which his servants had taken away by force.
{21:26} And Abimelech responded, “I do not know who did
this thing, but you also did not reveal it to me, nor have I
heard of it, before today.” {21:27} And so Abraham took
sheep and oxen, and he gave them to Abimelech. And both
of them struck a pact. {21:28} And Abraham set aside seven
female lambs from the flock. {21:29} Abimelech said to him,
“What purpose have these seven female lambs, which you
have caused to stand separately?” {21:30} But he said, “You
will receive seven female lambs from my hand, so that they
may be a testimony for me, that I dug this well.” {21:31} For
this reason, that place was called Beersheba, because there
both of them did swear. {21:32} And they initiated a pact on
behalf of the well of oath. {21:33} Then Abimelech and
Phicol, the leader of his army, rose up, and they returned to
the land of the Palestinians. In truth, Abraham planted a
grove in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the
Lord God Eternal. {21:34} And he was a settler in the land of
the Palestinians for many days.


[Genesis 22] {22:1} After these things occurred, God tested
Abraham, and he said to him, “Abraham, Abraham.” And
he answered, “Here I am.” {22:2} He said to him: “Take
your only begotten son Isaac, whom you love, and go into
the land of vision. And there you shall offer him as a
holocaust upon one of the mountains, which I will show to
you.” {22:3} And so Abraham, getting up in the night,
harnessed his donkey, taking with him two youths, and his
son Isaac. And when he had cut wood for the holocaust, he
traveled toward the place, as God had instructed him.
{22:4} Then, on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the
place at a distance. {22:5} And he said to his servants: “Wait
here with the donkey. I and the boy will hurry further ahead
to that place. After we have worshipped, will return to you.”
{22:6} He also took the wood for the holocaust, and he
imposed it upon his son Isaac. And he himself carried in his
hands fire and a sword. And as the two continued on together,
{22:7} Isaac said to his father, “My father.” And he answered,
“What do you want, son?” “Behold,” he said, “fire and wood.
Where is the victim for the holocaust?” {22:8} But Abraham
said, “God himself will provide the victim for the holocaust,
my son.” Thus they continued on together. {22:9} And they
came to the place that God had shown to him. There he built
an altar, and he set the wood in order upon it. And when he
had bound his son Isaac, he laid him on the altar upon the
pile of wood. {22:10} And he reached out his hand and took
hold of the sword, in order to sacrifice his son. {22:11} And
behold, an Angel of the Lord called out from heaven, saying,
“Abraham, Abraham.” And he answered, “Here I am.”
{22:12} And he said to him, “Do not extend your hand over
the boy, and do not do anything to him. Now I know that
you fear God, since you have not spared your only begotten
son for my sake.” {22:13} Abraham lifted up his eyes, and he
saw behind his back a ram among the thorns, caught by the
horns, which he took and offered as a holocaust, instead of
his son. {22:14} And he called the name of that place: ‘The
Lord Sees.’ Thus, even to this day, it is said: ‘On the
mountain, the Lord will see.’ {22:15} Then the Angel of the
Lord called out to Abraham a second time from heaven,
saying: {22:16} “By my own self, I have sworn, says the Lord.
Because you have done this thing, and have not spared your
only begotten son for my sake, {22:17} I will bless you, and I
will multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven, and like
the sand which is on the seashore. Your offspring will possess
the gates of their enemies. {22:18} And in your offspring, all
the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you obeyed
my voice.” {22:19} Abraham returned to his servants, and
they went to Beersheba together, and he lived there.
{22:20} After these things occurred, it was reported to
Abraham that Milcah, likewise, had borne sons for his
brother Nahor: {22:21} Uz, the firstborn, and Buz, his
brother, and Kemuel, the father of the Syrians, {22:22} and
Chesed, and Hazo, likewise Pildash, and Jidlaph, {22:23} as
well as Bethuel, of whom was born Rebekah. These eight
Milcah bore for Nahor, the brother of Abraham. {22:24} In
truth, his concubine, named Reumah, bore Tebah, and
Gaham, and Tahash, and Maacah.


[Genesis 23] {23:1} Now Sarah lived for one hundred and
twenty-seven years. {23:2} And she died in the city of Arba,
which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came
to mourn and weep for her. {23:3} And when he had risen up
from the funeral duties, he spoke to the sons of Heth, saying:
{23:4} “I am a newcomer and a sojourner among you. Give
me the right of a sepulcher among you, so that I may bury
my dead.” {23:5} The sons of Heth responded by saying:
{23:6} “Hear us, O lord, you are a leader of God among us.
Bury your dead in our chosen sepulchers. And no man shall
be able to prohibit you from burying your dead within his
memorial.” {23:7} Abraham arose, and he reverenced the
people of the land, namely, the sons of Heth. {23:8} And he
said to them: “If it pleases your soul that I should bury my
dead, hear me, and intercede on my behalf with Ephron, the
son of Zohar, {23:9} so that he may give me the double cave,
which he has at the far end of his field. He may transfer it to
me for as much money as it is worth in your sight, for the
possession of a sepulcher.” {23:10} Now Ephron dwelt in the
midst of the sons of Heth. And Ephron responded to
Abraham in the hearing of everyone who was entering at the
gate of his city, saying: {23:11} “Let it never be so, my lord,
but you should pay greater heed to what I say. The field I will
transfer to you, and the cave that is in it. In the presence of
the sons of my people, bury your dead.” {23:12} Abraham
reverenced in the sight of the people of the land. {23:13} And
he spoke to Ephron, standing in the midst of the people: “I
ask you to hear me. I will give you money for the field. Take
it, and so I will bury my dead in it.” {23:14} And Ephron
responded: “My lord, hear me. {23:15} The land that you
request is worth four hundred shekels of silver. This is the
price between me and you. But how much is this? Bury your
dead.” {23:16} And when Abraham had heard this, he
weighed out the money that Ephron had requested, in the
hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, of
the approved public currency. {23:17} And having confirmed
that the field, in which there was a double cave overlooking
Mamre, formerly belonged to Ephron, both it and the
sepulcher, and all its trees, with all its surrounding limits,
{23:18} Abraham took it as a possession, in the sight of the
sons of Heth and of everyone who was entering at the gate of
his city. {23:19} So then, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in
the double cave of the field that overlooked Mamre. This is
Hebron in the land of Canaan. {23:20} And the field was
confirmed to Abraham, with the cave that was in it, as a
memorial possession before the sons of Heth.


[Genesis 24] {24:1} Now Abraham was old and of many
days. And the Lord had blessed him in all things. {24:2} And
he said to the elder servant of his house, who was in charge of
all that he had: “Place your hand under my thigh, {24:3} so
that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven
and earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the
daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live. {24:4} But
that you will proceed to my land and kindred, and from there
take a wife for my son Isaac.” {24:5} The servant responded,
“If the woman is not willing to come with me into this land,
must I lead your son back to the place from which you
departed?” {24:6} And Abraham said: “Beware that you
never lead my son back to that place. {24:7} The Lord God
of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, and from
the land of my nativity, who spoke to me and swore to me,
saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ himself will
send his Angel before you, and you will take from there a
wife for my son. {24:8} But if the woman is not willing to
follow you, you will not be held by the oath. Only do not
lead my son back to that place.” {24:9} Therefore, the
servant placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham, his lord,
and he swore to him on his word. {24:10} And he took ten
camels from his lord’s herd, and he went forth, carrying with
him things from all of his goods. And he set out, and
continued on, to the city of Nahor, in Mesopotamia.
{24:11} And when he had made the camels lie down outside
of the town, near a well of water, in the evening, at the time
when women are accustomed to go out to draw water, he
said: {24:12} “O Lord, the God of my lord Abraham, meet
with me today, I beg you, and show mercy to my lord
Abraham. {24:13} Behold, I stand near the fountain of water,
and the daughters of the inhabitants of this city will go forth
to draw water. {24:14}Therefore, the girl to whom I will say,
‘Tip your pitcher, so that I may drink,’ and she will respond,
‘Drink. In fact, I will give your camels a drink also,’ the same
one is she whom you have prepared for your servant Isaac.
And by this, I will understand that you have shown mercy to
my lord.” {24:15} But he had not yet completed these words
within himself, when, behold, Rebekah went out, the
daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, the
brother of Abraham, having a pitcher on her shoulder.
{24:16} She was an exceedingly elegant girl, and a most
beautiful virgin, and unknown by man. And she descended to
the spring, and she filled her pitcher, and then was returning.
{24:17} And the servant ran to meet her, and he said,
“Provide me with a little water to drink from your pitcher.”
{24:18} And she responded, “Drink, my lord.” And she
quickly brought down the pitcher on her arm, and she gave
him a drink. {24:19} And after he drank, she added, “In fact,
I will draw water for your camels also, until they all drink.”
{24:20} And pouring out the pitcher into the troughs, she ran
back to the well to draw water; and having drawn, she gave it
to all the camels. {24:21} But he was contemplating her
silently, wanting to know whether the Lord had caused his
journey to prosper or not {24:22} Then, after the camels
drank, the man took out gold earrings, weighing two shekels,
and the same number of bracelets, ten shekels in weight.
{24:23} And he said to her: “Whose daughter are you? Tell
me, is there any place in your father’s house to lodge?”
{24:24} She responded, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the
son of Milcah, to whom she gave birth for Nahor.”
{24:25} And she continued, saying, “There is very much
straw and hay with us, and a spacious place to stay.”
{24:26} The man bowed himself down, and he adored the
Lord, {24:27} saying, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my
lord Abraham, who has not taken away his mercy and truth
from my lord, and who has led me on a direct journey to the
house of the brother of my lord.” {24:28} And so the girl ran,
and she reported all that she had heard in the house of her
mother. {24:29} Now Rebekah had a brother, named Laban,
who went out quickly to the man, where the spring was.
{24:30} And when he had seen the earrings and bracelets in
his sister’s hands, and he had heard all the words being
repeated, “This is what the man spoke to me,” he came to the
man who stood by the camels and near the spring of water,
{24:31} and he said to him: “Enter, O blessed of the Lord.
Why do you stand outside? I have prepared the house, and a
place for the camels.” {24:32} And he brought him into his
guest quarters. And he unharnessed the camels, and he
distributed straw and hay, and water to wash his feet and that
of the men who arrived with him. {24:33} And bread was set
out in his sight. But he said, “I will not eat, until I have
spoken my words.” He answered him, “Speak.”
{24:34} Then he said: “I am the servant of Abraham.
{24:35} And the Lord has blessed my lord greatly, and he has
become great. And he has given him sheep and oxen, silver
and gold, men servants and women servants, camels and
donkeys. {24:36} And Sarah, the wife of my lord, has given
birth to a son for my lord in her old age, and he has given
him all that he had. {24:37} And my lord made me swear,
saying: ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the
Canaanites, in whose land I dwell. {24:38} But you shall
travel to my father’s house, and you shall take a wife of my
own kindred for my son.’ {24:39} But truly, I answered my
lord, ‘What if the woman is not willing to come with me?’
{24:40} ‘The Lord,’ he said, ‘in whose sight I walk, will send
his Angel with you, and he will direct your way. And you
shall take a wife for my son from my own kindred and from
my father’s house. {24:41} But you will be innocent of my
curse, if, when you will arrive at my close relatives, they will
not grant this to you.’ {24:42} And so, today I arrived at the
well of water, and I said: ‘O Lord, the God of my lord
Abraham, if you have directed my way, in which I now walk,
{24:43} behold, I stand next to the well of water, and the
virgin, who will go forth to draw water, will hear from me,
“Give me a little water to drink from your pitcher.”
{24:44} And she will say to me, “You drink, and I will also
draw for your camels.” Let the same be the woman, whom
the Lord has prepared for the son of my lord.’ {24:45} And
while I thought over these things silently within myself,
Rebekah appeared, arriving with a pitcher, which she carried
on her shoulder. And she descended to the spring and drew
water. And I said to her, ‘Give me a little to drink.’
{24:46} And she quickly let down the pitcher from her arm,
and said to me, ‘You drink, and to your camels I will also
distribute drinking water.’ I drank, and she watered the
camels. {24:47} And I questioned her, saying, ‘Whose
daughter are you?’ And she responded, ‘I am the daughter of
Bethuel, the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.’ And
so, I hung the earrings on her, to adorn her face, and I put the
bracelets on her hands. {24:48} And falling prostrate, I
adored the Lord, blessing the Lord, the God of my lord
Abraham, who has led me along the straight path so as to
take the daughter of my lord’s brother to his son. {24:49} For
this reason, if you would act according to mercy and truth
with my lord, tell me so. But if it pleases you otherwise, say
that to me also, so that I may go either to the right, or to the
left.” {24:50} And Laban and Bethuel responded: “A word
has proceeded from the Lord. We are not able to speak
anything else to you, beyond what pleases him. {24:51} Lo,
Rebekah is in your sight. Take her and continue on, and let
her be the wife of the son of your lord, just as the Lord has
spoken.” {24:52} When Abraham’s servant had heard this,
falling down to the ground, he adored the Lord. {24:53} And
bringing forth vessels of silver and gold, as well as garments,
he gave them to Rebekah as a tribute. Likewise, he offered
gifts to her brothers and her mother. {24:54} And a banquet
began, and they feasted and drank together, and they lodged
there. And rising up in the morning, the servant said,
“Release me, so that I may go to my lord.” {24:55} And her
brothers and mother responded, “Let the girl remain for at
least ten days with us, and after that, she will continue on.”
{24:56} “Do not be willing,” he said, “to delay me, for the
Lord has directed my way. Release me, so that I may journey
to my lord.” {24:57} And they said, “Let us call the girl, and
ask her will.” {24:58} And when, having been called, she
arrived, they wanted to know, “Will you go with this man?”
And she said, “I will go.” {24:59} Therefore, they released
her and her nurse, and the servant of Abraham and his
companions, {24:60} wishing prosperity for their sister, by
saying: “You are our sister. May you increase to thousands of
thousands. And may your offspring possess the gates of their
enemies.” {24:61} And so, Rebekah and her maids, riding
upon camels, followed the man, who quickly returned to his
lord. {24:62} Then, at the same time, Isaac was walking
along the way that leads to the well, whose name is: ‘of the
One who lives and who sees.’ For he dwelt in the southern
land. {24:63} And he had gone out to meditate in the field, as
daylight was now declining. And when he had lifted up his
eyes, he saw camels advancing from afar. {24:64} Likewise,
Rebekah, having seen Isaac, descended from the camel.
{24:65} And she said to the servant, “Who is that man who
advances to meet us through the field?” And he said to her,
“That is my lord.” And so, quickly taking up her cloak, she
covered herself. {24:66} Then the servant explained to Isaac
all that he had done. {24:67} And he led her into the tent of
Sarah his mother, and he accepted her as wife. And he loved
her so very much, that it tempered the sorrow which befell
him at his mother’s death.


[Genesis 25] {25:1} In truth, Abraham took another wife,
named Keturah. {25:2} And she bore to him Zimran, and
Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.
{25:3} Likewise, Jokshan conceived Sheba and Dedan. The
sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.
{25:4} And truly, from Midian was born Ephah, and Epher,
and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the sons
of Keturah. {25:5} And Abraham gave everything that he
possessed to Isaac. {25:6} But to the sons of the concubines
he gave generous gifts, and he separated them from his son
Isaac, while he still lived, toward the eastern region.
{25:7} Now the days of Abraham’s life were one hundred
and seventy-five years. {25:8} And declining, he died in a
good old age, and at an advanced stage of life, and full of
days. And he was gathered to his people. {25:9} And his sons
Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the double cave, which was
situated in the field of Ephron, of the son of Zohar the Hittite,
across from the region of Mamre, {25:10} which he had
bought from the sons of Heth. There he was buried, with his
wife Sarah. {25:11} And after his passing, God blessed his
son Isaac, who lived near the well named ‘of the One who
lives and who sees.’ {25:12} These are the generations of
Ishmael, the son of Abraham, whom Hagar the Egyptian,
Sarah’s servant, bore to him. {25:13} And these are the
names of his sons according to their language and
generations. The firstborn of Ishmael was Nebaioth, then
Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, {25:14} likewise Mishma,
and Dumah, and Massa, {25:15} Hadad, and Tema, and
Jetur, and Naphish, and Kedemah. {25:16} These are the
sons of Ishmael. And these are their names throughout their
fortresses and towns: the twelve princes of their tribes.
{25:17} And the years of the life of Ishmael that passed were
one hundred and thirty-seven. And declining, he died and
was placed with his people. {25:18} Now he had lived from
Havilah as far as Shur, which overlooks Egypt as it
approaches the Assyrians. He passed away in the sight of all
his brothers. {25:19} Likewise, these are the generations of
Isaac, the son of Abraham. Abraham conceived Isaac,
{25:20} who, when he was forty years old, took Rebekah, the
sister of Laban, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian from
Mesopotamia, as a wife. {25:21} And Isaac beseeched the
Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And he
heard him, and he gave conception to Rebekah. {25:22} But
the little ones struggled in her womb. So she said, “If it was
to be so with me, what need was there to conceive?” And she
went to consult the Lord. {25:23} And responding, he said,
“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be
divided out of your womb, and one people will overcome the
other people, and the elder will serve the younger.”
{25:24} Now the time had arrived to give birth, and behold,
twins were discovered in her womb. {25:25} He who
departed first was red, and entirely hairy like a pelt; and his
name was called Esau. At once the other departed and he
held his brother’s foot in his hand; and because of this he was
called Jacob. {25:26} Isaac was sixty years old when the little
ones were born to him. {25:27} And as adults, Esau became
a knowledgeable hunter and a man of agriculture, but Jacob,
a simple man, dwelt in tents. {25:28} Isaac was fond of Esau,
because he was fed from his hunting; and Rebekah loved
Jacob. {25:29} Then Jacob boiled a small meal. Esau, when
he had arrived weary from the field, {25:30} said to him,
“Give me this red stew, for I am very tired.” For this reason,
his name was called Edom. {25:31} Jacob said to him, “Sell
me your right of the firstborn.” {25:32} He answered, “Lo, I
am dying, what will the right of the firstborn provide for me?”
{25:33} Jacob said, “So then, swear to me.” Esau swore to
him, and he sold his right of the firstborn. {25:34} And so,
taking bread and the food of lentils, he ate, and he drank, and
he went away, giving little weight to having sold the right of
the firstborn.


[Genesis 26] {26:1} Then, when a famine arose over the land,
after that barrenness which had happened in the days of
Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Palestinians,
in Gerar. {26:2} And the Lord appeared to him, and he said:
“Do not descend into Egypt, but rest in the land that I will
tell you, {26:3} and sojourn in it, and I will be with you, and
I will bless you. For to you and to your offspring I will give
all these regions, completing the oath that I promised to
Abraham your father. {26:4} And I will multiply your
offspring like the stars of heaven. And I will give to your
posterity all these regions. And in your offspring all the
nations of the earth will be blessed, {26:5} because Abraham
obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments,
and observed the ceremonies and the laws.” {26:6} And so
Isaac remained in Gerar. {26:7} And when he was
questioned by the men of that place about his wife, he
answered, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to confess her
to be his mate, thinking that perhaps they would put him to
death because of her beauty. {26:8} And when very many
days had passed, and he had remained in the same place,
Abimelech, king of the Palestinians, gazing through a
window, saw him being playful with Rebekah, his wife.
{26:9} And summoning him, he said: “It is clear that she is
your wife. Why did you falsely claim her to be your sister?”
He answered, “I was afraid, lest I might die because of her.”
{26:10} And Abimelech said: “Why have you burdened us?
Someone from the people could have lain with your wife,
and you would have brought a great sin upon us.” And he
instructed all the people, saying, {26:11} “Whoever will
touch the wife of this man will die a death.” {26:12} Then
Isaac sowed in that land, and he found, in that same year,
one hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him. {26:13} And the
man was enriched, and he continued prospering as well as
increasing, until he became very great. {26:14} Likewise, he
had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very large
family. Because of this, the Palestinians envied him,
{26:15} so, at that time, they obstructed all the wells that the
servants of his father Abraham had dug, filling them with soil.
{26:16} It reached a point where Abimelech himself said to
Isaac, “Move away from us, for you have become very much
more powerful than we.” {26:17} And departing, he then
went toward the torrent of Gerar, and he dwelt there.
{26:18} Again, he dug up other wells, which the servants of
his father Abraham had dug, and which, after his death, the
Philistines had formerly obstructed. And he called them by
the same names that his father had called them before.
{26:19} And they dug in the torrent, and they found living
water. {26:20} But in that place also the shepherds of Gerar
argued against the shepherds of Isaac, by saying, “It is our
water.” For this reason, he called the name of the well,
because of what had happened, ‘Calumny.’ {26:21} Then
they dug up yet another one. And over that one also they
fought, and he called it, ‘Enmity.’ {26:22} Advancing from
there, he dug another well, over which they did not contend.
And so he called its name, ‘Latitude,’ saying, “Now the Lord
has expanded us and caused us to increase across the land.”
{26:23} Then he ascended from that place into Beersheba,
{26:24} where the Lord appeared to him on the same night,
saying: “I am the God of Abraham your father. Do not be
afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you, and I will multiply
your offspring because of my servant Abraham.”
{26:25} And so he built an altar there. And he invoked the
name of the Lord, and he stretched out his tent. And he
instructed his servants to dig a well. {26:26} When
Abimelech, and Ahuzzath, his friend, and Phicol, the leader
of the military, had arrived from Gerar to that place,
{26:27} Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, a
man whom you hate, and whom you have expelled from
among you?” {26:28} And they responded: “We saw that the
Lord is with you, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath
between us, and let us initiate a pact, {26:29} so that you
may not do us any kind of harm, just as we have touched
nothing of yours, and have not caused any injury to you, but
with peace we released you, augmented by the blessing of the
Lord.” {26:30} Therefore, he made them a feast, and after
the food and drink, {26:31} arising in the morning, they
swore to one another. And Isaac sent them away peacefully
to their own place. {26:32} Then, behold, on the same day
the servants of Isaac came, reporting to him about a well
which they had dug, and saying: “We have found water.”
{26:33} Therefore, he called it, ‘Abundance.’ And the name
of the city was established as ‘Beersheba,’ even to the present
day. {26:34} In truth, at forty years of age, Esau took wives:
Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the Hittite, and Basemath, the
daughter of Elon, of the same place. {26:35} And they both
offended the mind of Isaac and Rebekah.


[Genesis 27] {27:1} Now Isaac was old, and his eyes were
cloudy, and so he was not able to see. And he called his elder
son Esau, and he said to him, “My son?” And he responded,
“Here I am.” {27:2} His father said to him: “You see that I
am old, and I do not know the day of my death. {27:3} Take
your weapons, the quiver and the bow, and go out. And
when you have taken something by hunting, {27:4} make
from it a small meal for me, just as you know I like, and bring
it, so that I may eat and my soul may bless you before I die.”
{27:5} And when Rebekah had heard this, and he had gone
out into the field to fulfill his father’s order, {27:6} she said to
her son Jacob: “I heard your father speaking with your
brother Esau, and saying to him, {27:7} ‘Bring to me from
your hunting, and make me foods, so that I may eat and bless
you in the sight of the Lord before I die.’ {27:8} Therefore,
now my son, agree to my counsel, {27:9} and go straight to
the flock, and bring me two of the best young goats, so that
from them I may make meat for your father, such as he
willingly eats. {27:10} Then, when you have brought these in
and he has eaten, he may bless you before he dies.”
{27:11} He answered her: “You know that my brother Esau
is a hairy man, and Iam smooth. {27:12} If my father should
lay hands on me and perceive it, I am afraid lest he think me
willing to mock him, and I will bring a curse upon myself,
instead of a blessing.” {27:13} And his mother said to him:
“Let this curse be upon me, my son. Yet listen to my voice,
and go directly to bring what I said.” {27:14} He went out,
and he brought, and he gave to his mother. She prepared the
meats, just as she knew his father liked. {27:15} And she
clothed him with the very fine garments of Esau, which she
had at home with her. {27:16} And she encircled his hands
with little pelts from the young goats, and she covered his
bare neck. {27:17} And she gave him the small meal, and she
handed him the bread that she had baked. {27:18} When he
had carried these in, he said, “My father?” And he answered,
“Tm listening. Who are you, my son?” {27:19} And Jacob
said: “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you
instructed me. Arise; sit and eat from my hunting, so that
your soul may bless me.” {27:20} And again Isaac said to his
son, “How were you able to find it so quickly, my son?” He
answered, “It was the will of God, so that what I sought met
with me quickly.” {27:21} And Isaac said, “Come here, so
that I may touch you, my son, and may prove whether you
are my son Esau, or not.” {27:22} He approached his father,
and when he had felt him, Isaac said: “The voice indeed is
the voice of Jacob. But the hands are the hands of Esau.”
{27:23} And he did not recognize him, because his hairy
hands made him seem similar to the elder one. Therefore,
blessing him, {27:24} he said, “Are you my son Esau?” He
answered, “I am.” {27:25} Then he said, “Bring me the foods
from your hunting, my son, so that my soul may bless you.”
And when he had eaten what was offered, he also brought
forth wine for him. And after he finished it, {27:26} he said
to him, “Come to me and give me a kiss, my son.”
{27:27} He approached and kissed him. And immediately he
perceived the fragrance of his garments. And so, blessing him,
he said: “Behold, the smell of my son is like the smell of a
plentiful field, which the Lord has blessed. {27:28} May God
give to you, from the dew of heaven and from the fatness of
the earth, an abundance of grain and wine. {27:29} And may
the peoples serve you, and may the tribes reverence you. May
you be the lord of your brothers, and may your mother’s sons
bow down before you. Whoever curses you, may he be
cursed, and whoever blesses you, may he be filled with
blessings.” {27:30} Scarcely had Isaac completed his words,
and Jacob departed, when Esau arrived. {27:31} And he
brought his father foods cooked from his hunting, saying,
“Arise, my father, and eat from your son’s hunting, so that
your soul may bless me.” {27:32} And Isaac said to him,
“But who are you?” And he answered, “I am your firstborn
son, Esau.” {27:33} Isaac became frightened and very
astonished. And wondering beyond what can be believed, he
said: “Then who is he that a while ago brought me the prey
from his hunting, from which I ate, before you arrived? And I
blessed him, and he will be blessed.” {27:34} Esau, having
heard his father’s words, roared out with a great outcry. And,
being confounded, he said, “But bless me also, my father.”
{27:35} And he said, “Your twin came deceitfully, and he
received your blessing.” {27:36} But he responded: “Justly is
his name called Jacob. For he has supplanted me yet another
time. My birthright he took away before, and now, this
second time, he has stolen my blessing.” And again, he said
to his father, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me also?”
{27:37} Isaac answered: “I have appointed him as your lord,
and I have subjugated all his brothers as his servants. I have
reinforced him with grain and wine, and after this, my son,
what more shall I do for you?” {27:38} And Esau said to him:
“Have you only one blessing, father? I beg you, bless me
also.” And when he wept with a loud wail, {27:39} Isaac was
moved, and he said to him: “In the fatness of the earth, and
in the dew of heaven from above, {27:40} will your blessing
be. You will live by the sword, and you will serve your
brother. But the time will arrive when you will shake off and
release his yoke from your neck.” {27:41} Therefore, Esau
always hated Jacob, for the blessing with which his father had
blessed him. And he said in his heart, “The days will arrive
for the mourning of my father, and I will kill my brother
Jacob.” {27:42} These things were reported to Rebekah. And
sending and calling for her son Jacob, she said to him,
“Behold, your brother Esau is threatening to kill you.
{27:43} Therefore, now my son, listen to my voice. Rise up
and flee to my brother Laban, in Haran. {27:44} And you
will dwell with him for a few days, until the fury of your
brother subsides, {27:45} and his indignation ceases, and he
forgets the things that you have done to him. After this, I will
send for you and bring you from there to here. Why should I
be bereaved of both my sons in one day?” {27:46} And
Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the
daughters of Heth. If Jacob accepts a wife from the stock of
this land, I would not be willing to live.”


[Genesis 28] {28:1} And so Isaac called for Jacob, and he
blessed him, and he instructed him, saying: “Do not be
willing to accept a mate from the family of Canaan.
{28:2} But go, and journey to Mesopotamia of Syria, to the
house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and there accept for
yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your maternal
uncle. {28:3} And may God almighty bless you, and may he
cause you to increase and also to multiply, so that you may
be influential among the people. {28:4} And may he give the
blessings of Abraham to you, and to your offspring after you,
so that you may possess the land of your sojourning, which
he promised to your grandfather.” {28:5} And when Isaac
had dismissed him, setting out, he went to Mesopotamia of
Syria, to Laban, the son of Bethuel, the Syrian, the brother to
Rebekah, his mother. {28:6} But Esau, seeing that his father
had blessed Jacob and had sent him into Mesopotamia of
Syria, to take a wife from there, and that, after the blessing,
he had instructed him, saying: ‘You shall not accept a wife
from the daughters of Canaan,’ {28:7} and that Jacob,
obeying his parents, had gone into Syria, {28:8} having
evidence also that his father did not look with favor upon the
daughters of Canaan, {28:9} he went to Ishmael, and he took
as a wife, beside those he had before, Mahalath, the daughter
of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.
{28:10} Meanwhile Jacob, having departed from Beersheba,
continued on to Haran. {28:11} And when he had arrived at
a certain place, where he would rest after the setting of the
sun, he took some of the stones that lay there, and placing
them under his head, he slept in the same place. {28:12} And
he saw in his sleep: a ladder standing upon the earth, with its
top touching heaven, also, the Angels of God ascending and
descending by it, {28:13} and the Lord, leaning upon the
ladder, saying to him: “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham
your father, and the God of Isaac. The land, in which you
sleep, I will give to you and to your offspring. {28:14} And
your offspring will be like the dust of the earth. You will
spread abroad to the West, and to the East, and to the North,
and to the Meridian. And in you and in your offspring, all the
tribes of the earth shall be blessed. {28:15} And I will be your
guardian wherever you will journey, and I will bring you
back into this land. Neither will I dismiss you, until I have
accomplished all that I have said.” {28:16} And when Jacob
had awakened from sleep, he said, “Truly, the Lord is in this
place, and I did not know it.” {28:17} And being terrified, he
said: “How terrible this place is! This is nothing other than
the house of God and the gateway of heaven.”
{28:18} Therefore, Jacob, arising in the morning, took the
stone which he had placed under his head, and he set it up as
monument, pouring oil over it. {28:19} And he called the
name of the city, ‘Bethel,’ which before was called Luz.
{28:20} And then he made a vow, saying: “If God will be
with me, and will guard me along the way by which I walk,
and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear,
{28:21} and if I will return prosperously to my father’s house,
then the Lord will be my God, {28:22} and this stone, which
I have set up as a monument, will be called ‘the House of
God.’ And from all the things that you will give to me, I will
offer tithes to you.”


[Genesis 29] {29:1} And so Jacob, setting out, arrived in the
eastern land. {29:2} And he saw a well in a field, and also
three flocks of sheep reclining near it. For the animals were
watered from it, and its mouth was closed with a great stone.
{29:3} And the custom was, when all the sheep were
gathered together, to roll away the stone. And when the
flocks had been refreshed, they placed it over the mouth of
the well again. {29:4} And he said to the shepherds,
“Brothers, where are you from?” And they answered. “From
Haran.” {29:5} And questioning them, he said, “Do you
know Laban, the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know
him.” {29:6} He said, “Is he well?” “He is very well,” they
said. “And behold, his daughter Rachel approaches with his
flock.” {29:7} And Jacob said, “There is still much daylight
remaining, and it is not time to return the flocks to the
sheepfold. Give the sheep to drink first, and then lead them
back to pasture.” {29:8} They responded, “We cannot, until
all the animals are gathered together and we remove the
stone from the mouth of the well, so that we may water the
flocks.” {29:9} They were still speaking, and behold, Rachel
arrived with her father’s sheep; for she pastured the flock.
{29:10} When Jacob had seen her, and he realized that she
was his maternal first cousin, and that these were the sheep of
his uncle Laban, he removed the stone which closed the well.
{29:11} And having watered the flock, he kissed her. And
lifting up his voice, he wept. {29:12} And he revealed to her
that he was a brother of her father, and the son of Rebekah.
And so, hurrying, she announced it to her father.
{29:13} And when he had heard that Jacob, his sister’s son,
had arrived, he ran to meet him. And embracing him, and
kissing him heartily, he brought him into his house. But when
he had heard the reasons for his journey, {29:14} he
responded, “You are my bone and my flesh.” And after the
days of one month were completed, {29:15} he said to him:
“Though you are my brother, will you serve me for nothing?
Tell me what wages you would accept.” {29:16} In truth, he
had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah; and truly
the younger was called Rachel. {29:17} But while Leah was
bleary-eyed, Rachel had an elegant appearance and was
attractive to behold. {29:18} And Jacob, loving her, said, “I
will serve you for seven years, for your younger daughter
Rachel.” {29:19} Laban responded, “It is better that I give
her to you than to another man; remain with me.”
{29:20} Therefore, Jacob served for seven years for Rachel.
And these seemed like only a few days, because of the
greatness of love. {29:21} And he said to Laban, “Give my
wife to me. For now the time has been fulfilled, so that I may
go in to her.” {29:22} And he, having called a great crowd of
his friends to the feast, agreed to the marriage. {29:23} And
at night, he brought in his daughter Leah to him,
{29:24} giving his daughter a handmaid named Zilpah. After
Jacob had gone in to her, according to custom, when
morning had arrived, he saw Leah. {29:25} And he said to
his father-in-law, “What is it that you intended to do? Did I
not serve you for Rachel? Why have you deceived me?”
{29:26} Laban responded, “It is not the practice in this place
to give the younger in marriage first. {29:27} Complete a
week of days with this mating. And then I will give this one
to you also, for the service that you will provide to me for
another seven years.” {29:28} He agreed to his pleading. And
after the week had passed, he took Rachel as a wife.
{29:29} To her, the father had given Bilhah as her servant.
{29:30} And, having at last obtained the marriage he desired,
he preferred the love of the latter before the former, and he
served with him another seven years. {29:31} But the Lord,
seeing that he despised Leah, opened her womb, but her
sister remained barren. {29:32} Having conceived, she gave
birth to a son, and she called his name Reuben, saying: “The
Lord saw my humiliation; now my husband will love me.”
{29:33} And again she conceived and bore a son, and she
said, “Because the Lord heard that I was treated with
contempt, he has also given this one to me.” And she called
his name Simeon. {29:34} And she conceived a third time,
and she gave birth to another son, and she said: “Now
likewise my husband will unite with me, because I have
borne him three sons.” And because of this, she called his
name Levi. {29:35} A fourth time she conceived and bore a
son, and she said, “Only now will I confess to the Lord.”
And for this reason, she called him Judah. And she ceased
from child-bearing.


[Genesis 30] {30:1} Then Rachel, discerning that she was
infertile, envied her sister, and so she said to her husband,
“Give me children, otherwise I will die.” {30:2} Jacob, being
angry, responded to her, “Am I in the place of God, who has
deprived you of the fruit of your womb?” {30:3} But she said:
“I have a handmaid Bilhah. Go in to her, so that she may
give birth upon my knees, and I may have sons by her.”
{30:4} And she gave him Bilhah in marriage. {30:5} And
when her husband had gone in to her, she conceived and bore
ason. {30:6} And Rachel said, “The Lord has judged for me,
and he has heeded my voice, giving me a son.” And because
of this, she called his name Dan. {30:7} And conceiving
again, Bilhah bore another, {30:8} about whom Rachel said,
“God has compared me with my sister, and I have
prevailed.” And she called him Naphtali. {30:9} Leah,
perceiving that she had desisted from child-bearing, delivered
Zilpah, her handmaid, to her husband. {30:10} And she, after
having borne a son with difficulty, {30:11} said:
“Happiness!” And for this reason, she called his name Gad.
{30:12} Likewise, Zilpah bore another. {30:13} And Leah
said, “This one is for my happiness. Indeed, women will call
me blessed.” Because of this, she called him Asher.
{30:14} Then Reuben, going out into the field at the time of
the wheat harvest, found mandrakes. These he brought to his
mother Leah. And Rachel said, “Give me a portion of your
son’s mandrakes.” {30:15} She responded, “Does it seem like
such a small matter to you, that you have usurped from me
my husband, unless you will also take my son’s mandrakes?”
Rachel said, “He will sleep with you this night because of
your son’s mandrakes.” {30:16} And when Jacob returned
from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him, and
she said, “You will enter to me, because I have hired you for
the reward of my son’s mandrakes.” And he slept with her
that night. {30:17} And God heard her prayers. And she
conceived and bore a fifth son. {30:18} And she said, “God
has given a reward to me, because I gave my handmaid to my
husband.” And she called his name Issachar.
{30:19} Conceiving again, Leah bore a sixth son.
{30:20} And she said: “God has endowed me with a good
dowry. And now, at this turn, my husband will be with me,
because I have conceived six sons for him.” And therefore
she called his name Zebulun. {30:21} After him, she bore a
daughter, named Dinah. {30:22} The Lord, likewise
remembering Rachel, heeded her and opened her womb.
{30:23} And she conceived and bore a son, saying, “God has
taken away my reproach.” {30:24} And she called his name
Joseph, saying, “The Lord has added to me another son.”
{30:25} But when Joseph was born, Jacob said to his father-
in-law: “Release me, so that I may return to my native
country and to my land. {30:26} Give me my wives, and my
children, for whom I have served you, so that I may depart.
You know the servitude with which I have served you.”
{30:27} Laban said to him: “May I find grace in your sight. I
have learned by experience that God has blessed me because
of you. {30:28} Choose your wages, which I will give you.”
{30:29} But he responded: “You know how I have served
you, and how great your possession became in my hands.
{30:30} You had little before I came to you, and now you
have achieved riches. And the Lord has blessed you since my
arrival. It is just, therefore, that at sometime I also should
provide for my own house.” {30:31} And Laban said, “What
shall I give to you?” But he said, “I want nothing. But if you
will do what I ask, I will feed and guard your sheep again.
{30:32} Go around through all your flocks and separate all
the sheep of variegated or spotted fleece; and whatever will be
darkened or blemished or variegated, as much among the
sheep as among the goats, will be my wages. {30:33} And my
justice will answer on my behalf tomorrow, when the time of
settlement arrives before you. And all that is not variegated or
blemished or darkened, as much among the sheep as among
the goats, these will prove me to be a thief.” {30:34} And
Laban said, “I hold favor for this request.” {30:35} And on
that day he separated the she-goats, and the sheep, and the
he-goats, and the rams with variegations or with blemishes.
But every one of the flock which was of one color, that is, of
white or of black fleece, he delivered into the hands of his
sons. {30:36} And he established a distance of three days
journey between himself and his son-in-law, who pastured
the remainder of his flock. {30:37} Then Jacob, taking green
branches of poplar, and almond, and sycamore trees,
debarked them in part. And when the bark was pulled off, in
the parts that were stripped, there appeared whiteness, yet the
parts that were left whole, remained green. And so, in this
way the color was made variegated. {30:38} And he placed
them in the troughs, where the water was poured out, so that
when the flocks had arrived to drink, they would have the
branches before their eyes, and in their sight they might
conceive. {30:39} And it happened that, in the very heat of
joining together, the sheep looked upon the branches, and
they bore the blemished and the variegated, those speckled
with diverse color. {30:40} And Jacob divided the flock, and
he set the branches in the troughs before the eyes of the rams.
Now whatever was white or black belonged to Laban, but, in
truth, the others belonged to Jacob, for the flocks were
dispersed among one another. {30:41} Therefore, when the
first to arrive were climbing on the ewes, Jacob placed the
branches in the troughs of water before the eyes of the rams
and the sheep, so that they might conceive while they were
gazing upon them. {30:42} Yet when the late arrivals and the
last to conceive were let in, he did not place these. And so
those that arrived late became Laban’s, and those that arrived
first became Jacob’s. {30:43} And the man was enriched
beyond limit, and he had many flocks, women servants and
men servants, camels and donkeys.


[Genesis 31] {31:1} But afterwards, he heard the words of
the sons of Laban, saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our
father’s, and being enlarged by his ability, he has become
famous.” {31:2} Likewise, he observed that Laban’s face was
not the same toward him as it was yesterday and the day
before. {31:3} Most importantly, the Lord was saying to him,
“Return to the land of your fathers and to your generation,
and I will be with you.” {31:4} He sent and called for Rachel
and Leah, in the field where he pastured the flocks,
{31:5} and he said to them: “I see that your father’s face is
not the same toward me as it was yesterday and the day
before. But the God of my father has been with me.
{31:6} And you know that I have served your father with all
my strength. {31:7} Even so, your father has circumvented
me, and he has changed my wages ten times. And yet God
has not permitted him to harm me. {31:8} Whenever he said,
‘The speckled will be your wages,’ all the sheep gave birth to
speckled newborns. Yet truly, when he said the contrary,
“You will take whatever is white for your wages,’ all the
flocks gave birth to white ones. {31:9} And it is God who has
taken your father’s substance and given it to me. {31:10} For
after the time had arrived for the ewes to conceive, I lifted up
my eyes, and I saw in my sleep that the males climbing on
the females were of variegated, and spotted, and diverse
colors. {31:11} And the Angel of God said to me in my sleep,
‘Jacob.’ And I responded, ‘Here I am.’ {31:12} And he said:
‘Lift up your eyes, and see that all the males climbing on the
females are variegated, spotted, and also speckled. For I have
seen all that Laban has done to you. {31:13} Iam the God of
Bethel, where you anointed the stone and made a vow to me.
Now therefore arise, and depart from this land, returning to
the land of your nativity.’ ” {31:14} And Rachel and Leah
responded: “Have we anything left behind among the
resources and inheritance of our father’s house? {31:15} Has
he not considered us as foreigners, and sold us, and
consumed our price? {31:16} But God has taken our father’s
riches and handed these to us and to our sons. Therefore, do
all that God has instructed you.” {31:17} And so Jacob rose
up, and having placed the children and his wives upon
camels, he went forth. {31:18} And he took all his substance
and flocks, and whatever he had acquired in Mesopotamia,
and he journeyed to his father Isaac, in the land of Canaan.
{31:19} At that time, Laban had gone to shear the sheep, and
so Rachel stole her father’s idols. {31:20} And Jacob was not
willing to confess to his father-in-law that he was fleeing.
{31:21} And when he had gone away with all such things
that were justly his, and, having crossed the river, was
continuing on toward Mount Gilead, {31:22} it was reported
to Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled. {31:23} And
taking his brothers with him, he pursued him for seven days.
And he overtook him at Mount Gilead. {31:24} And he saw
in a dream, God saying to him, “Beware that you not speak
anything harsh against Jacob.” {31:25} And now Jacob had
pitched his tent at the mountain. And when he, with his
brothers, had overtaken him, he set his tent at the same place
at Mount Gilead. {31:26} And he said to Jacob: “Why have
you acted this way, departing from me in secret, with my
daughters like captives of the sword? {31:27} Why would
you want to flee without my knowledge and without telling
me, though I might have led you forward with gladness, and
songs, and timbrels, and lyres? {31:28} You have not
permitted me to kiss my sons and daughters. You have acted
foolishly. And now, indeed, {31:29} my hand has power to
repay you with harm. But the God of your father said to me
yesterday, ‘Beware that you not speak anything stern against
Jacob.’ {31:30} It may be that you desired to go to your own,
and that you longed for the house of your father. But why
have you stolen my gods?” {31:31} Jacob answered: “I set
out, unknown to you, because I feared that you might take
away your daughters by violence. {31:32} But, since you
accuse me of theft, with whomever you will find your gods,
let him be slain in the sight of our brothers. Search; anything
of yours that you will find with me, take it away.” Now when
he said this, he did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.
{31:33} And so Laban, entering the tent of Jacob, and of
Leah, and of both the handmaids, did not find them. And
when he had entered the tent of Rachel, {31:34} she quickly
hid the idols under the camel’s bedding, and she sat upon
them. And when he had searched the entire tent and found
nothing, {31:35} she said: “Do not be angry, my lord, that I
am unable to rise up in your sight, because it has now
happened to me according to the custom of women.” So his
careful search was thwarted. {31:36} And Jacob, being
inflated, said with contention: “For which fault of mine, or
for what sin of mine, have you become so enraged against me
{31:37} and searched all the items of my house? What have
you found from all the substance of your house? Place it here
before my brothers, and your brothers, and let them judge
between me and you. {31:38} For what reason have I been
with you for twenty years? Your ewes and she-goats were not
barren; the rams of your flocks I did not consume.
{31:39} Neither did I reveal to you what was seized by the
wild beast. I replaced all that was damaged. Whatever was
lost by theft, you collected it from me. {31:40} Day and night,
I was burned by heat and by frost, and sleep fled from my
eyes. {31:41} And in this way, for twenty years, I have served
you in your house: fourteen for your daughters, and six for
your flocks. You have also changed my wages ten times.
{31:42} If the God of my father Abraham and the fear of
Isaac had not been close to me, perhaps by now you would
have sent me away naked. But God looked kindly on my
affliction and the labor of my hands, and he rebuked you
yesterday.” {31:43} Laban answered him: “My daughters
and sons, and your flocks, and all that you discern are mine.
What can I do to my sons and grandchildren? {31:44} Come,
therefore, let us enter into a pact, so that it may be a
testimony between me and you.” {31:45} And so Jacob took
a stone, and he set it up as a memorial. {31:46} And he said
to his brothers, “Bring stones.” And they, gathering together
stones, made a tomb, and they ate upon it. {31:47} And
Laban called it, ‘Tomb of Witness,’ and Jacob, ‘Pile of
Testimony;’ each of them according to the fitness of his own
language. {31:48} And Laban said: “This tomb will be a
witness between me and you this day.” (And for this reason,
its name has been called Gilead, that is, ‘Tomb of Witness.’)
{31:49} “May the Lord consider and judge between us, when
we will have withdrawn from one another. {31:50} If you
afflict my daughters, and if you bring in other wives over
them, no one is a witness of our words except God, who
understands beforehand.” {31:51} And again he said to
Jacob. “Lo, this tomb and the stone that I have set up
between me and you, {31:52} will be a witness. This tomb,” I
say, “and the stone, they are for testimony, in case either I
cross beyond it going toward you, or you cross beyond it
thinking to harm me. {31:53} May the God of Abraham, and
the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between
us.” Therefore, Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac.
{31:54} And after he had immolated sacrifices on the
mountain, he called his brothers to eat bread. And when they
had eaten, they lodged there. {31:55} In truth, Laban rose up
in the night, and he kissed his sons and daughters, and he
blessed them. And he returned to his place.


[Genesis 32] {32:1} Likewise, Jacob continued on the
journey that he had begun. And the Angels of God met him.
{32:2} When he had seen them, he said, “These are the
Encampments of God.” And he called the name of that place
Mahanaim, that is, ‘Encampments.’ {32:3} Then he also sent
messengers before him to his brother Esau, in the land of Seir,
in the region of Edom. {32:4} And he instructed them, saying:
“You shall speak in this way to my lord Esau: ‘Your brother
Jacob says these things: “I have sojourned with Laban, and I
have been with him until the present day. {32:5} I have oxen,
and donkeys, and sheep, and men servants, and women
servants. And now I send an ambassador to my lord, so that I
may find favor in your sight.” ’ ” {32:6} And the messengers
returned to Jacob, saying, “We went to your brother Esau,
and behold, he rushes to meet you with four hundred men.”
{32:7} Jacob was very afraid. And in his terror, he divided
the people who were with him, likewise the flocks, and the
sheep, and the oxen, and the camels, into two companies,
{32:8} saying: “If Esau goes to one company, and strikes it,
the other company, which is left behind, will be saved.”
{32:9} And Jacob said: “God of my father Abraham, and
God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me: ‘Return to
your land, and to the place of your nativity, and I will do well
for you.’ {32:10} I am less than any of your compassions and
your truth, which you have fulfilled to your servant. With my
staff I crossed over this Jordan. And now I go back with two
companies. {32:11} Rescue me from the hand of my brother
Esau, for I am very afraid of him, lest perhaps he may come
and strike down the mother with the sons. {32:12} You did
say that you would do well by me, and that you would
expand my offspring like the sand of the sea, which, because
of its multitude, cannot be numbered.” {32:13} And when he
had slept there that night, he separated, from the things that
he had, gifts for his brother Esau: {32:14} two hundred she-
goats, twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
{32:15} thirty milking camels with their young, forty cows,
and twenty bulls, twenty she-donkeys, and ten of their young.
{32:16} And he sent them by the hands of his servants, each
flock separately, and he said to his servants: “Pass before me,
and let there be a space between flock and flock.”
{32:17} And he instructed the first, saying: “If you happen to
meet my brother Esau, and he questions you: “Whose are
you?” or, “Where are you going?” or, “Whose are these
which follow you?” {32:18} you shall respond: “Your servant
Jacob’s. He has sent them as a gift to my lord Esau. And he is
also coming after us.” {32:19} Similarly, he gave orders to
the second, and the third, and to all who followed the flocks,
saying: “Speak these same words to Esau, when you find him.
{32:20} And you will add: ‘Your servant Jacob himself also
follows after us, for he said: “I will appease him with the gifts
that go ahead, and after this, I will see him; perhaps he will
be gracious to me.” ’ ” {32:21} And so the gifts went before
him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.
{32:22} And when he had arisen early, he took his two wives,
and the same number of handmaids, with his eleven sons,
and he crossed over the ford of Jabbok. {32:23} And having
delivered over all the things that belonged to him, {32:24} he
remained alone. And behold, a man wrestled with him until
morning. {32:25} And when he saw that he would not be
able to overcome him, he touched the nerve of his thigh, and
immediately it withered. {32:26} And he said to him,
“Release me, for now the dawn ascends.” He responded, “I
will not release you, unless you bless me.” {32:27} Therefore
he said, “What is your name?” He answered, “Jacob.”
{32:28} But he said, “Your name will not be called Jacob,
but Israel; for if you have been strong against God, how
much more will you prevail against men?” {32:29} Jacob
questioned him, “Tell me, by what name are you called?” He
responded, “Why do you ask my name?” And he blessed him
in the same place. {32:30} And Jacob called the name of the
place Peniel, saying, “I have seen God face to face, and my
soul has been saved.” {32:31} And immediately the sun rose
upon him, after he had crossed beyond Peniel. Yet in truth,
he limped on his foot. {32:32} For this reason, the sons of
Israel, even to the present day, do not eat the nerve that
withered in Jacob’s thigh, because he touched the nerve of his
thigh and it was obstructed.


[Genesis 33] {33:1} Then Jacob, lifting up his eyes, saw Esau
arriving, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the
sons of Leah and Rachel, and of both the handmaids.
{33:2} And he placed the two handmaids and their children
at the beginning. Truly, Leah and her sons were in the second
place. Then Rachel and Joseph were last. {33:3} And
advancing, he reverenced prostrate on the ground seven times,
until his brother approached. {33:4} And so Esau ran to meet
his brother, and he embraced him. And drawing him by his
neck and kissing him, he wept. {33:5} And lifting up his eyes,
he saw the women and their little ones, and he said: “What
do these want for themselves?” and “Are they related to
you?” He responded, “These are the little ones that God has
given as a gift to me, your servant.” {33:6} Then the
handmaids and their sons approached and bowed down.
{33:7} Likewise Leah, with her sons, came near. And when
they had reverenced similarly, last of all, Joseph and Rachel
reverenced. {33:8} And Esau said, “What are these
companies that I have been meeting?” He responded, “So
may I find favor before my lord.” {33:9} But he said, “I have
plenty, my brother; let these be for yourself.” {33:10} And
Jacob said: “I beg you, let it not be so. But if I have found
favor in your eyes, receive a small present from my hands.
For I have looked upon your face as I would look upon the
countenance of God. Be gracious to me, {33:11} and take the
blessing which I have brought to you, and which God, who
bestows all things, has given as a gift to me.” Accepting it
reluctantly, at the insistence of his brother, {33:12} he said,
“Let us go on together, and I will accompany you on your
journey.” {33:13} And Jacob said: “My lord, you know that I
have with me tender little ones, and sheep, and cows with
young. If I cause these to labor too much in walking, all the
flocks will die in one day. {33:14} May it please my lord to
go before his servant. And I will follow gradually in his steps,
as much as I see my little ones to be able, until I arrive to my
lord in Seir.” {33:15} Esau responded, “I beg you, that at
least some of the people who are with me may remain to
accompany you on the way.” But he said, “There is no need.
I have need of one thing only: to find favor in your sight, my
lord.” {33:16} And so Esau returned that day, by the way
that he had arrived, to Seir. {33:17} And Jacob went to
Succoth, where, having built a house and pitched tents, he
called the name of that place Succoth, that is, ‘Tents.’
{33:18} And he crossed over to Salem, a city of the
Shechemites, which is in the land of Canaan, after he
returned from Mesopotamia of Syria. And he lived near the
town. {33:19} And he bought the part of the field in which he
had pitched his tents from the sons of Hamor, the father of
Shechem, for one hundred lambs. {33:20} And erecting an
altar there, he invoked upon it the most strong God of Israel.


[Genesis 34] {34:1} Then Dinah, the daughter of Leah, went
out to see the women of that region. {34:2} And when
Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the leader of that land,
had seen her, he fell in love with her. And so he seized her
and slept with her, overwhelming the virgin by force.
{34:3} And his soul was closely bound to her, and, since she
was sorrowful, he soothed her with flattery. {34:4} And
going on to Hamor, his father, he said, “Obtain this girl for
me as a mate.” {34:5} But when Jacob had heard this, since
his sons were absent and he was occupied in pasturing the
cattle, he remained silent until they came back. {34:6} Then,
when Hamor, the father of Shechem, had gone out to speak
to Jacob, {34:7} behold, his sons arrived from the field. And
hearing what had happened, they were very angry, because
he had done a filthy thing in Israel and, in violating a
daughter of Jacob, had perpetrated an unlawful act.
{34:8} And so Hamor spoke to them: “The soul of my son
Shechem has become attached to your daughter. Give her to
him as a wife. {34:9} And let us celebrate marriages with one
with another. Give us your daughters, and receive our
daughters. {34:10} And live with us. The land is in your
power: cultivate, trade, and possess it.” {34:11} And
Shechem even said to her father and to her brothers: “May I
find favor in your sight, and whatever you will appoint, I will
give. {34:12} Increase the dowry, and request gifts, and I will
freely bestow what you will ask. Only give me this girl as a
wife.” {34:13} The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his
father with deceit, being enraged at the rape of their sister:
{34:14} “We are not able to do what you ask, nor to give our
sister to an uncircumcised man. For us, this is unlawful and
abominable. {34:15} But we may succeed in this, so as to be
allied with you, if you are willing to become like us, and if all
the male sex among you will be circumcised. {34:16} Then
we will mutually give and receive your daughters as well as
ours; and we will live with you, and we will become one
people. {34:17} But if you will not be circumcised, we will
take our daughter and withdraw.” {34:18} Their offer pleased
Hamor and his son Shechem. {34:19} Neither did the young
man cause any delay; in fact he immediately fulfilled what
was requested. For he loved the girl very much, and he was
well-known throughout his father’s house. {34:20} And
entering at the gate of the city, they spoke to the people:
{34:21} “These men are peaceful, and they want to live
among us. Let them trade in the land and cultivate it, for,
being spacious and broad, it is in need of cultivation. We will
receive their daughters as wives, and we will give them ours.
{34:22} There is one thing that prevents so great a good:
whether we will circumcise our males, imitating the ritual of
their nation. {34:23} And their substance, and cattle, and all
that they possess, will be ours, if only we will acquiesce to
this, and so, in living together, will form one people.”
{34:24} And they all agreed to circumcise every one of the
males. {34:25} And behold, on the third day, when the pain
of the wound was greatest, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon
and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, boldly entered the city with
swords. And they put to death all of the males. {34:26} They
killed Hamor and Shechem together, taking their sister Dinah
from the house of Shechem. {34:27} And when they had
departed, the other sons of Jacob rushed over the slain, and
they plundered the city in vengeance for the rape.
{34:28} Taking their sheep, and herds, and donkeys, and
laying waste to everything else that was in their houses and in
their fields, {34:29} they also took their little ones and their
wives captive. {34:30} When they had boldly completed
these acts, Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: “You have
troubled me, and you have made me hateful to the
Canaanites and the Perizzites, the inhabitants of this land.
We are few. They, gathering themselves together, may strike
me down, and then both I and my house will be wiped
away.” {34:31} They responded, “Should they abuse our
sister like a prostitute?”


[Genesis 35] {35:1} About this time, God said to Jacob,
“Arise and go up to Bethel, and live there, and make an altar
to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your
brother Esau.” {35:2} In truth, Jacob, having called together
all his house, said: “Cast away the foreign gods that are in
your midst and be cleansed, and also change your garments.
{35:3} Arise, and let us go up to Bethel, so that we may make
an altar there to God, who heeded me in the day of my
tribulation, and who accompanied me on my journey.”
{35:4} Therefore, they gave him all the foreign gods which
they had, and the earrings which were in their ears. And then
he buried them under the terebinth tree, which is beyond the
city of Shechem. {35:5} And when they had set out, the
terror of God invaded all the surrounding cities, and they
dared not pursue them as they withdrew. {35:6} And so,
Jacob arrived at Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, also
named Bethel: he and all the people with him. {35:7} And he
built an altar there, and he called the name of that place,
‘House of God.’ For there God appeared to him when he fled
from his brother. {35:8} About the same time, Deborah, the
nurse of Rebekah, died, and she was buried at the base of
Bethel, under an oak tree. And the name of that place was
called, ‘Oak of Weeping.’ {35:9} Then God appeared again
to Jacob, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria, and
he blessed him, {35:10} saying: “You will no longer be called
Jacob, for your name shall be Israel.” And he called him
Israel, {35:11} and he said to him: “I am Almighty God:
increase and multiply. Tribes and peoples of nations will be
from you, and kings will go forth from your loins.
{35:12} And the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I
will give to you, and to your offspring after you.”
{35:13} And he withdrew from him. {35:14} In truth, he set
up a monument of stone, in the place where God had spoken
to him, pouring out libations over it, and pouring oil,
{35:15} and he called the name of that place, ‘Bethel.’
{35:16} Then, departing from there, he arrived in springtime
at the land that leads to Ephrath. And there, when Rachel
was giving birth, {35:17} because it was a difficult birth, she
began to be in danger. And the midwife said to her, “Do not
be afraid, for you will have this son also.” {35:18} Then,
when her life was departing because of the pain, and death
was now imminent, she called the name of her son Benoni,
that is, the son of my pain. Yet truly, his father called him
Benjamin, that is, the son of the right hand. {35:19} And so
Rachel died, and she was buried in the way that leads to
Ephrath: this place is Bethlehem. {35:20} And Jacob erected
a monument over her sepulcher. This is the monument to
Rachel’s tomb, even to the present day. {35:21} Departing
from there, he pitched his tent beyond the Tower of the Flock.
{35:22} And when he was living in that region, Reuben went
out, and he slept with Bilhah the concubine of his father,
which was not such a small matter as to be hidden from him.
Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. {35:23} The sons of
Leah: Reuben the first born, and Simeon, and Levi, and
Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun. {35:24} The sons of
Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. {35:25} The sons of Bilhah,
handmaid of Rachel: Dan and Naphtali. {35:26} The sons of
Zilpah, handmaid of Leah: Gad and Asher. These are the
sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Mesopotamia of
Syria. {35:27} And then he went to his father Isaac in Mamre,
the city of Arba: this place is Hebron, where Abraham and
Isaac sojourned. {35:28} And the days of Isaac were
completed: one hundred and eighty years. {35:29} And being
consumed by old age, he died. And he was placed with his
people, being old and full of days. And his sons, Esau and
Jacob, buried him.


[Genesis 36] {36:1} Now these are the generations of Esau,
who is Edom. {36:2} Esau took wives from the daughters of
Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and
Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon
the Hivite, {36:3} and Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael,
sister of Nebaioth. {36:4} Then Adah bore Eliphaz.
Basemath conceived Reuel. {36:5} Oholibamah conceived
Jeush, and Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau,
who were born to him in the land of Canaan. {36:6} Then
Esau took his wives, and sons, and daughters, and every soul
of his house, and his substance, and cattle, and whatever he
was able to obtain in the land of Canaan, and he went into
another region, withdrawing from his brother Jacob.
{36:7} For they were very wealthy and were not able to live
together. Neither was the land of their sojourn able to sustain
them, because of the multitude of their flocks. {36:8} And
Esau lived at mount Seir: he is Edom. {36:9} So these are the
generations of Esau, the father of Edom, at mount Seir,
{36:10} and these are the names of his sons: Eliphaz the son
of Adah, the wife of Esau, likewise Reuel, the son of
Basemath, his wife. {36:11} And Eliphaz had sons: Teman,
Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenez. {36:12} Now Timna
was the concubine of Eliphaz, the son of Esau. And she bore
him Amalek. These are the sons of Adah, the wife of Esau.
{36:13} And the sons of Reuel were Nahath and Zerah,
Shammah and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basemath, the
wife of Esau. {36:14} Likewise, these were the sons of
Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon,
the wife of Esau, whom she bore to him: Jeush, and Jalam,
and Korah. {36:15} These were leaders of the sons of Esau,
the sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau: leader Teman,
leader Omar, leader Zepho, leader Kenez, {36:16} leader
Korah, leader Gatam, leader Amalek. These are the sons of
Eliphaz, in the land of Edom, and these the sons of Adah.
{36:17} Likewise, these are the sons of Reuel, the son of Esau:
leader Nahath, leader Zerah, leader Shammah, leader
Mizzah. And these were the leaders of Reuel, in the land of
Edom. These are the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau.
{36:18} Now these are the sons of Oholibamah, the wife of
Esau: leader Jeush, leader Jalam, leader Korah. These were
the leaders of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and the
wife of Esau. {36:19} These are the sons of Esau, and these
were their leaders: this is Edom. {36:20} These are the sons
of Seir, the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, and
Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah, {36:21} and Dishon, and
Ezer, and Dishan. These were the leaders of the Horites, the
sons of Seir, in the land of Edom. {36:22} Now Lotan
produced sons: Hori and Heman. But the sister of Lotan was
Timna. {36:23} And these are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, and
Manahath, and Ebal, and Shepho, and Onam. {36:24} And
these are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This is the
Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, when he
was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon. {36:25} And
he had a son Dishon, and a daughter Oholibamah.
{36:26} And these are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, and
Esheban, and Ithran, and Cheran. {36:27} Likewise, these
are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan.
{36:28} Then Dishan had sons: Uz and Aran. {36:29} These
were the leaders of the Horites: leader Lotan, leader Shobal,
leader Zibeon, leader Anah, {36:30} leader Dishon, leader
Ezer, leader Disan. These were leaders of the Horites who
ruled in the land of Seir. {36:31} Now before the sons of
Israel had a king, the kings who ruled in the land of Edom
were these: {36:32} Bela the son of Beor, and the name of his
city was Dinhabah. {36:33} Then Bela died, and Jobab, the
son of Zerah from Bozrah, reigned in his place. {36:34} And
when Jobab was dead, Husham of the land of the Temanites
reigned in his place. {36:35} Likewise, this one having died,
Hadad the son of Bedad reigned in his place. He struck down
Midian in the region of Moab. And the name of his city was
Avith. {36:36} And when Adad was dead, Samlah of
Masrekah reigned in his place. {36:37} Likewise, this one
being dead, Shaul of the river Rehoboth, reigned in his place.
{36:38} And when he also had passed away, Baal-hanan, the
son of Achbor, succeeded to the kingdom. {36:39} Likewise,
this one being dead, Hadar reigned in his place; and the name
of his city was Pau. And his wife was called Mehetabel, the
daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab. {36:40} Therefore,
these were the names of the leaders of Esau, by their families,
and places, and in their vocabulary: leader Timna, leader
Alvah, leader Jetheth, {36:41} leader Oholibamah, leader
Elah, leader Pinon, {36:42} leader Kanez, leader Teman,
leader Mibzar, {36:43} leader Magdiel, leader Iram. These
were the leaders of Edom living in the land of their rule: this
is Esau, the father of Idumea.


[Genesis 37] {37:1} Now Jacob lived in the land of Canaan,
where his father sojourned. {37:2} And these are his
generations. Joseph, when he was sixteen years old, was
pasturing the flock with his brothers, when he was still a boy.
And he was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, the wives of
his father. And he accused his brothers to their father of a
most sinful crime. {37:3} Now Israel loved Joseph above all
his sons, because he had conceived him in his old age. And
he made him a tunic, woven of many colors. {37:4} Then his
brothers, seeing that he was loved by his father more than all
his other sons, hated him, and they were not able to say
anything peacefully to him. {37:5} Then it also happened
that he recounted the vision of a dream to his brothers, for
which reason a greater hatred began to be nurtured.
{37:6} And he said to them, “Listen to my dream that I saw.
{37:7} I thought we were binding sheaves in the field. And
my sheaf seemed to rise up and stand, and your sheaves,
standing in a circle, reverenced my sheaf.” {37:8} His
brothers responded: “Would you be our king? Or will we be
subject to your dominion?” Therefore, this matter of his
dreams and words provided kindling to their envy and hatred.
{37:9} Likewise, he saw another dream, which he explained
to his brothers, saying, “I saw by a dream, as if the sun, and
the moon, and eleven stars were reverencing me.”
{37:10} And when he had related this to his father and
brothers, his father rebuked him, and he said: “What does it
mean to you, this dream that you have seen? Should I, and
your mother, and your brothers reverence you upon the
earth?” {37:11} Therefore, his brothers were envious of him.
Yet truly, his father considered the matter silently.
{37:12} And while his brothers were lodging at Shechem,
pasturing their father’s flocks, {37:13} Israel said to him:
“Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Come, I
will send you to them.” And when he answered, {37:14} “I
am ready,” he said to him, “Go, and see if everything is
prospering with your brothers and the cattle, and report to me
what is happening.” So, having been sent from the valley of
Hebron, he arrived at Shechem. {37:15} And a man found
him wandering in a field, and he asked him what he was
seeking. {37:16} So he responded: “I seek my brothers. Tell
me where they pasture the flocks.” {37:17} And the man said
to him: “They have withdrawn from this place. But I heard
them saying, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” Therefore, Joseph
continued on after his brothers, and he found them at Dothan.
{37:18} And, when they had seen him from afar, before he
approached them, they decided to kill him. {37:19} And they
said one to another: “Behold, the dreamer approaches.
{37:20} Come, let us kill him and cast him into the old
cistern. And let us say: ‘an evil wild beast has devoured him.’
And then it will become apparent what his dreams will do for
him.” {37:21} But Reuben, on hearing this, strove to free him
from their hands, and he said: {37:22} “Do not take away his
life, nor shed blood. But throw him into this cistern, which is
in the wilderness, and so keep your hands harmless.” But he
said this, wanting to rescue him from their hands, so as to
return him to his father. {37:23} And so, as soon as he came
to his brothers, they very quickly stripped him of his tunic,
which was ankle-length and woven of many colors,
{37:24} and they cast him into an old cistern, which held no
water. {37:25} And sitting down to eat bread, they saw some
Ishmaelites, travelers coming from Gilead, with their camels,
carrying spices, and resin, and oil of myrrh into Egypt.
{37:26} Therefore, Judah said to his brothers: “What will it
profit us, if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
{37:27} It is better that he be sold to the Ishmaelites, and then
our hands will not be defiled. For he is our brother and our
flesh.” His brothers agreed to his words. {37:28} And when
the Midianite merchants were passing by, they drew him
from the cistern, and they sold him to the Ishmaelites for
twenty pieces of silver. And these led him into Egypt.
{37:29} And Reuben, returning to the cistern, did not find the
boy. {37:30} And rending his garments, he went to his
brothers and said, “The boy is not present, and so where shall
I go?” {37:31} Then they took his tunic, and they dipped it in
the blood of a young goat, which they had killed,
{37:32} sending those who carried it to their father, and they
said: “We found this. See whether it is the tunic of your son
or not.” {37:33} And when the father acknowledged it, he
said: “It is the tunic of my son. An evil wild beast has eaten
him; a beast has devoured Joseph.” {37:34} And tearing his
garments, he was clothed in haircloth, mourning his son for a
long time. {37:35} Then, when all of his sons gathered
together to ease their father’s sorrow, he was not willing to
accept consolation, but he said: “I will descend in mourning
to my son in the underworld.” And while he persevered in
weeping, {37:36} the Midianites in Egypt sold Joseph to
Potiphar, a eunuch of Pharaoh, instructor of the soldiers.


[Genesis 38] {38:1} About the same time, Judah, descending
from his brothers, turned toward an Adullamite man, named
Hirah. {38:2} And he saw there the daughter of a man called
Shua, of Canaan. And taking her as a wife, he entered to her.
{38:3} And she conceived and bore a son, and she called his
name Er. {38:4} And conceiving offspring again, having
given birth to a son, she called him Onan. {38:5} Likewise,
she bore a third, whom she called Shelah, after whose birth,
she ceased to bear any more. {38:6} Then Judah gave a wife
to his first born Er, whose name was Tamar. {38:7} And it
also happened that Er, the first born of Judah, was wicked in
the sight of the Lord and was killed by him. {38:8} Therefore,
Judah said to his son Onan: “Enter to the wife of your
brother, and associate with her, so that you may raise
offspring to your brother.” {38:9} He, knowing that the sons
to be born would not be his, when he entered to the wife of
his brother, he spilled his seed on the ground, lest children
should be born in his brother’s name. {38:10} And for this
reason, the Lord struck him down, because he did a
detestable thing. {38:11} Because of this matter, Judah said
to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Be a widow in your father’s
house, until my son Shelah grows up.” For he was afraid, lest
he also might die, just as his brothers did. She went away,
and she lived in her father’s house. {38:12} Then, after many
days had passed, the daughter of Shua, the wife of Judah,
died. And when he accepted consolation after his mourning,
he went up to the shearers of his sheep at Timnah, he and
Hirah, the herdsman of the Adullamite flock. {38:13} And it
was reported to Tamar that her father-in-law had gone up to
Timnah to shear the sheep. {38:14} And storing away the
garments of her widowhood, she took up a veil. And
changing her clothing, she sat at the crossroad that leads to
Timnah, because Shelah had grown up, and she had not
received him as a husband. {38:15} And when Judah saw her,
he thought her to be a harlot. For she had covered her face,
lest she be recognized. {38:16} And entering to her, he said,
“Permit me to join with you.” For he did not know her to be
his daughter-in-law. And she responded, “What will you give
to me, to enjoy me as a concubine?” {38:17} He said, “I will
send you a young goat from the flock.” And again, she said,
“I will allow what you want, if you give me a pledge, until
you may send what you promise.” {38:18} Judah said,
“What do you want to be given for a pledge?” She responded,
“Your ring and bracelet, and the staff that you hold in your
hand.” Thereupon, the woman, from one sexual encounter,
conceived. {38:19} And she arose and went away. And
storing away the garments that she had taken up, she was
clothed in the garments of her widowhood. {38:20} Then
Judah sent a young goat by his shepherd, the Adullamite, so
that he might receive the pledge that he had given to the
woman. But, when he had not found her, {38:21} he
questioned the men of that place: “Where is the woman who
sat at the crossroad?” And they all responded, “There has
been no harlot in this place.” {38:22} He returned to Judah,
and he said to him: “I did not find her. Moreover, the men of
that place told me that a prostitute had never sat there.”
{38:23} Judah said: “Let her hold herself to blame. Certainly,
she is not able to accuse us of a lie. I sent the young goat that
I had promised, and you did not find her.” {38:24} And
behold, after three months, they reported to Judah, saying,
“Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has committed fornication
and her abdomen appears to be enlarged.” And Judah said,
“Produce her, so that she may be burned.” {38:25} But when
she was led out to the punishment, she sent to her father-in-
law, saying: “I conceived by the man to whom these things
belong. Recognize whose ring, and bracelet, and staff this is.”
{38:26} But he, acknowledging the gifts, said: “She is more
just than I am. For I did not deliver her to my son Shelah.”
However, he knew her no more. {38:27} Then, at the
moment of birth, there appeared twins in the womb. And so,
in the very delivery of the infants, one put forth a hand, on
which the midwife tied a scarlet thread, saying, {38:28} “This
one will go out first.” {38:29} But in truth, drawing back his
hand, the other came out. And the woman said, “Why is the
partition divided for you?” And for this reason, she called his
name Perez. {38:30} After this, his brother came out, on
whose hand was the scarlet thread. And she called him Zerah.


[Genesis 39] {39:1} Meanwhile, Joseph was led into Egypt.
And Putiphar, a eunuch of Pharaoh, a leader of the army, an
Egyptian man, purchased him from the hand of the
Ishmaelites, by whom he was brought. {39:2} And the Lord
was with him, and he was a man who prospered in
everything that he did. And he lived in the house of his lord,
{39:3} who knew very well that the Lord was with him, and
that all the things that were done by him were directed by his
hand. {39:4} And Joseph found favor in the sight of his lord,
and he ministered to him. And, having been placed in charge
of everything by him, he governed the house that was
entrusted to him and all the things that had been delivered to
him. {39:5} And the Lord blessed the house of the Egyptian,
because of Joseph, and he multiplied all his substance, as
much in the buildings, as in the fields. {39:6} Neither did he
know anything other than the bread that he ate. Now Joseph
was beautiful in form, and stately in appearance. {39:7} And
so, after many days, his mistress cast her eyes on Joseph, and
she said, “Sleep with me.” {39:8} And without consenting at
all to the wicked act, he said to her: “Behold, my lord has
delivered all things to me, and he does not know what he has
in his own house. {39:9} Neither is there anything which is
not in my power, or that he has not delivered to me, except
you, for you are his wife. How then can I do this evil act and
sin against my God?” {39:10} With such words as these,
throughout each day, the woman was pestering the young
man, and he was refusing the adultery. {39:11} Then it
happened, on a certain day, that Joseph entered the house,
and he was doing something, without any witnesses.
{39:12} And she, grasping the hem of his garment, said,
“Sleep with me.” But he, leaving behind the cloak in her
hand, fled and went outside. {39:13} And when the woman
saw the garment in her hands and herself being treated with
disrespect, {39:14} she called to herself the men of her house,
and she said to them: “Lo, he has brought in a Hebrew man
to abuse us. He entered toward me, in order to join with me;
and when I had shouted out, {39:15} and he had heard my
voice, he left behind the cloak that I held, and he fled
outside.” {39:16} As a proof, therefore, of her fidelity, she
retained the cloak, and she showed it to her husband, when
he returned home. {39:17} And she said: “The Hebrew
servant, whom you have brought in to me, approached me to
abuse me. {39:18} And when he had heard me cry out, he
left behind the cloak that I held, and he fled outside.”
{39:19} His lord, upon hearing these things, and having
excessive trust in the words of his mate, was very angry.
{39:20} And he delivered Joseph into prison, where the
prisoners of the king were kept, and he was enclosed in that
place. {39:21} But the Lord was with Joseph, and, having
mercy on him, he gave him favor in the sight of the leader of
the prison, {39:22} who delivered into his hand all the
prisoners who were held in custody. And whatever was done,
was under him. {39:23} Neither did he himself know
anything, having entrusted all things to him. For the Lord
was with him, and he directed everything that he did.


[Genesis 40] {40:1} While these things were going on, it
happened that two eunuchs, the cupbearer of the king of
Egypt, and the miller of grain, offended their lord.
{40:2} And Pharaoh, being angry with them, (now the one
was in charge of the cupbearers, the other of the millers of
grain) {40:3} sent them to the prison of the leader of the
military, in which Joseph also was a prisoner. {40:4} But the
keeper of the prison delivered them to Joseph, who
ministered to them also. Some little time passed by, while
they were held in custody. {40:5} And they both saw a
similar dream on one night, whose interpretations should be
related to one another. {40:6} And when Joseph had entered
to them in the morning, and had seen them sad, {40:7} he
consulted them, saying, “Why is your expression sadder
today than usual?” {40:8} They responded, “We have seen a
dream, and there is no one to interpret it for us.” And Joseph
said to them, “Doesn’t interpretation belong to God?
Recount for me what you have seen.” {40:9} The chief
cupbearer explained his dream first. “I saw before me a vine,
{40:10} on which were three shoots, which grew little by little
into buds, and, after the flowers, it matured into grapes.
{40:11} And the cup of Pharaoh was in my hand. Therefore,
I took the grapes, and I pressed them into the cup that I held,
and I handed the cup to Pharaoh.” {40:12} Joseph responded:
“This is the interpretation of the dream. The three shoots are
the next three days, {40:13} after which Pharaoh will
remember your service, and he will restore you to your
former position. And you will give him the cup according to
your office, as you were accustomed to do before.
{40:14} Only remember me, when it will be well with you,
and do me this mercy, to suggest to Pharaoh to lead me out
of this prison. {40:15} For I have been stolen from the land of
the Hebrews, and here, innocently, I was cast into the pit.”
{40:16} The chief miller of grain, seeing that he had wisely
unraveled the dream, said: “I also saw a dream: that I had
three baskets of meal above my head, {40:17} and in one
basket, which was the highest, I carried all foods that are
made by the art of baking, and the birds ate from it.”
{40:18} Joseph responded: “This is the interpretation of the
dream. The three baskets are the next three days,
{40:19} after which Pharaoh will carry away your head, and
also suspend you from a cross, and the birds will tear your
flesh.” {40:20} The third day thereafter was the birthday of
Pharaoh. And making a great feast for his servants, he
remembered, during the banquet, the chief cupbearer and the
chief miller of grain. {40:21} And he restored the one to his
place, to present him the cup; {40:22} the other he hanged on
a gallows, and thus the truth of the interpreter of dreams was
proven. {40:23} And although he advanced with so much
prosperity, the chief cupbearer forgot his interpreter of
dreams.


[Genesis 41] {41:1} After two years, Pharaoh saw a dream.
He thought himself to be standing above a river, {41:2} from
which ascended seven cows, exceedingly beautiful and stout.
And they pastured in marshy places. {41:3} Likewise,
another seven emerged from the river, filthy and thoroughly
emaciated. And they pastured on the same bank of the river,
in green places. {41:4} And they devoured those whose
appearance and condition of body was so wonderful.
Pharaoh, having been awakened, {41:5} slept again, and he
saw another dream. Seven ears of grain sprung up on one
stalk, full and well-formed. {41:6} Likewise, other ears of
grain, of the same number, rose up, thin and struck with
blight, {41:7} devouring all the beauty of the first. Pharaoh,
when he awakened after his rest, {41:8} and when morning
arrived, being terrified with fear, sent to all the interpreters of
Egypt and to all of the wise men. And when they were
summoned, he explained to them his dream; but there was no
one who could interpret it. {41:9} Then at last the chief
cupbearer, remembering, said, “I confess my sin. {41:10} The
king, being angry with his servants, ordered me and the chief
miller of grain to be forced into the prison of the leader of the
military. {41:11} There, in one night, both of us saw a dream
presaging the future. {41:12} In that place, there was a
Hebrew, a servant of the same commander of the military, to
whom we explained our dreams. {41:13} Whatever we heard
was proven afterwards by the event of the matter. For I was
restored to my office, and he was suspended on a cross.”
{41:14} Immediately, by the king’s authority, Joseph was led
out of prison, and they shaved him. And changing his apparel,
they presented him to him. {41:15} And he said to him, “I
have seen dreams, and there is no one who can unfold them.
I have heard that you are very wise at interpreting these.”
{41:16} Joseph responded, “Apart from me, God will
respond favorably to Pharaoh.” {41:17} Therefore, Pharaoh
explained what he had seen: “I thought myself to be standing
on the bank of a river, {41:18} and seven cows climbed up
from the river, exceedingly beautiful and full of flesh. And
they grazed in a pasture of a marshy greenery. {41:19} And
behold, there followed after these, another seven cows, with
such deformity and emaciation as I had never seen in the
land of Egypt. {41:20} These devoured and consumed the
first, {41:21} giving no indication of being full. But they
remained in the same state of emaciation and squalor.
Awakening, but being weighed down into sleep again,
{41:22} I saw a dream. Seven ears of grain sprang up on one
stalk, full and very beautiful. {41:23} Likewise, another seven,
thin and struck with blight, rose up from the stalk.
{41:24} And they devoured the beauty of the first. I
explained this dream to the interpreters, and there is no one
who can unfold it.” {41:25} Joseph responded: “The dream
of the king is one. What God will do, he has revealed to
Pharaoh. {41:26} The seven beautiful cows, and the seven
full ears of grain, are seven years of abundance. And so the
force of the dreams is understood to be the same.
{41:27} Likewise, the seven thin and emaciated cows, which
ascended after them, and the seven thin ears of grain, which
were struck with the burning wind, are seven approaching
years of famine. {41:28} These will be fulfilled in this order.
{41:29} Behold, there will arrive seven years of great fertility
throughout the entire land of Egypt. {41:30} After this, there
will follow another seven years, of such great barrenness that
all the former abundance will be delivered into oblivion. For
the famine will consume all the land, {41:31} and the
greatness of this destitution will cause the greatness of the
abundance to be lost. {41:32} Now, as to what you saw the
second time, it is a dream pertaining to the same thing. It is
an indication of its firmness, because the word of God shall
be done, and it shall be completed swiftly. {41:33} Now
therefore, let the king provide a wise and industrious man,
and place him over the land of Egypt, {41:34} so that he may
appoint overseers throughout all the regions. And let a fifth
part of the fruits, throughout the seven fertile years
{41:35} that now have already begun to occur, be gathered
into storehouses. And let all the grain be stored away, under
the power of Pharaoh, and let it be kept in the cities.
{41:36} And let it be prepared for the future famine of seven
years, which will oppress Egypt, and then the land will not be
consumed by destitution.” {41:37} The counsel pleased
Pharaoh and all his ministers. {41:38} And he said to them,
“Would we be able to find another such man, who is full of
the Spirit of God?” {41:39} Therefore, he said to Joseph:
“Because God has revealed to you all that you have said,
would I be able to find anyone wiser and as much like you?
{41:40} You will be over my house, and to the authority of
your mouth, all the people will show obedience. Only in one
way, in the throne of the kingdom, will I go before you.”
{41:41} And again, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have
appointed you over the entire land of Egypt.” {41:42} And he
took the ring from his own hand, and he gave it into his hand.
And he clothed him with a robe of fine linen, and he placed a
necklace of gold around his neck. {41:43} And he caused him
to ascend upon his second swift chariot, with the herald
proclaiming that everyone should bend their knee before him,
and that they should know that he was governor over the
entire land of Egypt. {41:44} Likewise, the king said to
Joseph: “I am Pharaoh: apart from your authority, no one
will move hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” {41:45} And
he changed his name and called him, in the Egyptian tongue:
‘Savior of the world.’ And he gave him as a wife, Asenath,
the daughter of Potiphera, priest of Heliopolis. And so Joseph
went out into the land of Egypt. {41:46} (Now he was thirty
years old when he stood in the sight of king Pharaoh.) And
he traveled throughout the regions of Egypt. {41:47} And the
fertility of the seven years arrived. And when the grain fields
were reduced to sheaves, these were gathered into the
storehouses of Egypt. {41:48} And now all the abundance of
grain was stored away in every city. {41:49} And there was
such a great abundance of wheat that it was comparable to
the sands of the sea, and its bounty exceeded all measure.
{41:50} Then, before the famine arrived, Joseph had two
sons born, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest
of Heliopolis, bore for him. {41:51} And he called the name
of the firstborn Manasseh, saying, “God has caused me to
forget all my labors and the house of my father.”
{41:52} Likewise, he named the second Ephraim, saying,
“God has caused me to increase in the land of my poverty.”
{41:53} And so, when the seven years of fertility that
occurred in Egypt had passed, {41:54} the seven years of
destitution, which Joseph had predicted, began to arrive. And
the famine prevailed throughout the whole world, but there
was bread in all the land of Egypt. {41:55} And being hungry,
the people cried out to Pharaoh, asking for provisions. And
he said to them: “Go to Joseph. And do whatever he will tell
you.” {41:56} Then the famine increased daily in all the land.
And Joseph opened all of the storehouses and sold to the
Egyptians. For the famine had oppressed them also.
{41:57} And all the provinces came to Egypt, to buy food
and to temper the misfortune of their destitution.


[Genesis 42] {42:1} Then Jacob, hearing that food was being
sold in Egypt, said to his sons: “Why are you negligent?
{42:2} I have heard that wheat is being sold in Egypt. Go
down and buy necessities for us, so that we may be able to
live, and not be consumed by destitution.” {42:3} And so,
when ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain in Egypt,
{42:4} Benjamin was kept at home by Jacob, who said to his
brothers, “Lest perhaps he may suffer harm on the journey.”
{42:5} And they entered into the land of Egypt with the
others who traveled to buy. For the famine was in the land of
Canaan. {42:6} And Joseph was governor in the land of
Egypt, and grain was sold under his direction to the people.
And when his brothers had reverenced him {42:7} and he
had recognized them, he spoke harshly, as if to foreigners,
questioning them: “Where did you come from?” And they
responded, “From the land of Canaan, to buy necessary
provisions.” {42:8} And although he knew his brothers, he
was not known by them. {42:9} And remembering the
dreams, which he had seen in another time, he said to them:
“You are scouts. You have come in order to see which parts
of the land are weaker.” {42:10} And they said: “It is not so,
my lord. But your servants have arrived in order to buy food.
{42:11} We are all sons of one man. We have come in peace,
nor do any of your subjects devise evil.” {42:12} And he
answered them: “It is otherwise. You have come to examine
the unguarded parts of this land.” {42:13} But they said: “We,
your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the
land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father; the other is
not living.” {42:14} He said: “This is just as I have said. You
are scouts. {42:15} I will now continue to put you to the test.
By the health of Pharaoh, you will not depart from here, until
your youngest brother arrives. {42:16} Send one of you and
bring him. But you will be in chains, until what you have said
is proven to be either true or false. Otherwise, by the health of
Pharaoh, you are scouts.” {42:17} Therefore, he delivered
them into custody for three days. {42:18} Then, on the third
day, he brought them out of prison, and he said: “Do as I
have said, and you will live. For I fear God. {42:19} If you
are peaceful, let one of your brothers be bound in prison.
Then you may go away and carry the grain that you have
bought to your houses. {42:20} And bring your youngest
brother to me, so that I may be able to test your words, and
you may not die.” They did as he had said, {42:21} and they
spoke to one another: “We deserve to suffer these things,
because we have sinned against our brother, seeing the
anguish of his soul, when he begged us and we would not
listen. For that reason, this tribulation has come upon us.”
{42:22} And Reuben, one of them, said: “Did not I say to
you, ‘Do not sin against the boy,’ and you would not listen to
me? See, his blood is exacted.” {42:23} But they did not
know that Joseph understood, because he was speaking to
them through an interpreter. {42:24} And he turned himself
away briefly and wept. And returning, he spoke to them.
{42:25} And taking Simeon, and binding him in their
presence, he ordered his ministers to fill their sacks with
wheat, and to replace each one’s money in their sacks, and to
give them, in addition, provisions for the way. And they did
so. {42:26} Then, having loaded their donkeys with the grain,
they set out. {42:27} And one of them, opening a sack to give
his beast of burden fodder at the inn, looked upon the money
at the sack’s mouth, {42:28} and he said to his brothers: “My
money has returned to me. See, it is held in the sack.” And
they were astonished and troubled, and they said to one
another, “What is this that God has done to us?”
{42:29} And they went to their father Jacob in the land of
Canaan, and they explained to him all the things that had
befallen them, saying: {42:30} “The lord of the land spoke
harshly to us, and he considered us to be scouts of the
province. {42:31} And we answered him: ‘We are peaceful,
and we do not intend any treachery. {42:32} We are twelve
brothers conceived of one father. One is not living; the
youngest is with our father in the land of Canaan.’
{42:33} And he said to us: ‘Thus will I prove that you are
peaceful. Release one of your brothers to me, and take
necessary provisions for your houses, and go away,
{42:34} and bring your youngest brother to me, so that I may
know that you are not scouts. And this one, who is held in
chains, you may be able to receive again. And thereafter, you
shall have permission to buy what you want.’ ”
{42:35} Having said this, when they poured out their grain,
each found his money tied to the mouth of his sack. And all
were terrified together. {42:36} Their father Jacob said, “You
have caused me to be without children. Joseph is not living,
Simeon is held in chains, and Benjamin you would carry
away. All these evils have fallen back upon me.”
{42:37} And Reuben answered him, “Put my two sons to
death, if I do not lead him back to you. Deliver him into my
hand, and I will restore him to you.” {42:38} But he said:
“My son will not go down with you. His brother is dead, and
he is left alone. If any adversity will befall him in the land to
which you travel, you would lead my grey hairs down with
sorrow to the grave.”


[Genesis 43] {43:1} Meanwhile, the famine pressed heavily
on all the land. {43:2} And having consumed the provisions
that they had brought out of Egypt, Jacob said to his sons,
“Return and buy us a little food.” {43:3} Judah answered:
“The man himself declared to us, under the attestation of an
oath, saying: ‘You will not see my face, unless you bring your
youngest brother with you.’ {43:4} If therefore you are
willing to send him with us, we will travel together, and we
will buy necessities for you. {43:5} But if you are not willing,
we will not go. For the man, as we have often said, declared
to us, saying: ‘You will not see my face without your
youngest brother.’ ” {43:6} Israel said to them, “You have
done this for my misery, in that you revealed to him that you
also had another brother.” {43:7} But they responded: “The
man questioned us in order, concerning our family: whether
our father lived, if we had a brother. And we answered him
respectively, according to what he demanded. How could we
know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother with you?’ ”
{43:8} Likewise, Judah said to his father: “Send the boy with
me, so that we may set out and be able to live, lest we and
our little ones should die. {43:9} I accept the boy; require him
at my hand. Unless I lead him back and restore him to you, I
will be guilty of a sin against you for all time. {43:10} If a
delay had not intervened, by now we would have returned
here a second time.” {43:11} Therefore, their father Israel
said to them: “If it is necessary to do so, then do what you
will. Take, in your vessels, from the best fruits of the land,
and carry down gifts to the man: a little resin, and honey, and
storax ointment, oil of myrrh, turpentine, and almonds.
{43:12} Also, take with you double the money, and carry
back what you found in your sacks, lest perhaps it was done
in error. {43:13} But also take your brother, and go to the
man. {43:14} Then may my Almighty God cause him to be
pleased by you. And send your brother, whom he holds, back
with you, along with this one, Benjamin. But as for me,
without my children, I will be like one who is bereaved.”
{43:15} Therefore, the men took the gifts, and double the
money, and Benjamin. And they went down into Egypt, and
they stood in the presence of Joseph. {43:16} And when he
had seen them and Benjamin together, he instructed the
steward of his house, saying: “Lead the men into the house,
and kill victims, and prepare a feast, because they will be
eating with me at midday.” {43:17} He did what he had been
ordered to do, and he brought the men into the house.
{43:18} And there, being terrified, they said one to another:
“Because of the money, which we carried back the first time
in our sacks, we have been brought in, so that he may
unleash a false accusation against us, and by violence
subjugate both us and our donkeys into servitude.”
{43:19} For this reason, approaching the steward of the
house at his door, {43:20} they said: “We beg you, lord, to
hear us. We came down once before to buy food.
{43:21} And having bought it, when we arrived at the inn,
we opened our sacks and found the money in the mouths of
the sacks, which we now have carried back in the same
amount. {43:22} But we have also brought other silver, so
that we may buy those things that are necessary for us. It is
not on our conscience who had placed it in our bags.”
{43:23} But he responded: “Peace be with you. Do not be
afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you
the treasure in your sacks. As for the money that you gave to
me, I held it as a test.” And he led Simeon out to them.
{43:24} And having led them into the house, he brought
water, and they washed their feet, and he gave fodder to their
donkeys. {43:25} But they also prepared the gifts, until
Joseph entered at midday. For they had heard that they
would eat bread there. {43:26} And so Joseph entered his
house, and they offered him the gifts, holding them in their
hands. And they reverenced prone on the ground.
{43:27} But he, gently greeting them again, questioned them,
saying: “Is your father, the old man about whom you spoke
to me, in good health? Is he still alive?” {43:28} And they
answered: “Your servant, our father, is safe; he is still alive.”
And bowing, they reverenced him. {43:29} Then Joseph,
lifting up his eyes, saw Benjamin, his brother of the same
womb, and he said, “Is this your little brother, about whom
you spoke to me?” And again, he said, “May God be
compassionate to you, my son.” {43:30} And he hurried out,
because his heart had been moved over his brother, and tears
gushed out. And going into his chamber, he wept.
{43:31} And when he had washed his face, coming out again,
he composed himself, and he said, “Set out bread.”
{43:32} And when it was set out, separately for Joseph, and
separately for his brothers, likewise separately for the
Egyptians, who ate at the same time, (for it is unlawful for
Egyptians to eat with Hebrews, and they consider feasting in
this way to be profane) {43:33} they sat before him, the
firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest
according to his state of life. And they wondered exceedingly,
{43:34} taking the portions that they received from him. And
the greater portion went to Benjamin, so much so that it
exceeded five parts. And they drank and became inebriated
along with him.


[Genesis 44] {44:1} Then Joseph instructed the steward of
his house, saying: “Fill their sacks with grain, as much as
they are able to hold. And place each one’s money at the top
of the sack. {44:2} But place my silver bowl, and the price
that he gave for the wheat, in the mouth of the sack of the
youngest.” And so it was done. {44:3} And when morning
arose, they were sent away with their donkeys. {44:4} And
now they had departed from the city and had set out a short
distance. Then Joseph, sending for the steward of his house,
said: “Rise up and pursue the men. And when you have
overtaken them, say: ‘Why have you returned evil for good?
{44:5} The cup that you have stolen, it is that from which my
lord drinks, and in which he is accustomed to discern signs.
You have done a very sinful thing.’ ” {44:6} He did as he had
been ordered. And having overtaken them, he spoke to them
according to the order. {44:7} And they responded: “Why
does our lord speak in this way, as though your servants had
committed such a shameful act? {44:8} The money, which
we found at the top of our sacks, we carried back to you from
the land of Canaan. So in what way does it follow that we
would steal, from the house of your lord, gold or silver?
{44:9} Whichever of your servants will be found to have
what you seek, may he die, and we shall be the servants of
my lord.” {44:10} And he said to them: “Let it be according
to your verdict. With whomever it will be found, let him be
my servant, but you will be unharmed.” {44:11} And so, they
quickly placed their sacks down to the ground, and each one
was opened. {44:12} And when he had searched, beginning
with the oldest, all the way to the youngest, he found the cup
in Benjamin’s sack. {44:13} But they, tearing their garments
and burdening their donkeys again, returned to the town.
{44:14} And Judah, first among his brothers, entered to
Joseph (for he had not yet departed from the place) and
together they all fell down before him to the ground.
{44:15} And he said to them: “Why would you choose to act
in this way? Could you be ignorant that there is no one like
me in the knowledge of discerning signs?” {44:16} And
Judah said to him, “What could we answer to my lord? And
what would we be able to say, or to justly claim? God has
discovered the iniquity of your servants. See, we have all
become servants to my lord, both we, and he with whom the
cup was found.” {44:17} Joseph responded: “Far be it from
me that I should act in this way. He who stole the cup, he
will be my servant. But you may go away free to your
father.” {44:18} Then Judah, approaching closer, said
confidently: “I beg you, my lord, let your servant speak a
word in your ears, and do not be angry with your servant.
For you are next to Pharaoh. {44:19} My lord, you
questioned your servants before: ‘Do you have a father or a
brother?’ {44:20} And we answered you, my lord: ‘There is
our father, an old man, and a young boy, who was born in
his old age. His brother of the same womb has died, and he
alone is left to his mother and father, who truly love him
tenderly.’ {44:21} And you said to your servants, ‘Bring him
to me, and I will set my eyes on him.’ {44:22} We suggested
to my lord: ‘The boy is not able to leave his father. For if he
sends him away, he will die.’ {44:23} And you said to your
servants: ‘Unless your youngest brother arrives with you, you
will not see my face any more.’ {44:24} Therefore, when we
had gone up to your servant our father, we explained to him
all that my lord had spoken. {44:25} And our father said:
‘Return and buy us a little wheat.’ {44:26} And we said to
him: ‘We cannot go. If our youngest brother descends with us,
we will set out together. Otherwise, in his absence, we do not
dare to see the face of the man.’ {44:27} To which he
responded: ‘You know that my wife conceived twice by me.
{44:28} One went out, and you said, “A beast devoured
him.” And since then, he has not appeared. {44:29} If you
take this one also, and anything happens to him on the way,
you will lead my grey hairs down with grief to the grave.’
{44:30} Therefore, if I would have gone to your servant, our
father, with the boy not present, (though his life depends
upon the life of him) {44:31} and if he were to see that he is
not with us, he would die, and your servants will lead his
grey hairs down with sorrow to the grave. {44:32} Let me be
your very own servant, for I accepted this one into my trust,
and I promised, saying: ‘Unless I lead him back, I will be
guilty of a sin against my father for all time.’ {44:33} And so
I, your servant, will remain in place of the boy, in ministry to
my lord, and then let the boy go up with his brothers.
{44:34} For I cannot return to my father without the boy, lest
I appear as a witness to the calamity that will oppress my
father.”


[Genesis 45] {45:1} Joseph was unable to restrain himself
any longer, standing before so many. Therefore, he instructed
that all should go outside, and that no stranger should be
among them as they recognized one another. {45:2} And he
lifted up his voice with weeping, which the Egyptians heard,
along with the entire house of Pharaoh. {45:3} And he said
to his brothers: “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” His
brothers were unable to respond, being terrified by a very
great fear. {45:4} And he said to them mildly, “Approach
toward me.” And when they had approached close by, he
said: “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
{45:5} Do not be afraid, and let it not seem to you to be a
hardship that you sold me into these regions. For God sent
me before you into Egypt for your salvation. {45:6} For it is
two years since the famine began to be upon the land, and
five years more remain, in which there can be neither
plowing, nor reaping. {45:7} And God sent me ahead, so that
you may be preserved upon the earth, and so that you would
be able to have food in order to live. {45:8} I was sent here,
not by your counsel, but by the will of God. He has caused
me to be like a father to Pharaoh, and to be the lord of his
entire house, as well as governor throughout all the land of
Egypt. {45:9} Hurry, and go up to my father, and say to him:
“Your son Joseph commands this: God has caused me to be
lord of the entire land of Egypt. Come down to me, do not
delay, {45:10} and you will live in the land of Goshen. And
you will be next to me, you and your sons and the sons of
your sons, your sheep and your herds, and all that you
possess. {45:11} And there I will pasture you, (for there are
still five years of famine remaining) lest both you and your
house perish, along with all that you possess.’ {45:12} Behold,
your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin can see that it
is my mouth speaking to you. {45:13} You will report to my
father about all my glory, and about all that you have seen in
Egypt. Hurry, and bring him to me.” {45:14} And then
falling upon the neck of his brother Benjamin, he embraced
him and wept. And likewise, Benjamin wept at the same time
on his neck. {45:15} And Joseph kissed all his brothers, and
he cried over each one. After this, they were emboldened to
speak to him. {45:16} And it was overheard, and the news
spread by word throughout the king’s court. The brothers of
Joseph had arrived, and Pharaoh was gladdened along with
all his family. {45:17} And he told Joseph that he should
command his brothers, saying: “ ‘Burden your beasts, and go
into the land of Canaan, {45:18} and take from there your
father and kindred, and come to me. And I will give you all
the good things of Egypt, so that you may eat from the
marrow of the land.’ ” {45:19} “And you may even instruct
that they take wagons from the land of Egypt, in order to
transport their little ones as well as their wives. And say:
‘Take your father, and come quickly, as soon as possible.
{45:20} You need not give up anything from your household,
for all the riches of Egypt will be yours.’ ” {45:21} And the
sons of Israel did just as they were commanded. And Joseph
gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh,
and provisions for the journey. {45:22} Likewise, he ordered
two robes for each of them to be brought. Yet truly, to
Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver along with
five of the best robes. {45:23} And he sent just as much
money and clothing to his father, adding also ten male
donkeys, with which to transport all the riches of Egypt, and
as many female donkeys, carrying wheat and bread for the
journey. {45:24} Thus he sent away his brothers, and as they
set out he said, “Do not become angry on the way.”
{45:25} And they ascended out of Egypt, and they arrived in
the land of Canaan, to their father Jacob. {45:26} And they
reported to him, saying: “Your son Joseph is alive, and he is
ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. When Jacob heard this,
he was stirred up, as if from a deep sleep, yet he did not
believe them. {45:27} To the contrary, they explained the
entire matter in order. And when he had seen the wagons,
and all that he had sent, his spirit revived, {45:28} and he
said: “It is enough for me, if my son Joseph is still alive. I will
go and see him before I die.”


[Genesis 46] {46:1} And Israel, setting out with all that he
had, arrived at the Well of the Oath. And sacrificing victims
there to the God of his father Isaac, {46:2} he heard him, by
a vision in the night, calling him, and saying to him: “Jacob,
Jacob.” And he answered him, “Behold, here I am.”
{46:3} God said to him: “I am the most strong God of your
father. Do not be afraid. Descend into Egypt, for there I will
make of you a great nation. {46:4} I will descend with you to
that place, and I will lead you back from there, returning.
Also, Joseph will place his hands over your eyes.
{46:5} Then Jacob rose up from the Well of the Oath. And
his sons took him, with their little ones and wives, in the
wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry the old man,
{46:6} along with all that he possessed in the land of Canaan.
And he arrived in Egypt with all his offspring: {46:7} his sons
and his grandsons, his daughters and all his progeny together.
{46:8} Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who
entered into Egypt, he with his children. The firstborn is
Reuben. {46:9} The sons of Reuben: Hanoch and Pallu, and
Hezron and Carmi. {46:10} The sons of Simeon: Jemuel and
Jamin and Ohad, and Jachin and Zohar, and Shaul, the son
of a Canaanite woman. {46:11} The sons of Levi: Gershon
and Kohath, and Merari. {46:12} The sons of Judah: Er and
Onan, and Shelah, and Perez and Zerah. Now Er and Onan
died in the land of Canaan. And sons were born to Perez:
Hezron and Hamul. {46:13} The sons of Issachar: Tola and
Puvah, and Job and Shimron. {46:14} The sons of Zebulun:
Sered and Elon and Jahleel. {46:15} These are the sons of
Leah, whom she bore, along with his daughter Dinah, in
Mesopotamia of Syria. All the souls of her sons and
daughters are thirty-three. {46:16} The sons of Gad: Ziphion
and Haggi, and Shuni and Ezbon, and Eri and Arodi, and
Areli. {46:17} The sons of Asher: Imnah and Jesua, and
Jessui and Beriah, and also their sister Sarah. The sons of
Beria: Heber and Malchiel. {46:18} These are the sons of
Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah. And these
she bore to Jacob: sixteen souls. {46:19} The sons of Rachel,
the wife of Jacob: Joseph and Benjamin. {46:20} And sons
were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt, whom Asenath, the
daughter of Potiphera, priest of Heliopolis, bore for him:
Manasseh and Ephraim. {46:21} The sons of Benjamin: Bela
and Becher, and Ashbel and Gera, and Naaman and Ehi, and
Rosh and Moppim, and Huppim and Ard. {46:22} These are
the sons of Rachel, whom she bore to Jacob: all these souls
are fourteen. {46:23} The sons of Dan: Hushim. {46:24} The
sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel and Guni, and Jezer and Shillem.
{46:25} These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to
his daughter Rachel, and these she bore to Jacob: all these
souls are seven. {46:26} All the souls who went into Egypt
with Jacob and who went out from his thigh, besides the
wives of his sons, were sixty-six. {46:27} Now the sons of
Joseph, who were born to him in the land of Egypt, were two
souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, who went into
Egypt, were seventy. {46:28} Then he sent Judah ahead of
himself, to Joseph, in order to report to him, and so that he
would meet him in Goshen. {46:29} And when he had
arrived there, Joseph harnessed his chariot, and he went up to
meet his father at the same place. And seeing him, he fell
upon his neck, and, amid embraces, he wept. {46:30} And
the father said to Joseph, “Now I will die happy, because I
have seen your face, and I am leaving you behind alive.”
{46:31} And he said to his brothers and to all his father’s
house: “I will go up and report to Pharaoh, and I will say to
him: ‘My brothers, and my father’s house, who were in the
land of Canaan, have come to me. {46:32} And these
honorable men are pastors of sheep, and they have the task of
feeding the flock. Their cattle, and herds, and all that they
were able to hold, they have brought with them.’
{46:33} And when he will call you and will say, ‘What is
your work?’ {46:34} You will respond, ‘Your servants are
pastors of honor, from our infancy even to the present time,
both we and our fathers.’ Now you will say this so that you
may be able to live in the land of Goshen, because the
Egyptians detest all pastors of sheep.”


[Genesis 47] {47:1} And so Joseph entered and reported to
Pharaoh, saying: “My father and brothers, their sheep and
herds, and everything that they possess, have arrived from the
land of Canaan. And behold, they stand together in the land
of Goshen.” {47:2} Likewise, he stood in the sight of the king
five men, the last of his brothers. {47:3} And he questioned
them, “What do you have for work?” They responded: “Your
servants are pastors of sheep, both we and our fathers.
{47:4} We came to sojourn in your land, because there is no
grass for the flocks of your servants, the famine being very
grievous in the land of Canaan. And we petition you that you
may order us, your servants, to be in the land of Goshen.”
{47:5} And so the king said to Joseph: “Your father and
brothers have come to you. {47:6} The land of Egypt is in
your sight. Cause them to live in the best place, and deliver to
them the land of Goshen. And if you know there to be
industrious men among them, appoint these as foremen over
my cattle.” {47:7} After this, Joseph brought in his father to
the king, and he stood him in his sight. He blessed him,
{47:8} and he questioned him: “How many are the days of
the years of your life?” {47:9} He responded, “The days of
my sojourn are one hundred and thirty years, few and
unworthy, and they do not reach even to the days of the
sojourning of my fathers.” {47:10} And blessing the king, he
went outside. {47:11} Truly, Joseph gave his father and
brothers a possession in Egypt, in the best place of the land,
in Rameses, as Pharaoh had instructed. {47:12} And he fed
them, along with all his father’s house, providing portions of
food to each one. {47:13} For in the whole world there was a
lack of bread, and a famine had oppressed the land, most of
all Egypt and Canaan, {47:14} from which he gathered
together all the money for the grain that they bought, and he
took it into the treasury of the king. {47:15} And when the
buyers had run out of money, all Egypt came to Joseph,
saying: “Give us bread. Why should we die in your sight,
lacking money?” {47:16} And he responded to them: “Bring
me your cattle, and I will give food to you in exchange for
them, if you do not have money.” {47:17} And when they
had brought them, he gave them food for their horses, and
sheep, and oxen, and donkeys. And he sustained them in that
year in exchange for their cattle. {47:18} Likewise, they came
the second year, and they said to him: “We will not conceal
from our lord that our money is gone; likewise our cattle are
gone. Neither are you unaware that we have nothing left but
our bodies and our land. {47:19} Therefore, why should you
watch us die? Both we and our land will be yours. Buy us
into royal servitude, but provide seed, lest by the dying off of
cultivators the land be reduced to a_ wilderness.”
{47:20} Therefore, Joseph bought all the land of Egypt, each
one selling his possessions because of the magnitude of the
famine. And he subjected it to Pharaoh, {47:21} along with
all of its people, from the newest borders of Egypt, even to its
furthest limits, {47:22} except the land of the priests, which
had been delivered to them by the king. To these also a
portion of food was supplied out of the public storehouses,
and, for this reason, they were not compelled to sell their
possessions. {47:23} Therefore, Joseph said to the people:
“So, as you discern, both you and your lands are possessed
by Pharaoh; take seed and sow the fields, {47:24} so that you
may be able to have grain. One fifth part you will give to the
king; the remaining four I permit to you, as seed and as food
for your families and children. {47:25} And they responded:
“Our health is in your hand; only let our lord look kindly
upon us, and we will serve the king with gladness.”
{47:26} From that time, even to the present day, in the entire
land of Egypt, the fifth part is turned over to the kings, and it
has become like a law, except in the land of the priests, which
was free from this condition. {47:27} And so, Israel lived in
Egypt, that is, in the land of Goshen, and he possessed it.
And he increased and was multiplied exceedingly.
{47:28} And he lived in it seventeen years. And all the days
of his life that passed were one hundred and forty-seven years.
{47:29} And when he discerned that the day of his death was
approaching, he called his son Joseph, and he said to him: “If
I have found favor in your sight, place your hand under my
thigh. And you shall show me mercy and truth, not to bury
me in Egypt. {47:30} But I shall sleep with my fathers, and
you will carry me from this land and bury me in the sepulcher
of my ancestors.” And Joseph answered him, “I will do what
you have ordered.” {47:31} And he said, “Then swear it to
me.” And as he was swearing, Israel adored God, turning to
the head of his resting place.


[Genesis 48] {48:1} After these things were done, it was
reported to Joseph that his father was sick. And taking his
two sons Manasseh and Ephraim, he went directly to him.
{48:2} And it was told to the old man, “Behold, your son
Joseph is coming to you.” And being strengthened, he sat up
in bed. {48:3} And when he had entered to him, he said:
“Almighty God appeared to me at Luz, which is in the land
of Canaan, and he blessed me. {48:4} And he said: ‘I will
increase and multiply you, and I will make you influential
among the people. And I will give this land to you, and to
your offspring after you, as an everlasting possession.’
{48:5} Therefore, your two sons, who were born to you in
the land of Egypt before I came here to you, will be mine.
Ephraim and Manasseh will be treated by me just like
Reuben and Simeon. {48:6} But the remainder, whom you
will conceive after them, will be yours, and they will be called
by the name of their brothers among their possessions.
{48:7} As for me, when I came from Mesopotamia, Rachel
died in the land of Canaan on the very journey, and it was
springtime. And I entered Ephrath and buried her next to the
way of Ephrath, which by another name is called
Bethlehem.” {48:8} Then, seeing his sons, he said to him:
“Who are these?” {48:9} He responded, “They are my sons,
whom God gave to me as a gift in this place.” “Bring them to
me,” he said, “so that I may bless them.” {48:10} For Israel’s
eyes were clouded by reason of his great age, and he was
unable to see clearly. And when they were placed up against
him, he kissed and embraced them. {48:11} And he said to
his son: “I have not been cheated out of seeing you.
Moreover, God has shown me your offspring.” {48:12} And
when Joseph had taken them from his father’s lap, he
reverenced prone on the ground. {48:13} And he placed
Ephraim on his right, that is, towards the left hand of Israel.
Yet truly Manasseh was on his left, namely, towards his
father’s right hand. And he placed them both up against him.
{48:14} And he, extending his right hand, placed it over the
head of Ephraim, the younger brother, but the left hand was
on the head of Manasseh, who was the elder, so that his
hands were crossed. {48:15} And Jacob blessed the sons of
Joseph, and he said: “God, in whose sight my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked, God who pastured me from my
youth until the present day, {48:16} the Angel, who rescues
me from all evils: bless these boys. And let my name be
invoked over them, and also the names of my fathers,
Abraham and Isaac. And may they increase into a multitude
across the earth.” {48:17} But Joseph, seeing that his father
had placed his right hand over the head of Ephraim, took it
gravely. And grasping his father’s hand, he tried to lift it from
Ephraim’s head and transfer it onto the head of Manasseh.
{48:18} And he said to his father: “It should not have come
to pass this way, father. For this one is the firstborn. Place
your right hand over his head.” {48:19} But refusing, he said:
“I know, my son, I know. And this one, indeed, will be
among the people and will be multiplied. But his younger
brother will be greater than he. And his offspring will increase
among the nations.” {48:20} And he blessed them at that
time, saying: “In you, Israel will be blessed, and it will be said:
‘May God treat you like Ephraim, and like Manasseh.’ ” And
he established Ephraim before Manasseh. {48:21} And he
said to his son Joseph: “See, I am dying, and God will be
with you, and he will lead you back to the land of your
fathers. {48:22} I give you one part beyond that of your
brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my
sword and my bow.”


[Genesis 49] {49:1} Then Jacob called his sons, and he said
to them: “Gather together, so that I may announce what will
happen to you in the last days. {49:2} Gather together and
listen, O sons of Jacob. Listen to Israel, your father.
{49:3} Reuben, my firstborn, you are my strength and the
beginning of my sorrow: first in gifts, greater in authority.
{49:4} You are being poured out like water, may you not
increase. For you climbed onto your father’s bed, and you
defiled his resting place. {49:5} The brothers Simeon and
Levi: vessels of iniquity waging war. {49:6} Let not my soul
go by their counsel, nor my glory be within their meeting. For
in their fury they killed a man, and in their self-will they
undermined a wall. {49:7} Cursed be their fury, because it
was obstinate, and their indignation, because it was harsh. I
will divide them in Jacob, and I will scatter them in Israel.
{49:8} Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will
be at the necks of your enemies; the sons of your father will
reverence you. {49:9} Judah is a lion’s young. You have gone
up to the prey, my son. While resting, you have lain like a
lion. And just like a lioness, who would rouse him?
{49:10} The scepter from Judah and the leader from his thigh
will not be taken away, until he who will be sent arrives, and
he will be the expectation of Gentiles. {49:11} Tying his
young colt to the vineyard, and his donkey, O my son, to the
vine, he will wash his robe in wine, and his cloak in the blood
of the grape. {49:12} His eyes are more beautiful than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk. {49:13} Zebulun will live at
the seashore and by the outpost of ships, reaching as far as
Sidon. {49:14} Issachar will be a strong donkey, reclining
between the borders. {49:15} He saw that rest would be good,
and that the land was excellent. And so he bent his shoulder
to carry, and he became a servant under tribute. {49:16} Dan
will judge his people just like any other tribe in Israel.
{49:17} Let Dan be a snake in the way, a viper in the path,
biting the hooves of horses, so that his rider may fall
backward. {49:18} I will wait for your salvation, O Lord.
{49:19} Gad, being girded, will fight before him. And he
himself will be girded backward. {49:20} Asher: his bread
will be fat, and he will provide delicacies to the kings.
{49:21} Naphtali is a stag sent forth, offering words of
eloquent beauty. {49:22} Joseph is a growing son, a growing
son and stately to behold; the daughters run back and forth
on the wall. {49:23} But those who held darts, provoked him,
and they contend with him, and they envied him. {49:24} His
bow sits in strength, and the bands of his arms and hands
have been let loose by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob.
From there he went forth as a pastor, the stone of Israel.
{49:25} The God of your father will be your helper, and the
Almighty will bless you with the blessings of heaven above,
with the blessings of the abyss that lies beneath, with the
blessings of the breasts and of the womb. {49:26} The
blessings of your father are strengthened by the blessings of
his fathers, until the desire of the hills of eternity shall arrive.
May they be at the head of Joseph, and at the summit of the
Nazarite, among his brothers. {49:27} Benjamin is a
ravenous wolf, in the morning he will eat the prey, and in the
evening he will divide the spoil.” {49:28} All these are the
twelve tribes of Israel. These things their father spoke to them,
and he blessed each one with their proper blessings.
{49:29} And he instructed them, saying: “I am being
gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the
double cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
{49:30} opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which
Abraham bought, along with its field, from Ephron the
Hittite, as a possession for burial. {49:31} There they buried
him, with his wife Sarah.” And there Isaac was buried with
his wife Rebekah. There also Leah lies preserved.
{49:32} And having finished these commands by which he
instructed his sons, he drew his feet onto the bed, and he
passed away. And he was gathered to his people.


[Genesis 50] {50:1} Joseph, realizing this, fell upon his
father’s face, weeping and kissing him. {50:2} And he
instructed his servant physicians to embalm his father with
aromatics. {50:3} And while they were fulfilling his orders,
forty days passed. For this was the method of embalming
dead bodies. And Egypt wept for him for seventy days.
{50:4} And when the time for mourning was fulfilled, Joseph
spoke to the family of Pharaoh: “If I have found favor in your
sight, speak to the ears of Pharaoh. {50:5} For my father
made me swear, saying: ‘See, I am dying. You shall bury me
in my sepulcher which I dug for myself in the land of
Canaan.’ Therefore, I shall go up and bury my father, and
then return.” {50:6} And Pharaoh said to him, “Go up and
bury your father, just as he made you swear.” {50:7} So as he
went up, all the elders of the house of Pharaoh went with him,
along with every patriarch in the land of Egypt, {50:8} and
the house of Joseph with his brothers, except their little ones
and flocks and also the herds, which they left behind in the
land of Goshen. {50:9} Likewise, he had in his company
chariots and horsemen. And it became a crowd without
restraint. {50:10} And they arrived at the threshing place of
Atad, which is situated beyond the Jordan. There they spent
seven full days celebrating the funeral rites with a great and
vehement lamentation. {50:11} And when the inhabitants of
the land of Canaan had seen this, they said, “This is a great
Lamentation for the Egyptians.” And for this reason, the
name of that place was called, “The Lamentation of Egypt.”
{50:12} And so, the sons of Jacob did just as he had
instructed them. {50:13} And carrying him into the land of
Canaan, they buried him in the double cave, which Abraham
had bought along with its field, from Ephron the Hittite, as a
possession for burial, opposite Mamre. {50:14} And Joseph
returned into Egypt with his brothers and all those of his
company, having buried his father. {50:15} Now that he was
dead, his brothers were afraid, and they said to one another:
“Perhaps now he may remember the injury that he suffered
and requite us for all the evil that we did to him.” {50:16} So
they sent a message to him, saying: “Your father instructed
us before he died, {50:17} that we should say these words to
you from him: ‘I beg you to forget the wickedness of your
brothers, and the sin and malice that they practiced against
you.’ Likewise, we petition you to release the servants of the
God of your father from this iniquity.” Hearing this, Joseph
wept. {50:18} And his brothers went to him. And reverencing
prostrate on the ground, they said, “We are your servants.”
{50:19} And he answered them: “Do not be afraid. Are we
able to resist the will of God? {50:20} You devised evil
against me. But God turned it into good, so that he might
exalt me, just as you presently discern, and so that he might
bring about the salvation of many peoples. {50:21} Do not be
afraid. I will pasture you and your little ones.” And he
consoled them, and he spoke mildly and _leniently.
{50:22} And he lived in Egypt with all his father’s house; and
he survived for one hundred and ten years. And he saw the
sons of Ephraim to the third generation. Likewise, the sons of
Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born onto Joseph’s knees.
{50:23} After these things happened, he said to his brothers:
“God will visit you after my death, and he will make you
ascend from this land into the land which he swore to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” {50:24} And when he had
made them swear and had said, “God will visit you; carry my
bones with you from this place,” {50:25} he died, having
completed one hundred and ten years of his life. And having
been embalmed with aromatics, he was laid to rest in a coffin
in Egypt.


** The Book of Exodus **


[Exodus 1] {1:1} These are the names of the sons of Israel,
who went into Egypt with Jacob. They entered, each one
with his house: {1:2} Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,
{1:3} Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, {1:4} Dan and
Naphtali, Gad and Asher. {1:5} Therefore, all the souls of
those who went forth from Jacob’s thigh were seventy. Now
Joseph was in Egypt. {1:6} When he had died, along with all
of his brothers and all of that generation, {1:7} the sons of
Israel increased, and they multiplied like seedlings. And
having been strengthened exceedingly, they filled the land.
{1:8} Meanwhile, there arose a new king over Egypt, who
was ignorant of Joseph. {1:9} And he said to his people:
“Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are many, and they
are stronger than we are. {1:10} Come, let us wisely oppress
them, lest they multiply; and if any war should advance
against us, they may be added to our enemies, and having
fought against us, they might depart from the land.”
{1:11} And so he set over them masters of the works, in order
to afflict them with burdens. And they built for Pharaoh the
cities of the tabernacles: Pithom and Raamses. {1:12} And
the more they oppressed them, so much more did they
multiply and increase. {1:13} And the Egyptians hated the
sons of Israel, and they afflicted them and mocked them.
{1:14} And they led their life directly into bitterness, with
hard work in clay and brick, and with all kinds of servitude,
so that they were being overwhelmed with the works of the
land. {1:15} Then the king of Egypt spoke to the midwives of
the Hebrews, (one of whom one was called Shiphrah, another
Puah) {1:16} instructing them: “When you will act as a
midwife to the Hebrew women, and the time of delivery has
arrived: if it is male, put it to death; if it is female, retain it.”
{1:17} But the midwives feared God, and so they did not act
according to the precept of the king of Egypt, but they kept
the males safe. {1:18} And summoning them, the king said,
“What did you intend to do, so that you would save the
boys?” {1:19} They responded: “The Hebrew women are not
like the Egyptian women. For they themselves have the
wisdom of a midwife, and so they give birth before we can
come to them.” {1:20} Therefore, God acted favorably
toward the midwives. And the people increased, and they
were strengthened exceedingly. {1:21} And because the
midwives feared God, he built houses for them.
{1:22} Therefore, Pharaoh instructed all his people, saying:
“Whatever will be born of the male sex, cast it into the river;
whatever will be born of the female sex, retain it.”


[Exodus 2] {2:1} After these things, a man from the house of
Levi went out, and he took a wife from his own stock.
{2:2} And she conceived and bore a son. And seeing him to
be handsome, she hid him for three months. {2:3} And when
she was no longer able to hide him, she took a small basket
woven of bulrushes, and she smeared it with pitch as well as
tar. And she placed the little infant inside, and she laid him in
the sedges by the bank of the river. {2:4} His sister was
standing at a distance and was wondering what would
happen. {2:5} Then, behold, the daughter of Pharaoh
descended to wash in the river. And her maids walked along
the edge of the cove. And when she had seen the small basket
among the papyruses, she sent one of her servants for it. And
when it was brought, {2:6} she opened it; and realizing that
within it was a little one crying, she took pity on him, and she
said: “This is one of the infants of the Hebrews.” {2:7} And
the sister of the boy said to her: “If you wish, I will go and
call to you a Hebrew woman, who will be able nurse the
infant.” {2:8} She responded, “Go.” The maid went directly
and called her mother. {2:9} And the daughter of Pharaoh
said to her: “Take this boy and nurse him for me. I will give
you your wages.” The woman took and nursed the boy. And
when he was mature, she delivered him to the daughter of
Pharaoh. {2:10} And she adopted him in place of a son, and
she called his name Moses, saying, “Because I took him from
the water.” {2:11} In those days, after Moses had grown up,
he went out to his brothers. And he saw their affliction and
an Egyptian man striking a certain one of the Hebrews, his
brothers. {2:12} And when he had looked around this way
and that, and had seen no one nearby, he struck down the
Egyptian and hid him in the sand. {2:13} And going out the
next day, he spotted two Hebrews quarrelling violently. And
he said to him who was causing the injury, “Why do you
strike your neighbor?” {2:14} But he responded: “Who
appointed you as leader and judge over us? Do you want to
kill me, just as yesterday you killed the Egyptian?” Moses
was afraid, and he said, “How has this word become
known?” {2:15} And Pharaoh heard this talk, and he sought
to kill Moses. But fleeing from his sight, he stayed in the land
of Midian, and he sat down next to a well. {2:16} Now there
was a priest of Midian with seven daughters, who came to
draw water. And having filled the troughs, they desired to
water their father’s flocks. {2:17} The shepherds overcame
them and drove them away. And Moses rose up, and
defending the girls, he watered their sheep. {2:18} And when
they had returned to their father, Reuel, he said to them,
“Why have you arrived sooner than usual?” {2:19} They
responded: “A man of Egypt freed us from the hands of the
shepherds. Moreover, he also drew water with us and gave
the sheep to drink.” {2:20} But he said: “Where is he? Why
have you dismissed the man? Call him, so that he may eat
bread.” {2:21} Therefore, Moses swore that he would live
with him. And he accepted his daughter Zipporah as a wife.
{2:22} And she bore a son to him, whom he called Gershom,
saying, “I have been a newcomer in a foreign land.” In truth,
she bore another, whom he called Eliezer, saying, “For the
God of my father, my helper, has rescued me from the hand
of Pharaoh.” {2:23} In truth, after a long time, the king of
Egypt was dead. And the sons of Israel, groaning, cried out
because of the works. And their cry ascended to God from
the works. {2:24} And he heard their groaning, and he also
remembered the covenant which he formed with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. {2:25} And the Lord looked with favor on
the sons of Israel, and he knew them.


[Exodus 3] {3:1} Now Moses was pasturing the sheep of his
father-in-law Jethro, a priest of Midian. And when he had
driven the flock into the interior of the desert, he came to the
mountain of God, Horeb. {3:2} And the Lord appeared to
him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. And he saw
that the bush was burning and was not burnt. {3:3} Therefore,
Moses said, “I will go and see this great sight, why the bush is
not burnt.” {3:4} Then the Lord, discerning that he
proceeded on to see it, called to him from the midst of the
bush, and he said, “Moses, Moses.” And he responded,
“Here I am.” {3:5} And he said: “Lest you should approach
here, remove the shoes from your feet. For the place on
which you stand is holy ground.” {3:6} And he said, “I am
the God of your father: the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, for he
dared not look directly at God. {3:7} And the Lord said to
him: “I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I
have heard their outcry because of the harshness of those
who are over the works. {3:8} And knowing their sorrow, I
have descended in order to free them from the hands of the
Egyptians, and to lead them from that land into a good and
spacious land, into a land which flows with milk and honey,
to the places of the Canaanite, and Hittite, and Amorite, and
Perizzite, and Hivite, and Jebusite. {3:9} And so, the outcry
of the sons of Israel has come to me. And I have seen their
affliction, with which they are oppressed by the Egyptians.
{3:10} But come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you
may lead my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”
{3:11} And Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go
to Pharaoh and that I should lead the sons of Israel out of
Egypt?” {3:12} And he said to him: “I will be with you. And
you will have this as a sign that I have sent you: When you
will have brought my people out of Egypt, you will offer
sacrifice to God upon this mountain.” {3:13} Moses said to
God: “Behold, I will go to the sons of Israel, and I will say to
them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ If they
say to me, ‘What is his name?’ What shall I say to them?”
{3:14} God said to Moses, “I AM WHO AM.” He said:
“Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel: ‘HE WHO IS has
sent me to you.’ ” {3:15} And God said again to Moses:
“Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel: ‘The Lord God of
your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is the name for me in
eternity, and this is my memorial from generation to
generation. {3:16} Go and gather together the elders of Israel,
and you shall say to them: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
has appeared to me, saying: When visiting, I have visited you,
and I have seen all that has befallen you in Egypt.
{3:17} And I have spoken in order to lead you out of the
affliction of Egypt, into the land of the Canaanite, and Hittite,
and Amorite, and Perizzite, and Hivite, and Jebusite, into a
land flowing with milk and honey.’ {3:18} And they shall
hear your voice. And you shall enter, you and the elders of
Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall say to him: ‘The
Lord God of the Hebrews has called us. We shall go three
days’ journey into the wilderness, in order to offer sacrifice to
the Lord our God.’ {3:19} But I know that the king of Egypt
will not release you, unless you go out by a powerful hand.
{3:20} For I will extend my hand, and I will strike Egypt
with all my wonders that I will do in the midst of them. After
these things, he will release you. {3:21} And I will grant
favor to this people in the sight of the Egyptians. And so,
when you go forth, you shall not go out empty. {3:22} But
every woman shall ask of her neighbor and of her hostess
vessels of silver and of gold, as well as garments. And you
shall set them upon your sons and daughters, and you shall
despoil Egypt.”


[Exodus 4] {4:1} Responding, Moses said, “They will not
believe me, and they will not listen to my voice, but they will
say: ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ” {4:2} Therefore,
he said to him, “What is that you hold in your hand?” He
answered, “A staff.” {4:3} And the Lord said, “Cast it down
upon the ground.” He cast it down, and it was turned into a
snake, so that Moses fled away. {4:4} And the Lord said,
“Reach out your hand, and take hold of its tail.” He reached
out his hand and took hold, and it was turned into a staff.
{4:5} “So may they believe,” he said, “that the Lord God of
their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” {4:6} And the Lord said
again, “Put your hand into your bosom.” And when he had
put it into his bosom, he brought it out leprous, resembling
snow. {4:7} “Put your hand back,” he said, “into your
bosom.” He put it back and brought it out again, and it was
like the rest of his flesh. {4:8} “If they will not believe you,”
he said, “and will not listen to the sermon of the first sign,
then they will believe the word of the subsequent sign.
{4:9} But if they will not believe even these two signs, and
they will not listen to your voice: take from the water of the
river, and pour it upon the dry land, and whatever you will
have drawn from the river will be turned into blood.”
{4:10} Moses said: “I beg you, O Lord, I was not eloquent
yesterday or the day before. And from the time that you have
spoken to your servant, I have a greater impediment and
slowness of tongue.” {4:11} The Lord said to him: “Who
made the mouth of man? And who has formed the mute and
the deaf, the seeing and the blind? Was it not I? {4:12} Go on,
therefore, and I will be in your mouth. And I will teach you
what you shall say.” {4:13} But he said, “I beg you, O Lord,
send whomever else you would send.” {4:14} The Lord,
being angry at Moses, said: “Aaron the Levite is your brother.
I know that he is eloquent. Behold, he is going out to meet
you, and seeing you, he will rejoice in heart. {4:15} Speak to
him, and put my words in his mouth. And I will be in your
mouth and in his mouth, and I will reveal to you what you
must do. {4:16} He will speak for you to the people, and he
will be your mouth. But you will be with him in those things
that pertain to God. {4:17} Also, take this staff into your
hand; with it you will accomplish the signs.” {4:18} Moses
went forth, and he returned to Jethro, his father in law, and
he said to him, “I shall go and return to my brothers in Egypt,
so that I may see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to
him, “Go in peace.” {4:19} And so the Lord said to Moses in
Midian: “Go, and return to Egypt. For all those who sought
your life have died.” {4:20} Therefore, Moses took his wife
and his sons, and he placed them upon a donkey, and he
returned into Egypt, carrying the staff of God in his hand.
{4:21} And the Lord said to him, as he was returning to
Egypt: “See that you accomplish, in the sight of Pharaoh, all
the wonders that I have placed in your hand. I will harden his
heart, and he will not release the people. {4:22} And you
shall say to him: ‘Thus says the Lord: Israel is my firstborn
son. {4:23} I have said to you: Release my son, so that he
may serve me. And you were not willing to release him.
Behold, I will put to death your firstborn son.’ ” {4:24} And
while he was on the journey, at an inn, the Lord met him,
and he was willing to kill him. {4:25} For this reason,
Zipporah took a very sharp stone, and she circumcised the
foreskin of her son, and she touched his feet, and she said,
“You are a bloody spouse to me.” {4:26} And he released
him, after she had said, “You are a bloody spouse,” because
of the circumcision. {4:27} Then the Lord said to Aaron,
“Go into the desert to meet Moses.” And he went directly to
meet him on the mountain of God, and he kissed him.
{4:28} And Moses explained to Aaron all the words of the
Lord, by which he had sent him, and the signs which he had
commanded. {4:29} And they arrived at the same time, and
they gathered together all the elders of the sons of Israel.
{4:30} And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had
said to Moses. And he accomplished the signs in the sight of
the people, {4:31} and the people believed. And they heard
that the Lord had visited the sons of Israel, and that he had
looked with favor upon their affliction. And falling prostrate,
they worshiped.


[Exodus 5] {5:1} After these things, Moses and Aaron
entered, and they said to Pharaoh: “Thus says the Lord God
of Israel: Release my people, so that they may sacrifice to me
in the desert.” {5:2} But he responded: “Who is the Lord,
that I should listen to his voice and release Israel? I do not
know the Lord, and I will not release Israel.” {5:3} And they
said: “The God of the Hebrews has called us, so that we may
go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the
Lord our God. Otherwise, a pestilence or the sword may
befall us.” {5:4} The king of Egypt said to them: “Why do
you, Moses and Aaron, distract the people from their works?
Go back to your burdens.” {5:5} And Pharaoh said: “The
people of the land are many. You see that the turmoil has
increased: how much more if you give them rest from the
works?” {5:6} Therefore, on the same day, he instructed the
overseers of the works, and the taskmasters of the people,
saying: {5:7} “You shall no longer give chaff to the people to
form bricks, as before. But they may go and gather straw.
{5:8} And you shall impose upon them the same quota of
bricks that they made before. Neither will you lessen
anything, for they are idle, and therefore they cry out, saying:
‘We shall go and sacrifice to our God.’ {5:9} They shall be
oppressed with works, and these shall occupy them, so that
they may not agree to lying words.” {5:10} And so the
overseers of the works and the taskmasters went out and said
to the people: “Thus says Pharaoh: I give you no chaff.
{5:11} Go, and collect it wherever you are able to find it.
Neither will anything of your work be diminished.”
{5:12} And the people were dispersed through all the land of
Egypt, in order to gather straw. {5:13} Likewise, the
overseers of the works pressured them, saying: “Complete
your work each day, just as you were accustomed to do
before, when straw was given to you.” {5:14} And those who
were first in the works of the sons of Israel were scourged by
Pharaoh’s taskmasters, saying: “Why have you not filled the
quota of bricks, neither yesterday, nor today, just as before?”
{5:15} And the first among the sons of Israel came, and they
cried out to Pharaoh, saying: “Why do act against your
servants in this way? {5:16} Straw is not given to us, and yet
the same amount of bricks is commanded. So we, your
servants, are cut up by scourging, and injustice is done
against your people.” {5:17} And he said: “You are idle. And
for this reason you say, ‘We shall go and sacrifice to the
Lord.’ {5:18} Therefore, go and work. Straw will not be
given to you, and you will return the customary number of
bricks.” {5:19} And the first among the sons of Israel saw
themselves in a crisis, because it was said to them, “Nothing
at all will be lessened from the bricks throughout each day.”
{5:20} And they met with Moses and Aaron, who stood
opposite them as they departed from Pharaoh. {5:21} And
they said to them: “May the Lord see and judge, because you
have caused our odor to become foul before Pharaoh and his
servants, and you have provided him with a sword, in order
to kill us.” {5:22} And Moses returned to the Lord, and he
said: “Lord, why have you afflicted this people? Why have
you sent me? {5:23} For from the time that I entered to
Pharaoh, so as to speak in your name, he has afflicted your
people. And you have not freed them.”


[Exodus 6] {6:1} And the Lord said to Moses: “Now you
will see what I shall do to Pharaoh. For through a strong
hand he will release them, and by a mighty hand he will cast
them from his land.” {6:2} And the Lord spoke to Moses,
saying: “I am the Lord, {6:3} who appeared to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob as Almighty God. And I did not reveal to
them my name: ADONAI. {6:4} And I formed a covenant
with them, in order to give them the land of Canaan, the land
of their sojourning, in which they were newcomers. {6:5} I
have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, with which the
Egyptians have oppressed them. And I have remembered my
covenant. {6:6} For this reason, say to the sons of Israel: I am
the Lord who will lead you away from the work house of the
Egyptians, and rescue you from servitude, and also redeem
you with an exalted arm and great judgments. {6:7} And I
will take you to myself as my people, and I will be your God.
And you will know that I am the Lord your God, who led
you away from the work house of the Egyptians, {6:8} and
who brought you into the land, over which I lifted up my
hand in order to grant it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And I
will grant it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.”
{6:9} And so, Moses explained all these things to the sons of
Israel, who did not agree with him, because of their anguish
of spirit and very difficult work. {6:10} And the Lord spoke
to Moses, saying: {6:11} “Enter and speak to Pharaoh, king
of Egypt, so that he may release the sons of Israel from his
land.” {6:12} Moses responded in the sight the Lord:
“Behold, the sons of Israel do not listen to me. And how will
Pharaoh listen to me, especially since I am of uncircumcised
lips?” {6:13} And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and
he gave them a commandment for the sons of Israel, and for
Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, that they should lead the sons of
Israel away from the land of Egypt. {6:14} These are the
leaders of the houses by their families. The sons of Reuben,
the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.
{6:15} These are the kindred of Reuben. The sons of Simeon:
Jemuel and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and
Shaul, the son of a Canaanite women. These are the progeny
of Simeon. {6:16} And these are the names of the sons of
Levi by their kindred: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.
Now the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and
thirty-seven. {6:17} The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei,
by their kindred. {6:18} The sons of Kohath: Amram, and
Izhar, and Hebron and Uzziel. Likewise, the years of the life
of Kohath were one hundred and thirty-three. {6:19} The
sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the kindred of
Levi by their families. {6:20} Now Amram took as a wife
Jochebed, his paternal aunt, who bore for him Aaron and
Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred
and thirty-seven. {6:21} Likewise, the sons of Izhar: Korah,
and Nepheg, and Zichri. {6:22} Likewise, the sons of Uzziel:
Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri. {6:23} Now Aaron took
as a wife Elizabeth, the daughter of Amminadab, sister of
Nahshon, who bore for him Nadab, and Abihu, and Eleazar,
and Ithamar. {6:24} Likewise, the sons of Korah: Assir, and
Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the kindred of the
Korahites. {6:25} And truly Eleazar, the son of Aaron, took a
wife from the daughters of Putiel. And she bore him
Phinehas. These are the heads of the Levitical families by
their kindred. {6:26} These are Aaron and Moses, whom the
Lord instructed to lead the sons of Israel away from the land
of Egypt by their companies. {6:27} These are those who
speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, in order to lead the sons of
Israel out of Egypt. These are Moses and Aaron, {6:28} in
the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt.
{6:29} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “I am the Lord.
Speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I speak to you.”
{6:30} And Moses said in the sight of the Lord: “Lo, I am of
uncircumcised lips, how will Pharaoh listen to me?”


[Exodus 7] {7:1} And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, I
have appointed you as the god of Pharaoh. And Aaron, your
brother, will be your prophet. {7:2} You will speak to him all
that I command you. And he will speak to Pharaoh, so that
he may release the sons of Israel from his land. {7:3} But I
will harden his heart, and I will multiply my signs and
wonders in the land of Egypt, {7:4} and he will not listen to
you. And I will send my hand over Egypt, and I will lead my
army and my people, the sons of Israel, from the land of
Egypt, through very great judgments. {7:5} And the
Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, who has extended
my hand over Egypt, and who has led the sons of Israel from
their midst.” {7:6} And so, Moses and Aaron did just as the
Lord had instructed. And so it was done. {7:7} Now Moses
was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three, when they
spoke to Pharaoh. {7:8} And the Lord said to Moses and
Aaron: {7:9} “When Pharaoh will say to you, ‘Show signs,’
you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff, and cast it down
before Pharaoh, and it will be turned into a snake.’ ”
{7:10} And so Moses and Aaron entered to Pharaoh, and
they did just as the Lord had commanded. And Aaron took
the staff in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and it was
turned into a snake. {7:11} Then Pharaoh called the wise
men and the sorcerers. And they also, by Egyptian
incantations and certain secrets, did similarly. {7:12} And
each one cast down their staffs, and they were turned into
serpents. But the staff of Aaron devoured their staffs.
{7:13} And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did
not listen to them, just as the Lord had instructed.
{7:14} Then the Lord said to Moses: “The heart of Pharaoh
has been hardened; he is not willing to release the people.
{7:15} Go to him in the morning; behold, he will go out to
the waters. And you will stand to meet him above the bank of
the river. And you will take, in your hand, the staff that was
turned into a serpent. {7:16} And you will say to him: ‘The
Lord God of the Hebrews sent me to you, saying: Release my
people in order to sacrifice to me in the desert. And even until
the present time, you were not willing to listen.
{7:17} Therefore, thus says the Lord: In this you will know
that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike, with the staff that is
in my hand, the water of the river, and it will be turned into
blood. {7:18} Also, the fishes that are in the river will die,
and the waters will be polluted, and the Egyptians will be
afflicted when they drink the water of the river.’ ” {7:19} The
Lord also said to Moses: “Say to Aaron: ‘Take your staff; and
extend your hand over the waters of Egypt, and over their
rivers and streams and marshes and all the pools of waters, so
that they may be turned into blood. And let there be blood
throughout all the land of Egypt, as much in vessels of wood
as in those of stone.’ ” {7:20} And Moses and Aaron did just
as the Lord had instructed. And lifting up the staff, he struck
the water of the river in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants.
And it was turned into blood. {7:21} And the fishes that were
in the river died, and the river was polluted, and the
Egyptians were not able to drink the water of the river, and
there was blood throughout the entire land of Egypt.
{7:22} And the sorcerers of the Egyptians, with their
incantations, did similarly. And the heart of Pharaoh was
hardened, he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had
instructed. {7:23} And he turned himself away, and he
entered his house, neither did he apply his heart to this turn
of events. {7:24} Then all the Egyptians dug along the
borders of the river for water to drink. For they were not able
to drink from the water of the river. {7:25} And seven days
were completed, after the Lord struck the river.


[Exodus 8] {8:1} The Lord also said to Moses: “Enter to
Pharaoh, and you will say to him: ‘Thus says the Lord:
Release my people in order to sacrifice to me. {8:2} But if
you are not willing to release them, behold, I will strike all
your coasts with frogs. {8:3} And the river will seethe with
frogs, which will go up and enter into your house, and your
bedroom, and upon your bed, and into the houses of your
servants and your people, and into your ovens, and into the
remains of your foods. {8:4} And to you, and to your people,
and to all your servants, the frogs will enter.’ ” {8:5} And the
Lord said to Moses: “Say to Aaron: ‘Extend your hand over
the rivers, and also over the streams and the marshes, and
bring forth frogs over the land of Egypt.’ ” {8:6} And Aaron
extended his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs
came up and covered the land of Egypt. {8:7} Then the
sorcerers also, by their incantations, did similarly, and they
brought forth frogs upon the land of Egypt. {8:8} But
Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and he said to them: “Pray
to the Lord, so as to take away the frogs from me and from
my people. And I will release the people, so as to sacrifice to
the Lord.” {8:9} And Moses said to Pharaoh: “Appoint for
me a time, when I should petition on behalf of you, and your
servants, and your people, so that the frogs may be driven
away from you, and from your house, and from your servants,
and from your people, and so that they may remain only in
the river.” {8:10} And he responded, “Tomorrow.” Then he
said, “I will act according to your word, so that you may
know that there is no one like the Lord our God. {8:11} And
the frogs will withdraw from you, and from your house, and
from your servants, and from your people. And they will
remain only in the river.” {8:12} And Moses and Aaron
departed from Pharaoh. And Moses cried out to the Lord on
behalf of the promise that he had made to Pharaoh
concerning the frogs. {8:13} And the Lord acted according to
the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, and
out of the villages, and out of the fields. {8:14} And they
gathered them together into immense piles, and the land was
polluted. {8:15} Then Pharaoh, seeing that relief had been
provided, hardened his own heart, and he did not listen to
them, just as the Lord had instructed. {8:16} And the Lord
said to Moses: “Say to Aaron: ‘Extend your staff and strike
the dust of the earth. And let there be stinging insects
throughout the entire the land of Egypt.’ ” {8:17} And they
did so. And Aaron extended his hand, holding the staff, and
he struck the dust of the earth, and there came stinging
insects upon men and upon beasts. All the dust of the earth
was turned into stinging insects through all the land of Egypt.
{8:18} And the sorcerers, with their incantations, did
similarly, in order to bring forth stinging insects, but they
were not able. And there were stinging insects, as much on
men as on beasts. {8:19} And the sorcerers said to Pharaoh:
“This is the finger of God.” And the heart of Pharaoh was
hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had
instructed. {8:20} The Lord also said to Moses: “Arise at first
light, and stand in the sight of Pharaoh, for he will go out to
the waters. And you will say to him: ‘Thus says the Lord:
Release my people to sacrifice to me. {8:21} But if you will
not release them, behold, I will send upon you, and upon
your servants, and upon your people, and into your houses,
diverse kinds of flies. And the houses of the Egyptians will be
filled with diverse kinds of flies, as well as the whole land in
which they will be. {8:22} And in that day, I will cause a
miracle in the land of Goshen, where my people are, so that
flies will not be there. And you will know that I am the Lord
in the midst of the earth. {8:23} And I will set a division
between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will
be.’ ” {8:24} And the Lord did so. And there came very
grievous flies into the houses of Pharaoh and of his servants,
and into all the land of Egypt. And the land was polluted, in
this way, by the flies. {8:25} And Pharaoh called Moses and
Aaron, and he said to them, “Go and sacrifice to your God in
this land.” {8:26} And Moses said: “It cannot be so. For we
will immolate the abominations of the Egyptians to the Lord
our God. For if we slaughter those things which the
Egyptians worship, in their presence, they will stone us.
{8:27} We will sojourn three days’ journey into the
wilderness. And we will sacrifice to the Lord our God, just as
he has instructed us.” {8:28} And Pharaoh said: “I will
release you in order to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the
desert. Yet you may only go so far. Petition for me.”
{8:29} And Moses said: “After departing from you, I will
pray to the Lord. And the flies will withdraw from Pharaoh,
and from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Yet
do not be willing to deceive any longer, so that you would
not release the people to sacrifice to the Lord.” {8:30} And
Moses, departing from Pharaoh, prayed to the Lord.
{8:31} And he acted according to his word. And he took
away the flies from Pharaoh, and from his servants, and from
his people. There was not even one left behind. {8:32} And
the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, so that, even at this turn,
he would not release the people.


[Exodus 9] {9:1} Then the Lord said to Moses: “Enter to
Pharaoh, and say to him: ‘Thus says the Lord God of the
Hebrews: Release my people, to sacrifice to me. {9:2} But if
you still refuse, and you retain them, {9:3} behold, my hand
will be over your fields. And a very grievous pestilence will
be upon the horses, and the donkeys, and the camels, and the
oxen, and the sheep. {9:4} And the Lord will cause a miracle
between the possessions of Israel and the possessions of the
Egyptians, so that nothing at all will perish from those things
which belong to the sons of Israel.” {9:5} And the Lord
appointed a time, saying: “Tomorrow, the Lord will
accomplish this word in the land.” {9:6} Therefore, the Lord
accomplished this word the next day. And all the animals of
the Egyptians died. Yet truly, of the animals of the sons of
Israel, nothing at all perished. {9:7} And Pharaoh sent to see;
neither was there anything dead of those things that Israel
possessed. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he
did not release the people. {9:8} And the Lord said to Moses
and to Aaron: “Take handfuls of ashes from the oven, and let
Moses sprinkle it into the air, in the sight of Pharaoh.
{9:9} And let there be dust upon all the land of Egypt. For
there will be sores and swelling pustules on men and on
beasts, throughout the entire land of Egypt.” {9:10} And they
took ashes from the oven, and they stood in the sight of
Pharaoh, and Moses sprinkled it in the air. And there came
sores with swelling pustules on men and on beasts.
{9:11} Neither could the sorcerers stand in the sight of Moses,
because of the sores that were on them and on all the land of
Egypt. {9:12} And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh,
and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord said to Moses.
{9:13} And the Lord said to Moses: “Rise up in the morning,
and stand in the sight of Pharaoh, and you will say to him:
‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: Release my people
to sacrifice to me. {9:14} For at this turn, I will send all my
plagues upon your heart, and upon your servants, and upon
your people. So may you know that there is no one like me in
all the earth. {9:15} For now, extending my hand, I shall
strike you and your people with pestilence, and you will
perish from the earth. {9:16} But it was for this reason that I
appointed you, so that I may reveal my strength by you, and
so that my name may be described throughout all the earth.
{9:17} Do you still retain my people, and are you still
unwilling to release them? {9:18} So then, tomorrow, at this
same hour, I will rain down exceedingly great hail, such as
has not been in Egypt from the day that it was founded, even
until this present time. {9:19} Therefore, send immediately
and gather together your cattle, and all that you have in the
field. For men and beasts, and all things that will be found
outside, not gathered in from the fields, and on which the hail
will fall, shall die.’ ” {9:20} He who feared the word of the
Lord among the servants of Pharaoh caused his servants and
cattle to flee together into the houses. {9:21} But he who
neglected the word of the Lord released his servants and
cattle into the fields. {9:22} And the Lord said to Moses:
“Extend your hand into the sky, so that there may be hail in
the entire land of Egypt, on men, and on beasts, and on every
plant of the field in the land of Egypt.” {9:23} And Moses
extended his staff into the sky, and the Lord sent thunder and
hail, and also lightning dashing across the earth. And the
Lord rained down hail upon the land of Egypt. {9:24} And
the hail and intermingled fire drove on together. And it was
of such magnitude as had never before been seen in the entire
land of Egypt, from the time when that nation was formed.
{9:25} And the hail struck, throughout all the land of Egypt,
everything that was in the fields, from man even to beast.
And the hail struck down every plant of the field, and it broke
every tree of the region. {9:26} Only in the land of Goshen,
where the sons of Israel were, did the hail not fall.
{9:27} And Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron,
saying to them: “I have sinned even until now. The Lord is
just. I and my people are impious. {9:28} Pray to the Lord,
so that the thundering of God and the hail may cease, so that
I may release you, and so that you may by no means remain
here any longer.” {9:29} Moses said: “When I have departed
from the city, I will extend my hands to the Lord, and the
thunders will cease, and the hail will not be, so that you may
know that the earth belongs to the Lord. {9:30} But I know
that both you and your servants do not yet fear the Lord
God.” {9:31} And so, the flax and the barley were damaged,
because the barley was growing, and the flax was already
developing grains. {9:32} But the wheat and the spelt were
not damaged, because they were late. {9:33} And Moses,
departing from Pharaoh out of the city, reached out his hands
toward the Lord. And the thunders and hail ceased, neither
did there drop any more rain upon the land. {9:34} Then
Pharaoh, seeing that the rain, and the hail, and the thunders
had ceased, added to his sin. {9:35} And his heart was
weighed down, along with that of his servants, and it was
hardened exceedingly. Neither did he release the sons of
Israel, just as the Lord had instructed by the hand of Moses.


[Exodus 10] {10:1} And the Lord said to Moses: “Enter to
Pharaoh. For I have hardened his heart, and that of his
servants, so that I may accomplish these, my signs, in him,
{10:2} and so that you may describe to the ears of your sons
and your grandsons how often I opposed the Egyptians and
wrought my signs among them, and so that you may know
that I am the Lord.” {10:3} Therefore, Moses and Aaron
entered to Pharaoh, and they said to him: “Thus says the
Lord God of the Hebrews: How long will you be unwilling to
be subject to me? Release my people to sacrifice to me.
{10:4} But if you resist, and you are unwilling to release them,
behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your borders.
{10:5} And they shall cover the face of the earth, lest any part
of it be seen. Yes, and what remains from the hail shall be
eaten. For they will gnaw away all the trees that spring up in
the fields. {10:6} And they will fill your houses, and those of
your servants and of all the Egyptians: so many as your
fathers and ancestors have not seen, from the time that they
rose up over the earth, even until this present day.” And he
turned himself away, and he departed from Pharaoh.
{10:7} Then the servants of Pharaoh said to him: “How long
must we endure this scandal? Release the men, in order to
sacrifice to the Lord their God. Do you not see that Egypt is
perishing?” {10:8} And they called back Moses and Aaron to
Pharaoh, who said to them: “Go, sacrifice to the Lord your
God. Who are they who would go?” {10:9} Moses said: “We
will travel with our little ones and our elderly, with our sons
and daughters, with our sheep and herds. For it is a solemnity
of the Lord our God.” {10:10} And Pharaoh responded: “So
let the Lord be with you. But if I were to release you and your
little ones, who would doubt that you intend some great
wickedness? {10:11} It will not be so. However, go only with
the men, and sacrifice to the Lord. For this, too, is what you
yourselves requested.” And immediately they were cast out
from the sight of Pharaoh. {10:12} Then the Lord said to
Moses: “Extend your hand over the land of Egypt, toward
the locusts, so that they may rise up over it, and devour every
plant which remains from the hail.” {10:13} And Moses
extended his staff over the land of Egypt. And the Lord
brought a burning wind all that day and night. And when
morning came, the burning wind lifted up the locusts.
{10:14} And they ascended over the entire land of Egypt.
And they settled into all the parts of the Egyptians:
innumerable, such as had not been before that time, nor ever
would be thereafter. {10:15} And they covered the entire face
of the land, laying waste to all things. And the plants of the
land were devoured, along with whatever fruits were on the
trees, which the hail had left behind. And nothing at all of the
greenery remained on the trees or on the plants of the earth in
all of Egypt. {10:16} For this reason, Pharaoh hurriedly
called Moses and Aaron, and he said to them: “I have sinned
against the Lord your God, and against you. {10:17} But
now, release me from my sin even this time, and petition the
Lord your God, so that he may take this death away from
me.” {10:18} And Moses, departing from the sight of
Pharaoh, prayed to the Lord. {10:19} And he caused a very
strong wind to blow from the west, and, seizing the locusts, it
cast them into the Red Sea. There remained not so much as
one in all the parts of Egypt. {10:20} And the Lord hardened
the heart of Pharaoh; neither did he release the sons of Israel.
{10:21} Then the Lord said to Moses: “Extend your hand
into the sky. And let there be a darkness over the land of
Egypt, so dense that they may be able to feel it.” {10:22} And
Moses extended his hand into the sky. And there came a
horrible darkness in the entire land of Egypt for three days.
{10:23} No one saw his brother, nor moved himself out of
the place where he was. But wherever the sons of Israel were
living, there was light. {10:24} And Pharaoh called Moses
and Aaron, and he said to them: “Go, sacrifice to the Lord.
Only let your sheep and herds remain behind. Your little ones
may go with you.” {10:25} Moses said: “You must also
permit us victims and holocausts, which we may offer to the
Lord our God. {10:26} All the flocks shall travel with us. Not
one hoof of them shall remain behind. For they are necessary
for the worship of the Lord our God, especially since we do
not know what ought to be immolated, until we arrive at the
very place.” {10:27} But the Lord hardened the heart of
Pharaoh, and he was not willing to release them.
{10:28} And Pharaoh said to Moses: “Withdraw from me,
and beware that you no longer see my face. On whatever day
you will appear in my sight, you shall die.” {10:29} Moses
responded: “So be it, just as you have said. I will no longer
see your face.”


[Exodus 11] {11:1} And the Lord said to Moses: “I will
touch Pharaoh and Egypt with one more plague, and after
these things he will release you, and he will compel you to go
out. {11:2} Therefore, you will tell all the people to ask, a
man of his friend, and a woman of her neighbor, for vessels
of silver and of gold. {11:3} Then the Lord will grant favor to
his people in the sight of the Egyptians.” And Moses was a
very great man in the land of Egypt, in the sight of the
servants of Pharaoh and of all the people. {11:4} And he said:
“Thus says the Lord: ‘In the middle of the night I will enter
into Egypt. {11:5} And every firstborn in the land of the
Egyptians shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits
on his throne, even to the firstborn of the handmaid, who is
at the millstone, and all the firstborn of the beasts of burden.
{11:6} And there will be a great outcry throughout the entire
land of Egypt, such as has not been before, nor ever will be
afterward. {11:7} But among all the sons of Israel there shall
not be even a mutter from a dog, from man, even to cattle, so
that you may know how miraculously the Lord divides the
Egyptians from Israel.’ {11:8} And all these, your servants,
shall descend to me and shall reverence me, by saying:
‘Depart, you and all the people who are subject to you.’ After
these things, we will depart.” {11:9} And he went out from
Pharaoh exceedingly angry. Then the Lord said to Moses:
“Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that many signs may be
accomplished in the land of Egypt.” {11:10} Now Moses and
Aaron did all the wonders that are written, in the sight of
Pharaoh. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh;
neither did he release the sons of Israel from his land.


[Exodus 12] {12:1} The Lord also said to Moses and Aaron
in the land of Egypt: {12:2} “This month will be for you the
beginning of the months. It will be first in the months of the
year. {12:3} Speak to the entire assembly of the sons of Israel,
and say to them: On the tenth day of this month, let everyone
take a lamb, by their families and houses. {12:4} But if the
number is less than may suffice to be able to consume the
lamb, he shall accept his neighbor, who has been joined with
his house according to the number of souls that may suffice
to be able to eat the lamb. {12:5} And it shall be a lamb
without blemish, a one year old male. According to this rite,
you shall also take a young goat. {12:6} And you shall keep it
until the fourteenth day of this month. And the entire
multitude of the sons of Israel shall immolate it toward
evening. {12:7} And they shall take from its blood, and place
it on both the door posts and the upper threshold of the
houses, in which they will consume it. {12:8} And that night
they shall eat the flesh, roasted by fire, and unleavened bread
with wild lettuce. {12:9} You shall not consume anything
from it raw, nor boiled in water, but only roasted by fire. You
shall devour the head with its feet and entrails.
{12:10} Neither shall there remain anything from it until
morning. If anything will have been left over, you shall burn
it with fire. {12:11} Now you shall consume it in this way:
You shall gird your waist, and you shall have shoes on your
feet, holding staves in your hands, and you shall consume it
in haste. For it is the Passover (that is, the Crossing) of the
Lord. {12:12} And I will cross through the land of Egypt that
night, and I will strike down all the firstborn in the land of
Egypt, from man, even to cattle. And I will bring judgments
against all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. {12:13} But the
blood will be for you as a sign in the buildings where you will
be. And I will see the blood, and I will pass over you. And
the plague will not be with you to destroy, when I strike the
land of Egypt. {12:14} Then you shall have this day as a
memorial, and you shall celebrate it as a solemnity to the
Lord, in your generations, as an everlasting devotion.
{12:15} For seven days, you shall eat unleavened bread. On
the first day there shall be no leaven in your houses. Whoever
will consume anything leavened, from the first day, even
until the seventh day, that soul shall perish from Israel.
{12:16} The first day shall be holy and solemn, and the
seventh day shall be venerated with the same festivity. You
shall do no work in these days, except that which pertains to
the eating. {12:17} And you shall observe the feast of
unleavened bread. For on this same day, I will lead your
army out of the land of Egypt, and you shall keep this day, in
your generations, as a perpetual ritual. {12:18} In the first
month, on the fourteenth day of the month, toward evening,
you shall consume the unleavened bread, until the twenty-
first day of the same month, toward evening. {12:19} For
seven days, there shall not be found leaven in your houses.
Whoever will eat leaven, his soul will perish from the
assembly of Israel, as much with the newcomers as with the
natives of the land. {12:20} You shall not consume any
leaven. In all your dwelling places, you shall eat unleavened
bread.” {12:21} Then Moses called all the elders of the sons
of Israel, and he said to them: “Go, taking an animal by your
families, and sacrifice the Passover. {12:22} And dip a little
bundle of hyssop in the blood which is at the entrance, and
sprinkle the upper threshold with it, and both of the door
posts. Let none of you go out of the door of his house until
morning. {12:23} For the Lord will cross through, striking
the Egyptians. And when he will see the blood on the upper
threshold, and on both the door posts, he will pass over the
door of the house and not permit the Striker to enter into
your houses or to do harm.
{12:24} You shall keep this word as a law for you and for
your sons, forever. {12:25} And when you have entered into
the land that the Lord will give to you, just as he has
promised, you shall observe these ceremonies. {12:26} And
when your sons will say to you, ‘What is the meaning of this
religious observance?’ {12:27} You shall say to them: ‘It is
the victim of the crossing of the Lord, when he passed over
the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt, striking the
Egyptians, and freeing our houses.’ ” And the people, bowing
down, worshipped. {12:28} And the sons of Israel, departing,
did just as the Lord had instructed Moses and Aaron.
{12:29} Then it happened, in the middle of the night: the
Lord struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from
the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, even to the
firstborn of the captive woman who was in prison, and all the
firstborn of the cattle. {12:30} And Pharaoh rose up in the
night, and all his servants, and all of Egypt. And there arose a
great outcry in Egypt. For there was not a house in which no
one lay dead. {12:31} And Pharaoh, calling Moses and
Aaron in the night, said: “Rise up and go forth from among
my people, you and the sons of Israel. Go, sacrifice to the
Lord, just as you say. {12:32} Your sheep and herds take
along with you, as you requested, and as you go away, bless
me.” {12:33} And the Egyptians urged the people to go away
from the land quickly, saying, “We will all die.”
{12:34} Therefore, the people took bread dough before it was
leavened. And tying it in their cloaks, they placed it on their
shoulders. {12:35} And the sons of Israel did just as Moses
had instructed. And they petitioned the Egyptians for vessels
of silver and of gold, and very many garments. {12:36} Then
the Lord granted favor to the people in the sight of the
Egyptians, so that they bestowed on them. And they
despoiled the Egyptians. {12:37} And the sons of Israel set
out from Rameses to Soccoth, about six hundred thousand
men on foot, besides little ones. {12:38} But also an
innumerable mix of common people ascended with them,
sheep and herds and animals of diverse kinds, exceedingly
many. {12:39} And they baked the bread, which a little while
ago they had taken out of Egypt as dough. And they made
unleavened bread baked under ashes. For it was not able to
be leavened, with the Egyptians compelling them to leave
and not permitting them to cause any delay. Neither did they
have occasion to prepare any meat. {12:40} Now the
habitation of the sons of Israel, while they remained in Egypt,
was four hundred and thirty years. {12:41} Having been
completed, on the same day all the army of the Lord departed
from the land of Egypt. {12:42} This night is a worthy
observance of the Lord, when he led them out of the land of
Egypt. This all the sons of Israel must observe in their
generations. {12:43} And the Lord said to Moses and to
Aaron: “This is the religious observance of the Passover. No
foreigner shall eat from it. {12:44} But every bought servant
shall be circumcised, and so he may eat from it. {12:45} The
newcomer and the hired hand shall not eat from it.
{12:46} In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry its
flesh outside, nor shall you break its bone. {12:47} The entire
assembly of the sons of Israel shall do this. {12:48} And if
any sojourner will be willing to cross over into your
settlement, and to keep the Passover of the Lord, all his males
shall first be circumcised, and then he shall celebrate the rite.
And he shall be just like a native of the land. But if any man
is not circumcised, he shall not eat from it. {12:49} The law
shall be the same for the native born and for the settler who
sojourns with you.” {12:50} And all the sons of Israel did just
as the Lord had instructed Moses and Aaron. {12:51} And
on the same day, the Lord led the sons of Israel out of the
land of Egypt by their companies.


[Exodus 13] {13:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{13:2} “Sanctify to me every firstborn which opens the womb
among the sons of Israel, as much of men as of cattle. For
they are all mine.” {13:3} And Moses said to the people:
“Remember this day, on which you were taken away from
Egypt and from the house of servitude. For with a strong
hand the Lord has led you away from this place. Thus, you
shall eat no leavened bread. {13:4} Today, you go forth in the
month of new grain. {13:5} And when the Lord has brought
you into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the
Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to
your fathers that he would give to you, a land flowing with
milk and honey, you will celebrate this manner of sacred rites
in this month. {13:6} For seven days, you shall feed on
unleavened bread. And on the seventh day, it will be the
solemnity of the Lord. {13:7} You shall consume unleavened
bread for seven days. There shall not be seen anything
leavened with you, nor in all your parts. {13:8} And you will
explain to your son in that day, saying: ‘This is what the Lord
did for me when I was taken away from Egypt.’ {13:9} And
it will be like a sign in your hand and like a memorial before
your eyes. And so may the law of the Lord be always in your
mouth. For with a strong hand, the Lord led you away from
the land of Egypt. {13:10} You will keep this observance, at
the established time, from day to day. {13:11} And when the
Lord has brought you into the land of the Canaanite, just as
he swore to you and to your fathers, and when he will give it
you, {13:12} then you shall set aside for the Lord all that
opens the womb and all that is first to go forth among your
cattle. Whatever you will have of the male sex, you shall
consecrate to the Lord. {13:13} The firstborn of a donkey you
will exchange for a sheep. And if you will not redeem it, you
shall put it to death. But every firstborn of man among your
sons, you shall redeem with a price. {13:14} And when your
son will question you tomorrow, saying, ‘What is this?’ you
will respond, ‘With a strong hand the Lord led us away from
the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude. {13:15} For
when Pharaoh had been hardened and was unwilling to
release us, the Lord killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt,
from the firstborn of man, even to the firstborn of beasts. For
this reason, I immolate to the Lord all of the male sex that
opens the womb, and all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’
{13:16} Therefore, it will be like a sign in your hand and like
something hanging between your eyes as a remembrance,
because with a strong hand the Lord has led us away from
Egypt.” {13:17} And so, when Pharaoh had sent the people
away, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the
Philistines, which is nearby, considering that perhaps they
might relapse, if they saw wars rise up against them, and then
they might return to Egypt. {13:18} But he led them around
by the way of the desert, which is next to the Red Sea. And
so the sons of Israel ascended, armed, out of the land of
Egypt. {13:19} Also, Moses took the bones of Joseph with
him, because he had sworn to the sons of Israel, saying:
“God will visit you. Carry my bones away from here with
you.” {13:20} And setting out from Soccoth, they encamped
at Etham, in the most distant parts of the wilderness.
{13:21} Now the Lord preceded them to show them the way,
by day with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire,
so that he might be the leader of their journey at both times.
{13:22} These never failed: a pillar of cloud by day, and a
pillar of fire by night, in the sight of the people.


[Exodus 14] {14:1} Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{14:2} “Speak to the sons of Israel. Let them turn back and
encamp away from the region of Pihahiroth, which is
between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal-zephon. In its
sight you shall place your camp, above the sea. {14:3} And
Pharaoh will say about the sons of Israel, ‘They have been
confined by the land; the desert has enclosed them.’
{14:4} And I will harden his heart, and so he will pursue you.
And I will be glorified in Pharaoh, and in all his army. And
the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.
{14:5} And it was reported to the king of the Egyptians that
the people had fled. And the heart of Pharaoh and of his
servants was changed about the people, and they said, “What
did we intend to do, so that we released Israel from serving
us?” {14:6} Therefore, he harnessed his chariot, and he took
all his people with him. {14:7} And he took six hundred
chosen chariots, and whatever chariots were in Egypt, and
also the leaders of the whole army. {14:8} And the Lord
hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he
pursued the sons of Israel. But they were taken away by an
exalted hand. {14:9} And when the Egyptians followed the
footsteps of those who preceded them, they found them in a
camp above the sea. All the horses and chariots of Pharaoh,
and the entire army, were in Pihahiroth, opposite Baal-
zephon. {14:10} And when Pharaoh had drawn near, the
sons of Israel, lifting up their eyes, saw the Egyptians behind
them. And they were very afraid. And they cried out to the
Lord. {14:11} And they said to Moses: “Perhaps there were
no graves in Egypt, for which reason you took us to die in the
wilderness. What is it that you intended to do, in leading us
out of Egypt? {14:12} Is this not the word that we spoke to
you in Egypt, saying: Withdraw from us, so that we may
serve the Egyptians? For it was much better to serve them,
than to die in the wilderness.” {14:13} And Moses said to the
people: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and see the great
wonders of the Lord, which he will do today. For the
Egyptians, whom you now see, will never again be seen,
forever. {14:14} The Lord will fight on your behalf, and you
will remain silent.” {14:15} And the Lord said to Moses:
“Why cry out to me? Tell the sons of Israel to continue on.
{14:16} Now, lift up your staff, and extend your hand over
the sea and divide it, so that the sons of Israel may walk
through the midst of the sea on dry ground. {14:17} Then I
will harden the heart of the Egyptians, so as to pursue you.
And I will be glorified in Pharaoh, and in all his army, and in
his chariots, and in his horsemen. {14:18} And the Egyptians
will know that I am the Lord, when I will be glorified in
Pharaoh, and in his chariots, as well as in his horsemen.”
{14:19} And the Angel of God, who preceded the camp of
Israel, lifting himself up, went behind them. And the pillar of
cloud, together with him, left the front for the rear
{14:20} and stood between the camp of the Egyptians and
the camp of Israel. And it was a dark cloud, yet it illuminated
the night, so that they could not succeed at approaching one
another at any time all that night. {14:21} And when Moses
had extended his hand over the sea, the Lord took it away by
an intense burning wind, blowing throughout the night, and
he turned it into dry ground. And the water was divided.
{14:22} And the sons of Israel went in through the midst of
the dried sea. For the water was like a wall at their right hand
and at their left hand. {14:23} And the Egyptians, pursuing
them, went in after them, along with all of the horses of
Pharaoh, his chariots and horsemen, through the midst of the
sea. {14:24} And now the morning watch had arrived, and
behold, the Lord, looking down upon the camp of the
Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of cloud, put to death
their army. {14:25} And he overturned the wheels of the
chariots, and they were carried into the deep. Therefore, the
Egyptians said: “Let us flee from Israel. For the Lord fights
on their behalf against us.” {14:26} And the Lord said to
Moses: “Extend your hand over the sea, so that the waters
may return on the Egyptians, over their chariots and
horsemen.” {14:27} And when Moses had extended his hand
opposite the sea, it was returned, at first light, to its former
place. And the fleeing Egyptians met with the waters, and the
Lord immersed them in the midst of the waves. {14:28} And
the waters were returned, and they covered the chariots and
horsemen of the entire army of Pharaoh, who, in following,
had entered into the sea. And not so much as one of them
was left alive. {14:29} But the sons of Israel continued
directly through the midst of the dried sea, and the waters
were to them like a wall on the right and on the left.
{14:30} And so the Lord freed Israel on that day from the
hand of the Egyptians. {14:31} And they saw the Egyptians
dead on the shore of the sea and the great hand that the Lord
had exercised against them. And the people feared the Lord,
and they believed in the Lord and in Moses his servant.


[Exodus 15] {15:1} Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang
this song to the Lord, and they said: “Let us sing to the Lord,
for he has been gloriously magnified: the horse and the rider
he has cast into the sea. {15:2} The Lord is my strength and
my praise, and he has become my salvation. He is my God,
and I shall glorify him. He is the God of my father, and I
shall exalt him. {15:3} The Lord is like a fighting man.
Almighty is his name. {15:4} The chariots of Pharaoh, and
his army, he has cast into the sea; his elect leaders have been
submerged in the Red Sea. {15:5} The abyss has covered
them. They descended into the depths like a stone.
{15:6} Your right hand, O Lord, has been magnified in
strength. Your right hand, O Lord, has struck down the
enemy. {15:7} And in the multitude of your glory you have
put down your adversaries. You sent out your wrath, which
devoured them like stubble. {15:8} And by the breath of your
fury, the waters were gathered together. The flowing waves
stood still. The abyss was gathered into the midst of the sea.
{15:9} The enemy said: ‘I will pursue and overtake them. I
will divide the spoils. My soul will be filled. I will unsheathe
my sword. My hand will put them to death.’ {15:10} Your
breath blew, and the sea covered them. They were submerged
like lead into the mighty waters. {15:11} Who is like you in
strength, O Lord? Who is like you: magnificent in sanctity,
terrible and yet praiseworthy, accomplishing miracles?
{15:12} You extended your hand, and the earth devoured
them. {15:13} In your mercy, you have been a leader to the
people whom you have redeemed. And in your strength, you
have carried them to your holy dwelling place.
{15:14} Peoples rose up and became angry. Sorrows took
hold of the inhabitants of Philistia. {15:15} Then the leaders
of Edom were stirred up, and trembling took hold of the
robust of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan were petrified.
{15:16} Let fear and dread fall upon them, by the magnitude
of your arm. Let them become immobilized like stone, until
your people cross through, O Lord, until this, your people
whom you possess, cross through. {15:17} You shall lead
them in and plant them, on the mountain of your inheritance,
in your most firm dwelling place, which you have formed, O
Lord, your sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have made
firm. {15:18} The Lord will reign in eternity and beyond.
{15:19} For the rider Pharaoh, with his chariots and
horsemen, was brought into the sea. And the Lord brought
back upon them the waters of the sea. But the sons of Israel
walked across dry ground in its midst.” {15:20} And so
Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took up a timbrel
in her hand. And all the women followed her with timbrels
and dancing. {15:21} And she prophesied, saying: “Let us
sing to the Lord, for he has been gloriously magnified. The
horse and its rider, he has thrown into the sea.” {15:22} Then
Moses took Israel from the Red Sea, and they went forth into
the desert of Shur. And they wandered for three days through
the wilderness, and they found no water. {15:23} And they
arrived at Marah. They were unable to drink the waters of
Marah because they were bitter. Therefore, he also
established a name befitting the place, calling it ‘Marah,’ that
is, bitterness. {15:24} And the people murmured against
Moses, saying: “What shall we drink?” {15:25} So he cried
out to the Lord, who showed him a tree. And when he had
cast it into the waters, they were turned into sweetness. In
that place, he established instructions for him, and also
judgments. And he tested him there, {15:26} saying: “If you
will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is
right in his sight, and obey his commands, and keep all his
precepts, I will not bring upon you any of the distress that I
imposed on Egypt. For I am the Lord, your healer.”
{15:27} Then the sons of Israel arrived in Elim, where there
were twelve fountains of water and seventy palm trees. And
they camped next to the waters.


[Exodus 16] {16:1} And they set out from Elim. And the
entire multitude of the sons of Israel arrived at the desert of
Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of
the second month, after they departed from the land of Egypt.
{16:2} And the entire congregation of the sons of Israel
murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
{16:3} And the sons of Israel said to them: “If only we had
died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we
sat around bowls of meat and ate bread until filled. Why have
you led us away, into this desert, so that you might kill the
entire multitude with famine?” {16:4} Then the Lord said to
Moses: “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you.
Let the people go out and collect what is sufficient for each
day, so that I may test them, as to whether or not they will
walk in my law. {16:5} But on the sixth day, let them prepare
what they use for carrying, and let there be double what they
were accustomed to collect on a single day.” {16:6} And
Moses and Aaron said to the sons of Israel: “In the evening,
you will know that the Lord has led you away from the land
of Egypt. {16:7} And in the morning, you will see the glory
of the Lord. For he has heard your murmuring against the
Lord. But as for us, truly what are we, that you would
whisper against us?” {16:8} And Moses said: “In the evening,
the Lord will give you flesh to eat, and in the morning, bread
in fullness. For he has heard your murmurings that you have
murmured against him. For what are we? Your murmuring is
not against us, but against the Lord.” {16:9} Moses also said
to Aaron: “Say to the whole congregation of the sons of
Israel, ‘Approach before the Lord. For he has heard your
murmuring.’ ” {16:10} And when Aaron spoke to the entire
assembly of the sons of Israel, they looked out toward the
wilderness. And behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in a
cloud. {16:11} Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{16:12} “I have heard the murmuring of the sons of Israel.
Say to them: ‘In the evening, you will eat flesh, and in the
morning, you will be filled with bread. And you shall know
that I am the Lord your God.’ ” {16:13} Therefore, it
happened in the evening: quails, rising up, covered the camp.
Likewise, in the morning, a dew lay all around the camp.
{16:14} And when it had covered the face of the earth, it
appeared, in the wilderness, small and as if crushed with a
pestle, similar to hoar-frost on the ground. {16:15} When the
sons of Israel had seen it, they said one to another: “Manhu?”
which means “What is this?” For they did not know what it
was. And Moses said to them: “This is the bread that the
Lord has given you to eat. {16:16} This is the word that the
Lord has instructed. Let each one collect as much of it as is
sufficient to eat. One omer for each head. According to the
number of your souls which live in a tent, so will you take of
it.” {16:17} And the sons of Israel did so. And they collected:
some more, others less. {16:18} And they measured by the
measure of an omer. He who collected more, did not have
too much; nor did he who prepared less, find too little. But
each one gathered according to what they were able to eat.
{16:19} And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it
behind until morning.” {16:20} And they did not listen to
him, but they left some of it behind until morning, and it
began to swarm with worms, and it putrefied. And Moses
became angry against them. {16:21} Then each one collected,
in the morning, as much as would be sufficient to eat. And
after the sun became hot, it melted. {16:22} But on the sixth
day, they collected a double portion, that is, two omers for
each man. Then all the leaders among the multitude came,
and they discoursed with Moses. {16:23} And he said to
them: “This is what the Lord has spoken: Tomorrow, the rest
day of the Sabbath, has been sanctified to the Lord. Whatever
would be done, do it now. And whatever would be cooked,
cook it now. Then anything that will have been left over,
store it until morning.” {16:24} And they did just as Moses
had instructed, and it did not putrefy, nor were there any
worms found in it. {16:25} And Moses said: “Eat it today,
because it is the Sabbath of the Lord. Today it will not be
found in the field. {16:26} Gather for six days. But on the
seventh day, it is the Sabbath of the Lord, for which reason it
will not be found.” {16:27} And the seventh day arrived. And
some of the people, going out to collect it, did not find it.
{16:28} Then the Lord said to Moses: “How long will you be
unwilling to keep my commandments and my law?
{16:29} See how the Lord has given you the Sabbath, and,
because of this, on the sixth day he distributes to you a
double portion. Let each one remain with his own, and let no
one go forth from his place on the seventh day.” {16:30} And
the people kept the Sabbath on the seventh day. {16:31} And
the house of Israel called its name ‘Manna.’ It was like white
coriander seed, and its taste was like wheat flour with honey.
{16:32} Then Moses said: “This is the word that the Lord has
instructed: Fill an omer of it, and let it be kept for future
generations hereafter, so that they may know the bread, with
which I nourished you in the wilderness, when you had been
led away from the land of Egypt.” {16:33} And Moses said to
Aaron, “Take one vessel, and put manna into it, as much as
an omer is able to hold. And store it in the sight of the Lord,
to keep for your generations, {16:34} just as the Lord
instructed Moses.” And so, Aaron placed it in the tabernacle,
in reserve. {16:35} Now the sons of Israel ate manna for forty
years, until they arrived in a habitable land. With this food
they were nourished, even until they touched the borders of
the land of Canaan. {16:36} Now an omer is a tenth part of
an ephah.


[Exodus 17] {17:1} And so, the entire multitude of the sons
of Israel, having set out from the desert of Sin in stages,
according to the word of the Lord, made camp at Rephidim,
where there was no water for the people to drink. {17:2} And
arguing against Moses, they said, “Give us water, so that we
may drink.” And Moses answered them: “Why argue against
me? For what reason do you tempt the Lord?” {17:3} And so
the people were thirsty in that place, due to the scarcity of
water, and they murmured against Moses, saying: “Why did
you cause us to go out of Egypt, so as to kill us and our
children, as well as our cattle, with thirst?” {17:4} Then
Moses cried out to the Lord, saying: “What shall I do with
this people? A little while more and they will stone me.”
{17:5} And the Lord said to Moses: “Go before the people,
and take with you some of the elders of Israel. And take in
your hand the staff, with which you struck the river, and
advance. {17:6} Lo, I will stand in that place before you, on
the rock of Horeb. And you shall strike the rock, and water
will go forth from it, so that the people may drink.” Moses
did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. {17:7} And he called
the name of that place ‘Temptation,’ because of the arguing
of the sons of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord,
saying: “Is the Lord with us, or not?” {17:8} And Amalek
came and fought against Israel at Rephidim. {17:9} And
Moses said to Joshua: “Choose men. And when you go out,
fight against Amalek. Tomorrow, I will stand at the top of the
hill, holding the staff of God in my hand.” {17:10} Joshua
did as Moses had spoken, and he fought against Amalek. But
Moses and Aaron and Hur ascended to the top of the hill.
{17:11} And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel prevailed.
But when he released them a little while, Amalek overcame.
{17:12} Then the hands of Moses became heavy. And so,
taking a stone, they placed it beneath him, and he sat on it.
Then Aaron and Hur sustained his hands from both sides.
And it happened that his hands did not tire until the setting of
the sun. {17:13} And Joshua put to flight Amalek and his
people by the edge of the sword. {17:14} Then the Lord said
to Moses: “Write this, as a memorial in a book, and deliver it
to the ears of Joshua. For I will wipe away the memory of
Amalek from under heaven.” {17:15} And Moses built an
altar. And he called its name, ‘The Lord, my Exaltation.’ For
he said: {17:16} “The hand of the throne of the Lord, and the
war of the Lord, will be against Amalek from generation to
generation.”


[Exodus 18] {18:1} And when Jethro, the priest of Midian,
the kinsman of Moses, had heard all that God had done for
Moses, and for his people Israel, and that the Lord had led
Israel away from Egypt, {18:2} he brought Zipporah, the wife
of Moses, whom he was to return to him, {18:3} and her two
sons, of whom one was called Gershom, (for his father said,
“I have been a newcomer in a foreign land,”) {18:4} and the
other in truth was Eliezer, (“For the God of my father,” he
said, “is my helper, and has rescued me from the sword of
Pharaoh.”) {18:5} And so Jethro, the kinsman of Moses,
with his sons and his wife, came to Moses in the desert,
where he was encamped next to the mountain of God.
{18:6} And he sent word to Moses, saying: “I, Jethro, your
kinsman, have come to you, with your wife, and your two
sons with her.” {18:7} And going out to meet his kinsman,
he reverenced and kissed him. And they saluted each other
with peaceful words. And when he had arrived at the tent,
{18:8} Moses explained to his kinsman all that the Lord had
done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians on behalf of Israel, and
all the hardships which had befallen them on the journey,
and how the Lord had freed them. {18:9} And Jethro was
gladdened over all the good that the Lord had done for Israel,
because he had rescued them from the hand of the Egyptians.
{18:10} And he said: “Blessed is the Lord, who has freed his
people from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of
Pharaoh; he has rescued his people from the hand of Egypt.
{18:11} Now I know that the great Lord is above all gods.
This is why they acted arrogantly against them.”
{18:12} And so Jethro, the kinsman of Moses, offered
holocausts and sacrifices to God. And Aaron arrived with all
the elders of Israel, in order to eat bread with him in the sight
of God. {18:13} Then, the next day, Moses sat down in order
to judge the people, and they stood beside Moses from
morning, even until evening. {18:14} And when, of course,
his kinsman saw all that he did among the people, he said:
“What is this that you do among the people? Why do you sit
alone, while all the people stand before you, from morning,
even until evening?” {18:15} And Moses answered him:
“The people come to me seeking the verdict of God.
{18:16} And when any kind of dispute occurs among them,
they come to me to judge between them, and to reveal the
precepts of God and of his laws.” {18:17} But he said, “This
is not good, what you are doing. {18:18} You will be
consumed by foolish efforts, both you and this people who
are with you. The task is beyond your strength; you will not
be able bear it alone. {18:19} But listen to my words and
counsels, and then God will be with you. Be available to the
people in that which pertains to God, so as to refer what they
say to him, {18:20} and to reveal to the people the
ceremonies, and the rituals of worship, and the way by which
they should progress, and the work that they should do.
{18:21} Then provide, from all of the people, men capable
and fearing God, in whom there is truth and who hate
avarice, and appoint from them tribunes, and leaders of
hundreds, and of fifties, and of tens, {18:22} who may judge
the people at all times. Then, when anything greater will have
occurred, they may refer it to you, and let them judge the
lesser matters only. And so it may be lighter for you, the
burden being divided among others. {18:23} If you will do
this, you will fulfill the orders of God, and you will be able to
uphold his precepts. And this entire people will return to their
places in peace.” {18:24} Having heard this, Moses did
everything that he had suggested to him. {18:25} And
choosing virtuous men from all of Israel, he appointed them
as leaders of the people: tribunes, and leaders of hundreds,
and of fifties, and of tens. {18:26} And they judged the
people at all times. But whatever was more serious, they
referred to him, and they judged easier matters only.
{18:27} And he dismissed his kinsman, who, turning back,
went to his own land.


[Exodus 19] {19:1} In the third month of the departure of
Israel from the land of Egypt, in that day, they arrived in the
wilderness of Sinai. {19:2} Thus, setting out from Raphidim,
and going directly to the desert of Sinai, they encamped in
the same place, and there Israel pitched their tents away from
the region of the mountain. {19:3} Then Moses ascended to
God. And the Lord called to him from the mountain, and he
said: “This you shall say to the house of Jacob, and announce
to the sons of Israel: {19:4} ‘You have seen what I have done
to the Egyptians, in what way I carried you upon the wings of
eagles and how I have taken you for myself. {19:5} If,
therefore, you will hear my voice, and you will keep my
covenant, you will be to me a particular possession out of all
people. For all the earth is mine. {19:6} And you will be to
me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.’ These are the
words that you will speak to the sons of Israel.” {19:7} Moses
went, and calling together those greater by birth among the
people, he set forth all the words which the Lord had
commanded. {19:8} And all the people responded together:
“Everything that the Lord has spoken, we shall do.” And
when Moses had related the words of the people to the Lord,
{19:9} the Lord said to him: “Soon now, I will come to you
in the mist of a cloud, so that the people may hear me
speaking to you, and so that they may believe you
continuously.” Therefore, Moses reported the words of the
people to the Lord, {19:10} who said to him: “Go to the
people, and sanctify them today, and tomorrow, and let them
wash their garments. {19:11} And let them be prepared on
the third day. For on the third day, the Lord will descend, in
the sight of all the people, over Mount Sinai. {19:12} And
you will establish limits for the people all around, and you
will say to them: ‘Take care not to ascend to the mountain,
and that you do not touch its parts. All who touch the
mountain, shall die a death.’ {19:13} Hands shall not touch
him, but he shall be crushed with stones, or he shall be
pierced through with darts. Whether it be a beast or a man,
he shall not live. For when the trumpet begins to sound,
perhaps they might go up toward the mountain.”
{19:14} And Moses came down from the mountain to the
people, and he sanctified them. And when they had washed
their garments, {19:15} he said to them, “Be prepared on the
third day, and do not draw near to your wives.” {19:16} And
now, the third day arrived and the morning dawned. And
behold, thunders began to be heard, and also lightning
flashed, and a very dense cloud covered the mountain, and
the noise of the trumpet resounded vehemently. And the
people who were in the camp were fearful. {19:17} And
when Moses had led them out to meet God, from the place of
the camp, they stood at the base of the mountain.
{19:18} Then all of Mount Sinai was smoking. For the Lord
had descended over it with fire, and smoke ascended from it,
as from a furnace. And the entire mountain was terrible.
{19:19} And the sound of the trumpet gradually increased to
be louder, and extended to be longer. Moses was speaking,
and God was answering him. {19:20} And the Lord
descended over Mount Sinai, to the very top of the mountain,
and he called Moses to its summit. And when he had
ascended there, {19:21} he said to him: “Descend, and call
the people to witness, lest they might be willing to transgress
the limits, so as to see the Lord, and a very great multitude of
them might perish. {19:22} Likewise, the priests who
approach toward the Lord, let them be sanctified, lest he
strike them down.” {19:23} And Moses said to the Lord:
“The people are not able to ascend to Mount Sinai. For you
testified, and you commanded, saying: ‘Set limits around the
mountain, and sanctify it.’ ” {19:24} And the Lord said to
him, “Go, descend. And you shall ascend, and Aaron with
you. But let not the priests or the people transgress the limits,
nor ascend to the Lord, lest perhaps he may put them to
death.” {19:25} And Moses descended to the people, and he
explained everything to them.


[Exodus 20] {20:1} And the Lord spoke all these words:
{20:2} “I am the Lord your God, who led you away from the
land of Egypt, out of the house of servitude. {20:3} You shall
not have strange gods before me. {20:4} You shall not make
for yourself a graven image, nor a likeness of anything that is
in heaven above or on earth below, nor of those things which
are in the waters under the earth. {20:5} You shall not adore
them, nor shall you worship them. I am the Lord your God:
strong, zealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons
to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
{20:6} and showing mercy to thousands of those who love
me and keep my precepts. {20:7} You shall not take the
name of the Lord your God in vain. For the Lord will not
hold harmless one who takes the name of the Lord his God
falsely. {20:8} Remember that you are to sanctify the day of
the Sabbath. {20:9} For six days, you will work and
accomplish all your tasks. {20:10} But the seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work in
it: you and your son and your daughter, your male servant
and your female servant, your beast and the newcomer who
is within your gates. {20:11} For in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, and the sea, and all the things that are in
them, and so he rested on the seventh day. For this reason,
the Lord has blessed the day of the Sabbath and sanctified it.
{20:12} Honor your father and your mother, so that you may
have a long life upon the land, which the Lord your God will
give to you. {20:13} You shall not murder. {20:14} You shall
not commit adultery. {20:15} You shall not steal.
{20:16} You shall not speak false testimony against your
neighbor. {20:17} You shall not covet the house of your
neighbor; neither shall you desire his wife, nor male servant,
nor female servant, nor ox, nor donkey, nor anything that is
his.” {20:18} Then all the people considered the voices, and
the lights, and the sound of the trumpet, and the smoking
mountain. And being terrified and struck with fear, they
stood at a distance, {20:19} saying to Moses: “Speak to us,
and we will listen. Let not the Lord speak to us, lest perhaps
we may die.” {20:20} And Moses said to the people: “Do not
be afraid. For God came in order to test you, and so that the
dread of him might be with you, and you would not sin.”
{20:21} And the people stood far away. But Moses
approached toward the mist, in which was God.
{20:22} Thereafter, the Lord said to Moses: “This you shall
say to the sons of Israel: You have seen that I have spoken to
you from heaven. {20:23} You shall not make gods of silver,
nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. {20:24} You
shall make an altar from the earth for me, and you shall offer
upon it your holocausts and peace-offerings, your sheep and
oxen, in every place where the memory of my name shall be.
I will come to you, and I will bless you. {20:25} And if you
make an altar of stone for me, you shall not build it from cut
stones; for if you lift up a tool over it, it will be defiled.
{20:26} You shall not ascend by steps to my altar, lest your
nakedness be revealed.”


[Exodus 21] {21:1} “These are the judgments which you
shall place before them: {21:2} If you buy a Hebrew servant,
six years shall he serve you; in the seventh, he shall depart
freely, without charge. {21:3} With whatever clothing he
arrived, with the like let him depart. If he has a wife, his wife
also shall depart, at the same time. {21:4} But if his lord gave
him a wife, and she has borne sons and daughters, the
woman and her children shall belong to her lord. Yet still, he
himself will go out with his clothing. {21:5} And if the
servant will say, ‘I love my lord, and my wife and children, I
will not depart freely,’ {21:6} then his lord shall make an
offering for him to the heavens, and it shall be applied to the
door and the posts, and he will pierce his ear with an awl.
And he shall be his servant in perpetuity. {21:7} If anyone
sells his daughter to be a servant, she shall not depart as a
female servant is accustomed to go out. {21:8} If she
displeases the eyes of her lord, to whom she had been
delivered, he shall dismiss her. But he shall have no authority
to sell her to a foreign people, even if he despises her.
{21:9} But if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall treat her
according to the custom with daughters. {21:10} And if he
takes another for him, he shall provide to the maiden a
marriage, and clothing, and he shall not refuse the price of
her chastity. {21:11} If he does not do these three things, she
shall depart freely, without money. {21:12} Whoever strikes
a man, intending to murder, shall be put to death.
{21:13} But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God
delivered him into his hands, then I will appoint for you a
place to which he must flee. {21:14} If someone murders his
neighbor with deliberation, by lying in wait, you shall tear
him away from my altar, so that he may die.
{21:15} Whoever strikes his father or mother shall die a
death. {21:16} Whoever will have stolen a man and sold him,
having been convicted of the crime, shall be put to death.
{21:17} Whoever speaks evil of his father or mother shall die
a death. {21:18} If men will have quarreled, and one of them
has struck his neighbor with a stone or a fist, and he does not
die, but lies in bed, {21:19} if he gets up again and can walk
outside on his staff, he who struck him will be innocent, but
only if he makes sufficient restitution for his deeds and for the
cost of the physicians. {21:20} Whoever strikes his male or
female servant with a staff, and if they have died by his hands,
he shall be guilty of a crime. {21:21} But if he survives for
one day or two, he shall not be subject to punishment,
because it is his money. {21:22} If men will have quarreled,
and one of them has struck a pregnant woman, and as a
result she miscarries, but she herself survives, he shall be
subject to as much damage as the husband of the woman
shall petition from him, or as arbitrators shall judge.
{21:23} But if her death will have followed, he will repay a
life for a life, {21:24} an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a
hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, {21:25} a scrape for a
scrape, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise. {21:26} If
anyone will have struck the eye of his male or female servant,
having left them with one eye, he shall release them freely,
because of the eye that he has put out. {21:27} Likewise, if he
knocks out a tooth of his male or female servant, he shall
similarly release them freely. {21:28} If an ox has struck a
man or a woman with his horn, and if they die, it shall be
stoned. And its flesh shall not be eaten; also, the owner of the
ox will be innocent. {21:29} But if the ox had been pushing
with his horn, from yesterday and the day before, and they
warned his owner, but he did not confine it, and it will have
killed a man or a woman, then the ox shall be stoned, and his
owner shall be killed. {21:30} But if they have imposed a
price on him, he shall give, in exchange for his life, whatever
is asked. {21:31} Likewise, if it has struck a son or a daughter
with its horns, it shall be subject to a similar verdict.
{21:32} If it attacks a male or female servant, he shall give
thirty shekels of silver to their lord, yet truly the ox shall be
stoned. {21:33} If a man digs or opens a cistern, and does not
cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, {21:34} then the
owner of the cistern shall repay the price of the beasts, and
what is dead will belong to him. {21:35} If the ox of a
stranger wounds the ox of another, and it has died, then they
shall sell the live ox and divide the price, but the carcass of
the dead one they shall distribute between them. {21:36} But
if he knew that his ox had pushed with its horns, yesterday
and the day before, and its owner did not confine it, then he
shall repay an ox for an ox, and he will receive the whole
carcass.”


[Exodus 22] {22:1} “If anyone will have stolen an ox or a
sheep, and if he kills it or sells it, then he will restore five
oxen for one ox, and four sheep for one sheep. {22:2} If a
thief will have been discovered breaking into a house, or
digging under it, and he has received a mortal wound, he
who struck him down will not be guilty of blood. {22:3} But
if he did this when the sun was risen, he has perpetrated a
homicide, and he shall die. If he does not have the means to
make restitution for the theft, he shall be sold. {22:4} If
whatever he stole should be found with him, a living thing,
either an ox, or a donkey, or a sheep, he shall repay double.
{22:5} If there is any damage to a field or a vineyard, when
he has released his cattle to pasture on the land of a stranger,
he shall repay the best of what he has in his own field, or in
his own vineyard, according to the estimation of the damage.
{22:6} If a fire will have been discovered departing from
brush, and taking hold in stacks of grain, or in crops standing
in the fields, whoever ignited the fire shall repay the damages.
{22:7} If anyone will have entrusted money, or a container,
to his friend to keep, and if these have been stolen from the
one who received them: if the thief is found, he shall repay
double. {22:8} If the thief is unknown, the lord of the house
will be brought before the heavens to swear that he did not
lay his hand on the goods of his neighbor, {22:9} so as to
perpetrate any fraud, such as with an ox, or a donkey, or a
sheep, or clothing, nor to do anything that would be able to
cause damage. The case of both shall be brought before the
heavens. And if they give judgment against him, he shall
repay double to his neighbor. {22:10} If anyone will have
entrusted a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to the
keeping of his neighbor, and it will have died, or become
disabled, or have been captured by enemies, and no one saw
it, {22:11} then there shall be an oath between them, that he
did not lay his hand on the goods of his neighbor. And the
owner shall accept the oath, and he will not be compelled to
make restitution. {22:12} But if it will have been taken away
by theft, he shall repay the damages to the owner. {22:13} If
it has been eaten by a wild beast, let him carry what was
killed to him, and then he shall not make restitution.
{22:14} If anyone borrows from his neighbor any of these
things, and it has died or been disabled when the owner was
not present, he shall be compelled to make restitution.
{22:15} But if the owner was present, he shall not make
restitution, especially if it had been brought for hired work.
{22:16} If a man has led astray a virgin not yet betrothed,
and he has slept with her, he shall pay her dowry and have
her as a wife. {22:17} If the father of the virgin is not willing
to give her, he shall pay money according to manner of a
dowry, which virgins are accustomed to receive. {22:18} You
shall not permit practitioners of the black arts to live.
{22:19} Whoever has sexual intercourse with an animal shall
be put to death. {22:20} Whoever immolates to gods, other
than to the Lord, shall be killed. {22:21} You shall not harass
the newcomer, nor shall you afflict him. For you yourselves
were once newcomers in the land of Egypt. {22:22} You shall
not harm a widow or an orphan. {22:23} If you hurt them,
they will cry out to me, and I will hear their cry. {22:24} And
my fury will be enraged, and I will strike you down with the
sword. And your wives will become widows, and your sons
will become orphans. {22:25} If you lend money to the poor
of my people who live among you, you shall not coerce them
like a collector, nor oppress them with usury. {22:26} If you
take a garment from your neighbor as a pledge, you shall
return it to him again before the setting of the sun.
{22:27} For it is all that he has to cover himself, to clothe his
body; nor does he have anything else in which to sleep. If he
cries out to me, I will hear him, because I am compassionate.
{22:28} You shall not disparage the heavens, and you shall
not speak evil of the leader of your people. {22:29} You shall
not delay in paying your tithes and your first-fruits. You shall
give the firstborn of your sons to me. {22:30} You shall do
likewise with those of the oxen and the sheep. For seven days,
let it be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall repay it
to me. {22:31} You shall be holy men for me. The flesh, from
which beasts will have tasted, you shall not eat, but you will
throw it to the dogs.”


[Exodus 23] {23:1} “You shall not accept a lying voice.
Neither shall you join your hand so as to give false testimony
on behalf on the impious. {23:2} You shall not follow the
crowd in doing evil. Neither shall you go astray in judgment,
by agreeing with the majority opinion, apart from the truth.
{23:3} Likewise, you shall not show pity in judgment of the
poor. {23:4} If you come across an ox or a donkey of your
enemy, which has gone astray, lead it back to him. {23:5} If
you see the donkey of one who hates you, fallen under its
burden, you shall not pass by without lifting it up with him.
{23:6} You shall not deviate in judgment of the poor.
{23:7} You shall flee from lies. The innocent and the just you
shall not kill. For I shun the impious. {23:8} Neither shall
you accept bribes, which blind even the prudent and subvert
the words of the just. {23:9} You shall not harass a sojourner,
for you know the life of a newcomer. For you yourselves also
were sojourners in the land of Egypt. {23:10} For six years,
you shall sow your land and gather its produce. {23:11} But
in the seventh year, you shall release it and cause it to rest, so
that the poor of your people may eat. And whatever remains,
let the beasts of the field eat it. So shall you do with your
vineyard and your olive grove. {23:12} For six days, you
shall work. On the seventh day, you shall cease, so that your
ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the newcomer and
the son of your handmaid may be refreshed. {23:13} Preserve
all that I have said to you. And by the names of foreign gods
you shall not swear; neither shall these be heard from your
mouth. {23:14} Three times in each year, you shall celebrate
feasts to me. {23:15} You shall keep the solemnity of
unleavened bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened
bread, just as I instructed you, at the time of the month of
new grain, when you departed from Egypt. You shall not
appear empty-handed in my sight, {23:16} for it is the
solemnity of the harvest of the first-fruits of your work, of
whatever you have sown in the field. Likewise, it is a
solemnity at the end of the season, when you will have
gathered in all your crops from the field. {23:17} Three times
a year, all your males shall appear before the Lord your God.
{23:18} You shall not immolate the blood of my victim over
leaven, nor shall the fat of my solemnity remain until
morning. {23:19} You shall carry the first grain of the land to
the house of the Lord your God. You shall not cook a young
goat in the milk of its mother. {23:20} Behold, I will send my
Angel, who will go before you, and preserve you on your
journey, and lead you into the place that I have prepared.
{23:21} Heed him, and hear his voice, and do not hold him
in disregard. For he will not release you when you have
sinned, and my name is in him. {23:22} But if you listen to
his voice and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your
enemies, and I will afflict those who afflict you. {23:23} And
my Angel will go before you, and he will bring you to the
Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the
Canaanite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, whom I will
crush. {23:24} You shall not adore their gods, nor worship
them. You shall not do their works, but you shall destroy
them and break apart their statues. {23:25} And you shall
serve the Lord your God, so that I may bless your bread and
your waters, and so that I may take away sickness from your
midst. {23:26} There will not be fruitless or barren ones in
your land. I will fill up the number of your days. {23:27} I
will send my terror to run ahead of you, and I will kill all the
people to whom you will enter. And I will turn the backs of
all your enemies before you, {23:28} sending wasps ahead, so
that they will put to flight the Hivite, and the Canaanite, and
the Hittite, before you enter. {23:29} I will not cast them out
from your face in one year, lest the land be reduced to a
wilderness and the wild beasts increase against you. {23:30} I
will expel them little by little from your sight, until you have
expanded and may possess the land. {23:31} Then I will set
your limits to be from the Red Sea to the Sea of the
Palestinians, and from the desert all the way to the river. I
will deliver into your hands the inhabitants of the land, and I
will cast them out from your sight. {23:32} You shall not
enter into a pact with them, nor with their gods.
{23:33} They may not live on your land, lest perhaps they
may cause you to sin against me, if you serve their gods,
which certainly would be a temptation for you.”


[Exodus 24] {24:1} He also said to Moses: “Ascend to the
Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders
out of Israel, and adore from a distance. {24:2} And only
Moses will ascend to the Lord, and these shall not approach.
Neither shall the people ascend with him.” {24:3} Therefore,
Moses went and explained to the people all the words of the
Lord, as well as the judgments. And all the people responded
with one voice: “We will do all the words of the Lord, which
he has spoken.” {24:4} Then Moses wrote all the words of
the Lord. And rising up in the morning, he built an altar at
the base of the mountain, with twelve titles according to the
twelve tribes of Israel. {24:5} And he sent youths from the
sons of Israel, and they offered holocausts, and they
immolated calves as peace-offerings to the Lord. {24:6} And
so Moses took one half part of the blood, and he put it into
bowls. Then the remaining part he poured over the altar.
{24:7} And taking up the book of the covenant, he read it in
the hearing of the people, who said: “All that the Lord has
spoken, we will do, and we will be obedient.” {24:8} In truth,
taking up the blood, he sprinkled it on the people, and he said,
“This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has
formed with you concerning all these words.” {24:9} And
Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the
elders of Israel ascended. {24:10} And they saw the God of
Israel. And under his feet was something like a work of
sapphire stone, or like the sky, when it is serene.
{24:11} Neither did he lay his hand upon those of the sons of
Israel who were at a distance. And they saw God, and they
ate and drank. {24:12} Then the Lord said to Moses:
“Ascend to me on the mountain, and be there. And I will
give to you tablets of stone, and the law and the
commandments that I have written. So may you teach
them.” {24:13} Moses rose up, with Joshua his minister. And
Moses, ascending on the mountain of God, {24:14} said to
the elders: “Wait here, until we return to you. You have
Aaron and Hur with you. If any question arises, you shall
refer it to them.” {24:15} And when Moses had ascended, a
cloud covered the mountain. {24:16} And the glory of the
Lord dwelt upon Sinai, covering it with a cloud for six days.
And on the seventh day, he called to him from the middle of
the mist. {24:17} Now the appearance of the glory of the
Lord was like a burning fire over the summit of the mountain
in the sight of the sons of Israel. {24:18} And Moses, entering
into the midst of the cloud, ascended the mountain. And he
was there for forty days and forty nights.


[Exodus 25] {25:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{25:2} “Speak to the sons of Israel, so that they may take the
first-fruits to me. You shall accept these from every man who
offers of his own accord. {25:3} Now these are the things that
you must accept: Gold, and silver, and brass, {25:4} hyacinth
and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine linen, the hair of
goats, {25:5} and the skins of rams, dyed red, and skins of
violet, and setim wood, {25:6} oil to prepare lights, aromatics
as ointments and sweet-smelling incense, {25:7} onyx stones
and gems to adorn the ephod as well as the breastplate.
{25:8} And they shall make a sanctuary for me, and I will
live in their midst. {25:9} According to exact likeness of the
tabernacle, and all of the vessels for its rituals, that I will
reveal to you, so shall you make it. {25:10} Join together an
ark of setim wood, whose length shall hold two and one half
cubits; the width, one and one half cubits; the height, likewise,
one and one half cubits. {25:11} And you shall overlay it
with the finest gold, inside and out. And over it, you shall
fashion a gold crown all around, {25:12} and four gold rings,
which you shall set into the four corners of the ark. Let two
rings be on one side and two on the other. {25:13} Likewise,
you shall make bars of setim wood and cover them with gold.
{25:14} And you shall put them through the rings that are in
the sides of the ark, so that it may be carried on them.
{25:15} These must always be in the rings, neither shall they
ever be drawn out of them. {25:16} And you shall place the
testimony, which I will give to you, in the ark. {25:17} You
shall also make a propitiatory of the finest gold. Its length
shall hold two and one half cubits, and the width, one and
one half cubits. {25:18} Likewise, you shall make two
Cherubim of formed gold, on both sides of the oracle.
{25:19} Let one Cherub be on the one side, and the other be
on the other. {25:20} And let them cover both sides of the
propitiatory, spreading their wings and covering the oracle,
and let them look out toward one another, their faces being
turned toward the propitiatory, with which the ark is to be
covered, {25:21} in which you will place the testimony that I
will give to you. {25:22} From there, I will warn you and
speak to you, above the propitiatory and from the middle of
the two Cherubim, which will be over the ark of the
testimony, about everything that I will command of the sons
of Israel through you. {25:23} You shall also make a table of
setim wood, having two cubits of length, and one cubit in
width, and one cubit and one half cubits in height.
{25:24} And you shall overlay it with the purest gold. And
you shall make it with a gold lip all around, {25:25} and for
the lip itself an engraved crown, four fingers high, and above
it another little gold crown. {25:26} Likewise, you shall
prepare four gold rings and set them in the four corners of the
same table, over each foot. {25:27} Under the crown, there
shall be gold rings, so that the bars may be put through them
and the table may be carried. {25:28} Likewise, the bars
themselves you shall make of setim wood, and surround
them with gold, to lift up the table. {25:29} You shall also
prepare small cups, as well as bowls, censers, and measuring
cups, with which the libations shall be offered, out of the
purest gold. {25:30} And you shall place upon the table the
bread of the presence, in my sight always. {25:31} You shall
also make a lampstand, formed from the finest gold, along
with its stem and arms, its bowl and little spheres, as well as
the lilies proceeding from it. {25:32} Six branches shall go
out from the sides: three out of one side and three out of the
other. {25:33} Three bowls, the size of nuts, shall be on each
branch, and a little sphere with it, and a lily. And three
similar bowls, in the likeness of nuts, shall be on the other
branch, and a little sphere with it, and a lily. This shall be the
form of the six branches, which are to proceed from the stem.
{25:34} Then, in the lampstand itself, there shall be four
bowls, the size of nuts, and each with little spheres and lilies.
{25:35} Little spheres under two branches in three places,
which together make six, shall proceed from one of the stems.
{25:36} Thus both the little spheres and the branches shall be
made out of the same thing: entirely formed from the purest
gold. {25:37} You shall also make seven lamps, and you shall
place them upon the lampstand, so that they may give light in
every direction. {25:38} Likewise, the candle snuffers, and
the place where the candles will be extinguished, shall be
made from the purest gold. {25:39} The entire weight of the
candlestick, with all its parts, shall hold one talent of the
purest gold. {25:40} Observe, and then make it according to
the example that was shown to you on the mountain.”


[Exodus 26] {26:1} “Truly, thus shall you make the
tabernacle: You shall make ten curtains of fine twisted linen,
and hyacinth as well as purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, with
diverse embroidery. {26:2} The length of one curtain shall
have twenty-eight cubits. The width shall be four cubits. The
entire set of curtains shall be of one measure. {26:3} Five
curtains shall be joined to one another, and the other five
shall be similarly coupled together. {26:4} You shall make
loops of hyacinth on the sides at the edges of the curtains, so
that they will be able to be joined to one another. {26:5} A
curtain shall have fifty loops on each of two sides, inserted in
such a manner that loop may come against loop, and one can
be fitted to the other. {26:6} You shall also make fifty rings of
gold, with which the veils of the curtains are to be joined, so
that it shall be one tabernacle. {26:7} You shall also make
eleven haircloth canopies to cover the roof of the tabernacle.
{26:8} The length of one canopy shall hold thirty cubits, and
the width, four. The measure of all the canopies shall be
equal. {26:9} Five of these you shall join by themselves, and
six of these you shall couple to one another, in such a manner
as to double the sixth canopy at the front of the roof.
{26:10} You shall also make fifty loops along the edge of one
canopy, so that it may be able to be joined with the other, and
fifty loops along the edge of the other canopy, so that it may
be coupled with the other. {26:11} You shall also make fifty
brass buckles, with which the loops may be joined, so that
there may be one covering out of all. {26:12} Then what will
be left over of the canopies which are prepared for the roof,
that is, one canopy which is in excess, from half of it you
shall cover the back of the tabernacle. {26:13} And one cubit
will hang down on one side, and another on the other side,
which is more than the length of the curtains, protecting both
sides of the tabernacle. {26:14} You shall also make another
covering for the roof from the skins of rams, dyed-red, and
above that again, another covering of violet-colored skins.
{26:15} You shall also make the standing panels of the
tabernacle from setim wood. {26:16} Of these, each shall
have ten cubits in length, and in width, one and one half.
{26:17} At the sides of the panels, there shall be made two
dovetails, by which one panel may be connected to another
panel; and in this way all the panels shall be prepared.
{26:18} Of these, twenty shall be at the meridian, which lies
toward the south. {26:19} For these, you shall cast forty
bases of silver, so that two bases will lie under each panel at
its two corners. {26:20} Likewise, at the second side of the
tabernacle, which lies to the north, there shall be twenty
panels, {26:21} having forty bases of silver; two bases shall
support each panel. {26:22} Truly, toward the western part of
the tabernacle, you shall make six panels, {26:23} and again
another two, which will be raised at the corners, behind the
back of the tabernacle. {26:24} And these shall be joined
together from bottom to top, and one joint shall retain them
all. Likewise, two of the panels, which will be set at the
corners, shall be served by similar joints. {26:25} And
together these will be eight panels, and their bases of silver,
sixteen, counting two bases for each panel. {26:26} You shall
also make five bars of setim wood, to connect the panels on
one side of the tabernacle, {26:27} and five others on the
other side, and the same number toward the western part.
{26:28} These shall be set along the middle of the panels,
from one end all the way to the other end. {26:29} Likewise,
the panels themselves you shall overlay with gold, and you
shall establish rings of gold in them, by which the bars of the
panels may be connected. These you shall cover with layers
of gold. {26:30} And you shall raise the tabernacle according
to the example which was shown to you on the mountain.
{26:31} You shall also make a veil of hyacinth, and purple,
and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine twisted linen, wrought with a
diversity of continuous and beautiful embroidery.
{26:32} And you shall suspend it before four columns of
setim wood, which themselves certainly shall be overlaid
with gold, and have heads of gold, but bases of silver.
{26:33} Then the veil shall be inserted through the rings.
Beyond the veil, you shall place the ark of the testimony,
where both the Sanctuary and the Sanctuary of Sanctuaries
shall be divided. {26:34} And you shall place the propitiatory
over the ark of the testimony, in the Holy of Holies.
{26:35} And the table shall be outside the veil. And opposite
the table shall be the lampstand, in the meridian of the
tabernacle. For the table shall stand at the north side.
{26:36} You shall also make a tent at the entrance of the
tabernacle from hyacinth, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet,
and fine twisted linen, wrought with embroidery.
{26:37} And you shall overlay with gold five columns of
setim wood, over which the tent shall be drawn. The heads of
these shall be of gold, and the bases of brass.”


[Exodus 27] {27:1} “You shall also make an altar of setim
wood, which will have five cubits in length, and the same in
width, that is, four equal sides, and three cubits in height.
{27:2} Now there shall be horns at the four corners of it, and
you shall cover it with brass. {27:3} And you shall make, for
its uses, pans to receive the ashes, and tongs as well as small
hooks, and receptacles for fire. You shall fabricate all of its
vessels from brass, {27:4} along with a grating of brass in the
manner of a net. At its four corners there shall be four rings of
brass, {27:5} which you shall place under the base of the altar.
And the grating will extend even to the middle of the altar.
{27:6} You shall also make, for the altar, two bars of setim
wood, which you shall cover with layers of brass. {27:7} And
you shall lead them through the rings, and they will be on
both sides of the altar to carry it. {27:8} You shall not make it
solid, but empty and hollow at the interior, just as it was
shown to you on the mountain. {27:9} You shall also make
the atrium of the tabernacle, at the southern part of which,
opposite the meridian, there shall be hangings of fine twisted
linen: one side extending for one hundred cubits in length.
{27:10} And you shall make twenty columns with the same
number of bases of brass, the heads of which, with their
engravings, shall be made of silver. {27:11} In like manner
also, throughout the length of the north side, there shall be
hangings of one hundred cubits, and twenty columns, and the
same number of bases of brass, and their heads with their
engravings of silver. {27:12} Yet truly, along the width of the
atrium that looks out toward the west, there shall be hangings
of fifty cubits, and ten columns, and the same number of
bases. {27:13} Likewise, along the width of the atrium that
looks out toward the east, there shall be fifty cubits,
{27:14} along which there shall be assigned hangings of
fifteen cubits for one side, and three columns, and the same
number of bases. {27:15} And, along the other side, there
shall be hangings occupying fifteen cubits, with three
columns and the same number of bases. {27:16} Yet truly, at
the entrance of the atrium, there shall be made a hanging of
twenty cubits, of hyacinth and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet,
and fine twisted linen, wrought with embroidery. It shall
have four columns, with the same number of bases.
{27:17} All the columns surrounding the atrium shall be
clothed with layers of silver, with silver heads, and with bases
of brass. {27:18} In length, the atrium shall occupy one
hundred cubits, in width, fifty; the height shall be of five
cubits. And it shall be made of fine twisted linen, and it shall
have bases of brass. {27:19} All the vessels of the tabernacle,
for all uses and ceremonies, even to the tent pegs for its
atrium, you shall make of brass. {27:20} Instruct the sons of
Israel so that they may bring you the purest oil of the olive
trees, crushed with a pestle, so that a lamp may always burn
{27:21} in the tabernacle of the testimony, outside of the veil
that enshrouds the testimony. And Aaron and his sons shall
arrange it, so that it may give light in the presence of the Lord,
until morning. This shall be a perpetual observance among
the sons of Israel, throughout their successions.”


[Exodus 28] {28:1} “Also, join to yourself your brother
Aaron, with his sons from the midst of the sons of Israel, so
that they may exercise the priesthood for me: Aaron, Nadab
and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. {28:2} And you shall make
a holy vestment for Aaron, your brother, with glory and
elegance. {28:3} And you shall speak to all the wise of heart,
whom I have filled with the spirit of prudence, so that they
may make the vestments of Aaron, in which, having been
sanctified, he may minister to me. {28:4} Now these shall be
the vestments that they shall make: A breastplate and an
ephod, a tunic and a close-fit linen garment, a headdress and
a wide belt. They shall make the holy vestments for your
brother Aaron and his sons, so that they may exercise the
priesthood for me. {28:5} And they shall receive gold, and
hyacinth, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine linen.
{28:6} Then they shall make the ephod of gold, and hyacinth,
and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine twisted linen,
wrought with diverse colors. {28:7} It shall have two edges
joined at the top on both sides, so that they may respond as
one. {28:8} Likewise, the weaving and all the detail work
shall be of gold, and hyacinth, and purple, and twice-dyed
scarlet, and fine twisted linen. {28:9} And you shall take two
onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of
Israel: {28:10} six names on one stone, and the remaining six
on the other, according to the order of their birth. {28:11} By
the work of a sculptor and the skill of a jeweler, you shall
engrave them with the names of the sons of Israel, enclosed
and encompassed with gold. {28:12} And you shall place
them on both sides of the ephod, as a memorial to the sons of
Israel. And Aaron shall carry their names before the Lord,
upon both shoulders, as a remembrance. {28:13} You shall
also make hooks of gold, {28:14} and two little chains of the
purest gold, linked to one another, which you shall insert into
the hooks. {28:15} Likewise, you shall make the breastplate
of judgment, wrought with diverse colors according to
weaving of the ephod: of gold, hyacinth and purple, and
twice-dyed scarlet, and fine twisted linen. {28:16} It shall
have four corners and be doubled. It shall have the measure
of the palm of a hand, both in length and in width.
{28:17} And you shall set within it four rows of stones. In the
first row, there shall be a sardius stone, and a topaz, and an
emerald. {28:18} In the second, there shall be a garnet, a
sapphire, and a jasper. {28:19} In the third, there shall be a
zircon, an agate, and an amethyst. {28:20} In the fourth,
there shall be a chrysolite, an onyx, and a beryl. They shall be
set in gold by their rows. {28:21} And these shall have the
names of the sons of Israel. With twelve names shall they be
engraved: each stone with one name from the twelve tribes.
{28:22} You shall make chains of the purest gold, linked one
to another, on the breastplate, {28:23} and two rings of gold,
which you shall place at both ends of the breastplate.
{28:24} And the golden chains, you shall join to the rings,
which are at its edges. {28:25} And the ends of the chains
themselves, you shall couple with two hooks, on both sides of
the ephod, which looks toward the breastplate. {28:26} You
shall also make two rings of gold, which you shall place at
the ends of the breastplate, at the borders which are away
from the region of the ephod and which look toward its back.
{28:27} And then you shall also make two other rings of gold,
which are to be suspended on both sides at the bottom of the
ephod, which looks out opposite the face of the lower
juncture, so that the breastplate can be fitted to the ephod.
{28:28} And it shall be drawn tight to the rings of the
breastplate, by the rings of the ephod, with a hyacinth band,
so that the well-constructed juncture will remain in place, and
the breastplate and the ephod will not be able to be separated
from one another. {28:29} And Aaron shall carry the names
of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment upon his
chest, when he enters into the Sanctuary, as a memorial in
the presence of the Lord in eternity. {28:30} Then you shall
place in the breastplate of judgment, Doctrine and Truth,
which shall then be upon Aaron’s chest, when he enters
before the Lord. And he shall wear the judgment of the sons
of Israel on his chest, in the sight of the Lord always.
{28:31} And you shall make the tunic for the ephod entirely
of hyacinth, {28:32} and the head will be above its middle,
with a hem woven around it, just as is usually made at the
end parts of a garment, so that it may not be easily broken.
{28:33} Yet truly, beneath it, at the base of the same tunic, all
around, you shall make something like pomegranates, from
hyacinth, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, with little bells
set in their midst. {28:34} So then, there shall be a little
golden bell and a pomegranate, and again another golden bell
and a pomegranate. {28:35} And Aaron will be vested with it
during the office of his ministry, so that the sound may be
heard when he enters and exits the Sanctuary, in the sight of
the Lord, and so that he may not die. {28:36} And you shall
make a plate of the purest gold, in which you shall engrave,
with the skill of a sculptor, ‘Holy to the Lord.’ {28:37} And
you shall fasten it with a band of hyacinth, and it shall be
upon the headdress, {28:38} hanging in front of the high
priest. And Aaron shall carry the iniquities of that which the
sons of Israel have offered and sanctified, in all their gifts and
donations. But the plate will always be at his forehead, so
that the Lord may be well pleased with them. {28:39} And
you shall draw the tunic tight with fine linen, and you shall
make a headdress of fine linen, and a wide belt, wrought with
embroidery. {28:40} Furthermore, for the sons of Aaron, you
shall prepare linen tunics, and wide belts as well as
headdresses, with glory and elegance. {28:41} And with all
these you shall vest your brother Aaron, and his sons with
him. And you shall consecrate all their hands, and you shall
sanctify them, so that they may exercise the priesthood for
me. {28:42} You shall also make linen undergarments, in
order to cover the flesh of their nakedness, from the kidneys
all the way to the thighs. {28:43} And Aaron and his sons
will use them when they enter the tabernacle of the testimony,
and when they approach toward the altar, in order to minister
in the sanctuary, lest, being guilty of iniquity, they may die. It
shall be a law forever for Aaron, and for his offspring after
him.”


[Exodus 29] {29:1} “But you shall also do this, so that they
may be consecrated to me in the priesthood: Take a calf from
the herd, and two immaculate rams, {29:2} and unleavened
bread, and a crust without leaven that has been sprinkled
with oil, likewise, unleavened cakes smeared with oil. You
shall make them all from the same wheat flour. {29:3} And,
having placed them in baskets, you shall offer them, along
with the calf and the two rams. {29:4} And you shall bring
forward Aaron and his sons, to the door of the tabernacle of
the testimony. And when you will have washed the father
with his sons in water, {29:5} you shall clothe Aaron in his
vestments, that is, with the linen, and the tunic, and the
ephod, and the breastplate, which you shall draw together
with the wide belt. {29:6} And you shall place the headdress
on his head and the holy plate upon the headdress.
{29:7} And you shall pour the oil of unction over his head.
And so, by this rite, he shall be consecrated. {29:8} Likewise,
you shall bring forward his sons, and you shall clothe them in
the linen tunics, and wrap them with the wide belt:
{29:9} Aaron, certainly, as well as his sons. And you shall
impose headdresses upon them. And they shall be priests to
me by a perpetual ordinance. After you have initiated their
hands, {29:10} you shall bring forward also the calf, in the
presence of the tabernacle of the testimony. And Aaron and
his sons shall lay their hands upon its head. {29:11} And you
shall sacrifice it in the sight of the Lord, beside the door of the
tabernacle of the testimony. {29:12} And taking some of the
blood of the calf, you shall place it upon the horns of the altar
with your finger, but the remainder of the blood you shall
pour next to its base. {29:13} And you shall take all the fat
which covers its intestines, and the mesh of the liver, as well
as the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and you shall
offer them as a burnt offering upon the altar. {29:14} Yet
truly, the flesh of the calf, and the hide and the dung, you
shall burn outside, beyond the camp, because it is for sin.
{29:15} Likewise, you shall take one ram, and upon its head
Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands. {29:16} And when
you will have sacrificed it, you shall take from its blood and
pour it around the altar. {29:17} Then you shall cut the ram
into pieces, and, having washed its intestines and feet, you
shall place these upon the cut-up flesh and upon its head.
{29:18} And you shall offer the entire ram as a burnt offering
upon the altar. It is an oblation to the Lord, a most sweet
odor of the victim of the Lord. {29:19} Likewise, you shall
take the other ram, upon whose head Aaron and his sons
shall lay their hands. {29:20} And when you will have
immolated it, you shall take of its blood, and place it on the
tip of the right ear of Aaron and his sons, and on the thumbs
and big toes of their right hand and right foot, and you shall
pour the blood upon the altar, all around. {29:21} And when
you have taken from the blood that is on the altar, and from
the oil of unction, you shall sprinkle Aaron and his vestment,
his sons and their vestments. And after they and their
vestments have been consecrated, {29:22} you shall take the
fat of the ram, and the rump, and the lard that covers the
internal organs, and the mesh of the liver, and the two
kidneys along with the fat that is on them, and the right
shoulder, because it is the ram of consecration, {29:23} and
one turn of bread, a crust sprinkled with oil, and a cake from
the basket of unleavened bread, which was placed in the sight
of the Lord. {29:24} And you shall place all these in the
hands of Aaron and his sons, and you shall sanctify them,
lifting them up in the sight of the Lord. {29:25} And you
shall take all these things from their hands and burn them
upon the altar as a holocaust, as a most sweet odor in the
sight of the Lord, because it is his oblation. {29:26} Likewise,
you shall take the chest of the ram, with which Aaron was
initiated, and you shall sanctify it, lifting it up in the sight of
the Lord, and it will fall to your share. {29:27} And you shall
sanctify both the consecrated chest and the shoulder that you
separated from the ram, {29:28} with which Aaron was
initiated with his sons, and these will fall to the share of
Aaron and his sons, as a perpetual oath by the sons of Israel.
For these are the greatest and the first of their victims of
peace, which they offer to the Lord. {29:29} But the holy
vestment, which Aaron shall use, his sons shall possess after
him, so that they may be anointed in it and their hands may
be consecrated. {29:30} For seven days, he who is high priest
in his place and who enters the tabernacle of the testimony to
minister in the Sanctuary shall use it. {29:31} But you shall
take the ram of consecration and cook its flesh in the holy
place. {29:32} And Aaron and his sons shall feed on it.
Likewise, the loaves which are in the basket, they shall
consume in the vestibule of the tabernacle of the testimony,
{29:33} so that it may be an appeasing sacrifice, and so that
the hands of those who offer may be sanctified. A stranger
shall not eat from these, for they are holy. {29:34} And what
may remain until morning, of the consecrated flesh or of the
bread, you shall burn these remnants with fire. These shall
not be eaten, because they have been sanctified. {29:35} All
that I have instructed you concerning Aaron and his sons,
you shall do. For seven days shall you consecrate their hands,
{29:36} and you shall offer a calf for sin on each day, as an
atonement. And you shall cleanse the altar when you will
have immolated the victim of expiation, and you shall anoint
it for sanctification. {29:37} For seven days, you shall expiate
and sanctify the altar, and it shall be the Holy of holies. All
those who will touch it must be sanctified. {29:38} This is
what you shall acquire for the altar: Two one-year-old lambs,
each day continually, {29:39} one lamb in the morning, and
the other in the evening; {29:40} for the one lamb, a tenth
part of fine flour sprinkled with crushed oil, which shall have
the measure of the fourth part of a hin, and wine for a
libation, of the same measure; {29:41} truly, the other lamb
you shall offer in the evening, according to the ritual of the
morning oblation, and according to what we have said, as an
odor of sweetness. {29:42} It is a sacrifice to the Lord, by a
perpetual oblation among your generations, at the door of the
tabernacle of the testimony before the Lord, where I resolve
to speak to you. {29:43} And there I will instruct the sons of
Israel, and the altar shall be sanctified by my glory. {29:44} I
will also sanctify the tabernacle of the testimony with the
altar, and Aaron with his sons, to exercise the priesthood for
me. {29:45} And I will live in the midst of the sons of Israel,
and I will be their God. {29:46} And they shall know that I
am the Lord their God, who led them away from the land of
Egypt, so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their
God.”


[Exodus 30] {30:1} “You shall also make an altar, for the
burning of incense, from setim wood, {30:2} having one cubit
in length, and another in width, that is, four equal sides, and
two cubits in height. Horns shall proceed from the same.
{30:3} And you shall clothe it with the purest gold, both its
grating and the walls around it, and also the horns. And you
shall make for it a crown of gold in a circle, {30:4} and two
gold rings under the crown on each side, so that the bars may
be set in them and the altar may be carried. {30:5} Also, you
shall make its bars of setim wood, and you shall overlay them
with gold. {30:6} And you shall set the altar opposite the veil,
which hangs in front of the ark of the testimony, before the
propitiatory with which the testimony is covered, where I will
speak to you. {30:7} And Aaron shall burn incense upon it, a
sweet fragrance, in the morning. When he lights the lamps,
he shall burn it. {30:8} And when he assembles them in the
evening, he shall burn an everlasting incense before the Lord
throughout your generations. {30:9} You shall not offer upon
it incense of another composition, nor an oblation, nor a
victim; neither shall you offer libations. {30:10} And Aaron
shall pray over its horns once a year, with the blood of what
was offered for sin. And he shall make atonement over it in
your generations. It shall be the Holy of holies to the Lord.”
{30:11} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{30:12} “When you have taken the sum of the sons of Israel,
according to their number, each shall give a price for their
souls to the Lord, and there will be no scourge among them,
when they will be reviewed. {30:13} Then all those who pass
shall give by name: one half shekel, according to the measure
at the temple. A shekel has twenty obols. The half part of a
shekel shall be offered to the Lord. {30:14} He who has been
numbered from twenty years and above shall give the price.
{30:15} The rich shall not add to the half shekel, and the
poor shall diminish nothing. {30:16} And the money
received, which was collected from the sons of Israel, you
shall deliver for the uses of the tabernacle of the testimony, so
that it may be a memorial of them before the Lord, and he
may act favorably toward their souls.” {30:17} And the Lord
spoke to Moses, saying: {30:18} “You shall also make a
bronze washtub with its base to wash in; and you shall place
it between the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar. And
when water has been added, {30:19} Aaron and his sons
shall wash their hands and feet in it: {30:20} when they enter
the tabernacle of the testimony, and when they approach to
the altar so as to offer incense to the Lord upon it,
{30:21} otherwise, they may die. This shall be an everlasting
law to him, and to his offspring, throughout their
successions.” {30:22} And the Lord spoke to Moses,
{30:23} saying: “Take for yourself aromatics: of the first and
best myrrh, five hundred shekels, and of cinnamon half as
much, that is, two hundred and fifty shekels; of sweet flag
similarly two hundred and fifty, {30:24} but of cassia, five
hundred shekels by the weight of the sanctuary, and of the oil
of olives the measure of a hin. {30:25} And you shall make
the holy oil of unction, an ointment composed with the skills
of a perfumer, {30:26} and with it you shall anoint the
tabernacle of the testimony, and the ark of the testament,
{30:27} and the table with its vessels, and the lampstand and
it utensils, the altars of incense {30:28} and of holocaust, and
all the items that pertain to their rituals. {30:29} And you
shall sanctify everything, and they shall be the Holy of holies.
He who will touch them must be sanctified. {30:30} You
shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and you shall sanctify them,
so that they may exercise the priesthood for me.
{30:31} Likewise, you shall say to the sons of Israel: “This oil
of unction will be holy to me throughout your generations.
{30:32} The flesh of man shall not be anointed from it, and
you shall not make any similar compound, for it has been
sanctified and it shall be holy to you. {30:33} Whatever man
will have composed such a thing and have given it to a
stranger, he shall be exterminated from his people.’ ”
{30:34} And the Lord said to Moses: “Take to yourself
aromatics: stacte, and onycha, galbanum of sweet odor, and
the clearest frankincense, all these shall be of equal weight.
{30:35} And you shall make incense composed with the skills
of a perfumer, diligently mixed, and pure, and most worthy
of sanctification. {30:36} And when you have crushed all
these into a very fine powder, you shall place some of it
before the tabernacle of the testimony, in the place where I
will appear to you. The Holy of holies shall this incense be to
you. {30:37} You shall not make such a compound for your
own uses, because it is holy to the Lord. {30:38} Whatever
man will have made anything similar, so as to thoroughly
enjoy its smell, he shall perish from his people.”


[Exodus 31] {31:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{31:2} “Behold, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri,
the son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah, {31:3} and I have
filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, and
understanding, and knowledge in every craft, {31:4} in order
to design whatever must be fabricated from gold, and silver,
and brass, {31:5} from marble, and precious stones, and
various woods. {31:6} And I have given to him, as his
associate, Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of
Dan. And I have placed wisdom in the heart of every artisan,
so that they may make everything as I have instructed you:
{31:7} the tabernacle of the covenant, and the ark of the
testimony, and the propitiatory which is over it, and all the
vessels of the tabernacle, {31:8} and the table and its vessels,
the most pure lampstand with its vessels, and the altars of
incense {31:9} and of holocaust and all their vessels, the
washtub with its base, {31:10} the holy vestments for the
ministry of Aaron the priest, and for his sons, so that they
may execute their office of sacred rites, {31:11} the oil of
unction, and the incense of aromatics in the Sanctuary. All
the things that I have instructed you, they shall make.”
{31:12} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{31:13} “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to
them: See that you keep my Sabbath. For it is a sign between
me and you among your generations, so that you may know
that I am the Lord, who sanctifies you. {31:14} Keep my
Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Whoever will have polluted it,
shall die a death. Whoever will have done any work in it, his
soul shall perish from the midst of his people. {31:15} For six
days you shall do work. On the seventh day, it is the Sabbath,
a rest sanctified by the Lord. All who will have done work on
this day shall die. {31:16} Let the sons of Israel keep the
Sabbath, and let them celebrate it throughout their
generations. It is an everlasting covenant {31:17} between me
and the sons of Israel, and a perpetual sign. For in six days
the Lord made heaven and earth, and in the seventh he
ceased from work.” {31:18} And the Lord, having completed
speaking in this way on Mount Sinai, gave to Moses two
stone tablets of testimony, written with the finger of God.


[Exodus 32] {32:1} Then the people, seeing that Moses made
a delay in descending from the mountain, gathered together
against Aaron, and said: “Rise up, make us gods, who may
go before us. But as for this man Moses, who led us away
from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has befallen
him.” {32:2} And Aaron said to them, “Take the golden
earrings from the ears of your wives, and your sons and
daughters, and bring them to me.” {32:3} And the people did
what he had commanded, carrying the earrings to Aaron.
{32:4} And when he had received them, he formed these by
the work of a casting furnace, and he made from these a
molten calf. And they said: “These are your gods, O Israel,
who led you away from the land of Egypt.” {32:5} And when
Aaron had seen it, he built an altar before it, and he cried out
with a voice of proclamation, saying, “Tomorrow is the
solemnity of the Lord.” {32:6} And rising up in the morning,
they offered holocausts, and peace victims, and the people sat
down to eat and to drink, and they rose up to play.
{32:7} Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Go, descend.
Your people, whom you led away from the land of Egypt,
have sinned. {32:8} They have quickly withdrawn from the
way which you revealed to them. And they have made for
themselves a molten calf, and they have worshiped it. And
immolating victims to it, they have said: ‘These are your gods,
O Israel, who led you away from the land of Egypt.’ ”
{32:9} And again, the Lord said to Moses: “I discern that this
people is stiff-necked. {32:10} Release me, so that my fury
may be enraged against them, and I may destroy them, and
then I will make of you a great nation.” {32:11} Then Moses
prayed to the Lord his God, saying: “Why, O Lord, is your
fury enraged against your people, whom you led away from
the land of Egypt, with great strength and with a mighty hand?
{32:12} I beg you, let not the Egyptians say, ‘He cleverly led
them away, so that he could put them to death in the
mountains and destroy them from the earth.’ Let your anger
be quieted and appeased concerning the wickedness of your
people. {32:13} Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your
servants, to whom you swore by your very self, saying: ‘I will
multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven. And this
entire land, about which I have spoken, I will give to your
offspring. And you shall possess it forever.’ ” {32:14} And
the Lord was appeased from doing the evil which he had
spoken against his people. {32:15} And Moses returned from
the mountain, carrying the two tablets of the testimony in his
hand, written on both sides, {32:16} and accomplished by the
work of God. Also, the writing of God was engraved on the
tablets. {32:17} Then Joshua, hearing the tumult of the
people shouting, said to Moses: “The outcry of battle is heard
in the camp.” {32:18} But he responded: “It is not the clamor
of men being exhorted to battle, nor the shout of men being
compelled to flee. But I hear the voice of singing.”
{32:19} And when he had approached to the camp, he saw
the calf and the dances. And being very angry, he threw
down the tablets from his hand, and he broke them at the
base of the mountain. {32:20} And seizing the calf, which
they had made, he burnt it and crushed it, even to dust,
which he scattered into water. And he gave from it to the
sons of Israel to drink. {32:21} And he said to Aaron, “What
has this people done to you, so that you would bring upon
them the greatest sin?” {32:22} And he answered him: “Let
not my lord be indignant. For you know this people, that they
are prone to evil. {32:23} They said to me: ‘Make gods for us,
who may go before us. For this Moses, who led us away from
the land of Egypt, we do not know what has befallen him.’
{32:24} And I said to them, ‘Which of you has gold?’ And
they took it and gave it to me. And I threw it into the fire,
and this calf came out.” {32:25} Therefore, Moses, seeing
that the people were naked (for Aaron had stripped them
because of the disgrace of their sordidness, and he had set
them naked among their enemies), {32:26} and standing at
the gate of the camp, said: “If anyone is for the Lord, let him
join with me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves
together to him. {32:27} And he said to them: “Thus says the
Lord God of Israel: Let a man place his sword at his thigh.
Go forth, and then return, from gate to gate, through the
midst of the camp, and let each one kill his brother, and
friend, and neighbor.” {32:28} And the sons of Levi did
according to the words of Moses, and there fell on that day
about twenty-three thousand men. {32:29} And Moses said:
“On this day, you have consecrated your hands to the Lord,
each one in his son and in his brother, so that a blessing may
be given to you.” {32:30} Then, when the next day arrived,
Moses spoke to the people: “You have sinned the greatest sin.
I will ascend to the Lord. Perhaps, in some way, I might be
able to entreat him for your wickedness.” {32:31} And
returning to the Lord, he said: “I beg you, this people has
sinned the greatest sin, and they have made for themselves
gods of gold. Either release them from this offense,
{32:32} or, if you do not, then delete me from the book that
you have written.” {32:33} And the Lord answered him:
“Whoever has sinned against me, him I will delete from my
book. {32:34} But as for you, go and lead this people where I
have told you. My angel will go before you. Then, on the day
of retribution, I will also visit this sin of theirs.”
{32:35} Therefore, the Lord struck the people for the guilt of
the calf, which Aaron had made.


[Exodus 33] {33:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
“Go forth, ascend from this place, you and your people,
whom you led away from the land of Egypt, into the land
that I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: To your
offspring, I will give it. {33:2} And I will send an Angel to
precede you, so that I may cast out the Canaanite, and the
Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite,
and the Jebusite, {33:3} and so that you may enter into a
land flowing with milk and honey. For I will not go up with
you, since you are a stiff-necked people, lest perhaps I may
destroy you on the way.” {33:4} And upon hearing this very
bad news, the people mourned; and no one put on his finery
according to custom. {33:5} And the Lord said to Moses:
“Say to the sons of Israel: You are a stiff-necked people. I
should at once go up into your midst and destroy you. Now
immediately put aside your ornaments, so that I may know
what to do to you.” {33:6} Therefore, the sons of Israel put
aside their ornaments before Mount Horeb. {33:7} Also,
Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it beyond the camp at
a distance, and he called its name: ‘Tabernacle of the
Covenant.’ And all the people, who had any kind of question,
went out to the Tabernacle of the Covenant, beyond the
camp. {33:8} And when Moses went out to the tabernacle,
all the people rose up, and each one stood at the door of his
pavilion, and they beheld the back of Moses until he entered
the tent. {33:9} And when he had gone into the Tabernacle
of the Covenant, the pillar of cloud descended and stood at
the door, and he spoke with Moses. {33:10} And all
discerned that the pillar of cloud stood at the door of the
Tabernacle. And they stood and worshipped at the doors of
their tents. {33:11} But the Lord spoke to Moses face to face,
just as a man is used to speaking to his friend. And when he
returned to the camp, his minister Joshua, the son of Nun, a
young man, did not withdraw from the Tabernacle.
{33:12} Then Moses said to the Lord: “You instruct me to
lead this people away, and you do not reveal to me whom
you will send with me, particularly since you have said: ‘I
know you by name, and you have found favor before me.’
{33:13} If, therefore, I have found favor in your sight, show
your face to me, so that I may know you and may find grace
before your eyes. Look favorably on your people, this
nation.” {33:14} And the Lord said, “My face will precede
you, and I will give you rest.” {33:15} And Moses said: “If
you will not yourself precede us, then do not lead us away
from this place. {33:16} For how will we be able to know, I
and your people, that we have found grace in your sight,
unless you walk with us, so that we may be glorified out of all
the people who live upon the earth?” {33:17} Then the Lord
said to Moses: “This word also, which you have spoken, I
will do. For you have found grace before me, and I have
known you by name.” {33:18} And he said, “Show me your
glory.” {33:19} He responded: “I will show you all that is
good, and I will call out with the name of the Lord before
you. And I will take pity on whomever I will, and I will be
lenient to whomever it will please me.” {33:20} And again he
said: “You are not able to see my face. For man shall not see
me and live.” {33:21} And again, he said: “Behold, there is a
place with me, and you shall stand upon the rock.
{33:22} And when my glory will cross over, I will set you in
a cleft of the rock, and I will protect you with my right hand,
until I pass by. {33:23} And I will take away my hand, and
you shall see my back. But my face you are not able to see.”


[Exodus 34] {34:1} And after this he said: “Cut out for
yourself two tablets of stone similar to the first ones, and I
will write upon them the words which were held on the
tablets that you broke. {34:2} Be prepared in the morning, so
that you may immediately ascend onto Mount Sinai, and you
shall stand with me on the summit of the mountain.
{34:3} Let no one ascend with you, and do not let anyone be
seen throughout the entire mountain. Likewise, do not let the
oxen or the sheep pasture up against it.” {34:4} And so he
cut out two tablets of stone, like those that were before. And
rising up in the night, he ascended onto Mount Sinai, just as
the Lord had instructed him, carrying with him the tablets.
{34:5} And when the Lord had descended in a cloud, Moses
stood with him, calling upon the name of the Lord.
{34:6} And as he was crossing before him, he said: “The
Ruler, the Lord God, merciful and lenient, patient and full of
compassion and also truthful, {34:7} who preserves mercy a
thousand fold, who takes away iniquity, and wickedness, and
also sin; and with you no one, in and of himself, is innocent.
You render the iniquity of the fathers to the sons, and also to
their descendents to the third and fourth generation.”
{34:8} And hurrying, Moses bowed down prostrate to the
ground; and worshiping, {34:9} he said: “If I have found
grace in your sight, O Lord, I beg you to walk with us, (for
the people are stiff-necked) and take away our iniquities and
our sin, and so possess us.” {34:10} The Lord responded: “I
will enter into a pact in the sight of all. I will perform signs
which have never been seen on earth, nor among any nation,
so that this people, in whose midst you are, may discern the
terrible work of the Lord that I will do. {34:11} Observe
everything that I command you this day. I myself will drive
out before your face the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the
Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
{34:12} Beware that you do not ever join in friendship with
the inhabitants of that land, which may be your ruin.
{34:13} But destroy their altars, break their statues, and cut
down their sacred groves. {34:14} Do not be willing to
worship any strange god. The jealous Lord is his name. God
is a rival. {34:15} Do not enter into a pact with the men of
those regions, lest, when they will have fornicated with their
gods and worshiped their idols, someone might call upon you
to eat from what was immolated. {34:16} Neither shall you
take a wife for your son from their daughters, lest, after they
themselves have fornicated, they may cause your sons also to
fornicate with their gods. {34:17} You shall not make for
yourselves any molten gods. {34:18} You shall keep the
solemnity of unleavened bread. For seven days, you shall eat
unleavened bread, just as I instructed you, in the time of the
month of what is new. For in the month of springtime you
departed from Egypt. {34:19} All of the male kind, which
open the womb, shall be mine: from all the animals, as much
of oxen as of sheep, it shall be mine. {34:20} The firstborn of
a donkey, you shall redeem with a sheep. But if you will not
give a price for it, it shall be slain. The firstborn of your sons
you shall redeem. You shall not appear empty in my sight.
{34:21} For six days you shall work. On the seventh day you
shall cease to cultivate and to harvest. {34:22} You shall
observe the Solemnity of Weeks with the first-fruits of the
grain from the harvest of your wheat, and a Solemnity when
the time of the year returns and everything is stored away.
{34:23} Three times a year, all your males shall appear in the
sight of the Almighty, the Lord God of Israel. {34:24} For
when I will have taken away the nations before your face,
and enlarged your borders, no one shall lie in wait against
your land when you will go up to appear in the sight of the
Lord your God, three times a year. {34:25} You shall not
immolate the blood of my victim over leaven; and there shall
not remain, in the morning, any of the victim of the
Solemnity of the Passover. {34:26} The first of the fruits of
your land you shall offer in the house of the Lord your God.
You shall not boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.”
{34:27} And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words to
you, through which I have formed a covenant, both with you
and with Israel.” {34:28} Therefore, he was in that place with
the Lord for forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread
and he did not drink water, and he wrote on the tablets the
ten words of the covenant. {34:29} And when Moses
descended from Mount Sinai, he held the two tablets of the
testimony, and he did not know that his face was radiant
from the sharing of words with the Lord. {34:30} Then
Aaron and the sons of Israel, seeing that the face of Moses
was radiant, were afraid to approach close by. {34:31} And
being called by him, they turned back, both Aaron and the
leaders of the assembly. And after he had spoken to them,
{34:32} all the sons of Israel also now came to him. And he
instructed them in all the things that he had heard from the
Lord on Mount Sinai. {34:33} And having completed these
words, he placed a veil over his face. {34:34} But when he
entered to the Lord and was speaking with him, he took it off,
until he exited. And then he spoke to the sons of Israel all
that had been commanded to him. {34:35} And they saw that
the face of Moses, when he came out, was radiant, but he
covered his face again, whenever he spoke to them.


[Exodus 35] {35:1} Therefore, when all the multitude of the
sons of Israel had gathered together, he said to them: “These
are the things that the Lord has ordered to be done:
{35:2} For six days you shall do work; the seventh day, the
Sabbath and the rest of the Lord, will be holy to you;
whoever will have done any work in it shall be killed.
{35:3} You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwelling
places throughout the day of the Sabbath.” {35:4} And
Moses said to the entire crowd of the sons of Israel: “This is
the word which the Lord has instructed, saying:
{35:5} Separate from among you the first-fruits to the Lord.
Let all who are willing and have a ready soul offer these to
the Lord: gold, and silver, and brass, {35:6} hyacinth, and
purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine linen, the hair of
goats, {35:7} and the skins of rams, dyed red, and violet skins,
setim wood, {35:8} and oil to prepare lights and to produce
ointment, and most sweet incense, {35:9} onyx stones and
gems, to adorn the ephod and the breastplate. {35:10} And
whoever among you is wise, let him come and make what the
Lord has commanded: {35:11} the tabernacle, certainly, and
its roof, and also the covering, the rings, and the panels with
the bars, the tent pegs and the bases, {35:12} the ark and its
bars, the propitiatory, and the veil that is drawn before it,
{35:13} the table with its bars and vessels, and the bread of
the presence, {35:14} the lampstand to hold up the lights, its
vessels and lamps, and the oil to the nourish the fire,
{35:15} the altar of incense and its bars, and the oil of
unction, and the incense of aromatics, the tent at the door of
the tabernacle, {35:16} the altar of holocaust and its grate of
brass, with the bars and vessels, the washtub and its base,
{35:17} the curtains of the atrium, with the columns and the
bases, the hanging at the doors of the vestibule, {35:18} the
tent pegs of the tabernacle and the atrium, with their little
cords, {35:19} the vestments, which are to be used in the
ministry of the Sanctuary, the vestments of Aaron, the high
priest, as well as those of his sons, in order to exercise the
priesthood to me.” {35:20} And all the multitude of the sons
of Israel, departing from the sight of Moses, {35:21} offered
the first-fruits to the Lord with a most ready and devout mind,
to accomplish the work of the tabernacle of the testimony.
Whatever was needed for worship and for the holy vestments,
{35:22} men along with women provided: arm bands and
earrings, rings and bracelets. And every vessel of gold was
separated, to be donated to the Lord. {35:23} If anyone had
hyacinth, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, fine linen and
the hair of goats, the skins of rams, dyed red, and violet skins,
{35:24} metal of silver and brass, they offered it to the Lord,
along with setim wood for various uses. {35:25} But the
skillful women also gave whatever they had spun: hyacinth,
purple, and vermillion, as well as fine linen, {35:26} and the
hair of goats, donating everything of their own accord.
{35:27} Yet truly, the leaders offered onyx stones and gems,
for the ephod and the breastplate, {35:28} and aromatics and
oil, to maintain the lights, and to prepare ointment, and also
to produce incense with a most sweet odor. {35:29} AIl the
men and women offered donations with a devout mind, so
that the works might be done which the Lord had ordered by
the hand of Moses. All the sons of Israel dedicated voluntary
offerings to the Lord. {35:30} And Moses said to the sons of
Israel: “Behold, the Lord has called by name Bezalel, the son
of Uri, the son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah, {35:31} and
he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, and
understanding, and knowledge, and all teaching, {35:32} to
design and to fashion, with gold and silver and brass,
{35:33} and with engraving stones, and with the skill of a
carpenter. Whatever can be skillfully invented, {35:34} he
has given to his heart. It is likewise with Oholiab, the son of
Ahisamach from the tribe of Dan. {35:35} He has taught
both of them wisdom, in order to do the work of carpentry,
tapestry, and embroidery, from hyacinth, and purple, and
twice-dyed scarlet, and fine linen, and every textile, and to
discover whatever may be new.”


[Exodus 36] {36:1} Therefore, Bezalel, and Oholiab, and
every wise man, to whom the Lord gave wisdom and
intelligence, so as to know how to work skillfully, made that
which was necessary for the uses of the Sanctuary and which
the Lord had instructed. {36:2} And when Moses had called
them and every man of learning, to whom the Lord had given
wisdom, and who, of their own accord, had offered
themselves in order to accomplish this work, {36:3} he
handed over to them all the donations of the sons of Israel.
And while they were pursuing this work, the people offered
what they had vowed each day, in the morning. {36:4} The
artisans were compelled by this to go {36:5} to Moses and to
say, “The people offer more than is needed.”
{36:6} Therefore, Moses ordered this to be recited, with a
voice of proclamation: “Let neither man nor woman offer
anything further for the work of the Sanctuary.” And so they
ceased from offering gifts, {36:7} because what was offered
was sufficient and was more than an abundance. {36:8} And
all those who were wise of heart, in order to accomplish the
work of the tabernacle, made ten curtains of fine twisted linen,
and hyacinth, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, with
diverse workmanship by the art of embroidery. {36:9} Each
of these was twenty-eight cubits in length, and in width, four.
All the curtains were of one measure. {36:10} And he joined
five curtains to one another, and the other five he coupled to
one another. {36:11} He also made loops of hyacinth along
the edge of one curtain on both sides, and similarly along the
edge of the other curtain, {36:12} so that the loops might
meet against one another and might be joined together.
{36:13} For these, he also cast fifty gold rings, which would
retain the loops of the curtains and so make the tabernacle
one. {36:14} He also made eleven canopies from the hair of
goats, in order to cover the roof of the tabernacle:
{36:15} one canopy held in length thirty cubits, and in width
four cubits. All the canopies were of one measure.
{36:16} Five of these he joined by themselves, and the other
six separately. {36:17} And he made fifty loops along the
edge of one canopy, and fifty along the edge of the other
canopy, so that they might be joined to one another,
{36:18} and fifty buckles of brass, with which the roof might
be woven together, so that from all the canopies there would
be made one covering. {36:19} He also made a covering for
the tabernacle from the skins of rams, dyed-red; and another
cover above it, from violet skins. {36:20} He also made the
standing panels of the tabernacle, from setim wood.
{36:21} Ten cubits was the length of one panel, and one and
one half cubits comprised the width. {36:22} There were two
dovetails along every panel, so that one might be joined to
the other. Thus did he make all the panels of the tabernacle.
{36:23} Of these, twenty were toward the meridian area,
opposite the south, {36:24} with forty bases of silver. Two
bases were set under one panel at each of two sides at the
corners, where the joints of the sides terminate in corners.
{36:25} Likewise, at that side of the tabernacle which looks
toward the north, he made twenty panels, {36:26} with forty
bases of silver, two bases for each board. {36:27} Yet truly,
opposite the west, that is, toward that part of the tabernacle
which looks out toward the sea, he made six panels,
{36:28} and two others at each corner of the tabernacle at the
back, {36:29} which were joined from bottom to top and held
together by one joint. So did he make both corners on that
side. {36:30} So then, there were altogether eight panels, and
they had sixteen bases of silver, with, of course, two bases
under each panel. {36:31} He also made bars from setim
wood: five to hold together the panels at one side of the
tabernacle, {36:32} and five others to fit together the panels
of the other side, and, in addition to these, five other bars
toward the western area of the tabernacle, opposite the sea.
{36:33} He also made another bar, which came through the
middle of the panels from corner to corner. {36:34} But the
panels themselves he overlaid with gold, casting silver bases
for them. And he made their rings from gold, through which
the bars might be able to be drawn. And he covered the bars
themselves with layers of gold. {36:35} He also made a veil
from hyacinth, and purple, from vermillion as well as fine
twisted linen, with varied and distinctive embroidery,
{36:36} and four columns of setim wood, which, along with
their heads, he overlaid with gold, casting silver bases for
them. {36:37} He also made a tent at the entrance of the
tabernacle from hyacinth, purple, vermillion, and fine twisted
linen, wrought with embroidery, {36:38} and five columns
with their heads, which he covered with gold, and he cast
their bases from brass.


[Exodus 37] {37:1} Now Bezalel also made the ark from
setim wood, having two and one half cubits in length, and
one and one half cubits in width, and the height was also one
and one half cubits. And he clothed it with the purest gold,
inside and out. {37:2} And for it he made a crown of gold all
around, {37:3} casting four gold rings at its four corners: two
rings on one side, and two on the other. {37:4} Likewise, he
made bars from setim wood, which he clothed with gold,
{37:5} and he placed them into the rings, which were at the
sides of the ark, to carry it. {37:6} He also made the
propitiatory, that is, the oracle, from the finest gold, two and
one half cubits in length, and one and one half cubits in width,
{37:7} and then two Cherubim of ductile gold, which he
positioned at the two sides of the propitiatory: {37:8} one
Cherub at the top of one side, and the other Cherub at the top
of the other side. The two Cherubim were at each end of the
propitiatory, {37:9} spreading their wings, and protecting the
propitiatory, and gazing toward it and toward one another.
{37:10} He also made the table from setim wood, with a
length of two cubits, and a width of one cubit, which had a
height of one and one half cubits. {37:11} And he surrounded
it with the finest gold, and for it he made a ledge of gold all
around, {37:12} and for the ledge itself he made a polished
crown of gold, four fingers high, and upon the same, another
crown of gold. {37:13} And he cast four gold rings, which he
set at the four corners at each foot of the table,
{37:14} opposite the crown. And he placed the bars into
them, so that the table could be carried. {37:15} Likewise, the
bars themselves he made from setim wood, and he
surrounded them with gold. {37:16} And he made vessels for
the diverse uses of the table, as well as the little cups, and
bowls, and measuring cups, and the censers, from pure gold,
in which the libations would be offered. {37:17} He also
made the lampstand, formed from the finest gold. The
branches, bowls, and little spheres, as well as the lilies,
proceeded from its bar: {37:18} six on the two sides, three
branches on one side, and three on the other. {37:19} Three
bowls, the size of a nut, were on each branch, with little
spheres and lilies, and three bowls, in the likeness of a nut,
were on the other branch, with the little spheres together with
the lilies. The workmanship of the six branches, which
proceeded from the shaft of the lampstand, was equal.
{37:20} Now on the shaft itself were four bowls, the size of a
nut, and little spheres together with each one, and lilies,
{37:21} and little spheres under two branches in three places,
which together made six branches proceeding from one bar.
{37:22} Thus, both the little spheres and the branches were
from the same thing: all hand-worked from the purest gold.
{37:23} He also made the seven lamps with their candle
snuffers, and the vessels where the candles would be
extinguished, from the finest gold. {37:24} The lampstand
with all its vessels weighed a talent of gold. {37:25} He also
made the altar of incense from setim wood, having one cubit
on each of four sides, and in height, two. From its corners
proceeded horns. {37:26} And he clothed it with the purest
gold, with its grating, as well as the sides and the horns.
{37:27} And for it he made a crown of gold all around, and
two gold rings under the crown at each side, so that the bars
might be put into them, and the altar could be carried.
{37:28} Now the bars themselves he also made from setim
wood, and he covered them with layers of gold. {37:29} He
also composed the oil for the ointment of sanctification, and
the incense, from the purest aromatics, with the skill of a
perfumer.


[Exodus 38] {38:1} He also made the altar of holocaust from
setim wood: five cubits square, and three in height, {38:2} the
horns of which proceeded from the corners. And he covered
it with layers of brass. {38:3} And for its uses, he prepared
diverse vessels out of brass: kettles, forceps, little hooks,
larger hooks, and receptacles for the fire. {38:4} And he
made its grating of brass, in the manner of a net, and under it,
in the midst of the altar, its base, {38:5} casting four rings at
the four ends of the net in order to set the bars, so as to carry
it. {38:6} These bars he also made of setim wood, and he
covered them with layers of brass. {38:7} And he drew them
through the rings, which projected from the sides of the altar.
But the altar itself was not solid, but hollow, made from
panels and empty inside. {38:8} He also made the washtub of
brass, with its base made from the mirrors of the women who
kept watch at the door of the tabernacle. {38:9} He also made
the atrium, at the south side of which were hangings of fine
twisted linen of one hundred cubits and {38:10} twenty
columns of brass with their bases. The heads of the columns
and all of the engraving work were of silver. {38:11} Equally,
at the northern area, the hangings, the columns, and the bases
and heads of the columns were of the same measure and
work and metal. {38:12} Yet truly, on that side which looks
out toward the west, there were hangings of fifty cubits, and
ten columns with their bases of brass. And the heads of the
columns and all of the engraving work were of silver.
{38:13} Furthermore, toward the east, he prepared hangings
of fifty cubits: {38:14} of which, there were fifteen cubits,
among three columns with their bases, holding up one side,
{38:15} and on the other side, (for between the two he made
the entrance of the tabernacle) there were equally hangings of
fifteen cubits, and three pillars, and the same number of bases.
{38:16} AIl the hangings of the atrium were woven from fine
twisted linen. {38:17} The bases of the columns were of brass,
but their heads with all of their engravings were of silver.
Now he also overlaid the columns of the atrium themselves
with silver. {38:18} And he made, at its entrance, a hanging,
wrought with embroidery, of hyacinth, purple, vermillion,
and fine twisted linen, which held twenty cubits in length, yet
truly it was five cubits in height, as with the measure of all the
hangings of the atrium. {38:19} Now the columns at the
entrance were four, with bases of brass, and their heads and
engravings were of silver. {38:20} Likewise, the tent pegs of
the tabernacle and the atrium all around he made of brass.
{38:21} These are the instruments of the tabernacle of the
testimony, which were enumerated according to the
instruction of Moses, with the ceremonies of the Levites, by
the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest,
{38:22} which Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur from
the tribe of Judah, had completed, just as the Lord decreed
through Moses. {38:23} He was joined by his associate,
Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan, who
himself was also an exceptional artisan of wood, and of
weaving, as well as of embroidery, with hyacinth, purple,
vermillion, and fine linen. {38:24} All of the gold that was
expended in the work of the Sanctuary, and that was offered
in donation, was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred
thirty shekels, according to the measure of the Sanctuary.
{38:25} Now it was offered by those who were past the
numbering of twenty years and above: from six hundred and
three thousand, five hundred and fifty men able to bear arms.
{38:26} There were, beyond that, one hundred talents of
silver, from which were cast the bases for the Sanctuary and
for the entrance where the veil hangs. {38:27} One hundred
bases were made from one hundred talents, a single talent
being counted for each base. {38:28} But from one thousand
seven hundred and seventy-five, he made the heads of the
columns, which he also clothed with silver. {38:29} Likewise,
of brass, there was offered seventy-two thousand talents, and
four hundred more shekels, {38:30} from which were cast the
bases at the entrance of the tabernacle of the testimony, and
the altar of brass with its grating, and the vessels which
pertain to its use, {38:31} and the bases of the atrium, as
much at the circumference as at its entrance, and the tent
pegs of the tabernacle and of the atrium all round.


[Exodus 39] {39:1} Truly, from hyacinth and purple,
vermillion and fine linen, he made the vestments with which
Aaron was clothed when he ministered in the holy places,
just as the Lord instructed Moses. {39:2} And so he made an
ephod of gold, hyacinth, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet,
and fine twisted linen, {39:3} wrought with embroidery. And
he cut thin strips of gold and drew them into threads, so that
they could be twisted into the weave of the first colors.
{39:4} And he made two edges, coupled to one another at the
top of both sides, {39:5} and a wide belt from the same colors,
just as the Lord had instructed Moses. {39:6} He also
prepared two onyx stones, set and enclosed in gold, and
engraved with the skill of a jeweler, with the names of the
sons of Israel. {39:7} And he set them in the sides of the
ephod, as a memorial to the sons of Israel, just as the Lord
had instructed Moses. {39:8} He also made a breastplate,
wrought with embroidery, according to the work of the
ephod, from gold, hyacinth, purple, and twice-dyed scarlet,
and fine twisted linen: {39:9} with four equal sides, doubled,
of the measure of the palm of a hand. {39:10} And he set four
rows of gems in it. In the first row was a sardius stone, a
topaz, an emerald; {39:11} in the second was a garnet, a
sapphire, and a jasper; {39:12} in the third was a zircon, an
agate, and an amethyst; {39:13} in the fourth was a chrysolite,
an onyx, and a beryl, surrounded and enclosed in gold by
their rows. {39:14} And these twelve stones were engraved
with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, each one with a
single name. {39:15} They also made, in the breastplate, little
chains linked to one another, from the purest gold,
{39:16} and two hooks, and the same number of gold rings.
Moreover, they set the rings at both sides of the breastplate,
{39:17} from which two golden chains would hang, which
they connected with the hooks that projected from the
corners of the ephod. {39:18} These were both in front and in
back so that they met one another, and so that the ephod and
the breastplate were woven together, {39:19} being fastened
to the wide belt and strongly coupled with rings, to which a
hyacinth band was joined, lest they should shake loose and
be moved away from one another, just as the Lord instructed
Moses. {39:20} They also made the tunic of the ephod
entirely from hyacinth, {39:21} with the head in the upper
part at the middle, and a woven edge all around the head.
{39:22} Then, at the feet below, they also made
pomegranates from hyacinth, purple, vermillion, and fine
twisted linen, {39:23} and little bells from the purest gold,
which they set between the pomegranates at the very bottom
of the tunic all around. {39:24} So then, the high priest
approached, adorned with gold bell and pomegranate, when
he performed his ministry, just as the Lord had instructed
Moses. {39:25} They also made fine linen tunics with woven
work, for Aaron and his sons, {39:26} and headdresses with
their little crowns of fine linen, {39:27} and also linen
undergarments of fine linen. {39:28} Truly, they also made a
wide band of fine twisted linen, hyacinth, purple, as well as
vermillion, twice-dyed, with skillful embroidery, just as the
Lord had instructed Moses. {39:29} They also made the plate
of sacred veneration from the purest gold, and they wrote on
it, with the skill of a jeweler: “Holy to the Lord.”
{39:30} And they fastened it to the headdress with a hyacinth
band, just as the Lord had instructed Moses. {39:31} And so
all the work of the tabernacle and of the covering of the
testimony was completed. And the sons of Israel did all that
the Lord had instructed Moses. {39:32} And they offered the
tabernacle, and the covering, and all of the articles: the rings,
the panels, the bars, the columns and bases, {39:33} the cover
of the skins of rams, dyed red, and the other cover of violet
skins, {39:34} the veil, the ark, the bars, the propitiatory,
{39:35} the table, with its vessels and the bread of the
presence, {39:36} the lampstand, the lamps, and their utensils
with the oil, {39:37} the altar of gold, and the ointment, and
the incense of aromatics, {39:38} and the tent at the entrance
of the tabernacle, {39:39} the altar of brass, the grating, the
bars, and all of its vessels, the washtub with its base, the
hangings of the atrium, and the columns with their bases,
{39:40} the hanging at the entrance of the atrium, and their
little cords and pegs. Nothing was lacking of the articles that
were commanded to be made for the ministry of the
tabernacle and for the covering of the covenant.
{39:41} Likewise, the vestments, which the priests, namely,
Aaron and his sons, make use of use in the Sanctuary,
{39:42} the sons of Israel offered, just as the Lord had
instructed. {39:43} After this, when Moses saw that
everything was completed, he blessed them.


[Exodus 40] {40:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{40:2} “In the first month, on the first day of the month, you
shall raise the tabernacle of the testimony, {40:3} and you
shall place the ark in it, and you shall release the veil before it.
{40:4} And having brought in the table, you shall place the
things which were solemnly commanded upon it. The
lampstand shall stand with its lamps, {40:5} and the altar of
gold, in which the incense is burned, shall stand before the
ark of the testimony. You shall place the tent at the entrance
of the tabernacle, {40:6} and before it, the altar of holocaust.
{40:7} The washtub shall stand between the altar and the
tabernacle, and you shall fill it with water. {40:8} And you
shall encompass the atrium and its entrance with hangings.
{40:9} And, having taken up the oil of unction, you shall
anoint the tabernacle along with its articles, so that they may
be sanctified. {40:10} The altar of holocaust and all its vessels,
{40:11} the washtub with its base, and all things, you shall
consecrate with the oil of unction, so that they may be the
Holy of holies. {40:12} And you shall bring forward Aaron
and his sons to the entrance of the tabernacle of the testimony,
and, having washed them with water, {40:13} you shall
clothe them in the holy vestments, so that they may minister
to me, and so that their unction may accomplish an
everlasting priesthood.” {40:14} And Moses did all that the
Lord had instructed. {40:15} Therefore, in the first month of
the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle
was put in place. {40:16} And Moses raised it up, and he
positioned the panels as well as the bases and the bars, and he
set up the columns, {40:17} and he stretched out the roof
over the tabernacle, imposing a cover above it, just as the
Lord had decreed. {40:18} And he placed the testimony in
the ark, applying the bars beneath, and the oracle above.
{40:19} And when he had brought the ark into the tabernacle,
he drew the veil before it, in order to fulfill the
commandment of the Lord. {40:20} And he placed the table
in the tabernacle of the testimony, at the north side, beyond
the veil, {40:21} arranging before it the bread of the presence,
just as the Lord had instructed Moses. {40:22} And he placed
the lampstand in the tabernacle of the testimony, away from
the table, on the south side, {40:23} setting the lamps in order,
according to the precept of the Lord. {40:24} He also
positioned the altar of gold under the roof of the testimony,
opposite the veil, {40:25} and he heaped upon it the incense
of aromatics, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
{40:26} And he positioned the tent at the entrance of the
tabernacle of the testimony, {40:27} and the altar of
holocaust in the vestibule of the testimony, offering the
holocaust and the sacrifices upon it, just as the Lord had
decreed. {40:28} Likewise, he stationed the washtub between
the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar, filling it with
water. {40:29} And Moses and Aaron, along with his sons,
washed their hands and feet, {40:30} whenever they would
enter the covering of the covenant, and when they
approached to the altar, just as the Lord had instructed
Moses. {40:31} And he raised up the atrium around the
tabernacle and the altar, drawing the hanging at its entrance.
After all these things were perfected, {40:32} the cloud
covered the tabernacle of the testimony, and the glory of the
Lord filled it. {40:33} Neither could Moses enter the covering
of the covenant: the cloud was covering all things, and the
majesty of the Lord was flashing. For the cloud had covered
everything. {40:34} Whenever the cloud departed from the
tabernacle, the sons of Israel set out by their companies.
{40:35} But if it remained hanging over it, they remained in
the same place. {40:36} Certainly, the cloud of the Lord lay
over the tabernacle by day, and the fire by night, being seen
by all the people of Israel throughout all their resting places.


** The Book of Leviticus **


[Leviticus 1] {1:1} Then the Lord called Moses and spoke to
him from the tabernacle of the testimony, saying: {1:2} Speak
to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: The man
among you who will offer to the Lord a sacrifice from the
cattle, that is, an offering of victims of oxen or sheep: {1:3} if
his offering will be a holocaust, as well as from the herd, he
shall offer an immaculate male at the door of the tabernacle
of the testimony, to make himself pleasing to the Lord.
{1:4} And he shall place his hand on the head of the sacrifice,
and so it shall be acceptable and effective, in its expiation.
{1:5} And he shall immolate the calf in the sight of the Lord.
And the priests, the sons of Aaron, shall offer its blood,
pouring it all around the altar, which is before the door of the
tabernacle. {1:6} And having pulled away the skin of the
victim, they shall cut up the joints into pieces, {1:7} and they
shall toss fire under the altar, having arranged beforehand a
stack of wood. {1:8} And they shall lay the parts which are
cut up in order upon it: namely, the head, and all the things
that adjoin to the liver, {1:9} the intestines and feet having
been washed with water. And the priest shall burn them on
the altar as a holocaust and as a sweet odor to the Lord.
{1:10} But if the offering is from the flocks, a holocaust either
of sheep or goats, he shall offer a male without blemish.
{1:11} And he shall immolate it at the side of the altar which
looks out toward the north, in the sight of the Lord. Yet truly,
the sons of Aaron shall pour its blood upon the altar all
around. {1:12} And they shall divide the limbs, the head, and
everything that adjoins to the liver. And they shall place them
on the wood, under which the fire is to be thrown. {1:13} Yet
truly, the intestines and the feet they shall wash with water.
And the priest, having offered everything, shall burn it upon
the altar as a holocaust and as a most sweet odor to the Lord.
{1:14} But if the oblation of a holocaust to the Lord is of
birds, either of turtledoves, or young pigeons, {1:15} the
priest shall offer it at the altar: and twisting back the neck
with the head, and also rupturing the place of the wound, he
shall make the blood run down over the edge of the altar.
{1:16} Yet truly, the craw of the throat and the feathers he
shall cast near the altar at the eastern section, in the place
where the ashes are usually poured out. {1:17} And he shall
break its wing joints, but he shall neither cut, nor divide it
with metal, and he shall burn it upon the altar, placing fire
under the wood. It is a holocaust and an oblation of a most
sweet odor to the Lord.


[Leviticus 2] {2:1} When a soul will offer an oblation of
sacrifice to the Lord, his oblation shall be of fine wheat flour,
and he shall pour oil over it, and he shall set down
frankincense, {2:2} and he shall bring it to the sons of Aaron,
the priests. One of them shall take a handful of the flour with
oil, as well as all the frankincense, and he shall place it as a
memorial upon the altar, as a most sweet odor to the Lord.
{2:3} Then what will remain of the sacrifice shall be for
Aaron and his sons, the Holy of holies from the oblations of
the Lord. {2:4} But when you will offer a sacrifice baked in
the oven from fine wheat flour, specifically: loaves without
leaven, sprinkled with oil, and unleavened wafers, rubbed
with oil: {2:5} if your oblation will be from the frying pan, of
flour tempered with oil and without leaven, {2:6} you shall
divide it into little pieces and pour oil over it. {2:7} But if the
sacrifice will be from the oven grating, equally the fine wheat
flour shall be sprinkled with oil. {2:8} When you are offering
it to the Lord, you shall deliver it into the hands of the priest.
{2:9} And when he has offered it, he shall take a memorial
from the sacrifice and burn it upon the altar as a sweet odor
to the Lord. {2:10} But whatever is left shall be for Aaron
and his sons, the Holy of holies from the oblations of the
Lord. {2:11} Every oblation that is offered to the Lord shall
be made without leaven; neither shall any leaven or honey be
burned with the sacrifice to the Lord. {2:12} You shall offer
only the first-fruits of these along with the gifts. Yet truly,
these shall not be placed upon the altar as an odor of
sweetness. {2:13} Whatever sacrifice you will offer, you shall
season it with salt; neither shall you take away the salt of the
covenant of your God from your sacrifice. In all your
oblations, you shall offer salt. {2:14} But if you will offer a
gift of the first-fruits of your grain to the Lord, from ears of
grain still green, you shall parch it at the fire, and break it
open in the manner of meal. And so shall you offer your first-
fruits to the Lord: {2:15} pouring oil over it, and imposing
frankincense, because it is an oblation of the Lord.
{2:16} From this, the priest shall burn, as a memorial of the
gift, a portion of the cracked grain and the oil, as well as all of
the frankincense.


[Leviticus 3] {3:1} But if his oblation will be a sacrifice of
peace offerings, and he wishes to offer it from the oxen,
whether male or female, he shall offer what is immaculate, in
the sight of the Lord. {3:2} And he shall place his hand upon
the head of his victim, which shall be immolated at the
entrance of the tabernacle of the testimony. And the sons of
Aaron, the priests, shall pour the blood all around the altar.
{3:3} And they shall offer from the sacrifice of peace
offerings, as an oblation to the Lord: the fat which covers the
vital organs, and whatever fat is interior, {3:4} the two
kidneys with the fat that covers the sides, and the mesh of the
liver with the two little kidneys. {3:5} And they shall burn
them upon the altar as a holocaust, placing fire under the
wood, as an oblation of a most sweet odor to the Lord.
{3:6} Yet truly, if his oblation and the sacrifice of peace
offerings will be from the sheep, whether he will offer a male
or a female, they shall be immaculate. {3:7} If he will offer a
lamb in the sight of the Lord, {3:8} he shall place his hand
upon the head of the victim. And it shall be immolated at the
vestibule of the tabernacle of the testimony. And the sons of
Aaron shall pour its blood all around the altar. {3:9} And
they shall offer from the victim of peace offerings, as a
sacrifice to the Lord: the fat, and the entire rump {3:10} with
the kidneys, and the fat that covers the abdomen, and all the
vital organs, and both the little kidneys with the fat that is
near the sides, and the mesh of the liver with the little kidneys.
{3:11} And the priest shall burn them upon the altar, as fuel
for the fire and as an oblation of the Lord. {3:12} If his
oblation will be a goat, and he will offer it to the Lord,
{3:13} he shall place his hand upon its head, and he shall
immolate it at the entrance of the tabernacle of the testimony.
And the sons of Aaron shall pour its blood all around the
altar. {3:14} And they shall take from it, to feed the Lord’s
fire: the fat which covers the abdomen, and that which covers
all the vital organs, {3:15} the two little kidneys with the
mesh that is over them near the sides, and the fat of the liver
with the little kidneys. {3:16} And the priest shall burn them
upon the altar, as nourishment for the fire and as a most
sweet odor. All the fat shall be for the Lord; {3:17} by a
perpetual law, in your generations and in all of your
habitations, neither blood nor fat shall you eat at all.


[Leviticus 4] {4:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{4:2} Say to the sons of Israel: The soul which will have
sinned through ignorance, and concerning any of the
commandments of the Lord that he instructed not to be done,
if anything at all has been done: {4:3} if the priest, who is
anointed, will have sinned, causing the people to commit a
transgression, he shall offer to the Lord for his sin an
immaculate calf. {4:4} And he shall lead it to the door of the
tabernacle of the testimony in the sight of the Lord. And he
shall place his hand upon its head, and he shall immolate it to
the Lord. {4:5} Likewise, he shall take from the blood of the
calf, carrying it into the tabernacle of the testimony,
{4:6} and having dipped his finger into the blood, he shall
sprinkle it seven times in the sight of the Lord, opposite the
veil of the Sanctuary. {4:7} And he shall place some of the
same blood over the horns of the altar of most pleasing
incense to the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the
testimony. Then he shall pour out the remainder of the blood
at the base of the altar of holocaust at the entrance of the
tabernacle. {4:8} And, on behalf of the sin, he shall take the
fat of the calf, both that which covers the vital organs and all
that is interior, {4:9} the two little kidneys, and the mesh that
is on them near the sides, and the fat of the liver with the little
kidneys, {4:10} just as it is taken from the calf of the sacrifice
of peace offerings. And he shall burn them upon the altar of
holocaust. {4:11} Yet truly, the skin and all the flesh, with
the head and the feet, and the intestines and the dung,
{4:12} and the remainder of the body, he shall carry away,
beyond the camp, to the clean place where the ashes are
usually poured out. And he shall burn them upon a stack of
wood. There, in the place where the ashes have been poured
out, they will be burned. {4:13} But if all the crowd of Israel
will have been ignorant, and through inexperience will have
done what is contrary to the commandment of the Lord,
{4:14} and afterwards shall understand their sin: they shall
offer a calf on behalf of their sin, and they shall lead it to the
door of the tabernacle. {4:15} And the elders of the people
shall place their hands upon its head in the sight of the Lord.
And when the calf has been immolated in the sight of the
Lord, {4:16} the priest who is anointed shall carry some of its
blood into the tabernacle of the testimony. {4:17} and he
shall dip his finger in it, sprinkling it seven times opposite the
veil. {4:18} And he shall place some of the same blood on the
horns of the altar, which is in the presence of the Lord in the
tabernacle of the testimony. But the remainder of the blood
he shall pour out at the base of the altar of holocaust, which
is at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony. {4:19} And
he shall take all its fat and burn it upon the altar,
{4:20} doing so with this calf in the same manner as he did
before. And while the priest is praying for them, the Lord will
forgive them. {4:21} But the calf itself he shall carry away,
beyond the camp, and he shall also burn it, just as with the
previous calf, because it is for the sin of the multitude.
{4:22} If a leader will have sinned, and through ignorance
will have done one of the many things which the law of the
Lord prohibits, {4:23} and afterwards he shall understand his
sin: he shall offer an immaculate he-goat from among the
goats, as a sacrifice to the Lord. {4:24} And he shall place his
hand upon its head. And when he will have immolated it, in
the place where the holocaust is usually slain, in the sight of
the Lord, because it is for sin, {4:25} the priest shall dip his
finger in the blood of the victim for sin, touching the horns of
the altar of holocaust, and pouring out the remainder at its
base. {4:26} Yet truly, the fat he shall burn upon it, just as is
usually done with the victims of peace offerings. And the
priest shall pray for him and for his sin, and he shall be
released from it. {4:27} But if a soul from the people of the
land will have sinned through ignorance, so as to have done
any of those things that the law of the Lord prohibits, and so
commit a transgression, {4:28} and he shall realize his sin: he
shall offer an immaculate she-goat. {4:29} And he shall place
his hand upon the head of the victim which is for sin. And he
shall immolate it in the place of the holocaust. {4:30} And
the priest shall take some of the blood with his finger, and
touching the horns of the altar of holocaust, he shall pour out
the remainder at its base. {4:31} But taking away all the fat,
just as it is usually taken away from the victims of peace
offerings, he shall burn it upon the altar as a sweet odor to the
Lord. And he shall pray for him, and he shall be released
from it. {4:32} But if instead he will offer from the flock a
victim for his sin, specifically, an immaculate female sheep:
{4:33} he shall place his hand upon its head, and he shall
immolate it in the place where the victims of holocausts are
usually slain. {4:34} And the priest shall take some of its
blood with his finger, and touching the horns of the altar of
holocaust, he shall pour out the remainder at its base.
{4:35} Likewise, all of the fat shall be taken away, just as the
fat of the ram, which is immolated for peace offerings, is
usually taken away. And he shall burn it upon the altar as an
incense of the Lord. And he shall pray for him and for his sin,
and he shall be released from it.


[Leviticus 5] {5:1} If a soul will have sinned, and heard the
voice of one testifying under oath, and he is a witness because
either he has seen it himself, or he is aware of it: if he does
not reveal it, he shall carry his iniquity. {5:2} The soul that
will have touched anything unclean, either that which has
been killed by a beast, or that which has died on its own, or
any other creeping thing, and will have forgotten its
uncleanness, he is guilty and has committed a transgression.
{5:3} And if he will have touched anything from the
uncleanness of man, according to every kind of impurity by
which he may be defiled, and having forgotten it, afterwards
realizes it, he shall be guilty of committing a transgression.
{5:4} The soul who swears and offers from his own lips that
he would do either evil or good, and who will have bound the
same with an oath and with his own words, and, having
forgotten it, afterwards understands his transgression,
{5:5} let him do penance for his sin, {5:6} and let him offer
from the flocks a female lamb or a she-goat, and the priest
shall pray for him and for his sin. {5:7} But if he is not able to
offer a beast, let him offer two turtledoves or two young
pigeons to the Lord, one for sin, and the other for a holocaust.
{5:8} And he shall give them to the priest, who, offering the
first for sin, shall twist back its head to the little wings, so that
it adheres to the neck and is not entirely broken off.
{5:9} And he shall sprinkle some of its blood at the side of
the altar. But whatever will remain, he shall cause it to drip
down to the base, because it is for sin. {5:10} Yet truly, the
other he shall burn as a holocaust, just as is usually done.
And the priest shall pray for him, and for his sin, and he shall
be released from it. {5:11} But if his hand is unable to offer
two turtledoves or two young pigeons, he shall offer, for his
sin, the tenth part of an ephah of fine wheat flour. He shall
not put oil in it, nor place upon it any frankincense, because it
is for sin. {5:12} And he shall deliver it to the priest, who
shall take a handful of it, and shall burn it upon the altar as a
memorial for him who offered it, {5:13} praying for him and
making atonement. Yet truly, the remaining part he himself
shall have as a gift. {5:14} And the Lord spoke to Moses,
saying: {5:15} If a soul, by mistake, shall have transgressed
the ceremonies in those things that are sanctified to the Lord,
he shall offer for his offense an immaculate ram from the
flocks, such as can be bought for two shekels, according to
the weight of the Sanctuary. {5:16} And he shall make
restitution for the damage that he has brought, and he shall
add a fifth part more, delivering it to the priest, who shall
pray for him while offering the ram, and he shall be released
from it. {5:17} If a soul will have sinned through ignorance,
and will have done one of those things which the law of the
Lord prohibits, and, being guilty of sin, understands his
iniquity, {5:18} he shall offer from the flocks an immaculate
ram to the priest, according to the measure and estimation of
the sin, who shall pray for him, because he did it
unknowingly, and he shall be released from it, {5:19} because
by mistake he transgressed against the Lord.


[Leviticus 6] {6:1} The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{6:2} The soul who will have sinned, and, despising the Lord,
will have denied to his neighbor the deposit which he had
entrusted to his safekeeping, or who will have extorted
anything by force, or who will have made a false accusation,
{6:3} or who will have found a lost thing and then also
withheld it by swearing falsely, or who will have done any
other of the many things by which men usually sin:
{6:4} being convicted of the offense, he shall restore {6:5} all
that he wanted to obtain by fraud, the whole plus an
additional fifth part, to the owner against whom he brought
the damage. {6:6} Then, on behalf of his sin, he shall offer an
immaculate ram from the flock, and he shall give it to the
priest, according to the estimation and measure of the offense.
{6:7} And he shall pray for him in the sight of the Lord, and
he shall be released from any one of those things that he did
when he sinned. {6:8} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{6:9} Instruct Aaron and his sons: This is the law of a
holocaust. It shall be burned upon the altar, all night until
morning. The fire shall be from the same altar. {6:10} The
priest shall be vested with the tunic and the linen
undergarments. And he shall take up the ashes of that which
the devouring fire has consumed, and, placing them next to
the altar, {6:11} he shall strip off his former vestments, and
being clothed with others, he shall carry them beyond the
camp, and he shall cause them to be consumed, even to
glowing embers, in a very clean place. {6:12} But the fire on
the altar shall burn always, for the priest shall nourish it by
placing wood under it each day in the morning. And, laying
down the holocaust, he shall burn the fat of the peace
offerings upon it. {6:13} This is the perpetual fire which shall
never fail upon the altar. {6:14} This is the law of the
sacrifice and the libations, which the sons of Aaron shall offer
in the sight of the Lord, and before the altar. {6:15} The
priest shall take a handful of fine wheat flour, which has been
sprinkled with oil, and all the frankincense, which has been
placed upon the flour, and he shall burn it upon the altar as a
memorial of most sweet odor to the Lord. {6:16} And the
remaining portion of the flour, Aaron shall eat with his sons,
without leaven. And he shall eat it in the holy place, in the
atrium of the tabernacle. {6:17} Yet for this reason, it shall
not be leavened, because part of it is offered as an incense of
the Lord. The Holy of holies shall it be, just as what is offered
on behalf of sin and of transgression. {6:18} Only the males
of the stock of Aaron shall eat it. This shall be an everlasting
ordinance in your generations concerning the sacrifices of the
Lord. All who will touch these shall be sanctified.
{6:19} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: {6:20} This is
the oblation of Aaron and of his sons, which they must offer
to the Lord in the day of their anointing. They shall offer a
tenth part of an ephah of fine wheat flour as a perpetual
sacrifice, half of it in the morning, and half of it in the
evening. {6:21} It shall be sprinkled with oil and fried in a
frying pan. Then it shall be offered hot, as a most sweet odor
to the Lord, {6:22} by the priest who by law succeeds his
father. And it shall be entirely burned on the altar. {6:23} For
every sacrifice of the priest shall be consumed by fire; neither
shall anyone eat from it. {6:24} Then the Lord spoke to
Moses, saying: {6:25} Say to Aaron and his sons: This is the
law of the victim for sin. In the place where the holocaust is
offered, it shall be immolated in the sight of the Lord. It is the
Holy of holies. {6:26} The priest who offers it shall eat it in
the holy place, in the atrium of the tabernacle.
{6:27} Whatever will touch its flesh shall be sanctified. If a
garment will be sprinkled with its blood, it shall be washed in
a holy place. {6:28} Then the earthen vessel, in which it was
soaked, shall be broken. But if the vessel will be of brass, it
shall be scoured and washed with water. {6:29} Every male
of priestly descent shall feed on its flesh, because it is the
Holy of holies. {6:30} For the victim that is slain for sin,
whose blood is carried into the tabernacle of the testimony,
for expiation in the Sanctuary, shall not be eaten, but it shall
be consumed by fire.


[Leviticus 7] {7:1} Likewise, this is the law of the sacrifice
for a transgression. It is the Holy of holies. {7:2} Therefore,
where the holocaust is immolated, the victim for a
transgression shall also be slain. Its blood shall be poured out
all around the altar. {7:3} They shall offer from it: the rump,
and the fat that covers the vital organs, {7:4} the two little
kidneys, and the fat that is near the sides, and the mesh of the
liver with the little kidneys. {7:5} And the priest shall burn
them upon the altar. It is the incense of the Lord on behalf of
a transgression. {7:6} Every male of priestly descent shall
feed on this flesh in a holy place, because it is the Holy of
holies. {7:7} Just as the sacrifice for sin is offered, so also for
a transgression; one law shall be for both sacrifices. It shall
belong to the priest who offers it. {7:8} The priest who offers
the victim of holocaust shall have its skin. {7:9} And every
sacrifice of fine wheat flour which is baked in the oven, and
whatever is prepared on the oven grating or in the frying pan,
shall be for the priest who offers it. {7:10} Whether these will
be sprinkled with oil, or left dry, an equal measure shall be
divided to each one of the sons of Aaron. {7:11} This is the
law of the victim of peace offerings, which is offered to the
Lord. {7:12} If the oblation will be an act for giving thanks,
they shall offer bread without leaven sprinkled with oil, and
unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and fine wheat flour
fried, and cakes sprinkled and mixed with oil, {7:13} and also,
leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving, which is
immolated for peace offerings. {7:14} Of these, one shall be
offered to the Lord as the first-fruits, and one shall be for the
priest who will pour out the blood of the victim. {7:15} The
flesh of it shall be eaten on the same day; neither shall any of
it remain until morning. {7:16} If anyone, by a vow or of his
own accord, will have offered a sacrifice, it shall be eaten ina
similar manner on the same day. But then if any of it will
have remained until tomorrow, it is lawful to eat it.
{7:17} Then whatever will be found on the third day shall be
consumed with fire. {7:18} If anyone will have eaten from
the flesh of the victim of peace offerings on the third day, the
oblation will be nullified; neither will it benefit the one who
offered it. But instead, whatever soul will contaminate itself
with such foods will be guilty of a betrayal. {7:19} The flesh
that has touched anything unclean shall not be eaten, but it
shall be burnt with fire. He that is clean will feed on it.
{7:20} If a soul which is polluted will have eaten from the
flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which is offered to the
Lord, he shall perish from his people. {7:21} And whoever
will have touched the uncleanness of man, or of beast, or of
anything which is able to defile, and who will have eaten
from this kind of flesh, shall be cut off from his people.
{7:22} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: {7:23} Say to
the sons of Israel: The fat of a sheep, and of an ox, and of a
goat you shall not eat. {7:24} The fat of a carcass that has
died on its own, or of an animal that has been seized by a
wild beast, you shall have for various uses. {7:25} If anyone
will have eaten the fat which ought to be offered as a burnt
sacrifice of the Lord, he shall perish from his people.
{7:26} Likewise, you shall not take as food the blood of any
animals at all, whether of birds or beasts. {7:27} Every soul
that will have eaten blood shall perish from his people.
{7:28} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: {7:29} Speak to
the sons of Israel, saying: Whoever offers a victim of peace
offerings to the Lord, let him also offer at the same time a
sacrifice, that is, its libations. {7:30} He shall hold in his
hands the fat of the victim, and the breast. And when he will
have offered and consecrated both to the Lord, he shall
deliver them to the priest, {7:31} who shall burn the fat upon
the altar. But the breast shall be for Aaron and his sons.
{7:32} Likewise also, the right shoulder of the victim of peace
offerings shall fall to the priest as first-fruits. {7:33} Among
the sons of Aaron, whoever will have offered the blood and
the fat, the same one shall also have the right shoulder for his
portion. {7:34} So then, the breast that is lifted up, and the
shoulder that is separated, I have taken from the sons of
Israel, from their victims of peace offerings, and I have given
these to Aaron the priest and to his sons, as a law in
perpetuity, from all the people of Israel. {7:35} This is the
anointing of Aaron and his sons, by the ceremonies of the
Lord, in the day when Moses offered them, so that they may
fulfill the priesthood, {7:36} and this is what the Lord
instructed to be given to them by the sons of Israel, as a
perpetual observance in their generations. {7:37} This is the
law of the holocaust, and of the sacrifice for sin, and for
transgression, and for consecration, and for the victims of
peace offerings, {7:38} which the Lord appointed to Moses
on mount Sinai, when he commanded the sons of Israel to
offer their oblations to the Lord in the desert of Sinai.


[Leviticus 8] {8:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{8:2} Take Aaron, with his sons, their vestments, and the oil
of anointing, a calf for sin, two rams, and a basket with
unleavened bread, {8:3} and gather together all the assembly
at the door of the tabernacle. {8:4} And Moses did as the
Lord had commanded. And when all the crowd was gathered
together before the entrance of the tabernacle, {8:5} he said:
“This is the word that the Lord has ordered to be done.”
{8:6} And immediately, he brought forward Aaron and his
sons. And when he had washed them, {8:7} he vested the
high priest with the linen undergarment, wrapped him with
the wide belt, and clothed him with the hyacinth tunic, and
over it he imposed the ephod. {8:8} And tying it to the belt,
he fitted it to the breastplate, on which was Doctrine and
Truth. {8:9} Also, he wrapped the headdress on his head,
and over it, opposite the forehead, he placed the plate of gold,
consecrated with sanctification, just as the Lord had
instructed him. {8:10} He also took up the oil of anointing,
with which he anointed the tabernacle, along with all of its
articles. {8:11} And when he had sprinkled the altar seven
times to sanctify it, he anointed it and all its vessels. And the
washtub with its base he sanctified with the oil. {8:12} And
pouring the oil over Aaron’s head, he anointed and
consecrated him. {8:13} Likewise, after he had offered his
sons, he vested them with linen tunics, and wrapped them
with wide belts, and placed headdresses on them, just as the
Lord had ordered. {8:14} He also offered the calf for sin. And
when Aaron and his sons had placed their hands upon its
head, {8:15} he immolated it. And drawing the blood, and
dipping his finger in it, he touched the horns of the altar all
around. And when it was expiated and sanctified, he poured
out the remainder of the blood at its base. {8:16} Yet truly,
the fat which was on the vital organs, and the mesh of the
liver, and the two little kidneys with their fat, he burned upon
the altar. {8:17} And the calf with the skin, and the flesh, and
the dung, he burned beyond the camp, just as the Lord had
instructed. {8:18} He also offered a ram as a holocaust. And
when Aaron and his sons had imposed their hands upon its
head, {8:19} he immolated it, and he poured out its blood
around the altar. {8:20} And cutting the ram into pieces, he
burned its head, and the limbs, and the fat in the fire,
{8:21} having first washed the intestines and the feet. And
then he burned the whole of the ram upon the altar, because
it was a holocaust of most sweet odor to the Lord, just as he
had instructed him. {8:22} He also offered the second ram, as
a consecration of priests. And Aaron and his sons placed
their hands upon its head. {8:23} And when Moses had
immolated it, taking up some of its blood, he touched the tip
of Aaron’s right ear, and the thumb of his right hand, and
similarly also his foot. {8:24} He also offered the sons of
Aaron. And when, from the blood of the ram which was
immolated, he had touched the tip of the right ear of each
one, and the thumbs of their right hands, as well as their feet,
he poured out the remainder upon the altar all around.
{8:25} Yet truly, the fat, and the rump, and all the fat that
covers the intestines, and the mesh of the liver, and the two
kidneys with their fat, and the right shoulder, he separated.
{8:26} Then, taking bread without leaven from the basket of
unleavened bread, which was before the Lord, and a cake
sprinkled with oil, and a wafer, he placed them upon the fat
and the right shoulder, {8:27} delivering all these to Aaron
and his sons. And when they had lifted them up in the sight
of the Lord, {8:28} he received them again from their hands,
and he burned them upon the altar of holocaust, because it
was an oblation of consecration, as a sweet odor of sacrifice
to the Lord. {8:29} And he took his portion from the ram of
consecration, and he lifted up its breast in the sight of the
Lord, just as the Lord had instructed him. {8:30} And taking
up the ointment, and the blood that was on the altar, he
sprinkled it over Aaron and his vestments, and over his sons
and their vestments. {8:31} And when he had sanctified them
with their vestments, he instructed them, saying: “Cook the
flesh before the entrance of the tabernacle, and eat it there.
Likewise, eat the loaves of consecration, which have been
placed in the basket, just as the Lord instructed me, saying:
‘Aaron and his sons shall eat them.’ {8:32} Then whatever
will remain of the flesh and the loaves shall be consumed
with fire. {8:33} Also, you shall not exit from the door of the
tabernacle for seven days, until the day on which the time of
your consecration shall be completed. For in seven days the
consecration is finished, {8:34} even as it has begun at this
present time, so that the rite of the sacrifice might be
accomplished. {8:35} Day and night you shall remain in the
tabernacle, observing the watches of the Lord, otherwise you
shall die. For so it has been commanded to me.” {8:36} And
Aaron and his sons did everything that the Lord spoke by the
hand of Moses.


[Leviticus 9] {9:1} Then, the eighth day having arrived,
Moses called Aaron and his sons, and those greater by birth
from Israel, and he said to Aaron: {9:2} “Take a calf for sin
from the herd, and a ram as a holocaust, both immaculate,
and offer them in the sight of the Lord. {9:3} And to the sons
of Israel, you shall say: ‘Take a he-goat for sin, and a calf as
well as a lamb, both one-year-old and without blemish, as a
holocaust. {9:4} Take also an ox and a ram for peace
offerings. And immolate them before the Lord, offering with
the sacrifice of each one fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil.
For today the Lord will appear to you.’ ” {9:5} And so they
brought everything that Moses had ordered before the door of
the tabernacle, where, when all the multitude stood together,
{9:6} Moses said: “This is the word, which the Lord has
instructed. Accomplish it, and his glory will appear to you.”
{9:7} And he said to Aaron: “Approach toward the altar, and
immolate on behalf of your sin. Offer the holocaust, and pray
for yourself and for the people. And when you have slain the
victim for the people, pray for them, just as the Lord has
instructed.” {9:8} And immediately Aaron, approaching
toward the altar, immolated the calf for his sin. {9:9} And his
sons brought its blood to him, and dipping his finger in it, he
touched the horns of the altar, and he poured out the
remainder at its base. {9:10} And the fat, and the little
kidneys, and the mesh of the liver, which are for sin, he
burned upon the altar, just as the Lord had instructed Moses.
{9:11} Yet truly, the flesh and its skins he burned with fire
beyond the camp. {9:12} He also immolated the victim of
holocaust. And his sons brought its blood to him, which he
poured out all around the altar. {9:13} And when the victim
itself was cut into pieces, they brought him the head and each
of the limbs, all of which he burned with fire upon the altar,
{9:14} having first washed the intestines and the feet with
water. {9:15} And making an offering for the sin of the
people, he slew the he-goat. And expiating the altar,
{9:16} he accomplished the holocaust, {9:17} adding to it the
sacrifice of the libations, which are to be offered together, and
burning them upon the altar, separately from the ceremonies
of the morning holocaust. {9:18} He also immolated the ox,
as well as the ram, as peace offerings for the people. And his
sons brought him the blood, which he poured out upon the
altar all around. {9:19} Then the fat of the ox, and the rump
of the ram, and the two little kidneys with their fat, and the
mesh of the liver, {9:20} they placed upon the breasts. And
when the fat had been burned upon the altar, {9:21} Aaron
separated their breasts and the right shoulders, lifting them up
in the sight of the Lord, as Moses had instructed. {9:22} And
extending his hands to the people, he blessed them. And so,
the victims for sin, and the holocausts, and the peace
offerings being completed, he descended. {9:23} Then Moses
and Aaron entered the tabernacle of the testimony, and
afterwards came out and blessed the people. And the glory of
the Lord appeared to the entire multitude. {9:24} And,
behold, a fire from the Lord devoured the holocaust, and the
fat which was on the altar. When the crowd had seen this,
they praised the Lord, falling on their faces.


[Leviticus 10] {10:1} And the sons of Aaron, Nadab and
Abihu, picking up their censers, placed fire in them and
incense upon them, offering in the sight of the Lord a strange
fire, such as was not instructed of them. {10:2} And fire
coming out from the Lord destroyed them, and they died in
the sight of the Lord. {10:3} And Moses said to Aaron: “This
is what the Lord has spoken: ‘I will be sanctified in those who
approach me, and I will be glorified in the sight of all the
people.’ ” And upon hearing this, Aaron was silent.
{10:4} Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of
Uzziel, the paternal uncle of Aaron, and he said to them,
“Go and take your brothers from the sight of the Sanctuary,
and carry them beyond the camp.” {10:5} And moving
quickly, they took them as they lay, vested with linen tunics,
and cast them outside, just as had been commanded them.
{10:6} And Moses said to Aaron, and to his sons, Eleazar
and Ithamar: “Do not uncover your heads, and do not rend
your garments, lest perhaps you may die, and indignation
may rise up over the entire assembly. Let your brothers, and
all the house of Israel, bewail the burning that the Lord has
kindled. {10:7} But you shall not depart from the door of the
tabernacle; otherwise, you shall perish. For certainly the oil
of holy anointing is upon you.” And they did all things
according to the precept of Moses. {10:8} The Lord also said
to Aaron: {10:9} “You shall not drink wine, nor anything
that is able to inebriate you or your sons, when you enter into
the tabernacle of the testimony, lest you die. For it is an
everlasting precept in your generations. {10:10} And so may
you have the knowledge to discern between holy and profane,
between polluted and clean. {10:11} And so may you teach
the sons of Israel all my ordinances, which the Lord has
spoken to them by the hand of Moses.” {10:12} And Moses
spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, who
were remaining: “Take the sacrifice which remains from the
oblation of the Lord, and eat it without leaven next to the
altar, because it is the Holy of holies. {10:13} For you shall
eat it in a holy place, which is given to you and to your sons,
from the oblations of the Lord, just as has been instructed me.
{10:14} Likewise, the breast which is offered, and the
shoulder which is separated, you shall eat in a most clean
place, you and your sons, and your daughters with you. For
these have been set aside for you and your children from the
victims which benefit the sons of Israel. {10:15} Since they
have lifted up in the sight of the Lord, the shoulder, and the
breast, and the fat that is burned on the altar, these also
belong to you and to your sons as a perpetual law, just as the
Lord has instructed.” {10:16} Meanwhile, when Moses was
searching for the he-goat, which had been offered for sin, he
discovered it burned up. And being angry against Eleazar and
Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were remaining, he said:
{10:17} “Why did you not eat the sacrifice for sin in the holy
place, which is the Holy of holies, and which was given to
you, so that you might carry the iniquity of the people, and
might pray for them in the sight of the Lord,
{10:18} especially since none of its blood has been brought
into the holy places, and since you should have eaten it in the
Sanctuary, as was instructed me?” {10:19} Aaron responded:
“This day, the victim for sin has been offered, and the
holocaust in the sight of the Lord. But you see what has
happened to me. How could I eat it, or please the Lord in the
ceremonies, having a sorrowful mind?” {10:20} But when
Moses had heard this, he was satisfied.


[Leviticus 11] {11:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses and
Aaron, saying: {11:2} Say to the sons of Israel: These are the
animals that you ought to eat out of all the living things of the
earth. {11:3} All that has a divided hoof, and that chews over
again, among the cattle, you shall eat. {11:4} But whatever
certainly chews over again, but has a hoof that is not divided,
such as the camel and others, these you shall not eat, and you
shall consider them to be among what is unclean. {11:5} The
rock rabbit which chews over again, and whose hoof is not
divided, is unclean, {11:6} and so also is the hare, for it too
chews over again, yet its hoof is not divided, {11:7} and also
the swine, which, though its hoof is divided, does not chew
over again. {11:8} The flesh of these you shall not eat, nor
shall you touch their carcasses, because they are unclean to
you. {11:9} These are the things that breed in the waters, and
which it is lawful to eat. All that has little fins and scales, as
much in the sea, as in the rivers and ponds, you shall eat.
{11:10} But whatever does not have fins and scales, of those
things that live and move in the waters, shall be abominable
to you, {11:11} and detestable; their flesh you shall not eat,
and their carcasses you shall avoid. {11:12} All that does not
have fins and scales in the waters shall be polluted.
{11:13} These are those things among the birds which you
must not eat, and which are to be avoided by you: the eagle,
and the griffin, and the osprey, {11:14} and the kite, as well
as the vulture, according to their kind. {11:15} and all that is
of the raven kind, according to their likeness, {11:16} the
ostrich, and the owl, and the gull, and the hawk, according to
its kind, {11:17} the owl, and the sea bird, and the ibis,
{11:18} and the swan, and the pelican, and the marsh hen,
{11:19} the heron, and the plover according to its kind, the
crested hoopoe, and also the bat. {11:20} Of all that flies,
whatever steps upon four feet shall be abominable to you.
{11:21} But whatever certainly walks upon four feet, and also
has longer legs behind, with which it hops upon the earth,
{11:22} you shall eat, such as the beetle in its kind, and the
cricket, and grasshopper, and the locust, each one according
to its kind. {11:23} But among flying things, whatever has
only four feet shall be detestable to you. {11:24} And
whoever will have touched their carcasses shall be defiled,
and he shall be unclean until evening. {11:25} And if it will
be necessary to carry any of these dead things, he shall wash
his clothes, and he shall be unclean until the sun sets.
{11:26} Every animal that certainly has a hoof, but which is
not divided, nor does it chew over again, shall be unclean.
And whoever will have touched it shall be contaminated.
{11:27} Whatever walks upon its hands, out of all the
animals that advance on all fours, shall be unclean. Whoever
will have touched their carcasses shall be polluted until
evening. {11:28} And whoever will have carried this kind of
carcass shall wash his clothes, and he shall be unclean until
evening. For all these are unclean to you. {11:29} Likewise,
these shall be considered among the polluted things, out of all
that moves upon the earth: the weasel, and the mouse, and
the crocodile, each one according to its kind, {11:30} the
shrew, and the chameleon, and the gecko, and the lizard, and
the mole. {11:31} All these are unclean. Whoever will have
touched their carcasses shall be unclean until evening.
{11:32} And anything upon which something from their
carcasses will have fallen shall be defiled, whether it is a
vessel of wood, or a garment, or skins, or haircloths, or
anything by which work is done. These shall be dipped in
water and shall be defiled until evening, but then afterwards
these shall be clean. {11:33} But an earthen vessel, into
which something from these will fall, shall be defiled; and
therefore it is to be broken. {11:34} Any of the foods that you
eat, if water from such a vessel will have been poured upon it,
it shall be unclean. And every liquid which one may drink
from such a vessel shall be unclean. {11:35} And if anything
from among these kinds of dead things has fallen upon it, it
shall be unclean, whether it be an oven, or a pot with feet,
these shall be unclean and shall be destroyed. {11:36} Yet
truly, fountains and cisterns, and all reservoirs of water shall
be clean. Whoever will have touched their carcasses shall be
defiled. {11:37} If it falls upon seed grain, it shall not defile it.
{11:38} But if anyone has poured water upon the seed grain,
and afterwards it was touched by the carcasses, it shall be
immediately defiled. {11:39} If any animals will have died,
from which it is lawful for you to eat, whoever will have
touched its carcass shall be unclean until evening.
{11:40} And whoever will have eaten or carried anything of
these shall wash his clothes, and he shall be unclean until
evening. {11:41} All that creeps across the earth shall be
abominable, neither shall it taken up as food.
{11:42} Whatever advances by four feet upon the chest, or
that has many feet, or that drags across the soil, you shall not
eat, because it is abominable. {11:43} Do not be willing to
contaminate your souls, nor shall you touch any of these, lest
you become unclean. {11:44} For I am the Lord your God.
Be holy, for I am Holy. Do not pollute your souls with any
creeping thing, which moves across the land. {11:45} For I
am the Lord, who led you away from the land of Egypt, so
that I would be your God; you shall be holy, for I am Holy.
{11:46} This is the law of animals and flying things, and of
every living soul that moves in the waters or creeps upon the
land, {11:47} so that you may know the difference between
clean and unclean, and so that you may know what you
ought to eat, and what you ought to refuse.


[Leviticus 12] {12:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{12:2} Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them:
A woman, if she has received the seed to bear a male, shall be
unclean for seven days, just as in the days of separation due
to menstruation. {12:3} And on the eighth day, the little
infant shall be circumcised. {12:4} Yet truly, she herself shall
remain for thirty-three days in the blood of her purification.
She shall not touch anything holy, nor shall she enter into the
Sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed.
{12:5} But if she will bear a female, she shall be unclean for
two weeks, according to the custom of her monthly flow, and
she shall remain in the blood of her purification for sixty-six
days. {12:6} And when the days of her purification have been
completed, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the
door of the tabernacle of the testimony, a one-year-old lamb
as a holocaust, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for sin,
and she shall deliver them to the priest. {12:7} He shall offer
them in the sight of the Lord, and he shall pray for her. And
so she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is
the law for one who bears a male or a female. {12:8} And if
her hand has not obtained or been able to offer a lamb, she
shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons: one as a
holocaust, and the other for sin. And the priest shall pray for
her, and so she shall be cleansed.


[Leviticus 13] {13:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses and
Aaron, saying: {13:2} The man in whose skin or flesh there
will have arisen a diverse color, or a pustule, or something
that seems to shine, which is the mark of leprosy, shall be
brought to Aaron the priest, or to anyone you wish among
his sons. {13:3} And if he sees that leprosy is in his skin, and
that the hair has turned a white color, and that the place
where the leprosy appears is lower than the rest of the skin
and the flesh, then it is the mark of leprosy, and at his
judgment he shall be separated. {13:4} But if there will be a
shining whiteness in the skin, but it is not lower than the rest
of the flesh, and the hair is of unaffected color, the priest shall
seclude him for seven days. {13:5} And on the seventh day
he shall examine him, and if the leprosy certainly has not
increased further, and has not spread itself in the skin, he
shall seclude him again, for another seven days. {13:6} And
on the seventh day, he shall evaluate him. If the leprosy has
become obscured, and has not increased in the skin, he shall
declare him clean, because it is a scab. And the man shall
wash his clothes, and he shall be clean. {13:7} But if the
leprosy increases again, after he was seen by the priest and
restored to cleanness, he shall be brought to him, {13:8} and
he shall be condemned of uncleanness. {13:9} If the mark of
leprosy has been in a man, he shall be brought to the priest,
{13:10} and he shall look upon him. And when there is a
white color in the skin, and it has an altered appearance in its
hair, and also the same flesh seems alive, {13:11} it shall be
judged a chronic leprosy, which has grown into the skin. And
so the priest shall declare him contaminated, and he shall not
seclude him, because he is clearly unclean. {13:12} But if the
leprosy will have flourished, coursing through the skin, and
will have covered all the skin from the head even to the feet,
whatever falls under the sight of the eyes, {13:13} the priest
shall examine him, and he shall judge that the leprosy that he
possesses is very clean, because it has all turned to whiteness,
and for this reason the man shall be clean. {13:14} Yet truly,
when the living flesh shall appear in him, {13:15} then by the
judgment of the priest he shall be polluted, and he shall be
considered to be among the unclean. For the live flesh, if it is
spotted with leprosy, is unclean. {13:16} And if again it will
have turned into whiteness, and will have covered the entire
man, {13:17} the priest shall examine him, and he shall
discern him to be clean. {13:18} But when there has been an
ulcer in the flesh and the skin, and it has healed, {13:19} and
in the place of the ulcer, there appears a white or reddish scar,
the man shall be brought to the priest. {13:20} And when he
will have seen the place of the leprosy lower than the rest of
the flesh, and that the hair has turned white, he shall declare
him contaminated. For the plague of leprosy has arisen from
the ulcer. {13:21} But if the hair is of the usual color, and the
scar is somewhat obscure and is not lower than the nearby
flesh, he shall seclude him for seven days. {13:22} And if it
will have certainly increased, he shall judge him to have
leprosy. {13:23} But if it stays in its place, it is the scar of an
ulcer, and the man shall be clean. {13:24} But if flesh and
skin has been burned by fire, and, having been healed, now
has a white or red scar, {13:25} the priest shall examine it,
and if he sees that it has turned white, and that its place is
lower than the rest of the skin, he shall declare him
contaminated, for the mark of leprosy has arisen in the scar.
{13:26} But if the color of the hair has not been changed, nor
is the mark lower than the rest of the flesh, and the leprosy
itself appears to be somewhat obscure, he shall seclude him
for seven days, {13:27} and on the seventh day he shall
evaluate him. If the leprosy will have increased further in the
skin, he shall declare him contaminated. {13:28} But if the
whiteness stays in its place and is not very clear, it is the mark
of a burn, and for this reason he shall be declared clean,
because it is only the scar from a burn. {13:29} If leprosy will
have sprung up in the head or the beard of a man or woman,
the priest shall look upon them, {13:30} and if the place is
certainly lower than the rest of the flesh, and the hair is
golden, and thinner than usual, he shall declare them
contaminated, because it is the leprosy of the head and the
beard. {13:31} But if he sees that the place of the spot is equal
with the nearby flesh, and that the hair is black, he shall
seclude him for seven days, {13:32} and on the seventh day
he shall examine it. If the spot has not increased, and the hair
has kept its color, and the place of the mark is equal with the
rest of the flesh, {13:33} the man shall be shaven, except in
the place of the spot, and he shall be secluded for another
seven days. {13:34} On the seventh day, if the mark seems to
have stayed in its place, and it is not lower than the rest of the
flesh, he shall declare him clean, and, his clothes having been
washed, he shall be clean. {13:35} But if, after his cleansing,
the spot will have increased again in the skin, {13:36} he
shall no longer inquire as to whether the hair has turned
yellow, because he is plainly unclean. {13:37} Furthermore,
if the spot has not increased, and the hair is black, let him
know that the man is healed: and let him confidently
pronounce him clean. {13:38} If a whiteness will have
appeared in the skin of a man or a woman, {13:39} the priest
shall examine them. If he detects an obscured whiteness
shining in the skin, may he know that it is not leprosy, but a
white-colored blemish, and that the man is clean.
{13:40} The man whose hair falls off of his head is bald and
clean. {13:41} And if the hair falls off of his forehead, he is
bald in front and clean. {13:42} But if in the bald head or
bald forehead there has arisen a white or reddish color,
{13:43} and the priest will have seen this, he shall condemn
him without doubt of leprosy, which has arisen in the
baldness. {13:44} Therefore, whoever will have been spotted
by leprosy, and who has been separated at the judgment of
the priest, {13:45} shall have his clothes unstitched, his head
bare, his mouth covered with a cloth, and he himself shall cry
out that he is contaminated and filthy. {13:46} The entire
time that he is a leper and unclean he shall live alone outside
the camp. {13:47} A woolen or linen garment that will have
held the leprosy, {13:48} in the main fibers or in any of the
threads, or certainly in a skin, or whatever has been made
from a skin, {13:49} if it has been infected with a white or red
spot, it shall be considered to be leprosy, and it shall be
shown to the priest. {13:50} And he, having examined it,
shall close it up for seven days. {13:51} And on the seventh
day, having looked at it again, if he detects an increase, it is a
persistent leprosy; he shall judge the garment to be polluted,
along with everything with which it has been found.
{13:52} And because of this, it shall be burned in flames.
{13:53} But if he will have seen that it has not increased,
{13:54} he shall instruct them, and they shall wash whatever
has the leprosy in it, and he shall close it up for another seven
days. {13:55} And when he will have seen that the former
appearance has not returned, even if the leprosy has not
increased, he shall judge it to be unclean, and he shall burn it
with fire, for the leprosy has been infused in the exterior of
the garment, or throughout the whole. {13:56} But if the
place of the leprosy has become somewhat darker, after the
garment has been washed, he shall tear it away, and separate
it from the part that is sound. {13:57} But if, after this, there
will appear in those places which before were immaculate, a
flying and wandering leprosy, it must be burned with fire.
{13:58} If it will have ceased, he shall wash with water the
parts which are pure for a second time, and they shall be
clean. {13:59} This is the law about leprosy for any woolen
or linen garment, in the weave and in the threads, and for all
items made from skins, how it must be declared either clean
or contaminated.


[Leviticus 14] {14:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{14:2} This is the rite for a leper, when he is to be cleansed.
He shall be brought to the priest, {14:3} who, departing from
the camp, when he has found the leprosy to be cleansed,
{14:4} shall instruct him who is to be purified to offer for
himself two living sparrows, which it is lawful to eat, and
cedar wood, and vermillion, and hyssop. {14:5} And he shall
order that one of the sparrows be immolated in an earthen
vessel over living waters. {14:6} But the other living one,
with the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, he shall
dip in the blood of the immolated sparrow. {14:7} And he
shall sprinkle him who is to be cleansed seven times, so that
he may be purified justly. And he shall release the living
sparrow, so that it may fly away into the field. {14:8} And
when the man will have washed his clothes, he shall shave all
the hair from his body, and he shall be washed with water.
And having been purified, he shall enter into the camp, only
to this extent: that he may remain outside his own tent for
seven days. {14:9} And on the seventh day he shall shave the
hair of his head, and his beard, and his eyebrows, as well as
the hair of his entire body. And having washed his clothes
again, and his body, {14:10} on the eighth day, he shall take
two immaculate lambs, and a one-year-old female sheep
without blemish, and three tenths of fine wheat flour, which
has been sprinkled with oil, as a sacrifice, and separately, one
twelfth hin of oil. {14:11} And when the priest purifying the
man has presented him and all these things in the sight of the
Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony,
{14:12} he shall take a lamb and offer it for transgression,
with the twelfth hin of oil. And having offered all these before
the Lord, {14:13} he shall immolate the lamb, where the
victim for sin is usually immolated with the holocaust, that is,
in the holy place. For just as with the one for sin, so also the
victim for transgression belongs to the priest. It is the Holy of
holies. {14:14} And taking some of the blood of the victim,
which was immolated for transgression, the priest shall place
it upon the tip of the right ear of him who is being cleansed,
and upon the thumb of his right hand, and likewise the foot.
{14:15} And he shall send some of the twelfth hin of oil into
his own left hand, {14:16} and he shall dip his right finger in
it, and he shall sprinkle it in the sight of the Lord seven times.
{14:17} But the oil which remains in his left hand, he shall
pour over the tip of the right ear of him who is being cleansed,
and upon the thumb of his right hand as well as the foot, and
upon the blood which was shed for transgression,
{14:18} and upon his head. {14:19} And he shall pray for
him in the sight of the Lord, and he shall accomplish the
sacrifice on behalf of sin. Then he shall immolate the
holocaust, {14:20} and place it upon the altar with its
libations, and the man will be duly cleansed. {14:21} But if
he is poor, and his hand is not able to find what has been said,
he shall take a lamb as an offering for transgression, so that
the priest may pray for him, and a tenth part of fine wheat
flour sprinkled with oil, as a sacrifice, and a twelfth hin of oil,
{14:22} and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, of which
one may be for sin, and the other as a holocaust. {14:23} And
he shall offer them on the eighth day of his purification to the
priest at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony in the
sight of the Lord. {14:24} And he, receiving the lamb for
transgression, and the twelfth hin of oil, shall lift them up
together. {14:25} And when the lamb has been immolated,
he shall place some of its blood upon the tip of the right ear of
him who is being cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right
hand, as well as the foot. {14:26} Yet truly, he shall send part
of the oil into his own left hand, {14:27} and dipping the
finger of his right hand in it, he shall sprinkle it seven times
before the Lord. {14:28} And he shall touch the tip of the
right ear of him who is being cleansed, and the thumb of his
right hand, as well as the foot, in the place of the blood which
was shed for transgression. {14:29} But the remaining part of
the oil which is in his left hand, he shall send upon the head
of the one being purified, to appease the Lord on his behalf.
{14:30} And he shall offer a turtledove or a young pigeon,
{14:31} one for transgression, and the other as a holocaust,
with their libations. {14:32} This is the sacrifice of a leper,
who is not able to obtain all of the things concerning his
cleansing. {14:33} And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron,
saying: {14:34} When you will have entered into the land of
Canaan, which I will give to you as a possession, if there is
the mark of leprosy in a building, {14:35} he whose house it
is shall go and report to the priest, saying: “It seems to me
that the mark of leprosy is in my house.” {14:36} And he
shall instruct them to carry all things out of the house, before
he would enter it and see whether it is leprosy, lest all that is
in the house become unclean. And after this, he shall enter to
examine the leprosy of the house. {14:37} And when he will
have seen in its walls something like little hollows, deformed
with paleness or redness, and lower than the remaining
surface, {14:38} he shall exit by the door of the house, and
immediately close it up for seven days. {14:39} And
returning on the seventh day, he shall examine it. If he finds
that the leprosy has spread, {14:40} he shall order the stones
in which the leprosy is, to be dug out and cast outside the city
in an unclean place, {14:41} and that the house be scraped on
the inside all around, and that the dust of the scrapings be
scattered outside the city in an unclean place, {14:42} and
that other stones be put back, in place of those which had
been taken away, and that the house be plastered with other
mortar. {14:43} But if, after the stones have been dug out,
and the dust wiped away, and it is plastered with other clay,
{14:44} the priest, upon entering, will have seen that the
leprosy has returned, and that the walls are sprinkled with
spots, then it is a persistent leprosy and the house is unclean.
{14:45} And so they shall promptly destroy it, and shall cast
its stones and timber, and also all the dust, outside the town
in an unclean place. {14:46} Whoever enters into the house
when it is closed up shall be unclean until evening.
{14:47} And whoever will have slept in it, or eaten anything,
shall wash his clothes. {14:48} But if the priest, upon entering,
will have seen that the leprosy has not spread in the house,
after it had been newly plastered, he shall purify it, restoring
it to health. {14:49} And for its purification, he shall take two
sparrows, and cedar wood, and vermillion, as well as hyssop,
{14:50} and, having immolated one sparrow in an earthen
vessel over living waters, {14:51} he shall take the cedar
wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living sparrow,
and he shall dip all these in the blood of the immolated
sparrow, and also in the living water, and he shall sprinkle
the house seven times. {14:52} And he shall purify it as much
with the blood of the sparrow as with the living water, and
with the living sparrow, and the cedar wood, and the hyssop,
and the vermillion. {14:53} And when he has released the
sparrow to fly freely away into the field, he shall pray for the
house, and it shall be justly cleansed. {14:54} This is the law
of every kind of leprosy and plague: {14:55} of the leprosy of
garments and houses, {14:56} of scars and erupting pustules,
of a shining spot, when the appearance is also variegated,
{14:57} so that it can be known at what time a thing is clean
or unclean.


[Leviticus 15] {15:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses and
Aaron, saying: {15:2} Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to
them: The man who undergoes a flow of seed shall be
unclean. {15:3} And then he shall be judged subject to this
fault, if a filthy fluid, at each moment, adheres to his flesh
and gathers there. {15:4} Every bed on which he sleeps shall
be unclean, and every place where he sits. {15:5} If any man
has touched his couch, he shall wash his clothes, and having
washed with water, he shall be unclean until evening.
{15:6} If he will have sat where that man has sat, he shall
also wash his clothes, and having washed with water, he shall
be unclean until evening. {15:7} Whoever has touched his
flesh shall wash his clothes, and having washed with water,
he shall be unclean until evening. {15:8} If such a man has
cast his spittle upon him who is clean, he shall wash his
clothes, and having washed with water, he shall be unclean
until evening. {15:9} The saddle on which he has sat shall be
unclean. {15:10} And whatever has been under him who has
undergone a flow of seed shall be polluted until evening.
Whoever carries any of these things shall wash his clothes,
and having washed with water, he shall be unclean until
evening. {15:11} All whom such a one has touched, not
having washed his hands before, shall wash his clothes, and
having washed with water, he shall be unclean until evening.
{15:12} If he has touched an earthen vessel, it shall be broken.
But if it is a wooden vessel, it shall be washed with water.
{15:13} If he who suffers from this affliction will have been
healed, he shall number seven days after his cleansing, and
having washed his clothes and his entire body in living water,
he shall be clean. {15:14} Then, on the eighth day, he shall
take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and he shall
advance, in the sight of the Lord, toward the door of the
tabernacle of the testimony, and he shall give these to the
priest, {15:15} who shall offer one for sin, and the other as a
holocaust. And he shall pray for him before the Lord, so that
he may be cleansed from the flow of his seed. {15:16} A man
from whom the seed of sexual intercourse goes out shall wash
his entire body with water, and he shall be unclean until
evening. {15:17} The garment or skin which he will have, he
shall wash with water, and it shall be unclean until evening.
{15:18} The woman with whom he has had sexual
intercourse shall be washed with water, and she shall be
unclean until evening. {15:19} The woman who, at the return
of the month, undergoes the flow of blood shall be separated
for seven days. {15:20} All who will touch her shall be
unclean until evening. {15:21} And everything on which she
sleeps or sits, in the days of her separation, shall be polluted.
{15:22} Whoever will have touched her bed shall wash his
clothes, and having washed himself with water, he shall be
unclean until evening. {15:23} Anyone who will have
touched any item on which she has sat shall wash his clothes,
and having washed himself with water, he shall be polluted
until evening. {15:24} If a man has sexual intercourse with
her in the time of her monthly flow of blood, he shall be
unclean for seven days, and every bed on which he sleeps
shall be polluted. {15:25} The woman who undergoes a flow
of blood many days beyond her time of menstruation, or
whose blood does not cease to flow after the menstrual blood,
as long as she is subject to this affliction, she shall be unclean,
just as if she were in her time of menstruation. {15:26} Every
bed on which she sleeps, and every item on which she sits,
shall be polluted. {15:27} Whoever will have touched these
shall wash his clothes, and having washed himself with water,
he shall be unclean until evening. {15:28} If the blood has
stopped and has ceased to flow, she shall number seven days
for her purification, {15:29} and on the eighth day she shall
offer for herself, to the priest, two turtledoves or two young
pigeons, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.
{15:30} And he shall offer one for sin, and the other as a
holocaust, and he shall pray for her before the Lord, and for
the flow of her uncleanness. {15:31} Therefore, you shall
teach the sons of Israel to be cautious of uncleanness, so that
they may not die in their filth, when they will have polluted
my tabernacle, which is among them. {15:32} This is the law
of him who undergoes a flow of seed, or who is polluted by
sexual intercourse, {15:33} and of her who is separated in the
time of menstruation, or who has a continual flow of blood,
and of the man who sleeps with her.


[Leviticus 16] {16:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, after the
death of the two sons of Aaron, when they were destroyed for
offering strange fire. {16:2} And he instructed him, saying:
Speak to your brother Aaron, so that he may not, at any time,
enter into the Sanctuary, which is within the veil, before the
propitiatory by which the ark is covered, so that he may not
die, (for I will appear in a cloud above the oracle)
{16:3} unless he will have done these things beforehand. He
shall offer a calf for sin, and a ram as a holocaust. {16:4} He
shall be vested with a linen tunic. He shall conceal his
nakedness with linen undergarments. He shall be wrapped
with a linen belt, and he shall impose a linen headdress on his
head. For these are holy vestments. All of these he shall put
on, after he has been washed. {16:5} And he shall receive,
from the entire multitude of the sons of Israel, two he-goats
for sin, and one ram as a holocaust. {16:6} And when he has
presented the calf, and has prayed for himself and for his own
house, {16:7} he shall cause the two he-goats to stand in the
sight of the Lord at the entrance to the tabernacle of the
testimony. {16:8} And casting lots over them both, one is to
be offered to the Lord, and the other is to be the emissary
goat. {16:9} The one whose lot fell out to be offered to the
Lord, he shall offer for sin. {16:10} But the one who is to be
the emissary goat shall stand before the Lord, so that he may
pour the prayers upon him, and may send him away into the
wilderness. {16:11} After these things have been duly
celebrated, he shall offer the calf, and praying for himself and
for his own house, he shall immolate it. {16:12} And taking
up the censer, which he has filled from the burning coals of
the altar, and drawing up with his hands the aromatic
compound for incense, he shall enter within the veil, into the
holy place, {16:13} so that when the aromatics are placed
upon the fire, its cloud and vapor may cover the oracle,
which is above the testimony, and he may not die.
{16:14} Likewise, he shall take some of the blood of the calf,
and sprinkle it with his finger seven times opposite the
propitiatory, toward the east. {16:15} And when he has slain
the he-goat for the sin of the people, he shall carry its blood
within the veil, just as he was instructed to do with the blood
of the calf, so that he may sprinkle it away from the area of
the oracle, {16:16} and so that he may expiate the Sanctuary
from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel, and from their
prevarications and every one of their sins. According to this
rite, he shall act toward the tabernacle of the testimony,
which is fixed among them in the midst of the filth of their
habitation. {16:17} Let no man be in the tabernacle when the
high priest enters the Sanctuary in order to pray for himself,
and for his house, and for the entire assembly of Israel, until
he exits. {16:18} And when he has exited to the altar which is
before the Lord, let him pray for himself, and taking the
blood of the calf, and of the he-goat, let him pour it upon its
horns all around. {16:19} And sprinkling with his finger
seven times, let him expiate and sanctify it from the
uncleanness of the sons of Israel. {16:20} After he has
cleansed the Sanctuary, and the tabernacle, and the altar,
then let him offer the living goat. {16:21} And placing both
hands upon its head, let him confess all the iniquities of the
sons of Israel, and all of their offenses and sins. And calling
these down upon its head, he shall send it away, by means of
a man prepared to do so, into the desert. {16:22} And when
the goat has carried all their iniquities into a solitary land,
and has been released into the desert, {16:23} Aaron shall
return into the tabernacle of the testimony. And placing aside
the vestments, which he had worn before when he entered
into the Sanctuary, and leaving them there, {16:24} he shall
wash his flesh in the holy place, and he shall be clothed in his
own garments. And departing afterwards, he shall present his
own holocaust and that of the people: he shall pray as much
for himself as for the people. {16:25} And the fat which is
offered for sins, he shall burn upon the altar. {16:26} Yet
truly, he who has sent away the emissary goat shall wash his
clothes and his body with water, and so he shall enter into the
camp. {16:27} But the calf and the he-goat, which were
immolated for sin, and whose blood was brought into the
Sanctuary to complete the expiation, these shall be carried
outside the camp and be burned with fire: as with their skins,
so also with their flesh and dung. {16:28} And whoever will
have burned them shall wash his clothes and flesh with water,
and so he shall enter into the camp. {16:29} And this shall be
to you an everlasting ordinance. In the seventh month, on the
tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and you
shall do no work, neither someone native born, nor the
newcomer who sojourns among you. {16:30} On this day,
there shall be atonement for you, and also a cleansing from
all your sins. You shall be cleansed in the sight of the Lord.
{16:31} For it is a Sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your
souls as a perpetual observance. {16:32} And the priest who
has been anointed, and whose hands have been consecrated
to exercise the priesthood in the place of his father, shall
make atonement. And he shall be clothed with the linen robe
and the holy vestments. {16:33} And he shall expiate the
Sanctuary and the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar,
likewise the priest and all the people. {16:34} And this shall
be to you a perpetual law, that you pray for the sons of Israel,
and for all their sins once a year. Therefore, he did just as the
Lord had instructed Moses.


[Leviticus 17] {17:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{17:2} Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the sons of
Israel, saying to them: This is the word, which the Lord has
commanded, saying: {17:3} Any man at all of the house of
Israel, if he will have killed an ox, or a sheep, or a goat in the
camp or beyond the camp, {17:4} and not have presented it
as an oblation to the Lord at the door of the tabernacle, he
shall be guilty of blood. It is just as if he had shed blood; so
then, he shall perish from the midst of his people.
{17:5} Therefore, the sons of Israel must offer to the priest
their victims, which they kill in the field, so that they may be
sanctified to the Lord before the door of the tabernacle of the
testimony, and so that they may immolate them as peace
offerings to the Lord. {17:6} And the priest shall pour the
blood upon the altar of the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle
of the testimony, and he shall burn the fat as a sweet odor to
the Lord. {17:7} And they shall no longer immolate their
victims to demons, with whom they have committed
fornication. It shall be an everlasting ordinance for them and
for their posterity. {17:8} And you shall say to them: The
man of the house of Israel, or of the newcomers who sojourn
with you, who offers a holocaust or a victim, {17:9} and who
does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of the
testimony, so that it may be offered to the Lord, shall pass
away from his people. {17:10} Any man at all of the house of
Israel, or of the newcomers who sojourn among them, if he
has eaten blood, I will harden my face against his soul, and I
will drive him from his people. {17:11} For the life of the
flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you, so that you
may atone with it upon the altar for your souls, and so that
the blood may be for an expiation of the soul. {17:12} For
this reason, I have said to the sons of Israel: No soul among
you shall eat blood, nor among the newcomers who sojourn
with you. {17:13} Any man at all from the sons of Israel, or
from the newcomers who sojourn with you, whether by
hunting or bird-catching, if he seizes a wild beast or a bird,
which is lawful to eat, let him pour out its blood and cover
the earth with it. {17:14} For the life of all flesh is in the
blood. Therefore, I said to the sons of Israel: You shall not
eat the blood of any flesh at all, because the life of the flesh is
in the blood, and whoever has eaten it shall perish.
{17:15} The soul who eats what has died on its own, or what
has been caught by a beast, whether he is native born or a
newcomer, shall wash his clothes and himself with water,
and he shall be contaminated until evening. And by this
means he shall be made clean. {17:16} But if he will not
wash his clothes and his body, he shall bear his iniquity.


[Leviticus 18] {18:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{18:2} Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them:
I am the Lord your God. {18:3} You shall not act according
to the custom of the land of Egypt, in which you have lived;
nor shall you behave according to the habit of the region of
Canaan, into which I will lead you; neither shall you walk in
their ordinances. {18:4} You shall accomplish my judgments,
and you shall observe my precepts, and you shall walk in
them. I am the Lord your God. {18:5} Keep my laws and
judgments; when a man does these, he shall live by them. I
am the Lord. {18:6} No man shall approach her who is a
close blood-relative to him, so as to uncover her nakedness. I
am the Lord. {18:7} You shall not expose the nakedness of
your father, or the nakedness of your mother. She is your
mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. {18:8} You
shall not expose the nakedness of your father’s wife; for it is
the nakedness of your father. {18:9} You shall not uncover
the nakedness of your sister, whether from father or from
mother, whether she was born at home or abroad.
{18:10} You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s
daughter, or your daughter’s daughter; for it is your own
nakedness. {18:11} You shall not uncover the nakedness of
your father’s wife’s daughter, whom she bore to your father,
and who is your sister. {18:12} You shall not expose the
nakedness of your father’s sister; for she is the flesh of your
father. {18:13} You shall not uncover the nakedness of your
mother’s sister, because she is the flesh of your mother.
{18:14} You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s
brother, nor shall you approach his wife, who is joined to you
by affinity. {18:15} You shall not uncover the nakedness of
your daughter-in-law, for she is your son’s wife; neither shall
you expose her dishonor. {18:16} You shall not uncover the
nakedness of your brother’s wife; for it is the nakedness of
your brother. {18:17} You shall not uncover the nakedness of
your wife and her daughter. You shall not take her son’s
daughter or her daughter’s daughter, so as to uncover her
dishonor; for they are her flesh, and such sexual intercourse is
incest. {18:18} You shall not take your wife’s sister as a rival
mistress; nor shall you uncover her nakedness, while your
wife is still living. {18:19} You shall not approach a woman
who is undergoing menstruation, nor shall you uncover her
foulness. {18:20} You shall not have sexual intercourse with
your neighbor’s wife, nor shall you be defiled by the mingling
of seed. {18:21} You shall not give some of your seed to be
consecrated to the idol Moloch, nor to pollute the name of
your God. I am the Lord. {18:22} You shall not commit
sexual acts with a male, in place of sexual intercourse with a
female, for this is an abomination. {18:23} You shall not
commit sexual acts with any animal, nor shall you be defiled
by it. A woman shall not lie down with a beast, nor commit
sexual acts with it; for this is wickedness. {18:24} Do not
pollute yourselves with any of these things, by which all of
the nations, which I will cast out in your sight, have been
contaminated {18:25} and by which the land has been
polluted. I will visit the wickedness of the land, so that it may
vomit out its inhabitants. {18:26} Keep my ordinances and
judgments, and do not do any of these abominations: the
native born, as well as the settler, who sojourns among you.
{18:27} For all these detestable things were done by the
inhabitants of the land who were here before you, and they
have polluted it. {18:28} Therefore, beware, lest in a similar
manner, it may vomit you out as well, if you do these same
things, just as it vomited out the people who were before you.
{18:29} Every soul who shall commit any of these
abominations shall perish from the midst of his people.
{18:30} Keep my commandments. Do not be willing to do
the things which have been done by those who were before
you, and do not be polluted by these things. I am the Lord
your God.


[Leviticus 19] {19:1} The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{19:2 Speak to the entire assembly of the sons of Israel, and
you shall say to them: Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am
holy. {19:3} Let each one fear his father and his mother.
Observe my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God. {19:4} Do
not be willing to convert to idols, neither should you make
molten gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.
{19:5} If you immolate a victim of peace offerings to the
Lord, so that he may be appeased, {19:6} you shall eat it on
the same day as when it was immolated, and the next day.
Then whatever will remain on the third day you shall burn
with fire. {19:7} If anyone, after two days, will have eaten
from it, he shall be profane and guilty of impiety. {19:8} And
he shall bear his iniquity, for he has polluted what is holy to
the Lord. And that soul shall perish from his people.
{19:9} When you will have harvested the grain fields of your
land, you shall not cut it down to the surface of the land, even
to the ground, nor shall you gather the remaining ears of
grain. {19:10} Neither shall you gather the clusters or
individual grapes which fall down in your vineyard, but you
shall leave them for paupers and travelers to take. I am the
Lord your God. {19:11} You shall not steal. You shall not lie.
Neither shall anyone deceive his neighbor. {19:12} You shall
not commit perjury in my name, nor shall you pollute the
name of your God. I am the Lord. {19:13} You shall not
slander your neighbor, nor shall you oppress him by violence.
The wages of a hired hand, you shall not delay with you until
tomorrow. {19:14} You shall not speak evil of the deaf, nor
shall you place a stumbling block before the blind, but you
shall fear the Lord your God, for I am the Lord. {19:15} You
shall not do what is unjust, nor shall you judge unjustly. You
shall not consider the reputation of the poor, nor shall you
honor the countenance of the powerful. Judge your neighbor
justly. {19:16} You shall not be a detractor, nor a whisperer,
among the people. You shall not stand against the blood of
your neighbor. I am the Lord. {19:17} You shall not hate
your brother in your heart, but reprove him openly, lest you
have sin over him. {19:18} Do not seek revenge, neither
should you be mindful of the injury of your fellow citizens.
You shall love your friend as yourself. I am the Lord.
{19:19} Observe my laws. You shall not cause your cattle to
breed with other kinds of animals. You shall not sow your
field with diverse seeds. You shall not be clothed with a
garment which has been woven from two things. {19:20} Ifa
man will have slept in sexual intercourse with a woman, who
is a servant and who is also able to be married, and yet he has
not redeemed her with a price, nor paid to set her free, they
both shall be beaten, but they shall not die, for she was not a
free woman. {19:21} But, for his offense, he shall offer a ram
to the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.
{19:22} And the priest shall pray for him, and for his sin,
before the Lord, and he shall win his favor again for him, and
the sin shall be forgiven. {19:23} When you will have entered
into the land, and will have planted in it fruit trees, you shall
take away their first-fruits; the fruit that germinates shall be
unclean to you, neither shall you eat from these. {19:24} But
in the fourth year, all their fruit shall be sanctified for the
praise of the Lord. {19:25} And in the fifth year you shall eat
the produce, gathering the fruits which are brought forth. I
am the Lord your God. {19:26} You shall not eat with blood.
You shall not practice divination, nor the observation of
dreams. {19:27} And you shall not cut the hair of your head
circularly, nor shave your beard. {19:28} You shall not cut
your flesh for the dead, and you shall not make other figures
or marks on yourself. I am the Lord. {19:29} Do not
prostitute your daughter, lest the land be contaminated and
filled with crimes. {19:30} Observe my Sabbaths, and be
apprehensive toward my Sanctuary. I am the Lord.
{19:31} Do not turn aside to astrologers, nor consult with
soothsayers, so as to be polluted through them. I am the Lord
your God. {19:32} Rise up in the presence of a gray-haired
head, and honor the reputation of an elder, and fear the Lord
your God. I am the Lord. {19:33} If a newcomer lives in
your land and abides among you, do not reproach him,
{19:34} but let him be among you like one native born. And
you shall love him as yourselves. For you were also
newcomers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
{19:35} Do not be willing to accomplish iniquity in judgment,
in lengths, in weights, in quantities. {19:36} Let the scales be
just and the weights equal, let the dry measure be just and the
liquid measure be equal. I am the Lord your God, who led
you away from the land of Egypt. {19:37} Keep all my
precepts, and all my judgments, and accomplish them. I am
the Lord.


[Leviticus 20] {20:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{20:2} You shall speak these things to the sons of Israel: A
man among the sons Israel, or among the newcomers who
live in Israel, if he will have given from his seed to the idol
Moloch, he shall be put to death: the people of the land shall
stone him. {20:3} And I will set my face against him. And I
will cut him down from the midst of his people, because he
has given from his seed to Moloch, and he has contaminated
my Sanctuary, and polluted my holy name. {20:4} But if the
people of the land, having been neglectful and holding little
regard for my authority, release the man who has given from
his seed to Moloch, and they are not willing to kill him,
{20:5} I will set my face over that man and over his kindred,
and I will cut down both him and all who consented with
him to fornicate with Moloch, from the midst of their people.
{20:6} The soul who will have turned aside to astrologers and
soothsayers, and who will have fornicated with them, I will
set my face against him, and I will destroy him from the
midst of his people. {20:7} Be sanctified and be holy, for Iam
the Lord your God. {20:8} Observe my precepts, and do
them. I am the Lord, who sanctifies you. {20:9} Whoever
curses his father or mother shall die a death; he has cursed his
father and mother. So let his blood be upon him. {20:10} If
anyone will have committed sexual acts with the wife of
another, or will have perpetrated adultery with his neighbor’s
spouse, they shall die a death, both the adulterer and the
adulteress. {20:11} Whoever will have slept with his
stepmother, or will have uncovered the shame of his father,
they shall both die a death. So let their blood be upon them.
{20:12} If any man will have slept with his daughter-in-law,
both shall die, for they have acted according to wickedness.
So let their blood be upon them. {20:13} If any man has slept
with a male in place of sexual intercourse with a female, both
have committed a nefarious act, they shall die a death. So let
their blood be upon them. {20:14} If any man, having taken
the daughter as a wife, will have married her mother, he has
acted according to wickedness. He shall be burnt alive with
them. Neither shall so great a nefarious act persist in your
midst. {20:15} Whoever will have committed sexual acts
with any animal or cattle, he shall die a death. Likewise, you
shall slay the beast. {20:16} The woman who will have lain
under any animal at all shall be destroyed together with it. So
let their blood be upon them. {20:17} Whoever will have
taken his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of
his mother, and will have seen her nakedness, and she will
have looked upon her brother’s shame, they have committed
a nefarious act. They shall be slain in the sight of their people,
because they have uncovered one another’s nakedness. And
they shall bear their iniquity. {20:18} Whoever has sexual
intercourse with a woman in her menstrual flow, and has
uncovered her nakedness, and she has opened the fountain of
her blood, both shall be destroyed from the midst of their
people. {20:19} You shall not expose the nakedness of your
maternal or paternal aunt. Whoever does this has laid bare
the shame of his own flesh; both shall bear their iniquity.
{20:20} If any man has had sexual intercourse with the wife
of his paternal or maternal uncle, and he has uncovered the
shame of his close relative, both shall bear their sin. They
shall die without children. {20:21} Whoever will have
married his brother’s wife has done an unlawful thing; he has
uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be without
children. {20:22} Observe my laws as well as my judgments,
and act according to them, lest the land, into which you will
enter and live, may vomit you out, too. {20:23} Do not be
willing to walk by the ordinances of the nations, which I will
expel before you. For they have done all these things, and so
I abominate them. {20:24} But I say to you: Possess their
land, which I will give to you as an inheritance, a land
flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God, who
has separated you from the other peoples. {20:25} Therefore,
you must also separate the clean animals from the unclean,
and the clean birds from the unclean. Do not pollute your
souls with cattle, or birds, or anything that moves upon the
earth, and which I have shown you to be unclean.
{20:26} You shall be holy unto me, because I, the Lord, am
holy, and I have separated you from the other peoples, so
that you would be mine. {20:27} A man or a woman, in
whom there is an oracle-like or a divining spirit, shall be put
to death. They shall stone them. So let their blood be upon
them.


[Leviticus 21] {21:1} The Lord also said to Moses: Speak to
the priests, the sons of Aaron, and you shall say to them: Do
not allow a priest to be contaminated by the death of his
citizens, {21:2} except only by his blood-relatives and near-
relatives, that is, by a father or mother, or by a son or
daughter, or also a brother, {21:3} or a virgin sister, who is
not married to a husband. {21:4} But not even by the leader
of his people shall he be contaminated. {21:5} Neither shall
they shave their head or their beard, and they shall not make
incisions in their flesh. {21:6} They shall be holy to their God,
and they shall not pollute his name. For they offer the incense
of the Lord and the bread of their God, and because of this
they shall be holy. {21:7} They shall not take as a wife a
promiscuous woman, or a prostitute, or her who has been
repudiated by her husband. For they are consecrated to their
God, {21:8} and they offer the bread of the presence.
Therefore, let them be holy, for I also am holy: the Lord, who
sanctifies them. {21:9} If the daughter of a priest will have
been taken into prostitution, and will have violated the name
of her father, she shall be consumed by fire. {21:10} The high
priest, that is, the priest who is the greatest among his
brothers, upon whose head the oil of anointing has been
poured, and whose hands have been consecrated for the
priesthood, and who has been vested with the holy vestments:
he shall not expose his head; he shall not rend his vestments.
{21:11} And he shall not enter to any dead body whatsoever;
likewise, not even by his father or mother shall he be
contaminated. {21:12} Neither shall he exit from the holy
places, lest he pollute the Sanctuary of the Lord. For the oil
of the holy anointing of his God is upon him. I am the Lord.
{21:13} He shall take a virgin as his wife. {21:14} But a
widow, or one who has been repudiated or defiled, or also a
mistress, he shall not accept, but only a maiden from among
his own people. {21:15} He shall not mingle the stock of his
family with the common people of his nation. For I am the
Lord, who sanctifies him. {21:16} And the Lord spoke to
Moses, saying: {21:17} Say to Aaron: A man from your
offspring, throughout their families, who has a blemish, shall
not offer the bread to his God. {21:18} Neither shall he
approach to minister to him: if he is blind, if he is lame, if he
is small, or large, or has a crooked nose, {21:19} if his foot or
hand is broken, {21:20} if he has a bulging back or bleary
eyes, or if he has a white spot in his eye, or a chronic scab, or
a skin disease on his body, or a hernia. {21:21} Anyone from
the offspring of Aaron, the priest, who has a blemish, shall
not approach to offer sacrifices to the Lord, nor the bread to
his God. {21:22} Nevertheless, he shall eat from the loaves
which are offered in the Sanctuary. {21:23} But even so, he
may not enter within the veil, nor approach to the altar. For
he has a blemish, and he must not contaminate my Sanctuary.
I am the Lord, who sanctifies them. {21:24} Therefore,
Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all of Israel,
everything that had been commanded to him.


[Leviticus 22] {22:1} The Lord also spoke to Moses saying:
{22:2} Speak to Aaron and to his sons, so that they may be
careful of those things which have been consecrated for the
sons of Israel, and so that they may not contaminate the
name of the things sanctified to me, which they offer. I am
the Lord. {22:3} Say to them and to their posterity: Every
man of your stock, who approaches toward those things
which have been consecrated, and which the sons of Israel
have brought forward to the Lord, in whom there is
uncleanness, shall perish before the Lord. I am the Lord.
{22:4} The man of the offspring of Aaron, who is a leper or
who is suffering a flow of seed, shall not eat of those things
which have been sanctified to me, until he is healed.
Whoever will have touched what is unclean because of the
dead, and he whose seed goes out from him, as if from sexual
intercourse, {22:5} and whoever has touched a creeping thing,
or any kind of unclean thing, the touching of which is filthy,
{22:6} shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat those
things which have been sanctified. But when he has washed
his flesh with water, {22:7} and the sun has set, then, having
been purified, he shall eat from what has been sanctified,
because it is his food. {22:8} Whatever dies on its own, and
whatever has been seized by a wild beast, they shall not eat,
nor shall they be polluted by these. I am the Lord. {22:9} Let
them observe my precepts, so that they may not fall under sin,
and die in the Sanctuary, when they will have defiled it. Iam
the Lord, who sanctifies them. {22:10} No foreigner shall eat
from what has been sanctified; a guest of the priests and a
hired servant shall not eat from them. {22:11} But whomever
the priest has bought, and whoever has been born into his
house, these shall eat from them. {22:12} If the daughter of a
priest has been married to any of the people, she shall not eat
from what has been sanctified, nor from the first-fruits.
{22:13} But if she is a widow or divorced, and, being without
children, she returns to her father’s house, she shall be
nourished by her father’s foods, just as she was accustomed
to do as a girl. No foreigner shall have the authority to eat
from them. {22:14} Whoever, through ignorance, eats from
what has been sanctified shall add a fifth part to that which
he ate, and he shall give it to the priest at the Sanctuary.
{22:15} And they shall not contaminate what has been
sanctified from the sons of Israel, which they offer to the
Lord, {22:16} lest perhaps they may suffer the iniquity of
their offense, when they will have eaten what has been
sanctified. I am the Lord, who sanctifies them. {22:17} And
the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: {22:18} Speak to Aaron,
and to his sons, and to all the sons of Israel, and you shall say
to them: The man from the house of Israel, or from the
newcomers who live with you, who would bring forward his
oblation, either fulfilling his vows or offering spontaneously,
whatever he brings forward as a holocaust for the Lord,
{22:19} in order to be offered through you, shall offer an
immaculate male from the oxen, or from the sheep, or from
the goats. {22:20} If it has a blemish, you shall not offer it,
and it shall not be acceptable. {22:21} The man who will
have offered a victim of peace offerings to the Lord, either
fulfilling his vows or offering spontaneously, whether of oxen,
or of sheep, shall offer what is immaculate, so that it may be
acceptable. There shall be no blemish in it. {22:22} If it is
blind, or if it is broken, or if it has a scar, or if it is has a boil,
or a skin disease or infection, you shall not offer these to the
Lord, nor shall you burn any of these upon the altar of the
Lord. {22:23} An ox or a sheep, having an amputated ear or
tail, you are able to offer voluntarily, but a vow is not able to
be fulfilled by these. {22:24} You shall not offer to the Lord
any animal which has the testicles bruised, or crushed, or cut
and taken away, and you shall not cause any of these things
in your land. {22:25} From the hand of a foreigner, you shall
not offer bread to your God, nor anything else that he would
choose to give; for all this has been corrupted and blemished.
You shall not accept them. {22:26} And the Lord spoke to
Moses, saying: {22:27} An ox, a sheep, or a goat, when they
have been born, shall be under the udder of their mother for
seven days. But on the eighth day and thereafter, they are
able to be offered to the Lord. {22:28} Whether it is an ox, or
a sheep, they shall not be immolated on the same day with
their newborns. {22:29} If you immolate a victim as an act of
thanksgiving to the Lord, so that he may be pleased,
{22:30} you shall eat it on the same day; none of it shall
remain until morning on the next day. I am the Lord.
{22:31} Observe my commandments, and do them. I am the
Lord. {22:32} Do not pollute my holy name, so that I may be
sanctified in the midst of the sons of Israel. I am the Lord,
who sanctifies you, {22:33} and who led you away from the
land of Egypt, so that I may be to you as God. I am the Lord.


[Leviticus 23] {23:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{23:2} Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them:
These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall call holy.
{23:3} For six days you shall do work; the seventh day,
because it is the rest of the Sabbath, shall be called holy. You
shall do no work on that day; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in
all your dwelling places. {23:4} Therefore, these are the feasts
of the Lord, which you must celebrate in their times.
{23:5} The first month, the fourteenth day of the month, at
evening, is the Passover of the Lord. {23:6} And the fifteenth
day of this month is the solemnity of the unleavened bread of
the Lord. For seven days shall you eat unleavened bread.
{23:7} The first day shall be greatly honored and holy to you;
you shall do no servile work in it. {23:8} But you shall offer a
sacrifice with fire, for seven days, to the Lord. Then the
seventh day shall be more honored and more holy; and you
shall do no servile work in it. {23:9} And the Lord spoke to
Moses, saying: {23:10} Speak to the sons of Israel, and you
shall say to them: When you will have entered into the land
which I will give to you, and you will have harvested your
grain fields, you shall carry the sheaves of grain, the first-
fruits of your harvest, to the priest. {23:11} He shall lift up a
sheaf before the Lord, on the day after the Sabbath, so that it
may be acceptable for you, and he shall sanctify it.
{23:12} And on the same day that the sheaf is consecrated, a
one-year-old immaculate lamb shall be slain as a holocaust of
the Lord. {23:13} And the libations shall be offered with it:
two-tenths of fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil, as an
incense and a most sweet odor for the Lord; likewise,
libations of wine, the fourth part of a hin. {23:14} Bread, and
parched grain, and boiled grain, you shall not eat from the
grain field, until the day when you shall offer from it to your
God. It is an everlasting precept in your generations and in all
of your dwelling places. {23:15} Therefore, you shall number
from the day after the Sabbath, in which you offered a sheaf
of the first-fruits, seven full weeks, {23:16} all the way to the
day after the completion of the seventh week, that is, fifty
days, and then you shall offer a new sacrifice to the Lord,
{23:17} from all of your dwelling places: two loaves from the
first-fruits, from two-tenths of leavened fine wheat flour,
which you shall bake as the first-fruits of the Lord.
{23:18} And you shall offer with the bread: seven
immaculate one-year-old lambs, and one calf from the herd,
and two rams, and these shall be a holocaust, with their
libations, as a most sweet odor to the Lord. {23:19} You shall
also offer a he-goat for sin, and two one-year-old lambs as
victims of peace offerings. {23:20} And when the priest has
lifted them up with the loaves of the first-fruits, in the sight of
the Lord, they shall fall to his use. {23:21} And you shall call
this day most honored and most holy; you shall do no servile
work in it. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in all your
dwelling places and generations. {23:22} And when you will
have harvested the grain fields of your land, you shall not cut
it down all the way to the ground; neither shall you gather the
remnants of the ears of grain, but you shall leave these for
paupers and strangers. Iam the Lord your God. {23:23} And
the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: {23:24} Say to the sons of
Israel: The seventh month, the first day of the month, shall be
a Sabbath for you, a memorial, with the sounding of trumpets,
and it shall be called holy. {23:25} You shall do no servile
work in it, and you shall offer a holocaust to the Lord.
{23:26} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: {23:27} The
tenth day of this seventh month shall be the day of atonement;
it shall be most honored, and it shall be called holy. And you
shall afflict your souls on that day, and you shall offer a
holocaust to the Lord. {23:28} You shall do no servile work
in the time of this day; for it is a day of propitiation, so that
the Lord your God may be merciful to you. {23:29} Every
soul that has not been afflicted on this day shall perish from
his people, {23:30} and anyone who will have done work, I
shall wipe him away from his people. {23:31} Therefore, you
shall do no work on that day. This shall be an everlasting
ordinance for you in all your generations and dwelling places.
{23:32} It is a Sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls
beginning on the ninth day of the month: from evening until
evening you shall celebrate your Sabbaths. {23:33} And the
Lord spoke to Moses, saying: {23:34} Say to the sons of
Israel: From the fifteenth day of this seventh month, there
shall be the Feast of Tabernacles: seven days for the Lord.
{23:35} The first day shall be called most honored and most
holy; you shall do no servile work in it. {23:36} And for
seven days you shall offer holocausts to the Lord. Likewise,
the eighth day shall be most honored and most holy, and you
shall offer holocausts to the Lord. For it is the day of
assembly and gathering. You shall do no servile work in it.
{23:37} These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall call
most honored and most holy, and in them you shall offer
oblations to the Lord: holocausts and libations according to
the rite of each particular day, {23:38} aside from the
Sabbaths of the Lord, and your donations, and that which
you offer by a vow, or which you give to the Lord
spontaneously. {23:39} Therefore, from the fifteenth day of
the seventh month, when you will have gathered together all
the fruits of your land, you shall celebrate the feast of the
Lord for seven days. The first day and the eighth day shall be
a Sabbath, that is, a day of rest. {23:40} And you shall take
for yourselves, on the first day, the fruits of the most beautiful
tree, and branches of palm trees, and branches of trees with
thick foliage, and willows from the torrent. And you shall
rejoice in the sight of the Lord your God. {23:41} And you
shall celebrate its solemnity for seven days each year. This
shall be an everlasting ordinance in your generations. In the
seventh month, you shall celebrate the feast, {23:42} and you
shall live under shelters for seven days. All who are of the
family of Israel shall dwell in tabernacles, {23:43} so that
your posterity may learn that I caused the sons of Israel to
live in tabernacles, when I led them away from the land of
Egypt. I am the Lord your God. {23:44} And Moses spoke
about the solemnities of the Lord to the sons of Israel.


[Leviticus 24] {24:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{24:2} Instruct the sons of Israel, so that they may bring to
you clear oil from the purest olives, in order to supply the
lamps continuously {24:3} outside the veil of the testimony
in the tabernacle of the covenant. And Aaron shall place
these, from evening until morning, before the Lord, as a
perpetual worship and ritual in your generations.
{24:4} They shall be placed upon the most pure candlestick
in the sight of the Lord always. {24:5} You shall also receive
fine wheat flour, and you shall bake twelve loaves from it,
each loaf of which shall have two-tenths. {24:6} And you
shall arrange them, six on each side, upon the most pure table
before the Lord. {24:7} And you shall place upon them the
clearest frankincense, so that the bread may be a memorial of
oblation for the Lord. {24:8} On each Sabbath, they shall be
changed before the Lord, having been received from the sons
of Israel as an everlasting covenant. {24:9} And they shall be
for Aaron and his sons, so that they may eat these in the holy
place; for it is the Holy of holies from the sacrifices of the
Lord, as a perpetual right. {24:10} Then, behold, the son of
an Israelite woman, whom she had born of an Egyptian man
among the sons of Israel, going out, was quarreling in the
camp with a man of Israel. {24:11} And when he had
blasphemed the name, and had cursed it, he was led to Moses.
(Now his mother was called Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri
from the tribe of Dan.) {24:12} And they sent him to prison,
until they might know what the Lord would command,
{24:13} who spoke to Moses, {24:14} saying: Lead away the
blasphemer beyond the camp, and let all who heard him
place their hands upon his head, and let the entire people
stone him. {24:15} And you shall say to the sons of Israel:
The man who curses his God shall bear his sin, {24:16} and
whoever will have blasphemed the name of the Lord shall be
put to death. The entire multitude shall overwhelm him with
stones, whether he be a citizen or a sojourner. Whoever
blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to death.
{24:17} Whoever will have struck and killed a man shall be
put to death. {24:18} Whoever will have struck down an
animal shall repay its equivalent, that is, a life for a life.
{24:19} Whoever will have inflicted a blemish on any of his
citizens, just as he has done, so shall it be done to him:
{24:20} fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, shall
he repay. Whatever degree of blemish he has inflicted, so
shall he be compelled to suffer. {24:21} Whoever strikes
down a beast, shall repay another. Whoever strikes a man
shall be punished. {24:22} Let there be equal judgment
among you, whether it is a sojourner or a citizen who will
have sinned. For I am the Lord your God. {24:23} And
Moses spoke to the sons of Israel. And they led away him
who had blasphemed, beyond the camp, and they
overwhelmed him with stones. And the sons of Israel did just
as the Lord had instructed Moses.


[Leviticus 25] {25:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses on
mount Sinai, saying: {25:2} Speak to the sons of Israel, and
you shall say to them: When you will have entered into the
land which I will give to you, rest on the Sabbath of the Lord.
{25:3} For six years you shall sow your field, and for six
years you shall care for your vineyard, and you shall gather
its fruits. {25:4} But in the seventh year, there shall be a
Sabbath of the land, a resting of the Lord. You shall not sow
your field, and you shall not care for your vineyard.
{25:5} What the soil shall spontaneously produce, you shall
not harvest. And you shall not gather the grapes of the first-
fruits as a crop. For it is a year of rest for the land. {25:6} But
these shall be yours for food, for you and for your men and
women servants, and for your hired hands, and for the
newcomers who sojourn with you: {25:7} all that grows on
its own shall provide food for your beasts and cattle.
{25:8} You shall also number for yourselves seven weeks of
years, that is, seven times seven, which together makes forty-
nine years. {25:9} And you shall sound the trumpet in the
seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, at the time of
the atonement, throughout all your land. {25:10} And you
shall sanctify the fiftieth year, and you shall proclaim a
remission for all the inhabitants of your land: for the same is
the Jubilee. A man shall return to his possession, and each
one shall go back to his original family, {25:11} for it is the
Jubilee and the fiftieth year. You shall not sow, and you shall
not reap what grows in the field of its own accord, and you
shall not gather the first-fruits of the crop, {25:12} due to the
sanctification of the Jubilee. But you shall eat them as they
present themselves. {25:13} In the year of the Jubilee, all
shall return to their possessions. {25:14} When you will sell
anything to your fellow citizen, or buy anything from him, do
not cause your brother grief, but buy from him according to
the number of years from the Jubilee, {25:15} and he shall
sell to you according to the computation of the produce.
{25:16} The more years that will remain after the Jubilee, the
more the price shall increase, and the less the time is
numbered, so much less shall the purchase price be. For he
will sell to you the time for the produce. {25:17} Do be
willing to afflict your countrymen, but let each one fear his
God. For I am the Lord your God. {25:18} Accomplish my
precepts, and observe my judgments, and complete them, so
that you may be able to live in the land without any fear,
{25:19} and so that the soil may produce its fruits for you,
from which you may eat, even to fullness, dreading violence
by no one. {25:20} But if you will say: What shall we eat in
the seventh year, if we do not sow and do not gather our
produce? {25:21} I will give my blessing to you in the sixth
year, and it shall yield the produce of three years.
{25:22} And in the eighth year you shall sow, but you shall
eat from the old produce, until the ninth year, until what is
new matures, you shall eat what is old. {25:23} Also, the
land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for it is mine, and you are
newcomers and settlers to me. {25:24} Therefore, every
region of your possession shall be sold under the condition of
redemption. {25:25} If your brother, being in need, will have
sold his little possession and his close relative is willing, he is
able to redeem what he had sold. {25:26} But if he has no
near relative, and he himself is able to find the price to
redeem it, {25:27} the produce shall be calculated from that
time when he sold it. And what is lacking, he shall repay to
the buyer, and so he shall receive his possession. {25:28} But
if his hand will not have discovered a way to repay the price,
the buyer shall have what he bought, until the year of the
Jubilee. For in that year all that has been sold shall return to
the owner, and to the original possessor. {25:29} Whoever
will have sold a house within the walls of a city shall have the
freedom to redeem it, until one year has been completed.
{25:30} If he has not redeemed it, and the year will have
turned full circle, the buyer and his posterity shall possess it,
in perpetuity, and it is not able to be redeemed, even in the
Jubilee. {25:31} But if the house is in a village, which has no
walls, it shall be sold by the law of the fields. If it has not
been redeemed beforehand, then in the Jubilee it shall return
to the owner. {25:32} The buildings of the Levites, which are
in the cities, are always able to be redeemed. {25:33} If they
have not been redeemed, then in the Jubilee they shall return
to the owners, for the houses of the cities of the Levites are
for their possession among the sons of Israel. {25:34} But let
not their suburbs be sold, for it is an everlasting possession.
{25:35} If your brother has become impoverished, or infirm
of hand, and you take him in, like a newcomer or a sojourner,
and he lives with you, {25:36} do not accept usury from him,
nor anything more than what you gave. Fear your God, so
that your brother may be able to live with you. {25:37} You
shall not give him your money by usury, nor exact from him
an overabundance of produce. {25:38} I am the Lord your
God, who led you away from the land of Egypt, so that I
might give to you the land of Canaan, and so that I may be
your God. {25:39} If your brother, having been compelled by
poverty, will have sold himself to you, you shall not oppress
him with the servitude of indentured servants. {25:40} But he
shall be like a hired hand or a settler; he shall work with you,
until the year of the Jubilee. {25:41} And after that, he shall
depart with his children, and he shall return to his kindred, to
the possession of his fathers. {25:42} For these are my
servants, and I led them away from the land of Egypt; let
them not be sold into the condition of servitude. {25:43} Do
not afflict him by power, but be fearful of your God.
{25:44} Let your male and female servants be from the
nations which are all around you, {25:45} and from the
newcomers who sojourn with you, or who have been born
from them in your land. These you shall have as servants,
{25:46} and, by the right of inheritance, you shall transmit
them to your posterity, and you shall possess them forever.
But do not oppress your brothers, the sons of Israel, by power.
{25:47} If the hand of a newcomer or a sojourner will have
grown strong among you, and your brother, having become
impoverished, will have sold himself to him, or to any of his
stock, {25:48} after the sale, he is able to be redeemed.
Whoever is willing among his brothers shall redeem him:
{25:49} either the paternal uncle, or the paternal uncle’s son,
or his close relative, by blood or by affinity. But if he himself
will be able also, he _ shall redeem himself,
{25:50} considering only the years from the time of his
selling until the year of the Jubilee, and calculating the
money for which he was sold, according to the number of
years and the accounting of a hired hand. {25:51} If there
will have been many years which remain until the Jubilee,
according to these shall he also repay the price. {25:52} If few,
he shall determine the accounting with him according to the
number of years, and he shall repay to the buyer by what is
left remaining of the years; {25:53} his wages being charged
by what served before. He shall not afflict him violently in
your sight. {25:54} But if, by these means, he will not be able
to be redeemed, then in the year of the Jubilee he shall depart
with his children. {25:55} For they are my servants, the sons
of Israel, whom I led away from the land of Egypt.


[Leviticus 26] {26:1} I am the Lord your God. You shall not
make for yourselves an idol or a graven image. Neither shall
you erect a monument, or set up a conspicuous stone in your
land, in order that you may adore it. For I am the Lord your
God. {26:2} Observe my Sabbaths, and be fearful toward my
Sanctuary. I am the Lord. {26:3} If you will walk in my
precepts, and observe my commandments, and accomplish
them, I will give to you rain in its time, {26:4} and the
ground shall bring forth its seedlings, and the trees shall be
filled again with fruit. {26:5} The threshing of the harvest
shall last until the vintage, and the vintage shall overtake the
sowing. And you shall eat your bread to fullness, and you
shall live in your land without fear. {26:6} I will give peace to
your most distant regions. You will sleep, and there will be
no one to strike you with terror. I will take away harmful
wild beasts, and the sword will not cross your borders.
{26:7} You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall down
at the sight of you. {26:8} Five of yours will pursue a
hundred foreigners, and a hundred of you will pursue ten
thousand. Your enemies will fall by the sword in your sight.
{26:9} I will look with favor upon you, and I will cause you
to increase; you will be multiplied, and I will confirm my
covenant with you. {26:10} You will eat the oldest of what is
old, and, when what is new arrives, you will throw away
what is old. {26:11} I will set my tabernacle in your midst,
and my soul will not cast you out. {26:12} I will walk among
you, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people.
{26:13} I am the Lord your God, who led you away from the
land of the Egyptians, lest you serve them, and who broke the
chains around your necks, so that you would walk upright.
{26:14} But if you will not listen to me, nor accomplish all of
my commandments, {26:15} if you despise my laws, and
disdain my judgments, so that you do not accomplish those
things which have been established by me, and so that you
lead my covenant away into nullification, {26:16} then I also
will do these things to you. I will quickly visit you with
destitution, and burning heat, which will waste away your
eyes, and consume your lives. In vain will you sow your seed,
which will be devoured by your enemies. {26:17} I will set
my face against you, and you will fall down before your
enemies, and you will be subjugated to those who hate you.
You will flee, though no one pursues. {26:18} But if you will
not be obedient to me in this way, then I will add sevenfold to
your chastisement, because of your sins. {26:19} And I will
crush the pride in your hardness, and I will give to you
heaven above like iron, and the earth below like brass.
{26:20} Your labor will be consumed to no purpose; the land
will not bring forth seedlings, nor will the trees provide their
fruit. {26:21} If you walk as an adversary to me, and if you
are not willing to listen to me, I will add sevenfold to your
plagues, because of your sins. {26:22} And I will send upon
you the wild beasts of the field, which will consume you and
your cattle, and which will reduce everything to paucity, and
cause your roadways to become desolate. {26:23} But if you
are not willing to receive discipline in this way, and you still
walk as an adversary to me, {26:24} likewise, I will advance
against you as an adversary, and I will strike you seven times,
because of your sins. {26:25} And I will lead over you the
sword that shall avenge my covenant. And when you will
have fled into the cities, I will send a pestilence into your
midst, and you will be delivered into the hands of your
enemies. {26:26} After this, I will have broken the staff of
your bread, so that ten women bake bread in one oven, and
distribute it by weight. And you shall eat and not be filled.
{26:27} Then, if you will not listen to me through these
things, and you still walk against me, {26:28} then I also will
advance against you, with an opposing fury, and I will
chastise you with seven plagues, because of your sins:
{26:29 so much so that you will eat the flesh of your sons
and your daughters. {26:30} I will destroy your high places,
and I will break apart your false images. You will fall among
the ruins of your idols, and my soul will abominate you:
{26:31} so much so that I will reduce your cities to a
wilderness, and I will make your Sanctuaries desolate, and I
will no longer accept the most sweet odors. {26:32} And I
will utterly ruin your land, and your enemies shall be
stupefied at it, when they will have become its inhabitants.
{26:33} Then I will scatter you among the Gentiles, and I
will unsheathe the sword after you. And your land will be
deserted, and your cities will be demolished. {26:34} Then
the land will be pleased by her Sabbaths, throughout all the
days of her solitude. So, while you will be {26:35} in the land
of the enemy, she will worship and rest in the Sabbath of her
solitude, because she will not have rested in your Sabbaths,
when you lived in her. {26:36} And whoever of you will
remain, I will send terror into their hearts in the regions of
their enemies. The sound of a flying leaf will terrify them,
and so they will flee, as if from the sword. They will fall,
though no one pursues. {26:37} And they will each fall upon
their brothers, as if they were fleeing from wars; no one
among you will dare to resist your foes. {26:38} You will
perish among the Gentiles, and the land of the enemy will
consume you. {26:39} But if some few of these still remain,
they shall waste away in their iniquities, in the land of their
enemies, and they will be afflicted, because of the sins of their
fathers and their own sins, {26:40} until they confess their
iniquities, and those of their ancestors, by which they have
transgressed against me and walked as adversaries to me.
{26:41} Therefore, I also will walk against them, and I will
lead them into a hostile land, until their uncircumcised mind
shall be ashamed. Then shall they pray on behalf of their
impiety. {26:42} And I will remember my covenant, which I
formed with Jacob, and Isaac, and Abraham. I will also
remember the land, {26:43} which, when she will be left
behind by them, shall be pleased by her Sabbaths, enduring
solitude because of them. Yet truly, they shall pray for their
sins, because they cast aside my judgments, and they despised
my laws. {26:44} And even after so much, when they were in
the land of their enemy, I did not cast them off entirely, and I
did not so despise them that they would be consumed, nor so
that I would nullify my covenant with them. For I am the
Lord their God. {26:45} And I will remember my original
covenant, when I led them away from the land of Egypt, in
the sight of the Gentiles, so as to be their God. I am the Lord.
These are the judgments, and precepts, and laws, which the
Lord has granted between himself and the sons of Israel, on
mount Sinai, by the hand of Moses.


[Leviticus 27] {27:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{27:2} Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them:
The man who will have made a vow and espoused his soul to
God shall give the price according to the estimation. {27:3} If
it is a male from twenty years to sixty years, he shall give fifty
shekels of silver, by the measure of the Sanctuary; {27:4} if it
is a woman, thirty. {27:5} But from the fifth year until the
twentieth, a male shall give twenty shekels; a female, ten.
{27:6} From one month until the fifth year, for a male, five
shekels shall be given; for a female, three. {27:7} At sixty
years and beyond, a male shall give fifteen shekels; a female,
ten. {27:8} If he is poor, and he does not have the means to
pay the estimation, he shall stand before the priest, and
however much he will value him and see that he is able to
pay, so much shall he give. {27:9} But an animal which
could be immolated to the Lord, if anyone has vowed it, shall
be holy, {27:10} and it cannot be exchanged, that is, neither
better for worse, nor worse for better. And if he has
exchanged it, both that which was exchanged, and that for
which it was exchanged shall be consecrated to the Lord.
{27:11} An unclean animal which could not be sacrificed to
the Lord, if anyone has vowed it, shall be led before the priest,
{27:12} who, judging whether it is either good or bad, shall
set the price. {27:13} But if he who offers it was willing to
give, he shall add a fifth part above the estimation. {27:14} If
a man has vowed his house, and he has sanctified it to the
Lord, the priest shall examine it, whether it is good or bad,
and it shall be sold according to the price which he will have
established. {27:15} But if he who vowed it was willing to
redeem it, he shall give a fifth part beyond the estimation,
and he shall have the house. {27:16} But if he has vowed a
field of his possession, and has consecrated it to the Lord, the
price shall be estimated according to the measure of the seed.
If the land would be sown with thirty measures of barley,
then let it be sold for fifty shekels of silver. {27:17} If he has
vowed his field beginning from the current year of Jubilee, as
much as it may be worth, so shall it be estimated. {27:18} But
if, after some amount of time, the priest shall evaluate the
money according to the number of years that remain until the
Jubilee, then the price shall be reduced. {27:19} But if he who
had vowed it, was willing to redeem his field, he shall add a
fifth part of the money to the estimation, and then he shall
possess it. {27:20} But if he is not willing to redeem it, then it
shall be sold to any other; he who vowed it is no longer able
to redeem it. {27:21} For when the day of Jubilee arrives, it
shall be sanctified to the Lord. And as a possession that has
been consecrated, it rightfully belongs to the priest. {27:22} If
a field has been bought, and it is not from the possession of
ancestors, it shall be sanctified to the Lord. {27:23} The priest
shall evaluate the price according to the number of years until
the Jubilee; and the one who had vowed it shall give to the
Lord. {27:24} Then, in the Jubilee, it shall be returned to the
former owner, the one who had sold it and who had held it
within the lot of his possession. {27:25} All estimation shall
be weighed according to the shekel of the Sanctuary. A shekel
has twenty obols. {27:26} The firstborn, which belong to the
Lord, no one is able to sanctify or vow, whether it is an ox, or
a sheep, they are for the Lord. {27:27} But if it is an unclean
animal, whoever offers it shall redeem it, according to your
estimation, and he shall add a fifth part to the price. If he is
not willing to redeem it, it shall be sold to another for
whatever amount it was estimated by you. {27:28} All that is
consecrated to the Lord, whether it is a man, or an animal, or
a field, shall not be sold; neither is it able to be redeemed.
Anything, once it has been consecrated, shall be the Holy of
holies to the Lord. {27:29} And all that has been consecrated,
which is offered by man, shall not be redeemed, but shall
surely die. {27:30} All the tithes of the land, whether from
the grain, or from the fruits of trees, are for the Lord and are
sanctified to him. {27:31} But if anyone is willing to redeem
his tithes, he shall add a fifth part to them. {27:32} Out of all
the tithes of oxen, and sheep, and goats, which cross under
the rod of the shepherd, every tenth one that arrives shall be
sanctified to the Lord. {27:33} It shall not be chosen by what
is good or bad; neither shall it be exchanged for another. If
anyone has exchanged it, both that which was exchanged,
and that for which it was exchanged, shall be sanctified to the
Lord and shall not be redeemed. {27:34} These are the
precepts, which the Lord commanded Moses for the sons of
Israel on mount Sinai.


** The Book of Numbers **


[Numbers 1] {1:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses in the
desert of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the covenant, on the first
day of the second month, in the year after their departure
from Egypt, saying: {1:2} “Take a total of the entire assembly
of the sons of Israel, by their families and houses, and the
names of each one, of whomever is of the male sex,
{1:3} from twenty years and above, of all the able-bodied
men out of Israel, and you shall number them by their
companies, you and Aaron. {1:4} And there shall be with
you the leaders of the tribes, as well as of the houses, in their
kinships, {1:5} the names of whom are these: of Ruben,
Elizur the son of Shedeur; {1:6} of Simeon, Shelumiel the
son of Zurishaddai; {1:7} of Judah, Nahshon the son of
Amminadab; {1:8} of Issachar, Nathanael the son of Zuar;
{1:9} of Zebulon, Eliab the son of Helon. {1:10} And from
the sons of Joseph: of Ephraim, Elishama the son of
Ammihud; of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur;
{1:11} of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; {1:12} of
Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; {1:13} of Asher,
Pagiel the son of Ochran; {1:14} of Gad, Eliasaph the son of
Reuel; {1:15} of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.”
{1:16} These are the very noble leaders of the multitude, by
their tribes and kinships, and the heads of the army of Israel.
{1:17} Moses and Aaron took these, with all the multitude of
the common people, {1:18} and they gathered them together
on the first day of the second month, taking a census of them
by kinships, and houses, and families, and heads, and the
names of each one from twenty years and above, {1:19} just
as the Lord had instructed Moses. And they were numbered
in the desert of Sinai. {1:20} Of Ruben, the firstborn of Israel,
by their generations and families and houses, and the names
of each head, of all who were of the male sex, from twenty
years and above, capable of going to war, {1:21} there were
forty-six thousand five hundred. {1:22} Of the sons of
Simeon, by their generations and families, and the houses of
their kinships, having been counted by the names and heads
of each one, of all who were of the male sex, from twenty
years and above, capable of going to war, {1:23} there were
fifty-nine thousand three hundred. {1:24} Of the sons of Gad,
by their generations and families, and the houses of their
kinships, having been counted by the names of each one,
from twenty years and above, of all who could go forth to
war, {1:25} there were forty-five thousand six hundred fifty.
{1:26} Of the sons of Judah, by their generations and families,
and the houses of their kinships, by the names of each one,
from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth
to war, {1:27} there were counted seventy-four thousand six
hundred. {1:28} Of the sons of Issachar, by their generations
and families, and the houses of their kinships, by the names
of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who could
go forth to war, {1:29} there were counted fifty-four thousand
four hundred. {1:30} Of the sons of Zebulon, by their
generations and families, and the houses of their kinships,
having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty
years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,
{1:31} there were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.
{1:32} From the sons of Joseph, of the sons of Ephraim, by
their generations and families, and the houses of their
kinships, having been counted by the names of each one,
from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth
to war, {1:33} there were forty thousand five hundred.
{1:34} Furthermore, of the sons of Manasseh, by their
generations and families, and the houses of their kinships,
having been counted by the names of each one, from twenty
years and above, of all who were able to go forth to war,
{1:35} there were thirty-two thousand two hundred.
{1:36} Of the sons of Benjamin, by their generations and
families, and the houses of their kinships, having been
counted by the names of each one, from twenty years and
above, of all who were able to go forth to war, {1:37} there
were thirty-five thousand four hundred. {1:38} Of the sons of
Dan, by their generations and families, and the houses of
their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one,
from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth
to war, {1:39} there were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.
{1:40} Of the sons of Asher, by their generations and families,
and the houses of their kinships, having been counted by the
names of each one, from twenty years and above, of all who
were able to go forth to war, {1:41} there were forty thousand
and one thousand five hundred. {1:42} Of the sons of
Naphtali, by their generations and families, and the houses of
their kinships, having been counted by the names of each one,
from twenty years and above, of all who were able to go forth
to war, {1:43} there were fifty-three thousand four hundred.
{1:44} These are the ones who were numbered by Moses and
Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel, each one by the
houses of their kinships. {1:45} And the entire number of the
sons of Israel by their houses and families, from twenty years
and above, who were able to go forth to war, were {1:46} six
hundred three thousand five hundred fifty men. {1:47} But
the Levites in the tribes of their families were not numbered
with them. {1:48} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{1:49} “Do not number the tribe of Levi, neither shall you
take a total of them with the sons of Israel. {1:50} But
appoint them over the tabernacle of the testimony, and all its
vessels, and whatever pertains to the ceremonies. They shall
carry the tabernacle and all its articles. And they shall be for
the ministry, and they shall encamp all around the tabernacle.
{1:51} When you would depart, the Levites shall take down
the tabernacle. When you are to make camp, they shall set it
up. Any outsider who will approach it shall be killed.
{1:52} Now the sons of Israel shall make camp, each one by
his companies and bands, as well as his army.
{1:53} Moreover, the Levites shall fix their tents all around
the tabernacle, lest there be an indignation over the multitude
of the sons of Israel. And they shall stand watch as guardians
over the tabernacle of the testimony.” {1:54} Therefore, the
sons of Israel acted according to everything that the Lord had
instructed Moses.


[Numbers 2] {2:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron,
saying: {2:2} “Each one shall make camp, by their troops, as
well as by their insignia and standards, and by the houses of
their kinships, all around the tabernacle of the covenant.”
{2:3} To the east, Judah shall fix his tents, by the companies
of his army. And the leader of his sons shall be Nahshon the
son of Amminadab. {2:4} And the entire total of the fighting
men from his stock was seventy-four thousand six hundred.
{2:5} Beside him, those of the tribe of Issachar were
encamped, whose leader was Nathanael the son of Zuar.
{2:6} And the entire number of his fighting men was fifty-
four thousand four hundred. {2:7} In the tribe of Zebulon,
the leader was Eliab the son of Helon. {2:8} All the army of
fighting men from his stock were fifty-seven thousand four
hundred. {2:9} All who were numbered in the camp of Judah
were one hundred eighty-six thousand four hundred. And
these, by their companies, shall go forth first. {2:10} In the
camp of the sons of Ruben, toward the south side, the leader
shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur. {2:11} And the entire
army of his fighting men, who were numbered, were forty-six
thousand five hundred. {2:12} Beside him, those of the tribe
of Simeon were encamped, whose leader was Shelumiel the
son of Zurishaddai. {2:13} And the entire army of his
fighting men, who were numbered, were fifty-nine thousand
three hundred. {2:14} In the tribe of Gad, the leader was
Eliasaph the son of Reuel. {2:15} And the entire army of his
fighting men, who were numbered, were forty-five thousand
six hundred fifty. {2:16} All who were counted in the camp
of Ruben were one hundred fifty thousand and one thousand
four hundred fifty, by their companies. These shall advance
in the second place. {2:17} But the tabernacle of the
testimony shall be lifted up by the officers of the Levites and
their companies. In the manner in which it is set up, so also
shall it be taken down. Each one shall advance according to
their places and ranks. {2:18} On the west side, there shall be
the camp of the sons of Ephraim, whose leader was Elishama
the son of Ammihud. {2:19} The entire army of his fighting
men, who were numbered, were forty thousand five hundred.
{2:20} And with them was the tribe of the sons of Manasseh,
whose leader was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. {2:21} And
the entire army of his fighting men, who were numbered,
were thirty-two thousand two hundred. {2:22} In the tribe of
the sons of Benjamin, the leader was Abidan the son of
Gideoni. {2:23} And the entire army of his fighting men,
who were counted, were thirty-five thousand four hundred.
{2:24} All who were numbered in the camp of Ephraim were
one hundred eight thousand one hundred, by their companies.
These shall advance third. {2:25} Toward the north side, the
sons of Dan were encamped, whose leader was Ahiezer the
son of Ammishaddai. {2:26} The entire army of his fighting
men, who were numbered, were sixty-two thousand seven
hundred. {2:27} Beside him, those of the tribe of Asher fixed
their tents, whose leader was Pagiel the son of Ochran.
{2:28} The entire army of his fighting men, who were
numbered, were forty thousand and one thousand five
hundred. {2:29} From the tribe of the sons of Naphtali, the
leader was Ahira the son of Enan. {2:30} The entire army of
his fighting men were fifty-three thousand four hundred.
{2:31} All who were numbered in the camp of Dan were one
hundred fifty-seven thousand six hundred; and these shall
advance at the very end. {2:32} This is the number of the
sons of Israel, of their army divided by the houses of their
kinships and their companies: six hundred three thousand
five hundred fifty. {2:33} But the Levites were not numbered
among the sons of Israel. For so the Lord had instructed
Moses. {2:34} And the sons of Israel acted according to all
the things that the Lord had commanded. They were
encamped by their companies, and they advanced by the
families and houses of their fathers.


[Numbers 3] {3:1} These are the generations of Aaron and
Moses, in the day when the Lord spoke to Moses on mount
Sinai. {3:2} And these are the names of the sons of Aaron:
his firstborn Nadab, then Abihu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar.
{3:3} These the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who
were anointed and whose hands were filled and consecrated
in order to exercise the priesthood. {3:4} For Nadab and
Abihu died without children, when they offered, in the sight
of the Lord, a strange fire, in the desert of Sinai. And so,
Eleazar and Ithamar exercised the priesthood in the sight of
Aaron, their father. {3:5} And the Lord spoke to Moses,
saying: {3:6} “Bring forward the tribe of Levi, and cause
them to stand in the sight of Aaron the priest, in order to
minister to him. And let them keep watch outside, {3:7} and
let them observe whatever pertains to the ritual for the
multitude, in front of the tabernacle of the testimony,
{3:8} and let them take care of the vessels of the tabernacle,
serving in its ministry. {3:9} And you shall give the Levites as
a gift to Aaron and his sons; for they have been delivered to
them by the sons of Israel. {3:10} But you shall appoint
Aaron and his sons over the service of priesthood. The
outsider who approaches to minister shall be put to death.”
{3:11} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: {3:12} “I have
taken the Levites from the sons of Israel. For the Levites, and
all the firstborn who open the womb among the sons of Israel,
shall be mine. {3:13} For every firstborn is mine. From the
time that I struck the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I have
sanctified for myself whatever is born first in Israel. From
man, even to beast, they are mine. I am the Lord.”
{3:14} And the Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai,
saying: {3:15} “Number the sons of Levi by the houses of
their fathers and their families, every male from one month
and above.” {3:16} Moses numbered them, just as the Lord
had instructed, {3:17} and there were found the sons of Levi
by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. {3:18} The
sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei. {3:19} The sons of
Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. {3:20} The
sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. {3:21} From Gershon
were two families: the Libnites, and the Shimeites.
{3:22} The people of these were numbered, of the male sex,
from one month and above: seven thousand five hundred.
{3:23} These shall encamp behind the tabernacle, toward the
west, {3:24} under the leader Eliasaph the son of Lael.
{3:25} And they shall keep watch over the tabernacle of the
covenant: {3:26} the tabernacle itself, and its covering; the
tent that is drawn before the doors of the covering of the
covenant; and the curtains of the atrium; likewise, the tent
that is suspended at the entrance of the atrium of the
tabernacle; and whatever pertains to the ritual of the altar; the
cords of the tabernacle and all its implements. {3:27} The
kinship of Kohath includes the peoples of the Amramites and
Izharites and Hebronites and Uzzielites. These are the
families of the Kohathites, having been counted by their
names, {3:28} all those of the male gender, from one month
and above: eight thousand six hundred. They shall keep
watch over the Sanctuary, {3:29} and they shall encamp
toward the south side. {3:30} And their leader shall be
Elisaphan the son of Uzziel. {3:31} And they shall take care
of the ark, and the table and the lampstand, the altars and the
vessels of the Sanctuary, by which they minister, and the veil,
and all the articles of this kind. {3:32} But the leader of the
leaders of the Levites, Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest,
shall be over those who watch over the care of the Sanctuary.
{3:33} And truly, from Merari are the peoples of the Mahlites
and Mushites, having been counted by their names, {3:34} all
those of the male gender, from one month and above: six
thousand two hundred. {3:35} Their leader is Suriel the son
of Abihaiel. They shall make camp on the north side.
{3:36} Under their care shall be the panels of the tabernacle,
and the bars, and the columns with their bases, and all the
things which pertain to service of this kind, {3:37} and the
columns of the surrounding atrium with their bases, and the
tent pegs with their cords. {3:38} Moses and Aaron, with
their sons, shall make camp before the tabernacle of the
covenant, that is, on the east side, holding the custody of the
Sanctuary in the midst of the sons of Israel. Whatever
foreigner approaches it shall die. {3:39} All the Levites,
whom Moses and Aaron numbered by their families
according to the precept of the Lord, of the male gender,
from one month and above, were twenty-two thousand.
{3:40} And the Lord said to Moses: “Number the firstborn of
the male sex from the sons of Israel, from one month and
above, and you shall take their total. {3:41} And you shall
bring the Levites to me, in place of all the firstborn of the sons
of Israel, and you shall bring their cattle to me, in place of all
the firstborn of the cattle of the sons of Israel. I am the Lord.”
{3:42} Moses took a census, just as the Lord had instructed,
of the firstborn of the sons of Israel. {3:43} And the males by
their names, from one month and above, were twenty-two
thousand two hundred seventy-three. {3:44} And the Lord
spoke to Moses, saying: {3:45} “Take the Levites, in place of
the firstborn of the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites,
in place of their cattle, and so the Levites shall be mine. I am
the Lord. {3:46} But for the price of the two hundred and
seventy-three, which exceed the number of the Levites
compared to the number of firstborn of the sons of Israel,
{3:47} you shall take five shekels for each head, by the
measure of the Sanctuary. A shekel has twenty obols.
{3:48} And you shall give the money to Aaron and his sons
as the price of those that are in excess.” {3:49} Therefore,
Moses took the money for those that were in excess, and
whom they had redeemed from the Levites {3:50} in place of
the firstborn of the sons of Israel: one thousand three hundred
sixty-five shekels, according to the weight of the Sanctuary.
{3:51} And he gave it to Aaron and his sons, according to the
word by which the Lord had instructed him.


[Numbers 4] {4:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron,
saying: {4:2} “Take a total of the sons of Kohath from the
midst of the Levites, by their houses and families, {4:3} from
thirty years and above, even to the fiftieth year, of all who
enter so as to stand and minister in the tabernacle of the
covenant. {4:4} This is the service of the sons of Kohath: the
tabernacle of the covenant and the Holy of holies.
{4:5} Aaron and his sons shall enter, when the camp is going
to move, and they shall take down the veil, which hangs
before the entrance, and they shall wrap the ark of the
testimony in it, {4:6} and they shall cover it further with a
veil of violet skins, and they shall extend over it a cloth made
entirely of hyacinth, and they shall draw in the bars.
{4:7} Likewise, they shall wrap the table of the presence in a
cloth of hyacinth, and they shall place with it the censers and
little mortars, the cups and bowls for pouring out libations;
the bread shall be always on it. {4:8} And they shall extend
over it a cloth of scarlet, which they shall further cover with a
veil of violet skins, and they shall draw in the bars.
{4:9} They shall take also a cloth of hyacinth, with which
they shall cover the lampstand with the lamps, and its tongs,
and the candle snuffers, and all the vessels of oil, which are
necessary for the preparation of the lamps. {4:10} And over
all this they shall place a covering of violet skins, and they
shall draw in the bars. {4:11} And certainly they shall wrap
the golden altar in a hyacinth garment, and they shall extend
over it a covering of violet skins, and they shall draw in the
bars. {4:12} All the vessels with which they minister in the
Sanctuary they shall wrap in a cloth of hyacinth, and they
shall extend over it a covering of violet skins, and they shall
draw in the bars. {4:13} Moreover, they shall cleanse the
altar of ashes, and they shall wrap it in a purple garment,
{4:14} and they shall place it with all the vessels which they
use in its ministry, that is, receptacles for fire, small hooks as
well as forks, larger hooks and shovels. They shall cover all
the vessels of the altar together with a veil of violet skins, and
they shall draw in the bars. {4:15} And when Aaron and his
sons have wrapped the Sanctuary and its vessels at the
dismantling of the camp, then the sons of Kohath shall enter,
so as to carry what has been wrapped. And they shall not
touch the vessels of the Sanctuary, lest they die. These are the
burdens of the sons of Kohath concerning the tabernacle of
the covenant. {4:16} Over them shall be Eleazar, the son of
Aaron the priest, to whom belongs the care of the oil to
prepare the lamps, and the incense compound, and the
sacrifice, which is offered continually, and the oil of unction,
and whatever pertains to the service of the tabernacle, and all
the vessels that are in the Sanctuary.” {4:17} And the Lord
spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: {4:18} “Do not be willing
to lose the people of Kohath from the midst of the Levites.
{4:19} But do this for them, so that they may live, and so that
they may not die by touching the Holies of holies. Aaron and
his sons shall enter, and they shall assign the work of each
one, and they shall determine what each one ought to carry.
{4:20} Let no others, out of curiosity, see the things that are
in the Sanctuary before they are wrapped, otherwise they
shall die.” {4:21} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{4:22} “Now also take a total of the sons of Gershon, by their
houses and families and kinships, {4:23} from thirty years
and above, even to fifty years. Number all those who enter
and minister in the tabernacle of the covenant. {4:24} This is
the duty of the family of the Gershonites: {4:25} to carry the
curtains of the tabernacle, and the roof of the covenant, the
other covering, and the veil over everything, and the violet
tent, which hangs at the entrance of the tabernacle of the
covenant, {4:26} the curtains of the atrium, and the veil at
the entrance, which is before tabernacle. Everything that
pertains to the altar, the cords, and the vessels of the ministry
{4:27} the sons of Gershon shall carry, under the orders of
Aaron and his sons. And so shall each one know to which
burden he ought to surrender. {4:28} This is the service of the
family of the Gershonites, in the tabernacle of the covenant,
and they shall be under the hand of Ithamar, the son of
Aaron the priest. {4:29} Likewise, you shall take a census of
the sons of Merari, by the families and houses of their fathers,
{4:30} from thirty years and above, even to fifty years, of all
who enter to the office of their ministry and to the service of
the covenant of the testimony. {4:31} These are their burdens:
They shall carry the panels of the tabernacle and its bars, the
columns and their bases, {4:32} also the columns
surrounding the atrium, with their bases and tent pegs and
cords. They shall accept by number all the vessels and articles,
and so shall they carry them. {4:33} This is the office of the
family of the Merarites, and their ministry for the tabernacle
of the covenant. And they shall be under the hand of Ithamar,
the son of Aaron the priest.” {4:34} Therefore, Moses and
Aaron, and the leaders of the assembly, took a census of the
sons of Kohath, by the kinships and houses of their fathers,
{4:35} from thirty years and above, even to the fiftieth year,
of all who enter to the ministry of the tabernacle of the
covenant. {4:36} And there were found two thousand seven
hundred fifty. {4:37} This is the number of the people of
Kohath, who enter the tabernacle of the covenant. These
Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the
Lord by the hand of Moses. {4:38} The sons of Gershon also
were numbered by the kinships and houses of their fathers,
{4:39} from thirty years and above, even to the fiftieth year,
all who enter so as to minister in the tabernacle of the
covenant. {4:40} And there were found two thousand six
hundred thirty. {4:41} This is the people of the Gershonites,
whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of
the Lord. {4:42} The sons of Merari also were numbered by
the kinships and houses of their fathers, {4:43} from thirty
years and above, even to the fiftieth year, all who enter to
fulfill the rituals of the tabernacle of the covenant.
{4:44} And there were found three thousand two hundred.
{4:45} This is the number of the sons of Merari, whom
Moses and Aaron counted according to the command of the
Lord by the hand of Moses. {4:46} All who were counted
from the Levites, and whom, by name, Moses and Aaron,
and the leaders of Israel, counted by the kinships and houses
of their fathers, {4:47} from thirty years and above, until the
fiftieth year, entering for the ministry of the tabernacle and
carrying the burdens, {4:48} were together eight thousand
five hundred eighty. {4:49} Moses took a census of them,
according to the word of the Lord, each one according to
their office and their burdens, just as the Lord had instructed
him.


[Numbers 5] {5:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{5:2} “Instruct the sons of Israel to cast out of the camp every
leper, and those who have a flow of seed, and those who have
been polluted because of the dead; {5:3} cast out of the camp
both male and female, lest they contaminate it while I am
dwelling with you.” {5:4} And the sons of Israel did so, and
they cast them out, beyond the camp, just as the Lord had
spoken to Moses. {5:5} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{5:6} “Say to the sons of Israel: A man or a woman, when
they have done anything out of all the sins that often befall
men, or if, by negligence, they have transgressed the
commandment of the Lord, and so have committed an
offense, {5:7} they shall confess their sin, and they shall
restore the principle itself, plus a fifth part above it, to any
against whom they have sinned. {5:8} But if there would be
no one to receive it, they shall give it to the Lord, and it shall
be for the priest, except for the ram, which is offered for
expiation, in order to be a pleasing victim. {5:9} Likewise, all
the first-fruits, which the sons of Israel offer, belong to the
priest, {5:10} with whatever is offered by each one at the
Sanctuary, and which is delivered into the hands of the priest;
it shall be his.” {5:11} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{5:12} “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them:
The man whose wife will have gone astray, and, disdaining
her husband, {5:13} will have slept with another man, and if
her husband cannot discover it, but the adultery is secret, and
if it cannot be proved by witnesses, because she was not
caught in the shameful act, {5:14} if the spirit of jealousy stirs
up the husband against his wife, who either has been polluted
or is being assailed with a false suspicion, {5:15} he shall
bring her to the priest, and he shall offer an oblation for her, a
tenth part of native barley meal. He shall not pour oil over it,
nor shall he place frankincense on it, because it is a sacrifice
for jealousy, or an oblation investigating adultery.
{5:16} Therefore, the priest shall offer it, and he shall set it in
the sight of the Lord. {5:17} And he shall take up holy water
in an earthen vessel, and he shall cast a little earth from the
pavement of the tabernacle into it. {5:18} And while the
woman stands before the Lord, he shall uncover her head,
and he shall place over her hands the sacrifice of recollection
and oblation of jealousy. But he shall take hold of the most
bitter waters, in which he has gathered curses with loathing.
{5:19} And he shall bind her by an oath, and he shall say: ‘If
another man has not slept with you, and if you have not been
polluted by forsaking the bed of your husband, these most
bitter waters, into which I have gathered curses, shall not
harm you. {5:20} But if you have turned away from your
husband, and also have been defiled, and have lain together
with another man, {5:21} these curses shall be thrown upon
you: May the Lord turn you into a curse and an example
among all his people. May he cause your thigh to rot, and
may your abdomen swell up and burst out. {5:22} May the
cursed waters enter into your stomach, and may your womb
swell and your thigh rot.’ And the woman shall respond:
‘Amen, amen.’ {5:23} And the priest shall write these curses
in a little book, and then he shall erase them with the very
bitter waters, into which he had gathered the curses,
{5:24} and he shall give it to her to drink. And when she has
emptied it, {5:25} the priest shall take from her hand the
sacrifice of jealousy, and he shall elevate it before the Lord,
and he shall impose it upon the altar. Yet only after he first
{5:26} takes a handful of the sacrifice from that which is
offered, and burns it upon the altar, and then he may give the
most bitter waters to the woman as a drink. {5:27} And when
she drinks it, if she has been defiled, and, having despised her
husband, is guilty of adultery, the curse shall pass through her,
and as her belly swells up, her thigh shall decay, and the
woman shall become a curse and an example to all the people.
{5:28} But if she has not been defiled, she shall be unharmed
and she shall bear children. {5:29} This is the law for
jealousy. If a woman has turned aside from her husband, and
if she has been polluted, {5:30} and if the husband, being
stirred up by the spirit of jealousy, has brought her before the
sight of the Lord, and the priest has acted toward her
according to all that has been written: {5:31} then the
husband shall be without guilt, and she shall bear her
iniquity.”


[Numbers 6] {6:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{6:2} “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them:
A man or a woman, when they have made a vow so that they
may be sanctified, and when they are willing to consecrate
themselves to the Lord, {6:3} shall abstain from wine and
from anything which is able to inebriate. They shall not drink
vinegar made from wine or from any other drink, nor
anything pressed from the grape. They shall not eat grapes,
neither fresh nor dried. {6:4} During all the days that they are
consecrated to the Lord by vow, they shall not eat whatever
may be from the vineyard, from raisins, even to grape seeds.
{6:5} During all the time of his separation, no razor shall
pass over his head, even until the completion of the day when
he is consecrated to the Lord. He shall be holy, letting the
hair of his head grow long. {6:6} During all the time of his
consecration, he shall not enter because of a death, {6:7} nor
shall he contaminate himself, even over the funeral of his
father, or his mother, or his brother, or his sister. For the
consecration of his God is upon his head. {6:8} During all
the days of his separation, he shall be holy to the Lord.
{6:9} But if anyone will have died unexpectedly before him,
the head of his consecration shall be polluted, and he shall
shave it in that very place, on the same day of his purification,
and again on the seventh day. {6:10} Then, on the eighth day,
he shall offer two turtledoves or two young pigeons, to the
priest at the entrance to the covenant of the testimony.
{6:11} And the priest shall effect one for sin, and the other as
a holocaust, and he shall pray for him, because he has sinned
on account of the dead. And he shall sanctify his head on that
day. {6:12} And he shall consecrate to the Lord the days of
his separation, offering a one-year-old lamb for sin, yet in
such a manner that the former days will be made null and
void, because his sanctification was polluted. {6:13} This is
the law of consecration. When the days that he had decreed
by vow have been completed, he shall bring him to the door
of the tabernacle of the covenant, {6:14} and he shall offer his
oblation to the Lord: an immaculate one-year-old male lamb
as a holocaust, and an immaculate one-year-old female lamb
for sin, and an immaculate ram, a peace-offering victim,
{6:15} also, a basket of unleavened bread, which has been
sprinkled with oil, and cakes without leaven, anointed with
oil, as well as the libations of each one. {6:16} And the priest
shall offer them before the Lord, and he shall perform both
the sin offering and the holocaust. {6:17} Yet truly, the ram
he shall immolate as a peace-offering victim to the Lord,
offering at the same time the basket of unleavened bread, and
the libations which are required by custom. {6:18} Then the
Nazarite shall be shaved of the long hair of his consecration,
before the door of the tabernacle of the covenant. And he
shall take his hair, and he shall place it upon the fire, which is
under the sacrifice of the peace offerings. {6:19} And he shall
take the cooked shoulder of the ram, and one twist of bread
without leaven from the basket, and one unleavened cake,
and he shall deliver them into the hands of the Nazarite, after
his head has been shaven. {6:20} And receiving them again
from him, he shall elevate them in the sight of the Lord. And
having been sanctified, these shall be for the priest, as also the
breast, which was ordered to be separated, and the leg. After
this, the Nazarite is able to drink wine. {6:21} This is the law
of the Nazarite, when he has vowed his oblation to the Lord
in the time of his consecration, aside from those things which
his hand shall find. According to what he had vowed in his
mind, so shall he do, to the perfection of his sanctification.”
{6:22} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: {6:23} “Say to
Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the sons of Israel,
and you shall say to them: {6:24} ‘May the Lord bless you
and keep you. {6:25} May the Lord reveal his face to you
and take pity on you. {6:26} May the Lord turn his
countenance toward you and grant peace to you.’ {6:27} And
they shall invoke my name over the sons of Israel, and I will
bless them.”


[Numbers 7] {7:1} Now it happened in the day when Moses
completed the tabernacle, and he set it up, and he anointed
and sanctified it with all of its vessels, and similarly the altar
and all of its vessels, {7:2} that the leaders of Israel and the
heads of the families, who were in each tribe and who were
in charge of those who had been numbered, offered
{7:3} their gifts in the sight of the Lord: six covered wagons
with twelve oxen. Two leaders offered one wagon, and each
offered one ox, and they offered these in the sight of the
tabernacle. {7:4} Then the Lord said to Moses:
{7:5} “Receive these things from them, in order to serve in
the ministry of the tabernacle, and you shall deliver them to
the Levites, according to the order of their ministry.”
{7:6} And so Moses, having received the wagons and the
oxen, delivered them to the Levites. {7:7} Two wagons and
four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to what
they needed. {7:8} The other four wagons and eight oxen he
gave to the sons of Merari, according to their offices and
service, under the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the
priest. {7:9} But to the sons of Kohath he gave no wagons or
oxen, because they serve in the Sanctuary and they carry their
burdens on their shoulders. {7:10} Therefore, the leaders
offered, at the dedication of the altar on the day when it was
anointed, their oblation before the altar. {7:11} And the Lord
said to Moses: “Let each of the leaders, on each of the days,
offer their gifts for the dedication of the altar.” {7:12} On the
first day, Nahshon, the son of Amminadab of the tribe of
Judah, offered his oblation. {7:13} And in it were these: a
silver dish weighing one hundred thirty shekels, a silver bowl
having seventy shekels, according to the weight of the
Sanctuary, and both were filled with fine wheat flour
sprinkled with oil as a sacrifice, {7:14} a little mortar made
from ten shekels of gold, filled with incense, {7:15} an ox
from the herd, and a ram, and a one-year-old lamb as a
holocaust, {7:16} and a he-goat for sin; {7:17} and for the
sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats,
and five one-year-old lambs. This was the oblation of
Nahshon, the son of Amminadab. {7:18} On the second day,
Nathanael, the son of Zuar, the leader of the tribe of Issachar,
offered: {7:19} a silver dish weighing one hundred thirty
shekels, a silver bowl having seventy shekels, according to the
weight of the Sanctuary, and both were filled with fine wheat
flour sprinkled with oil as a sacrifice, {7:20} a little mortar of
gold having ten shekels, filled with incense, {7:21} an ox
from the herd, and a ram, and one-year-old lamb as a
holocaust, {7:22} and a he-goat for sin; {7:23} and for the
sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats,
and five one-year-old lambs. This was the oblation of
Nathanael, the son of Zuar. {7:24} On the third day, the
leader of the sons of Zebulon, Eliab the son of Helon,
{7:25} offered a silver dish weighing one hundred thirty
shekels, a silver bowl having seventy shekels, by the weight of
the Sanctuary, and both were filled with fine wheat flour
sprinkled with oil as a sacrifice, {7:26} a little mortar of gold
weighing ten shekels, filled with incense, {7:27} an ox from
the herd, and a ram, and one-year-old lamb as a holocaust,
{7:28} and a he-goat for sin; {7:29} and for the sacrifice of
peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five
one-year-old lambs. This is the oblation of Eliab the son of
Helon. {7:30} On the fourth day, the leader of the sons of
Ruben, Elizur the son of Shedeur, {7:31} offered a silver dish
weighing one hundred thirty shekels, a silver bowl having
seventy shekels, by the weight of the Sanctuary, and both
were filled with fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil as a
sacrifice, {7:32} a little mortar of gold weighing ten shekels,
filled with incense, {7:33} an ox from the herd, and a ram,
and a one-year-old lamb as a holocaust, {7:34} and a he-goat
for sin; {7:35} and for victims of peace offerings: two oxen,
five rams, five he-goats, and five one-year-old lambs. This
was the oblation of Elizur, the son of Shedeur. {7:36} On the
fifth day, the leader of the sons of Simeon, Shelumiel the son
of Zurishaddai, {7:37} offered a silver dish weighing one
hundred thirty shekels, a silver bowl having seventy shekels,
by the weight of the Sanctuary, and both were filled with fine
wheat flour sprinkled with oil as a sacrifice, {7:38} a little
mortar of gold weighing ten shekels, filled with incense,
{7:39} an ox from the herd, and a ram, and a one-year-old
lamb as a holocaust, {7:40} and a he-goat for sin; {7:41} and
for victims of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-
goats, and five one-year-old lambs. This was the oblation of
Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai. {7:42} On the sixth day,
the leader of the sons of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Reuel,
{7:43} offered a silver dish weighing one hundred thirty
shekels, a silver bowl having seventy shekels, by the weight of
the Sanctuary, and both were filled with fine wheat flour
sprinkled with oil as a sacrifice, {7:44} a little mortar of gold
weighing ten shekels, filled with incense, {7:45} an ox from
the herd, and a ram, and one-year-old lamb as a holocaust,
{7:46} and a he-goat for sin; {7:47} and for victims of peace
offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five one-
year-old lambs. This was the oblation of Eliasaph, the son of
Reuel. {7:48} On the seventh day, the leader of the sons of
Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud, {7:49} offered a
silver dish weighing one hundred thirty shekels, a silver bowl
having seventy shekels, by the weight of the Sanctuary, and
both were filled with fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil as a
sacrifice, {7:50} a little mortar of gold weighing ten shekels,
filled with incense, {7:51} an ox from the herd, and a ram,
and one-year-old lamb as a holocaust, {7:52} and a he-goat
for sin; {7:53} and for victims of peace offerings: two oxen,
five rams, five he-goats, and five one-year-old lambs. This
was the oblation of Elishama, the son of Ammihud.
{7:54} On the eighth day, the leader of the sons of Manasseh,
Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, {7:55} offered a silver dish
weighing one hundred thirty shekels, a silver bowl having
seventy shekels, by the weight of the Sanctuary, and both
were filled with fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil as a
sacrifice, {7:56} a little mortar of gold weighing ten shekels,
filled with incense, {7:57} an ox from the herd, and a ram,
and a one-year-old lamb as a holocaust, {7:58} and a he-goat
for sin; {7:59} and for victims of peace offerings: two oxen,
five rams, five he-goats, and five one-year-old lambs. This
was the oblation of Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur.
{7:60} On the ninth day, the leader of the sons of Benjamin,
Abidan the son of Gideoni, {7:61} offered a silver dish
weighing one hundred thirty shekels, a silver bowl having
seventy shekels, by the weight of the Sanctuary, and both
were filled with fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil as a
sacrifice, {7:62} a little mortar of gold weighing ten shekels,
filled with incense, {7:63} an ox from the herd, and a ram,
and a one-year-old lamb as a holocaust, {7:64} and a he-goat
for sin; {7:65} and for victims of peace offerings: two oxen,
five rams, five he-goats, and five one-year-old lambs. This
was the oblation of Abidan, the son of Gideoni. {7:66} On
the tenth day, the leaders of the sons of Dan, Ahiezer the son
of Ammishaddai, {7:67} offered a silver dish weighing one
hundred thirty shekels, a silver bowl having seventy shekels,
by the weight of the Sanctuary, and both were filled with fine
wheat flour sprinkled with oil as a sacrifice, {7:68} a little
mortar of gold weighing ten shekels, filled with incense,
{7:69} an ox from the herd, and a ram, and a one-year-old
lamb as a holocaust, {7:70} and a he-goat for sin; {7:71} and
for victims of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-
goats, and five one-year-old lambs. This was the oblation of
Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai. {7:72} On the eleventh
day, the leader of the sons of Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran,
{7:73} offered a silver dish weighing one hundred thirty
shekels, a silver bowl having seventy shekels, by the weight of
the Sanctuary, and both were filled with fine wheat flour
sprinkled with oil as a sacrifice, {7:74} a little mortar of gold
weighing ten shekels, filled with incense, {7:75} an ox from
the herd, and a ram, and a one-year-old lamb as a holocaust,
{7:76} and a he-goat for sin; {7:77} and for victims of peace
offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five one-
year-old lambs. This was the oblation of Pagiel, the son of
Ochran. {7:78} On the twelfth day, the leader of the sons of
Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan, {7:79} offered a silver dish
weighing one hundred thirty shekels, a silver bowl having
seventy shekels, by the weight of the Sanctuary, and both
were filled with fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil as a
sacrifice, {7:80} a little mortar of gold weighing ten shekels,
filled with incense, {7:81} an ox from the herd, and a ram,
and a one-year-old lamb as a holocaust, {7:82} and a he-goat
for sin; {7:83} and for victims of peace offerings: two oxen,
five rams, five he-goats, and five one-year-old lambs. This
was the oblation of Ahira, the son of Enan. {7:84} These
were the oblations from the leaders of Israel for the
dedication of the altar on the day when it was consecrated:
twelve dishes of silver, twelve bowls of silver, twelve little
mortars of gold, {7:85} such that each dish had one hundred
thirty shekels of silver, and each bowl had seventy shekels,
that is, putting all of the vessels from silver together, two
thousand four hundred shekels, by the weight of the
Sanctuary, {7:86} and twelve little mortars of gold, filled with
incense, weighing ten shekels by the weight of the Sanctuary,
that is, all together one hundred twenty shekels of gold,
{7:87} and twelve oxen from the herd as a holocaust, twelve
rams, twelve one-year-old lambs, with their libations, and
twelve he-goats for sin; {7:88} and for victims of peace
offerings: twenty-four oxen, sixty rams, sixty he-goats, and
sixty one-year-old lambs. These were the oblations for the
dedication of the altar, when it was anointed. {7:89} And
when Moses entered into the tabernacle of the covenant, to
consult the oracle, he heard the voice of One speaking to him
from the propitiatory, which is over the ark of the testimony
between the two cherubims, and there he also spoke to him.


[Numbers 8] {8:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{8:2} “Speak to Aaron, and you shall say to him: When you
place the seven lamps, let the lampstand be set up on the
south side. Therefore, give this instruction: that the lamps
should look out from the region opposite the north, toward
the table of the bread of the presence; they shall give light
opposite that area, toward the area that the lampstand faces.”
{8:3} And Aaron did so, and he placed the lamps on the
lampstand, just as the Lord had instructed Moses. {8:4} Now
this was the workmanship of the lampstand: it was of ductile
gold, both the main shaft and all that originated from both
sides of the branches. According to the example that the Lord
revealed to Moses, so did he make the lampstand. {8:5} And
the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: {8:6} “Take the Levites
from the midst of the sons of Israel, and you shall purify them
{8:7} according to this ritual: Let them be sprinkled with the
water of illumination, and let them shave off all the hairs of
their body. And when they have washed their garments and
have been cleansed, {8:8} they shall take an ox from the herd,
with its libation of fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil; then
you shall receive another ox from the herd for sin. {8:9} And
you shall bring forward the Levites before the tabernacle of
the covenant, calling together all the multitude of the sons of
Israel. {8:10} And when the Levites are before the Lord, the
sons of Israel shall place their hands upon them. {8:11} And
Aaron shall offer the Levites as a gift in the sight of the Lord,
from the sons of Israel, so that they may serve in his ministry.
{8:12} Likewise, the Levites shall place their hands upon the
heads of the oxen; you shall make use of one of these for sin,
and the other as a holocaust to the Lord, so that you may
intercede for them. {8:13} And you shall set the Levites in
the sight of Aaron and his sons, and you shall consecrate
those being offered to the Lord, {8:14} and you shall separate
them from the midst of the sons of Israel, so that they may be
for me. {8:15} And after this, they shall enter the tabernacle
of the covenant, in order to serve me. And so shall you purify
and consecrate them as an oblation to the Lord. For they
were given to me as a gift from the sons of Israel. {8:16} I
have accepted them in place of the firstborn which open
every womb in Israel. {8:17} For all the firstborn of the sons
of Israel, as much from men as from beasts, are mine. From
the day when I struck down all the firstborn in the land of
Egypt, I have sanctified them to myself. {8:18} And I have
taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn of the sons of
Israel. {8:19} And I have delivered them as a gift to Aaron
and his sons, from the midst of the people, in order to serve
me, for Israel, in the tabernacle of the covenant, and in order
to pray for them, lest there be a scourge among the people, if
they were to dare to approach to my Sanctuary.” {8:20} And
Moses and Aaron, and all the multitude of the sons of Israel,
accomplished all that the Lord had commanded Moses
concerning the Levites. {8:21} And they were purified, and
they washed their garments. And Aaron lifted them up in the
sight of the Lord, and he prayed for them, {8:22} so that,
having been purified, they might enter to their duties in the
tabernacle of the covenant before Aaron and his sons. Just as
the Lord had instructed Moses about the Levites, so was it
done. {8:23} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{8:24} “This is the law of the Levites: From twenty-five years
and above, they shall enter to minister in the tabernacle of the
covenant. {8:25} And when they will have completed the
fiftieth year of age, they shall cease to serve. {8:26} And they
shall be the ministers of their brothers in the tabernacle of the
covenant, in order to care for the things that have been
commended to them, but not to perform the works
themselves. So shall you assign the Levites in their duties.”


[Numbers 9] {9:1} The Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of
Sinai, in the second year after they departed from the land of
Egypt, in the first month, saying: {9:2} “Let the sons of Israel
observe the Passover at its proper time, {9:3} on the
fourteenth day of this month, in the evening, according to all
of its ceremonies and justifications.” {9:4} And Moses
instructed the sons of Israel, so that they would observe the
Passover. {9:5} And they observed it at its proper time: on
the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, at mount
Sinai. The sons of Israel acted according to all the things that
the Lord had commanded Moses. {9:6} But behold, certain
ones, who were not able to observe the Passover on that day,
being unclean because of the life of a man, approaching
Moses and Aaron, {9:7} said to them: “We are unclean
because of the life of a man. Why have we been cheated, in
that we are not permitted to offer, at its proper time, the
oblation to the Lord among the sons of Israel?” {9:8} And
Moses responded to them: “Remain, so that I may consult
the Lord, as to what he will rule about you.” {9:9} And the
Lord spoke to Moses, saying: {9:10} “Say to the sons of
Israel: The man who becomes unclean because of a life, or if
he is on a distant journey within your nation, let him observe
the Passover to the Lord. {9:11} In the second month, on the
fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, they shall eat it
with unleavened bread and wild lettuce. {9:12} They shall
not leave behind any of it until morning, and they shall not
break a bone of it; they shall observe all the rituals of the
Passover. {9:13} But if any man was both clean, and not on a
journey, and yet he did not observe the Passover, that soul
shall be exterminated from among his people, because he did
not offer the sacrifice to the Lord in its time. He shall bear his
sin. {9:14} Likewise, the sojourner and the newcomer, if they
are among you, shall observe the Passover to the Lord
according to its ceremonies and justifications. The same
precept shall be with you, as much for the newcomer as for
the native.” {9:15} And so, on the day when the tabernacle
was raised, a cloud covered it. But over the tabernacle, from
evening until morning, there was, as it seemed, the
appearance of fire. {9:16} This was so continually:
throughout the day a cloud covered it, and throughout the
night, the appearance of fire. {9:17} And when the cloud that
was protecting the tabernacle had been taken up, then the
sons of Israel advanced forward, and in the place where the
cloud had remained standing, there they made camp.
{9:18} Upon the order of the Lord they advanced, and upon
his order they fixed the tabernacle. All the days during which
the cloud was standing over the tabernacle, they remained in
the same place. {9:19} And if it happened that it remained for
a long time over it, the sons of Israel kept the night watches
of the Lord, and they did not advance, {9:20} during as many
days as the cloud remained over the tabernacle. At the
command of the Lord they raised their tents, and at his
command they took them down. {9:21} If the cloud
remained from evening until morning, and immediately, at
first light, it left the tabernacle, they set out. And if it
withdrew after a day and a night, they dismantled their tents.
{9:22} Yet truly, whether it remained over the tabernacle for
two days, or one month, or a longer time, the sons of Israel
remained in the same place, and they did not set out. Then,
as soon as it withdrew, they moved the camp. {9:23} By the
word of the Lord they fixed their tents, and by his word they
advanced. And they kept the night watches of the Lord,
according to his command by the hand of Moses.


[Numbers 10] {10:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{10:2} “Make for yourself two trumpets of ductile silver, with
which you may be able to call together the multitude when
the camp is to be moved. {10:3} And when you sound the
trumpets, all the multitude shall gather to you at the door of
the tabernacle of the covenant. {10:4} If you sound it only
once, the leaders and the heads of the multitude of Israel shall
come to you. {10:5} But if the sound of the trumpets is
prolonged, but with interruptions, those who are toward the
east side shall move the camp first. {10:6} Then, at the
second sounding of the trumpet with the same cadence, those
who live toward the south shall take up their tents. And the
remainder shall act in like manner, when the trumpets shall
reverberate for a departure. {10:7} But when the people are to
be gathered together, the sound of the trumpets shall be
simple, and the sounds shall not be separated. {10:8} Now it
is the sons of Aaron the priest who shall sound the trumpets.
And this shall be an everlasting ordinance, in your
generations. {10:9} If you go forth to war from your land,
against the enemies who set out against you, you shall sound
the trumpets repeatedly, and there shall be a remembrance of
you before the Lord your God, so that you may be rescued
from the hands of your enemies. {10:10} If at any time you
will have a banquet, and on feast days, and on the first days
of the months, you shall sound the trumpets over the
holocausts and the peace-offering victims, so that they may
be for you as a remembrance by your God. I am the Lord
your God.” {10:11} In the second year, in the second month,
on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was lifted up
from the tabernacle of the covenant. {10:12} And the sons of
Israel set out by their companies from the desert of Sinai, and
the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran. {10:13} And the
first to move their camp, according to the command of the
Lord by the hand of Moses, {10:14} were the sons of Judah
by their companies, whose leader was Nahshon the son of
Amminadab. {10:15} In the tribe of the sons of Issachar, the
leader was Nathanael the son of Zuar. {10:16} In the tribe of
Zebulon, the leader was Eliab the son of Helon. {10:17} And
the tabernacle was taken down, because the sons of Gershon
and Merari, who carry it, were departing. {10:18} And the
sons of Ruben also set out, by their companies and ranks,
whose leader was Elizur the son of Shedeur. {10:19} And in
the tribe of Simeon, the leader was Shelumiel the son of
Zurishaddai. {10:20} And in the tribe of Gad, the leader was
Eliasaph the son of Reuel. {10:21} Then the Kohathites also
set out, carrying the Sanctuary. The tabernacle was carried,
all the while, until they arrived at the place for setting it up.
{10:22} The sons of Ephraim also moved their camp by their
companies, and the leader of their army was Elishama the
son of Ammihud. {10:23} And in the tribe of the sons of
Manasseh, the leader was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.
{10:24} And in the tribe of Benjamin, the leader was Abidan
the son of Gideoni. {10:25} The last of all the camp to set out
were the sons of Dan by their companies, and the leader of
their army was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
{10:26} And in the tribe of the sons of Asher, the leader was
Pagiel the son of Ochran. {10:27} And in the tribe of the sons
of Naphtali, the leader was Ahira the son of Enan.
{10:28} These were the camps and departures of the sons of
Israel by their companies, when they went forth. {10:29} And
Moses said to Hobab the son of Raguel the Midianite, his
kinsman: “We are setting out to the place which the Lord will
give to us. Come with us, so that we may do good to you.
For the Lord has promised good things to Israel.”
{10:30} And he answered him, “I will not go with you, but I
will return to my own land, in which I was born.”
{10:31} And he said: “Do not choose to leave us. For you
know in which places in the desert we ought to make camp,
and so you shall be our guide. {10:32} And if you come with
us, whatever will be best among the riches which the Lord
will deliver to us, we will give to you.” {10:33} Therefore,
they set out from the Mountain of the Lord on a journey of
three days. And the ark of the covenant of the Lord preceded
them, for three days, in order to provide a place for the camp.
{10:34} Likewise, the cloud of the Lord was over them,
throughout the day, while they proceeded. {10:35} And
when the ark was lifted up, Moses said, “Rise up, O Lord,
and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you
flee from your face.” {10:36} And when it was set down, he
said: “Return, O Lord, to the multitude of the army of
Israel.”


[Numbers 11] {11:1} Meanwhile, there arose a murmur
among the people against the Lord, as if they were grief-
stricken because of their labors. And when the Lord had
heard it, he was angry. And when the fire of the Lord was
enflamed against them, it devoured those who were at the
extreme end of the camp. {11:2} And when the people had
cried out to Moses, Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire
was consumed. {11:3} And he called the name of that place,
‘The Burning,’ because the fire of the Lord had burned
against them. {11:4} So then, the mix of common people,
who had ascended with them, were enflamed with desire,
and sitting and weeping, with the sons of Israel joining them,
they said, “Who will give us flesh to eat? {11:5} We
remember the fish that we ate freely in Egypt; we call to mind
the cucumbers, and melons, and leeks, and onions, and garlic.
{11:6} Our life is dry; our eyes look out to see nothing but
manna.” {11:7} Now the manna was like coriander seed, but
with the color of bdellium. {11:8} And the people wandered
about, gathering it, and they crushed it with a millstone, or
ground it with a mortar; then they boiled it in a pot, and
made biscuits out of it, with a taste like bread made with oil.
{11:9} And when the dew descended in the night over the
camp, the manna descended together with it. {11:10} And so,
Moses heard the people weeping by their families, each one
at the door of his tent. And the fury of the Lord was greatly
enflamed. And to Moses also the matter seemed intolerable.
{11:11} And so he said to the Lord: “Why have you afflicted
your servant? Why do I not find favor before you? And why
have you imposed the weight of this entire people upon me?
{11:12} Could I have conceived this entire multitude, or have
given birth to them, so that you might say to me: Carry them
in your bosom, as a nursemaid usually carries a little infant,
and bring them into the land, about which you have sworn to
their fathers? {11:13} From where would I obtain the flesh to
give to so great a multitude? They weep against me, saying,
‘Give us flesh, so that we may eat.’ {11:14} I alone am
unable to sustain this entire people, because it is too heavy for
me. {11:15} But if it seems to you otherwise, I beg you to put
me to death, and so may I find grace in your eyes, lest I be
afflicted with such evils.” {11:16} And the Lord said to
Moses: “Gather to me seventy men from the elders of Israel,
whom you know to be elders, as well as teachers, of the
people. And you shall lead them to the door of the tabernacle
of the covenant, and you shall cause them to stand there with
you, {11:17} so that I may descend and speak to you. And I
will take from your spirit, and I will deliver it to them, so that,
with you, they may sustain the burden of the people, and so
that you will not be weighed down alone. {11:18} You shall
also say to the people: Be sanctified. Tomorrow you will eat
flesh. For I have heard you say: ‘Who will give us flesh to eat?
It was well with us in Egypt.’ So then, may the Lord give you
flesh. And you will eat, {11:19} not for one day, nor for two,
nor for five, nor for ten, nor even for twenty, {11:20} but for
up to a month of days, until it exits from your nostrils, and
until it turns into nausea for you, because you have slipped
away from the Lord, who is in your midst, and because you
have wept before him, saying: ‘Why did we go forth out of
Egypt?’ ” {11:21} And Moses said: “There are six hundred
thousand footmen of this people, and yet you say, ‘I will give
them flesh to eat for a whole month.’ {11:22} Could a
multitude of sheep and oxen be slain, so that there would be
enough food? Or will the fishes of the sea be gathered
together, in order to satisfy them?” {11:23} And the Lord
answered him: “Can the hand of the Lord be ineffective?
Soon now, you shall see whether my word will be fulfilled in
this work.” {11:24} And so, Moses went and explained the
words of the Lord to the people. Gathering together seventy
men from the elders of Israel, he caused them to stand
around the tabernacle. {11:25} And the Lord descended in a
cloud, and he spoke to him, taking from the Spirit which was
in Moses, and giving to the seventy men. And when the Spirit
had rested in them, they prophesied; nor did they cease
afterwards. {11:26} Now there had remained in the camp
two of the men, of whom one was called Eldad, and the other
Medad, upon whom the Spirit rested; for they also had been
enrolled, but they did not go forth to the tabernacle.
{11:27} And when they were prophesying in the camp, a boy
ran and reported to Moses, saying: “Eldad and Medad
prophesy in the camp.” {11:28} Promptly, Joshua the son of
Nun, the minister of Moses and chosen from many, said:
“My lord Moses, prohibit them.” {11:29} But he said, “Why
are you jealous on my behalf? Who decides that any of the
people may prophesy and that God may give to them his
Spirit?” {11:30} And Moses returned, with those greater by
birth of Israel, into the camp. {11:31} Then a wind, going out
from the Lord and moving forcefully across the sea, brought
quails and cast them into the camp, across a distance of one
day’s journey, in every part of the camp all around, and they
flew in the air two cubits high above the ground.
{11:32} Therefore, the people, rising up, gathered quails all
that day and night, and the next day; he who did least well
gathered ten homers. And they dried them throughout the
camp. {11:33} The flesh was still between their teeth, neither
had this kind of food ceased, and behold, the fury of the Lord
was provoked against the people, and he struck them with an
exceedingly great scourge. {11:34} And that place was called,
‘The Graves of Lust.’ For there, they buried the people who
had desired. Then, departing from the Graves of Lust, they
arrived in Hazeroth, and they stayed there.


[Numbers 12] {12:1} And Miriam and Aaron spoke against
Moses, because of his wife, an Ethiopian, {12:2} and they
said: “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has he not
also spoken similarly to us?” And when the Lord had heard
this, {12:3} (for Moses was a man exceedingly meek, beyond
all the men who were living upon the earth)
{12:4} immediately he spoke to him, and to Aaron and
Miriam, “Go out, you three only, to the tabernacle of the
covenant.” And when they had gone out, {12:5} the Lord
descended in a column of cloud, and he stood at the entrance
of the tabernacle, calling to Aaron and Miriam. And when
they had advanced, {12:6} he said to them: “Listen to my
words. If there will be among you a prophet of the Lord, I
will appear to him in a vision, or I will speak to him through
a dream. {12:7} But it is not so with my servant Moses, who
is the most faithful in all my house. {12:8} For I speak with
him mouth to mouth, and plainly. And not through enigmas
and figures does he perceive the Lord. Therefore, why were
you not afraid to disparage my servant Moses?” {12:9} And
being angry against them, he went away. {12:10} Likewise,
the cloud which was over the tabernacle withdrew. And
behold, Miriam appeared to be white with a leprosy, like
snow. And when Aaron had looked upon her, and he had
seen the spreading of the leprosy, {12:11} he said to Moses:
“I beg you, my lord, not to impose upon us this sin, which we
have committed foolishly. {12:12} Do not let this one be like
one who is dead, or like an abortion that has been cast from
the womb of her mother. Behold, half of her flesh is already
consumed by leprosy.” {12:13} And Moses cried out to the
Lord, saying, “O God, I beg you: heal her.” {12:14} And the
Lord answered him: “If her father had spit on her face,
should she not have been filled with shame for at least seven
days? Let her be separated, outside the camp, for seven days,
and after that, she will be called back.” {12:15} And so
Miriam was excluded from the camp for seven days. And the
people did not move from that place, until Miriam was called
back.


[Numbers 13] {13:1} And the people set out from Hazeroth,
and they pitched their tents in the desert of Paran.
{13:2} And there, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{13:3} “Send men, who may examine the land of Canaan,
which I will give to the sons of Israel, one from the rulers of
each tribe.” {13:4} Moses did what the Lord had
commanded, sending, from the desert of Paran, leading men,
whose names are these: {13:5} from the tribe of Ruben,
Shammua the son of Zaccur; {13:6} from the tribe of Simeon,
Shaphat the son of Hori; {13:7} from the tribe of Judah,
Caleb the son of Jephunneh; {13:8} from the tribe of Issachar,
Igal the son of Joseph; {13:9} from the tribe of Ephraim,
Hosea the son of Nun; {13:10} from the tribe of Benjamin,
Palti the son of Raphu; {13:11} from the tribe of Zebulon,
Gaddiel the son of Sodi; {13:12} from the tribe of Joseph, of
the scepter of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; {13:13} from
the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; {13:14} from
the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; {13:15} from
the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; {13:16} from
the tribe of Gad, Guel the son of Machi. {13:17} These are
the names of the men, whom Moses sent to examine the land.
And he called Hosea, the son of Nun, Joshua. {13:18} And
so, Moses sent them to examine the land of Canaan, and he
said to them: “Ascend by the south side. And when you
arrive at the mountains, {13:19} consider the land, as to what
kind it may be, and the people, who are its inhabitants,
whether they may be strong or weak, whether they may be
few in number or many, {13:20} and the land itself, whether
it is good or bad, what kind of cities, walled or without walls,
{13:21} the soil, rich or barren, forested or without trees. Be
strong, and bring us some of the fruits of the land.” Now it
was the time when the first ripe grapes were ready to be eaten.
{13:22} And when they had ascended, they explored the land
from the desert of Sin, all the way to Rehob, as one enters
into Hamath. {13:23} And they ascended by the south side.
And they arrived at Hebron, where there were Ahiman and
Shishai and Talmai, the sons of Anak. For Hebron was
founded seven years before Tanis, the city of Egypt.
{13:24} And continuing on as far as the Torrent of the
Cluster of Grapes, they cut off a vine with its grapes, which
two men carried on a board. Likewise, they took from the
pomegranates and the figs of that place, {13:25} which was
called Nehel Eshcol, that is, the Torrent of the Cluster of
Grapes, because the sons of Israel had carried a cluster of
grapes from there. {13:26} And those exploring the land
returned after forty days, having circulated through the entire
region. {13:27} And they went to Moses and Aaron, and to
the entire assembly of the sons of Israel in the desert of Paran,
which is in Kadesh. And speaking to them, and to the entire
multitude, they showed them the fruits of the land.
{13:28} And they explained, saying: “We went into the land,
to which you sent us, which, it is true, flows with milk and
honey, as one can know by these fruits. {13:29} But it has
very strong occupants, and the cities are great and also walled.
We saw the race of Anak there. {13:30} Amalek lives in the
south. The Hethite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite live in
the mountains. And truly, the Canaanite stays near the sea
and around the streams of the Jordan.” {13:31} During these
events, Caleb, to restrain the murmuring of the people who
rose up against Moses, said, “Let us ascend and possess the
land, for we will be able to obtain it.” {13:32} Yet truly, the
others, who had been with him, were saying, “By no means
are we able to ascend to this people, because they are stronger
than we are.” {13:33} And before the sons of Israel they
disparaged the land, which they had inspected, saying: “The
land, which we viewed, devours its inhabitants. The people,
upon whom we gazed, were of lofty stature. {13:34} There,
we saw some monsters among the sons of Anak, of the race
of giants; by comparison with them, we seemed like locusts.”


[Numbers 14] {14:1} And so, crying out, the entire crowd
wept throughout that night. {14:2} And all the sons of Israel
were murmuring against Moses and Aaron, saying:
{14:3} “If only we had died in Egypt,” and, “If only we
would perish in this vast wilderness,” and, “May the Lord
not lead us into this land, lest we fall by the sword, and our
wives, as well as our children, be led away as captives. Is it
not better to return to Egypt?” {14:4} And they said to one
another, “Let us appoint our leader, and so return to Egypt.”
{14:5} And when Moses and Aaron heard this, they fell
prone on the ground in the sight of the multitude of the sons
of Israel. {14:6} Yet truly, Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb
the son of Jephunneh, who themselves had also viewed the
land, tore their garments, {14:7} and they said to the entire
multitude of the sons of Israel: “The land that we circled
through is very good. {14:8} If the Lord will be gracious to us,
he will lead us into it, and he will give us the land flowing
with milk and honey. {14:9} Do not choose to be rebellious
against the Lord. And do not fear the people of this land, for,
like bread, so are we able to devour them. All protection has
withdrawn from them. The Lord is with us. Do not be
afraid.” {14:10} And when the entire multitude cried out,
and they wanted to crush them with stones, the glory of the
Lord appeared, over the roof of the covenant, to all the sons
of Israel. {14:11} And the Lord said to Moses: “How long
will this people disparage me? How long will they refuse to
believe me, despite all the signs that I have wrought before
them? {14:12} Therefore, I will strike them with a pestilence,
and so I will consume them. But you I will make the ruler
over a great nation, and one which is mightier than this one.”
{14:13} And Moses said to the Lord: “But then the Egyptians,
from whose midst you led out this people, {14:14} and the
inhabitants of this land, who have heard that you, O Lord,
are among this people, and that you are seen face to face, and
that your cloud protects them, and that you go before them
with a column of cloud by day, and a column of fire by night,
{14:15} may hear that you have killed so great a multitude,
as if they were one man, and they may say: {14:16} ‘He was
not able to lead the people into the land about which he had
sworn. Therefore, he slew them in the wilderness.’
{14:17} Therefore, may the strength of the Lord be magnified,
just as you swore, saying: {14:18} ‘The Lord is patient and
full of mercy, taking away iniquity and wickedness, and
forsaking no one who is harmless. He visits the sins of the
fathers upon the sons, to the third and fourth generation.’
{14:19} Forgive, I beg you, the sins of this people, according
to the greatness of your mercy, just as you have been gracious
to them in their journey from Egypt to this place.”
{14:20} And the Lord said: “I have forgiven them according
to your word. {14:21} Also, as I live, the entire world shall be
filled with the glory of the Lord. {14:22} And yet, all the men
who have seen my majesty, and the signs that I have wrought
in Egypt and in the wilderness, and who have tested me ten
times already, and yet have not obeyed my voice,
{14:23} these shall not see the land, about which I swore to
their fathers, neither shall any of those who detracted me
gaze upon it. {14:24} My servant Caleb, who, being full of
another spirit, has followed me, I will lead into this land,
through which he has wandered, and his offspring shall
possess it. {14:25} For the Amalekites and the Canaanites
live in the valleys. Tomorrow, move the camp and return into
the wilderness, by the way of the Red Sea.” {14:26} And the
Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: {14:27} “How long
will this very wicked multitude murmur against me? I have
heard the complaints of the sons of Israel. {14:28} Therefore,
say to them: As I live, says the Lord, as you spoke in my
hearing, so will I do to you. {14:29} In the wilderness, here
shall your carcasses lie. All you who were numbered from
twenty years and above, and who have murmured against me,
{14:30} you shall not enter into the land, over which I lifted
up my hand to cause you to live there, except Caleb the son
of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. {14:31} But your
little ones, about whom you said that they would be a prey to
the enemies, I will lead them in, so that they may see the land
that has displeased you. {14:32} Your carcasses shall lie in
the wilderness. {14:33} Your sons shall wander in the desert
for forty years, and they shall bear your fornication, until the
carcasses of their fathers are consumed in the desert.
{14:34} According to the number of the forty days, during
which you examined the land, one year shall be charged for
each day. And so, for forty years you shall take back your
iniquities, and you shall know my retribution. {14:35} For
just as I have spoken, so shall I do, to this entire most wicked
multitude, which has risen up together against me. In the
wilderness, here shall it fade away and die.”
{14:36} Therefore, all the men, whom Moses had sent to
contemplate the land, and who, having returned, had caused
the entire multitude to murmur against him, disparaging the
land as if it were evil, {14:37} suffered death and were struck
down in the sight of the Lord. {14:38} But only Joshua the
son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive,
out of all those who had journeyed to examine the land.
{14:39} And Moses spoke all these words to all the sons of
Israel, and the people mourned exceedingly. {14:40} And
behold, rising up at first light, they climbed to the top of the
mountain, and they said, “We are prepared to ascend to the
place, about which the Lord has spoken, for we have sinned.”
{14:41} And Moses said to them: “Why do you transgress
the word of the Lord, merely because it will not result in
prosperity for you? {14:42} Do not ascend, for the Lord is not
with you, lest you be overthrown before your enemies.
{14:43} The Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, by
whose sword you shall be ruined, for you were not willing to
consent to the Lord, and so the Lord is not with you.”
{14:44} But they, having been darkened, ascended to the top
of the mountain. But the ark of the testament of the Lord,
and Moses, did not withdraw from the camp. {14:45} And
the Amalekites descended, along with those Canaanites who
were living in the mountains. And so, striking and cutting
them down, they pursued them all the way to Hormah.


[Numbers 15] {15:1} The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{15:2} “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them:
When you will have entered into the land of your habitation,
which I will give you, {15:3} and you make an offering to the
Lord, as a holocaust or as a victim, paying your vows, or as a
voluntary offering of gifts, or in your solemnities, burning a
sweet odor to the Lord, whether from the oxen or from the
sheep: {15:4} whoever immolates the victim shall offer a
sacrifice of fine wheat flour, the tenth part of an ephah,
sprinkled with oil, which shall have the measure of the fourth
part of a hin, {15:5} and he shall give the same measure of
wine, poured out as libations, whether as a holocaust or as a
victim. {15:6} With each lamb and each ram, there shall be a
sacrifice of fine wheat flour, of two tenths, which shall be
sprinkled with one third part of a hin of oil. {15:7} And he
shall offer the same measure, one third part of wine, for the
libation, as a sweet odor to the Lord. {15:8} Yet truly, when
you will offer, from the oxen, a holocaust or a victim, in
order to fulfill your vow or for peace-offering victims,
{15:9} you shall give, for each ox, three tenths of fine wheat
flour, sprinkled with oil, which has the measure of one half of
one hin, {15:10} and the wine, poured out as libations, shall
be of the same measure, as an oblation of most sweet odor to
the Lord. {15:11} So shall you do {15:12} for each ox, and
ram, and lamb, and young goat. {15:13} Both natives and
sojourners {15:14} shall offer sacrifices by the same rituals.
{15:15} There shall be one precept and one judgment, as
much for yourselves as for newcomers to the land.”
{15:16} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{15:17} “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to
them: {15:18} When you will arrive in the land which I will
give to you, {15:19} and when you will eat from the bread of
that region, you shall separate the first-fruits to the Lord
{15:20} from the foods that you eat. Just as you separate the
first-fruits of your threshing floors, {15:21} so also shall you
give the first-fruits of your cooked grains to the Lord.
{15:22} And if, through ignorance, you neglect any of these
things, which the Lord has spoken to Moses, {15:23} and
which he has commanded through him for you, from the day
that he began to command and thereafter, {15:24} and if the
multitude will have forgotten to do it, then they shall offer a
calf from the herd, a holocaust as a most sweet odor to the
Lord, and its sacrifice and libations, just as the ceremonies
ask, and a he-goat for sin. {15:25} And the priest shall pray
for the entire multitude of the sons of Israel, and it shall be
forgiven them, because they did not sin willfully.
Nevertheless, they shall offer incense to the Lord for
themselves, and for sin, as well as for their error.
{15:26} And it shall be forgiven all the people of the sons of
Israel, as well as the newcomers who sojourn among them,
for it is the culpability of all the people through neglect.
{15:27} But if one soul will have sinned by not knowing, he
shall offer a one-year-old she-goat for his sin. {15:28} And
the priest shall pray for him, because he sinned unknowingly
before the Lord. And he shall obtain pardon for him, and it
will be forgiven him. {15:29} One law shall be for all who sin
by ignorance, as much for natives as for newcomers.
{15:30} Yet truly, the soul who commits any of these acts
through arrogance, whether he is a citizen or a sojourner,
because he has rebelled against the Lord, shall perish from
among his people. {15:31} For he has despised the word of
the Lord, and he has nullified his precept. For this reason, he
shall be destroyed, and he shall bear his iniquity.”
{15:32} And it happened that, when the sons of Israel were in
the wilderness, and they had found a man collecting wood on
the day of the Sabbath, {15:33} they brought him to Moses
and Aaron, and to the whole multitude. {15:34} And they
enclosed him in a prison, not knowing what they should do
with him. {15:35} And the Lord said to Moses, “Let that
man be put to death; let the entire crowd crush him with
stones, outside the camp.” {15:36} And when they had led
him out, they overwhelmed him with stones, and he died,
just as the Lord had instructed. {15:37} The Lord also said to
Moses: {15:38} “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall tell
them to make for themselves hems at the corners of their
cloaks, placing in them ribbons of hyacinth, {15:39} so that,
when they see these, they may remember all the
commandments of the Lord, and they may not follow their
own thoughts and eyes, fornicating in various ways,
{15:40} but instead, they, being more mindful of the precepts
of the Lord, may do them and may be holy to their God.
{15:41} Iam the Lord your God, who led you away from the
land of Egypt, so that I may be your God.”


[Numbers 16] {16:1} Then, behold, Korah the son of Izhar,
the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram,
the sons of Eliab, and also On the son of Peleth, of the sons
of Ruben, {16:2} rose up against Moses, with two hundred
fifty others of the sons of Israel, leading men of the assembly,
and who, at the time of a council, would be called by name.
{16:3} And when they had stood against Moses and Aaron,
they said: “Let it be sufficient for you that the entire
multitude is of holy ones, and that the Lord is among them.
Why do you elevate yourselves above the people of the
Lord?” {16:4} When Moses had heard this, he fell prone on
his face. {16:5} And speaking to Korah, and to the entire
multitude, he said: “In the morning, the Lord will cause it to
be known who belongs to him, and which holy ones he will
join to himself. And whomever he will choose, they shall be
close to him. {16:6} Therefore, do this: Each one of you,
Korah and all your associates, take your censer, {16:7} and
drawing fire into it tomorrow, place incense upon it before
the Lord. And whomever he will choose, the same shall be
holy. You sons of Levi have been raised up greatly.”
{16:8} And he said again to Korah: “Listen, sons of Levi.
{16:9} Is it a small thing to you, that the God of Israel has
separated you from all the people, and has joined you to
himself, so that you would serve him in the rituals of the
tabernacle, and stand before gatherings of the people, and
minister to him? {16:10} Was the reason that he caused you
and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, to approach him, so
that you would even claim for yourselves the priesthood too,
{16:11} and so that your entire group would stand against the
Lord? For what is Aaron that you should murmur against
him?” {16:12} Therefore, Moses sent to call for Dathan and
Abiram, the sons of Eliab, who responded: “We will not
come. {16:13} Is it a small matter to you, that you have led
us away from a land that was flowing with milk and honey,
so as to kill us in the desert, unless you could also be a ruler
over us? {16:14} You have led us, it is true, to a land that
flows with streams of milk and honey, and you have given us
possession of fields and vineyards. But will you also tear out
our eyes? We will not come.” {16:15} And Moses, being very
angry, said to the Lord: “Do not look with favor on their
sacrifices. You know that I have not accepted from them, at
any time, so much as a young donkey, nor have I afflicted
any of them.” {16:16} And he said to Korah: “You and your
congregation, stand alone before the Lord, and apart from
Aaron, tomorrow. {16:17} Let each one of you take censers,
and place incense in them, offering to the Lord two hundred
fifty censers. Let Aaron also hold his censer.” {16:18} When
they had done this, Moses and Aaron stood up, {16:19} and,
having crowded the entire multitude close to them at the door
of the tabernacle, the glory of the Lord appeared to them all.
{16:20} And the Lord, speaking to Moses and Aaron, said:
{16:21} “Separate yourselves from the midst of this
congregation, so that I may suddenly destroy them.”
{16:22} But they fell prone on their faces, and they said, “O
most strong One, the God of the spirits of all flesh, should
your anger rage against all, for the sin of one?” {16:23} And
the Lord said to Moses: {16:24} “Instruct the entire people to
separate from the tents of Korah, and Dathan, and Abiram.”
{16:25} And Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram.
And the elders of Israel followed him, {16:26} and he said to
the crowd, “Withdraw from the tabernacles of these impious
men, and touch nothing which pertains to them, lest you
become involved in their sins.” {16:27} And when they had
withdrawn from their tents all around, Dathan and Abiram
came out and stood at the entrance of their pavilions, with
their wives and children, and with all their associates.
{16:28} And Moses said: “By this shall you know that the
Lord has sent me to do all that you discern, and that I have
not brought these things out of my own heart: {16:29} If
these men pass away by the common death of men, or if they
will be visited by a scourge, of a kind by which others are
often visited, then the Lord did not send me. {16:30} But if
the Lord accomplishes something new, so that the earth
opens its mouth and swallows them whole, along with
everything that belongs to them, and they descend alive into
the underworld, then you shall know that they have
blasphemed the Lord.” {16:31} Therefore, as soon as he had
ceased to speak, the earth broke open under their feet.
{16:32} And opening its mouth, it devoured them with their
tabernacles and their entire substance. {16:33} And they
descended alive, the ground closing around them, into the
underworld, and they perished from the midst of the
mulititude. {16:34} Yet truly, all of Israel, which was
standing all around, took flight at the clamor of those who
were perishing, saying, “Lest perhaps the earth may swallow
us whole also.” {16:35} Then, too, a fire, going forth from
the Lord, put to death the two hundred fifty men who were
offering the incense. {16:36} And the Lord spoke to Moses,
saying: {16:37} “Instruct Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest,
to take up the censers which lie in the burning, and to scatter
the fire to one side and another, because they were sanctified
{16:38} in the deaths of these sinners. And let him form them
into plates, and affix them to the altar, because incense had
been offered in them to the Lord, and they were sanctified,
and so that the sons of Israel may discern in them a sign and
a memorial.” {16:39} Therefore, Eleazar the priest took the
bronze censers, by which those whom the burning devoured
had made an offering, and he formed them into plates,
affixing them to the altar, {16:40} so that the sons of Israel
would have, thereafter, something to admonish them, lest
any stranger, or anyone who is not of the offspring of Aaron,
might approach to offer incense to the Lord, and lest he
endure what happened to Korah, and to all his congregation,
when the Lord spoke to Moses. {16:41} Then, the following
day, the entire multitude of the sons of Israel murmured
against Moses and Aaron, saying: “You have put to death the
people of the Lord.” {16:42} And when there arose a sedition,
and the tumult increased, {16:43} Moses and Aaron fled to
the tabernacle of the covenant. But after they had entered it,
the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.
{16:44} And the Lord said to Moses: {16:45} “Withdraw
from the midst of this multitude, and I will destroy them
immediately.” And while they were lying on the ground,
{16:46} Moses said to Aaron: “Take the censer, and draw fire
into it from the altar; place incense upon it, and continue on,
quickly, to the people, to pray for them. For already wrath
has gone forth from the Lord, and the scourge rages.”
{16:47 When Aaron had done this, and he ran into the
midst of the multitude, which the burning fire was now
destroying, and he offered the incense. {16:48} And standing
between the dead and the living, he prayed for the people,
and the scourge ceased. {16:49} But the number of those who
were struck down was fourteen thousand men, and seven
hundred, aside from those who had perished in the sedition
of Korah. {16:50} And Aaron returned to Moses at the door
of the tabernacle of the covenant, after the destruction
quieted.


[Numbers 17] {17:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{17:2} “Speak to the sons of Israel, and receive from each of
them a rod by their kinships, from all the leaders of the tribes,
twelve rods, and write the name of each one on his rod.
{17:3} But the name of Aaron shall be for the tribe of Levi,
and one rod separately shall contain all their families.
{17:4} And you shall place these in the tabernacle of the
covenant before the testimony, where I will speak to you.
{17:5} Whomever of these I will choose, his rod will
germinate, and so shall I restrain the complaints of the sons
of Israel before me, by which they murmur against you.”
{17:6} And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel. And all the
leaders gave him rods, one for each tribe. And there were
twelve rods, aside from the rod of Aaron. {17:7} And when
Moses had placed these before the Lord, in the tabernacle of
the testimony, {17:8} returning on the following day, he
found that the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi, had
germinated, and that the swelling buds had opened into
flowers, which, spreading their petals, were formed into those
of an almond tree. {17:9} Therefore, Moses brought out all
the rods, from the sight of the Lord, to all the sons of Israel.
And they saw, and each one received their rods. {17:10} And
the Lord said to Moses: “Carry back the rod of Aaron into
the tabernacle of the testimony, so that it may be kept there as
a sign of the rebellion of the sons of Israel, and so that their
complaints may be quieted before me, lest they die.”
{17:11} And Moses did just as the Lord had instructed.
{17:12} Then the sons of Israel said to Moses: “Behold, we
have been consumed; we have been ruined. {17:13} Whoever
approaches to the tabernacle of the Lord dies. Will we all be
wiped away, even to total annihilation?”


[Numbers 18] {18:1} And the Lord said to Aaron: “You, and
your sons, and the house of your father with you, shall carry
the iniquity of the Sanctuary. And you and your sons
together shall bear the sins of your priesthood. {18:2} But
take to yourselves also your brothers from the tribe of Levi,
and the scepter of your father, and may they be prepared, and
may they minister to you. Then you and your sons shall
minister in the tabernacle of the testimony. {18:3} And the
Levites shall stand watch by your precepts, and for all the
works of the tabernacle; yet in such a manner that they shall
not approach the vessels of the Sanctuary and of the altar, lest
both they die, and you perish, at the same time. {18:4} But
they may be with you, and they may watch over the care of
the tabernacle and all its ceremonies. A foreigner shall not be
mixed with you. {18:5} Watch over the care of the Sanctuary,
and over the ministry of the altar, lest an indignation may rise
over the sons of Israel. {18:6} I have given your brothers, the
Levites, to you from the midst of the sons of Israel, and I
have delivered them as a gift to the Lord, in order to serve in
the ministries of his tabernacle. {18:7} But as for you and
your sons: guard the priesthood. For all that pertains to the
service of the altar and of what is beyond the veil shall be
exercised by the priests. If any outsider will approach, he
shall be killed.” {18:8} And the Lord said to Aaron: “Behold,
I have given you custody of my first-fruits. Everything that is
sanctified by the sons of Israel I have delivered to you and
your sons, for the office of the priesthood, by everlasting
ordinances. {18:9} Therefore, you shall receive these, from
the things that are sanctified and offered to the Lord. Every
offering, and sacrifice, and whatever is repaid to me, on
behalf of sin and also for offenses, and which becomes the
Holy of holies, shall be for you and for your sons.
{18:10} You shall eat it in the Sanctuary. Only the males
shall eat from it, because it has been consecrated for you.
{18:11} But the first-fruits, which the sons of Israel shall vow
and offer, I have given to you, and to your sons, as well as to
your daughters, by a perpetual right. Whoever is clean in
your house shall eat them. {18:12} AIl the innermost of the
oil, and of the wine, and of the grain, whatever first-fruits
they offer to the Lord, I have given to you. {18:13} All the
first of the crops, which the soil produces and which are
carried to the Lord, shall fall to your use. Whoever is clean in
your house shall eat them. {18:14} All that the sons of Israel
shall repay by vow shall be yours. {18:15} Whatever goes out
first from the womb, of all flesh, which they offer to the Lord,
whether from men or from cattle, shall be your right; yet only
in so far as, for the firstborn of man, you shall accept a price.
And every animal that is unclean you shall cause to be
redeemed. {18:16} And its redemption shall be, after one
month, five shekels of silver, by the weight of the Sanctuary.
A shekel has twenty obols. {18:17} But the firstborn of a cow,
or of a sheep, or of a goat, you shall not cause to be redeemed,
because they have been sanctified to the Lord. Thus, their
blood you shall pour out upon the altar, and their fat you
shall burn as a most sweet odor to the Lord. {18:18} Yet truly,
the flesh shall fall to your use, just as the consecrated breast
and the right shoulder shall be yours. {18:19} All the first-
fruits of the Sanctuary, which the sons of Israel offer to the
Lord, I have given to you and to your sons as well as to your
daughters, as a perpetual right. It is an everlasting covenant
of salt before the Lord, for you and for your sons.”
{18:20} And the Lord said to Aaron: “In their land, you shall
possess nothing; neither shall you have a portion among
them. I am your portion and your inheritance in the midst of
the sons of Israel. {18:21} But I have given, to the sons of
Levi, all the tithes of Israel as a possession, for the ministry
by which they serve me in the tabernacle of the covenant,
{18:22} so that the sons of Israel may no longer approach to
the tabernacle, nor commit deadly sin. {18:23} Only the sons
of Levi may serve me in the tabernacle and may carry the sins
of the people. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in your
generations. They shall possess nothing else; {18:24} being
content with the oblation of tithes, which I have separated for
their uses and necessities.” {18:25} And the Lord spoke to
Moses, saying: {18:26} “Instruct the Levites, and also declare
to them: When you will receive, from the sons of Israel, the
tithes, which I have given to you, offer their first-fruits to the
Lord, that is, the tenth part of a tenth, {18:27} so that it may
be accounted to you as an oblation of the first-fruits, as much
from the threshing floors as from the oil and wine presses.
{18:28} And offer the first-fruits of everything, from which
you receive tithes, to the Lord, and give them to Aaron the
priest. {18:29} Everything which you shall offer from the
tithes, and which you shall separate as gifts to the Lord, shall
be the finest and most select. {18:30} And you shall say to
them: ‘If you offer the noble and the better of the tithes, it
shall be accounted to you as if you had given from the first-
fruits of the threshing floor and of the oil and wine presses.’
{18:31} And you shall eat these in all your places, both you
and your families, because it is your price for the ministry, by
which you serve in the tabernacle of the testimony.
{18:32} And you shall not sin in this way: by reserving the
excellent and fat things for yourselves, lest you pollute the
oblations of the sons of Israel, and lest you die.”


[Numbers 19] {19:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses and
Aaron, saying: {19:2} “This is the ritual that the Lord has
appointed for a victim. Instruct the sons of Israel, so that they
may bring to you a red cow of full maturity, in which there is
no blemish, and which has not carried a yoke. {19:3} And
you shall deliver it to Eleazar the priest, who, having led it
out beyond the camp, shall immolate it in the sight of all.
{19:4} And dipping his finger in its blood, he shall sprinkle it
seven times, opposite the door of the tabernacle. {19:5} And
he shall burn it, while all are watching, delivering into the
flame, not only its skin and flesh, but also the blood and dung.
{19:6} Likewise, cedar wood, and hyssop, and twice-dyed
scarlet he shall cast into the flame, by which the cow is
consumed. {19:7} And then finally, having washed his
garments and his body, he shall enter into the camp, and he
shall be deeply stained until evening. {19:8} Then he also
who had burned it shall wash his garments and his body, and
he shall be unclean until evening. {19:9} Then a clean man
shall gather the ashes of the cow, and he shall pour them out
beyond the camp, in a very pure place, so that they may be
preserved for the multitude of the sons of Israel, and for the
water of aspersion, because the cow was burned for sin.
{19:10} And when he who had carried the ashes of the cow
will have washed his garments, he shall be unclean until
evening. The sons of Israel, and the newcomers who live
among them, shall have this as a holy and perpetual right.
{19:11} Whoever touches the corpse of a man, and is,
because of this, unclean for seven days, {19:12} shall be
sprinkled from this water on the third and seventh days, and
so shall he be cleansed. But if he was not sprinkled on the
third day, he is not able to be cleansed on the seventh.
{19:13} Anyone who will have touched the dead body of a
human life, and who has not been sprinkled with this mixture,
pollutes the tabernacle of the Lord, and he shall perish out of
Israel. For not having been sprinkled with the water of
expiation, he shall be unclean, and his filth shall remain upon
him. {19:14} This is the law of a man who dies in a tent. All
who enter into his tent, and all the vessels which are there,
shall be polluted for seven days. {19:15} The vessel that has
no cover or binding over it shall be unclean. {19:16} If
anyone in the field will have touched the corpse of a man,
who was killed or who died on his own, or his bone, or his
grave, he shall be unclean for seven days. {19:17} And they
shall take some of the ashes from the burning and the sin
offering, and they shall pour living waters over them into a
vessel. {19:18} And into it a man who is clean shall dip
hyssop, and he shall sprinkle from it the entire tent, and all its
articles, and the men who were polluted by means of contact.
{19:19} And so, in this manner, what is clean shall purify
what is unclean, on the third and seventh days. And have
been expiated on the seventh day, he shall wash both himself
and his garments, and he shall be unclean until evening.
{19:20} If anyone has not been expiated by this ritual, his
soul shall perish from the midst of the Church. For he has
polluted the Sanctuary of the Lord, and he has not been
sprinkled with purifying waters. {19:21} This precept shall be
an everlasting ordinance. Likewise, the one who has
sprinkled the waters shall wash his garments. All who will
have touched the waters of expiation shall be unclean until
evening. {19:22} Whatever has been touched by something
unclean will itself be made unclean. And the soul who
touches any of these things shall become unclean until
evening.”


[Numbers 20] {20:1} And the sons of Israel, and the entire
multitude, went into the desert of Sin, in the first month. And
the people stayed at Kadesh. And Miriam died there, and she
was buried in the same place. {20:2} And when the people
were in need of water, they came together against Moses and
Aaron. {20:3} And as it turned into sedition, they said: “If
only we had perished among our brothers in the sight of the
Lord. {20:4} Why have you led away the Church of the Lord,
into the wilderness, so that both we and our cattle would die?
{20:5} Why did you cause us to ascend from Egypt, and why
have you led us into this most wretched place, which is not
able to be sown, which does not produce figs, or vines, or
pomegranates, and which, moreover, does not even have
water to drink?” {20:6} And Moses and Aaron, dismissing
the multitude, entered the tabernacle of the covenant, and
they fell prone on the ground, and they cried out to the Lord,
and they said: “O Lord God, listen to the outcry of this
people, and open for them, from your storehouse, a fountain
of living water, so that, being satisfied, their murmuring may
cease.” And the glory of the Lord appeared over them.
{20:7} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: {20:8} “Take
the rod, and gather the people, you and your brother Aaron,
and speak to the rock before them, and it shall bestow waters.
And when you have brought forth water from the rock, the
entire multitude and their cattle shall drink.”
{20:9} Therefore, Moses took the rod, which was in the sight
of the Lord, just as he had instructed him. {20:10} And
having gathered the multitude before the rock, he said to
them: “Listen, you who are rebellious and unbelieving.
Would we be able to cast out water from this rock?”
{20:11} And when Moses had lifted up his hand, striking the
stone twice with the rod, very great waters went forth, so
much so that the people and their cattle were able to drink.
{20:12} And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because
you did not believe me, so as to sanctify me before the sons of
Israel, you shall not lead this people into the land, which I
will give to them.” {20:13} This is the Water of
Contradiction, where the sons of Israel were quarreling
against the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.
{20:14} Meanwhile, Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to
the king of Edom. They said: “Your brother Israel says this:
You know of all the hardships which have overtaken us,
{20:15} how our fathers descended into Egypt, and we lived
there for a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted both us and
our fathers, {20:16} and how we cried out to the Lord, and
he heeded us and sent an Angel, who led us away from Egypt.
Behold, we are situated in the city of Kadesh, which is at the
extremity of your borders. {20:17} And we beg you to permit
us to cross through your land. We will not go through the
fields, nor through the vineyards; we will not drink the waters
of your wells, but we will travel by the public ways, neither
turning aside to the right, nor to the left, until we have passed
your borders.” {20:18} Edom responded to them: “You shall
not cross through me, otherwise, I will meet you armed.”
{20:19} And the sons of Israel said: “We will travel by the
well-trodden path. And if we or our cattle drink from your
waters, we will give you what is just. There shall be no
difficulty in the price, only let us cross through quickly.”
{20:20} But he answered, “You shall not cross.” And
immediately he went out to meet them with a countless
multitude and a strong hand; {20:21} neither was he willing
to agree to their petition to concede passage through his
borders. For this reason, Israel diverted away from him.
{20:22} And when they had moved the camp from Kadesh,
they arrived at mount Hor, which is at the borders of the land
of Edom, {20:23} where the Lord spoke to Moses:
{20:24} “Let Aaron,” he said, “go to his people. For he shall
not enter into the land which I have given to the sons of Israel,
because he did not believe my mouth at the Waters of
Contradiction. {20:25} Take Aaron, and his son with him,
and lead them on to mount Hor. {20:26} And when you have
stripped the father of his vestments, you shall put them on
Eleazar, his son. Aaron shall be gathered and shall die there.”
{20:27} Moses did just as the Lord had instructed. And they
ascended mount Hor, in the sight of the entire multitude.
{20:28} And when he had despoiled Aaron of his vestments,
he clothed his son Eleazar with them. {20:29} And when
Aaron had died at the top of the mountain, Moses came
down with Eleazar. {20:30} And the entire multitude, seeing
that Aaron lay dead, wept over him for thirty days,
throughout all their families.


[Numbers 21] {21:1} And when king Arad the Canaanite,
who was living toward the south, had heard this, namely,
that Israel had arrived by the way of spies, he fought against
them. And proving to be the victor, he led away prey from
them. {21:2} But Israel, obliging himself by a vow to the
Lord, said: “If you deliver this people into my hand, I will
wipe away their cities.” {21:3} And the Lord heard the
prayers of Israel, and he delivered the Canaanite, who they
put to death, overthrowing his cities. And they called the
name of that place Hormah, that is, Anathema. {21:4} Then
they set out from mount Hor, by the way that leads to the
Red Sea, to circle around the land of Edom. And the people
began to tire of their journey and hardships. {21:5} And
speaking against God and Moses, they said: “Why did you
lead us away from Egypt, so as to die in the wilderness?
Bread is lacking; there are no waters. Our soul is now
nauseous over this very light food.” {21:6} For this reason,
the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, which
wounded or killed many of them. {21:7} And so they went to
Moses, and they said: “We have sinned, because we have
spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray, so that he
may take away these serpents from us.” And Moses prayed
for the people. {21:8} And the Lord said to him: “Make a
bronze serpent, and place it as a sign. Whoever, having been
struck, gazes upon it, shall live.” {21:9} Therefore, Moses
made a bronze serpent, and he placed it as a sign. When
those who had been struck gazed upon it, they were healed.
{21:10} And the sons of Israel, setting out, made camp at
Oboth. {21:11} Having departed from there, they pitched
their tents at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness, which looks out
toward Moab, opposite the eastern region. {21:12} And
moving from there, they arrived at the Torrent of Zared.
{21:13} Having left that place behind, they then made camp
opposite Arnon, which is in the desert, and which juts out at
the borders of the Amorite. For certainly Arnon is at the limit
of Moab, dividing the Moabites and the Amorites.
{21:14} About this place, it is said in the book of the wars of
the Lord: “As he did at the Red Sea, so will he do at the
Torrents of Arnon.” {21:15} The stones of the torrents were
bent, so that they might rest in Ar and lie back within the
borders of the Moabites. {21:16} Beyond that place appeared
a well, about which the Lord said to Moses: “Gather the
people together, and I will give them water.” {21:17} Then
Israel sang this verse: “Let the well rise up.” They sang:
{21:18} “The well, the leaders dug it, and the commanders of
the multitude prepared it, at the direction of the lawgiver, and
with their staffs.” {21:19} They went from the wilderness to
Mattanah, from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to
Bamoth, {21:20} from Bamoth, a valley in the region of
Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks out opposite the
desert. {21:21} Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, the
king of the Amorites, saying: {21:22} “I beg you to permit
me to cross through your land. We will not turn aside into
the fields or the vineyards. We will not drink waters from the
wells. We will travel by the royal way, until we have passed
your borders.” {21:23} And he was not willing to allow Israel
to cross through his borders. But instead, gathering an army,
he went out to meet them in the desert, and he arrived at
Jahaz and fought against them. {21:24} And he was struck
down by them with the edge of the sword, and they possessed
his land from Arnon, even to Jabbok and the sons of Ammon.
For the borders of the Ammonites were held by a strong
fortress. {21:25} Therefore, Israel took all his cities and lived
in the cities of the Amorite, namely, in Heshbon and its
villages. {21:26} Heshbon was the city of Sihon, the king of
the Amorites, who fought against the king of Moab. And he
took all the land, which had been under his sovereignty, as
far as Arnon. {21:27} About this, it is said in the proverb:
“Enter into Heshbon. Let the city of Sihon be established and
built. {21:28} A fire has gone forth from Heshbon, a flame
from the town of Sihon, and it has devoured Ar of the
Moabites, and the inhabitants of the heights of Arnon.
{21:29} Woe to you, Moab! You are perishing, O people of
Chemosh. He gave flight to his sons, and he gave the
daughters into captivity, to the king of the Amorites, Sihon.
{21:30} Their yoke has been scattered from Heshbon even to
Dibon. They have passed through, wearily, into Nophah, and
as far as Medeba.” {21:31} And so Israel lived in the land of
the Amorite. {21:32} And Moses sent some to explore Jazer.
These captured its villages and possessed its inhabitants.
{21:33} And they turned themselves and ascended, along the
way of Bashan. And Og, the king of Bashan, met them with
all his people, to fight at Edrei. {21:34} And the Lord said to
Moses: “Do not be afraid of him. For I have delivered him,
and all his people, as well as his land, into your hand. And
you shall do to him just as you did to Sihon, the king of the
Amorites, the inhabitant of Heshbon.” {21:35} Therefore,
they struck him down also, with his sons, and all his people,
even to utter destruction, and they possessed his land.


[Numbers 22] {22:1} And they set out and made camp in the
plains of Moab, across the Jordan, where Jericho is situated.
{22:2} Then Balak, the son of Zippor, seeing all that Israel
had done to the Amorite, {22:3} and that the Moabites had
great fear of him, and that they were not able to bear his
assault, {22:4} said to those greater by birth of Midian: “So
will this people wipe away all those who are dwelling within
our borders, in the same way that the ox is accustomed to
tear out grass, all the way to the roots.” At that time, he was
king of Moab. {22:5} Therefore, he sent messengers to
Balaam, the son of Beor, a seer who lived above the river of
the land of the sons of Ammon, to call him, and to say:
“Behold, a people has gone forth from Egypt, which has
covered the face of the earth. They are encamped opposite
me. {22:6} Therefore, come and curse this people, for they
are stronger than I am. If only, in some way, I might be able
to strike them and to drive them from my land. For I know
that he whom you bless shall be blessed, and he whom you
curse shall be cursed.” {22:7} And the elders of Moab, and
those greater by birth of Midian, continued on, holding the
price of divination in their hands. And when they had come
to Balaam, and had explained to him all the words of Balak,
{22:8} he responded, “Remain for this night, and I will
answer with whatever the Lord will say to me.” And while
they stayed with Balaam, God came and said to him,
{22:9} “What do these men want with you?” {22:10} He
responded, “Balak, the son of Zippor, the king of the
Moabites has sent to me, {22:11} saying: ‘Behold, a people,
which has gone forth from Egypt, has covered the face of the
earth. Come and curse them, so that, in some way, I may be
able to fight them and drive them away.’ ” {22:12} And God
said to Balaam, “Do not go with them, and do not curse the
people, for they are blessed.” {22:13} And he, rising up in the
morning, said to the leaders, “Go into your own land, for the
Lord has prohibited me from going with you.”
{22:14} Returning, the leaders said to Balak, “Balaam was
not willing to come with us.” {22:15} Again, he sent many
more persons, and these were more noble than those he had
sent before. {22:16} And when these had come to Balaam,
they said: “So says Balak, the son of Zippor. Do not hesitate
to come to me. {22:17} For I am ready to honor you, and
whatever you would want, I shall give to you. Come and
curse this people.” {22:18} Balaam responded: “Even if
Balak were to give to me his own house, filled with silver and
gold, I still would not be able to change the word of the Lord
my God, neither to say more, nor to say less. {22:19} I beg
you to remain for this night also, so that I may know what
the Lord will answer me again.” {22:20} Therefore, God
came to Balaam in the night, and said to him: “If these men
have arrived to call you, then rise up and go with them; yet
only in so far as you shall do what I will command you.”
{22:21} Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddling his
donkey, he set out with them. {22:22} And God was angry.
And an Angel of the Lord stood in the way opposite Balaam,
who was sitting on the donkey, and he had two servants with
him. {22:23} The donkey, discerning that the Angel was
standing in the way with a drawn sword, turned herself from
the road and went through a field. And when Balaam beat
her and intended to return her to the path, {22:24} the Angel
stood in a narrow place between the two walls, with which
the vineyards were enclosed. {22:25} And the donkey, seeing
this, drew herself close to the wall and scraped the foot of the
rider. So he beat her again. {22:26} And, nevertheless, the
Angel passing on to a narrow place, where one would not be
able to deviate either to the right or to the left, stood to meet
him. {22:27} And when the donkey had seen the Angel
standing there, she fell under the feet of the rider, who, being
angry, struck her sides more vehemently with a club.
{22:28} And the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and
she said: “What have I done to you? Why do strike you me,
behold now, for the third time?” {22:29} Balaam responded,
“Because you have deserved it, and you have mistreated me.
If only I had a sword, so that I might pierce you.”
{22:30} The donkey said: “Am not I your animal, on which
you have always been accustomed to sit, even until this
present day? Tell me, when did I ever do the same thing to
you.” But he said, “Never.” {22:31} Immediately, the Lord
opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the Angel standing in
the way with a drawn sword, and he reverenced him prone
on the ground. {22:32} And the Angel said to him: “Why did
you beat your donkey three times? I have come to be an
adversary to you, because your way is perverse and contrary
to me. {22:33} And unless the donkey had turned aside from
the way, allowing a place for my opposition, I would have
killed you, and she would have lived.” {22:34} Balaam said:
“I have sinned, not knowing that you stood against me. And
now, if it displeases you for me to continue on, I will return.”
{22:35} The Angel said, “Go with them, but be careful not to
speak anything other than what I shall instruct you.” And so,
he went with the leaders. {22:36} And when Balak had heard
it, he went out to meet him in a town of the Moabites, which
is situated at the furthest borders of Arnon. {22:37} And he
said to Balaam: “I sent messengers to call you. Why did you
not come to me immediately? Was it because I am not able to
pay the cost for your arrival?” {22:38} He answered him:
“Behold, here I am. Am I able to speak anything other than
what God will put into my mouth?” {22:39} Therefore, they
continued on together, and they arrived at a city, which was
at the furthest borders of his kingdom. {22:40} And after
Balak had killed oxen and sheep, he sent the gifts to Balaam,
and to the leaders who were with him. {22:41} Then, when
morning arrived, he led him to the heights of Baal, and he
gazed upon the most distant portions of the population.


[Numbers 23] {23:1} And Balaam said to Balak, “Build
seven altars here for me, and prepare as many calves, and the
same number of rams.” {23:2} And when he had acted
according to the words of Balaam, they placed a calf and a
ram together on each altar. {23:3} And Balaam said to Balak:
“Stand for a little while next to your holocaust, until I go, to
see if perhaps the Lord will meet with me. And whatever he
will command, I shall speak to you.” {23:4} And after he had
quickly departed, God met with him. And Balaam, speaking
to him, said: “I have set up seven altars, and I have placed a
calf and a ram on each.” {23:5} Then the Lord placed the
word in his mouth, and he said: “Return to Balak, and you
shall say this.” {23:6} Returning, he found Balak standing
next to his holocaust, with all the leaders of the Moabites.
{23:7} And taking up his parable, he said: “Balak, king of the
Moabites, has led me from Aram, from the mountains of the
east. ‘Come forth,’ he said, ‘and curse Jacob. Hurry and
condemn Israel.’ {23:8} How shall I curse him, whom God
has not cursed? For what reason would I condemn him,
whom the Lord does not condemn? {23:9} I will look upon
him from the tops of the stones, and I will consider him from
the hills. This people shall dwell alone, and they shall not be
counted among the nations. {23:10} Who can number the
dust that is Jacob, and who can know the number of the stock
of Israel? May my soul die a just death, and may my end be
like theirs.” {23:11} And Balak said to Balaam: “What is this
that you are doing? I called for you, in order to curse my
enemies, and to the contrary, you bless them.” {23:12} He
answered him, “How can I say anything other than what the
Lord orders?” {23:13} Therefore, Balak said: “Come with me
to another place, from where you may see a portion of Israel,
though you cannot see them all. Curse them from there.”
{23:14} And when he had led him to a lofty place, on the top
of mount Pisgah, Balaam built seven altars, and placing upon
each a calf and a ram, {23:15} he said to Balak, “Stand here
next to your holocaust, while I continue on to meet him.”
{23:16} And when the Lord had met him, and had put the
word in his mouth, he said, “Return to Balak, and you shall
say this to him.” {23:17} Returning, he found him standing
next to his holocaust, and the leaders of the Moabites were
with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord
spoken?” {23:18} But, taking up his parable, he said: “Stand,
Balak, and pay attention. Listen, you son of Zippor.
{23:19} God is not like a man, so that he would lie, nor is he
like a son of man, so that he would be changed. Therefore,
having spoken, will he not act? Has he ever spoken, and not
fulfilled? {23:20} I was led here to bless, and I have no
strength to hinder the blessing. {23:21} There is no idol in
Jacob; neither is there a false image to be seen in Israel. The
Lord his God is with him, and the resound of royal victory is
in him. {23:22} God has led him away from Egypt; his
strength is like that of the rhinoceros. {23:23} There is no
soothsaying in Jacob, nor any divination in Israel. In their
times, it shall be told to Jacob and to Israel what God has
wrought. {23:24} Behold, the people will rise up like a lioness,
and lie down like a lion. But they will not lie down until they
devour the prey and drink the blood of the slain.”
{23:25} And Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse him, nor
bless him.” {23:26} And he said, “Have I not told you that
whatever God would command of me, I would do?”
{23:27} And Balak said to him: “Come and I will lead you to
another place. If perhaps it may please God, then you may
curse them from there.” {23:28} And when he had led him
on to the top of mount Peor, which looks out toward the
wilderness, {23:29} Balaam said to him, “Build seven altars
here for me, and prepare as many calves, and the same
number of rams.” {23:30} Balak did as Balaam had said, and
he placed on each altar a calf and a ram.


[Numbers 24] {24:1} And when Balaam had seen that it was
pleasing to the Lord that he should bless Israel, he by no
means went out as he had gone before, to seek divination.
But directing his face opposite the desert, {24:2} and lifting
up his eyes, he saw Israel dwelling in tents by their tribes.
And with the Spirit of God rushing into him, {24:3} taking
up his parable, he said: “Balaam, the son of Beor, the man
whose eye has been obstructed, {24:4} the hearer of the
sermon of God, he who has gazed upon a vision of the
Almighty, he who falls down and so his eyes are opened, has
declared: {24:5} ‘How beautiful are your tabernacles, O
Jacob, and your tents, O Israel! {24:6} They are like forested
valleys, like gardens irrigated next to rivers, like tabernacles
which the Lord has fixed, like cedars close to waters.
{24:7} Water shall flow from his jar, and his offspring shall
be amid many waters, because Agag, his king, shall be taken,
and his kingdom shall be removed. {24:8} Away from Egypt,
God has led him, whose strength is like the rhinoceros. They
shall devour the nations that are his enemies, and break their
bones, and pierce them with arrows. {24:9} Lying down, he
has slept like a lion, and like a lioness, whom no one would
dare to awaken. He who blesses you, shall himself also be
blessed. He who curses you, shall be considered cursed.”
{24:10} And Balak, being angry against Balaam, clapped his
hands together and said: “I called you to curse my enemies,
and, to the contrary, you have blessed them three times.
{24:11} Return to your place. I had decided, indeed, to honor
you greatly, but the Lord has deprived you of the designated
honor.” {24:12} Balaam responded to Balak: “Did I not say
to your messengers, whom you sent to me: {24:13} Even if
Balak would give me his house, filled with silver and gold, I
still could not go away from the word of the Lord my God,
so as to offer anything, either good or evil, from my own
heart; but whatever the Lord will speak, this, too, I shall
speak. {24:14} Yet truly, as I continue on to my own people,
I will give you counsel as to what this people shall do to your
people in the end times.” {24:15} Therefore, taking up his
parable, he again spoke: “Balaam the son of Beor, the man
whose eye has been obstructed, {24:16} the hearer of the
sermon of God, he who knows the doctrine of the Most High,
and who sees the visions of the Almighty, who, falling down,
has his eyes opened, has declared: {24:17} I shall see him,
but not presently. I shall gaze upon him, but not soon. A star
shall rise out of Jacob, and a rod shall spring up from Israel.
And he shall strike down the commanders of Moab, and he
shall devastate all the sons of Seth. {24:18} And he shall
possess Idumea; the inheritance of Seir shall fall to their
enemies. Yet truly, Israel shall act with strength.
{24:19} From Jacob will be he who shall be ruler. And he
shall perish the remnants of the city.” {24:20} And when he
saw Amalek, taking up his parable, he said: “Amalek, first
among the Gentiles, whose very end shall be perdition.”
{24:21} Likewise, he saw the Kainites, and taking up his
parable, he said: “Robust, indeed, is your habitation. But
though you will set your nest in a rock, {24:22} and you will
be elect among the stock of Kain, how long will you be able
to remain? For Assur shall take you captive.” {24:23} And
taking up his parable once more he said: “Alas! Who will be
able to survive, when God will do these things? {24:24} They
shall arrive in Greek warships from Italy. They shall
overcome the Assyrians, and they shall devastate the
Hebrews, and yet, at the very end, even they themselves shall
perish.” {24:25} And Balaam rose up, and he returned to his
place. Likewise, Balak went back, along the way by which he
had arrived.


[Numbers 25] {25:1} Now Israel, at that time, dwelt in
Shittim, and the people were fornicating with the daughters
of Moab, {25:2} who called them to their sacrifices. And they
ate, and they adored their gods. {25:3} And Israel was
initiated into Baal of Peor. And so the Lord, being angry,
{25:4} said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people, and
hang them on gallows against the sun, so that my fury may
be averted from Israel.” {25:5} And Moses said to the judges
of Israel, “Let each one kill his neighbors, who have been
initiated into Baal of Peor.” {25:6} And behold, one of the
sons of Israel entered, in the sight of his brothers, to a
prostitute of Midian, within view of Moses and of all the
crowd of the sons of Israel, who were weeping before the
door of the tabernacle. {25:7} And when Phinehas the son of
Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, had seen it, he rose up
from the midst of the multitude, and, seizing a dagger,
{25:8} he entered after the Israelite man, into the brothel, and
he pierced both of them at the same time, specifically, the
man and the woman at the location of their genitals. And the
scourge ceased from among the sons of Israel. {25:9} And
there were slain twenty-four thousand men. {25:10} And the
Lord said to Moses: {25:11} “Phinehas the son of Eleazar,
the son of Aaron the priest, has averted my wrath from the
sons of Israel. For he was moved against them by my zeal, so
that I myself, in my zeal, might not wipe away the sons of
Israel. {25:12} Because of this, say to him: Behold, I give to
him the peace of my covenant. {25:13} And the covenant of
the everlasting priesthood shall be as much for him as for his
offspring. For he was zealous on behalf of his God, and he
has made expiation for the wickedness of the sons of Israel.”
{25:14} Now the name of the Israelite man, who was killed
with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a
leader from the kinship and tribe of Simeon.
{25:15} Moreover, the Midianite woman, who was put to
death together with him, was called Cozbi the daughter of
Zur, a most noble leader among the Midianites. {25:16} And
the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: {25:17} “Let the Midianites
perceive you as enemies, and strike them down, {25:18} for
they, too, have behaved with hostility against you, and they
have deceived you insidiously by means of the idol Peor, and
by Cozbi, the daughter of a commander of Midian, their
sister, who was struck down in the day of the scourge because
of the sacrilege of Peor.”


[Numbers 26] {26:1} After the blood of the guilty was shed,
the Lord said to Moses, and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the
priest: {26:2} “Number the entire sum of the sons of Israel,
from twenty years and above, by their houses and kinships,
all who are able to go forth to war.” {26:3} And so, Moses
and Eleazar the priest, who were in the plains of Moab,
above the Jordan, opposite Jericho, spoke to those who were
{26:4} from twenty years and above, just as the Lord had
commanded. And this is their number: {26:5} Ruben, the
firstborn of Israel; his son, Hanoch, from whom is the family
of the Hanochites; and Pallu, from whom is the family of the
Palluites; {26:6} and Hezron, from whom is the family of the
Hezronites; and Carmi, from whom is the family of the
Carmites. {26:7} These are the families of the stock of Ruben,
whose number was found to be forty-three thousand and
seven hundred thirty. {26:8} The son of Phallu: Eliab;
{26:9} his sons, Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram. These are
Dathan and Abiram, the leaders of the people, who rose up
against Moses and Aaron in the sedition at Korah, when they
rebelled against the Lord. {26:10} And the earth, opening its
mouth, devoured Korah, with many others dying, when the
fire burned two hundred fifty men. And a great miracle was
wrought, {26:11} so that, when Korah perished, his sons did
not perish. {26:12} The sons of Simeon, by their kinships:
Nemuel, from him is the family of the Nemuelites; Jamin,
from him is the family of the Jaminites; Jachin, from him is
the family of the Jachinites; {26:13} Sohar, from him is the
family of the Soharites; Shaul, from him is the family of the
Shaulites. {26:14} These are the families of the stock of
Simeon, whose entire number was twenty-two thousand two
hundred. {26:15} The sons of Gad, by their kinships: Zephon,
from him is the family of the Zephonites; Haggi, from him is
the family of the Haggites; Shuni, from him is the family of
the Shunites; {26:16} Ozni, from him is the family of the
Oznites; Eri, from him is the family of the Erites;
{26:17} Arod, from him is the family of the Arodites; Areli,
from him is the family of the Arelites. {26:18} These are the
families of Gad, whose entire number was forty thousand five
hundred. {26:19} The sons of Judah: Er and Onan, who both
died in the land of Canaan. {26:20} And these were the sons
of Judah, by their kinships: Shelah, from whom is the family
of the Shelahites; Perez, from whom is the family of the
Perezites; Zerah, from whom is the family of the Zerahites.
{26:21} Moreover, the sons of Phares were: Hezron, from
whom is the family of the Hezronites; and Hamul, from
whom is the family of the Hamulites. {26:22} These are the
families of Judah, whose entire number was seventy-six
thousand five hundred. {26:23} The sons of Issachar, by their
kinships: Tola from whom is the family of the Tolaites;
Puvah, from whom is the family of the Puvahites;
{26:24} Jashub, from whom is the family of the Jashubites;
Shimron, from whom is the family of the Shimronites.
{26:25} These are the kinships of Issachar, whose number
was sixty-four thousand three hundred. {26:26} The sons of
Zebulon by their kinships: Sered, from whom is the family of
the Seredites; Elon, from whom is the family of the Elonites;
Jahleel, from whom is the family of the Jahleelites.
{26:27} These are the kinships of Zebulun, whose number
was sixty thousand five hundred. {26:28} The sons of Joseph
by their kinships: Manasseh and Ephraim. {26:29} From
Manasseh was born Machir, from whom is the family of the
Machirites. Machir conceived Gilead, from whom is the
family of the Gileadites. {26:30} Gilead had sons: Jezer, from
whom is the family of the Jezerites; and Helek, from whom is
the family of the Helekites; {26:31} and Asriel, from whom is
the family of the Asrielites; and Shechem, from whom is the
family of the Shechemites; {26:32} and Shemida, from whom
is the family of the Shemidaites; and Hepher, from whom is
the family of the Hepherites. {26:33} Now Hepher was the
father of Zelophehad, who had no sons, but only daughters,
whose names are these: Mahlah, and Noa, and Hoglah, and
Milcah, and Tirzah. {26:34} These are the families of
Manasseh, and their number was fifty-two thousand seven
hundred. {26:35} Now the sons of Ephraim by their kinships
were these: Shuthelah, from whom is the family of the
Shuthelahites; Becher, from whom is the family of the
Becherites; Tahan, from whom is the family of the Tahanites.
{26:36} Furthermore, the son of Shuthelah was Eran, from
whom is the family of the Eranites. {26:37} These are the
kinships of the sons of Ephraim, whose number was thirty-
two thousand five hundred. {26:38} These are the sons of
Joseph by their families: the sons of Benjamin in their
kinships: Bela, from whom is the family of the Belaites;
Ashbel, from whom is the family of the Ashbelites; Ahiram,
from whom is the family of the Ahiramites;
{26:39} Shupham, from whom is the family of the
Shuphamites; Hupham, from whom is the family of the
Huphamites. {26:40} The sons of Bela: Arad and Naaman.
From Arad, the family of the Aradites; from Naaman, the
family of the Naamanites. {26:41} These are the sons of
Benjamin by their kinships, whose number was forty-five
thousand six hundred. {26:42} The sons of Dan by their
kinships: Shuham, from whom is the family of the
Shuhamites. These are the kinships of Dan by their families.
{26:43} All these were Shuhamites, whose number was sixty-
four thousand four hundred. {26:44} The sons of Asher by
their kinships: Imnah, from whom is the family of the
Imnahites; Ishvi, from whom is the family of the Ishvites;
Beriah, from whom is the family of the Beriahites.
{26:45} The sons of Beriah: Heber, from whom is the family
of the Heberites; and Malchiel, from whom is the family of
the Malchielites. {26:46} Now the name of the daughter of
Asher was Serah. {26:47} These are the kinships of the sons
of Asher, and their number was fifty-three thousand four
hundred. {26:48} The sons of Naphtali by their kinships:
Jahzeel, from whom is the family of the Jahzeelites; Guni,
from whom is the family of the Gunites; {26:49} Jezer, from
whom is the family of the Jezerites; Shillem, from whom is
the family of the Shillemites. {26:50} These are the kinships
of the sons of Naphtali by their families, whose number was
forty-five thousand four hundred. {26:51} This is the sum of
the sons of Israel, who were counted: six hundred thousand
and one thousand seven hundred thirty. {26:52} And the
Lord spoke to Moses, saying: {26:53} “The land shall be
divided to these, as their possessions, according to the
number of their names. {26:54} To the greater number you
shall give a greater portion, and to the lesser number, a lesser
portion. To each one, just as they have now been counted, a
possession shall be delivered. {26:55} Yet only in so far as the
land is divided by lot to a tribe and to families.
{26:56} Whatever the lot will happen to be, it shall be
accepted, either by the greater, or by the lesser.
{26:57} Likewise, this is the number of the sons of Levi by
their families: Gershon, from whom is the family of the
Gershonites; Kohath, from whom is the family of the
Kohathites; Merari, from whom is the family of the Merarites.
{26:58} These are the families of Levi: The family of Libni,
the family of Hebroni, the family of Mahli, the family of
Mushi, the family of Korah. Yet truly, Kohath conceived
Amram, {26:59} who had a wife, Jochebed, the daughter of
Levi, who was born to him in Egypt. She bore, to her
husband Amram: sons, Aaron and Moses, as well as their
sister, Miriam. {26:60} From Aaron were born Nadab and
Abihu, and Eleazar and Ithamar. {26:61} Of these, Nadab
and Abihu died, when they had offered strange fire before the
Lord. {26:62} And these were all who were numbered:
twenty-three thousand of the male gender, from one month
and above. For they were not counted among the sons of
Israel, neither was a possession given to them with the others.
{26:63} This is the number of the sons of Israel, who were
enrolled by Moses and by Eleazar the priest, in the plains of
Moab, above the Jordan, opposite Jericho. {26:64} Among
these, not one of them was numbered before, by Moses and
Aaron in the desert of Sinai. {26:65} For the Lord had
foretold that all would die in the wilderness. And not one of
them remained, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and
Joshua the son of Nun.


[Numbers 27] {27:1} Then there approached the daughters of
Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of
Machir, the son of Manasseh, who was the son of Joseph:
and their names are Mahlah, and Noa, and Hoglah, and
Milcah, and Tirzah. {27:2} And they stood before Moses and
Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the people, at the
door of the tabernacle of the covenant, and they said:
{27:3} “Our father died in the desert, and was not with the
sedition, which was stirred up against the Lord under Korah,
but he died in his own sin; he had no male sons. Why is his
name taken away from his family, because he had no son?
Give us a possession among the kinsmen of our father.”
{27:4} And Moses referred their case to the judgment of the
Lord. {27:5} And the Lord said to him: {27:6} “The
daughters of Zelophehad are asking for something just. So
give them a possession among the kinsmen of their father,
and let them succeed him in his inheritance. {27:7} And to
the sons of Israel, you shall speak these things: {27:8} When
a man dies without a son, his inheritance shall be transferred
to his daughter. {27:9} If he has no daughter, his brothers
shall succeed him. {27:10} But if there were also no brothers,
you shall give the inheritance to the brothers of his father.
{27:11} But if he has no paternal uncles, the inheritance shall
be given to those who are closest to him. And this shall be,
for the sons of Israel, consecrated as a perpetual law, just as
the Lord has instructed Moses.” {27:12} The Lord also said
to Moses: “Ascend onto this mountain, Abarim, and
contemplate from there the land, which I will give to the sons
of Israel. {27:13} And when you have seen it, you shall then
go to your people, just as your brother Aaron went.
{27:14} For you offended me in the desert of Sin at the
Contradiction of the multitude; neither were you willing to
sanctify me in their sight over the waters. These are the
Waters of Contradiction at Kadesh in the desert of Sin.”
{27:15} Moses answered him: {27:16} “May the Lord, the
God of the spirits of all flesh, provide a man, who may be
over this multitude, {27:17} and who may be able to exit and
enter before them, and who may lead them out or lead them
in: lest the people of the Lord be like sheep without a
shepherd.” {27:18} And the Lord said to him: “Take Joshua,
the son of Nun, a man in whom the Spirit is, and place your
hand upon him. {27:19} And he shall stand before Eleazar
the priest and the entire multitude. {27:20} And you shall
give him the precepts in the sight of all, and a portion of your
glory, so that the entire congregation of the sons of Israel may
listen to him. {27:21} On his behalf, if anything is to be done,
Eleazar the priest shall consult the Lord. He, and all the sons
of Israel with him, and the rest of the multitude, shall go out
and enter in at his word.” {27:22} Moses did just as the Lord
had instructed. And when he had brought Joshua, he set him
before Eleazar the priest, and before the entire gathering of
the people. {27:23} And imposing his hands upon his head,
he repeated all that the Lord had commanded.


[Numbers 28] {28:1} The Lord also said to Moses:
{28:2} “Instruct the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them:
Offer my oblation and bread, and the incense of most sweet
odor, at their proper times. {28:3} These are the sacrifices
which you must offer: Two immaculate one-year-old lambs
each day as a perpetual holocaust. {28:4} You shall offer one
in morning, and the other in the evening, {28:5} and the
tenth part of an ephah of fine wheat flour, which has been
sprinkled with the purest oil, and which has the measure of
the fourth part of a hin. {28:6} It is the continual holocaust
which you offered at mount Sinai as a most sweet odor of
incense to the Lord. {28:7} And you shall offer a libation of
wine, of the fourth part of a hin for each lamb, in the
Sanctuary of the Lord. {28:8} And you shall offer the other
lamb similarly, in the evening, according to all the rites of the
morning sacrifice and its libations, as an oblation of most
sweet odor to the Lord. {28:9} Then, on the Sabbath day,
you shall offer two immaculate one-year-old lambs, and two
tenths of fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil, as sacrifice, as
well as the libations {28:10} that are usually poured out on
each Sabbath as a perpetual holocaust. {28:11} Then, on the
first day of the month, you shall offer a holocaust to the Lord:
two calves from the herd, one ram, seven immaculate one-
year-old lambs, {28:12} and three tenths of fine wheat flour
sprinkled with oil, as sacrifice, for each calf, and two tenths of
fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil, for each ram, {28:13} and
one tenth of fine wheat flour with oil, as a sacrifice, for each
lamb. It is a holocaust of most sweet odor and also an incense
to the Lord. {28:14} Now these shall be the libations of wine,
which are to be poured out for each victim: one half portion
of a hin for each calf, one third for a ram, and one fourth for
a lamb. This shall be the holocaust for all the months, as they
succeed one another in the turning of the year.
{28:15} Likewise, a he-goat shall be offered to the Lord for
sin, with the perpetual holocaust and its libations.
{28:16} Then, in the first month, the fourteenth day of the
month shall be the Passover of the Lord. {28:17} And the
fifteenth day shall be a solemnity. For seven days, they shall
eat unleavened bread. {28:18} And the first day of these days
shall be venerable and holy; you shall not do any servile work
in it. {28:19} And you shall offer the incense of a holocaust
to the Lord, two calves from the herd, one ram, seven
immaculate one-year-old lambs; {28:20} and with each
sacrifice, from fine wheat flour which has been sprinkled with
oil, three tenths for each calf, and two tenths for each ram,
{28:21} and one tenth for each lamb, that is, for the seven
lambs; {28:22} and one he-goat for sin, as an expiation for
you, {28:23} aside from the morning holocaust, which you
shall always offer. {28:24} You shall do this on each day of
the seven days, as fuel for the fire, and as a most sweet odor
to the Lord, which shall rise up from the holocaust and from
each of the libations. {28:25} Likewise, the seventh day shall
be very honored and holy for you. Any servile work, you
shall not do in it. {28:26} And also the day of the first-fruits,
after the weeks have been fulfilled, when you shall offer new
fruits to the Lord, shall be venerable and holy. You shall not
do any servile work in it. {28:27} And you shall offer a
holocaust as a most sweet odor to the Lord: two calves from
the herd, one ram, and seven immaculate one-year-old lambs,
{28:28} and also, as their sacrifices, fine wheat flour
sprinkled with oil, three tenths for each calf, two for each ram,
{28:29} one tenth for each lamb, which all together are seven
lambs; likewise, a he-goat, {28:30} which is slain for
expiation, aside from the perpetual holocaust and its libations.
{28:31} You shall offer only what is immaculate, with their
libations.”


[Numbers 29] {29:1} “Now the first day of the seventh
month also shall be venerable and holy to you. In it, you shall
not do any servile work, because it is the day of the sounding
of the trumpets. {29:2} And you shall offer a holocaust, as a
most sweet odor to the Lord: one calf from the herd, one ram,
and seven immaculate one-year-old lambs; {29:3} and, as
their sacrifices, fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil: three
tenths for each calf, two tenths for a ram, {29:4} one tenth for
a lamb, which all together are seven lambs; {29:5} and a he-
goat for sin, which is offered as an expiation for the people,
{29:6} aside from the holocaust of the first day of the month
with its sacrifices, and the perpetual holocaust with the usual
libations. By these same ceremonies, you shall offer incense
as a most sweet odor to the Lord. {29:7} Likewise, the tenth
day of this seventh month shall be for you holy and venerable,
and you shall afflict your souls. You shall do no servile work
in it. {29:8} And you shall offer a holocaust to the Lord, as a
most sweet odor: one calf from the herd, one ram, seven
immaculate one-year-old lambs; {29:9} and for their
sacrifices, fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil: three tenths for
each calf, two tenths for a ram, {29:10} one tenth for each
lamb, which are all together seven lambs; {29:11} and a he-
goat for sin, apart from those things which are usually offered
for offenses as an expiation, and as a perpetual holocaust,
with their sacrifice and libations. {29:12} Yet truly, on the
fifteenth day of the seventh month, which shall be for you
holy and venerable, you shall not do any servile work in it,
but you shall celebrate a solemnity to the Lord for seven days.
{29:13} And you shall offer a holocaust, as a most sweet
odor to the Lord: thirteen calves from the herd, two rams,
fourteen immaculate one-year-old lambs; {29:14} and as their
libations, fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil: three tenths for
each calf, which is all together thirteen calves, and two tenths
for each ram, that is, all together two rams, {29:15} and one
tenth for each lamb, which is all together fourteen lambs;
{29:16} and a he-goat for sin, apart from the perpetual
holocaust, and the sacrifice and its libation. {29:17} On the
next day, you shall offer twelve calves from the herd, two
rams, and fourteen immaculate one-year-old lambs.
{29:18} And the sacrifices and libations for each of the calves
and the rams and the lambs, you shall celebrate according to
the rite, {29:19} with a he-goat for sin, apart from the
perpetual holocaust, and the sacrifice and its libation.
{29:20} On the third day, you shall offer eleven calves, two
rams, and fourteen immaculate one-year-old lambs.
{29:21} And the sacrifices and libations for each of the calves
and the rams and the lambs, you shall celebrate according to
the rite, {29:22} with a he-goat for sin, apart from the
perpetual holocaust, and the sacrifice and its libation.
{29:23} On the fourth day, you shall offer ten calves, two
rams, and fourteen immaculate one-year-old lambs.
{29:24} And the sacrifices and the libations for each of the
calves and the rams and the lambs, you shall celebrate
according to the rite, {29:25} with a he-goat for sin, apart
from the perpetual holocaust, and its sacrifice and libation.
{29:26} On the fifth day, you shall offer nine calves, two
rams, and fourteen immaculate one-year-old lambs.
{29:27} And the sacrifices and libations for each of the calves
and the rams and the lambs, you shall celebrate according to
the rite, {29:28} with a he-goat for sin, apart from the
perpetual holocaust, and its sacrifice and libation. {29:29} On
the sixth day, you shall offer eight calves, two rams, and
fourteen immaculate one-year-old lambs. {29:30} And the
sacrifices and libations for each of the calves and the rams
and the lambs, you shall celebrate according to the rite,
{29:31} with a he-goat for sin, apart from the perpetual
holocaust, and its sacrifice and libation. {29:32} On the
seventh day, you shall offer seven calves, and two rams, and
fourteen immaculate one-year-old lambs. {29:33} And the
sacrifices and libations for each of the calves and the rams
and the lambs, you shall celebrate according to the rite,
{29:34} with a he-goat for sin, apart from the perpetual
holocaust, and its sacrifice and libation. {29:35} On the
eighth day, which is most honored, you shall not do any
servile work, {29:36} offering a holocaust as a most sweet
odor to the Lord: one calf, one ram, and seven immaculate
one-year-old lambs. {29:37} And the sacrifices and libations
for each of the calves and the rams and the lambs, you shall
celebrate according to the rite, {29:38} with a he-goat for sin,
apart from the perpetual holocaust, and its sacrifice and
libation. {29:39} These things you shall offer to the Lord in
your solemnities, aside from the vowed and voluntary
oblations, as a holocaust, as a sacrifice, as a libation, or as
peace-offering victims.”


[Numbers 30] {30:1} And Moses explained to the sons of
Israel all that the Lord had commanded him. {30:2} And he
said to the leaders of the tribes of the sons of Israel: “This is
the word, which the Lord has instructed: {30:3} If any man
makes a vow to the Lord, or binds himself by an oath, he
shall not make his word null and void, but all that he has
promised, he shall fulfill. {30:4} If a woman, who is in her
father’s house, vows anything, or binds herself by an oath,
and she is still in a state of childhood, if her father knew of
the vow which she has promised or of the oath by which she
has obligated her soul, and he kept silent, she shall be liable
to the vow: {30:5} whatever she has promised or swore, she
shall complete in deed. {30:6} But if her father, as soon as he
had heard it, had contradicted it, both her vows and her oaths
shall be nullified, neither shall she be held liable to the
promise, because her father had contradicted it. {30:7} If she
has a husband, and she has vowed anything, then, once the
word has gone out of her mouth, she will have obligated her
soul by an oath. {30:8} On the day that her husband will hear
of it, and yet not contradict it, she shall be liable to the vow,
and she shall repay whatever she has promised. {30:9} But if,
as soon as he hears it, he contradicts it, then he will have
caused her promises, and the words by which she had bound
her soul, to be null and void. The Lord will be favorable to
her. {30:10} Widows and divorced women shall repay
whatever they have vowed. {30:11} If a wife in the house of
her husband has bound herself by a vow or an oath,
{30:12} if her husband heard it and remained silent, and he
did not contradict the promise, she shall repay what she had
promised. {30:13} But if he promptly contradicts it, she shall
not be held liable to the promise. For her husband has
contradicted it. And the Lord will be favorable to her.
{30:14} If she has vowed or bound herself by oath, in order
to afflict her soul by fasting, or by abstaining from other
things, it shall be for the arbitration of her husband, as to
whether or not she may do it. {30:15} But if the husband,
upon hearing it, remains silent, and he delays judgment until
another day, whatever she had vowed or promised, she shall
repay, because when he first heard it, he remained silent.
{30:16} And if he contradicted it only sometime after he had
known about it, he shall bear his iniquity.” {30:17} These are
the laws which the Lord has appointed to Moses, between a
husband and a wife, between a father and a daughter, who is
still in the state of childhood or who remains in her father’s
house.


[Numbers 31] {31:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{31:2} “First, avenge the sons of Israel from the Midianites,
and then you shall be gathered to your people.” {31:3} And
immediately Moses said: “Arm the men among you for a
battle, so that they may be able to fulfill the retribution of the
Lord on the Midianites. {31:4} Let one thousand men be
chosen from each tribe of Israel, who shall be sent to war.”
{31:5} And they gave one thousand from each tribe, that is,
twelve thousand foot soldiers for battle. {31:6} And Moses
sent them with Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest; also,
he delivered to him the holy vessels, and the trumpets to
sound. {31:7} And when they had fought against the
Midianites and had prevailed, they killed all the men.
{31:8} And they put to death by the sword their kings: Evi,
and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five leaders of
the nation, and also Balaam the son of Beor. {31:9} And they
seized their women and little ones, and all their cattle, and all
their goods; whatever they were able to have, they despoiled.
{31:10} Both their cities and their villages, as well as their
fortresses, they burned. {31:11} And they carried away prey
from everything that they had seized, both of men and of
beasts. {31:12} And they led these to Moses and Eleazar the
priest, and to all the multitude of the sons of Israel. But the
remainder of the articles they carried to the camp on the
plains of Moab, next to the Jordan, opposite Jericho.
{31:13} Then Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the
leaders of the assembly went out to meet them beyond the
camp. {31:14} And Moses, being angry with the leaders of
the army, and the tribunes, and the centurions, who had
arrived from the battle, {31:15} said: “Why have you spared
the females? {31:16} Are not these the ones who deceived the
sons of Israel at the suggestion of Balaam, and who caused
you betray the Lord by the sin of Peor, because of which the
people also were struck down? {31:17} Therefore, put to
death all of them: whatever is of the male sex, even among
the little ones, and cut the throats of those women who have
known men by sexual relations. {31:18} But the young girls,
and all female virgins, reserve for yourselves. {31:19} And
remain beyond the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed
a man, or who has touched one that was killed, shall be
purified on the third day and on the seventh day.
{31:20} And all of the spoils, whether it is a garment, or a
vessel, or another useful thing, made from the pelts or hair of
goats, or from wood, shall be expiated.” {31:21} Likewise,
Eleazar the priest spoke in this manner to the men of the
army who had fought: “This is the precept of the law, which
the Lord has commanded Moses: {31:22} Gold, and silver,
and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, {31:23} and all that
may be able to pass through fire, shall be purified by fire. But
whatever is not able to sustain fire shall be sanctified with the
waters of expiation. {31:24} And you shall wash your
garments on the seventh day, and, after having been purified,
you shall enter the camp.” {31:25} And the Lord also said to
Moses: {31:26} “Take the sum of those things which were
captured, from man even to beast, you and Eleazar the priest,
and the leaders of the common people. {31:27} And you
shall divide the prey equally, among those who went out to
war and fought, and among the remainder of the multitude.
{31:28} And you shall separate a portion for the Lord from
the portion of those who fought and were in the battle: one
soul out of five hundred, as much from humans, as from
oxen and donkeys and sheep. {31:29} And you shall give it to
Eleazar the priest, because these are the first-fruits of the Lord.


{31:30} Likewise, from the half of the portion belonging to
the sons of Israel, you shall receive the fiftieth head of
humans, and of oxen, and donkeys, and sheep, and of all
living things, and you shall give these to the Levites who
stand watch over the care of the tabernacle of the Lord.”
{31:31} And Moses and Eleazar did just as the Lord had
instructed. {31:32} Now the prey which the army had seized
was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,
{31:33} seventy-two thousand oxen, {31:34} sixty-one
thousand donkeys, {31:35} and thirty-two thousand human
lives, of the female sex, who had not known men.
{31:36} And one half of the portion was given to those who
had been in the battle: three hundred thirty-seven thousand
five hundred sheep. {31:37} From these, for the portion of
the Lord, there were accounted: six hundred seventy-five
sheep; {31:38} and from the thirty-six thousand oxen,
seventy-two oxen; {31:39} from the thirty thousand five
hundred donkeys, sixty-one donkeys. {31:40} From the
sixteen thousand human souls, there fell to the portion of the
Lord thirty-two souls. {31:41} And Moses delivered the
number of the first-fruits of the Lord to Eleazar the priest, just
as had been commanded of him, {31:42} from the one half
portion belonging to the sons of Israel, which he had
separated from the portion of those who had been in the
battle. {31:43} Yet truly, from the one half portion which fell
to the remainder of the multitude, that is, from the three
hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
{31:44} and from the thirty-six thousand oxen, {31:45} and
from the thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, {31:46} and
from the sixteen thousand persons, {31:47} Moses took the
fiftieth head, and gave it to the Levites who stand watch at
the tabernacle of the Lord, just as the Lord had instructed.
{31:48} And when the leaders of the army, and the tribunes,
and the centurions had approached Moses, they said:
{31:49} “We, your servants, have taken a census of the
number of the fighting men, whom we had under our hand,
and indeed not one was lacking. {31:50} For this reason, we
offer as gifts to the Lord whatever gold each one was able to
find amid the spoils, in anklets and arm bands, rings and
bracelets, and little chains, so that you may intercede for us to
the Lord.” {31:51} And Moses and Eleazar the priest
received all the gold in its various kinds, {31:52} weighing
sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels, from the
tribunes and the centurions. {31:53} For whatever each one
had taken away in the spoils was his own. {31:54} And
having been accepted, they took it into the tabernacle of the
testimony, as a memorial of the sons of Israel before the Lord.


[Numbers 32] {32:1} Now the sons of Ruben and of Gad had
many herds, and their substance in cattle was inestimable.
And when they had seen that the lands of Jazer and Gilead
were suitable for feeding animals, {32:2} they went to Moses,
and to Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the multitude, and
they said: {32:3} “Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and
Nimrah, Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and
Beon, {32:4} the land, which the Lord has struck in the sight
of the sons of Israel, is a very fertile region for pasturing
animals. And we, your servants, have very many cattle.
{32:5} And so we beseech you, if we have found favor before
you, that you give it to us, your subjects, as a possession, and
that you not cause us cross the Jordan.” {32:6} And Moses
answered them: “Should your brothers go to battle, while you
sit here? {32:7} Why do you subvert the minds of the sons of
Israel, so that they might not dare to cross into the place
which the Lord will give to them? {32:8} Did not your fathers
act in the same way, when I sent them from Kadesh-Barnea
to explore the land? {32:9} And when they had gone all the
way to the Valley of the Cluster of Grapes, having viewed the
entire region, they subverted the hearts of the sons of Israel,
so that they would not enter into the parts that the Lord gave
to them. {32:10} And being angry, the Lord swore an oath,
saying: {32:11} ‘These men, who ascended out of Egypt,
from twenty years and above, will not see the land, which I
have promised under an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
For they were not willing to follow me, {32:12} except Caleb,
the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of
Nun; these have fulfilled my will.’ {32:13} And the Lord,
being angry against Israel, led them in a course through the
desert for forty years, until the entire generation, which had
done evil in his sight, was consumed. {32:14} And behold,”
he said, “you have risen up in the place of your fathers, the
offshoots and the nurslings of sinful men, in order to augment
the fury of the Lord against Israel. {32:15} But if you are not
willing to follow him, he will leave the people behind in the
wilderness, and you will have been the cause of all our
deaths.” {32:16} But approaching closer, they said: “We will
manufacture sheep pens and cattle stalls, as well as fortified
cities, for our little ones. {32:17} But we ourselves will
continue on, armed and girded for battle, before the sons of
Israel, until we lead them to their places. Our little ones, and
whatever we may be able to have, shall be in walled cities,
because of the treachery of the inhabitants. {32:18} We will
not return to our houses, even until the sons of Israel may
possess their inheritance. {32:19} Neither will we seek
anything across the Jordan, because we already have our
possession on its eastern side.” {32:20} And Moses said to
them: “If you accomplish what you have promised, you may
go out, equipped for battle, before the Lord. {32:21} And let
every fighting man cross over the Jordan, until the Lord
overthrows his enemies, {32:22} and all the land is subjected
to him. Then you will be guiltless with the Lord and with
Israel, and you will obtain the regions which you desire
before the Lord. {32:23} But if you do not do what you have
said, no one could doubt that you will have sinned against
God. And know this: your sin shall overtake you.
{32:24} Therefore, build cities for your little ones, and pens
and stables for your sheep and cattle; and fulfill what you
have promised.” {32:25} And the sons of Gad and of Ruben
said to Moses: “We are your servants, we shall do what you,
our ruler, orders. {32:26} We will leave behind our little ones,
and our wives, and the sheep and cattle, in the cities of
Gilead. {32:27} And we, your servants, all well-equipped,
will go forth to battle, just as you, our ruler, has spoken.”
{32:28} Therefore, Moses instructed Eleazar the priest, and
Joshua the son of Nun, and the princes of the families
throughout the tribes of Israel, and he said to them:
{32:29} “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Ruben cross over
the Jordan with you, all armed for war before the Lord, and if
the land becomes subject to you, give them Gilead as a
possession. {32:30} But if they are not willing to cross with
you, armed, into the land of Canaan, then let them receive
places among you for their dwellings.” {32:31} And the sons
of Gad and the sons of Ruben responded: “Just as the Lord
has spoken to his servants, so shall we do. {32:32} We will
go forth, armed, before the Lord into the land of Canaan; and
we acknowledge that we have already received our
possession across the Jordan.” {32:33} And so, Moses gave
to the sons of Gad and of Ruben, and to half the tribe of
Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, king of
the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan, and
their land with its surrounding cities. {32:34} Therefore, the
sons of Gad built up Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,
{32:35} and Atroth and Shophan, and Jazer, and Jogbehah,
{32:36} and Beth-Nimrah, and Beth-Haran, as fortified cities
with pens for their cattle. {32:37} Yet truly, the sons of
Ruben built up Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kiriathaim,
{32:38} and Nebo, and Baal-meon (their names having been
changed) and Sibmah, appointing names for the cities which
they had built. {32:39} Moreover, the sons of Machir, the son
of Manasseh, continued on within Gilead, and they
devastated it, putting to death its inhabitant, the Amorite.
{32:40} Therefore, Moses gave the land of Gilead to Machir,
the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it. {32:41} But Jair, the
son of Manasseh, went out and occupied its villages, which
he called Havoth Jair, that is, the Villages of Jair.
{32:42} Likewise, Nobah went forth and captured Kenath
with its villages. And he called it by his own name, Nobah.


[Numbers 33] {33:1} These are the lodging places of the sons
of Israel, who departed from Egypt by their companies under
the hand of Moses and Aaron, {33:2} which Moses wrote
down according to the places of the encampments, which
they changed upon the order of the Lord. {33:3} Thus the
sons of Israel set out from Rameses in the first month, on the
fifteenth day of the first month, on the day after the Passover,
with an exalted hand, being seen by all the Egyptians.
{33:4} And these were burying their firstborn, whom the
Lord had struck down (for so, too, did he carry out
retribution against their gods). {33:5} And they made camp
at Soccoth. {33:6} And from Soccoth they went to Etham,
which is at the furthest limits of the wilderness.
{33:7} Departing from there, they arrived opposite Pi-
hahiroth, which looks out toward Baal-zephon, and they
were encamped before Migdol. {33:8} And setting out from
Pi-hahiroth, they crossed through the middle of the Sea into
the wilderness. And having walked for three days through the
desert of Etham, they made camp at Marah. {33:9} And
setting out from Marah, they arrived at Elim, where there
were twelve fountains of water and seventy palm trees. And
they set up camp there. {33:10} But departing from there also,
they fixed their tents above the Red Sea. And setting out from
the Red Sea, {33:11} they were encamped in the desert of Sin.
{33:12} Departing from there, they went to Dophkah.
{33:13} And setting out from Dophkah, they made camp at
Alush. {33:14} And departing from Alush, they fixed their
tents at Rephidim, where the people lacked water to drink.
{33:15} And setting out from Rephidim, they camped in the
desert of Sinai. {33:16} But departing also from the
wilderness of the Sinai, they arrived at the Graves of Lust.
{33:17} And setting out from the Graves of Lust, they were
encamped at Hazeroth. {33:18} And from Hazeroth, they
went to Rithmah. {33:19} And setting out from Rithmah,
they made camp at Rimmon-perez. {33:20} And departing
from there, they arrived at Libnah. {33:21} From Libnah,
they made camp at Rissah. {33:22} And departing from
Rissah, they went to Kehelathah. {33:23} Setting out from
there, they were encamped at mount  Shepher.
{33:24} Departing from mount Shepher, they went to
Haradah. {33:25} Continuing on from there, they made
camp at Makheloth. {33:26} And setting out from Makheloth,
they went to Tahath. {33:27} From Tahath, they made camp
at Terah. {33:28} Departing from there, they pitched their
tents at Mithkah. {33:29} And from Mithkah, they were
encamped at Hashmonah. {33:30} And setting out from
Hashmonah, they went to Moseroth. {33:31} And from
Moseroth, they made camp at Bene-jaakan. {33:32} And
setting out from Bene-jaakan, they went to mount Gidgad.
{33:33} Setting out from there, they were encamped at
Jotbathah. {33:34} And from Jotbathah, they went to
Abronah. {33:35} And departing from Abronah, they made
camp at Eziongeber. {33:36} Setting out from there, they
went into the desert of Sin, which is Kadesh. {33:37} And
departing from Kadesh, they encamped at mount Hor, at the
furthermost limits of the land of Edom. {33:38} And Aaron
the priest ascended onto mount Hor, by the order of the Lord.
And there he died, in the fortieth year of the departure of the
sons of Israel from Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day
of the month, {33:39} when he was one hundred twenty-
three years old. {33:40} And king Arad the Canaanite, who
lived toward the south, heard that the sons of Israel had
arrived in the land of Canaan. {33:41} And setting out from
mount Hor, they made camp at  Zalmonah.
{33:42} Departing from there, they went to Punon.
{33:43} And setting out from Punon, they were encamped at
Oboth. {33:44} And from Oboth, they went to Iye-abarim,
which is at the borders of the Moabites. {33:45} And setting
out from Iye-abarim, they fixed their tents at Dibon-gad.
{33:46} Departing from there, they made camp at Almon-
diblathaim. {33:47} And departing from Almon-diblathaim,
they went to the mountains of Abarim, opposite Nebo.
{33:48} And setting out from the mountains of Abarim, they
crossed over to the plains of Moab, above the Jordan,
opposite Jericho. {33:49} And they made camp there, from
Beth-jeshimoth all the way to Abel-shittim, in the level places
of the Moabites, {33:50} where the Lord said to Moses:
{33:51} “Instruct the sons of Israel, and say to them: When
you will have crossed over the Jordan, entering into the land
of Canaan, {33:52} destroy all the inhabitants of that land.
Break their monuments, and shatter their statues, and lay
waste to every exalted thing, {33:53} cleansing the land and
living in it. For I have given it you as a possession,
{33:54} which you shall divide among you by lot. To the
greater number you shall give more, and to the lesser number,
less. To each one, just as the lot shall fall, so shall the
inheritance be distributed. The possession shall be divided by
the tribes and families. {33:55} But if you are not willing to
put to death the inhabitants of the land, those who remain
shall be to you like spikes in your eyes and lances in your
sides, and they shall be adversaries to you in the land of your
habitation. {33:56} And whatever I had decided to do to
them, I will do to you.”


[Numbers 34] {34:1} And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
{34:2} “Instruct the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them:
When you will have entered into the land of Canaan, and it
has fallen into your possession by lot, it shall be bound by
these limits: {34:3} The southern part shall begin from the
wilderness of Sin, which is next to Edom, and it shall have
the Sea of Salt as a limit to the east. {34:4} It shall circle on
the south side along the ascent of the Scorpion, by this way
crossing into Senna, and passing through, from the south, as
far as Kadesh-barnea, from which its confines shall go out to
the town called Adar, and extend even to Azmon.
{34:5} And its limits shall go around from Azmon to the
Torrent of Egypt, and shall end at the shore of the Great Sea.
{34:6} Then the western region shall begin from the Great
Sea, and the same shall be its end. {34:7} Furthermore,
toward the northern region, its limits shall begin from the
Great Sea, passing through even to the highest mountain.
{34:8} From there, it limits shall advance into Hamath, as far
as the limits of Zedad. {34:9} And its confines shall go all the
way to Ziphron, and to the village of Enan. These shall be the
limits on the northern side. {34:10} From there, its limits
shall be measured, facing the east side, from the village of
Enan as far as Shepham. {34:11} And from Shepham, the
boundaries shall descend into Riblah, opposite the fountain
of Daphnis. From there, the boundaries shall pass through,
opposite the east, to the Sea of Chinnereth, {34:12} and shall
extend as far as the Jordan, and, at the furthest extent, shall
be enclosed by the Sea of Salt. You shall have this land, with
its borders all around.” {34:13} And Moses instructed the
sons of Israel, saying: “This shall be the land which you shall
possess by lot, and which the Lord has ordered to be given to
the nine tribes, and to the half tribe. {34:14} For the tribe of
the sons of Ruben, by their families, and the tribe of the sons
of Gad, according to the number of their kinships, and also
one half of the tribe of Manasseh, {34:15} that is, two and a
half tribes, have received their portion across the Jordan,
opposite Jericho, toward the eastern side.” {34:16} And the
Lord said to Moses: {34:17} “These are the names of the men,
who shall divide the land for you: Eleazar the priest, and
Joshua the son of Nun, {34:18} and one leader from each
tribe, {34:19} whose names are these: from the tribe of Judah,
Caleb the son of Jephunneh; {34:20} from the tribe of
Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud; {34:21} from the tribe
of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon; {34:22} from the
tribe of the sons of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli; {34:23} of the
sons of Joseph, from the tribe of Manasseh, Hanniel the son
of Ephod; {34:24} from the tribe of Ephraim, Kemuel the son
of Shiphtan; {34:25} from the tribe of Zebulon, Elizaphan the
son of Parnach; {34:26} from the tribe of Issachar, Paltiel the
leader, the son of Azzan; {34:27} from the tribe of Asher,
Ahihud the son of Shelomi; {34:28} from the tribe of
Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” {34:29} These are
the ones that the Lord has ordered to divide the land of
Canaan to the sons of Israel.


[Numbers 35] {35:1} And the Lord also spoke these things to
Moses in the plains of Moab, above the Jordan, opposite
Jericho: {35:2} “Instruct the sons of Israel, so that they may
give to the Levites, from their possessions, {35:3} cities as
dwelling places, with their surrounding suburbs, so that they
may lodge in the towns, and so that the suburbs may be for
cattle and beasts of burden. {35:4} The suburbs shall extend
from the outer walls of the cities, all around, for the space of
one thousand steps. {35:5} Facing the east, there shall be two
thousand cubits, and facing the south, similarly, there shall be
two thousand cubits. Toward the sea, also, which looks out
toward the west, there shall be the same measure, and the
northern region shall be bounded by equal limits. And the
cities shall be in the center, and the suburbs shall be outside.
{35:6} Now, from the towns which you shall give to the
Levites, six shall be separated for the assistance of fugitives,
so that he who has shed blood may flee to them. And, aside
from these, there shall be forty-two other towns, {35:7} that is,
all together forty-eight with their suburbs. {35:8} And
concerning these cities, which shall be given from the
possessions of the sons of Israel: from those who have more,
more shall be taken, and from those who have less, less shall
be taken. Each shall give towns to the Levites according to
the measure of their inheritance.” {35:9} The Lord said to
Moses: {35:10} “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall
say to them: When you will have crossed the Jordan into the
land of Canaan, {35:11} discern which cities ought to be for
the protection of fugitives who have shed blood unwillingly.
{35:12} And when a fugitive is in these, the kinsman of the
deceased shall not be able to kill him, until he stands in the
sight of the multitude and his case is judged. {35:13} Then,
among those cities which are separated for relief to fugitives,
{35:14} three shall be across the Jordan, and three in the land
of Canaan, {35:15} as much for the sons of Israel as for
newcomers and sojourners, so that anyone who has shed
blood unwillingly may flee to these places. {35:16} If anyone
will have struck someone with iron, and he who was struck
will have died, then he shall be guilty of homicide, and he
himself shall die. {35:17} If he will have thrown a stone, and
he who has been struck lies dead, then he shall be punished
similarly. {35:18} If he who has been struck with wood
passes away, he shall be avenged by the blood of the one who
struck him. {35:19} The close relative of the deceased shall
put to death the murderer; as soon as he apprehends him, he
shall put him to death. {35:20} If, out of hatred, anyone
assaults a man, or throws anything at him with ill intent,
{35:21} or, while being his enemy, strikes him with his hand,
and so he has died, the attacker shall be guilty of murder. The
kinsman of the deceased, as soon as he finds him, shall cut
his throat. {35:22} But if by chance, and without hatred
{35:23} or animosity, he will have done any of these things,
{35:24} and this has been proven in the hearing of the people,
and the questions have been aired, between the one who
struck and the close relative, {35:25} then the innocent one
shall be freed from the hand of the revenger, and he shall be
returned by this judgment into the city to which he had fled,
and he shall stay there until the high priest, who has been
anointed with the holy oil, dies. {35:26} If the one who has
killed has been found beyond the limits of the cities which
have been assigned to the exiled, {35:27} and he has been
struck by him who is avenging blood, he who killed him shall
not be harmed. {35:28} For the fugitive ought to have resided
in the city, until the death of the high priest. Then, after he is
dead, the one who has killed shall be returned to his own
land. {35:29} These things shall be a perpetual ordinance in
all your habitations. {35:30} The punishment of a murderer
shall be based upon testimony; but no one shall be
condemned upon the testimony of only one person.
{35:31} You shall not accept money from him who is guilty
of blood, and he shall be put to death promptly.
{35:32} Exiles and fugitives, prior to the death of the high
priest, are by no means able to be returned to their own cities.
{35:33} Do not pollute the land of your habitation, so as to
stain it with the blood of the innocent; neither is it able to be
expiated in any way other than by the blood of him who has
shed the blood of another. {35:34} And so shall your
possession be cleansed, while I myself am abiding with you.
For I am the Lord, who lives among the sons of Israel.”


[Numbers 36] {36:1} Then the leaders of the families of
Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the
stock of the sons of Joseph, approached and spoke to Moses
before the leaders of Israel, and they said: {36:2} “The Lord
has instructed you, our ruler, so that you would divide the
land by lot to the sons of Israel, and so that you would give to
the daughters of Zelophehad, our brother, the possession
owed to their father. {36:3} But if men of another tribe
receive them as wives, their possession will follow them, and
having been transferred to another tribe, there will be a
reduction in our inheritance. {36:4} And so it may be that,
when the Jubilee of remission, that is, the fiftieth year, has
arrived, the distribution by lots shall be confounded, and the
possession of the one shall be transferred to others.”
{36:5} Moses answered the sons of Israel, and, at the
instruction of the Lord, he said: “The tribe of the sons of
Joseph has spoken correctly. {36:6} And so, this is the law
which has been promulgated by the Lord about the daughters
of Zelophehad: Let them marry whomever they may wish,
but only among the men of their own tribe, {36:7} lest the
possession of the sons of Israel become commingled, from
tribe to tribe. For all men shall take wives from their own
tribe and kinship; {36:8} and all women shall take husbands
from their same tribe, so that the inheritance may remain
within the families, {36:9} and so that the tribes may not be
mingled together, but may remain such as they were
separated by the Lord.” {36:10} And the daughters of
Zelophehad acted according to what was ordered.
{36:11} And Mahlah, and Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah,
and Noa were wed to the sons of their paternal uncle,
{36:12} from the family of Manasseh, who was a son of
Joseph. And the possession which had been distributed to
them remained in the tribe and family of their father.
{36:13} These are the commandments and judgments which
the Lord ordered by the hand of Moses to the sons of Israel,
in the plains of Moab, above the Jordan, opposite Jericho.


** The Book of Deuteronomy **


[Deuteronomy 1] {1:1} These are the words which Moses
spoke to all of Israel, across the Jordan, in the plain of the
wilderness opposite the Red Sea, between Paran and Tophel
and Laban and Hazeroth, where gold is very plentiful,
{1:2} eleven days from Horeb, by way of Mount Seir as far as
Kadesh-barnea. {1:3} In the fortieth year, on the eleventh
month, on the first day of the month, Moses told the sons of
Israel all that the Lord had instructed him. And so he spoke
to them, {1:4} after he had struck down Sihon, the king of
the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, and Og, the king of
Bashan, who resided at Ashtaroth and at Edrei, {1:5} across
the Jordan in the land of Moab. And so, Moses began to
explain the law, and to say: {1:6} “The Lord our God spoke
to us at Horeb, saying: ‘You have remained long enough on
this mountain. {1:7} Turn back and go to the mountain of the
Amorites, and to the other places which are near it: the plains
as well as the mountainous regions, and the low-lying places
opposite the south and along the shore of the sea, the land of
the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river
Euphrates.’ {1:8} ‘Lo,’ he said, ‘I have delivered it to you.
Enter and possess that which the Lord swore to your fathers,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give it to them,
and to their offspring after them.’ {1:9} And I said to you, at
that time: {1:10} ‘I alone am not able to sustain you. For the
Lord, your God, has multiplied you, and you are today like
the stars of heaven, very many. {1:11} May the Lord, the
God of your fathers, add to this number many thousands
more, and may he bless you, just as he has said. {1:12} Alone,
I do not have the strength to endure your arbitrations and
judgments and disputes. {1:13} Offer, from among you, wise
and experienced men, those whose conversation has been
proven within your tribes, so that I may appoint them as your
rulers.’ {1:14} Then you responded to me: ‘What you intend
to do is a good thing.’ {1:15} And so, I took from your tribes
men, wise and noble, and I appointed them as rulers, as
tribunes and centurions, and as leaders over fifty and over ten,
who would teach you each thing. {1:16} And I instructed
them, saying: ‘Listen to them, and judge what is just, whether
he is one of your citizens or a sojourner. {1:17} There shall
be no favoritism to any persons. So you shall listen to the
little as well as to the great. And you shall not accept
anyone’s reputation, for this is the judgment of God. But if
anything seems difficult to you, then refer it to me, and I will
hear it.’ {1:18} And I instructed you in all that you were
obliged to do. {1:19} Then, setting out from Horeb, we
crossed through a terrible and great wasteland, which you
saw along the way of the mountain of the Amorite, just as the
Lord our God had instructed us. And when we had arrived at
Kadesh-barnea, {1:20} I said to you: ‘You have arrived at the
mountain of the Amorite, which the Lord our God will give
to us. {1:21} Gaze upon the land that the Lord your God
gives to you. Ascend and possess it, just as the Lord our God
has spoken to your fathers. Do not be afraid, and do not
become terrified by anything.’ {1:22} And you all
approached me and said: ‘Let us send men who may consider
the land, and who may report as to the way by which we
ought to ascend, and as to which cities we ought to travel.’
{1:23} And since the word was pleasing to me, I sent from
among you twelve men, one from each tribe. {1:24} These,
when they had set out and had ascended the mountains,
arrived as far as the valley of the cluster of grapes. And
having considered the land, {1:25} having taken from its
fruits in order to show its fertility, they brought these to us,
and they said: ‘The land that the Lord our God will give to us
is good.’ {1:26} Yet you were not willing to go there. Instead,
being incredulous to the word of the Lord our God,
{1:27} you murmured in your tents, and you said: “The Lord
hates us, and therefore he has led us away from the land of
Egypt, so that he might deliver us into the hand of the
Amorite and destroy us. {1:28} To where should we ascend?
The messengers have terrified our heart by saying: “The
multitude is very great, and taller than us. And the cities are
great, and the walls extend even to the sky. We have seen the
sons of the Anakim there.” ’ {1:29} And I said to you: ‘Do
not be apprehensive, nor should you fear them. {1:30} The
Lord God himself, who is your leader, will fight on your
behalf, just as he did in Egypt in the sight of all. {1:31} And
in the wilderness (as you yourselves saw), the Lord your God
carried you, like a man who is accustomed to carrying his
little son, along all the way that you walked, until you arrived
at this place.’ {1:32} And yet, despite all of this, you did not
believe the Lord your God, {1:33} who went before you on
the way, and who marked out the place where you should
pitch your tents, showing you the way by fire in the night,
and by a pillar of cloud in the day. {1:34} And when the
Lord had heard the voice of your words, becoming angry, he
swore and said: {1:35} ‘None of the men of this wicked
generation will see the good land, which I have promised by
oath to your fathers, {1:36} except Caleb the son of Jephuneh.
For he himself will see it, and I will give the land on which he
has walked to him and to his sons, because he has followed
the Lord.’ {1:37} Neither is his indignation with the people a
wonder, since the Lord also became angry with me because
of you, and so he said: ‘Neither will you enter into that place.
{1:38} But Joshua, the son of Nun, your minister, shall
himself enter on your behalf. Exhort and strengthen this man,
and he himself shall divide the land by lot to Israel.
{1:39} Your little ones, about whom you said that they
would be led away as captives, and your sons, who to this
day are ignorant of the difference between good and evil, they
shall enter. And I will give the land to them, and they will
possess it. {1:40} But as for you, turn back and go out to the
wilderness, by way of the Red Sea.’ {1:41} And you
responded to me: ‘We have sinned against the Lord. We will
ascend and fight, just as the Lord our God has instructed.’
And having been equipped with weapons, when you were
setting out for the mountain, {1:42} the Lord said to me: ‘Say
to them: Do not ascend and do not fight. For I am not with
you. Otherwise, you may fall in the sight of your enemies.’
{1:43} I spoke, and you did not listen. But, opposing the
order of the Lord, and swelling with pride, you ascended
onto the mountain. {1:44} And so, having gone forth, the
Amorite, who was living in the mountains, came against you
and pursued you, just as a swarm of bees would do. And he
struck you down from Seir all the way to Hormah.
{1:45} And when you returned and were weeping in the sight
of the Lord, he would not hear you, nor was he willing to
agree to your voice. {1:46} Therefore, you camped at
Kadesh-barnea for a long time.”


[Deuteronomy 2] {2:1} “And setting out from there, we
arrived at the wilderness which leads to the Red Sea, just as
the Lord had spoken to me. And we encompassed Mount
Seir for a long time. {2:2} And the Lord said to me:
{2:3} ‘You have encompassed this mountain for long enough.
Go forth, toward the north. {2:4} And instruct the people,
saying: You shall cross through the borders of your brothers,
the sons of Esau, who live at Seir, and they will fear you.
{2:5} Therefore, take care diligently, lest you be moved
against them. For I will not give to you from their land even
as much as the step that one foot can tread upon, because I
have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. {2:6} You
shall buy food from them for money, and you shall eat. You
shall draw water for money, and you shall drink. {2:7} The
Lord your God has blessed you in every work of your hands.
The Lord your God, dwelling with you, knows your journey,
how you crossed through this great wilderness over forty
years, and how you have been lacking in nothing.’ {2:8} And
when we had passed through our brothers, the sons of Esau,
who were living at Seir by the way of the plain from Elath
and from Eziongeber, we arrived at the way which leads to
the desert of Moab. {2:9} And the Lord said to me: ‘You
should not fight against the Moabites, nor should you go to
battle against them. For I will not give to you anything from
their land, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot as a
possession.’ {2:10} The Emim were the first of its inhabitants,
a people great and strong, and of such great height, like the
race of the Anakim. {2:11} They were considered to be like
giants, and they were like the sons of the Anakim. And,
indeed, the Moabites call them: the Emim. {2:12} The
Horites also formerly lived at Seir. When these had been
driven out and destroyed, the sons of Esau lived there, just as
Israel did in the land of his possession, which the Lord gave
to him. {2:13} Then, rising up so as to cross over the torrent
Zered, we arrived at the place. {2:14} Then, from the time
that we advanced from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over
the torrent Zered, there were thirty-eight years, until the
entire generation of the men who were fit for war had been
consumed out of the camp, just as the Lord had sworn.
{2:15} For his hand was against them, so that they would
pass away from the midst of the camp. {2:16} Then, after all
the fighting men had fallen, {2:17} the Lord spoke to me,
saying: {2:18} ‘Today, you shall cross the borders of Moab,
at the city named Ar. {2:19} And when you have arrived in
the vicinity of the sons of Ammon, be careful that you do not
fight against them, nor should you be moved to battle. For I
will not give to you from the land of the sons of Ammon,
because I have given it to the sons of Lot as a possession.’
{2:20} It was reputed to be a land of giants. And giants lived
there in times past, those whom the Ammonites call the
Zamzummim. {2:21} They are a people, great and numerous,
and of lofty stature, like the Anakim, whom the Lord wiped
away before their face. And he caused them to live there in
place of them, {2:22} just as he had done for the sons of Esau,
who live at Seir, wiping out the Horites and delivering their
land to them, which they possess even to the present time.
{2:23} Likewise the Hevites, who were living in small
villages as far as Gaza, were expelled by the Cappadocians,
who went forth from Cappadocia, and they wiped them out
and lived in their place. {2:24} ‘Rise up and cross the torrent
Arnon! Behold, I have delivered Sihon, the king of Heshbon,
the Amorite, into your hand, and so, begin to possess his land
and to engage in battle against him. {2:25} Today I will begin
to send the terror and dread of you among the peoples who
are living under all of heaven, so that, when they hear your
name, they may be afraid, and may tremble in the manner of
a woman giving birth, and may be gripped by anguish.’
{2:26} Therefore, I sent messengers from the wilderness of
Kedemoth to Sihon, the king of Heshbon, with peaceful
words, saying: {2:27} ‘We will cross through your land. We
will advance by the public way. We will not turn aside,
neither to the right, nor to the left. {2:28} Sell us food for a
price, so that we may eat. Provide us with water for money,
and so we will drink. We only ask that you allow us to pass
through, {2:29} just as the sons of Esau have done, who live
at Seir, and the Moabites, who abide in Ar, until we arrive at
the Jordan, and we cross to the land which the Lord our God
will give to us.’ {2:30} And Sihon, the king of Heshbon, was
not willing to grant passage to us. For the Lord your God had
hardened his spirit, and had fastened his heart, so that he
would be delivered into your hands, just as you now see.
{2:31} And the Lord said to me: ‘Behold, I have begun to
deliver Sihon and his land to you. Begin to possess it.’
{2:32} And Sihon went out to meet us with all his people, to
battle at Jahaz. {2:33} And the Lord our God delivered him
to us. And we struck him down, with his sons and all his
people. {2:34} And we seized all his cities at that time,
putting to death their inhabitants: men as well as women and
children. We left nothing of them, {2:35} except the cattle,
which went to the share of those who plundered them. And
we seized the spoils of the cities, {2:36} from Aroer, which is
above the bank of the torrent Arnon, a town which is situated
in a valley, all the way to Gilead. There was not a village or
city which escaped from our hands. The Lord our God
delivered everything to us, {2:37} except the land of the sons
of Ammon, which we did not approach, and all that is
adjacent to the torrent Jabbok, and the cities in the mountains,
and all the places which the Lord our God prohibited to us.”


[Deuteronomy 3] {3:1} “And so, having turned back, we
ascended by the way of Bashan. And Og, the king of Bashan,
went forth with his people to meet us in warfare at Edrei.
{3:2 And the Lord said to me: ‘You should not fear him.
For he has been delivered into your hand, with all his people
as well as his land. And you shall do to him just as you have
done to Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who lived at
Heshbon.’ {3:3} Therefore, the Lord our God delivered into
our hands, now Og, the king of Bashan, and all his people.
And we struck them down unto utter annihilation,
{3:4} laying waste to all his cities at one time. There was not
a village which escaped from us: sixty cities, the entire region
of Argob, the kingdom of Og, in Bashan. {3:5} All the cities
were fortified with very high walls, and with gates and bars,
in addition to innumerable villages which had no walls.
{3:6} And we wiped them out, just as we had done to Sihon,
the king of Heshbon, destroying every city, and its men, as
well as women and children. {3:7} But the cattle and the
spoils of the cities, we plundered. {3:8} And at that time, we
took the land from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites,
who were across the Jordan: from the torrent Arnon as far as
Mount Hermon, {3:9} which the Sidonians call Sirion, and
the Amorites call Senir, {3:10} all the cities that are situated
in the plain, and the entire land of Gilead and Bashan, all the
way to Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in
Bashan. {3:11} For only Og, the king of Bashan, was left
behind out of the race of the giants. His bed of iron is on
display, (it is in Rabbah, among the sons of Ammon) being
nine cubits in length, and four in width, according to the
measure of the cubit of a man’s hand. {3:12} And we
possessed the land, at that time, from Aroer, which is above
the bank of the torrent Arnon, as far as the middle of Mount
Gilead. And I gave its cities to Ruben and Gad. {3:13} Then
I delivered the remaining part of Gilead, and all of Bashan,
the kingdom of Og, which is the entire region of Argob, to
one half of the tribe of Manasseh. And all of Bashan is called
the land of the giants. {3:14} Jair, the son of Manasseh,
possessed all the region of Argob, as far as the borders of
Geshur and Maacath. And he called Bashan by his own
name, Havwvoth Jair, that is, the villages of Jair, even to the
present day. {3:15} Likewise, to Machir, I gave Gilead.
{3:16} And to the tribes of Ruben and Gad, I gave from the
land of Gilead as far as the torrent Arnon, one half of the
torrent and its confines, even to the torrent Jabbok, which is
along the border of the sons of Ammon, {3:17} and the plain
of the wilderness, as well as the Jordan, and the borders of
Chinnereth, all the way to the sea of the desert, which is very
salty, to the base of Mount Pisgah toward the east.
{3:18} And I instructed you at that time, saying: ‘The Lord
your God gives to you this land as an inheritance. Having
armed yourselves, go before your brothers, the sons of Israel,
all you strong men. {3:19} Leave behind your wives and little
ones, as well as the cattle. For I know that you have many
cattle, and they should remain in the cities which I have
delivered to you, {3:20} until the Lord provides rest to your
brothers, just as he has provided for you. And they, too, shall
possess the land, which he will give to them beyond the
Jordan. Then each one shall return to his possession, which I
have allotted to you.’ {3:21} Likewise, I instructed Joshua at
that time, saying: ‘Your eyes have seen what the Lord your
God has done to these two kings. So also will he do to all the
kingdoms through which you shall pass. {3:22} You should
not fear them. For the Lord your God will fight on your
behalf.’ {3:23} And I beseeched the Lord at that time, saying:
{3:24} ‘Lord God, you have begun to reveal your greatness
and your very strong hand to your servant. For there is no
other god, either in heaven or on earth, who is able to
accomplish your works, or to be compared to your strength.
{3:25} Therefore, I will cross over, and I will view this
excellent land beyond the Jordan, and this singular mountain,
and Lebanon.’ {3:26} And the Lord became angry with me
because of you, and he would not heed me. But he said to me:
‘It is enough for you. You shall no longer speak to me at all
about this matter. {3:27} Ascend to the summit of Pisgah,
and look around with your eyes to the west, and to the north,
and to the south, and to the east, and behold it. For you shall
not cross this Jordan. {3:28} Instruct Joshua, and encourage
and strengthen him. For he shall go before this people, and he
shall distribute to them the land that you will see.’
{3:29} And we remained in the valley, opposite the shrine of
Peor.”


[Deuteronomy 4] {4:1} “And now, O Israel, listen to the
precepts and judgments which I am teaching to you, so that,
by doing these, you may live, and you may enter and possess
the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, will give to
you. {4:2} You shall not add to the word which I speak to
you, neither shall you take away from it. Preserve the
commandments of the Lord your God which I am teaching
to you. {4:3} Your eyes have seen all that the Lord has done
against Baal-peor, in what manner he has crushed all of his
worshippers from among you. {4:4} But you who adhere to
the Lord your God are all still alive, to the present day.
{4:5} You know that I have taught you precepts as well as
justices, just as the Lord my God has commanded me. And
so shall you do in the land that you will possess. {4:6} And
you shall observe and fulfill these in practice. For this is your
wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, so that,
upon hearing all these precepts, they may say: ‘Lo, a wise
and understanding people, a great nation.’ {4:7} Neither is
there any other nation so great, which has its gods so near to
them, as our God is present to all our petitions. {4:8} For
what other nation is there so renowned as to have ceremonies,
and just judgments, and the entire law that I will set forth
today before your eyes? {4:9} And so, guard yourself and
your soul carefully. You should not forget the words that
your eyes have seen, and do not let them be cut away from
your heart, throughout all the days of your life. You shall
teach them to your sons and to your grandsons, {4:10} from
the day on which you stood before the Lord your God at
Horeb, when the Lord spoke to me, saying: ‘Gather the
people to me, so that they may listen to my words, and may
learn to fear me, throughout all the time that they are alive on
earth, and so that they may teach their children.’ {4:11} And
you approached the base of the mountain, which was burning
even toward heaven. And there was a darkness upon it, and a
cloud, and a mist. {4:12} And the Lord spoke to you from
the midst of fire. You heard the voice of his words, but you
did not see any form at all. {4:13} And he revealed his
covenant to you, which he instructed you to carry out, and
the ten words which he wrote on two tablets of stone.
{4:14} And he commanded me, at that time, that I should
teach you the ceremonies and judgments which you must
carry out, in the land that you shall possess. {4:15} And so,
guard your souls carefully. You saw no likeness on the day
that the Lord God spoke to you on Horeb from the midst of
fire. {4:16} Otherwise, perhaps being deceived, you might
have made a graven image, or an image of male or female,
{4:17} a likeness of any of the beasts, which are upon the
earth, or of birds, which fly under heaven, {4:18} or of
reptiles, which move across the earth, or of fish, which abide
in the waters under the earth. {4:19} Otherwise, perhaps
lifting up your eyes to heaven, you might look upon the sun
and the moon and all the stars of heaven, and being deceived
by error, you might adore and worship these things, which
the Lord your God created for the service of all the nations,
which are under heaven. {4:20} But the Lord has taken you
up, and led you away from the iron furnaces of Egypt, in
order to have a people of inheritance, just as it is to the
present day. {4:21} And the Lord became angry against me
because of your words, and he swore that I would not cross
over the Jordan, nor enter into the excellent land, which he
will give to you. {4:22} Behold, I shall die on this soil. I shall
not cross over the Jordan. You shall cross it, and you shall
possess the singular land. {4:23} Be careful, lest you at
sometime forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which
he has formed with you, and lest you make for yourselves a
graven likeness of those things which the Lord has prohibited
to be made. {4:24} For the Lord your God is a consuming
fire, a jealous God. {4:25} When you will have conceived
sons and grandsons while abiding in the land, and if, having
been deceived, you make for yourselves any likeness,
accomplishing evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to
provoke him to wrath, {4:26} I call heaven and earth as
witnesses this day, that you shall quickly perish from the land,
which, when you have crossed over the Jordan, you will
possess. You will not live in it for a long time; instead, the
Lord will destroy you. {4:27} And he will scatter you among
all the nations, and few of you will remain among those
nations, to which the Lord will lead you. {4:28} And there,
you will serve gods which were fabricated by the hands of
men: gods of wood and of stone, who neither see, nor hear,
nor eat, nor smell. {4:29} And when you will seek the Lord
your God in that place, you shall find him, if only you seek
him with all your heart, and in all the tribulation of your soul.
{4:30} After all these things which have been foretold have
found you, in the end time, you shall return to the Lord your
God, and you will hear his voice. {4:31} For the Lord your
God is a merciful God. He will not abandon you, nor will he
entirely destroy you, nor will he forget the covenant, which
he swore to your fathers. {4:32} Inquire concerning the days
of antiquity, which were before you, from the day when God
created man upon the earth, from one end of heaven to
another, if anything similar has ever occurred, or whether any
such thing has ever been known, {4:33} that a people would
hear the voice of God, speaking from the midst of fire, just as
you have heard it, and live, {4:34} whether God has acted so
as to enter and take for himself a nation from the midst of the
nations, by means of tests, signs, and wonders, by means of
fighting, and a strong hand, and an outstretched arm, and
terrible visions, in accord with all the things which the Lord
your God has accomplished for you in Egypt, in the sight of
your eyes. {4:35} So may you know that the Lord himself is
God, and there is no other beside him. {4:36} He has caused
you to hear his voice from heaven, so that he might teach you.
And he showed you his exceedingly great fire on earth, and
you heard his words from the midst of the fire. {4:37} For he
loved your fathers, and he chose their offspring after them.
And he led you away from Egypt, advancing before you with
his great power, {4:38} so as to wipe away, upon your arrival,
nations, very great and stronger than you, and so as to lead
you in, and to present to you their land as a possession, just
as you discern in the present day. {4:39} Therefore, know on
this day and consider in your heart, that the Lord himself is
God in heaven above, and on earth below, and there is no
other. {4:40} Keep his precepts and commandments, which I
am teaching to you, so that it may be well with you, and with
your sons after you, and so that you may remain for a long
time upon the land, which the Lord your God will give to
you.” {4:41} Then Moses set aside three cities, across the
Jordan toward the eastern region, {4:42}so that anyone
might flee to these if he has killed his neighbor unwillingly,
who was not his enemy a day or two earlier, and so that he
would be able to escape to one of these cities: {4:43} Bezer in
the wilderness, which is situated in the plains of the tribe of
Ruben; and Ramoth in Gilead, which is in the tribe of Gad;
and Golan in Bashan, which is in the tribe of Manasseh.
{4:44} This is the law, which Moses set forth before the sons
of Israel. {4:45} And these are the testimonies and
ceremonies as well as judgments, which he spoke to the sons
of Israel, when they departed from Egypt, {4:46} across the
Jordan, in the valley opposite the shrine of Peor, in the land
of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon,
whom Moses struck down. Accordingly, the sons of Israel,
having departed from Egypt, {4:47} possessed his land, and
the land of Og, the king of Bashan, the land of the two kings
of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, toward the
rising of the sun: {4:48} from Aroer, which is situated above
the bank of the torrent Arnon, as far as Mount Zion, which is
also called Hermon, {4:49} the entire plain across the Jordan,
from its eastern region, as far as the sea of the wilderness, and
even to the base of Mount Pisgah.


[Deuteronomy 5] {5:1} And Moses summoned all of Israel,
and he said to them: “Listen, O Israel, to the ceremonies and
judgments, which I am speaking to your ears on this day.
Learn them, and fulfill them in deed. {5:2} The Lord our
God formed a covenant with us at Horeb. {5:3} He did not
make the covenant with our fathers, but with us, who are
alive and in the present time. {5:4} He spoke to us face to
face on the mountain, from the midst of fire. {5:5} I was the
mediator, for I was in the middle between the Lord and you,
at that time, to announce his words to you. For you were
afraid of the fire, and so you did not ascend to the mountain.
And he said: {5:6} ‘I am the Lord your God, who led you
away from the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude.
{5:7} You shall not have strange gods in my sight. {5:8} You
shall not make for yourself a graven image, nor the likeness
of anything, which is in heaven above, or on earth below, or
which abides in the waters under the earth. {5:9} You shall
not adore and you shall not worship these things. For I am
the Lord your God, a jealous God, repaying the iniquity of
the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation to
those who hate me, {5:10} and acting with mercy in
thousands of ways to those who love me and keep my
precepts. {5:11} You shall not use the name of the Lord your
God in vain. For he will not go unpunished who takes up his
name over an unimportant matter. {5:12} Observe the day of
the Sabbath, so that you may sanctify it, just as the Lord your
God has instructed you. {5:13} For six days, you shall labor
and do all your work. {5:14} The seventh is the day of the
Sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord your God. You shall not
do any work in it, nor shall your son, nor daughter, nor man
servant, nor woman servant, nor ox, nor donkey, nor any of
your cattle, nor the sojourner who is within your gates, so
that your men and woman servants may rest, just as you do.
{5:15} Remember that you also were servants in Egypt, and
the Lord your God led you away from that place with a
strong hand and an outstretched arm. Because of this, he has
instructed you so that you would observe the Sabbath day.
{5:16} Honor your father and mother, just as the Lord your
God has instructed you, so that you may live a long time, and
so that it may be well with you in the land, which the Lord
your God will give to you. {5:17} You shall not murder.
{5:18} And you shall not commit adultery. {5:19} And you
shall not commit theft. {5:20} Neither shall you speak false
testimony against your neighbor. {5:21} You shall not covet
your neighbor’s wife, nor his house, nor his field, nor his man
servant, nor his woman servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey,
nor anything out of all that is his.’ {5:22} The Lord spoke
these words to the entire multitude of you on the mountain,
from the midst of the fire and the cloud and the darkness,
with a loud voice, adding nothing more. And he wrote them
on two tablets of stone, which he delivered to me.
{5:23} Then, after you heard the voice from the midst of the
darkness, and you saw the mountain burning, you
approached me, all you leaders of the tribes and those greater
by birth. And you said: {5:24} ‘Behold, the Lord our God has
revealed to us his majesty and his greatness. We have heard
his voice from the midst of fire, and we have proven today
that, though God is speaking with man, man has lived.
{5:25} Therefore, why should we die, and why should this
very great fire devour us? For if we hear the voice of the Lord
our God any longer, we will die. {5:26} What is all flesh, that
it would hear the voice of the living God, who speaks from
the midst of fire, just as we have heard it, and be able to live?
{5:27} Instead, you should approach and listen to all the
things that the Lord our God will say to you. And you will
speak to us, and we will listen and do these things.’
{5:28} But when the Lord had heard this, he said to me: ‘I
have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they
spoke to you. All this, they have spoken well. {5:29} Who
will grant to them to have such a mind, so that they may fear
me, and may keep all my commandments at all times, so that
it may be well with them and with their sons forever?
{5:30} Go and say to them: Return to your tents. {5:31} But
as for you, stand here with me, and I will speak to you all my
commandments and ceremonies, as well as judgments. These,
you shall teach them, so that they may do them in the land,
which I will give to them as a possession. {5:32} And so,
keep and do the things which the Lord God has commanded
you. You shall not turn aside, neither to the right, nor to the
left. {5:33} For you shall walk in the way that the Lord your
God has instructed, so that you may live, and it may be well
with you, and your days may be extended in the land of your
possession.’ ”


[Deuteronomy 6] {6:1} “These are the precepts and
ceremonies, as well as the judgments, which the Lord your
God has commanded that I teach to you, which you shall do
in the land to which you will travel in order to possess it.
{6:2} So may you fear the Lord your God, and keep all his
commandments and precepts, which I am entrusting to you,
and to your sons and grandsons, all the days of your life, so
that your days may be prolonged. {6:3} Listen and observe,
O Israel, so that you may do just as the Lord has instructed
you, and it may be well with you, and you may be multiplied
all the more, for the Lord, the God of your fathers, has
promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.
{6:4} Listen, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord.
{6:5} You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your strength. {6:6} And
these words, which I instruct to you this day, shall be in your
heart. {6:7} And you shall explain them to your sons. And
you shall meditate upon them sitting in your house, and
walking on a journey, when lying down and when rising up.
{6:8} And you shall bind them like a sign on your hand, and
they shall be placed and shall move between your eyes.
{6:9} And you shall write them at the threshold and on the
doors of your house. {6:10} And when the Lord your God
will have led you into the land, about which he swore to your
fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and when he will have
given to you great and excellent cities, which you did not
build; {6:11} houses full of goods, which you did not amass;
cisterns, which you did not dig; vineyards and olive groves,
which you did not plant; {6:12} and when you will have
eaten and been satisfied: {6:13} take care diligently, lest you
forget the Lord, who led you away from the land of Egypt,
from the house of servitude. You shall fear the Lord your
God, and you shall serve him alone, and you shall swear by
his name. {6:14} You shall not go after the strange gods of all
the Gentiles, who are around you. {6:15} For the Lord your
God is a jealous God in your midst. Otherwise, at sometime,
the fury of the Lord your God may be enraged against you,
and he may take you away from the face of the earth.
{6:16} You shall not tempt the Lord your God, as you
tempted him in the place of temptation. {6:17} Keep the
precepts of the Lord your God, as well as the testimonies and
ceremonies, which he has instructed to you. {6:18} And do
what is pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it
may be well with you, and so that, when you enter, you may
possess the excellent land, about which the Lord swore to
your fathers {6:19} that he would wipe away all your
enemies before you, just as he has spoken. {6:20} And when
your son will ask you tomorrow, saying: ‘What do these
testimonies and ceremonies and judgments mean, which the
Lord our God has entrusted to us?’ {6:21} You shall say to
him: ‘We were servants of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord
led us away from Egypt with a strong hand. {6:22} And he
wrought signs and wonders, great and very grievous, in Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his house, in our sight. {6:23} And
he led us away from that place, so that he might lead us in
and give us the land, about which he swore to our fathers.
{6:24} And the Lord instructed us that we should do all these
ordinances, and that we should fear the Lord our God, so
that it may be well with us all the days of our life, just as it is
today. {6:25} And he will be merciful to us, if we keep and
perform all his precepts, in the sight of the Lord our God, just
as he has commanded us.’ ”


[Deuteronomy 7] {7:1} “When the Lord your God will have
led you to the land, which you will enter so as to possess it,
and when he will have destroyed many nations before you,
the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the
Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite,
seven nations much more numerous than you, and more
robust than you, {7:2} and when the Lord your God will
have delivered them to you, you shall strike them down unto
utter annihilation. You shall not enter into a pact with them,
nor shall you show any pity to them. {7:3} And you shall not
associate with them in marriage. You shall not give your
daughter to his son, nor accept his daughter for your son.
{7:4} For she will seduce your son, so that he will not follow
me, and so that he will instead serve foreign gods. And the
fury of the Lord will be enraged, and he will quickly destroy
you. {7:5} So instead, you shall do this to them: overturn
their altars, and break their statues, and cut down their sacred
groves, and burn up their graven images. {7:6} For you are a
holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has
chosen you so that you would be his particular people out of
all the peoples who are upon the earth. {7:7} It is not because
you surpass all the nations in number that the Lord has
joined with you and has chosen you, for you are the least
numerous of any people. {7:8} But it is because the Lord has
loved you, and has kept his oath, which he swore to your
fathers. And he has led you away with a strong hand, and he
has redeemed you from the house of servitude, from the hand
of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. {7:9} And you shall know that
the Lord your God himself is a strong and faithful God,
preserving his covenant and his mercy for those who love
him and those who keep his precepts for a thousand
generations, {7:10} and promptly repaying those who hate
him, so as to utterly ruin them, without further delay, quickly
rendering to them what they deserve. {7:11} Therefore, keep
the precepts and ceremonies as well as the judgments, which
I command to you this day, so that you may do them.
{7:12} If, after you have heard these judgments, you keep
and do them, the Lord your God will also keep his covenant
with you and the mercy that he swore to your fathers.
{7:13} And he will love you and multiply you. And he will
bless the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your land: your
grain as well as your vintage, oil, and herds, and the flocks of
your sheep, upon the land about which he swore to your
fathers that he would give it to you. {7:14} Blessed shall you
be among all peoples. No one will be barren among you of
either gender, as much among men as among your herds.
{7:15} The Lord will take all sickness away from you. And
the very grievous infirmities of Egypt, which you have known,
he will not bring upon you, but upon your enemies.
{7:16} You shall devour all the peoples, which the Lord your
God will deliver to you. Your eye shall not spare them,
neither shall you serve their gods, lest they be your ruin.
{7:17} If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are more than
Iam, so how will I be able to destroy them?’ {7:18} do not be
apprehensive. Instead, recall what the Lord your God did to
Pharaoh and to all the Egyptians: {7:19} the very great
plagues, which your eyes saw, and the signs and wonders,
and the powerful hand and outstretched arm, by which the
Lord your God led you away. So will he do to all the peoples,
whom you dread. {7:20} Moreover, the Lord your God will
also send hornets among them, until he destroys and scatters
all who have escaped from you, or who have been able to
hide. {7:21} You shall not fear them, for the Lord your God
is in your midst: a great and terrible God. {7:22} He himself
will consume these nations in your sight, a little at a time, by
degrees. You will not be able to destroy them all at once.
Otherwise, the wild beasts of the earth might increase against
you. {7:23} And so, the Lord your God will present them in
your sight, and you shall slay them until they are thoroughly
wiped away. {7:24} And he shall deliver their kings into your
hands, and you shall abolish their names from under heaven.
No one will be able to withstand you, until you crush them.
{7:25} Their graven images, you shall burn with fire. You
shall not covet the silver or gold from which they have been
made. And you shall not take for yourself anything from
these, lest you offend, because this is an abomination to the
Lord your God. {7:26} Neither shall you carry anything of
the idol into your house, lest you become accursed, just as it
also is. You shall detest it like dung, and you shall abominate
it like defilement and filth, because it is an accursed thing.”


[Deuteronomy 8] {8:1} “All the commandments which I am
entrusting to you this day, take care to observe them
diligently, so that you may live and be multiplied, and so that,
upon entering, you may possess the land, about which the
Lord swore to your fathers. {8:2} And you shall remember
the entire journey along which the Lord your God led you,
for forty years through the desert, to afflict you, and to test
you, and to make known the things that were turning in your
soul, whether or not you would keep his commandments.
{8:3} He afflicted you with need, and he gave you Manna as
your food, which neither you nor your fathers knew, so as to
reveal to you that it is not by bread alone that man lives, but
by every word that goes forth from the mouth of God.
{8:4} Your garment, with which you were covered, has by no
means decayed due to age, and your foot has not been worn
down, even to this fortieth year, {8:5} so that you would
recognize in your heart that, just as a man educates his son,
so has the Lord your God educated you. {8:6} So may you
keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and walk in
his ways, and fear him. {8:7} For the Lord your God will
lead you into a good land: a land of brooks and waters and
fountains, in which deep rivers burst forth from its plains and
mountains, {8:8} a land of crops, barley, and vineyards, in
which fig and pomegranate and olive trees spring up, a land
of oil and honey. {8:9} In that place, without any need, you
shall eat your bread and enjoy an abundance of all things:
where the stones are like iron, and where ore for brass is dug
out of its mountains. {8:10} So then, when you have eaten
and been satisfied, you should bless the Lord your God for
the excellent land which he has given to you. {8:11} Be
observant and cautious, lest at sometime you may forget the
Lord your God, and neglect his commandments, as well as
the judgments and ceremonies, which I instruct to you this
day. {8:12} Otherwise, after you have eaten and been
satisfied, and have built beautiful houses and have lived in
them, {8:13} and have obtained herds of oxen, and flocks of
sheep, and a plentitude of gold and silver and all things,
{8:14} your heart might be lifted up, and you might not
remember the Lord your God, who led you away from the
land of Egypt, from the house of servitude, {8:15} and who
was your leader in the great and terrible wilderness, in which
there was the serpent with a burning breath, and the scorpion,
and the snake of thirst, and no waters at all. He led streams
out of the hardest rock, {8:16} and he nourished you in the
wilderness with Manna, which your fathers had not known.
And after he had afflicted and tested you, in the very end, he
took pity on you. {8:17} Otherwise, you might say in your
heart: ‘My own strength, and the power of my own hand,
have brought forth all these things for me.’ {8:18} But
remember the Lord your God, that he himself has provided
you with strength, so that he may fulfill his covenant, about
which he swore to your fathers, just as the present day reveals.
{8:19} But if you forget the Lord your God, so that you
follow foreign gods, and serve and adore them: behold, I now
foretell to you that you shall utterly perish. {8:20} Just like
the nations, which the Lord destroyed upon your arrival, so
shall you also perish, if you have been disobedient to the
voice of the Lord your God.”


[Deuteronomy 9] {9:1} “Listen, O Israel: You shall cross
over the Jordan today, in order to possess nations, very great
and stronger than yourself, cities vast and walled even to the
sky, {9:2} a people great and lofty, the sons of the Anakim,
whom you yourselves have seen and heard, against whom no
one is able to stand. {9:3} Therefore, you shall know today
that the Lord your God himself will pass over before you, like
a devouring and consuming fire, to crush and to wipe away
and to utterly ruin them before your face, quickly, just as he
has spoken to you. {9:4} You should not say in your heart,
when the Lord your God will have destroyed them in your
sight: ‘It is because of my justice that the Lord led me in, so
that I might possess this land, while these nations have been
destroyed because of their impiety.’ {9:5} For it is not
because of your justices or the uprightness of your heart that
you will enter, so that you may possess their lands. Instead, it
is because they have acted wickedly that they are destroyed
upon your arrival, and so that the Lord may accomplish his
word, which he promised under oath to your fathers,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. {9:6} Therefore, know that the
Lord your God will not give you this excellent land as a
possession due to your justices, for you are a very stiff-necked
people. {9:7} Remember, and never forget, how you
provoked the Lord your God to anger in the wilderness. You
have always contended against the Lord, from the day that
you went forth from Egypt, even to this place. {9:8} For at
Horeb also, you provoked him, and, becoming angry, he was
willing to destroy you, {9:9} when I ascended onto the
mountain, so that I might receive the tablets of stone, the
tablets of the covenant which the Lord formed with you. And
I persevered on the mountain for forty days and nights,
neither eating bread, nor drinking water. {9:10} And the
Lord gave me two tablets of stone, written with the finger of
God and containing all the words that he spoke to you on the
mountain from the midst of fire, while the people, being
stirred up, were assembled together. {9:11} And when forty
days, and as many nights, had passed, the Lord gave me the
two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. {9:12} And
he said to me: ‘Rise up, and descend quickly from here. For
your people, whom you led away from Egypt, have quickly
abandoned the way that you have shown to them, and they
have made a molten idol for themselves.’ {9:13} And again,
the Lord said to me: ‘I discern that this people is stiff-necked.
{9:14} Depart from me, so that I may crush them, and
abolish their name from under heaven, and appoint you over
a nation, which will be greater and stronger than this one.’
{9:15} And as I was descending from the burning mountain,
and I held the two tablets of the covenant with both hands,
{9:16} and I had seen that you had sinned against the Lord
your God, and had made a molten calf for yourselves, and
had quickly abandoned his way, which he had revealed to
you, {9:17} I threw down the tablets from my hands, and I
broke them in your sight. {9:18} And I fell prostrate before
the Lord, just as before, for forty days and nights, not eating
bread, and not drinking water, because of all your sins, which
you had committed against the Lord, and because you
provoked him to anger. {9:19} For I feared his indignation
and wrath, which had been stirred up against you, so that he
was willing to destroy you. And the Lord heeded me at this
time also. {9:20} Likewise, he became vehemently angry
against Aaron, and he was willing to destroy him, and I
prayed for him similarly. {9:21} But as for your sin which
you committed, that is, the calf, taking hold of it, I burned it
with fire. And breaking it into pieces, and reducing it entirely
to dust, I threw it into the torrent that descends from the
mountain. {9:22} Likewise, at the Burning, and at the
Temptation, and at the Graves of Lust, you provoked the
Lord. {9:23} And when he sent you from Kadesh-barnea,
saying, ‘Ascend and possess the land, which I have given to
you,’ even so, you spurned the command of the Lord your
God, and you did not believe him, nor were you willing to
listen to his voice. {9:24} Instead, you were ever rebellious,
from the day when I first began to know you. {9:25} And so,
I lay prostrate before the Lord for forty days and nights, as I
humbly begged him, lest he destroy you, just as he had
threatened to do. {9:26} And praying, I said: ‘O Lord God,
do not destroy your people and your inheritance, whom you
have redeemed in your greatness, whom you have led away
from Egypt with a strong hand. {9:27} Remember your
servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not look upon the
stubbornness of this people, nor upon their wickedness and
sinfulness. {9:28} Otherwise, perhaps the inhabitants of the
land, out of which you have led us, may say: “The Lord was
not able to lead them into the land, which he promised to
them. And he hated them; therefore, he led them out, so that
he might put them to death in the wilderness.” {9:29} These
are your people and your inheritance, whom you have led
out by your great strength, and with your outstretched arm.’ ”


[Deuteronomy 10] {10:1} “At that time, the Lord said to me:
‘Hew for yourself two tablets of stone, like those that were
before, and ascend to me on the mountain. And you shall
make an ark of wood. {10:2} And I will write on the tablets
the words which were on those that you broke before, and
you shall place them in the ark.’ {10:3} And so, I made an
ark of setim wood. And when I had hewn two tablets of stone
like the former, I ascended onto the mountain, having them
in my hands. {10:4} And he wrote on the tablets, according
to that which he had written before, the ten words, which the
Lord spoke to you on the mountain from the midst of fire,
when the people were assembled. And he gave them to me.
{10:5} And returning from the mountain, I descended and
placed the tablets in the ark, which I had made, and they are
still there even now, just as the Lord instructed me.
{10:6} Then the sons of Israel moved their camp, from
Beeroth among the sons of Jaakan, into Moserah, where
Aaron died and was buried, and where his son Eleazar was
installed in the priesthood in his place. {10:7} From there,
they went into Gudgodah. From that place, they set out and
camped at Jotbathah, in a land of waters and torrents.
{10:8} At that time, he separated the tribe of Levi, so that he
would carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and stand
before him in the ministry, and speak blessings in his name,
even to the present day. {10:9} As a result, Levi has no
portion or possession with his brothers. For the Lord himself
is his possession, just as the Lord your God promised him.
{10:10} Then I stood on the mountain, as before, for forty
days and nights. And the Lord heeded me at this time also,
and he was not willing to destroy you. {10:11} And he said
to me: ‘Go forth and walk before the people, so that they may
enter and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers that
I would deliver to them.’ {10:12} And now, O Israel, what
does the Lord your God require of you? Only that you fear
the Lord your God, and walk in his ways, and love him, and
serve the Lord your God with your whole heart and with
your whole soul, {10:13} and that you keep the
commandments of the Lord, and his ceremonies, which I am
instructing to you this day, so that it may be well with you.
{10:14} Lo, heaven belongs to the Lord your God, and the
heaven of heaven, and the earth, and all the things that are
within these. {10:15} Now the Lord was closely joined to
your fathers, and he loved them, and he chose their offspring
after them, that is, you yourselves, out of all the nations, just
as is being proven today. {10:16} Therefore, circumcise the
foreskin of your heart, and no longer stiffen your neck.
{10:17} For the Lord your God himself is the God of gods,
and the Lord of lords, a God great and powerful and terrible,
who favors no person and accepts no bribe. {10:18} He
accomplishes judgment for the orphan and the widow. He
loves the sojourner, and he gives him food as well as clothing.
{10:19} Therefore, you also should love sojourners, for you
also were new arrivals in the land of Egypt. {10:20} You
shall fear the Lord your God, and him alone shall you serve.
You shall cling to him, and you shall swear by his name.
{10:21} He is your praise and your God. He has done for you
these great and terrible things, which your eyes have seen.
{10:22} As seventy souls, your fathers descended into Egypt.
And now, behold, the Lord your God has multiplied you to
be like the stars of heaven.”


[Deuteronomy 11] {11:1} “And so, love the Lord your God,
and observe his precepts and ceremonies, his judgments and
commandments, at all times. {11:2} Acknowledge, on this
day, the things that your sons did not know. For they did not
see the chastisements of the Lord your God, his great acts,
and powerful hand, and outstretched arm, {11:3} the signs
and works that he did in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh, the
king, and to his entire land, {11:4} and to the entire army of
the Egyptians, and to their horses and chariots: how the
waters of the Red Sea covered them as they were pursuing
you, and how the Lord wiped them away, even to the present
day; {11:5} and the things that he accomplished for you in
the wilderness, until you arrived at this place; {11:6} and to
Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, who was the son of
Reuben, those whom the earth, opening its mouth, engulfed
with their households and tents, and with their entire
substance which they had in the midst of Israel. {11:7} Your
eyes have seen all the great works of the Lord, which he has
accomplished, {11:8}so that you would keep all his
commandments, which I entrust to you this day, and so that
you would be able to enter and possess the land, toward
which you are advancing, {11:9} and so that you may live,
for a long time, in the land which the Lord promised under
oath to your fathers, and to their offspring, a land flowing
with milk and honey. {11:10} For the land, which you shall
enter and possess, is not like the land of Egypt, from which
you departed, where, when seed has been sown, waters are
brought in by irrigation, in the manner of gardens.
{11:11} Rather, it has mountainous regions and plains,
which lay waiting for rain from heaven. {11:12} And the
Lord your God always visits it, and his eyes are upon it, from
the beginning of the year, all the way to its end. {11:13} So
then, if you obey my commandments, which I am instructing
to you this day, so that you love the Lord your God, and
serve him with your whole heart and your whole soul,
{11:14} he will give to your land the early rain and the late
rain, so that you may gather your grain, and your wine, and
your oil, {11:15} and your hay from the fields in order to feed
your cattle, and so that you yourselves may eat and be
satisfied. {11:16} Be careful, lest perhaps your heart may be
deceived, and you might withdraw from the Lord, and serve
strange gods, and adore them. {11:17} And the Lord,
becoming angry, might close up heaven, so that the rain
would not descend, nor would the earth produce her
seedlings, and then you would quickly perish from the
excellent land, which the Lord will give to you. {11:18} Place
these words of mine in your hearts and minds, and hang
them as a sign on your hands, and arrange them between
your eyes. {11:19} Teach your sons to meditate on them,
when you sit in your house, and when you walk along the
way, and when you lie down or rise up. {11:20} You shall
write them upon the doorposts and the gates of your house,
{11:21} so that your days may be multiplied, and the days of
your sons, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers,
that he would give it to them for as long as heaven is
suspended above the earth. {11:22} For if you keep the
commandments which I am entrusting to you, and if you do
them, so that you love the Lord your God, and walk in all his
ways, clinging to him, {11:23} the Lord will scatter all these
nations before your face, and you shall possess them, though
they are greater and stronger than you. {11:24} Every place
upon which your foot shall tread will be yours. From the
desert, and from Lebanon, from the great river Euphrates, as
far as the western sea, shall be your borders. {11:25} No one
will stand against you. The Lord your God will spread the
terror and dread of you over all the land upon which you
shall tread, just as he has spoken to you. {11:26} Behold, I
am setting forth in your sight today a blessing and a curse.
{11:27} It will be a blessing, if you obey the commandments
of the Lord your God, which I am instructing to you this day.
{11:28} It will be a curse, if you do not obey the
commandments of the Lord your God, but instead you
withdraw from the way, which I am revealing to you now,
and you walk after foreign gods that you have not known.
{11:29} Yet truly, when the Lord your God will have led you
into the land, to which you are traveling for a habitation, you
shall place the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, the curse upon
Mount Ebal, {11:30} which are across the Jordan, behind the
way which slopes toward the setting of the sun, in the land of
the Canaanite, who lives in the plains opposite Gilgal, which
is near the valley extending toward and entering a distant
place. {11:31} For you shall cross over the Jordan, so that
you may possess the land which the Lord your God will give
you, so that you may have it and possess it.
{11:32} Therefore, see to it that you fulfill the ceremonies
and judgments, which I am placing in your sight this day.”


[Deuteronomy 12] {12:1} “These are the precepts and
judgments which you must do in the land which the Lord,
the God of your fathers, will give to you, so that you may
possess it during all the days that you shall walk upon the soil.
{12:2} Overturn all the places where the nations, which you
will possess, worshipped their gods on lofty mountains, and
on hills, and under every leafy tree. {12:3} Scatter their altars
and break their statues. Burn their sacred groves with fire and
crush their idols. Abolish their names from those places.
{12:4} But you shall not do the same to the Lord your God.
{12:5} Instead, you shall approach the place which the Lord
your God will choose among all your tribes, so that he may
set his name there, and may dwell in that place. {12:6} And
you shall offer, in that place, your holocausts and victims, the
tithes and first-fruits of your hands, and your vows and gifts,
the firstborn of the cattle and of the sheep. {12:7} And you
shall eat it there, in the sight of the Lord your God. And you
shall rejoice in all the things to which you shall set your hand:
you and your household, which the Lord your God has
blessed for you. {12:8} You shall not do there the things that
we are doing here today: each one doing what seems good to
himself. {12:9} For even until the present time, you did not
arrive at the rest and the possession, which the Lord your
God will give to you. {12:10} You shall cross over the Jordan,
and you shall live in the land which the Lord your God will
give to you, so that you may have rest from all the
surrounding enemies, and so that you may live without any
fear, {12:11} in the place which the Lord your God will
choose, so that his name may be in it. To that place, you shall
bring all the things that I instruct you: holocausts, and victims,
and tithes, and the first-fruits of your hands, and whatever is
best among the gifts that you shall vow to the Lord.
{12:12} In that place, you shall feast before the Lord your
God: you, and your sons and daughters, your men and
women servants, as well as the Levite who dwells in your
cities. For he has no other portion or possession among you.
{12:13} Take care that you do not offer your holocausts in
any place that you see. {12:14} Instead, you shall offer
sacrifices in the place which the Lord will choose within one
of your tribes, and you shall do whatsoever I instruct you.
{12:15} So, if you wish to eat, and if the eating of flesh
pleases you, then kill and eat according to the blessing of the
Lord your God, which he has given to you, in your cities:
you may eat it whether it is unclean, that is, having blemish
or defect, or whether it is clean, that is, whole and without
blemish, of the kind which is permitted to be offered, such as
the roe deer and the stag. {12:16} Only the blood you shall
not eat. Instead, you shall pour it upon the ground like water.
{12:17} You may not eat in your towns the tithes of your
crops, and your wine and oil, the firstborn of your herds and
your flocks, nor anything which you will vow, or which you
will offer spontaneously, nor the first-fruits of your hands.
{12:18} But you shall eat these before the Lord your God, in
the place which the Lord your God will choose: you, and
your son, and your daughter, and your man servant and
woman servant, and the Levite who dwells in your cities.
And you shall rejoice and be refreshed in the sight of the
Lord your God by all the things to which you will extend
your hand. {12:19} Be careful, lest you abandon the Levite,
at anytime while you are living in the land. {12:20} When
the Lord your God will have enlarged your borders, just as he
has spoken to you, and when you would eat the flesh that
your soul desires, {12:21} but if the place which the Lord
your God will choose, so that his name may be there, is far
away, you may kill, from your herds and your flocks which
you will have, in the manner I have instructed to you, and
you may eat in your towns, as it pleases you. {12:22} Just as
the roe deer and the stag may be eaten, so also may you eat
these: you may eat both the clean and the unclean alike.
{12:23} Only beware of this: you may not eat the blood. For
their blood is for the soul. And because of this, you must not
eat the soul with the flesh. {12:24} Instead, you shall pour it
upon the ground like water, {12:25} so that it may be well
with you, and with your sons after you, when you will do
what is pleasing in the sight of the Lord. {12:26} But the
things that you have sanctified and vowed to the Lord, you
shall take up and bring to the place which the Lord will
choose. {12:27} And you shall offer your oblations of flesh
and of blood upon the altar of the Lord your God. You shall
poor out the blood of your victims upon the altar. And you
yourself shall eat the flesh. {12:28} Observe and heed all the
things that I instruct to you, so that it may be well with you,
and with your sons after you, continually, when you will do
what is good and pleasing in the sight of the Lord your God.
{12:29} When the Lord your God will have abolished before
your face the nations, which you shall enter so as to possess
them, and when you will possess them and live in their land,
{12:30} be careful that you do not imitate them, after they
have been overturned at your arrival, and that you do not
seek their ceremonies, saying: ‘Just as these nations have
worshipped their gods, so also will I worship.’ {12:31} You
shall not act in like manner toward the Lord your God. For
they have done to their gods all the abominations that the
Lord spurns, offering their sons and daughters, and burning
them with fire. {12:32} What I command to you, this only
shall you do, for the Lord. You may neither add nor subtract
anything.”


[Deuteronomy 13] {13:1} “If there will have arisen in your
midst a prophet, or someone who claims that he had seen a
dream, and if he will have predicted sign and portent,
{13:2} and if what he has spoken happens, and he says to you,
‘Let us go and follow strange gods,’ which you have not
known, ‘and let us serve them,’ {13:3} you shall not listen to
the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the Lord your God
is testing you, so that it may become clear whether or not you
love him with all your heart and with all your soul.
{13:4} Follow the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his
commandments, and listen to his voice. Him shall you serve,
and to him shall you cling. {13:5} But that prophet or forger
of dreams shall be put to death. For he has spoken so as to
turn you away from the Lord your God, who led you away
from the land of Egypt and who redeemed you from the
house of servitude, and so as to cause you to wander from the
way that the Lord your God has entrusted to you. And so
shall you remove the evil from your midst. {13:6} If your
brother, the son of your mother, or your own son or daughter,
or your wife who is in your bosom, or your friend, whom you
love like your own soul, were willing to persuade you secretly,
saying: ‘Let us go, and serve foreign gods,’ which neither you
nor your fathers have known, {13:7} gods from any of the
surrounding nations, whether these are near or far away,
from the beginning even to the end of the earth, {13:8} you
should neither agree with him, nor listen to him. And your
eye should not spare him so that you take pity on him and
conceal him. {13:9} Instead, you shall put him to death
promptly. Let your hand be upon him first, and after that, let
the hands of all the people be sent forth. {13:10} He shall be
killed by being overwhelmed with stones. For he was willing
to draw you away from the Lord your God, who led you
away from the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude.
{13:11} So may all of Israel, upon hearing this, be afraid, so
that nothing like this will ever be done again. {13:12} If, in
one of your cities which the Lord your God will give to you
as a habitation, you hear someone say: {13:13} ‘The sons of
Belial have departed from your midst, and they have
persuaded the inhabitants of their city, and they have said:
“Let us go, and serve strange gods,” ’ which you have not
known: {13:14} inquire carefully and diligently, seeking the
truth of the matter. And if you find that what was said is
certain, and that this abomination is a work which has been
perpetrated, {13:15} you shall promptly strike down the
inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword. And you
shall destroy it, along with all the things that are in it, even
the flocks. {13:16} Then all the household goods which are
there, you shall gather together in the midst of its streets, and
you shall set fire to these, along with the city itself, so that
you may consume everything for the Lord your God, and so
that it may be an everlasting tomb. It shall no longer be built
up. {13:17} And there shall remain nothing of that anathema
in your hand, so that the Lord may turn from the wrath of his
fury, and may take pity on you, and may multiply you, just as
he swore to your fathers, {13:18} when you will heed the
voice of the Lord your God, keeping all his precepts, which I
am entrusting to you this day, so that you may do what is
pleasing in the sight of the Lord your God.”


[Deuteronomy 14] {14:1} “Be sons of the Lord your God.
You shall not cut yourselves, nor make yourselves bald,
because of the dead. {14:2} For you are a holy people, for the
Lord your God. And he chose you, so that you may be a
people particularly his, out of all the nations on earth.
{14:3} You shall not eat the things that are unclean.
{14:4} These are the animals which you ought to eat: the ox,
and the sheep, and the goat, {14:5} the stag and the roe deer,
the gazelle, the wild goat, the addax, the antelope, the giraffe.
{14:6} Every beast which has a hoof divided into two parts
and which also chews the cud, you shall eat. {14:7} But those
which chew over again, but do not have a divided hoof, you
must not eat, such as the camel, the hare, and the hyrax.
Since these chew the cud, but do not have a divided the hoof,
they shall be unclean to you. {14:8} The pig also, since it has
a divided hoof, but does not chew over again, shall be
unclean. Their flesh shall not be eaten, and you shall not
touch their carcasses. {14:9} These you shall eat out of all
that dwells in the waters: whatever has fins and scales, you
shall eat. {14:10} Whatever is without fins and scales, you
shall not eat, for these are unclean. {14:11} All the clean
birds, you shall eat. {14:12} You shall not eat those that are
unclean: such as the eagle, and the griffin, and the osprey,
{14:13} the crane, and the vulture, and the kite, according to
their kind, {14:14} and any kind of raven, {14:15} and the
ostrich, and the owl, and the gull, and the hawk, according to
their kind, {14:16} the heron, and the swan, and the ibis,
{14:17} and the sea bird, the marsh hen, and the night raven,
{14:18} the pelican and the plover, each in their kind,
likewise the crested hoopoe and the bat. {14:19} And
anything which crawls and also has little wings shall be
unclean, and shall not be eaten. {14:20} All that is clean, you
shall eat. {14:21} But whatever has died of itself, you shall
not eat from it. Give it to the sojourner, who is within your
gates, so that he may eat, or sell it to him. For you are the
holy people of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young
goat in the milk of his mother. {14:22} Each year, you shall
separate the tithes out of all your crops which spring forth
from the earth. {14:23} And you shall eat these in the sight of
the Lord your God, in the place which he will choose, so that
his name may be invoked there: the tenth part of your grain
and wine and oil, and the firstborn from the herds and your
sheep. So may you learn to fear the Lord your God at all
times. {14:24} But when the way and the place which the
Lord your God will have chosen is further away, and he will
have blessed you, so that you are not able to carry all these
things to it, {14:25} you shall sell them all, so as to turn them
into money, and you shall carry it in your hand, and you
shall set out for the place which the Lord will choose.
{14:26} And you shall buy with the same money whatever
pleases you, either from the herds or from the sheep, and also
wine and liquor, and all that your soul desires. And you shall
eat in the sight of the Lord your God, and you shall feast: you
and your household. {14:27} As for the Levite, who is within
your gates, take care that you do not abandon him, for he has
no other portion within your possession. {14:28} In the third
year, you shall separate another tenth part of all the things
which spring forth for you at that time, and you shall store it
within your gates. {14:29} And the Levite, who has no other
portion or possession with you, and the sojourner as well as
the orphan and the widow who are within your gates, shall
approach and eat and be satisfied, so that the Lord your God
may bless you in all the works of your hands which you shall
do.”


[Deuteronomy 15] {15:1} “In the seventh year, you shall
perform a remission, {15:2} which shall be celebrated
according to this order. Anyone to whom anything is owed,
by his friend or neighbor or brother, will not be able to
request its return, because it is the year of remission of the
Lord. {15:3} From the sojourner and the new arrival, you
may require its return. From your fellow countryman and
neighbor, you will not have the power to request its return.
{15:4} And there shall not be anyone indigent or begging
among you, so that the Lord your God may bless you in the
land which he will deliver to you as a possession. {15:5} But
only if you heed the voice of the Lord your God, and keep to
all that he has ordered, that which I am entrusting to you this
day, will he bless you, just as he has promised. {15:6} You
shall lend money to many nations, and you yourselves shall
borrow in return from no one. You shall rule over very many
nations, and no one shall rule over you. {15:7} If one of your
brothers, who dwells within the gates of your city, in the land
which the Lord your God will give to you, falls into poverty,
you shall not harden your heart, nor tighten your hand.
{15:8} Instead, you shall open your hand to the poor, and
you shall lend to him whatever you perceive him to need.
{15:9} Take care, lest perhaps an impious thought might
creep within you, and you might say in your heart: ‘The
seventh year of remission approaches.’ And so you might
turn your eyes away from your poor brother, unwilling to
lend to him what he has asked. If so, then he may cry out
against you to the Lord, and it will be a sin for you.
{15:10} Instead, you shall give to him. Neither shall you do
anything craftily while assisting him in his needs, so that the
Lord your God may bless you, at all times and in all things to
which you will put your hand. {15:11} The poor will not be
absent from the land of your habitation. For this reason, I
instruct you to open your hand to your indigent and poor
brother, who lives among you in the land. {15:12} When
your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, has been
sold to you, and has served you for six years, in the seventh
year you shall set him free. {15:13} And when you grant his
freedom, you shall by no means permit him to go away
empty. {15:14} Instead, you shall give to him, for his journey,
from your flocks and threshing floor and winepress, with
which the Lord your God has blessed you.
{15:15} Remember that you yourself also served in the land
of Egypt, and the Lord your God set you free. And therefore,
I now command this of you. {15:16} But if he will say, ‘I am
not willing to depart,’ because he loves you and your
household, and because he feels that it would be good for
him to stay with you, {15:17} then you shall take an awl and
pierce his ear, at the door of your house. And he shall serve
you even forever. You shall also act similarly toward your
woman servant. {15:18} You should not avert your eyes from
them when you set them free, because he has served you for
six years, in a manner deserving of the pay of a hired hand.
So may the Lord your God bless you in all the works that
you do. {15:19} Of the firstborn, those born from your herds
and sheep, you shall sanctify to the Lord your God whatever
is of the male sex. You shall not put the firstborn of the oxen
to work, nor shall you shear the firstborn of the sheep.
{15:20} In the sight of the Lord your God, you shall eat these,
each year, in the place which the Lord will choose, you and
your household. {15:21} But if it has a blemish, or is lame, or
is blind, or if it is in any part deformed or debilitated, it shall
not be immolated to the Lord your God. {15:22} Instead,
you shall eat it within the gates of your city. The clean as well
as the unclean alike shall feed on these, such as the roe deer
and the stag. {15:23} This alone shall you observe: that you
do not eat their blood, but pour it upon the ground like
water.”


[Deuteronomy 16] {16:1} “Observe the month of new grain,
at the beginning of springtime, so that you may accomplish
the Passover to the Lord your God. For in this month, the
Lord your God led you away from Egypt in the night.
{16:2} And you shall immolate the Passover to the Lord your
God, from sheep and from oxen, in the place which the Lord
your God will choose, so that his name may dwell there.
{16:3} You shall not eat it with leavened bread. For seven
days you shall eat, without leaven, the bread of affliction. For
you departed from Egypt in fear. So may you remember the
day of your departure from Egypt, throughout all the days of
your life. {16:4} No leaven shall be present in all your
confines for seven days. And by morning, there shall not
remain any of the flesh which was immolated on the first day
in the evening. {16:5} You cannot immolate the Passover in
any of your cities, which the Lord your God will give to you,
that you wish, {16:6} but only in the place which the Lord
your God will choose, so that his name may dwell there. You
shall immolate the Passover in the evening, upon the setting
of the sun, which is the time when you departed from Egypt.
{16:7} And you shall cook and eat it in the place which the
Lord your God will choose, and, rising up in the morning,
you shall go into your tent. {16:8} For six days, you shall eat
unleavened bread. And on the seventh day, because it is the
assembly of the Lord your God, you shall do no work.
{16:9} You shall number for yourself seven weeks from that
day, the day on which you put the sickle to the grain field.
{16:10} And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, to the
Lord your God, with a voluntary oblation from your hand,
which you shall offer according to the blessing of the Lord
your God. {16:11} And you shall feast in the sight of the
Lord your God: you, your son and your daughter, your man
servant and your woman servant, and the Levite who is
within your gates, and the new arrival as well as the orphan
and the widow, who abide with you, in the place which the
Lord your God will choose, so that his name may dwell there.
{16:12} And you shall recall that you were a servant in Egypt.
And you shall preserve and carry out the things that have
been instructed. {16:13} Likewise, you shall celebrate the
Feast of Tabernacles for seven days, when you will have
gathered your fruits from the orchard and the winepress.
{16:14} And you shall feast at the time of your festival: you,
your son and daughter, your man servant and woman servant,
likewise the Levite and the new arrival, the orphan and the
widow, who are within your gates. {16:15} For seven days
you shall celebrate feasts to the Lord your God in the place
which the Lord will choose. And the Lord your God will
bless you in all your crops, and in every work of your hands.
And you shall be joyful. {16:16} Three times a year, all your
males shall appear in the sight the Lord your God in the place
which he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at
the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles. No one
shall appear before the Lord empty. {16:17} But each one
shall offer according to what he will have, according to the
blessing of the Lord his God, which he will give to him.
{16:18} You shall appoint judges and magistrates at all your
gates, which the Lord your God will give to you, throughout
each of your tribes, so that they may judge the people with a
just judgment, {16:19} and not so as to show favoritism to
either side. You shall not accept a person’s reputation, nor
gifts. For gifts blind the eyes of the wise and alter the words
of the just. {16:20} You shall justly pursue what is just, so
that you may live and possess the land, which the Lord your
God will give to you. {16:21} You shall not plant a sacred
grove, nor shall you plant any tree near the altar of the Lord
your God; {16:22} you shall neither make nor set up for
yourself a statue. These things the Lord your God hates.”


[Deuteronomy 17] {17:1} “You shall not immolate to the
Lord your God a sheep or an ox, in which there is a blemish
or any defect at all; for this is an abomination to the Lord
your God. {17:2} When there will have been found among
you, within one of your gates which the Lord your God will
give to you, a man or a woman who is doing evil in the sight
of the Lord your God, and who is transgressing his covenant,
{17:3} so as to go and serve foreign gods and adore them,
such as the sun and the moon, or any of the host of heaven,
which I have not instructed, {17:4} and when this will have
been reported to you, and, upon hearing it, if you have
inquired diligently and have found it to be true, that the
abomination is being done in Israel: {17:5} you shall lead
forward the man or the woman who has perpetrated this
most wicked thing to the gates of your city, and they shall be
stoned to death. {17:6} By the mouth of two or three
witnesses, he who is to be put to death shall perish. Let no
one be killed with only one person speaking testimony
against him. {17:7} First, the hands of the witnesses shall be
upon him who will be put to death, and lastly, the hands of
the remainder of the people shall be sent forth. So may you
take away the evil from your midst. {17:8} If you have
perceived that there is among you a difficult and doubtful
matter of judgment, between blood and blood, cause and
cause, leprosy and leprosy, and if you will have seen that the
words of the judges within your gates vary: rise up and
ascend to the place which the Lord your God will choose.
{17:9} And you shall approach the priests of the Levitical
stock, and the judge, who shall be among them at that time,
and you shall inquire of them, and they will reveal to you the
truth of the judgment. {17:10} And you shall accept whatever
they will say, those who preside in the place which the Lord
will choose, and whatever they will teach you, {17:11} in
accord with his law, and you shall follow their sentence.
Neither shall you turn aside to the right or to the left.
{17:12} But whoever will be arrogant, unwilling to obey the
order of the priest who ministers at that time to the Lord your
God, and the decree of the judge, that man shall die. And so
shall you take away the evil from Israel. {17:13} And when
the people hear about this, they shall be afraid, so that no one,
from that time on, will swell with pride. {17:14} When you
will have entered into the land which the Lord your God will
give to you, and you possess it, and you live in it, and you
say, ‘I will appoint a king over me, just as all the surrounding
nations have done,’ {17:15} you shall appoint him whom the
Lord your God will choose from among the number of your
brothers. You cannot make a man of another people king,
one who is not your brother. {17:16} And when he will have
been appointed king, he shall not multiply horses for himself,
nor lead the people back into Egypt, having been exalted by
the number of his horsemen, especially since the Lord has
instructed you never to return along the same way.
{17:17} He shall not have many wives, who might allure his
mind, and he shall not have immense weights of silver and
gold. {17:18} Then, after he has been seated upon the throne
of his kingdom, he shall write for himself the Deuteronomy
of this law in a volume, using a copy from the priests of the
Levitical tribe. {17:19} And he shall have it with him, and he
shall read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to
fear the Lord his God, and to keep his words and ceremonies,
which are instructed in the law. {17:20} And so may his
heart not become exalted with arrogance over his brothers,
nor turn aside to the right or to the left, so that he and his
sons may reign for a long time over Israel.”


[Deuteronomy 18] {18:1} “The priests and the Levites, and
all who are from the same tribe, shall have no portion or
inheritance with the rest of Israel. For they shall eat the
sacrifices of the Lord and his oblations. {18:2} And they shall
receive nothing else from the possession of their brothers. For
the Lord himself is their inheritance, just as he said to them.
{18:3} This shall be the recompense for the priests from the
people, and from those who offer victims, whether they will
immolate an ox or a sheep. They shall give to the priest the
shoulder and the breast, {18:4} the first-fruits of grain, wine,
and oil, and a portion of the wool from the shearing of the
sheep. {18:5} For the Lord your God himself has chosen him
out of all your tribes, so that he may stand and minister to the
name of the Lord, him and his sons, forever. {18:6} If a
Levite departs from one of the cities, throughout all of Israel,
in which he lives, and if he wills and desires to go to the place
which the Lord will choose, {18:7} he shall minister in the
name of the Lord his God, as do all his brothers, the Levites,
who will be standing at that time in the sight of the Lord.
{18:8} He shall receive the same portion of food as the rest
also receive, besides that which is due to him in his own city,
by succession from his fathers. {18:9} When you will have
entered into the land which the Lord your God will give to
you, be careful that you are not willing to imitate the
abominations of those nations. {18:10} Do not let there be
found among you one who would purify his son or daughter
by leading them through fire, nor one who consults seers, nor
one who observes dreams or omens. Do not let there be
found among you one who practices the occult, {18:11} nor
one who uses spells, nor one who consults demonic spirits,
nor a diviner, nor one who seeks the truth from the dead.
{18:12} For the Lord abominates all these things. And,
because of these wicked ways, he will destroy them at your
arrival. {18:13} You shall be perfect and without blemish
with the Lord your God. {18:14} These nations, whose land
you shall possess, they listen to soothsayers and diviners. But
you have been otherwise instructed by the Lord your God.
{18:15} The Lord your God will raise up for you a
PROPHET from your nation and from your brothers, similar
to me. You shall listen to him, {18:16} just as you petitioned
of the Lord your God at Horeb, when the assembly was
gathered together, and you said: ‘Let me no longer hear the
voice of the Lord my God, and let me no longer see this very
great fire, lest I die.’ {18:17} And the Lord said to me: ‘They
have spoken all these things well. {18:18} I will raise up a
prophet for them, from the midst of their brothers, similar to
you. And I will place my words in his mouth, and he will
speak to them all the things that I will instruct him.
{18:19} But against anyone who is not willing to listen to his
words, which he will speak in my name, I will stand forth as
the avenger. {18:20} But if a prophet, having been corrupted
by arrogance, chooses to speak, in my name, things which I
did not instruct him to say, or to speak in the name of foreign
gods, he shall be put to death. {18:21} But if, in silent
thought, you respond: “How will I be able to recognize a
word which the Lord has not spoken?” {18:22} you shall
have this sign. If whatever that prophet predicts in the name
of the Lord does not happen, then the Lord has not spoken it.
Instead, the prophet has formed it through the swelling of his
own mind. And for this reason, you shall not fear him.’ ”


[Deuteronomy 19] {19:1} “When the Lord your God will
have destroyed the nations, whose land he will deliver to you,
and when you possess it and live in its cities and buildings,
{19:2} you shall separate for yourselves three cities in the
midst of the land, which the Lord will give to you as a
possession, {19:3} paving the road carefully. And you shall
divide the entire province of your land equally into three
parts, so that he who is forced to flee because of
manslaughter may have a place nearby to which he may be
able to escape. {19:4} This shall be the law of the killer who
flees, whose life is to be saved. Whoever strikes down his
neighbor unwillingly, and who has been proven to have had
no hatred against him yesterday and the day before,
{19:5} such that he had gone with him into the forest simply
to cut wood, and in cutting down the tree, the axe slipped
from his hand, or the iron slipped from the handle, and it
struck his friend and killed him: he shall flee to one of the
cities stated above, and he shall live. {19:6} Otherwise,
perhaps the near relative of him whose blood was shed,
impelled by his grief, might pursue and apprehend him,
unless the way is too long, and he might strike down the life
of him who is not guilty unto death, since he had
demonstrated that he had no prior hatred against him who
was slain. {19:7} For this reason, I instruct you to separate
three cities at equal distance from one another. {19:8} And
when the Lord your God will have enlarged your borders,
just as he swore to your fathers, and when he will have given
to you all the land that he has promised to them, {19:9} (but
this is only so if you will keep his commandments and do the
things which I instruct to you this day, so that you love the
Lord your God, and walk in his ways at all times) you shall
add for yourselves three other cities, and so you shall double
the number of the three cities stated above. {19:10} So may
innocent blood not be shed in the midst of the land which the
Lord your God will give you to possess, lest you be guilty of
blood. {19:11} But if anyone, having hatred for his neighbor,
will have lain in ambush for his life, and, rising up, will have
struck him, and he will have died, and if he will have fled to
one of the cities stated above, {19:12} the elders of his city
shall send, and they shall take him from the place of refuge,
and they shall deliver him into the hand of the relative of him
whose blood was shed, and he shall die. {19:13} You shall
not take pity on him, and so shall you take away the blood of
the innocent from Israel, so that it may be well with you.
{19:14} You shall not take up or move the landmark of your
neighbor, which those before you have placed, in your
possession that the Lord your God will give to you, in the
land you will receive to possess. {19:15} One witness shall
not stand against another, no matter what the sin or outrage
may be. For every word shall stand by the mouth of two or
three witnesses. {19:16} If a lying witness will have stood
against a man, accusing him of a transgression, {19:17} both
of those whose case it is shall stand before the Lord in the
sight of the priests and the judges who shall be in those days.
{19:18} And when, after a very diligent examination, they
will have found that the false witness had told a lie against his
brother, {19:19} they shall render to him just as he intended
to do to his brother. And so shall you take away the evil from
your midst. {19:20} Then the others, upon hearing this, will
be afraid, and they will by no means dare to do such things.
{19:21} You shall not take pity on him. Instead, you shall
require a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a
hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.”


[Deuteronomy 20] {20:1} “If you go out to battle against
your enemies, and you see horsemen and chariots, and that
the multitude of your adversary’s army is greater than your
own, you shall not fear them. For the Lord your God, who
led you away from the land of Egypt, is with you.
{20:2} Then, as the battle now draws near, the priest shall
stand before the front ranks, and he shall speak to the people
in this manner: {20:3} ‘Listen, O Israel! Today you engage in
a battle against your enemies. Do not let your heart be
overwhelmed with fear. Do not be apprehensive. Do not
yield. You should have no dread of them. {20:4} For the
Lord your God is in your midst, and he will contend against
your enemies on your behalf, so that he may rescue you from
peril.’ {20:5} Likewise, the officers shall proclaim,
throughout every company, in the hearing of the soldiers:
‘What man is there who has built a new house, and has not
dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest perhaps
he may die in the battle, and another man may dedicate it.
{20:6} What man is there who has planted a vineyard, and
has not yet caused it to be common, so that all may eat from
it? Let him go, and return to his house, lest perhaps he may
die in the battle, and another man may carry out his office.
{20:7} What man is there, who has betrothed a wife, and has
not taken her? Let him go, and return to his house, lest
perhaps he may die in battle, and another man may take her.’
{20:8} After these things have been declared, they shall add
the remainder, and shall say to the people: ‘What man is
there who is overwhelmed by fear and is fainthearted? Let
him go, and return to his house, lest he cause the hearts of his
brothers to fear, just as he himself has been thoroughly
stricken with fear.’ {20:9} And when the officers of the army
have become silent, and have completed their speech, each
one shall prepare his unit to wage war. {20:10} When, at any
time, you approach a city to fight against it, you shall first
offer peace to it. {20:11} If they receive it, and open the gates
to you, then all the people who are in it shall be saved, and
they shall serve you by paying tribute. {20:12} But if they are
not willing to enter into an agreement, and they begin to act
against you in warfare, then you shall besiege it. {20:13} And
when the Lord your God will have delivered it into your
hands, you shall strike down anyone who is in it, of the male
gender, with the edge of the sword, {20:14} but not the
women and young children, nor the cattle and the other
things that are within the city. And you shall divide all the
plunder to the soldiers, and you shall eat the spoils from your
enemies, which the Lord your God will give to you.
{20:15} So shall you do to all the cities which are at a great
distance from you, those which are not among the cities that
you shall receive as a possession. {20:16} But among those
cities which shall be given to you, you shall not permit
anyone at all to live. {20:17} Instead, you shall put them to
death with the edge of the sword, specifically: the Hittite and
the Amorite and the Canaanite, the Perizzite and the Hivite
and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded
you. {20:18} Otherwise, they may teach you to do all the
abominations which they have committed for their own gods.
And then you would sin against the Lord your God.
{20:19} When you will have besieged a city for a long time,
and you will have encircled it with fortifications, so that you
may fight against it, you shall not cut down trees from which
one is able to eat, neither shall you cause devastation with
axes to the surrounding region. For it is a tree, and not a man.
It is not able to increase the number of those who are fighting
against you. {20:20} But if there are any trees which are not
fruitful, but are wild, and if these are fit for other uses, then
cut them down, and make machines, until you have captured
the city that is contending against you.”


[Deuteronomy 21] {21:1} “When there will have been found
in the land, which the Lord your God will give to you, the
corpse of a man who has been killed, and it is not known
who is guilty of the murder, {21:2} your judges and those
greater by birth shall go out and measure, from the place of
the corpse, the distance to each of the surrounding cities.
{21:3} And in whichever one they perceive to be closer than
the others, the elders shall take a calf from the herd, one
which has not pulled with a yoke, nor tilled with a plow.
{21:4} And they shall lead it into a rough and stony valley,
one which has never been tilled or sown. And in that place,
they shall cut the neck of the calf. {21:5} And the priests the
sons of Levi shall approach, those whom the Lord your God
has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in his name, and
to decide every controversy by their word, and to judge
which things are clean and which are unclean. {21:6} And
those greater by birth of that city, nearest to the one who was
slain, shall go and shall wash their hands over the calf that
was killed in the valley. {21:7} And they shall say: ‘Our
hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.
{21:8} Be merciful to your people Israel, whom you have
redeemed, O Lord, and do not charge them with innocent
blood in the midst of your people Israel.’ And so the guilt of
the blood will be taken away from them. {21:9} Then you
will be free from the blood that was shed against the innocent,
when you will have done as the Lord has instructed you.
{21:10} If you have gone out to fight against your enemies,
and the Lord your God has delivered them into your hand,
and if, as you are leading away the captives, {21:11} you see
among the number of the captives a beautiful woman, and
you love her, and you are willing to have her as a wife:
{21:12} then you shall lead her into your house. And she
shall shave off her hair, and cut her nails short, {21:13} and
remove the garment in which she was captured. And she
shall sit in your house and weep for her father and mother,
for one month. And after that, you shall enter to her and
sleep with her, and she shall be your wife. {21:14} But if
afterwards she does not sit well in your mind, you shall set
her free. You cannot sell her for money, nor can you oppress
her by force. For you have humiliated her. {21:15} If a man
has two wives, one beloved and the other hated, and they
have produced children by him, and if the son of the hated
wife is the firstborn, {21:16} and if he wishes to divide his
substance among his sons: he cannot make the son of the
beloved wife the firstborn, and so prefer him before the son of
the hated wife. {21:17} Instead, he shall acknowledge the son
of the hated wife as the firstborn, and he shall give to him a
double portion of all that he has. For he is the first among his
children, and the rights of the firstborn are owed to him.
{21:18} If a man produces a disobedient and reckless son,
who will not listen to the orders of his father or mother, and,
having been corrected, shows contempt for obedience:
{21:19} they shall take him and lead him to the elders of the
city and to the gate of judgment. {21:20} And they shall say
to them: ‘This our son is reckless and disobedient. He shows
contempt when listening to our admonitions. He occupies
himself with carousing, and self-indulgence, and feasting.’
{21:21} Then the people of the city shall stone him to death.
And he shall die, so that you may take away the evil from
your midst. And so may all of Israel, upon hearing it, be very
afraid. {21:22} When a man will have sinned in a matter
which is punished by death, and, having been judged unto
death, he has been hanged on a gallows: {21:23} his corpse
shall not remain on the tree. Instead, he shall be buried on the
same day. For he who hangs from a tree has been cursed by
God, and you shall not defile your land, which the Lord your
God will give to you as a possession.”


[Deuteronomy 22] {22:1} “If you see your brother’s ox or
sheep wander astray, you shall not pass by. Instead, you shall
lead them back to your brother. {22:2} But if your brother is
not near, or you do not know him, you shall lead them to
your house, and they shall be with you until your brother
seeks them and receives them. {22:3} You shall act in a
similar manner with his donkey, and his clothing, and all the
belongings of your brother that have been lost. If you find it,
you shall not neglect it, as if it belonged to a stranger.
{22:4} If you see that your brother’s donkey or ox has fallen
along the way, you shall not disregard it. Instead, you shall
lift it up with him. {22:5} A woman shall not be clothed with
manly apparel, nor shall a man make use of feminine apparel.
For whoever does these things is abominable with God.
{22:6} If, as you are walking along the way, you find a bird’s
nest, in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is nurturing
the young or the eggs, you shall not take her with her young.
{22:7} Instead, you shall permit her to go, retaining the
young that you have caught, so that it may be well with you,
and you may live for a long time. {22:8} When you build a
new house, you shall make a wall around the roof. Otherwise,
someone may slip and fall down violently, and so blood
would be shed at your house, and you would be guilty.
{22:9} You shall not sow your vineyard with another seed,
lest both the seed that you have sown and what springs forth
from the vineyard be sanctified together. {22:10} You shall
not till with an ox and a donkey at the same time.
{22:11} You shall not wear a vestment which has been
woven from both wool and linen. {22:12} You shall make
strings along the hem, at the four corners of your cloak,
which covers you. {22:13} If a man takes a wife, and
afterwards he has hatred for her, {22:14} and so he seeks
opportunities to dismiss her, imputing a very wicked name to
her by saying, ‘I received this woman as a wife, and upon
entering to her, I found her not to be a virgin,’ {22:15} then
her father and mother shall take her, and they shall bring with
them the signs of her virginity, to the elders of the city who
are at the gate. {22:16} And the father shall say: ‘I gave my
daughter to this man as a wife. And because he hates her,
{22:17} he accuses her with a very wicked name, by saying:
“I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.” But behold,
these are the signs of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall
spread the clothing before the elders of the city. {22:18} And
the elders of that city shall apprehend that man and beat him.
{22:19} Moreover, they shall fine him one hundred shekels of
silver, which he will give to the father of the girl, because he
has committed slander, with a very wicked name, against a
virgin of Israel. And he shall have her as a wife, and he
cannot dismiss her throughout all the days of his life.
{22:20} But if what he has claimed is true and virginity is not
found in the girl, {22:21} then they shall throw her down,
outside the doors of her father’s house, and the men of that
city shall stone her to death, and she shall die. For she has
acted wickedly in Israel, in that she fornicated in her father’s
house. And so shall you take away the evil from your midst.
{22:22} If a man sleeps with the wife of another, then they
shall both die, that is, the adulterer and the adulteress. And so
shall you take away the evil from Israel. {22:23} If a man has
betrothed a girl who is a virgin, and if someone finds her in
the city and he lies with her, {22:24} then you shall lead them
both out to the gate of that city, and they shall be stoned to
death: the girl, because she did not cry out though she was in
the city; the man, because he has humiliated the wife of his
neighbor. And so shall you take away the evil from your
midst. {22:25} But if a man discovers, in the countryside, a
girl who has been betrothed, and, apprehending her, he lies
with her, then he alone shall die. {22:26} The girl shall suffer
nothing, nor is she guilty unto death. For just as a robber rises
up against his brother and slays his life, so also did the girl
suffer greatly. {22:27} She was alone in the field. She cried
out, and there was no one nearby, who might deliver her.
{22:28} If a man find a girl who is a virgin, who does not
have a betrothal, and, taking her, he lies with her, and the
matter is brought to judgment, {22:29} then he who slept
with her shall give to the father of the girl fifty shekels of
silver, and he shall have her as a wife, because he has
humiliated her. He cannot dismiss her, throughout all the
days of his life. {22:30} No man shall take his father’s wife,
nor remove her covering.”


[Deuteronomy 23] {23:1} “A eunuch, one whose testicles
have been debilitated or cut off, or whose penis has been cut
off, shall not enter into the church of the Lord. {23:2} The
offspring of a harlot, that is, one born of a prostitute, shall not
enter into the church of the Lord, until the tenth generation.
{23:3} The Ammonite and the Moabite, even after the tenth
generation, shall not enter into the church of the Lord forever,
{23:4} because they were not willing to meet you with bread
and water along the way, when you had departed from Egypt,
and because they hired against you Balaam, the son of Beor,
from Mesopotamia in Syria, in order to curse you. {23:5} But
the Lord your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, and
he turned his cursing into your blessing, because he loves you.
{23:6} You shall not make peace with them, nor shall you
seek their prosperity, throughout all the days of your life
forever. {23:7} You shall not abhor anyone from Idumea, for
he is your brother, nor the Egyptian, for you were a new
arrival in his land. {23:8} Those who have been born of them,
in the third generation, shall enter into the church of the Lord.
{23:9} When you have gone out to war against your enemies,
you shall keep yourself from everything that is evil. {23:10} If
there is a man among you who has been defiled by a dream
in the night, he shall depart from the camp. {23:11} And he
shall not return before the evening, after he has washed with
water, and then, after the sun sets, he shall return to the camp.
{23:12} You shall have a place beyond the camp to which
you may go for the necessities of nature, {23:13} carrying a
small shovel at your belt. And when you would sit down, you
shall dig around, and then, with the soil that was dug up, you
shall cover {23:14} that from which you were relieved. For
the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, in order
to rescue you, and to deliver your enemies to you. And so, let
your camp be holy, and let nothing filthy appear within it,
lest he abandon you. {23:15} You shall not deliver a servant
who has fled to you to his master. {23:16} He shall live with
you in a place that pleases him, and he shall rest in one of
your cities. You shall not grieve him. {23:17} There shall be
no prostitutes among the daughters of Israel, nor anyone
among the sons of Israel who visits a prostitute. {23:18} You
shall not offer money from a prostitute, nor the price of a dog,
in the house of the Lord your God, no matter what you may
have vowed. For both of these are an abomination with the
Lord your God. {23:19} You shall not lend money, or grain,
or anything else at all, to your brother at interest, {23:20} but
only to a foreigner. For you shall lend to your brother
whatever he needs without interest, so that the Lord your
God may bless you in all your works in the land, which you
shall enter so as to possess it. {23:21} When you have made a
vow to the Lord your God, you shall not be late in paying it.
For the Lord your God demands it. And if you delay, it shall
be imputed to you as a sin. {23:22} If you are not willing to
make a promise, then it shall be without sin. {23:23} But as
soon as it has departed from your lips, you shall observe and
do just as you have promised to the Lord your God and just
as you have spoken by your own free will and with your own
mouth. {23:24} Upon entering your neighbor’s vineyard, you
may eat as many grapes as you please. But you may not carry
any out with you. {23:25} If you enter into your friend’s
grain field, you may break off the ears, and rub them in your
hand, but you may not reap them with a sickle.”


[Deuteronomy 24] {24:1} “If a man takes a wife, and he has
her, and she does not find favor before his eyes because of
some vileness, then he shall write a bill of divorce, and he
shall give it to her hand, and he shall dismiss her from his
house. {24:2} And when, having departed, she has married
another, {24:3} and if he likewise hates her, and has given
her a bill of divorce, and has dismissed her from his house, or
if indeed he has died, {24:4} then the former husband cannot
take her back as a wife. For she has been polluted and has
become abominable in the sight of the Lord. Otherwise, you
may cause your land, which the Lord your God will deliver
to you as a possession, to sin. {24:5} When a man has
recently taken a wife, he shall not go out to war, nor shall any
public office be enjoined upon him. Instead, he shall be free
at home without guilt, so that for one year he may rejoice
with his wife. {24:6} You shall not accept an upper or lower
millstone as collateral. For then he will have placed his life
with you. {24:7} If a man has been caught soliciting his
brother among the sons of Israel, and selling him in order to
receive a price, then he shall be put to death. And so shall
you take away the evil from your midst. {24:8} Observe
diligently, lest you incur the wound of leprosy. But you shall
do whatever the priests of the Levitical stock shall teach you
to do, according to what I have instructed them. And you
shall fulfill it carefully. {24:9} Remember what the Lord your
God did to Miriam, along the way, as you were departing
from Egypt. {24:10} When you require from your neighbor
anything that he owes to you, you shall not enter into his
house in order to take away the collateral. {24:11} Instead,
you shall stand outside, and he will carry out to you what he
has. {24:12} But if he is poor, then the collateral shall not
remain with you through the night. {24:13} Instead, you
shall return it to him promptly, before the setting of the sun,
so that, sleeping in his own garment, he may bless you, and
you may have justice in the presence of the Lord your God.
{24:14} You shall not refuse the pay of the indigent and the
poor, whether he is your brother, or he is a new arrival who
dwells with you in the land and is within your gates.
{24:15} Instead, you shall pay him the price of his labor on
the same day, before the setting of the sun. For he is poor,
and with it he sustains his life. Otherwise, he may cry out
against you to the Lord, and it would be charged to you as a
sin. {24:16} The fathers shall not be put to death on behalf of
the sons, nor the sons on behalf of the fathers, but each one
shall die for his own sin. {24:17} You shall not pervert the
judgment of the new arrival or the orphan, nor shall you take
away the widow’s garment as collateral. {24:18} Remember
that you served in Egypt, and that the Lord your God rescued
you from there. Therefore, I am instructing you to act in this
way. {24:19} When you have reaped the grain in your field,
and, having forgotten, you leave behind a sheaf, you shall not
return to take it away. Instead, you shall permit the new
arrival, and the orphan, and the widow to take it away, so
that the Lord your God may bless you in all the works of
your hands. {24:20} If you have gathered the fruit of your
olive trees, you shall not return in order to gather whatever
may remain on the trees. Instead, you shall leave it behind for
the new arrival, the orphan, and the widow. {24:21} If you
harvest the vintage of your vineyard, you shall not gather the
remaining clusters. Instead, they shall fall to the use of the
stranger, the orphan, and the widow. {24:22} Remember that
you also served in Egypt, and so, for this reason, I am
instructing you to act in this way.”


[Deuteronomy 25] {25:1} “If there is a case between persons,
and they apply to the judges, they shall give the palm of
justice to the one whom they perceive to be just, and they
shall condemn of impiety the one who is impious. {25:2} But
if they see that the one who has sinned is worthy of stripes,
they shall prostrate him and cause him to be beaten before
them. According to the measure of the sin, so shall the
measure of the stripes be. {25:3} Even so, these shall not
exceed the number of forty. Otherwise, your brother may
depart, having been wounded shamefully before your eyes.
{25:4} You shall not muzzle an ox as it is treading out your
crops in the field. {25:5} When brothers are living together,
and one of them dies without children, the wife of the
deceased shall not marry another. Instead, his brother shall
take her, and he shall raise up offspring for his brother.
{25:6} And the first son from her, he shall call by his
brother’s name, so that his name will not be abolished from
Israel. {25:7} But if he is not willing to take his brother’s wife,
who by law must go to him, the woman shall go to the gate
of the city, and she shall call upon those greater by birth, and
she shall say: ‘The brother of my husband is not willing to
raise up his brother’s name in Israel; nor will he join with
me.’ {25:8} And immediately, they shall summon him to be
sent, and they shall question him. If he responds, ‘I am not
willing to accept her as a wife,’ {25:9} then the woman shall
approach him in the sight of the elders, and she shall remove
his shoe from his foot, and she shall spit in his face, and she
shall say: ‘So shall it be done to the man who was not willing
to build up his brother’s house.’ {25:10} And his name shall
be called in Israel: The House of the Unshod. {25:11} If two
men have a conflict between themselves, and one begins to
do violence to the other, and if the other’s wife, wanting to
rescue her husband from the hand of the stronger one,
extends her hand and grasps him by his private parts,
{25:12} then you shall cut off her hand. Neither shall you
weep over her with any mercy. {25:13} You shall not have
differing weights, greater and lesser, in your bag.
{25:14} Neither shall there be in your house a greater and a
lesser measure. {25:15} You shall have a just and a true
weight, and your measure shall be equal and true, so that you
may live for a long time upon the land, which the Lord your
God will give to you. {25:16} For the Lord your God
abominates him who does these things, and he loathes all
injustice. {25:17} Remember what Amalek did to you, along
the way, when you were departing from Egypt: {25:18} how
he met you and cut down the stragglers of the troops, who
were sitting down, exhausted, when you were consumed by
hunger and hardship, and how he did not fear God.
{25:19} Therefore, when the Lord your God will give you
rest, and you will have subdued all the surrounding nations,
in the land which he has promised to you, you shall delete his
name from under heaven. Take care not to forget this.”


[Deuteronomy 26] {26:1} “And when you will have entered
into the land which the Lord your God will give to you to
possess, and when you will have obtained it and are living
within it: {26:2} you shall take the first of all your crops, and
place them in a basket, and you shall travel to the place
which the Lord your God will choose, so that his name may
be invoked there. {26:3} And you shall approach the priest
who will be in those days, and you shall say to him: ‘I profess
this day, before the Lord your God, that I have entered into
the land about which he swore to our fathers that he would
give it to us.’ {26:4} And the priest, taking up the basket from
your hand, shall place it before the altar of the Lord your
God. {26:5} And you shall say, in the sight of the Lord your
God: ‘The Syrian pursued my father, who descended into
Egypt, and he sojourned there in a very small number, and he
increased into a great and strong nation and into an
innumerable multitude. {26:6} And the Egyptians afflicted us,
and they persecuted us, imposing upon us the most grievous
burdens. {26:7} And we cried out to the Lord, the God of our
fathers. He heard us, and he looked with favor upon our
humiliation, and hardship, and distress. {26:8} And he led us
away from Egypt, with a strong hand and an outstretched
arm, with a mighty terror, with signs and wonders.
{26:9} And he led us into this place, and he delivered to us
the land flowing with milk and honey. {26:10} And because
of this, I now offer the first fruits of the land which the Lord
has given to me.’ And you shall leave them in the sight of the
Lord your God, and you shall adore the Lord your God.
{26:11} And you shall feast on all the good things which the
Lord your God will give to you and to your house: you, and
the Levite, and the new arrival who is with you.
{26:12} When you will have completed the tithing of all your
crops, in the third year of tithes, you shall give it to the Levite,
and to the new arrival, and to the orphan, and to the widow,
so that they may eat within your gates and be satisfied.
{26:13} And you shall say, in the sight of the Lord your God:
‘T have taken what was sanctified from my house, and I have
given it to the Levite, and to the new arrival, and to the
orphan and the widow, just as you have commanded me. I
have not transgressed your commandments, nor have I
forgotten your precepts. {26:14} I have not eaten from these
things in my grief, nor have I separated them due to any kind
of uncleanness, nor have I expended any of these things in
funerals. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and I
have done all things just as you have instructed me.
{26:15} Look with favor from your sanctuary and from your
lofty habitation amid the heavens, and bless your people
Israel and the land which you have given to us, just as you
swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’
{26:16} Today the Lord your God has instructed you to carry
out these commandments and judgments, and to keep and
fulfill them, with all your heart and with all your soul.
{26:17} Today, you have chosen the Lord to be your God, so
that you may walk in his ways, and keep his ceremonies and
commandments and judgments, and obey his command.
{26:18} Today, the Lord has chosen you, so that you may be
his particular people, just as he has spoken to you, and so that
you may keep all his precepts, {26:19} and so that he may
cause you to be more exalted than all the nations which he
has created, for the sake of his own praise and name and
glory, in order that you may be a holy people for the Lord
your God, just as he has spoken.”


[Deuteronomy 27] {27:1} Then Moses and the elders of
Israel instructed the people, saying: “Keep each
commandment that I instruct to you this day. {27:2} And
when you have crossed over the Jordan, into the land which
the Lord your God will give to you, you shall erect immense
stones, and you shall coat them with plaster, {27:3} so that
you may be able to write upon them all the words of this law,
when you have crossed the Jordan so as to enter into the land
which the Lord your God will give to you, a land flowing
with milk and honey, just as he swore to your fathers.
{27:4} Therefore, when you have crossed over the Jordan,
erect the stones, just as I instruct you to do this day, on
Mount Ebal. And you shall coat them with plaster,
{27:5} and you shall build, in that place, an altar to the Lord
your God out of stones which have not been touched by iron,
{27:6} out of stones which have not been hewn or polished.
And you shall offer holocausts on it to the Lord your God.
{27:7} And you shall immolate peace victims. And you shall
eat and feast in that place, in the sight of the Lord your God.
{27:8} And you shall write upon the stones all the words of
this law, plainly and clearly.” {27:9} And Moses and the
priests of Levitical stock said to all of Israel: “Attend and
listen, O Israel! Today you have become the people of the
Lord your God. {27:10} You shall listen to his voice, and
you shall do the commandments and justices, which I am
entrusting to you.” {27:11} And Moses instructed the people
in that day, saying: {27:12} “These shall stand upon Mount
Gerizim, as a blessing to the people, when you will have
crossed the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph,
and Benjamin. {27:13} And in the opposite region, there
shall stand upon Mount Ebal, as a curse: Reuben, Gad, and
Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. {27:14} And the
Levites shall pronounce and declare to all the men of Israel,
with an exalted voice: {27:15} Cursed be the man who makes
a graven or molten idol, an abomination to the Lord, a work
of the hands of its maker, and who puts it in a secret place.
And all the people shall respond by saying: Amen.
{27:16} Cursed be he who does not honor his father and
mother. And all the people shall say: Amen. {27:17} Cursed
be he who removes his neighbor’s landmarks. And all the
people shall say: Amen. {27:18} Cursed be he who causes the
blind to go astray on a journey. And all the people shall say:
Amen. {27:19} Cursed be he who subverts the judgment of
the new arrival, the orphan, or the widow. And all the people
shall say: Amen. {27:20} Cursed be he who lies with his
father’s wife, and so exposes the covering of his bed. And all
the people shall say: Amen. {27:21} Cursed be he who lies
with any beast. And all the people shall say: Amen.
{27:22} Cursed be he who lies with his sister, the daughter of
his father, or of his mother. And all the people shall say:
Amen. {27:23} Cursed be he who lies with his mother-in-law.
And all the people shall say: Amen. {27:24} Cursed be he
who secretly strikes down his neighbor. And all the people
shall say: Amen. {27:25} Cursed be he who accepts gifts in
order to strike down the life of innocent blood. And all the
people shall say: Amen. {27:26} Cursed be he who does not
remain in the words of this law, and does not carry them out
in deed. And all the people shall say: Amen.”


[Deuteronomy 28] {28:1} “So then, if you will listen to the
voice of the Lord your God, so as to keep and do all of his
commandments, which I instruct to you this day, the Lord
your God will cause you to be more exalted than all the
nations which exist upon the earth. {28:2} And all these
blessings shall come to you and take hold of you, but only if
you listen to his precepts. {28:3} Blessed shall you be in the
city, and blessed in the field. {28:4} Blessed shall be the fruit
of your loins, and the fruit of your land, and the fruit of your
cattle, the droves of your herds, and the folds of your sheep.
{28:5} Blessed shall be your barns, and blessed your
storehouses. {28:6} Blessed shall you be entering and
departing. {28:7} The Lord will grant that your enemies, who
rise up against you, will fall down in your sight. They will
come against you by one way, and they will flee from your
face by seven ways. {28:8} The Lord will send forth a
blessing upon your cellars, and upon all the works of your
hands. And he will bless you in the land that you shall
receive. {28:9} The Lord will raise you up as a holy people
for himself, just as he swore to you, if you will keep the
commandments of the Lord your God, and walk in his ways.
{28:10} And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the
name of the Lord has been invoked over you, and they shall
fear you. {28:11} The Lord will cause you be abundant in
every good thing: in the fruit of your womb, and in the fruit
of your cattle, and in the fruit of your land, which the Lord
swore to your fathers that he would give to you. {28:12} The
Lord will open his excellent treasury, the heavens, so that it
may distribute rain in due time. And he will bless all the
works of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations,
but you yourself will borrow nothing from anyone.
{28:13} And the Lord will appoint you as the head, and not
as the tail. And you shall be always above, and not beneath.
But only if you will listen to the commandments of the Lord
your God, which I entrust to you this day, and will keep and
do them, {28:14} and will not turn aside from them, neither
to the right, nor to the left, nor follow strange gods, nor
worship them. {28:15} But if you are not willing to listen to
the voice of the Lord your God, so as to keep and do all his
commandments and ceremonies, which I instruct to you this
day, all these curses shall come to you, and take hold of you.
{28:16} Cursed shall you be in the city, cursed in the field.
{28:17} Cursed shall be your barn, and cursed your
storehouses. {28:18} Cursed shall be the fruit of your loins,
and the fruit of your land, the herds of your oxen, and the
flocks of your sheep. {28:19} Cursed shall you be entering,
and cursed departing. {28:20} The Lord will send famine and
hunger upon you, and a rebuke upon all the works that you
do, until he quickly crushes and perishes you, because of your
very wicked innovations, by which you have forsaken me.
{28:21} May the Lord join a pestilence to you, until he
consumes you from the land, which you shall enter so as to
possess. {28:22} May the Lord strike you with destitution,
with fever and cold, with burning and heat, and with polluted
air and rot, and may he pursue you until you perish.
{28:23} May the heavens which are above you be of brass,
and may the ground upon which you tread be of iron.
{28:24} May the Lord give you dust instead of rain upon
your land, and may ashes descend from heaven over you,
until you have been wiped away. {28:25} May the Lord hand
you over to fall before your enemies. May you go forth
against them by one way, and flee by seven ways, and may
you be scattered across all the kingdoms of the earth.
{28:26} And may your carcass be food for all the flying
things of the air and the wild beasts of the land, and may
there be no one to drive them away. {28:27} May the Lord
strike you with the ulcer of Egypt, and may he strike the part
of your body, through which the dung goes out, with disease
as well as itch, so much so that you are unable to be cured.
{28:28} May the Lord strike you with frenzy and blindness
and a madness of the mind. {28:29} And may you grope at
midday, just as a blind man is accustomed to grope in
darkness, and may your paths not be straight. And at all
times may you suffer slander and be oppressed with violence,
and may you have no one who may free you. {28:30} May
you take a wife, though another sleeps with her. May you
build a house, but not live within it. May you plant a
vineyard, and not gather its vintage. {28:31} May your ox be
immolated before you, though you do not eat from it. May
your donkey be seized in your sight, and not restored to you.
May your sheep be given to your enemies, and may there be
no one who may help you. {28:32} May your sons and your
daughters be handed over to another people, as your eyes
watch and languish at the sight of them throughout the day,
and may there be no strength in your hand. {28:33} May a
people you do not know eat the fruits of your land and of all
your labors. And may you continually suffer from slander
and oppression every day. {28:34} And may you be stupefied
at the terror of the things your eyes will see. {28:35} May the
Lord strike you with a very grievous ulcer in the knees and in
the legs, and may you be unable to attain health, from the
sole of the foot to the top of the head. {28:36} May the Lord
lead you and your king, whom you will have appointed over
yourself, into a nation which you and your fathers have not
known. And there you will serve foreign gods, of wood and
of stone. {28:37} And you will become nothing but a proverb
and a fable to all the peoples to whom the Lord will lead you.
{28:38} You will sow much seed upon the ground, but you
will harvest little. For the locusts will devour everything.
{28:39} You will dig and plant a vineyard, but you will not
drink the wine, nor gather anything at all from it. For it will
be devastated by worms. {28:40} You will have olive trees in
all your borders, but you will not be anointed with the oil.
For the olives will fall off and perish. {28:41} You will
conceive sons and daughters, and you will not enjoy them.
For they will be led into captivity. {28:42} Rot will consume
all the trees, as well as the fruits of your land. {28:43} The
new arrival who lives with you in the land will ascend over
you, and be higher. But you will descend, and be lower.
{28:44} He will lend to you, and you will not lend to him. He
will be as the head, and you will be as the tail. {28:45} And
all these curses shall come to you, and shall pursue you, and
shall take hold of you, until you pass away, because you
would not listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and you
would not serve his commandments and ceremonies, which
he has instructed to you. {28:46} And there will be the signs
and portents with you, and with your offspring, forever.
{28:47} Because you did not serve the Lord your God, with
gladness and a joyful heart, over the abundance of all things.
{28:48} You will serve your enemy, whom the Lord will send
to you, in hunger and thirst and nakedness, and in destitution
of all things. And he will place an iron yoke upon your neck,
until he has crushed you. {28:49} The Lord will lead over
you a nation from far away, even from the furthest parts of
the earth, like an eagle flying with great force, whose
language you are not able to understand: {28:50} a very
insolent nation, which will show no deference to elders, nor
take pity on little ones. {28:51} And he will devour the fruit
of your cattle, and the fruits of your land, until you have
passed away, without leaving behind you wheat, or wine, or
oil, or herds of oxen, or flocks of sheep: until he utterly
destroys you. {28:52} And he will crush you in all your cities.
And your strong and lofty walls, in which you trusted, will be
destroyed throughout all your land. You will be besieged
within your gates throughout all your land, which the Lord
your God will give to you. {28:53} And you will eat the fruit
of your womb, and the flesh of your sons and of your
daughters, which the Lord your God will give to you, due to
the anguish and devastation with which your enemy will
oppress you. {28:54} The man who is pampered and very
self-indulgent among you will vie with his own brother, and
with the wife who lies at his bosom, {28:55} lest he give to
them from the flesh of his sons, which he will eat. For he has
nothing else due to the siege and the destitution, with which
your enemies will devastate you within all your gates.
{28:56} The tender and pampered woman, who would not
walk upon the soil, nor step firmly with her foot due to her
very great softness and tenderness, will vie with her husband,
who lies at her bosom, over the flesh of son and of daughter,
{28:57} and over the filth of the afterbirth, which goes forth
from between her thighs, and over the children who are born
in the same hour. For they will eat them secretly, due to the
scarcity of all things during the siege and the devastation,
with which your enemy will oppress you within your gates.
{28:58} If you will not keep and do all the words of this law,
which have been written in this volume, and fear his glorious
and terrible name, that is, the Lord your God, {28:59} then
the Lord will increase your plagues, and the plagues of your
offspring, plagues great and long-lasting, infirmities very
grievous and continuous. {28:60} And he will turn back upon
you all the afflictions of Egypt, which you fear, and these will
cling to you. {28:61} In addition, the Lord will lead over you
all the diseases and plagues that are not written in the volume
of this law, until he crushes you. {28:62} And you will
remain few in number, though you were before like the stars
of heaven in multitude, because you would not listen to the
voice of the Lord your God. {28:63} And just as before,
when the Lord rejoiced over you, doing good for you and
multiplying you, so shall he rejoice, scattering and
overturning you, so as to take you away from the land, which
you shall enter in order to possess. {28:64} The Lord will
disperse you among all the peoples, from the heights of the
earth to its furthest limits. And there you will serve foreign
gods of wood and of stone, which you and your fathers did
not know. {28:65} Similarly, you will not have tranquility,
even within those nations, nor will there be any rest for the
steps of your feet. For the Lord will give to you in that place a
fearful heart, and failing eyes, and a life consumed with
grieving. {28:66} And your life will be as if it were hanging
before you. You will be afraid night and day, and you will
not have confidence in your own life. {28:67} In the morning
you will say, ‘Who will grant evening to me?’ and at evening,
‘Who will grant morning to me?’ because of the dread of your
heart, with which you will be terrified, and because of those
things that you will see with your eyes. {28:68} The Lord will
lead you back into Egypt with a fleet of ships, along the way,
about which he said to you that you would not see it again.
In that place, you will be put up for sale as men and women
servants to your enemies, but there will be no one willing to
buy you.”


[Deuteronomy 29] {29:1} These are the words of the
covenant which the Lord instructed Moses to form with the
sons of Israel in the land of Moab, beside that covenant
which he struck with them at Horeb. {29:2} And Moses
called all of Israel, and he said to them: “You have seen all
the things that the Lord has done in your sight in the land of
Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to his entire
land: {29:3} the great trials, which your eyes have seen, those
immense signs and wonders. {29:4} But the Lord has not
given you an understanding heart, and seeing eyes, and ears
that are able to hear, even to this present day. {29:5} He led
you for forty years through the desert. Your garments have
not been worn out, nor have the shoes on your feet been
consumed by age. {29:6} You did not eat bread, nor did you
drink wine or liquor, so that you would know that I am the
Lord your God. {29:7} And you arrived at this place. And
Sihon, the king of Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan,
went out to meet us in battle. And we struck them down.
{29:8} And we took their land and delivered it as a
possession to Ruben and to Gad, and to half of the tribe of
Manasseh. {29:9} Therefore, keep the words of this covenant,
and fulfill them, so that you may understand all that you are
doing. {29:10} Today, you all stand in the sight of the Lord
your God: your leaders, and tribes, and those greater by birth,
and teachers, all the people of Israel, {29:11} your children
and wives, and the new arrival who dwells with you in the
camp, aside from those who cut wood, and those who bring
water, {29:12} so that you may cross into the covenant of the
Lord your God, and into the oath which the Lord your God
strikes with you today. {29:13} So shall he raise you up as a
people to himself, and so shall he be your God, just as he has
spoken to you, and just as he swore to your fathers: Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. {29:14} And I am not forming this
covenant and confirm these oaths with you alone,
{29:15} but with all those who are present as well as those
who are absent. {29:16} For you know how we lived in the
land of Egypt, and how we passed through the midst of
nations. And when passing through them, {29:17} you saw
their abominations and filth, that is, their idols of wood and
of stone, of silver and of gold, which they worshipped,
{29:18} so that there would not be among you man or
woman, family or tribe, whose heart has been turned away
this day from the Lord our God, so as to go and serve the
gods of those nations. For then there would be among you a
root springing forth gall and bitterness. {29:19} And if he
were to hear the words of this oath, he would bless himself in
his own heart saying: ‘There will be peace for me, and I will
walk in the depravity of my heart.’ And so, the one who is
inebriated would consume the one who is thirsty. {29:20} But
the Lord would not ignore him. Instead, at that time, his fury
and zealousness would be very greatly enflamed against that
man, and all the curses which have been written in this
volume would settle upon him. And the Lord would abolish
his name from under heaven, {29:21} and consume him unto
perdition out of all the tribes of Israel, according to the curses
which are contained in the book of this law and in the
covenant. {29:22} And the subsequent generation would
speak out, along with the sons who will be born afterward.
And the sojourners, who will arrive from far away, will see
the plagues of that land and the infirmities with which the
Lord will have afflicted it, {29:23} having burned it with
sulphur and molten salt, so that it can no longer be sown.
And certainly no greenery would spring up, as in the example
of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and
Zeboiim, which the Lord overturned with his wrath and fury.
{29:24} And so, all the nations would say: ‘Why has the
Lord acted this way toward this land? What is this immense
wrath of his fury?’ {29:25} And they will respond: ‘Because
they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, which he formed
with their fathers, when he led them away from the land of
Egypt. {29:26} And they have served foreign gods, and
adored them, though they did not know them, and though
they had not been allotted to them. {29:27} For this reason,
the fury of the Lord was enraged against this land, so as to
lead over it all the curses which have been written in this
volume. {29:28} And he has cast them out of their own land,
with anger and fury, and with a very great indignation, and
he has thrown them into a strange land, just as has been
proven this day.’ {29:29} These hidden things of the Lord our
God have been revealed to us and to our sons in perpetuity,
so that we may accomplish all the words of this law.”


[Deuteronomy 30] {30:1} “Now when all these things will
have fallen over you, the blessing or the curse that I have set
forth in your sight, and you will have been led to repentance
in your heart among all the nations to which the Lord your
God will have dispersed you, {30:2} and when you will have
returned to him, so as to obey his commandments, just as I
have instructed you this day, with your sons, with your whole
heart and with your whole soul, {30:3} then the Lord your
God will lead you away from your captivity, and he will take
pity on you, and he will gather you again from all the nations
to which he had dispersed you before. {30:4} Even if you will
have been scattered as far as the poles of the heavens, the
Lord your God will retrieve you from there. {30:5} And he
will take you up and lead you into the land which your
fathers had possessed, and you shall obtain it. And in blessing
you, he will make you greater in number than your fathers
ever were. {30:6} The Lord your God will circumcise your
heart, and the heart of your offspring, so that you may love
the Lord your God with your entire heart and with your
entire soul, so that you may be able to live. {30:7} And he
will turn all these curses upon your enemies, and upon those
who hate and persecute you. {30:8} But you shall return, and
you shall listen to the voice of the Lord your God. And you
shall carry out all the commandments which I am entrusting
to you this day. {30:9} And the Lord your God will cause
you to abound in all the works of your hands, in the progeny
of your womb, and in the fruit of your cattle, in the fertility of
your land, and with an abundance of all things. For the Lord
will return, so that he may rejoice over you in all good things,
just as he rejoiced in your fathers: {30:10} but only if you will
listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and keep his
precepts and ceremonies, which have been written in this law,
and only if you return to the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul. {30:11} This commandment,
which I entrust to you today, is not high above you, nor has it
been placed far away. {30:12} Nor is it in heaven, so that you
would be able to say, ‘Which of us can ascend to heaven, so
as to carry it back to us, and so that we may hear it and fulfill
it in deed?’ {30:13} Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you
would excuse yourself by saying, ‘Which of us is able to cross
the sea, and to carry it back to us, so that we may be able to
hear and to do what has been instructed?’ {30:14} Instead,
the word is near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, so
that you may do it. {30:15} Consider what I have set forth in
your sight this day, life and good, or, on the opposite side,
death and evil, {30:16} so that you may love the Lord your
God, and walk in his ways, and keep his commandments and
ceremonies and judgments, and so that you may live, and he
may multiply you and bless you in the land, which you shall
enter in order to possess. {30:17} But if your heart will have
been turned aside, so that you are not willing to listen, and,
having been deceived by error, you adore strange gods and
serve them, {30:18} then I predict to you this day that you
will perish, and you will remain for only a short time in the
land, for which you shall cross the Jordan, and which you
shall enter in order to possess. {30:19} I call heaven and earth
as witnesses this day, that I have set before you life and death,
blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life, so that both you
and your offspring may live, {30:20} and so that you may
love the Lord your God, and obey his voice, and cling to him,
(for he is your life and the length of your days) and so that
you may live in the land, about which the Lord swore to your
fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give it to
them.”


[Deuteronomy 31] {31:1} And so, Moses went out, and he
spoke all these words to all of Israel. {31:2} And he said to
them: “Today, I am one hundred and twenty years old. Iam
no longer able to go out and return, especially since the Lord
has also said to me, ‘You shall not cross this Jordan.’
{31:3} Therefore, the Lord your God will go across before
you. He himself will abolish all these nations in your sight,
and you shall possess them. And this man Joshua shall go
across before you, just as the Lord has spoken. {31:4} And
the Lord will do to them just as he did to Sihon and Og, the
kings of the Amorites, and to their land, and he will wipe
them away. {31:5} Therefore, when the Lord will have
delivered these to you also, you shall act similarly toward
them, just as I have instructed you. {31:6} Act manfully and
be strengthened. Do not be afraid, and do not dread at the
sight of them. For the Lord your God himself is your
commander, and he will neither dismiss nor abandon you.”
{31:7} And Moses called Joshua, and, before all of Israel, he
said to him: ‘Be strong and valiant. For you shall lead this
people into the land which the Lord swore that he would give
to their fathers, and you shall divide it by lot. {31:8} And the
Lord, who is your commander, will himself be with you. He
will neither renounce nor abandon you. Do not be afraid, and
do not dread.” {31:9} And so, Moses wrote this law, and he
handed it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark
of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.
{31:10} And he instructed them, saying: “After seven years,
in the year of remission, at the solemnity of the Feast of
Tabernacles, {31:11} when all of Israel has convened in order
to appear in the sight of the Lord your God, in the place
which the Lord will choose, you shall read the words of this
law before all of Israel, in their hearing. {31:12} And when
the people have gathered together, men as well as women
and little children, and the new arrivals who are within your
gates, they shall listen so that they may learn, and may fear
the Lord your God, and may keep and fulfill all the words of
this law, {31:13} and also so that their sons, who are now
ignorant, may be able to listen, and may fear the Lord their
God all the days that they live in the land to which you will
travel, crossing the Jordan in order to obtain it.” {31:14} And
the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, the days of your death draw
near. Call Joshua, and stand in the tabernacle of the
testimony, so that I may instruct him.” Therefore, Moses and
Joshua went and stood in the tabernacle of the testimony.
{31:15} And the Lord appeared there, in a pillar of cloud,
which stood at the entrance of the tabernacle. {31:16} And
the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, you shall sleep with your
fathers, and this people will rise up and will fornicate after
foreign gods, in the land which they will enter so that they
may live in it. In that place, they will forsake me, and they
will make void the covenant that I have formed with them.
{31:17} And my fury will be enraged against them in that day.
And I will abandon them, and I will hide my face from them,
and they shall be devoured. Every evil and affliction will find
them, so much so that they will say in that day: ‘Truly, it is
because God is not with me that these evils have found me.’
{31:18} But I will hide myself, and I will conceal my face in
that day, because of all the evils that they have done, because
they have followed strange gods. {31:19} And so, write this
canticle now, and teach it to the sons of Israel, so that they
may retain it in memory, and may chant it by mouth, and so
that this verse may be a testimony to me among the sons of
Israel. {31:20} For I will lead them into the land, about
which I swore to their fathers, a land flowing with milk and
honey. And when they have eaten, and have been satiated
and fattened, they will turn aside to foreign gods, and they
will serve them. And they will disparage me, and they will
nullify my covenant. {31:21} And after many evils and
afflictions have overwhelmed them, this canticle will answer
them as a testimony; it shall never pass into oblivion, away
from the mouths of their offspring. For I know their thoughts
and what they are about to do today, even before I lead them
into the land which I have promised to them.”
{31:22} Therefore, Moses wrote the canticle, and he taught it
to the sons of Israel. {31:23} And the Lord instructed Joshua,
the son of Nun, and he said: “Be strong and valiant. For you
shall lead the sons of Israel into the land which I have
promised, and I will be with you.” {31:24} Therefore, after
Moses had written the words of this law in a volume, and
had finished it, {31:25} he instructed the Levites, who carried
the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying: {31:26} “Take
this book, and place it inside the ark of the covenant of the
Lord your God, so that it may be there as a testimony against
you. {31:27} For I know your contentiousness and your very
stiff neck. Even while I am still living and entering with you,
you have always acted with contention against the Lord.
How much more so when I will be dead? {31:28} Gather to
me all those greater by birth throughout your tribes, as well as
your teachers, and I will speak these words in their hearing,
and I will call heaven and earth as witnesses against them.
{31:29} For I know that, after my death, you will act with
iniquity, and you will quickly depart from the way that I have
instructed to you. And so, evils will meet you in the end time,
when you will have done evil in the sight of the Lord so as to
provoke him through the works of your hands.”
{31:30} Thus did Moses speak, in the hearing of the entire
assembly of Israel, the words of this canticle, and he
completed it to its very end.


[Deuteronomy 32] {32:1} “Listen, O heavens, to what I am
saying. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth. {32:2} Let
my doctrine accumulate like the rain. Let my eloquence form
like the dew, like a mist upon the plants, and like water
droplets upon the grass. {32:3} For I will invoke the name of
the Lord. Acknowledge the magnificence of our God!
{32:4} The works of God are perfect, and all his ways are
judgments. God is faithful and without any iniquity. He is
just and upright. {32:5} They have sinned against him, and in
their filth they are not his sons. They are a depraved and
perverse generation. {32:6} How can this be the return you
would offer to the Lord, O foolish and senseless people? Is he
himself not your Father, who has possessed you, and made
you, and created you? {32:7} Remember the days of antiquity.
Consider each generation. Question your father, and he will
declare it to you. Question your elders, and they will tell it to
you. {32:8} When the Most High divided the nations, when
he separated the sons of Adam, he appointed the limits of the
peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.
{32:9} But the Lord’s portion is his people: Jacob, the lot of
his inheritance. {32:10} He discovered him in a desert land,
in a place of horror and a vast wilderness. He led him around
and taught him, and he guarded him like the pupil of his eye,
{32:11} just as an eagle encourages its young to fly, and,
flying above them, stretches out its wings, and takes them up,
and carries them on its shoulders. {32:12} The Lord alone
was his leader, and there was no strange god with him.
{32:13} He stood him upon an exalted land, so that he might
eat the fruits of the fields, so that he might eat honey from the
rock, and oil from the hardest stone, {32:14} butter from the
herd, and milk from the sheep, with fat from the lambs, and
with rams and goats from the sons of Bashan, with the kernel
of the wheat, and so that he might drink the undiluted blood
of the grape. {32:15} The beloved grew fat, and he kicked.
Having grown fat and thick and wide, he abandoned God,
his Maker, and he withdrew from God, his Savior.
{32:16} They provoked him with strange gods, and they
stirred him to anger by their abominations. {32:17} They
immolated to demons and not to God, to gods whom they
did not know, who were new and recent arrivals, whom their
fathers did not worship. {32:18} You have forsaken the God
who conceived you, and you have forgotten the Lord who
created you. {32:19} The Lord saw, and he was stirred to
anger. For his own sons and daughters provoked him.
{32:20} And he said: ‘I will hide my face from them, and I
will consider their very end. For this is a perverse generation,
and they are unfaithful sons. {32:21} They have provoked me
with that which was not God, and they have angered me with
their emptiness. And so, I will provoke them with that which
is not a people, and I will anger them with a foolish nation.
{32:22} A fire has been kindled in my fury, and it will burn
even to the deepest Hell, and it will devour the earth with its
produce, and it will burn the foundations of the mountains.
{32:23} I will heap evils upon them, and I will expend my
arrows among them. {32:24} They will be consumed by
famine, and birds with a very bitter bite will devour them. I
will send forth the teeth of wild beasts among them, along
with the fury of creatures that scurry across the ground, and
of serpents. {32:25} Outside, the sword will devastate them;
and inside, there will be dread, as much for the young man as
for the maiden, and as much for the newborn as for the old
man. {32:26} I said: Where are they? I will cause their
memory to cease from among men. {32:27} But because of
the wrath of the enemies, I have delayed it. Otherwise,
perhaps their enemies would be arrogant and would say:
“Our exalted hand, and not the Lord, has done all these
things.” {32:28} They are a nation without counsel and
without prudence. {32:29} I wish that they would be wise
and understanding, and would provide for the very end.’
{32:30} How is it that one pursues a thousand, and two
chases ten thousand? Is it not because their God has sold
them, and because the Lord has enclosed them? {32:31} For
our God is not like their gods. And our enemies are judges.
{32:32} Their vines are of the vines of Sodom, but from the
suburbs of Gomorrah. Their grapes are the grapes of gall, and
their grape clusters are most bitter. {32:33} Their wine is the
gall of snakes, and it is the incurable venom of asps.
{32:34} ‘Have not these things been stored up with me, and
sealed up amid my treasures? {32:35} Vengeance is mine,
and I will repay them in due time, so that their foot may slip
and fall. The day of perdition is near, and the time rushes to
appear.’ {32:36} The Lord will judge his people, and he will
take pity on his servants. He will see that their hand has been
weakened, and that those who have been enclosed have
likewise failed, and that those who have been left behind
have been consumed. {32:37} And he shall say: ‘Where are
their gods, in whom they had confidence? {32:38} They ate
the fat of their victims, and they drank the wine of their
libations. So let these rise up, and bring relief to you, and
protect you in your distress. {32:39} See that I am alone, and
there is no other god beside me. I will kill, and I will cause to
live. I will strike, and I will heal. And there is no one who is
able to rescue from my hand. {32:40} I will lift up my hand
to heaven, and I will say: I live in eternity. {32:41} When I
sharpen my sword like lightning, and my hand takes hold of
judgment, then I will render vengeance to my enemies, and I
will repay those who hate me. {32:42} I will inebriate my
arrows with blood, and my sword will devour flesh: from the
blood of the slain and from the captive, from the exposed
head of the enemies.’ {32:43} You nations, praise his people!
For he will avenge the blood of his servants. And he will
distribute vengeance to their enemies. And he will be
merciful to the land of his people.” {32:44} Therefore, Moses
went and spoke all the words of this canticle to the ears of the
people, both he and Joshua, the son of Nun. {32:45} And he
completed all these words, speaking to all of Israel.
{32:46} And he said to them: “Set your hearts upon all the
words which I am testifying to you this day. So shall you
command your sons, to keep, and to do, and to fulfill all the
things that have been written in this law. {32:47} For these
things have not been entrusted to you to no purpose, but so
that each one would live by them, and so that, in doing these,
you may continue for a long time in the land, which you will
enter upon crossing the Jordan in order to possess it.”
{32:48} And the Lord spoke to Moses on the same day,
saying: {32:49} “Ascend this mountain, Abarim, (that is, of
crossings) onto Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab,
opposite Jericho, and look upon the land of Canaan, which I
will deliver to the sons of Israel to obtain it. And you shall die
upon the mountain. {32:50} After climbing it, you will be
joined to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on
Mount Hor, and was placed with his people. {32:51} For you
trespassed against me in the midst of the sons of Israel, at the
Waters of Contradiction, in Kadesh, in the desert of Sin. And
you did not sanctify me among the sons of Israel.
{32:52} You shall see the land opposite you, which I will give
to the sons of Israel, but you shall not enter into it.”


[Deuteronomy 33] {33:1} This is the blessing, with which
Moses, the man of God, blessed the sons of Israel before his
death. {33:2} And he said: “The Lord went forth from Sinai,
and he arose for us from Seir. He appeared from Mount
Paran, and thousands of holy ones were with him. The fiery
law was in his right hand. {33:3} He loved the people; all the
holy ones are in his hand. And those who approach his feet
shall receive from his doctrine. {33:4} Moses instructed us in
the law, the inheritance of the multitude of Jacob. {33:5} The
king shall have great righteousness, at the gathering of the
princes of the people with the tribes of Israel. {33:6} Let
Ruben live, and not die, and may he be small in number.”
{33:7} This is the blessing of Judah. “Hear, O Lord, the voice
of Judah, and lead him to his people. His hands shall fight for
him, and he shall be his helper against his adversaries.”
{33:8} Likewise, to Levi he said: “Your perfection and your
doctrine are for your holy man, whom you have proven by
temptation, and whom you have judged at the Waters of
Contradiction. {33:9} He has said to his father and to his
mother, ‘I do not know you,’ and to his brothers, ‘I will
disregard you.’ And they have not known their own sons.
Such as these have kept your word and have observed your
covenant: {33:10} your judgments, O Jacob, and your law, O
Israel. They shall place incense before your fury and a
holocaust upon your altar. {33:11} O Lord, bless his strength,
and receive the works of his hands. Strike the backs of his
enemies, and do not let those who hate him rise up.”
{33:12} And to Benjamin he said: “The most beloved of the
Lord will live confidently in him. He shall remain all day
long, as if in a bridal chamber, and he shall rest amid her
arms.” {33:13} Likewise, to Joseph he said: “His land shall
be from the blessing of the Lord, from the fruits of heaven,
and from the dew, and from the abyss which lies below,
{33:14} from the fruits of the crops under the sun and the
moon, {33:15} from the heights of the ancient mountains,
from the fruits of the everlasting hills, {33:16} and from the
fruits of the earth with all its plenitude. May the blessing of
him who appeared in the bush, settle upon the head of Joseph,
and upon the top of the head of the Nazarite among his
brothers. {33:17} His excellence is like that of a first-born bull.
His horns are like the horns of a rhinoceros; he shall brandish
these against the Gentiles, even to the ends of the earth.
These are the multitudes of Ephraim, and these the thousands
of Manasseh.” {33:18} And to Zebulun he said: “Rejoice, O
Zebulun, in your departure, and Issachar, in your tabernacles.
{33:19} They shall summon the peoples to the mountain.
There, they shall immolate the victims of justice, who feed on
the flood of the sea, as if on milk, and on the hidden treasures
of the sands.” {33:20} And to Gad he said: “Blessed is Gad
in his breadth. He has rested like a lion, and he has seized the
arm and the top of the head. {33:21} And he has seen his
own pre-eminence, which his teacher has stored up as his
portion. He was with the princes of the people, and he
accomplished the justices of the Lord, and his judgment with
Israel.” {33:22} Likewise, to Dan he said: “Dan is a young
lion. He shall flow plentifully from Bashan.” {33:23} And to
Naphtali he said: “Naphtali shall enjoy abundance, and he
shall be full of the blessings of the Lord. He shall possess the
sea and the Meridian.” {33:24} Likewise, to Asher he said:
“Let Asher be blessed with sons. Let him be pleasing to his
brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil. {33:25} His shoe
shall be of iron and of brass. As were the days of your youth,
so also shall be your old age. {33:26} There is no other god
like the God of the most righteous one. He who rides upon
the heavens is your helper. His magnificence scatters the
clouds. {33:27} His habitation is above, and the everlasting
arms are below. He shall cast out the enemy before your face,
and he shall say: ‘Be utterly broken!’ {33:28} Israel shall live
in confidence and alone, as the eye of Jacob in a land of grain
and of wine; and the heavens shall be misty with dew.
{33:29} Blessed are you, O Israel. Who is like you, the
people who are saved by the Lord? He is the shield of your
assistance and the sword of your glory. Your enemies will
refuse to acknowledge you, and so you shall tread upon their
necks.”


[Deuteronomy 34] {34:1} Therefore, Moses ascended from
the plains of Moab onto Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah,
opposite Jericho. And the Lord revealed to him the entire
land of Gilead, as far as Dan, {34:2} and all of Naphtali, and
the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and the entire land of
Judah, even to the furthest sea, {34:3} and the southern
region, and the breadth of the plain of Jericho, the city of
palms, as far as Zoar. {34:4} And the Lord said to him: “This
is the land, about which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, saying: I will give it to your offspring. You have seen
it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over to it.”
{34:5} And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died in that place,
in the land of Moab, by order of the Lord. {34:6} And he
buried him in the valley of the land of Moab, opposite Peor.
And no man knows where his sepulcher is, even to the
present day. {34:7} Moses was one hundred and twenty years
old when he died. His eye was not dimmed, nor were his
teeth displaced. {34:8} And the sons of Israel wept for him in
the plains of Moab for thirty days. And then the days of their
wailing, during which they mourned Moses, were completed.
{34:9} Truly, Joshua, the son of Nun, was filled with the
spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him.
And the sons of Israel were obedient to him, and they did as
the Lord instructed Moses. {34:10} And no other prophet
rose up in Israel like Moses, one whom the Lord knew face to
face, {34:11} one with all the signs and wonders, which he
sent through him, to perform in the land of Egypt, against
Pharaoh, and all his servants, and his entire land, {34:12} nor
one with such a powerful hand and such great miracles as
Moses did in the sight of all Israel.


** The Book of Joshua **


[Joshua 1] {1:1} And after the death of Moses, the servant of
the Lord, it happened that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son
of Nun, the minister of Moses, and he said to him:
{1:2} “Moses, my servant, has died. Rise up, and cross this
Jordan, you and all the people with you, into the land which
I will give to the sons of Israel. {1:3} I will deliver to you
every place that the step of your foot will tread upon, just as I
said to Moses. {1:4} From the desert and from Lebanon,
even to the great river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites,
as far as the great sea opposite the setting of the sun, shall be
your border. {1:5} No one will be able to resist you during all
the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so will I be
with you. I will not leave you, nor will I forsake you.
{1:6} Be strengthened and be steadfast. For you shall divide
by lot, to this people, the land about which I swore to their
fathers that I would deliver it to them. {1:7} Therefore, be
strengthened and be very steadfast, so that you may observe
and accomplish the entire law, which Moses, my servant,
instructed to you. You may not turn aside from it to the right,
nor to the left. So may you understand all that you should do.
{1:8} The book of this law shall not depart from your mouth.
Instead, you shall meditate upon it, day and night, so that
you may observe and do all the things that are written in it.
Then you shall direct your way and understand it.
{1:9} Behold, I am instructing you. Be strengthened, and be
steadfast. Do not dread, and do not fear. For the Lord your
God is with you in all things, wherever you may go.”
{1:10} And Joshua instructed the leaders of the people,
saying: “Cross through the midst of the camp, and command
the people, and say: {1:11} ‘Prepare your food supplies. For
after the third day, you shall cross the Jordan, and you shall
enter so as to possess the land, which the Lord your God will
give to you.’ ” {1:12} Likewise, he said to the Reubenites and
to the Gadites, and to the one half tribe of Manasseh:
{1:13} “Remember the words, which Moses, the servant of
the Lord, instructed to you, saying: ‘The Lord your God has
given you rest, and has given you all the land.’ {1:14} Your
wives and sons, as well as the cattle, shall remain in the land
which Moses delivered to you beyond the Jordan. But as for
you, pass over with weapons, before your brothers, all you
who are strong of hand, and fight on their behalf, {1:15} until
the Lord gives rest to your brothers, just as he has given to
you, and until they also possess the land, which the Lord
your God will give to them. And so shall you be returned to
the land of your possession. And you shall live in the land,
which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave to you beyond
the Jordan, opposite the rising of the sun.” {1:16} And they
responded to Joshua, and they said: “All that you have
instructed to us, we shall do. And wherever you will send us,
we shall go. {1:17} Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so
shall we obey you also. But may the Lord your God be with
you, just as he was with Moses. {1:18} Whoever will
contradict your mouth, and whoever will not obey all of your
words, which you will instruct to him, let him die. But may
you be strengthened, and may you act manfully.”


[Joshua 2] {2:1} And so Joshua, the son of Nun, sent two
men from Shittim to explore in secret. And he said to them,
“Go and consider the land and the city of Jericho.” And
while traveling, they entered into the house of a harlot
woman named Rahab, and they rested with her. {2:2} And it
was reported to the king of Jericho, and it was said: “Behold,
men have entered to this place in the night, from the sons of
Israel, so that they might explore the land.” {2:3} And the
king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying: “Bring out the men
who came to you, and who entered into your house. For
certainly they are spies, and they have arrived to consider the
entire land.” {2:4} And the woman, taking the men, hid them.
And she said: “I admit that they came to me, but I did not
know where they were from. {2:5} And when the gate was
closed, they went out together in the darkness. I do not know
where they have gone. Pursue them quickly, and you will
overtake them.” {2:6} But she caused the men to ascend to
the roof of her house, and she covered them with the stalks of
flax that were there. {2:7} But those who had been sent
pursued after them along the way that leads to the ford of the
Jordan. And as soon as they went out, the gate was closed.
{2:8} Those who were hiding had not yet fallen asleep, and
behold, the woman went up to them, and she said: {2:9} “I
know that the Lord has given this land to you. For the terror
of you has fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land
have languished. {2:10} We have heard that the Lord dried
up the water of the Red Sea upon your arrival, when you
were departing from Egypt, and we heard of the things that
you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond
the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you put to death.
{2:11} And upon hearing these things, we were very afraid,
and our heart languished. Neither did there remain in us any
spirit at your arrival. For the Lord your God is the very God
in heaven above and on earth below. {2:12} Now, therefore,
swear to me by the Lord that in the same way that I have
acted with mercy toward you, so also shall you act toward
the house of my father. And may you give me a true sign
{2:13} that you will save my father and mother, my brothers
and sisters, and all that is theirs, and that you may rescue our
souls from death.” {2:14} They responded to her: “May our
lives be yours unto death, if only you do not betray us. And
when the Lord will have delivered the land to us, we will act
toward you with mercy and truth.” {2:15} Therefore, she sent
them down from a window with a rope. For her house was
joined to the wall. {2:16} And she said to them: “Climb up to
the mountains; otherwise, they may meet you as they are
returning. And lay hidden there for three days, until they
return. And then you will go on your way.” {2:17} And they
said to her: “We shall be innocent of this oath, to which you
have sworn us, {2:18} if, when we enter into the land, this
scarlet cord has been placed as a sign, and you have tied it at
the window by which you let us down. And so, gather your
father, and mother, and brothers, and all your family into
your house. {2:19} Whoever will have exited from the door
of your house, his blood will be on his own head, and we will
be uninvolved. But the blood of all who will be with you in
the house shall fall back upon our own head, if anyone
touches them. {2:20} But if you will have betrayed us, so that
you spread this word in their midst, we will be free from this
oath, to which you have sworn us.” {2:21} And she
responded, “Just as you have spoken, so let it be done.” And
sending them to travel on, she hung the scarlet cord at the
window. {2:22} And truly, walking on, they arrived at the
mountains, and they stayed there for three days, until those
who had been pursuing them returned. For having sought
them along the entire way, they did not find them.
{2:23} And when they returned and entered the city, the
explorers descended from the mountain. And crossing the
Jordan, they went to Joshua, the son of Nun, and they
reported to him all that had happened to them. {2:24} And
they said, “The Lord has delivered this entire land into our
hands, and all its inhabitants have been struck down by fear.”


[Joshua 3] {3:1} And so, Joshua arose in the night, and he
moved the camp. And they departed from Shittim, and they
went to the Jordan: he, and all the sons of Israel, and they
remained there for three days. {3:2} After these things
unfolded, announcers passed through the midst of the camp,
{3:3} and they began to proclaim: “When you will see the
ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests of
the stock of Levi carrying it, you also shall rise up and follow
those who are going before you. {3:4} And let there be,
between you and the ark, the space of two thousand cubits,
so that you may be able to see it from far away, and to know
along which way you should advance. For you have not
walked this way before. And be careful that you do not
approach the ark.” {3:5} And Joshua said to the people: “Be
sanctified. For tomorrow the Lord will accomplish miracles
among you.” {3:6} And he said to the priests: “Take up the
ark of the covenant, and go before the people.” And they
fulfilled the orders, and they took it and walked before them.
{3:7} And the Lord said to Joshua: “Today I will begin to
exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that,
just as I was with Moses, so also am I with you. {3:8} Now
instruct the priests, who are carrying the ark of the covenant,
and say to them, ‘When you will have entered into a part of
the water of the Jordan, stand still in it.’ ” {3:9} And Joshua
said to the sons of Israel, “Approach to here, and listen to the
word of the Lord your God.” {3:10} And again, he said: “By
this shall you know that the Lord, the living God, is in your
midst, and that he shall scatter in your sight, the Canaanite
and the Hittite, the Hivite and the Perizzite, likewise the
Girgashite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite. {3:11} Behold,
the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth shall go
before you through the Jordan. {3:12} Prepare twelve men
from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. {3:13} And
when the priests who are carrying the ark of the Lord, the
God of the entire earth, will have placed the steps of their feet
in the waters of the Jordan, the waters that are lower will run
down and pass away, and those that are approaching above
will stand together in a mass.” {3:14} And the people
departed from their tents, so that they might cross the Jordan.
And the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant
were advancing before them. {3:15} And as soon as they
entered into the Jordan, and their feet were dipped in a
portion of the water, (now the Jordan, since it was the time of
the harvest, had filled the banks of its channel,) {3:16} the
descending waters stood still in one place, and, swelling up
like a mountain, they were seen from far away, from the city
that is called Adam, even as far as the place of Zarethan. But
those that were lower ran down into the Sea of the
Wilderness, (which is now called the Dead Sea,) until they
entirely passed away. {3:17} Then the people advanced
opposite Jericho. And the priests who were carrying the ark
of the covenant of the Lord were standing, fully-dressed,
upon dry soil in the midst of the Jordan, and all the people
passed over, through the channel that was dried up.


[Joshua 4] {4:1} And when they had crossed over, the Lord
said to Joshua: {4:2} “Choose twelve men, one from each
tribe, {4:3} and instruct them so that they may take from the
midst of the channel of the Jordan, where the feet of the
priests stood still, twelve very hard stones, which you shall
station in the place of the camp, where you will pitch your
tents this night.” {4:4} And Joshua called twelve men, whom
he had chosen from the sons of Israel, one from each tribe,
{4:5} and he said to them: “Go before the ark of the Lord
your God into the middle of the Jordan, and let each one
carry from there one stone on your shoulders, according to
the number of the sons of Israel, {4:6} so that it may be a sign
among you. And when your sons will ask you, tomorrow,
saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ {4:7} you shall
respond to them: ‘The waters of the Jordan failed before the
ark of the covenant of the Lord, when the ark crossed over it.
For this reason, these stones were placed as a monument for
the sons of Israel, even forever.’ ” {4:8} Therefore, the sons
of Israel did as Joshua instructed them, carrying twelve
stones from the midst of the channel of the Jordan, just as the
Lord had ordered him, according to the number of the sons
of Israel, as far as the place where they made camp, and there
they stationed them. {4:9} Similarly, Joshua positioned
another twelve stones in the middle of the channel of the
Jordan, where the priests stood who were carrying the ark of
the covenant; and they are there, even to the present day.
{4:10} Now the priests who were carrying the ark stood in
the midst of the Jordan, until everything was accomplished
which the Lord had instructed Joshua to speak to the people
and which Moses had said to him. And the people hurried,
and they passed over. {4:11} And when they had all crossed,
the ark of the Lord also crossed, and the priests advanced
before the people. {4:12} Likewise, the sons of Reuben, and
of Gad, and of the one half tribe of Manasseh advanced with
weapons before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had
instructed them. {4:13} And forty thousand fighters, by
companies and divisions, advanced through the plains and
fields of the city of Jericho. {4:14} In that day, the Lord
magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel, so that they would
fear him, just as they had feared Moses while he lived.
{4:15} And he said to him, {4:16} “Command the priests
who are carrying the ark of the covenant to ascend from the
Jordan.” {4:17} And he commanded them, saying, “Ascend
from the Jordan.” {4:18} And when those who were carrying
the ark of the covenant of the Lord had ascended, and they
began to step on dry soil, the waters returned to their channel,
and they flowed as they usually did before. {4:19} Now the
people ascended from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first
month, and they encamped at Gilgal, opposite the eastern
portion of the city of Jericho. {4:20} Likewise, the twelve
stones that they had taken up from the channel of the Jordan,
Joshua stationed at Gilgal. {4:21} And he said to the sons of
Israel: “When your sons will question their fathers, tomorrow,
and they will say to them, ‘What do these stones mean to
you?’ {4:22} you shall teach them, and you shall say: ‘Israel
passed over this Jordan, through the dry channel.’ {4:23} For
the Lord your God dried up its waters in your sight, until you
crossed over, {4:24} just as he had done before, at the Red
Sea, which he dried up until we crossed over. {4:25} So may
all the peoples of the earth learn of the very powerful hand of
the Lord. So may you also fear the Lord your God for all
time.”


[Joshua 5] {5:1} Therefore, after all the kings of the Amorites,
who were living across the Jordan toward the western region,
and all the kings of Canaan, who possessed the places beside
the great sea, had heard that the Lord had dried up the waters
of the Jordan before the sons of Israel, until they crossed over
it, their heart was broken, and there remained in them no
spirit, out of fear at the entrance of the sons of Israel.
{5:2} So at that time, the Lord said to Joshua: “Make for
yourself knives of stone, and circumcise the sons of Israel a
second time.” {5:3} He did what the Lord had commanded,
and he circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the
foreskins. {5:4} Now this is the reason for the second
circumcision: All the people who departed from Egypt of the
male gender, all the men fit for war, died in the desert during
the very long wandering way; {5:5} all these had been
circumcised. But the people who were born in the desert,
{5:6} throughout the forty years of the journey in the very
broad wilderness, were uncircumcised, until the ones who
had not listened to the voice of the Lord were consumed. For
he had sworn to them before, that he would not reveal to
them the land flowing with milk and honey. {5:7} The sons
of these ones succeeded to the place of their fathers, and they
were circumcised by Joshua. For they were uncircumcised,
just as they had been born, and no one had circumcised them
along the way. {5:8} Then, after they were all circumcised,
they remained in the same place of the camp until they were
healed. {5:9} And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have
taken away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And the name
of that place was called Gilgal, even to the present day.
{5:10} And the sons of Israel stayed at Gilgal, and they kept
the Passover, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening,
in the plains of Jericho. {5:11} And on the following day,
they ate unleavened bread from the grain of the land, and
cooked grain, of the same year. {5:12} And the manna
ceased after they ate from the grain of the land. And the sons
of Israel no longer made use of that food. Instead, they ate
from the grain of the present year, from the land of Canaan.
{5:13} And when Joshua was in the field of the city of
Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, and he saw a man standing
opposite him, holding a drawn sword. And he went to him
and said, “Are you one of ours, or one of our adversaries?”
{5:14} And he responded: “Not at all. Instead, I am a prince
of the host of the Lord, and now I have arrived.”
{5:15} Joshua fell prone on the ground. And reverencing, he
said, “What does my lord say to his servant?” {5:16} He said:
“Remove your shoes from your feet. For the place on which
you stand is holy.” And Joshua did just as he had been
commanded.


[Joshua 6] {6:1} Now Jericho was closed as well as fortified,
out of fear of the sons of Israel, and no one dared to depart or
to enter. {6:2} And the Lord said to Joshua: “Behold, I have
given Jericho into your hand, with its king and all the strong
men. {6:3} Have all the warriors circle the city once each day;
you shall do so for six days. {6:4} Then, on the seventh day,
the priests shall take the seven trumpets, which are used on
the jubilee, and they shall precede the ark of the covenant.
And you shall circle the city seven times, and the priests shall
sound the trumpets. {6:5} And when the voice of the trumpet
sounds longer and with interruptions, and it increases in your
ears, then all the people shall cry out together with a very
great shout, and the walls of the city shall fall to the
foundation, and they shall enter it, each from a place opposite
where they are standing.” {6:6} Then Joshua, the son of Nun,
called the priests, and he said to them, “Take the ark of the
covenant, and let seven other priests take the seven trumpets
of the jubilee, and advance before the ark of the Lord.”
{6:7} He also said to the people, “Go, and circle the city,
armed, preceding the ark of the Lord.” {6:8} And when
Joshua had finished his words, and the seven priests sounded
the seven trumpets before the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
{6:9} and all the armed soldiers went ahead, the remainder of
the common people followed the ark, and the sound of the
trumpets grew louder everywhere. {6:10} But Joshua had
instructed the people, saying, “You shall not cry out, nor
shall your voice be heard, and no word at all shall proceed
from your mouth, until the day arrives on which I will say to
you, ‘Cry out, and shout.’ ” {6:11} Thus, the ark of the Lord
circled the city once each day, and returning to the camp, it
remained there. {6:12} And so, with Joshua, arising in the
night, the priests took the ark of the Lord, {6:13} and seven
of them took the seven trumpets, which are used in the
jubilee, and they preceded the ark of the Lord, walking and
sounding the trumpets. And the armed men went before them,
and the remainder of the common people followed the ark,
and they were blaring the trumpets. {6:14} And they circled
the city on the second day, once, and they returned to the
camp. They did so for six days. {6:15} Then, on the seventh
day, rising at first light, they circled the city, just as had been
ordered, seven times. {6:16} And at the seventh circling,
when the priests sounded the trumpets, Joshua said to all of
Israel: “Shout! For the Lord has delivered the city to you.
{6:17} And let this city be anathema, with all the things that
are within it, before the Lord. May only Rahab the harlot live,
with all who are with her in the house. For she hid the
messengers whom we sent. {6:18} But you must be careful
that you do not touch any of those things, as you have been
instructed, for then you would be guilty of transgression, and
all the camp of Israel would be under sin and would be
troubled. {6:19} But whatever gold and silver there will be,
and vessels of brass or of iron, let these be consecrated to the
Lord and be stored in his treasuries.” {6:20} Therefore, with
all the people shouting, and the trumpets blaring, after the
voice and the sound increased in the ears of the multitude,
the walls promptly fell to ruin. And each one climbed up at
the place which was opposite where he was. And they seized
the city. {6:21} And they put to death all who were in it,
from man even to woman, from infant even to elder.
Likewise, the oxen and sheep and donkeys, they struck down
with the edge of the sword. {6:22} But Joshua said to the two
men who had been sent to explore, “Enter the house of the
harlot woman, and bring her out, and all the things that are
hers, just as you assured her by oath.” {6:23} And the youths
entered, and they led out Rahab, and her parents, also her
brothers, and all her goods and kindred, and they caused
them to dwell outside the camp. {6:24} Then they set fire to
the city and all the things that were within it, except the gold
and silver, and the vessels of brass or of iron, which they
consecrated into the treasury of the Lord. {6:25} Yet truly,
Joshua caused Rahab the harlot, and her father’s household,
and all she had, to survive. And they lived in the midst of
Israel, even to the present day. For she hid the messengers,
whom he had sent to explore Jericho. At that time, Joshua
made an invocation, saying: {6:26} “Cursed before the Lord
is the man who will raise up and rebuild the city of Jericho!
With his firstborn, may he lay its foundation, and with the
last of his children, may he set up its gates.” {6:27} And so
the Lord was with Joshua, and his name was made known
throughout all the land.


[Joshua 7] {7:1} But the sons of Israel transgressed the
commandment, and they usurped what was anathema. For
Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah,
from the tribe of Judah, took something from what was
anathema. And the Lord became angry against the sons of
Israel. {7:2} And when Joshua sent men from Jericho against
Ai, which is beside Bethaven, toward the eastern region of
the town of Bethel, he said to them, “Go up and explore the
land.” And they fulfilled his instruction, and they explored Ai.
{7:3} And returning, they said to him: “Let not the entire
people go up. Instead, let two or three thousand men go out
and destroy the city. Why should all the people be troubled
without cause against enemies that are so very few?”
{7:4} Therefore, they went up with three thousand fighters.
And they promptly turned their backs, {7:5} and were struck
down by the men of the city of Ai. And thirty-six men of
them fell. And the adversaries pursued them from the gate,
even as far as Shebarim. And they felled them as they were
fleeing downward. And the heart of the people was struck
with fear, and it melted like water. {7:6} And truly, Joshua
tore his garments, and he fell prone on the ground before the
ark of the Lord, even until evening, both he and all the elders
of Israel. And they cast dust upon their heads. {7:7} And
Joshua said: “Alas, O Lord God! Why would you want to
lead this people over the river Jordan, so that you might
deliver us into the hand of the Amorite and destroy us? I wish
that we had remained beyond the Jordan, as when we began.
{7:8} My Lord God, what shall I say, seeing Israel turning
their backs to their enemies? {7:9} The Canaanites and all the
inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and coming together as
one, they will surround us, and they will wipe our name from
the earth. And what will you do concerning your great
name?” {7:10} And the Lord said to Joshua: “Rise up. Why
are you lying flat on the ground? {7:11} Israel has sinned and
transgressed my covenant. And they have taken from what is
anathema. And they have stolen and lied, and they have
hidden it among their goods. {7:12} Israel is not able to stand
before his enemies, and he will flee from them. For he has
been defiled by what is anathema. I will be no longer be with
you, until you destroy him who is guilty of this wickedness.
{7:13} Rise up. Sanctify the people. And you shall say to
them: ‘Be sanctified tomorrow. For thus says the Lord, the
God of Israel: That which is anathema is in your midst, O
Israel! You are not able to stand before your enemies, until he
who has been contaminated by this wickedness is taken away
from you.’ {7:14} And you shall draw near in the morning,
each one by your tribes. And whichever tribe will be found by
lot shall come forward by its families, and the families by
houses, and the house by the men. {7:15} And whoever he
may be that will be found guilty of this deed, he shall be burnt
with fire with all his substance. For he transgressed the
covenant of the Lord, and he committed a wicked act in
Israel.” {7:16} And so Joshua, rising in the morning, brought
forth Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was found.
{7:17} And when its families had been presented, the family
of Zerah was found. Likewise, bringing that one forward by
the houses, he discovered Zabdi. {7:18} And dividing his
house by each man, he found Achan, the son of Carmi, the
son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah.
{7:19} And Joshua said to Achan: “My son, give glory to the
Lord, the God of Israel, and confess, and reveal to me what
you have done. You may not conceal it.” {7:20} And Achan
responded to Joshua, and he said to him: “Truly, I have
sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and I have done
one thing and another. {7:21} For I saw among the spoils a
very fine scarlet cloak, and two hundred shekels of silver, and
a gold bar of fifty shekels. And coveting these, I took and hid
them in the ground near the middle of my tent, and I covered
the silver with the soil that I had dug.” {7:22} Therefore,
Joshua sent ministers, who, running to his tent, discovered
everything hidden in the same place, together with the silver.
{7:23} And taking these from the tent, they brought them to
Joshua, and to all the sons of Israel, and they cast them down
before the Lord. {7:24} And so Joshua took Achan, the son
of Zerah, and the silver, and the cloak, and the gold bar, also
his sons and daughters, the oxen and donkeys and sheep, and
even the tent and all his goods, (and all of Israel went with
him,) and he brought these to the valley of Achor.
{7:25} There, Joshua said: “Because you have troubled us,
the Lord troubles you, on this day.” And all of Israel stoned
him. And all the things that were his were consumed by fire.
{7:26} And they gathered upon him a great pile of stones,
which remains even to the present day. And the fury of the
Lord was averted from them. And the name of that place was
called the Valley of Achor, even to this day.


[Joshua 8] {8:1} Then the Lord said to Joshua: “You should
not fear, and you should not dread. Take with you the entire
multitude of fighters, and rising up, ascend to the town of Ai.
Behold, I have delivered into your hand its king and people,
and the city and the land. {8:2} And you shall do to the city
of Ai, and to its king, just as you did to Jericho, and to its
king. Yet truly, the spoils, and all the living things, you shall
plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush against the city behind
it.” {8:3} And Joshua rose up, and the entire army of
warriors with him, so that they might ascend against Ai. And
he sent thirty thousand elect strong men in the night.
{8:4} And he instructed them, saying: “Set an ambush
behind the city. You shall withdraw not far away, and let
everyone be prepared. {8:5} But I and the remainder of the
multitude that is with me will approach from the opposite
side of the city. And when they come out against us, we will
flee and turn our backs, just as we did before, {8:6} until,
pursuing us, they are drawn away from the city. For they will
think that we are fleeing as before. {8:7} Then, while we are
fleeing and they are pursuing, you shall rise up from the
ambush, and you shall lay waste to the city. And the Lord
your God will deliver it into your hands. {8:8} And when
you have seized it, set it on fire. And you shall do all that I
have ordered.” {8:9} And he sent them away, and they
traveled to the place of the ambush, and they settled between
Bethel and Ai, toward the western region of the city of Ai.
But Joshua remained for that night in the midst of the people.
{8:10} And rising at first light, he reviewed his troops, and he
went up, with the elders at the front of the army, surrounded
by an auxiliary of fighters. {8:11} And when they had arrived,
and had ascended from the opposite side of the city, they
stood toward the northern region of the city. And there was a
valley in the middle, between them and the city. {8:12} Now
he had chosen five thousand men, and he had positioned
them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, at the western part
of the same city. {8:13} Yet truly, all the remainder of the
army was arranged in a line to the north, so that the very end
of that multitude reached to the western region of the city.
Then Joshua went out that night, and he stood in the middle
of the valley. {8:14} And when the king of Ai had seen this,
he hurried in the morning, and he went out with the entire
army of the city. And he arranged them in a line opposite the
desert, not knowing that an ambush lay hidden behind his
back. {8:15} Yet truly, Joshua, and all of Israel, withdrew
from the place, pretending to be afraid, and fleeing along the
way of the wilderness. {8:16} And they pursued them,
shouting together and encouraging one another. And when
they had withdrawn from the city, {8:17} and indeed not one
remained in the city of Ai and of Bethel who did not pursue
after Israel, (leaving the towns open after they had rushed
out,) {8:18} the Lord said to Joshua: “Lift up the shield that
is in your hand, toward the city of Ai. For I will deliver it to
you.” {8:19} And when he had lifted up the shield toward the
city, the ambush, which lay hidden, rose up quickly. And
advancing to the city, they seized it, and set it on fire.
{8:20} Now the men of the city who were pursuing Joshua,
looking back and seeing the smoke of the city rising up even
to heaven, were no longer able to flee in one direction or
another, especially since those who had pretended to flee,
and who were heading toward the wilderness, had turned
back very strongly against those who were pursuing them.
{8:21} And Joshua, and all of Israel, seeing that the city had
been captured, and that the smoke of the city was ascending,
returned and struck down the men of Ai. {8:22} Then too,
those who had seized and set the city on fire, departing from
the city toward their own men, began to strike the enemies in
the middle. Therefore, since the adversaries were cut off from
both sides, none of so great a multitude was saved.
{8:23} Also, they apprehended the king of the city of Ai,
alive, and they brought him before Joshua. {8:24} And so,
after all were slain who had pursued Israel fleeing toward the
wilderness, and after they fell by the sword in the same place,
the sons of Israel returned and struck the city. {8:25} Now
there were twelve thousand persons who had fallen on the
same day, from man even to woman, the entire city of Ai.
{8:26} Truly Joshua did not draw back his hand, which he
had stretched out on high, keeping hold of the shield until all
the inhabitants of Ai were put to death. {8:27} Then the sons
of Israel divided among themselves the cattle and the plunder
of the city, just as the Lord had instructed Joshua.
{8:28} And he set fire to the city, and he caused it to be a
perpetual tomb. {8:29} Also, he suspended the king on a
gallows, until evening and the setting of the sun. And Joshua
instructed, and they took down his dead body from the
hanging tree. And they cast it at the very entrance of the city,
gathering a great pile of stones upon it, which remains even
to the present day. {8:30} Then Joshua built an altar to the
Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, {8:31} just as Moses,
the servant of the Lord, had instructed to the sons of Israel,
and this was written in the book of the law of Moses: truly,
an altar of uncut stones, which iron has not touched. And he
offered holocausts upon it to the Lord, and he immolated
victims as peace-offerings. {8:32} And he wrote on the stones,
the Deuteronomy of the law of Moses, which he had set in
order before the sons of Israel. {8:33} Then all the people,
and those greater by birth, and the commanders and judges
were standing on both sides of the ark, in the sight of the
priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
with both the new arrival and the native born, one half part of
them beside Mount Gerizim, and one half beside Mount Ebal,
just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had instructed. And
first, certainly, he blessed the people of Israel. {8:34} After
this, he read all the words of the blessing and the cursing, and
all the things that were written in the book of the law.
{8:35} He left nothing untouched out of those things that
Moses had ordered, and he repeated everything before the
entire multitude of Israel, with the women and the little ones,
and the new arrivals who were staying among them.


[Joshua 9] {9:1} And when these things were heard, all the
kings across the Jordan, who lived among the mountains and
plains, along the coastline and shores of the great sea, also
those who were living near Lebanon, the Hittite, and the
Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the
Jebusite, {9:2} gathered themselves together, so that they
might fight against Joshua and Israel, with one mind and
with the same resolve. {9:3} But those who were living in
Gibeon, hearing all that Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,
{9:4} planning cleverly, took for themselves provisions,
placing old sacks upon their donkeys, and wineskins that had
torn and been sewed up, {9:5} and having very old shoes,
which had been sewn with patches indicating their age, and
being clothed in old garments, having also loaves, which they
carried as food for the journey, which were hard and broken
into pieces. {9:6} And they traveled to Joshua, who at that
time was staying in the camp at Gilgal. And they said to him,
and to all of Israel with him, “We have come from a far away
land, desiring to make peace with you.” And the sons of
Israel responded to them, and said, {9:7} “Perhaps instead,
you live in the land which ought to be ours by lot, and we
would be unable to form a pact with you.” {9:8} But they
said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to
them: “But who are you? And where are you from?”
{9:9} They responded: “Your servants have arrived, from a
very far away land, in the name of the Lord, your God. For
we have heard about the fame of his power, all the things that
he has done in Egypt, {9:10} and to the two kings of the
Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan: Sihon, the king of
Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth.
{9:11} And our elders, and all the inhabitants of our land,
have said to us: ‘Take in hand provisions for the very long
journey, and meet with them, and say: We are your servants;
form a pact with us.’ {9:12} Lo, the loaves were taken up
warm when we departed from our houses, so that we might
come to you. Now they have become dry and broken, due to
age. {9:13} These wineskins were new when we filled them,
now they are torn and broken. The garments we are wearing,
and the shoes we have on our feet, due to the great length of
the distance, have become worn and are nearly consumed.”
{9:14} And so they accepted this, because of their provisions,
and they did not consult the mouth of the Lord. {9:15} And
Joshua made peace with them, and entering into a pact, he
promised that they would not be put to death. The leaders of
the multitude also swore to them. {9:16} Then, three days
after the pact was formed, they heard that they lived in the
vicinity, and that they would soon be among them.
{9:17} And so the sons of Israel moved the camp, and they
arrived at their cities on the third day, those which are called:
Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.
{9:18} And they did not strike them, because the leaders of
the multitude had sworn to them in the name of the Lord, the
God of Israel. And so all of the common people murmured
against the leaders. {9:19} And they responded to them: “We
have sworn to them in the name of the Lord, the God of
Israel, and for that reason, we are not able to touch them.
{9:20} But we shall do this to them: Certainly, let them be
preserved so that they may live, lest the wrath of the Lord be
stirred up against us, since we would have sworn falsely.
{9:21} But though they live, let them serve the entire
multitude by cutting wood and carrying water.” And while
they were discussing these things, {9:22} Joshua called the
Gibeonites, and he said to them: “Why would you be willing
to deceive us by fraud, saying, ‘We live very far away from
you,’ when you are in our midst? {9:23} Therefore, you shall
be under a curse, and your stock shall not cease to be cutters
of wood and carriers of water, into the house of my God.”
{9:24} And they responded: “It was reported to us, your
servants, that the Lord your God had promised his servant
Moses that he would give you the entire land, and that he
would destroy all its inhabitants. Therefore, we were very
afraid, and we made a provision for our lives, compelled by
the dread of you, and we undertook this counsel. {9:25} And
now we are in your hand. Act toward us as it seems good and
right to you.” {9:26} Therefore, Joshua did just as he had
said, and he freed them from the hand of the sons of Israel, so
that they would not be killed. {9:27} And he decreed on that
day, that they would be in the ministry of all the people and
of the altar of the Lord, cutting wood and carrying water,
even until this present time, in the place which the Lord had
chosen.


[Joshua 10] {10:1} When Adonizedek, the king of Jerusalem,
had heard these things, specifically, that Joshua had seized Ai,
and had overthrown it, (for just as he had done to Jericho and
its king, so did he do to Ai and its king,) and that the
Gibeonites had fled over to Israel, and were now their
confederates, {10:2} he was very afraid. For Gibeon was a
great city, and was one of the royal cities, and was greater
than the town of Ai, and all its warriors were very strong.
{10:3} Therefore, Adonizedek, the king of Jerusalem, sent to
Hoham, the king of Hebron, and to Piram, the king of
Jarmuth, and also to Japhia, the king of Lachish, and to
Debir, the king of Eglon, saying: {10:4} “Ascend to me, and
bring troops, so that we may fight against Gibeon. For it has
fled over to Joshua and the sons of Israel.” {10:5} And so,
having assembled, the five kings of the Amorites, the king of
Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king
of Lachish, the king of Eglon, together with their armies,
went up and encamped around Gibeon, laying siege to it.
{10:6} But the inhabitants of the city of Gibeon, when it was
besieged, sent to Joshua, who was then staying in the camp at
Gilgal. And they said to him: “May you not draw back your
hands from helping your servants. Come quickly, and free us,
and bring troops. For all the kings of the Amorites, who live
in the mountains, have gathered together against us.”
{10:7} And Joshua ascended from Gilgal, and the entire
army of warriors with him, very strong men. {10:8} And the
Lord said to Joshua: “You should not fear them. For I have
delivered them into your hands. None of them will be able to
withstand you.” {10:9} And so Joshua, ascending from
Gilgal throughout the night, rushed upon them suddenly.
{10:10} And the Lord set them in disarray before the face of
Israel. And he crushed them in a great defeat at Gibeon, and
he pursued them along the way of the ascent to Beth-horon,
and he struck them down, even as far as Azekah and
Makkedah. {10:11} And while they were fleeing from the
sons of Israel, and were on the descent of Beth-horon, the
Lord cast great stones from heaven upon them, as far as
Azekah. And many more were killed by the hailstones, than
were struck down by the swords of the sons of Israel.
{10:12} Then Joshua spoke to the Lord, on the day that he
handed over the Amorite in the sight of the sons of Israel,
and he said before them: “O sun, you shall not move toward
Gibeon! O moon, you shall not move toward the valley of
Ayalon!” {10:13} And the sun and the moon stood still, until
the people had avenged themselves of their enemies. Has this
not been written in the book of the just? And so the sun stood
still in the midst of heaven, and it did not hurry to its rest for
the space of one day. {10:14} Never before and never after
was there so long a day, as when the Lord obeyed the voice
of a man, and fought for Israel. {10:15} And Joshua returned,
with all of Israel, into the camp of Gilgal. {10:16} For the
five kings had fled, and had hidden themselves in a cave, near
the city of Makkedah. {10:17} And it was reported to Joshua
that the five kings had been found hidden in a cave, near the
city of Makkedah. {10:18} And he instructed his companions
and said: “Roll vast stones to the mouth of the cave, and
station attentive men who will keep them closed. {10:19} But
as for you, do not stay here; instead, pursue the enemies, and
cut down the lattermost of those who are fleeing. You shall
not permit those whom the Lord God has delivered into your
hands to enter into the protection of their cities.”
{10:20} Thus, the adversaries were struck down in a great
defeat, and having been nearly consumed, even to utter
annihilation, those who were able to escape from Israel
entered into fortified cities. {10:21} And the entire army
returned to Joshua at Makkedah, where they were then
encamped, in good health and in their full numbers. And no
one dared to move his tongue against the sons of Israel.
{10:22} And Joshua instructed, saying, “Open the mouth of
the cave, and bring forward to me the five kings, who are
hidden within it.” {10:23} And the ministers did just as they
had been ordered. And they led out to him the five kings
from the cave: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the
king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon.
{10:24} And when they had been led out to him, he called all
the men of Israel, and he said to the leaders of the army who
were with him, “Go, and place your feet upon the necks of
these kings.” And when they had gone and had tread their
feet upon the necks of those who were thrown down,
{10:25} he spoke to them again: “Do not be afraid, and do
not dread. Be strengthened and be steadfast. For so will the
Lord do to all your enemies, against whom you fight.”
{10:26} And Joshua struck them down and killed them, and
he suspended them on five gallows. And they hung there
until evening. {10:27} And when the sun had set, he
instructed his assistants that they should take them down
from the gallows. And having been taken down, they cast
them into the cave, where they had lain hidden, and they set
vast stones at its mouth, which remain, even to the present.
{10:28} Also on the same day, Joshua seized Makkedah, and
he struck it with the edge of the sword, and he put to death its
king and all its inhabitants. He did not leave in it even the
smallest remains. And he did to the king of Makkedah, just as
he had done to the king of Jericho. {10:29} Then he went on,
with all of Israel, from Makkedah to Libnah, and he fought
against it. {10:30} And the Lord delivered it, with its king,
into the hands of Israel. And they struck the city with the
edge of the sword, and all its inhabitants. They did not leave
in it any remains. And they did to the king of Libnah, just as
they had done to the king of Jericho. {10:31} From Libnah,
with all of Israel, he went on to Lachish. And taking
positions around it with his army, he besieged it.
{10:32} And the Lord delivered Lachish into the hands of
Israel, and he seized it on the following day, and he struck it
with the edge of the sword, and every soul that was in it, just
as he had done to Libnah. {10:33} At that time, Horam, the
king of Gezer, went up so that he might assist Lachish. And
Joshua struck him with all his people, even unto utter
annihilation. {10:34} And he went on from Lachish to Eglon,
and he surrounded it. {10:35} And he also defeated it on the
same day. And he struck all the souls that were in it with the
edge of the sword, in accord with all that he had done to
Lachish. {10:36} He also ascended, with all of Israel, from
Eglon into Hebron, and he fought against it. {10:37} He
seized it and struck it with the edge of the sword, likewise
with its king, and all the towns of that region, and all the
souls that were staying in it. He did not leave any remains in
it. Just as he had done to Eglon, so also did he do to Hebron,
consuming with the sword all that he found within it.
{10:38} Returning from there to Debir, {10:39} he seized it
and laid waste to it, likewise with its king. And all the
surrounding towns, he struck with the edge of the sword. He
did not leave in it any remains. Just as he had done to
Hebron and Libnah, and to their kings, so did he do to Debir
and to its king. {10:40} And so Joshua struck the entire land,
the mountains, and the south, and the plains, and the
descending slopes, with their kings. He did not leave in it any
remains, but he put to death all that was able to breathe, just
as the Lord, the God of Israel, had instructed him,
{10:41} from Kadesh-barnea, as far as Gaza, with all the land
of Goshen, as far as Gibeon. {10:42} And all their kings and
their regions, he seized and destroyed with a single attack.
For the Lord, the God of Israel, fought on his behalf.
{10:43} And he returned, with all of Israel, to the place of the
encampment at Gilgal.


[Joshua 11] {11:1} And when Jabin, the king of Hazor, had
heard these things, he sent to Jobab, the king of Madon, and
to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph,
{11:2} also to the kings of the north, who were living in the
mountains, and in the plains opposite the southern region of
Chinneroth, and also in the plains and the regions of Dor,
beside the sea, {11:3} also to the Canaanites, from east to
west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite,
and the Jebusite in the mountains, also to the Hivite who was
living at the base of Hermon, in the land of Mizpah.
{11:4} And they all went forth with their troops, a people
exceedingly numerous, like the sand that is on the shore of
the sea. And their horses and chariots were an immense
multitude. {11:5} And all these kings assembled at the waters
of Merom, so that they might fight against Israel. {11:6} And
the Lord said to Joshua: “You should not fear them. For
tomorrow, at this same hour, I will deliver all these to be
wounded in the sight of Israel. You will hamstring their
horses, and you will burn their chariots with fire.”
{11:7} And Joshua, and the entire army with him, came
against them suddenly, at the waters of Merom, and they
rushed upon them. {11:8} And the Lord delivered them into
the hands of Israel. And they struck them, and they pursued
them as far as the great Sidon, and the waters of Misrephoth,
and the field of Mizpeh, which is toward the eastern region.
He struck them all, so that nothing was left of them to remain.
{11:9} And he did just as the Lord had instructed him. He
hamstrung their horses, and he burned their chariots with fire.
{11:10} And turning back, he immediately seized Hazor.
And he struck down its king with the sword. For Hazor, from
antiquity, held the first position among all these kingdoms.
{11:11} And he struck down all the souls that were staying
there. He did not leave in it any remains, but he destroyed
everything unto utter annihilation, and he destroyed the city
itself with fire. {11:12} And he seized, struck, and destroyed
all the surrounding cities and their kings, just as Moses, the
servant of God, had instructed him. {11:13} And except for
the cities that were on hills and in elevated places, the rest
Israel burned. One only, highly-fortified Hazor, was
consumed with fire. {11:14} And the sons of Israel divided
among themselves all the plunder of these cities, and the
cattle, putting to death all persons. {11:15} Just as the Lord
had instructed his servant Moses, so did Moses instruct
Joshua, and he fulfilled everything. He did not omit even one
word out of all the commandments, which the Lord had
commanded Moses. {11:16} And so Joshua seized the entire
land of the mountains, and of the south, and the land of
Goshen, and the plains, and the western region, and the
mountain of Israel, and its plains. {11:17} As for the part of
the mountain that ascends to Seir, as far as Baalgad, along
the plain of Lebanon under mount Hermon, all their kings he
seized, struck down, and killed. {11:18} For a long time,
Joshua fought against these kings. {11:19} There was not a
city that delivered itself to the sons of Israel, except the
Hivites who were living at Gibeon. For he seized it all in
warfare. {11:20} For it was the sentence of the Lord that their
hearts would be hardened, and that they would fight against
Israel and fall, and that they did not deserve any clemency,
and that they should perish, just as the Lord had commanded
Moses. {11:21} In that time, Joshua went and put to death
the Anakim from the mountains, from Hebron and Debir and
Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah and Israel. And
he destroyed their cities. {11:22} He did not leave any from
the stock of the Anakim in the land of the sons of Israel,
except the cities of Gaza, and Gath, and Ashdod, which
alone were left behind. {11:23} Thus, Joshua seized all the
land, just as the Lord spoke to Moses, and he delivered it as a
possession to the sons of Israel, according to their divisions
and tribes. And the land rested from battles.


[Joshua 12] {12:1} These are the kings whom the sons of
Israel struck down, and whose land they possessed beyond
the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun, from the torrent
Arnon as far as mount Hermon, with the entire eastern
region that looks out toward the wilderness: {12:2} Sihon,
the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, and who
had dominion from Aroer, which is situated on the bank of
the torrent Arnon, and the valley in the middle, and one half
of Gilead, as far as the torrent Jabbok, which is the border of
the sons of Ammon, {12:3} and from the wilderness, as far as
the sea of Chinneroth toward the east, and to the Sea of the
Wilderness, which is the very salty sea, to the eastern region,
along the way that leads to Beth-jeshimoth, and from the
southern region that lies under the descending slope of Pisgah,
{12:4} to the border of Og, the king of Bashan; from the
remnant of the Rephaim, who lived in Ashtaroth, and at
Edrei, and who had dominion on mount Hermon, and at
Salecah, and into all of Bashan, even to its limits; {12:5} with
Geshur and Maacati, and one half of Gilead, these were the
borders of Sihon, the king of Heshbon. {12:6} Moses, the
servant of the Lord, and the sons of Israel struck them down.
And Moses delivered their land into the possession of the
Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the one half tribe of
Manasseh. {12:7} These are the kings of the land, whom
Joshua and the sons of Israel struck down across the Jordan,
toward the western region, from Baalgad in the field of
Lebanon, as far as the mountain, part of which ascends to
Seir. And Joshua delivered it as a possession to the tribes of
Israel, to each one in their divisions, {12:8} both in the
mountains and in the plains and fields. In the descending
slopes, and in the wilderness, and in the south, there too was
the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite,
the Hivite and the Jebusite. {12:9} The king of Jericho, one;
the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; {12:10} the king
of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; {12:11} the king
of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; {12:12} the king of
Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; {12:13} the king of Debir,
one; the king of Geder, one; {12:14} the king of Hormah, one;
the king of Arad, one; {12:15} the king of Libnah, one; the
king of Adullam, one; {12:16} the king of Makkedah, one;
the king of Bethel, one; {12:17} the king of Tappuah, one; the
king of Hepher, one; {12:18} the king of Aphek, one; the king
of Lasharon, one; {12:19} the king of Madon, one; the king
of Hazor, one; {12:20} the king of Shimron, one; the king of
Achshaph, one; {12:21} the king of Taanach, one; the king of
Megiddo, one; {12:22} the king of Kadesh, one; the king of
Jokneam of Carmel, one; {12:23} the king of Dor and of the
province of Dor, one; the king of the nations of Gilgal, one;
{12:24} the king of Tirzah, one. All the kings were thirty-one.


[Joshua 13] {13:1} Joshua was old and advanced in age, and
the Lord said to him: “You have grown old, and are aged,
and a very wide land remains, which has not yet been divided
by lot, {13:2} specifically, all of Galilee, Philistia, and all of
Geshur; {13:3} from the muddy river, which irrigates Egypt,
as far as the border of Ekron toward the north, the land of
Canaan, which is divided among the rulers of Philistia: the
Gazites, and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gathites,
and the Ekronites; {13:4} truly, to the south are the Hivites,
all the land of Canaan, and Mearah of the Sidonians, as far as
Aphek and the borders of the Amorite {13:5} and his
confines; also, the region of Lebanon toward the east, from
Baalgad, under mount Hermon, until you enter into Hamath;
{13:6} all who live in the mountains from Lebanon, as far as
the waters of Misrephoth, and all the Sidonians. I am the
One who will wipe them out, before the face of the sons of
Israel. Therefore, let their land become a part of the
inheritance of Israel, just as I have instructed you.
{13:7} And now, divide the land as a possession to the nine
tribes, and to the one half tribe of Manasseh.” {13:8} With
them, Reuben and Gad have possessed the land, which
Moses, the servant of the Lord, delivered to them beyond the
river Jordan, on the eastern side: {13:9} from Aroer, which is
situated on the bank of the torrent Arnon and in the midst of
the valley, and all the plains of Medeba, as far as Dibon;
{13:10} and all the cities of Sihon, the king of the Amorites,
who reigned in Heshbon, even to the borders of the sons of
Ammon; {13:11} and Gilead, as well as the borders of
Geshur and Maacati, and all of mount Hermon, and all of
Bashan, as far as Salecah; {13:12} the entire kingdom of Og
in Bashan, who reigned at Ashtaroth and Edrei, (he was
among the last of the Rephaim). And Moses struck and
destroyed them. {13:13} And the sons of Israel were not
willing to destroy Geshur and Maacati, and so they have
lived in the midst of Israel, even to the present day.
{13:14} But to the tribe of Levi, he did not give a possession.
Instead, the sacrifices and victims of the Lord, the God of
Israel, these are his inheritance, just as he spoke to him.
{13:15} Therefore, Moses gave a possession to the tribe of the
sons of Reuben, according to their families. {13:16} And
their border was from Aroer, which is situated on the bank of
the torrent Arnon, and in the midst of the valley of the same
torrent, with all the flatlands that lead to Medeba;
{13:17} and Heshbon, and all their villages, which are in the
plains; also Dibon, and Bamothbaal, and the town of
Baalmeon, {13:18} and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and
Mephaath, {13:19} and Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth-
shahar on the mountain of the steep valley; {13:20} Bethpeor,
and the descending slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth;
{13:21} and all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdoms of
Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who reigned at Heshbon,
whom Moses struck down with the leaders of Midian: Evi,
and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the commanders of
Sihon, inhabitants of the land. {13:22} And the sons of Israel
killed Balaam, the son of Beor, the seer, with the sword,
along with the others who were slain. {13:23} And the river
Jordan was made the border of the sons of Reuben; this is the
possession of the Reubenites, by their families, in cities and
villages. {13:24} And Moses gave to the tribe of Gad and his
sons, by their families, a possession, of which this is the
division: {13:25} the border of Jazer, and all the cities of
Gilead, and one half part of the land of the sons of Ammon,
as far as Aroer, which is opposite Rabbah; {13:26} and from
Heshbon as far as Ramath, Mizpeh, and Betonim; and from
Mahanaim as far as the borders of Debir; {13:27} also, in the
valley Beth-haram and Beth-nimrah, and Succoth, and
Zaphon, the remaining part of the kingdom of Sihon, the
king of Heshbon; the limit of this also is the Jordan, as far as
the furthest part of the sea of Chinnereth, beyond the Jordan
on the eastern side. {13:28} This is the possession of the sons
of Gad, by their families, in their cities and villages.
{13:29} He also gave, to the one half tribe of Manasseh and
to his sons, a possession according to their families,
{13:30} the beginning of which is this: from Mahanaim, all of
Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Og, the king of Bashan, and
all the villages of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty towns;
{13:31} and one half part of Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and
Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, to the sons
of Machir, the son of Manasseh, to one half part of the sons
of Machir, according to their families. {13:32} Moses divided
this possession, in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan,
opposite Jericho on the eastern side. {13:33} But to the tribe
of Levi he did not give a possession. For the Lord, the God of
Israel, is himself their possession, just as he spoke to him.


[Joshua 14] {14:1} This is what the sons of Israel possessed
in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua,
the son of Nun, and the leaders of the families, by the tribes
of Israel, gave to them, {14:2} dividing all by lot, just as the
Lord had instructed by the hand of Moses, to the nine tribes
and to the one half tribe. {14:3} For to the two and one half
tribes, Moses had given a possession beyond the Jordan,
aside from the Levites, who received no land among their
brothers. {14:4} For by succession, the sons of Joseph, in
their place, were divided into two tribes, Manasseh and
Ephraim. But the Levites did not receive another portion of
land, except cities in which to live, and their suburbs, so as to
feed their beasts of burden and cattle. {14:5} Just as the Lord
had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did, and they
divided the land. {14:6} And so, the sons of Judah
approached Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb, the son of Jephone,
the Kenizzite, spoke to him: “You know what the Lord said
to Moses, the man of God, at Kadesh-barnea, about me and
you. {14:7} I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of
the Lord, sent me from Kadesh-barnea, so that I might
consider the land. And I reported to him what seemed to me
to be true. {14:8} But my brothers, who had ascended with
me, broke the heart of the people. And I nevertheless
followed the Lord my God. {14:9} And Moses swore, on that
day, saying: ‘The land that your foot has tread upon shall be
your possession, and that of your sons, unto eternity. For you
have followed the Lord my God.’ {14:10} Therefore, the
Lord has granted life to me, just as he promised, even to the
present day. It has been forty-five years since the Lord spoke
this word to Moses, when Israel was wandering through the
wilderness. Today, I am eighty-five years old, {14:11} being
just as strong as I was at that time, when I was sent to explore
the land. The fortitude in me at that time continues even until
today, as much to fight as to march. {14:12} Therefore, grant
to me this mountain, which the Lord has promised in your
hearing also, on which are the Anakim, and cities, great and
fortified. Perhaps it may be that the Lord will be with me,
and I will be able to destroy them, just as he promised to
me.” {14:13} And Joshua blessed him, and he delivered
Hebron to him as a possession. {14:14} And from then on,
Hebron was for Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite,
even to the present day. For he followed the Lord, the God of
Israel. {14:15} Previously, the name Hebron was called
Kiriath-Arba. Adam, the greatest among the Anakim, was
laid there. And the land ceased from battles.


[Joshua 15] {15:1} And so, the lot of the sons of Judah, by
their families, was this: from the border of Edom, to the
desert of Sin toward the south, and even to the furthest part
of the southern region. {15:2} Its beginning was from the
summit of the very salty sea, and from its bay, which looks
toward the south. {15:3} And it extends toward the ascent of
the Scorpion, and it passes on to Sinai. And it ascends into
Kadesh-barnea, and it passes through to Hezron, ascending
to Addar, and encompassing Karka. {15:4} And from there,
it passes on to Azmon, and reaches to the torrent of Egypt.
And its boundary shall be the great sea; this shall be the limit
of the southern region. {15:5} Yet truly, toward the east, the
beginning shall be the very salty sea, even to the limit of the
Jordan, and that which looks toward the north, from the bay
of the sea, even to the same river Jordan. {15:6} And the
border ascends into Beth-hoglah, and it crosses from the
north into Beth-Arabah, ascending to the stone of Bohan, the
son of Reuben. {15:7} And it reaches as far as the borders of
Debara, from the Valley of Achor, to the north, looking
toward Gilgal, which is opposite the Ascent of Adummim,
on the southern part of the torrent. And it crosses the waters
that are called the Fountain of the Sun. And its exit shall be
at the Fountain of Rogel. {15:8} And it ascends by the steep
valley of the son of Hinnom, from the side of the Jebusite,
toward the south; this is Jerusalem. And from there, it raises
itself to the top of the mountain, which is opposite Geennom
to the west, at the top of the Valley of the Rephaim, to the
north. {15:9} And it passes through, from the top of the
mountain, even to the fountain of the Water of Nephtoah.
And it continues on, as far as the villages of mount Ephron.
And it inclines toward Baalah, which is Kiriath-jearim, that is,
the City of Forests. {15:10} And it circles from Baalah, to the
west, as far as mount Seir. And it passes by the side of mount
Jearim, to the north, into Chesalon. And it descends into
Beth-shemesh, and it passes through to Timnah. {15:11} And
it continues on, toward the north, to a region beside Ekron.
And it inclines toward Shikkeron, and it crosses to mount
Baalah. And it extends into Jabneel, and the last part closes
at the west with the great sea. {15:12} These are the borders
of the sons of Judah, in their families, on all sides.
{15:13} Yet truly, to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, he gave a
portion in the midst of the sons of Judah, just as the Lord had
instructed him: the City of Arba, the father of Anak, which is
Hebron. {15:14} And Caleb destroyed from it the three sons
of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, of the stock of
Anak. {15:15} And ascending further from there, he came to
the inhabitants of Debir, which before was called Kiriath-
Sepher, that is, the City of Letters. {15:16} And Caleb said,
“Whoever will have struck down Kiriath-Sepher, and will
have seized it, I will give to him Achsah, my daughter, as
wife.” {15:17} And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, the younger
brother of Caleb, seized it. And he gave him Achsah, his
daughter, as wife. {15:18} And as they were traveling
together, she was urged by her husband that she ask her
father for a field. And she sighed, as she was sitting on her
donkey. And Caleb said to her, “What is it?” {15:19} But she
answered: “Give a blessing to me. You have given to me a
southern and dry land; join to it also a watered land.” And so
Caleb gave to her the watered land above and below it.
{15:20} This is the possession of the tribe of the sons of
Judah, by their families. {15:21} And the cities, from the
furthest parts of the sons of Judah, beside the borders of
Edom to the south, were: Kabzeel and Eder and Jagur,
{15:22} and Kinah and Dimonah and Adadah, {15:23} and
Kadesh and Hazor and Ithnan, {15:24} Ziph and Telem and
Bealoth, {15:25} new Hazor and Kerioth-Hezron, which is
Hazor, {15:26} Amam, Shema, and Moladah, {15:27} and
Hazar-gaddah and Heshmon and Bethpelet, {15:28} and
Hazar-shual and Beersheba and Biziothiah, {15:29} and
Baalah and Iim and Ezem, {15:30} and Eltolad and Chesil
and Hormah, {15:31} and Ziklag and Madmannah and
Sansannah, {15:32} Lebaoth and Shilhim, and Ain and
Rimmon. All the cities were twenty-nine, and their villages.
{15:33} Truly, in the plains, there were: Eshtaol and Zorah
and Ashnah, {15:34} and Zanoah and Engannim, and
Tappuah and Enam, {15:35} and Jarmuth and Adullam,
Socoh and Azekah, {15:36} and Shaaraim and Adithaim,
and Gederah and Gederothaim: fourteen cities, and their
villages. {15:37} Zenan and Hadashah and Maiddalgad,
{15:38} Dilean and Mizpeh and Joktheel, {15:39} Lachish
and Bozkath and Eglon, {15:40} Cabbon and Lahmam and
Chitlish, {15:41} and Gederoth and Bethdagon, and Naamah
and Makkedah: sixteen cities, and their villages.
{15:42} Libnah and Ether and Ashan, {15:43} Iphtah and
Ashnah and Nezib, {15:44} and Keilah and Achzib and
Mareshah: nine cities, and their villages. {15:45} Ekron, with
its towns and villages: {15:46} from Ekron, as far as the sea,
all that inclines toward Ashdod, and its villages.
{15:47} Ashdod, with its towns and villages. Gaza, with its
towns and villages, as far as the torrent of Egypt, with the
great sea as its border. {15:48} And on the mountain, Shamir
and Jattir and Socoh, {15:49} and Dannah, and Kiriath-
Sannah, which is Debir, {15:50} Anab and Eshtemoh and
Anim, {15:51} Goshen and Holon and Giloh: eleven cities,
and their villages. {15:52} Arab and Dumah and Eshan,
{15:53} and Janim and Beth-Tappuah and Aphekah,
{15:54} Humtah and Kiriath-Arba, which is Hebron, and
Zior: nine cities, and their villages. {15:55} Maon and
Carmel, and Ziph and Juttah, {15:56} Jezreel and Jokdeam
and Zanoah, {15:57} Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah: ten cities,
and their villages. {15:58} Halhul and Bethzur and Gedor,
{15:59} Maarath and Bethanoth and Eltekon: six cities, and
their villages. {15:60} Kiriath-baal, which is Kiriath-jearim,
the City of Forests, and Rabbah: two cities, and their villages.
{15:61} In the desert: Beth-Arabah, Middin, and Secacah,
{15:62} and Nibshan, and the City of Salt, and Engedi: six
cities, and their villages. {15:63} But the sons of Judah were
not able to destroy the Jebusite inhabitants of Jerusalem. And
so the Jebusite lived with the sons of Judah in Jerusalem,
even to the present day.


[Joshua 16] {16:1} Similarly, the lot of the sons of Joseph fell
from the Jordan, opposite Jericho and its waters, to the east,
to the wilderness that ascends from Jericho to the mountain
of Bethel. {16:2} And it goes out from Bethel to Luz. And it
crosses the border of Archi to Ataroth. {16:3} And it
descends to the west, beside the border of Japhleti, as far as
the borders of lower Beth-horon, and to Gezer. And the last
parts of its regions are by the great sea. {16:4} And Manasseh
and Ephraim, the sons of Joseph, possessed it. {16:5} And
the border of the sons of Ephraim was made by their families.
And their possession toward the east was from Ataroth-addar,
as far as upper Beth-horon, {16:6} and the confines extend to
the sea. Yet truly, Michmethath looks toward the north, and
it circles around the borders, toward the east, into Taanath-
shiloh. And it continues on, from the east, to Janoah.
{16:7} And it descends from Janoah to Ataroth and Naarah.
and it continues to Jericho, and it extends to the Jordan.
{16:8} From Tappuah, it passes on, opposite the sea, into the
Valley of Reeds. And its exit is at the very salty sea. This is
the possession of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim, by their
families. {16:9} And there were cities, with their villages,
which were set aside for the sons of Ephraim, in the midst of
the possession of the sons of Manasseh. {16:10} And the sons
of Ephraim did not put to death the Canaanite that was living
at Gezer. And the Canaanite lived in the midst of Ephraim,
even to this day, paying tribute.


[Joshua 17] {17:1} Now this lot fell to the tribe of Manasseh,
since he is the firstborn of Joseph: to Machir, the firstborn of
Manasseh, the father of Gilead, who was a fighting man, and
he had as a possession Gilead and Bashan; {17:2} and to the
rest of the sons of Manasseh, according to their families: to
the sons of Abiezer, and to the sons of Helek, and to the sons
of Asriel, and to the sons of Shechem, and to the sons of
Hepher, and to the sons of Shemida. These are the sons of
Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the males, by their families.
{17:3} Yet truly, Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of
Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons,
but only daughters, whose names are these: Mahlah and
Noah and Hoglah and Milcah and Tirzah. {17:4} And they
went before the sight of Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua, the
son of Nun, and the leaders, saying: “The Lord instructed by
the hand of Moses that a possession ought to be given to us,
in the midst of our brothers.” And so, he gave to them, in
accord with the order of the Lord, a possession in the midst
of the brothers of their father. {17:5} And by lot, there fell ten
portions to Manasseh, aside from the land of Gilead and
Bashan beyond the Jordan. {17:6} And so the daughters of
Manasseh possessed an inheritance in the midst of his sons.
But the land of Gilead fell by lot to the sons of Manasseh that
were left. {17:7} And the border of Manasseh was from
Asher to Michmethath, which looks out toward Shechem.
And it goes out, to the right, beside the inhabitants of the
Fountain of Tappuah. {17:8} For by lot, there also fell to
Manasseh the land of Tappuah, which is beside the borders
of Manasseh, and which belongs to the sons of Ephraim.
{17:9} And the border descends to the Valley of Reeds, to the
south of the torrent of the cities of Ephraim, which are in the
midst of the cities of Manasseh. The border of Manasseh is to
the north of the torrent, and its exit extends to the sea.
{17:10} So it is that the possession of Ephraim is in the south,
and that of Manasseh is in the north, and both are enclosed
by the sea, and they are joined together by the tribe of Asher
to the north, and by the tribe of Issachar to the east.
{17:11} And the inheritance of Manasseh, in Issachar and in
Asher, was Bethshean and its villages, and Ibleam with its
villages, and the inhabitants of Dor, with their towns,
likewise the inhabitants of Endor with their villages, and
similarly the inhabitants of Taanach with their villages, and
the inhabitants of Megiddo with their villages, and one third
part of the city of Naphath. {17:12} The sons of Manasseh
were not able to overthrow these cities, and so the Canaanite
began to dwell in their land. {17:13} But after the sons of
Israel had grown strong, they subdued the Canaanites, and
made them their tributaries, but they did not kill them.
{17:14} And the sons of Joseph spoke to Joshua, and they
said, “Why have you given to me as a possession one lot and
one portion, while I am of such a great multitude, and the
Lord has blessed me?” {17:15} And Joshua said to them, “If
you are a numerous people, go up into the forest, and cut out
space for yourself in the land of the Perizzites and the
Rephaim, since the possession of mount Ephraim is too
narrow for you.” {17:16} And the sons of Joseph responded
to him: “We are not able to ascend to the mountains, since
the Canaanites, who live in the plains, in which are situated
Bethshean, with its villages, and Jezreel, possessing the
middle of the valley, use chariots of iron.” {17:17} And
Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and
Manasseh: “You are a numerous people, and you have great
strength. You shall not have only one lot. {17:18} Instead,
you shall cross to the mountain, and you shall cut down and
clear out for yourselves space in which to live. And you shall
be able to advance further, when you will have destroyed the
Canaanite, who, as you say, has iron chariots and is very
strong.”


[Joshua 18] {18:1} And all the sons of Israel gathered
together at Shiloh, and there they stationed the Tabernacle of
the Testimony. And the land was subjected to them.
{18:2} But there remained seven tribes of the sons of Israel
which had not yet received their possessions. {18:3} And
Joshua said to them: “For how long will you draw back in
idleness, and not enter to possess the land, which the Lord,
the God of your fathers, has given to you? {18:4} Select three
men from each tribe, so that I may send them, and they may
go forth and circle through the land, and may describe it
according to the number of each multitude, and may bring
back to me what they have written down. {18:5} Divide the
land for yourselves into seven parts. Let Judah be its bounds
on the southern side, and the house of Joseph to the north.
{18:6} The land that is in the middle, between these, write it
down in seven parts. And you shall come to me, so that I
may cast lots for you about this, before the Lord your God.
{18:7} But there is no portion among you for the Levites.
Instead, the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance. And
Gad and Reuben, and the one half tribe of Manasseh, have
already received their possessions beyond the Jordan in the
eastern region, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave to
them.” {18:8} And when the men had risen up, so that they
might go out to describe the land, Joshua instructed them,
saying, “Circle through the land, and describe it, and return
to me, so that I may cast lots for you about this, before the
Lord, in Shiloh.” {18:9} And so they went out. And
surveying it, they divided it into seven parts, writing it in a
book. And they returned to Joshua, to the camp at Shiloh.
{18:10} And he cast lots before the Lord, at Shiloh, and he
divided the land to the sons of Israel, in seven parts.
{18:11} And the first lot went to the sons of Benjamin, by
their families, so that they would possess the land between
the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph. {18:12} And their
border toward the north was from the Jordan, continuing on,
near the side of Jericho in the northern region, and from there,
ascending toward the west to the mountains, and extending
to the wilderness of Bethaven. {18:13} And it continues to
the south beside Luz, which is Bethel. And it descends into
Ataroth-addar, at the mountain which is to the south of lower
Beth-horon. {18:14} And it turns aside, circling toward the
sea, to the south of the mountain which looks out toward
Beth-horon, toward the southwest. And its exits are toward
Kiriath-baal, which is also called Kiriath-jearim, a city of the
sons of Judah. This is their region, toward the sea, in the west.
{18:15} But to the south, the border goes on from the part of
Kiriath-jearim toward the sea, and it continues as far as the
Fountain of the waters of Nephtoah. {18:16} And it descends
to that part of the mountain which looks out toward the
Valley of the sons of Hinnom. And it is opposite the northern
region, in the furthest part of the Valley of the Rephaim. And
it descends into Geennom, (that is, the Valley of Hinnom,)
near the side of the Jebusite toward the south. And it extends
to the Fountain of Rogel, {18:17} crossing from there to the
north, and going out to En-Shemesh, that is, to the Fountain
of the Sun. {18:18} And it passes through to the hills that are
opposite the region of the Ascent of Adummim. And it
descends to Abenboen, that is, so the stone of Bohan, the son
of Reuben. And it continues on, at the northern side, to the
plains. And it descends into the flatlands. {18:19} And it
advances before Beth-hoglah, to the north. And its exits are
to the north, opposite the bay of the very salty sea, in the
southern region at the end of the Jordan, {18:20} which is its
border to the east. This is the possession of the sons of
Benjamin, with their borders all around, and by their families.
{18:21} And their cities were: Jericho and Beth-hoglah and
the Abrupt Valley, {18:22} Beth-arabah and Zemaraim and
Bethel, {18:23} and Avvim and Parah and Ophrah,
{18:24} the town of Ammoni, and Ophni, and Geba: twelve
cities, and their villages; {18:25} Gibeon and Ramah and
Beeroth, {18:26} and Mizpeh and Chephirah and Mozah,
{18:27} and Rekem, Irpeel, and Taralah, {18:28} and Zela,
Haeleph, and Jebus, which is Jerusalem, Gibeah and Kiriath:
fourteen cities, and their villages. This is the possession of the
sons of Benjamin, according to their families.


[Joshua 19] {19:1} And the second lot went out, for the sons
of Simeon by their families. And their inheritance was,
{19:2} in the midst of the possession of the sons of Judah:
Beersheba, and Sheba, and Moladah, {19:3} and Hazar-shual,
Balah, and Ezem, {19:4} and Eltolad, Bethul, and Hormah,
{19:5} and Ziklag, and Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susah,
{19:6} and Bethlebaoth, and Sharuhen: thirteen cities, and
their villages; {19:7} Ain and Enrimmon, and Ether and
Ashan: four cities, and their villages; {19:8} all villages
around these cities, as far as Baalath-beer, the high place
facing the southern region. This is the inheritance of the sons
of Simeon, according to their families, {19:9} within the
possession and lot of the sons of Judah, which was greater.
And for this reason, the sons of Simeon had a possession in
the midst of their inheritance. {19:10} And the third lot fell to
the sons of Zebulun, by their families; and the limit of their
possession was set as far as Sarid. {19:11} And it ascends
from the sea and from Mareal. And it passes on to
Dabbesheth, as far as the torrent, which is opposite Jokneam.
{19:12} And it turns back from Sarid, to the east, to the end
of Chisloth-tabor. And it goes out to Daberath, and it ascends
opposite Japhia. {19:13} And from there, it continues to the
eastern region of Gathhepher and Ethkazin. And goes out to
Rimmon, Amthar, and Neah. {19:14} And it circles to the
north at Hannathon. And its exits are at the Valley of
Iphtahel; {19:15} and Kattath and Nahalal, and Shimron and
Idalah, and Bethlehem: twelve cities, and their villages.
{19:16} This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of
Zebulun, by their families, the cities and their villages.
{19:17} The fourth lot went out to Issachar, by their families.
{19:18} And his inheritance was: Jezreel, and Chesulloth,
and Shunem, {19:19} and Hapharaim, and Shion, and
Anaharath, {19:20} and Rabbith and Kishion, Ebez
{19:21} and Remeth, and Engannim, and Enhaddah, and
Bethpazzez. {19:22} And its limit reaches to Tabor and
Shahazumah and Beth-shemesh; and its exits shall be at the
Jordan: sixteen cities, and their villages. {19:23} This is the
possession of the sons of Issachar by their families, the cities
and their villages. {19:24} And the fifth lot fell to the tribe of
the sons of Asher, by their families. {19:25} And their border
was: Helkath, and Hali, and Beten, and Achshaph,
{19:26} and Allammelech, and Amad, and Mishal. And it
extends even to Carmel by the sea, and Shihor, and Libnath.
{19:27} And it turns back toward the east at Bethdagon. And
it continues on as far as Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtahel,
toward the north, at Beth-emek and Neiel. And it goes out to
the left of Cabul, {19:28} and to Ebron, and Rehob, and
Hammon, and Kanah, as far as the great Sidon. {19:29} And
it turns back at Ramah, even to the very fortified city of Tyre,
and even to Hosah. And its exits shall be at the sea, from the
lot of Achzib; {19:30} and Ummah, and Aphek, and Rehob:
twenty-two cities, and their villages. {19:31} This is the
possession of the sons of Asher, by their families, and the
cities and their villages. {19:32} The sixth lot fell to the sons
of Naphtali, by their families. {19:33} And its border begins
from Heleph and Elon, into Zaanannim, and Adami, which
is Nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum. And its exits are as
far as the Jordan. {19:34} And the border turns back to the
west at Aznoth-tabor, and it goes out from there to Hukkok.
And continues on to Zebulun, in the south, and to Asher, in
the west, and to Judah, at the Jordan, toward the rising of the
sun. {19:35} And the most fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer
and Hammath, and Rakkath, and Chinnereth, {19:36} and
Adamah and Ramah, Hazor {19:37} and Kedesh and Edrei,
Enhazor {19:38} and Yiron and Migdalel, Horem and
Bethanath, and Beth-shemesh: nineteen cities, and their
villages. {19:39} This is the possession of the tribe of the sons
of Naphtali, by their families, the cities and their villages.
{19:40} The seventh lot went out to the tribe of the sons of
Dan, by their families. {19:41} And the border of their
possession was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh, that is,
the City of the Sun, {19:42} Sha-alabbin, and Ayalon, and
Ithlah, {19:43} Elon, and Timnah, and Ekron,
{19:44} Eltekeh, Gibbethon and Baalath, {19:45} and Jehud,
and Bene and Berak, and Gath-Rimmon, {19:46} and
Mejarkon and Rakkon, with a border that looks toward
Joppa, {19:47} and there the last part is concluded. And the
sons of Dan ascended and fought against Leshem, and they
seized it. And they struck it with the mouth of the sword, and
they possessed it, and they lived in it, calling it by the name
of Leshem-Dan, according to the name of their father Dan.
{19:48} This is the possession of the tribe of the sons of Dan,
by their families, the cities and their villages. {19:49} And
when he had completed dividing the land by lot to each one
by their tribes, the sons of Israel gave a possession to Joshua,
the son of Nun, in their midst, {19:50} in accord with the
precept of the Lord, the city he requested, Timnath-Serah, on
mount Ephraim. And he built up the city, and he lived in it.
{19:51} These are the possessions which Eleazar, the priest,
and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the leaders of the families
and tribes of the sons of Israel divided by lot at Shiloh, before
the Lord, at the door of the Tabernacle of the Testimony.
And so did they divide the land.


[Joshua 20] {20:1} And the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying:
“Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them: {20:2} Separate
the cities of refuge, about which I spoke to you by the hand of
Moses, {20:3} so that anyone who will have struck down a
life unintentionally may flee to them. And so, he may be able
to escape from the wrath of a close relative, who is an
avenger of blood. {20:4} And when he will have fled to one
of these cities, he shall stand before the gate of the city, and
he shall speak to the ancients of that city, the things that
prove him innocent. And so shall they receive him, and give
him a place in which to live. {20:5} And if the avenger of
blood will have pursued him, they shall not deliver him into
his hands. For he struck down his neighbor unknowingly,
one who was not proven to have been his enemy two or three
days before. {20:6} And he shall live in that city, until he
stands before judgment in order to render the facts of his case,
and until the death of the high priest, whoever it will be in
that time. Then the one who killed a man may return, and he
may enter his own city and house, from which he had fled.”
{20:7} And they decreed Kedesh in Galilee, at mount
Naphtali, and Shechem, at mount Ephraim, and Kiriath-
Arba, which is Hebron, at mount Judah. {20:8} And beyond
the Jordan, opposite the eastern side of Jericho, they
appointed Bezer, which is situated on the plain of the
wilderness of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead of
the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan of the tribe of
Manasseh. {20:9} These cities were established for all the
sons of Israel, and for the new arrivals who were living
among them, so that whoever had struck down a life
unintentionally might flee to these, and not die at the hand of
a close relative who desires to vindicate the blood that was
shed, until he should stand before the people, in order to
present his case.


[Joshua 21] {21:1} And the leaders of the families of Levi
approached Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun,
and the rulers of the extended families of each of the tribes of
the sons of Israel. {21:2} And they spoke to them at Shiloh,
in the land of Canaan, and they said, “The Lord instructed,
by the hand of Moses, that cities should be given to us as
habitations, with their suburbs to nourish our cattle.”
{21:3} And so the sons of Israel gave cities and their suburbs
from their possessions, in accord with the order of the Lord.
{21:4} And the lot went out for the family of Kohath, of the
sons of Aaron, the priest, from the tribes of Judah and
Simeon and Benjamin: thirteen cities. {21:5} And to the
remainder of the sons of Kohath, that is, to the Levites who
were left over, there went, from the tribes of Ephraim and
Dan, and from the one half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.
{21:6} And next the lot went out to the sons of Gershon, so
that they would receive, from the tribes of Issachar and Asher
and Naphtali, and from the one half tribe of Manasseh at
Bashan: the number of thirteen cities. {21:7} And to the sons
of Merari, by their families, from the tribes of Reuben and
Gad and Zebulun, there went twelve cities. {21:8} And so the
sons of Israel gave cities and their suburbs to the Levites, just
as the Lord instructed by the hand of Moses, distributing to
each by lot. {21:9} From the tribes of the sons of Judah and
Simeon, Joshua gave cities, whose names are these:
{21:10} to the sons of Aaron, of the families of Kohath of the
stock of Levi, (for the first lot went out for them,) {21:11} the
city of Arba, the father of Anak, which is called Hebron, on
the mountain of Judah, and its surrounding suburbs.
{21:12} Yet truly, the fields and its villages he had given to
Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, as a possession.
{21:13} Therefore, he gave to the sons of Aaron the priest,
Hebron as a city of refuge, as well as its suburbs, and Libnah,
with its suburbs, {21:14} and Jattir, and Eshtemoa,
{21:15} and Holon, and Debir, {21:16} and Ain, and Juttah,
and Beth-shemesh, with their suburbs: nine cities from two
tribes, just as has been said. {21:17} Then, from the tribe of
the sons of Benjamin, he gave Gibeon, and Geba,
{21:18} and Anathoth, and Almon, with their suburbs: four
cities. {21:19} All the cities together of the sons of Aaron, the
priest, were thirteen, with their suburbs. {21:20} Yet truly,
the remainder of the families of the sons of Kohath, of the
stock of Levi, were given this possession: {21:21} from the
tribe of Ephraim, Shechem, one of the cities of refuge, with
its suburbs, on mount Ephraim, and Gezer, {21:22} and
Kibzaim, and Beth-horon, with their suburbs, four cities;
{21:23} and from the tribe of Dan, Elteke and Gibbethon,
{21:24} and Aijalon and Gath-Rimmon, with their suburbs,
four cities; {21:25} then, from the one half tribe of Manasseh,
Taanach and Gath-Rimmon, with their suburbs, two cities.
{21:26} All the cities were ten, with their suburbs; these were
given to the sons of Kohath, of the lesser degree.
{21:27} Likewise, to the sons of Gershon, of the stock of Levi,
from the one half tribe of Manasseh, went Golan in Bashan,
one of the cities of refuge, and Bosra, with their suburbs, two
cities; {21:28} also, from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion, and
Daberath, {21:29} and Jarmuth, and Engannim, with their
suburbs, four cities; {21:30} then, from the tribe of Asher,
Mishal and Abdon, {21:31} and Helkath and Rehob, with
their suburbs, four cities; {21:32} likewise, from the tribe of
Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee, one of the cities of refuge, and
Hammoth-Dor, and Kartan, with their suburbs, three cities.
{21:33} All the cities of the families of Gershon were thirteen,
with their suburbs. {21:34} Then, to the sons of Merari,
Levites of the lesser degree, by their families, were given,
from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and Kartah, {21:35} and
Dimnah and Nahalal, four cities with their suburbs;
{21:36} from the tribe of Reuben, beyond the Jordan,
opposite Jericho, Bezer in the wilderness, one of the cities of
refuge, Misor and Jazer, and Jethson and Mephaath, four
cities with their suburbs; {21:37} from the tribe of Gad,
Ramoth of Gilead, one of the cities of refuge, and Mahanaim
and Heshbon and Jazer, four cities with their suburbs.
{21:38} All the cities of the sons of Merari, by their families
and extended families, were twelve. {21:39} And so all the
cities of the Levites, in the midst of the possession of the sons
of Israel, were forty-eight, {21:40} with their suburbs, each
distributed by families. {21:41} And the Lord God gave to
Israel all the land that he had sworn he would deliver to their
fathers. And they possessed it, and they lived in it.
{21:42} And he gave them peace with all the surrounding
nations. And none of their enemies dared to stand against
them; instead, they were brought under their sovereignty.
{21:43} Indeed, not so much as one word that he had
promised to provide for them was left empty; instead,
everything was fulfilled.


[Joshua 22] {22:1} In the same time, Joshua called the
Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the one half tribe of
Manasseh. {22:2} And he said to them: “You have done all
that Moses, the servant of the Lord, instructed you. You have
also obeyed me in all things. {22:3} Neither have you
forsaken your brothers during this long time, even to the
present day, keeping the orders of the Lord your God.
{22:4} Therefore, since the Lord your God has given your
brothers peace and quiet, just as he promised: return, and go
into your tents and into the land of your possession, which
Moses, the servant of the Lord, delivered to you beyond the
Jordan. {22:5} And may you continue to observe attentively,
and to work to fulfill, the commandment and the law that
Moses, the servant of the Lord, instructed to you, so that you
may love the Lord your God, and walk in all his ways, and
keep all his commandments, and cling to him, and serve him
with all your heart and with all your soul.” {22:6} And
Joshua blessed them, and he sent them away. And they
returned to their tents. {22:7} Now to the one half tribe of
Manasseh, Moses had given a possession in Bashan. And
therefore, to the one half that was left over, Joshua gave a lot
among the remainder of their brothers across the Jordan, in
the western region. And when he had blessed them and
dismissed them to their tents, {22:8} he said to them: “Return
to your settlements with much substance and wealth, with
silver and gold, brass and iron, and a multitude of garments.
Divide the spoils of your enemies with your brothers.”
{22:9} And the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the
one half tribe of Manasseh returned, and they went away
from the sons of Israel at Shiloh, which is situated in Canaan,
so that they might enter into Gilead, the land of their
possession, which they had obtained according to the order of
the Lord, by the hand of Moses. {22:10} And when they had
arrived at the hills of the Jordan in the land of Canaan, they
built an altar of immense magnitude beside the Jordan.
{22:11} And when the sons of Israel had heard of it, and
certain messengers had reported to them that the sons of
Reuben, and of Gad, and of the one half tribe of Manasseh
had built an altar in the land of Canaan, upon the hills of the
Jordan, facing the sons of Israel, {22:12} they all assembled
at Shiloh, so that they might go up and battle against them.
{22:13} And in the interim, they sent to them, in the land of
Gilead, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the priest, {22:14} and
ten leaders with him, one from each tribe. {22:15} And they
went to the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and of the one half
tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to
them: {22:16} “All the people of the Lord declare this: What
is this transgression? Why have you forsaken the Lord, the
God of Israel, by building a sacrilegious altar, and by
withdrawing from the worship of him? {22:17} Is it a small
thing to you that you have sinned with Baal of Peor, and that
the stain of that crime continues among us, even to the
present day? And many of the people have fallen.
{22:18} And yet you have forsaken the Lord today, and
tomorrow his wrath will rage against all of Israel. {22:19} But
if you consider the land of your possession to be unclean,
cross over to the land in which is the tabernacle of the Lord,
and live among us. But do not withdraw from the Lord, and
from our fellowship, by building an altar contrary to the altar
of the Lord our God. {22:20} Did not Achan, the son of
Zerah, go against the commandment of the Lord, and so his
wrath was laid over all the people of Israel? And he was only
one man. If only he had perished in his wickedness alone!”
{22:21} And the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and of the one
half tribe of Manasseh responded to the leaders of the
delegation from Israel: {22:22} “The Lord, the almighty God,
the Lord, the almighty God, he knows, and also Israel will
understand: If we have constructed this altar with intent of
transgression, let him not preserve us, but instead punish us
immediately. {22:23} And if we have acted with a mind so
that we might present upon it holocausts, and sacrifice, and
victims of peace offerings, let him inquire and judge.
{22:24} Instead, we have acted with this greater thought and
design, that we would say: Tomorrow your sons will say to
our sons: ‘What is there between you and the Lord, the God
of Israel? {22:25} The Lord has stationed the river Jordan as
the border between us and you, O sons of Reuben, O sons of
Gad. And therefore, you have no part in the Lord.’ And by
this occasion, your sons would turn away our sons from the
fear of the Lord. And so we sought something better,
{22:26} and we said: Let us build us an altar, not for
holocausts, and not to offer victims, {22:27} but as a
testimony between us and you, and between our descendents
and your progeny, so that we may serve the Lord, and so that
it may be our right to offer holocausts, and victims, and peace
offerings, and so that tomorrow your sons may not say to our
sons: ‘You have no part in the Lord.’ {22:28} And if they
decide to say this, they shall respond to them: ‘Behold, the
altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for holocausts,
and not for sacrifice, but instead as a testimony between us
and you.’ {22:29} May this wickedness be far from us, such
that we would withdraw from the Lord, and would forsake
his paths, by constructing an altar to offer holocausts, and
sacrifices, and victims, contrary to the altar of the Lord our
God, which was built before his tabernacle.” {22:30} And
when Phinehas, the priest, and the leaders of the delegation
who were with him, had heard this, they were pleased. And
they accepted very willingly the words of the sons of Reuben,
and of Gad, and of the one half tribe of Manasseh.
{22:31} And Phinehas, the priest, the son of Eleazar, said to
them: “Now we know that the Lord is with us. For you are a
stranger to this transgression. And so you have freed the sons
of Israel from the hand of the Lord.” {22:32} And he
returned with the leaders, from the sons of Reuben and of
Gad, out of the land of Gilead, into the parts of Canaan, to
the sons of Israel. And he reported to them. {22:33} And the
word pleased all who heard it. And the sons of Israel praised
God, and they no longer said that they would go up against
them, and fight, and destroy the land of their possession.
{22:34} And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad called
the altar that they had built: Our testimony that the Lord
himself is God.


[Joshua 23] {23:1} Now a long time passed, after the Lord
had given peace to Israel by subjecting all the surrounding
nations. And Joshua was now old and very advanced in age.
{23:2} Joshua called all of Israel, and those greater by birth,
and the leaders and rulers and teachers, and he said to them:
“I am elderly and advanced in age. {23:3} And you
yourselves discern all that the Lord your God has done with
all the surrounding nations, in what manner he himself has
fought for you. {23:4} And now, since he has divided to you
by lot all the land, from the eastern part of the Jordan even to
the great sea, and yet many nations still remain, {23:5} the
Lord your God will destroy them, and he will take them
away before your face, and you shall possess the land, just as
he has promised you. {23:6} Even so, be strengthened and be
careful that you observe all the things that have been written
in the book of the law of Moses, and that you do not turn
aside from them, neither to the right, nor to the left.
{23:7} Otherwise, after you have entered to the Gentiles,
who will be among you in the future, you might swear by the
name of their gods, and serve them, and adore them.
{23:8} Instead, cling to the Lord your God, just as you have
done even to this day. {23:9} And then the Lord God will
take away, in your sight, nations that are great and very
robust, and no one will be able to withstand you.
{23:10} One of you shall pursue a thousand men of the
enemies. For the Lord your God himself will fight on your
behalf, just as he promised. {23:11} Even so, be very diligent
and careful in this: that you love the Lord your God.
{23:12} But if you choose to cling to the errors of these
nations that live among you, and to mix with them by
marriage, and to join with them by friendship, {23:13} even
now, know this: that the Lord your God will not wipe them
away before your face. Instead, they shall be a pit and a snare
to you, and a stumbling block at your side, and stakes in your
eyes, until he takes you away and scatters you from this
excellent land, which he has delivered to you. {23:14} Lo,
today I am entering the way of the entire earth, and you shall
know with all your mind that, out of all the words that the
Lord has promised to fulfill for you, not one will pass by
unfulfilled. {23:15} Therefore, just as he has fulfilled in deed
what he has promised, and all prosperous things have arrived,
so will he bring upon you whatever evils were threatened,
until he takes you away and scatters you from this excellent
land, which he has delivered to you, {23:16} when you will
have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which
he has formed with you, and will have served strange gods,
and will have adored them. And then the fury of the Lord
will rise up quickly and speedily against you, and you will be
taken away from this excellent land, which he has delivered
to you.”


[Joshua 24] {24:1} And Joshua gathered together all the
tribes of Israel at Shechem, and he called those greater by
birth, and the leaders and judges and teachers. And they
stood in the sight of the Lord. {24:2} And he spoke to the
people in this way: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel:
“Your fathers lived, in the beginning, across the river: Terah,
the father of Abraham, and Nahor. And they served strange
gods. {24:3} Then I brought your father Abraham from the
parts of Mesopotamia, and I led him into the land of Canaan.
And I multiplied his offspring, {24:4} and I gave to him Isaac.
And to him, I gave again Jacob and Esau. And I gave mount
Seir to Esau as a possession. Yet truly, Jacob and his sons
descended into Egypt. {24:5} And I sent Moses and Aaron,
and I struck Egypt with many signs and portents. {24:6} And
I led you and your fathers away from Egypt, and you arrived
at the sea. And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with
chariots and horsemen, as far as the Red Sea. {24:7} Then
the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. And he stationed a
darkness between you and the Egyptians, and he led the sea
over them, and he covered them. Your eyes saw all that I did
in Egypt, and you lived in the wilderness for a long time.
{24:8} And I led you into the land of the Amorite, who was
living beyond the Jordan. And when they fought against you,
I delivered them into your hands, and you possessed their
land, and you put them to death. {24:9} Then Balak, the son
of Zippor, the king of Moab, rose up and fought against Israel.
And he sent and called for Balaam, the son of Beor, so that
he might curse you. {24:10} And I was not willing to listen to
him, but on the contrary, I blessed you through him, and I
freed you from his hand. {24:11} And you crossed over the
Jordan, and you arrived at Jericho. And the men of that city
fought against you: the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the
Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Hivite,
and the Jebusite. And I delivered them into your hands.
{24:12} And I sent wasps before you. And I drove them from
their places, the two kings of the Amorites, but not by your
sword, and not by your bow. {24:13} And I gave you a land,
in which you did not labor, and cities, which you did not
build, so that you might live in them, and vineyards and olive
groves, which you did not plant.’ {24:14} Now therefore, fear
the Lord, and serve him with a perfect and very sincere heart.
And take away the gods that your fathers served in
Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. {24:15} But
if it seems evil to you that you would serve the Lord, a choice
is given to you. Choose today what pleases you, and whom
you ought to serve above all else, either the gods that your
fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the Amorites,
in whose land you live: but as for me and my house, we will
serve the Lord.” {24:16} And the people responded, and they
said: “Far be it from us that we would forsake the Lord, and
serve foreign gods. {24:17} The Lord our God himself led us
and our fathers away from the land of Egypt, from the house
of servitude. And he accomplished immense signs in our
sight, and he preserved us along the entire way by which we
journeyed, and among all the people through whom we
passed. {24:18} And he cast out all the nations, the Amorite,
the inhabitant of the land that we entered. And so, we will
serve the Lord, for he is our God.” {24:19} And Joshua said
to the people: “You will not be able to serve the Lord. For he
is a holy and powerful God, and he is jealous, and he will not
ignore your wickedness and sins. {24:20} If you leave behind
the Lord, and you serve foreign gods, he will turn himself,
and he will afflict you, and he will overthrow you, after all
the good that he has offered to you.” {24:21} And the people
said to Joshua, “By no means will it be as you are saying, but
we will serve the Lord.” {24:22} And Joshua said to the
people, “You yourselves are witnesses, that you have chosen
the Lord so that you may serve him.” And they answered,
“We are witnesses.” {24:23} “Now therefore,” he said, “take
away strange gods from among yourselves, and incline your
hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” {24:24} And the
people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God, and
we will be obedient to his precepts.” {24:25} Therefore, on
that day, Joshua struck a covenant, and he set before the
people at Shechem the precepts and the judgments.
{24:26} He also wrote all these things in the volume of the
law of the Lord. And he took a very great stone, and he
stationed it under the oak that was in the Sanctuary of the
Lord. {24:27} And he said to all the people, “Lo, this stone
shall be to you as a testimony, which has heard all the words
of the Lord that he has spoken to you, lest perhaps, afterward,
you might choose to deny it, and to lie to the Lord your
God.” {24:28} And he dismissed the people, each one to
their own possession. {24:29} And after these things, Joshua,
the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one
hundred and ten years old. {24:30} And they buried him
within the borders of his possession at Timnath-Serah, which
is situated on mount Ephraim, before the northern side of
mount Gaash. {24:31} And Israel served the Lord during all
the days of Joshua, and of the elders who lived for a long
time after Joshua, and who had known all the works of the
Lord that he had accomplished in Israel. {24:32} And the
bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel had brought from
Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in a portion of the field that
Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, the father of
Shechem, for one hundred young female sheep, and so it was
in the possession of the sons of Joseph. {24:33} Likewise,
Eleazar, the son of Aaron, died. And they buried him at
Gibeah, which belongs to Phinehas, his son, and which was
given to him on mount Ephraim.


** The Book of Judges **


[Judges 1] {1:1} After the death of Joshua, the sons of Israel
consulted the Lord, saying, “Who will ascend before us,
against the Canaanite, and who will be the commander of the
war?” {1:2} And the Lord said: “Judah shall ascend. Behold,
I have delivered the land into his hands.” {1:3} And Judah
said to his brother Simeon, “Go up with me to my lot, and
fight against the Canaanite, so that I also may go forth with
you to your lot.” And Simeon went with him. {1:4} And
Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanite, as well
as the Perizzite, into their hands. And they struck down ten
thousand of the men at Bezek. {1:5} And they found
Adonibezek at Bezek, and they fought against him, and they
struck down the Canaanite and the Perizzite. {1:6} Then
Adonibezek fled. And they pursued him and captured him,
and they cut off the ends of his hands and feet. {1:7} And
Adonibezek said: “Seventy kings, with the ends of their
hands and feet amputated, have been gathering the remnants
of food under my table. Just as I have done, so has God
repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died
there. {1:8} Then the sons of Judah, besieging Jerusalem,
seized it. And they struck it with edge of the sword,
delivering the entire city to be burned. {1:9} And afterward,
descending, they fought against the Canaanites who were
living in the mountains, and in the south, and in the plains.
{1:10} And Judah, going forth against the Canaanites who
were living at Hebron, (the name of which from antiquity
was Kiriath-Arba) struck down Sheshai, and Ahiman, and
Talmai. {1:11} And continuing on from there, he went to the
inhabitants of Debir, the old name of which was Kiriath-
Sepher, that is, the City of Letters. {1:12} And Caleb said,
“Whoever will strike Kiriath-Sepher, and will lay waste to it,
I will give to him my daughter Achsah as wife.” {1:13} And
when Othniel, the son of Kenaz, a younger brother of Caleb,
had seized it, he gave his daughter Achsah to him in marriage.
{1:14} And as she was traveling on a journey, her husband
admonished her, so that she would request a field from her
father. And since she had sighed while sitting on her donkey,
Caleb said to her, “What is it?” {1:15} But she responded:
“Give a blessing to me. For you have given me a dry land.
Also give a watered land.” Therefore, Caleb gave to her the
upper watered land and the lower watered land. {1:16} Now
the sons of the Kenite, the relative of Moses, ascended from
the City of Palms, with the sons of Judah, into the wilderness
of his lot, which is toward the south of Arad. And they lived
with him. {1:17} Then Judah went out with his brother
Simeon, and together they struck the Canaanites who were
living at Zephath, and they put them to death. And the name
of the city was called Hormah, that is, Anathema.
{1:18} And Judah seized Gaza, with its parts, and Ashkelon
as well as Ekron, with their borders. {1:19} And the Lord
was with Judah, and he possessed the mountains. But he was
not able to wipe out the inhabitants of the valley. For they
abounded with chariots armed with scythes. {1:20} And just
as Moses had said, they gave Hebron to Caleb, who
destroyed out of it the three sons of Anak. {1:21} But the
sons of Benjamin did not wipe out the Jebusite inhabitants of
Jerusalem. And the Jebusite has lived with the sons of
Benjamin in Jerusalem, even to the present day. {1:22} The
house of Joseph also ascended against Bethel, and the Lord
was with them. {1:23} For when they were besieging the city,
which was previously called Luz, {1:24} they saw a man
departing from the city, and they said to him, “Reveal to us
the entrance to the city, and we will act with mercy toward
you.” {1:25} And when he had revealed it to them, they
struck the city with the edge of the sword. But that man, and
all his relatives, they released. {1:26} And having been sent
away, he went out to the land of the Hittites, and he built a
city there, and he called it Luz. And so it is called, even to the
present day. {1:27} Likewise, Manasseh did not destroy
Bethshean and Taanach, with their villages, nor the
inhabitants of Dor and Ibleam and Megiddo, with their
villages. And the Canaanite began to live with them.
{1:28} Then, after Israel had grown strong, he made them
tributaries, but he was not willing to destroy them.
{1:29} And now Ephraim did not put to death the Canaanite,
who was living at Gezer; instead, he lived with him.
{1:30} Zebulun did not wipe out the inhabitants of Kitron
and of Nahalal. Instead, the Canaanite lived in their midst
and became their tributary. {1:31} Likewise, Asher did not
destroy the inhabitants of Acco and Sidon, Ahlab and Achzib,
and Helbah, and Aphik, and Rehob. {1:32} And he lived in
the midst of the Canaanites, the inhabitants of that land, for
he did not put them to death. {1:33} Naphtali also did not
wipe out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Bethanath.
And he lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land.
And the Beth-shemeshites and Bethanathites were tributaries
to him. {1:34} And the Amorite hemmed in the sons of Dan
on the mountain, and did not give them a place, so that they
might descend to the flatlands. {1:35} And he lived on the
mountain at Har-heres, which is translated as ‘resembling
brick,’ and at Aijalon and Sha-alabbin. But the hand of the
house of Joseph was very heavy, and he became a tributary to
him. {1:36} Now the border of the Amorite was from the
Ascent of the Scorpion, to the Rock and the higher places.


[Judges 2] {2:1} And an Angel of the Lord went up from
Gilgal to the Place of Weeping, and he said: “I led you away
from Egypt, and I led you into the land, about which I swore
to your fathers. And I promised that I would not nullify my
covenant with you, even forever: {2:2} but only if you would
not form a pact with the inhabitants of this land. Instead, you
should overturn their altars. Yet you were not willing to listen
to my voice. Why have you done this? {2:3} For this reason,
I am not willing to destroy them before your face, so that you
may have enemies, and so that their gods may be your ruin.”
{2:4} And when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to
all the sons of Israel, they lifted up their voice, and they wept.
{2:5} And the name of that place was called, the Place of
Weeping, or the Place of Tears. And they immolated victims
to the Lord in that place. {2:6} Then Joshua dismissed the
people, and the sons of Israel went away, each one to his own
possession, so that they might obtain it. {2:7} And they
served the Lord, during all his days, and during all the days
of the elders, who lived for a long time after him, and who
knew all the works of the Lord, which he had done for Israel.
{2:8} Then Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord,
died, being one hundred and ten years old. {2:9} And they
buried him in the parts of his possession at Timnath-Serah,
on Mount Ephraim, before the northern side of Mount Gaash.
{2:10} And that entire generation was gathered to their
fathers. And there rose up others, who had not known the
Lord and the works that he had done for Israel. {2:11} And
the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they
served the Baals. {2:12} And they abandoned the Lord, the
God of their fathers, who had led them away from the land of
Egypt. And they followed foreign gods and the gods of the
peoples who were living around them, and they adored them.
And they provoked the Lord to wrath, {2:13} forsaking him,
and serving Baal and Ashtaroth. {2:14} And the Lord, having
become angry against Israel, delivered them into the hands of
plunderers, who seized them and sold them to the enemies
that were living on all sides. Neither were they able to
withstand their adversaries. {2:15} Instead, wherever they
wanted to go, the hand of the Lord was upon them, just as he
said and just as he swore to them. And they were greatly
afflicted. {2:16} And the Lord raised up judges, who would
free them from the hands of their oppressors. But they were
not willing to listen to them. {2:17} Fornicating with foreign
gods and adoring them, they quickly deserted the way along
which their fathers had advanced. And having heard the
commandments of the Lord, they did all things to the
contrary. {2:18} And while the Lord was raising up the
judges, in their days, he was moved to mercy, and he listened
to the groaning of the afflicted, and he freed them from the
slaughter of their oppressors. {2:19} But after a judge had
died, they turned back, and they were doing much worse
things than their fathers had done, following strange gods,
serving them, and adoring them. They did not abandon their
pursuits and their very stubborn way, by which they were
accustomed to walk. {2:20} And the fury of the Lord was
enraged against Israel, and he said: “For this people has
made void my covenant, which I had formed with their
fathers, and they have despised listening to my voice.
{2:21} And so, I will not destroy the nations that Joshua left
behind when he died, {2:22} so that, by them, I may test
Israel, as to whether or not they will keep the way of the Lord,
and walk in it, just as their fathers kept it.” {2:23} Therefore,
the Lord left all these nations, and he was not willing to
quickly overthrow them, nor did he deliver them into the
hands of Joshua.


[Judges 3] {3:1} These are the nations which the Lord left, so
that by them he might instruct Israel and all who had not
known the wars of the Canaanites, {3:2} so that afterward
their sons might learn to contend with their enemies, and to
have a willingness to do battle: {3:3} the five princes of the
Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and
the Hivites who were living on Mount Lebanon, from Mount
Baal-Hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath. {3:4} And he
left them, so that by them he might test Israel, as to whether
or not they would listen to the commandments of the Lord,
which he instructed to their fathers by the hand of Moses.
{3:5} And so, the sons of Israel lived in the midst of the
Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the
Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. {3:6} And they
took their daughters as wives, and they gave their own
daughters to their sons, and they served their gods. {3:7} And
they did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they forgot their
God, while serving the Baals and Ashtaroth. {3:8} And the
Lord, having become angry with Israel, delivered them into
the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Mesopotamia,
and they served him for eight years. {3:9} And they cried out
to the Lord, who raised up for them a savior, and he freed
them, namely, Othniel, the son of Kenaz, a younger brother
of Caleb. {3:10} And the Spirit of the Lord was in him, and
he judged Israel. And he went out to fight, and the Lord
delivered Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Syria, and he
overwhelmed him. {3:11} And the land was quiet for forty
years. And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, died. {3:12} Then the
sons of Israel resumed doing evil in the sight of the Lord,
who strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab, against them
because they did evil in his sight. {3:13} And he joined to
him the sons of Ammon and the sons of Amalek. And he
went forth and struck Israel, and he possessed the City of
Palms. {3:14} And the sons of Israel served Eglon, the king
of Moab, for eighteen years. {3:15} And afterward, they cried
out to the Lord, who raised up for them a savior, called Ehud,
the son of Gera, the son of Benjamin, who used either hand
as well as the right hand. And the sons of Israel sent gifts to
Eglon, the king of Moab, by him. {3:16} And he made for
himself a two-edged sword, having a handle, reaching to the
middle, the length of the palm of a hand. And he was girded
with it under his cloak, on the right thigh. {3:17} And he
offered the gifts to Eglon, the king of Moab. Now Eglon was
exceedingly fat. {3:18} And when he had presented the gifts
to him, he followed out his companions, who had arrived
with him. {3:19} And then, returning from Gilgal where the
idols were, he said to the king, “I have a secret word for you,
O king.” And he ordered silence. And when all those who
were around him had departed, {3:20} Ehud entered to him.
Now he was sitting alone in a summer upper room. And he
said, “I have a word from God to you.” And immediately he
rose up from his throne. {3:21} And Ehud extended his left
hand, and he took the dagger from his right thigh. And he
thrust it into his abdomen {3:22} so strongly that the handle
followed the blade into the wound, and was enclosed by the
great amount of fat. Neither did he withdraw the sword.
Instead, he left it in the body just as he had struck with it.
And immediately, by the private parts of nature, the filth of
the bowels went out. {3:23} Then Ehud carefully closed the
doors of the upper room. And securing the bars, {3:24} he
departed by a back exit. And the servants of the king,
entering, saw that the doors of the upper room were closed,
and they said, “Perhaps he is emptying his bowels in the
summer room.” {3:25} And after waiting a long time, until
they were embarrassed, and seeing that no one opened the
door, they took the key, and opening it, they found their lord
lying dead on the ground. {3:26} But Ehud, while they were
in confusion, escaped and passed by the place of the idols,
from which he had returned. And he arrived at Seirath.
{3:27} And immediately he sounded the trumpet on Mount
Ephraim. And the sons of Israel descended with him, he
himself advancing at the front. {3:28} And he said to them:
“Follow me. For the Lord has delivered our enemies, the
Moabites, into our hands.” And they descended after him,
and they occupied the fords of the Jordan, which cross over
to Moab. And they did not permit anyone to cross.
{3:29} And so, they struck down the Moabites at that time,
about ten thousand, all strong and robust men. None of them
were able to escape. {3:30} And Moab was humbled in that
day under the hand of Israel. And the land was quiet for
eighty years. {3:31} After him, there was Shamgar, the son of
Anath, who struck down six hundred men of the Philistines
with a plowshare. And he also defended Israel.


[Judges 4] {4:1} But after the death of Ehud, the sons of
Israel resumed doing evil in the sight of the Lord. {4:2} And
the Lord delivered them into the hands of Jabin, the king of
Canaan, who reigned at Hazor. And he had a commander of
his army named Sisera, but this man lived at Harosheth of
the Gentiles. {4:3} And the sons of Israel cried out to the
Lord. For he had nine hundred chariots with scythes, and he
vehemently oppressed them for twenty years. {4:4} Now
there was a prophetess, Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, who
judged the people in that time. {4:5} And she was sitting
under a palm tree, which was called by her name, between
Ramah and Bethel, on Mount Ephraim. And the sons of
Israel went up to her for every judgment. {4:6} And she sent
and called Barak, the son of Abinoam, from Kedesh of
Naphtali. And she said to him: “The Lord, the God of Israel,
instructs you: ‘Go and lead an army to Mount Tabor, and
you shall take with you ten thousand fighting men from the
sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun. {4:7} Then I
will lead to you, at the place of the torrent Kishon, Sisera, the
leader of the army of Jabin, with his chariots and the entire
multitude. And I will deliver them into your hand.’ ”
{4:8} And Barak said to her: “If you will come with me, I
will go. If you are not willing to come with me, I will not
go.” {4:9} She said to him: “Indeed, I will go with you. But
due to this change, the victory shall not be reputed to you.
And so Sisera will be delivered into the hand of a woman.”
Therefore, Deborah rose up, and she traveled with Barak to
Kedesh. {4:10} And he, summoning Zebulun and Naphtali,
ascended with ten thousand fighting men, having Deborah in
his company. {4:11} Now Heber, the Kenite, had previously
withdrawn from the rest of the Kenites, his brothers, the sons
of Hobab, the relative of Moses. And he had pitched his tents
as far as the valley that is called Zaanannim, which was near
Kedesh. {4:12} And it was reported to Sisera that Barak, the
son of Abinoam, had ascended to Mount Tabor. {4:13} And
he gathered together the nine hundred chariots with scythes,
and the entire army, from Harosheth of the Gentiles to the
torrent Kishon. {4:14} And Deborah said to Barak: “Rise up.
For this is the day on which the Lord delivers Sisera into
your hands. For he is your commander.” And so, Barak
descended from Mount Tabor, and the ten thousand fighting
men with him. {4:15} And the Lord struck Sisera with great
fear, and all his chariots and all his multitude with the edge of
the sword, in the sight of Barak, so much so that Sisera,
leaping from his chariot, fled on foot. {4:16} And Barak
pursued the fleeing chariots, and the army, as far as
Harosheth of the Gentiles. And the entire multitude of the
enemy was cut down, unto utter annihilation. {4:17} But
Sisera, while fleeing, arrived at the tent of Jael, the wife of
Heber, the Kenite. For there was peace between Jabin, the
king of Hazor, and the house of Heber, the Kenite.
{4:18} Therefore, Jael went out to meet Sisera, and she said
to him: “Enter to me, my lord. Enter, you should not be
afraid.” And he entered her tent, and having been covered by
her with a cloak, {4:19} he said to her: “Give me, I beg you,
a little water. For I am very thirsty.” And she opened a bottle
of milk, and she gave him to drink. And she covered him.
{4:20} And Sisera said to her: “Stand before the door of the
tent. And if anyone arrives, questioning you and saying,
‘Could there be any man here?’ you shall respond, ‘There is
no one.’ ” {4:21} And so Jael, the wife of Heber, took a spike
from the tent, and also took a mallet. And entering unseen
and with silence, she placed the spike over the temple of his
head. And striking it with the mallet, she drove it through his
brain, as far as the ground. And so, joining deep sleep to
death, he fell unconscious and died. {4:22} And behold,
Barak arrived, in pursuit of Sisera. And Jael, going out to
meet him, said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man
whom you are seeking.” And when he had entered her tent,
he saw Sisera lying dead, with the spike fixed in his temples.
{4:23} Thus did God humble Jabin, the king of Canaan, on
that day, before the sons of Israel. {4:24} And they increased
every day. And with a strong hand they overpowered Jabin,
the king of Canaan, until they wiped him out.


[Judges 5] {5:1} In that day, Deborah and Barak, the son of
Abinoam, sang out, saying: {5:2} “All you of Israel who have
willingly offered your lives to danger, bless the Lord!
{5:3} Listen, O kings! Pay attention, O princes! It is I, it is I,
who will sing to the Lord. I will sing a psalm to the Lord, the
God of Israel! {5:4} O Lord, when you departed from Seir,
and you crossed through the regions of Edom, the earth and
the heavens were moved, and the clouds rained down water.
{5:5} The mountains flowed away before the face of the Lord,
and Sinai, before the face of the Lord God of Israel. {5:6} In
the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath, in the days of Jael,
the paths were quiet. And whoever entered by them, walked
along rough byways. {5:7} The strong men ceased, and they
rested in Israel, until Deborah rose up, until a mother rose up
in Israel. {5:8} The Lord chose new wars, and he himself
overturned the gates of the enemies. A shield with a spear
was not seen among the forty thousand of Israel. {5:9} My
heart loves the leaders of Israel. All you who, of your own
free will, offered yourselves during a crisis, bless the Lord.
{5:10} You who ride upon donkeys laboring, and you who
sit in judgment, and you who walk along the way, speak out.
{5:11} Where the chariots were struck together, and the army
of the enemies was choked, in that place, let the justices of
the Lord be described, and let his clemency be for the brave
of Israel. Then did the people of the Lord descend to the
gates, and obtain leadership. {5:12} Rise up, rise up, O
Deborah! Rise up, rise up, and speak a canticle! Rise up,
Barak, and seize your captives, O son of Abinoam.
{5:13} The remnants of the people were saved. The Lord
contended with the strong. {5:14} Out of Ephraim, he
destroyed those with Amalek, and after him, out of Benjamin,
those of your people, O Amalek. From Machir, there
descended leaders, and from Zebulun, those who led the
army to war. {5:15} The commanders of Issachar were with
Deborah, and they followed the steps of Barak, who
endangered himself, like one rushing headlong into a chasm.
Reuben was divided against himself. Contention was found
among great souls. {5:16} Why do you live between two
borders, so that you hear the bleating of the flocks? Reuben
was divided against himself. Contention was found among
great souls. {5:17} Gilead rested beyond the Jordan, and Dan
was occupied with ships. Asher was living on the shore of the
sea, and dwelling in the ports. {5:18} Yet truly, Zebulun and
Naphtali offered their lives to death in the region of Merom.
{5:19} The kings came and fought; the kings of Canaan
fought at Taanach, beside the waters of Megiddo. And yet
they took no spoils. {5:20} The conflict against them was
from heaven. The stars, remaining in their order and courses,
fought against Sisera. {5:21} The torrent of Kishon dragged
away their carcasses, the onrushing torrent, the torrent of
Kishon. O my soul, tread upon the stalwart! {5:22} The
hoofs of the horses were broken, while the strongest of the
enemies fled away with fury, and rushed on to ruin.
{5:23} ‘Cursed be the land of Meroz!’ said the Angel of the
Lord. ‘Cursed be its inhabitants! For they did not come to the
aid of the Lord, to the assistance of his most valiant men.’
{5:24} Blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the
Kenite. And blessed is she in her tabernacle. {5:25} He
begged her for water, and she gave him milk, and she offered
him butter in a dish fit for princes. {5:26} She put her left
hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workman’s mallet.
And she struck Sisera, seeking in his head a place for the
wound, and strongly piercing his temples. {5:27} Between
her feet, he was ruined. He fainted away and passed on. He
curled up before her feet, and he lay there lifeless and
miserable. {5:28} His mother gazed through a window and
wailed. And she spoke from an upper room: ‘Why does his
chariot delay in returning? Why are the feet of his team of
horses so slow?’ {5:29} One who was wiser than the rest of
his wives responded to her mother-in-law with this:
{5:30} ‘Perhaps he is now dividing the spoils, and the most
beautiful among the women is being selected for him.
Garments of diverse colors are being delivered to Sisera as
spoils, and various goods are being collected for the
adornment of necks.’ {5:31} O Lord, so may all your enemies
perish! But may those who love you shine with splendor, as
the sun shines at its rising.” {5:32} And the land rested for
forty years.


[Judges 6] {6:1} Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight
of the Lord, who delivered them into the hand of Midian for
seven years. {6:2} And they were greatly oppressed by them.
And they made for themselves hollows and caves in the
mountains, and very fortified places for defense. {6:3} And
when Israel had planted, Midian and Amalek, and the rest of
the eastern nations ascended, {6:4} and pitching their tents
among them, they laid waste to all that was planted, as far as
the entrance to Gaza. And they left behind nothing at all to
sustain life in Israel, neither sheep, nor oxen, nor donkeys.
{6:5} For they and all their flocks arrived with their tents,
and they filled all places like locusts, an innumerable
multitude of men and camels, devastating whatever they
touched. {6:6} And Israel was humbled greatly in the sight of
Midian. {6:7} And he cried out to the Lord, requesting
assistance against the Midianites. {6:8} And he sent to them
a man who was a prophet, and he said: “Thus says the Lord,
the God of Israel: ‘I caused you to ascend from Egypt, and I
led you away from the house of servitude. {6:9} And I freed
you from the hand of the Egyptians and from all of the
enemies who were afflicting you. And I cast them out at your
arrival, and I delivered their land to you. {6:10} And I said: I
am the Lord your God. You shall not fear the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land you live. But you were not willing to
listen to my voice.’ ” {6:11} Then an Angel of the Lord
arrived, and he sat under an oak tree, which was at Ophrah,
and which belonged to Joash, the father of the family of Ezri.
And while his son Gideon was threshing and cleaning the
grain at the winepress, so that he might flee from Midian,
{6:12} the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and he said:
“The Lord is with you, most valiant of men.” {6:13} And
Gideon said to him: “I beg you, my lord, if the Lord is with
us, why have these things happened to us? Where are his
miracles, which our fathers described when they said, ‘The
Lord led us away from Egypt.’ But now the Lord has
forsaken us, and he has delivered us into the hand of
Midian.” {6:14} And the Lord looked down upon him, and
he said: “Go forth with this, your strength, and you shall free
Israel from the hand of Midian. Know that I have sent you.”
{6:15} And responding, he said: “I beg you, my lord, with
what shall I free Israel? Behold, my family is the weakest in
Manasseh, and I am the least in the house of my father.”
{6:16} And the Lord said to him: “I will be with you. And so,
you shall cut down Midian as if one man.” {6:17} And he
said: “If I have found grace before you, give me a sign that it
is you who is speaking to me. {6:18} And may you not
withdraw from here, until I return to you, carrying a sacrifice
and offering it to you.” And he responded, “I will wait for
your return.” {6:19} And so Gideon entered, and he boiled a
goat, and he made unleavened bread from a measure of flour.
And setting the flesh in a basket, and putting the broth of the
flesh in a pot, he took it all under the oak tree, and he offered
it to him. {6:20} And the Angel of the Lord said to him,
“Take the flesh and the unleavened bread, and place them on
that rock, and pour out the broth upon it.” And when he had
done so, {6:21} the Angel of the Lord extended the end of a
staff, which he was holding in his hand, and he touched the
flesh and the unleavened loaves. And a fire ascended from
the rock, and it consumed the flesh and the unleavened
loaves. Then the Angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
{6:22} And Gideon, realizing that it had been the Angel of
the Lord, said: “Alas, my Lord God! For I have seen the
Angel of the Lord face to face.” {6:23} And the Lord said to
him: “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid; you shall not
die.” {6:24} Therefore, Gideon built an altar to the Lord
there, and he called it, the Peace of the Lord, even to the
present day. And while he was still at Ophrah, which is of the
family of Ezri, {6:25} that night, the Lord said to him: “Take
a bull of your father’s, and another bull of seven years, and
you shall destroy the altar of Baal, which is your father’s.
And you shall cut down the sacred grove which is around the
altar. {6:26} And you shall build an altar to the Lord your
God, at the summit of this rock, on which you placed the
sacrifice before. And you shall take the second bull, and you
shall offer a holocaust upon a pile of the wood, which you
shall cut down from the grove.” {6:27} Therefore, Gideon,
taking ten men from his servants, did just as the Lord had
instructed him. But fearing his father’s household, and the
men of that city, he was not willing to do it by day. Instead,
he completed everything by night. {6:28} And when the men
of that town had risen up in the morning, they saw the altar
of Baal destroyed, and the sacred grove cut down, and the
second bull set upon the altar, which then had been built.
{6:29} And they said one to another, “Who has done this?”
And when they inquired everywhere as to the author of the
deed, it was said, “Gideon, the son of Joash, did all these
things.” {6:30} And they said to Joash: “Bring forward your
son here, so that he may die. For he has destroyed the altar of
Baal, and he has cut down the sacred grove.” {6:31} But he
responded to them: “Could you be the avengers of Baal, so
that you fight on his behalf? Whoever is his adversary, let
him die before the light arrives tomorrow; if he is a god, let
him vindicate himself against him who has overturned his
altar.” {6:32} From that day, Gideon was called Jerubbaal,
because Joash had said, “Let Baal avenge himself against him
who has overturned his altar.” {6:33} And so, all of Midian,
and Amalek, and the eastern peoples were gathered together.
And crossing the Jordan, they encamped in the valley of
Jezreel. {6:34} But the Spirit of the Lord entered Gideon,
who, sounding the trumpet, summoned the house of Abiezer
so that he might follow him. {6:35} And he sent messengers
into all of Manasseh, who also followed him, and other
messengers into Asher, and Zebulun, and Naphtali, who
went to meet him. {6:36} And Gideon said to God: “If you
will save Israel by my hand, just as you have said: {6:37} I
will set this wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there will be
dew only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know
that by my hand, as you have said, you will free Israel.”
{6:38} And so it was done. And rising in the night, wringing
out the fleece, he filled a vessel with the dew. {6:39} And
again he said to God: “Let not your fury be enkindled against
me, if I test once more, seeking a sign in the fleece. I pray that
only the fleece may be dry, and all the ground may be wet
with dew.” {6:40} And that night, God did as he had
requested. And it was dry only on the fleece, and there was
dew on all the ground.


[Judges 7] {7:1} And so Jerubbaal, who is also Gideon,
rising in the night, and all the people with him, went to the
fountain which is called Harod. Now the camp of Midian
was in the valley, to the northern region of the high hill.
{7:2} And the Lord said to Gideon: “The people with you
are many, but Midian shall not be delivered into their hands,
for then Israel might glory against me, and say, ‘I was freed
by my own power.’ {7:3} Speak to the people, and proclaim
in the hearing of all, ‘Whoever has dread or fear, let him
return.’ And twenty-two thousand of the men from the
people withdrew from Mount Gilead and returned, and only
ten thousand remained. {7:4} And the Lord said to Gideon:
“The people are still too many. Lead them to the waters, and
there I will test them. And those about whom I tell you that
he may go with you, let him go; he whom I shall forbid to go,
let him return.” {7:5} And when the people had descended to
the waters, the Lord said to Gideon: “Whoever will lap the
water with the tongue, as dogs usually lap, you shall separate
them by themselves. Then those who will drink by bending
their knees shall be on the other side.” {7:6} And so the
number of those who had lapped the water, by bringing it
with the hand to the mouth, was three hundred men. And all
the remainder of the multitude drank by bending the knee.
{7:7} And the Lord said to Gideon: “By the three hundred
men who lapped the water, I will free you, and I will deliver
Midian into your hand. But let all the remainder of the
multitude return to their place.” {7:8} And so, taking food
and trumpets in accord with their number, he instructed all
the rest of the multitude to go back to their tents. And with
the three hundred men, he gave himself to the conflict. Now
the camp of Midian was below, in the valley. {7:9} In the
same night, the Lord said to him: “Rise up, and descend into
the camp. For I have delivered them into your hand.
{7:10} But if you dread to go alone, let your servant Purah
descend with you. {7:11} And when you will hear what they
are saying, then your hands will be strengthened, and you
will descend more confidently to the camp of the enemy.”
Therefore, he descended with his servant Purah into a portion
of the camp, where there was a watch of armed men.
{7:12} But Midian, and Amalek, and all the eastern peoples
lay spread out in the valley, like a multitude of locusts. Their
camels, too, were innumerable, like the sand that lies on the
shore of the sea. {7:13} And when Gideon had arrived,
someone told his neighbor a dream. And he related what he
had seen, in this way: “I saw a dream, and it seemed to me as
if bread, baked under ashes from rolled barley, descended
into the camp of Midian. And whenever it arrived at a tent, it
struck it, and overturned it, and utterly leveled it to the
ground.” {7:14} He to whom he spoke, responded: “This is
nothing else but the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a
man of Israel. For the Lord has delivered Midian into his
hands, with their entire camp.” {7:15} And when Gideon
had heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshipped.
And he returned to the camp of Israel, and he said: “Rise up!
For the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into our
hands.” {7:16} And he divided the three hundred men into
three parts. And he gave trumpets, and empty pitchers, and
lamps for the middle of the pitchers, into their hands.
{7:17} And he said to them: “What you will see me do, do
the same. I will enter a portion of the camp, and what I do,
you shall follow. {7:18} When the trumpet in my hand blares
out, you also shall sound the trumpets, on every side of the
camp, and shout together to the Lord and to Gideon.”
{7:19} And Gideon, and the three hundred men who were
with him, entered a portion of the camp, at the beginning of
the watch in the middle of the night. And when the guards
were alerted, they began to sound the trumpets and to clap
the pitchers against one another. {7:20} And when they had
sounded their trumpets in three places around the camp, and
had broken their water pitchers, they held the lamps in their
left hands, and sounded the trumpets in their right hands.
And they cried out, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!”
{7:21} And each one was standing in his place throughout
the camp of the enemies. And so the entire camp was in
confusion; and they fled away, wailing and crying out.
{7:22} And the three hundred men nevertheless continued
sounding the trumpets. And the Lord sent the sword into the
entire camp, and they maimed and cut down one another,
{7:23} fleeing as far as Bethshittah, and the base of
Abelmeholah in Tabbath. But the men of Israel pursued
Midian, shouting from Naphtali and Asher, and from all of
Manasseh. {7:24} And Gideon sent messengers throughout
all of Mount Ephraim, saying, “Descend to meet Midian,
and occupy the waters ahead of them as far as Bethbarah and
the Jordan.” And all of Ephraim cried out, and they occupied
the waters ahead of them, from the Jordan even to Bethbarah.
{7:25} And having apprehended two men of Midian, Oreb
and Zeeb, they put Oreb to death at the Rock of Oreb, and
truly, Zeeb, at the Winepress of Zeeb. And they pursued
Midian, carrying the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon,
across the waters of the Jordan.


[Judges 8] {8:1} And the men of Ephraim said to him,
“What is this, that you wanted to do, so that you would not
call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they
rebuked him strongly, and came close to using violence.
{8:2} And he responded to them: “But what could I have
done that would be so great as what you have done? Is not
one bunch of grapes of Ephraim better than the vintages of
Abiezer? {8:3} The Lord has delivered into your hands the
leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What could I have done
that would be so great as what you have done?” And when
he had said this, their spirit, which was swelling up against
him, was quieted. {8:4} And when Gideon had arrived at the
Jordan, he crossed over it with the three hundred men who
were with him. And they were so weary that they were
unable to pursue those who were fleeing. {8:5} And he said
to the men of Succoth, “I beg you, give bread to the people
who are with me, for they are greatly weakened, so that we
may be able to pursue Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of
Midian.” {8:6} The leaders of Succoth answered, “Perhaps
the palms of the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna are in your
hand, and for this reason, you request that we give bread to
your army.” {8:7} And he said to them, “So then, when the
Lord will have delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hands,
I will thresh your flesh with the thorns and briers of the
desert.” {8:8} And going up from there, he arrived at Penuel.
And he spoke to the men of that place similarly. And they
also answered him, just as the men of Succoth had answered.
{8:9} And so he said to them also, “When I will have
returned as a victor in peace, I will destroy this tower.”
{8:10} Now Zebah and Zalmunna were resting with their
entire army. For fifteen thousand men were left out of all the
troops of the eastern people. And one hundred twenty
thousand warriors that drew the sword had been cut down.
{8:11} And Gideon ascended by the way of those who were
dwelling in tents, to the eastern part of Nobah and Jogbehah.
And he struck the camp of the enemies, who were confident
and were suspecting nothing adverse. {8:12} And Zebah and
Zalmunna fled. And Gideon pursued and overtook them,
sending their entire army into confusion. {8:13} And
returning from the war before sunrise, {8:14} he took a boy
from among the men of Succoth. And he asked him the
names of the leaders and elders of Succoth. And he described
seventy-seven men. {8:15} And he went to Succoth, and he
said to them: “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, over whom you
rebuked me, saying: ‘Perhaps the hands of Zebah and
Zalmunna are in your hands, and for this reason, you request
that we give bread to men who are languishing and
weakened.’ ” {8:16} Therefore, he took the elders of the city,
and, using the thorns and briers of the desert, he threshed
them with these, and he cut the men of Succoth to pieces.
{8:17} He also overturned the tower of Penuel, and he killed
the men of the city. {8:18} And he said to Zebah and
Zalmunna, “What kind of men were those whom you killed
at Tabor?” They responded, “They were like you, and one of
them was like the son of a king.” {8:19} He answered them:
“They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord
lives, if you had preserved them, I would not kill you.”
{8:20} And he said to Jether, his firstborn son, “Rise up, and
put them to death.” But he did not draw his sword. For he
was afraid, being still a boy. {8:21} And Zebah and
Zalmunna said: “You should rise up and rush against us. For
the strength of a man is in accord with his age.” Gideon rose
up, and he killed Zebah and Zalmunna. And he took the
ornaments and studs, with which the necks of the royal
camels are usually adorned. {8:22} And all the men of Israel
said to Gideon: “You should rule over us, and your son, and
your son’s son. For you freed us from the hand of Midian.”
{8:23} And he said to them: “I will not rule over you.
Neither shall my son rule over you. Instead, the Lord shall
rule over you.” {8:24} And he said to them: “I petition one
request from you. Give me the earrings from your spoils.”
For the Ishmaelites were accustomed to wear gold earrings.
{8:25} They responded, “We are very willing to give them.”
And spreading a cloak on the ground, they cast upon it the
earrings from the spoils. {8:26} And the weight of the
earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred
shekels of gold, aside from the ornaments, and necklaces, and
purple garments, which the kings of Midian were accustomed
to use, and aside from the gold chains on the camels.
{8:27} And Gideon made an ephod from these, and he kept it
in his city, Ophrah. And all of Israel committed fornication
with it, and it became a ruin to Gideon and to all his house.
{8:28} But Midian was humbled before the sons of Israel.
Neither were they able any longer to lift up their necks. But
the land rested for forty years, while Gideon presided.
{8:29} And so Jerubbaal, the son of Joash, went and lived in
his own house. {8:30} And he had seventy sons, who went
forth from his own thigh. For he had many wives. {8:31} But
his concubine, whom he had in Shechem, bore him a son
named Abimelech. {8:32} And Gideon, the son of Joash,
died in a good old age, and he was buried in the sepulcher of
his father, at Ophrah, of the family of Ezri. {8:33} But after
Gideon died, the sons of Israel turned away, and they
committed fornication with the Baals. And they struck a
covenant with Baal, so that he would be their god.
{8:34} And they did not remember the Lord their God, who
rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on all sides.
{8:35} Neither did they show mercy to the house of
Jerubbaal Gideon, in accord with all the good that he had
done for Israel.


[Judges 9] {9:1} Now Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, went
to Shechem, to his maternal brothers, and he spoke to them,
and to all the relatives of the house of his maternal
grandfather, saying: {9:2} “Speak to all the men of Shechem:
Which is better for you: that seventy men, all the sons of
Jerubbaal, should rule over you, or that one man should rule
over you? And consider also that I am your bone and your
flesh.” {9:3} And his maternal brothers spoke about him to
all the men of Shechem, all these words, and they inclined
their hearts after Abimelech, saying, “He is our brother.”
{9:4} And they gave to him the weight of seventy silver coins
from the shrine of Baal-berith. With this, he hired for himself
indigent and wandering men, and they followed him.
{9:5} And he went to his father’s house in Ophrah, and he
killed his brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, upon
one stone. And there remained only Joatham, the youngest
son of Jerubbaal, and he was in hiding. {9:6} Then all the
men of Shechem gathered together, and all the families of the
city of Millo, and they went and appointed Abimelech as
king, beside the oak that stood at Shechem. {9:7} When this
had been reported to Jotham, he went and stood at the top of
Mount Gerizim. And lifting up his voice, he cried out and
said: “Listen to me, men of Shechem, so that God may listen
to you. {9:8} The trees went to anoint a king over themselves.
And they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ {9:9} And it
responded, ‘How could I abandon my fatness, which both
gods and men make use of, and depart to be promoted
among the trees?’ {9:10} And the trees said to the fig tree,
‘Come and accept royal power over us.’ {9:11} And it
responded to them, ‘How could I abandon my sweetness, and
my very sweet fruits, and depart to be promoted among the
other trees?’ {9:12} And the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and
reign over us.’ {9:13} And it responded to them, ‘How could
I abandon my wine, which gives joy to God and men, and be
promoted among the other trees?’ {9:14} And all the trees
said to the bramble, ‘Come and reign over us.’ {9:15} And it
responded to them: ‘If truly you would appoint me as king,
come and rest under my shadow. But if you are not willing,
let fire go forth from the bramble, and let it devour the cedars
of Lebanon.’ ” {9:16} So now, if you are upright and without
sin in appointing Abimelech as a king over you, and if you
have acted well with Jerubbaal, and with his house, and if
you have repaid, in turn, the benefits of him who fought on
your behalf, {9:17} and who gave his life to dangers, so that
he might rescue you from the hand of Midian, {9:18} though
you now have risen up against my father’s house, and have
killed his sons, seventy men, upon one stone, and have
appointed Abimelech, the son of his handmaid, as a king
over the inhabitants of Shechem, since he is your brother,
{9:19} if therefore you are upright and have acted without
fault with Jerubbaal and his house, then you should rejoice
on this day in Abimelech, and he should rejoice in you.
{9:20} But if you have acted perversely, may fire go forth
from him and consume the inhabitants of Shechem and the
town of Millo. And may fire go forth from the men of
Shechem and from the town of Millo, and devour
Abimelech.” {9:21} And when he had said these things, he
fled and went away to Beer. And he lived in that place, out of
fear of Abimelech, his brother. {9:22} And so Abimelech
reigned over Israel for three years. {9:23} And the Lord put a
very grievous spirit between Abimelech and the inhabitants of
Shechem, who began to detest him, {9:24} and to place
blame for the crime of the killing of the seventy sons of
Jerubbaal, and for the shedding of their blood, upon
Abimelech, their brother, and upon the rest of the leaders of
the Shechemites, who assisted him. {9:25} And they
stationed an ambush against him at the summit of the
mountains. And while they were waiting for his arrival, they
committed robberies, taking spoils from those passing by.
And this was reported to Abimelech. {9:26} Now Gaal, the
son of Ebed, went with his brothers, and crossed over to
Shechem. And the inhabitants of Shechem, uplifted by his
arrival, {9:27} departed into the fields, laying waste to the
vineyards, and trampling the grapes. And while singing and
dancing, they entered into the shrine of their god. And while
feasting and drinking, they cursed Abimelech. {9:28} And
Gaal, the son of Ebed, cried out: “Who is Abimelech, and
what is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son
of Jerubbaal, who has appointed Zebul, his servant, as ruler
over the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem? Why then
should we serve him? {9:29} I wish that someone would set
this people under my hand, so that I might take away
Abimelech from their midst.” And it was told to Abimelech,
“Gather the multitude of an army, and approach.”
{9:30} For Zebul, the ruler of the city, upon hearing the
words of Gaal, the son of Ebed, became very angry.
{9:31} And he sent messengers secretly to Abimelech, saying:
“Behold, Gaal, the son of Ebed, has arrived at Shechem with
his brothers, and he has set the city against you. {9:32} And
so, rise up in the night, with the people who are with you,
and lie hidden in the field. {9:33} And at first light in the
morning, as the sun is rising, rush upon the city. And when
he goes out against you, with his people, do to him what you
are able to do.” {9:34} And so Abimelech rose up, with all
his army, by night, and he set ambushes near Shechem in
four places. {9:35} And Gaal, the son of Ebed, went out, and
he stood at the entrance to the gate of the city. Then
Abimelech rose up, and all the army with him, from the
places of the ambushes. {9:36} And when Gaal had seen the
people, he said to Zebul, “Behold, a multitude is descending
from the mountains.” And he responded to him, “You are
seeing the shadows of the mountains, as if they were the
heads of men, and so you are being deceived by this error.”
{9:37} Again, Gaal said, “Behold, a people is descending
from the middle of the land, and one company is arriving by
the way that looks towards the oak.” {9:38} And Zebul said
to him: “Where is your mouth now, with which you said,
‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Is this not the
people that you were despising? Go out and fight against
him.” {9:39} Therefore, Gaal went out, with the people of
Shechem watching, and he fought against Abimelech,
{9:40} who pursued him, fleeing, and drove him into the city.
And many were cut down on his side, even to the gate of the
city. {9:41} And Abimelech made camp at Arumah. But
Zebul expelled Gaal and his companions from the city, and
he would not permit them to remain in it. {9:42} Therefore,
on the following day, the people departed into the field. And
when this had been reported to Abimelech, {9:43} he took his
army, and divided it into three companies, and he placed
ambushes in the fields. And seeing that the people had
departed from the city, he rose up and rushed upon them,
{9:44} along with his own company, assaulting and besieging
the city. But the two other companies pursued the enemies
scattered in the field. {9:45} Now Abimelech assaulted the
city all that day. And he seized it, and he killed its inhabitants,
and he destroyed it, so much so that he scattered salt in it.
{9:46} And when those living in the tower of Shechem had
heard about this, they entered the temple of their god, Berith,
where they had formed a covenant with him. And it was
because of this, that the place had taken its name. And it was
greatly fortified. {9:47} Abimelech, also hearing that the men
of the tower of Shechem had joined together,
{9:48} ascended to mount Zalmon, with all his people. And
taking an axe, he cut down the branch of a tree. And laying it
on his shoulder, and carrying it, he said to his companions,
“What you see me do, you must do quickly.” {9:49} And so,
eagerly cutting down branches from the trees, they followed
their leader. And surrounding the fortified place, they set it
on fire. And so it happened that, by smoke and fire, one
thousand persons died, men and women together, the
occupants of the tower of Shechem. {9:50} Then Abimelech,
setting out from there, arrived at the town of Thebez, which
he surrounded and besieged with his army. {9:51} Now there
was, in the midst of the city, a high tower, to which men and
women were fleeing together, with all the leaders of the city.
And, having very strongly sealed the gate, they were standing
on the roof of the tower to defend themselves. {9:52} And
Abimelech, drawing near the tower, fought valiantly. And
approaching the gate, he strove to set it on fire. {9:53} And
behold, one woman, throwing a fragment of a millstone from
above, struck the head of Abimelech, and broke his skull.
{9:54} And he quickly called to his armor bearer, and said to
him, “Draw your sword and strike me, otherwise it may be
said that I was slain by a woman.” And, doing as he was
ordered, he killed him. {9:55} And when he was dead, all
those of Israel who were with him returned to their homes.
{9:56} And so did God repay the evil that Abimelech had
done against his father by killing his seventy brothers.
{9:57} The Shechemites also were given retribution for what
they had done, and the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal,
fell upon them.


[Judges 10] {10:1} After Abimelech, a leader rose up in
Israel, Tola, the son of Puah, the paternal uncle of Abimelech,
a man of Issachar, who lived in Shamir on mount Ephraim.
{10:2} And he judged Israel for twenty-three years, and he
died and was buried at Shamir. {10:3} After him succeeded
Jair, a Gileadite, who judged Israel for twenty-two years,
{10:4} having thirty sons sitting upon thirty young donkeys,
and who were leaders of thirty cities, which from his name
were called Havvoth Jair, that is, the towns of Jair, even to
the present day, in the land of Gilead. {10:5} And Jair died,
and he was buried in the place which is called Kamon.
{10:6} But the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord,
joining new sins to old, and they served idols, the Baals and
Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria and Sidon, and of Moab and
the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines. And they abandoned
the Lord, and they did not worship him. {10:7} And the Lord,
becoming angry against them, delivered them into the hands
of the Philistines and the sons of Ammon. {10:8} And they
were afflicted and vehemently oppressed for eighteen years,
all who were living beyond the Jordan in the land of the
Amorite, which is in Gilead, {10:9} to such a great extent
that the sons of Ammon, crossing over the Jordan, laid waste
to Judah and Benjamin and Ephraim. And Israel was
exceedingly afflicted. {10:10} And crying out to the Lord,
they said: “We have sinned against you. For we have
forsaken the Lord our God, and we have served the Baals.”
{10:11} And the Lord said to them: “Did not the Egyptians,
and the Amorites, and the sons of Ammon, and the
Philistines, {10:12} and also the Sidonians, and Amalek, and
Canaan, oppress you, and so you cried out to me, and I
rescued you from their hand? {10:13} And yet you have
forsaken me, and you have worshipped foreign gods. For this
reason, I will not continue to free you any more. {10:14} Go,
and call upon the gods whom you have chosen. Let them free
you in the time of anguish.” {10:15} And the sons of Israel
said to the Lord: “We have sinned. You may repay us in
whatever way pleases you. Yet free us now.” {10:16} And
saying these things, they cast out all the idols of the foreign
gods from their regions, and they served the Lord God. And
he was touched by their miseries. {10:17} And then the sons
of Ammon, shouting out together, pitched their tents in
Gilead. And the sons of Israel gathered together against them,
and they made camp at Mizpah. {10:18} And the leaders of
Gilead said to one another, “Whoever among us will be the
first to begin to contend against the sons of Ammon, he shall
be the leader of the people of Gilead.”


[Judges 11] {11:1} At that time, there was a Gileadite,
Jephthah, a very strong man and a fighter, the son of a kept
woman, and he was born of Gilead. {11:2} Now Gilead had
a wife, from whom he received sons. And they, after growing
up, cast out Jephthah, saying, “You cannot inherit in the
house of our father, because you were born of another
mother.” {11:3} And so, fleeing and avoiding them, he lived
in the land of Tob. And men who were indigent and robbers
joined with him, and they followed him as their leader.
{11:4} In those days, the sons of Ammon fought against
Israel. {11:5} And being steadfastly attacked, the elders of
Gilead traveled so that they might obtain for their assistance
Jephthah, from the land of Tob. {11:6} And they said to him,
“Come and be our leader, and fight against the sons of
Ammon.” {11:7} But he answered them: “Are you not the
ones who hated me, and who cast me out of my father’s
house? And yet now you come to me, compelled by
necessity?” {11:8} And the leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah,
“But it is due to this necessity that we have approached you
now, so that you may set out with us, and fight against the
sons of Ammon, and be commander over all who live in
Gilead.” {11:9} Jephthah also said to them: “If you have
come to me so that I may fight for you against the sons of
Ammon, and if the Lord will deliver them into my hands,
will I truly be your leader?” {11:10} They answered him,
“The Lord who hears these things is himself the Mediator
and the Witness that we shall do what we have promised.”
{11:11} And so Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead,
and all the people made him their leader. And Jephthah
spoke all his words, in the sight of the Lord, at Mizpah.
{11:12} And he sent messengers to the king of the sons of
Ammon, who said on his behalf, “What is there between you
and me, that you would approach against me, so that you
might lay waste to my land?” {11:13} And he responded to
them, “It is because Israel took my land, when he ascended
from Egypt, from the parts of Arnon, as far as the Jabbok and
the Jordan. Now therefore, restore these to me with peace.”
{11:14} And Jephthah again commissioned them, and he
ordered them to say to the king of Ammon:
{11:15} “Jephthah says this: Israel did not take the land of
Moab, nor the land of the sons of Ammon. {11:16} But when
they ascended together from Egypt, he walked through the
desert as far as the Red Sea, and he went into Kadesh.
{11:17} And he sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying,
‘Permit me to pass through your land.’ But he was not willing
to agree to his petition. Likewise, he sent to the king of Moab,
who also refused to offer him passage. And so he delayed in
Kadesh, {11:18} and he circled around the side of the land of
Edom and the land of Moab. And he arrived opposite the
eastern region of the land of Moab. And he made camp
across the Arnon. But he was not willing to enter the borders
of Moab. (Of course, Arnon is the border of the land of
Moab.) {11:19} And so Israel sent messengers to Sihon, the
king of the Amorites, who was living at Heshbon. And they
said to him, “Permit me to cross through your land as far as
the river.” {11:20} But he, too, despising the words of Israel,
would not permit him to cross through his borders. Instead,
gathering an innumerable multitude, he went out against him
at Jahaz, and he resisted strongly. {11:21} But the Lord
delivered him, with his entire army, into the hands of Israel.
And he struck him down, and he possessed all the land of the
Amorite, the inhabitant of that region, {11:22} with all its
parts, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the
wilderness even to the Jordan. {11:23} Therefore, it was the
Lord, the God of Israel, who overthrew the Amorites, by
means of his people Israel fighting against them. And now
you wish to possess his land? {11:24} Are not the things that
your god Chemosh possesses owed to you by right? And so,
what the Lord our God has obtained by victory falls to us as
a possession. {11:25} Or are you, perhaps, better than Balak,
the son of Zippor, the king of Moab? Or are you able to
explain what his argument was against Israel, and why he
fought against him? {11:26} And though he has lived in
Heshbon, and its villages, and in Aroer, and its villages, and
in all the cities near the Jordan for three hundred years, why
have you, for such long a time, put forward nothing about
this claim? {11:27} Therefore, I am not sinning against you,
but you are doing evil against me, by declaring an unjust war
against me. May the Lord be the Judge and the Arbiter this
day, between Israel and the sons of Ammon.” {11:28} But
the king of the sons of Ammon was not willing to agree to the
words of Jephthah that he commissioned by the messengers.
{11:29} Therefore, the Spirit of the Lord rested upon
Jephthah, and circling around Gilead, and Manasseh, and
also Mizpah of Gilead, and crossing from there to the sons of
Ammon, {11:30} he made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you
will deliver the sons of Ammon into my hands,
{11:31} whoever will be the first to depart from the doors of
my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the sons
of Ammon, the same will I offer as a holocaust to the Lord.”
{11:32} And Jephthah crossed to the sons of Ammon, so that
he might fight against them. And the Lord delivered them
into his hands. {11:33} And he struck them down from Aroer,
as far as the entrance to Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as
Abel, which is covered with vineyards, in an exceedingly
great slaughter. And the sons of Ammon were humbled by
the sons of Israel. {11:34} But when Jephthah returned to
Mizpah, to his own house, his only daughter met him with
timbrels and dances. For he had no other children.
{11:35} And upon seeing her, he tore his garments, and he
said: “Alas, my daughter! You have cheated me, and you
yourself have been cheated. For I opened my mouth to the
Lord, and I can do nothing else.” {11:36} And she answered
him, “My father, if you have opened your mouth to the Lord,
do to me whatever you have promised, since victory has been
granted to you, as well as vengeance against your enemies.”
{11:37} And she said to her father: “Grant to me this one
thing, which I request. Permit me, that I may wander the
hillsides for two months, and that I may mourn my virginity
with my companions.” {11:38} And he answered her, “Go.”
And he released her for two months. And when she had
departed with her friends and companions, she wept over her
virginity in the hillsides. {11:39} And when the two months
expired, she returned to her father, and he did to her just as
he had vowed, though she knew no man. From this, the
custom grew up in Israel, and the practice has been preserved,
{11:40} such that, after each year passes, the daughters of
Israel convene as one, and they lament the daughter of
Jephthah, the Gileadite, for four days.


[Judges 12] {12:1} And behold, a sedition rose up in
Ephraim. Then, while passing by toward the north, they said
to Jephthah: “When you were going to fight against the sons
of Ammon, why were you unwilling to summon us, so that
we might go with you? Therefore, we will burn down your
house.” {12:2} And he answered them: “I and my people
were in a great conflict against the sons of Ammon. And I
called you, so that you might offer assistance to me. And you
were not willing to do so. {12:3} And discerning this, I put
my life in my own hands, and I crossed to the sons of
Ammon, and the Lord delivered them into my hands. What
am I guilty of, that you would rise up in battle against me?”
{12:4} And so, calling to himself all the men of Gilead, he
fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck down
Ephraim, because he had said, “Gilead is a fugitive from
Ephraim, and he lives in the midst of Ephraim and
Manasseh.” {12:5} And the Gileadites occupied the fords of
the Jordan, along which Ephraim was to return. And when
anyone from the number of Ephraim had arrived, fleeing,
and had said, “I beg that you permit me to pass,” the
Gileadites would say to him, “Could you be an Ephraimite?”
And if he said, “I am not,” {12:6} they would ask him, then
say ‘Shibboleth,’ which is translated as ‘ear of grain.’ But he
would answer ‘Sibboleth,’ not being able to express the word
for an ear of grain in the same letters. And immediately
apprehending him, they would cut his throat, at the same
crossing point of the Jordan. And in that time of Ephraim,
forty-two thousand fell. {12:7} And so Jephthah, the
Gileadite, judged Israel for six years. And he died, and he
was buried in his city in Gilead. {12:8} After him, Ibzan of
Bethlehem judged Israel. {12:9} He had thirty sons, and the
same number of daughters, whom he sent away to be given to
husbands. And he accepted wives for his sons of the same
number, bringing them into his house. And he judged Israel
for seven years. {12:10} And he died, and he was buried in
Bethlehem. {12:11} After him succeeded Elon, a Zebulunite.
And he judged Israel for ten years. {12:12} And he died, and
he was buried in Zebulun. {12:13} After him, Abdon, the son
of Hillel, a Pirathonite, judged Israel. {12:14} And he had
forty sons, and from them thirty grandsons, all riding upon
seventy young donkeys. And he judged Israel for eight years.
{12:15} And he died, and he was buried at Pirathon, in the
land of Ephraim, on the mountain of Amalek.


[Judges 13] {13:1} And again, the sons of Israel did evil in
the sight of the Lord. And he delivered them into the hands
of the Philistines for forty years. {13:2} Now there was a
certain man from Zorah, and of the stock of Dan, whose
name was Manoah, having a barren wife. {13:3} And an
Angel of the Lord appeared to her, and he said: “You are
barren and without children. But you shall conceive and bear
ason. {13:4} Therefore, take care that you do not drink wine
or strong drink. Neither shall you eat anything unclean.
{13:5} For you shall conceive and bear a son, whose head no
razor shall touch. For he shall be a Nazirite of God, from his
infancy and from his mother’s womb. And he shall begin to
free Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” {13:6} And
when she had gone to her husband, she said to him: “A man
of God came to me, having the countenance of an Angel,
exceedingly terrible. And when I had inquired of him, who
he was, and where he was from, and what name he was
called, he was not willing to tell me. {13:7} But he responded:
‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Take care that
you do not drink wine or strong drink. And you shall not
consume anything unclean. For the boy shall be a Nazirite of
God from his infancy, from his mother’s womb, even until
the day of his death.’ ” {13:8} And so Manoah prayed to the
Lord, and he said, “I beg you Lord, that the man of God,
whom you sent, may come again, and may teach us what we
ought to do about the boy who is to be born.” {13:9} And the
Lord heeded the prayer of Manoah, and the Angel of the
Lord appeared again to his wife, sitting in a field. But her
husband Manoah was not with her. And when she had seen
the Angel, {13:10} she hurried and ran to her husband. And
she reported to him, saying, “Behold, the man appeared to
me, whom I had seen before.” {13:11} And he rose up and
followed his wife. And going to the man, he said to him,
“Are you the one who spoke to my wife?” And he responded,
“Iam.” {13:12} And Manoah said to him: “When will your
word be fulfilled. What do you want the boy to do? Or from
what should he keep himself?” {13:13} And the Angel of the
Lord said to Manoah: “Concerning all the things about
which I have spoken to your wife, she herself should abstain.
{13:14} And let her eat nothing from the vine. She may not
drink wine or strong drink. She may consume nothing
unclean. And let her observe and keep what I have instructed
to her.” {13:15} And Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord,
“I beg you to agree to my petition, and to let us prepare a kid
from the goats.” {13:16} And the Angel answered him:
“Even if you compel me, I will not eat from your bread. But
if you are willing to offer a holocaust, offer it to the Lord.”
And Manoah did not know that he was an Angel of the Lord.
{13:17} And he said to him, “What is your name, so that, if
your word is fulfilled, we may honor you?” {13:18} And he
answered him, “Why do you ask my name, which is a
wonder?” {13:19} And so, Manoah took a kid from the goats,
and libations, and he placed them upon a rock, as an offering
to the Lord, who accomplishes wonders. Then he and his
wife watched. {13:20} And when the flame of the altar
ascended to heaven, the Angel of the Lord ascended in the
flame. And when Manoah and his wife had seen this, they
fell prone on the ground. {13:21} And the Angel of the Lord
no longer appeared to them. And immediately, Manoah
understood him to be an Angel of the Lord. {13:22} And he
said to his wife, “We shall certainly die, since we have seen
God.” {13:23} And his wife answered him, “If the Lord
wished to kill us, he would not have accepted the holocaust
and the libations from our hands. He would not have
revealed all these things to us, nor would he have told us the
things that are in the future.” {13:24} And so she bore a son,
and she called his name Samson. And the boy grew up, and
the Lord blessed him. {13:25} And the Spirit of the Lord
began to be with him in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and
Eshtaol.


[Judges 14] {14:1} Then Samson descended to Timnah. And
seeing there a woman from the daughters of the Philistines,
{14:2} he went up, and he told his father and his mother,
saying: “I saw a woman in Timnah from the daughters of the
Philistines. I ask that you take her to me as wife.” {14:3} And
his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman
among the daughters of your brothers, or among all my
people, so that you would be willing to take a wife from the
Philistines, who are uncircumcised?” And Samson said to his
father: “Take this woman to me. For she has pleased my
eyes.” {14:4} Now his parents did not know that the matter
was done by the Lord, and that he sought an occasion against
the Philistines. For at that time, the Philistines had dominion
over Israel. {14:5} And so, Samson descended with his father
and mother to Timnah. And when they had arrived at the
vineyards of the town, he saw a young lion, savage and
roaring, and it met him. {14:6} Then the Spirit of the Lord
rushed upon Samson, and he tore apart the lion, like a young
goat being torn into pieces, having nothing at all in his hand.
And he was not willing to reveal this to his father and mother.
{14:7} And he went down and spoke to the woman who had
pleased his eyes. {14:8} And after some days, returning to
marry her, he turned aside so that he might see the carcass of
the lion. And behold, there was a swarm of bees in the mouth
of the lion, with a honeycomb. {14:9} And when he had
taken it in his hands, he ate it along the way. And arriving to
his father and mother, he gave them a portion, and they also
ate it. Yet he was not willing to reveal to them that he had
taken the honey from the body of the lion. {14:10} And so
his father went down to the woman, and he made a feast for
his son Samson. For so the young men were accustomed to
do. {14:11} And when the citizens of that place had seen him,
they presented to him thirty companions to be with him.
{14:12} And Samson said to them: “I will propose to you a
problem, which, if you can solve it for me within the seven
days of the feast, I will give you thirty shirts and the same
number of tunics. {14:13} But if you are not able to solve it,
you shall give me thirty shirts and the same number of
tunics.” And they answered him, “Propose the problem, so
that we may hear it.” {14:14} And he said to them, “Food
went forth from that which eats, and sweetness went forth
from that which is strong.” And they were unable to solve the
proposition for three days. {14:15} And when the seventh
day had arrived, they said to the wife of Samson: “Coax your
husband, and persuade him to reveal to you what the
proposition means. But if you are not willing to do so, we
will burn you and your father’s house. Or have you called us
to the wedding in order to despoil us?” {14:16} And she shed
tears before Samson, and she complained, saying: “You hate
me, and you do not love me. That is why you do not want to
explain to me the problem, which you have proposed to the
sons of my people.” But he responded: “I was not willing to
reveal it to my father and mother. And so, how can I reveal it
to you?” {14:17} Therefore, she wept before him during the
seven days of the feast. And at length, on the seventh day,
since she had been troubling him, he explained it. And
immediately she revealed it to her countrymen. {14:18} And
they, on the seventh day, before the sun declined, said to him:
“What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a
lion?” And he said to them, “If you had not plowed with my
heifer, you would not have uncovered my proposition.”
{14:19} And so the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and
he descended to Ashkelon, and in that place he struck down
thirty men. And taking away their garments, he gave them to
those who had solved the problem. And being exceedingly
angry, he went up to his father’s house. {14:20} Then his
wife took as a husband one of his friends and wedding
companions.


[Judges 15] {15:1} Then, after some time, when the days of
the wheat harvest were near, Samson arrived, intending to
visit his wife, and he brought her a kid from the goats. And
when he wanted to enter her bedroom, as usual, her father
prohibited him, saying: {15:2} “I thought that you would
hate her, and therefore I gave her to your friend. But she has
a sister, who is younger and more beautiful than she is. And
she may be a wife for you, instead of her.” {15:3} And
Samson answered him: “From this day, there shall be no
guilt for me against the Philistines. For I will do harm to you
all.” {15:4} And he went out and caught three hundred foxes.
And he joined them tail to tail. And he tied torches between
the tails. {15:5} And setting these on fire, he released them,
so that they might rush from place to place. And immediately
they went into the grain fields of the Philistines, setting these
on fire, both the grain that was already bound for carrying,
and what was still standing on the stalk. These were
completely burned up, so much so that the flame also
consumed even the vineyards and the olive groves.
{15:6} And the Philistines said, “Who has done this thing?”
And it was said: “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite,
because he took away his wife, and gave her to another. He
has done these things.” And the Philistines went up and
burned the woman as well as her father. {15:7} And Samson
said to them, “Even though you have done this, I will still
fulfill vengeance against you, and then I will be quieted.”
{15:8} And he struck them with a tremendous slaughter, so
much so that, out of astonishment, they laid the calf of the leg
upon the thigh. And descending, he lived in a cave of the
rock at Etam. {15:9} And so the Philistines, ascending into
the land of Judah, made camp at the place which was later
called Lehi, that is, the Jawbone, where their army spread out.
{15:10} And some from the tribe of Judah said to them,
“Why have you ascended against us?” And they responded,
“We have come to bind Samson, and to repay him for what
he has done to us.” {15:11} Then three thousand men of
Judah descended to the cave of the rock at Etam. And they
said to Samson: “Do you not know that the Philistines rule
over us? Why would you want to do this?” And he said to
them, “As they have done to me, so I have done to them.”
{15:12} And they said to him, “We have come to bind you,
and to deliver you into the hands of the Philistines.” And
Samson said to them, “Swear and promise to me that you
will not kill me.” {15:13} They said: “We will not kill you.
But we will deliver you tied.” And they bound him with two
new cords. And they took him from the rock at Etam.
{15:14} And when he had arrived at the place of the Jawbone,
and the Philistines, shouting aloud, had met him, the Spirit of
the Lord rushed upon him. And just as flax is usually
consumed by a hint of fire, so were the ties with which he
was bound broken and released. {15:15} And finding a
jawbone which was laying there, that is, the jawbone of a
donkey, snatching it up, he put to death a thousand men with
it. {15:16} And he said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, with
the jaw of the colt of a donkey, I have destroyed them, and I
have struck down a thousand men.” {15:17} And when he
had completed these words, singing, he threw the jawbone
from his hand. And called the name of that place Ramath-
Lehi, which is translated as ‘the elevation of the jawbone.’
{15:18} And being very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, and
he said: “You have given, to the hand of your servant, this
very great salvation and victory. But see that I am dying of
thirst, and so I will fall into the hands of the uncircumcised.”
{15:19} And so the Lord opened a large tooth in the jawbone
of the donkey, and water went out from it. And having drank
it, his spirit was revived, and he recovered his strength. For
this reason, the name of that place was called ‘the Spring
called forth from the jawbone,’ even to the present day.
{15:20} And he judged Israel, in the days of the Philistines,
for twenty years.


[Judges 16] {16:1} He also went into Gaza. And there he
saw a harlot woman, and he entered to her. {16:2} And when
the Philistines had heard of this, and it had become well
known among them, that Samson had entered the city, they
surrounded him, placing guards at the gate of the city. And
there they were keeping watch all night in silence, so that, in
the morning, they might kill him as he was going out.
{16:3} But Samson slept until the middle of the night, and
rising up from there, he took both doors from the gate, with
their posts and bars. And laying them upon his shoulders, he
carried them to the top of the hill that looks toward Hebron.
{16:4} After these things, he loved a woman who was living
in the valley of Sorek. And she was called Delilah.
{16:5} And the leaders of the Philistines went to her, and
they said: “Deceive him, and learn from him wherein lies his
great strength, and how we may be able to overcome him and
to impose restraints on him. And if you will do this, each one
of us will give you one thousand one hundred silver coins.”
{16:6} Therefore, Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me, I beg
you, wherein lies your very great strength, and with what
might you be bound, so that you could not break free?”
{16:7} And Samson answered her, “If I will be bound with
seven cords, made of sinews not yet dry, but still damp, I will
be weak like other men.” {16:8} And the princes of the
Philistines brought to her seven cords, such as he had
described. And she bound him with these. {16:9} And so,
those hiding in ambush with her, in the bedroom, were
expecting the end of the matter. And she cried out to him,
“The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he broke the
cords, as one would break a thread of flax, twisted for cutting
and singed by fire. And so it was not known wherein lay his
strength. {16:10} And Delilah said to him: “Behold, you
have mocked me, and you have spoken a falsehood. But at
least now, tell me with what you may be bound.”
{16:11} And he answered her, “If I will be bound with new
cords, which have never been used, I will be weak and like
other men.” {16:12} Again, Delilah tied him with these, and
she cried out, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” For
an ambush had been prepared in the bedroom. But he broke
the bindings like the filaments of a web. {16:13} And Delilah
spoke to him again: “How long will you deceive me and tell
me falsehoods? Reveal with what you ought to be bound.”
And Samson responded to her, “If you weave the seven locks
of my head with a loom, and if you tie these around a spike
and fix it to the ground, I will be weak.” {16:14} And when
Delilah had done this, she said to him, “The Philistines are
upon you, Samson.” And arising from sleep, he withdrew the
spike with the hairs and the weaving. {16:15} And Delilah
said to him: “How can you say that you love me, when your
soul is not with me? You have lied to me on three occasions,
and you are not willing to reveal wherein lies your very great
strength.” {16:16} And when she had been very troublesome
to him, and over many days had continually stayed nearby,
giving him no time to rest, his soul was faint, and he was
weary, even unto death. {16:17} Then disclosing the truth of
the matter, he said to her: “Iron has never been drawn across
my head, for I am a Nazirite, that is, I have been consecrated
to God from my mother’s womb. If my head will be shaven,
my strength will depart from me, and I will be faint and will
be like other men.” {16:18} Then, seeing that he had
confessed to her his whole soul, she sent to the leaders of the
Philistines and ordered: “Come up just once more. For now
he has opened his heart to me.” And they went up, taking
with them the money that they had promised. {16:19} But
she made him sleep upon her knees, and recline his head
upon her bosom. And she called a barber, and he shaved his
seven locks of hair. And she began to push him away, and to
repel him from herself. For immediately his strength departed
from him. {16:20} And she said, “The Philistines are upon
you, Samson!” And awaking from sleep, he said in his mind,
“I will break away and shake myself free, just as I did
before.” For he did not know that the Lord had withdrawn
from him. {16:21} And when the Philistines had seized him,
they immediately plucked out his eyes. And they led him,
bound in chains, to Gaza. And enclosing him in a prison,
they made him work a millstone. {16:22} And now his hair
began to grow back. {16:23} And the leaders of the
Philistines convened as one, so that they might offer great
sacrifices to Dagon, their god. And they feasted, saying, “Our
god has delivered our enemy, Samson, into our hands.”
{16:24} Then, too, the people, seeing this, praised their god,
and they said the same, “Our god has delivered our adversary
into our hands: the one who destroyed our land and who
killed very many.” {16:25} And rejoicing in their celebration,
having now taken food, they instructed that Samson be called,
and that he be mocked before them. And having been
brought from prison, he was mocked before them. And they
caused him to stand between two pillars. {16:26} And he said
to the boy who was guiding his steps, “Permit me to touch
the pillars, which support the entire house, and to lean
against them, so that I may rest a little.” {16:27} Now the
house was full of men and women. And all the leaders of the
Philistines were there, as well as about three thousand
persons, of both sexes, on the roof and in the upper level of
the house, who were watching Samson being mocked.
{16:28} Then, calling upon the Lord, he said, “O Lord God
remember me, and restore to me now my former strength, O
my God, so that I may avenge myself against my enemies,
and so that I may receive one vengeance for the deprivation
of my two eyes.” {16:29} And taking hold of both the pillars,
on which the house rested, and holding one with his right
hand and the other with his left, {16:30} he said, “May my
life die with the Philistines.” And when he had shaken the
pillars strongly, the house fell upon all the leaders, and the
rest of the multitude who were there. And he killed many
more in his death than he had killed before in his life.
{16:31} Then his brothers and all his relatives, going down,
took his body, and they buried it between Zorah and Eshtaol,
in the burying place of his father, Manoah. And he judged
Israel for twenty years.


[Judges 17] {17:1} In that time, there was a certain man,
from mount Ephraim, named Micah. {17:2} And he said to
his mother, “The one thousand one hundred silver coins,
which you had separated for yourself, and about which you
had sworn in my hearing, behold, I have them, and they are
with me.” And she answered him, “My son has been blessed
by the Lord.” {17:3} Therefore, he restored them to his
mother. And she said to him: “I have consecrated and vowed
this silver to the Lord, so that my son would receive it from
my hand, and would make a molten idol and a graven image.
And now I deliver it to you.” {17:4} And when he restored
these to his mother, she took two hundred of the silver coins,
and she gave them to the silversmith, so that he might make
from them a molten idol and a graven image. And it was in
the house of Micah. {17:5} And he also separated in it a little
shrine for the god. And he made an ephod and theraphim,
that is, a priestly garment and idols. And he filled the hand of
one of his sons, and he became his priest. {17:6} In those
days, there was no king in Israel. Instead, each one did what
seemed right to himself. {17:7} Also, there was another
young man, from Bethlehem of Judah, one of his relatives.
And he himself was a Levite, and he was living there.
{17:8} Then, departing from the city of Bethlehem, he
wished to sojourn wherever he would find it beneficial to
himself. And when he had arrived at mount Ephraim, while
making the journey, he also turned aside for a little while to
the house of Micah. {17:9} And he was asked by him where
he came from. And he responded: “I am a Levite from
Bethlehem of Judah. And I am traveling so that I may live
where I am able, if I perceive it to be useful to me.”
{17:10} And Micah said: “Stay with me. And you shall be to
me like a parent and a priest. And I will give to you, each
year, ten silver coins, and a double-layered garment, and
whatever provisions are necessary.” {17:11} He agreed, and
he stayed with the man. And he was to him like one of his
sons. {17:12} And Micah filled his hand, and he had the
young man with him as his priest, {17:13} saying: “Now I
know that God will be good to me, since I have a priest from
the stock of the Levites.”


[Judges 18] {18:1} In those days, there was no king in Israel.
And the tribe of Dan sought a possession for themselves, so
that they might live in it. For even to that day, they had not
received their lot among the other tribes. {18:2} Therefore,
the sons of Dan sent five very strong men, of their stock and
family, from Zorah and Eshtaol, so that they might explore
the land and diligently inspect it. And they said to them, “Go,
and consider the land.” And after traveling, they arrived at
mount Ephraim, and they entered into the house of Micah.
There they rested. {18:3} And they recognized the speech of
the youth who was a Levite. And while making use of an inn
with him, they said to him: “Who brought you here? What
are you doing here? For what reason did you want to come
here?” {18:4} And he answered them, “Micah has offered me
one thing and another, and he has paid me wages, so that I
may be his priest.” {18:5} Then they begged him to consult
the Lord, so that they might be able to know whether the
journey they undertook would be prosperous, and whether
the matter would have success. {18:6} And he responded to
them, “Go in peace. The Lord looks with favor on your path,
and on the journey that you have undertaken.” {18:7} And
so the five men, going on, arrived at Laish. And they saw the
people, living in it without any fear, according to the custom
of the Sidonians, secure and peaceful, having hardly anyone
to oppose them, and with great wealth, and living separately,
far from Sidon and from all men. {18:8} And they returned
to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, who questioned them
as to what they had done. And they responded: {18:9} “Rise
up. Let us ascend to them. For we have seen that the land is
very wealthy and fruitful. Do not delay; do not refrain. Let us
go out and possess it. There will be no difficulty. {18:10} We
shall enter to those who dwell securely, in a very wide region,
and the Lord will deliver the place to us, a place in which
there is no lack of anything that grows upon the earth.”
{18:11} And so, those of the kindred of Dan set out, that is,
six hundred men from Zorah and Eshtaol, girded with the
weapons of warfare. {18:12} And going up, they stayed at
Kiriath-jearim of Judah. And so the place, from that time,
received the name the Camp of Dan, and it is behind the back
of Kiriath-jearim. {18:13} From there, they crossed over to
mount Ephraim. And when they had arrived at the house of
Micah, {18:14} the five men, who before had been sent to
consider the land of Laish, said to the rest of their brothers:
“You know that in these houses there is an ephod and
theraphim, and a molten idol and a graven image. Consider
what it may please you to do.” {18:15} And when they had
turned aside a little, they entered the house of the Levite
youth, who was in the house of Micah. And they greeted him
with peaceful words. {18:16} Now the six hundred men, who
were all armed, were standing before the door. {18:17} But
those who had entered the house of the youth strove to take
away the graven image, and the ephod, and the theraphim,
and the molten idol. But the priest was standing in front of
the door, with the six hundred very strong men waiting not
far away. {18:18} And so, those who had entered took away
the graven image, the ephod, and the theraphim, and the
molten idol. And the priest said to them, “What are you
doing?” {18:19} And they responded to him: “Be silent and
place your finger over your mouth. And come with us, so
that we may have you as a father as well as a priest. For
which is better for you: to be a priest in the house of one man,
or in one tribe and family in Israel?” {18:20} And when he
had heard this, he agreed to their words. And he took the
ephod, and the idols, and the graven image, and he set out
with them. {18:21} And while traveling, they had also sent
the children, and the cattle, and all that was valuable to go
ahead of them. {18:22} And when they were far from the
house of Micah, the men who were living in the houses of
Micah, crying out together, followed them. {18:23} And they
began to shout behind their backs. And when they had
looked back, they said to Micah: “What do you want? Why
are you crying out?” {18:24} And he responded: “You have
taken away my gods, which I made for myself, and the priest,
and all that I have. And do you say, ‘What is it that you
want?’ ” {18:25} And the sons of Dan said to him, “Take
care that you no longer speak to us, otherwise men with a
mind for violence may overwhelm you, and you yourself
would perish with all your house.” {18:26} And so, they
continued on the journey that they had begun. But Micah,
seeing that they were stronger than he was, returned to his
house. {18:27} Now the six hundred men took the priest, and
the things we stated above, and they went to Laish, to a
people quiet and secure, and they struck them down with the
edge of the sword. And they burned the city with fire.
{18:28} For no one at all sent reinforcements, because they
lived far away from Sidon, and they had no association or
business with any man. Now the city was situated in the
region of Rehob. And building it up again, they lived in it,
{18:29} calling the name of the city Dan, according to the
name of their father, who had been born of Israel, though
before it was called Laish. {18:30} And they established for
themselves the graven image. And Jonathan, the son of
Gershom, the son of Moses, with his sons, were priests in the
tribe of Dan, even until the day of their captivity.
{18:31} And the idol of Micah remained with them during
the entire time that the house of God was in Shiloh. In those
days, there was no king in Israel.


[Judges 19] {19:1} There was a certain man, a Levite, living
beside mount Ephraim, who took a wife from Bethlehem of
Judah. {19:2} She left him, and she returned to the house of
her father in Bethlehem. And she stayed with him for four
months. {19:3} And her husband followed her, wishing to be
reconciled with her, and to speak kindly to her, and to lead
her back with him. And he had with him a servant and two
donkeys. And she received him, and brought him into the
house of her father. And when his father-in-law had heard
about this, and had seen him, he met him with joy.
{19:4} And he embraced the man. And the son-in-law stayed
in the house of his father-in-law for three days, eating and
drinking with him in a friendly manner. {19:5} But on the
fourth day, arising in the night, he intended to set out. But his
father-in-law took hold of him, and he said to him, “First
taste a little bread, and strengthen your stomach, and then
you shall set out.” {19:6} And they sat down together, and
they ate and drank. And the father of the young woman said
to his son-in-law, “I ask you to remain here today, so that we
may rejoice together.” {19:7} But getting up, he intended to
begin to set out. But nevertheless, his father-in-law pressed
him resolutely, and made him remain with him. {19:8} But
when morning came, the Levite was preparing for his journey.
And his father-in-law said to him again, “I beg you to take a
little food, and to be strengthened, until the daylight increases,
and after that, you shall set out.” Therefore, they ate together.
{19:9} And the young man got up, so that he might travel
with his wife and servant. And his father-in-law spoke to him
again: “Consider that the daylight is declining, and it
approaches toward evening. Remain with me also today, and
spend the day in gladness. And tomorrow you shall set out,
so that you may go to your own house.” {19:10} His son-in-
law was not willing to agree to his words. Instead, he
immediately continued on, and he arrived opposite Jebus,
which by another name is called Jerusalem, leading with him
two donkeys carrying burdens, and his mate. {19:11} And
now they were near Jebus, but day was turning into night.
And the servant said to his lord, “Come, I beg you, let us turn
aside to the city of the Jebusites, so that we may find lodging
in it.” {19:12} His lord responded to him: “I will not enter
into the town of a foreign people, who are not of the sons of
Israel. Instead, I will cross over as far as Gibeah.
{19:13} And when I will have arrived there, we will lodge in
that place, or at least in the city of Ramah.”
{19:14} Therefore, they passed by Jebus, and continuing on,
they undertook the journey. But the sun went down on them
when they were near Gibeah, which is of the tribe of
Benjamin. {19:15} And so they diverted to it, so that they
might lodge there. And when they had entered, they were
sitting in the street of the city. For no one was willing to give
them hospitality. {19:16} And behold, they saw an old man,
returning from the field and from his work in the evening,
and he was also from mount Ephraim, and he was living as a
stranger in Gibeah. For the men of that region were of the
sons of Benjamin. {19:17} And the old man, lifting up his
eyes, saw the man sitting with his bundles in the street of the
city. And he said to him: “Where have you come from? And
where are you going?” {19:18} He answered him: “We set
out from Bethlehem of Judah, and we are traveling to our
own place, which is beside mount Ephraim. From there we
went to Bethlehem, and now we go to the house of God. But
no one is willing to receive us under his roof. {19:19} We
have straw and hay as fodder for the donkeys, and we have
bread and wine for the use of myself, and for your handmaid
and the servant who is with me. We lack nothing except
lodging.” {19:20} And the old man responded to him: “Peace
be with you. I will provide all that is necessary. Only, I beg
you, do not stay in the street.” {19:21} And he led him into
his house, and he gave fodder to his donkeys. And after they
had washed their feet, he received them with a banquet.
{19:22} And while they were feasting, and were refreshing
their bodies with food and drink after the labor of the journey,
the men of that city, sons of Belial (that is, without yoke),
came and surrounded the old man’s house. And they began
to knock at the door, calling out to the lord of the house, and
saying, “Bring out the man who entered your house, so that
we may abuse him.” {19:23} And the old man went out to
them, and he said: “Do not choose, brothers, do not choose
to do this evil. For this man has entered to my hospitality.
And you must cease from this senselessness. {19:24} I have a
virgin daughter, and this man has a mate. I will lead them out
to you, so that you may debase them and may satisfy your
lust. Only, I beg you, do not commit this crime against nature
on the man.” {19:25} But they were not willing to agree to
his words. So the man, discerning this, led out his mate to
them, and he delivered her to their sexual abuse. And when
they had abused her for the entire night, they released her in
the morning. {19:26} But the woman, as darkness was
receding, came to the door of the house, where her lord was
staying, and there she fell down. {19:27} When morning
came, the man arose, and he opened the door, so that he
might complete the journey that he had begun. And behold,
his mate was lying before the door, with her hands reaching
out to the threshold. {19:28} And he, thinking that she was
resting, said to her, “Get up, and let us walk.” But since she
gave no response, realizing that she had died, he took her up,
and he laid her on his donkey, and he returned to his house.
{19:29} And when he had arrived, he took up a sword, and
he cut into pieces the dead body of his wife, with her bones,
into twelve parts. And he sent the pieces into all the parts of
Israel. {19:30} And when each one had seen this, they were
crying out together, “Never has such a thing been done in
Israel, from the day that our fathers ascended from Egypt,
even to the present time. Let a sentence be brought and let us
decide in common what ought to be done.”


[Judges 20] {20:1} And so all the sons of Israel went out like
one man, from Dan to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead,
and they gathered together, before the Lord, at Mizpah.
{20:2} And all the chiefs of the people, and every tribe of
Israel, convened as an assembly of the people of God, four
hundred thousand foot soldiers for battle. {20:3} (But it was
not hidden from the sons of Benjamin that the sons of Israel
had ascended to Mizpah.) And the Levite, the husband of the
woman who was killed, being questioned as to how so great a
crime had been perpetrated, {20:4} responded: “I went to
Gibeah of Benjamin, with my wife, and I diverted to that
place. {20:5} And behold, the men of that city, at night,
surrounded the house in which I was staying, intending to kill
me. And they abused my wife with such an incredible fury of
lust that in the end she died. {20:6} And taking her up, I cut
her into pieces, and I sent the parts into all the borders of
your possession. For never before was such a nefarious crime,
and so great a sin, committed in Israel. {20:7} You are all
present here, O sons of Israel. Discern what you ought to
do.” {20:8} And all the people, standing, responded as if with
the word of one man: “We shall not return to our own tents,
nor shall anyone enter into his own house. {20:9} But this we
shall do in common against Gibeah: {20:10} We shall select
ten men out of one hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and
one hundred out of one thousand, and one thousand out of
ten thousand, so that they may transport supplies for the
army, and so that we will be able to fight against Gibeah of
Benjamin, and to repay it for its crime as it deserves.”
{20:11} And all of Israel convened against the city, like one
man, with one mind and one counsel. {20:12} And they sent
messengers to the entire tribe of Benjamin, who said: “Why
has so great a wickedness been found among you?
{20:13} Deliver the men of Gibeah, who have perpetrated
this deplorable act, so that they may die, and so that the evil
may be taken away from Israel.” And they were not willing
to listen to the command of their brothers, the sons of Israel.
{20:14} Instead, out of all the cities that were their lot, they
convened at Gibeah, so that they might bring them assistance,
and so that they might contend against the entire people of
Israel. {20:15} And there were found from Benjamin twenty-
five thousand who drew the sword, aside from the inhabitants
of Gibeah, {20:16} who were seven hundred very strong men,
fighting with the left hand as well as with the right hand, and
casting stones from a sling so accurately that they were able
to strike even a hair, and the path of the stone would by no
means miss to either side. {20:17} Then too, among the men
of Israel apart from the sons of Benjamin, there were found
four hundred thousand who drew the sword and who were
prepared for battle. {20:18} And they rose up and went to the
house of God, that is, to Shiloh. And they consulted God,
and they said, “Who shall be, in our army, the first to
contend against the sons of Benjamin?” And the Lord
responded to them, “Let Judah be your leader.” {20:19} And
immediately the sons of Israel, rising up in the morning,
made camp near Gibeah. {20:20} And setting out from there
to fight against Benjamin, they began to assault the city.
{20:21} And the sons of Benjamin, departing from Gibeah,
slew twenty-two thousand men from the sons of Israel, on
that day. {20:22} Again the sons of Israel, trusting in both
strength and number, set their troops in order, in the same
place where they had contended before. {20:23} But first they
also went up and wept before the Lord, even until night. And
they consulted him and said, “Should I continue to go forth,
so as to contend against the sons of Benjamin, my brothers,
or not?” And he responded to them, “Ascend against them,
and undertake the struggle.” {20:24} And when the sons of
Israel had continued to do battle against the sons of Benjamin
on the next day, {20:25} the sons of Benjamin burst forth
from the gates of Gibeah. And meeting them, they made such
a frenzied slaughter against them that they struck down
eighteen thousand men who drew the sword. {20:26} As a
result, all the sons of Israel went to the house of God, and
sitting down, they wept before the Lord. And they fasted that
day until evening, and they offered to him holocausts and
victims of peace offerings. {20:27} And they inquired about
their state. At that time, the ark of the covenant of the Lord
was in that place. {20:28} And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar,
the son of Aaron, was the first ruler of the house. And so,
they consulted the Lord, and they said, “Should we continue
to go forth in battle against the sons of Benjamin, our
brothers, or should we cease?” And the Lord said to them:
“Ascend. For tomorrow, I will deliver them into your
hands.” {20:29} And the sons of Israel stationed ambushes
around the city of Gibeah. {20:30} And they brought out
their army against Benjamin a third time, just as they had
done on the first and second times. {20:31} But the sons of
Benjamin again burst forth boldly from the city. And since
their enemies were fleeing, they pursued them a long way, so
that they might wound or kill some of them, just as they had
done on the first and second days. And they turned their
backs along two paths, one bringing them toward Bethel, and
the other toward Gibeah. And they struck down about thirty
men. {20:32} For they thought that they were falling back as
they had done before. But instead, skillfully feigning flight,
they undertook a plan to draw them away from the city, and
by seeming to flee, to lead them along the above stated paths.
{20:33} And so all the sons of Israel, rising up from their
positions, set their troops in order, in the place which is called
Baaltamar. Likewise, the ambushes that encircled the city
began, little by little, to reveal themselves, {20:34} and to
advance upon the western part of the city. Moreover, another
ten thousand men from all of Israel were provoking a conflict
with the inhabitants of the city. And the war grew heavy
against the sons of Benjamin. And they did not realize that,
on all sides of them, death was imminent. {20:35} And the
Lord struck them down in the sight of the sons of Israel, and
they put to death, on that day, twenty-five thousand of them,
along with one hundred men, all warriors and those who
drew the sword. {20:36} But the sons of Benjamin, when
they had seen themselves to be the weaker, began to flee. And
the sons of Israel discerning this, gave them room to flee, so
that they might arrive at the ambushes that were prepared,
which they had positioned near the city. {20:37} And after
they had risen up suddenly from hiding, and those of
Benjamin had turned their backs to those who cut them down,
they entered the city, and they struck it with the edge of the
sword. {20:38} Now the sons of Israel had given a sign to
those whom they had stationed in ambushes, so that, after
they had seized the city, they would light a fire, and by the
smoke ascending on high, they would show that the city was
captured. {20:39} And then, the sons of Israel discerned this
sign during the battle (for the sons of Benjamin had thought
that they fled, and they pursued them forcefully, cutting
down thirty men from their army). {20:40} And they saw
something like a pillar of smoke ascending from the city.
Likewise, Benjamin, looking back, discerned that the city was
captured, for the flames were being carried on high.
{20:41} And those who before had pretended to flee, turning
their faces, withstood them more strongly. And when the
sons of Benjamin had seen this, they turned their backs in
flight, {20:42} and they began to go toward the way of the
desert, with the adversary pursuing them to that place also.
Moreover, those who had set fire to the city also met them.
{20:43} And so it happened that they were cut down on both
sides by the enemies, nor was there any respite for the dying.
They were killed and struck down on the eastern side of the
city of Gibeah. {20:44} Now those who were put to death in
the same place were eighteen thousand men, all very robust
fighters. {20:45} And when those who remained of Benjamin
had seen this, they fled into the wilderness. And they were
traveling toward the rock which is called Rimmon. In that
flight also, among those who were scattering in different
directions, they slew five thousand men. And though they
scattered all the more, they continued to pursue them, and
then they put to death another two thousand. {20:46} And so
it happened that all of those who were slain from Benjamin,
in various places, were twenty-five thousand fighters, very
willing to go to war. {20:47} And so there remained from the
entire number of Benjamin six hundred men who were able
to escape and to flee into the wilderness. And they settled at
the rock of Rimmon, for four months. {20:48} But the sons of
Israel, returning, had struck with the sword all that remained
in the city, from men even to cattle. And all the cities and
villages of Benjamin were consumed with devouring flames.


[Judges 21] {21:1} The sons of Israel had also taken an oath
at Mizpah, and they said, “None of us shall give his
daughters as a wife to the sons of Benjamin.” {21:2} And
they all went to the house of God at Shiloh. And sitting in his
sight until evening, they lifted up their voice, and they began
to weep, with a great wailing, saying, {21:3} “Why, O Lord,
God of Israel, has this evil happened among your people, so
that this day one tribe would be taken away from us?”
{21:4} Then, rising at first light on the next day, they built an
altar. And they offered holocausts and victims of peace
offerings there, and they said, {21:5} “Who, out of all the
tribes of Israel, did not ascend with the army of the Lord?”
For they had bound themselves with a great oath, when they
were at Mizpah, that whoever was not present would be slain.
{21:6} And the sons of Israel, having been led to repentance
over their brother Benjamin, began to say: “One tribe has
been taken away from Israel. {21:7} From where shall they
receive wives? For we have all sworn in common that we will
not give our daughters to them.” {21:8} For this reason, they
said, “Who is there, out of all the tribes of Israel, that did not
ascend to the Lord at Mizpah?” And behold, the inhabitants
of Jabesh-Gilead were found not to have been among that
army. {21:9} (Likewise, in the time when they had been at
Shiloh, not one of them was found to be there.) {21:10} And
so they sent ten thousand very robust men, and they
instructed them, saying, “Go and strike down the inhabitants
of Jabesh-Gilead with the edge of the sword, including their
wives and little ones.” {21:11} And this shall be what you
ought to do: “Everyone of the male gender, as well as all the
women who have known men, shall be put to death. But the
virgins you shall reserve.” {21:12} And four hundred virgins,
who had not known the bed of a man, were found from
Jabesh-Gilead. And they brought them to the camp at Shiloh,
in the land of Canaan. {21:13} And they sent messengers to
the sons of Benjamin, who were at the rock of Rimmon, and
they instructed them, so that they would receive them in
peace. {21:14} And the sons of Benjamin went, at that time,
and wives were given to them from the daughters of Jabesh-
Gilead. But others were not found, whom they might give in
a similar manner. {21:15} And all of Israel was very
saddened, and they did penance for destroying one tribe out
of Israel. {21:16} And those greater by birth said: “What
shall we do with the remainder, those who have not received
wives? For all the females of Benjamin have been cut down,
{21:17} and we must take great care, and make provision
with a very great diligence, so that one tribe may not be
wiped away from Israel. {21:18} As for our own daughters,
we are not able to give them, being bound by an oath and a
curse, when we said, ‘Accursed is he who will give any of his
daughters to Benjamin as a wife.’ ” {21:19} And they took
counsel, and they said, “Behold, there is a yearly solemnity of
the Lord at Shiloh, which is situated to the north of the city
of Bethel, and on the eastern side of the way that one takes
from Bethel to Shechem, and to the south of the town of
Lebonah.” {21:20} And they instructed the sons of Benjamin,
and they said: “Go, and hide in the vineyards. {21:21} And
when you will have seen daughters of Shiloh being led out to
dance, according to custom, go forth suddenly from the
vineyards, and let each one seize one wife from among them,
and travel into the land of Benjamin. {21:22} And when their
fathers and brothers arrive, and they begin to complain
against you and to argue, we will say to them: ‘Take pity on
them. For they have not seized them by right of war or
conquest. Instead, begging to receive them, you did not give
them, and so the sin was on your part.’ ” {21:23} And so the
sons of Benjamin did just as they had been ordered. And
according to their number, they seized for themselves one
wife each, out of those who were led out dancing. And they
went into their own possession, and they built up their cities,
and they lived in them. {21:24} The sons of Israel also
returned, according to their tribes and families, to their tents.
In those days, there was no king in Israel. Instead, each one
did what seemed right to himself.


** The Book of Ruth **


[Ruth 1] {1:1} In the days of one of the judges, when the
judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a man from
Bethlehem in Judah departed to sojourn in the region of the
Moabites with his wife and two children. {1:2} He called
himself Elimelech, and his wife Naomi, and his two sons, the
one Mahlon, and the other Chilion, Ephrathites from
Bethlehem in Judah. And entering into the region of the
Moabites, they stayed there. {1:3} And Elimelech the
husband of Naomi died; and she remained with her sons.
{1:4} They took wives from among the Moabites, of whom
one was called Orpah, and the other Ruth. And they lived
there ten years. {1:5} And they both died, namely Mahlon
and Chilion, and the woman was left alone, bereaved of her
two children and her husband. {1:6} And she arose so that
she might journey to her native land, with both her
daughters-in-law, from the region of the Moabites. For she
had heard that the Lord had provided for his people and had
given them food. {1:7} And so she departed from the place of
her sojourn, with both her daughters-in-law, and having set
out upon the way, she was about to return to the land of
Judah. {1:8} She said to them, “Go to the home of your
mother. May the Lord deal mercifully with you, just as you
have dealt with the dead and with me. {1:9} May he grant
you to find rest in the houses of the husbands, whom you will
obtain by lot.” And she kissed them. They lifted up their
voice, and began to weep, {1:10} and to say, “We will
journey with you to your people.” {1:11} But she answered
them, “Return, my daughters. Why come with me? Do I
have any more sons in my womb, so that you could hope for
husbands from me? {1:12} Return, my daughters, go forth.
For I am now exhausted by old age, and not fit for the bond
of marriage. Even if I were to conceive on this night, and bear
sons, {1:13} if you were willing to wait until they were grown
and had completed the years of adolescence, you would be
elderly before you could marry. Do not do so, I beg you, my
daughters. For your difficulties weigh upon me greatly, and
the hand of the Lord has been set against me.” {1:14} In
response, they lifted up their voice and began to weep again.
Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, and then turned back. Ruth
clung to her mother-in-law. {1:15} Naomi said to her, “See,
your kinswoman returns to her people, and to her gods.
Hurry after her.” {1:16} She answered, “Do not be against
me, as if I would abandon you and go away; for wherever
you will go, I will go, and where you will stay, I also will stay
with you. Your people are my people, and your God is my
God. {1:17} Whichever land will receive you dying, in the
same I will die, and there I will have the place of my burial.
May God cause these things to happen to me, and add more
also, if anything except death alone should separate you and
I.” {1:18} Therefore, Naomi saw that Ruth, being firmly
resolved in her soul, was determined to go with her, and that
she was unwilling to be dissuaded, and that nothing further
could convince her to return to her own. {1:19} And so they
set out together, and they came to Bethlehem. When they
had entered the city, the news quickly spread among them all.
And the women said, “This is that Naomi.” {1:20} But she
said to them, “Do not call me Naomi (that is, beautiful), but
call me Mara (that is, bitter). For the Almighty has greatly
filled me with bitterness. {1:21} I went out full and the Lord
led me back empty. So then, why call me Naomi, whom the
Lord has humbled and the Almighty has afflicted?”
{1:22} Therefore, Naomi went with Ruth, the Moabite, her
daughter-in-law, from the land of her sojourn, and returned
to Bethlehem, at the time of the first reaping of the barley.


[Ruth 2] {2:1} But there was a man related to Elimelech, a
powerful man, and very wealthy, named Boaz. {2:3} And
Ruth, the Moabite, said to her mother-in-law, “If you order, I
will go into the field and gather the ears of grain which
escape the reaping hand, wherever I will find favor with the
father of a family, who will be compassionate to me.” She
answered her, “Go, my daughter.” {2:3} And so she went
and gathered the ears of grain after the completion of the
reaping. But it happened that this field was owned by Boaz,
who was of the kindred of Elimelech. {2:4} And behold, he
came out of Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “The Lord be
with you.” They answered him, “May the Lord bless you.”
{2:5} And Boaz said to the young man who was in charge of
the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” {2:6} He
answered him, “This is the Moabite woman, who came with
Naomi, from the land of the Moabites, {2:7} and she asked
to gather the remnants of the ears of grain, following the steps
of the reapers, and from morning until now she has remained
in the field, and, indeed, not for one moment has she
returned home.” {2:8} And Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen to me,
daughter. Do not go to gather in any other field, nor depart
from this place, but join with my young women, {2:9} and
follow where they reap. For I given orders to my young men,
so that no one is to harass you. And so, whenever you are
thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink from the waters that the
young men also drink.” {2:10} She, falling on her face and
paying homage on the ground, said to him: “How did this
happen to me, that I should find favor before your eyes, and
that you would condescend to accept me, a foreign woman?”
{2:11} He answered her, “Everything has been reported to
me, what things you have done for your mother-in-law after
the death of your husband, and how you left your parents,
and the land in which you were born, and came to a people
you did not know before. {2:12} May the Lord repay you for
your work, and may you receive a full reward from the Lord,
the God of Israel, to whom you have come, and under whose
wings you have taken refuge.” {2:13} She said, “I have found
favor before your eyes, my lord, who has consoled me, and
you have spoken to the heart of your handmaid, who is
unlike one of your young women.” {2:14} And Boaz said to
her, “When mealtime begins, come here, and eat bread, and
dip your morsel in the vinegar.” And so she sat beside the
reapers, and she piled up parched grain for herself, and she
ate and was satisfied, and carried off the leftovers.
{2:15} And then she arose from there, so as to gather the
ears of grain, according to the custom. But Boaz commanded
his servants, saying, “If she is even willing to reap with you,
do not prevent her, {2:16} and purposely let fall some from
your bundles, and allow them to remain, so that she may
gather without blushing, and let no one rebuke her
gathering.” {2:17} And so she gathered in the field until
evening. And striking and threshing with a staff what she had
gathered, she found about the measure of an ephah of barley,
that is, three measures. {2:18} Carrying this, she returned
into the city and showed it to her mother-in-law. Moreover,
she offered it to her and even gave her the leftovers of her
food, with which she had been satisfied. {2:19} And her
mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gathered today,
and where have you found work? Blessed is he who took pity
on you!” And she informed her with whom she had been
working, and she said the man’s name, that he was called
Boaz. {2:20} Naomi answered her, “May he be blessed by
the Lord, because the same kindness which he provided for
the living, he also kept for the dead.” And again she said:
“This man is our near relative.” {2:21} And Ruth said, “He
charged me with this also, that from now on I should join
with his reapers until all the crop has been reaped.”
{2:22} And her mother-in-law said to her, “It is better, my
daughter, to go out reaping with his young women, lest in a
stranger’s field someone may confront you.” {2:23} And so,
she joined with the young women of Boaz, and from then on
reaped with them, until the barley and the wheat were stored
in the barns.


[Ruth 3] {3:1} But afterwards, when she returned to her
mother-in-law, Naomi said to her: “My daughter, I will seek
rest for you, and I will provide so that it may be well with
you. {3:2} This Boaz, whose young women you joined in the
field, is our near relative, and this night he will winnow the
threshing floor of barley. {3:3} Therefore, wash and anoint
yourself, and put on your decorative garments, and go down
to the threshing floor, but do not let the man see you, while
he finishes eating and drinking. {3:4} But when he goes sleep,
observe the place where he sleeps. And you will approach
and lift up the covering, the part which covers near his feet,
and lay yourself down, and sleep there; but he will tell you
what you are obliged to do.” {3:5} She answered, “I will do
everything as you have instructed.” {3:6} And she went
down to the threshing floor, and she did everything that her
mother-in-law had commanded her. {3:7} And when Boaz
had finished eating and drinking, and he was merry, and he
had gone to sleep by the pile of sheaves, she approached
secretly, and, lifting the covering near his feet, she laid herself
down. {3:8} And behold, when it was the middle of the night,
the man became frightened and confused, and he saw a
woman lying near his feet. {3:9} And he said to her, “Who
are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your handmaid.
Spread your covering over your servant, for you are a near
relative.” {3:10} And he said, “You are blessed by the Lord,
daughter, and you have excelled beyond your earlier
benevolence, because you have not followed young men,
whether poor or rich. {3:11} Therefore, do not be afraid, but
whatever you decide about me, I will accomplish for you. For
all the people, who dwell within the gates of my city, know
that you are a virtuous woman. {3:12} Neither do I deny
myself to be a near relative, but there is another nearer than I.
{3:13} Be at peace for this night. And when morning arrives,
if he is willing to uphold the law of kinship for you, things
will turn out well; but if he is not willing, then, I will take you,
without any doubt, as the Lord lives. Sleep until morning.”
{3:14} And so she slept by his feet until the night was ending.
And she arose before men could inquire of one another. And
Boaz said, “Be careful, lest someone know that you came
here.” {3:15} And again he said, “Spread your mantle that
covers you, and hold it with both hands.” As she extended it
and held it, he measured six measures of barley and placed it
upon her. Carrying it, she went into the city. {3:16} And she
came to her mother-in-law, who said to her: “What have you
been doing, daughter?” And she explained to her all that the
man had accomplished for her. {3:17} And she said, “Behold,
he gave me six measures of barley, for he said, ‘I am not
willing to have you return empty to your mother-in-law.’ ”
{3:18} And Naomi said, “Wait, daughter, until we see how
things will turn out. For the man will not rest until he has
accomplished what he said.”


[Ruth 4] {4:1} Then Boaz went up to the gate, and he sat
there. And when he had seen the kinsman passing by, whom
he had previously discussed, he spoke to him, calling him by
his name, “Pause for a little while, and sit down here.” He
turned aside and sat down. {4:2} But Boaz, calling aside ten
men among the elders of the city, said to them, “Sit down
here.” {4:3} They settled down, and he spoke to the kinsman,
“Naomi, who has returned from the region of the Moabites,
is selling part of a field of our brother Elimelech. {4:4} I
wanted you to hear this, and to tell you in front of everyone
sitting here, including the eldest of my people. If you will take
possession of it by the right of kinship, buy it and possess it.
But if it displeases you, you should reveal this to me, so that I
will know what I have to do. For there is no near kinsman
besides you, who is before me, and I am after you.” But he
answered, “I will buy the field.” {4:5} And Boaz said to him,
“When buying the field, you are likewise obliged to accept
the hand of the woman Ruth, the Moabite, who was the wife
of the deceased, so that you may raise up the name of your
near kinsman through his posterity.” {4:6} He answered, “I
yield my right of kinship, for I am obliged not to cut off the
posterity of my own family. You may make use of my
privilege, which I freely declare I will forego.” {4:7} Yet it
was the custom between kinsmen in this former time in Israel,
that if at anytime one yielded his right to another, so as to
confirm his permission, the man took off his shoe and gave it
to his neighbor. This was a testimony of concession in Israel.
{4:8} And so Boaz said to his kinsman, “Take off your shoe.”
And immediately he released it from his foot. {4:9} And he
said to the eldest and to all the people, “You are witnesses
this day, that I have taken possession of all that belonged to
Elimelech and Chilion and Mahlon, and was bequeathed to
Naomi. {4:10} And Ruth, the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, I
have taken in marriage so as to raise up the name of the
deceased in his posterity, so that his name will not be cut off
from among his family and his brethren and his people. You,
I say, are witnesses of this thing.” {4:11} All the people who
were at the gate, along with the eldest, answered, “We are
witnesses. May the Lord make this woman, who enters into
your house, like Rachel, and Leah, who built up the house of
Israel, so that she may be an example of virtue in Ephrathah,
and so that her name may be honored in Bethlehem.
{4:12} And may your house be like the house of Perez,
whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the offspring which the Lord
will give to you from this young woman.” {4:13} And so
Boaz took Ruth, and received her as his wife, and he went in
to her, and the Lord granted to her to conceive and bear a son.
{4:14} And the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord,
who has not permitted your family to be without a successor,
and may his name be called upon in Israel. {4:15} And now
you may have someone to comfort your soul and to care for
you in old age, for he is born of your daughter-in-law, who
loves you, and this is much better for you, than if you had
seven sons.” {4:16} And taking up the boy, Naomi placed
him on her bosom, and she took on the duties of carrying him
and nursing him. {4:17} And the women of the near future
were congratulating her and saying, “There was a son born to
Naomi. They called his name Obed. Here is the father of
Jesse, the father of David.” {4:18} These are the generations
of Perez: Perez conceived Hezron, {4:19} Hezron conceived
Aram, Aram conceived Amminadab, {4:20} Amminadab
conceived Nahshon, Nahshon’ conceived Salmon,
{4:21} Salmon conceived Boaz, Boaz conceived Obed,
{4:22} Obed conceived Jesse, Jesse conceived David.


** The First Book of Samuel **


[1 Samuel 1] {1:1} There was a certain man from Ramah of
Zophim, on Mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the
son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of
Zuph, an Ephraimite. {1:2} And he had two wives: the name
of one was Hannah, and the name of the second was
Peninnah. And Peninnah had sons. But Hannah did not have
children. {1:3} And this man went up from his city, on the
established days, so that he might adore and sacrifice to the
Lord of hosts at Shiloh. Now the two sons of Eli, Hophni and
Phinehas, priests of the Lord, were in that place. {1:4} Then
the day arrived, and Elkanah immolated. And he gave
portions to his wife Peninnah, and to all her sons and
daughters. {1:5} But to Hannah he gave one portion with
sorrow. For he loved Hannah, but the Lord had closed her
womb. {1:6} And her rival afflicted her and vehemently
distressed her, to a great extent, for she rebuked her that the
Lord had closed her womb. {1:7} And she did so every year,
when the time returned for them to ascend to the temple of
the Lord. And she provoked her in this way. And so, she
wept and did not take food. {1:8} Therefore, her husband
Elkanah said to her: “Hannah, why are you weeping? And
why do you not eat? And for what reason do you afflict your
heart? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” {1:9} And so,
after she ate and drank at Shiloh, Hannah rose up. And Eli,
the priest, was sitting on the seat before the door of the
temple of the Lord. {1:10} And since Hannah was bitter in
soul, she prayed to the Lord, weeping greatly. {1:11} And
she made a vow, saying, “O Lord of hosts, if, in looking with
favor, you will see the affliction of your servant and will
remember me, and will not forget your handmaid, and if you
will give to your servant a male child, then I will give him to
the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall pass over
his head.” {1:12} Then it happened that, while she multiplied
prayers before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. {1:13} For
Hannah was speaking in her heart, and only her lips moved,
and her voice was barely heard. Therefore, Eli considered her
to be drunk, {1:14} and so he said to her: “How long will you
be inebriated? You should take only a little wine, but instead
you are drenched.” {1:15} Responding, Hannah said: “By no
means, my lord. For I am an exceedingly unhappy woman,
and I drank neither wine, nor anything that can inebriate.
Instead, I have poured out my soul in the sight of the Lord.
{1:16} You should not repute your handmaid as one of the
daughters of Belial. For I have been speaking from the
abundance of my sorrow and grief, even until now.”
{1:17} Then Eli said to her: “Go in peace. And may the God
of Israel grant to you your petition, which you have begged of
him.” {1:18} And she said, “I wish that your handmaid may
find grace in your eyes.” And the woman went on her way,
and she ate, and her countenance was no longer changed for
the worse. {1:19} And they rose up in the morning, and they
worshipped before the Lord. And they returned and arrived
at their own house at Ramah. Then Elkanah knew his wife
Hannah. And the Lord remembered her. {1:20} And it
happened that, in the course of days, Hannah conceived and
bore a son. And she called his name Samuel, because she had
requested him from the Lord. {1:21} Now her husband
Elkanah ascended with his entire house, so that he might
immolate to the Lord a solemn sacrifice, with his vow.
{1:22} But Hannah did not go up. For she said to her
husband, “I will not go, until the infant has been weaned, and
until I may lead him, so that he may appear before the sight
of the Lord, and may remain always there.” {1:23} And her
husband Elkanah said to her: “Do what seems good to you,
and stay until you wean him. And I pray that the Lord may
fulfill his word.” Therefore, the woman remained at home,
and she breastfed her son, until she withdrew him from milk.
{1:24} And after she had weaned him, she brought him with
her, along with three calves, and three measures of flour, and
a small bottle of wine, and she led him to the house of the
Lord at Shiloh. But the boy was still a young child.
{1:25} And they immolated a calf, and they presented the
boy to Eli. {1:26} And Hannah said: “I beg you, my lord, as
your soul lives, my lord: I am that woman, who stood before
you here, praying to the Lord. {1:27} I prayed for this child,
and the Lord granted to me my petition, which I asked of
him. {1:28} Because of this, I have also lent him to the Lord,
for all the days when he shall be lent to the Lord.” And they
adored the Lord in that place. And Hannah prayed, and she
said:


[1 Samuel 2] {2:1} “My heart exults in the Lord, and my
horn is exalted in my God. My mouth is enlarged over my
enemies. For I have rejoiced in your salvation. {2:2} Nothing
is holy as the Lord is holy. For there is no other beside you.
And nothing is strong as our God is strong. {2:3} Do not
continue speaking of great things, boasting. Let what is old
depart from your mouth. For the Lord is the God of
knowledge, and thoughts are prepared for him. {2:4} The
bow of the powerful has been overwhelmed, and the weak
have been girded with strength. {2:5} Those who before were
filled, have hired themselves out for bread. And the starving
have been filled, so that the barren have given birth to many.
But she who had borne many sons has become unable.
{2:6} The Lord brings death, and he gives life. He leads away
to death, and he brings back again. {2:7} The Lord
impoverishes, and he enriches. He humbles, and he lifts up.
{2:8} He raises up the indigent from the dust, and he lifts up
the poor from filth, so that they may sit with princes, and
take hold of a throne of glory. For the hinges of the earth
belong to the Lord, and he has placed the globe upon them.
{2:9} He will preserve the feet of his holy ones, and the
impious will be silenced in darkness. For no man will prevail
by his own strength. {2:10} The adversaries of the Lord will
dread him. And over them, he will thunder in the heavens.
The Lord will judge the parts of the earth, and he will give
dominion to his king, and he will lift up the horn of his
Christ.” {2:11} And Elkanah went away to Ramah, to his
house. But the boy was a minister in the sight of the Lord,
before the face of Eli, the priest. {2:12} But the sons of Eli
were sons of Belial, not knowing the Lord, {2:13} nor the
priestly office for the people. And so, no matter who had
immolated a victim, the servant of the priest would arrive,
while the flesh was still cooking, and he would take a three-
pronged hook in his hand, {2:14} and put it into the vessel, or
into the cauldron, or into the cooking pot, or into the pan,
and all that the hook lifted up, the priest took for himself. So
they did to all of Israel who arrived at Shiloh. {2:15} In
addition, before they burned the fat, the servant of the priest
would arrive, and he would say to the one who was
immolating: “Give me the flesh, so that I may boil it for the
priest. For I will not accept cooked meat from you, but raw.”
{2:16} And the one who was immolating would say to him,
“First, allow the fat to be burned today, according to custom,
and then take for yourself whatever your soul desires.” But in
response, he would say to him: “By no means. For you will
give it to me now, otherwise I will take it by force.”
{2:17} Therefore, the sin of the servants was exceedingly
great before the Lord. For they drew men away from the
sacrifice of the Lord. {2:18} But Samuel was ministering
before the face of the Lord; he was a youth girded with a
linen ephod. {2:19} And his mother fashioned a little tunic
for him, which she brought to him on the appointed days,
ascending with her husband, so that he might immolate the
solemn sacrifice. {2:20} And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife.
And he said to him, “May the Lord repay to you offspring
from this woman, on behalf of the loan that you offered to
the Lord.” And they went away to their own place.
{2:21} Then the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and
bore three sons and two daughters. And the youth Samuel
was magnified with the Lord. {2:22} Now Eli was very old,
and he heard all that his sons were doing to all of Israel, and
how they were sleeping with the women who were waiting at
the door of the tabernacle. {2:23} And he said to them: “Why
are you doing these kinds of things, very wicked things, that I
have heard from all the people? {2:24} My sons, do not be
willing. For it is no good report that I am hearing, so that you
would cause the people of the Lord to transgress. {2:25} If a
man has sinned against a man, God may be able to be
appeased over him. But if a man has sinned against the Lord,
who will pray for him?” But they did not listen to the voice of
their father, that the Lord was willing to kill them. {2:26} But
the youth Samuel advanced, and grew up, and he was
pleasing to the Lord, as well as to men. {2:27} Then a man of
God went to Eli, and he said to him: “Thus says the Lord:
Was I not revealed openly to the house of your father, when
they were in Egypt in the house of Pharaoh? {2:28} And I
chose him out of all the tribes of Israel for myself as priest, so
that he might ascend to my altar, and burn incense to me,
and wear the ephod before me. And I gave to the house of
your father all the sacrifices of the sons of Israel. {2:29} Why
have you kicked away my victims and my gifts, which I
instructed to be offered in the temple? And why have you
given more honor to your sons than to me, so that you eat the
first-fruits of every sacrifice of my people Israel?
{2:30} Because of this, the Lord God of Israel says: I have
spoken clearly, so that your house, and the house of your
father, may minister in my sight, even forever. But now the
Lord says: May this be far from me. Instead, whoever will
have glorified me, I will glorify him. But whoever despises
me, they will be despised. {2:31} Behold the days are arriving,
when I will cut off your arm, and the arm of the house of
your father, so that there will not be an old man in your
house. {2:32} And you will see your rival in the temple, amid
all the prosperity of Israel. And there will not be an old man
in your house for all days. {2:33} Yet truly, I will not entirely
take away a man of you from my altar, but such that your
eyes may fail, and your soul may melt away, and a great part
of your house may die out, as it pertains to the state of men.
{2:34} But this will be a sign to you, which will happen to
your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: on one day they both
will die. {2:35} And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest,
who will act in accord with my heart and my soul. And I will
build a faithful house for him. And he will walk before my
Christ for all days. {2:36} Then this will be in the future, that
whoever will have remained of your house, he will approach
so that he may pray on his behalf. And he will offer a coin of
silver, and a twist of bread. And he will say: ‘Permit me, I beg
you, one part of the priestly office, so that I may eat a
mouthful of bread.’ ”


[1 Samuel 3] {3:1} Now the boy Samuel was ministering to
the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was precious in
those days; there was no manifest vision. {3:2} Then it
happened that, on a certain day, Eli was lying in his place.
And his eyes had dimmed, so that he was unable to see.
{3:3} And so, to prevent the lamp of God from going out,
Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord, where the ark
of God was. {3:4} And the Lord called Samuel. And
responding, he said, “Here I am.” {3:5} And he ran to Eli,
and he said, “Here I am. For you called me.” And he said: “I
did not call. Return and sleep.” And he went away, and he
slept. {3:6} And again, the Lord continued to call to Samuel.
And rising up, Samuel went to Eli, and he said: “Here I am.
For you called me.” And he responded: “I did not call you,
my son. Return and sleep.” {3:7} Now Samuel did not yet
know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not been
revealed to him. {3:8} And the Lord continued, and he called
to Samuel still a third time. And rising up, he went to Eli.
{3:9} And he said: “Here I am. For you called me.” Then Eli
understood that the Lord had called the boy. And he said to
Samuel: “Go and sleep. And if he calls to you from now on,
you will say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ”
Therefore, Samuel went away, and he slept in his place.
{3:10} And the Lord came, and stood, and he called, just as
he had called the other times, “Samuel, Samuel.” And
Samuel said, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
{3:11} And the Lord said to Samuel: “Behold, I am
accomplishing a word in Israel. Whoever will hear about it,
both his ears will ring. {3:12} In that day, I will raise up
against Eli all the things that I have spoken over his house. I
will begin, and I will finish. {3:13} For I have foretold to him
that I will judge his house unto eternity, because of iniquity.
For he had known that his sons acted shamefully, and he did
not chastise them. {3:14} For this reason, I have sworn to the
house of Eli that the iniquity of his house will not be expiated,
with victims or with gifts, even forever.” {3:15} Then Samuel
slept until morning, and he opened the doors of the house of
the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.
{3:16} Then Eli called Samuel, and he said, “Samuel, my
son?” And responding, he said, “I am here.” {3:17} And he
questioned him: “What is the word that the Lord has spoken
to you? I beg you that you may not conceal it from me. May
God do these things to you, and may he add these other
things, if you hide from me one word out of all the things that
were told to you.” {3:18} And so, Samuel revealed to him all
the words, and he did not hide them from him. And he
responded: “He is the Lord. May he do what is good in his
own eyes.” {3:19} And Samuel grew up, and the Lord was
with him, and not one of his words fell to the ground.
{3:20} And all of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, knew
Samuel to be a faithful prophet of the Lord. {3:21} And the
Lord continued to appear in Shiloh. For the Lord had
revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh, according to the word
of the Lord. And the word about Samuel went forth to all of
Israel.


[1 Samuel 4] {4:1} And it happened that, in those days, the
Philistines assembled to fight. And Israel went out to meet
the Philistines in battle, and he made camp beside the Stone
of Assistance. But the Philistines went to Aphek, {4:2} and
they positioned their troops against Israel. Then, when the
conflict began, Israel turned his back to the Philistines. And
they were cut down in that conflict, in various places in the
fields, about four thousand men. {4:3} And the people
returned to the camp. And those greater by birth of Israel said:
“Why has the Lord struck us today before the Philistines? Let
us bring to ourselves the ark of the covenant of the Lord from
Shiloh. And let it enter into our midst, so that it may save us
from the hand of our enemies.” {4:4} Therefore, the people
sent to Shiloh, and they brought from there the ark of the
covenant of the Lord of hosts, sitting upon the cherubim.
And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were with the
ark of the covenant of God. {4:5} And when the ark of the
covenant of the Lord had arrived in the camp, all of Israel
shouted with a great clamor, and the land resounded.
{4:6} And the Philistines heard the voice of the clamor, and
they said, “What is this voice of a great clamor in the camp of
the Hebrews?” And they realized that the ark of the Lord had
arrived in the camp. {4:7} And the Philistines were afraid,
saying, “God has entered into the camp.” And they groaned,
saying: {4:8} “Woe to us! For there was no such great
exultation yesterday, or the day before. Woe to us! Who will
save us from the hand of these sublime gods? These are the
gods who struck Egypt with all the plagues, in the desert.”
{4:9} “Be strengthened, and be manly, O Philistines!
Otherwise, you may serve the Hebrews, as they also have
served you. Be strengthened and wage war!”
{4:10} Therefore, the Philistines fought, and Israel was cut
down, and each one fled to his own tent. And an exceedingly
great slaughter occurred. And thirty thousand foot soldiers
from Israel fell. {4:11} And the ark of God was captured.
Also, the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
{4:12} Now a man of Benjamin, rushing from the troops,
arrived at Shiloh on the same day, with his clothing torn, and
with his head sprinkled with dust. {4:13} And when he had
arrived, Eli was sitting on a seat opposite the way, gazing out.
For his heart was fearful on behalf of the ark of God. Then,
after this man entered the city, he announced it to the city.
And the entire city wailed. {4:14} And Eli heard the sound of
the outcry, and he said, “What is this sound, this tumult?”
And the man hurried, and he went and announced it to Eli.
{4:15} Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes had
dimmed, so that he was not able to see. {4:16} And he said to
Eli: “I am the one who came from the battle. And it is I who
fled from the troops today.” And he said to him, “What has
happened, my son?” {4:17} And responding, the man
reported and said: “Israel has fled before the Philistines. And
a great ruin has happened to the people. Moreover, your two
sons, Hophni and Phinehas, also have died. And the ark of
God has been captured.” {4:18} And when he had named the
ark of God, he fell from the seat backwards, toward the door,
and, having broken his neck, he died. For he was an old man
of great age. And he judged Israel for forty years. {4:19} Now
his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, and
her delivery was near. And upon hearing the news that the
ark of God had been captured, and that her father-in-law and
her husband had died, she bent down and went into labor.
For her pains rushed upon her suddenly. {4:20} Then, when
she was near death, those who were standing around her said
to her, “You should not be afraid, for you have given birth to
a son.” But she did not respond to them, and she did not
notice them. {4:21} And she called the boy Ichabod, saying,
“The glory of Israel has been taken away,” because the ark of
God was captured, and because of her father-in-law and her
husband. {4:22} And she said, “The glory has been taken
away from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured.


[1 Samuel 5] {5:1} Then the Philistines took the ark of God,
and they transported it from the Stone of Assistance into
Ashdod. {5:2} And the Philistines took the ark of God, and
carried it into the temple of Dagon. And they stationed it
beside Dagon. {5:3} And when the Ashdodites had risen up
at first light on the next day, behold, Dagon was lying prone
on the ground before the ark of the Lord. And they took
Dagon, and they set him again in his place. {5:4} And again,
on the next day, rising up in the morning, they found Dagon
lying on his face upon the ground, before the ark of the Lord.
But the head of Dagon, and both palms of his hands had been
cut off upon the threshold. {5:5} Moreover, only the trunk of
Dagon remained in its place. For this reason, the priests of
Dagon, and all who enter his temple, do not tread upon the
threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, even to this day. {5:6} Now
the hand of the Lord weighed heavily upon the Ashdodites,
and he destroyed them. And he struck Ashdod and its
borders at the inner part of the buttocks. And in the villages
and fields, in the midst of that region, mice rose up and burst
forth. And this caused a great tumult unto death in the city.
{5:7} Then the men of Ashdod, seeing this kind of plague,
said: “The ark of the God of Israel shall not remain with us.
For his hand is harsh, over us and over Dagon, our god.”
{5:8} And sending, they gathered together all the princes of
the Philistines to them, and they said, “What shall we do
about the ark of the God of Israel?” And the Gathites
responded, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be led around.”
And they led the ark of the God of Israel around. {5:9} And
as they were carrying it around, the hand of the Lord fell
upon every single city with an exceedingly great slaughter.
And he struck down the men of each and every city, from the
small even to the great. And cysts were festering at their
buttocks. And the Gathites took counsel, and they made for
themselves seat covers from pelts. {5:10} Therefore, they sent
the ark of God into Ekron. And when the ark of God had
arrived at Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have
brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, so that it may kill
us and our people!” {5:11} And so they sent and gathered
together all the princes of the Philistines, and they said:
“Release the ark of the God of Israel, and return it to its own
place. And let it not kill us, with our people.” {5:12} For the
fear of death fell upon every single city, and the hand of God
was very heavy. Also, the men who did not die were being
afflicted in the inner part of the buttocks. And the wailing of
each city was ascending to heaven.


[1 Samuel 6] {6:1} Now the ark of the Lord was in the region
of the Philistines for seven months. {6:2} And the Philistines
called for the priests and the diviners, saying: “What shall we
do with the ark of the Lord? Reveal to us in what manner we
should send it back to its place.” And they said: {6:3} “If you
send back the ark of the God of Israel, do not choose to
release it empty. Instead, repay to him what you owe because
of sin. And then you will be cured. And you will know why
his hand did not withdraw from you.” {6:4} And they said,
“What is it that we ought to repay to him because of
transgression?” And they responded: {6:5} “In accord with
the number of the provinces of the Philistines, you shall
fashion five gold cysts and five gold mice. For the same
plague has been upon all of you and your princes. And you
shall fashion a likeness of your cysts and a likeness of the
mice, which have destroyed the land. And so shall you give
glory to the God of Israel, so that perhaps he may lift off his
hand from you, and from your gods, and from your land.
{6:6} Why have you hardened your hearts, just as Egypt and
Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he was struck, did he
not then release them, and they went away? {6:7} Now
therefore, fashion and take a new cart, with two cows that
have given birth, but on which no yoke has been imposed.
And yoke them to the cart, but retain their calves at home.
{6:8} And you shall take the ark of the Lord, and you shall
place it upon the cart, with the articles of gold that you have
paid to him on behalf of transgression. You shall place these
in a little box at its side. And release it, so that it may go.
{6:9} And you shall watch. And if, indeed, it ascends by the
way of his own parts, toward Beth-shemesh, then he has
done this great evil to us. But if not, then we shall know that
it is by no means his hand that has touched us, but instead it
happened by chance.” {6:10} Therefore, they did it in this
way. And taking two cows that were feeding calves, they
yoked them to the cart, and they enclosed their calves at
home. {6:11} And they placed the ark of God upon the cart,
with the little box that held the gold mice and the likenesses
of the cysts. {6:12} But the cows went directly along the way
that leads to Beth-shemesh. And they advanced only in one
direction, lowing as they went. And they did not turn aside,
neither to the right, nor to the left. Moreover, the princes of
the Philistines followed them, as far as the borders of Beth-
shemesh. {6:13} Now the Beth-shemeshites were harvesting
wheat in the valley. And lifting up their eyes, they saw the
ark, and they were glad when they had seen it. {6:14} And
the cart went into the field of Joshua, a Beth-shemeshite, and
it stood still there. Now in that place was a great stone, and
so they cut up the wood of the cart, and they placed the cows
upon it as a holocaust to the Lord. {6:15} But the Levites
took down the ark of God, and the little box that was at its
side, in which were the articles of gold, and they placed them
upon the great stone. Then the men of Beth-shemesh offered
holocausts and immolated victims, on that day, to the Lord.
{6:16} And the five princes of the Philistines saw, and they
returned to Ekron on the same day. {6:17} Now these are the
gold cysts, which the Philistines repaid to the Lord for
transgression: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon
one, for Gath one, for Ekron one. {6:18} And there were
gold mice, according to the number of the cities of the
Philistines, of the five provinces, from the fortified city to the
village that was without a wall, and even to the great stone
upon which they placed the ark of the Lord, which was, at
last in that day, in the field of Joshua, the Beth-shemeshite.
{6:19} Then he struck down some of the men of Beth-
shemesh, because they had seen the ark of the Lord. And he
struck down some of the people: seventy men, and fifty
thousand of the common people. And the people lamented,
because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter.
{6:20} And the men of Beth-shemesh said: “Who will be able
to stand in the sight of the Lord, this holy God? And who will
ascend to him from us?” {6:21} And they sent messengers to
the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying: “The Philistines
have returned the ark of the Lord. Descend and lead it back
to you.”


[1 Samuel 7] {7:1} Then the men of Kiriath-jearim arrived,
and they led away the ark of the Lord. And they brought it
into the house of Abinadab, in Gibeah. Then they sanctified
Eleazar, his son, so that he might care for the ark of the Lord.
{7:2} And it happened that, from that day, the ark of the
Lord remained in Kiriath-jearm. And the days were
multiplied (for it was now the twentieth year) and all the
house of Israel rested, following the Lord. {7:3} Then Samuel
spoke to the entire house of Israel, saying: “If you would
return to the Lord with your whole heart, take away strange
gods from among you, the Baals and Ashtaroth, and prepare
your hearts for the Lord, and serve him alone. And he will
rescue you from the hand of the Philistines.” {7:4} Therefore,
the sons of Israel took away the Baals and Ashtaroth, and
they served the Lord alone. {7:5} And Samuel said, “Gather
all of Israel at Mizpah, so that I may pray for you to the
Lord.” {7:6} And they convened at Mizpah. And they drew
water, and they poured it out in the sight of the Lord. And on
that day they fasted, and in that place they said, “We have
sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the sons of
Israel at Mizpah. {7:7} And the Philistines heard that the
sons of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah. And the
princes of the Philistines ascended against Israel. And when
the sons of Israel had heard this, they were afraid before the
face of the Philistines. {7:8} And they said to Samuel, “May
you not cease to cry out to the Lord our God on our behalf,
so that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”
{7:9} Then Samuel took one suckling lamb, and he offered it
whole, as a holocaust to the Lord. And Samuel cried out to
the Lord on behalf of Israel, and the Lord heeded him.
{7:10} Then it happened that, while Samuel was offering the
holocaust, the Philistines began the battle against Israel. But
the Lord thundered with a great crash, on that day, over the
Philistines, and he terrified them, and they were cut down
before the face of Israel. {7:11} And the men of Israel,
departing from Mizpah, pursued the Philistines, and they
struck them down as far as the place which was below
Bethcar. {7:12} Then Samuel took a single stone, and he
placed it between Mizpah and Shen. And he called the name
of this place: The Stone of Assistance. And he said, “For in
this place the Lord gave assistance to us.” {7:13} And the
Philistines were humbled, and they no longer drew near, so
that they might enter into the borders of Israel. And so, the
hand of the Lord was over the Philistines during all the days
of Samuel. {7:14} And the cities that the Philistines had
taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron as far as
Gath, with their borders. And he freed Israel from the hand
of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the
Amorites. {7:15} And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his
life. {7:16} And he went each year, traveling around to
Bethel, and to Gilgal, and to Mizpah, and he judged Israel in
the above-stated places. {7:17} And he returned to Ramah.
For his house was there, and he judged Israel there. And then
he built an altar to the Lord there.


[1 Samuel 8] {8:1} And it happened that, when Samuel had
become old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.
{8:2} Now the name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the
name of the second was Abijah: judges at Beersheba.
{8:3} But his sons did not walk in his ways. Instead, they
turned aside, pursuing avarice. And they accepted bribes, and
they perverted judgment. {8:4} Therefore, all those greater by
birth of Israel, having gathered together, went to Samuel at
Ramah. {8:5} And they said to him: “Behold, you are elderly,
and your sons do not walk in your ways. Appoint for us a
king, so that he may judge us, just as all the nations have.”
{8:6} And the word was displeasing in the eyes of Samuel,
for they had said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel
prayed to the Lord. {8:7} Then the Lord said to Samuel:
“Listen to the voice of the people in all that they are saying to
you. For they have not rejected you, but me, lest I reign over
them. {8:8} In accord with all their works, which they have
done from the day when I led them away from Egypt, even to
this day: just as they have forsaken me, and served foreign
gods, so now they also do to you. {8:9} Now therefore, hear
their voice. Yet truly, testify to them and foretell to them the
rights of the king who will reign over them.” {8:10} And so,
Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people, who had
petitioned a king from him. {8:11} And he said: “This will be
the right of the king who will have authority over you: He
will take your sons, and place them in his chariots. And he
will make them his horsemen and his runners before his four-
horse chariots. {8:12} And he will appoint them to be his
tribunes and centurions, and the plowmen of his fields, and
the harvesters of the grain, and the makers of his weapons
and chariots. {8:13} Likewise, your daughters he will take for
himself as makers of ointments, and as cooks and bakers.
{8:14} Also, he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and
your best olive groves, and he will give them to his servants.
{8:15} Moreover, he will take one tenth of your grain and of
the results of your vineyards, so that he may give these to his
eunuchs and servants. {8:16} Then, too, he will take your
servants, and handmaids, and your best young men, and your
donkeys, and he will set them to his work. {8:17} Also, he
will take a tenth of your flocks. And you will be his servants.
{8:18} And you will cry out, in that day, from the face of the
king, whom you have chosen for yourselves. And the Lord
will not heed you, in that day. For you requested a king for
yourselves.” {8:19} But the people were not willing to listen
to the voice of Samuel. Instead, they said: “By no means! For
there shall be a king over us, {8:20} and we shall be just like
all the Gentiles. And our king will judge us, and he will go
out before us, and he will fight our wars for us.” {8:21} And
Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he spoke them
to the ears of the Lord. {8:22} Then the Lord said to Samuel,
“Listen to their voice, and appoint a king over them.” And
Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Let each one go to his own
city.”


[1 Samuel 9] {9:1} Now there was a man of Benjamin,
whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the
son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a man of
Benjamin, strong and robust. {9:2} And he had a son called
Saul, an elect and good man. And there was not a man
among the sons of Israel better than he was. For he stood
head and shoulders above all the people. {9:3} Now the
donkeys of Kish, the father of Saul, had become lost. And
Kish said to his son Saul, “Take with you one of the servants,
and rising up, go out and seek the donkeys.” And when they
had passed through mount Ephraim, {9:4} and through the
land of Shalishah, and had not found them, they crossed also
through the land of Shaalim, and they were not there, and
through the land of Benjamin, and they found nothing.
{9:5} And when they had arrived in the land of Zuph, Saul
said to the servant who was with him, “Come, and let us
return, otherwise perhaps my father may forget the donkeys,
and become anxious over us.” {9:6} And he said to him:
“Behold, there is a man of God in this city, a noble man. All
that he says, happens without fail. Now therefore, let us go
there. For perhaps he may tell us about our way, because of
which we have arrived.” {9:7} And Saul said to his servant:
“Behold, let us go. But what will we bring to the man of God?
The bread in our sacks has run out. And we have no small
gift that we might give to the man of God, nor anything at
all.” {9:8} The servant again responded to Saul, and he said:
“Behold, there is found in my hand a coin of the fourth part
of a stater. Let us give it to the man of God, so that he may
reveal to us our way.” {9:9} (In past times, in Israel, anyone
going to consult God would speak in this way, “Come, and
let us go to the seer.” For one who is called a prophet today,
in past times was called a seer.) {9:10} And Saul said to his
servant: “Your word is very good. Come, let us go.” And
they went into the city, where the man of God was.
{9:11} And as they were ascending the slope to the city, they
found some young women going out to draw water. And
they said to them, “Is the seer here?” {9:12} And responding,
they said to them: “He is. Behold, he is ahead of you. Hurry
now. For he came into the city today, since there is a sacrifice
for the people today, on the high place. {9:13} Upon entering
the city, you should find him immediately, before he ascends
to the high place for the meal. And the people will not eat
until he has arrived. For he blesses the victim, and thereafter
those who were called will eat. Now therefore, go up. For
you will find him today.” {9:14} And they ascended into the
city. And as they were walking in the midst of the city,
Samuel appeared, advancing to meet them, so that he might
ascend to the high place. {9:15} Now the Lord had revealed
to the ear of Samuel, one day before Saul had arrived, saying:
{9:16} “Tomorrow, at the same hour that it is now, I will
send to you a man from the land of Benjamin. And you shall
anoint him to be the leader over my people Israel. And he
will save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I
have looked with favor upon my people, because their outcry
has reached me.” {9:17} And when Samuel had caught sight
of Saul, the Lord said to him: “Behold, the man about whom
I spoke to you. This one shall rule over my people.”
{9:18} Then Saul drew near to Samuel, at the middle of the
gate, and he said, “Tell me, I beg you: where is the house of
the seer?” {9:19} And Samuel responded to Saul, saying: “I
am the seer. Ascend before me to the high place, so that you
may eat with me today. And I will send you away in the
morning. And I shall reveal to you everything that is in your
heart. {9:20} And concerning the donkeys, which were lost
the day before yesterday, you should not be anxious, for they
have been found. And all the best things of Israel, for whom
should they be? Will they not be for you and for all your
father’s house?” {9:21} And responding, Saul said: “Am I
not a son of Benjamin, the least tribe of Israel, and are not my
kindred the last among all the families from the tribe of
Benjamin? So then, why would you speak this word to me?”
{9:22} And so Samuel, taking Saul and his servant, brought
them into the dining room, and he gave them a place at the
head of those who had been invited. For there were about
thirty men. {9:23} And Samuel said to the cook, “Present the
portion that I gave to you, and which I instructed you to set
apart beside you.” {9:24} Then the cook lifted up the
shoulder, and he placed it before Saul. And Samuel said:
“Behold, what remains, set it before you and eat. For it was
preserved for you intentionally, when I called the people.”
And Saul ate with Samuel on that day. {9:25} And they
descended from the high place into the town, and he spoke
with Saul in the upper room. And he set out a bed for Saul in
the upper room, and he slept. {9:26} And when they had
risen in the morning, and it now began to be light, Samuel
called to Saul in the upper room, saying, “Rise up, so that I
may send you on.” And Saul rose up. And they both
departed, that is to say, he and Samuel. {9:27} And as they
were descending to the very limit of the city, Samuel said to
Saul: “Tell the servant to go ahead of us, and to continue on.
But as for you, stay here a little while, so that I may reveal
the word of the Lord to you.”


[1 Samuel 10] {10:1} Then Samuel took a little vial of oil,
and poured it on his head. And he kissed him, and said:
“Behold, the Lord has anointed you as first ruler over his
inheritance. And you shall free his people from the hands of
their enemies, who are all around them. And this shall be a
sign for you that God has anointed you as ruler:
{10:2} When you will have departed from me this day, you
will find two men beside the sepulcher of Rachel, in the parts
of Benjamin to the south. And they will say to you: ‘The
donkeys have been found, which you had been seeking as
you traveled. And your father, forgetting about the donkeys,
has been anxious for you, and he says, “What shall I do
about my son?” ’ {10:3} And when you will have departed
from there, and will have traveled farther, and will have
arrived at the oak of Tabor, in that place three men, who are
going up to God at Bethel, will find you. One will be bringing
three young goats, and another three loaves of bread, and
another will be carrying a bottle of wine. {10:4} And when
they will have greeted you, they will give you two loaves.
And you shall accept these from their hand. {10:5} After
these things, you shall arrive at the hill of God, where the
garrison of the Philistines is. And when you will have entered
the city there, you will meet a company of prophets,
descending from the high place, with a psaltery, and a timbrel,
and a pipe, and a harp before them, and they will be
prophesying. {10:6} And the Spirit of the Lord will spring up
within you. And you shall prophesy with them, and you shall
be changed into another man. {10:7} Therefore, when these
signs will have happened to you, do whatever your hand will
find, for the Lord is with you. {10:8} And you shall descend
before me into Gilgal, (for I will descend to you), so that you
may offer an oblation, and may immolate victims of peace.
For seven days, you shall wait, until I come to you, and
reveal to you what you should do.” {10:9} And so, when he
had turned his shoulder, so that he might go away from
Samuel, God changed him to another heart. And all these
signs occurred on that day. {10:10} And they arrived at the
above-stated hill, and behold, a group of prophets met him.
And the Spirit of the Lord leapt up within him, and he
prophesied in their midst. {10:11} Then all those who had
known him yesterday and the day before, seeing that he was
with the prophets, and that he was prophesying, said to one
other: “What is this thing that has happened to the son of
Kish? Could Saul also be among the prophets?” {10:12} And
one would respond to the other, saying, “And who is their
father?” Because of this, it turned into a proverb, “Could Saul
also be among the prophets?” {10:13} Then he ceased to
prophesy, and he went to the high place. {10:14} And the
uncle of Saul said to him, and to his servant, “Where did you
go?” And they responded: “To seek the donkeys. But when
we did not find them, we went to Samuel.” {10:15} And his
uncle said to him, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.”
{10:16} And Saul said to his uncle, “He told us that the
donkeys would be found.” But the word about the kingdom,
which Samuel had spoken to him, he did not reveal to him.
{10:17} And Samuel called the people together, to the Lord
at Mizpah. {10:18} And he said to the sons of Israel: “Thus
says the Lord God of Israel: I led Israel away from Egypt,
and I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from
the hand of all the kings who were afflicting you. {10:19} But
today you have rejected your God, who alone saved you
from all your evils and tribulations. And you have said: ‘By
no means! Instead, appoint a king over us.’ Now therefore,
stand in the sight of the Lord, by your tribes and by your
families.” {10:20} And Samuel brought near all the tribes of
Israel, and the lot fell upon the tribe of Benjamin.
{10:21} And he brought near the tribe of Benjamin, with its
families, and the lot fell upon the family of Matri. And then it
went to Saul, the son of Kish. Therefore, they sought him,
but he was not found. {10:22} And after these things, they
consulted the Lord as to whether he would soon arrive there.
And the Lord responded, “Behold, he is hidden at home.”
{10:23} And so they ran and brought him there. And he
stood in the midst of the people, and he was taller than the
entire people, from the shoulders upward. {10:24} And
Samuel said to all the people: “Certainly, you see the one
whom the Lord has chosen, that there is not anyone like him
among all the people.” And all the people cried out and said,
“Long live the king!” {10:25} Then Samuel spoke to the
people the law of the kingdom, and he wrote it in a book, and
he stored it in the sight of the Lord. And Samuel dismissed all
the people, each one to his own house. {10:26} And then
Saul went away to his own house at Gibeah. And a portion
of the army, whose hearts had been touched by God, went
away with him. {10:27} Yet the sons of Belial said, “How
could this one be able to save us?” And they despised him,
and they brought him no presents. But he pretended not to
hear them.


[1 Samuel 11] {11:1} And, about a month afterward, it
happened that Nahash the Ammonite ascended and began to
fight against Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to
Nahash, “Consider a pact with us, and we will serve you.”
{11:2} And Nahash the Ammonite responded to them,
“With this will I strike a pact with you: if I may pluck out all
your right eyes, and set you as a disgrace against all of
Israel.” {11:3} And the elders of Jabesh said to him: “Grant
to us seven days, so that we may send messengers to all the
borders of Israel. And if there is no one who may defend us,
we will go out to you.” {11:4} Therefore, the messengers
arrived at Gibeah of Saul. And they spoke these words in the
hearing of the people. And all the people lifted up their voice
and wept. {11:5} And behold, Saul arrived, following oxen
from the field. And he said, “What has happened to the
people that they would weep?” And they explained to him
the words of the men from Jabesh. {11:6} And the Spirit of
the Lord rose up within Saul when he had heard these words,
and his fury was enraged exceedingly. {11:7} And taking
both the oxen, he cut them into pieces, and he sent them into
all the borders of Israel, by the hands of messengers, saying,
“Whoever will not go out and follow Saul and Samuel, so
shall it be done to his oxen.” Therefore, the fear of the Lord
entered into the people, and they went out like one man.
{11:8} And he took a census of them at Bezek. And there
were three hundred thousand of the sons of Israel. And there
were thirty thousand of the men of Judah. {11:9} And they
said to the messengers who had arrived: “So shall you say to
the men who are of Jabesh Gilead: ‘Tomorrow, when the sun
will be hot, you shall have salvation.’ ” Therefore, the
messengers went and announced it to the men of Jabesh, who
became joyful. {11:10} And they said, “In the morning, we
will go out to you. And you may do whatever you please
with us.” {11:11} And it happened that, when the next day
had arrived, Saul arranged the people into three parts. And
he entered into the middle of the camp at the early morning
watch, and he struck down the Ammonites until the day grew
hot. Then the remainder were dispersed, so much so that not
even two of them were left together. {11:12} And the people
said to Samuel: “Who is the one who said, ‘Should Saul reign
over us?’ Present the men, and we will put them to death.”
{11:13} And Saul said: “No one shall be killed on this day.
For today the Lord has accomplished salvation in Israel.”
{11:14} Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, and let us
go to Gilgal, and let us renew the kingdom there.”
{11:15} And all the people traveled to Gilgal. And there they
made Saul king, in the sight of the Lord at Gilgal. And there
they immolated victims of peace, before the Lord. And there
Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced exceedingly.
[1 Samuel 12] {12:1} Then Samuel said to all of Israel:
“Behold, I have listened to your voice, according to all that
you have said to me, and I have appointed a king over you.
{12:2} And now the king advances before you. But I am old
and have gray hair. Moreover, my sons are with you. And so,
having conversed before you from my youth, even until this
day, behold, I am here. {12:3} Speak about me before the
Lord, and before his Christ, as to whether I have taken
anyone’s ox or donkey, or whether I have falsely accused
anyone, or whether I have oppressed anyone, or whether I
have accepted a bribe from the hand of anyone, and I will
repudiate the same, this day, and I will restore it to you.”
{12:4} And they said, “You have not falsely accused us, nor
oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from the hand of
anyone.” {12:5} And he said to them, “The Lord is a witness
against you, and his Christ is a witness this day, that you
have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is
the witness.” {12:6} And Samuel said to the people: “It is the
Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron, and who led our
fathers away from the land of Egypt. {12:7} Now therefore,
stand, so that I may contend in judgment against you before
the Lord, about all the mercies of the Lord, which he has
given to you and to your fathers: {12:8} How Jacob entered
into Egypt, and your fathers cried out to the Lord. And the
Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and he led your fathers away
from Egypt, and he transferred them to this place. {12:9} But
they forgot the Lord their God, and so he delivered them into
the hand of Sisera, master of the army of Hazor, and into the
hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab.
And they fought against them. {12:10} But afterward, they
cried out to the Lord, and they said: ‘We have sinned,
because we have forsaken the Lord, and we have served the
Baals and Ashtaroth. Now therefore, rescue us from the hand
of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ {12:11} And the Lord
sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and
he rescued you from the hand of your enemies all around,
and you lived in confidence. {12:12} Then, seeing that
Nahash, the king of the sons of Ammon, had arrived against
you, you said to me, ‘By no means! Instead, a king shall reign
over us,’ even though the Lord your God was reigning over
you. {12:13} Now therefore, your king is present, whom you
chose and requested. Behold, the Lord has given you a king.
{12:14} If you will fear the Lord, and serve him, and listen to
his voice, and not provoke the mouth of the Lord, then both
you, and the king who rules over you, will be following the
Lord your God. {12:15} But if you will not listen to the voice
of the Lord, but instead you provoke his words, then the
hand of the Lord will be over you and over your fathers.
{12:16} Therefore, stand now, and see this great thing, which
the Lord will accomplish in your sight. {12:17} Is it not the
harvest of the wheat today? I will call upon the Lord, and he
will send thunder and rain. And you will know and see that
you have done a great evil in the sight of the Lord, by
petitioning for a king over you.” {12:18} And Samuel cried
out to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain on that
day. {12:19} And all the people feared the Lord and Samuel
exceedingly. And all the people said to Samuel: “Pray, on
behalf of your servants, to the Lord your God, so that we
may not die. For we have added to all our sins this evil, that
we would petition for a king.” {12:20} Then Samuel said to
the people: “Do not be afraid. You have done all this evil.
Yet truly, do not choose to withdraw from the back of the
Lord. Instead, serve the Lord with all your heart.
{12:21} And do not choose to turn aside after vanities, which
will never benefit you, nor rescue you, since they are empty.
{12:22} And the Lord will not abandon his people, because
of his great name. For the Lord has sworn to make you his
people. {12:23} So then, far be it from me, this sin against the
Lord, that I would cease to pray for you. And so, I will teach
you the good and upright way. {12:24} Therefore, fear the
Lord, and serve him in truth and from your whole heart. For
you have seen the great works that he has done among you.
{12:25} But if you persevere in wickedness, both you and
your king will perish together.”


[1 Samuel 13] {13:1} When he began to reign, Saul was the
son of one year, and he reigned over Israel for two years.
{13:2} And Saul chose for himself three thousand men of
Israel. And two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and at
mount Bethel. Then one thousand were with Jonathan at
Gibeah of Benjamin. But the remainder of the people, he sent
back, each one to his own tent. {13:3} And Jonathan struck
the garrison of the Philistines, which was in Gibeah. And
when the Philistines had heard about it, Saul sounded the
trumpet over all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews listen.”
{13:4} And all of Israel heard this report, that Saul had struck
the garrison of the Philistines. And Israel raised himself up
against the Philistines. Then the people cried out to Saul at
Gilgal. {13:5} And the Philistines gathered to do battle
against Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand
horsemen, and the remainder of the common people, who
were very many, like the sand that is on the shore of the sea.
And ascending, they encamped at Michmash, toward the east
of Bethaven. {13:6} And when the men of Israel had seen
themselves to be in a narrowed position, they hid themselves
in caves, and in out of the way places, and in rocks, and in
hollows, and in pits (for the people were distressed).
{13:7} Then some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan,
into the land of Gad and Gilead. And while Saul was still at
Gilgal, the entire people who followed him were terrified.
{13:8} But he waited for seven days, in accord with what was
agreed with Samuel. But Samuel did not arrive at Gilgal, for
the people were scattering away from him. {13:9} Therefore,
Saul said, “Bring me the holocaust and the peace offerings.”
And he offered the holocaust. {13:10} And when he had
completed the offering of the holocaust, behold, Samuel
arrived. And Saul went out to meet him, so that he might
greet him. {13:11} And Samuel said to him, “What have you
done?” Saul responded: “Since I saw that the people were
scattering away from me, and you had not arrived after the
agreed upon days, and yet the Philistines had gathered
together at Michmash, {13:12} I said: ‘Now the Philistines
will descend to me at Gilgal. And I have not appeased the
face of the Lord.’ Compelled by necessity, I offered the
holocaust. {13:13} And Samuel said to Saul: “You have
acted foolishly. You have not kept the commandments of the
Lord your God, which he instructed to you. And if you had
not acted in this way, the Lord would, here and now, have
prepared your kingdom over Israel forever. {13:14} But by no
means shall your kingdom rise up any more. The Lord has
sought for himself a man according to his own heart. And
him the Lord has instructed to be the leader over his people,
because you have not kept what the Lord has instructed.”
{13:15} Then Samuel rose up and ascended from Gilgal to
Gibeah of Benjamin. And the remainder of the people
ascended after Saul, to meet the people who were fighting
against them, going from Gilgal into Gibeah, to the hill of
Benjamin. And Saul took a census of the people, who had
been found to be with him, about six hundred men.
{13:16} And Saul, and his son Jonathan, and the people who
had been found to be with them, were at Gibeah of Benjamin.
But the Philistines had settled in at Michmash. {13:17} And
three companies went out from the camp of the Philistines, in
order to plunder. One company was traveling toward the way
of Ophrah, to the land of Shual. {13:18} Then another
entered along the way of Beth-horon. But the third turned
itself to the way of the border, overhanging the valley of
Zeboim, opposite the desert. {13:19} Now there was no
worker of iron to be found in all the land of Israel. For the
Philistines had been cautious, lest perhaps the Hebrews might
make swords or spears. {13:20} Therefore, all of Israel
descended to the Philistines, so that each man could sharpen
his plowshare, or pick axe, or hatchet, or hoe. {13:21} For
their plow blades, and pick axes, and pitch forks, and axes
had become blunt, and even the handles needed to be
repaired. {13:22} And when the day of battle had arrived,
there was found neither sword nor spear in the hand of the
entire people who were with Saul and Jonathan, except for
Saul and his son Jonathan. {13:23} Then the army of the
Philistines went out in order to go across Michmash.


[1 Samuel 14] {14:1} And it happened that, on a certain day,
Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the youth who bore his
armor, “Come, and let us go over to the garrison of the
Philistines, which is across from that place.” But he did not
reveal this to his father. {14:2} Moreover, Saul was staying in
the furthermost part of Gibeah, below the pomegranate tree
that was at Migron. And the people with him were about six
hundred men. {14:3} And Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, the
brother of Ichabod, the son of Phinehas, who had been born
of Eli, the priest of the Lord at Shiloh, wore the ephod. But
the people did not know where Jonathan had gone.
{14:4} Now there were, between the ascents along which
Jonathan strove to cross to the garrison of the Philistines,
rocks projecting from both sides, and, in the manner of teeth,
boulders breaking out from one side and the other. The name
of one was Shining, and the name of the other was Thorny.
{14:5} One boulder projected toward the north, opposite
Michmash, and the other toward the south, opposite Gibeah.
{14:6} Then Jonathan said to the youth who bore his armor:
“Come, let us go across to the garrison of these
uncircumcised. And perhaps the Lord may act on our behalf.
For it is not difficult for the Lord to save, either by many, or
by few.” {14:7} And his armor bearer said to him: “Do all
that is pleasing to your soul. Go wherever you wish, and I
will be with you, wherever you will choose.” {14:8} And
Jonathan said: “Behold, we will cross over to these men. And
when we will be seen by them, {14:9} if they have spoken to
us in this way, ‘Stay until we come to you,’ let us stand still in
our place, and not ascend to them. {14:10} But if they will
say, ‘Ascend to us,’ let us ascend. For the Lord has delivered
them into our hands. This will be the sign to us.”
{14:11} And so, both of them appeared before the garrison of
the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “See, the Hebrews
have come out from the holes in which they had been
hiding.” {14:12} And the men of the garrison spoke to
Jonathan and to his armor bearer, and they said, “Ascend to
us, and we will show you something.” And Jonathan said to
his armor bearer: “Let us ascend. Follow me. For the Lord
has delivered them into the hands of Israel.” {14:13} Then
Jonathan ascended, crawling on his hands and feet, and his
armor bearer after him. And then, some fell before Jonathan,
others his armor bearer killed as he was following him.
{14:14} And the first slaughter was made when Jonathan and
his armor bearer struck down about twenty of the men, in the
midst of an area of land that a yoke of oxen would usually
plow in a day. {14:15} And a miracle occurred in the camp,
out in the fields. And all of the people of their garrison, who
had gone out in order to plunder, were stupefied. And the
earth trembled. And it happened as a miracle from God.
{14:16} And the watchmen of Saul, who were at Gibeah of
Benjamin, looked out, and behold, a multitude was thrown
down and dispersed, this way and that. {14:17} And Saul
said to the people who were with him, “Inquire and see who
has gone out from us.” And when they had inquired, it was
found that Jonathan and his armor bearer were not present.
{14:18} And Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of the God.”
(For the ark of God was, in that day, with the sons of Israel
in that place.) {14:19} And while Saul spoke to the priest,
there arose a great tumult in the camp of the Philistines. And
it was increasing, little by little, and it was being heard more
clearly. And Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”
{14:20} Then Saul, and all the people who were with him,
cried out together, and they went to the place of the conflict.
And behold, each one’s sword had been turned against his
neighbor, and there was a very great slaughter.
{14:21} Moreover, the Hebrews who had been with the
Philistines yesterday and the day before, and who had
ascended with them into the camp, turned back so that they
might be with those of Israel who were with Saul and
Jonathan. {14:22} Likewise, all the Israelites who had hidden
themselves on mount Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines
had fled, joined themselves with their own in the battle. And
there were with Saul about ten thousand men. {14:23} And
the Lord saved Israel on that day. But the fight continued as
far as Bethaven. {14:24} And the men of Israel were joined
together on that day. And Saul made the people swear,
saying, “Cursed be the man who will eat bread, until evening,
until I am avenged of my enemies.” And the entire people
did not consume bread. {14:25} And all the common people
went into a forest, in which there was honey on the surface of
the field. {14:26} And so the people entered the forest, and
there appeared flowing honey, but no one drew his hand near
his mouth. For the people were afraid of the oath.
{14:27} But Jonathan had not heard that his father had
bound the people to an oath. And so he extended the top of
the staff that he was holding in his hand, and he dipped it in a
honeycomb. And he turned his hand to his mouth, and his
eyes were brightened. {14:28} And in response, one of the
people said, “Your father has bound the people by an oath,
saying: ‘Cursed be the man who will eat any bread this
day.’ ” (For the people were faint.) {14:29} And Jonathan
said: “My father has troubled the land. You have seen for
yourselves that my eyes were brightened, because I tasted a
little of this honey. {14:30} How much more so, if the people
had eaten from the plunder that they find with their enemies?
Would not a greater slaughter have been accomplished
among the Philistines?” {14:31} Therefore, on that day, they
struck down the Philistines, from Michmash as far as Ayalon.
But the people were exceedingly wearied. {14:32} And
turning to the spoils, they took sheep, and oxen, and calves,
and they slew them on the ground. And the people ate with
blood. {14:33} Then they reported to Saul, saying that the
people had sinned against the Lord, eating with blood. And
he said: “You have transgressed. Roll a great stone to me,
here and now.” {14:34} And Saul said: “Disperse yourselves
among the common people, and tell each one of them to
bring to me his ox and his ram, and to slay them upon this
stone, and to eat, so that you will not sin against the Lord, in
eating with blood.” And so, each one, out of all the people,
brought his ox, by his own hand, throughout the night. And
they slew them there. {14:35} Then Saul built an altar to the
Lord. And so, it was then that he first began to build an altar
to the Lord. {14:36} And Saul said: “Let us fall upon the
Philistines by night, and lay waste to them even until the
morning light. And let us not leave behind a man among
them.” And the people said, “Do all that seems good in your
eyes.” And the priest said, “Let us draw near to God in this
place.” {14:37} And Saul consulted the Lord: “Shall I pursue
the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hands of
Israel?” And he did not respond to him on that day.
{14:38} And Saul said: “Bring here every single leader of the
people. And we shall know and see by whom this sin was
committed this day. {14:39} As the Lord lives, who is the
Saviour of Israel, even if it were done by my son Jonathan,
without retraction he shall die.” In this, no one among all the
people contradicted him. {14:40} And he said to all of Israel,
“Separate yourselves on one side, and I, with my son
Jonathan, will be on the other side.” And the people
responded to Saul, “Do what seems good in your eyes.”
{14:41} And Saul said to the Lord, the God of Israel: “O
Lord, God of Israel, grant a sign: Why is it that you will not
respond to your servant this day? If this iniquity is in me, or
in my son Jonathan, grant an indication. Or if this iniquity is
in your people, grant a sanctification.” And Jonathan and
Saul were discovered, but the people were released.
{14:42} And Saul said, “Cast lots between myself and
Jonathan, my son.” And Jonathan was caught. {14:43} Then
Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” And
Jonathan revealed to him, and said: “Truly, I tasted a little
honey with the top of the staff that was in my hand. And
behold, I shall die.” {14:44} And Saul said, “May God do
these things to me, and may he add these other things, for
you shall surely die, Jonathan!” {14:45} And the people said
to Saul: “Why should Jonathan have to die, who has
accomplished this great salvation in Israel? This is wrong. As
the Lord lives, not one hair of his head should fall to the
ground. For he has wrought with God this day.” Therefore,
the people freed Jonathan, so that he would not die.
{14:46} And Saul withdrew, and he did not pursue the
Philistines. And the Philistines went away to their own places.
{14:47} And Saul, his kingdom having been confirmed over
Israel, was fighting against all his enemies on all sides:
against Moab, and the sons of Ammon, and Edom, and the
kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. And wherever he turned
himself, he was successful. {14:48} And gathering together
an army, he struck Amalek. And he rescued Israel from the
hand of those who would lay waste to them. {14:49} Now
the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishvi, and Malchishua.
And as for the names of his two daughters: the name of the
firstborn daughter was Merab, and the name of the younger
one was Michal. {14:50} And the name of the wife of Saul
was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of
the first ruler of his military was Abner, the son of Ner, the
first cousin of Saul. {14:51} For Kish was the father of Saul,
and Ner was the father of Abner, and the son of Abiel.
{14:52} Now there was a powerful war against the Philistines
during all the days of Saul. And so, whomever Saul had seen
to be a strong man, and fit for battle, he joined him to himself.


[1 Samuel 15] {15:1} And Samuel said to Saul: “The Lord
sent me, so that I would anoint you as king over his people
Israel. Now therefore, listen to the voice of the Lord.
{15:2} ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: I have taken account of
all that Amalek has done to Israel, how he stood against him
in the way, when he ascended from Egypt. {15:3} Now
therefore, go and strike Amalek, and demolish all that is his.
You shall not spare him, and you shall not covet anything
out of the things that are his. Instead, kill from man even to
woman, and little ones as well as infants, ox and sheep,
camel and donkey.’ ” {15:4} And so, Saul instructed the
people, and he numbered them like lambs: two hundred
thousand foot soldiers, and ten thousand men of Judah.
{15:5} And when Saul had arrived as far as the city of
Amalek, he placed ambushes at the torrent. {15:6} And Saul
said to the Kenite: “Go away, withdraw, and descend from
Amalek. Otherwise, I will include you with him. For you
showed mercy to all the sons of Israel, when they ascended
from Egypt.” And so the Kenite withdrew from the midst of
Amalek. {15:7} And Saul struck down Amalek, from
Havilah even until you arrive at Shur, which is opposite the
region of Egypt. {15:8} And he apprehended Agag, the king
of Amalek, alive. But all the common people he put to death
with the edge of the sword. {15:9} And Saul and the people
spared Agag, and the best of the flocks of sheep, and of the
herds, and the garments, and the rams, and all that was
beautiful, and they were not willing to destroy them. Yet
truly, whatever was vile or worthless, these they demolished.
{15:10} Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying
{15:11} “It displeases me that I have appointed Saul as king.
For he has forsaken me, and he has not fulfilled the work of
my words.” And Samuel was greatly saddened, and he cried
out to the Lord, all night long {15:12} And when Samuel had
risen while it was still dark, so that he might go to Saul in the
morning, it was reported to Samuel that Saul had arrived at
Carmel, and that he had erected for himself a triumphant
arch. And, while returning, he had continued on and
descended to Gilgal. Therefore, Samuel went to Saul. And
Saul was offering a holocaust to the Lord, from the best of
the spoils, which he had brought from Amalek. {15:13} And
when Samuel had gone to Saul, Saul said to him: “You are
the blessed of the Lord. I have fulfilled the word of the Lord.”
{15:14} And Samuel said, “Then what is this voice of the
flocks, which resounds in my ears, and of the herds, which I
am hearing?” {15:15} And Saul said: “They have brought
these from Amalek. For the people spared the best of the
sheep and of the herds, so that they might be immolated to
the Lord your God. Yet truly, the remainder we have slain.”
{15:16} Then Samuel said to Saul, “Permit me, and I will
reveal to you what the Lord has said to me this night.” And
he said to him, “Speak.” {15:17} And Samuel said: “Was it
not when you were little in your own eyes that you were
made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed
you as king over Israel. {15:18} And the Lord sent you on the
way, and he said: ‘Go and put to death the sinners of Amalek.
And you shall fight against them, even unto utter
annihilation.’ {15:19} Why then, did you not listen to the
voice of the Lord? Instead, you turned to the spoils, and you
did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” {15:20} And Saul said to
Samuel: “On the contrary, I did listen to the voice of the
Lord, and I walked in the way along which the Lord sent me,
and I led back Agag, the king of Amalek, and I put to death
Amalek. {15:21} But the people took some of the spoils,
sheep and oxen, as the first-fruits of those things that were
slain, to immolate to the Lord their God at Gilgal.”
{15:22} And Samuel said: “Does the Lord want holocausts
and victims, and not instead that the voice of the Lord should
be obeyed? For obedience is better than sacrifice. And to heed
is greater than to offer the fat of rams. {15:23} Therefore, it is
like the sin of paganism to rebel. And it is like the crime of
idolatry to refuse to obey. For this reason, therefore, because
you have rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord has also
rejected you from being king.” {15:24} And Saul said to
Samuel: “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the word of
the Lord, and your words, by fearing the people and obeying
their voice. {15:25} But now, I beg you, to bear my sin, and
to return with me, so that I may adore the Lord.”
{15:26} And Samuel said to Saul: “I will not return with you.
For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has
rejected you from being king over Israel.” {15:27} And
Samuel turned away, so that he might depart. But Saul took
hold of the edge of his cloak, and it tore. {15:28} And Samuel
said to him: “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel away
from you this day. And he has delivered it to your neighbor,
who is better than you are. {15:29} Moreover, the One who
triumphs within Israel will not spare, and he will not be
moved to repentance. For he is not a man, that he should
repent.” {15:30} Then he said: “I have sinned. But now,
honor me before the elders of my people, and before Israel,
and return with me, so that I may adore the Lord your God.”
{15:31} Therefore, Samuel turned again after Saul. And Saul
adored the Lord. {15:32} And Samuel said, “Bring near to
me Agag, the king of Amalek.” And Agag, very fat and
trembling, was presented to him. And Agag said, “Does
bitter death separate in this manner?” {15:33} And Samuel
said, “Just as your sword caused women to be without their
children, so will your mother be without her children among
women.” And Samuel cut him into pieces, before the Lord at
Gilgal. {15:34} Then Samuel went away to Ramah. But Saul
ascended to his house at Gibeah. {15:35} And Samuel did
not see Saul any more, until the day of his death. Yet truly,
Samuel mourned for Saul, because the Lord regretted that he
had appointed him as king over Israel.


[1 Samuel 16] {16:1} And the Lord said to Samuel: “How
long will you mourn for Saul, though I have rejected him, so
that he would not reign over Israel? Fill your horn with oil
and approach, so that I may send you to Jesse of Bethlehem.
For I have provided a king from among his sons for myself.”
{16:2} And Samuel said: “How shall I go? For Saul will hear
of it, and he will put me to death.” And the Lord said: “You
shall take, by your hand, a calf from the herd. And you shall
say, ‘I have arrived in order to immolate to the Lord.’
{16:3} And you shall call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will
reveal to you what you should do. And you shall anoint
whomever I will indicate to you.” {16:4} Therefore, Samuel
did just as the Lord told him. And he went to Bethlehem, and
the elders of the city wondered. And meeting him, they said,
“Is your arrival peaceful?” {16:5} And he said: “It is peaceful.
I have arrived in order to immolate to the Lord. Be sanctified,
and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he sanctified Jesse
and his sons, and he called them to the sacrifice. {16:6} And
when they had entered, he saw Eliab, and he said, “Could he
be the Christ in the sight of the Lord?” {16:7} And the Lord
said to Samuel: “You should not look with favor on his face,
nor on the height of his stature. For I have rejected him.
Neither do I judge by the appearance of a man. For man sees
those things that are apparent, but the Lord beholds the
heart.” {16:8} And Jesse called Abinadab, and he brought
him before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord
chosen this one.” {16:9} Then Jesse brought Shammah. And
he said about him, “And the Lord has not chosen this one.”
{16:10} And so Jesse brought his seven sons before Samuel.
And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of
these.” {16:11} And Samuel said to Jesse, “Could the sons
now be completed?” But he responded, “There still remains a
little one, and he pastures the sheep.” And Samuel said to
Jesse: “Send and bring him. For we shall not recline to eat,
until he arrives here.” {16:12} Therefore, he sent and brought
him. Now he was ruddy, and beautiful to behold, and with a
stately face. And the Lord said, “Rise up, anoint him! For it
is he.” {16:13} Therefore, Samuel took the horn of oil, and
he anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of
the Lord was guiding David from that day and thereafter.
And Samuel rose up, and he went away to Ramah.
{16:14} But the Spirit of the Lord withdrew from Saul, and a
wicked spirit from the Lord disturbed him. {16:15} And the
servants of Saul said to him: “Behold, an evil spirit from God
disturbs you. {16:16} May our lord order, and your servants,
who are before you, will seek a man skillful in playing a
stringed instrument, so that when the evil spirit from the Lord
assails you, he may play with his hand, and you may bear it
more easily.” {16:17} And Saul said to his servants, “Then
provide for me someone who can play well, and bring him to
me.” {16:18} And one of the servants, responding, said:
“Behold, I have seen the son of Jesse of Bethlehem, a skillful
player, and very strong and robust, a man fit for war, and
prudent in words, a handsome man. And the Lord is with
him.” {16:19} Therefore, Saul sent messengers to Jesse,
saying, “Send to me your son David, who is in the pastures.”
{16:20} And so, Jesse took a donkey laden with bread, and a
bottle of wine, and a kid from one of the goats, and he sent
them, by the hand of his son David, to Saul. {16:21} And
David went to Saul, and stood before him. And he loved him
exceedingly, and he made him his armor bearer. {16:22} And
Saul sent to Jesse, saying: “Let David remain before my sight.
For he has found favor in my eyes.” {16:23} And so,
whenever the evil spirit from the Lord assailed Saul, David
took up his stringed instrument, and he struck it with his
hand, and Saul was refreshed and uplifted. For the evil spirit
withdrew from him.


[1 Samuel 17] {17:1} Now the Philistines, gathering their
troops for battle, assembled at Socoh of Judah. And they
made camp between Socoh and Azekah, within the borders
of Dammim. {17:2} But Saul and the sons of Israel, having
gathered together, went to the Valley of Terebinth. And they
positioned the army so as to fight against the Philistines.
{17:3} And the Philistines were standing on a mountain on
the one side, and Israel was standing on a mountain on the
other side. And there was a valley between them. {17:4} And
there went out from the camp of the Philistines, a man of
illegitimate birth, named Goliath of Gath, whose height was
six cubits and a palm. {17:5} And he had a helmet of brass
upon his head, and he was clothed with a breastplate of scales.
Moreover, the weight of his breastplate was five thousand
shekels of brass. {17:6} And he had plates of brass on his
lower legs, and a small shield of brass was covering his
shoulders. {17:7} Now the shaft of his spear was like the
beam used by a weaver. And the iron of his spear held six
hundred shekels of iron. And his armor bearer went before
him. {17:8} And standing still, he cried out to the battle lines
of Israel, and he said to them: “Why have you arrived,
prepared for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the
servants of Saul? Choose one man from among you, and let
him descend to do battle alone. {17:9} If he is able to fight
with me and to strike me down, we will be your servants. But
if I will prevail over him, and strike him down, you will be
the servants, and you will serve us.” {17:10} And the
Philistine was saying: “I have reproached the troops of Israel
today. Present a man to me, and let him undertake a fight
against me alone.” {17:11} And Saul and all the Israelites,
hearing these words of the Philistine in this manner, were
stupefied and exceedingly afraid. {17:12} Now David was
the son of an Ephrathite man, the one mentioned above, from
Bethlehem of Judah, whose name was Jesse. He had eight
sons, and during the days of Saul, he was an elderly man, and
of great age among men. {17:13} Now his three eldest sons
followed Saul into battle. And the names of his three sons,
who went to the battle, were Eliab, the firstborn, and the
second, Abinadab, and the third Shammah. {17:14} But
David was the youngest. Therefore, when the three eldest
had followed Saul, {17:15} David went away from Saul, and
he returned, so that he might pasture the flock of his father at
Bethlehem. {17:16} Truly, the Philistine advanced morning
and evening, and he stood forth, for forty days. {17:17} Now
Jesse said to his son David: “Take, for your brothers, an
ephah of cooked grain, and these ten loaves, and hurry to the
camp, to your brothers. {17:18} And you shall carry these ten
little cheeses to the tribune. And visit your brothers, to see if
they are doing well. And learn with whom they have been
stationed.” {17:19} But they were in the valley of Terebinth,
with Saul and all the sons of Israel, fighting against the
Philistines. {17:20} And so, David rose up in the morning,
and he commended the flock to the caretaker. And he went
away burdened, just as Jesse had instructed him. And he
went to the place of the battle line, and to the army, which, in
going out to fight, was shouting in the conflict. {17:21} For
Israel had positioned their troops, but the Philistines also had
prepared themselves against them. {17:22} Then, leaving the
items that he had brought under the hand of the keeper of
baggage, David ran to the place of the conflict. And he was
asking if all was going well with his brothers. {17:23} And
while he was still speaking with them, there appeared the
man of spurious descent, whose name was Goliath, the
Philistine of Gath, ascending from the camp of the Philistines.
And he was speaking in these same words, which David
heard. {17:24} Then all the Israelites, when they had seen the
man, fled from his face, fearing him greatly. {17:25} And
someone of Israel said: “Have you seen this man, who has
risen up. For he ascended in order to reproach Israel.
Therefore, the man who will strike him down, the king will
enrich with great wealth, and will give to him his daughter,
and will cause his father’s house to be free of tribute in
Israel.” {17:26} And David spoke to the men who were
standing with him, saying: “What will be given to the man
who will have struck down this Philistine, and who will have
taken away the disgrace from Israel? For who is this
uncircumcised Philistine, that he should reproach the soldiers
of the living God?” {17:27} Then the people repeated to him
the same words, saying, “These things shall be given to the
man who will have struck him down.” {17:28} Now when
Eliab, his eldest brother, had heard this, as he was speaking
with the others, he became angry against David, and he said:
“Why did you come here? And why did you leave behind
those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the
wickedness of your heart, that you have come down so that
you might see the battle.” {17:29} And David said: “What
have I done? Is there any word against me?” {17:30} And he
turned away from him a little, toward another. And he asked
the same question. And the people responded to him as
before. {17:31} Now the words that David had spoken were
heard and reported in the sight of Saul. {17:32} When he had
been led to Saul, he said to him: “Let no one lose heart over
him. I, your servant, shall go and fight against the Philistine.”
{17:33} And Saul said to David: “You are not able to
withstand this Philistine, nor to fight against him. For you are
a boy, but he has been a warrior from his boyhood.”
{17:34} And David said to Saul: “Your servant was pasturing
the flock of his father. And there approached a lion or a bear,
and it took a ram from the midst of the flock. {17:35} And I
pursued after them, and I struck them, and I rescued from
their mouth. And they rose up against me. And I caught
them by the throat, and I strangled and killed them.
{17:36} For I, your servant, have killed both lion and bear.
And so this uncircumcised Philistine, too, will be like one of
them. Now I will go and take away the reproach of the
people. For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, who has
dared to curse the army of the living God?” {17:37} And
David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the hand of the
lion, and from the hand of the bear, he himself will free me
from the hand of this Philistine.” Then Saul said to David,
“Go, and may the Lord be with you.” {17:38} And Saul
clothed David with his garments. And he placed a helmet of
brass upon his head, and he clothed him with a breastplate.
{17:39} Then David, having girded his sword over his armor,
began to see if he could walk in the armor. But he was not
accustomed to it. And David said to Saul: “I cannot move
about in this way. For I am not used to it.” And he put them
aside. {17:40} And he took up his staff, which he held always
in his hands. And he chose for himself five very smooth
stones from the torrent. And he put them into the shepherd’s
bag that he had with him. And he took up a sling in his hand.
And he went out against the Philistine. {17:41} And the
Philistine, advancing, went and drew near against David.
And his armor bearer was before him. {17:42} And when the
Philistine had seen and considered David, he despised him.
For he was a youth, ruddy and of handsome appearance.
{17:43} And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that
you approach against me with a staff?” And the Philistine
cursed David by his gods. {17:44} And he said to David,
“Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air,
and to the beasts of the earth.” {17:45} But David said to the
Philistine: “You approach me with sword, and spear, and
shield. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel, which you have reproached.
{17:46} Today, the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I
will strike you down. And I will take your head from you.
And today, I will give the carcasses of the camp of the
Philistines to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth,
so that all the earth may know that God is with Israel.
{17:47} And this entire assembly will know that the Lord
does not save by sword, nor by spear. For this is his war, and
he will deliver you into our hands.” {17:48} Then, when the
Philistine had risen up, and was approaching, and was
drawing near against David, David hurried and ran to the
fight against the Philistine. {17:49} And he put his hand into
his bag, and took out one stone. And swinging it around, he
cast it with the sling and struck the Philistine on the forehead.
And the stone became imbedded in his forehead. And he fell
on his face, upon the ground. {17:50} And David prevailed
against the Philistine with a sling and a stone. And he struck
and killed the Philistine. But since David held no sword in his
hand, {17:51} he ran and stood over the Philistine, and he
took his sword, and withdrew it from the sheath. And he
killed him and cut off his head. Then the Philistines, seeing
that their strongest man was dead, fled away. {17:52} And
the men of Israel and Judah, rising up, shouted and pursued
after the Philistines, even until they arrived at the valley and
as far as the gates of Ekron. And many wounded among the
Philistines fell on the way of Shaaraim, and as far as Gath,
and as far as Ekron. {17:53} And the sons of Israel, returning
after they had pursued the Philistines, invaded their camp.
{17:54} Then David, taking up the head of the Philistine,
brought it to Jerusalem. Yet truly, he placed his armor in his
own tent. {17:55} Now at the time that Saul had seen David
going out against the Philistines, he said to Abner, the leader
of the military, “From what stock is this youth descended,
Abner?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do
not know.” {17:56} And the king said, “You shall inquire as
to whose son this boy may be.” {17:57} And when David
had returned, after the Philistine had been struck down,
Abner took him, and brought him before Saul, having the
head of the Philistine in his hand. {17:58} And Saul said to
him, “Young man, from what ancestry are you?” And David
said, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”


[1 Samuel 18] {18:1} And it happened that, when he had
completed speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan adhered to
the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him like his own soul.
{18:2} And Saul took him that day, and would not permit
him to return to his father’s house. {18:3} Then David and
Jonathan formed a pact. For he loved him like his own soul.
{18:4} And Jonathan took off the coat that he was wearing,
and he gave it to David, with the rest of his garments, even to
his sword and bow, and even his belt. {18:5} Also, David
went out to do everything whatsoever that Saul sent him to
do, and he conducted himself prudently. And Saul set him
over men of war. And he was acceptable in the eyes of the
entire people, and most of all in the sight of the servants of
Saul. {18:6} Now when David returned, after he had struck
down the Philistine, the women went out, from all the cities
of Israel, leading the singing and dancing, rejoicing with
timbrels and bells, so as to meet king Saul. {18:7} And the
women sang, as they played, saying, “Saul has struck down a
thousand, and David ten thousand.” {18:8} Then Saul
became exceedingly angry, and this word was displeasing in
his eyes. And he said: “They have given David ten thousand,
and to me they gave only one thousand. What is left for him,
except the kingdom itself?” {18:9} Therefore, Saul did not
regard David with a good eye, from that day and thereafter.
{18:10} Then, on the next day, the evil spirit from God
assailed Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of his house.
And David played with his hand, just as at every other time.
And Saul held a lance in his hand. {18:11} And he threw it,
thinking that he would be able to fix David to the wall. And
David stepped aside twice, from before his face. {18:12} And
Saul feared David, because the Lord was with him, but he
had withdrawn from Saul. {18:13} Therefore, Saul sent him
away from himself, and he made him tribune over one
thousand men. And he entered and departed in the sight of
the people. {18:14} Also, David acted prudently in all his
ways, and the Lord was with him. {18:15} And so, Saul saw
that he was exceedingly prudent, and he began to be wary of
him. {18:16} But all of Israel and Judah loved David. For he
entered and departed before them. {18:17} And Saul said to
David: “Behold, my elder daughter, Merab. I will give her to
you as wife. Only be a valiant man, and fight the wars of the
Lord.” Now Saul was considering within himself, saying,
“Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hands of the
Philistines be upon him.” {18:18} Then David said to Saul,
“Who am I, and what is my life, and what is my father’s
kinship within Israel, that I should be the son-in-law of the
king?” {18:19} Then it happened that, at the time when
Merab, the daughter of Saul, was to be given to David, she
was given to Adriel, the Meholathite, as wife. {18:20} Now
Michal, the other daughter of Saul, loved David. And this
was reported to Saul, and it pleased him. {18:21} And Saul
said, “I will give her to him, so that she may be a stumbling
block to him, and so that the hand of the Philistines may be
upon him.” And Saul said to David, “In two things, you shall
be my son-in-law today.” {18:22} And Saul commanded his
servants to speak to David privately, saying: “Behold, you are
pleasing to the king, and all his servants love you. Now
therefore, be the son-in-law of the king.” {18:23} And the
servants of Saul spoke all these words to the ears of David.
And David said: “Does it seem a small matter to you, to be
the son-in-law of the king? I am but a poor and unimportant
man.” {18:24} And the servants reported to Saul, saying,
“David has spoken words in this manner.” {18:25} Then
Saul said, “Speak in this way to David: The king does not
have need of any dowry, but only one hundred foreskins from
the Philistine men, so that he may be vindicated from the
enemies of the king.” So did Saul think to deliver David into
the hands of the Philistines. {18:26} And when his servants
had repeated to David the words that Saul had spoken, the
word was pleasing in the eyes of David, so that he would
become son-in-law of the king. {18:27} And after a few days,
David, rising up, went with the men who were under him,
and he struck down two hundred men of the Philistines. And
he brought their foreskins, and he counted them out for the
king, so that he might be his son-in-law. And so, Saul gave to
him his daughter Michal as wife. {18:28} And Saul saw and
understood that the Lord was with David. And Michal, the
daughter of Saul, loved him. {18:29} And Saul began to fear
David all the more. And Saul became the enemy of David,
every day. {18:30} And the leaders of the Philistines departed.
And from the beginning of their departure, David conducted
himself more prudently than all the servants of Saul, and his
name became exceedingly celebrated.


[1 Samuel 19] {19:1} Now Saul spoke to his son Jonathan,
and to all his servants, so that they would kill David. But
Jonathan, the son of Saul, loved David very much.
{19:2} And Jonathan revealed it to David, saying: “Saul, my
father, is seeking to kill you. Because of this, I ask you, take
care for yourself in the morning. And you should conceal
yourself and remain in hiding. {19:3} Then I, going out, will
be standing beside my father in the field, where you will be.
And I will speak about you to my father. And whatever I see,
I will report to you.” {19:4} Then Jonathan spoke good
things about David to his father Saul. And he said to him:
“You should not sin, O king, against your servant David. For
he has not sinned against you, and his works toward you are
very good. {19:5} And he took his life in his own hand, and
struck down the Philistine. And the Lord wrought a great
salvation for all of Israel. You saw it, and you rejoiced. Why
then would you sin against innocent blood by killing David,
who is without guilt?” {19:6} And when Saul had heard this,
being pleased by the voice of Jonathan, he swore, “As the
Lord lives, he shall not be killed.” {19:7} And so Jonathan
called David, and he revealed to him all of these words. And
Jonathan led in David to Saul, and he was before him, just as
he had been yesterday and the day before. {19:8} Then the
war was stirred up again. And David went out and fought
against the Philistines. And he struck them down with a great
slaughter. And they fled from his face. {19:9} And the evil
spirit from the Lord came to Saul, who was sitting in his
house and holding a lance. And David was playing music
with his hand. {19:10} And Saul attempted to fix David to
the wall with the lance. But David turned aside from the face
of Saul. And the lance failed to wound him, and it became
fixed in the wall. And David fled, and so he was saved that
night. {19:11} Therefore, Saul sent his guards to David’s
house, so that they might watch for him, and so that he might
be killed in the morning. And after Michal, his wife, had
reported this to David, saying, “Unless you save yourself this
night, tomorrow you will die,” {19:12} she lowered him
down through a window. Then he fled and went away, and
he was saved. {19:13} Then Michal took a statue, and placed
it on the bed. And she placed the pelt of a goat for the hair at
its head. And she covered it with clothes. {19:14} And Saul
sent attendants to seize David. And it was answered that he
was sick. {19:15} And again, Saul sent messengers to see
David, saying, “Bring him to me on the bed, so that he may
be killed.” {19:16} And when the messengers had arrived,
they found a likeness on the bed, with a goat pelt at its head.
{19:17} And Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived
me in this way, and released my enemy, so that he may flee?”
And Michal responded to Saul, “Because he said to me,
‘Release me, otherwise I will kill you.’ ” {19:18} Now David
was saved by fleeing, and he went to Samuel in Ramah. And
he reported to him all that Saul had done to him. And he and
Samuel went away and stayed at Naioth. {19:19} Then it was
reported to Saul by some, saying, “Behold, David is at
Naioth, in Ramah.” {19:20} Therefore, Saul sent officers to
seize David. And when they had seen a company of prophets
prophesying, with Samuel presiding over them, the Spirit of
the Lord also came to them, and they also began to prophesy.
{19:21} And when this was reported to Saul, he sent other
messengers. But they also prophesied. And again, Saul sent
messengers a third time. And they also prophesied. And Saul,
being exceedingly angry, {19:22} also went to Ramah himself.
And he went as far as the great cistern, which is in Socoh.
And he inquired and said, “In which place are Samuel and
David?” And it was told to him, “Behold, they are at Naioth,
in Ramah.” {19:23} And he went to Naioth, in Ramah, and
the Spirit of the Lord came to him also. And he continued on,
walking and prophesying, until he arrived at Naioth, in
Ramah. {19:24} And he also took off his garments, and he
prophesied with the others before Samuel. And he fell down
naked, throughout that day and night. From this, too, is
derived the proverb, “Could Saul also be among the
prophets?”


[1 Samuel 20] {20:1} Then David fled from Naioth, which is
in Ramah, and he went and said before Jonathan: “What
have I done? What is my iniquity, or what is my sin, against
your father, so that he would seek my life?” {20:2} And he
said to him: “May this not be! You shall not die. For my
father will not do anything, great or small, without first
revealing it to me. Therefore, has my father concealed this
word solely from me? By no means shall this be!” {20:3} And
he swore again to David. And David said: “Your father
certainly knows that I have found favor in your sight, and so
he will say, ‘Let Jonathan not know this, lest he be
saddened.’ So truly, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives,
there is only one step (if I may say it) separating me from
death.” {20:4} And Jonathan said to David, “Whatever your
soul will tell me, I will do for you.” {20:5} Then David said
to Jonathan: “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I am
accustomed to sit in a seat beside the king to eat. Therefore,
permit me that I may be hidden in the field, until the evening
of the third day. {20:6} If your father, looking around, will
seek me, you shall respond to him: ‘David asked me if he
may hurry to Bethlehem, his own city. For there are solemn
sacrifices in that place for all of his tribe together.’ {20:7} If
he will say, ‘It is well,’ then your servant will have peace. But
if he will be angry, know that his malice has reached its
height. {20:8} Therefore, show mercy to your servant. For
you have brought me, your servant, into a covenant of the
Lord with you. But if there is any iniquity in me, you may kill
me, and you shall not lead me in to your father.” {20:9} And
Jonathan said: “May this be far from you. For certainly, if I
ever realized that any wickedness was determined by my
father against you, I would not be able to do anything other
than report it to you.” {20:10} And David responded to
Jonathan, “Who will repeat it to me, if your father may
perhaps answer you harshly about me?” {20:11} And
Jonathan said to David, “Come, and let us go out into the
field.” And when they both had gone out into the field,
{20:12} Jonathan said before David: “O Lord, God of Israel,
if I will discover a decision by my father, tomorrow, or the
day after, and if there will be anything good concerning
David, and yet I do not immediately send to you and make it
known to you, {20:13} may the Lord do these things to
Jonathan, and may he add these other things. But if my
father will have persevered in malice against you, I will reveal
it to your ear, and I will send you away, so that you may go
in peace, and so that the Lord may be with you, just as he
was with my father. {20:14} And if I live, you shall show the
mercy of the Lord to me. Yet truly, if I die, {20:15} you shall
not take away your mercy from my house, even forever,
when the Lord will have rooted out the enemies of David,
each and every one of them, from the earth. May he take
Jonathan from his house, and may the Lord require it from
the hands of the enemies of David.” {20:16} Therefore,
Jonathan formed a covenant with the house of David. And
the Lord required it from the hands of the enemies of David.
{20:17} And Jonathan continued to swear to David, because
he loved him. For he loved him like his own soul.
{20:18} And Jonathan said to him: “Tomorrow is the new
moon, and you will be sought. {20:19} For your seat will be
empty until the day after tomorrow. Therefore, you shall
descend quickly, and you shall go to the place where you are
to be hidden, on a day when it is lawful to work, and you
shall remain beside the stone that is called Ezel. {20:20} And
I will shoot three arrows near it, and I will cast them as if I
were practicing for myself toward a mark. {20:21} Also, I
will send a boy, saying to him, ‘Go and bring the arrows to
me.’ {20:22} If I will say to the boy, ‘Behold, the arrows are
before you, take them up,’ you shall approach before me,
because there is peace for you, and there is nothing evil, as
the Lord lives. But if I will have spoken to the boy in this way,
‘Behold, the arrows are away from you,’ then you shall go
away in peace, for the Lord has released you. {20:23} Now
about the word that you and I have spoken, may the Lord be
between you and me, even forever.” {20:24} Therefore,
David was hidden in the field. And the new moon came, and
the king sat down to eat bread. {20:25} And when the king
had sat down on his chair, (according to custom) which was
beside the wall, Jonathan rose up, and Abner sat beside Saul,
and David’s place appeared empty. {20:26} And Saul did not
say anything on that day. For he was thinking that perhaps
something happened to him, so that he was not clean, or not
purified. {20:27} And when the second day after the new
moon had begun to dawn, David’s place again appeared
empty. And Saul said to Jonathan, his son, “Why has the son
of Jesse not arrived to eat, neither yesterday, nor today?”
{20:28} And Jonathan responded to Saul, “He petitioned me
earnestly that he might go to Bethlehem, {20:29} and he said:
‘Permit me. For there is a solemn sacrifice in the city. One of
my brothers has summoned me. Now therefore, if I have
found favor in your eyes, I will go quickly, and I will see my
brothers.’ For this reason, he has not come to the table of the
king.” {20:30} Then Saul, becoming angry against Jonathan,
said to him: “You son of a woman wantonly seizing a man!
Could I be ignorant that you love the son of Jesse, to your
own shame, and to the shame of your disgraceful mother?
{20:31} For all the days that the son of Jesse moves upon
earth, neither you, nor your kingdom, will be secure. And so,
send and bring him to me, here and now. For he is a son of
death.” {20:32} Then Jonathan, answering his father Saul,
said: “Why should he die? What has he done?” {20:33} And
Saul picked up a lance, so that he might strike him. And
Jonathan understood that it had been decided by his father
that David be put to death. {20:34} Therefore, Jonathan rose
up from the table in a rage of anger. And he did not eat bread
on the second day after the new moon. For he was saddened
over David, because his father had confounded him.
{20:35} And when the morning had begun to dawn,
Jonathan went into the field according to the agreement with
David, and a young boy was with him. {20:36} And he said
to his boy, “Go, and bring to me the arrows that I shoot.”
And when the boy had run, he shot another arrow away from
the boy. {20:37} And so, the boy went to the place of the
arrow which Jonathan had shot. And Jonathan cried out,
from behind the back of boy, and said: “Behold, the arrow is
there, farther away from you.” {20:38} And Jonathan cried
out again, from behind the back of the boy, saying, “Go
quickly! Do not stand still!” Then Jonathan’s boy collected
the arrows, and he brought them to his lord. {20:39} And he
did not understand at all what was happening. For only
Jonathan and David knew the matter. {20:40} Then
Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy, and he said to him,
“Go, and carry them into the city.” {20:41} And when the
boy had gone away, David rose up from his place, which
turned toward the south, and falling prone on the ground, he
reverenced three times. And kissing one another, they wept
together, but David more so. {20:42} Then Jonathan said to
David: “Go in peace. And let us both keep all that we have
ever sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘May the Lord be
between me and you, and between my offspring and your
offspring, even forever.’ ” {20:43} And David rose up and
went away. But Jonathan entered into the city.


[1 Samuel 21] {21:1} Then David went into Nob, to the
priest Ahimelech. And Ahimelech was astonished that David
had arrived. And he said to him, “Why are you alone, and no
one is with you?” {21:2} And David said to the priest
Ahimelech: “The king has instructed to me a word, and he
said: ‘Let no one know the matter about which you have
been sent by me, and what type of instructions I have given to
you. For I have also summoned servants to one and another
place.’ {21:3} Now therefore, if you have anything at hand,
even five loaves of bread, or whatever you may find, give it to
me.” {21:4} And the priest, responding to David, said to him:
“I have no common bread at hand, but only holy bread. Are
the young men clean, especially from women?” {21:5} And
David responded to the priest, and said to him: “Indeed, as
concerns being with women, we have abstained since
yesterday and the day before, when we departed, and so the
vessels of the young men have been holy. And although, this
journey has been defiled, it will also be sanctified today as
concerns the vessels.” {21:6} Therefore, the priest gave to
him sanctified bread. For there was no bread there, but only
the bread of the Presence, which had been taken away from
before the face of the Lord, so that fresh loaves might be set
up. {21:7} Now a certain man among the servants of Saul
was there on that day, inside the tabernacle of the Lord. And
his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the most powerful among
the shepherds of Saul. {21:8} Then David said to Ahimelech:
“Do you have, here at hand, a spear or a sword? For I did not
take my own sword, or my own weapons with me. For the
word of the king was urgent.” {21:9} And the priest said:
“Behold, here is the sword of Goliath, the Philistine, whom
you struck down in the Valley of Terebinth. It is wrapped up
in a cloak behind the ephod. If you wish to take this, take it.
For there is nothing else here except this.” And David said,
“There is nothing else like this, so give it to me.”
{21:10} And so, David rose up, and he fled on that day from
the face of Saul. And he went to Achish, the king of Gath.
{21:11} And the servants of Achish, when they had seen
David, said to him: “Is this not David, the king of the land?
Were they not singing about him, while dancing, saying,
‘Saul has struck down a thousand, and David ten
thousand?’ ” {21:12} Then David took these words to his
heart, and he became exceedingly afraid before the face of
Achish, the king of Gath. {21:13} And he altered his mouth
before them, and he slipped down between their hands. And
he stumbled against the doors of the gate. And his spit flowed
down his beard. {21:14} And Achish said to his servants:
“You saw that the man is insane. Why did you bring him to
me? {21:15} Or do we have need of those who are mad, so
that you would bring in this one, to behave madly in my
presence? How did this man get into my house?”


[1 Samuel 22] {22:1} Then David went away from there, and
he fled to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all
of his father’s house had heard of it, they descended to him
there. {22:2} And all those left in distress, or oppressed by
debt to strangers, or bitter in soul, gathered themselves to him.
And he became their leader, and about four hundred men
were with him. {22:3} And David set out from there to
Mizpah, which is of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab,
“I beg you, let my father and my mother remain with you,
until I know what God will do for me.” {22:4} And he left
them before the face of the king of Moab. And they stayed
with him for all the days that David was in the stronghold.
{22:5} And the prophet Gad said to David: “Do not choose
to stay in the stronghold. Set out and go into the land of
Judah.” And so, David set out, and he went into the forest of
Hereth. {22:6} And Saul heard that David, and the men who
were with him, had been seen. Now while Saul was staying
in Gibeah, and while he was in the forest that is in Ramah,
holding a spear in his hand, with all his servants standing
around him, {22:7} he said to his servants who were assisting
him: “Listen now, you sons of Benjamin! Will the son of
Jesse give to all of you fields and vineyards, and will he make
all of you tribunes or centurions, {22:8} so that you would all
conspire against me, and so that there is no one to inform me,
especially when even my son has formed a pact with the son
of Jesse? There is no one among you who grieves for my
situation, or who would report to me. For my son has raised
up my servant against me, seeking to betray me, even to this
day.” {22:9} Then Doeg, the Edomite, who was standing
near, and who was first among the servants of Saul,
responding, said: “I saw the son of Jesse, in Nob, with
Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, the priest. {22:10} And he
consulted the Lord for him, and he gave him food. Moreover,
he gave him the sword of Goliath, the Philistine.”
{22:11} Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech, the priest,
the son of Ahitub, and all of his father’s house, the priests
who were in Nob, and they all came before the king.
{22:12} And Saul said to Ahimelech, “Listen, son of
Ahitub.” He responded, “Here I am, lord.” {22:13} And Saul
said to him: “Why have you conspired against me, you and
the son of Jesse? For you gave him bread and a sword, and
you consulted the Lord for him, so that he might rise up
against me, continuing as a traitor even to this day.”
{22:14} And responding to the king, Ahimelech said: “But
who among all your servants is as faithful as David? And he
is the son-in-law of the king, and he goes forth at your order,
and he is a glory within your house. {22:15} Did I begin to
consult the Lord for him today? May this be far from me! Let
not the king suspect this kind of thing against his servant, nor
against anyone in all my father’s house. For your servant did
not know anything about this matter, either small or great.”
{22:16} And the king said, “You shall die a death,
Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house!” {22:17} And
the king said to the emissaries who were standing around him:
“You shall turn, and put to death the priests of the Lord. For
their hand is with David. They knew that he had fled, and
they did not reveal it to me.” But the servants of the king
were not willing to extend their hands against the priests of
the Lord. {22:18} And the king said to Doeg, “You shall turn
and rush against the priests.” And Doeg, the Edomite, turned
and rushed against the priests. And he massacred, on that day,
eighty-five men, vested with the linen ephod. {22:19} Then
he struck Nob, the city of the priests, with the edge of the
sword; he struck down men and women, little ones and
infants, as well as ox and donkey and sheep, with the edge of
the sword. {22:20} But one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son
of Ahitub, whose name was Abiathar, escaping, fled to David.
{22:21} And he reported to him that Saul had slain the priests
of the Lord. {22:22} And David said to Abiathar: “I knew,
on that day when Doeg, the Edomite was there, that without
doubt he would report it to Saul. I am guilty of all the souls of
your father’s house. {22:23} You should remain with me. Do
not be afraid. For he who seeks my life, seeks your life also,
but with me you shall be saved.”


[1 Samuel 23] {23:1} And they reported to David, saying,
“Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they
are plundering the grain stores.” {23:2} Therefore, David
consulted the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and strike down these
Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go, and you shall
strike down the Philistines, and you shall save Keilah.”
{23:3} And the men who were with David said to him,
“Behold, we continue in fear here in Judea; how much more
so, if we go into Keilah against the troops of the Philistines?”
{23:4} Therefore, David consulted the Lord again. And
responding, he said to him: “Rise up, and go into Keilah. For
I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.”
{23:5} Therefore, David and his men went into Keilah. And
they fought against the Philistines, and they took away their
cattle, and they struck them with a great slaughter. And
David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. {23:6} And in that
time, when Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, was in exile with
David, he had descended to Keilah, having an ephod with
him. {23:7} Then it was reported to Saul that David had
gone to Keilah. And Saul said: “The Lord has delivered him
into my hands. For he is enclosed, having entered into a city
which has gates and bars.” {23:8} And Saul instructed all the
people to descend in order to fight against Keilah, and to
besiege David and his men. {23:9} And when David had
realized that Saul had secretly prepared evil against him, he
said to Abiathar, the priest, “Bring the ephod.” {23:10} And
David said: “O Lord God of Israel, your servant has heard a
report that Saul is planning to go to Keilah, so that he may
overturn the city because of me. {23:11} Will the men of
Keilah deliver me into his hands? And will Saul descend, just
as your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, reveal to
your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will descend.”
{23:12} And David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me,
and the men who are with me, into the hands of Saul?” And
the Lord said, “They will deliver you.” {23:13} Therefore,
David, and his men of about six hundred, rose up, and,
departing from Keilah, they wandered here and there,
aimlessly. And it was reported to Saul that David had fled
from Keilah, and was saved. For this reason, he chose not to
go out. {23:14} Then David stayed in the desert, in very
strong places. And he stayed on a mount in the wilderness of
Ziph, on a shady mount. Nevertheless, Saul was seeking him
every day. But the Lord did not deliver him into his hands.
{23:15} And David saw that Saul had gone out, so that he
might seek his life. Now David was in the desert of Ziph, in
the woods. {23:16} And Jonathan, the son of Saul, rose up
and went to David in the woods, and he strengthened his
hands in God. And he said to him: {23:17} “Do not be afraid.
For the hand of my father, Saul, will not find you. And you
shall reign over Israel. And I will be second to you. And even
my father knows this.” {23:18} Therefore, they both struck a
pact before the Lord. And David stayed in the woods. But
Jonathan returned to his house. {23:19} Then the Ziphites
ascended to Saul at Gibeah, saying: “Behold, is not David
hidden with us in very secure places in the woods on the hill
of Hachilah, which is to the right of the desert? {23:20} Now
therefore, if your soul has desired to descend, then descend.
Then it will be for us to deliver him into the hands of the
king.” {23:21} And Saul said: “You have been blessed by the
Lord. For you have grieved for my situation.
{23:22} Therefore, I beg you, go forth, and prepare diligently,
and act carefully. And consider the place where his foot may
be, and who may have seen him there. For he thinks,
concerning me, that I craftily plan treachery against him.
{23:23} Consider and seek out all his hiding places, in which
he may be concealed. And return to me with certainty about
the matter, so that I may go with you. But if he would even
press himself into the earth, I will search him out, amid all
the thousands of Judah.” {23:24} And rising up, they went to
Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the desert
of Maon, in the plain to the right of Jeshimon. {23:25} Then
Saul and his allies went to seek him. And this was reported to
David. And immediately, he descended to the rock, and he
moved about in the desert of Maon. And when Saul had
heard of it, he pursued David in the desert of Maon.
{23:26} And Saul went to one side of the mountain. But
David and his men were on the other side of the mountain.
Then David was despairing that he would be able to escape
from the face of Saul. And Saul and his men enclosed David
and his men in the manner of a crown, so that they might
capture them. {23:27} And a messenger came to Saul, saying,
“Hurry and come, because the Philistines have poured
themselves out upon the land.” {23:28} Therefore, Saul
turned back, ceasing in the pursuit of David, and he traveled
to meet the Philistines. For this reason, they called that place,
the Rock of Division.


[1 Samuel 24] {24:1} Then David ascended from there, and
he lived in very secure places in Engedi. {24:2} And when
Saul had returned after pursuing the Philistines, they reported
to him, saying, “Behold, David is in the desert of Engedi.”
{24:3} Therefore, Saul, taking three thousand elect men from
all of Israel, traveled in order to search for David and his men,
even upon the most broken rocks, which are passable only to
mountain goats. {24:4} And he arrived at the sheepfolds,
which presented themselves along the way. And a cave was
in that place, which Saul entered, so that he might ease his
bowels. But David and his men were hiding in the interior
part of the cave. {24:5} And the servants of David said to
him: “Behold the day, about which the Lord said to you, ‘I
will deliver your enemy to you, so that you may do to him as
it will be pleasing in your eyes.’ ” Then David rose up, and
he quietly cut off the edge of Saul’s cloak. {24:6} After this,
his own heart struck David, because he had cut off the edge
of Saul’s cloak. {24:7} And he said to his men: “May the
Lord be gracious to me, lest I do this thing to my lord, the
Christ of the Lord, so that I lay my hand upon him. For he is
the Christ of the Lord.” {24:8} And David restrained his men
with his words, and he would not permit them to rise up
against Saul. And so Saul, going out of the cave, continued to
undertake his journey. {24:9} Then David also rose up after
him. And departing from the cave, he cried out behind the
back of Saul, saying: “My lord, the king!” And Saul looked
behind him. And David, bowing himself face down to the
ground, reverenced. {24:10} And he said to Saul: “Why do
you listen to the words of men who say: ‘David seeks evil
against you?’ {24:11} Behold, this day your eyes have seen
that the Lord has delivered you into my hand, in the cave.
And I thought that I might kill you. But my eye has spared
you. For I said: I will not extend my hand against my lord,
for he is the Christ of the Lord. {24:12} Moreover, see and
know, O my father, the edge of your cloak in my hand. For
though I cut off the top of your cloak, I was not willing to
extend my hand against you. Turn your soul and see that
there is no evil in my hand, nor any iniquity or sin against
you. Yet you lie in wait for my life, so that you may take it
away. {24:13} May the Lord judge between me and you.
And may the Lord vindicate me from you. But my hand will
not be against you. {24:14} So too, it is said in the ancient
proverb, ‘From the impious, impiety will go forth.’ Therefore,
my hand will not be upon you. {24:15} Whom are you
pursuing, O king of Israel? Whom are you pursuing? You are
pursuing a dead dog, a single flea. {24:16} May the Lord be
the judge, and may he judge between me and you. And may
he see and judge my case, and rescue me from your hand.”
{24:17} And when David had completed speaking words in
this way to Saul, Saul said, “Could this be your voice, my son
David?” And Saul lifted up his voice, and he wept.
{24:18} And he said to David: “You are more just than I am.
For you have distributed good to me, but I have repaid evil to
you. {24:19} And you have revealed this day the good that
you have done for me: how the Lord delivered me into your
hand, but you did not kill me. {24:20} For who, when he will
have found his enemy, will release him along a good path? So
may the Lord repay you for this good turn, because you have
acted on my behalf this day. {24:21} And now I know
certainly that you shall be king, and you shall have the
kingdom of Israel in your hand. {24:22} Swear to me in the
Lord that you will not take away my offspring after me, nor
take away my name from the house of my father.”
{24:23} And David swore to Saul. Therefore, Saul went
away to his own house. And David and his men ascended to
places that were more secure.


[1 Samuel 25] {25:1} Then Samuel died, and all of Israel
gathered together, and they mourned him. And they buried
him at his house in Ramah. And David, rising up, descended
to the desert of Paran. {25:2} Now there was a certain man in
the wilderness of Maon, and his possessions were at Carmel.
And this man was exceedingly great. And three thousand
sheep, and one thousand goats were his. And it happened
that he was shearing his sheep at Carmel. {25:3} Now the
name of this man was Nabal. And the name of his wife was
Abigail. And she was a very prudent and beautiful woman.
But her husband was hard-hearted, and very wicked, and
malicious. And he was of the stock of Caleb.
{25:4} Therefore, when David, in the desert, had heard that
Nabal was shearing his sheep, {25:5} he sent ten young men,
and he said to them: “Ascend to Carmel, and go to Nabal,
and greet him in my name peacefully. {25:6} And you shall
say: ‘Peace be to my brothers and to you, and peace to your
house, and peace to whatever you have. {25:7} I have heard
that your shepherds, who were with us in the desert, were
shearing. We have never troubled them, nor was anything
from the flock missing to them at any time, during the entire
time that they have been with us in Carmel. {25:8} Question
your servants, and they will tell you. Now therefore, may
your servants find favor in your eyes. For we have arrived on
a good day. Whatever your hand will find, give it to your
servants and to your son David.’ ” {25:9} And when the
servants of David had arrived, they spoke to Nabal all these
words in the name of David. And then they were silent.
{25:10} But Nabal, responding to the servants of David, said:
“Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? Today, servants
who are fleeing from their lords are increasing.
{25:11} Therefore, shall I take my bread, and my water, and
the meat of the cattle that I have slain for my shearers, and
give it to men, when I do not know where they are from?”
{25:12} And so the servants of David traveled back along
their way. And returning, they went and reported to him all
the words that he had said. {25:13} Then David said to his
servants, “Let each one gird his sword.” And each one girded
his sword. And David also girded his sword. And about four
hundred men followed David. But two hundred remained
behind with the supplies. {25:14} Then it was reported to
Abigail, the wife of Nabal, by one of his servants, saying:
“Behold, David has sent messengers from the desert, so that
they might speak kindly to our lord. But he turned them away.
{25:15} These men were good enough to us, and were not
troublesome. Neither did we ever lose anything, during the
entire time that we conversed with them in the desert.
{25:16} They were a wall to us, as much in the night as in the
day, during all the days that we were with them, pasturing
the sheep. {25:17} For this reason, consider and realize what
you should do. For evil has been decided against your
husband and against your house. And he is a son of Belial, so
that no one is able to speak to him.” {25:18} And so Abigail
hurried, and she took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of
wine, and five cooked sheep, and five measures of cooked
grain, and one hundred clusters of dried grapes, and two
hundred masses of dried figs, and she set them upon donkeys.
{25:19} And she said to her servants: “Go before me. Behold,
I will follow after your back.” But she did not reveal it to her
husband, Nabal. {25:20} And when she had climbed on a
donkey, and was descending to the base of the mountain,
David and his men were descending to meet her. And she
met them. {25:21} And David said: “Truly, in vain have I
preserved all that was his in the wilderness, so that nothing
perished out of all that belonged to him. And he has repaid
evil to me for good. {25:22} May God do these things, by the
enemies of David, and may he add these other things, if I
leave behind until morning, out of all that belongs to him,
anything that urinates against a wall.” {25:23} Then, when
Abigail had seen David, she hurried and descended from the
donkey. And she fell upon her face before David, and she
reverenced on the ground. {25:24} And she fell at his feet,
and she said: “May this iniquity be upon me, my lord. I beg
you, let your handmaid speak to your ears, and listen to the
words of your servant. {25:25} Let not my lord, the king, I
beseech you, set his heart upon this iniquitous man, Nabal.
For in accord with his name, he is senseless, and foolishness
is with him. But I, your handmaid, did not see your servants,
my lord, whom you had sent. {25:26} Now therefore, my
lord, as your soul lives, and as the Lord lives, who has kept
your hand to yourself, and has prevented you from coming to
blood: now, let your enemies be like Nabal, and like all those
who are seeking evil for my lord. {25:27} Because of this,
accept this blessing, which your handmaid has brought to
you, my lord. And give it to the young men who follow you,
my lord. {25:28} Forgive the iniquity of your handmaid. For
the Lord will surely make for you, my lord, a faithful house,
because you, my lord, fight the battles of the Lord. Therefore,
let no evil be found in you all the days of your life.
{25:29} For if a man, at any time, will rise up, pursuing you
and seeking your life, the life of my lord will be preserved, as
if in the sheave of the living, with the Lord your God. But the
lives of your enemies will be spun around, as if with the force
of a whirling sling. {25:30} Therefore, when the Lord will
have done for you, my lord, all the good that he has spoken
about you, and when he will have appointed you as leader
over Israel, {25:31} this will not be for you a regret or a
scruple of the heart, my lord, that you had shed innocent
blood, or had taken revenge for yourself. And when the Lord
will have done well for my lord, you shall remember your
handmaid.” {25:32} And David said to Abigail: “Blessed is
the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me.
And blessed is your eloquence. {25:33} And blessed are you,
who prevented me today from going to blood, and from
taking revenge for myself with my own hand. {25:34} But
instead, as the Lord God of Israel lives, he has prevented me
from doing evil to you. But if you had not come quickly to
meet me, there would not have been left to Nabal by the
morning light, anything that urinates against a wall.”
{25:35} Then David received from her hand all that she had
brought to him. And he said to her: “Go in peace to your
own house. Behold, I have heeded your voice, and I have
honored your face.” {25:36} Then Abigail went to Nabal.
And behold, he was holding a feast for himself in his house,
like the feast of a king. And the heart of Nabal was cheerful.
For he was greatly inebriated. And she did not reveal a word
to him, small or great, until morning. {25:37} Then, at first
light, when Nabal had digested his wine, his wife revealed to
him these words, and his heart died within himself, and he
became like a stone. {25:38} And after ten days had passed,
the Lord struck Nabal, and he died. {25:39} And when
David had heard that Nabal was dead, he said: “Blessed is
the Lord, who has judged the case of my reproach at the
hand of Nabal, and who has preserved his servant from evil.
And the Lord has repaid the malice of Nabal upon his own
head.” Then David sent and he spoke with Abigail, so that he
might take her to himself as wife. {25:40} And David’s
servants went to Abigail at Carmel, and they spoke to her,
saying, “David has sent us to you, so that he might take you
to himself as wife.” {25:41} And rising up, she reverenced
prone on the ground, and she said, “Behold, let your servant
be a handmaid, to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.”
{25:42} And Abigail rose up and hurried, and she climbed
upon a donkey, and five girls went with her, her attendants.
And she followed the messengers of David, and she became
his wife. {25:43} Moreover, David also took Ahinoam of
Jezreel. And both of them were his wives. {25:44} Then Saul
gave his daughter Michal, the wife of David, to Palti, the son
of Laish, who was from Gallim.


[1 Samuel 26] {26:1} And the Ziphites went to Saul at
Gibeah, saying: “Behold, David is hidden on the hill of
Hachilah, which is opposite the wilderness.” {26:2} And Saul
rose up, and he descended into the desert of Ziph, and with
him three thousand elect men of Israel, so that he might seek
David in the desert of Ziph. {26:3} And Saul encamped at
Gibeah on Hachilah, which was opposite the wilderness on
the way. But David was living in the desert. Then, seeing that
Saul had arrived after him in the wilderness, {26:4} he sent
explorers, and he learned that he certainly had arrived in that
place. {26:5} And David rose up secretly, and he went to the
place where Saul was. And when he had seen the place where
Saul was sleeping, and Abner, the son of Ner, the leader of
his military, and Saul sleeping in a tent, and the remainder of
the common people all around him, {26:6} David spoke to
Ahimelech, the Hittite, and to Abishai, the son of Zeruiah,
the brother of Joab, saying, “Who will descend with me to
Saul in the camp?” And Abishai said, “I will descend with
you.” {26:7} Therefore, David and Abishai went to the
people by night, and they found Saul lying down and sleeping
in the tent, with his spear fixed in the ground at his head.
And Abner and the people were sleeping all around him.
{26:8} And Abishai said to David: “God has enclosed your
enemy this day in your hands. Now therefore, I will pierce
him with my lance, through to the ground, once, and there
will not need to be a second.” {26:9} And David said to
Abishai: “You shall not kill him. For who may extend his
hand against the Christ of the Lord, and yet be innocent?”
{26:10} And David said: “As the Lord lives, unless the Lord
himself will strike him, or unless his day to die will have
arrived, or unless, descending into battle, he will perish,
{26:11} may the Lord be gracious to me, so that I may not
extend my hand against the Christ of the Lord. Now
therefore, take the spear that is at his head, and the cup of
water, and let us go.” {26:12} And so, David took the spear,
and the cup of water that was at Saul’s head, and they went
away. And there was no one who saw it, or realized it, or
awakened, but they were all sleeping. For a deep sleep from
the Lord had fallen over them. {26:13} And when David had
crossed over to the opposite side, and had stood upon the top
of the hill far away, so that there was a great interval between
them, {26:14} David cried out to the people, and to Abner,
the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not respond, Abner?” And
responding, Abner said, “Who are you, that you would cry
out and disquiet the king?” {26:15} And David said to Abner:
“Are you not a man? And who else is like you in Israel? Then
why have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the
people entered, so that he might kill the king, your lord.
{26:16} This is not good, what you have done. As the Lord
lives, you are sons of death, because you have not guarded
your lord, the Christ of the Lord. Now therefore, where is the
king’s spear, and where is the cup of water that was at his
head?” {26:17} Then Saul recognized the voice of David, and
he said, “Is this not your voice, my son David?” And David
said, “It is my voice, my lord the king.” {26:18} And he said:
“For what reason has my lord pursued his servant? What
have I done? Or what evil is there in my hand? {26:19} Now
therefore, listen, I beg you, my lord the king, to the words of
your servant. If the Lord has stirred you up against me, let
him make the sacrifice fragrant. But if the sons of men have
done so, they are accursed in the sight of the Lord, who has
cast me out this day, so that I would not live within the
inheritance of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve strange gods.’
{26:20} And now, let not my blood be poured out upon the
earth before the Lord. For the king of Israel has gone out, so
that he might seek a flea, just as the partridge is pursued amid
the mountains.” {26:21} And Saul said: “I have sinned.
Return, my son David. For I will never again do evil to you,
because my life has been precious in your eyes this day. For it
is apparent that I have acted senselessly, and have been
ignorant of very many things.” {26:22} And responding,
David said: “Behold, the king’s spear. Let one of the servants
of the king cross over and take it. {26:23} And the Lord will
repay each one according to his justice and faith. For the
Lord has delivered you this day into my hand, but I was not
willing to extend my hand against the Christ of the Lord.
{26:24} And just as your soul has been magnified this day in
my eyes, so let my soul be magnified in the eyes of the Lord,
and may he free me from all distress.” {26:25} Then Saul
said to David: “You are blessed, my son David. And
whatever you may do, it shall certainly succeed.” And David
departed on his way. And Saul returned to his place.


[1 Samuel 27] {27:1} And David said in his heart: “At some
time, I will one day fall into the hands of Saul. Is it not better
if I flee, and be saved in the land of the Philistines, so that
Saul may despair and cease to seek me in all the parts of
Israel? Therefore, I will flee away from his hands.”
{27:2} And David rose up and went away, he and the six
hundred men who were with him, to Achish, the son of
Maoch, the king of Gath. {27:3} And David lived with
Achish at Gath, he and his men: each man with his
household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam, the
Jezreelite, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.
{27:4} And it was reported to Saul that David had fled to
Gath. And so, he did not continue to seek him. {27:5} And
David said to Achish: “If I have found favor in your eyes, let
a place be given to me in one of the cities of this region, so
that I may live there. For why should your servant stay in the
city of the king with you?” {27:6} And so, Achish gave
Ziklag to him on that day. And for this reason, Ziklag
belongs to the kings of Judah, even to this day. {27:7} Now
the number of days that David lived in the region of the
Philistines was four months. {27:8} And David and his men
went up and took plunder from Geshuri, and from Girzi, and
from the Amalekites. For in the land long ago, these were the
inhabitants of the area, going from Shur as far as the land of
Egypt. {27:9} And David struck the entire land. Neither did
he leave alive man or woman. And he took away the sheep,
and the oxen, and the donkeys, and the camels, and the
garments. And he returned and went to Achish.
{27:10} Then Achish said to him, “Whom did you go out
against today?” And David responded, “Against the south of
Judah, and against the south of Jerahmeel, and against the
south of Keni.” {27:11} Neither man nor woman was left
alive by David. Neither did he lead back any of them to Gath,
saying, “Lest perhaps they may speak against us.” David did
these things. And this was his decision during all the days
that he lived in the region of the Philistines.
{27:12} Therefore, Achish trusted David, saying: “He has
worked much harm against his people Israel. And so, he will
be a servant to me forever.”


[1 Samuel 28] {28:1} Now it happened that, in those days,
the Philistines gathered together their troops, so that they
might be prepared for war against Israel. And Achish said to
David, “I know now, certainly, that you will go out with me
to war, you and your men.” {28:2} And David said to
Achish, “You know now what your servant will do.” And
Achish said to David, “And so, I will appoint you to guard
my head for all days.” {28:3} Now Samuel was dead, and all
of Israel mourned for him, and they buried him in Ramah,
his city. And Saul took away the magi and soothsayers from
the land. {28:4} And the Philistines gathered together, and
they arrived and made camp at Shunem. Then Saul also
gathered all of Israel, and he arrived at Gilboa. {28:5} And
Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, and he was afraid, and
his heart was exceedingly terrified. {28:6} And he consulted
the Lord. But he did not respond to him, neither by dreams,
nor by priests, nor by prophets. {28:7} And Saul said to his
servants, “Seek for me a woman having a divining spirit, and
I will go to her, and consult through her.” And his servants
said to him, “There is a woman having a divining spirit at
Endor.” {28:8} Therefore, he changed his usual appearance,
and he put on other clothes. And he went, and two men with
him, and they came to the woman by night. And he said to
her, “Divine for me, by your divining spirit, and raise up for
me whomever I will tell you.” {28:9} And the woman said to
him: “Behold, you know how much Saul has done, and how
he has wiped away the magi and soothsayers from the land.
Why then do you set a trap for my life, so that it will be put
to death?” {28:10} And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying,
“As the Lord lives, nothing evil will befall you because of this
matter.” {28:11} And the woman said to him, “Whom shall I
raise up for you?” And he said, “Raise up for me Samuel.”
{28:12} And when the woman had seen Samuel, she cried
out with a loud voice, and she said to Saul: “Why have you
afflicted me? For you are Saul!” {28:13} And the king said to
her: “Do not be afraid. What have you seen?” And the
woman said to Saul, “I saw gods ascending from the earth.”
{28:14} And he said to her, “What appearance does he
have?” And she said, “An old man ascends, and he is clothed
in a cloak.” And Saul understood that it was Samuel. And he
bowed himself upon his face on the ground, and he
reverenced. {28:15} Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have
you disquieted me, so that I would be raised up?” And Saul
said: “I am greatly distressed. For the Philistines fight against
me, and God has withdrawn from me, and he is not willing
to heed me, neither by the hand of prophets, nor by dreams.
Therefore, I have summoned you, so that you would reveal
to me what I should do.” {28:16} And Samuel said, “Why
do you question me, though the Lord has withdrawn from
you, and has crossed over to your rival? {28:17} For the Lord
will do to you just as he spoke by my hand. And he will tear
your kingdom from your hand. And he will give it to your
neighbor David. {28:18} For you did not obey the voice of
the Lord, and you did not carry out the wrath of his fury
upon Amalek. For this reason, the Lord has done to you
what you are enduring this day. {28:19} And the Lord also
will give Israel into the hands of the Philistines, along with
you. Then tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. But
the Lord will also deliver the camp of Israel into the hands of
the Philistines.” {28:20} And immediately, Saul fell stretched
out on the ground. For he was terrified by the words of
Samuel. And there was no strength in him. For he had not
eaten bread all that day. {28:21} And so, the woman entered
to Saul, (for he was very troubled) and she said to him:
“Behold, your handmaid has obeyed your voice, and I have
placed my life in my hand. And I have heeded the words
which you spoke to me. {28:22} And so now, I ask you to
heed the voice of your handmaid, and let me place before you
a morsel of bread, so that, by eating, you may recover
strength, and you may be able to undertake the journey.”
{28:23} But he refused, and he said, “I will not eat.” But his
servants and the woman urged him, and after some time,
heeding their voice, he rose up from the ground, and he sat
upon the bed. {28:24} Now the woman had a fatted calf in
the house, and she hurried and killed it. And taking meal, she
kneaded it, and she baked unleavened bread. {28:25} And
she set it before Saul and before his servants. And when they
had eaten, they rose up, and they walked all through that
night.


[1 Samuel 29] {29:1} Then all the troops of the Philistines
were gathered together at Aphek. But Israel also made camp,
above the spring which is in Jezreel. {29:2} And indeed, the
princes of the Philistines advanced by hundreds and by
thousands; but David and his men were in the rear with
Achish. {29:3} And the leaders of the Philistines said to
Achish, “What do these Hebrews intend to do?” And Achish
said to the leaders of the Philistines: “Could you be ignorant
about David, who was the servant of Saul, the king of Israel,
and who has been with me for many days, even years, and I
have not found within him anything, from the day that he
fled to me, even to this day?” {29:4} Then the leaders of the
Philistines became angry against him, and they said to him:
“Let this man return, and let him settle in his place, which
you appointed for him. But let him not descend with us to
battle, lest he become an adversary to us when we begin to
fight. For in what other way will he be able to please his lord,
except with our heads? {29:5} Is not this the David, about
whom they were singing, while dancing, saying: ‘Saul struck
down his thousands, but David his ten thousands?’ ”
{29:6} Therefore, Achish called David, and he said to him:
“As the Lord lives, you are good and righteous in my sight,
even in your departure and your return with me in the
military camp. And I have not found anything evil in you,
from the day that you came to me, even to this day. But you
are not pleasing to the princes. {29:7} Therefore, return, and
go in peace, so that you do not offend the eyes of the princes
of the Philistines.” {29:8} And David said to Achish, “But
what have I done, or what have you found in me, your
servant, from the day that I was in your sight to this day, so
that I may not go out and fight against the enemies of my
lord, the king?” {29:9} And in response, Achish said to
David: “I know that you are good in my sight, like an angel
of God. But the leaders of the Philistines have said: ‘He shall
not go up with us to the battle.’ {29:10} And so, rise up in the
morning, you and the servants of your lord who came with
you. And when you have risen up in the night, as it begins to
be light, go forth.” {29:11} And so David rose up in the night,
he and his men, so that they might set out in the morning.
And they returned to the land of the Philistines. But the
Philistines ascended to Jezreel.


[1 Samuel 30] {30:1} And when David and his men had
arrived at Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made
an attack on the south side against Ziklag. And they had
struck Ziklag, and burned it with fire. {30:2} And they had
led the women in it away as captives, from the small to the
great. And they had not killed anyone, but they led them
away with them. And then they traveled on their journey.
{30:3} Therefore, when David and his men had arrived at the
city, and had found it burned with fire, and that their wives
and their sons and daughters had been led away as captives,
{30:4} David and the people who were with him lifted up
their voices. And they mourned until the tears in them failed.
{30:5} For indeed, the two wives of David also had been led
away as captives: Ahinoam, the Jezreelite, and Abigail, the
wife of Nabal of Carmel. {30:6} And David was greatly
saddened. And the people were willing to stone him, because
the soul of every man was bitter over his sons and daughters.
But David was strengthened by the Lord his God.
{30:7} And he said to the priest Abiathar, the son of
Ahimelech, “Bring the ephod to me.” And Abiathar brought
the ephod to David. {30:8} And David consulted the Lord,
saying, “Shall I pursue these robbers, and will I overtake
them, or not?” And the Lord said to him: “Pursue. For
without doubt, you will overtake them and find the prey.”
{30:9} Therefore, David went away, he and the six hundred
men who were with him, and they arrived as far as the
torrent Besor. And certain ones, being weary, stayed there.
{30:10} But David pursued, he and four hundred men. For
two hundred stayed, who, being weary, were not able to cross
the torrent Besor. {30:11} And they found an Egyptian man
in the field, and they led him to David. And they gave him
bread, so that he might eat, and water, so that he might drink,
{30:12} and also a section of a mass of dried figs, and two
clusters of dried grapes. And when he had eaten, his spirit
returned, and he was refreshed. For he had not eaten bread,
nor drank water, for three days and three nights. {30:13} And
so David said to him: “To whom do you belong? Or where
are you from? And where are you going?” And he said: “I am
a young man of Egypt, the servant of an Amalekite man. But
my lord abandoned me, because I began to be sick the day
before yesterday. {30:14} For indeed, we broke forth to the
southern side of Cherethi, and against Judah, and to the
south of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.”
{30:15} And David said to him, “Are you able to lead me to
this battle line?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you
will not kill me, and that you will not deliver me into the
hands of my lord, and I will lead you to this battle line.” And
David swore to him. {30:16} And when he had led him,
behold, they were stretched out on the face of the land
everywhere, eating and drinking and celebrating, as if it were
a feast day, because of all the prey and spoils that they had
taken from the land of the Philistines, and from the land of
Judah. {30:17} And David struck them down from evening
until the evening of the next day. And no one among them
escaped, except four hundred youths, who had climbed on
camels and fled. {30:18} Therefore, David rescued all that
the Amalekites had taken, and he rescued his two wives.
{30:19} And nothing was missing, from small even to great,
among the sons and daughters, and among the spoils, and
among everything whatsoever that they had seized. David
returned it all. {30:20} And he took all the flocks and the
herds, and he drove them before his face. And they said,
“This is the prey of David.” {30:21} Then David arrived at
the two hundred men, who, being weary, had stayed, for they
had not been able to follow David, and he had ordered them
to remain at the torrent Besor. And they went out to meet
David, and the people who were with him. Then David,
drawing near to the people, greeted them peacefully.
{30:22} And all the wicked and iniquitous men, out of the
men who had gone with David, responding, said: “Since they
did not go with us, we will not give to them anything from
the prey that we have rescued. But let his wife and children
be enough for each of them; when they have accepted this,
they may go back.” {30:23} But David said: “You shall not
do this, my brothers, with these things that the Lord has
delivered to us, for he has preserved us, and he has given into
our hands the robbers who broke out among us. {30:24} And
so, let no one heed you over these words. But equal shall be
the portion of him who descended to the battle, and of him
who remained with the supplies, and they will divide it
alike.” {30:25} And this has been done from that day and
thereafter. And it was established as a statute, and as if a law,
in Israel even to this day. {30:26} Then David went to Ziklag,
and he sent gifts from the prey to the elders of Judah, his
neighbors, saying, “Receive a blessing from the prey of the
enemies of the Lord,” {30:27} to those who were in Bethel,
and who were in Ramoth toward the south, and who were in
Jattir, {30:28} and who were in Aroer, and who were in
Siphmoth, and who were in Eshtemoa, {30:29} and who
were in Racal, and who were in the cities of Jerahmeel, and
who were in the cities of Keni, {30:30} and who were in
Hormah, and who were at the lake of Ashan, and who were
in Athach, {30:31} and who were in Hebron, and to the
remainder who were in those places where David had stayed,
he and his men.


[1 Samuel 31] {31:1} Now the Philistines were fighting
against Israel. And the men of Israel fled before the face of
the Philistines, and they fell down slain on mount Gilboa.
{31:2} And the Philistines rushed upon Saul, and upon his
sons, and they struck down Jonathan, and Abinadab, and
Malchishua, the sons of Saul. {31:3} And the entire weight of
the battle was turned against Saul. And the men who were
archers pursued him. And he was severely wounded by the
archers. {31:4} Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw
your sword and strike me, otherwise these uncircumcised
may come and kill me, mocking me.” And his armor bearer
was not willing. For he had been struck with an exceedingly
great fear. And so, Saul took his own sword, and he fell upon
it. {31:5} And when his armor bearer had seen this, namely,
that Saul had died, he too fell upon his sword, and he died
with him. {31:6} Therefore, Saul died, and his three sons,
and his armor bearer, and all his men, on the same day
together. {31:7} Then, seeing that the men of the Israelites
had fled, and that Saul had died with his sons, the men of
Israel who were across the valley or beyond the Jordan
abandoned their cities, and they fled. And the Philistines
went and lived there. {31:8} Then, when the next day arrived,
the Philistines came, so that they might despoil the slain. And
they found Saul and his three sons lying on mount Gilboa.
{31:9} And they cut off the head of Saul. And they despoiled
him of the armor, and they sent it into the land of the
Philistines all around, so that it might be announced in the
temples of the idols and among their people. {31:10} And
they placed his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth. But his
body they suspended on the wall of Bethshan. {31:11} And
when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead had heard all that the
Philistines had done to Saul, {31:12} all the most valiant men
rose up, and they walked all night, and they took the body of
Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan.
And they went to Jabesh Gilead, and they burned them there.
{31:13} And they took their bones, and they buried them in
the forest of Jabesh. And they fasted for seven days.


** The Second Book of Samuel **


[2 Samuel 1] {1:1} Now it happened that, after Saul died,
David returned from the slaughter of Amalek, and he
remained for two days at Ziklag. {1:2} Then, on the third day,
a man appeared, arriving from the camp of Saul, with his
garments torn and dust sprinkled on his head. And when he
came to David, he fell on his face, and he reverenced.
{1:3} And David said to him, “Where have you come from?”
And he said to him, “I have fled from the camp of Israel.”
{1:4} And David said to him: “What is the word that has
happened? Reveal it to me.” And he said: “The people have
fled from the battle, and many of the people have fallen and
died. Moreover, Saul and his son Jonathan have passed
away.” {1:5} And David said to the youth who was reporting
to him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan
have died?” {1:6} And the youth, who was reporting it to
him, said: “I arrived by chance on mount Gilboa. And Saul
was lying upon his spear. Then the chariots and horsemen
drew near to him. {1:7} And turning behind his back and
seeing me, he called to me. And when I had responded, “I
am here,” {1:8} he said to me, “Who are you?” And I said to
him, “I am an Amalekite.” {1:9} And he said to me: “Stand
over me, and kill me. For anguish has taken hold of me, and
still my whole life is in me.” {1:10} And standing over him, I
killed him. For I knew that he was not able to live after the
fall. And I took the diadem that was on his head, and the
bracelet from his arm, and I have brought them here to you,
my lord.” {1:11} Then David, taking hold of his garments,
tore them, with all the men who were with him. {1:12} And
they mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening, over Saul
and over his son Jonathan, and over the people of the Lord
and over the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the
sword. {1:13} And David said to the youth who had reported
it to him, “Where are you from?” And he responded, “I am
the son of a man who is a new arrival from the Amalekites.”
{1:14} And David said to him, “Why were you not afraid to
put forth your hand, so that you would kill the Christ of the
Lord?” {1:15} And calling one of his servants, David said,
“Draw near and rush against him” And he struck him, and
he died. {1:16} And David said to him: “Your blood is upon
your own head. For your own mouth has spoken against you,
saying: ‘I have killed the Christ of the Lord.’ ” {1:17} Then
David mourned a lamentation over Saul and over his son
Jonathan, in this way. {1:18} (And he instructed that they
should teach the sons of Judah the bow, just as it is written in
the Book of the Just.) And he said: “Consider, O Israel, on
behalf of those who are dead, wounded upon your heights:
{1:19} The illustrious of Israel have been killed upon your
mountains. How could the valiant have fallen? {1:20} Do not
choose to announce it in Gath, and do not announce it in the
crossroads of Ashkelon. Otherwise, the daughters of the
Philistines may rejoice; otherwise, the daughters of the
uncircumcised may exult. {1:21} O mountains of Gilboa, let
neither dew, nor rain fall over you, and may these not be the
fields of the first-fruits. For in that place, the shield of the
valiant was cast away, the shield of Saul, as if he had not
been anointed with oil. {1:22} From the blood of the slain,
from the fat of the strong, the arrow of Jonathan never turned
back, and the sword of Saul did not return empty.
{1:23} Saul and Jonathan, worthy to be loved, and stately in
their life: even in death they were not divided. They were
swifter than eagles, stronger than lions. {1:24} O daughters of
Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with scarlet finery,
who offered ornaments of gold for your adornment.
{1:25} How could the valiant have fallen in battle? How
could Jonathan have been slain on the heights? {1:26} I
grieve over you, my brother Jonathan: exceedingly stately,
and worthy to be loved above the love of women. As a
mother loves her only son, so also did I love you.
{1:27} How could the robust have fallen, and the weapons of
war have perished?”


[2 Samuel 2] {2:1} And so, after these things, David
consulted the Lord, saying, “Shall I ascend to one of the
cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Ascend.” And
David said, “To where shall I ascend?” And he responded to
him, “To Hebron.” {2:2} Therefore, David ascended with his
two wives, Ahinoam, the Jezreelite, and Abigail, the wife of
Nabal of Carmel. {2:3} And as for the men who were with
him, David led forth each man with his household. And they
stayed in the towns of Hebron. {2:4} And the men of Judah
went and anointed David there, so that he would reign over
the house of Judah. And it was reported to David that the
men of Jabesh Gilead had buried Saul. {2:5} Therefore,
David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead, and he
said to them: “Blessed are you to the Lord, who has
accomplished this mercy with your lord Saul, so that you
would bury him. {2:6} And now, certainly, the Lord will
repay to you mercy and truth. But I also will act with favor,
because you have accomplished this word. {2:7} Let your
hands be strengthened, and be sons of fortitude. For even
though your lord Saul has died, still the house of Judah has
anointed me as king over them.” {2:8} Then Abner, the son
of Ner, the leader of the army of Saul, took Ishbosheth, the
son of Saul, and he led him around, throughout the camp.
{2:9} And he appointed him as king over Gilead, and over
Geshuri, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over
Benjamin, and over all of Israel. {2:10} Ishbosheth, the son
of Saul, was forty years old when he had begun to rule over
Israel. And he reigned for two years. For only the house of
Judah followed David. {2:11} And the number of the days,
during which David was staying and ruling in Hebron over
the house of Judah, was seven years and six months.
{2:12} And Abner, the son of Ner, and the youths of
Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, went out from the camp to
Gibeon. {2:13} Therefore, Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and the
youths of David, went out and met them beside the pool of
Gibeon. And when they had convened together, they sat
down opposite one another: these on one side of the pool,
and those on the other side. {2:14} And Abner said to Joab,
“Let the youths rise up and play before us.” And Joab
answered, “Let them rise up.” {2:15} Therefore, they rose up
and crossed over, twelve in number of Benjamin, from the
side of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and twelve of the youths
of David. {2:16} And each one, taking hold of his peer by the
head, fixed a sword into the side of his adversary, and they
fell down together. And the name of that place was called:
The Field of the Valiant in Gibeon. {2:17} And a very harsh
war rose up on that day. And Abner, with the men of Israel,
was put to flight by the youths of David. {2:18} Now the
three sons of Zeruiah were in that place: Joab, and Abishai,
and Asahel. And Asahel was a very swift runner, like one of
the deer that lives in the forest. {2:19} And Asahel pursued
Abner, and he did not turn aside to the right, nor to the left,
to cease in the pursuit of Abner. {2:20} And so, Abner
looked behind his back, and he said, “Are you not Asahel?”
And he responded, “I am.” {2:21} And Abner said to him,
“Go to the right, or to the left, and apprehend one of the
youths, and take his spoils for yourself.” But Asahel was not
willing to cease from pursuing him closely. {2:22} And again,
Abner said to Asahel: “Withdraw, and do not choose to
follow me. Otherwise, I will be compelled to stab you to the
ground, and I will not be able to lift up my face before your
brother, Joab.” {2:23} But he disdained to heed him, and he
was not willing to turn aside. Therefore, turning, Abner
struck him with his spear in the groin, and he pierced him
through, and he died in the same place. And all those who
would pass by the place, in which Asahel had fallen and died,
would stand still. {2:24} Now while Joab and Abishai were
pursuing Abner as he fled, the sun set. And they went as far
as the Hill of the Aqueduct, which is opposite the valley on
the way of the desert in Gibeon. {2:25} And the sons of
Benjamin gathered themselves to Abner. And being joined in
one battle line, they stood at the summit of a hill. {2:26} And
Abner cried out to Joab, and he said: “Will your sword rage
unto utter destruction? Are you ignorant that it is perilous to
act in desperation? How long will you not tell the people to
cease from the pursuit of their brothers?” {2:27} And Joab
said: “As the Lord lives, if you had spoken in the morning,
the people would have withdrawn from pursuing their
brothers.” {2:28} Therefore, Joab sounded the trumpet, and
the entire army stood still, and they did not pursue after Israel
any more, and they did not engage in conflict. {2:29} Then
Abner and his men went away, all that night, through the
plains. And they crossed the Jordan, and having roamed
throughout all of Beth-horon, they arrived in the camp.
{2:30} But Joab, returning after he had released Abner,
gathered together all the people. And of David’s youths, they
were missing nineteen men, aside from Asahel. {2:31} But of
Benjamin and of the men who were with Abner, the servants
of David had struck three hundred and sixty, who also died.
{2:32} And they took Asahel, and they buried him in the
sepulcher of his father at Bethlehem. And Joab, and the men
who were with him, walked throughout the night, and they
arrived in Hebron at the very break of day.


[2 Samuel 3] {3:1} Then a long struggle occurred between
the house of Saul and the house of David, with David
prospering and growing ever stronger, but the house of Saul
decreasing daily. {3:2} And sons were born to David in
Hebron. And his firstborn son was Amnon, from Ahinoam
the Jezreelite. {3:3} And after him, there was Chileab, from
Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel. Then the third was
Absalom, the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, the
king of Geshur. {3:4} Then the fourth was Adonijah, the son
of Haggith. And the fifth was Shephatiah, the son of Abital.
{3:5} Also, the sixth was Ithream, from Eglah, the wife of
David. These were born to David at Hebron. {3:6} Then,
while there was a battle between the house of Saul and the
house of David, Abner, the son of Ner, was reigning over the
house of Saul. {3:7} Now Saul had a concubine named
Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ishbosheth said to Abner,
{3:8} “Why did you enter to the concubine of my father?”
But he, being exceedingly angry at the words of Ishbosheth,
said: “Am I the head of a dog against Judah this day? I have
shown mercy to the house of Saul, your father, and to his
brothers and friends. And I have not delivered you into the
hands of David. And yet today you have sought me, so that
you might rebuke me over a woman? {3:9} May God do
these things to Abner, and may he add these other things, if,
in the same way that the Lord swore to David, I do not do so
with him: {3:10} that the kingdom be transferred from the
house of Saul, and that the throne of David be elevated over
Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.” {3:11} And
he was not able to respond anything to him, because he was
in fear of him. {3:12} Therefore, Abner sent messengers to
David for himself, saying, “Whose is the land?” and so that
they would say, “Make a friendship with me, and my hand
will be with you, and I will lead back all of Israel to you.”
{3:13} And he said: “It is best. I will make a friendship with
you. But one thing I ask of you, saying: You shall not see my
face before you bring Michal, the daughter of Saul. And in
this way, you shall come, and see me.” {3:14} Then David
sent messengers to Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, saying,
“Restore my wife Michal, whom I espoused to myself for one
hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” {3:15} Therefore,
Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband Paltiel, the
son of Laish. {3:16} And her husband was following her,
weeping, as far as Bahurim. And Abner said to him, “Go and
return.” And he returned. {3:17} Likewise, Abner sent word
to the elders of Israel, saying: “As much yesterday as the day
before, you were seeking David, so that he might reign over
you. {3:18} Therefore, accomplish it now. For the Lord has
spoken to David, saying: ‘By the hand of my servant David, I
will save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines
and of all their enemies.’ ” {3:19} Then Abner also spoke to
Benjamin. And he went away, so that he might speak to
David in Hebron all that would be pleasing to Israel and to
all of Benjamin. {3:20} And he went to David in Hebron
with twenty men. And David made a feast for Abner, and for
his men who had arrived with him. {3:21} And Abner said to
David, “I will rise up, so that I may gather all of Israel to you,
my lord the king, and so that I may enter into a pact with you,
and so that you may reign over all, just as your soul desires.”
Then, when David had led Abner away, and he had departed
in peace, {3:22} immediately the servants of David and of
Joab arrived, after having slain robbers, with exceedingly
great spoils. But Abner was not with David in Hebron. For
by then he had sent him away, and he had set out in peace.
{3:23} And Joab, and the entire army that was with him, had
arrived afterward. And so, it was reported to Joab, explaining
that Abner, the son of Ner, went to the king, and he
dismissed him, and he went away in peace. {3:24} And Joab
entered to the king, and he said: “What have you done?
Behold, Abner came to you. Why did you dismiss him, so
that he has gone and departed? {3:25} Do you not know,
about Abner, the son of Ner, that he came to you for this, so
that he might deceive you, and might know of your departure
and your return, and so that he might know all that you do?”
{3:26} And so, Joab, going out from David, sent messengers
after Abner, and he brought him back from the cistern of
Sirah, without David knowing. {3:27} And when Abner had
returned to Hebron, Joab took him alone to the middle of the
gate, so that he might speak to him, but with deceit. And
there, he stabbed him in the groin, and he died, in revenge for
the blood of Asahel, his brother. {3:28} And when David had
heard of it, now that the matter was done, he said: “I and my
kingdom are clean before the Lord, even forever, of the blood
of Abner, the son of Ner. {3:29} And may it fall upon the
head of Joab, and upon the entire house of his father. And
may there not fail to be, in the house of Joab, one who suffers
from a flow of seed, or one who is leprous, or one who is
effeminate, or one who falls by the sword, or one who is in
need of bread.” {3:30} And so, Joab and his brother Abishai
killed Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel at
Gibeon, during the battle. {3:31} Then David said to Joab,
and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your
garments, and gird yourselves with sackcloth, and mourn
before the funeral procession of Abner.” Moreover, king
David himself was following the casket. {3:32} And when
they had buried Abner in Hebron, king David lifted up his
voice, and he wept over the burial mound of Abner. And all
the people also wept. {3:33} And the king, mourning and
lamenting Abner, said: “By no means has Abner died the
way that cowards usually die. {3:34} Your hands are not
bound, and your feet are not weighed down with fetters. But
just as men often fall before the sons of iniquity, so you have
fallen.” And while repeating this, all the people wept over
him. {3:35} And when the entire multitude had arrived to
take food with David, while it was still broad daylight, David
swore, saying, “May God do these things to me, and may he
add these other things, if I taste bread or anything else before
the sun sets.” {3:36} And all the people heard it, and
everything that the king did in the sight of the entire people
was pleasing to them. {3:37} And every common person, and
all of Israel, realized on that day that the killing of Abner, the
son of Ner, had not been done by the king. {3:38} The king
also said to his servants: “Could you be ignorant that a leader
and a very great man has fallen today in Israel? {3:39} But I
am still tender, and yet anointed king. And these men of the
sons of Zeruiah are too harsh for me. May the Lord repay
whoever does evil in accord with his malice.”


[2 Samuel 4] {4:1} Then Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, heard
that Abner had fallen in Hebron. And his hands were
weakened, and all of Israel was troubled. {4:2} Now the son
of Saul had two men, leaders among robbers. The name of
the one was Baanah, and the name of the other was Rechab,
sons of Rimmon, a Beerothite from the sons of Benjamin.
For indeed, Beeroth, too, was reputed with Benjamin.
{4:3} And the Beerothites had fled into Gittatm. And they
were strangers there, until that time. {4:4} Now Jonathan,
the son of Saul, had a son with disabled feet. For he was five
years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan arrived
from Jezreel. And so, his nurse, taking him up, fled. And
while she was hurrying, so that she might flee, he fell and was
made lame. And he was called Mephibosheth. {4:5} And so,
the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah,
arrived and entered the house of Ishbosheth, in the heat of
the day. And he was sleeping on his bed at midday. And the
doorkeeper of the house, who was cleaning the wheat, fell
fast asleep. {4:6} Then they entered the house secretly, taking
the ears of grain. And Rechab and his brother Baanah
stabbed him in the groin, and they fled away. {4:7} For when
they had entered the house, he was sleeping on his bed in a
closed room. And striking him, they killed him. And taking
his head, they departed by the way of the desert, walking
throughout the night. {4:8} And they brought the head of
Ishbosheth to David in Hebron. And they said to the king:
“Behold, the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy,
who was seeking your life. And so, the Lord has avenged my
lord the king, this day, from Saul and from his offspring.”
{4:9} But David, responding to Rechab and his brother
Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, said to them:
“As the Lord lives who has rescued my soul from all distress,
{4:10} the one who reported to me and said, ‘Saul is dead,’
who was thinking that he announced good news, I
apprehended. And at Ziklag I killed him who ought to have
been given a reward for the news. {4:11} How much more so
now, when impious men have put to death an innocent man
in his own house, upon his bed, shall I not require his blood
from your hand, and take you away from the earth?”
{4:12} And so, David commanded his servants, and they put
them to death. And cutting off their hands and feet, they
suspended them up over the pool in Hebron. But the head of
Ishbosheth they took and buried in the sepulcher of Abner at
Hebron.


[2 Samuel 5] {5:1} And all the tribes of Israel went to David
in Hebron, saying: “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.
{5:2} Moreover, yesterday and the day before, when Saul
was king over us, you were the one leading out and leading
back Israel. Then the Lord said to you, ‘You shall pasture my
people Israel, and you shall be the leader over Israel.’ ”
{5:3} Also, the elders of Israel went to the king at Hebron,
and king David struck a pact with them at Hebron in the
sight of the Lord. And they anointed David as king over
Israel. {5:4} David was a son of thirty years, when he had
begun to reign, and he reigned for forty years. {5:5} In
Hebron, he reigned over Judah for seven years and six
months. Then in Jerusalem, he reigned for thirty-three years
over all of Israel and Judah. {5:6} And the king, and all the
men who were with him, went away to Jerusalem, to the
Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. And it was said to
David by them, “You shall not enter here, unless you will
take away the blind and the lame, who say, ‘David shall not
enter here.’ ” {5:7} But David seized the stronghold of Zion;
the same is the city of David. {5:8} For David had proposed,
on that day, a reward to him who had struck the Jebusites
and who had reached to the gutters of the rooftops, and who
had taken away the blind and the lame that hated the soul of
David. Therefore, it is said in the proverb, “The blind and the
lame shall not enter into the temple.” {5:9} Then David lived
in the stronghold, and he called it: the City of David. And he
built it up on all sides, from Millo and inward. {5:10} And he
advanced, prospering and increasing, and the Lord, the God
of hosts, was with him. {5:11} Also, Hiram, the king of Tyre,
sent messengers to David, with cedar wood, and with
builders of wood and builders of stone, in order to make walls.
And they built a house for David. {5:12} And David knew
that the Lord had confirmed him as king over Israel, and that
he had exalted his kingdom over his people Israel.
{5:13} Then David took more concubines and wives from
Jerusalem, after he had arrived from Hebron. And other sons
as well as daughters were born to David. {5:14} And these
are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem:
Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,
{5:15} and Ibhar, and Elishua, and Nepheg, {5:16} and
Japhia, and Elishama, and Eliada, and _ Elipheleth.
{5:17} Then the Philistines heard that they had anointed
David as king over Israel. And they all ascended, so that they
might seek David. And when David had heard of it, he
descended to a stronghold. {5:18} Now the Philistines,
arriving, spread themselves out in the Valley of Rephaim.
{5:19} And David consulted the Lord, saying: “Shall I
ascend to the Philistines? And will you give them into my
hand?” And the Lord said to David: “Ascend. For I will
certainly give the Philistines into your hand.”
{5:20} Therefore, David went to Baal-perazim. And he struck
them there. And he said, “The Lord has divided my enemies
before me, just as the waters are divided.” Because of this, the
name of that place was called Baal-perazim. {5:21} And in
that place they left behind their graven images, which David
and his men took away. {5:22} And the Philistines continued
still, so that they ascended and spread themselves out in the
Valley of Rephaim. {5:23} Then David consulted the Lord,
“Shall I ascend against the Philistines, and will you deliver
them into my hands?” And he responded: “You shall not
ascend against them; instead, circle behind their back. And
you shall come to them from the side opposite the balsam
trees. {5:24} And when you hear the sound of something
going forth from the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall
begin the battle. For then the Lord will go forth, before your
face, so that he may strike the army of the Philistines.”
{5:25} And so, David did just as the Lord had instructed him.
And he struck down the Philistines, from Gibeon until you
arrive at Gezer.


[2 Samuel 6] {6:1} Then David again gathered together all
the elect men of Israel, thirty thousand. {6:2} And David
arose and went away, with the entire people who were with
him from the men of Judah, so that they might lead back the
ark of God, over which is invoked the name of the Lord of
hosts, who sits upon the cherubim above it. {6:3} And they
placed the ark of God on a new cart. And they took it from
the house of Abinadab, who was in Gibeon. And Uzzah and
Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart. {6:4} And
when they had taken it from the house of Abinadab, who was
in Gibeon, Ahio preceded the ark as the keeper of the ark of
God. {6:5} But David and all of Israel played before the Lord
on every kind of musical instrument made of wood, and on
harps, and lyres, and timbrels, and bells, and cymbals.
{6:6} And after they had arrived at the threshing floor of
Nacon, Uzzah extended his hand to the ark of God, and he
touched it, because the oxen were kicking and had caused it
to tip. {6:7} And the indignation of the Lord was enraged
against Uzzah. And he struck him for his temerity. And there
he died, beside the ark of God. {6:8} Then David was
saddened because the Lord had struck Uzzah. And the name
of that place was called: the Striking of Uzzah, even to this
day. {6:9} And David was very fearful of the Lord on that
day, saying, “How shall the ark of the Lord be brought to
me?” {6:10} And he was not willing to send the ark of the
Lord to himself in the city of David. Instead, he sent it into
the house of Obededom, the Gittite. {6:11} And the ark of
the Lord dwelt in the house of Obededom the Gittite, for
three months. And the Lord blessed Obededom, and all his
household. {6:12} And it was reported to king David that the
Lord had blessed Obededom, and all that was his, because of
the ark of God. Therefore, David went and brought the ark of
God, from the house of Obededom, into the city of David
with joy. And there were with David seven choirs, and calves
for victims. {6:13} And when those who were carrying the
ark of the Lord had traveled six steps, he immolated an ox
and a ram. {6:14} And David danced with all his ability
before the Lord. And David was girded with the linen ephod.
{6:15} And David, and all the house of Israel, were leading
the ark of the testament of the Lord, with jubilation and the
sound of the trumpet. {6:16} And when the ark of the Lord
had entered into the city of David, Michal, the daughter of
Saul, looking out through a window, saw king David leaping
and dancing before the Lord. And she despised him in her
heart. {6:17} And they led in the ark of the Lord. And they
set it in its place in the middle of the tabernacle, which David
had pitched for it. And David offered holocausts and peace
offerings in the sight of the Lord. {6:18} And when he had
completed offering holocausts and peace offerings, he blessed
the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. {6:19} And he
distributed to the entire multitude of Israel, as much to men
as to women, to each one: one loaf of bread, and one piece of
roasted beef, and fine wheat flour fried with oil. And all the
people went away, each one to his own house. {6:20} And
David returned, so that he might bless his own house. And
Michal, the daughter of Saul, going out to meet David, said:
“How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering
himself before the handmaids of his servants, and being
unclothed, as if one of the performers were unclothed.”
{6:21} And David said to Michal: “Before the Lord, who
chose me rather than your father, and rather than his entire
house, and who commanded me, that I should be the leader
over the people of the Lord in Israel, {6:22} I will both play
and demean myself, more so than I have done. And I will be
little in my own eyes. And with the handmaids, about whom
you are speaking, I will appear more glorious.” {6:23} And
so, there was no child born to Michal, the daughter of Saul,
even to the day of her death.


[2 Samuel 7] {7:1} Now it happened that, when the king had
settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every
side from all his enemies, {7:2} he said to the prophet Nathan,
“Do you not see that I live in a house of cedar, and that the
ark of God has been placed in the midst of tent skins?”
{7:3} And Nathan said to the king: “Go, do all that is in your
heart. For the Lord is with you.” {7:4} But it happened in
that night, behold, the word of the Lord came to Nathan,
saying: {7:5} “Go, and say to my servant David: ‘Thus says
the Lord: Should you build a house for me as a dwelling
place? {7:6} For I have not lived in a house from the day that
I led the sons of Israel away from the land of Egypt, even to
this day. Instead, I have walked in a tabernacle, and in a tent.
{7:7} And in all the places that I have crossed through, with
all the sons of Israel, did I ever speak a word to anyone from
the tribes of Israel, whom I instructed to pasture my people
Israel, saying: Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’
{7:8} And now, so shall you speak to my servant David:
‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pastures,
from following the sheep, so that you would be the leader
over my people Israel. {7:9} And I have been with you
everywhere that you walked. And I have slain all your
enemies before your face. And I have made you a great name,
beside the name of the great ones who are upon the earth.
{7:10} And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I
will plant them, and they shall live there, and they shall no
longer be disturbed. Neither shall the sons of iniquity
continue to afflict them as before, {7:11} from the day when I
appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give rest
to you from all your enemies. And the Lord foretells to you
that the Lord himself will make a house for you. {7:12} And
when your days will have been fulfilled, and you will sleep
with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you,
who will go forth from your loins, and I will make firm his
kingdom. {7:13} He himself shall build a house to my name.
And I will establish the throne of his kingdom, even forever.
{7:14} I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.
And if he will commit any iniquity, I will correct him with
the rod of men and with the wounds of the sons of men.
{7:15} But my mercy I will not take away from him, as I took
it away from Saul, whom I removed from before my face.
{7:16} And your house shall be faithful, and your kingdom
shall be before your face, for eternity, and your throne shall
be secure continuously.’ ” {7:17} According to all these
words, and according to this entire vision, so did Nathan
speak to David. {7:18} Then king David entered and sat
before the Lord, and he said: “Who am I, O Lord God, and
what is my house, that you would bring me to this point?
{7:19} Moreover, this has seemed little in your sight, O Lord
God, unless you also will speak about the house of your
servant for a long time. For this is the law of Adam, O Lord
God. {7:20} Therefore, what more will David be able to say
to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God.
{7:21} Because of your word, and according to your own
heart, you have done all these great deeds, so that you would
make it known to your servant. {7:22} For this reason, you
are magnified, O Lord God. For there is no one like you.
And there is no God except you, in all the things that we
have heard with our own ears. {7:23} But what nation is
there upon the earth like your people Israel, because of whom
God went forth, so that he might redeem a people for himself,
and establish a name for himself, and accomplish for them
great and terrible things upon the earth, before the face of
your people, whom you redeemed for yourself away Egypt,
the nations and their gods. {7:24} For you have secured your
people Israel for yourself, as an everlasting people. And you,
O Lord God, have become their God. {7:25} Now therefore,
O Lord God, raise up forever the word that you have spoken
over your servant and over his house. And do just as you
have said, {7:26} so that your name may be magnified even
forever, and so that it may be said: ‘The Lord of hosts is the
God over Israel.’ And the house of your servant David will
be established in the sight of the Lord. {7:27} For you, O
Lord of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed to the ear of your
servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you.’ Because of this,
your servant has found it in his heart to pray this prayer to
you. {7:28} Now therefore, O Lord God, you are God, and
your words shall be true. For you have spoken to your
servant these good things. {7:29} Therefore, begin, and bless
the house of your servant, so that it may be forever before
you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken. And so, let the
house of your servant be blessed with your blessing forever.”


[2 Samuel 8] {8:1} Now after these things, it happened that
David struck the Philistines, and he humbled them. And
David took the bridle of tribute from the hand of the
Philistines. {8:2} And he struck Moab, and he measured
them with a line, leveling them to the ground. Now he
measured with two lines, one to kill, and one to keep alive.
And Moab was made to serve David under tribute.
{8:3} And David struck Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, the
king of Zobah, when he set out to rule over the river
Euphrates. {8:4} And from his troops, David seized one
thousand seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand foot
soldiers. And he cut the sinew of the leg in all the chariot
horses. But he left aside enough of them for one hundred
chariots. {8:5} And the Syrians of Damascus arrived, so that
they might bring reinforcements to Hadadezer, the king of
Zobah. And David struck down twenty-two thousand men of
the Syrians. {8:6} And David positioned a garrison in Syria
of Damascus. And Syria served David under tribute. And the
Lord assisted David in all things whatsoever that he set out to
accomplish. {8:7} And David took the armbands of gold,
which the servants of Hadadezer had, and he brought them to
Jerusalem. {8:8} And from Betah and Beeroth, cities of
Hadadezer, king David took an exceedingly great amount of
brass. {8:9} Then Toi, the king of Hamath, heard that David
had struck down the entire strength of Hadadezer.
{8:10} And so, Toi sent his son Joram to king David, so that
he might greet him with congratulations, and give thanks,
because he had fought against Hadadezer and had struck him
down. For indeed, Toi was the enemy of Hadadezer. And in
his hand were vessels of gold, and vessels of silver, and
vessels of brass. {8:11} And king David also sanctified these
things to the Lord, with the silver and gold that he had
sanctified from all the peoples whom he had subdued:
{8:12} from Syria, and Moab, and the sons Ammon, and the
Philistines, and Amalek, and from the best spoils of
Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, the king of Zobah.
{8:13} David also made a name for himself when he returned
from seizing Syria, in the Valley of the Salt Pits, having cut
down eighteen thousand. {8:14} And he positioned guards in
Edom, and he stationed a garrison. And all of Edom was
made to serve David. And the Lord assisted David in all
things whatsoever that he set out to accomplish. {8:15} And
David reigned over all of Israel. And David accomplished
judgment and justice with all his people. {8:16} Now Joab,
the son Zeruiah, was over the army. And Jehoshaphat, the
son of Ahilud, was the keeper of records. {8:17} And Zadok,
the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, were
the priests. And Seraiah was the scribe. {8:18} And Benaiah,
the son of Jehoiada, was over the Cherethites and Pelethites.
But the sons of David were priests.


[2 Samuel 9] {9:1} And David said, “Do you think that there
could be anyone left from the house of Saul, so that I might
show mercy to him because of Jonathan?” {9:2} Now there
was, from the house of Saul, a servant named Ziba. And
when the king had called him to himself, he said to him, “Are
you not Ziba?” And he responded, “I am your servant.”
{9:3} And the king said, “Could there be anyone alive from
the house of Saul, so that I may show the mercy of God to
him?” And Ziba said to the king, “There is left alive a son of
Jonathan, with disabled feet.” {9:4} “Where is he?” he said.
And Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is in the house of
Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar.” {9:5} Therefore,
king David sent and brought him from the house of Machir,
the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. {9:6} And when
Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had
come to David, he fell upon his face, and he reverenced. And
David said, ‘“Mephibosheth?” And he responded, “Your
servant is here.” {9:7} And David said to him: “Do not be
afraid. For I will certainly show mercy to you because of your
father Jonathan. And I will restore to you all the fields of
your father Saul. And you shall eat bread at my table
always.” {9:8} And reverencing him, he said, “Who am I,
your servant, that you should look with favor upon a dead
dog like me?” {9:9} And so, the king called Ziba, the servant
of Saul, and he said to him: “Everything whatsoever that
belonged to Saul, and his entire house, I have given to the
son of your lord. {9:10} And so, work the land for him, you
and your sons and your servants. And you shall bring in food
for the son of your lord, for nourishment. And Mephibosheth,
the son of your lord, shall always eat bread at my table.”
Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. {9:11} And
Ziba said to the king: “Just as my lord has ordered your
servant, so will your servant do. And Mephibosheth shall eat
at my table, like one of the sons of the king.” {9:12} Now
Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. Truly,
all the kindred of the house of Ziba served Mephibosheth.
{9:13} But Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem. For he was fed
always from the table of the king. And he was lame in both
feet.


[2 Samuel 10] {10:1} Now after these things, it happened
that the king of the sons of Ammon died, and his son Hanun
reigned after him. {10:2} And David said, “I will show mercy
to Hanun, the son of Nahash, just as his father showed mercy
to me.” Therefore, David sent consolation to him, by his
servants, over the passing of his father. But when the servants
of David had arrived in the land of the sons of Ammon,
{10:3} the leaders of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, their
lord: “Do you think it was because of the honor of your
father that David sent consolers to you? And did not David
send his servants to you, so that he might investigate and
explore the city, and so that he might overthrow it?”
{10:4} And so, Hanun took the servants of David, and he
shaved off one half part of their beards, and he cut their
garments at the middle, as far as the buttocks, and he sent
them away. {10:5} And when this had been reported to
David, he sent to meet them. And the men were greatly
disturbed by shame. And David commanded them, “Remain
in Jericho, until your beards grow, and then return.”
{10:6} Now the sons of Ammon, seeing that they had done
an injury to David, sent for, and paid wages to, the Syrians of
Rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, twenty thousand foot
soldiers, and from the king of Maacah, one thousand men,
and from Tob, twelve thousand men. {10:7} And when
David had heard this, he sent Joab and the entire army of
warriors. {10:8} Then the sons of Ammon went forth, and
they positioned their battle line before the very entrance of
the gates. But the Syrians of Zobah, and of Rehob, and of
Tob, and of Maacah, were by themselves in the field.
{10:9} And so, seeing that the battle had been prepared
against him, both facing him and behind, Joab chose some
from all of the elect men of Israel, and he set up a battle line
opposite the Syrians. {10:10} But the remaining part of the
people he delivered to his brother Abishai, who formed a
battle line against the sons of Ammon. {10:11} And Joab
said: “If the Syrians prevail against me, then you shall assist
me. But if the sons of Ammon prevail against you, then I will
assist you. {10:12} Be valiant men. And let us fight on behalf
of our people and the city of our God. Then the Lord will do
what is good in his own sight.” {10:13} And so, Joab, and
the people who were with him, undertook the conflict against
the Syrians, who immediately fled before their face.
{10:14} Then, seeing that the Syrians had fled, the sons of
Ammon themselves also fled from the face of Abishai, and
they entered into the city. And Joab returned from the sons of
Ammon, and he went to Jerusalem. {10:15} And so, the
Syrians, seeing that they had fallen before Israel, gathered
themselves together. {10:16} And Hadadezer sent and
brought the Syrians who were beyond the river, and he led in
their army. And Shobach, the rule of the military of
Hadadezer, was their leader. {10:17} And when this had
been reported to David, he drew together all of Israel. And he
crossed over the Jordan, and he went to Helam. And the
Syrians formed a battle line opposite David, and they fought
against him. {10:18} And the Syrians fled before the face of
Israel. And David killed, among the Syrians, the men of
seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand horsemen. And
he struck down Shobach, the leader of the military, who
immediately died. {10:19} Then all the kings who were in the
reinforcements of Hadadezer, seeing themselves to be
defeated by Israel, were very afraid and they fled: fifty-eight
thousand men before Israel. And they made peace with Israel,
and they served them. And the Syrians were afraid to offer
assistance to the sons of Ammon anymore.


[2 Samuel 11] {11:1} Now it happened that, at the turn of the
year, in the time when kings usually go forth to war, David
sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all of Israel, and
they laid waste to the sons of Ammon, and they besieged
Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. {11:2} While
these things were taking place, David happened to arise from
his bed after midday, and he walked upon the terrace of the
king’s house. And he saw, across from his terrace, a woman
washing herself. And the woman was very beautiful.
{11:3} Therefore, the king sent and inquired who the woman
might be. And it was reported to him that she was Bathsheba,
the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah, the Hittite.
{11:4} And so, David sent messengers, and he took her. And
when she had entered to him, he slept with her. And
presently, she was purified from her uncleanness. {11:5} And
she returned to her house, having conceived an unborn child.
And sending, she informed David, and she said, “I have
conceived.” {11:6} Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send
me Uriah, the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David.
{11:7} And Uriah went to David. And David inquired
whether Joab was doing well, and about the people, and how
the war was being conducted. {11:8} And David said to
Uriah, “Go into your house, and wash your feet.” And Uriah
departed from the house of the king. And a meal from the
king followed after him. {11:9} But Uriah slept before the
gate of the king’s house, with the other servants of his lord,
and he did not go down to his own house. {11:10} And it
was reported to David by some, saying, “Uriah did not go
into his house.” And David said to Uriah: “Did you not
arrive from a journey? Why did you not go down to your
house?” {11:11} And Uriah said to David: “The ark of God,
and Israel and Judah, dwell in tents, and my lord Joab, and
the servants of my lord, stay upon the face of the earth. And
should I then go into my own house, so that I may eat and
drink, and sleep with my wife? By your welfare and by the
welfare of your soul, I will not do this thing.”
{11:12} Therefore, David said to Uriah, “Even so, remain
here today, and tomorrow I will send you away.” So Uriah
remained in Jerusalem, on that day and the next.
{11:13} And David called him, so that he might eat and
drink before him, and he made him inebriated. And departing
in the evening, he slept on his bedding, with the servants of
his lord, and he did not go down to his own house.
{11:14} Therefore, when morning arrived, David wrote a
letter to Joab. And he sent it by the hand of Uriah,
{11:15} writing in the letter: “Place Uriah opposite the
warfare, where the battle is the strongest, and then abandon
him, so that, having been wounded, he may die.”
{11:16} And so, when Joab was besieging the city, he
positioned Uriah in the place where he knew the strongest
men to be. {11:17} And the men, departing from the city,
made war against Joab. And some of the people among the
servants of David fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died.
{11:18} And so, Joab sent and reported to David every word
about the battle. {11:19} And he instructed the messenger,
saying: “When you have completed all the words about the
war to the king, {11:20} if you see him to be angry, and if he
says: ‘Why did you draw near to the wall in order to fight?
Are you ignorant that many darts are thrown from above the
wall? {11:21} Who struck down Abimelech, the son of
Jerubbaal? Did not a woman throw a fragment of a millstone
upon him from the wall, and so kill him at Thebez? Why did
you approach beside the wall?’ then you shall say: ‘Your
servant Uriah, the Hittite, also lies dead.’ ” {11:22} Therefore,
the messenger departed. And he went and described to David
all that Joab had instructed him. {11:23} And the messenger
said to David: “The men prevailed against us, and they went
out to us in the field. Then we pursued them, making an
assault, even to the gate of the city. {11:24} And the archers
directed their arrows at your servants from the wall above.
And some of the king’s servants died, and then also your
servant Uriah the Hittite died.” {11:25} And David said to
the messenger: “You shall say these things to Joab: ‘Do not
let this matter dishearten you. For varied are the events of
war. Now this one, and now that one, is consumed by the
sword. Encourage your warriors against the city and exhort
them, so that you may destroy it.’ ” {11:26} Then the wife of
Uriah heard that her husband Uriah had died, and she
mourned for him. {11:27} But when the lamentation was
completed, David sent and brought her into his house, and
she became his wife, and she bore a son to him. And this
word, which David had done, was displeasing in the sight of
the Lord.


[2 Samuel 12] {12:1} Then the Lord sent Nathan to David.
And when he had come to him, he said to him: “Two men
were in one city: one wealthy, and the other poor. {12:2} The
wealthy man had very many sheep and oxen. {12:3} But the
poor man had nothing at all, except one little sheep, which he
had bought and nourished. And she had grown up before him,
together with his children, eating from his bread, and
drinking from his cup, and sleeping in his bosom. And she
was like a daughter to him. {12:4} But when a certain
traveler had come to the wealthy man, neglecting to take
from his own sheep and oxen, so that he might present a feast
for that traveler, who had come to him, he took the sheep of
the poor man, and he prepared a meal for the man who had
come to him.” {12:5} Then David’s indignation was enraged
exceedingly against that man, and he said to Nathan: “As the
Lord lives, the man who has done this is a son of death.
{12:6} He shall restore the sheep fourfold, because he did this
word, and he did not take pity.” {12:7} But Nathan said to
David: “You are that man. Thus says the Lord, the God of
Israel: ‘I anointed you as king over Israel, and I rescued you
from the hand of Saul. {12:8} And I gave the house of your
lord to you, and the wives of your lord into your bosom. And
I gave the house of Israel and of Judah to you. And as if these
things were small, I shall add much greater things to you.
{12:9} Therefore, why have you despised the word of the
Lord, so that you did evil in my sight? You have struck down
Uriah the Hittite with the sword. And you have taken his
wife as a wife for yourself. And you have put him to death
with the sword of the sons of Ammon. {12:10} For this
reason, the sword shall not withdraw from your house, even
perpetually, because you have despised me, and you have
taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite, so that she may be your
wife.’ {12:11} And so, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will
raise up over you an evil from your own house. And I will
take your wives away before your eyes, and I will give them
to your neighbor. And he will sleep with your wives in the
sight of this sun. {12:12} For you acted secretly. But I will do
this word in the sight of all of Israel, and in the sight of the
sun.’ ” {12:13} And David said to Nathan, “I have sinned
against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David: “The Lord has
also taken away your sin. You shall not die. {12:14} Yet truly,
because you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord
to blaspheme, because of this word, the son who was born to
you: dying he shall die.” {12:15} And Nathan returned to his
own house. And the Lord struck the little one, whom the wife
of Uriah had borne to David, and he was despaired of.
{12:16} And David begged the Lord on behalf of the little
one. And David fasted strictly, and entering alone, he lay
upon the ground. {12:17} Then the elders of his house came,
urging him to rise up from the ground. And he was not
willing, nor would he eat a meal with them. {12:18} Then,
on the seventh day, it happened that the infant died. And the
servants of David were afraid to report to him that the little
one had died. For they said: “Behold, when the child was still
alive, we were speaking to him, but he would not listen to our
voice. How much more will he afflict himself, if we tell him
that the boy is dead?” {12:19} But when David had seen his
servants whispering, he realized that the infant had died. And
he said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they
responded to him, “He is dead.” {12:20} Therefore, David
rose up from the ground. And he washed and anointed
himself. And when he had changed his clothing, he entered
the house of the Lord, and he worshiped. Then he went to his
own house, and he asked them to place bread before him,
and he ate. {12:21} But his servants said to him: “What is
this word that you have done? You fasted and were weeping,
on behalf of the infant, while he was still alive. But when the
boy was dead, you arose and ate bread.” {12:22} And he said:
“While he was yet alive, I fasted and wept on behalf of the
infant. For I said: Who knows if the Lord may perhaps give
him to me, and let the infant live? {12:23} But now that he is
dead, why should I fast? Would I be able to bring him back
anymore? Instead, I will go to him. Yet truly, he will not
return to me.” {12:24} And David consoled his wife
Bathsheba. And entering to her, he slept with her. And she
bore a son, and he called his name Solomon, and the Lord
loved him. {12:25} And he sent, by the hand of Nathan the
prophet, and he called his name, Beloved of the Lord,
because the Lord loved him. {12:26} And then Joab fought
against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and he fought outside
the royal city. {12:27} And Joab sent messengers to David,
saying: “I have struggled against Rabbah, and so the City of
Waters will soon be seized. {12:28} Now therefore, gather
the remaining portion of the people together, and besiege the
city and take it. Otherwise, when the city will have been laid
waste by me, the victory will be ascribed to my name.”
{12:29} And so David gathered together all the people, and
he set out against Rabbah. And after he had fought, he seized
it. {12:30} And he took the crown of their king from his head.
The weight of it was a talent of gold, having the most
precious gems. And it was placed upon the head of David.
Moreover, he carried away the spoils of the city, which were
very many. {12:31} Also, bringing forth its people, he sawed
them, and he drove over them with iron wagons, and he
divided them with knives, and he dragged them through brick
kilns. So he did to all the citizens of the sons of Ammon. And
David returned, with the entire army, to Jerusalem.


[2 Samuel 13] {13:1} Now after these things, it happened
that Amnon, the son of David, was in love with the very
beautiful sister of Absalom, the son of David, and she was
called Tamar. {13:2} And he pined for her exceedingly, so
much so that, out of love for her, he became ill. For, since she
was a virgin, it seemed a difficulty to him that he would do
anything dishonest with her. {13:3} Now Amnon had a
friend named Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, the brother of
David: a very prudent man. {13:4} And he said to him:
“Why are you becoming so thin from day to day, O son of
the king? Why won’t you tell me?” And Amnon said to him,
“I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom.”
{13:5} And Jonadab said to him: “Lie down upon your bed,
and feign sickness. And when your father will come to visit
you, say to him: ‘I ask you to let my sister Tamar come to me,
so that she may give me food, and may make a small meal,
so that I may eat it from her hand.’ ” {13:6} And so, Amnon
lay down, and he began to act as if he were ill. And when the
king had come to visit him, Amnon said to the king, “I beg
you to let my sister Tamar come to me, and make in my sight
two little portions of food, so that I take it from her hand.”
{13:7} Therefore, David sent home to Tamar, saying, “Come
to the house of your brother Amnon, and make a small meal
for him.” {13:8} And Tamar went into the house of her
brother Amnon. But he was lying down. And taking flour,
she mixed it. And dissolving it in his sight, she cooked little
portions of food. {13:9} And taking what she had cooked,
she poured it out, and she set it before him. But he refused to
eat. And Amnon said, “Send everyone away from me.” And
when they had sent everyone away, {13:10} Amnon said to
Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom, so that I may eat
from your hand.” Therefore, Tamar took the little portions of
food that she had made, and she brought them to her brother
Amnon in the bedroom. {13:11} And when she had
presented the food to him, he took hold of her, and he said,
“Come lie with me, my sister.” {13:12} She answered him:
“Do not do so, my brother! Do not force me. For no such
thing must be done in Israel. Do not choose to do this
senseless act. {13:13} For I will not be able to bear my shame.
And you will be like one of the foolish in Israel. For it is
better to speak to the king, and he will not deny me to you.”
{13:14} But he was not willing to agree to her petition.
Instead, prevailing by strength, he forced her, and he lay with
her. {13:15} And Amnon held hatred for her with an
exceedingly great hatred, so much so that the hatred with
which he hated her was greater than the love with which he
had loved her before. And Amnon said to her, “Rise up, and
go away.” {13:16} And she answered him, “This evil is
greater, which you are now doing against me in driving me
away, than what you did before.” But he was not willing to
listen to her. {13:17} Instead, calling the servants who were
ministering to him, he said, “Cast this woman out from me,
and close the door behind her.” {13:18} Now she was
clothed with an ankle-length robe. For the virgin daughters of
the king made use of this kind of garment. And so, his
servant cast her out, and he closed the door behind her.
{13:19} And she sprinkled ashes upon her head, and she tore
her ankle-length robe. And placing her hands upon her head,
she went forth, walking and crying out. {13:20} Then her
brother Absalom said to her: “Has your brother Amnon lain
with you? But now, sister, be quiet. For he is your brother.
And you should not afflict your heart because of this matter.”
And so, Tamar remained, wasting away in the house of her
brother Absalom. {13:21} And when king David had heard
about these things, he was deeply grieved. But he was not
willing to afflict the spirit of his son Amnon. For he loved
him, since he was his firstborn. {13:22} Yet Absalom did not
speak to Amnon, neither good nor evil. For Absalom hated
Amnon because he had violated his sister Tamar.
{13:23} Then, after the time of two years, it happened that
the sheep of Absalom were being shorn in Baal-hazor, which
is near Ephraim. And Absalom invited all the sons of the
king. {13:24} And he went to the king, and he said to him:
“Behold, the sheep of your servant are being shorn. I ask that
the king, with his servants, may come to his servant.”
{13:25} And the king said to Absalom: “Do not, my son, do
not choose to ask that we may all come and be a burden to
you.” Then, after he urged him, and he had refused to go, he
blessed him. {13:26} And Absalom said, “If you are not
willing to come, I beg you, at least let my brother Amnon
come with us.” And the king said to him, “It is not necessary
that he go with you.” {13:27} But Absalom pressed him, and
so he sent with him Amnon and all the sons of the king. And
Absalom made a feast, like the feast of a king. {13:28} Then
Absalom commanded his servants, saying: “Observe when
Amnon will have become drunk with wine. And when I say
to you, ‘Strike and kill him!’ do not be afraid. For it is I who
commands you. Be strong and valiant men.”
{13:29} Therefore, the servants of Absalom acted against
Amnon, just as Absalom had commanded them. And all the
sons of the king rose up, and each one climbed upon his mule
and fled. {13:30} And while they were still traveling on the
journey, a rumor reached David, saying, “Absalom has
struck down all the sons of the king, and there is not one of
them remaining.” {13:31} And so the king rose up, and he
tore his garments, and he fell upon the ground. And all his
servants, who were standing near him, tore their garments.
{13:32} But Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David’s brother,
responding, said: “My lord the king should not consider that
all the sons of the king have been slain. Amnon alone is dead.
For he was set against by the mouth of Absalom from the day
that he raped his sister Tamar. {13:33} Now therefore, let not
my lord the king set this word in his heart, saying, ‘All the
sons of the king have been slain.’ For only Amnon is dead.”
{13:34} Now Absalom fled. And the young man keeping
watch, lifted up his eyes and gazed out. And behold, many
people were arriving along a remote road at the side of the
mountain. {13:35} And Jonadab said to the king: “Behold,
the sons of the king are here. In accord with the word of your
servant, so it has happened.” {13:36} And when he had
ceased speaking, the sons of the king also appeared. And
entering, they lifted up their voice, and they wept. And the
king also, and all his servants, wept with an exceedingly great
weeping. {13:37} But Absalom, fleeing, went to Talmai, the
son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. Then David mourned
for his son every day. {13:38} Now after he had fled and had
arrived in Geshur, Absalom was in that place for three years.
And king David ceased to pursue Absalom, because he had
been consoled over the passing of Amnon.


[2 Samuel 14] {14:1} Now Joab, the son of Zeruiah,
understood that the heart of the king had been turned toward
Absalom, {14:2} so he sent to Tekoa, and he brought from
there a wise woman. And he said to her: “Feign that you are
in mourning, and put on the clothing of one who mourns.
And do not anoint yourself with oil, so that you may be like a
woman who is still grieving for someone who died some time
ago. {14:3} And you shall enter to the king, and you shall
speak words to him in this manner.” Then Joab put the
words in her mouth. {14:4} And so, when the woman of
Tekoa had entered to the king, she fell before him on the
ground, and she reverenced, and she said, “Save me, O
king.” {14:5} And the king said to her, “What problem do
you have?” And she responded: “Alas, I am a woman who is
a widow. For my husband has died. {14:6} And your
handmaid had two sons. And they quarreled against one
another in the field. And there was no one there who would
be able to stop them. And one struck the other, and killed
him. {14:7} And behold, the whole family, rising up against
your handmaid, said: ‘Deliver him who struck down his
brother, so that we may kill him for the life of his brother,
whom he killed, and so that we may do away with the heir.’
And they are seeking to extinguish my spark that is left, so
that there may not survive a name for my husband, nor a
remnant upon the earth.” {14:8} And the king said to the
woman, “Go to your own house, and I will make a decree on
your behalf.” {14:9} And the woman of Tekoa said to the
king: “May the iniquity be upon me, my lord, and upon the
house of my father. But may the king and his throne be
innocent.” {14:10} And the king said, “Whoever will
contradict you, bring him to me, and he will never touch you
again.” {14:11} And she said, “Let the king remember the
Lord his God, so that close blood relatives may not be
multiplied in order to take revenge, and so that they may by
no means kill my son.” And he said, “As the Lord lives, not
one hair from your son shall fall to the ground.”
{14:12} Then the woman said, “Let your handmaid speak a
word to my lord the king.” And he said, “Speak.”
{14:13} And the woman said: “Why have you thought such a
thing against the people of God, and why has the king spoken
this word, so that he sins and does not lead back the one
whom he rejected? {14:14} We are all dying, and we are all
like waters that flow into the ground and do not return. God
does not will to lose a soul. Instead, he renews his efforts,
thinking that what has been rejected might not perish
altogether. {14:15} Therefore, now I have come to speak this
word to my lord the king, in the presence of the people. And
your handmaid said: I will speak to the king, for perhaps
there may be some way for the king to accomplish the word
of his handmaid. {14:16} And the king listened, and he freed
his handmaid from the hand of all who were willing to take
away me and my son together, from the inheritance of God.
{14:17} Therefore, let your handmaid speak, so that the word
of my lord the king may be like a sacrifice. For even like an
Angel of God, so is my lord the king, so that he is moved by
neither a blessing, nor a curse. Then too, the Lord your God
is with you.” {14:18} And in response, the king said to the
woman, “You shall not conceal from me a word of what I
ask you.” And the woman said to him, “Speak, my lord the
king.” {14:19} And the king said, “Is not the hand of Joab
with you in all this?” And the woman answered and said:
“By the welfare of your soul, my lord the king, it is neither to
the left, nor to the right, in all these things that my lord the
king has spoken. For your servant Joab himself instructed me,
and he himself placed all these words in the mouth of your
handmaid. {14:20} Thus did I turn to this figure of speech,
because your servant Joab instructed it. But you, my lord the
king, are wise, just as an Angel of God has wisdom, so that
you understand all that is upon the earth.” {14:21} And the
king said to Joab: “Behold, your word has succeeded in
appeasing me. Therefore, go and call back the boy Absalom.”
{14:22} And falling to the ground upon his face, Joab
reverenced, and he blessed the king. And Joab said: “Today
your servant has understood that I have found grace in your
sight, my lord the king. For you have accomplished the word
of your servant.” {14:23} Then Joab rose up, and he went
away to Geshur. And he brought Absalom into Jerusalem.
{14:24} But the king said, “Let him return to his own house,
but let him not see my face.” And so, Absalom returned to
his own house, but he did not see the face of the king.
{14:25} Now in all of Israel, there was no man so handsome,
and so very stately as Absalom. From the sole of the foot to
the top of the head, there was no blemish in him.
{14:26} And when he shaved off his hair, for he shaved it off
once a year, because his long hair was burdensome to him, he
weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, by the
public weights. {14:27} Then three sons were born to
Absalom, and one daughter, of elegant form, whose name
was Tamar. {14:28} And Absalom remained for two years in
Jerusalem, and he did not see the face of the king.
{14:29} And so, he sent to Joab, so that he might send him to
the king. But he refused to come to him. And when he had
sent a second time, and he had refused to come to him,
{14:30} he said to his servants: “You know that the field of
Joab, the one that is near my field, has a harvest of barley.
Therefore, go and set it on fire.” And so, the servants of
Absalom set fire to the grain field. And the servants of Joab,
arriving with their garments torn, said, “The servants of
Absalom have set fire to part of the field!” {14:31} And Joab
rose up, and he went to Absalom at his house, and he said,
“Why have your servants set fire to my grain field?”
{14:32} And Absalom responded to Joab: “I sent to you,
begging that you might come to me, and that I might send
you to the king, and that you might say to him: ‘Why was I
brought from Geshur? It would have been better for me to be
there.’ I beg you, therefore, that I may see the face of the king.
And if he is mindful of my iniquity, let him put me to death.”
{14:33} And so, Joab, entering to the king, reported
everything to him. And Absalom was summoned. And he
entered to the king, and he reverenced on the face of the earth.
And the king kissed Absalom.


[2 Samuel 15] {15:1} Then, after these things, Absalom
obtained for himself chariots, and horsemen, and fifty men
who went before him. {15:2} And rising up in the morning,
Absalom was standing beside the entrance of the gate. And
when there was any man who had a dispute that might go
before the king’s judgment, Absalom would call him to him,
and would say, “Which city are you from?” And responding,
he would say, “I am your servant, from a certain tribe of
Israel.” {15:3} And Absalom would answer him: “Your
words seem good and just to me. But there is no one
appointed by the king to hear you.” And Absalom would say:
{15:4} “Who may appoint me judge over the land, so that all
those who have a dispute might come to me, and I might
judge justly.” {15:5} Then too, when a man would draw near
to him, so that he might greet him, he would extend his hand,
and taking hold of him, he would kiss him. {15:6} And he
was doing this to all those of Israel arriving for judgment to
be heard by the king. And he solicited the hearts of the men
of Israel. {15:7} Then, after forty years, Absalom said to king
David: “I should go and pay my vows, which I have vowed
to the Lord at Hebron. {15:8} For your servant made a vow,
when he was in Geshur of Syria, saying: If the Lord will lead
me back to Jerusalem, I will sacrifice to the Lord.”
{15:9} And king David said to him, “Go in peace.” And he
rose up and went away to Hebron. {15:10} They Absalom
sent scouts into all the tribes of Israel, saying: “As soon as
you hear the blare of the trumpet, say: ‘Absalom reigns in
Hebron.’ ” {15:11} Now having been called, two hundred
men from Jerusalem went forth with Absalom, going in
simplicity of heart and being entirely ignorant of the plan.
{15:12} Absalom also summoned Ahithophel the Gilonite, a
counselor of David, from his city, Giloh. And when he was
immolating victims, a very strong oath was sworn, and the
people, hurrying together, joined with Absalom.
{15:13} Then a messenger went to David, saying, “With their
whole heart, all of Israel is following Absalom.” {15:14} And
David said to his servants, who were with him in Jerusalem:
“Rise up, let us flee! For otherwise there will be no escape for
us from the face of Absalom. Hurry to depart, lest perhaps,
upon arriving, he may seize us, and force ruin upon us, and
strike the city with the edge of the sword.” {15:15} And the
servants of the king said to him, “Everything whatsoever that
our lord the king will command, we your servants shall carry
out willingly.” {15:16} Therefore, the king departed, with his
entire household on foot. And the king left behind ten
women of the concubines to care for the house. {15:17} And
having gone forth on foot, the king and all of Israel stood at a
distance from the house. {15:18} And all his servants were
walking beside him. And the legions of the Cerethites and
Phelethites, and all the Gittites, powerful fighters, six
hundred men who had followed him from Gath on foot, were
preceding the king. {15:19} Then the king said to Ittai the
Gittite: “Why do you come with us? Return and live with the
king. For you are a stranger, and you departed from your
own place. {15:20} You arrived yesterday. And today should
you be compelled to go away with us? For I should go to the
place where I am going. But you should return, and lead your
own brothers back with you. And the Lord will show mercy
and truth to you, because you have shown grace and faith.”
{15:21} And Ittai responded to the king, by saying, “As the
Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, in whatever place
you will be, my lord the king, whether in death or in life,
your servant will be there.” {15:22} And David said to Ittai,
“Come, and pass over.” And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and
all the men who were with him, and the rest of the multitude.
{15:23} And they all wept with a great voice, and all the
people passed over. The king also passed over the torrent
Kidron. And all the people advanced opposite the way which
looks out toward the desert. {15:24} Now Zadok the priest
also went, and all the Levites went with him, carrying the ark
of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God.
And Abiathar went up, until all the people who had departed
from the city had gone by. {15:25} And the king said to
Zadok: “Carry back the ark of God into the city. If I shall
find grace in the sight of the Lord, he will lead me back. And
he will show it to me in his tabernacle. {15:26} But if he will
say to me, ‘You are not pleasing,’ I am ready. Let him do
whatever is good in his own sight.” {15:27} And the king
said to Zadok the priest: “O seer, return into the city in peace.
And let your son Ahimaaz, and Jonathan, the son of
Abiathar, your two sons, be with you. {15:28} Behold, I will
hide in the plains of the desert, until word from you may
arrive to inform me.” {15:29} Therefore, Zadok and Abiathar
carried back the ark of God into Jerusalem, and they
remained there. {15:30} But David ascended to the Mount of
Olives, climbing and weeping, advancing with bare feet and
with his head covered. Moreover, all the people who were
with him ascended, weeping with their heads covered.
{15:31} Then it was reported to David that Ahithophel also
had joined in swearing with Absalom. And David said, “ O
Lord, I beg you, to uncover the foolishness of the counsel of
Ahithophel.” {15:32} And when David had ascended to the
summit of the mountain, where he was going to adore the
Lord, behold Hushai the Archite met him, with his garment
torn and his head covered with soil. {15:33} And David said
to him: “If you come with me, you will be a burden to me.
{15:34} But if you return to the city, and you say to Absalom,
‘I am your servant, O king; just as I have been the servant of
your father, so too will I be your servant,’ you will destroy
the counsel of Ahithophel {15:35} And you have with you
the priests Zadok and Abiathar. And any word whatsoever
that you will hear from the house of the king, you shall reveal
it to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests. {15:36} Now with them
are their two sons Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, and Jonathan,
the son of Abiathar. And you shall send to me by them every
word that you will have heard.” {15:37} Therefore, Hushai,
the friend of David, went into the city. And Absalom also
entered into Jerusalem.


[2 Samuel 16] {16:1} And when David had passed a little
beyond the top of the mountain, Ziba, the servant of
Mephibosheth, appeared to meet him, with two donkeys,
which were burdened with two hundred loaves, and one
hundred bunches of dried grapes, and one hundred masses of
dried figs, and a skin of wine. {16:2} And the king said to
Ziba, “What do you intend to do with these things?” And
Ziba responded: “The donkeys are for the household of the
king, so that they may sit. And the loaves and dried figs are
for your servants to eat. But the wine is for anyone to drink
who may be faint in the desert.” {16:3} And the king said,
“Where is the son of your lord?” And Ziba answered the king:
“He remained in Jerusalem, saying, “Today, the house of
Israel will restore the kingdom of my father to me.’ ”
{16:4} And the king said to Ziba, “All the things which were
for Mephibosheth are now yours.” And Ziba said, “I beg you
that I may find grace before you, my lord the king.”
{16:5} Then king David went as far as Bahurim. And behold,
a man from the kindred of the house of Saul, named Shimei,
the son of Gera, went out from there. And going out, he
continued on, and he was cursing, {16:6} and throwing
stones against David and against all the servants of king
David. And all the people and all the warriors were traveling
to the right and to the left sides of the king. {16:7} And so, as
he was cursing the king, Shimei said: “Go away, go away,
you man of blood, and you man of Belial! {16:8} The Lord
has repaid you for all the blood of the house of Saul. For you
have usurped the kingdom in place of him. And so, the Lord
has given the kingdom into the hand of Absalom, your son.
And behold, your evils press close upon you, because you are
a man of blood.” {16:9} Then Abishai, the son of Zeruiah,
said to the king: “Why should this dead dog curse my lord
the king? Let me go and cut off his head.” {16:10} And the
king said: “What is it to me and to all of you, O sons of
Zeruiah? Permit him, so that he may curse. For the Lord has
commanded him to curse David. And who is the one who
would dare to say, ‘Why has he done so?’ ” {16:11} And the
king said to Abishai and to all his servants: “Behold, my son,
who went forth from my loins, is seeking my life. How much
more does a son of Benjamin do so now? Permit him, so that
he may curse, in accord with the command of the Lord.
{16:12} Perhaps the Lord may look with favor upon my
affliction, and the Lord may repay me good, in place of the
cursing of this day.” {16:13} And so, David continued
walking along the way, and his associates with him. But
Shimei was advancing along the ridge of the mountain on the
side opposite him, cursing and throwing stones at him, and
scattering dirt. {16:14} And the king and the entire people
with him, being weary, went and refreshed themselves there.
{16:15} But Absalom and all his people entered into
Jerusalem. Moreover, Ahithophel was with him.
{16:16} And when Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, had
gone to Absalom, he said to him: “May you be well, O king!
May you be well, O king!” {16:17} And Absalom said to him:
“Is this your kindness to your friend? Why did you not go
with your friend?” {16:18} And Hushai responded to
Absalom: “By no means! For I will be his, whom the Lord
has chosen. And I, and all this people, and all of Israel, will
remain with him. {16:19} But then too, I declare this: whom
should I serve? Is it not the son of the king? Just as I have
been subject to your father, so will I be subject to you also.”
{16:20} Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Present a
counsel as to what we ought to do.” {16:21} And Ahithophel
said to Absalom: “Enter to the concubines of your father,
whom he left behind in order to care for the house. Thus,
when all of Israel will hear that you disgraced your father,
their hands may be strengthened with you.”
{16:22} Therefore, they spread a tent for Absalom on the
rooftop. And he entered to the concubines of his father in the
sight of all Israel. {16:23} Now the counsel of Ahithophel,
which he gave in those days, was treated as if one were
consulting God. So was every counsel of Ahithophel, both
when he was with David, and when he was with Absalom.


[2 Samuel 17] {17:1} Then Ahithophel said to Absalom: “I
will choose for myself twelve thousand men, and rising up, I
will pursue David this night. {17:2} And rushing against him,
for he is weary and has weakened hands, I will strike him.
And when all the people who are with him will have fled, I
will strike down the king in isolation. {17:3} And I will lead
back the entire people, returning in the manner of one man.
For you are seeking only one man. And all the people shall
be in peace.” {17:4} And this word pleased Absalom and all
those greater by birth of Israel. {17:5} But Absalom said,
“Summon Hushai the Archite, and let us hear what he also
may say.” {17:6} And when Hushai had gone to Absalom,
Absalom said to him: “Ahithophel has spoken a word in this
manner. Should we do it or not? What counsel do you give?”
{17:7} And Hushai said to Absalom, “The counsel that
Ahithophel has given at this time is not good.” {17:8} And
again Hushai declared, “You know your father, and the men
who are with him, to be very strong and bitter in soul,
comparable to a bear raging in the forest when her young
have been taken away. Moreover, your father is a man of war,
and so he will not live among the people. {17:9} Perhaps
now he hides in pits, or in another place, wherever he wills.
And if by chance, in the beginning, anyone may fall, whoever
hears about it, no matter what he has heard, will say, ‘There
is a slaughter among the people who were following
Absalom.’ {17:10} And even the very strong, whose heart is
like the heart of a lion, will be weakened out of fear. For all
the people of Israel know your father to be a valiant man, and
that all who are with him are robust. {17:11} But this seems
to me to be the right counsel: Let all of Israel be gathered to
you, from Dan to Beersheba, like the sand of the sea which is
innumerable. And you will be in their midst. {17:12} And we
shall rush against him in whatever place he will have been
found. And we shall cover him, as the dew usually falls upon
the ground. And we shall not leave behind even one of the
men who are with him. {17:13} And if he will enter into any
city, all of Israel shall encircle that city with ropes. And we
will pull it into the torrent, so that there may not be found
even one small stone from it.” {17:14} And Absalom, with
all the men of Israel, said: “The counsel of Hushai the
Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” So, by an
act of the Lord, the useful counsel of Ahithophel was
defeated, in order that the Lord might lead evil over Absalom.
{17:15} And Hushai said to the priests, Zadok and Abiathar:
“Ahithophel gave counsel to Absalom and to the elders of
Israel in this and that manner. And I gave counsel in such
and such a manner. {17:16} Now therefore, send quickly,
and report to David, saying: ‘You shall not stay this night in
the plains of the desert. Instead, without delay, go across.
Otherwise the king may be engulfed, and all the people who
are with him.’ ” {17:17} But Jonathan and Ahimaaz
remained beside the Fountain of Rogel. And a handmaid
went away and reported it to them. And they set out, so that
they might carry the report to king David. For they could not
be seen, nor enter into the city. {17:18} But a certain young
man saw them, and he revealed it to Absalom. Yet truly, they
traveled quickly and entered into the house of a certain man
in Bahurim, who had a well in his court, and they descended
into it. {17:19} Then a woman took and spread a covering
over the mouth of the well, as if drying hulled barley. And so
the matter was hidden. {17:20} And when the servants of
Absalom had entered into the house, they said to the woman,
“Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman
responded to them, “They passed through hurriedly, after
they had taken a little water.” But those who were seeking
them, when they had not found them, returned to Jerusalem.
{17:21} And when they had gone, they ascended from the
well. And traveling, they reported to king David, and they
said: “Rise up, and go across the river quickly. For
Ahithophel has given a counsel of this kind against you.”
{17:22} Therefore, David rose up, and all the people who
were with him, and they crossed over the Jordan, until first
light. And not even one of them was left behind who had not
crossed over the river. {17:23} Then Ahithophel, seeing that
his counsel had not been done, saddled his donkey, and he
rose up and went away to his own house and to his own city.
And putting his house in order, he killed himself by hanging.
And he was buried in the sepulcher of his father.
{17:24} Then David went to the encampment, and Absalom
crossed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.
{17:25} Truly, Absalom appointed Amasa in place of Joab
over the army. Now Amasa was the son of a man who was
called Ithra of Jezrael, who entered to Abigail, the daughter
of Nahash, the sister of Zeruiah, who was the mother of Joab.
{17:26} And Israel made camp with Absalom in the land of
Gilead. {17:27} And when David had arrived at the
encampment, Shobi, the son of Nahash, from Rabbah, of the
sons of Ammon, and Machir, the son of Ammiel of Lodebar,
and Barzillai, the Gileadite of Rogelim, {17:28} brought to
him bedding, and tapestries, and earthen vessels, and wheat,
and barley, and meal, and cooked grain, and beans, and
lentils, and fried chick peas, {17:29} and honey, and butter,
sheep and fattened calves. And they gave these to David and
to the people who were with him to eat. For they suspected
that the people were faint with hunger and thirst in the desert.


[2 Samuel 18] {18:1} And so David, having reviewed his
people, appointed over them tribunes and centurions.
{18:2} And he placed a third part of the people under the
hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai, the
son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, and a third part under the
hand of Ittai, who was from Gath. And the king said to the
people, “I, too, will go forth with you.” {18:3} And the
people responded: “You shall not go out. For if we flee, there
will not be great concern in them for us. Or if one half part of
us will fall, they will not care much. For you are considered
as one for ten thousand. Therefore, it is better that you should
be in the city to strengthen us.” {18:4} And the king said to
them, “I will do whatever seems good to you.” Therefore, the
king stood beside the gate. And the people went out by their
troops, by hundreds and by thousands. {18:5} And the king
ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, “Preserve for me
the boy Absalom.” And all the people heard the king
commanding all the leaders on behalf of Absalom.
{18:6} And so, the people departed into the field against
Israel. And the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim.
{18:7} And the people of Israel were cut down in that place
by the army of David. And a great slaughter occurred on that
day: twenty thousand men. {18:8} Now the battle in that
place was dispersed over the face of all the land. And there
were many more of the people whom the forest had
consumed, than the sword had devoured, on that day.
{18:9} Then it happened that Absalom, riding on a mule, met
the servants of David. And when the mule had entered under
a thick and large oak tree, his head became trapped in the oak.
And while he was suspended between heaven and earth, the
mule on which he had been sitting continued on.
{18:10} Then a certain one saw this and reported it to Joab,
saying, “I saw Absalom hanging from an oak.” {18:11} And
Joab said to the man who had reported it to him, “If you saw
him, why did you not stab him to the ground, and I would
have given you ten shekels of silver and a belt?” {18:12} And
he said to Joab: “Even if you weighed out to my hands one
thousand silver coins, I would never lay my hands on the son
of the king. For in our hearing the king ordered you and
Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Keep for me the boy Absalom.’
{18:13} Then too, if I had acted with such audacity, against
my own life, this would never have been able to be hidden
from the king. And would you then have stood by my side?”
{18:14} And Joab said, “It will not be as you wish. Instead, I
will be assailing him in your sight.” Then he took three lances
in his hand, and he fixed them in the heart of Absalom. And
while he was still clinging to life upon the oak, {18:15} ten
young men, armor bearers of Joab, ran up, and striking him,
they killed him. {18:16} Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and
he held back the people, lest they pursue Israel in their flight,
for he was willing to spare the multitude. {18:17} And they
took Absalom, and they threw him into a great pit in the
forest. And they piled an exceedingly great heap of stones
over him. But all of Israel fled to their own tents.
{18:18} Now Absalom had raised up for himself, when he
was still alive, a monument, which is in the Valley of the
King. For he said, “I have no son, and so this shall be the
memorial to my name.” And he called the monument by his
own name. And it is called the Hand of Absalom, even to this
day. {18:19} Then Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, said, “I will
run and report to the king that the Lord has accomplished
judgment for him, from the hand of his enemies.”
{18:20} And Joab said to him: “You shall not be the
messenger on this day. Instead, you shall report on another
day. I am not willing for you to give the report today, because
the son of the king is dead.” {18:21} Then Joab said to
Hushai, “Go, and report to the king what you have seen.”
Hushai reverenced Joab, and he ran. {18:22} And Ahimaaz,
the son of Zadok, said to Joab again, “What prevents me
from running after Hushai also?” And Joab said to him:
“Why do you want to run, my son? You would not be the
bearer of good news.” {18:23} And he responded, “But what
if I do run?” And he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz,
running along a shorter way, passed Hushai. {18:24} Now
David was sitting between the two gates. Truly, the
watchman, who was at the summit of the gate upon the wall,
lifting up his eyes, saw a man running alone. {18:25} And
crying out, he told the king. And the king said, “If he is alone,
there is good news in his mouth.” But as he was advancing
and drawing nearer, {18:26} the watchman saw another man
running. And so, crying out from the height, he said:
“Another man has appeared, running alone.” And the king
said, “This one also is a good messenger.” {18:27} Then the
watchman said, “The running of the closest one seems like
the running of Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok.” And the king
said, “He is a good man, and he arrives bearing good news.”
{18:28} Then, Ahimaaz, crying out, said to the king, “Be
well, O king.” And reverencing the king prone on the ground
before him, he said, “Blessed be the Lord your God, who has
enclosed the men who had lifted up their hands against my
lord the king.” {18:29} And the king said, “Is there peace for
the boy Absalom?” And Ahimaaz said: “I saw a great tumult,
O king, when your servant Joab sent me, your servant. I
know nothing else.” {18:30} And the king said to him, “Pass,
and stand here.” And when he had passed and stood still,
{18:31} Hushai appeared. And approaching, he said: “I bear
good news, my lord the king. For today the Lord has judged
for you, from the hand of all who had risen up against you.”
{18:32} But the king said to Hushai, “Is there peace for the
boy Absalom?” And responding, Hushai said to him, “May
the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise against him
for evil, be as the boy is.” {18:33} And so the king, being
greatly saddened, ascended to the upper room of the gate,
and he wept. And as he went, he was speaking in this manner:
“My son Absalom! Absalom my son! Who can grant to me
that I may die on your behalf? Absalom, my son! My son,
Absalom!”


[2 Samuel 19] {19:1} Now it was reported to Joab that the
king was weeping and mourning for his son. {19:2} And so
the victory on that day was turned into mourning for all the
people. For the people heard it said on that day, “The king is
grieving over his son.” {19:3} And the people declined to
enter the city on that day, in the manner that the people were
accustomed to decline if they had turned and fled from battle.
{19:4} And the king covered his head, and he was crying out
in a great voice: “My son, Absalom! Absalom, my son, my
son!” {19:5} Therefore, Joab, entering to the king in the
house, said: “Today you have shamed the faces of all your
servants, who saved your life, and the lives of your sons and
your daughters, and the lives of your wives, and the lives of
your concubines. {19:6} You love those who hate you, and
you hate those who love you. And you have revealed this day
that you have no concern for your leaders and for your
servants. And truly, I know now that if Absalom had lived,
and if we all had been killed, then it would have pleased you.
{19:7} Now then, rise up and go out, and speak so as to make
amends to your servants. For I swear to you by the Lord that
if you will not go forth, not even one person will be left with
you this night. And this will be worse for you than all the
evils that have come to you, from your youth even to the
present.” {19:8} Therefore, the king rose up, and he sat at the
gate. And it was announced to all the people that the king
was sitting at the gate. And the entire multitude went before
the king. But Israel fled to their own tents. {19:9} And all the
people were conflicted, in all the tribes of Israel, saying: “The
king has freed us from the hand of our enemies. He himself
saved us from the hand of the Philistines. But now he flees
from the land for the sake of Absalom. {19:10} But Absalom,
whom we anointed over us, has died in the war. How long
will you be silent, and not lead back the king?” {19:11} Then
truly, king David sent to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests,
saying: “Speak to those greater by birth of Judah, saying:
‘Why have you arrived last to lead back the king into his
house? (For the talk in all of Israel had reached the king in his
house.) {19:12} You are my brothers; you are my bone and
my flesh. Why are you the last to lead back the king?’
{19:13} And say to Amasa: ‘Are you not my bone and my
flesh? May God do these things, and may he add these other
things, if you will not be the leader of the military in my sight,
for all time, in the place of Joab.’ ” {19:14} And he inclined
the heart of all the men of Judah, as if one man. And they
sent to the king, saying, “Return, you and all your servants.”
{19:15} And the king returned. And he went as far as the
Jordan, and all of Judah went as far as Gilgal, so as to meet
the king, and to lead him across the Jordan. {19:16} And
Shimei, the son of Gera, the son of Benjamin, from Bahurim,
hurried and descended with the men of Judah to meet king
David, {19:17} with one thousand men from Benjamin, and
with Ziba, the servant from the house of Saul. And with him
were his fifteen sons and twenty servants. And going into the
Jordan, {19:18} they crossed the fords before the king, so that
they might lead across the house of the king, and might act in
accord with his order. Then, Shimei, the son of Gera,
prostrating himself before the king after he had now gone
across the Jordan, {19:19} said to him: “May you not impute
to me, my lord, the iniquity, nor call to mind the injuries, of
your servant in the day that you, my lord the king, departed
from Jerusalem. And may you not store it up in your heart, O
king. {19:20} For as your servant, I acknowledge my sin.
And for this reason, today, I arrive as the first from all the
house of Joseph, and I descend to meet my lord the king.”
{19:21} Yet truly, Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, responding,
said, “Should not Shimei, because of these words, be killed,
since he cursed the Christ of the Lord?” {19:22} And David
said: “What is it to me and to all of you, O sons of Zeruiah?
Why are you acting toward me this day like Satan? Why
should any man be put to death on this day in Israel? Or do
you not know that today I have been made king over Israel?”
{19:23} And the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.”
And he swore to him. {19:24} And Mephibosheth, the son of
Saul, descended to meet the king, with unwashed his feet and
uncut beard. And he had not washed his garments from the
day that the king had departed, until the day of his return in
peace. {19:25} And when he had met the king at Jerusalem,
the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me,
Mephibosheth?” {19:26} And in response, he said: “My lord
the king, my servant spurned me. And I, your servant, spoke
to him so that he might saddle a donkey for me, and I might
climb upon it and go with the king. For I, your servant, am
lame. {19:27} Moreover, he also accused me, your servant,
to you, my lord the king. But you, my lord the king, are like
an Angel of God. Do whatever is pleasing to you.
{19:28} For my father’s house was deserving of nothing but
death before my lord the king. Yet you have placed me, your
servant, among the guests of your table. Therefore, what just
complaint might I have? Or what else can I cry out to the
king?” {19:29} Then the king said to him: “Why are you still
speaking? What I have spoken is fixed. You and Ziba shall
divide the possessions.” {19:30} And Mephibosheth
responded to the king, “But now let him take it all, since my
lord the king has been returned peacefully into his own
house.” {19:31} Likewise, Barzillai the Gileadite, descending
from Rogelim, led the king across the Jordan, having
prepared also to follow him beyond the river. {19:32} Now
Barzillai the Gileadite was very old, that is, eighty years old.
And he provided the king with sustenance when he was
staying at the encampment. For indeed, he was an
exceedingly rich man. {19:33} And so the king said to
Barzillai, “Come with me, so that you may rest securely with
me in Jerusalem.” {19:34} And Barzillai said to the king:
“How many days remain in the years of my life, that I should
go up with the king to Jerusalem? {19:35} Today I am eighty
years old. Are my senses quick to discern sweet and bitter? Or
is food and drink able to delight your servant? Or can I still
hear the voice of men and women singers? Why should your
servant be a burden to my lord the king? {19:36} I, your
servant, shall procede a little ways from the Jordan with you.
I am not in need of this recompense. {19:37} But I beg you
that I, your servant, may be returned and may die in my own
city, and may be buried beside the sepulcher of my father and
my mother. But there is your servant Chimham; let him go
with you, my lord the king. And do for him whatever seems
good to you.” {19:38} And so the king said to him: “Let
Chimham cross over with me, and I will do for him whatever
will be pleasing to you. And all that you ask of me, you shall
obtain.” {19:39} And when the entire people and the king
had crossed over the Jordan, the king kissed Barzillai, and he
blessed him. And he returned to his own place. {19:40} Then
the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went with him.
Now all the people of Judah had led the king across, but only
as much as one half part of the people of Israel were there.
{19:41} And so, all the men of Israel, running to the king,
said to him: “Why have our brothers, the men of Judah,
stolen you away. And why have they led the king and his
house across the Jordan, and all the men of David with
him?” {19:42} And all the men of Judah responded to the
men of Israel: “Because the king is nearer to me. Why are
you angry over this matter? Have we eaten anything
belonging to the king, or have any gifts been given to us?”
{19:43} And the men of Israel responded to the men of Judah,
and said: “I have the greater amount, ten parts, with the king,
and so David belongs to me more so than to you. Why have
you caused me injury, and why was it not announced to me
first, so that I might lead back my king?” But the men of
Judah answered more firmly than the men of Israel.


[2 Samuel 20] {20:1} And it happened that there was, in that
place, a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of
Bichri, a man of Benjamin. And he sounded the trumpet, and
he said: “There is no portion for us in David, nor any
inheritance in the son of Jesse. Return to your own tents, O
Israel.” {20:2} And all of Israel separated from David, and
they were following Sheba, the son of Bichri. But the men of
Judah clung to their king, from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem.
{20:3} And when the king had entered his house at
Jerusalem, he took the ten women concubines, whom he had
left behind to care for the house, and he put them into
custody, allowing them provisions. But he did not enter to
them. Instead, they were enclosed, even until the day of their
deaths, living as widows. {20:4} Then the king said to Amasa,
“Summon to me all the men of Judah on the third day, and
you shall be present also.” {20:5} Therefore, Amasa went
away, so that he might summon Judah. But he delayed
beyond the agreed time that the king had appointed to him.
{20:6} And David said to Abishai: “Now Sheba, the son of
Bichri, will afflict us more so than Absalom did. Therefore,
take the servants of your lord, and pursue him, otherwise he
may find fortified cities, and escape from us.” {20:7} And so,
the men of Joab departed with him, along with the
Cherethites and the Pelethites. And all the able-bodied men
went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba, the son of Bichri.
{20:8} And when they were beside the great stone, which is
in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was
wearing a close-fitting coat of equal length with his garment.
And over these, he was girded with a sword hanging down to
his thigh, in a scabbard which was made so that the sword
could be removed with the least motion, and then strike.
{20:9} Then Joab said to Amasa, “Be well, my brother.” And
he held Amasa by the chin with his right hand, as if to kiss
him. {20:10} But Amasa did not notice the sword that Joab
had. And he struck him in the side, and his intestines poured
out to the ground. And he did not inflict a second wound,
and he died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued
Sheba, the son of Bichri. {20:11} Meanwhile, certain men,
from the company of Joab, when they had stopped beside the
dead body of Amasa, said: “Behold, the one who wished to
be in the place of Joab, the companion of David.”
{20:12} Now Amasa was covered with blood, and was lying
in the middle of the road. A certain man saw this, with all the
people standing nearby to look at him, and he removed
Amasa from the road into a field. And he covered him with a
garment, so that those passing by would not stop because of
him. {20:13} Then, when he had been removed from the
road, all the men continued on, following Joab in the pursuit
of Sheba, the son of Bichri. {20:14} Now he had passed
through all the tribes of Israel into Abel and Bethmaacah.
And all the elect men had gathered together to him.
{20:15} And so, they went and besieged him at Abel and
Bethmaacah. And they surrounded the city with siege works,
and the city was blockaded. Then the entire crowd who were
with Joab strove to destroy the walls. {20:16} And a wise
woman exclaimed from the city: “Listen, listen, and say to
Joab: Draw near, and I will speak with you.” {20:17} And
when he had drawn near to her, she said to him, “Are you
Joab?” And he responded, “I am.” And she spoke in this way
to him, “Listen to the words of your handmaid.” He
responded, “I am listening.” {20:18} And again she spoke:
“A word was said in the old proverb, ‘Those who would
inquire, let them inquire in Abel.’ And so they would reach a
conclusion. {20:19} Am I not the one who responds with the
truth in Israel? And yet you are seeking to overthrow the city,
and to overturn a mother in Israel! Why would you cast
down the inheritance of the Lord?” {20:20} And responding,
Joab said: “May this be far, may this be far from me! May I
not cast down, and may I not demolish. {20:21} The matter
is not as you said. Rather, a man from mount Ephraim,
Sheba, the son of Bichri, by name, has lifted up his hand
against king David. Deliver him alone, and we will withdraw
from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his
head will be thrown down to you from the wall.’
{20:22} Therefore, she entered to all the people, and she
spoke to them wisely. And they cut off the head of Sheba, the
son of Bichri, and they threw it down to Joab. And he
sounded the trumpet, and they withdrew from the city, each
one to his own tent. But Joab returned to Jerusalem to the
king. {20:23} Thus Joab was over the entire army of Israel.
And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was over the Cerethites
and Phelethites. {20:24} Yet truly, Adoram was over the
tributes. And Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was the keeper
of records. {20:25} Now Sheva was the scribe. And truly
Zadok and Abiathar were the priests. {20:26} But Ira, the
Jairite, was the priest of David.


[2 Samuel 21] {21:1} And a famine occurred, during the days
of David, for three years continuously. And David consulted
the oracle of the Lord. And the Lord said: “This is because of
Saul, and his house of bloodshed. For he killed the
Gibeonites.” {21:2} Therefore, the king, calling for the
Gibeonites, spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of
the sons of Israel, but were the remnant of the Amorites. And
the sons of Israel had sworn an oath to them, but Saul wished
to strike them in zeal, as if on behalf of the sons of Israel and
Judah. {21:3} Therefore, David said to the Gzibeonites:
“What shall I do for you? And what shall be your satisfaction,
so that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?”
{21:4} And the Gibeonites said to him: “There is no quarrel
for us over silver or gold, but against Saul and against his
house. And we do not desire that any man of Israel be put to
death.” The king said to them, “Then what do you wish that
I should do for you?” {21:5} And they said to the king: “The
man who unjustly afflicted and oppressed us, we ought to
destroy in such manner that not even one of his stock may be
left behind in all the parts of Israel. {21:6} Let seven men
from his sons be given to us, so that we may crucify them to
the Lord in Gibeon of Saul, formerly the chosen place of the
Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.” {21:7} But the
king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of
Saul, because of the oath of the Lord which had been made
between David and Jonathan, the son of Saul. {21:8} And so
the king took the two sons of Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah,
whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the
five sons of Michal, the daughter of Saul, whom she
conceived of Adriel, the son of Barzillai, who was from
Meholath, {21:9} and he gave them into the hands of the
Gibeonites. And they crucified them on a hill in the sight of
the Lord. And these seven fell together in the first days of the
harvest, when the barley is beginning to be reaped.
{21:10} Then Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, taking a
haircloth, spread it under herself on a rock, from the
beginning of the harvest until water dropped from heaven
upon them. And she did not permit the birds to tear them by
day, nor the beasts by night. {21:11} And it was reported to
David what Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of
Saul, had done. {21:12} And David went and took the bones
of Saul, and the bones of his son Jonathan, from the men of
Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the street of
Bethshan, where the Philistines had suspended them after
they had slain Saul at Gilboa. {21:13} And he brought the
bones of Saul, and the bones of his son Jonathan, from there.
And they collected the bones of those who had been crucified.
{21:14} And they buried them with the bones of Saul and his
son Jonathan, in the land of Benjamin, to the side of the
sepulcher of his father Kish. And they did all that the king
had instructed. And after these things, God showed favor
again to the land. {21:15} Then the Philistines again
undertook a battle against Israel. And David descended, and
his servants with him, and they fought against the Philistines.
But when David grew faint, {21:16} Ishbibenob, who was of
the ancestry of Arapha, the iron of whose spear weighed
three hundred ounces, who had been girded with a new
sword, strove to strike down David. {21:17} And Abishai,
the son of Zeruiah, defended him, and striking the Philistine,
he killed him. Then David’s men swore an oath to him,
saying, “You shall no longer go out to war with us, lest you
extinguish the lamp of Israel.” {21:18} Also, a second war
occurred in Gob against the Philistines. Then Sibbecai from
Hushah struck down Saph, from the stock of Arapha, of the
ancestry of the giants. {21:19} Then there was a third war in
Gob against the Philistines, in which Adeodatus, a son of the
forest, a weaver from Bethlehem, struck down Goliath the
Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like the beam used by a
cloth maker. {21:20} A fourth battle was in Gath. In that
place, there was a lofty man, who had six digits on each hand
and each foot, that is, twenty-four in all, and he was from the
origins of Arapha. {21:21} And he blasphemed Israel. So
Jonathan, the son of Shimei, the brother of David, struck him
down. {21:22} These four men were born of Arapha in Gath,
and they fell by the hand of David and his servants.


[2 Samuel 22] {22:1} And David spoke to the Lord the words
of this verse, in the day that the Lord freed him from the
hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
{22:2} And he said: “The Lord is my rock, and my strength,
and my Savior. {22:3} I will hope in him. God is my strong
one, my shield, and the horn of my salvation. He lifts me up,
and he is my refreshment. You, O my Savior, will free me
from iniquity. {22:4} I will call upon the Lord, who is
praiseworthy; and I will be saved from my enemies.
{22:5} For the pangs of death have encircled me. The torrents
of Belial have terrified me. {22:6} The ropes of Hell have
encompassed me. The snares of death have intercepted me.
{22:7} In my tribulation, I will call upon the Lord, and I will
cry out to my God. And he will heed my voice from his
temple, and my outcry will reach his ears. {22:8} The earth
was shaken, and it quaked. The foundations of the mountains
were struck together and violently shaken, because he was
angry with them. {22:9} Smoke ascends from his nostrils,
and fire from his mouth will devour; coals have been kindled
by it. {22:10} He bent down the heavens, and it descended;
and a fog was beneath his feet. {22:11} And he climbed upon
the cherubim, and he flew; and he slid upon the wings of the
wind. {22:12} He set darkness as a hiding place around
himself, with waters sifted from the clouds of the heavens.
{22:13} By means of the brightness of his glance, coals of fire
were kindled. {22:14} The Lord will thunder from heaven;
and the Most High will utter his voice. {22:15} He shot
arrows, and he scattered them; lightning, and he consumed
them. {22:16} And the overflow of the sea appeared, and the
foundations of the globe were revealed, at the rebuke of the
Lord, at the exhale of the breath of his fury. {22:17} He sent
from on high, and he took me up. And he drew me out of
many waters. {22:18} He freed me from my most powerful
enemy and from those who had hated me. For they were too
strong for me. {22:19} He went before me in the day of my
affliction, and the Lord became my firmament. {22:20} And
he led me out to a wide-open place. He freed me, because I
was pleasing to him. {22:21} The Lord will reward me
according to my justice. And he will repay me according to
the cleanness of my hands. {22:22} For I have kept to the
ways of the Lord, and I have not acted impiously before my
God. {22:23} For all his judgments are in my sight. And I
have not removed his precepts from me. {22:24} And I shall
be perfect with him. And I shall guard myself from my own
iniquity. {22:25} And the Lord will recompense me
according to my justice, and according to the cleanness of my
hands in the sight of his eyes. {22:26} With the holy one, you
will be holy, and with the strong one, you will be perfect.
{22:27} With the elect one, you will be elect, and with the
perverse one, you will be perverse. {22:28} And you will
bring to salvation the poor people, and you will humble the
exalted with your eyes. {22:29} For you are my lamp, O
Lord. And you, O Lord, will illuminate my darkness.
{22:30} For in you, I will run girded. In my God, I will leap
over the wall. {22:31} God, his way is immaculate; the
eloquence of the Lord is an exacting fire. He is the shield of
all who hope in him. {22:32} Who is God except the Lord?
And who is strong except our God? {22:33} God, he has
girded me with fortitude, and he has made my way perfect:
{22:34} making my feet like the feet of the stag, and
stationing me upon my exalted places, {22:35} teaching my
hands to do battle, and making my arms like a bow of brass.
{22:36} You have given me the shield of your salvation. And
your mildness has multiplied me. {22:37} You will enlarge
my steps under me, and my ankles will not fail. {22:38} I will
pursue my enemies, and crush them. And I will not turn back,
until I consume them. {22:39} I will consume them and
break them apart, so that they cannot rise up; they will fall
under my feet. {22:40} You have girded me with strength for
the battle. Those who resisted me, you have bent down under
me. {22:41} You have caused my enemies to turn their back
to me; they have hatred for me, and I shall destroy them.
{22:42} They will cry out, and there will be no one to save; to
the Lord, and he will not heed them. {22:43} I will wipe
them away like the dust of the earth. I will break them apart
and crush them, like the mud of the streets. {22:44} You will
save me from the contradictions of my people. You will
preserve me to be the head of the Gentiles; a people I do not
know shall serve me. {22:45} The sons of foreigners, who
will resist me, at the hearing of the ear they will be obedient
to me. {22:46} The foreigners flowed away, but they will be
drawn together in their anguishes. {22:47} The Lord lives,
and my God is blessed. And the strong God of my salvation
shall be exalted. {22:48} God gives me vindication, and he
casts down the peoples under me. {22:49} He leads me away
from my enemies, and he lifts me up from those who resist
me. You will free me from the iniquitous man.
{22:50} Because of this, I will confess to you, O Lord, among
the Gentiles, and I will sing to your name:
{22:51} magnifying the salvation of his king, and showing
mercy to David, his Christ, and to his offspring forever.”


[2 Samuel 23] {23:1} These are the last words of David. Now
David, the son of Jesse, the man to whom it was appointed
concerning the Christ of the God of Jacob, the preeminent
psalmist of Israel said: {23:2} “The Spirit of the Lord has
spoken through me, and his word was spoken through my
tongue. {23:3} The God of Israel spoke to me, the Strong
One of Israel spoke, the Ruler of men, the Just Ruler, in the
fear of God, {23:4} like the first light of the morning as the
sun is rising, when a morning without clouds glows red, and
like plants springing forth from the earth after a rainfall.
{23:5} But my house is not so great with God that he should
undertake an eternal covenant with me, firm and fortified in
all things. For he is the entirety of my salvation and the
entirety of my will. And there is nothing of this which will
not spring forth. {23:6} But all prevaricators shall be plucked
out like thorns, yet they are not taken away by hands.
{23:7} And if anyone wishes to touch them, he must be
armed with iron and a wooden lance. And they shall be set
ablaze and burned to nothing.” {23:8} These are the names
of the valiant of David. Sitting in the chair was the wisest
leader among the three; he was like a very tender little worm
in a tree, who killed eight hundred men in one attack.
{23:9} After him, there was Eleazar, the son of his paternal
uncle, an Ahohite, who was among the three valiant men
who were with David when they chastised the Philistines,
and they were gathered together in battle there. {23:10} And
when the men of Israel had gone up, he himself stood fast
and struck down the Philistines, until his hand grew weak
and stiff with the sword. And the Lord wrought a great
salvation on that day. And the people who had fled returned
to take up the spoils of the slain. {23:11} And after him, there
was Shammah, the son of Agee, from Hara. And the
Philistines gathered together at an outpost. For a field full of
lentils was in that place. And when the people had fled from
the face of the Philistines, {23:12} he stood fast in the middle
of the field, and it was protected by him. And he struck down
the Philistines. And the Lord wrought a great salvation.
{23:13} And moreover, before this, the three who were
leaders among the thirty descended and went to David at
harvest time, in the cave of Adullam. But the camp of the
Philistines was positioned in the Valley of the giants.
{23:14} And David was in a stronghold. Moreover, there was
a garrison of the Philistines at that time in Bethlehem.
{23:15} Then David desired, and he said, “If only someone
would give me a drink of the water from the cistern, which is
in Bethlehem beside the gate!” {23:16} Therefore, the three
valiant men burst into the encampment of the Philistines, and
they drew water from the cistern of Bethlehem, which was
beside the gate. And they brought it to David. Yet he was not
willing to drink; instead, he poured it out to the Lord,
{23:17} saying: “May the Lord be gracious to me, so that I
may not do this. Should I drink the blood of these men who
have set out to the peril of their own lives?” Therefore, he
was not willing to drink. These things were accomplished by
these three robust men. {23:18} Also Abishai, the brother of
Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was first among the three. It was he
who lifted up his spear against three hundred men, whom he
killed. And he was renowned among the three, {23:19} and
he was the noblest of the three, and he was their leader. But
at first he did not attain to the three. {23:20} And Benaiah,
the son of Jehoiada, a very strong man of great deeds, was
from Kabzeel. He slew the two lions of Moab, and he
descended and slew a lion in the middle of a den, in the days
of snow. {23:21} He also killed an Egyptian who had a spear
in his hand, a man worthy to behold. And yet he had gone
down to him with only a staff. And he forced the spear from
the hand of the Egyptian, and he killed him with his own
spear. {23:22} Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, accomplished
these things. {23:23} And he was renowned among the three
robust men, who were the most noble among the thirty. Yet
truly, he did not attain to the three, until David made him his
secret advisor. {23:24} Among the thirty were: Asahel, the
brother of Joab, Elhanan, the son of his paternal uncle, from
Bethlehem, {23:25} Shammah from Harod, Elika from
Harod, {23:26} Helez from Palti, Ira, the son of Ikkesh, from
Tekoa, {23:27} Abiezer from Anathoth, Mebunnai from
Hushah, {23:28} Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the
Netophathite, {23:29} Heleb, the son of Baanah, also himself
a Netophathite, Ittai, the son of Ribai, from Gibeah, of the
sons of Benjamin, {23:30} Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai
from the Torrent Gaash, {23:31} Abialbon the Arbathite,
Azmaveth from Beromi, {23:32} Eliahba from Shaalbon; the
sons of Jashen, Jonathan, {23:33} Shammah from Orori,
Ahiam, the son of Sharar, the Hararite, {23:34} Eliphelet, the
son of Ahasbai, the son of Maacath, Eliam, the son of
Ahithophel, the Gilonite, {23:35} Hezrai from Carmel,
Paarai from Arbi, {23:36} Igal, the son of Nathan, from
Zobah, Bani from Gad, {23:37} Zelek from Ammon,
Naharai the Beerothite, the armor bearer of Joab, the son of
Zeruiah, {23:38} Ira the Ithrite, Gareb also an Ithrite,
{23:39} Uriah the Hittite: altogether thirty seven


[2 Samuel 24] {24:1} And the fury of the Lord was again
kindled against Israel, and he stirred up David among them,
saying: “Go, number Israel and Judah.” {24:2} And the king
said to Joab, the leader of his army, “Travel through all the
tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the
people, so that I may know their number.” {24:3} And Joab
said to the king: “May the Lord your God increase your
people, who are already great in number, and may he again
increase them, one hundredfold, in the sight of my lord the
king. But what does my lord the king intend for himself by
this kind of thing?” {24:4} But the words of the king
prevailed over the words of Joab and the leaders of the army.
And so Joab and the leaders of the military departed from the
face of the king, so that they might number the people of
Israel. {24:5} And when they had passed across the Jordan,
they arrived at Aroer, to the right of the city, which is in the
Valley of Gad. {24:6} And they continued on through Jazer,
into Gilead, and to the lower land of Hodsi. And they arrived
in the woodlands of Dan. And going around beside Sidon,
{24:7} they passed near the walls of Tyre, and near all the
land of the Hivite and the Canaanite. And they went into the
south of Judah, to Beersheba. {24:8} And having inspected
the entire land, after nine months and twenty days, they were
present in Jerusalem. {24:9} Then Joab gave the number of
the description of the people to the king. And there were
found of Israel eight hundred thousand able-bodied men,
who might draw the sword; and of Judah, five hundred
thousand fighting men. {24:10} Then the heart of David
struck him, after the people were numbered. And David said
to the Lord: “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But I
pray that you, O Lord, may take away the iniquity of your
servant. For I have acted very foolishly.” {24:11} And David
rose up in the morning, and the word of the Lord went to
Gad, the prophet and seer of David, saying: {24:12} “Go,
and say to David: ‘Thus says the Lord: I present to you a
choice of three things. Choose one of these, whichever you
will, so that I may do it to you.’ ” {24:13} And when Gad
had gone to David, he announced it to him, saying: “Either
seven years of famine will come to you in your land; or you
will flee for three months from your adversaries, and they will
pursue you; or there will be a pestilence in your land for three
days. Now then, deliberate, and see what word I may
respond to him who sent me.” {24:14} Then David said to
Gad: “I am in great anguish. But it is better that I should fall
into the hands of the Lord (for his mercies are many) than
into the hands of men.” {24:15} And the Lord sent a
pestilence upon Israel, from the morning until the appointed
time. And there died of the people, from Dan to Beersheba,
seventy thousand men. {24:16} And when the Angel of the
Lord had extended his hand over Jerusalem, so that he might
destroy it, the Lord took pity on the affliction. And he said to
the Angel who was striking the people: “It is enough. Hold
back your hand now.” And the Angel of the Lord was beside
the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. {24:17} And
when he had seen the Angel cutting down the people, David
said to the Lord: “I am the one who sinned. I have acted
iniquitously. These ones who are the sheep, what have they
done? I beg you that your hand may be turned against me
and against my father’s house.” {24:18} Then Gad went to
David on that day, and he said, “Ascend and construct an
altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the
Jebusite.” {24:19} And David ascended in accord with the
word of Gad, which the Lord had commanded to him.
{24:20} And looking out, Araunah turned his attention to the
king and his servants, passing toward him. {24:21} And
going out, he adored the king, lying prone with his face to the
ground, and he said, “What is the reason that my lord the
king has come to his servant?” And David said to him, “So as
to purchase the threshing floor from you, and to build an
altar to the Lord, and to quiet the plague that rages among
the people.” {24:22} And Araunah said to David: “May my
lord the king offer and accept whatever is pleasing to him.
You have oxen for a holocaust, and the cart and the yokes of
the oxen to use for wood.” {24:23} All these things Araunah
gave, as a king to a king. And Araunah said to the king,
“May the Lord your God accept your vow.” {24:24} And in
response, the king said to him: “It shall not be as you wish.
Instead, I will purchase it from you at a price. For I will not
offer to the Lord, my God, holocausts that cost nothing.”
Therefore, David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for
fifty shekels of silver. {24:25} And in that place, David built
an altar to the Lord. And he offered holocausts and peace
offerings. And the Lord was gracious to the land, and the
plague was held back from Israel.


** The First Book of Kings **


[1 Kings 1] {1:1} Now king David had become elderly, and
he had many days in his lifetime. And though he was covered
with clothes, he was not warmed. {1:2} Therefore, his
servants said to him: “Let us seek, for our lord the king, a
young virgin. And let her stand before the king, and warm
him, and sleep in his bosom, and provide warmth for our lord
the king.” {1:3} And so they sought a beautiful young
woman in all the parts of Israel. And they found Abishag, a
Shunammite, and they led her to the king. {1:4} Now the girl
was exceedingly beautiful. And she slept with the king, and
she ministered to him. Yet truly, the king did not know her.
{1:5} Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, exalted himself,
saying, “I shall reign!” And he appointed for himself chariots
and horsemen, with fifty men who would run before him.
{1:6} Neither did his father chastise him at any time, saying,
“Why have you done this?” Now he, too, was very beautiful,
the second in birth, after Absalom. {1:7} And he conferred
with Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar, the priest,
who gave assistance to the side of Adonijah. {1:8} Yet truly,
Zadok, the priest, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and
Nathan, the prophet, and Shimei and Rei, and the mature
men of the army of David were not with Adonijah.
{1:9} Then Adonijah, having immolated rams and calves and
every kind of fat cattle beside the Stone of the Serpent, which
was in the vicinity of the fountain Rogel, summoned all his
brothers, the sons of the king, and all the men of Judah, the
servants of the king. {1:10} But he did not summon Nathan,
the prophet, and Benaiah, and all the mature men, and
Solomon, his brother. {1:11} And so Nathan said to
Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon: “Have you not heard that
Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has begun to reign, and that
our lord David is ignorant of this? {1:12} Now then, come,
accept my counsel, and save your life and the life of your son
Solomon. {1:13} Go and enter to king David, and say to him:
‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to me, your handmaid,
saying: “Your son Solomon shall reign after me, and he
himself shall sit on my throne?” Then why does Adonijah
reign?’ {1:14} And while you are still speaking with the king
there, I will enter after you, and I will complete your words.”
{1:15} And so Bathsheba entered to the king in the bedroom.
Now the king was very old, and Abishag, the Shunammite,
was ministering to him. {1:16} Bathsheba bowed herself, and
she reverenced the king. And the king said to her, “What do
you wish?” {1:17} And responding, she said: “My lord, you
swore to your handmaid, by the Lord your God: ‘your son
Solomon will reign after me, and he himself shall sit upon my
throne.’ {1:18} And now behold, Adonijah reigns, while you,
my lord the king, are ignorant of it. {1:19} He has slain oxen,
and every kind of fattened cattle, and many rams. And he has
summoned all the sons of the king, as well as Abiathar, the
priest, and Joab, the leader of the military. But Solomon,
your servant, he did not summon. {1:20} Truly now, my lord
the king, the eyes of all of Israel look with favor upon you,
that you may indicate to them who ought to sit upon your
throne, my lord the king, after you. {1:21} Otherwise, this
will be: when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, I and
my son Solomon will be as sinners.” {1:22} And while she
was still speaking with the king, Nathan, the prophet, arrived.
{1:23} And they announced to the king, saying, “Nathan, the
prophet, is here.” And when he had entered in the sight of the
king, and he had reverenced prone on the ground,
{1:24} Nathan said: “My lord the king, did you say, ‘Let
Adonijah reign after me, and let him sit upon my throne?’
{1:25} For today, he descended, and he immolated oxen, and
fattened cattle, and many rams. And he summoned all the
sons of the king, and the leaders of the army, along with
Abiathar, the priest. And they are eating and drinking before
him, and saying, ‘As king Adonijah lives.’ {1:26} But he did
not summon me, your servant, and Zadok, the priest, and
Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and Solomon, your lowly
servant. {1:27} Could this word have gone out from my lord
the king, and could you not have revealed it to me, your
servant, as to who would be seated upon the throne of my
lord the king after him?” {1:28} And king David responded,
saying, “Summon to me Bathsheba.” And when she had
entered before the king, and she had stood before him,
{1:29} the king swore and said: “As the Lord lives, who has
rescued my soul from all distress, {1:30} just as I swore to
you by the Lord God of Israel, saying: ‘Your son Solomon
shall reign after me, and he himself shall sit upon my throne
in my place,’ so shall I do this day.” {1:31} And Bathsheba,
having lowered her face to the ground, reverenced the king,
saying, “May my lord David live forever.” {1:32} And king
David said, “Summon to me Zadok, the priest, and Nathan,
the prophet, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada.” And when
they had entered before the king, {1:33} he said to them:
“Take with you the servants of your lord, and place my son
Solomon upon my mule. And lead him to Gihon.
{1:34} And let Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet,
anoint him in that place as the king over Israel. And you shall
sound the trumpet, and you shall say, ‘As king Solomon
lives.’ {1:35} And you shall ascend after him, and he shall
arrive and shall sit upon my throne. And he himself shall
reign in my place. And I will command that he be the ruler
over Israel and over Judah.” {1:36} And Benaiah, the son of
Jehoiada, responded to the king, saying: “Amen. So says the
Lord, the God of my lord the king. {1:37} In the same way
that the Lord has been with my lord the king, so may he be
with Solomon. And may he make his throne more sublime
than the throne of my lord, king David.” {1:38} Then Zadok,
the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, descended, with Benaiah,
the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and Pelethites. And
they placed Solomon on the mule of king David, and they led
him to Gihon. {1:39} And Zadok, the priest, took the horn of
oil from the tabernacle, and he anointed Solomon. And they
sounded the trumpet. And all the people said, “As king
Solomon lives.” {1:40} And the entire multitude ascended
after him. And the people were playing on pipes, and
rejoicing with great joy. And the earth resounded before the
noise of them. {1:41} Then Adonijah, and all who had been
summoned by him, heard it. And now the feast had ended.
Then, too, Joab, hearing the voice of the trumpet, said,
“What is the meaning of this clamor from the tumultuous
city?” {1:42} While he was still speaking, Jonathan, the son
of Abiathar the priest, arrived. And Adonijah said to him,
“Enter, for you are a valiant man, and you report good
news.” {1:43} And Jonathan answered Adonijah: “By no
means. For our lord king David has appointed Solomon as
king. {1:44} And he has sent with him Zadok, the priest, and
Nathan, the prophet, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and
the Cherethites and Pelethites. And they have placed him on
the mule of the king. {1:45} And Zadok, the priest, and
Nathan, the prophet, have anointed him king, at Gihon. And
they are ascending from there, rejoicing, and so the city
resounds. This is the noise that you have heard. {1:46} But
also, Solomon sits upon the throne of the kingdom.
{1:47} And the servants of the king, entering, have blessed
our lord king David, saying: ‘May God amplify the name of
Solomon above your name, and may he magnify his throne
above your throne.’ And the king reverenced from his bed.
{1:48} And he said: ‘Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel,
who today has bestowed someone to sit upon my throne,
while my eyes may see it.’ ” {1:49} Therefore, all those who
had been summoned by Adonijah were terrified. And they all
rose up, and each one went his own way. {1:50} Then
Adonijah, fearing Solomon, rose up and went away. And he
took hold of the horn of the altar. {1:51} And they reported
to Solomon, saying: “Behold, Adonijah, fearing king
Solomon, has taken hold of the horn of the altar, saying:
‘May king Solomon swear to me this day that he will not put
to death his servant with the sword.’ ” {1:52} And Solomon
said: “If he is a good man, not so much as one hair of his
head shall fall to the ground. But if evil is found in him, he
shall die.” {1:53} Therefore, king Solomon sent and brought
him from the altar. And entering, he reverenced king
Solomon. And Solomon said to him, “Go to your own
house.”


[1 Kings 2] {2:1} Now the days of David had drawn near, so
that he would die, and he instructed his son Solomon, saying:
{2:2} “T am entering the way of all the earth. Be strengthened
and be a good man. {2:3} And observe the care of the Lord
your God, so that you walk in his ways, so that you care for
his ceremonies, and his precepts, and judgments, and
testimonies, just as it is written in the law of Moses. So may
you understand everything that you do, in any direction that
you may turn yourself. {2:4} So may the Lord confirm his
words, which he has spoken about me, saying: ‘If your sons
will guard their ways, and if they will walk before me in truth,
with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not be
taken away from you a man on the throne of Israel.’
{2:5} Also, you know what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, has
done to me, what he did to the two leaders of the army of
Israel, to Abner, the son of Ner, and to Amasa, the son of
Jether. He killed them, and so he shed the blood of war in
peace time, and he set the bloodshed of battle on his belt,
which was around his waist, and in his shoes, which were on
his feet. {2:6} Therefore, act according to your wisdom. And
you shall not allow his gray head to be led away to death in
peace. {2:7} Then, too, repay grace to the sons of Barzillai
the Gileadite. And you shall allow them to eat at your table.
For they met me when I fled from the face of Absalom, your
brother. {2:8} Also, you have with you Shimei, the son of
Gera, the son of Benjamin, from Bahurim, who cursed me
with a grievous curse, when I went away to the camp. And
he descended to meet me when I crossed over the Jordan,
and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to
death by the sword,’ {2:9} yet do not choose to treat him as if
he were innocent. Since you are a wise man, you will know
what to do with him. And you shall lead away his grey hair
to death with blood.” {2:10} And so, David slept with his
fathers, and he was buried in the city of David. {2:11} Now
the days during which David reigned over Israel are forty
years: he reigned seven years in Hebron, thirty-three in
Jerusalem. {2:12} Then Solomon sat upon the throne of his
father David, and his kingdom was strengthened exceedingly.
{2:13} And Adonijah, the son of Haggith, entered to
Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. And she said to him, “Is
your entrance peaceful?” He responded, “It is peaceful.”
{2:14} And he added, “My word is for you.” She said to him,
“Speak.” And he said: {2:15} “You know that the kingdom
was mine, and that all of Israel had preferred me for
themselves as king. But the kingdom was transferred, and has
become my brother’s. For it was appointed to him by the
Lord. {2:16} Now therefore, I beg of you one petition. May
you not confound my face.” And she said to him, “Speak.”
{2:17} And he said: “I beg that you may speak to king
Solomon, for he is not able to refuse anything to you, so that
he may give Abishag the Shunammite to me as wife.”
{2:18} And Bathsheba said: “It is well. I will speak to the
king on your behalf.” {2:19} Then Bathsheba went to king
Solomon, so that she might speak to him on behalf of
Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and he
reverenced her, and he sat down upon his throne. And a
throne was stationed for the mother of the king, and she sat at
his right hand. {2:20} And she said to him: “I petition one
small request from you. May you not confound my face.”
And the king said to her: “Ask, my mother. For it is not right
that I turn away your face.” {2:21} And she said, “Let
Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah, your brother,
as wife.” {2:22} And king Solomon responded, and he said to
his mother: “Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite
for Adonijah? Why not request the kingdom for him! For he
is my older brother, and he has Abiathar, the priest, and Joab,
the son of Zeruiah.” {2:23} And so king Solomon swore by
the Lord, saying: “May God do these things to me, and may
he add these other things! For Adonijah has spoken this word
against his own life. {2:24} And now, as the Lord lives, who
has confirmed me and placed me upon the throne of my
father David, and who, just as he said, has made a house for
me: Adonijah shall be put to death this day.” {2:25} And
king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah, the son of
Jehoiada, who put him to death, and so he died. {2:26} Also,
the king said to Abiathar, the priest: “Go into Anathoth, to
your own land, for you are a man worthy of death. But I will
not put you to death this day, since you carried the ark of the
Lord God before David, my father, and since you have
endured hardship in all the things, for which my father
labored.” {2:27} Therefore, Solomon cast out Abiathar, so
that he would not be the priest of the Lord, so that the word
of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he spoke over the house
of Eli at Shiloh. {2:28} And the news came to Joab, for Joab
had turned aside after Adonijah, and he had not turned aside
after Solomon. And so, Joab fled into the tabernacle of the
Lord, and he took hold of the horn of the altar. {2:29} And it
was reported to king Solomon that Joab had fled into the
tabernacle of the Lord, and that he was beside the altar. And
Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, put
him to death.” {2:30} And Benaiah went to the tabernacle of
the Lord, and he said to him: “The king says this: ‘Come
out.’ ” But he said: “I will not come out. Instead, I will die
here.” Benaiah sent word back to the king, saying, “Joab said
this, and he responded to me in this way.” {2:31} And the
king said to him, “Do just as he has said. And put him to
death, and bury him. And so shall you take away the
innocent blood, which was shed by Joab, from me and from
my father’s house. {2:32} And the Lord shall repay his blood
upon his own head. For he killed two men, just and better
than himself, and he killed them with the sword, while my
father, David, did not know it: Abner, the son of Ner, leader
of the military of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether, leader
of the army of Judah. {2:33} And their blood shall be turned
back upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his
offspring forever. But as for David, and his offspring and
house, and his throne, may there be peace from the Lord,
even unto eternity.” {2:34} And so Benaiah, the son of
Jehoiada, went up and, attacking him, put him to death. And
he was buried in his own house in the desert. {2:35} And the
king appointed Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, in his place
over the army. And he appointed Zadok, the priest, in place
of Abiathar. {2:36} Also, the king sent for and summoned
Shimei, and he said to him: “Build a house for yourself in
Jerusalem, and live there. And do not depart from that place
to here or to there. {2:37} For on whatever day you will have
departed and crossed the torrent Kidron, know that you shall
be put to death. Your blood will be upon your own head.”
{2:38} And Shimei said to the king: “The word is good. Just
as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” And so
Shimei lived in Jerusalem for many days. {2:39} But it
happened that, after three years, the servants of Shimei fled to
Achish, the son of Maacah, the king of Gath. And it was
reported to Shimei that his servants had gone away to Gath.
{2:40} And Shimei rose up, and he saddled his donkey. And
went away to Achish in Gath, in order to seek his servants.
And he led them away from Gath. {2:41} And it was
reported to Solomon that Shimei had gone away from
Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned. {2:42} And sending, he
summoned him, and he said to him: “Did I not testify to you
by the Lord, and warn you in advance, ‘On whatever day,
having departed, you go forth to here or to there, know that
you shall die?’ And you responded to me, ‘The word that I
have heard is good.’ {2:43} Then why have you not kept the
oath to the Lord, and the commandment which I instructed
to you?” {2:44} And the king said to Shimei: “You know all
the evil, of which your heart is conscious, which you did to
David, my father. The Lord has repaid your wickedness upon
your own head.” {2:45} And king Solomon shall be blessed,
and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord,
even forever. {2:46} And so the king commanded Benaiah,
the son of Jehoiada. And going out, he struck him down, and
he died.


[1 Kings 3] {3:1} And so the kingdom was confirmed in the
hand of Solomon, and he was joined with Pharaoh, the king
of Egypt, by affinity. For he took his daughter, and he led her
into the city of David, until he completed building his own
house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem
all around. {3:2} But still the people immolated in the high
places. For no temple had been built to the name of the Lord,
even to that day. {3:3} Now Solomon loved the Lord,
walking in the precepts of David, his father, except that he
immolated in the high places, and he burned incense.
{3:4} And so, he went away to Gibeon, so that he might
immolate there; for that was the greatest high place. Solomon
offered upon that altar, at Gibeon, one thousand victims as
holocausts. {3:5} Then the Lord appeared to Solomon,
through a dream in the night, saying, “Request whatever you
wish, so that I may give it to you.” {3:6} And Solomon said:
“You have shown great mercy to your servant David, my
father, because he walked in your sight in truth and justice,
and with an upright heart before you. And you have kept
your great mercy for him, and you have given him a son
sitting upon his throne, just as it is this day. {3:7} And now,
O Lord God, you have caused your servant to reign in place
of David, my father. But I am a small child, and I am
ignorant of my entrance and departure. {3:8} And your
servant is in the midst of the people that you have chosen, an
immense people, who are not able to be numbered or counted
because of their multitude. {3:9} Therefore, give to your
servant a teachable heart, so that he may be able to judge
your people, and to discern between good and evil. For who
will be able to judge this people, your people, who are so
many?” {3:10} And the word was pleasing before the Lord,
that Solomon had requested this kind of thing. {3:11} And
the Lord said to Solomon: “Since you have requested this
word, and you have not asked for many days or for wealth
for yourself, nor for the lives of your enemies, but instead you
have requested for yourself wisdom in order to discern
judgment: {3:12} behold, I have done for you according to
your words, and I have given you a wise and understanding
heart, so much so that there has been no one like you before
you, nor anyone who will rise up after you. {3:13} But also
the things for which you did not ask, I have given to you,
namely wealth and glory, so that no one has been like you
among the kings in the all days before. {3:14} And if you will
walk in my ways, and keep my precepts and my
commandments, just as your father walked, I will lengthen
your days.” {3:15} Then Solomon awakened, and he
understood that it was a dream. And when he had arrived in
Jerusalem, he stood before the ark of the covenant of the
Lord, and he offered holocausts and made victims of peace
offerings, and he held a great feast for all his servants.
{3:16} Then two women harlots went to the king, and they
stood before him. {3:17} And one of them said: “I beg you,
my lord, I and this woman were living in one house, and I
gave birth, with her in the room. {3:18} Then, on the third
day after I gave birth, she also gave birth. And we were
together, with no other person with us in the house, only the
two of us. {3:19} Then this woman’s son died in the night.
For while sleeping, she smothered him. {3:20} And rising up
in the silent depths of the night, she took my son from my
side, while I, your handmaid, was sleeping, and she set him
in her bosom. Then she placed her dead son in my bosom.
{3:21} And when I had arisen in the morning, so that I might
give milk to my son, he appeared to be dead. But gazing upon
him more diligently in the light of day, I realized that he was
not mine, whom I had born.” {3:22} And the other woman
responded: “It is not such as you say. Instead, your son is
dead, but mine is alive.” To the contrary, she said: “You are
lying. For my son lives, and your son is dead.” And in this
manner, they were contending before the king. {3:23} Then
said the king: “This one says, ‘My son is alive, and your son
is dead.’ And the other responds, ‘No, instead your son is
dead, but mine lives.’ ” {3:24} Therefore the king said,
“Bring a sword to me.” And when they had brought a sword
before the king, {3:25} he said, “Divide the living infant in
two parts, and give a half part to the one and a half part to the
other.” {3:26} But the woman, whose son was alive, said to
the king, for her heart was moved concerning her son, “I beg
you, my lord, give the living infant to her, and do not kill
him.” To the contrary, the other said, “Let it be neither for
me, nor for you, instead divide it.” {3:27} The king
responded and said: “Give the living infant to this woman,
and do not kill it. For she is his mother.” {3:28} Then all of
Israel heard about the judgment that the king had judged, and
they feared the king, seeing that the wisdom of God was in
him to accomplish judgment.


[1 Kings 4] {4:1} Now king Solomon was reigning over all of
Israel. {4:2} And these were the leaders that he had: Azariah,
the son of Zadok, the priest; {4:3} Elihoreph and Ahijah, the
sons of Shisha, the scribes; Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud,
the keeper of records; {4:4} Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada,
over the army; and Zadok, and Abiathar, priests;
{4:5} Azariah, the son of Nathan, over those who were
assisting the king; Zabud, the son of Nathan, the priest, the
friend of the king; {4:6} and Ahishar, first ruler of the house;
and Adoniram, the son of Abda, over the tribute. {4:7} And
Solomon had twelve commanders over all of Israel, who
offered yearly provisions for the king and his house. For each
was ministering the necessities, by each month of the year.
{4:8} And these are their names: Benhur, on mount Ephraim;
{4:9} Bendeker, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and in Beth-
shemesh, and in Elon, and in Beth-hanan; {4:10} Benhesed,
in Arubboth: his was Socoh and the entire land of Hepher;
{4:11} Benabinadab, to whom was all of Naphath-Dor, who
had Taphath, the daughter of Solomon, as wife;
{4:12} Baana, the son of Ahilud, who was reigning in
Taanach, and Megiddo, and all of Bethshean, which is beside
Zarethan and below Jezreel, from Bethshean as far as
Abelmeholah, opposite Jokmeam; {4:13} Bengeber, in
Ramoth Gilead, who had the town of Jair, the son of
Manasseh, in Gilead; the same was first in the entire region
of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls that
had bronze bars; {4:14} Ahinadab, the son of Iddo, who was
first in Mahanaim; {4:15} Ahimaaz, in Naphtali, and he also
had Basemath, the daughter of Solomon, in marriage;
{4:16} Baana, the son of Hushai, in Asher and in Bealoth;
{4:17} Jehoshaphat, the son of Paruah, in Issachar;
{4:18} Shimei, the son of Ela, in Benjamin; {4:19} Geber, the
son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, in the land of Sihon, king of
the Amorites, and of Og, king of Bashan, over all who were
in that land. {4:20} Judah and Israel were innumerable, like
the sand of the sea in multitude: eating and drinking, and
rejoicing. {4:21} Now Solomon had, in his dominion, all the
kingdoms, from the river to the land of the Philistines, even
to the border of Egypt. And they offered gifts to him, and
they served him all the days of his life. {4:22} And the
provisions of Solomon, for each day, were thirty cor of fine
wheat flour, and sixty cor of meal, {4:23} ten fattened oxen,
and twenty oxen from the pastures, and one hundred rams,
aside from the venison of stags, roe deer, and gazelles, and
fattened poultry. {4:24} For he had obtained the entire region
which was beyond the river, from Tiphsah as far as Gaza,
and all the kings of those regions. And he had peace on every
side all around. {4:25} And so, Judah and Israel were living
without any fear, each one under his own vine and under his
own fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, during all the
days of Solomon. {4:26} And Solomon had forty thousand
stalls of chariot horses, and twelve thousand riding horses.
{4:27} And the above-stated commanders of the king
nourished these. And they also offered the necessities for the
table of king Solomon, with immense diligence, each in his
time. {4:28} Also, they brought barley and straw for the
horses and beasts of burden, to the place where the king was,
just as it was appointed to them. {4:29} And God gave
wisdom to Solomon, and an exceedingly great prudence, and
a spacious heart, like the sand which is on the shore of the sea.
{4:30} And the wisdom of Solomon surpassed the wisdom of
all the East, and of the Egyptians. {4:31} And he was wiser
than all men: wiser than Ethan, the Ezrahite, and Heman,
and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And he was
renowned in all the nations on every side. {4:32} Solomon
also spoke three thousand parables. And his verses were one
thousand and five. {4:33} And he discoursed about trees,
from the cedar which is in Lebanon, to the hyssop which
grows out from the wall. And he explained about beasts, and
birds, and reptiles, and fish. {4:34} And they came from all
the peoples in order to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and
from all the kings of the earth, who were hearing about his
wisdom.


[1 Kings 5] {5:1} Hiram, the king of Tyre, also sent his
servants to Solomon. For he heard that they had anointed
him king in place of his father. Now Hiram had been a friend
to David the entire time. {5:2} Then Solomon sent to Hiram,
saying: {5:3} “You know the will of my father David, and
that he was not able to build a house to the name of the Lord
his God, because of the wars that were imminent all around
him, until the Lord set them under the steps of his feet.
{5:4} But now the Lord my God has given rest to me on all
sides. And there is no adversary, nor occurrence of evil.
{5:5} For this reason, I intend to build a temple to the name
of the Lord my God, just as the Lord spoke to my father
David, saying: ‘Your son, whom I will set in your place,
upon your throne, he himself shall build a house to my
name.’ {5:6} Therefore, order that your servants may cut
down for me cedars from Lebanon. And let my servants be
with your servants. Then I will give to you, for the wages of
your servants, whatever you will ask. For you know that
there is not a man among my people who knows how to cut
wood as well as the Sidonians.” {5:7} Therefore, when
Hiram had heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly,
and he said, “Blessed be the Lord God this day, who gave to
David a very wise son over this numerous people!”
{5:8} And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying: “I have heard the
things that you would entrust to me. And I will do your
whole will concerning the cedar trees and spruce trees.
{5:9} My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon to
the sea. And I will arrange them together as rafts on the sea,
as far as the place that you will indicate to me. And I will
land them there, and you will take them. And you shall offer
to me what is necessary to give food to my house.”
{5:10} And so, Hiram gave to Solomon cedar trees and
spruce trees, in accord with his whole will. {5:11} Then
Solomon offered to Hiram twenty thousand cor of wheat, as
food for his house, and twenty cor of the purest oil. These
things Solomon gave as a tribute to Hiram every year.
{5:12} And the Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, just as he
said to him. And there was peace between Hiram and
Solomon, and the two struck a pact. {5:13} And king
Solomon chose workers from all of Israel, and the
conscription was of thirty thousand men. {5:14} And he sent
them into Lebanon, ten thousand each month, in turns, so
that for two months they were in their own houses. And
Adoniram was over this type of conscription. {5:15} And
Solomon had seventy thousand of those who were carrying
burdens, and eighty thousand of those who cut stones from
the mountain, {5:16} aside from the commanders who were
over each work, in number three thousand and three hundred,
who gave orders to the people and to those who were doing
the work. {5:17} And the king ordered them to bring great
stones, precious stones, for the foundation of the temple, and
to square them. {5:18} And these were shaped by the
stoneworkers of Solomon and the stoneworkers of Hiram.
And the men of Gebal also prepared the wood and the stones
in order to build the house.


[1 Kings 6] {6:1} Then it happened that, in the four hundred
and eightieth year after the sons of Israel departed from the
land of Egypt, in the fourth year of the reign of Solomon over
Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, the
house of the Lord began to be built. {6:2} Now the house,
which king Solomon was building to the Lord, was sixty
cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and thirty cubits
in height. {6:3} And a portico was before the temple, of
twenty cubits in length, in accord with the measure of the
width of the temple. And it had ten cubits of width before the
face of the temple. {6:4} And he made oblique windows in
the temple. {6:5} And upon the wall of the temple, he built
panels on all sides, in the walls of the house around the
temple and the oracle. And he made side chambers all
around. {6:6} The flooring on the bottom level held five
cubits in width, and the middle floor was six cubits in width,
and the third floor held seven cubits in width. Then he
positioned beams on the house all around the outside, in such
a way that they would not be fastened to the walls of the
temple. {6:7} Now the house, while it was being built, was
made from cut and finished stones. And so, neither mallet,
nor chisel, nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while
it was being built. {6:8} The door at the side of the middle
section was to the right of the house. And they would ascend
along winding stairs to the middle level, and from the middle
level to the third level. {6:9} And he built the house, and
finished it. And he overlaid the house with boards of cedar.
{6:10} And he built a paneling over the entire house, five
cubits in height, and he covered the house with cedar wood.
{6:11} And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying:
{6:12} “Concerning this house, which you are building: if
you will walk in my precepts, and carry out my judgments,
and keep all my commandments, advancing by them, I will
confirm my word to you, which I spoke to your father David.
{6:13} And I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel, and
I will not forsake my people Israel.” {6:14} And so, Solomon
built the house, and finished it. {6:15} And he built the walls
of the house, on the interior, with panels of cedar, from the
floor of the house, to the top of the walls, and even to the
ceiling. He covered it with cedar wood on the interior. And
he overlaid the floor of the house with panels of spruce.
{6:16} And he built panels of cedar, of twenty cubits, at the
back part of the temple, from the floor even to the top. And
he made the inner house of the oracle as the Holy of Holies.
{6:17} And the temple itself, before the doors of the oracle,
was forty cubits. {6:18} And the entire house was clothed
with cedar on the interior, having its turnings and junctures
artfully wrought, with carvings projecting outward.
Everything was clothed with panels of cedar. And no stone at
all was able to be seen in the wall. {6:19} Now he made the
oracle in the middle of the house, in the inner part, so that he
might station the ark of the covenant of the Lord there.
{6:20} And the oracle held twenty cubits in length, and
twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height. And he
covered and clothed it with the purest gold. Then, too, he
clothed the altar in cedar. {6:21} Also, the house before the
oracle, he covered with the purest gold, and he fastened the
plates with nails of gold. {6:22} And there was nothing in the
temple that was not covered with gold. Moreover, the entire
altar of the oracle he overlaid with gold. {6:23} And he made
in the oracle two cherubim from wood of the olive tree, of ten
cubits in height. {6:24} One wing of a cherub was five cubits,
and the other wing of a cherub was five cubits, that is, having
ten cubits from the summit of one wing even to the summit of
the other wing. {6:25} Likewise, the second cherub was ten
cubits. And the measure was equal and the work was one, in
the two cherubim, {6:26} that is, one cherub had a height of
ten cubits, and similarly the second cherub. {6:27} And he
stationed the cherubim in the middle of the inner temple.
And the cherubim extended their wings, and the wing of the
one was touching the wall, and the wing of the second cherub
was touching the other wall. But the other wings, in the
middle of the temple, were touching each another. {6:28} He
also overlaid the cherubim with gold. {6:29} And all the
walls of the temple all around he engraved with diverse
carvings and turnings. And he made in them cherubim, and
palm trees, and various images, as if these were projecting out,
and going forth from, the wall. {6:30} Then, too, the floor of
the house he overlaid with gold within and without.
{6:31} And at the entrance of the oracle, he made little doors,
from wood of the olive tree, with posts of five corners.
{6:32} And there were two doors, from wood of the olive tree.
And he carved upon them pictures of cherubim, and images
of palm trees, and very prominent figures. And he overlaid
these with gold. And he covered the cherubim, as well as the
palm trees and the other things, with gold. {6:33} And he
made, at the entrance of the temple, posts from wood of the
olive tree, with four corners, {6:34} and two doors, from
wood of the spruce tree, on the other side. And each door
was double, and so it opened by folding upon itself.
{6:35} And he carved cherubim, and palm trees, and very
prominent engravings. And he covered everything with gold
plates, worked to be perfectly square. {6:36} And he built the
inner atrium with three rows of polished stones, and one row
of cedar wood. {6:37} In the fourth year, the house of the
Lord was founded, in the month of Ziv. {6:38} And in the
eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month,
the house was perfected in all its works and in all its
equipment. And he built it for seven years.


[1 Kings 7] {7:1} Now Solomon built his own house for
thirteen years, and he brought it to perfection. {7:2} And he
built the house from the forest of Lebanon: one hundred
cubits in length, and fifty cubits in width, and thirty cubits in
height, with four walkways between columns of cedar. For he
had hewn the cedar trees into columns. {7:3} And he clothed
the entire vaulted room with panels of cedar. And it was
supported by forty-five columns. Now one row held fifteen
columns, {7:4} each positioned opposite another, {7:5} and
looking toward one another, with equal spacing between the
columns. And above the columns there were square beams
equal in all things. {7:6} And he made a portico of columns,
fifty cubits in length and thirty cubits in width, and another
portico, facing the greater portico, with columns and with
crossbeams upon the columns. {7:7} He also made the
portico of the throne, in which is the tribunal. And he
overlaid it with cedar wood, from the floor even to the
summit. {7:8} And in the midst of the portico, there was a
small house, where he would sit in judgment, similar in
workmanship. He also made a house for the daughter of
Pharaoh (whom Solomon had taken as wife) of the same
work and type as this portico. {7:9} All was of precious
stones, which had been sawed by a particular standard and
measure, as much within as without, from the foundation
even to the summit of the walls, and outside even to the great
atrium. {7:10} Now the foundations were of precious stones:
great stones of eight or ten cubits. {7:11} And above these,
there were precious stones, of equal measure, which had been
cut in a manner similar to boards of cedar. {7:12} And the
great atrium was round, with three rows of cut stones and
one row of cut cedar, even as it also was in the interior atrium
of the house of the Lord, and in the portico of the house.
{7:13} And king Solomon sent and brought Hiram of Tyre,
{7:14} the son of a widowed woman, from the tribe of
Naphtali, whose father was a Tyrian, an artisan in brass, and
full of wisdom, and understanding, and knowledge in order
to form every work of brass. And when he had gone to king
Solomon, he wrought all his work. {7:15} And he cast two
columns of brass. Each column was eighteen cubits in height,
and a line of twelve cubits encompassed both columns.
{7:16} Also, he made two heads of molten brass, which
would be set upon the tops of the columns: one head was five
cubits in height, and the other head was five cubits in height.
{7:17} And there was something like a network of chains,
woven together in a wonderful manner. Both heads of the
columns were cast, and seven rows of little nets traversed one
head, and seven little nets were on the other head.
{7:18} And he finished the columns with two rows all around
each network, so that these covered the heads, which were at
the top, with pomegranates. And he did in like manner to the
second head. {7:19} Now the heads that were at the top of
the columns, in the portico of four cubits, had been fabricated
with a work of lilies. {7:20} And again, there were other
heads at the tops of the columns above, in accord with the
measure of the column opposite the netting. And there were
two hundred of the pomegranates, in rows around the second
head. {7:21} And he stationed the two columns in the portico
of the temple. And when he had stationed the column on the
right, he called its name Jachin. Similarly, he erected the
second column, and he called its name Boaz. {7:22} And
above the tops of the columns, he set a work in the manner of
lilies. And the work of the columns was perfected. {7:23} He
also made a molten sea, of ten cubits from brim to brim,
rounded on all sides. Its height was five cubits, and a thin
rope of thirty cubits wrapped it all around. {7:24} And a
sculpted work under the brim encircled it for ten cubits going
around the sea. There were two rows cast of striated
sculptures. {7:25} And it was standing upon twelve oxen, of
which three were looking toward the north, and three toward
the west, and three toward the south, and three toward the
east. And the sea above was over them. And their posteriors
were entirely hidden within. {7:26} And the basin was the
thickness of three twelfths. And its brim was like the brim of
a chalice, or like the outturned petal of a lily. It contained two
thousand baths. {7:27} And he made ten bases of brass: each
base was four cubits in length, and four cubits in width, and
three cubits in height. {7:28} And the work itself of the bases
was engraved; and there were sculptures between the
junctures. {7:29} And between the little crowns and the edges,
there were lions, and oxen, and cherubim; and similarly in
the junctures above. And under the lions and oxen were
something like bands of brass hanging down. {7:30} And
each base had four wheels, with axels of brass. And at the
four sides were something like little arms, under the cast
basin, facing away from one another. {7:31} Also, the mouth
of the interior of the basin was at the top of the head. And
what was visible outside was of one cubit all around, and
altogether it had one cubit and a half. Now at the corners of
the columns were diverse engravings. And the spaces
between the columns were square, not round. {7:32} And the
four wheels, which were at the four corners of the base, were
joined to one another under the base. The height of one
wheel held one cubit and a half. {7:33} Now these were the
kind of wheels such as are often made for a chariot. And their
axels, and spokes, and tires, and centers were all cast.
{7:34} And the four little arms, which were at each corner of
a base, were cast and joined together as part of the base itself.
{7:35} And at the summit of the base, there was a round
stand of one half cubit, fabricated so that the basin could be
placed upon it, having its engravings, and various sculptures
of its own. {7:36} He also engraved those plates, which were
of brass. And at the corners were cherubim, and lions, and
palm trees, standing out, as if in the likeness of a man, so that
they seemed not to be engraved, but placed adjacent on all
sides. {7:37} In this manner, he made ten bases with the
same casting and measure, and very similar engravings.
{7:38} He also made ten hand basins of brass. One hand
basin contained four baths, and was of four cubits. And each
basin he set upon a base, which is ten bases. {7:39} And he
stationed the ten bases, five to the right side of the temple,
and five to the left. And the sea he placed to the right side of
the temple, opposite the east, toward the south. {7:40} Then
Hiram made cooking pots, and trays, and small hooks. And
he completed all the work of king Solomon in the temple of
the Lord: {7:41} the two columns, and the two cords of the
heads over the tops of the columns, and the two networks
which covered the two cords that were above the tops of the
columns; {7:42} and the four hundred pomegranates for the
two networks, two turnings of pomegranates for each
network, in order to cover the cords of the heads, which were
above the tops of the columns; {7:43} and the ten bases, and
the ten basins on the bases; {7:44} and the one sea, and the
twelve oxen under the sea; {7:45} and the cooking pots, and
the trays, and the small hooks. All of the items that Hiram
made for king Solomon, for the house of the Lord, were of
golden brass. {7:46} In the open regions near the Jordan, the
king cast these, in the clay soil between Succoth and
Zarethan. {7:47} And Solomon positioned all the items. But
because of its exceedingly great amount, the brass was not
weighed. {7:48} And Solomon made all the furniture for the
house of the Lord: the altar of gold, and the table of gold,
upon which the bread of the presence would be placed;
{7:49} and the gold lampstands, five to the right, and five to
the left, opposite the oracle, of pure gold; and likenesses of
lily blossoms, with lamps above them, of gold; and gold tongs;
{7:50} and waters pots, and little forks, and bowls, and little
mortars, and censers, of the purest gold; and the hinges of the
doors, for the interior house of the Holy of Holies and for the
doors of the house of the temple, which were of gold.
{7:51} And Solomon perfected all the work that he was doing
in the house of the Lord. And he brought in the things that
his father David had sanctified: the silver, and the gold, and
the vessels. And he stored these in the treasuries of the house
of the Lord.


[1 Kings 8] {8:1} Then all those greater by birth of Israel,
with the leaders of the tribes and the rulers of the families of
the sons of Israel, gathered together before king Solomon at
Jerusalem, so that they might carry the ark of the covenant of
the Lord, from the city of David, that is, from Zion.
{8:2} And all of Israel assembled before king Solomon, on
the solemn day in the month of Ethanim, which is the
seventh month. {8:3} And all the elders of Israel arrived, and
the priests took up the ark. {8:4} And they carried the ark of
the Lord, and the tabernacle of the covenant, and all the
vessels of the Sanctuary, which were in the tabernacle; and
the priests and the Levites carried these. {8:5} Then king
Solomon, and the entire multitude of Israel, who had
assembled before him, advanced with him before the ark.
And they immolated sheep and oxen, which could not be
numbered or estimated. {8:6} And the priests brought in the
ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the oracle of
the temple, in the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the
cherubim. {8:7} For indeed, the cherubim extended their
wings over the place of the ark, and they protected the ark
and its bars from above. {8:8} And since the bars projected
outward, their ends were visible from without, in the
Sanctuary before the oracle; but they were not visible farther
outward. And they have been in that place even to the
present day. {8:9} Now inside the ark, there was nothing
other than the two tablets of stone, which Moses had placed
in it at Horeb, when the Lord formed a covenant with the
sons of Israel, when they departed from the land of Egypt.
{8:10} Then it happened that, when the priests had exited
from the Sanctuary, a cloud filled the house of the Lord.
{8:11} And the priests were unable to stand and minister,
because of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord had filled the
house of the Lord. {8:12} Then Solomon said: “The Lord has
said that he would dwell in a cloud. {8:13} Building, I have
built a house as your dwelling place, your most firm throne
forever.” {8:14} And the king turned his face, and he blessed
the entire assembly of Israel. For the entire assembly of Israel
was standing. {8:15} And Solomon said: “Blessed is the Lord,
the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to my father
David, and who, with his own hands, has perfected it, saying:
{8:16} ‘From the day when I led my people Israel away from
Egypt, I did not choose any city out of all the tribes of Israel,
so that a house would be built, and so that my name might be
there. Instead, I chose David to be over my people Israel.’
{8:17} And my father David wanted to build a house to the
name of the Lord, the God of Israel. {8:18} But the Lord said
to my father David: ‘Since you have planned in your heart to
build a house to my name, you have done well by
considering this plan in your mind. {8:19} Yet truly, you
shall not build a house for me. Instead, your son, who shall
go forth from your loins, he himself shall build a house to my
name.’ {8:20} The Lord has confirmed his word which he
spoke. And so I stand in place of my father David, and I sit
upon the throne of Israel, just as the Lord said. And I have
built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
{8:21} And there I have appointed a place for the ark, in
which is the covenant of the Lord that he struck with our
fathers, when they went forth from the land of Egypt.”
{8:22} Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in
the sight of the assembly of Israel, and he extended his hands
toward heaven. {8:23} And he said: “Lord God of Israel,
there is no God like you, in heaven above, nor on the earth
below. You preserve covenant and mercy with your servants,
who walk before you with all their heart. {8:24} You have
fulfilled, for your servant David, my father, that which you
said to him. With your mouth, you spoke; and with your
hands, you completed; just this day proves. {8:25} Now
therefore, O Lord God of Israel, fulfill, for your servant
David, my father, that which you spoke to him, saying,
‘There shall not be taken away from you a man before me,
who may sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your sons will
guard their way, so that they walk before me, just as you have
walked in my sight.’ {8:26} And now, O Lord God of Israel,
establish your words, which you spoke to your servant David,
my father. {8:27} Is it, then, to be understood that truly God
would dwell upon the earth? For if heaven, and the heavens
of heavens, are not able to contain you, how much less this
house, which I have built? {8:28} Yet look with favor upon
the prayer of your servant and upon his petitions, O Lord, my
God. Listen to the hymn and the prayer, which your servant
prays before you this day, {8:29} so that your eyes may be
open over this house, night and day, over the house about
which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ so that you may
heed the prayer that your servant is praying in this place to
you. {8:30} So may you heed the supplication of your servant
and of your people Israel, whatever they will pray for in this
place, and so may you heed them in your dwelling place in
heaven. And when you heed, you will be gracious.
{8:31} But if any man sins against his neighbor, and he has
any kind of an oath by which he is bound, and he arrives
because of the oath, before your altar in your house,
{8:32} you will hear in heaven, and you will act and judge
your servants, condemning the impious, and repaying his
own way upon his own head, but justifying the just, and
rewarding him in accord with his justice. {8:33} And if your
people Israel will have fled from their enemies, because they
have sinned against you, and doing penance and confessing
to your name, shall arrive and pray and petition you in this
house, {8:34} listen in heaven, and forgive the sin of your
people Israel, and lead them back to the land, which you gave
to their fathers. {8:35} And if the heavens have closed, so
that there is no rain, because of their sins, and they, praying
in this place, shall do penance to your name, and shall be
converted from their sins, by occasion of their afflictions,
{8:36} hear them from heaven, and forgive the sins of your
servants and of your people Israel. And reveal to them the
good way, along which they should walk, and grant rain
upon your land, which you have given to your people as a
possession. {8:37} Then, if famine rises over the land, or
pestilence, or corrupt air, or blight, or locust, or mildew, or if
their enemy afflicts them, besieging the gates, or any harm or
infirmity, {8:38} or whatever curse or divine intervention
may happen to any man among your people Israel, if anyone
understands, having been wounded in his heart, and if he will
have extended his hands in this house, {8:39} you will hear
in heaven, in your dwelling place, and you will forgive. And
you will act so that you give to each one in accord with his
own ways, just as you see in his heart, for you alone know
the heart of all the sons of men. {8:40} So may they fear you,
all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which
you have given to our fathers. {8:41} Moreover, the foreigner
too, who is not of your people Israel, when he will have
arrived from a distant land because of your name, for they
shall hear about your great name, and your strong hand,
{8:42} and your outstretched arm everywhere: so when he
arrives and prays in this place, {8:43} you will listen in
heaven, in the firmament of your dwelling place. And you
will do all the things, for which that foreigner will have called
upon you. So may all the peoples of the earth learn to fear
your name, just as your people Israel do. And so may they
show that your name has been invoked over this house,
which I have built. {8:44} And if your people have gone out
to war against their enemies, along whatever way you will
send them, they shall pray to you in the direction of the city,
which you have chosen, and toward the house, which I have
built to your name. {8:45} And you will hear in heaven their
prayers and their petitions. And you will accomplish
judgment for them. {8:46} But if they sin against you, for
there is no man who does not sin, and you, being angry,
deliver them to their enemies, and they will have been led
away as captives to the land of their enemies, whether far or
near, {8:47} and if they do penance in their heart, in the place
of captivity, and having been converted, make supplication to
you in their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned; we acted
unjustly; we committed impiety,’ {8:48} and they return to
you with all their heart and all their soul, in the land of their
enemies, to which they have been led away as captives, and if
they pray to you in the direction of their land, which you
gave to their fathers, and of the city, which you have chosen,
and of the temple, which I have built to your name:
{8:49} you will hear in heaven, in the firmament of your
throne, their prayers and their petitions. And you will
accomplish their judgment. {8:50} And you will forgive your
people, who have sinned against you, and all their iniquities,
by which they have transgressed against you. And you will
grant to them mercy in the sight of those who have made
them captives, so that they may take pity on them. {8:51} For
they are your people and your inheritance, whom you have
led away from the land of Egypt, from the midst of the
furnace of iron. {8:52} So may your eyes be open to the
supplication of your servant and of your people Israel. And
so may you heed them in all the things about which they will
call upon you. {8:53} For you have separated them to
yourself as an inheritance, from among all the peoples of the
earth, just as you spoke by Moses, your servant, when you
led our fathers away from Egypt, O Lord God.” {8:54} And
it happened that, when Solomon had completed praying this
entire prayer and supplication to the Lord, he rose up from
the sight of the altar of the Lord. For he had fixed both knees
upon the ground, and he had extended his hands toward
heaven. {8:55} Then he stood and blessed the entire assembly
of Israel in a great voice, saying: {8:56} “Blessed is the Lord,
who has given rest to his people Israel, in accord with all that
he said. Not even one word, out of all the good things that he
spoke by his servant Moses, has fallen away. {8:57} May the
Lord our God be with us, just as he was with our fathers, not
abandoning us, and not rejecting us. {8:58} But may he
incline our hearts to himself, so that we may walk in all his
ways, and keep his commandments, and his ceremonies, and
whatever judgments he commanded to our fathers.
{8:59} And may these my words, by which I have prayed
before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God, day and night,
so that he may accomplish judgment for his servant and for
his people Israel, throughout each day. {8:60} So may all the
peoples of the earth know that the Lord himself is God, and
there is no other beside him. {8:61} Also, may our hearts be
perfect with the Lord our God, so that we may walk in his
decrees, and keep his commandments, as also on this day.”
{8:62} Then the king, and all of Israel with him, immolated
victims before the Lord. {8:63} And Solomon slew sacrifices
of peace offerings, which he immolated to the Lord: twenty-
two thousand oxen, and twenty thousand one hundred sheep.
And the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the temple
of the Lord. {8:64} On that day, the king sanctified the
middle of the atrium, which was before the house of the Lord.
For in that place, he offered holocaust, and sacrifice, and the
fat of peace offerings. For the bronze altar, which was before
the Lord, was too small and was not able to hold the
holocaust, and the sacrifice, and the fat of the peace offerings.
{8:65} Then Solomon made, at that time, a celebratory
festival, and all of Israel with him, a great multitude, from the
entrance of Hamath to the river of Egypt, in the sight of the
Lord our God, for seven days plus seven days, that is,
fourteen days. {8:66} And on the eighth day, he dismissed
the people. And blessing the king, they set out for their tents,
rejoicing and cheerful in heart over all the good things that
the Lord had done for his servant David and for his people
Israel.


[1 Kings 9] {9:1} Now it happened that, when Solomon had
perfected the building of the house of the Lord, and the king’s
house, and all that he had desired and had willed to do,
{9:2} the Lord appeared to him a second time, just as he had
appeared to him at Gibeon. {9:3} And the Lord said to him:
“I have heard your prayer and your petition, which you
prayed before me. I have sanctified this house, which you
have built, so that I may place my name there forever, and so
that my eyes and my heart will be there for all days.
{9:4} Also, if you will walk before me, just as your father
walked, in simplicity of heart and in equity, and you do all
that I have instructed to you, and you keep my laws and my
judgments, {9:5} then I will set the throne of your kingdom
over Israel forever, just as I promised your father David,
saying: ‘A man from your stock shall not be taken away from
the throne of Israel.’ {9:6} But if you and your sons,
wandering, will have turned away, not following me, and not
keeping my commandments and my ceremonies, which I
have proposed to you, but instead you go away, and you
serve strange gods and adore them, {9:7} then I will take
away Israel from the face of the land, which I have given to
them. And the temple, which I have sanctified to my name, I
will cast out from my sight. And Israel will be a proverb and
a parable among all the peoples. {9:8} And this house will
become an example: anyone who passes by it will be
stupefied, and he will hiss and say, ‘Why has the Lord acted
in this way to this land and to this house?’ {9:9} And they
will respond: ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God,
who led their fathers away from the land of Egypt, and they
followed strange gods, and they adored them and served
them. For this reason, the Lord led all this evil over them.’ ”
{9:10} Then, when twenty years were fulfilled, after Solomon
had built the two houses, that is, the house of the Lord, and
the house of the king, {9:11} Hiram, the king of Tyre, having
supplied Solomon with cedar wood, and spruce wood, and
gold, in accord with all that he needed, then Solomon gave
Hiram twenty towns in the land of Galilee. {9:12} And
Hiram went out of Tyre, so that he might view the towns that
Solomon had given to him. And they did not please him.
{9:13} And he said, “Are these the cities that you have given
to me, brother?” And he called them the land of Cabul, even
to this day. {9:14} And Hiram sent to king Solomon one
hundred twenty talents of gold. {9:15} This is the sum of the
expenses that king Solomon offered for the building of the
house of the Lord, and his own house, and for Millo, and the
wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.
{9:16} Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, ascended and seized
Gezer, and he burned it with fire. And he put to death the
Canaanite who was living in the city, and he gave it as a
dowry for his daughter, the wife of Solomon.
{9:17} Therefore, Solomon built up Gezer, and lower Beth-
horon, {9:18} and Baalath, and Palmira in the land of the
wilderness. {9:19} And all the towns which belonged to him,
and which were without walls, he walled, along with the
cities of the chariots, and the cities of the horsemen, and
whatever was pleasing to him that he might build in
Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in the entire land of his
dominion. {9:20} All the people who had remained of the
Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites,
and the Jebusites, who were not of the sons of Israel,
{9:21} their sons, who had remained in the land, namely,
those whom the sons of Israel had not been able to destroy,
Solomon made tributary, even to this day. {9:22} But from
the sons of Israel, Solomon did not appoint anyone at all to
serve, except the men of war, and his ministers, and leaders,
and commanders, and the overseers of the chariots and the
horses. {9:23} Now there were five hundred fifty leaders in
the first place over all the works of Solomon, and they had
people subject to them, and these were given orders for the
appointed works. {9:24} And the daughter of Pharaoh went
up from the city of David to her house, which Solomon had
built for her. Then he built up Millo. {9:25} Also, three times
each year, Solomon offered holocausts and victims of peace
offerings, upon the altar that he had built to the Lord, and he
burned incense before the Lord. And the temple was
perfected. {9:26} And king Solomon made a navy at Ezion
Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shores of the Red Sea, in
the land of Idumea. {9:27} And Hiram sent his servants to
that navy, the sailors and those knowledgeable about the sea,
with the servants of Solomon. {9:28} And when they had
gone to Ophir, taking from there four hundred twenty talents
of gold, they brought it to king Solomon.


[1 Kings 10] {10:1} Then, too, the queen of Sheba, having
heard of the fame of Solomon in the name of the Lord,
arrived to test him with enigmas. {10:2} And entering into
Jerusalem with a great retinue, and with riches, and with
camels carrying aromatics, and with an exceedingly great
quantity of gold and precious stones, she went to king
Solomon. And she spoke to him all that she held in her heart.
{10:3} And Solomon taught her, in all the words that she had
proposed to him. There was not any word which was able to
be hidden from the king, or which he did not answer for her.
{10:4} Then, when the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of
Solomon, and the house that he had built, {10:5} and the
food of his table, and the dwelling places of his servants, and
the rows of his ministers, and their apparel, and the
cupbearers, and the holocausts that he was offering in the
house of the Lord, she had no longer any spirit in her.
{10:6} And she said to the king: “The word is true, which I
have heard in my own land, {10:7} about your words and
your wisdom. But I did not believe those who explained it to
me, until I went myself and saw it with my own eyes. And I
have discovered that the half of it has not been told to me:
your wisdom and works are greater than the report that I
have heard. {10:8} Blessed are your men, and blessed are
your servants, who stand before you always, and who hear
your wisdom. {10:9} Blessed is the Lord your God, whom
you have greatly pleased, and who has placed you upon the
throne of Israel. For the Lord loves Israel forever, and he has
appointed you as king, so that you may accomplish judgment
and justice.” {10:10} Then she gave the king one hundred
twenty talents of gold, and an exceedingly great amount of
aromatics and precious stones. No greater quantity of
aromatics was ever again brought forth as these, which the
queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. {10:11} Then, too, the
navy of Hiram, which carried gold from Ophir, brought an
exceedingly great quantity of thyine wood and precious
stones from Ophir. {10:12} And the king made, from the
thyine wood, the posts of the house of the Lord, and of the
house of the king, and citharas and lyres for the musicians.
No thyine trees of this kind were ever again brought forth or
seen, even to the present day. {10:13} Then king Solomon
gave the queen of Sheba all that she desired and requested of
him, aside from what he himself had offered to her from his
royal bounty. And she returned and went away to her own
land, with her servants. {10:14} Now the weight of the gold
that was brought to Solomon each year was six hundred
sixty-six talents of gold, {10:15} aside from what was brought
to him by the men who were over the tributes, and by the
merchants, and by those selling every kind of small item, and
by all the kings of Arabia, and by the rulers of the land.
{10:16} Also, king Solomon made two hundred large shields
from the purest gold. He dispensed six hundred shekels of
gold for the layers of one shield. {10:17} And for the three
hundred crescent-shaped shields of tested gold, there were
three hundred minas of gold covering one shield. And the
king placed these in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
{10:18} Also, king Solomon made a great throne from ivory.
And he clothed it with a great quantity of red gold.
{10:19} The throne had six steps, and the summit of the
throne was rounded in the back section. And there were two
hands, on one side and the other, holding the seat. And two
lions were standing beside each hand, {10:20} with twelve
little lions standing upon the six steps, on one side and the
other. No similar work has been made, ever in any kingdom.
{10:21} Moreover, all the vessels from which king Solomon
would drink were of gold. And all the items in the house of
the forest of Lebanon were of the purest gold. There was no
silver, nor was any accounting made of silver in the days of
Solomon. {10:22} For the navy of the king, once every three
years, went with the navy of Hiram by sea to Tarshish,
bringing from there gold, and silver, and elephant tusks, and
primates, and peacocks. {10:23} And so, king Solomon was
magnified above all the kings of the earth in riches and in
wisdom. {10:24} And all the earth desired to see the face of
Solomon, so as to hear his wisdom, which God had granted
to his heart. {10:25} And each one brought him gifts, vessels
of silver and of gold, clothing and weapons of war, as well as
aromatics, and horses, and mules, throughout each year.
{10:26} And Solomon gathered together the chariots and
horsemen. And he had one thousand four hundred chariots,
and twelve thousand horsemen. And he placed them in the
walled cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. {10:27} And he
caused silver to be as abundant in Jerusalem as stones, and he
supplied a multitude of cedars like the sycamores that grow in
the plains. {10:28} And horses were brought for Solomon
from Egypt and from Kue. For the merchants of the king
were buying these from Kue. And they paid out the
established price. {10:29} Now a four-horse chariot would be
sent from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse
for one hundred and fifty. And in this manner, all the kings of
the Hittites and of Syria were selling horses.


[1 Kings 11] {11:1} But king Solomon loved many foreign
women, including the daughter of Pharaoh, and women of
Moab, and of Ammon, and of Idumea, and of Sidon, and of
the Hittites. {11:2} These were of the nations about whom
the Lord said to the sons of Israel: “You shall not enter to
them, and none of them shall enter to anyone of yours. For
they will most certainly turn aside your hearts, so that you
follow their gods.” And yet, to these Solomon was joined
with a greatly enflamed love. {11:3} And for him, there were
seven hundred wives, as if they were queens, and three
hundred concubines. And the women turned aside his heart.
{11:4} And when now he was old, his heart was perverted by
the women, so that he followed strange gods. And his heart
was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of his
father David. {11:5} For Solomon worshipped Ashtoreth, the
goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the idol of the
Ammonites. {11:6} And Solomon did what was not pleasing
in the sight of the Lord. And he did not continue to follow
the Lord, as his father David did. {11:7} Then Solomon built
a shrine for Chemosh, the idol of Moab, on the mount that is
opposite Jerusalem, and for Milcom, the idol of the sons of
Ammon. {11:8} And he acted in this manner for all his
foreign wives, who were burning incense and immolating to
their gods. {11:9} And so, the Lord became angry with
Solomon, because his mind had been turned away from the
Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
{11:10} and who had instructed him about this matter, lest he
follow strange gods. But he did not observe what the Lord
commanded to him. {11:11} And so, the Lord said to
Solomon: “Because you have this with you, and because you
have not kept my covenant and my precepts, which I
commanded to you, I will tear apart your kingdom, and I will
give it to your servant. {11:12} Yet truly, I will not do it in
your days, for the sake of your father David. From the hand
of your son, I will tear it away. {11:13} Neither will I take
away the whole kingdom. Instead, I will grant one tribe to
your son, for the sake of David, my servant, and Jerusalem,
which I have chosen.” {11:14} Then the Lord raised up an
adversary to Solomon, Hadad of Idumea, from an offspring
of the king who was in Idumea. {11:15} For when David was
in Idumea, Joab, the leader of the military, had ascended to
bury those who had been killed, and he had killed every male
in Idumea. {11:16} And Joab remained in that place for six
months, with all of Israel, until he had put to death every
male in Idumea. {11:17} Then Hadad fled, he and some men
of Idumea from among the servants of his father with him, so
that he might enter into Egypt. But Hadad was then a little
boy. {11:18} And when they had risen up from Midian, they
went into Paran, and they took with them some men from
Paran. And they went into Egypt, to Pharaoh, the king of
Egypt. And he gave him a house, and he appointed food for
him, and he assigned land to him. {11:19} And Hadad found
great favor before Pharaoh, so much so that he gave to him as
wife, the sister of his own wife, queen Tahpenes.
{11:20} And the sister of Tahpenes bore to him a son,
Genubath. And Tahpenes raised him in the house of Pharaoh.
And Genubath was living with Pharaoh and his sons.
{11:21} And when Hadad had heard in Egypt that David had
slept with his fathers, and that Joab, the leader of the military,
had died, he said to Pharaoh, “Release me, so that I may go
to my own land.” {11:22} And Pharaoh said to him, “But
what is lacking to you with me, so that you would seek to go
to your own land?” But he responded: “Nothing. Yet I beg
you that you may release me.” {11:23} Also, God raised up
against him an adversary, Rezon, the son of Eliada, who had
fled from his lord, Hadad-Ezer, the king of Zobah.
{11:24} And he gathered together men against him. And
when David put those of Zobah to death, he became a leader
of robbers. And they went away to Damascus, and they lived
there. And they appointed him to be king of Damascus.
{11:25} And he was an adversary to Israel during all the days
of Solomon. And such is the evil of Hadad and of his hatred
against Israel. And he reigned in Syria. {11:26} Also, there
was Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from
Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother was named
Zeruah, a widowed woman. He lifted up his hand against the
king. {11:27} And this is the reason for his rebellion against
him: that Solomon built up Millo, and that he filled in a deep
hole in the city of David, his father. {11:28} Now Jeroboam
was a valiant and powerful man. And perceiving the young
man to be ingenious and industrious, Solomon appointed
him as first ruler over the tributes of the entire house of
Joseph. {11:29} And it happened, in that time, that Jeroboam
departed from Jerusalem. And the prophet Ahijah, the
Shilonite, wearing with a new cloak, found him on the way.
And the two were alone in the field. {11:30} And taking his
new cloak, with which he was covered, Ahijah tore it into
twelve parts. {11:31} And he said to Jeroboam: “Take ten
pieces for yourself. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel:
‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon,
and I will give to you ten tribes. {11:32} Yet one tribe shall
remain with him, for the sake of my servant, David, as well
as Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes
of Israel. {11:33} For he has abandoned me, and he has
adored Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and
Chemosh, the god of Moab, and Milcom, the god of the sons
of Ammon. And he has not walked in my ways, so that he
would do justice before me, and so that he would carry out
my precepts and judgments, as his father David did.
{11:34} But I will not take the entire kingdom from his hand.
Instead, I will establish him as the ruler during all the days of
his life, for the sake of my servant David, whom I chose, who
kept my commandments and my precepts. {11:35} But I will
take away the kingdom from the hand of his son, and I will
give to you ten tribes. {11:36} Then, to his son, I will give
one tribe, so that there may remain a lamp for my servant
David before me, for all days, in Jerusalem, the city which I
have chosen, so that my name would be there. {11:37} And I
will take you up, and you shall reign over all that your soul
desires. And you shall be king over Israel. {11:38} Therefore,
if you will listen to all that I will command you, and if you
will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my sight,
keeping my commandments and my precepts, just as my
servant David did, then I will be with you, and I will build for
you a faithful house, in the way that I built a house for David,
and I will deliver Israel to you. {11:39} And I will afflict the
offspring of David over this, but truly not for all days.’ ”
{11:40} Therefore, Solomon wanted to kill Jeroboam. But he
rose up and fled away to Egypt, to Shishak, the king of Egypt.
And he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
{11:41} Now the rest of the words of Solomon, and all that
he did, and his wisdom: behold, these are all written in the
book of the words of the days of Solomon. {11:42} And the
days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, over all of Israel,
were forty years. {11:43} And Solomon slept with his fathers,
and he was buried in the city of David, his father. And
Rehoboam, his son, reigned in his place.


[1 Kings 12] {12:1} Then Rehoboam went to Shechem. For
in that place, all of Israel had gathered to appoint him as king.
{12:2} Yet truly, Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, while he was
still in Egypt as a fugitive from the face of king Solomon,
hearing of his death, returned from Egypt. {12:3} And they
sent and called him. Therefore, Jeroboam went, with the
entire multitude of Israel, and they spoke to Rehoboam,
saying: {12:4} “Your father imposed a very harsh yoke upon
us. And so, you should now take away a little from the very
harsh rule of your father and from his very grievous yoke,
which he imposed upon us, and we will serve you.”
{12:5} And he said to them, “Go away, until the third day,
and then return to me.” And when the people had gone away,
{12:6} king Rehoboam took counsel with the elders who had
assisted before his father Solomon while he was still living.
And he said, “What counsel do you give to me, so that I may
respond to this people?” {12:7} They said to him, “If today
you will obey and serve this people, and yield to their petition,
and if you will speak lenient words to them, they will be your
servants for all days.” {12:8} But he abandoned the counsel
of the old men, which they had given to him. And he
consulted the young men who had been raised with him, and
who were assisting him. {12:9} And he said to them: “What
counsel do you give to me, so that I may respond to this
people, who have said to me: ‘Make light the yoke that your
father imposed on us?’ ” {12:10} And the young men who
had been raised with him, said: “You shall speak in this way
to this people, who have spoken to you, saying: ‘Your father
weighed down our yoke. You should relieve us.’ You shall
say this to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than the back of
my father. {12:11} And now, my father placed a heavy yoke
upon you, but I will add more upon your yoke. My father cut
you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions.’ ”
{12:12} Therefore, Jeroboam and all the people went to
Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had spoken,
saying, “Return to me on the third day.” {12:13} And the
king responded to the people harshly, leaving behind the
counsel of the elders that they had given to him. {12:14} And
he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men,
saying: “My father weighed down your yoke, but I will add
more to your yoke. My father cut you with whips, but I will
beat you with scorpions.” {12:15} And the king did not
acquiesce to the people. For the Lord had turned him away,
so that he might raise up his word, which he had spoken by
the hand of Ahijah, the Shilonite, to Jeroboam, the son of
Nebat. {12:16} And so the people, seeing that the king had
not been willing to listen to them, responded to him, saying:
“What part do we have in David? Or what inheritance do we
have in the son of Jesse? Go to your own tents, O Israel. Now
David, see to your own house.” And Israel went away to
their own tents. {12:17} But over all the sons of Israel who
were living in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned.
{12:18} Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over
the tribute. And all of Israel stoned him, and he died.
Therefore, king Rehoboam hurrying, climbed into the chariot,
and fled to Jerusalem. {12:19} And Israel drew away from
the house of David, even to the present day. {12:20} And it
happened that, when all of Israel had heard that Jeroboam
had returned, gathering an assembly, they sent and called
him, and they appointed him as king over all of Israel. And
no one followed the house of David, except the tribe of Judah
alone. {12:21} Then Rehoboam went to Jerusalem, and he
gathered together the entire house of Judah, and the tribe of
Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand elect men of war,
so that they might fight against the house of Israel, and might
bring the kingdom back to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.
{12:22} But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, the
man of God, saying: {12:23} “Speak to Rehoboam, the son
of Solomon, the king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah,
and to Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying:
{12:24} ‘Thus says the Lord: You shall not go up, and you
shall not make war against your brothers, the sons of Israel.
Let each man return to his own house. For this word came
from me.’ ” And they listened to the word of the Lord, and
they returned from the journey, as the Lord had instructed
them. {12:25} Then Jeroboam built up Shechem, on mount
Ephraim, and he lived there. And departing from there, he
built up Penuel. {12:26} And Jeroboam said in his heart:
“Now the kingdom will return to the house of David,
{12:27} if this people ascend to offer sacrifices in the house of
the Lord at Jerusalem. And the heart of this people will be
converted to their lord Rehoboam, the king of Judah, and
they will put me to death, and return to him.” {12:28} And
devising a plan, he made two golden calves. And he said to
them: “No longer choose to ascend to Jerusalem. Behold,
these are your gods, O Israel, who led you away from the
land of Egypt!” {12:29} And he stationed one in Bethel, and
the other in Dan. {12:30} And this word became an occasion
of sin. For the people went to adore the calf, even to Dan.
{12:31} And he made shrines on the high places, and he
made priests out of the lowest people, who were not of the
sons of Levi. {12:32} And he appointed a solemn day in the
eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, in imitation
of the solemnity that was celebrated in Judah. And ascending
to the altar, he acted similarly in Bethel, so that he immolated
to the calves, which he had made. And in Bethel, he
appointed priests of the high places, which he had made.
{12:33} And he ascended to the altar, which he had raised up
in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the day
that he had decided in his own heart. And he made a
solemnity to the sons of Israel, and he ascended to the altar,
so that he might burn incense.


[1 Kings 13] {13:1} And behold, by the word of the Lord, a
man of God went from Judah to Bethel, when Jeroboam was
standing over the altar, and burning incense. {13:2} And by
the word of the Lord, he cried out against the altar. And he
said: “O altar, O altar! Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son
will be born to the house of David, Josiah by name. And
upon you, he will immolate the priests of the high places,
who now burn incense upon you. And upon you, he will
burn up the bones of men.’ ” {13:3} And he gave a sign on
the same day, saying: “This will be the sign that the Lord has
spoken. Behold, the altar shall be torn apart, and the ashes
that are upon it shall be poured out.” {13:4} And when the
king had heard the word of the man of God, which he had
cried out against the altar at Bethel, he extended his hand
from the altar, saying, “Apprehend him!” But his hand,
which he had extended against him, withered. And he was
unable to draw it back to himself. {13:5} Also, the altar was
torn apart, and the ashes were poured out from the altar, in
accord with the sign that the man of God had predicted by
the word of the Lord. {13:6} And the king said to the man of
God, “Entreat the face of the Lord your God, and pray for
me, so that my hand may be restored to me.” And the man of
God prayed before the face of the Lord, and the hand of the
king was restored to him, and it became as it had been before.
{13:7} Then the king said to the man of God: “Come home
with me, so that you may dine. And I will give you gifts.”
{13:8} And the man of God responded to the king: “Even if
you will give me one half part of your house, I will not go
with you, nor eat bread, nor drink water in this place.
{13:9} For so it was commanded to me by the word of the
Lord, ordering: ‘You shall not eat bread, and you shall not
drink water, nor shall you return by the way that you
came.’ ” {13:10} Then he departed by another way, and he
did not return along the way that he had traveled to Bethel.
{13:11} Now a certain elderly prophet was living in Bethel.
His sons went to him, and they described to him all the works
which the man of God had accomplished on that day in
Bethel. And they described to their father the words that he
had spoken to the king. {13:12} And their father said to them,
“By which way did he depart?” His sons showed him the way
by which the man of God, who had come from Judah, had
departed. {13:13} And he said to his sons, “Saddle the
donkey for me.” And when they had saddled it, he climbed
on, {13:14} and he went away after the man of God. And he
found him sitting under a terebinth tree. And he said to him,
“Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he
responded, “I am.” {13:15} And he said to him, “Come
home with me, so that you may eat bread.” {13:16} But he
said: “I am not able to turn back, nor to go with you. Neither
will I eat bread, or drink water in this place. {13:17} For the
Lord has spoken to me, by the word of the Lord, saying,
“You shall not eat bread, and you shall not drink water in
that place, nor shall you return by the way that you arrived.”
{13:18} And he said to him: “I, too, am a prophet like you.
And an Angel spoke to me, by the word of the Lord, saying,
‘Lead him back with you to your house, so that he may eat
bread, and drink water.’ ” And so he deceived him.
{13:19} And he led him back with him. Then he ate bread
and drank water in his house. {13:20} And while they were
sitting at table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who
had led him back. {13:21} And he cried out to the man of
God who had arrived from Judah, saying: “Thus says the
Lord: Because you were not obedient to the mouth of the
Lord, and you did not keep the commandment that the Lord
your God instructed to you, {13:22} and you turned back,
and ate bread, and drank water in the place where he
commanded you that you should not eat bread, nor drink
water: your dead body shall not be carried back to the
sepulcher of your fathers.” {13:23} And when he had eaten
and had drunk, he saddled his donkey for the prophet whom
he had led back. {13:24} And when he had departed, a lion
found him along the way, and it killed him, and his dead
body was left upon the road. Now the donkey was standing
beside him. And the lion was standing beside the dead body.
{13:25} And behold, men who were passing by saw the dead
body lying in the road, with the lion standing beside the body.
And they went and made it widely known in the city where
that elderly prophet was living. {13:26} And when that
prophet, who had led him back from the way, had heard it,
he said: “It is the man of God, who was disobedient to the
mouth of the Lord. And the Lord has delivered him to the
lion. And it has torn him apart and killed him, in accord with
the word of the Lord, which he spoke to him.” {13:27} And
he said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” And when
they had saddled it, {13:28} and he had departed, he found
the dead body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion
standing beside the dead body. The lion did not eat from the
dead body, nor did it harm the donkey. {13:29} Then the
prophet took the dead body of the man of God, and he placed
it upon the donkey, and returning, he brought it into the city
of the elderly prophet, so that he might mourn for him.
{13:30} And he placed his dead body in his own sepulcher.
And they mourned for him, saying: “Alas! Alas! My
brother!” {13:31} And when they had mourned over him, he
said to his sons: “When I will have died, bury me in the
sepulcher in which the man of God was buried. Place my
bones beside his bones. {13:32} For certainly, the word will
arrived, which he predicted by the word of the Lord, against
the altar, which is in Bethel, and against all the shrines of the
high places, which are in the cities of Samaria.” {13:33} After
these words, Jeroboam did not turn back from his very evil
way. Instead, to the contrary, he made priests for the high
places out of the least of the people. Whosoever was willing,
he filled his hand, and he became a priest of the high places.
{13:34} And for this reason, the house of Jeroboam sinned,
and was uprooted, and was wiped from the face of the earth.


[1 Kings 14] {14:1} In that time Abijah, the son of Jeroboam,
became ill. {14:2} And Jeroboam said to his wife: “Rise up,
and change clothing, so that you will not be recognized to be
the wife of Jeroboam. And go to Shiloh, where the prophet
Ahijah is, who said to me that I should reign over this people.
{14:3} Also, take in your hand ten loaves, and dried bread,
and a container of honey, and go to him. For he will reveal to
you what will happen to this boy.” {14:4} The wife of
Jeroboam did just as he had said. And rising up, she went
away to Shiloh. And she arrived at the house of Ahijah. But
he was unable to see, because his eyes had dimmed due to
old age. {14:5} Then the Lord said to Ahyah: “Behold, the
wife of Jeroboam enters, so that she may consult you over her
son, who is ill. You shall say one thing and another to her.”
Therefore, as she was entering, not presenting herself to be
who she was, {14:6} Ahijah heard the sound of her feet,
entering through the door. And he said: “Enter, O wife of
Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be someone you are not?
But I have been sent to you with harsh news. {14:7} Go, and
tell Jeroboam: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel:
Although I exalted you from the midst of the people, and I
granted to you to be the leader over my people Israel,
{14:8} and I tore the kingdom away from the house of David,
and I gave it to you, yet you have not been like David, my
servant, who kept my commandments, and who followed me
with his whole heart, doing what was pleasing in my sight.
{14:9} Instead, you have worked evil beyond all those who
were before you. And you have made for yourself strange
gods and molten images, so that you provoke me to anger.
And you have cast me behind your back. {14:10} For this
reason, behold, I will lead evils over the house of Jeroboam,
and I will strike down from Jeroboam that which urinates
against a wall, and that which is lame, and that which is last
in Israel. And I will cleanse that which remains of the house
of Jeroboam, just as dung is usually cleaned away, until there
is purity. {14:11} Those who will have died of Jeroboam in
the city, the dogs will devour them. And those who will have
died in the field, the birds of the heavens will devour them.
For the Lord has spoken.’ {14:12} Therefore, you must rise
up, and go to your house. And in the city, at the very
entrance of your feet, the boy will die. {14:13} And all of
Israel will mourn him, and will bury him. For he alone of
Jeroboam shall be brought into a sepulcher. For concerning
him, there has been found a good word from the Lord, the
God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. {14:14} But the
Lord has appointed for himself a king over Israel, who will
strike down the house of Jeroboam, in this day and in this
time. {14:15} And the Lord God shall strike Israel, just as a
reed is usually shaken in the water. And he will uproot Israel
from this good land, which he gave to their fathers. And he
will winnow them beyond the river. For they have made for
themselves sacred groves, so that they have provoked the
Lord. {14:16} And the Lord will hand over Israel, because of
the sins of Jeroboam, who has sinned and caused Israel to
sin.” {14:17} And so, the wife of Jeroboam rose up, and she
went away. And she arrived at Tirzah. And as she was
entering the threshold of the house, the boy died.
{14:18} And they buried him, and all of Israel mourned for
him, in accord with the word of the Lord, which he spoke by
the hand of his servant Ahijah, the prophet. {14:19} Now the
rest of the words of Jeroboam, the manner in which he fought,
and the manner in which he reigned, behold, these were
written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Israel. {14:20} And the days during which Jeroboam reigned
were twenty-two years. And he slept with his fathers. And
Nadab, his son, reigned in his place. {14:21} Now
Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, reigned in Judah.
Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he had begun to
reign. And he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the
city that the Lord chose, out of all the tribes of Israel, so that
he might place his name there. And the name of his mother
was Naamah, an Ammonite. {14:22} And Judah did evil in
the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him beyond all that
their fathers had done, by their sins that they committed.
{14:23} For they, too, built for themselves altars, and statues,
and sacred groves, upon every high hill and under every leafy
tree. {14:24} Moreover, the effeminate were in the land, and
they committed all the abominations of the peoples that the
Lord had destroyed before the face of the sons of Israel.
{14:25} Then, in the fifth year of the reign of Rehoboam,
Shishak, the king of Egypt, ascended against Jerusalem.
{14:26} And he took away the treasures of the house of the
Lord, and the royal treasures, and he plundered everything,
including the shields of gold that Solomon had made.
{14:27} In place of these, king Rehoboam made shields of
brass, and he delivered them into the hand of the
commanders of the shield bearers, and of those who were
keeping the night watch before the gate of the king’s house.
{14:28} And when the king entered into the house of the
Lord, these were carried by those who held the office to go
before him. And afterward, they carried them back to the
armory of the shield bearers. {14:29} Now the rest of the
words of Rehoboam, and all that he did, behold, these were
written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Judah. {14:30} And there was war between Rehoboam and
Jeroboam, during all the days. {14:31} And Rehoboam slept
with his fathers, and he was buried with them in the city of
David. And his mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonite.
And his son Abiyam reigned in his place.


[1 Kings 15] {15:1} Then, in the eighteenth year of the reign
of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam reigned over Judah.
{15:2} He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. The name of
his mother was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom.
{15:3} And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he
had done before him. Neither was his heart perfect with the
Lord his God, as was the heart of David, his father.
{15:4} But for the sake of David, the Lord his God gave to
him a lamp in Jerusalem, so that he might raise up his son
after him, and so that he might establish Jerusalem.
{15:5} For David had done what was right in the eyes of the
Lord, and he had not declined from all of the things that he
had instructed to him, during all the days of his life, except
the matter of Uriah, the Hittite. {15:6} Now there was war
between Rehoboam and Jeroboam during the entire time of
his life. {15:7} And the rest of the words of Abijam, and all
that he did, were these not written in the book of the words of
the days of the kings of Judah? And there was fighting
between Abijam and Jeroboam. {15:8} And Abiam slept
with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David.
And Asa, his son, reigned in his place. {15:9} Then, in the
twentieth year of Jeroboam, the king of Israel, Asa reigned as
king of Judah. {15:10} And he reigned for forty-one years in
Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Maacah, the
daughter of Abishalom. {15:11} And Asa did what was right
before the sight of the Lord, just as his father David did.
{15:12} And he took away the effeminate from the land. And
he purged all the filth of the idols, which his fathers had made.
{15:13} Moreover, he also removed his mother, Maacah,
from being the leader in the sacrifices of Priapus, and in his
sacred grove which she had consecrated. And he destroyed
his grotto. And he shattered the very indecent idol, and he
burned it at the torrent Kidron. {15:14} But the high places,
he did not take away. Yet truly, the heart of Asa was perfect
with the Lord during all his days. {15:15} And he brought the
things that his father had sanctified and vowed back to the
house of the Lord: the silver, and the gold, and the vessels.
{15:16} Now there was war between Asa and Baasha, the
king of Israel, during all their days. {15:17} And Baasha, the
king of Israel, ascended against Judah. And he built up
Ramah, so that no one would be able to exit or enter from the
side of Asa, the king of Judah. {15:18} And so, Asa took all
the silver and the gold which had remained in the treasuries
of the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the house of
the king, and he gave it into the hands of his servants. And he
sent them to Benhadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of
Hezion, the king of Syria, who was living in Damascus,
saying: {15:19} “There is a pact between me and you, and
between my father and your father. For this reason, I have
sent to you gifts of silver and of gold. And I ask you to go and
break your pact with Baasha, the king of Israel, so that he
may withdraw from me.” {15:20} Benhadad, acquiescing to
king Asa, sent the leaders of his army against the cities of
Israel. And they struck Ijon, and Dan, and Abel, the house of
Maacah, and all of Chinneroth, that is, all the land of
Naphtali. {15:21} And when Baasha had heard this, he
ceased from fortifying Ramah, and he returned to Tirzah.
{15:22} Then king Asa sent an announcement to all of Judah,
saying, “Let no one be excused.” And they took away the
stones from Ramah, and its timber, with which Baasha had
fortified it. And from these things, king Asa built up Geba of
Benjamin and Mizpah. {15:23} Now all the rest of the words
of Asa, and his entire strength, and all that he did, and the
cities that he built, were these not written in the book of the
words of the days of the kings of Judah? Yet truly, in the time
of his old age, he was afflicted in his feet. {15:24} And he
slept with his fathers, and he was buried with them in the city
of David, his father. And Jehoshaphat, his son, reigned in his
place. {15:25} Yet truly, Nadab, the son of Jeroboam,
reigned over Israel, in the second year of Asa, the king of
Judah. And he reigned over Israel for two years. {15:26} And
he did what is evil in the sight of the Lord. And he walked in
the ways of his father and in his sins, by which he caused
Israel to sin. {15:27} Then Baasha, the son of Ahijah, from
the house of Issachar, set an ambush against him, and he
struck him down at Gibbethon, which is a city of the
Philistines. For indeed, Nadab and all of Israel were laying
siege to Gibbethon. {15:28} And so Baasha killed him in the
third year of Asa, the king of Judah, and he reigned in his
place. {15:29} And when he had reigned, he struck down the
entire house of Jeroboam. He did not leave behind even one
soul from his offspring, until he had wiped him away, in
accord with the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by
the hand of Ahijah, the Shilonite, {15:30} because of the sin
of Jeroboam, which he had committed, and by which he had
caused Israel to sin, and because of the offense by which he
had provoked the Lord, the God of Israel. {15:31} But the
rest of the words of Nadab, and all that he did, were these not
written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Israel? {15:32} And there was war between Asa and Baasha,
the king of Israel, during all their days. {15:33} In the third
year of Asa, the king of Judah, Baasha, the son of Ahijah,
reigned over all of Israel, at Tirzah, for twenty-four years.
{15:34} And he did evil in the sight of the Lord. And he
walked in the ways of Jeroboam, and in his sins, by which he
caused Israel to sin.


[1 Kings 16] {16:1} Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu,
the son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying: {16:2} “Even
though I exalted you from the dust, and I set you as ruler
over my people Israel, still you have walked in the way of
Jeroboam, and you have caused my people Israel to sin, so
that you have provoked me by their sins. {16:3} Behold, I
will cut down the posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of his
house. And I will make your house like the house of
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. {16:4} Whoever will have died
of Baasha in the city, the dogs will consume him. And
whoever will have died of him in the countryside, the birds of
the air will consume him.” {16:5} Now the rest of the words
of Baasha, and whatever he did, and his battles, were these
not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings
of Israel? {16:6} Then Baasha slept with his fathers, and he
was buried at Tirzah. And Elah, his son, reigned in his place.
{16:7} And when the word of the Lord had arrived by the
hand of the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasha,
and against his house, and against every evil that he had done
before the Lord, so that he provoked him by the works of his
hands, so that he became like the house of Jeroboam: for this
reason, he killed him, that is, the prophet Jehu, the son of
Hanani. {16:8} In the twenty-sixth year of Asa, the king of
Judah, Elah, the son of Baasha, reigned over Israel, at Tirzah,
for two years. {16:9} And his servant Zimri, the commander
of one half part the horsemen, rebelled against him. Now
Elah was drinking at Tirzah, and he became inebriated in the
house of Arza, the prefect of Tirzah. {16:10} Then Zimri,
rushing in, struck him and killed him, in the twenty-seventh
year of Asa, the king of Judah. And he reigned in his place.
{16:11} And when he had reigned and had sat upon his
throne, he struck down the entire house of Baasha. And he
did not leave behind of them anything that urinates against a
wall, among both close relatives and his friends. {16:12} And
so, Zimri destroyed the entire house of Baasha, in accord
with the word of the Lord, which he had spoken to Baasha,
by the hand the prophet of Jehu, {16:13} because of all the
sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah, his son, who sinned and
caused Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel,
with their vanities. {16:14} But the rest of the words of Elah,
and all that he did, were these not written in the book of the
words of the days of the kings of Israel? {16:15} In the
twenty-seventh year of Asa, the king of Judah, Zimri reigned
for seven days in Tirzah. For the army was besieging
Gibbethon, a city of the Philistines. {16:16} And when they
had heard that Zimri had rebelled, and that he had killed the
king, all of Israel made Omri as a king for themselves; he was
the leader of the military over Israel in the encampment in
that day. {16:17} Therefore, Omri ascended, and all of Israel
with him, from Gibbethon, and they besieged Tirzah.
{16:18} Then Zimri, seeing that the city was about to be
taken, entered the palace, and he set fire to himself along
with the royal house. And he died {16:19} in his sins, which
he had sinned, doing evil before the Lord, and walking in the
way of Jeroboam, and in his sin, by which he caused Israel to
sin. {16:20} But the rest of the words of Zimri, and of his
treachery and tyranny, were these not written in the book of
the words of the days of the kings of Israel? {16:21} Then the
people of Israel were divided into two parts: one half part of
the people followed Tibni, the son of Ginath, having
appointed him as king, and one half part followed Omri.
{16:22} But the people who were with Omri prevailed over
the people who were following Tibni, the son of Ginath. And
Tibni died, and Omri reigned. {16:23} In the thirty-first year
of Asa, the king of Judah, Omri reigned over Israel for twelve
years; he reigned for six years at Tirzah. {16:24} And he
bought the mount of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of
silver. And he built upon it, and he called the name of the city
that he had built, Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the
owner of the mount. {16:25} But Omri did evil in the sight of
the Lord, and he wrought wickedness, beyond all who had
been before him. {16:26} And he walked in all the ways of
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and in his sins, by which he had
caused Israel to sin, so that he provoked the Lord, the God of
Israel, by their vanities. {16:27} Now the rest of the words of
Omri, and his battles that he carried out, were these not
written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Israel? {16:28} And Omri slept with his fathers, and he was
buried in Samaria. And Ahab, his son, reigned in his place.
{16:29} Truly, Ahab, the son of Omri, reigned over Israel in
the thirty-eighth year of Asa, the king of Judah. And Ahab,
the son of Omri, reigned over Israel at Samaria for twenty-
two years. {16:30} And Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil in the
sight of the Lord, beyond all who had been before him.
{16:31} And it was not enough for him to walk in the sins of
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. In addition, he took as a wife
Jezebel, the daughter of Eth-baal, the king of the Sidonians.
And he went astray, and he served Baal, and adored him.
{16:32} And he set up an altar for Baal, in the temple of Baal,
which he had built at Samaria. {16:33} And he planted a
sacred grove. And Ahab added to his works, provoking the
Lord, the God of Israel, beyond all the kings of Israel who
had been before him. {16:34} In his days, Hiel from Bethel
built up Jericho. With Abiram, his firstborn, he founded it,
and with Segub, his youngest son, he set up its gates, in
accord with the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by
the hand of Joshua, the son of Nun.


[1 Kings 17] {17:1} And Elijah the Tishbite, from the
inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord lives, the
God of Israel, in whose sight I stand, there shall not be dew
or rain during these years, except by the words of my
mouth.” {17:2} And the word of the Lord came to him,
saying: {17:3} “Withdraw from here, and go toward the east,
and hide at the torrent Cherith, which is opposite the Jordan.
{17:4} And there you shall drink from the torrent. And I have
instructed the ravens to feed you there.” {17:5} Therefore, he
went and acted in accord with the word of the Lord. And
going away, he settled by the torrent Cherith, which is
opposite the Jordan. {17:6} And the ravens carried bread and
flesh to him in the morning, and likewise bread and flesh in
the evening. And he drank from the torrent. {17:7} But after
some days, the torrent dried up. For it had not rained upon
the earth. {17:8} Then the word of the Lord came to him,
saying: {17:9} “Rise up, and go to Zarephath of the
Sidonians, and dwell there. For I have instructed a widowed
woman there to feed you.” {17:10} He rose up and went
away to Zarephath. And when he had arrived at the gate of
the city, he saw the widowed woman collecting wood, and he
called to her. And he said to her, “Give me a little water in a
vessel, so that I may drink.” {17:11} And as she was going to
bring it, he called out after her, saying, “Bring me also, I beg
you, a morsel of bread in your hand.” {17:12} And she
responded: “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread,
except a handful of flour in a jar, and a little oil in a bottle.
See, I am collecting a couple of sticks, so that I may go in and
make it for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and
die.” {17:13} And Elijah said to her: “Do not be afraid. But
go and do as you have said. Yet truly, first make for me, from
the same flour, a little bread baked under ashes, and bring it
to me. Then afterward, make some for yourself and for your
son. {17:14} For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘The
jar of flour will not fail, nor the bottle of oil be diminished,
until the day when the Lord will grant rain upon the face of
the earth.’ ” {17:15} She went and acted in accord with the
word of Elijah. And he ate, and she and her household ate.
And from that day, {17:16} the jar of flour did not fail, and
the bottle of oil was not diminished, in accord with the word
of the Lord, which he had spoken by the hand of Elijah.
{17:17} Now it happened that, after these things, the son of
the woman who was the mother of the family became ill.
And the sickness was very powerful, so that no breath
remained in him. {17:18} Therefore, she said to Elijah:
“What is there between you and me, O man of God? Have
you entered to me, so that my iniquities would be
remembered, and so that you would put to death my son?”
{17:11} And Elyah said to her, “Give your son to me.” And
he took him from her bosom, and he carried him to an upper
room, where he himself was staying. And he placed him on
his own bed. {17:20} And he cried out to the Lord, and he
said, “O Lord, my God, have you even afflicted the widow
by whom I am, in a sense, sustained, so that you would put
to death her son?” {17:21} And he stretched himself out
beside the boy three times. And he cried out to the Lord and
said, “O Lord, my God, let the soul of this boy, I beg you,
return to his body.” {17:22} And the Lord heeded the voice
of Elijah. And the soul of the boy returned to him, and he
revived. {17:23} And Elijah took the boy, and he brought
him down from the upper room to the lower part of the house.
And he gave him to his mother. And he said to her, “See,
your son lives.” {17:24} And the woman said to Elijah: “By
this, I now realize that you are a man of God, and that the
word of the Lord in your mouth is true.”


[1 Kings 18] {18:1} After many days, the word of the Lord
came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go and show
yourself to Ahab, so that I may grant rain upon the face of
the earth.” {18:2} Therefore, Elijah went to show himself to
Ahab. For there was a severe famine in Samaria. {18:3} And
Ahab called Obadiah, the manager of his household. Now
Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. {18:4} For when Jezebel
was killing the prophets of the Lord, he took one hundred
prophets, and concealed them, fifty and fifty, in caves. And
he fed them with bread and water. {18:5} Then Ahab said to
Obadiah, “Go into the land, to all fountains of water, and to
all the valleys, for perhaps we will be able to find plants, and
save the horses and mules, so that the beasts of burden may
not perish entirely.” {18:6} And they divided the regions
among themselves, so that they might travel through them.
Ahab went one way alone, and Obadiah went another way
by himself. {18:7} And while Obadiah was on the way,
Elijah met him. And when he had recognized him, he fell on
his face, and he said, “Are you not my lord Elijah?”
{18:8} And he responded to him: “I am. Go and tell your
lord that Elijah is here.” {18:9} And he said: “How have I
sinned that you would deliver me, your servant, into the hand
of Ahab, so that he would put me to death? {18:10} As the
Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which
my lord has not sent, seeking you. And when all responded,
‘He is not here,’ he swore each kingdom and nation to an
oath, because you were not found at all. {18:11} And now,
you say to me, ‘Go and tell your lord that Elijah is here.’
{18:12} And when I will have departed from you, the Spirit
of the Lord will transport you to a place that I do not know.
And entering, I will report to Ahab. And he, not finding you,
will put me to death. Yet your servant has feared the Lord
from his infancy. {18:13} Has it not been revealed to you, my
lord, what I did when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the
Lord: how I hid one hundred men from the prophets of the
Lord, fifty and fifty, in caves, and how I fed them with bread
and water? {18:14} And now you say: ‘Go and tell your lord
that Elyah is here,’ so that he may kill me!” {18:15} And
Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whose face I
stand, this day I will appear to him.” {18:16} Therefore,
Obadiah went away to meet Ahab, and he reported to him.
And Ahab went to meet Elijah. {18:17} And when he had
seen him, he said, “Are you the one who is disturbing
Israel?” {18:18} And he said: “I have not troubled Israel. But
it is you, and the house of your father, who have abandoned
the commandments of the Lord, and have followed the Baals.
{18:19} Yet truly now, send and gather to me all of Israel, on
Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of
Baal, and the four hundred prophets of the sacred groves,
who eat from the table of Jezebel.” {18:20} Ahab sent to all
the sons of Israel, and he gathered together the prophets on
mount Carmel. {18:21} Then Elijah, drawing near to all the
people, said: “How long will you waver between two sides? If
the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal is, then follow him.”
And the people did not respond a word to him. {18:22} And
Elijah said again to the people: “I alone remain as a prophet
of the Lord. But the prophets of Baal are four hundred and
fifty men. {18:23} Let two oxen be given to us. And let them
choose one ox for themselves, and, cutting it into pieces, let
them set it on the wood. But they may not place fire under it.
And I will prepare the other ox, and set it on the wood. But I
will not place fire under it. {18:24} Call upon the names of
your gods. And I will call on the name of my Lord. And the
God who will have heeded with fire, let him be God.” And in
response, all the people said, “Excellent proposition.”
{18:25} Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal: “Choose for
yourselves one ox, and prepare it first. For you are many.
And call on the names of your gods, but do not place fire
under it.” {18:26} And when they had taken an ox, which he
had given to them, they prepared it. And they called on the
name of Baal, from morning even until midday, saying, “O
Baal, heed us.” And there was no voice, nor did anyone
respond. And so they leaped upon the altar that they had
made. {18:27} And when it was now midday, Elijah
ridiculed them, saying: “Cry out with a louder voice. For he
is a god, and perhaps he is talking, or at an inn, or on a
journey, or certainly he may be asleep, and must be
awakened.” {18:28} Then they cried out with a loud voice,
and they cut themselves, in accord with their ritual, with
knives and lancets, until they were entirely covered in blood.
{18:29} Then, after midday had passed, and they were
prophesying, the time had arrived when the sacrifice is
usually offered. And there was no voice heard, neither did
anyone heed or respond to the praying. {18:30} Elijah said to
all the people, “Draw near to me.” And as the people were
drawing near to him, he repaired the altar of the Lord, which
had been torn down. {18:31} And he took twelve stones, in
accord with the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to
whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be
your name.” {18:32} And he built from the stones an altar to
the name of the Lord. And he made a trench for water, like
two furrows of plowed land, all around the altar.
{18:33} And he arranged the wood, and he cut the ox into
pieces, and he placed it on the wood. {18:34} And he said,
“Fill four containers with water, and pour it over the
holocaust, and over the wood.” And again, he said, “Do this
a second time.” And when they had done it a second time, he
said, “Do it also a third time.” And they did so a third time.
{18:35} And the water was running down around the altar,
and the pit of the trench was filled with water. {18:36} And
when it was now time for the holocaust to be offered, the
prophet Elijah, drawing near, said: “O Lord, God of
Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel, reveal this day that you are
the God of Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have
acted, in all these things, in accord with your precept.
{18:37} Heed me, O Lord, heed me, so that this people may
learn that you are the Lord God, and that you have converted
their heart again.” {18:38} Then the fire of the Lord fell
down and devoured the holocaust, and the wood, and the
stones, and even the dust, and it absorbed the water that was
in the trench. {18:39} And when all the people had seen it,
they fell upon their face, and they said: “The Lord himself is
God! The Lord himself is God!” {18:40} And Elijah said to
them, “Apprehend the prophets of Baal, and do not let even
one of them escape.” And when they had apprehended them,
Elijah led them down to the torrent Kishon, and he put them
to death there. {18:41} And Elijah said to Ahab “Ascend; eat
and drink. For there is the sound of an abundance of rain.”
{18:42} Ahab ascended, so that he might eat and drink. But
Elyah ascended to the top of Carmel, and bending down to
the ground, he placed his face between his knees.
{18:43} And he said to his servant, “Ascend, and gaze out
toward the sea.” And when he had ascended, and had
contemplated, he said, “There is nothing.” And again, he
said to him, “Return seven times.” {18:44} And at the
seventh time, behold, a little cloud ascended from the sea like
the footstep of a man. And he said: “Ascend, and say to
Ahab, ‘Yoke your chariot, and descend; otherwise, the rain
may prevent you.’ ” {18:45} And as he was turning himself
this way and that, behold, the heavens were darkened, and
there were clouds and wind, and a great rainstorm occurred.
And so Ahab, going up, went away to Jezreel. {18:46} And
the hand of the Lord was upon Elijah. And cinching his waist,
he ran before Ahab, until he arrived at Jezreel.


[1 Kings 19] {19:1} Then Ahab reported to Jezebel all that
Elyah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with
the sword. {19:2} And so Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah,
saying, “May the gods to these things, and may they add
these other things, if by this hour tomorrow I will not have
made your life like the life of one of them.” {19:3} Therefore,
Elijah was afraid. And rising up, he went away to wherever
his will would carry him. And he arrived in Beersheba of
Judah. And he dismissed his servant there. {19:4} And he
continued on, into the desert, for one day’s journey. And
when he had arrived, and was sitting under a juniper tree, he
requested for his soul that he might die. And he said: “It is
enough for me, O Lord. Take my soul. For I am no better
than my fathers.” {19:5} And he stretched himself out, and
he slept deeply in the shadow of the juniper tree. And behold,
an Angel of the Lord touched him, and said to him, “Rise up
and eat.” {19:6} He looked, and behold, at his head was
bread baked under ashes, and a container of water. Then he
ate and drank, and again he slept deeply. {19:7} And the
Angel of the Lord returned a second time, and touched him,
and said to him: “Rise up, eat. For a great journey again
stands before you.” {19:8} And he when he had risen up, he
ate and drank. And he walked by the strength of that food for
forty days and forty nights, as far as the mountain of God,
Horeb. {19:9} And when he had arrived there, he stayed in a
cave. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and
said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” {19:10} And
he responded: “I have been very zealous on behalf of the
Lord, the God of hosts. For the sons of Israel have forsaken
your covenant. They have torn down your altars. They have
killed your prophets with the sword. I alone remain. And
they are seeking my life, so that they may take it away.”
{19:11} And he said to him, “Go out and stand on the mount
before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by. And there
was a great and strong wind, tearing apart the mountains,
and crushing the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not
in the wind. And after the wind, there was an earthquake.
But the Lord was not in the earthquake. {19:12} And after
the earthquake, there was a fire. But the Lord was not in the
fire. And after the fire, there was the whisper of a gentle
breeze. {19:13} And when Elijah had heard it, he covered his
face with his cloak, and going out, he stood at the entrance of
the cave. And behold, there was a voice to him, saying:
“What are you doing here, Elijah?” And he responded:
{19:14} “I have been very zealous on behalf of the Lord, the
God of hosts. For the sons of Israel have forsaken your
covenant. They have torn down your altars. They have killed
your prophets with the sword. I alone remain. And they are
seeking my life, so that they may take it away.” {19:15} And
the Lord said to him: “Go, and return on your way, through
the desert, to Damascus. And when you have arrived there,
you shall anoint Hazael as king over Syria. {19:16} And you
shall anoint Jehu, the son of Nimshi, as king over Israel. But
Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who is from Abelmeholah, you
shall anoint to be a prophet in your place. {19:17} And this
shall be: whoever will have escaped from the sword of Hazael,
will be slain by Jehu. And whoever will have escaped from
the sword of Jehu, will be put to death by Elisha.
{19:18} And I will leave for myself seven thousand men in
Israel, whose knees have not been bent before Baal, and every
mouth that has not adored him, kissing hands.”
{19:19} Therefore, Elijah, setting out from there, found
Elisha, the son of Shaphat, plowing with twelve yoke of oxen.
And he himself was one of those who were plowing with the
twelve yoke of oxen. And when Elijah had gone to him, he
cast his mantle over him. {19:20} And immediately, leaving
behind the oxen, he ran after Elijah. And he said, “I beg you
to let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will
follow you.” And he said to him: “Go, and turn back. For
what was mine to do, I have done concerning you.”
{19:21} Then, turning back from him, he took a pair of oxen,
and he slew them. And he cooked the flesh with the plow of
the oxen. And he gave it to the people, and they ate. And
rising up, he went and followed Elijah, and he ministered to
him.


[1 Kings 20] {20:1} Then Benhadad, the king of Syria,
gathered together his entire army. And there were thirty-two
kings with him, with horses and chariots. And ascending, he
fought against Samaria, and he besieged it. {20:2} And
sending messengers into the city, to Ahab, the king of Israel,
{20:3} he said: “Thus says Benhadad: Your silver and your
gold is mine. And your wives and your best sons are mine.”
{20:4} And the king of Israel responded, “In agreement with
your word, my lord the king, I am yours, with all that is
mine.” {20:5} And the messengers, returning, said: “Thus
says Benhadad, who sent us to you: Your silver and your
gold, and your wives and your sons, you shall give to me.
{20:6} Therefore, tomorrow, at this same hour, I will send
my servants to you, and they will search your house and the
houses of your servants. And all that pleases them, they will
put in their hands and take away.” {20:7} Then the king of
Israel called all the elders of the land, and he said: “Let your
souls take heed, and see that he commits treachery against us.
For he sent to me for my wives and sons, and for silver and
gold. And I did not refuse.” {20:8} And all those greater by
birth, with all the people, said to him, “You should neither
listen, nor acquiesce to him.” {20:9} And so, he responded to
the messengers of Benhadad: “Tell my lord the king:
Everything about which you sent to me in the beginning, I
your servant will do. But this thing, I am not able to do.”
{20:10} And returning, the messengers took this to him, and
he sent again and said, “May the gods do these things to me,
and may they add these other things, if the dust of Samaria is
enough to fill the hands of all the people who follow me.”
{20:11} And responding, the king of Israel said, “Tell him
that one who is girded should not boast the same as one who
is ungirded.” {20:12} Then it happened that, when Benhadad
had heard this word, he and the kings were drinking in a
pavilion. And he said to his servants, “Encircle the city.” And
they encircled it. {20:13} And behold, one prophet, drawing
near to Ahab, the king of Israel, said to him: “Thus says the
Lord: Certainly, you have seen this entire exceedingly great
multitude? Behold, I will deliver them into your hand today,
so that you may know that I am the Lord.” {20:14} And
Ahab said, “By whom?” And he said to him: “Thus says the
Lord: By the footmen of the leaders of the provinces.” And
he said, “Who should begin to do battle?” And he said, “You
should.” {20:15} Therefore, he took a count of the servants of
the leaders of the provinces. And he found the number to be
two hundred thirty-two. And he set them in order after the
people, all the sons of Israel, who were seven thousand.
{20:16} And they went out at midday. But Benhadad was
drinking; he was inebriated in his pavilion, and the thirty-two
kings with him, who had arrived in order to assist him.
{20:17} Then the servants of the leaders of the provinces
went out to the first place, at the front. And so, Benhadad
sent, and they reported to him, saying: “Men have gone out
from Samaria.” {20:18} And he said: “If they have arrived
for peace, apprehend them alive; if to do battle, capture them
alive.” {20:19} Therefore, the servants of the leaders of the
provinces went out, and the remainder of the army was
following. {20:20} And each one struck down the man who
came against him. And the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued
them. Also, Benhadad, the king of Syria, fled on a horse,
with his horsemen. {20:21} But the king of Israel, going out,
struck the horses and the chariots, and he struck the Syrians
with a great slaughter. {20:22} Then a prophet, drawing near
to the king of Israel, said to him: “Go and be strengthened.
And know and see what you are doing. For in the following
year, the king of Syria will rise up against you.” {20:23} Then
truly, the servants of the king of Syria said to him: “Their
gods are the gods of the mountains; because of this, they have
overwhelmed us. But it is better that we fight against them in
the plains, and then we will prevail over them.
{20:24} Therefore, you should do this word: Remove each of
the kings from your army, and set commanders in their place.
{20:25} And replace the number of soldiers who have been
cut down of yours, and the horses, in accord with the earlier
number of horses, and the chariots, in accord with the
number of chariots that you had before. And we will fight
against them in the plains, and you will see that we will
prevail over them.” And he trusted in their counsel, and he
did so. {20:26} Therefore, after the passing of the year,
Benhadad took a count of the Syrians, and he ascended to
Aphek, so that he might fight against Israel. {20:27} Then the
sons of Israel were numbered, and taking provisions, they set
out to the opposite side. And they stretched out the camp
facing them, like two little flocks of goats. But the Syrians
filled the land. {20:28} And one man of God, drawing near,
said to the king of Israel: “Thus says the Lord: Because the
Syrians have said, ‘The Lord is the God of the mountains,
but he is not the God of the valleys,’ I will deliver this entire
great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that Iam
the Lord.” {20:29} And for seven days, both sides arranged
each of their battle lines. Then, on the seventh day, the war
was undertaken. And the sons of Israel struck down, from the
Syrians, one hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day.
{20:30} Then those who had remained fled to Aphek, into
the city. And the wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand men
of those who had remained. Then Benhadad, fleeing, entered
the city, into a room that was inside another room.
{20:31} And his servants said to him: “Behold, we have
heard that the kings of the house of Israel show clemency.
And so, let us put sackcloth around our waists, and ropes on
our heads, and let us go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he
will save our lives.” {20:32} So they wrapped sackcloth
around their waists, and they placed ropes on their heads.
And they went to the king of Israel, and they said to him:
“Your servant, Benhadad, says: ‘I beg you to let my soul
live.’ ” And he replied, “If he is still alive, he is my brother.”
{20:33} The men accepted this as a good sign. And hastily,
they took up the word from his mouth, and they said,
“Benhadad is your brother.” And he said to them, “Go, and
bring him to me.” Therefore, Benhadad went out to him, and
he lifted him onto his chariot. {20:34} And he said to him:
“The cities that my father took from your father, I will return.
And you may make streets for yourself in Damascus, just as
my father made in Samaria. And after we have made a pact, I
will withdraw from you.” Therefore, he formed a pact with
him, and he released him. {20:35} Then a certain man from
the sons of the prophets said to his associate, by the word of
the Lord, “Strike me.” But he was not willing to strike.
{20:36} And he said to him: “Because you were not willing
to heed the voice of the Lord, behold, you will depart from
me, and a lion will slay you. And when he had departed a
short distance from him, a lion found him, and slew him.
{20:37} But upon finding another man, he said to him,
“Strike me.” And he struck him, and wounded him.
{20:38} Then the prophet departed. And he met the king
along the way, and he changed his appearance by sprinkling
dust around his mouth and eyes. {20:39} And when the king
had passed by, he cried out to the king, and he said: “Your
servant went out to do battle in close quarters. And when one
man had fled, a certain person brought him to me, and he
said: ‘Guard this man. For if he slips away, your life will take
the place of his life, or you will weigh out one talent of silver.’
{20:40} And while I was distracted, turning one way and
another, suddenly, he was not to be seen.” And the king of
Israel said to him, “This is your judgment, that which you
yourself have decreed.” {20:41} Then immediately, he wiped
away the dust from his face, and the king of Israel recognized
him, that he was one of the prophets. {20:42} And he said to
him: “Thus says the Lord: Because you have released from
your hand a man worthy of death, your life will take the
place of his life, and your people will take the place of his
people.” {20:43} And so the king of Israel returned to his
house, unwilling to listen, and a fury entered into Samaria.


[1 Kings 21] {21:1} And after these things, in that time, there
was a vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, who was in Jezreel,
beside the palace of Ahab, the king of Samaria.
{21:2} Therefore, Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying: “Give your
vineyard to me, so that I may make for myself a garden of
herbs. For it is nearby and is beside my house. And I will give
to you, in place of it, a better vineyard. Or if you consider it
to be more convenient for you, I will give you the price in
silver, whatever it is worth.” {21:3} Naboth responded to him,
“May the Lord be gracious to me, lest I give to you the
inheritance of my fathers.” {21:4} Then Ahab went into his
house, angry and gnashing his teeth over the word that
Naboth, the Jezreelite, had spoken to him, saying, “I will not
give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And casting himself
on his bed, he turned away his face to the wall, and he would
not eat bread. {21:5} Then Jezebel, his wife, entered to him,
and she said to him: “What is this matter, by which your soul
has been saddened? And why do you not eat bread?”
{21:6} And he responded to her: “I spoke to Naboth, the
Jezreelite, and I said to him: ‘Give your vineyard to me, and
accept money. Or if it pleases you, I will give to you a better
vineyard, in place of it.’ And he said, ‘I will not give my
vineyard to you.’ ” {21:7} Then Jezebel, his wife, said to him:
“You are of great authority, and you rule well in the kingdom
of Israel. Rise up and eat bread, and be even-tempered. I will
give the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, to you.”
{21:8} And so, she wrote letters in the name of Ahab, and
she sealed these with his ring. And she sent to those greater
by birth, and to the nobles who were in his city and living
with Naboth. {21:9} And this was the judgment of the letters:
“Proclaim a fast, and cause Naboth to sit among the first
rulers of the people. {21:10} And send out two men, sons of
Belial, against him. And let them speak the false testimony:
‘He has blasphemed God and king.’ And then lead him away,
and stone him, and so let him die.” {21:11} Then his fellow
citizens, those greater by birth and the nobles who were living
with him in the city, did just as Jezebel had instructed them,
and just as it was written in the letters that she had sent to
them. {21:12} They proclaimed a fast, and they caused
Naboth to sit among the first rulers of the people.
{21:13} And bringing forward two men, sons of the devil,
they caused them to sit opposite him. And they, acting
indeed like diabolical men, spoke testimony against him
before the multitude: “Naboth has blasphemed God and
king.” For this reason, they led him away, beyond the city,
and they put him to death by stoning. {21:14} And they sent
to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned, and he has
died.” {21:15} Then it happened that, when Jezebel had
heard that Naboth was stoned and was dead, she said to
Ahab: “Rise up and take possession of the vineyard of
Naboth, the Jezreelite, who was not willing to acquiesce to
you, and to give it to you in exchange for money. For Naboth
is not alive, but dead.” {21:16} And when Ahab had heard
this, namely, that Naboth was dead, he rose up and
descended to the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, so that
he might take possession of it. {21:17} Then the word of the
Lord came to Elijah, the Tishbite, saying: {21:18} “Rise up,
and descend to meet Ahab, the king of Israel, who is in
Samaria. Behold, he is descending to the vineyard of Naboth,
so that he may take possession of it. {21:19} And you shall
speak to him, saying: ‘Thus says the Lord: You have killed.
Moreover you have also taken possession.’ And after this,
you shall add: ‘Thus says the Lord: In this place, where the
dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they shall also lick
your blood.’ ” {21:20} And Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you
discovered me to be your enemy?” And he said: “I have
discovered you to have been sold, so that you would do evil
in the sight of the Lord: {21:21} ‘Behold, I will lead evil over
you. And I will cut down your posterity. And I will put to
death of Ahab whatever urinates against a wall, and whatever
is lame, and whatever is last in Israel. {21:22} And I will
cause your house to be like the house of Jeroboam, the son of
Nebat, and like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah. For
you have acted so that you provoked me to anger, and so that
you caused Israel to sin.’ {21:23} And about Jezebel also, the
Lord spoke, saying: ‘The dogs shall consume Jezebel in the
field of Jezreel. {21:24} If Ahab will have died in the city, the
dogs will consume him. But if he will have died in the field,
the birds of the air will consume him.’ ” {21:25} And so,
there was no other person similar to Ahab, who was sold so
that he did evil in the sight of the Lord. For his wife, Jezebel,
urged him on. {21:26} And he became abominable, so much
so that he followed the idols that the Amorites had made,
whom the Lord consumed before the face of the sons of Israel.
{21:27} Then, when Ahab had heard these words, he tore his
garments, and he put haircloth on his body, and he fasted,
and he slept in sackcloth, and he walked with his head
downcast. {21:28} And the word of the Lord came to Elijah,
the Tishbite, saying: {21:29} “Have you not seen how Ahab
has humbled himself before me? Therefore, since he has
humbled himself because of me, I will not lead in the evil
during his days. Instead, during the days of his son, I will
bring in the evil to his house.”


[1 Kings 22] {22:1} Then three years passed without war
between Syria and Israel. {22:2} But in the third year,
Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, descended to the king of
Israel. {22:3} And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Are
you ignorant that Ramoth Gilead is ours, and that we have
neglected to take it from the hand of the king of Syria?”
{22:4} And so he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you come to the
battle with me at Ramoth Gilead?” {22:5} And Jehoshaphat
said to the king of Israel: “As I am, so also are you. My
people and your people are one. And my horsemen are your
horsemen.” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I beg
you to inquire today of the word of the Lord.”
{22:6} Therefore, the king of Israel gathered together the
prophets, about four hundred men, and he said to them,
“Should I go to Ramoth Gilead to make war, or should I be
at peace?” They responded, “Ascend, and the Lord will give
it into the hand of the king.” {22:7} Then Jehoshaphat said,
“Is there not here a particular prophet of the Lord, so that we
may inquire by him?” {22:8} And the king of Israel said to
Jehoshaphat: “One man remains, by whom we may be able
to inquire of the Lord: Micaiah, the son of Imlah. But I hate
him. For he does not prophecy good to me, but evil.” And
Jehoshaphat said, “You should not speak in this way, O
king.” {22:9} Therefore, the king of Israel called a certain
eunuch, and he said to him, “Hurry to bring here Micaiah,
the son of Imlah.” {22:10} Now the king of Israel, and
Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were each sitting upon his
own throne, clothed in the habit of royal vestments, in a
courtyard beside the entrance of the gate of Samaria. And all
the prophets were prophesying in their sight. {22:11} Also,
Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made for himself horns of
iron, and he said, “Thus says the Lord: With these, you shall
threaten Syria, until you destroy it.” {22:12} And all the
prophets were prophesying similarly, saying: “Ascend to
Ramoth Gilead, and go forth to success. For the Lord will
deliver it into the hands of the king.” {22:13} Then truly, the
messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah spoke to him,
saying: “Behold, the words of the prophets, as if with one
mouth, are predicting good to the king. Therefore, let your
word be like theirs, and speak what is good.” {22:14} But
Micaiah said to him, “As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord
will have said to me, this shall I speak.” {22:15} And so he
went to the king. And the king said to him, “Micaiah, should
we go to Ramoth Gilead to do battle, or should we cease?”
And he responded to him, “Ascend, and go forth to success,
and the Lord will deliver it into the hands of the king.”
{22:16} But the king said to him, “I require you under oath,
again and again, that you not say to me anything except what
is true, in the name of the Lord.” {22:17} And he said: “I saw
all of Israel scattered among the hills, like sheep that have no
shepherd. And the Lord said: ‘These have no master. Let
each of them return to his own house in peace.’ ”
{22:18} Therefore, the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat:
“Did I not tell you that he prophesies nothing good to me,
but always evil?” {22:19} Yet truly, continuing, he said:
“Because of his, listen to the word of the Lord. I saw the
Lord sitting upon his throne. And the entire army of heaven
was standing beside him, to the right and to the left.
{22:20} And the Lord said, ‘Who will mislead Ahab, the king
of Israel, so that he may ascend and fall at Ramoth Gilead?’
And one spoke words in this manner, and another spoke
otherwise. {22:21} But then a spirit went out and stood
before the Lord. And he said, ‘I will mislead him.’ And the
Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ {22:22} And he said, ‘I
will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his
prophets.’ And the Lord said: ‘You will deceive him, and you
will prevail. Go forth, and do so.’ {22:23} So now, behold:
the Lord has given a lying spirit into the mouth of all your
prophets who are here. And the Lord has spoken evil against
you.” {22:24} Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, drew
near and struck Micaiah on the jaw, and he said, “So then,
has the Spirit of the Lord left me, and spoken to you?”
{22:25} And Micaiah said, “You shall see in the day when
you will enter into a room within a room, so that you may
conceal yourself.” {22:26} And the king of Israel said: “Take
Micaiah, and let him dwell with Amon, the ruler of the city,
and with Joash, the son of Amalech. {22:27} And tell them:
‘Thus says the king: Put this man in prison, and sustain him
with the bread of affliction, and with the water of distress,
until I return in peace.’ ” {22:28} And Micaiah said, “If you
will have returned in peace, the Lord has not spoken through
me.” And he said, “May all the people hear it.” {22:29} And
so, the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah,
ascended to Ramoth Gilead. {22:30} Then the king of Israel
said to Jehoshaphat: “Take up your armor, and enter the
battle. And be clothed in your own garments.” But the king
of Israel changed his clothing, and he entered the war.
{22:31} Now the king of Syria had instructed the thirty-two
commanders of the chariots, saying, “You shall not fight
against anyone, small or great, except against the king of
Israel alone.” {22:32} Therefore, when the commanders of
the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they suspected that he was the
king of Israel. And making a violent assault, they fought
against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out. {22:33} And the
commanders of the chariots understood that he was not the
king of Israel, and so they turned away from him.
{22:34} But a certain man bent his bow, aiming the arrow
without certitude, and by chance he struck the king of Israel,
between the lungs and the stomach. Then he said to the
driver of his chariot, “Turn your hand, and carry me away
from the army, for I have been grievously wounded.”
{22:35} Then the battle was undertaken throughout that day.
And the king of Israel was standing on his chariot opposite
the Syrians, and he died in the evening. For the blood was
flowing from the wound into the joints of the chariot.
{22:36} And a herald proclaimed throughout the entire army,
before the setting of the sun, saying: “Let each one return to
his own city, and to his own land.” {22:37} Then the king
died, and he was carried into Samaria. And they buried the
king in Samaria. {22:38} And they washed his chariot in the
pool of Samaria. And the dogs licked up his blood. And they
washed the reins, in accord with the word of the Lord which
he had spoken. {22:39} But the rest of the words of Ahab,
and all that he did, and the house of ivory that he built, and
all the cities that he constructed, were these not written in the
book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
{22:40} And so, Ahab slept with his fathers. And Ahaziah,
his son, reigned in his place. {22:41} Yet truly, Jehoshaphat,
the son of Asa, had begun to reign over Judah in the fourth
year of Ahab, the king of Israel. {22:42} He was thirty-five
years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for
twenty-five years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was
Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. {22:43} And he walked in
the entire way of Asa, his father, and he did not decline from
it. And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord.
{22:44} Yet truly, he did not take away the high places. For
still the people were sacrificing and burning incense in the
high places. {22:45} And Jehoshaphat had peace with the
king of Israel. {22:46} But the rest of the words of
Jehoshaphat, and his works that he did, and the battles, were
these not written in the book of the words of the days of the
kings of Judah? {22:47} Then, too, the remnant of the
effeminate, who had remained in the days of Asa, his father,
he took away from the land. {22:48} At that time, there was
no king appointed in Idumea. {22:49} Yet truly, king
Jehoshaphat had made a navy on the sea, which would sail
to Ophir for gold. But they were unable to go, because the
ships were broken down at Eziongeber. {22:50} Then
Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my
servants go with your servants on the ships.” But
Jehoshaphat was not willing. {22:51} And Jehoshaphat slept
with his fathers, and he was buried with them in the city of
David, his father. And Jehoram, his son, reigned in his place.
{22:52} Then Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, began to reign over
Israel, in Samaria, in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat,
the king of Judah. And he reigned over Israel for two years.
{22:53} And he did evil in the sight of the Lord. And he
walked in the way of his father and his mother, and in the
way of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
{22:54} Also, he served Baal, and he adored him, and he
provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, in accord with all that
his father had done.


** The Second Book of Kings **


[2 Kings 1] {1:1} Then, after the death of Ahab, Moab
transgressed against Israel. {1:2} And Ahaziah fell down
through the lattices of his upper room, which he had in
Samaria, and he was injured. And he sent messengers, saying
to them, “Go, consult Beelzebub, the god of Ekron, as to
whether I may be able to survive this infirmity of mine.”
{1:3} And an Angel of the Lord spoke to Elijah, the Tishbite,
saying: “Rise up, and ascend to meet the messengers of the
king of Samaria. And you shall say to them: ‘Is there not a
God in Israel, so that you would go to consult Beelzebub, the
god of Ekron? {1:4} For this reason, thus says the Lord:
From the bed to which you have ascended, you shall not
descend. Instead, dying you shall die.’ ” And Elijah went
away. {1:5} And the messengers returned to Ahaziah. And
he said to them, “Why have you returned?” {1:6} But they
responded to him: “A man met us, and he said to us: ‘Go,
and return to the king who sent you. And you shall say to
him: Thus says the Lord: Is it because there was no God in
Israel that you are sending to consult Beelzebub, the god of
Ekron? Therefore, from the bed to which you have ascended,
you shall not descend. Instead, dying you shall die.’ ”
{1:7} And he said to them: “What was the appearance and
dress of that man, who met you and who spoke these
words?” {1:8} So they said, “A hairy man, with a belt of
leather wrapping his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah, the
Tishbite.” {1:9} And he sent to him a leader of fifty, with the
fifty who were under him. And he ascended to him, sitting at
the top of a hill, and he said, “Man of God, the king
commanded that you should descend.” {1:10} And
responding, Elijah said to the leader of fifty, “If I am a man
of God, let fire from heaven descend and devour you and
your fifty.” And then fire from heaven descended and
devoured him and the fifty who were with him. {1:11} And
again, he sent to him another leader of fifty, and the fifty with
him. And he said to him, “Man of God, thus says the king:
Hurry, descend.” {1:12} Responding, Elijah said, “If I am a
man of God, let fire from heaven descend and devour you
and your fifty.” And fire from heaven descended and
devoured him and his fifty. {1:13} Again, he sent a third
leader of fifty men and the fifty who were with him. And
when he had arrived, he bent his knees before Elijah, and he
pleaded with him, and said: “Man of God, do not choose to
despise my life and the lives of your servants who are with
me. {1:14} Behold, fire from heaven descended and devoured
the two previous leaders of fifty and the fifties who were with
them. But now I beg you to take pity on my life.”
{1:15} Then the Angel of the Lord spoke to Elijah, saying,
“Descend with him; fear not.” And so, he arose and
descended with him to the king. {1:16} And he said to him:
“Thus says the Lord: Because you sent messengers to consult
Beelzebub, the god of Ekron, as if there were no God in Israel,
from whom you would be able to seek a word, therefore,
from the bed to which you have ascended, you shall not
descend. Instead, dying you shall die.” {1:17} And so he died,
in accord with the word of the Lord, which Elijah spoke. And
Jehoram, his brother, reigned in his place, in the second year
of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. For
he had no son. {1:18} But the rest of the words of Ahaziah
that he worked, have these not been written in the book of the
words of the days of the kings of Israel?


[2 Kings 2] {2:1} Now it happened that, when the Lord
willed to lift up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and
Elisha were going out of Gilgal. {2:2} And Elijah said to
Elisha: “Remain here. For the Lord has sent me as far as
Bethel.” And Elisha said to him, “As the Lord lives, and as
your soul lives, I will not forsake you.” And when they had
descended to Bethel, {2:3} the sons of the prophets, who
were at Bethel, went out to Elisha. And they said to him,
“Do you not know that today the Lord will take away your
lord from you?” And he responded: “I know it. Be silent.”
{2:4} Then Elijah said to Elisha: “Remain here. For the Lord
has sent me to Jericho.” And he said, “As the Lord lives, and
as your soul lives, I will not forsake you.” And when they
had arrived at Jericho, {2:5} the sons of the prophets, who
were at Jericho, drew near to Elisha. And they said to him,
“Do you not know that today the Lord will take away your
lord from you?” And he said: “I know it. Be silent.”
{2:6} Then Elijah said to him: “Remain here. For the Lord
has sent me as far as the Jordan.” And he said, “As the Lord
lives, and as your soul lives, I will not forsake you.” And so,
the two of them continued on together. {2:7} And fifty men
from the sons of the prophets followed them, and they stood
opposite them, at a distance. But the two of them were
standing above the Jordan. {2:8} And Elijah took his cloak,
and he rolled it up, and he struck the waters, which were
divided into two parts. And they both went across on dry
ground. {2:9} And when they had gone across, Elijah said to
Elisha, “Ask what you wish that I may do for you, before I
am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “I beg you, that twice
your spirit may be accomplished in me.” {2:10} And he
responded: “You have requested a difficult thing.
Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, you
will have what you requested. But if you do not see, it shall
not be.” {2:11} And as they continued on, they were
conversing while walking. And behold, a fiery chariot with
fiery horses divided the two. And Elijah ascended by a
whirlwind into heaven. {2:12} Then Elisha saw it, and he
cried out: “My father, my father! The chariot of Israel with its
driver!” And he saw him no more. And he took hold of his
own garments, and he tore them into two parts. {2:13} And
he picked up the cloak of Elijah, which had fallen from him.
And turning back, he stood above the bank of the Jordan.
{2:14} And he struck the waters with the cloak of Elijah,
which had fallen from him, and they were not divided. And
he said, “Where is the God of Elijah, even now?” And he
struck the waters, and they were divided here and there. And
Elisha went across. {2:15} Then the sons of the prophets,
who were at Jericho, watching from a distance, said, “The
spirit of Elijah has rested upon Elisha.” And approaching to
meet him, they reverenced him prone on the ground.
{2:16} And they said to him, “Behold, with your servants
there are fifty strong men, who are able to go forth and to
seek your lord. For perhaps, the Spirit of the Lord has taken
him up and cast him upon some mountain, or into some
valley.” But he said, “Do not send them.” {2:17} And they
urged him, until he acquiesced and said, “Send them.” And
they sent fifty men. And after they had searched for three
days, they did not find him. {2:18} And they returned to him,
for he was living in Jericho. And he said to them: “Did I not
say to you, ‘Do not send them?’ ” {2:19} Also, the men of the
city said to Elisha: “Behold, this city is a very good habitation,
as you yourself perceive, O lord. But the waters are very bad,
and the ground is barren.” {2:20} And so he said, “Bring a
new vessel to me, and place salt in it.” And when they had
brought it, {2:21} he went out to the source of the waters,
and he cast the salt into it. And he said: “Thus says the Lord:
I have healed these waters, and no longer shall there be death
or barrenness in them.” {2:22} Then the waters were healed,
even to this day, in accord with the word of Elisha, which he
spoke. {2:23} Then he went up from there into Bethel. And
as he was ascending along the way, little boys departed from
the city. And they were mocking him, saying: “Go up, bald
head! Go up, bald head!” {2:24} And when he had looked
back, he saw them, and he cursed them in the name of the
Lord. And two bears went out from the forest, and they
wounded forty-two boys among them. {2:25} Then he went
away from there to mount Carmel. And he returned from
there into Samaria.


[2 Kings 3] {3:1} Truly, Joram, the son of Ahab, reigned
over Israel, in Samaria, in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat,
the king of Judah. And he reigned for twelve years.
{3:2} And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as his
father and mother did. For he took away the statues of Baal,
which his father had made. {3:3} Yet truly, he did adhere to
the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to
sin; neither did he withdraw from these. {3:4} Now Mesha,
the king of Moab, raised many sheep. And he repaid to the
king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs, and one hundred
thousand rams, with their fleece. {3:5} And when Ahab had
died, he transgressed the pact that he had with the king of
Israel. {3:6} Therefore, king Joram departed on that day from
Samaria, and he took a count of all of Israel. {3:7} And he
sent to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, saying: “The king of
Moab was withdrawn from me. Come to battle with me
against him.” And he responded: “I will go up. What is mine,
is yours. My people are your people. And my horses are your
horses.” {3:8} And he said, “Along which way shall we
ascend?” So he responded, “Along the desert of Idumea.”
{3:9} Therefore, the king of Israel, and the king of Judah, and
the king of Idumea, traveled, and they went by a circuitous
path for seven days. But there was no water for the army or
for the beasts of burden which were following them.
{3:10} And the king of Israel said: “Alas, alas, alas! The Lord
has gathered we three kings, so that he might deliver us into
the hands of Moab.” {3:11} And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there
not a prophet of the Lord here, so that we may appeal to the
Lord through him?” And one of the servants of the king of
Israel responded, “Elisha, the son of Shaphat, is here, who
poured water upon the hands of Elijah.” {3:12} And
Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” And
so, the king of Israel, with Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah,
and with the king of Idumea, descended to him. {3:13} Then
Elisha said to the king of Israel: “What is there between you
and me? Go to the prophets of your father and your mother.”
And the king of Israel said to him, “Why has the Lord
gathered these three kings, so that he might deliver them into
the hands of Moab?” {3:14} And Elisha said to him: “As the
Lord of hosts lives, in whose sight I stand, if I was not
humbled by the face of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah,
certainly I would neither have listened to you, nor have
looked upon you. {3:15} But now, bring a musician to me.”
And while the musician was playing, the hand of the Lord
fell upon him, and he said: {3:16} “Thus says the Lord:
Make, in the channel of this torrent, pit after pit. {3:17} For
thus says the Lord: You shall not see wind or rain. And yet
this channel shall be filled with water. And you shall drink,
you and your families, and your beasts of burden. {3:18} And
this is small in the sight of the Lord. So, in addition, he will
also deliver Moab into your hands. {3:19} And you shall
strike every fortified town and every elect city. And you shall
cut down every fruitful tree. And you shall obstruct all the
sources of water. And you shall cover every excellent field
with stones.” {3:20} Then it happened that, in the morning,
when the sacrifices were usually to be offered, behold, water
was arriving along the way of Idumea, and the land was filled
with water. {3:21} Then all the Moabites, hearing that the
kings had ascended so that they might fight against them,
gathered all who had been girded with a belt around them,
and they stood at the borders. {3:22} And rising up in early
morning, and when the sun was now rising before the waters,
the Moabites saw the waters opposite them, which were red
like blood. {3:23} And they said: “It is the blood of the sword!
The kings have fought among themselves, and they have
slain one another. Go now, Moab, to the spoils!” {3:24} And
they went into the camp of Israel. But Israel, rising up, struck
Moab, and they fled before them. And since they had
prevailed, they went and struck down Moab. {3:25} And
they destroyed the cities. And they filled up every excellent
field, each one casting stones. And they obstructed all the
sources of water. And they cut down all the fruitful trees, to
such an extent that only brick walls remained. And the city
was encircled by the slingers of stones. And a great part of it
was struck down. {3:26} And when the king of Moab had
seen this, specifically, that the enemies had prevailed, he took
with him seven hundred men who draw the sword, so that he
might break through to the king of Idumea. But they were
unable. {3:27} And taking his firstborn son, who would have
reigned in his place, he offered him as a holocaust upon the
wall. And there was great indignation in Israel. And they
promptly withdrew from him, and they turned back to their
own land.


[2 Kings 4] {4:1} Now a certain woman, from the wives of
the prophets, cried out to Elisha, saying: “My husband, your
servant, is dead. And you know that your servant was one
who fears the Lord. And behold, a creditor has arrived, so
that he may take away my two sons to serve him.” {4:2} And
Elisha said to her: “What do you want me to do for you? Tell
me, what do you have in your house?” And she responded,
“I, your handmaid, do not have anything in my house,
except a little oil, with which I may be anointed.” {4:3} And
he said to her: “Go, ask to borrow from all your neighbors
empty vessels, more than a few. {4:4} And enter and close
your door. And when you are inside with your sons, pour
from the oil into all those vessels. And when they are full,
take them away.” {4:5} And so, the woman went and closed
the door upon herself and her sons. They were bringing her
the vessels, and she was pouring into them. {4:6} And when
the vessels had been filled, she said to her son, “Bring me
another a vessel.” And he responded, “I have none.” And
there was oil remaining. {4:7} Then she went and told the
man of God. And he said: “Go, sell the oil, and repay your
creditor. Then you and your sons may live on what remains.”
{4:8} Now it happened that, on a certain day, Elisha passed
by Shunem. And there was a great woman there, who took
him to eat bread. And since he frequently passed by there, he
turned aside to her house, so that he might eat bread.
{4:9} And she said to her husband: “I have noticed that he is
a holy man of God, who passes by us frequently.
{4:10} Therefore, let us prepare a small upper room for him,
and place a bed in it for him, and a table, and a chair, and a
lampstand, so that when he comes to us, he may stay there.”
{4:11} Then it happened that, on a certain day, arriving, he
turned aside into the upper room, and he rested there.
{4:12} And he said to his servant Gehazi, “Call this
Shunammite woman.” And when he had called her, and she
stood before him, {4:13} he said to his servant: “Say to her:
Behold, you have ministered to us attentively in all things.
What do you want, that I might do for you? Do you have any
business, or do you want me to speak to the king, or to the
leader of the military?” And she responded, “I live in the
midst of my own people.” {4:14} And he said, “Then what
does she want, that I might do for her?” And Gehazi said:
“You need not ask. For she has no son, and her husband is
elderly.” {4:15} And so, he instructed him to call her. And
when she had been called, and was standing before the door,
{4:16} he said to her, “At this time, and at this same hour,
with life as a companion, you will have a son in your womb.”
But she responded, “Do not, I ask you, my lord, a man of
God, do not be willing to lie to your handmaid.” {4:17} And
the woman conceived. And she bore a son, in the time and at
the same hour as Elisha had said. {4:18} And the boy grew.
And on a certain day, when he had gone out to his father, to
the harvesters, {4:19} he said to his father: “I have a pain in
my head. I have a pain in my head.” But he said to his
servant, “Take him, and lead him to his mother.” {4:20} But
when he had taken him, and he had led him to his mother,
she placed him upon her knees, until midday, and then he
died. {4:21} Then she went up and laid him out on the bed of
the man of God, and she closed the door. And departing,
{4:22} she called her husband, and she said: “Send with me, I
beg you, one of your servants, and a donkey, so that I may
hurry to the man of God, and then return.” {4:23} And he
said to her: “What is the reason that you would go to him?
Today is not the new moon, and it is not the Sabbath.” She
responded, “I will go.” {4:24} And she saddled a donkey,
and she instructed her servant: “Drive, and hurry on. You
shall cause no delay for me in departing. And do whatever I
instruct you to do.” {4:25} And so she set out. And she came
to the man of God, on mount Carmel. And when the man of
God had seen her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi:
“Behold, it is that Shunammite woman. {4:26} So then, go to
meet her, and say to her, ‘Does all go well concerning you,
and your husband, and your son?’ ” And she answered, “It is
well.” {4:27} And when she had arrived at the man of God,
on the mount, she took hold of his feet. And Gehazi drew
near, so that he might remove her. But the man of God said:
“Permit her. For her soul is in bitterness. And the Lord has
concealed it from me, and has not revealed it to me.”
{4:28} And she said to him: “Did I ask a son from my lord?
Did I not say to you, ‘You should not deceive me?’ ”
{4:29} And so he said to Gehazi: “Gird your waist, and take
my staff in your hand, and go. If any man will meet you, you
shall not greet him. And if anyone greets you, you shall not
respond to him. And place my staff upon the face of the
boy.” {4:30} But the mother of the boy said, “As the Lord
lives, and as your soul lives, I will not release you.” Therefore,
he rose up, and he followed her. {4:31} But Gehazi had gone
before them, and he had placed the staff upon the face of the
boy. And there was no voice, nor any response. And so he
returned to meet him. And he reported to him, saying, “The
boy did not rise up.” {4:32} Therefore, Elisha entered the
house. And behold, the boy was lying dead upon his bed.
{4:33} And entering, he closed the door upon himself and the
boy. And he prayed to the Lord. {4:34} And he climbed up,
and lay across the boy. And he put his mouth over his mouth,
and his eyes over his eyes, and his hands over his hands. And
he leaned himself over him, and the body of the boy grew
warm. {4:35} And returning, he walked around the house,
first here and then there. And he went up, and lay across him.
And the boy gasped seven times, and he opened his eyes.
{4:36} And he called Gehazi, and said to him, “Call this
Shunammite woman.” And having been called, she entered
to him. And he said, “Take up your son.” {4:37} She went
and fell at his feet, and she reverenced upon the ground. And
she took up her son, and departed. {4:38} And Elisha
returned to Gilgal. Now there was a famine in the land, and
the sons of the prophets were living in his sight. And he said
to one of his servants, “Set out a large cooking pot, and boil a
soup for the sons of the prophets.” {4:39} And one went out
into the field, so that he might collect wild herbs. And he
found something like a wild vine, and he gathered from it
bitter fruits of the field, and he filled his cloak. And returning,
he cut these up for the pot of soup. But he did not know what
it was. {4:40} Then they poured it out for their companions
to eat. And when they had tasted the mixture, they cried out,
saying, “Death is in the cooking pot, O man of God!” And
they were unable to eat. {4:41} But he said, “Bring some
flour.” And when they had brought it, he cast it into the
cooking pot, and he said, “Pour it out for the group, so that
they may eat.” And there was no longer any bitterness in the
cooking pot. {4:42} Now a certain man arrived from Baal-
Shalishah, carrying, for the man of God, bread from the first-
fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and new grain in his satchel.
But he said, “Give it to the people, so that they may eat.”
{4:43} And his servant responded to him, “What amount is
this, that I should set it before a hundred men?” But he said
again: “Give it to the people, so that they may eat. For thus
says the Lord, ‘They shall eat, and there shall be still more.’ ”
{4:44} And so, he set it before them. And they ate, and there
was still more, in accord with the word of the Lord.


[2 Kings 5] {5:1} Naaman, the leader of the military of the
king of Syria, was a great and honorable man with his lord.
For through him the Lord gave salvation to Syria. And he
was a strong and rich man, but a leper. {5:2} Now robbers
had gone out from Syria, and they had led away captive,
from the land of Israel, a little girl. And she was in the service
of the wife of Naaman. {5:3} And she said to her lady: “I
wish that my lord had been with the prophet who is in
Samaria. Certainly, he would have cured him of the leprosy
that he has.” {5:4} And so, Naaman entered to his lord, and
he reported to him, saying: “The girl from the land of Israel
spoke in such a manner.” {5:5} And the king of Syria said to
him, “Go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” And
when he had set out, he had taken with him ten talents of
silver, and six thousand gold coins, and ten changes of fine
clothing. {5:6} And he brought the letter to the king of Israel,
in these words: “When you will receive this letter, know that
I have sent to you my servant, Naaman, so that you may heal
him of his leprosy.” {5:7} And when the king of Israel had
read the letter, he tore his garments, and he said: “Am I God,
so that I could take or give life, or so that this man would
send to me to cure a man from his leprosy? Take notice and
see that he is seeking occasions against me.” {5:8} And when
Elisha, the man of God, had heard this, specifically, that the
king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent to him, saying:
“Why have you torn your garments? Let him come to me,
and let him know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
{5:9} Therefore, Naaman arrived with his horses and chariots,
and he stood at the door of the house of Elisha. {5:10} And
Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, and wash seven
times in the Jordan, and your flesh will receive health, and
you will be clean.” {5:11} And becoming angry, Naaman
went away, saying: “I thought that he would have come out
to me, and, standing, would have invoked the name of the
Lord, his God, and that he would have touched the place of
the leprosy with his hand, and so have healed me. {5:12} Are
not the Abana and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus,
better than all the waters of Israel, so that I might wash in
them and be cleansed?” But then, after he had turned himself
away and was leaving with indignation, {5:13} his servants
approached him, and they said to him: “If the prophet had
told you, father, to do something great, certainly you ought to
have done it. How much more so, now that he has said to
you: ‘Wash, and you will be clean?’ ” {5:14} So he descended
and washed in the Jordan seven times, in accord with the
word of the man of God. And his flesh was restored, like the
flesh of a little child. And he was made clean. {5:15} And
returning to the man of God, with his entire retinue, he
arrived, and stood before him, and he said: “Truly, I know
there is no other God, in all the earth, except in Israel. And
so I beg you to accept a blessing from your servant.”
{5:16} But he responded, “As the Lord lives, before whom I
stand, I will not accept it.” And though he urged him strongly,
he did not agree at all. {5:17} And Naaman said: “As you
wish. But I beg you to grant to me, your servant, that I may
take from here the burden of two mules from the ground. For
your servant will no longer offer holocaust or victim to other
gods, except to the Lord. {5:18} But there is still this matter,
for which you will entreat the Lord on behalf of your servant:
when my lord enters the temple of Rimmon, so that he may
adore there, and he leans on my hand, if I will bow down in
the temple of Rimmon, while he is adoring in the same place,
that the Lord may ignore me, your servant, concerning this
matter.” {5:19} And he said to him, “Go in peace.” Then he
went away from him, in the elect time of the earth.
{5:20} And Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, said:
“My lord has spared Naaman, this Syrian, by not receiving
from him what he brought. As the Lord lives, I will run after
him, and take something from him.” {5:21} And so, Gehazi
followed after the back of Naaman. And when he had seen
him running toward him, he leaped down from his chariot to
meet him, and he said, “Is all well?” {5:22} And he said: “It
is well. My lord has sent me to you, saying: ‘Just now two
youths from the sons of the prophets have come to me from
mount Ephraim. Give them a talent of silver, and two
changes of clothing.’ ” {5:23} And Naaman said, “It is better
that you accept two talents.” And he urged him, and he
bound the two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes
of clothing. And he set them upon two of his servants, who
carried them before him. {5:24} And when now he had
arrived in the evening, he took them from their hands, and he
stored them in the house. And he dismissed the men, and
they went away. {5:25} Then, having entered, he stood
before his lord. And Elisha said, “Where are you coming
from, Gehazi?” He responded, “Your servant did not go
anywhere.” {5:26} But he said: “Was my heart not present,
when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? And
now you have received money, and you have received
garments, so that you might buy olive groves, and vineyards,
and sheep, and oxen, and men and women servants.
{5:27} So then, the leprosy of Naaman shall adhere to you,
and to your offspring forever.” And he departed from him a
leper, as white as snow.


[2 Kings 6] {6:1} Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha:
“Behold, the place in which we live before you is too narrow
for us. {6:2} Let us go as far as the Jordan, and let us each
take from the forest a piece of timber, so that we may build
for ourselves a place to live there.” And he said, “Go.”
{6:3} And one of them said, “Then you, too, should go with
your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.” {6:4} And he
went with them. And when they had arrived at the Jordan,
they were cutting down wood. {6:5} Then it happened that,
while someone was cutting timber, the iron of the ax fell into
the water. And he cried out and said: “Alas, alas, alas, my
lord! For this thing was borrowed.” {6:6} Then the man of
God said, “Where did it fall?” And he indicated to him the
place. Then he cut off a piece of wood, and he threw it in.
And the iron floated up. {6:7} And he said, “Take it.” And
he extended his hand, and took it. {6:8} Now the king of
Syria was fighting against Israel, and he took counsel with his
servants, saying, “In this and that place, let us set up an
ambush.” {6:9} And so the man of God sent to the king of
Israel, saying: “Take care not to pass by that place. For the
Syrians are there in ambush.” {6:10} And so the king of
Israel sent to the place which the man of God had told him,
and he prevented it. And he preserved himself, concerning
that place, not merely once or twice. {6:11} And the heart of
the king of Syria was disturbed over this matter. And calling
together his servants, he said, “Why have you not revealed to
me the one who is betraying me to the king of Israel?”
{6:12} And one of his servants said: “By no means, my lord
the king! Rather it is the prophet Elisha, who is in Israel, who
is revealing to the king of Israel every word whatsoever that
you will speak in your conclave.” {6:13} And he said to them,
“Go, and see where he is, so that I may send and capture
him.” And they reported to him, saying, “Behold, he is in
Dothan.” {6:14} Therefore, he sent horses, and chariots, and
experienced soldiers to that place. And when they had
arrived in the night, they encircled the city. {6:15} Now the
servant of the man of God, arising at first light, went out and
saw the army all around the city, with horses and chariots.
And he reported it to him, saying: “Alas, alas, alas, my lord!
What shall we do?” {6:16} But he responded: “Do not be
afraid. For there are more with us than with them.”
{6:17} And when Elisha had prayed, he said, “O Lord, open
the eyes of this one, so that he may see.” And the Lord
opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw. And behold, the
mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire, all around
Elisha. {6:18} Then truly, the enemies descended to him. But
Elisha prayed to the Lord, saying: “Strike, I beg you, this
people with blindness.” And the Lord struck them, so that
they would not see, in accord with the word of Elisha.
{6:19} Then Elisha said to them: “This is not the way, and
this is not the city. Follow me, and I will reveal to you the
man whom you are seeking.” Then he led them into Samaria.
{6:20} And when they had entered into Samaria, Elisha said,
“O Lord, open the eyes of these ones, so that they may see.”
And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw themselves to
be in the midst of Samaria. {6:21} And the king of Israel,
when he had seen them, said to Elisha, “My father, should I
not strike them?” {6:22} And he said: “You should not strike
them. For you did not capture them with your sword or bow,
so that you might strike them. Instead, set bread and water
before them, so that they may eat and drink, and then go to
their lord.” {6:23} And a great preparation of foods was
placed before them. And they ate and drank. And he
dismissed them. And they went away to their lord. And the
robbers of Syria no longer came into the land of Israel.
{6:24} Now it happened that, after these things, Benhadad,
the king of Syria, gathered together his entire army, and he
ascended and was besieging Samaria. {6:25} And a great
famine occurred in Samaria. And it was blockaded for a long
time, until the head of a donkey was sold for eighty pieces of
silver, and one fourth part of a pint of pigeons’ dung sold for
five silver coins. {6:26} And as the king of Israel was passing
by the wall, a certain woman cried out to him, saying, “Save
me, my lord the king!” {6:27} And he said: “If the Lord does
not save you, how am I able to save you? From the grain
floor, or from the wine press?” And the king said to her,
“What is the matter with you?” And she responded:
{6:28} “This woman said to me: ‘Give your son, so that we
may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’
{6:29} Therefore, we cooked my son, and we ate him. And I
said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, so that we may
eat him.’ But she concealed her son.” {6:30} When the king
had heard this, he tore his garments, and he passed along the
wall. And all the people saw the haircloth that he had worn
underneath, beside his flesh. {6:31} And the king said, “May
God do these things to me, and may he add these other
things, if the head of Elisha, the son of Shaphat, will remain
on him this day!” {6:32} Now Elisha was sitting in his house,
and the elders were sitting with him. And so he sent a man
ahead. And before that messenger arrived, he said to the
elders: “Do you not know that this son of a murderer is
sending someone to cut off my head? Therefore, watch, and
when the messenger arrives, close the door. And you shall
not permit him to enter. For behold, the sound of his lord’s
feet is behind him.” {6:33} While he was still speaking to
them, the messenger appeared who was sent to him. And he
said: “Behold, such a great evil is from the Lord! What more
should I expect from the Lord?”


[2 Kings 7] {7:1} Then Elisha said: “Listen to the word of
the Lord. Thus says the Lord: Tomorrow, at this time, one
measure of fine wheat flour will be one silver coin, and two
measures of barley will be one silver coin, at the gate of
Samaria.” {7:2} And one of the leaders, upon whose hand
the king leaned, responding to the man of God, said, “Even if
the Lord will open the floodgates of heaven, how can what
you say possibly be?” And he said, “You will see it with your
own eyes, and you will not eat from it.” {7:3} Now there
were four lepers beside the entrance of the gate. And they
said one to another: “Should we choose to stay here until we
die? {7:4} If we choose to enter the city, we will die from the
famine. And if we remain here, we also will die. Therefore,
come and let us flee over to the camp of the Syrians. If they
spare us, we will live. But if they choose to kill us, we will die
anyway.” {7:5} Therefore, they rose up in the evening, so
that they might go to the camp of the Syrians. And when they
had arrived at the beginning of the camp of the Syrians, they
found no one in that place. {7:6} For indeed, the Lord had
caused them to hear, in the camp of Syria, the sound of
chariots and horses, and a very numerous army. And they
said one to another: “Behold, the king of Israel has paid
wages to the kings of the Hittites and of the Egyptians against
us. And they will overwhelm us.” {7:7} Therefore, they rose
up and fled away in the dark. And they left behind their tents
and horses and donkeys in the camp. And they fled, desiring
to save so much as their own lives. {7:8} And so, when these
lepers had arrived at the beginning of the camp, they entered
one tent, and they ate and drank. And they took from there
silver, and gold, and clothing. And they went away and hid it.
And they returned again to another tent, and similarly,
carrying away from there, they hid it. {7:9} Then they said
one to another: “We are not doing the right thing. For this is
a day of good news. If we remain silent and refuse to report it
until morning, we will be charged with a crime. Come, let us
go and report it in the court of the king.” {7:10} And when
they had arrived at the gate of the city, they explained to
them, saying: “We went into the camp of the Syrians, and we
found no one in that place, except horses and donkeys tied,
and the tents still standing.” {7:11} Therefore, the
gatekeepers went and reported it in the palace of the king.
{7:12} And he rose up in the night, and he said to his
servants: “I tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They
know that we are suffering from famine, and therefore they
have gone out from the camp, and they lie hidden in the
fields, saying: ‘When they will have gone out from the city,
we will capture them alive, and then we will be able to enter
the city.’ ” {7:13} But one of his servants responded: “Let us
take the five horses that remain in the city (for there were no
more amid the entire multitude of Israel, since the rest had
been consumed), and sending, we will be able to explore.”
{7:14} Therefore, they brought two horses. And the king sent
them into the camp of the Syrians, saying, “Go, and see.”
{7:15} And they went away after them, as far as the Jordan.
But behold, the entire way was filled with clothing and
vessels, which the Syrians had thrown aside when they were
disturbed. And the messengers returned and told the king.
{7:16} And the people, going out, pillaged the camp of the
Syrians. And one measure of fine wheat flour went for one
silver coin, and two measures of barley went for one silver
coin, in accord with the word of the Lord. {7:17} Then the
king stationed that leader, on whose hand he leaned, at the
gate. And the crowd trampled him at the entrance of the gate.
And he died, in accord with what the man of God had said
when the king had descended to him. {7:18} And this
happened in accord with the word of the man of God, which
he had spoken to the king, when he said: “Two measures of
barley will be one silver coin, and one measure of fine wheat
flour will be one silver coin, at this same time tomorrow, at
the gate of Samaria.” {7:19} Then that leader had responded
to the man of God, and he had said, “Even if the Lord will
open the floodgates of heaven, how can what you say
possibly happen?” And he said to him, “You will see it with
your own eyes, and you will not eat from it.”
{7:20} Therefore, it happened to him just as it had been
predicted. For the people trampled him at the gate, and he
died.


[2 Kings 8] {8:1} Now Elisha spoke to the woman, whose
son he had caused to live, saying: “Rise up. Go, you and
your household, and sojourn in whatever place you can find.
For the Lord has called forth a famine, and it shall
overwhelm the land for seven years.” {8:2} And she rose up,
and she acted in accord with the word of the man of God.
And going with her household, she sojourned in the land of
the Philistines for many days. {8:3} And when the seven
years had ended, the woman returned from the land of the
Philistines. And she departed, so that she might petition the
king on behalf of her house and on behalf of her fields.
{8:4} Now the king was speaking with Gehazi, the servant of
the man of God, saying, “Describe for me all the great deeds
that Elisha has done.” {8:5} And as he was describing for the
king the manner in which he had raised the dead, the woman
appeared, whose son he had restored to life, crying out to the
king on behalf of her house and on behalf of her fields. And
Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman, and this is
her son, whom Elisha raised up.” {8:6} And the king
questioned the woman. And she explained it to him. And the
king appointed a eunuch to her, saying, “Restore to her all
that is hers, with all the proceeds of the fields, from the day
that she left the land until the present.” {8:7} Also, Elisha
arrived in Damascus, and Benhadad, the king of Syria, was ill.
And they reported to him, saying, “The man of God has
arrived here.” {8:8} And the king said to Hazael: “Take with
you gifts. And go to meet the man of God. And consult the
Lord through him, saying: ‘Will I be able to escape from this,
my infirmity?’ ” {8:9} And so, Hazael went to meet him,
having with him gifts, and all the goods of Damascus, the
burdens of forty camels. And when he had stood before him,
he said: “Your son, Benhadad, the king of Syria, sent me to
you, saying: ‘Will I be able to be healed from this, my
infirmity?’ ” {8:10} And Elisha said to him: “Go, tell him:
‘You will be healed.’ But the Lord has revealed to me that,
dying he shall die.” {8:11} And he stood beside him, and he
was so troubled that his face became flushed. And the man of
God wept. {8:12} And Hazael said to him, “Why is my lord
weeping?” And he said: “Because I know the evil that you
will do to the sons of Israel. Their fortified cities you will
burn with fire. And their young men you will kill with the
sword. And you will destroy their little ones, and tear open
the pregnant women.” {8:13} And Hazael said, “But what
am I, your servant, a dog, that I would do this great thing?”
And Elisha said, “The Lord has revealed to me that you will
be the king of Syria.” {8:14} And when he had departed from
Elisha, he went to his lord, who said to him, “What did
Elisha say to you?” And he responded: “He said to me, ‘You
shall receive health.’ ” {8:15} And when the next day had
arrived, he took a small covering, and poured water on it, and
he spread it over his face. And when he died, Hazael reigned
in his place. {8:16} In the fifth year of Joram, the son of
Ahab, the king of Israel, and of Jehoshaphat, the king of
Judah: Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, reigned as the king
of Judah. {8:17} He was thirty-two years old when he had
begun to reign, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem.
{8:18} And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, just
as the house of Ahab had walked. For the daughter of Ahab
was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the
Lord. {8:19} But the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah,
because of David, his servant, just as he had promised him,
so that he might grant a light to him and to his sons, for all
days. {8:20} In his days, Idumea drew apart, so as not to be
under Judah, and they appointed a king for themselves.
{8:21} And so, Jehoram went to Zair, and all the chariots
with him. And he rose up in the night, and he struck down
the Idumeans who had surrounded him, and the leaders of
the chariots. But the people fled to their tents. {8:22} And
Idumea drew apart, so as not to be under Judah, even to this
day. Then Libnah also drew apart, at the same time.
{8:23} Now the rest of the words of Jehoram, and all that he
did, have these not been written in the book of the words of
the days of the kings of Judah? {8:24} And Jehoram slept
with his fathers, and he was buried with them in the city of
David. And Ahaziah, his son, reigned in his place. {8:25} In
the twelfth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, the king of Israel:
Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah, reigned.
{8:26} Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he had
begun to reign, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. The
name of his mother was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri, the
king of Israel. {8:27} And he walked in the ways of the house
of Ahab. And he did what is evil before the Lord, just as the
house of Ahab did. For he was the son-in-law of the house of
Ahab. {8:28} Also, he went with Joram, the son of Ahab, in
order to fight against Hazael, the king of Syria, at Ramoth
Gilead. And the Syrians had wounded Joram. {8:29} And he
turned back, so that he might be cured at Jezreel. For the
Syrians had wounded him at Ramoth, fighting against
Hazael, the king of Syria. Then Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram,
the king of Judah, descended to visit Joram, the son of Ahab,
at Jezreel, because he was sick there.


[2 Kings 9] {9:1} Now the prophet Elisha called one of the
sons of the prophets, and he said to him: “Gird your waist,
and take this little bottle of oil in your hand, and go to
Ramoth Gilead. {9:2} And when you arrive in that place,
you will see Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi.
And upon entering, you shall raise him up from the midst of
his brothers, and you shall lead him into an inner room.
{9:3} And taking the little bottle of oil, you shall pour it upon
his head, and you shall say: ‘Thus says the Lord: I have
anointed you as king over Israel.’ And you shall open the
door and flee. And you shall not remain in that place.”
{9:4} Therefore, the young man, a servant of the prophet,
went away to Ramoth Gilead. {9:5} And he entered that
place, and behold, the leaders of the army were sitting there,
and he said, “I have a word for you, O prince.” And Jehu
said, “For which one among us all?” And he said, “For you,
O prince.” {9:6} And he rose up and entered into the room.
And he poured the oil on his head, and he said: “Thus says
the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I have anointed you as king over
Israel, the people of the Lord. {9:7} And you will shall strike
down the house of Ahab, your lord. And I will avenge the
blood of my servants, the prophets, and the blood of all the
servants of the Lord, from the hand of Jezebel. {9:8} And I
will destroy the entire house of Ahab. And I will cause to
pass away from Ahab, whatever urinates against a wall, and
whatever is lame, and whatever is least in Israel. {9:9} And I
will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam, the
son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah.
{9:10} Also, the dogs will consume Jezebel, in the field of
Jezreel. Neither will there be anyone who may bury her.’ ”
And then he opened the door, and he fled. {9:11} Then Jehu
went out to the servants of his lord. And they said to him: “Is
everything well? Why has this insane man come to you?”
And he said to them, “You know the man, and what he
said.” {9:12} But they responded, “That is false; instead, you
should tell us.” And he said to them, “He said to me these
certain things, and he said, ‘Thus says the Lord: I have
anointed you as king over Israel.’ ” {9:13} And so they
hurried away. And each one, taking his cloak, placed it under
his feet, in the manner of a seat for judgment. And they
sounded the trumpet, and they said: “Jehu reigns!”
{9:14} Then Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi,
conspired against Joram. Now Joram had besieged Ramoth
Gilead, he and all of Israel, against Hazael, the king of Syria.
{9:15} And he had returned, so that he might be cured at
Jezreel, because of his wounds. For the Syrians had struck
him, while he was fighting against Hazael, the king of Syria.
And Jehu said, “If it pleases you, let no one depart, fleeing
from the city; otherwise he may go and give a report in
Jezreel.” {9:16} And he climbed up and set out for Jezreel,
because Joram was sick there, and Ahaziah, the king of
Judah, had gone down to visit Joram. {9:17} And so the
watchman, who was standing upon the tower of Jezreel, saw
the crowd of Jehu arriving, and he said, “I see a crowd.” And
Joram said: “Take a chariot, and send to meet them. And
those who go should say, ‘Is everything well?’ ”
{9:18} Therefore, he who had climbed into the chariot went
away to meet him, and he said, “The king says this: ‘Is
everything peaceful?’ ” And Jehu said: “What peace is there
for you? Pass by and follow me.” Also the watchman gave a
report, saying, “The messenger went to them, but he did not
return.” {9:19} And then he sent a second chariot of horses.
And he went to them, and he said, “The king says this: ‘Is
there peace?’ ” And Jehu said: “What peace is there for you?
Pass by and follow me.” {9:20} Then the watchman gave a
report, saying: “He went all the way to them, but he did not
return. But their advance is like the advance of Jehu, the son
of Nimshi. For he advances precipitously.” {9:21} And
Joram said, “Yoke the chariot.” And they yoked his chariot.
And Joram, the king of Israel, and Ahaziah, the king of
Judah, departed, each in his chariot. And they went out to
meet Jehu. And they met him in the field of Naboth, the
Jezreelite. {9:22} And when Joram had seen Jehu, he said,
“Ts there peace, Jehu?” And he responded: “What is peace?
For still the fornications of your mother, Jezebel, and her
many poisons, are thriving.” {9:23} Then Joram turned his
hand, and, fleeing, he said to Ahaziah, “Treachery,
Ahaziah!” {9:24} But Jehu bent his bow with his hand, and
he struck Joram between the shoulders. And the arrow went
through his heart, and immediately he fell in his chariot.
{9:25} And Jehu said to Bidkar, his commander: “Take and
cast him into the field of Naboth, the Jezreelite. For I
remember, when you and I, sitting in a chariot, were
following Ahab, this man’s father, that the Lord lifted this
burden upon him, saying: {9:26} ‘Certainly, I will repay you
in this field, says the Lord, for the blood of Naboth, and for
the blood of his sons, which I saw yesterday, says the Lord.’
Therefore, take him now, and cast him into the field, in
accord with the word of the Lord.” {9:27} But Ahaziah, the
king of Judah, seeing this, fled along the way of the garden
house. And Jehu pursued him, and he said, “Strike this one
also in his chariot.” And they struck him on the ascent to Gur,
which is beside Ibleam. But he fled into Megiddo, and he
died there. {9:28} And his servants placed him upon his
chariot, and they took him to Jerusalem. And they buried
him in the sepulcher with his fathers, in the city of David.
{9:29} In the eleventh year of Joram, the son of Ahab,
Ahaziah reigned over Judah. {9:30} And Jehu went into
Jezreel. But Jezebel, hearing of his arrival, painted her eyes
with cosmetics, and adorned her head. And she watched
through a window, {9:31} as Jehu was entering through the
gate. And she said, “Is it possible for there to be peace for
Zimri, who killed his lord?” {9:32} And Jehu lifted up his
face to the window, and he said, “Who is this woman?” And
two or three eunuchs bowed down before him. {9:33} And
he said to them, “Throw her down with force.” And they
threw her forcefully, and the wall was splattered with her
blood, and the hoofs of the horses trampled her. {9:34} And
when he had entered, so that he might eat and drink, he said:
“Go, and see to that cursed woman, and bury her. For she is
the daughter of a king.” {9:35} But when they had gone, so
that they might bury her, they found nothing but the skull,
and the feet, and the ends of her hands. {9:36} And returning,
they reported to him. And Jehu said: “It is the word of the
Lord, which he spoke though his servant, Elijah the Tishbite,
saying: ‘In the field of Jezreel, the dogs will consume the
flesh of Jezebel. {9:37} And the flesh of Jezebel will be like
dung upon the face of the earth, in the field of Jezreel, so that
those who pass by may say: Is this that same Jezebel?’ ”


[2 Kings 10] {10:1} Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria.
And so Jehu wrote letters, and he sent to Samaria, to the
nobles of the city, and to those greater by birth, and to those
who had raised Ahab’s sons, saying: {10:2} “Immediately
when you receive these letters, you who have your lord’s sons,
and chariots, and horses, and reinforced cities, and weapons,
{10:3} choose him who is better and who pleases you from
among the sons of your lord, and set him on the throne of his
father, and fight for the house of your lord.” {10:4} But they
were vehemently afraid, and they said: “Behold, two kings
were not able to stand before him. So how will we be able to
withstand him?” {10:5} Therefore, those who were in charge
of the house, and the prefects of the city, and those greater by
birth, and those who raised the sons, sent to Jehu, saying:
“We are your servants. Whatever you will order, we will do.
But we will not appoint a king for ourselves. Do whatever
pleases you.” {10:6} Then he again wrote letters to them a
second time, saying: “If you are mine, and if you obey me,
take the heads of the sons of your lord, and come to me at
Jezreel at this same hour tomorrow.” Now the sons of the
king, being seventy men, were being raised with the nobles of
the city. {10:7} And when the letters had arrived to them,
they took the sons of the king, and they killed the seventy
men. And they placed their heads in baskets, and they sent
these to him at Jezreel. {10:8} Then a messenger arrived and
reported to him, saying, “They have brought the heads of the
king’s sons.” And he responded, “Place them in two piles,
beside the entrance of the gate, until morning.” {10:9} And
when it had become light, he went out. And standing there,
he said to all the people: “You are just. If I have conspired
against my lord, and if I have killed him, who has struck
down all of these? {10:10} Now therefore, see that none of
the words of the Lord has fallen to the ground, which the
Lord spoke over the house of Ahab, and that the Lord has
done what he spoke by the hand of his servant Elijah.”
{10:11} And so, Jehu struck down all who had remained
from the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his nobles and
friends and priests, until no remnant of them was left behind.
{10:12} And he rose up and went to Samaria. And when he
had arrived at the shepherds’ cabin along the way, {10:13} he
found the brothers of Ahaziah, the king of Judah, and he said
to them, “Who are you?” And they responded, “We are the
brothers of Ahaziah, and we are going down to greet the sons
of the king, and the sons of the queen.” {10:14} And he said,
“Take them alive.” And when they had taken them alive,
they cut their throats at the cistern beside the cabin, forty-two
men. And he did not leave any of them behind. {10:15} And
when he had gone away from there, he found Jehonadab, the
son of Rechab, coming to meet him, and he blessed him. And
he said to him, “Is your heart upright, just as my heart is with
your heart?” And Jehonadab said, “It is.” Then he said, “If it
is, then give me your hand.” He gave his hand to him. And
so he lifted him up to himself in the chariot. {10:16} And he
said to him, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.”
And he gave him a place in his chariot. {10:17} And he led
him into Samaria. And he struck down all who were left
behind of Ahab in Samaria, even to the last one, in accord
with the word of the Lord, which he spoke through Elijah.
{10:18} Then Jehu gathered together the entire people. And
he said to them: “Ahab worshipped Baal a little, but I will
worship him even more. {10:19} Now therefore, summon to
me all the prophets of Baal, and all his servants, and all his
priests. Let no one be permitted not to come, for great is the
sacrifice from me to Baal. Whoever will fail to come, he shall
not live.” Now Jehu was doing this treacherously, so that he
might destroy the worshippers of Baal. {10:20} And he said:
“Sanctify a day of solemnity for Baal.” And he summoned
{10:21} and sent into all the borders of Israel. And all the
servants of Baal came. There was left behind not even one
who did not arrive. And they entered into the temple of Baal.
And the house of Baal was filled, all the way from end to end.
{10:22} And he said to those who were over the vestments,
“Bring forth vestments for all the servants of Baal.” And they
brought forth vestments for them. {10:23} And Jehu, upon
entering the temple of Baal with Jehonadab, the son of
Rechab, said to the worshippers of Baal, “Inquire and see
that there is no one with you from the servants of the Lord,
but only from the servants of Baal.” {10:24} Then they
entered, so that they might offer victims and holocausts. But
Jehu had prepared for himself eighty men outside. And he
had said to them, “If anyone escapes from among these men,
whom I have led into your hands, your life will take the place
of his life.” {10:25} Then it happened that, when the
holocaust had been completed, Jehu ordered his soldiers and
officers, saying: “Enter and strike them down. Let no one
escape.” And the soldiers and officers struck them down with
the edge of the sword, and they cast them out. And they went
into the city of the temple of Baal, {10:26} and they took
away the statue from the shine of Baal, and they burned it up
{10:27} and crushed it. They also tore down the temple of
Baal, and they made it into a latrine, even to this day.
{10:28} And thus did Jehu wipe away Baal from Israel.
{10:29} Yet truly, he did not turn away from the sins of
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
Neither did he forsake the golden calves, which were in
Bethel and Dan. {10:30} Then the Lord said to Jehu: “Since
you have diligently carried out what was right and pleasing in
my eyes, and since you have accomplished, against the house
of Ahab, all that was in my heart, your sons shall sit upon the
throne of Israel, even to the fourth generation.” {10:31} But
Jehu did not take care, so that he might walk in the law of the
Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. For he did not
withdraw from the sins of Jeroboam, who had caused Israel
to sin. {10:32} In those days, the Lord began to be weary of
Israel. And Hazael struck them throughout all the parts of
Israel, {10:33} from the Jordan opposite the eastern region,
in all the land of Gilead, and Gad, and Reuben, and
Manasseh, from Aroer, which is above the torrent Arnon, in
both Gilead and Bashan. {10:34} But the rest of the words of
Jehu, and all that he did, and his strength, have these not
been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings
of Israel? {10:35} And Jehu slept with his fathers, and they
buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz, his son, reigned in his
place. {10:36} Now the days during which Jehu reigned over
Israel, in Samaria, were twenty-eight years.


[2 Kings 11] {11:1} Truly, Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah,
seeing that her son was dead, rose up and put to death all the
royal offspring. {11:2} But Jehosheba, the daughter of king
Joram, the sister of Ahaziah, taking Jehoash, the son of
Ahaziah, stole him away from the midst of the sons of the
king who were being killed, out of the bedroom, with his
nurse. And she hid him from the face of Athaliah, so that he
would not be killed. {11:3} And he was with her for six years,
hidden in the house of the Lord. But Athaliah reigned over
the land. {11:4} Then, in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent for
and took centurions and soldiers, and he brought them to
himself in the temple of the Lord. And he formed a pact with
them. And taking an oath with them in the house of the Lord,
he revealed to them the son of the king. {11:5} And he
commanded them, saying: “This is the word that you must
do. {11:6} Let one third part of you enter on the Sabbath,
and keep watch on the house of the king. And let one third
part be at the gate of Sur. And let one third part be at the gate
behind the dwelling place of the shield bearers. And you shall
keep the watch on the house of Mesha. {11:7} Yet truly, let
two parts of you, all who depart on the Sabbath, keep watch
over the house of the Lord concerning the king. {11:8} And
you shall surround him, having weapons in your hands. But
if anyone will have entered the precinct of the temple, let him
be killed. And you shall be with the king, entering and
departing.” {11:9} And the centurions acted in accord with
all the things that Jehoiada, the priest, had instructed them.
And taking each one of their men who would enter on the
Sabbath, with those who would depart on the Sabbath, they
went to Jehoiada, the priest. {11:10} And he gave to them the
spears and weapons of king David, which were in the house
of the Lord. {11:11} And they stood, each one having his
weapons in his hand, before the right side of the temple, all
the way to the left side of the altar and of the shrine,
surrounding the king. {11:12} And he led forth the son of the
king. And he placed the diadem on him, and the testimony.
And they made him king, and they anointed him. And
clapping their hands, they said: “The king lives!”
{11:13} Then Athaliah heard the sound of the people running.
And entering to the crowd at the temple of the Lord,
{11:14} she saw the king standing upon a tribunal, according
to custom, and the singers and trumpets near him, and all the
people of the land rejoicing and sounding the trumpets. And
she tore her garments, and she cried out: “Conspiracy!
Conspiracy!” {11:15} But Jehoiada gave orders to the
centurions who were over the army, and he said to them:
“Lead her away, beyond the precinct of the temple. And
whoever will have followed her, let him be struck with the
sword.” For the priest had said, “Do not allow her to be
killed in the temple of the Lord.” {11:16} And they laid
hands on her. And they pushed her through the way by
which horses enter, beside the palace. And she was killed
there. {11:17} Then Jehoiada formed a covenant between the
Lord, and the king and the people, so that they would be the
people of the Lord; and between the king and the people.
{11:18} And all the people of the land entered the temple of
Baal, and they tore down his altars, and they thoroughly
crushed the statues. Also, they killed Mattan, the priest of
Baal, before the altar. And the priest placed guards in the
house of the Lord. {11:19} And he took the centurions, and
the legions of the Cherethites and Pelethites, and all the
people of the land, and together they led the king from the
house of the Lord. And they went by way of the gate of the
shield bearers into the palace. And he sat upon the throne of
the kings. {11:20} And all the people of the land rejoiced.
And the city was quieted. But Athaliah was slain with the
sword at the house of the king. {11:21} Now Jehoash was
seven years old when he had begun to reign.


[2 Kings 12] {12:1} In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash
reigned. And he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. The
name of his mother was Zebiah from Beersheba. {12:2} And
Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord, during all
the days that Jehoiada, the priest, taught him. {12:3} Yet still
he did not take away the high places. For the people were still
immolating, and burning incense, in the high places.
{12:4} And Jehoash said to the priests: “All of the money for
the holy things, which has been brought into the temple of
the Lord from those who pass by, which is offered for the
price of a soul, and which they bring into the temple of the
Lord willingly, from their own free heart: {12:5} let the
priests, according to their ranks, take and use it in order to
repair the surfaces of the house, wherever they see anything
in need of repair.” {12:6} And yet, even until the twenty-
third year of king Jehoash, the priests did not repair the
surfaces of the temple. {12:7} And king Jehoash called the
high priest, Jehoiada, and the priests, saying to them: “Why
have you not repaired the surfaces of the temple? Therefore,
you may no longer accept money according to your ranks.
Instead, return it in order that the temple may be repaired.”
{12:8} And so the priests were prohibited from accepting any
more money from the people to repair the surfaces of the
house. {12:9} And the high priest, Jehoiada, took a certain
chest, and he opened a hole in the top, and he placed it beside
the altar, to the right of those who were entering the house of
the Lord. And the priests who kept the doors put all the
money in it which was being brought into the temple of the
Lord. {12:10} And when they saw that there was a great
amount of money in the chest, the scribe of the king and the
high priest went up and poured it out. And they counted the
money that was found in the house of the Lord. {12:11} And
they gave it out, by number and measure, to the hands of
those who were over the masons of the house of the Lord.
And they weighed it out to the carpenters and masons, to
those who were working in the house of the Lord
{12:12} and restoring the surfaces, and to those who were
cutting stones, and buying timber and stones to be cut, so that
the repairs to the house of the Lord might be finished: for all
that was needed toward the expenses in order to strengthen
the house. {12:13} Yet truly, from the same money, they did
not make for the temple of the Lord water pitchers, or small
hooks, or censers, or trumpets, or any vessel of gold or silver,
from the money that was brought into the temple of the Lord.
{12:14} For it was given to those who were doing the work,
so that the temple of the Lord might be repaired.
{12:15} And they did not ration the money to the men who
received it in order to distribute it to the artisans. Instead,
they bestowed it with faith. {12:16} Yet truly, the money for
offenses and the money for sins, they did not bring into the
temple of the Lord, since it was for the priests. {12:17} Then
Hazael, the king of Syria, ascended and fought against Gath,
and he captured it. And he directed his face, so that he might
ascend against Jerusalem. {12:18} For this reason, Jehoash,
the king of Judah, took all the sanctified things, which
Jehoshaphat, and Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, the
kings of Judah, had consecrated and which he himself had
offered, and all the silver that could be found in the treasuries
of the temple of the Lord and in the palace of the king, and
he sent it to Hazael, the king of Syria. And so he withdrew
from Jerusalem. {12:19} Now the rest of the words of
Jehoash, and all that he did, have these not been written in
the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah?
{12:20} Then his servants rose up and conspired among
themselves. And they struck down Jehoash, at the house of
Millo, on the descent of Silla. {12:21} For Jozacar, the son of
Shimeath, and Jehozabad, the son of Shomer, his servants,
struck him, and he died. And they buried him with his fathers
in the city of David. And Amaziah, his son, reigned in his
place.


[2 Kings 13] {13:1} In the twenty-third year of Joash, the son
of Ahaziah, the king of Judah, Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu,
reigned over Israel, in Samaria, for seventeen years.
{13:2} And he did evil before the Lord. And he followed the
sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
And he did not turn aside from these. {13:3} And the fury of
the Lord was enraged against Israel, and he delivered them
into the hand of Hazael, the king of Syria, and into the hand
of Benhadad, the son of Hazael, during all the days.
{13:4} But Jehoahaz petitioned the face of the Lord, and the
Lord heeded him. For he saw the anguish of Israel, because
the king of Syria had oppressed them. {13:5} And the Lord
gave a savior to Israel. And they were freed from the hand of
the king of Syria. And the sons of Israel lived in their
tabernacles, just as yesterday and the day before. {13:6} Yet
truly, they did not withdraw from the sins of the house of
Jeroboam, who had caused Israel to sin. Instead, they walked
by them. And there was even a sacred grove still remaining in
Samaria. {13:7} And there was left to Jehoahaz from the
people nothing but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten
thousand foot soldiers. For the king of Syria had killed them,
and he had reduced them to become like dust on a threshing
floor. {13:8} But the rest of the words of Jehoahaz, and all
that he did, and his strength, have these not been written in
the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
{13:9} And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried
him in Samaria. And Joash, his son, reigned in his place.
{13:10} In the thirty-seventh year of Jehoash, the king of
Judah, Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, reigned over Israel, in
Samaria, for sixteen years. {13:11} And he did what is evil in
the sight of the Lord. He did not turn aside from all the sins
of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
Instead, he walked by them. {13:12} But the rest of the words
of Joash, and all that he did, and his strength, the manner in
which he fought against Amaziah, the king of Judah, have
these not been written in the book of the words of the days of
the kings of Israel? {13:13} And Joash slept with his fathers.
Then Jeroboam sat upon his throne. And Joash was buried in
Samaria, with the kings of Israel. {13:14} Now Elisha was
sick of the infirmity from which he also died. And Joash, the
king of Israel, descended to him. And he was weeping before
him, and saying: “My father, my father! The chariot of Israel
and its driver!” {13:15} And Elisha said to him, “Bring a bow
and arrows.” And when he had brought a bow and arrows to
him, {13:16} he said to the king of Israel, “Place your hand
upon the bow.” And when he had placed his hand, Elisha
place his own hands over the hands of the king. {13:17} And
he said, “Open the window toward the east.” And when he
had opened it, Elisha said, “Shoot an arrow.” And he shot it.
And Elisha said: “It is the arrow of the salvation of the Lord,
and the arrow of salvation against Syria. And you shall strike
the Syrians at Aphek, until you consume them.” {13:18} And
he said, “Take the arrows.” And when he had taken them, he
then said to him, “Strike an arrow against the ground.” And
when he had struck three times, and he had stood still,
{13:19} the man of God became angry against him. And he
said: “If you had struck five or six or seven times, you would
have struck down Syria, even until it was consumed. But now
you will strike it three times.” {13:20} Then Elisha died, and
they buried him. And the robbers from Moab came into the
land in the same year. {13:21} But certain ones who were
burying a man saw the robbers, and they cast the dead body
into the sepulcher of Elisha. But when it had touched the
bones of Elisha, the man revived, and he stood upon his feet.
{13:22} Now Hazael, the king of Syria, afflicted Israel during
all the days of Jehoahaz. {13:23} But the Lord took pity on
them, and he returned to them, because of his covenant,
which he had made with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.
And he was not willing to destroy them, nor to cast them out
completely, even to the present time. {13:24} Then Hazael,
the king of Syria, died. And Benhadad, his son, reigned in his
place. {13:25} Now Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, by a just
war, took the cities from the hand of Benhadad, the son of
Hazael, which he had taken from the hand of Jehoahaz, his
father. Jehoash struck him three times, and he restored the
cities to Israel.


[2 Kings 14] {14:1} In the second year of Jehoash, the son of
Jehoahaz, the king of Israel: Amaziah, the son of Jehoash,
reigned as king of Judah. {14:2} He was twenty-five years old
when he had begun to reign. And he reigned for twenty-nine
years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Jehoaddin
from Jerusalem. {14:3} And he did what is right before the
Lord, yet truly, not like David, his father. He acted in accord
with all the things that his father Jehoash did, {14:4} except
for this alone: he did not take away the high places. For still
the people were immolating, and burning incense, in the high
places. {14:5} And when he had obtained the kingdom, he
struck down those of his servants who had killed his father,
the king. {14:6} But the sons of those who had been killed he
did not put to death, in accord with what was written in the
book of the law of Moses, just as the Lord instructed, saying:
“The fathers shall not die for the sons, and the sons shall not
die for the fathers. Instead, each one shall die for his own
sin.” {14:7} He struck down ten thousand men of Idumea, in
the Valley of the Salt Pits. And he captured ‘the Rock’ in
battle, and he called its name ‘Subdued by God,’ even to the
present day. {14:8} Then Amaziah sent messengers to
Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, the king of
Israel, saying: “Come, and let us see one another.”
{14:9} And Jehoash, the king of Israel, sent a reply to
Amaziah, the king of Judah, saying: “A thistle of Lebanon
sent to a cedar, which is in Lebanon, saying: ‘Give your
daughter as wife to my son.’ And the beasts of the forest,
which are in Lebanon, passed by and trampled the thistle.
{14:10} You have struck and prevailed over Idumea. And
your heart has lifted you up. Be content with your own glory,
and be seated your own house. Why would you provoke evil,
so that you would fall, and Judah with you?” {14:11} But
Amaziah was not quieted. And so Jehoash, the king of Israel,
went up. And he and Amaziah, the king of Judah, saw one
another at Beth-shemesh, a town in Judah. {14:12} And
Judah was struck down before Israel, and they fled, each to
their own tents. {14:13} And truly, Jehoash, the king of Israel,
captured Amaziah, the king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the
son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. And he brought him to
Jerusalem. And he breached the wall of Jerusalem, from the
gate of Ephraim as far as the gate of the Corner, four hundred
cubits. {14:14} And he took away all the gold and silver, and
all the vessels, which were found in the house of the Lord
and in the treasuries of the king, and he returned to Samaria
with hostages. {14:15} But the rest of the words of Jehoash,
which he accomplished, and his strength, with which he
fought against Amaziah, the king of Judah, have these not
been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings
of Israel? {14:16} And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and he
was buried in Samaria, with the kings of Israel. And
Jeroboam, his son, reigned in his place. {14:17} Now
Amaziah, the son of Jehoash, the king of Judah, lived for
fifteen years after the death of Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz,
the king of Israel. {14:18} And the rest of the words of
Amaziah, have these not been written in the book of the
words of the days of the kings of Judah? {14:19} And they
made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. And he fled to
Lachish. And they sent after him, to Lachish, and they killed
him there. {14:20} And they carried him away on horses.
And he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers, in the city
of David. {14:21} Then all the people of Judah took Azariah,
at sixteen years from birth, and they appointed him as king in
place of his father, Amaziah. {14:22} He built up Elath, and
he restored it to Judah, after which the king slept with his
fathers. {14:23} In the fifteenth year of Amaziah, the son of
Jehoash, the king of Judah: Jeroboam, the son of Jehoash,
the king of Israel, reigned, in Samaria, for forty-one years.
{14:24} And he did what is evil before the Lord. He did not
withdraw from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat,
who caused Israel to sin. {14:25} He restored the borders of
Israel, from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the
Wilderness, in accord with the word of the Lord, the God of
Israel, which he spoke through his servant, the prophet Jonah,
the son of Amittai, who was from Gath, which is in Hepher.
{14:26} For the Lord saw the exceedingly bitter affliction of
Israel, and that they were being consumed, even to those who
were enclosed in prison, and even to the least ones, and that
there was no one who would help Israel. {14:27} But the
Lord did not say that he would wipe away the name of Israel
from under heaven. So instead, he saved them by the hand of
Jeroboam, the son of Jehoash. {14:28} But the rest of the
words of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his strength, with
which he went to battle, and the manner in which he restored
Damascus and Hamath to Judah, in Israel, have these not
been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings
of Israel? {14:29} And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the
kings of Israel. And Zechariah, his son, reigned in his place.


[2 Kings 15] {15:1} In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam,
the king of Israel: Azariah, the son of Amaziah, reigned as
king of Judah. {15:2} He was sixteen years old when he had
begun to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in
Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Jecoliah of
Jerusalem. {15:3} And he did what was pleasing before the
Lord, in accord with all that his father, Amaziah, did.
{15:4} Yet truly, he did not demolish the high places. And
still the people were sacrificing, and burning incense, in the
high places. {15:5} Now the Lord struck the king, and he
became a leper, even until the day of his death. And he was
living in a separate house by himself. And truly, Jotham, the
son of the king, governed the palace, and he judged the
people of the land. {15:6} Now the rest of the words of
Azariah, and all that he did, have these not been written in
the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah?
{15:7} And Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried
him with his ancestors in the city of David. And Jotham, his
son, reigned in his place. {15:8} In the thirty-eighth year of
Azariah, the king of Judah: Zechariah, the son of Jeroboam,
reigned over Israel, in Samaria, for six months. {15:9} And
he did what is evil before the Lord, just as his fathers had
done. He did not withdraw from the sins of Jeroboam, the
son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. {15:10} Then
Shallum, the son of Jabesh, conspired against him. And he
struck him openly, and killed him. And he reigned in his
place. {15:11} Now the rest of the words of Zechariah, have
these not been written in the book of the words of the days of
the kings of Israel? {15:12} This was the word of the Lord,
which he spoke to Jehu, saying: “Your sons, even to the
fourth generation, shall sit upon the throne of Israel.” And so
it happened. {15:13} Shallum, the son of Jabesh, reigned in
the thirty-ninth year of Azariah, the king of Judah. And he
reigned for one month, in Samaria. {15:14} And Menahem,
the son of Gadi, ascended from Tirzah. And he went into
Samaria, and he struck Shallum, the son of Jabesh, in
Samaria. And he killed him, and reigned in his place.
{15:15} Now the rest of the words of Shallum, and his
conspiracy, by which he carried out treachery, have these not
been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings
of Israel? {15:16} Then Menahem struck Tirzah, and all who
were in it, and its borders around Tirzah. For they were not
willing to open to him. And he killed all of its pregnant
women, and he tore them open. {15:17} In the thirty-ninth
year of Azariah, the king of Judah: Menahem, son of Gadi,
reigned over Israel for ten years, in Samaria. {15:18} And he
did what was evil before the Lord. He did not withdraw from
the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to
sin, during all his days. {15:19} Then Pul, the king of the
Assyrians, came into the land. And Menahem gave Pul one
thousand talents of silver, so that he would be a help to him,
and so that he might strengthen his kingdom. {15:20} And
Menahem proclaimed a tax upon Israel, on all who were
powerful and wealthy, so that each one would give to the
king of the Assyrians fifty shekels of silver. Then the king of
the Assyrians turned back, and he did not remain in the land.
{15:21} Now the rest of the words of Menahem, and all that
he did, have these not been written in the book of the words
of the days of the kings of Israel? {15:22} And Menahem
slept with his fathers. And Pekahiah, his son, reigned in his
place. {15:23} In the fiftieth year of Azariah, the king of
Judah: Pekahiah, the son of Menahem, reigned over Israel, in
Samaria, for two years. {15:24} And he did what was evil
before the Lord. He did not withdraw from the sins of
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
{15:25} Then Pekah, the son of Remaliah, his commander,
conspired against him. And he struck him in Samaria, in the
tower of the king’s house, near Argob and Arieh, and with
him fifty men from the sons of the Gileadites. And he killed
him, and reigned in his place. {15:26} Now the rest of the
words of Pekahiah, and all that he did, have these not been
written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Israel? {15:27} In the fifty-second year of Azariah, the king of
Judah: Pekah, the son of Remaliah, reigned over Israel, in
Samaria, for twenty years. {15:28} And he did what was evil
before the Lord. He did not withdraw from the sins of
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
{15:29} In the days of Pekah, the king of Israel, Tiglath-
pileser, the king of Assyria, arrived and captured Ijon, and
Abel Bethmaacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and
Gilead, and Galilee, and the entire land of Naphtali. And he
took them away into Assyria. {15:30} Then Hoshea, the son
of Elah, conspired and carried out treachery against Pekah,
the son of Remaliah. And he struck him, and killed him. And
he reigned in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham, the
son of Uzziah. {15:31} Now the rest of the words of Pekah,
and all that he did, have these not been written in the book of
the words of the days of the kings of Israel? {15:32} In the
second year of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel:
Jotham, son of Uzziah, reigned as king of Judah. {15:33} He
was twenty-five years old when he had begun to reign, and he
reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. The name of his
mother was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. {15:34} And he
did what was pleasing before the Lord. In accord with all that
his father, Uzziah, had done, so he did. {15:35} Yet truly, he
did not take away the high places. And still the people were
immolating, and burning incense, in the high places. But he
edified the gate of the house of the Lord to be very sublime.
{15:36} Now the rest of the words of Jotham, and all that he
did, have these not been written in the book of the words of
the days of the kings of Judah? {15:37} In those days, the
Lord began to send, into Judah, Rezin, the king of Syria, and
Pekah, the son of Remaliah. {15:38} And Jotham slept with
his fathers, and he was buried with them in the city of David,
his father. And Ahaz, his son, reigned in his place.


[2 Kings 16] {16:1} In the seventeenth year of Pekah, the son
of Remaliah: Ahaz, the son of Jotham, reigned as king of
Judah. {16:2} Ahaz was twenty years old when he had begun
to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He
did not do what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord, his
God, as his father David did. {16:3} Instead, he walked in
the way of the kings of Israel. Moreover, he even consecrated
his son, making him pass through fire, in accord with the
idols of the nations that the Lord destroyed before the sons of
Israel. {16:4} Also, he was immolating victims, and burning
incense, in the high places, and on the hills, and under every
leafy tree. {16:5} Then Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah,
the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, ascended to do battle
against Jerusalem. And they besieged Ahaz, but they were
not able to overcome him. {16:6} At that time, Rezin, the
king of Syria, restored Elath to Syria, and he expelled the
Judeans from Elath. And the Idumeans went into Elath, and
they have lived there, even to this day. {16:7} Then Ahaz
sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser, the king of the Assyrians,
saying: “I am your servant, and I am your son. Ascend and
accomplish my salvation from the hand of the king of Syria,
and from the hand of the king of Israel, who have risen up
together against me.” {16:8} And when he had collected the
silver and the gold that could be found in the house of the
Lord, and in the treasuries of the king, he sent it as a gift to
the king of the Assyrians. {16:9} And he agreed to his will.
For the king of the Assyrians ascended against Damascus,
and he laid waste to it. And he carried away its inhabitants to
Cyrene. But Rezin he killed. {16:10} And king Ahaz traveled
to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser, the king of the
Assyrians. And when he had seen the altar of Damascus,
king Ahaz sent to Uriah, the priest, its pattern and likeness,
according to all of its work. {16:11} And Uriah, the priest,
constructed an altar in accord with all that king Ahaz had
commanded from Damascus. Uriah, the priest, did so, until
king Ahaz arrived from Damascus. {16:12} And when the
king had arrived from Damascus, he saw the altar, and he
venerated it. And he went up and immolated holocausts,
with his own sacrifice. {16:13} And he offered libations, and
he poured out the blood of the peace offerings, which he had
offered, upon the altar. {16:14} But the altar of brass, which
was before the Lord, he took away from the face of the
temple, and from the place of the altar, and from the place of
the temple of the Lord. And he positioned it at the side of the
altar, toward the north. {16:15} Also, king Ahaz instructed
Uriah, the priest, saying: “Upon the great altar, offer the
morning holocaust, and the evening sacrifice, and the
holocaust of the king, and his sacrifice, and the holocaust of
the entire people of the land, and their sacrifices. But their
libations, and all the blood of the holocaust, and all the blood
of the victim, you shall pour out upon it. Then truly, the altar
of brass shall be prepared for use at my will.” {16:16} And so
Uriah, the priest, acted in accord with all that king Ahaz had
instructed to him. {16:17} Then king Ahaz took away the
engraved bases, and the basin that was upon them. And he
took down the sea from the bronze oxen, which were holding
it up. And he positioned it upon a layer of pavement stone.
{16:18} Also, the canopy for the Sabbath, which he had built
in the temple, and the exterior entrance of the king, he
converted into the temple of the Lord, because of the king of
the Assyrians. {16:19} Now the rest of the words of Ahaz
that he did, have these not been written in the book of the
words of the days of the kings of Judah? {16:20} And Ahaz
slept with his fathers, and he was buried with them in the city
of David. And Hezekiah, his son, reigned in his place.


[2 Kings 17] {17:1} In the twelfth year of Ahaz, the king of
Judah: Hoshea, the son of Elah, reigned over Israel, in
Samaria, for nine years. {17:2} And he did evil before the
Lord, but not like the kings of Israel who had been before
him. {17:3} Shalmaneser, the king of the Assyrians, ascended
against him. And Hoshea became a servant to him, and he
paid him tribute. {17:4} And when the king of the Assyrians
discovered that Hoshea, striving to rebel, had sent messengers
to Sais, to the king of Egypt, so as not to present the tribute to
the king of the Assyrians, as he had been accustomed to do
each year, he besieged him. And having been bound, he cast
him into prison. {17:5} And he wandered through the entire
land. And ascending to Samaria, he besieged it for three years.
{17:6} And in the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of the
Assyrians captured Samaria, and he carried away Israel to
Assyria. And he stationed them in Halah and in Habor,
beside the river of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes.
{17:7} For it happened that, when the sons of Israel had
sinned against the Lord, their God, who had led them away
from the land of Egypt, from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of
Egypt, they worshipped strange gods. {17:8} And they
walked according to the rituals of the nations that the Lord
had consumed in the sight of the sons of Israel, and of the
kings of Israel. For they had acted similarly. {17:9} And the
sons of Israel offended the Lord, their God, with deeds that
were not upright. And they built for themselves high places in
all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified
city. {17:10} And they made for themselves statues and
sacred groves, on every high hill and under every leafy tree.
{17:11} And they were burning incense there, upon altars, in
the manner of the nations that the Lord had removed from
their face. And they did wicked deeds, provoking the Lord.
{17:12} And they worshipped impurities, concerning which
the Lord instructed them that they should not do this word.
{17:13} And the Lord testified to them, in Israel and in Judah,
through the hand of all the prophets and seers, saying:
“Return from your wicked ways, and keep my precepts and
ceremonies, in accord with the entire law, which I instructed
to your fathers, and just as I sent to you by the hand of my
servants, the prophets.” {17:14} But they did not listen.
Instead, they hardened their necks to be like the neck of their
fathers, who were not willing to obey the Lord, their God.


{17:15} And they cast aside his ordinances, and the covenant
that he formed with their fathers, and the testimonies which
he testified to them. And they pursued vanities and acted
vainly. And they followed the nations that were all around
them, concerning the things which the Lord had commanded
them not to do, and which they did. {17:16} And they
abandoned all the precepts of the Lord, their God. And they
made for themselves two molten calves and sacred groves.
And they adored the entire celestial army. And they served
Baal. {17:17} And they consecrated their sons and their
daughters through fire. And they devoted themselves to
divinations and soothsaying. And they delivered themselves
into the doing of evil before the Lord, so that they provoked
him. {17:18} And the Lord became vehemently angry with
Israel, and he took them away from his sight. And there
remained no one, except the tribe of Judah alone.
{17:19} But even Judah did not keep the commandments of
the Lord, their God. Instead, they walked in the errors of
Israel, which they had wrought. {17:20} And the Lord cast
aside all of the offspring of Israel. And he afflicted them, and
he delivered them into the hand of despoilers, until he drove
them away from his face, {17:21} even from that time when
Israel was torn away from the house of David, and they
appointed for themselves Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, as king.
For Jeroboam separated Israel from the Lord, and he caused
them to sin a great sin. {17:22} And the sons of Israel walked
in all the sins of Jeroboam, which he had done. And they did
not withdraw from these, {17:23} even when the Lord
carried away Israel from his face, just as he had said by the
hand of all his servants, the prophets. And Israel was carried
away from their land into Assyria, even to this day.
{17:24} Then the king of the Assyrians brought some from
Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from
Hamath, and from Sepharvaim. And he located them in the
cities of Samaria, in place of the sons of Israel. And they
possessed Samaria, and they lived in its cities. {17:25} And
when they had begun to live there, they did not fear the Lord.
And the Lord sent lions among them, which were killing
them. {17:26} And this was reported to the king of the
Assyrians, and it was said: “The peoples that you transferred
and caused to live in the cities of Samaria, they are ignorant
of the ordinances of the God of the land. And so the Lord has
sent lions among them. And behold, they have killed them,
because they were ignorant of the rituals of the God of the
land.” {17:27} Then the king of the Assyrians commanded,
saying: “Lead to that place one of the priests, whom you
brought as a captive from there. And let him go and live with
them. And let him teach them the ordinances of the God of
the land.” {17:28} And so, when one of the priests, who had
been led away captive from Samaria, had arrived, he lived in
Bethel. And he taught them how they should worship the
Lord. {17:29} And each of the nations made gods of their
own, and they placed them in the shrines of the high places,
which the Samaritans had made: nation after nation, in their
cities in which they were living. {17:30} So the men of
Babylon made Soccoth-benoth; and the men of Cuth made
Nergal; and the men of Hamath made Ashima; {17:31} and
the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak. Then those who were
from Sepharvaim burned up their children with fire, for the
gods of Sepharvaim: Adram-melech and Anam-melech.
{17:32} But nevertheless, they worshipped the Lord. Then
they made for themselves, from the least of the people, priests
of the high places. And they placed them in the shrines of the
high places. {17:33} And though they worshipped the Lord,
they also served their own gods, according to the custom of
the nations from which they had been transferred into
Samaria. {17:34} Even to the present day, they follow the
ancient customs; they do not fear the Lord, and they do not
keep his ceremonies, and judgments, and law, and
commandment, which the Lord had instructed to the sons of
Jacob, whom he named Israel. {17:35} And he had struck a
covenant with them, and he had commanded them, saying:
“You shall not fear foreign gods, and you shall not adore
them, and you shall not worship them, and you shall not
sacrifice to them. {17:36} But the Lord, your God, who led
you away from the land of Egypt, with great strength and
with an outstretched arm, him shall you fear, and him shall
you adore, and to him shall you sacrifice. {17:37} Also, the
ceremonies, and judgments, and law, and commandment,
which he wrote for you, you shall keep so that you do them
for all days. And you shall not fear strange gods. {17:38} And
the covenant, which he struck with you, you shall not forget;
neither shall you worship strange gods. {17:39} But you shall
fear the Lord, your God. And he will rescue you from the
hand of all your enemies.” {17:40} Yet truly, they did not
listen to this. Instead, they acted in accord with their earlier
custom. {17:41} And such were these nations: to some extent
fearing the Lord, yet nevertheless also serving their idols. As
for their sons and grandsons, just as their fathers acted, so
also did they act, even to the present day.


[2 Kings 18] {18:1} In the third year of Hoshea, the son of
Elah, the king of Israel: Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, reigned
as king of Judah. {18:2} He was twenty-five years old when
he had begun to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years
in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Abi, the daughter
of Zechariah. {18:3} And he did what was good before the
Lord, in accord with all that his father David had done.
{18:4} He destroyed the high places, and he crushed the
statues, and he cut down the sacred groves. And he broke
apart the bronze serpent, which Moses had made. For even
until that time, the sons of Israel were burning incense to it.
And he called its name Nehushtan. {18:5} He hoped in the
Lord, the God of Israel. And after him, there was no one
similar to him, among all the kings of Judah, nor even among
any of those who were before him. {18:6} And he clung to
the Lord, and he did not withdraw from his footsteps, and he
carried out his commandments, which the Lord had
instructed to Moses. {18:7} Therefore, the Lord was also
with him. And he conducted himself wisely in all the things
to which he went forth. Also, he rebelled against the king of
the Assyrians, and he did not serve him. {18:8} He struck the
Philistines as far as Gaza, and in all their borders, from the
tower of the watchmen to the fortified city. {18:9} In the
fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of
Hoshea, the son of Elah, the king of Israel: Shalmaneser, the
king of the Assyrians, ascended to Samaria, and he fought
against it, {18:10} and he seized it. For after three years, in
the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, in the ninth year of
Hoshea, the king of Israel, Samaria was captured.
{18:11} And the king of the Assyrians took away Israel into
Assyria. And he located them in Halah and in Habor, at the
rivers of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes. {18:12} For they
did not listen to the voice of the Lord, their God. Instead,
they transgressed his covenant. All that Moses, the servant of
the Lord, had instructed, they would neither hear, nor do.
{18:13} In the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib,
the king of the Assyrians, went up to all the fortified cities of
Judah, and he captured them. {18:14} Then Hezekiah, the
king of Judah, sent messengers to the king of the Assyrians at
Lachish, saying: “I have offended. Withdraw from me, and
all that you will impose upon me, I will bear.” And so the
king of the Assyrians levied a tax upon Hezekiah, the king of
Judah, of three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of
gold. {18:15} And Hezekiah gave all the silver that had been
found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the
king. {18:16} At that time, Hezekiah broke apart the doors of
the temple of the Lord, with the plates of gold which he had
affixed to them. And he gave these to the king of the
Assyrians. {18:17} Then the king of the Assyrians sent
Tartan, and Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh, from Lachish, to king
Hezekiah, with a powerful hand, to Jerusalem. And when
they had ascended, they arrived in Jerusalem, and they stood
beside the aqueduct of the upper pool, which is along the way
of the fuller’s field. {18:18} And they called for the king. But
there went out to them Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, the first
ruler of the house, and Shebnah, the scribe, and Joah, the son
of Asaph, the keeper of records. {18:19} And Rabshakeh said
to them: “Speak to Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the
king of the Assyrians: What is this faith, in which you strive?
{18:20} Perhaps, you have taken counsel, so that you would
prepare yourself for battle. In whom do you trust, so that you
would dare to rebel? {18:21} Do you hope in Egypt, that staff
of a broken reed, which, if a man would lean upon it,
breaking, it would pierce his hand? Such is Pharaoh, the king
of Egypt, to all who would trust in him. {18:22} But if you
say to me: ‘We have faith in the Lord, our God.’ Is it not he,
whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away? And
did he not instruct Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You shall adore
before this altar in Jerusalem?’ {18:23} Now therefore, cross
over to my lord, the king of the Assyrians, and I will give to
you two thousand horses, and we will see if you even have
enough riders for them. {18:24} So how can you resist one
prince from the least of my lord’s servants? Do you have faith
in Egypt because of the chariots and horsemen? {18:25} Is it
not by the will of the Lord that I have chosen to ascend to
this place, so that I may destroy it? The Lord said to me:
‘Ascend to this land, and destroy it.’ ” {18:26} Then Eliakim,
the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, said to
Rabshakeh: “We beseech you, that you may speak to us,
your servants, in Syriac. For we understand that language to
some extent. And do not speak to us in the Jews’ language, in
the hearing of the people, who are upon the wall.”
{18:27} And Rabshakeh responded to them, saying: “Has my
lord sent me to your lord and to you, so that I may speak
these words, and not instead to the men who are sitting upon
the wall, so that they may eat their own dung, and drink their
own urine with you?” {18:28} And so, Rabshakeh stood up,
and he exclaimed in a great voice, in the Jews’ language, and
he said: “Listen to the words of the great king, the king of the
Assyrians. {18:29} Thus says the king: Let not Hezekiah lead
you astray. For he will not be able to rescue you from my
hand. {18:30} And do not let him give you faith in the Lord,
saying: “The Lord will rescue and free us, and this city will
not be delivered into the hand of the king of the Assyrians.’
{18:31} Do not choose to listen to Hezekiah. For thus says
the king of the Assyrians: Do with me what is for your own
good, and come out to me. And each one of you will eat from
his own vine, and from his own fig tree. And you shall drink
water from your own wells, {18:32} until I arrive and transfer
you into a land, similar to your own land, a fruitful and fertile
land of wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olives
and oil and honey. And you will live, and not die. Do not
choose to listen to Hezekiah, who deceives you, saying: ‘The
Lord will free us.’ {18:33} Have any of the gods of the
nations freed their land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
{18:34} Where is the god of Hamath, and of Arpad? Where
is the god of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and of Avva? Have they
freed Samaria from my hand? {18:35} Which ones among all
the gods of the lands have rescued their region from my hand,
so that the Lord would be able to rescue Jerusalem from my
hand?” {18:36} But the people were silent, and they did not
respond at all to him. For indeed, they had received an
instruction from the king that they should not respond to him.
{18:37} And Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, the first ruler of the
house, and Shebnah, the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph,
the keeper of records, went to Hezekiah with their garments
torn. And they reported to him the words of Rabshakeh.


[2 Kings 19] {19:1} And when king Hezekiah had heard this,
he tore his garments, and he covered himself with sackcloth,
and he entered the house of the Lord. {19:2} And he sent
Eliakim, the first ruler of the house, and Shebnah, the scribe,
and the elders from the priests, covered with sackcloth, to the
prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz. {19:3} And they said to
him: “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of tribulation,
and of rebuke, and of blasphemy. The sons are ready to be
born, but the woman in labor does not have the strength.
{19:4} Perhaps the Lord, your God, may hear all the words
of Rabshakeh, whom the king of the Assyrians, his lord, sent
so that he would reproach the living God, and rebuke with
words, which the Lord, your God, has heard. And so, offer a
prayer on behalf of the remnant that has been found.”
{19:5} And the servants of king Hezekiah went to Isaiah.
{19:6} And Isaiah said to them: “So shall you say to your
lord. Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid before the face of
the words that you have heard, by which the servants of the
king of the Assyrians have blasphemed me. {19:7} Behold, I
will send a spirit to him, and he will hear a report, and he will
return to his own land. And I will bring him down by the
sword in his own land.” {19:8} Then Rabshakeh returned,
and he found the king of the Assyrians fighting against
Libnah. For he had heard that he had withdrawn from
Lachish. {19:9} And when he had heard from Tirhakah, the
king of Ethiopia, saying, “Behold, he has gone out so that he
may fight against you,” and when he went forth against him,
he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying: {19:10} “So shall
you say to Hezekiah, the king of Judah: Let not your God, in
whom you trust, lead you astray. And you should not say,
‘Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hands of the king of
the Assyrians.’ {19:11} For you yourself have heard what the
kings of the Assyrians have done to all the lands, the manner
in which they have laid waste to them. Therefore, how would
you alone be able to be freed? {19:12} Have the gods of the
nations freed any of those whom my fathers have destroyed,
such as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of
Eden, who were at Telassar? {19:13} Where is the king of
Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of
Sepharvaim, and of Hena, and of Avva?” {19:14} And so,
when Hezekiah had received the letter from the hand of the
messengers, and had read it, he ascended to the house of the
Lord, and he spread it out before the Lord. {19:15} And he
prayed in his sight, saying: “O Lord, God of Israel, who sits
upon the cherubim, you alone are God, over all the kings of
the earth. You made heaven and earth. {19:16} Incline your
ear, and listen. Open your eyes, O Lord, and see. And hear
all the words of Sennacherib, who sent so that he might
reproach the living God before us. {19:17} Truly, O Lord, the
kings of the Assyrians have devastated all peoples and lands.
{19:18} And they have cast their gods into the fire. For they
were not gods, but instead were the works of men’s hands,
out of wood and stone. And so they destroyed them.
{19:19} Now therefore, O Lord our God, bring us salvation
from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may
know that you alone are the Lord God.” {19:20} Then Isaiah,
the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying: “Thus says the
Lord, the God of Israel: I have heard what you beseeched
from me, concerning Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians.
{19:21} This is the word that the Lord has spoken about him:
The virgin daughter of Zion has spurned and ridiculed you.
The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head behind your
back. {19:22} Whom have you reproached, and whom have
you blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice,
and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of
Israel! {19:23} By the hand of your servants, you have
reproach the Lord, and you have said: ‘By the multitude of
my chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains,
to the summit of Lebanon. And I have cut down its sublime
cedars, and its elect spruce trees. And I have entered even to
its limits. And its forest of Carmel, {19:24} I have cut down.
And I drank foreign waters, and I dried up all the enclosed
waters with the steps of my feet.’ {19:25} But have you not
heard what I have done from the beginning? From the days
of antiquity, I have formed it, and now I have brought it to be.
And fortified cities of fighting men will become piles of ruins.
{19:26} And whoever may settle in these, they have trembled,
with a weak hand, and they have been confounded. They
have become like the hay of the field, and like weeds
sprouting on the rooftops, which dry up before they reached
maturity. {19:27} Your habitation, and your exit, and your
entrance, and your way, I knew beforehand, along with your
fury against me. {19:28} You have been maddened against
me, and your arrogance has ascended to my ears. And so, I
will place a ring in your nose, and a bit between your lips.
And I will lead you back along the way by which you came.
{19:29} But as for you, Hezekiah, this shall be a sign: Eat this
year whatever you will find, and in the second year, whatever
may spring up of itself. But in the third year, sow and reap;
plant vineyards, and eat from their fruit. {19:30} And
whatever will have been left behind, from the house of Judah,
shall send a root downward, and shall bear fruit upward.
{19:31} Indeed, a remnant shall go forth from Jerusalem, and
what may be saved shall go forth from mount Zion. The zeal
of the Lord of hosts shall accomplish this. {19:32} For this
reason, thus says the Lord about the king of the Assyrians:
He shall not enter into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it,
nor overtake it with the shield, nor encircle it with
fortifications. {19:33} By the way that he came, so shall he
return. And he shall not enter this city, says the Lord.
{19:34} And I will protect this city, and I will save it for my
own sake, and for the sake of my servant David.”
{19:35} And so it happened that, in the same night, an Angel
of the Lord went and struck down, in the camp of the
Assyrians, one hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when
he had risen up, at first light, he saw all the bodies of the dead.
And withdrawing, he went away. {19:36} And Sennacherib,
the king of the Assyrians, returned and dwelled in Nineveh.
{19:37} And while he was worshipping in the temple of his
god, Nisroch, his sons, Adram-melech and Sharezer, struck
him with the sword. And they fled into the land of the
Armenians. And Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his place.


[2 Kings 20] {20:1} In those days, Hezekiah was sick unto
death. And the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, came and
said to him: “Thus says the Lord God: Instruct your house,
for you will die, and not live.” {20:2} And he turned his face
to the wall, and he prayed to the Lord, saying: {20:3} “I beg
you, O Lord, I beseech you, remember how I have walked
before you in truth, and with a perfect heart, and how I have
done what is pleasing before you.” And then Hezekiah wept
with a great weeping. {20:4} And before Isaiah departed
from the middle part of the atrium, the word of the Lord
came to him, saying: {20:5} “Return and tell Hezekiah, the
leader of my people: Thus says the Lord, the God of your
father David: I have heard your prayer, and I have seen your
tears. And behold, I have healed you. On the third day, you
shall ascend to the temple of the Lord. {20:6} And I will add
fifteen years to your days. Then too, I will free you and this
city from the hand of the king of the Assyrians. And I will
protect this city for my own sake, and for the sake of my
servant David.” {20:7} And Isaiah said, “Bring me a mass of
figs.” And when they had brought it, and they had placed it
on his sore, he was healed. {20:8} But Hezekiah had said to
Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and
that I will ascend to the temple of the Lord on the third day?”
{20:9} And Isaiah said to him: “This will be the sign from the
Lord, that the Lord will do the word that he has spoken: Do
you wish that the shadow may ascend ten lines, or that it may
turn back for the same number of degrees?” {20:10} And
Hezekiah said: “It is an easy for the shadow to increase for
ten lines. And so I do not wish that this be done. Instead, let
it turn back for ten degrees.” {20:11} And so the prophet
Isaiah called upon the Lord. And he led back the shadow,
along the lines by which it had already descended on the
sundial of Ahaz, in reverse for ten degrees. {20:12} At that
time, Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, the king of the
Babylonians, sent letters and gifts to Hezekiah. For he had
heard that Hezekiah had been ill. {20:13} Now Hezekiah
rejoiced at their arrival, and so he revealed to them the house
of aromatic spices, and the gold and silver, and the various
pigments and ointments, and the house of his vessels, and all
that he was able to have in his treasuries. There was nothing
in his house, nor in all his dominions, that Hezekiah did not
show to them. {20:14} Then the prophet Isaiah came to king
Hezekiah, and said to him: “What did these men say? And
from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said to
him, “They came to me from Babylon, from a far away
land.” {20:15} And he responded, “What did they see in
your house?” And Hezekiah said: “They saw all things
whatsoever that are in my house. There is nothing in my
treasuries that I did not show to them.” {20:16} And so
Isaiah said to Hezekiah: “Listen to the word of the Lord.
{20:17} Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your
house, and all that your fathers have stored up even to this
day, will be carried away to Babylon. Nothing at all shall
remain, says the Lord. {20:18} Then too, they will take from
your sons, who will go forth from you, whom you will
conceive. And they will be eunuchs in the palace of the king
of Babylon.” {20:19} Hezekiah said to Isaiah: “The word of
the Lord, which you have spoken, is good. Let peace and
truth be in my days.” {20:20} Now the rest of the words of
Hezekiah, and all his strength, and how he made a pool, and
an aqueduct, and how he brought waters into the city, have
these not been written in the book of the words of the days of
the kings of Judah? {20:21} And Hezekiah slept with his
fathers. And Manasseh, his son, reigned in his place.


[2 Kings 21] {21:1} Manasseh was twelve years old when he
had begun to reign, and he reigned for fifty-five years in
Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Hephzibah.
{21:2} And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accord with
the idols of the nations that the Lord destroyed before the
face of the sons of Israel. {21:3} And he turned away. And he
built up the high places that his father, Hezekiah, had
destroyed. And he erected altars to Baal, and he made sacred
groves, just as Ahab, the king of Israel, had done. And he
adored the entire army of heaven, and he served them.
{21:4} And he constructed altars in the house of the Lord,
about which the Lord said: “In Jerusalem, I will place my
name.” {21:5} And he constructed altars, for the entire army
of heaven, within the two courts of the temple of the Lord.
{21:6} And he led his son through fire. And he used
divinations, and observed omens, and appointed soothsayers,
and multiplied diviners, so that he did evil before the Lord,
and provoked him. {21:7} Also, he set up an idol, of the
sacred grove that he had made, in the temple of the Lord,
about which the Lord said to David, and to his son Solomon:
“In this temple, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of
all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name forever.
{21:8} And I will no longer cause the feet of Israel to be
moved from the land that I gave to their fathers: if only they
will take care to do all that I have instructed them, and the
entire law that my servant Moses commanded to them.”
{21:9} Yet truly, they did not listen. Instead, they were
seduced by Manasseh, so that they did evil, more so than the
nations that the Lord crushed before the face of the sons of
Israel. {21:10} And so the Lord spoke, by the hand of his
servants, the prophets, saying: {21:11} “Since Manasseh, the
king of Judah, has committed these wicked abominations,
beyond all that the Amorites before him have done, and also
has caused Judah to sin by his defilements, {21:12} because
of this, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will
lead evils over Jerusalem and over Judah, such that, whoever
will hear of these things, both his ears will ring. {21:13} And
I will extend the measuring line of Samaria over Jerusalem,
with the scale of the house of Ahab. And I will erase
Jerusalem, just as writing tablets are usually erased. And after
erasing, I will turn it and repeatedly drag a stylus over its
surface. {21:14} And truly, I will send away the remnants of
my inheritance, and I will deliver them into the hands of their
enemies. And they will be devastated and plundered by all
their adversaries. {21:15} For they have done evil before me,
and they have persevered in provoking me, from the day
when their fathers departed from Egypt, even to this day.
{21:16} Moreover, Manasseh also has shed an exceedingly
great amount of innocent blood, until he filled Jerusalem
even to the mouth, aside from his sins by which he caused
Judah to sin, so that they did evil before the Lord.”
{21:17} Now the rest of the words of Manasseh, and all that
he did, and his sin that he sinned, have these not been written
in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah?
{21:18} And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and he was
buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza.
And Amon, his son, reigned in his place. {21:19} Amon was
twenty-two years old when he had begun to reign, and he
reigned for two years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother
was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz, from Jotbah.
{21:20} And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his
father, Manasseh, had done. {21:21} And he walked in all
the ways in which his father had walked. And he served the
unclean things that his father had served, and he adored them.
{21:22} And he abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers,
and he did not walk in the way of the Lord. {21:23} And his
servants undertook treachery against him. And they killed the
king in his own house. {21:24} But the people of the land
slew all those who had conspired against king Amon. And
they appointed for themselves Josiah, his son, as king in his
place. {21:25} But the rest of the words of Amon, which he
did, have these not been written in the book of the words of
the days of the kings of Judah? {21:26} And they buried him
in his sepulcher, in the garden of Uzza. And his son, Josiah,
reigned in his place.


[2 Kings 22] {22:1} Josiah was eight years old when he had
begun to reign. He reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
The name of his mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah,
from Bozkath. {22:2} And he did what was pleasing before
the Lord, and he walked in all the ways of his father David.
He did not turn aside to the right, or to the left. {22:3} Then,
in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, the king sent Shaphan,
the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe of the
temple of the Lord, saying to him: {22:4} “Go to Hilkiah, the
high priest, so that the money may be put together which has
been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the
doorkeepers of the temple have collected from the people.
{22:5} And let it be given, by those in charge of the house of
the Lord, to the workers. And let them distribute it to those
who are working in the temple of the Lord in order to repair
the surfaces of the temple, {22:6} specifically, to carpenters
and masons, and to those who mend gaps, and so that wood
may be purchased, and stones from the quarries, in order to
repair the temple of the Lord. {22:7} Yet truly, let no account
be given by them of the money that they receive. Instead, let
them have it within their power and trust.” {22:8} Then
Hilkiah, the high priest, said to Shaphan, the scribe, “I have
found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.” And
Hilkiah gave the volume to Shaphan, and he read it.
{22:9} Also, Shaphan, the scribe, went to the king, and
reported to him what he had instructed. And he said: “Your
servants have brought together the money which was found
in the house of the Lord. And they have given it so that it
would be distributed to the workers by the overseers of the
works of the temple of the Lord.” {22:10} Also, Shaphan, the
scribe, explained to the king, saying, “Hilkiah, the priest,
gave the book to me.” And when Shaphan had read it before
the king, {22:11} and the king had heard the words of the
book of the law of the Lord, he tore his garments.
{22:12} And he instructed Hilkiah, the priest, and Ahikam,
the son of Shaphan, and Achbor, the son of Micaiah, and
Shaphan, the scribe, and Asaiah, the servant of the king,
saying: {22:13} “Go and consult the Lord concerning me,
and the people, and all of Judah, about the words of this
volume which has been found. For the great wrath of the
Lord has been kindled against us because our fathers did not
listen to the words of this book, so that they would do all that
has been written for us.” {22:14} Therefore, Hilkiah, the
priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah,
went to Huldah, the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, the son
of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the vestments,
who was living in Jerusalem, in the second part. And they
spoke with her. {22:15} And she responded to them: “Thus
says the Lord, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you
to me: {22:16} Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will lead evils
over this place, and over its inhabitants, all the words of the
law that the king of Judah has read. {22:17} For they have
abandoned me, and they have sacrificed to foreign gods,
provoking me by all the works of their hands. And so my
indignation will be kindled against this place. And it will not
be extinguished. {22:18} But to the king of Judah, who sent
you so that you would consult the Lord, so shall you say:
Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: In so far as you have
heard the words of the volume, {22:19} and your heart was
terrified, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, listening
to the words against this place and its inhabitants, specifically,
that they would become an astonishment and a curse, and
because you have torn your garments, and have wept before
me: I also have heard you, says the Lord. {22:20} For this
reason, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be
gathered to your sepulcher in peace, so that your eyes may
not see all the evils that I will bring over this place.”


[2 Kings 23] {23:1} And they reported to the king what she
had said. And he sent, and all the elders of Judah and
Jerusalem were gathered to him. {23:2} And the king
ascended to the temple of the Lord. And with him were all
the men of Judah and all who were living in Jerusalem: the
priests, and the prophets, and all the people, from the small to
the great. And in the hearing of everyone, he read all the
words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the
house of the Lord. {23:3} And the king stood upon the step.
And he struck a covenant before the Lord, so that they would
walk after the Lord, and keep his precepts and testimonies
and ceremonies, with all their heart and with all their soul,
and so that they would carry out the words of this covenant,
which had been written in that book. And the people agreed
to the covenant. {23:4} And the king instructed Hilkiah, the
high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the
doorkeepers, so that they would cast out of the temple of the
Lord all the vessels which had been made for Baal, and for
the sacred grove, and for the entire army of heaven. And he
burned them outside of Jerusalem, in the steep valley of
Kidron. And he carried their dust into Bethel. {23:5} And he
destroyed the soothsayers, whom the kings of Judah had
appointed to sacrifice in the high places throughout the cities
of Judah, and all around Jerusalem, along with those who
were burning incense to Baal, and to the Sun, and to the
Moon, and to the twelve signs, and to the entire army of
heaven. {23:6} And he caused the sacred grove to be carried
away from the house of the Lord, outside of Jerusalem, to the
steep valley of Kidron. And he burned it there, and reduced it
to dust. And he cast the dust over the graves of the common
people. {23:7} Also, he destroyed the small places of the
effeminate, which were in the house of the Lord, for which
the women were weaving something like little houses in the
sacred grove. {23:8} And he gathered together all the priests
from the cities of Judah. And he defiled the high places,
where the priests were sacrificing, from Geba as far as
Beersheba. And he tore down the altars of the gates at the
entrance to the gate of Joshua, the leader of the city, which
was to the left of the gate of the city. {23:9} Yet truly, the
priests of the high places did not ascend to the altar of the
Lord in Jerusalem. For they would only eat from the
unleavened bread in the midst of their brothers. {23:10} Also,
he defiled Topheth, which is in the steep valley of the son of
Hinnom, so that no one would consecrate his son or his
daughter, through fire, to Molech. {23:11} Also, he took
away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the Sun,
at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, beside the hallway
of Nathan-melech, the eunuch, who was in Pharurim. And
he burned the chariots of the Sun with fire. {23:12} Also, the
altars which were upon the roof of the upper room of Ahaz,
which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which
Manasseh had made in the two courts of the temple of the
Lord, the king destroyed. And he hurried from there, and he
scattered their ashes into the torrent Kidron. {23:13} Also,
the high places which were in Jerusalem, to the right side of
the Mount of Offense, which Solomon, the king of Israel, had
built to Ashtoreth, the idol of the Sidonians, and to Chemosh,
the offense of Moab, and to Milcom, the abomination of the
sons of Ammon, the king defiled. {23:14} And he crushed
the statues, and he cut down the sacred groves. And he filled
their places with the bones of the dead. {23:15} Then too, the
altar which was in Bethel, and the high place which
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, had
made: both that altar and the high place he tore down, and
burned, and reduced to dust. And then he also set fire to the
sacred grove. {23:16} And in that place Josiah, turning, saw
the sepulchers which were on the mount. And he sent and
took the bones from the sepulchers. And he burned them
upon the altar, and he defiled it in accord with the word of
the Lord, which was spoken by the man of God, who had
predicted these events. {23:17} And he said, “What is that
monument that I see?” And the citizens of that city
responded to him: “It is the sepulcher of the man of God,
who came from Judah, and who predicted these events,
which you have carried out concerning the altar of Bethel.”
{23:18} And he said: “Permit him. Let no one move his
bones.” And his bones have remained untouched, with the
bones of the prophet who had arrived from Samaria.
{23:19} Then too, all the shines of the high places, which
were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had
made to provoke the Lord, Josiah took away. And he acted
toward them according to all the works that he had done in
Bethel. {23:20} And all the priests of the high places, who
were in that place, he killed upon the altars. And he burned
the bones of the men upon them. And he returned to
Jerusalem. {23:21} And he instructed all the people, saying:
“Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, according to what
has been written in the book of this covenant.” {23:22} Now
no similar Passover was kept, from the days of the judges,
who judged Israel, and from all the days of the kings of Israel
and the kings of Judah, {23:23} as this Passover, which was
kept to the Lord in Jerusalem, in the eighteenth year of king
Josiah. {23:24} Then too, Josiah took away those who
divined by spirits, and the soothsayers, and the images of the
idols, and the defilements, and the abominations, which had
been in the land of Judah and Jerusalem, so that he might
establish the words of the law, which were written in the
book, which Hilkiah, the priest, found in the temple of the
Lord. {23:25} There was no king before him similar to him,
who returned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his
soul, and with all his strength, in accord with the entire law
of Moses. And after him, there rose up no one similar to him.
{23:26} Yet truly, the Lord did not turn away from the wrath
of his great fury, his fury which was enraged against Judah
because of the provocations by which Manasseh had
provoked him. {23:27} And so the Lord said: “And now I
will remove Judah from my face, just as I removed Israel.
And I will cast aside this city, Jerusalem, which I have
chosen, and the house, about which I said: My name shall be
there.” {23:28} Now the rest of the words of Josiah, and all
that he did, have these not been written in the book of the
words of the days of the kings of Judah? {23:29} During his
days, Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt, ascended against the
king of the Assyrians to the river Euphrates. And king Josiah
went out to meet him. And when he had seen him, he was
killed at Megiddo. {23:30} And his servants carried him dead
from Megiddo. And they took him to Jerusalem, and they
buried him in his own sepulcher. And the people of the land
took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah. And they anointed him,
and made him king in place of his father. {23:31} Jehoahaz
was twenty-three years old when he had begun to reign, and
he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. The name of his
mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.
{23:32} And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that
his fathers had done. {23:33} And Pharaoh Neco bound him
at Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath, so that he would
not reign in Jerusalem. And he imposed a penalty on the land:
one hundred talents of silver, and one talent of gold.
{23:34} And Pharaoh Neco appointed Eliakim, the son of
Josiah, as king in place of Josiah his father. And he changed
his name to Jehoiakim. Then he took Jehoahaz away, and he
brought him into Egypt, and there he died. {23:35} Now
Jehoiakim gave silver and gold to Pharaoh, when he had
taxed the land, according to each one who would contribute
by the command of Pharaoh. And he exacted both silver and
gold from the people of the land, from each one according to
his ability, so that he would give to Pharaoh Neco.
{23:36} Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he had
begun to reign, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem.
The name of his mother was Zebidah, the daughter of
Pedaiah, from Rumah. {23:37} And he did evil before the
Lord, in accord with all that his fathers had done.


[2 Kings 24] {24:1} During his days, Nebuchadnezzar, the
king of Babylon, ascended, and Jehoiakim became his
servant for three years. And again he rebelled against him.
{24:2} And the Lord sent to him the robbers of the Chaldeans,
and the robbers of Syria, and the robbers of Moab, and the
robbers of the sons of Ammon. And he sent them into Judah,
so that they might destroy it, in accord with the word of the
Lord, which he had spoken through his servants, the prophets.
{24:3} Then this occurred, by the word of the Lord against
Judah, that he took him away from before himself because of
all the sins of Manasseh which he did, {24:4} and because of
the innocent blood which he shed, and because he filled
Jerusalem with the slaughter of the innocent. And for this
reason, the Lord was not willing to be appeased. {24:5} But
the rest of the words of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, have
these not been written in the book of the words of the days of
the kings of Judah? And Jehoiakim slept with his fathers.
{24:6} And Jehoiachin, his son, reigned in his place.
{24:7} And the king of Egypt no longer continued to go out
from his own land. For the king of Babylon had taken all that
had belonged to the king of Egypt, from the river of Egypt as
far as the river Euphrates. {24:8} Jehoiachin was eighteen
years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for
three months in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was
Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan, from Jerusalem.
{24:9} And he did evil before the Lord, in accord with all
that his father had done. {24:10} At that time, the servants of
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, ascended against
Jerusalem. And the city was encircled with fortifications.
{24:11} And Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, went to
the city, with his servants, so that he might fight against it.
{24:12} And Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, went out to the
king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his
leaders, and his eunuchs. And the king of Babylon received
him, in the eighth year of his reign. {24:13} And he took
from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the
treasures of the house of the king. And he cut up all the gold
vessels which Solomon, the king of Israel, had made for the
temple of the Lord, in accord with the word of the Lord.
{24:14} And he carried away all of Jerusalem, and all the
leaders, and all the strong men of the army, ten thousand,
into captivity, with every artisan and craftsman. And no one
was left behind, except the poor among the people of the land.
{24:15} Also, he carried away Jehoiachin into Babylon, and
the mother of the king, and the wives of the king, and his
eunuchs. And he led into captivity the judges of the land,
from Jerusalem to Babylon, {24:16} and all the robust men,
seven thousand, and the artisans and craftsman, one
thousand: all who were strong men and fit for war. And the
king of Babylon led them away as captives, into Babylon.
{24:17} And he appointed Mattaniah, his uncle, in his place.
And he imposed the name Zedekiah upon him.
{24:18} Zedekiah held twenty-one years of life when he had
begun to reign. And he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem.
The name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of
Jeremiah, from Libnah. {24:19} And he did evil before the
Lord, in accord with all that Jehoiakim had done.
{24:20} For the Lord was angry against Jerusalem and
against Judah, until he cast them away from his face. And so
Zedekiah withdrew from the king of Babylon.


[2 Kings 25] {25:1} Then it happened that, in the ninth year
of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the
month, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, he and his
entire army, arrived against Jerusalem. And they encircled it,
and they constructed fortifications all around it. {25:2} And
the city was enclosed and besieged, even until the eleventh
year of king Zedekiah, {25:3} on the ninth day of the month.
And a famine prevailed in the city; neither was there bread
for the people of the land. {25:4} And the city was breached.
And all the men of war fled in the night along the way of the
gate which is between the double wall at the garden of the
king. Now the Chaldeans were besieging the city on all sides.
And so Zedekiah fled along the way which leads to the plains
of the wilderness. {25:5} And the army of the Chaldeans
pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of
Jericho. And all the warriors who were with him were
dispersed, and they abandoned him. {25:6} Therefore, having
apprehended him, they led the king to the king of Babylon at
Riblah. And he was speaking with him in judgment.
{25:7} Then he killed the sons of Zedekiah before him, and
he dug out his eyes, and he bound him with chains, and he
led him away to Babylon. {25:8} In the fifth month, on the
seventh day of the month, the same is the nineteenth year of
the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the leader of the army, a
servant of the king of Babylon, went into Jerusalem.
{25:9} And he set fire to the house of the Lord, and to the
house of the king. And the houses of Jerusalem, and every
great house, he burned with fire. {25:10} And the entire army
of the Chaldeans, which was with the leader of the military,
tore down the walls of Jerusalem all around. {25:11} Then
Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, carried away the rest
of the people, who had remained in the city, and the fugitives,
who had fled over to the king of Babylon, and the remnant of
the common people. {25:12} But he left behind some
vinedressers and farmers from the poor of the land.
{25:13} Now the pillars of brass which were in the temple of
the Lord, and the bases, and the sea of brass, which was in
the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke apart. And they
took all the brass to Babylon. {25:14} Also, they took away
the cooking pots of brass, and the scoops, and the forks, and
the cups, and the little mortars, and all the articles of brass
with which they were ministering. {25:15} And the leader of
the military even took away the censers and the bowls,
whatever was of gold for the gold, and whatever was of silver
for the silver, {25:16} and also the two pillars, the one sea,
and the bases which Solomon had made for the temple of the
Lord. The brass of all these items was beyond measure.
{25:17} One pillar had eighteen cubits in height. And the
head of brass upon it was three cubits in height. And the
network and pomegranates upon the head of the pillar were
all of brass. And the second pillar had a similar adornment.
{25:18} Also, the leader of the military took away Seraiah,
the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the second priest, and three
doorkeepers, {25:19} and from the city, one eunuch, who
was in charge of the men of war, and five men out of those
who had stood before the king, whom he found in the city,
and Sopher, the leader of the army who trained the young
soldiers from the people of the land, and sixty men from the
common people, who had been found in the city.
{25:20} Taking them, Nebuzaradan, the leader of the
military, led them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
{25:21} And the king of Babylon struck them and killed them
at Riblah, in the land of Hamath. And Judah was taken away
from his land. {25:22} But over the people who had remained
in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of
Babylon, had permitted, he appointed as ruler Gedaliah, the
son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. {25:23} And when all
the commanders of the military had heard this, they and the
men who were with them, specifically, that the king of
Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they went to Gedaliah at
Mizpah: Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan, the
son of Kareah, and Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth, the
Netophathite, and Jaazaniah, the son of a Maacathite, they
and their companions. {25:24} And Gedaliah swore to them
and to their companions, saying: “Do not be afraid to serve
the Chaldeans. Remain in the land, and serve the king of
Babylon, and it shall be well with you.” {25:25} But it
happened that, in the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of
Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of royal offspring, and ten
men with him, went and struck Gedaliah, who then died,
along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at
Mizpah. {25:26} And all the people, from small to great, and
the leaders of the military, rising up, went away to Egypt,
fearing the Chaldeans. {25:27} Truly, it happened that, in the
thirty-seventh year of the transmigration of Jehoiachin, the
king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh
day of the month, Evilmerodach, the king of Babylon, in the
year when he had begun to reign, lifted up the head of
Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, from prison. {25:28} And he
spoke kindly to him. And he set his throne above the throne
of the kings who were with him at Babylon. {25:29} And he
changed his garments that he had worn in prison. And he ate
bread before him always, during all the days of his life.
{25:30} Also, he appointed to him an allowance without
ceasing, which also was given to him by the king, for each
day, during all the days of his life.


+*+ The First Book of Chronicles **


[1 Chronicles 1] {1:1} Adam, Seth, Enos, {1:2} Cainan,
Mahalalel, Jared, {1:3} Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech,
{1:4} Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. {1:5} The sons of
Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, Tubal,
Meshech, Tiras. {1:6} And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz,
and Riphath, and Togarmah. {1:7} And the sons of Javan:
Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Rodanim. {1:8} The sons
of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan.
{1:9} And the sons of Cush: Seba, and Havilah, Sabtah, and
Raamah, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba and
Dadan. {1:10} Then Cush conceived Nimrod, and he began
to be powerful upon the earth. {1:11} Truly, Mizraim
conceived Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and
Naphtuhim, {1:12} as well as Pathrusim and Casluhim: from
these the Philistines and the Caphtorim went forth.
{1:13} Truly, Canaan conceived Sidon, his firstborn, as well
as the Hittite, {1:14} and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and
the Girgashite, {1:15} and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the
Sinite, {1:16} and also the Arvadian, and the Samarite, and
the Hamathite. {1:17} The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur,
and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and
Gether, and Meshech. {1:18} Then Arphaxad conceived
Shelah, who also himself conceived Eber. {1:19} And to Eber
were born two sons. The name of one was Peleg, because in
his days the earth was divided. And the name of his brother
was Joktan. {1:20} Then Joktan conceived Almodad, and
Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, {1:21} as well as
Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, {1:22} and then Obal, and
Abimael, and Sheba, indeed {1:23} also Ophir, and Havilah,
and Jobab. All these are the sons of Joktan. {1:24} Shem,
Arphaxad, Shelah, {1:25} Eber, Peleg, Reu, {1:26} Serug,
Nahor, Terah, {1:27} Abram, the same is Abraham.
{1:28} And the sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael.
{1:29} And these are their generations: the firstborn of
Ishmael, Nebaioth, and then Kedar, and Adbeel, and
Mibsam, {1:30} and Mishma, and Dumah, Massa, Hadad,
and Tema, {1:31} Jetur, Naphish, Kedemah. These are the
sons of Ishmael. {1:32} And the sons of Keturah, the
concubine of Abraham, whom she conceived: Zimran,
Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. And the sons
of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan:
Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. {1:33} And the
sons of Midian: Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida,
and Eldaah. All these are the sons of Keturah. {1:34} Now
Abraham conceived Isaac, whose sons were Esau and Israel.
{1:35} The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and
Korah. {1:36} The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho,
Gatam, Kenez, and by Timna, Amalek. {1:37} The sons of
Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, Mizzah. {1:38} The sons
of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, Dishan.
{1:39} The sons of Lotan: Hori, Heman. Now the sister of
Lotan was Timna. {1:40} The sons of Shobal: Alian, and
Manahath, and Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. The sons of Zibeon:
Aiah and Anah. The sons of Anah: Dishon. {1:41} The sons
of Dishon: Hamran, and Esheban, and Ithran, and Cheran.
{1:42} The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan. The
sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. {1:43} Now these are the kings
who reigned in the land of Edom, before there was a king
over the sons of Israel: Bela, the son of Beor; and the name of
his city was Dinhabah. {1:44} Then Bela died, and Jobab, the
son of Zerah, from Bozrah, reigned in his place. {1:45} And
when Jobab also had died, Husham, from the land of the
Temanites, reigned in his place. {1:46} Then Husham also
passed away, and Hadad, the son of Bedad, reigned in his
place. And he struck the Midianites in the land of Moab. The
name of his city was Avith. {1:47} And when Hadad also
had died, Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place.
{1:48} Then Samlah also died, and Shaul from Rehoboth,
which is situated beside a river, reigned in his place.
{1:49} Shaul also having died, Baal-hanan, the son of Achbor,
reigned in his place. {1:50} Then he too died, and Hadar
reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Pau. And
his wife was called Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the
daughter of Mezahab. {1:51} And Hadar having died, there
began to be commanders in Edom in place of kings:
commander Thamna, commander Alvah, commander
Jetheth, {1:52} commander Oholibamah, commander Elah,
commander Pinon, {1:53} commander Kanez, commander
Teman, commander Mibzar, {1:54} commander Magdiel,
commander Iram. These are the commanders of Edom.


[1 Chronicles 2] {2:1} And the sons of Israel: Reuben,
Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, {2:2} Dan,
Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. {2:3} The sons
of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah. These three were born to
him from the daughter of Shua, the Canaanite. But Er, the
firstborn of Judah, was evil in the sight of the Lord, and so he
killed him. {2:4} Now Tamar, his daughter-in-law, bore to
him Perez and Zerah. Therefore, all the sons of Judah were
five. {2:5} And the sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.
{2:6} Also, the sons of Zerah: Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman,
as well as Calcol and Dara, five altogether. {2:7} The sons of
Carmi: Achar, who disturbed Israel and sinned by the theft of
what was anathema. {2:8} The sons of Ethan: Azariah.
{2:9} And the sons of Hezron who were born to him:
Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai. {2:10} Then Ram
conceived Amminadab. And Amminadab conceived
Nahshon, a leader of the sons of Judah. {2:11} Also,
Nahshon conceived Salma, from whom Boaz rose up.
{2:12} Truly, Boaz conceived Obed, who also himself
conceived Jesse. {2:13} Now Jesse conceived the firstborn
Eliab, the second Abinadab, the third Shammah, {2:14} the
fourth Nethanel, the fifth Raddai, {2:15} the sixth Ozem, the
seventh David. {2:16} Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail.
The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, three.
{2:17} And Abigail conceived Amasa, whose father was
Jether, the Ishmaelite. {2:18} Truly, Caleb, the son of Hezron,
took a wife named Azubah, of whom he conceived Jerioth.
And her sons were Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.
{2:19} And when Azubah had died, Caleb took as wife
Ephratha, who bore to him Hur. {2:20} Now Hur conceived
Uri. And Uri conceived Bezalel. {2:21} And afterwards,
Hezron entered to the daughter of Machir, father of Gilead.
And he took her when he was sixty years old. And she bore
to him Segub. {2:22} And then Segub conceived Jair, and he
possessed twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead.
{2:23} And he seized Geshur and Aram, towns of Jair, and
Kenath and its villages, sixty cities. All these were sons of
Machir, father of Gilead. {2:24} Then, when Hezron had
died, Caleb entered to Ephratha. Also, Hezron had as wife
Abia, who bore to him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa.
{2:25} Now sons were born to Jerahmeel, the firstborn of
Hezron: Ram, his firstborn, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem,
and Ahijah. {2:26} Jerahmeel also married another wife,
named Atarah, who was the mother of Onam. {2:27} Then
too, the sons of Ram, the firstborn of Jerahmeel, were Maaz,
Jamin, and Eker. {2:28} And Onam had sons: Shammai and
Jada. And the sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur.
{2:29} Truly, the name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail,
who bore to him Ahban and Molid. {2:30} Now the sons of
Nadab were Seled and Appaim. And Seled died without
children. {2:31} Truly, the son of Appaim was Ishi. And Ishi
conceived Sheshan. Then Sheshan conceived Ahlai.
{2:32} But the sons of Jada, the brother of Shammai, were
Jether and Jonathan. Then Jether also died without children.
{2:33} And Jonathan conceived Peleth and Zaza. These were
the sons of Jerahmeel. {2:34} Now Sheshan did not have
sons, but only daughters, and an Egyptian servant named
Jarha. {2:35} And so he gave to him his daughter as wife,
who bore to him Attai. {2:36} Then Attai conceived Nathan,
and Nathan conceived Zabad. {2:37} Also, Zabad conceived
Ephlal, and Ephlal conceived Obed. {2:38} Obed conceived
Jehu; Jehu conceived Azariah. {2:39} Azariah conceived
Helez, and Helez conceived Eleasah. {2:40} Eleasah
conceived Sismai; Sismai conceived Shallum. {2:41} Shallum
conceived Jekamiah; then Jekamiah conceived Elishama.
{2:42} And the sons of Caleb, the brother of Jerahmeel, were
Mesha, his firstborn, who was the father of Ziph, and the
sons of Mesha, the father of Hebron. {2:43} Now the sons of
Hebron were Korah, and Tapuah, and Rekem, and Shema.
{2:44} Then Shema conceived Raham, the father of Jorkeam.
And Rekem conceived Shammai. {2:45} The son of
Shammai was Maon, and Maon was the father of Bethzur.
{2:46} Now Ephah, the concubine of Caleb, bore Haran, and
Moza, and Gazez. And Haran conceived Gazez. {2:47} And
the sons of Jahdai: Regem, and Jotham, and Geshan, and
Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph. {2:48} And Maacah, the
concubine of Caleb, bore Sheber and Tirhanah. {2:49} Then
Shaaph, the father of Madmannah, conceived Sheva, the
father of Machbenah, and the father of Gibea. Truly, the
daughter of Caleb was Achsah. {2:50} These were the sons of
Caleb, the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratha: Shobal, the
father of Kiriath-jearim; {2:51} Salma, the father of
Bethlehem; Hareph, the father of Bethgader. {2:52} Now
there were sons for Shobal, the father of Kiriath-jearim, who
saw half the places of rest. {2:53} And from the kindred of
Kiriath-jearim: the Ithrites, and the Puthites, and the
Shumathites, and the Mishraites. From these, the Zorathites
and the Eshtaolites went forth. {2:54} The sons of Salma:
Bethlehem, and the Netophathites, the crowns of the house of
Joab, and half the places of rest of the Zorathites, {2:55} as
well as the families of the scribes living in Jabesh, those
singing and making music, and those dwelling in tents. These
are the Kenites, who went forth from Calor, the father of the
house of Rechab.


[1 Chronicles 3] {3:1} Truly, David had these sons, who
were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn Amnon, of
Ahinoam the Jezreelite; the second Daniel, from Abigail the
Carmelite; {3:2} the third Absalom, the son of Maacah,
daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; the fourth Adonijah, the
son of Haggith; {3:3} the fifth Shephatiah, of Abital; the sixth
Ithream, from his wife Eglah. {3:4} Therefore, six were born
to him in Hebron, where he reigned for seven years and six
months. Then he reigned for thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
{3:5} Now in Jerusalem, sons were born to him: Shammua,
and Sobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, these four from
Bathsheba, the daughter of Ammiel; {3:6} also Ibhar and
Elishama, {3:7} and Eliphelet, and Nogah, and Nepheg, and
Japhia, {3:8} indeed also Elishama, and Eliada, and
Eliphelet, nine. {3:9} All these were sons of David, aside
from the sons of the concubines. And they had a sister,
Tamar. {3:10} Now the son of Solomon was Rehoboam,
from whom Abijah conceived a son, Asa. And from him,
there was born Jehoshaphat, {3:11} the father of Jehoram.
And Jehoram conceived Ahaziah, from whom there was
born Jehoash. {3:12} And his son, Amaziah, conceived
Azariah. Then Jotham, the son of Azariah, {3:13} conceived
Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah, from whom was born
Manasseh. {3:14} Then too, Manasseh conceived Amon, the
father of Josiah. {3:15} Now the sons of Josiah were these:
the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third
Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum. {3:16} From Jehoiakim was
born Jeconiah and Zedekiah. {3:17} The sons of Jeconiah the
captive were: Shealtiel, {3:18} Malchiram, Pedaiah,
Shenazzar, and Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah.
{3:19} From Pedaiah, there rose up Zerubbabel and Shimei.
Zerubbabel conceived Meshullam, Hananiah, and their sister
Shelomith, {3:20} as well as Hashubah, and Ohel, and
Berechiah, and Hasadiah, Jushab-hesed, five. {3:21} Now
the son of Hananiah was Pelatiah, the father of Jeshaiah,
whose son was Rephaiah. And his son was Arnan, from
whom was born Obadiah, whose son was Shecaniah.
{3:22} The son of Shecaniah was Shemaiah, whose sons
were these: Hattush, and Igal, and Bariah, and Neariah, and
Shaphat, six in number. {3:23} The sons of Neariah: Elioenai,
and Hizkiaj, and Azrikam, three. {3:24} The sons of Elioenai:
Hodaviah, and Eliashib, and Pelaiah, and Akkub, and
Johanan, and Delaiah, and Anani, seven.


[1 Chronicles 4] {4:1} The sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron,
and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal. {4:2} Truly, Reaiah, the
son of Shobal, conceived Jahath; from him were born
Ahumai and Lahad. These are the kindred of the Zorathites.
{4:3} And this is the stock of Etam: Jezreel, and Ishma, and
Idbash. And the name of their sister was Hazzelelponi.
{4:4} Now Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer was the
father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of
Ephratha, the father of Bethlehem. {4:5} Truly, for Ashhur,
the father of Tekoa, there were two wives: Helah and Naarah.
{4:6} And Naarah bore to him: Ahuzzam, and Hepher, and
Temeni, and Haahashtari. These are the sons of Naarah.
{4:7} And the sons of Helah were Zereth, Izhar, and Ethnan.
{4:8} Now Koz conceived Anub, and Zobebah, and the
kindred of Aharhel, the son of Harum. {4:9} But Jabez was
renown, more so than his brothers, and his mother called his
name Jabez, saying, “For I bore him in sorrow.”
{4:10} Truly, Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “If
only, when blessing, you will bless me, and will broaden my
borders, and your hand will be with me, and you will cause
me not to be oppressed by evil.” And God granted to him the
things for which he prayed. {4:11} Now Chelub, the brother
of Shuhah, conceived Mehir, who was the father of Eshton.
{4:12} Then Eshton conceived Bethrapha, and Paseah, and
Tehinnah, the father of the city of Nahash. These are the men
of Recah. {4:13} Now the sons of Kenaz were Othniel and
Seraiah. And the sons of Othniel were Hathath and
Meonothai. {4:14} Meonothai conceived Ophrah, but
Seraiah conceived Joab, the father of the Valley of Artisans.
For indeed, there were artisans there. {4:15} Truly, the sons
of Chelub, the son of Jephunneh, were Iru, and Elah, and
Naam. And the sons of Elah: Kenaz. {4:16} Also, the sons of
Jehallelel: Ziph and Ziphah, Tiria and Asarel. {4:17} And the
sons of Ezrah: Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon; and
he conceived Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah, the father
of Eshtemoa. {4:18} And then his wife, Judaia, bore Jered,
the father of Gedor, and Heber, the father of Soco, and
Jekuthiel, the father of Zanoah. Now there were sons of
Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered married,
{4:19} and sons of his wife Hodiah, the sister of Naham, the
father of Keilah the Garmite, and of Eshtemoa, who was
from Maacathi. {4:20} And the sons of Shimon: Amnon, and
Rinnah, son of Hanan, and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi:
Zoheth and Benzoheth. {4:21} The sons of Shelah, the son of
Judah: Er, the father of Lecah, and Laadah, the father of
Mareshah, and the kindred of the house of the workers of fine
linen in the house of the oath, {4:22} and he who caused the
sun to stand still, and the men of Lying, and Secure, and
Burning, who were leaders in Moab, and who returned into
Lehem. Now these words are ancient. {4:23} These are the
potters living in the Plantations and in the Hedges, with a
king in his works, and they were dwelling there. {4:24} The
sons of Simeon: Nemuel and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul;
{4:25} Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son.
{4:26} The sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zaccur his
son, Shimei his son. {4:27} The sons of Shimei were sixteen,
and there were six daughters. But his brothers did not have
many sons, and the entire kindred was not equal to the sum
of the sons of Judah. {4:28} Now they lived in Beersheba,
and Moladah, and Hazarshual, {4:29} and in Bilhah, and in
Ezem, and in Tolad, {4:30} and in Bethuel, and in Hormah,
and in Ziklag, {4:31} and in Beth-marcaboth, and in
Hazarsusim, and in Bethbiri, and in Shaaraim. These were
their cities until king David. {4:32} And their towns were
Etam, and Ain, Rimmon, and Tochen, and Ashan, five cities,
{4:33} with all their villages, on every side of these cities, as
far as Baal. This is their habitation and the distribution of the
settlements. {4:34} And there were Meshobab and Jamlech,
and Joshah, the son of Amaziah, {4:35} and Joel, and Jehu,
the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel,
{4:36} and Elioenai, and Jaakobah, and Jeshohaiah, and
Asaiah, and Adiel, and Jesimiel, and Benaiah, {4:37} as well
as Ziza, the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of
Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah.
{4:38} These were the names of the leaders in their kindred.
And they were multiplied greatly within the houses of their
marriages. {4:39} And they set out, so that they might enter
into Gedor, as far as the eastern valley, and so that they
might seek pastures for their flocks. {4:40} And they found
fat and very good pastures, and a very wide and quiet and
fruitful land, in which some from the stock of Ham had lived
before. {4:41} So then, those whose names have been written
above, went forth in the days of Hezekiah, the king of Judah.
And they struck down the inhabitants who had been found
there with their dwellings. And they wiped them out, even to
the present day. And they lived in place of them, because
they found very fat pastures there. {4:42} Also, some of the
sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went away to mount Seir,
having as leaders Pelatiah and Neariah and Rephaiah and
Uzziel, the sons of Ishi. {4:43} And they struck down the
remnant of the Amalekites, those who had been able to
escape, and they lived there in place of them, even to this day.


[1 Chronicles 5] {5:1} Also, there were the sons of Reuben,
the firstborn of Israel. For indeed, he was his firstborn, but
when he had violated the bed of his father, his right as
firstborn was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel,
and he was not reputed as firstborn. {5:2} Moreover, Judah,
who was strongest among his brothers, from his stock leaders
sprung up, but the right of firstborn was reputed to Joseph.
{5:3} So then, the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel,
were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. {5:4} The sons
of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son,
{5:5} Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son,
{5:6} Beerah his son, whom Tilgath-pilneser, the king of the
Assyrians, led away captive, and he was a leader in the tribe
of Reuben. {5:7} Now his brothers and all his kindred, when
they were being numbered according to their families, had as
leaders Jeiel and Zechariah. {5:8} Now Bela, the son of Azaz,
the son of Shema, the son of Joel, lived in Aroer, as far as
Nebo and Baalmeon. {5:9} And he lived toward the eastern
region, as far as the entrance to the wilderness and the river
Euphrates. For indeed, they possessed a great number of
cattle in the land of Gilead. {5:10} Then, in the days of Saul,
they battled against the Hagarites and put them to death. And
they lived in place of them, in their dwellings, throughout the
entire region that looks to the east of Gilead. {5:11} Truly,
the sons of Gad lived in the opposite region from them, in the
land of Bashan, as far as Salecah: {5:12} Joel the head, and
Shapham the second, then Janai and Shaphat, in Bashan.
{5:13} Truly, their brothers, according to the houses of their
kindred, were: Michael, and Meshullam, and Sheba, and
Jorai, and Jacan, and Zia, and Eber, seven. {5:14} These
were the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah,
the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai,
the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz, {5:15} along with their
brothers, the sons of Abdiel, the son of Guni, the leader of the
house, in their families, {5:16} And they lived in Gilead, and
in Bashan and its towns, and in all the suburbs of Sharon, as
far as the borders. {5:17} All these were numbered in the
days of Jotham, the king of Judah, and in the days of
Jeroboam, the king of Israel: {5:18} the sons of Reuben, and
of Gad, and the one half tribe of Manasseh, men of war,
carrying shields and swords, and bending the bow, and
trained for battle, forty-four thousand and seven hundred
sixty, advancing to the fight. {5:19} They struggled against
the Hagarites, yet truly the Jetureans, and Naphish, and
Nodab offered assistance to them. {5:20} And the Hagarites
were delivered into their hands, and all who were with them.
For they called upon God while they did battle. And he
heeded them, because they had trusted in him. {5:21} And
they seized all that they possessed, of camels fifty thousand,
and of sheep two hundred fifty thousand, and of donkeys two
thousand, and of men one hundred thousand lives.
{5:22} And many fell down wounded. For it was a war of the
Lord. And they lived in place of them, until the
transmigration. {5:23} Also, the sons of the one half tribe of
Manasseh possessed the land, from the parts of Bashan as far
as Baal, Hermon, and Sanir, and Mount Hermon. For
certainly, their number was immense. {5:24} And these were
leaders of the house of their kindred: Epher, and Ishi, and
Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel,
very valiant and powerful men, and renown leaders in their
families. {5:25} But they abandoned the God of their fathers,
and they fornicated after the gods of the peoples of the land,
whom God took away before them. {5:26} And so the God
of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, the king of the Assyrians,
and the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser, the king of Assur. And he
took away Reuben, and Gad, and the one half tribe of
Manasseh. And he led them to Halah, and to Habor, and to
Hara, and to the river of Gozan, even to this day.


[1 Chronicles 6] {6:1} The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath,
and Merari. {6:2} The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar,
Hebron, and Uzziel. {6:3} The sons of Amram: Aaron,
Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab and Abihu,
Eleazar and Ithamar. {6:4} Eleazar conceived Phinehas, and
Phinehas conceived Abishua. {6:5} Truly, Abishua
conceived Bukki, and Bukki conceived Uzzi. {6:6} Uzzi
conceived Zerahiah, and Zerahiah conceived Meraioth.
{6:7} Then Meraioth conceived Amariah, and Amariah
conceived Ahitub. {6:8} Ahitub conceived Zadok, and Zadok
conceived Ahimaaz. {6:9} Ahimaaz conceived Azariah;
Azariah conceived Johanan. {6:10} Johanan conceived
Azariah. He is the one who executed the priestly office in the
house that Solomon built in Jerusalem. {6:11} Now Azariah
conceived Amariah, and Amariah conceived Ahitub.
{6:12} Ahitub conceived Zadok, and Zadok conceived
Shallum. {6:13} Shallum conceived Hilkiah, and Hilkiah
conceived Azariah. {6:14} Azariah conceived Seraiah, and
Seraiah conceived Jehozadak. {6:15} Now Jehozadak
departed, when the Lord took away Judah and Jerusalem, by
the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. {6:16} So the sons of Levi
were Gershom, Kohath, and Merari. {6:17} And these are
the names of the sons of Gershom: Libni and Shimei.
{6:18} The sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron,
and Uzziel. {6:19} The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.
And so these are the kindred of Levi, according to their
families. {6:20} Of Gershom: Libni his son, Jahath his son,
Zimmah his son, {6:21} Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his
son, Jeatherai his son. {6:22} The sons of Kohath:
Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son,
{6:23} Elkanah his son, Ebiasaph his son, Assir his son,
{6:24} Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, Shaul
his son. {6:25} The sons of Elkanah: Amasai and Ahimoth
{6:26} and Elkanah. The sons of Elkanah: Zophai his son,
Nahath his son, {6:27} Eliab his son, Jeroham his son,
Elkanah his son. {6:28} The sons of Samuel: Vasseni the
firstborn, and Abijah. {6:29} Now the sons of Merari were:
Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son,
{6:30} Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, Asaiah his son.
{6:31} These are the ones whom David appointed over the
singing men in the house of the Lord, in the place where the
ark was located. {6:32} And they ministered before the
tabernacle of the testimony with singing, until Solomon built
the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. And they would stand
according to their order in the ministry. {6:33} Truly, these
are the ones who were assisting, with their sons, from the
sons of Kohath: the singer Heman, the son of Joel, the son of
Samuel, {6:34} the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the
son of Eliel, the son of Toah, {6:35} the son of Zuph, the son
of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai, {6:36} the
son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of
Zephaniah, {6:37} the son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the
son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, {6:38} the son of Izhar,
the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel.
{6:39} And there was also his brother, Asaph, who was
standing at his right, Asaph, the son of Berechiah, the son of
Shimea, {6:40} the son of Michael, the son of Baaseiah, the
son of Malchyah, {6:41} the son of Ethni, the son of Zerah,
the son of Adaiah, {6:42} the son of Ethan, the son of
Zimmah, the son of Shimei, {6:43} the son of Jahath, the son
of Gershom, the son of Levi. {6:44} Now the sons of Merari,
their brothers, were on the left: Ethan, the son of Kishi, the
son of Abdi, the son of Malluch, {6:45} the son of Hashabiah,
the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah, {6:46} the son of
Amzi, the son of Boni, the son of Shemer, {6:47} the son of
Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi.
{6:48} There were also their brothers, Levites who were
appointed for every ministry of the tabernacle of the house of
the Lord. {6:49} Truly, Aaron and his sons were burning
offerings upon the altar of holocausts and upon the altar of
incense, for the entire work of the Holy of Holies, and to pray
on behalf of Israel, in accord with all the things that Moses,
the servant of God, had instructed. {6:50} Now these are the
sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his
son, {6:51} Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son,
{6:52} Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son,
{6:53} Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son. {6:54} And these are
their habitations according to the villages and confines,
specifically of the sons of Aaron, according to the kindred of
the Kohathites. For it fell to them by lot. {6:55} And so, they
gave Hebron, in the land of Judah, and its suburbs all around,
to them, {6:56} but they gave the fields of the city, and the
villages, to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. {6:57} Then, to the
sons of Aaron, they gave the cities of refuge: Hebron, and
Libnah with its suburbs, {6:58} also Jattir and Eshtemoa with
their suburbs, then also Hilen and Debir with their suburbs,
{6:59} as well as Ashan and Beth-shemesh with their suburbs.
{6:60} And from the tribe of Benjamin: Geba with its suburbs,
and Alemeth with its suburbs, as well as Anathoth with its
suburbs. All the cities throughout their kindred were thirteen.
{6:61} Now to the sons of Kohath, those remaining from
their kindred, they gave ten cities, from the one half tribe of
Manasseh, as a possession; {6:62} and to the sons of
Gershom, according to their families, from the tribe of
Issachar, and from the tribe of Asher, and from the tribe of
Naphtali, and from the tribe Manasseh in Bashan: thirteen
cities. {6:63} Then to the sons of Merari, according to their
families, from the tribe of Reuben, and from the tribe of Gad,
and from the tribe of Zebulun, they gave by lot twelve cities.
{6:64} Also, the sons of Israel gave, to the Levites, cities and
their suburbs, {6:65} and they gave them by lot, out of the
tribe of the sons of Judah, and out of the tribe of the sons of
Simeon, and out of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, these
cities, which they called by their names. {6:66} And for those
who were from the kindred of the sons of Kohath, the cities
with their borders were from the tribe of Ephraim.
{6:67} Then they gave to them the cities of refuge: Shechem
with its suburbs on mount Ephraim, and Gezer with its
suburbs, {6:68} as well as Jokmeam with its suburbs, and
Beth-horon similarly, {6:69} and indeed Hilen with its
suburbs, and Gath Rimmon in the same manner.
{6:70} Then too, out of the one half tribe of Manasseh: Aner
and its suburbs, Bileam and its suburbs; these in particular
went to those who were remaining from the kindred of the
sons of Kohath. {6:71} And to the sons of Gershom, from the
kindred of the one half tribe of Manasseh: Golan, in Bashan,
and its suburbs, and Ashtaroth with its suburbs; {6:72} from
the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh and its suburbs, and Daberath
with its suburbs, {6:73} as well as Ramoth and its suburbs,
and Anem with its suburbs; {6:74} truly, from the tribe of
Asher: Mashal with its suburbs, and Abdon similarly;
{6:75} as well as Hukkok and its suburbs, and Rehob with its
suburbs; {6:76} moreover, from the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh
in Galilee and its suburbs, Hammon with its suburbs, and
Kiriathaim and its suburbs. {6:77} Then to the remaining
sons of Merari, from the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono and its
suburbs, and Tabor with its suburbs; {6:78} and also, across
the Jordan opposite Jericho, facing the east of the Jordan,
from the tribe of Reuben: Bezer in the wilderness with its
suburbs, and Jahzah with its suburbs; {6:79} as well as
Kedemoth and its suburbs, and Mephaath with its suburbs;
{6:80} indeed also, from the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead
and its suburbs, and Mahanaim with its suburbs; {6:81} then
too, Heshbon with its suburbs, and Jazer with its suburbs.


[1 Chronicles 7] {7:1} Now the sons of Issachar were Tola
and Puah, Jashub and Shimron, four. {7:2} The sons of Tola:
Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and Jahmai, and Ibsam, and
Shemuel, leaders according to the houses of their kindred.
From the stock of Tola, there were numbered, in the days of
David, twenty-two thousand six hundred very strong men.
{7:3} The sons of Uzzi: Izrahiah, from whom were born:
Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, and Isshiah; all five were
leaders. {7:4} And with them, by their families and peoples,
there were thirty-six thousand very strong men, girded for
battle. And they had many wives and children. {7:5} Also,
their brothers, throughout all the kindred of Issachar, were
numbered as eighty-seven thousand, very fit for battle.
{7:6} The sons of Benjamin: Bela, and Becher, and Jediael,
three. {7:7} The sons of Bela: Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel,
and Jerimoth and Iri, five leaders of families, also very fit for
battle; and their number was twenty-two thousand thirty-four.
{7:8} Now the sons of Becher: Zemirah, and Joash, and
Eliezer, and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jeremoth, and Abijah,
and Anathoth, and Alemeth: all these were sons of Becher.
{7:9} And they were numbered according to their families, by
the leaders of their kindred, very strong in warfare, twenty
thousand and two hundred. {7:10} And the sons of Jediael:
Bilhan, and the sons of Bilhan: Jeush, and Benjamin, and
Ehud, and Chenaanah, and Zethan, and Tarshish, and
Ahishahar. {7:11} All these were sons of Jediael, the leaders
of their kindred, very strong men, seventeen thousand and
two hundred, going forth to battle. {7:12} Also, Shuppim and
Huppim, the sons of Ir; and Hushim, sons of Aher.
{7:13} Then the sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, and Guni, and
Jezer, and Shallum, sons of Bilhah. {7:14} Also, the son of
Manasseh: Asriel. And his concubine, a Syrian, bore Machir,
the father of Gilead. {7:15} Now Machir took wives for his
sons, Huppim and Shuppim. And he had a sister named
Maacah; but the name of the second was Zelophehad, and
daughters were born to Zelophehad. {7:16} And Maacah, the
wife of Machir, bore a son, and she called his name Peresh.
And the name of his brother was Sheresh. And his sons were
Ulam and Rakem. {7:17} Then the son of Ulam: Bedan.
These are the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of
Manasseh. {7:18} And his sister, Regina, bore Ishhod, and
Abiezer, and Mahlah. {7:19} Now the sons of Shemida were
Ahian, and Shechem, and Likhi and Aniam. {7:20} And the
sons of Ephraim: Shuthelah, Bered his son, Tahath his son,
Eleadah his son, Tahath his son, whose son was Zabad,
{7:21} and his son was Shuthelah, and his son was Ezer, and
also Elead. But the men indigenous to Gath killed them,
because they had descended to invade their possessions.
{7:22} And so their father, Ephraim, mourned for many days;
and his brothers arrived, so that they might console him.
{7:23} And he entered to his wife; she conceived and bore a
son. And he called his name Beriah, because he rose up
during a time of evil for his house. {7:24} Now his daughter
was Sheerah, who built lower and upper Beth-horon, and
also Uzzen-sheerah. {7:25} And Rephah was his son, and
Resheph, and Telah, from whom was born Tahan,
{7:26} who conceived Ladan. And his son was Ammihud,
who conceived Elishama, {7:27} from whom was born Nun,
who had Joshua as a son. {7:28} Now their possessions and
habitations were: Bethel with her daughters, and toward the
east, Naaran, and toward the western region, Gezer and her
daughters, as well as Shechem with her daughters, as far as
Ayyah with her daughters; {7:29} also, beside the sons of
Manasseh, Bethshean and her daughters, Taanach and her
daughters, Megiddo and her daughters, Dor and her
daughters. In these places, there lived the sons of Joseph, the
son of Israel. {7:30} The sons of Asher: Imnah, and Ishvah,
and Ishvi, and Beriah, and Serah their sister. {7:31} And the
sons of Beriah: Heber, and Malchiel, the same is the father of
Birzaith. {7:32} Now Heber conceived Japhlet, and Shomer,
and Hotham, and their sister Shua. {7:33} The sons of
Japhlet: Pasach, and Bimhal, and Ashvath; these are the sons
of Japhlet. {7:34} Then the sons of Shomer: Ahi, and
Rohgah, and Jehubbah, and Aram. {7:35} And the sons of
Helem, his brother: Zophah, and Imna, and Shelesh, and
Amal. {7:36} The sons of Zophah: Suah, Harnepher, and
Shual, and Beri, and Imrah, {7:37} Bezer, and Hod, and
Shamma, and Shilshah, and Ithran, and Beera. {7:38} The
sons of Jether: Jephunneh, and Pispa, and Ara. {7:39} Then
the sons of Ulla: Arah, and Hanniel, and Rizia. {7:40} All
these were sons of Asher, the leaders of families, elect and
very strong rulers among rulers. And the number of those
who were of an age that was fit for warfare was twenty-six
thousand.


[1 Chronicles 8] {8:1} Now Benjamin conceived Bela as his
firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third, {8:2} Nohah
the fourth, and Rapha the fifth. {8:3} And the sons of Bela
were: Addar, and Gera, and Abihud, {8:4} as well as
Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah, {8:5} then also Gera,
and Shephuphan, and Huram. {8:6} These are the sons of
Ehud, leaders of the kindred living in Geba, who were moved
away to Manahath. {8:7} And Naaman, and Ahijah, and
Gera, he also moved them away; and he conceived Uzza and
Ahihud. {8:8} Then Shaharaim conceived, in the region of
Moab, after he sent away Hushim and Baara, his wives;
{8:9} and so, of his wife Hodesh, he conceived Jobab, and
Zibia, and Mesha, and Malcam, {8:10} and also Jeuz and
Sachia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, the leaders of their
families. {8:11} Truly, of Hushim he conceived Abitub and
Elpaal. {8:12} And the sons of Elpaal were Eber, and
Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod and its
daughters. {8:13} Now Beriah and Shema were leaders of
their families living in Ayalon; these put to flight the
inhabitants of Gath. {8:14} And Ahio, and Shashak, and
Jeremoth, {8:15} and Zebadiah, and Arad, and Eder,
{8:16} as well as Michael, and Ishpah, and Joha, were the
sons of Beriah. {8:17} Then Zebadiah, and Meshullam, and
Hizki, and Heber, {8:18} and Ishmerai, and Izliah, and
Jobab were the sons of Elpaal. {8:19} Then Jakim, and Zichri,
and Zabdi, {8:20} and Elienai, and Zillethai, and Eliel,
{8:21} and Adaiah, and Beraiah, and Shimrath were the sons
of Shimei. {8:22} Then Ishpan, and Eber, and Eliel,
{8:23} and Abdon, and Zichri, and Hanan, {8:24} and
Hananiah, and Elam, and Anthothijah, {8:25} and Iphdeiah,
and Penuel were the sons of Shashak. {8:26} Then
Shamsherai, and Shehariah and Athaliah, {8:27} and
Jaareshiah, and Elijah, and Zichri were the sons of Jeroham.
{8:28} These were the patriarchs and leaders of the families
who were living in Jerusalem. {8:29} Now in Gibeon, there
lived Jeiel, the father of Gibeon; and the name of his wife was
Maacah, {8:30} and his firstborn son was Abdon, and then
Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Nadab, {8:31} and Gedor, and
Ahio, and Zecher, and Mikloth. {8:32} And Mikloth
conceived Shimeah. And they lived opposite their brothers in
Jerusalem, with their brothers. {8:33} Now Ner conceived
Kish, and Kish conceived Saul. Then Saul conceived
Jonathan, and Malchishua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal.
{8:34} And the son of Jonathan was Meribbaal; and
Meribbaal conceived Micah. {8:35} The sons of Micah were
Pithon, and Melech, and Tarea, and Ahaz. {8:36} And Ahaz
conceived Jehoaddah. And Jehoaddah conceived Alemeth,
and Azmaveth, and Zimri. And Zimri conceived Moza.
{8:37} And Moza conceived Binea, whose son was Raphah,
of whom was born Eleasah, who conceived Azel.
{8:38} Now there were six sons for Azel, whose names were
Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan.
All these were the sons of Azel. {8:39} Then the sons of
Eshek, his brother, were Ulam the firstborn, and Jeush the
second, and Eliphelet the third. {8:40} And the sons of Ulam
were very robust men, drawing the bow with great strength.
And they had many sons and grandsons, even to one
hundred fifty. All these were sons of Benjamin.


[1 Chronicles 9] {9:1} And so, all of Israel was numbered.
And the sum of them was written in the book of the kings of
Israel and of Judah. And they were taken away to Babylon
because of their transgression. {9:2} Now the first who lived
in their possessions and in their cities were Israel, and the
priests, and the Levites, and the temple servants.
{9:3} Staying in Jerusalem were some from the sons of Judah,
and from the sons of Benjamin, and also from the sons of
Ephraim and of Manasseh: {9:4} Uthai, the son of Ammihud,
the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, from the
sons of Perez, the son of Judah. {9:5} And from Shiloni:
Asaiah the firstborn, and his sons. {9:6} Then from the sons
of Zerah: Jeuel, and their brothers, six hundred ninety.
{9:7} And from the sons of Benjamin: Sallu, the son of
Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah;
{9:8} and Ibneiah, the son of Jeroham; and Elah, the son of
Uzzi, the son of Michri; and Meshullam, the son of
Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah; {9:9} and
their brothers according to their families, nine hundred fifty-
six. All these were leaders of their kindred, according to the
houses of their fathers. {9:10} And from the priests: Jedaiah,
Jehoiarib, and Jachin; {9:11} and also Azariah, the son of
Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of
Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the high priest of the house of
God; {9:12} then Adaiah, the son of Jeroham, the son of
Pashhur, the son of Malchijah; and Maasai, the son of Adiel,
the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of
Meshillemith, the son of Immer; {9:13} and also their
brothers, leaders according to their families, one thousand
seven hundred sixty, very strong experience men, for the
work of the ministry in the house of God. {9:14} Then from
the Levites: Shemaiah, the son of Hasshub, the son of
Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari;
{9:15} and also Bakbakkar the carpenter; and Galal; and
Mattaniah, the son of Mica, the son of Zichri, the son of
Asaph; {9:16} and Obadiah, the son of Shemaiah, the son of
Galal, the son of Jeduthun; and Berechiah, the son of Asa,
the son of Elkanah, who lived at the entrance to Netophah.
{9:17} Now the gatekeepers were Shallum, and Akkub, and
Talmon, and Ahiman; and their brother Shallum was the
leader. {9:18} For until that time, at the gate of the king to
the east, the sons of Levi served in their turns. {9:19} Truly,
Shallum, the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of
Korah, with his brothers and his father’s house, these
Korahites, were over the works of the ministry of keeping the
vestibules of the tabernacle. And their families, in turns, were
keepers of the entrance to the camp of the Lord. {9:20} Now
Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, was their ruler before the Lord.
{9:21} But Zechariah, the son of Meshelemiah, was the
keeper of the gate of the tabernacle of the testimony.
{9:22} All these, chosen as porters for the gates, were two
hundred twelve. And they were recorded in their own towns,
those whom David, and the seer Samuel, appointed, in their
faith, {9:23} as with them, so also with their sons, at the gates
of the house of the Lord and the tabernacle, by their turns.
{9:24} At the four directions, there were gatekeepers, that is,
at the east, and at the west, and at the north, and at the south.
{9:25} Now their brothers were staying in the villages, and
they arrived on their Sabbaths, from time to time. {9:26} To
these four Levites were entrusted the entire number of the
gatekeepers, and they were over the chambers and
storehouses of the house of the Lord. {9:27} And they
remained in their watches, on all sides of the temple of the
Lord, so that, when the time had arrived, they might open the
gates in the morning. {9:28} Some from their kindred were
also over the vessels of the ministry. For the vessels were both
carried in and carried out according to number. {9:29} Some
of them also were entrusted with the equipment of the
sanctuary; they were in charge of the fine wheat flour, and
the wine, and the oil, and the frankincense, and the aromatics.
{9:30} Now the sons of the priests composed the ointments
from the aromatics. {9:31} And Mattithiah, a Levite, the
firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, was in charge of those
things that were cooked in a frying pan. {9:32} Now some of
the sons of Kohath, their brothers, were over the bread of the
presence, so that they might continually prepare it new for
each Sabbath. {9:33} These are the leaders of the singing men,
according to the families of the Levites, who were dwelling in
the chambers, so that they might carry out their ministry
continually, day and night. {9:34} The heads of the Levites,
leaders according to their families, abode in Jerusalem.
{9:35} Now in Gibeon, there lived Jeiel, the father of Gibeon,
and the name of his wife was Maacah. {9:36} His firstborn
son was Abdon, and then Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Ner,
and Nadab, {9:37} as well as Gedor, and Ahio, and
Zechariah, and Mikloth. {9:38} Then Mikloth conceived
Shimeam. These lived opposite their brothers in Jerusalem,
with their brothers. {9:39} Now Ner conceived Kish, and
Kish conceived Saul. And Saul conceived Jonathan, and
Malchishua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal. {9:40} And the son
of Jonathan was Meribbaal. And Meribbaal conceived Micah.
{9:41} Now the sons of Micah were Pithon, and Melech, and
Tahrea, and Ahaz. {9:42} And Ahaz conceived Jarah. And
Jarah conceived Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri. Then
Zimri conceived Moza. {9:43} Truly, Moza conceived Binea,
whose son, Rephaiah, conceived Eleasah, from of whom was
born Azel. {9:44} Now Azel had six sons, whose names are:
Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, Hanan.
These are the sons of Azel.


[1 Chronicles 10] {10:1} Now the Philistines were fighting
against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from the Philistines,
and they fell down wounded on mount Gilboa. {10:2} And
when the Philistines had draw near, pursuing Saul and his
sons, they struck down Jonathan, and Abinadab, and
Malchishua, the sons of Saul. {10:3} And the battle grew
heavy against Saul. And the archers found him, and they
wounded him with arrows. {10:4} And Saul said to his armor
bearer: ““Unsheathe your sword and kill me. Otherwise, these
uncircumcised men may arrive and mock me.” But his armor
bearer was not willing, having been struck with fear. And so,
Saul took hold of his sword, and he fell upon it. {10:5} And
when his armor bearer had seen this, specifically, that Saul
was dead, he now fell on his sword also, and he died.
{10:6} Therefore, Saul died, and his three sons passed away,
and his entire house fell, together. {10:7} And when the men
of Israel who were living in the plains had seen this, they fled.
And since Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their
cities and were dispersed, here and there. And the Philistines
arrived and lived among them. {10:8} Then, on the next day,
when the Philistines were taking away the spoils of the slain,
they found Saul and his sons, lying on mount Gilboa.
{10:9} And when they had despoiled him, and had cut off his
head, and had stripped his armor, they sent these things into
their land, so that they would be carried around and
displayed in the temples of the idols and to the people.
{10:10} But his armor they consecrated in the shrine of their
god, and his head they affixed in the temple of Dagon.
{10:11} When the men of Jabesh Gilead had heard this,
specifically, all that the Philistines had done concerning Saul,
{10:12} each one of the valiant men rose up, and they took
the bodies of Saul and of his sons. And they brought them to
Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak that was
in Jabesh. And they fasted for seven days. {10:13} Thus did
Saul die for his iniquities, because he betrayed the
commandment of the Lord which he had instructed, and did
not keep it. And moreover, he even consulted a woman
diviner; {10:14} for he did not trust in the Lord. Because of
this, he caused his death, and he transferred his kingdom to
David, the son of Jesse.


[1 Chronicles 11] {11:1} Then all of Israel was gathered to
David at Hebron, saying: “We are your bone and your flesh.
{11:2} Also, yesterday and the day before, when Saul still
reigned, you were the one who led out and brought in Israel.
For the Lord your God said to you: ‘You shall pasture my
people Israel, and you shall be the leader over them.’ ”
{11:3} Therefore, all those greater by birth of Israel went to
the king at Hebron. And David formed a pact with them
before the Lord. And they anointed him king over Israel, in
accord with the word of the Lord, which he spoke by the
hand of Samuel. {11:4} Then David and all of Israel went to
Jerusalem. The same is Jebus, where the Jebusites, the
inhabitants of the land, were. {11:5} And those who were
living in Jebus said to David: “You shall not enter here.” But
David seized the stronghold of Zion, which is the city of
David. {11:6} And he said, “Whoever shall strike the
Jebusites first, shall be ruler and commander.” And so Joab,
the son of Zeruiah, ascended first, and he was made the
leader. {11:7} Then David lived in the stronghold, and for
this reason it was called the City of David. {11:8} And he
built up the city all around, from Millo even to every side.
But Joab built the rest of the city. {11:9} And David
continued advancing and increasing, and the Lord of hosts
was with him. {11:10} These are the leaders of the strong
men of David, who assisted him, so that he would become
king over all of Israel, in accord with the word of the Lord,
which he spoke to Israel. {11:11} And this is the number of
the robust of David: Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite,
leader among the thirty. He lifted up his spear over three
hundred, who were wounded at one time. {11:12} And after
him, there was Eleazar, the son of his uncle, an Ahohite, who
was among the three powerful ones. {11:13} He was with
David in Pasdammim, when the Philistines were gathered to
that place for battle. Now the field of that region was full of
barley, but the people had fled from the face of the Philistines.
{11:14} These men stood in the midst of the field, and they
defended it. And when they had struck down the Philistines,
the Lord gave a great salvation to his people. {11:15} Then
three from the thirty leaders descended to the rock where
David was, to the cave of Adullam, when the Philistines had
made camp in the Valley of the Rephaim. {11:16} Now
David was in a stronghold, and a garrison of the Philistines
was in Bethlehem. {11:17} And then David desired and said,
“O if only someone would give me water from the well of
Bethlehem, which is at the gate!” {11:18} Therefore, these
three broke through to the midst of the camp of the
Philistines, and they drew water from the well of Bethlehem,
which was at the gate. And they took it to David, so that he
might drink. But he was not willing; and instead, he offered it
as a libation to the Lord, {11:19} saying: “Far be it from me,
that I would do this in the sight of my God, and that I would
drink the blood of these men. For at the peril of their own
lives, they brought the water to me.” And for this reason, he
was not willing to drink. The three most powerful
accomplished these things. {11:20} Also, Abishai, the brother
of Joab, was the leader of the three, and he lifted up his spear
against three hundred, who were wounded. And he was most
renown among the three, {11:21} and he was famous among
the second three and their leader. Yet truly, he did not reach
as far as the first three. {11:22} Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada,
from Kabzeel, was a very mature man, who had
accomplished many deeds. He struck down the two lions of
God from Moab. And he descended and killed a lion in the
middle of a pit, in the time of snow. {11:23} And he struck
down an Egyptian man, whose stature was five cubits, and
who had a spear like a weaver’s beam. And yet he descended
to him with a staff. And he seized the spear that he was
holding in his hand. And he killed him with his own spear.
{11:24} These things were done by Benaiah, the son of
Jehoiada, who was most renowned among the three robust
ones, {11:25} the first among the thirty. Yet truly, he did not
reach as far as the three. Then David placed him beside his
ear. {11:26} Moreover, the strongest men of the army were
Asahel, the brother of Joab; and Elhanan, the son of his uncle,
from Bethlehem; {11:27} Shammoth, a Harorite; Helez, a
Pelonite; {11:28} Ira, the son of Ikkesh, a Tekoite; Abiezer,
an Anathothite; {11:29} Sibbecai, a Hushathite; Ilai, an
Ahohite; {11:30} Maharai, a Netophathite; Heled, the son of
Baanah, a Netophathite; {11:31} Ithai, the son of Ribai, from
Gibeah, of the sons of Benjamin; Benaiah, a Pirathonite;
{11:32} Hurai, from the torrent Gaash; Abiel, an Arbathite;
Azmaveth, a Baharumite; Eliahba, a  Shaalbonite.
{11:33} The sons of Hashem, a Gizonite: Jonathan, the son
of Shagee, a Hararite; {11:34} Ahiam, the son of Sachar, a
Hararite; {11:35} Eliphal, the son of Ur; {11:36} Hepher, a
Mecherathite; Ahijah, a Pelonite; {11:37} Hezro, a Carmelite;
Naharai, the son of Ezbai; {11:38} Joel, the brother of
Nathan; Mibhar, the son of Hagri; {11:39} Zelek, an
Ammonite; Naarai, a Beerothite, the armor bearer of Joab,
the son of Zeruiah; {11:40} Ira, an Ithrite; Gareb, an Ithrite;
{11:41} Uriah, a Hittite; Zabad, the son of Ahlai;
{11:42} Adina, the son of Shiza, a Reubenite, the leader of
the Reubenites, and thirty who were with him;
{11:43} Hanan, the son of Maacah; and Joshaphat, a
Mithnite; {11:44} Uzzia, an Ashterathite; Shama and Jeiel,
the sons of Hotham, an Aroerite; {11:45} Jediael, the son of
Shimri; and Joha, his brother, a Tizite; {11:46} Eliel, a
Mahavite; and Jeribai and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam;
and Ithmah, a Moabite; Eliel, and Obed, and Jaasiel from
Mezobaite.


[1 Chronicles 12] {12:1} Also, these went to David at Ziklag,
while he was still fleeing from Saul, the son of Kish. And
they were very strong and distinguished fighters,
{12:2} bending the bow, and using either hand in casting
stones with slings, and shooting arrows. From the brothers of
Saul, out of Benjamin: {12:3} the leader was Ahiezer, with
Joash, sons of Shemaah from Gibeah, and Jeziel and Pelet,
sons of Azmaveth, and Beracah and Jehu, from Anathoth.
{12:4} Also, there was Ishmaiah, from Gibeon, the strongest
among the thirty and over the thirty; Jeremiah, and Jahaziel,
and Johanan, and Jozabad, from Gederah; {12:5} and Eluzai,
and Jerimoth, and Bealiah, and Shemariah, and Shephatiah,
the Haruphites; {12:6} Elkanah, and Isshiah, and Azarel, and
Joezer, and Jashobeam, from Carehim; {12:7} and also
Joelah and Zebadiah, sons of Jeroham, from Gedor.
{12:8} Then too, from Gad, there went over to David, when
he was hiding in the desert, very robust men, who were
excellent fighters, taking hold of shield and spear; their faces
were like the faces of a lion, and they were swift like the roe
deer upon the mountains. {12:9} Ezer was the leader,
Obadiah the second, Eliab the third, {12:10} Mishmannah
the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth, {12:11} Attai the sixth, Eliel
the seventh, {12:12} Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,
{12:13} Jeremiah the tenth, Machbannai the eleventh.
{12:14} These were from the sons of Gad, leaders of the
army. The least was in charge of one hundred soldiers, and
the greatest was in charge of one thousand. {12:15} These are
the ones who crossed over the Jordan in the first month,
when it is accustomed to overflow its banks. And they put to
flight all those who were staying in the valleys, to the eastern
region and to the west. {12:16} Then some from Benjamin
and from Judah also arrived at the stronghold where David
was staying. {12:17} And David went out to meet them, and
he said: “If you have arrived peacefully, so as to be a help to
me, may my heart be joined to you; but if to betray me to my
adversaries, though I have no iniquity in my hands, may the
God of our fathers see and judge.” {12:18} Truly, the Spirit
clothed Amasai, the leader among the thirty, and he said: “O
David, we are yours! O son of Jesse, we are for you! Peace,
peace to you, and peace to your helpers. For your God helps
you.” Therefore, David received them, and he appointed
them as leaders of troops. {12:19} Moreover, some from
Manasseh crossed over to David, when he went forth with
the Philistines against Saul, so that he might fight. But he did
not fight with them. For the leaders of the Philistines, taking
counsel, sent him back, saying, “To the peril of our own
heads, he will return to his lord, Saul.” {12:20} And so, when
he returned to Ziklag, some fled over to him from Manasseh:
Adnah, and Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael, and Adnah,
and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zillethai, leaders of thousands
in Manasseh. {12:21} These offered assistance to David
against the robbers. For all were very strong men, and they
became leaders in the army. {12:22} Then, too, some came to
David throughout each day, in order to help him, until they
became a great number, like the army of God. {12:23} Now
this is the number of the leaders of the army who went to
David when he was at Hebron, so that they might transfer the
kingdom of Saul to him, in accord with the word of the Lord:
{12:24} the sons of Judah, carrying shield and spear, six
thousand eight hundred, equipped for battle; {12:25} from
the sons of Simeon, very strong men for the fight, seven
thousand one hundred; {12:26} from the sons of Levi, four
thousand six hundred; {12:27} as well as Jehoiada, a leader
from the stock of Aaron, and with him three thousand seven
hundred; {12:28} and then Zadok, a youth of distinguished
qualities, and the house of his father, twenty-two leaders;
{12:29} and from the sons of Benjamin, brothers of Saul,
three thousand, for still a great part of them were following
the house of Saul. {12:30} Then from the sons of Ephraim,
there were twenty thousand eight hundred, very strong and
robust men, renowned among their kindred. {12:31} And out
of the one half tribe of Manasseh, eighteen thousand, each by
their names, went forth so that they might appoint David as
king. {12:32} Also, from the sons of Issachar, there were
learned men, who knew each of the times, in order to
anticipate what Israel ought to do, two hundred leaders. And
all the remainder of the tribe were following their counsel.
{12:33} Then, from Zebulun, there were those who went
forth to battle, and who were standing in a battle line,
prepared with the weapons of warfare; these fifty thousand
arrived to assist, without duplicity of heart. {12:34} And from
Naphtali, there were one thousand leaders; and with them
were thirty-seven thousand, prepared with shield and spear.
{12:35} And then from Dan, there were twenty-eight
thousand six hundred, ready for battle. {12:36} And from
Asher, there were forty thousand, going forth to fight, and
summoned to the battle line. {12:37} Then, across the Jordan,
there were, from the sons of Reuben, and from Gad, and
from the one half tribe of Manasseh, one hundred twenty
thousand, prepared with the weapons of warfare. {12:38} All
these men of war, equipped for the fight, went with a perfect
heart to Hebron, so that they might appoint David as king
over all of Israel. Then, too, all the remainder of Israel were
of one heart, so that they might make David king.
{12:39} And they were in that place with David for three
days, eating and drinking. For their brothers had made
preparations for them. {12:40} Moreover, those who were
near to them, even as far as Issachar, and Zebulun, and
Naphtali, were bringing, on donkeys and camels and mules
and oxen, bread for their provisions, with grain, dried figs,
dried grapes, wine, oil, and oxen and sheep, with all
abundance. For indeed, there was joy in Israel.


[1 Chronicles 13] {13:1} Then David took counsel with the
tribunes, and the centurions, and all the leaders. {13:2} And
he said to the entire assembly of Israel: “If it pleases you, and
if the words that I speak come from the Lord our God, let us
send to the remainder of our brothers, in all the regions of
Israel, and to the priests and Levites who live in the suburbs
of the cities, so that they may gather to us. {13:3} And let us
bring back the ark of our God to us. For we did not seek it
during the days of Saul.” {13:4} And the entire multitude
responded that it should be done. For the word had pleased
all the people. {13:5} Therefore, David gathered all of Israel,
from Shihor of Egypt even to the entrance of Hamath, so as
to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. {13:6} And
David ascended with all the men of Israel to the hill of
Kiriath-jearim, which is in Judah, so that he might bring from
there the ark of the Lord God, sitting upon the Cherubim,
where his name is invoked. {13:7} And they placed the ark of
God upon a new cart from the house of Abinadab. Then
Uzzah and his brother drove the cart. {13:8} Now David and
all of Israel were playing before God, with all of their ability,
in songs, and with harps, and psalteries, and timbrels, and
cymbals, and trumpets. {13:9} And when they had arrived at
the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah reached out his hand,
so that he might support the ark. For indeed, the ox being
wanton had caused it to incline a little. {13:10} And so the
Lord became angry against Uzzah. And he struck him down
because he had touched the ark. And he died there before the
Lord. {13:11} And David was greatly saddened because the
Lord had divided Uzzah. And he called that place ‘the
Division of Uzzah,’ even to the present day. {13:12} And
then he feared God, at that time, saying: “How will I be able
to bring in the ark of God to myself?” {13:13} And for this
reason, he did not bring it to himself, that is, into the City of
David. Instead, he turned aside to the house of Obededom,
the Gittite. {13:14} Therefore, the ark of God dwelt in the
house of Obededom for three months. And the Lord blessed
his house and all that he had.


[1 Chronicles 14] {14:1} Also, Hiram, the king of Tyre, sent
messengers to David, and cedar wood, and artisans of walls
and of wood, so that they might build a house for him.
{14:2} And David realized that the Lord had confirmed him
as king over Israel, and that his kingdom had been lifted up
over his people Israel. {14:3} Also, David took other wives in
Jerusalem. And he conceived sons and daughters.
{14:4} And these are the names of those who were born to
him in Jerusalem: Shammua and Shobab, Nathan and
Solomon, {14:5} Ibhar, and Elishua, and Elpelet, {14:6} as
well as Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia, {14:7} Elishama,
and Beeliada, and Eliphelet. {14:8} Then, hearing that David
had been anointed as king over all of Israel, all the Philistines
ascended so that they might seek him. But when David had
heard of it, he went out to meet them. {14:9} Now the
Philistines, arriving, spread out in the Valley of the Rephaim.
{14:10} And so David consulted the Lord, saying, “Shall I
ascend to the Philistines, and will you deliver them into my
hand?” And the Lord said to him, “Ascend, and I will deliver
them into your hand.” {14:11} And when they had ascended
to Baal-perazim, David struck them there, and he said: “God
has divided my enemies by my hand, just as waters are
divided.” And therefore the name of that place was called
Baal-perazim. {14:12} And they left behind their gods in that
place, and so David ordered them to be burned. {14:13} And
then, at another time, the Philistines invaded, and they
spread out in the valley. {14:14} And again, David consulted
God. And God said to him: “You shall not ascend after them.
Draw away from them. And you shall come against them
opposite the balsam trees. {14:15} And when you hear a
sound approaching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you
shall go forth to war. For God has gone forth before you, so
that he may strike down the army of the Philistines.”
{14:16} Therefore, David did just as God had instructed him.
And he struck down the army of the Philistines, from Gibeon
as far as Gazera. {14:17} And the name of David became
well-known in all the regions. And the Lord placed the fear of
him over all the nations.


[1 Chronicles 15] {15:1} Also, he made houses for himself in
the City of David. And built a place for the ark of God, and
he set up a tent for it. {15:2} Then David said: “It is illicit for
anyone to carry the ark of God except the Levites, whom the
Lord chose to carry it and to minister to himself, even unto
eternity.” {15:3} And he gathered all of Israel in Jerusalem,
so that the ark of God might be brought into its place, which
he had prepared for it. {15:4} Certainly, there were both the
sons of Aaron and the Levites: {15:5} From the sons of
Kohath, Uriel was the leader, and his brothers were one
hundred twenty. {15:6} From the sons of Merari: Asaiah was
the leader, and his brothers were two hundred twenty.
{15:7} From the sons of Gershom: Joel was the leader, and
his brothers were one hundred thirty. {15:8} From the sons of
Elizaphan: Shemaiah was the leader, and his brothers were
two hundred. {15:9} From the sons of Hebron: Eliel was the
leader, and his brothers were eighty. {15:10} From the sons
of Uzziel: Amminadab was the leader, and his brothers were
one hundred twelve. {15:11} And David summoned the
priests, Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites: Uriel, Asaiah,
Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. {15:12} And he said
to them: “You who are the leaders of the Levitical families,
be sanctified with your brothers, and bring the ark of the Lord
God of Israel to the place that has been prepared for it.
{15:13} Otherwise, as it was before, when the Lord struck us
because you were not present, so also it might be now, if we
do what is illicit.” {15:14} Therefore, the priests and the
Levites were sanctified, so that they might carry the ark of the
Lord God of Israel. {15:15} And the sons of Levi took the
ark of God, just as Moses had instructed, in accord with the
word of the Lord, upon their shoulders by the bars.
{15:16} And David spoke to the leaders of the Levites, so
that they might appoint, from their brothers, singers with
musical instruments, specifically, psalteries, and harps, and
cymbals, so that a joyful noise might resound on high.
{15:17} And they appointed from the Levites: Heman, the
son of Joel; and from his brothers, Asaph, the son of
Berechiah; and truly, from their brothers, the sons of Merari:
Ethan, the son of Kushaiah. {15:18} And with them were
their brothers in the second rank: Zechariah, and Ben, and
Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jahiel, and Unni, and Eliab,
and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu,
and Mikneiah, and Obededom, and Jeiel, who were
gatekeepers. {15:19} Now the singers, Heman, Asaph, and
Ethan, were sounding out with cymbals of brass.
{15:20} And Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and
Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah
were singing mysteries with the psalteries. {15:21} Then
Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah and Obededom,
and Jeiel and Azaziah were singing a song of victory with the
harps, for the octave. {15:22} Now Chenaniah, the leader of
the Levites, was foremost over the prophecies, in order to
mark out in advance the melodies. For indeed, he was very
skillful. {15:23} And Berechiah and Elkanah were porters of
the ark. {15:24} And the priests, Shebaniah, and Joshaphat,
and Nethanel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and
Eliezer, were sounding the trumpets before the ark of God.
And Obededom and Jehiah were porters of the ark.
{15:25} Therefore, David, and all those greater by birth of
Israel, and the tribunes, went to carry the ark of the covenant
of the Lord from the house of Obededom with rejoicing.
{15:26} And when God had assisted the Levites, who were
carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they immolated
seven bulls and seven rams. {15:27} Now David was clothed
with a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were
carrying the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah, the leader
of the prophecy among the singers. But David was also
clothed with a linen ephod. {15:28} And all of Israel were
leading back the ark of the covenant of the Lord with
jubilation, sounding out with the noise of horns, and
trumpets, and cymbals, and psalteries, and harps.
{15:29} And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord had
arrived in the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul,
gazing through a window, saw king David dancing and
playing, and she despised him in her heart.


[1 Chronicles 16] {16:1} And so they took the ark of God,
and they set it in the midst of the tabernacle, which David
had pitched for it. And they offered holocausts and peace
offerings before God. {16:2} And when David had completed
offering holocausts and peace offerings, he blessed the people
in the name of the Lord. {16:3} And he divided to every
single one, from men even to women, a twist of bread, and a
piece of roasted beef, and fine wheat flour fried with oil.
{16:4} And he appointed some from the Levites who would
minister before the ark of the Lord, and commemorate his
works, and glorify and praise the Lord, the God of Israel.
{16:5} Asaph was the leader, and second to him was
Zechariah. In addition, there were Jeiel, and Shemiramoth,
and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and
Obededom. And Jeiel was over the instruments of the
psaltery and the harps. But Asaph sounded out with the
cymbals. {16:6} Truly, the priests, Benaiah and Jahaziel,
were to sound the trumpet continually before the ark of the
covenant of the Lord. {16:7} In that day, David made Asaph
the leader, in order to confess to the Lord with his brothers:
{16:8} “Confess to the Lord, and invoke his name. Make
known his endeavors among the peoples. {16:9} Sing to him,
and sing psalms to him, and describe all his miracles.
{16:10} Praise his holy name! Let the heart of those who seek
the Lord rejoice! {16:11} Seek the Lord and his virtue. Seek
his face always. {16:12} Remember his miracles, which he
has accomplished, his signs, and the judgments of his mouth.
{16:13} O offspring of Israel, his servants! O sons of Jacob,
his elect! {16:14} He is the Lord our God. His judgments are
throughout all the earth. {16:15} Remember forever his
covenant, the word that he instructed unto a thousand
generations, {16:16} the covenant that he formed with
Abraham, and his oath with Isaac. {16:17} And he appointed
the same to Jacob as a precept, and to Israel as an everlasting
pact, {16:18} saying: ‘To you, I will give the land of Canaan,
the lot of your inheritance.’ {16:19} At that time, they were
small in number, they were few and were settlers there.
{16:20} And they passed through, from nation to nation, and
from one kingdom to another people. {16:21} He did not
permit anyone to falsely accuse them. Instead, he reproved
kings on their behalf: {16:22} ‘Do not touch my Christ. And
do not malign my prophets.’ {16:23} Sing to the Lord, all the
earth! Announce his salvation, from day to day.
{16:24} Describe his glory among the Gentiles, his miracles
among all the peoples. {16:25} For the Lord is great and
exceedingly praiseworthy. And he is terrible, above all gods.
{16:26} For all the gods of the peoples are idols. But the Lord
made the heavens. {16:27} Confession and magnificence are
before him. Strength and gladness are in his place.
{16:28} Bring to the Lord, O families of the peoples, bring to
the Lord glory and dominion. {16:29} Give glory to the Lord,
to his name. Lift up sacrifice, and approach before his sight.
And adore the Lord in holy attire. {16:30} Let all the earth be
moved before his face. For he founded the globe immoveable.
{16:31} Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth exult. And
let them say among the nations, ‘The Lord has reigned.’
{16:32} Let the sea roar, with all its plenitude. Let the fields
exult, with all that is in them. {16:33} Then the trees of the
forest will give praise before the Lord. For he comes to judge
the earth. {16:34} Confess to the Lord, for he is good. For his
mercy is eternal. {16:35} And say: ‘Save us, O God our
savior! And gather us together, and rescue us from the
nations, so that we may confess to your holy name, and may
exult in your songs. {16:36} Blessed be the Lord, the God of
Israel, from eternity to eternity.’ And let all the people say,
‘Amen,’ and let them sing a hymn to the Lord.” {16:37} And
so, there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, he left
Asaph and his brothers, so that they might minister in the
sight of the ark continually, throughout each day, and in their
turns. {16:38} Now Obededom and his brothers were sixty-
eight. And he appointed Obededom, the son of Jeduthun,
and Hosah to be porters. {16:39} But Zadok the priest, and
his brothers the priests, were before the tabernacle of the Lord
in the high place, which was in Gibeon, {16:40} so that they
could offer holocausts to the Lord upon the altar of
holocausts continually, morning and evening, according to all
that was written in the law of the Lord, which he instructed
to Israel. {16:41} And after him, Heman, and Jeduthun, and
the remainder of the elect, each one by his name, were
appointed to confess to the Lord: “For his mercy endures
forever.” {16:42} Also Heman and Jeduthun sounded the
trumpet, and they played upon the cymbals, and upon every
kind of musical instrument, in order to sing praises to God.
But the sons of Jeduthun he made to be porters. {16:43} And
all the people returned to their houses, and David also, so
that he might bless his own house too.


[1 Chronicles 17] {17:1} Now when David was living in his
house, he said to the prophet Nathan: “Behold, I live in a
house of cedar. But the ark of the covenant of the Lord is
under tent skins.” {17:2} And Nathan said to David: “Do all
that is in your heart. For God is with you.” {17:3} And yet,
that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying:
{17:4} “Go, and speak to my servant David: Thus says the
Lord: You shall not build a house for me as a dwelling place.
{17:5} For I have not stayed in a house from the time when I
led out Israel, even to this day. Instead, I have been
continually changing places, in a tabernacle and tent,
{17:6} dwelling with all of Israel. When did I ever speak to
any one at all, among the judges of Israel whom I placed in
charge so that they might pasture my people, saying: ‘Why
have you not built a house of cedar for me?’ {17:7} And so,
now you shall say this to my servant David: Thus says the
Lord of hosts: I took you when you were following the flock
in the pastures, so that you would be the leader of my people
Israel. {17:8} And I have been with you wherever you have
gone. And I have slain all your enemies before you, and I
have made a name for you like one of the great ones who are
celebrated upon the earth. {17:9} And I have given a place to
my people Israel. They shall be planted, and they shall live in
it, and they shall no longer be moved. Neither shall the sons
of iniquity wear them away, as in the beginning,
{17:10} from the days when I gave judges to my people Israel,
and I humbled all your enemies. Therefore, I announce to
you that the Lord will build a house for you. {17:11} And
when you will have completed your days, so that you go to
your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who
shall be from your sons. And I will establish his kingdom.
{17:12} He shall build a house for me, and I will make firm
his throne, even unto eternity. {17:13} I will be a father to
him, and he shall be a son to me. And I will not take away
my mercy from him, as I took it away from the one who was
before you. {17:14} And I will station him in my house and
in my kingdom, even forever. And his throne will be very
firm, in perpetuity.” {17:15} According to all these words,
and according to this entire vision, so did Nathan speak to
David. {17:16} And when king David had departed, and had
sat down before the Lord, he said: “Who am I, O Lord God,
and what is my house, that you would grant such things to
me? {17:17} But even this has seemed little in your sight, and
therefore you have also spoken about the house of your
servant even for the future. And you have made me a
spectacle above all men, O Lord God. {17:18} What more
can David add, since you have so glorified your servant, and
have known him? {17:19} O Lord, because of your servant,
in accord with your own heart, you have brought about all
this magnificence, and you have willed all these great things
to be known. {17:20} O Lord, there is no one like you. And
there is no other God apart from you, out of all whom we
have heard about with our ears. {17:21} For what other
single nation upon earth is like your people Israel, to whom
God reached out, so that he might free them, and might
make a people for himself, and by his greatness and
terribleness cast out the nations before the face of those
whom he had freed from Egypt? {17:22} And you have set
your people Israel to be your people, even unto eternity. And
you, O Lord, have become their God. {17:23} Now therefore,
O Lord, let the word that you have spoken to your servant,
and over his house, be confirmed in perpetuity, and do just as
you have spoken. {17:24} And may your name remain and
be magnified even for all time. And let it be said: ‘The Lord
of hosts is the God of Israel. And the house of his servant
David remains forever before him.’ {17:25} For you, O Lord
my God, have revealed to the ear of your servant that you
will build a house for him. And therefore your servant has
found faith so that he might pray before you. {17:26} Now
then, O Lord, you are God. And you have spoken to your
servant such great benefits. {17:27} And you have begun to
bless the house of your servant, so that it may be always
before you. For since it is you who is blessing, O Lord, it
shall be blessed forever.”


[1 Chronicles 18] {18:1} Now after these things, it happened
that David struck the Philistines, and he humbled them, and
he took Gath and her daughters from the hand of the
Philistines. {18:2} And he struck Moab. And the Moabites
became the servants of David, offering gifts to him. {18:3} In
that time, David also struck Hadadezer, the king of Zobah, in
the region of Hamath, when he went forth so that he might
extend his dominion as far as the river Euphrates.
{18:4} Then David seized one thousand of his four-horse
chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand
men on foot. And he hamstrung all the chariot horses, except
for one hundred four-horse chariots, which he reserved for
himself. {18:5} Then the Syrians of Damascus also arrived,
so that they might offer assistance to Hadadezer, the king of
Zobah. And so, David then struck of them twenty-two
thousand men. {18:6} And he stationed soldiers in Damascus,
so that Syria also would serve him, and would offer gifts.
And the Lord assisted him in all the things to which he went
forth. {18:7} Also, David took the golden quivers, which the
servants of Hadadezer had, and he brought them to
Jerusalem. {18:8} In addition, from Tibhath and Cun, cities
of Hadadezer, he brought very much brass, from which
Solomon made the sea of brass, and the pillars, and the
vessels of brass. {18:9} Now when Toi, the king of Hamath,
had heard this, specifically that David had struck the entire
army of Hadadezer, the king of Zobah, {18:10} he sent his
son Hadoram to king David so that he might petition peace
from him, and so that he might congratulate him that he had
struck and defeated Hadadezer. For indeed, Toi was an
adversary to Hadadezer. {18:11} Moreover, all the vessels of
gold and silver and brass king David consecrated to the Lord,
with the silver and gold that he had taken from all the nations,
as much from Idumea, and Moab, and the sons of Ammon,
as from the Philistines and Amalek. {18:12} Truly, Abishai,
the son of Zeruiah, struck eighteen thousand of the Edomites
in the Valley of the Salt Pits. {18:13} And he stationed a
garrison in Edom, so that Idumea would serve David. And
the Lord saved David in all the things to which he went forth.
{18:14} Therefore, David reigned over all of Israel, and he
executed judgment and justice among all his people.
{18:15} Now Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was over the army,
and Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was the keeper of
records. {18:16} And Zadok, the son of Ahitub, and
Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, were the priests. And
Shavsha was the scribe. {18:17} Also, Benaiah, the son of
Jehoiada, was over the legions of the Cherethites and
Pelethites. But the sons of David were first at the hand of the
king.


[1 Chronicles 19] {19:1} Now it happened that Nahash, the
king of the sons of Ammon, died, and his son reigned in his
place. {19:2} And David said: “I will act with mercy toward
Hanun, the son of Nahash. For his father was gracious to
me.” And so David sent messengers to console him over the
death of his father. But when they had reached the land of the
sons of Ammon, so that they might console Hanun,
{19:3} the leaders of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun: “Do
you think that perhaps David has sent them to console you in
order to honor your father? Have you not noticed that his
servants came to you so that they might explore, and
investigate, and examine your land?” {19:4} And so Hanun
shaved the heads and beards of the servants of David, and he
cut away their tunics from the buttocks to the feet, and he
sent them away. {19:5} And when they had gone, and had
sent word to David, (for they had suffered a great disgrace,)
he sent to meet them, and he instructed them that they should
remain at Jericho until their beards grew, and then they
should return. {19:6} Then, when the sons of Ammon
realized that they had committed an injury against David,
both Hanun and the rest of the people sent one thousand
talents of silver, so that they might hire for themselves
chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, and from Syrian
Maacah, and from Zobah. {19:7} And they hired thirty-two
thousand chariots, and the king of Maacah with his people.
When these had arrived, they made camp in the region
opposite Medeba. Also, the sons of Ammon, gathering from
their cities, went to war. {19:8} And when David had heard
this, he sent Joab and the entire army of strong men.
{19:9} And the sons of Ammon, going out, set up a battle
line before the gate of the city. But the kings who had come
to their aid stood separately in the field. {19:10} And so Joab,
understanding the war to be set facing him and behind his
back, chose the strongest men from all of Israel, and he went
out against the Syrians. {19:11} But the remaining portion of
the people he placed under the hand of his brother Abishai.
And they went out against the sons of Ammon. {19:12} And
he said: “If the Syrians prevail over me, then you shall be a
help to me. But if the sons of Ammon prevail over you, I will
be a safeguard for you. {19:13} Be strengthened, and let us
act manfully on behalf of our people, and on behalf of the
cities of our God. And the Lord will do what is good in his
own sight.” {19:14} Therefore, Joab, and the people who
were with him, went out to battle against the Syrians. And he
put them to flight. {19:15} Then the sons of Ammon, seeing
that the Syrians had fled, also themselves fled from Abishai,
his brother, and they entered into the city. And now Joab
returned to Jerusalem. {19:16} But the Syrians, seeing that
they had fallen before Israel, sent messengers, and they
brought the Syrians who were across the river. And
Shophach, the leader of the military of Hadadezer, was their
commander. {19:17} When this had been reported to David,
he gathered together all of Israel, and he crossed the Jordan.
And he rushed toward them. And he set up a battle line
facing them. And they fought against him. {19:18} But the
Syrians fled from Israel. And David killed of the Syrians
seven thousand chariots, and forty thousand men on foot,
and Shophach, the leader of the army. {19:19} Then the
servants of Hadadezer, seeing themselves to be overwhelmed
by Israel, crossed over to David, and they served him. And
Syria was no longer willing to offer aid to the sons of Ammon.


[1 Chronicles 20] {20:1} Now it happened that, after the
course of a year, in the time when kings usually go forth to
war, Joab gathered an army with experienced soldiers, and he
laid waste to the land of the sons of Ammon. And he
continued on and besieged Rabbah. But David was staying in
Jerusalem when Joab struck Rabbah and destroyed it.
{20:2} Then David took the crown of Milcom from his head,
and he found in it the weight of one talent of gold, and very
precious gems. And he made for himself a diadem from it.
Also, he took the best spoils of the city, which were very
many. {20:3} Then he led away the people who were in it.
And he caused plows, and sleds, and iron chariots to go over
them, so much so that they were cut apart and crushed. So
did David treat all the cities of the sons of Ammon. And he
returned with all his people to Jerusalem. {20:4} After these
things, a war was begun at Gezer against the Philistines, in
which Sibbecai the Hushathite struck Sippai from the race of
the Rephaim, and he humbled them. {20:5} Also, another
war was undertaken against the Philistines, in which
Adeodatus, a son of the forest, a Bethlehemite, struck the
brother of Goliath the Gittite, the wood of whose spear was
like a weaver’s beam. {20:6} Then too, another war occurred
in Gath, in which there was a very tall man, having six digits,
that is, all together twenty-four. This man too was born from
the stock of the Rephaim. {20:7} He blasphemed Israel. And
Jonathan, the son of Shimea, the brother of David, struck
him down. These were the sons of the Rephaim in Gath, who
fell by the hand of David and his servants.


[1 Chronicles 21] {21:1} Now Satan rose up against Israel,
and he incited David so that he would number Israel.
{21:2} And David said to Joab and to the leaders of the
people: “Go, and number Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan.
And bring me the number, so that I may know it.”
{21:3} And Joab responded: “May the Lord increase his
people a hundred times more than they are. But, my lord the
king, are they not all your servants? Why would my lord seek
this thing, which may be imputed as a sin to Israel?”
{21:4} But the word of the king prevailed instead. And Joab
went away, and he traveled around, through all of Israel.
And he returned to Jerusalem. {21:5} And he gave to David
the number of those whom he had surveyed. And the entire
number of Israel was found to be one million and one
hundred thousand men who could draw the sword; but from
Judah, there were four hundred and seventy thousand men of
war. {21:6} But Levi and Benjamin he did not number. For
Joab executed the orders of the king unwillingly. {21:7} Then
God was displeased with what had been ordered, and so he
struck Israel. {21:8} And David said to God: “I have sinned
exceedingly in doing this. I beg you take away the iniquity of
your servant. For I have acted unwisely.” {21:9} And the
Lord spoke to Gad, the seer of David, saying: {21:10} “Go,
and speak to David, and tell him: Thus says the Lord: I give
to you the option of three things. Choose the one that you
will want, and I will do it to you.” {21:11} And when Gad
had gone to David, he said to him: “Thus says the Lord:
Choose what you will want: {21:12} Either three years of
famine, or three months for you to flee from your enemies,
unable to escape from their sword, or three days for the
sword of the Lord and a pestilence to turn within the land,
with the Angel of the Lord killing in every part of Israel. Now
therefore, see what I should respond to him who sent me.”
{21:13} And David said to Gad: “There are difficulties
pressing upon me from every side. But it is better for me to
fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are many, than
into the hands of men.” {21:14} Therefore, the Lord sent a
pestilence upon Israel. And there fell from Israel seventy
thousand men. {21:15} Also, he sent an Angel to Jerusalem,
so that he might strike it. And while he was striking, the Lord
saw and took pity over the magnitude of the harm. And he
commanded the Angel who was striking: “It is enough. Now
let your hand cease.” And the Angel of the Lord was
standing beside the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
{21:16} And David, lifting up his eyes, saw the Angel of the
Lord, standing between heaven and earth with a drawn
sword in his hand, turned toward Jerusalem. And both he
and those greater by birth, being clothed in haircloth, fell
prone upon the ground. {21:17} And David said to God:
“Am I not the one who ordered that the people be numbered?
It is I who sinned; it is I who did evil. This flock, what does it
deserve? O Lord my God, I beg you to let your hand be
turned against me and against the house of my father. But let
not your people be struck down.” {21:18} Then the Angel of
the Lord instructed Gad to tell David that he should ascend
and build an altar to the Lord God on the threshing floor of
Ornan the Jebusite. {21:19} Therefore, David ascended, in
accord with the word of Gad, which he had spoken to him in
the name of the Lord. {21:20} Now when Ornan had looked
up and seen the Angel, he and his four sons hid themselves.
For at that time, he was threshing wheat upon the floor.
{21:21} Then, as David was approaching Ornan, Ornan saw
him, and he went out from the threshing floor to meet him.
And he reverenced him prone on the ground. {21:22} And
David said to him: “Give this place of your threshing floor to
me, so that I may build an altar to the Lord upon it. And you
shall accept from me as much money as it is worth, so that
the plague may cease from the people.” {21:23} But Ornan
said to David: “Take it, and may my lord the king do
whatever pleases him. Moreover, I give the oxen also as a
holocaust, and the plow for wood, and the wheat for a
sacrifice. I will offer all freely.” {21:24} And king David said
to him: “By no means shall it be so. Instead, I will give
money to you, as much as it is worth. For I must not take it
from you, and thereby offer to the Lord holocausts that cost
nothing.” {21:25} Therefore, David gave Ornan, for the place,
the very just weight of six hundred shekels of gold.
{21:26} And he built an altar to the Lord there. And he
offered holocausts and peace offerings, and he called upon
the Lord. And he heeded him by sending fire from heaven
upon the altar of the holocaust. {21:27} And the Lord
instructed the Angel, and he turned his sword back into its
sheath. {21:28} Then, seeing that the Lord had heeded him at
the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, David immediately
immolated victims there. {21:29} But the tabernacle of the
Lord, which Moses had made in the desert, and the altar of
holocausts, were at that time on the high place of Gibeon.
{21:30} And David was unable to go to the altar, so that he
might pray to God there. For he had been struck with an
exceedingly great fear, seeing the sword of the Angel of the
Lord.


[1 Chronicles 22] {22:1} And David said, “This is the house
of God, and this is the altar for the holocaust of Israel.”
{22:2} And he instructed them to gather all the new converts
from the land of Israel. And from these he appointed
stoneworkers, to hew stones and to polish them, so that he
might build the house of God. {22:3} Also, David prepared
very much iron to use for the nails of the gates, and for the
seams and joints, as well as an immeasurable weight of brass.
{22:4} Also, the cedar trees, which the Sidonians and Tyrians
had transported to David, were not able to be counted.
{22:5} And David said: “My son Solomon is a young and
tender boy. But the house that I desire to be built to the Lord
ought to be so great that it is renowned in every region.
Therefore, I will prepare what will be necessary for him.”
And for this reason, before his death, he prepared all the
expenses. {22:6} And he called for Solomon, his son. And he
instructed him to build a house to the Lord, the God of Israel.
{22:7} And David said to Solomon: “My son, it was my will
that I build a house to the name of the Lord my God.
{22:8} But the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ‘You
have shed much blood, and you have battled in many wars.
You are not able to build a house to my name, so great was
the shedding of blood before me. {22:9} The son who shall be
born to you will be a very quiet man. For I will cause him to
have rest from all his enemies on every side. And for this
reason, he shall be called Peaceful. And I will grant peace
and tranquility to Israel during all his days. {22:10} He shall
build a house to my name. And he shall be a son to me, and I
will be a father to him. And I will establish the throne of his
kingdom over Israel unto eternity.’ {22:11} Now then, my
son, may the Lord be with you, and may you prosper and
build a house to the Lord your God, just as he has spoken
concerning you. {22:12} Also, may the Lord give you
prudence and understanding, so that you may be able to rule
Israel and to guard the law of the Lord your God.
{22:13} For then you will be able to advance, if you keep the
commandments and judgments that the Lord instructed
Moses to teach to Israel. Be strengthened and act manfully.
You should not fear, and you should not dread.
{22:14} Behold, in my poverty I have prepared the expenses
for the house of the Lord: one hundred thousand talents of
gold, and one million of talents of silver. Yet truly, there is no
measuring the brass and the iron. For their magnitude is
beyond numbering. And I have prepared the timber and the
stones for the entire project. {22:15} Also, you have very
many artisans: stoneworkers, and builders of walls, and
craftsmen of wood, and those most prudent in doing the work
of every art, {22:16} with gold and silver, and with brass and
iron, of which there is no number. Therefore, rise up and act.
And the Lord will be with you.” {22:17} Also, David
instructed all the leaders of Israel, so that they would assist
his son Solomon, {22:18} saying: “You discern that the Lord
your God is with you, and that he has given you rest on all
sides, and that he has delivered all your enemies into your
hands, and that the land has been subdued before the Lord
and before his people. {22:19} Therefore, offer your hearts
and your souls, so that you seek the Lord your God. And rise
up and build a sanctuary to the Lord God, so that the ark of
the covenant of the Lord, and the vessels consecrated to the
Lord, may be brought into the house that is built to the name
of the Lord.”


[1 Chronicles 23] {23:1} Then David, being old and full of
days, appointed his son Solomon as king over Israel.
{23:2} And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel, with
the priests as well as the Levites. {23:3} And the Levites were
numbered from the age of thirty years and upward. And there
were found thirty-eight thousand men. {23:4} Of these,
twenty-four thousand were chosen and distributed to the
ministry of the house of the Lord. Then six thousand were
overseers and judges. {23:5} Moreover, four thousand were
porters. And the same number were the singers of psalms to
the Lord, with the musical instruments which he had made
for the music. {23:6} And David distributed them into
courses according to the sons of Levi, specifically, Gershom,
and Kohath, and Merari. {23:7} The sons of Gershom:
Ladan and Shimei. {23:8} The sons of Ladan: the leader
Jahiel, and Zetham, and Joel, three. {23:9} The sons of
Shimei: Shelomoth, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These
were the leaders of the families of Ladan. {23:10} Then the
sons of Shimei: Jahath, and Zizah, and Jeush, and Beriah.
These were the sons of Shimei, four. {23:11} Now Jahath
was first, Zizah second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have
many sons, and for this reason they were reckoned as one
family and one house. {23:12} The sons of Kohath: Amram
and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel, four. {23:13} The sons of
Amram: Aaron and Moses. Now Aaron was separated so
that he might minister in the Holy of Holies, he and his sons
forever, and so that he might burn incense to the Lord,
according to his rite, and so that he might bless his name in
perpetuity. {23:14} The sons of Moses, the man of God, were
also numbered in the tribe of Levi. {23:15} The sons of
Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. {23:16} The sons of Gershom:
Shebuel the first. {23:17} Now the sons of Eliezer were
Rehabiah the first. And there were no other sons for Eliezer.
But the sons of Rehabiah were multiplied exceedingly.
{23:18} The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the first. {23:19} The
sons of Hebron: Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel
the third, Jéekameam the fourth. {23:20} The sons of Uzziel:
Micah the first, Isshiah the second. {23:21} The sons of
Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and
Kish. {23:22} Then Eleazar died, and had no sons, but only
daughters. And so the sons of Kish, their brothers, married
them. {23:23} The sons of Mushi: Mahli, and Eder, and
Jeremoth, three. {23:24} These are the sons of Levi, in their
kindred and families, leaders in turns, and the number of
each of the heads who were doing the works of the ministry
of the house of the Lord, from twenty years of age and
upward. {23:25} For David said: “The Lord, the God of
Israel, has given rest to his people, and a habitation in
Jerusalem even unto eternity. {23:26} Neither shall it be the
office of the Levites any more to carry the tabernacle with all
its equipment for use in the ministry.” {23:27} Also,
according to the last precepts of David, the sons of Levi shall
be counted by number from twenty years of age and upward.
{23:28} And they shall be under the hand of the sons of
Aaron, in the care of the house of the Lord, in the vestibule,
and in the chambers, and in the place of purification, and in
the sanctuary, and in all the works of the ministry of the
temple of the Lord. {23:29} But the priests shall be over the
bread of the presence, and the sacrifice of fine wheat flour,
and the unleavened cakes, and the frying pan, and the
roasting, and over every weight and measure. {23:30} Yet
truly, the Levites shall stand to confess and to sing to the
Lord, in the morning, and similarly in the evening,
{23:31} as much in the oblation of the holocausts of the Lord,
as in the Sabbaths and new moons and other solemnities,
according to the number and ceremonies for each and every
matter, perpetually before the Lord. {23:32} And let them
keep the observances of the tabernacle of the covenant, and
the rituals of the sanctuary, and the observance of the sons of
Aaron, their brothers, so that they may minister in the house
of the Lord.


[1 Chronicles 24] {24:1} Now these were the divisions of the
sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, and Abihu, and
Eleazar, and Ithamar. {24:2} But Nadab and Abihu died
before their father, and without children. And so Eleazar and
Ithamar exercised the priestly office. {24:3} And David
distributed them, that is, Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and
Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their courses
and ministry. {24:4} And there were found many more of the
sons of Eleazar among the leading men, than of the sons of
Ithamar. Therefore, he divided them so that there were, of
the sons of Eleazar, sixteen leaders by their families, and of
the sons of Ithamar eight by their families and houses.
{24:5} Then he divided among them, in both families, by lot.
For there were leaders of the sanctuary and leaders of God,
as much from the sons of Eleazar as from the sons of Ithamar.
{24:6} And the scribe Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel, a
Levite, wrote these down before the king and the leaders,
with Zadok, the priest, and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar,
and also the leaders of the priestly and Levitical families. And
there was one house, which was preeminent over the others,
that of Eleazar; and there was another house, which had the
others under it, that of Ithamar. {24:7} Now the first lot went
forth to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, {24:8} the third to
Harim, the fourth to Seorim, {24:9} the fifth to Malchyah,
the sixth to Miamin, {24:10} the seventh to Hakkoz, the
eighth to Abyah, {24:11} the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to
Shecaniah, {24:12} the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to
Jakim, {24:13} the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to
Jeshebeab, {24:14} the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to
Immer, {24:15} the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to
Happizzez, {24:16} the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the
twentieth to Jehezkel, {24:17} the twenty-first to Jachin, the
twenty-second to Gamul, {24:18} the twenty-third to Delaiah,
the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. {24:19} These were their
courses according to their ministries, so that they would enter
into the house of the Lord in accord with their practice, under
the hand of Aaron, their father, just as the Lord, the God of
Israel, had instructed. {24:20} Now of the sons of Levi who
were remaining, there were Shubael, from the sons of Amram,
and Jehdeiah, from the sons of Shubael. {24:21} Also, there
were Isshiah, the leader from the sons of Rehabiah,
{24:22} and truly Shelomoth, the son of Izhar, and Jahath,
the son of Shelomoth, {24:23} and his son, Jeriah the first,
Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jéekameam the fourth.
{24:24} The son of Uzziel was Micah. The son of Micah was
Shamir. {24:25} The brother of Micah was Isshiah. And the
son of Isshiah was Zechariah. {24:26} The sons of Merari
were Mahli and Mushi. The son of Uzziah was Beno.
{24:27} Also, the son of Merari: Uzziah, and Shoham, and
Zaccur, and Hebri. {24:28} In addition, the son of Mahli was
Eleazar, who had no children. {24:29} Truly, the son of Kish
was Jerahmeel. {24:30} The sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder,
and Jerimoth. These were the sons of Levi according to the
houses of their families. {24:31} And they also cast lots
concerning their brothers, the sons of Aaron, before David
the king, and Zadok, and Ahimelech, and the leaders of the
priestly and Levitical families, as much concerning the elder
as the younger. The lot divided all things equitably.


[1 Chronicles 25] {25:1} Then David and the magistrates of
the army set apart, for the ministry, the sons of Asaph, and of
Heman, and of Jeduthun, who were to prophesy with harps
and psalteries and cymbals, in accord with their number,
having been dedicated to their appointed office. {25:2} From
the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and
Asharelah, the sons of Asaph, under the hand of Asaph,
prophesying beside the king. {25:3} Then of Jeduthun, the
sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, and Hashabiah,
and Mattithiah, six, under the hand of their father Jeduthun,
who was prophesying with stringed instruments, while
confessing and praising the Lord. {25:4} Also, of Heman, the
sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, and
Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and
Romamtiezer, and Joshbekashah, Maallothi, Hothir,
Mahazioth. {25:5} All these were the sons of Heman, the
seer of the king in the words of God, in order to lift up the
horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three
daughters. {25:6} All these, under their father’s hand, were
distributed in order to sing in the temple of the Lord, with
cymbals and psalteries and harps, in the ministry of the house
of the Lord beside the king, specifically, Asaph, and Jeduthun,
and Heman. {25:7} Now the number of these, with their
brothers, who were instructing in the song of the Lord, all the
teachers, were two hundred eighty-eight. {25:8} And they
cast lots in their turns, the elder equally with the younger, the
learned together with the unlearned. {25:9} And the first lot
went forth to Joseph, who was of Asaph; the second went
forth to Gedaliah, to him and his sons and his brothers,
twelve. {25:10} The third went to Zaccur, to his sons and
brothers, twelve. {25:11} The fourth went to Izri, to his sons
and brothers, twelve. {25:12} The fifth went to Nethaniah, to
his sons and brothers, twelve. {25:13} The sixth went to
Bukkiah, to his sons and brothers, twelve. {25:14} The
seventh went to Jesharelah, to his sons and brothers, twelve.
{25:15} The eighth went to Jeshaiah, to his sons and brothers,
twelve. {25:16} The ninth went to Mattaniah, to his sons and
brothers, twelve. {25:17} The tenth went to Shimei, to his
sons and brothers, twelve. {25:18} The eleventh went to
Azarel, to his sons and brothers, twelve. {25:19} The twelfth
went to Hashabiah, to his sons and brothers, twelve.
{25:20} The thirteenth went to Shubael, to his sons and
brothers, twelve. {25:21} The fourteenth went to Mattithiah,
to his sons and brothers, twelve. {25:22} The fifteenth went
to Jeremoth, to his sons and brothers, twelve. {25:23} The
sixteenth went to Hananiah, to his sons and brothers, twelve.
{25:24} The seventeenth went to Joshbekashah, to his sons
and brothers, twelve. {25:25} The eighteenth went to Hanani,
to his sons and brothers, twelve. {25:26} The nineteenth went
to Mallothi, to his sons and his brothers, twelve. {25:27} The
twentieth went to Eliathah, to his sons and brothers, twelve.
{25:28} The twenty-first went to Hothir, to his sons and
brothers, twelve. {25:29} The twenty-second went to Giddalti,
to his sons and brothers, twelve. {25:30} The twenty-third
went to Mahazioth, to his sons and brothers, twelve.
{25:31} The twenty-fourth went to Romamtiezer, to his sons
and brothers, twelve.


[1 Chronicles 26] {26:1} Now the divisions of the porters
were, from the Korahites: Meshelemiah, the son of Kore, of
the sons of Asaph. {26:2} The sons of Meshelemiah:
Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the
third, Jathniel the fourth, {26:3} Elam the fifth, Jehohanan
the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh. {26:4} Then the sons of
Obededom: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second,
Joah the third, Sachar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth,
{26:5} Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peullethai the
eighth. For the Lord had blessed him. {26:6} Now to his son
Shemaiah, there were born sons, rulers of their families. For
they were very strong men. {26:7} Then the sons of
Shemaiah were Othni, and Rephael, and Obed, Elzabad and
his brothers, very strong men, as well as Elihu and
Semachiah. {26:8} All these were from the sons of
Obededom: they and their sons and brothers, very fit for the
ministry, sixty-two from Obededom. {26:9} Then there were
the sons of Meshelemiah and their brothers, very robust men,
eighteen. {26:10} Now, from Hosah, that is, from the sons of
Merari: Shimri the leader, for he had not had a firstborn son,
and so, because of this, his father had appointed him as the
leader, {26:11} Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third,
Zechariah the fourth. All these, the sons and brothers of
Hosah, were thirteen. {26:12} These were distributed as
porters, so that the leaders of the posts, as well as their
brothers, were ministering continually in the house of the
Lord. {26:13} Then they cast lots equally, for both the small
and the great, by their families, concerning each one of the
gates. {26:14} And the lot of the east fell out to Shelemiah.
But to his son Zechariah, a very prudent and learned man,
the northern section was obtained by lot. {26:15} Truly,
Obededom and his sons obtained that to the south, in the part
of the house where the council of elders was.
{26:16} Shuppim and Hosah obtained that toward the west,
beside the gate that leads to the way of the ascent, one post
facing the other. {26:17} Truly, toward the east there were six
Levites, and toward the north there were four per day, and
then toward the south similarly there were four each day.
And where the council was, there were two and two.
{26:18} Also, in the cells of the porters toward the west, there
were four along the way, and two at every cell. {26:19} These
are the divisions of the porters of the sons of Kohath and of
Merari. {26:20} Now Ahijah was over the treasuries of the
house of God, and the holy vessels. {26:21} The sons of
Ladan, sons of Gershon: from Ladan, leaders of the families
of Ladan and of Gershon: Jehieli. {26:22} The sons of Jehieli:
Zetham and Joel; his brothers were over the treasuries of the
house of the Lord, {26:23} with the Amramites, and Izharites,
and Hebronites, and Uzzielites. {26:24} Now, Shebuel, the
son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was in the first place over
the treasuries, {26:25} along with his brothers, Eliezer, and
his son Rehabiah, and his son Jeshaiah, and his son Joram,
and also his son Zichri, and his son Shelomoth. {26:26} The
same Shelomoth and his brothers were over the treasuries of
the holy things, which king David sanctified, with the leaders
of the families, and the tribunes, and the centurions, and the
commanders of the army. {26:27} These things were from
the wars and from the best spoils of the battles, which they
had consecrated for the repair and the furnishing of the
temple of the Lord. {26:28} Now all these things were
sanctified by Samuel, the seer, and by Saul, the son of Kish,
and by Abner, the son of Ner, and by Joab, the son of
Zeruiah. All those who had sanctified these were under the
hand of Shelomoth and his brothers. {26:29} Yet truly,
Chenaniah and his sons were over the Izharites, for the
exterior works concerning Israel, in order to teach and to
judge them. {26:30} Now from the Hebronites, Hashabiah
and his brothers, one thousand seven hundred very strong
men, were in charge of Israel across the Jordan toward the
west, in all the works of the Lord, and in the ministry of the
king. {26:31} And the leader of the Hebronites was Jerijah,
according to their families and kindred. In the fortieth year of
the reign of David, they were numbered, and there were
found very strong men in Jazer Gilead. {26:32} And his
brothers of a mature age were two thousand seven hundred
leaders of families. Then king David placed them in charge of
the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the one half tribe of
Manasseh, in all of the ministries of God and of the king.


[1 Chronicles 27] {27:1} Now the sons of Israel, according to
their number, the leaders of the families, the tribunes, and the
centurions, and the chiefs, who were ministering to the king
by their companies, entering and departing in each month of
the year as they were in charge, were twenty-four thousand.
{27:2} Jashobeam, the son of Zabdiel, was in charge of the
first company in the first month; and under him were twenty-
four thousand. {27:3} He was from the sons of Perez, and he
was the leader of all the other leaders in the army, in the first
month. {27:4} The company of the second month had Dodai,
an Ahohite; and after him there was another, named Mikloth,
who ruled over a portion of the army of the twenty-four
thousand. {27:5} Also, the commander of the third company,
in the third month, was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the
priest; and in his division there were twenty-four thousand.
{27:6} The same is the Benaiah who was strongest among the
thirty, and was above the thirty. But his son, Ammizabad,
was in charge of his company. {27:7} The fourth, for the
fourth month, was Asahel, the brother of Joab, and his son
Zebadiah after him; and in his company there were twenty-
four thousand. {27:8} The fifth leader, for the fifth month,
was Shamhuth, an Izrahite; and in his company there were
twenty-four thousand. {27:9} The sixth, for the sixth month,
was Ira, the son of Ikkesh, a Tekoite; and in his company
there were twenty-four thousand. {27:10} The seventh, for
the seventh month, was Helez, a Pelonite from the sons of
Ephraim; and in his company there were twenty-four
thousand. {27:11} The eighth, for the eighth month, was
Sibbecai, a Hushathite from the stock of the Zerahites; and in
his company there were twenty-four thousand. {27:12} The
ninth, for the ninth month, was Abiezer, an Anathothite from
the sons of Benjamin; and in his company there were twenty-
four thousand. {27:13} The tenth, for the tenth month, was
Maharai, and he was a Netophathite from the stock of the
Zerahites; and in his company there were twenty-four
thousand. {27:14} The eleventh, for the eleventh month, was
Benaiah, a Pirathonite from the sons of Ephraim; and in his
company there were twenty-four thousand. {27:15} The
twelfth, for the twelfth month, was Heldai, a Netophathite
from the stock of Othniel; and in his company there were
twenty-four thousand. {27:16} Now those who were first
over the tribes of Israel were these: over the Reubenites,
Eliezer, the son of Zichri, was the ruler; over the Simeonites,
Shephatiah, the son of Maacah, was the ruler; {27:17} over
the Levites, Hashabiah, the son of Kemuel; over the
Aaronites, Zadok; {27:18} over Judah, Elihu, the brother of
David; over Issachar, Omri, the son of Michael; {27:19} over
the Zebulunites, Ishmaiah, the son of Obadiah; over the
Naphtalites, Jeremoth, the son of Azriel; {27:20} over the
sons of Ephraim, Hoshea, the son of Azaziah; over the one
half tribe of Manasseh, Joel, the son of Pedaiah; {27:21} and
over the one half tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo, the son
of Zechariah; then over Benjamin, Jaasiel, the son of Abner;
{27:22} yet truly, Azarel, the son of Jeroham, was over Dan.
These were the leaders of the sons of Israel. {27:23} But
David was not willing to number them from twenty years old
and under. For the Lord had said that he would multiply
Israel like the stars of heaven. {27:24} Joab, the son of
Zeruiah, had begun to number, but he did not finish. For
because of this, wrath had fallen upon Israel. And therefore
the number of those who had been counted was not related in
the official records of king David. {27:25} Now over the
storerooms of the king was Azmaveth, the son of Adiel. But
Jonathan, the son of Uzziah, was over those storerooms that
were in the cities, and in the villages, and in the towers.
{27:26} And over the farmlands and the farmers, those who
worked the ground, was Ezri, the son of Chelub.
{27:27} And over the cultivators of vineyards was Shimei, a
Ramathite; then over the wine cellars was Zabdi, an
Aphonite. {27:28} Now over the olive groves and the fig
groves, which were in the plains, was Baal-hanan, a Gederite;
and over the oil cellars was Joash. {27:29} Now over the
herds that were pastured in Sharon, Shitrai, a Sharonite, was
in the first place; and over the oxen in the valleys, there was
Shaphat, the son of Adlai. {27:30} Truly, over the camels
was Obil, an Ishmaelite; and over the donkeys was Jehdeiah,
a Meronothite. {27:31} And over the sheep was Jaziz, a
Hagarene. All these were leaders over the substance of king
David. {27:32} Now Jonathan, the uncle of David, was a
counselor, a prudent and scholarly man; he and Jehiel, the
son of Hachmoni, were with the sons of the king.
{27:33} Now Ahithophel was the counselor of the king; and
Hushai, the Archite, was the king’s friend. {27:34} After
Ahithophel was Jehoiada, the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar.
But the leader of the army of the king was Joab.


[1 Chronicles 28] {28:1} And so David called together all the
leaders of Israel, the rulers of the tribes, and those in charge
of the companies, who were ministering to the king, and also
the tribunes and centurions, and those in charge of the
substance and possessions of the king, and his sons, with the
eunuchs and the powerful and those most experienced in the
army, at Jerusalem. {28:2} And when the king had risen up
and was standing, he said: “Listen to me, my brothers and
my people. I thought that I would build a house, in which the
ark of the covenant of the Lord, the footstool of our God,
might rest. And so I prepared everything for its building.
{28:3} But God said to me: ‘You shall not build a house to
my name, because you are a man of war, and have shed
blood.’ {28:4} Now the Lord God of Israel chose me, out of
the entire house of my father, so that I would be king over
Israel forever. For from Judah he chose leaders; then from
the house of Judah he chose the house of my father; and from
the sons of my father, it pleased him to choose me as king
over all of Israel. {28:5} Then too, among my sons (for the
Lord has given me many sons) he chose Solomon my son, so
that he would sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord,
over Israel. {28:6} And he said to me: ‘Solomon your son
shall build my house and my courts. For I have chosen him
to be to me as a son, and I will be to him as a father.
{28:7} And I will make firm his kingdom, even unto eternity,
if he will persevere in doing my precepts and judgments, as
also today.’ {28:8} Now therefore, before the entire assembly
of Israel, in the hearing of our God, keep and seek all the
commandments of the Lord our God, so that you may
possess the good land, and may bequeath it to your sons after
you, even forever. {28:9} And as for you, my son Solomon,
know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect
heart and a willing mind. For the Lord searches all hearts,
and understands the thoughts of all minds. If you seek him,
you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will cast you
aside for eternity. {28:10} Now therefore, since the Lord has
chosen you, so that you would build the house of the
Sanctuary, be strengthened and accomplish it.” {28:11} Then
David gave to his son Solomon a description of the portico,
and the temple, and the storerooms, and the upper floor, and
the innermost rooms, and the house of propitiation,
{28:12} and indeed also of all the courts that he had planned,
and the outer rooms on all sides, for the treasuries of the
house of the Lord, and for the treasuries of the holy things,
{28:13} and for the divisions of the priests and the Levites:
concerning all the works of the house of the Lord and all the
items in the ministry of the temple of the Lord. {28:14} There
was gold by weight for every vessel of the ministry, and also
silver by weight for the diversity of vessels and equipment.
{28:15} Then too, he distributed gold for the lampstands and
their lamps, according to the measure of each of the
lampstands with their lamps. Similarly also, he distributed
silver by weight for the silver lampstands with their lamps,
according to the diversity of their measure. {28:16} Also, he
gave gold for the tables of the presence, according to the
diversity of the tables; similarly too, he gave silver for the
other tables of silver. {28:17} Also, he distributed from the
purest gold for the small hooks and the bowls and the censors,
as well as for the little lions of gold, in accord with the precise
measure of the weight, for lion after lion. Similarly too, for
the lions of silver, he set aside a different weight of silver.
{28:18} Then, for the altar on which the incense was burned,
he gave the purest gold. And from the same he made the
likeness of the chariot of the Cherubim, with extended wings,
which is veiling the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
{28:19} “All these things,” he said, “came to me written by
the hand of the Lord, so that I would understand all the
works of the pattern.” {28:20} David also said to his son
Solomon: “Act manfully, and be strengthened, and carry it
out. You should not be afraid, and you should not be
dismayed. For the Lord my God will be with you, and he will
not send you away, nor will he abandon you, until you have
perfected the entire work of the ministry of the house of the
Lord. {28:21} Behold, the divisions of the priests and the
Levites, for every ministry of the house of the Lord, are
standing before you. And they have been prepared, and so
they know, both the leaders and the people, how to carry out
all your precepts.”


[1 Chronicles 29] {29:1} And king David spoke to the entire
assembly: “My son Solomon, the one God has chosen, is still
a tender boy. And yet the work is great, for a habitation is
being prepared, not for man, but for God. {29:2} Now with
all my ability, I have prepared the expenses for the house of
my God: gold for items of gold, and silver for those of silver,
brass for those of brass, iron for those of iron, and wood for
those of wood, and stones of onyx, and stones like alabaster,
and stones of diverse colors, and every kind of precious stone,
and marble from Paros in great abundance. {29:3} And in
addition to these things that I have offered into the house of
my God, I give, from my own belongings, gold and silver for
the temple of my God, aside from those things that I have
prepared for the holy shrine: {29:4} three thousand talents of
gold, from the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of
highly-refined silver, for the gilding of the walls of the temple;
{29:5} and gold for wherever there is need of gold, and silver
for wherever there is need of silver, for the works to be done
by the hands of the artisans. And if anyone freely offers, let
him fill his hand this day, and let him offer whatever he
wishes to the Lord.” {29:6} And so the leaders of the families,
and the nobles of the tribes of Israel, as well as the tribunes
and the centurions and the overseers of the king’s possessions,
promised {29:7} and gave, for the works of the house of the
Lord, five thousand talents and ten thousand pieces of gold,
ten thousand talents of silver, and eighteen thousand talents
of brass, and also one hundred thousand talents of iron.
{29:8} And whoever found precious stones among their
belongings gave them to the treasuries of the house of the
Lord, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite. {29:9} And the
people rejoiced, since they were promising their votive
offerings willingly. For they were offering these to the Lord
with all their heart. And king David also rejoiced with great
gladness. {29:10} And he blessed the Lord before the entire
multitude, and he said: “Blessed are you, O Lord God of
Israel, our Father from eternity to eternity. {29:11} Yours, O
Lord, is magnificence and power and glory, and also victory;
and to you is praise. For all the things that are in heaven and
on earth are yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you
are above all rulers. {29:12} Yours is wealth, and yours is
glory. You have dominion over all things. In your hand is
virtue and power. In your hand is greatness and authority
over all things. {29:13} Now therefore, we confess to you,
our God, and we praise your famous name. {29:14} Who am
I, and what is my people, that we should be able to promise
all these things to you? All is yours. And so the things that we
received from your hand, we have given to you. {29:15} For
we are sojourners and new arrivals before you, as all our
fathers were. Our days upon the earth are like a shadow, and
there is no delay. {29:16} O Lord our God, all this
abundance, which we have prepared so that a house may be
built to your holy name, is from your hand, and all things are
yours. {29:17} I know, my God, that you test hearts, and that
you love simplicity. Therefore, in the simplicity of my heart, I
also have offered all these things joyfully. And I have seen,
with immense gladness, your people, who have been found
here, offering their donations to you. {29:18} O Lord, the
God of our fathers Abraham and Isaac and Israel, preserve
unto eternity this desire of their heart, and let this purpose
remain forever, for the worship of you. {29:19} Also, I give
to my son Solomon a perfect heart, so that he may keep your
commandments, your testimonies, and your ceremonies, and
so that he may accomplish all things, and may build the
temple, for which I have prepared the expenses.”
{29:20} Then David instructed the entire assembly: “Bless
the Lord our God.” And the entire assembly blessed the Lord,
the God of their fathers. And they bowed themselves, and
they adored God, and next they reverenced the king.
{29:21} And they immolated victims to the Lord. And they
offered holocausts on the following day: one thousand bulls,
one thousand rams, one thousand lambs, with their libations
and with every ritual, very abundantly, for all of Israel.
{29:22} And they ate and drank before the Lord on that day,
with great rejoicing. And they anointed Solomon, the son of
David, a second time. And they anointed him to the Lord as
the ruler, and Zadok as the high priest. {29:23} And Solomon
sat upon the throne of the Lord as king, in place of his father
David, and it pleased everyone. And all of Israel obeyed him.
{29:24} Moreover, all the leaders, and the powerful, and all
the sons of king David pledged with their hand, and they
became subject to king Solomon. {29:25} Then the Lord
magnified Solomon over all of Israel. And he gave to him a
glorious reign, of a kind such as no one has had before him,
as king of Israel. {29:26} Now David, the son of Jesse,
reigned over all of Israel. {29:27} And the days during which
he reigned over Israel were forty years. He reigned seven
years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
{29:28} And he died at a good old age, full of days and
wealth and glory. And his son Solomon reigned in his place.
{29:29} Now the acts of king David, from the first to the last,
have been written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the
book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,
{29:30} concerning his entire reign and strength, and the
times that passed under him, both in Israel and in all the
kingdoms of the lands.


** The Second Book of Chronicles **


[2 Chronicles 1] {1:1} Then Solomon, the son of David, was
strengthened in his reign, and the Lord his God was with him,
and he magnified him on high. {1:2} And Solomon
instructed the whole of Israel, the tribunes, and the
centurions, and the rulers, and the judges over all of Israel,
and the leaders of the families. {1:3} And he went away with
the entire multitude to the high place of Gibeon, where the
tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord was, which Moses, the
servant of God, made in the wilderness. {1:4} For David had
brought the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim, to the place that
he had prepared for it, and where he had pitched a tabernacle
for it, that is, in Jerusalem. {1:5} Also, the altar of brass,
which Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had
constructed, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord. And
so Solomon sought it, with the entire assembly. {1:6} And
Solomon ascended to the bronze altar, before the tabernacle
of the covenant of the Lord, and he offered upon it one
thousand victims. {1:7} But behold, during that night God
appeared to him, saying, “Request what you wish, so that I
may give it to you.” {1:8} And Solomon said to God: “You
have shown great mercy to my father David. And you have
appointed me as king in his place. {1:9} Now therefore, O
Lord God, let your word be fulfilled, which you promised to
my father David. For you have made me king over your great
people, who are as innumerable as the dust of the earth.
{1:10} Give to me wisdom and understanding, so that I may
enter and depart before your people. For who is able worthily
to judge this, your people, who are so great?” {1:11} Then
God said to Solomon: “Since this is the choice that pleased
your heart, and you did not request wealth and substance and
glory, nor the lives of those who hate you, nor even many
days of life, since instead you requested wisdom and
knowledge so that you may be able to judge my people, over
whom I have appointed you as king: {1:12} wisdom and
knowledge are granted to you. And I will give to you wealth
and substance and glory, so that none of the kings either
before you or after you will be similar to you.” {1:13} Then
Solomon went from the high place of Gibeon to Jerusalem,
before the tabernacle of the covenant, and he reigned over
Israel. {1:14} And he gathered to himself chariots and
horsemen. And they brought to him one thousand four
hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. And he
caused them to be in the cities of the chariots, and with the
king in Jerusalem. {1:15} And the king offered silver and
gold in Jerusalem as if they were stones, and cedar trees as if
they were sycamores, which grow in the plains in a great
multitude. {1:16} Then horses were brought to him from
Egypt and from Kue, by the negotiators of the king, who
went and bought for a price: {1:17} a four-horse chariot for
six hundred pieces of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty.
A similar offer to purchase was made known among all the
kingdoms of the Hittites, and among the kings of Syria.


[2 Chronicles 2] {2:1} And Solomon resolved to build a
house to the name of the Lord, and a palace for himself.
{2:2} And he numbered seventy thousand men to carry upon
shoulders, and eighty thousand who were hewing stones in
the mountains, and three thousand six hundred as their
overseers. {2:3} Also, he sent to Hiram, the king of Tyre,
saying: “Just as you did for my father David, when you sent
him cedar wood, so that he might build a house for himself,
in which he then lived, {2:4} do so also for me, so that I may
build a house to the name of the Lord my God, so that I may
consecrate it for the burning of incense before him, and for
the smoke of aromatics, and for the perpetual bread of the
presence, and for the holocausts, in morning and in evening,
as well as on the Sabbaths and new moons and solemnities of
the Lord our God forever, which have been commanded to
Israel. {2:5} For the house that I desire to build is great. For
our God is great, above all gods. {2:6} So then, who will be
able prevail, so that he may build a worthy house for him? If
heaven and the heavens of heavens cannot contain him, what
am I that I would be able to build a house to him? But let it
be for this only, so that incense may be burned before him.
{2:7} Therefore, send to me a learned man, who knows how
to work with gold and silver, with brass and iron, with purple,
scarlet, and hyacinth, and who knows how to carve
engravings, along with these artisans that I have with me in
Judea and Jerusalem, whom my father David has prepared.
{2:8} Then too, send to me cedar wood, and juniper, and
pine from Lebanon. For I know that your servants know how
to cut timber from Lebanon, and my servants will be with
your servants, {2:9}so that very much wood may be
prepared for me. For the house that I desire to build is
exceedingly great and glorious. {2:10} In addition, I will give
to your servants, the workers who will cut down the trees, for
provisions: twenty thousand cor of wheat, and the same
number of cor of barley, and twenty thousand measures of
wine, as well as twenty thousand good measures of oil.”
{2:11} Then Hiram, the king of Tyre, said, by a letter that
had been sent to Solomon: “Because the Lord loved his
people, for this reason he appointed you to reign over them.”
{2:12} And he added, saying: “Blessed is the Lord, the God
of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who gave to king
David a son who is wise, and learned, and intelligent as well
as prudent, so that he may build a house to the Lord, and a
palace for himself. {2:13} Therefore, I have sent my father
Hiram to you; he is a prudent and very knowledgeable man,
{2:14} the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, whose
father was a Tyrian, who knows how to work with gold and
silver, with brass and iron, and with marble and timber, as
well as with purple, and hyacinth, and fine linen, and scarlet.
And he knows how to carve every kind of engraving, and
how to devise prudently whatever may be necessary to the
work, with your artisans and with the artisans of my lord
David, your father. {2:15} Therefore, send the wheat and
barley and oil and wine, which you, my lord, have promised,
to your own servants. {2:16} Then we will cut down as much
wood from Lebanon as you will need, and we will convey
them as rafts by sea to Joppa. Then it will be for you to
transfer them to Jerusalem.” {2:17} And so Solomon
numbered all the new converts who were in the land of Israel,
after the numbering that David his father had done, and they
were found to be one hundred fifty thousand and three
thousand six hundred. {2:18} And he appointed seventy
thousand of them, who would carry burdens on shoulders,
and eighty thousand who would hew stones in the mountains,
then three thousand and six hundred as overseers of the work
of the people.


[2 Chronicles 3] {3:1} And Solomon began to build the
house of the Lord, in Jerusalem on mount Moriah, as it had
been shown to David his father, at the place which David
had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
{3:2} Now he began to build in the second month, in the
fourth year of his reign. {3:3} And these are the foundations,
which Solomon set forth so that he might build the house of
God: the length in cubits by the first measure sixty, the width
in cubits twenty. {3:4} Truly, at the front, the portico, which
was extended in length according to the measure of the width
of the house, was of twenty cubits. Then the height was of
one hundred twenty cubits. And he overlaid it on the interior
with the purest gold. {3:5} Also, he covered the greater house
with wooden panels of spruce, and he affixed layers of
refined gold through it all. And he engraved in them palm
trees, and the likeness of little chains interlaced with one
another. {3:6} Also, he paved the floor of the temple with the
most precious marble, of great beauty. {3:7} Now the gold,
with which he covered in layers the house and its beams and
posts and walls and doors, was highly refined. And he
engraved cherubim on the walls. {3:8} Also, he made the
house of the Holy of Holies. Its length, in accord with the
width of the temple, was of twenty cubits. And its width,
similarly, was of twenty cubits. And he covered it with layers
of gold, of about six hundred talents. {3:9} Then he also
made nails of gold, such that each nail weighed fifty shekels.
Also, he covered the upper rooms in gold. {3:10} Now he
also made, in the house of the Holy of Holies, two cherubim
as a work of statues. And he covered them with gold.
{3:11} The wings of the cherubim extended for twenty cubits,
such that one wing had five cubits and it touched the wall of
the house, and the other, having five cubits, touched the wing
of the other cherub. {3:12} Similarly, the wing of the other
cherub was five cubits, and it touched the wall, and his other
wing of five cubits also touched the wing of the other cherub.
{3:13} And so the wings of both cherubim were stretched out
and extended for twenty cubits. Now they were standing
upright on their feet, and their faces were turned toward the
exterior house. {3:14} Also, he made a veil from hyacinth,
purple, scarlet, and fine linen. And he wove within it
cherubim. {3:15} And also, before the doors of the temple,
there were two pillars, having a height of thirty-five cubits.
But their heads were of five cubits. {3:16} Then too, there
were something like little chains on the oracle, and he placed
these upon the heads of the pillars. And there were one
hundred pomegranates, which he placed between the little
chains. {3:17} Also, he placed these pillars in the vestibule of
the temple, one to the right, and the other to the left. The one
that was on the right, he called Jachin; and the one that was
on the left, Boaz.


[2 Chronicles 4] {4:1} Also, he made a brass altar of twenty
cubits in length, and of twenty cubits in width, and of ten
cubits in height, {4:2} as well as a molten sea of ten cubits
from brim to brim, round in its circumference. It had five
cubits in height, and a line of thirty cubits went around it on
all sides. {4:3} Also, under it there was the likeness of oxen.
And certain engravings encircled the cavity of the sea, along
ten cubits of the outside, as if in two rows. Now the oxen
were molten. {4:4} And the sea itself was placed upon the
twelve oxen, three of which were looking toward the north,
and another three toward the west, then another three toward
the south, and the three that remained toward the east,
having the sea imposed upon them. But the posteriors of the
oxen were toward the interior, under the sea. {4:5} Now its
thickness had the measure of the palm of a hand, and its brim
was like the lip of a cup, or like the outturned petal of a lily.
And it held three thousand measures. {4:6} Also, he made
ten basins. And he placed five on the right, and five on the
left, so that they might wash in them all the things that they
were to offer as holocausts. But the priests were to be washed
in the sea. {4:7} Then he also made ten gold lampstands,
according to the form by which they had been ordered to be
made. And he set them in the temple, five on the right, and
five on the left. {4:8} Moreover, there were also ten tables.
And he placed them in the temple, five on the right, and five
on the left. Also, there were one hundred gold bowls.
{4:9} Then too, he made the court of the priests, and a great
hall, and doors in the hall, which he covered with brass.
{4:10} Now he placed the sea on the right side, facing the
east, toward the south. {4:11} Then Hiram made cooking
pots and hooks and bowls. And he completed every work of
the king in the house of God, {4:12} that is, the two pillars,
and the crossbeams, and the heads, and something like a little
net, which would cover the heads above the crossbeams,
{4:13} and also four hundred pomegranates, and two little
nets, so that two rows of pomegranates were joined to each
net, which would cover the crossbeams and the heads of the
pillars. {4:14} He also made bases; and basins that he placed
upon the bases; {4:15} one sea, and twelve oxen under the
sea; {4:16} and cooking pots and hooks and bowls. Hiram,
his father, made all the vessels for Solomon, in the house of
the Lord, from the purest brass. {4:17} The king cast these in
the region near the Jordan, in the clay soil between Succoth
and Zeredah. {4:18} Now the multitude of the vessels was
innumerable, so much so that the weight of the brass was
unknown. {4:19} And Solomon made all the vessels for the
house of God, and the gold altar, and the tables upon which
were the bread of the presence; {4:20} and also, of the purest
gold, the lampstands with their lamps, to shine before the
oracle, according to the rite; {4:21} and certain flowers, and
lamps, and gold tongs. All these were made from the purest
gold. {4:22} Also, the vessels for the perfumes, and the
censers, and the bowls, and the little mortars were from the
purest gold. And he engraved the doors of the inner temple,
that is, for the Holy of Holies. And the doors of the outer
temple were of gold. And so, every work was completed that
Solomon made in the house of the Lord.


[2 Chronicles 5] {5:1} Then Solomon brought in all the
things that David his father had vowed, the silver, and the
gold, and all the vessels, which he placed in the treasuries of
the house of God. {5:2} After this, he gathered together those
greater by birth of Israel, and all the leaders of the tribes, and
the heads of the families, from the sons of Israel, to Jerusalem,
so that they might bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord
from the City of David, which is Zion. {5:3} And so, all the
men of Israel went to the king, on the solemn day of the
seventh month. {5:4} And when all the elders of Israel had
arrived, the Levites carried the ark, {5:5} and they brought it
in, along with all the equipment of the tabernacle. Then too,
the priests with the Levites carried the vessels of the
sanctuary, which were in the tabernacle. {5:6} Now king
Solomon, and the entire assembly of Israel, and all who had
gathered together before the ark, were immolating rams and
oxen without any number, for so great was the multitude of
the victims. {5:7} And the priests brought in the ark of the
covenant of the Lord to its place, that is, to the oracle of the
temple, in the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the
cherubim, {5:8} so that the cherubim extended their wings
over the place where the ark was positioned, and they
covered the ark itself and its bars. {5:9} But concerning the
bars by which the ark was carried, because they were a little
longer, the ends were able to be seen before the oracle. Yet
truly, if anyone were a little ways toward the exterior, he
would not be able to see them. And so the ark has been in
that place, even to the present day. {5:10} And there was
nothing else in the ark, except the two tablets, which Moses
had placed there at Horeb when the Lord gave the law to the
sons of Israel, at the departure from Egypt. {5:11} And
having gone out from the Sanctuary, the priests (for all the
priests who were able to be found there were sanctified, and
in that time the turns and orders of the ministries had not yet
been divided among them) {5:12} with both the Levites and
the singing men, that is, those who were under Asaph, and
those who were under Heman, and those who were under
Jeduthun, with their sons and brothers, clothed in fine linen,
sounded out with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps,
standing toward the eastern side of the altar. And with them
were one hundred twenty priests, sounding out with trumpets.
{5:13} And when they all sounded out together, with
trumpets, and voice, and cymbals, and pipes, and with
various kinds of musical instruments, lifting their voice on
high, the sound was heard from far away, so that when they
had begun to praise the Lord, and to say, “Confess to the
Lord, for he is good; for his mercy is eternal,” the house of
God was filled with a cloud. {5:14} Neither were the priests
able to stand and to minister, because of the cloud. For the
glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.


[2 Chronicles 6] {6:1} Then Solomon said: “The Lord has
promised that he would dwell in a cloud. {6:2} But I have
built a house to his name, so that he may dwell there
forever.” {6:3} And the king turned his face, and he blessed
the entire multitude of Israel, (for the whole crowd was
standing and attentive) and he said: {6:4} “Blessed is the
Lord, the God of Israel, who has completed the work that he
spoke to David my father, saying: {6:5} ‘From the day when
I led my people away from the land of Egypt, I did not
choose a city from all the tribes of Israel, so that a house
would be built in it to my name. And I did not choose any
other man, so that he would be the ruler of my people Israel.
{6:6} But I chose Jerusalem, so that my name would be in it.
And I chose David, so that I might appoint him over my
people Israel.’ {6:7} And though David, my father, had
decided that he would build a house to the name of the Lord
God of Israel, {6:8} the Lord said to him: ‘In so far as it was
your will that you build a house to my name, certainly you
have done well in having such a will. {6:9} But you shall not
build the house. Truly, your son, who will go forth from your
loins, shall build a house to my name.’ {6:10} Therefore, the
Lord has accomplished his word, which he had spoken. And
I have risen up in place of my father David, and I sit upon the
throne of Israel, just as the Lord spoke. And I have built a
house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. {6:11} And
I have placed in it the ark, in which is the covenant of the
Lord that he formed with the sons of Israel.” {6:12} Then he
stood before the altar of the Lord, facing the entire multitude
of Israel, and he extended his hands. {6:13} For indeed,
Solomon had made a bronze base, and he had positioned it in
the midst of the hall; it held five cubits in length, and five
cubits in width, and three cubits in height. And he stood
upon it. And next, kneeling down while facing the entire
multitude of Israel, and lifting up his palms towards heaven,
{6:14} he said: “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like
you in heaven or on earth. You preserve covenant and mercy
with your servants, who walk before you with all their hearts.
{6:15} You fulfilled for your servant David, my father,
whatsoever you had said to him. And you carried out the
deed that you promised with your mouth, just as the present
time proves. {6:16} Now then, O Lord God of Israel, fulfill
for your servant David, my father, whatsoever you said to
him, saying: ‘There shall not fail to be a man from you before
me, who will sit upon the throne of Israel, yet only if your
sons will guard their ways, and will walk in my law, just as
you also have walked before me.’ {6:17} And now, O Lord
God of Israel, let your word be confirmed that you spoke to
your servant David. {6:18} How then is it to be believe that
God would dwell with men upon the earth? If heaven and the
heavens of the heavens do not contain you, how much less
this house that I have built? {6:19} But it has been done for
this only, so that you may look with favor upon the prayer of
your servant, and on his supplication, O Lord my God, and
so that you may hear the prayers which your servant pours
out before you, {6:20} and so that you may open your eyes
over this house, day and night, over the place where you
promised that your name would be invoked, {6:21} and so
that you may heed the prayer which your servant is praying
within it, and so that you may heed the prayers of your
servant and of your people Israel. Whoever will pray in this
place, listen from your habitation, that is, from heaven, and
forgive. {6:22} If anyone will have sinned against his
neighbor, and he arrives to swear against him, and to bind
himself with a curse before the altar in this house, {6:23} you
will hear him from heaven, and you will execute justice for
your servants, so that you return, to the iniquitous man, his
own way upon his own head, and so that you vindicate the
just man, repaying him according to his own justice. {6:24} If
your people Israel will have been overwhelmed by their
enemies, (for they will sin against you) and having been
converted will do penance, and if they will have beseeched
your name, and will have prayed in this place, {6:25} you
will heed them from heaven, and you will forgive the sin of
your people Israel, and you will lead them back into the land
that you gave to them and to their fathers. {6:26} If the
heavens have been closed, so that rain does not fall, because
of the sin of the people, and if they will petition you in this
place, and confess to your name, and be converted from their
sins when you will afflict them, {6:27} heed them from
heaven, O Lord, and forgive the sins of your servants and of
your people Israel, and teach them the good way, by which
they may advance, and give rain to the land that you gave to
your people as a possession. {6:28} If a famine will have
risen up in the land, or pestilence, or fungus, or mildew, or
locusts, or beetles, or if enemies will have laid waste to the
countryside and will have besieged the gates of the cities, or
whatever scourge or infirmity will have pressed upon them,
{6:29} if anyone from your people Israel, knowing his own
scourge and infirmity, will have made supplication and will
have extended his hands in this house, {6:30} you will heed
him from heaven, indeed from your sublime habitation, and
you will forgive, and you will repay each one according to his
ways, which you know him to hold in his heart. For you
alone know the hearts of the sons of men. {6:31} So may
they fear you, and so may they walk in your ways, during all
the days that they live upon the face of the land, which you
gave to our fathers. {6:32} Also, if the outsider, who is not
from your people Israel, will have arrived from a far away
land, because of your great name, and because of your robust
hand and your outstretched arm, and if he will adore in this
place, {6:33} you will heed him from heaven, your most firm
habitation, and you will accomplish all the things about
which this sojourner will have called out to you, so that all
the people of the earth may know your name, and may fear
you, just as your people Israel do, and so that they may know
that your name is invoked over this house, which I have built.
{6:34} If, having gone out to war against their adversaries
along the way that you will send them, your people adore
you facing in the direction of this city, which you have
chosen, and of this house, which I have built to your name,
{6:35} you will heed their prayers from heaven, and their
supplications, and you will vindicate them. {6:36} But if they
will have sinned against you (for there is no man who does
not sin) and you will have become angry against them, and if
you will have delivered them to their enemies, and so they
lead them away as captives to a far away land, or even to one
that is near, {6:37} and if, having been converted in their
heart in the land to which they had been led as captives, they
will do penance, and beseech you in the land of their
captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned; we have committed
iniquity; we have acted unjustly,’ {6:38} and if they will have
returned to you, with their whole heart and with their whole
soul, in the land of their captivity to which they were led
away, and if they will adore you in the direction of their own
land, which you gave to their fathers, and of the city, which
you have chosen, and of the house, which I have built to your
name, {6:39} from heaven, that is, from your firm habitation,
you will heed their prayers, and you will accomplish
judgment, and you will forgive your people, even though they
are sinners. {6:40} For you are my God. Let your eyes be
open, I beg you, and let your ears be attentive to the prayer
that is made in this place. {6:41} Now therefore, rise up, O
Lord God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your
strength. Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with
salvation, and let your holy ones rejoice in what is good.
{6:42} O Lord God, may you not turn away from the face of
your Christ. Remember the mercies of your servant, David.”


[2 Chronicles 7] {7:1} And when Solomon had completed
pouring out his prayers, fire descended from heaven, and it
devoured the holocausts and the victims. And the majesty of
the Lord filled the house. {7:2} Neither were the priests able
to enter into the temple of the Lord, because the majesty of
the Lord had filled the temple of the Lord. {7:3} Moreover,
all the sons of Israel saw the fire descending, and the glory of
the Lord upon the house. And falling prone upon the ground,
on the layer of pavement stones, they adored and praised the
Lord: “For he is good. For his mercy is everlasting.”
{7:4} Then the king and all the people were immolating
victims before the Lord. {7:5} And so, king Solomon
slaughtered victims: twenty-two thousand oxen, and one
hundred twenty thousand rams. And the king and the entire
people dedicated the house of God. {7:6} Then the priests
and the Levites were standing in their offices, with the
instruments of music for the Lord, which king David made in
order to praise the Lord: “For his mercy is eternal.” And they
were playing the hymns of David with their hands. And the
priests were sounding out with trumpets before them, and all
of Israel was standing. {7:7} Also, Solomon sanctified the
middle of the atrium in front of the temple of the Lord. For
he had offered the holocausts and the fat of peace offerings in
that place because the bronze altar, which he had made, had
not been able to support the holocausts and the sacrifices and
the fat. {7:8} Therefore, Solomon kept the solemnity, at that
time, for seven days, and all of Israel with him, a very great
assembly, from the entrance of Hamath, even to the torrent of
Egypt. {7:9} And on the eighth day, he held a solemn
gathering, because he had dedicated the altar over seven days,
and he had celebrated the solemnity over seven days.
{7:10} And so, on the twenty-third day of the seventh month,
he dismissed the people to their dwellings, joyful and glad
over the good that the Lord had done for David, and for
Solomon, and for his people Israel. {7:11} And Solomon
completed the house of the Lord, and the house of the king,
and all that he had resolved in his heart to do for the house of
the Lord, and for his own house. And he prospered.
{7:12} Then the Lord appeared to him by night, and said: “I
have heard your prayer, and I have chosen this place for
myself as a house of sacrifice. {7:13} If I close up heaven, so
that no rain will fall, or if I order and instruct the locust to
devour the land, or if I send a pestilence among my people,
{7:14} and if my people, over whom my name has been
invoked, being converted, will have petitioned me and sought
my face, and will have done penance for their wicked ways,
then I will heed them from heaven, and I will forgive their
sins, and I will heal their land. {7:15} Also, my eyes will be
open, and my ears will be attentive, to the prayer of him who
shall pray in this place. {7:16} For I have chosen and
sanctified this place, so that my name may be there
continually, and so that my eyes and my heart may remain
there, for all days. {7:17} And as for you, if you will walk
before me, just as your father David walked, and if you will
act in accord with all that I have instructed you, and if you
will observe my justices and judgments, {7:18} I will raise up
the throne of your kingdom, just as I promised to your father
David, saying: ‘There shall not be taken away a man from
your stock who will be ruler in Israel.’ {7:19} But if you will
have turned away, and will have forsaken my justices and my
precepts, which I have set before you, and going astray, you
serve strange gods, and you adore them, {7:20} I will uproot
you from my land, which I gave to you, and from this house,
which I sanctified to my name, and I will cast it away from
before my face, and I will deliver it to be a parable and an
example for all the peoples. {7:21} And this house will be like
a proverb to all who pass by. And being astonished, they shall
say: ‘Why has the Lord acted this way toward this land and
toward this house?’ {7:22} And they shall respond: ‘Because
they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who led
them away from the land of Egypt, and they took hold of
foreign gods, and they adored and worshipped them.
Therefore, all these evils have overwhelmed them.’ ”


[2 Chronicles 8] {8:1} Then, twenty years having passed
since Solomon built the house of the Lord and his own house,
{8:2} he built the cities that Hiram had given to Solomon,
and he caused the sons of Israel to live there. {8:3} Also, he
went to Hamath Zobah, and he obtained it. {8:4} And he
built Palmira in the desert, and he built very fortified cities in
Hamath. {8:5} And he built upper Beth-horon and lower
Beth-horon, as walled cities, having gates and bars and locks,
{8:6} as well as Baalath, and all the very strong cities which
were of Solomon, and all the cities of the chariots, and the
cities of the horsemen. Everything whatsoever that Solomon
willed and decided, he built in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon,
and throughout the entire land of his authority. {8:7} All the
people who had been left from the Hittites, and the Amorites,
and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, those
who were not from the stock of Israel, {8:8} those of their
sons and their posterity whom the sons of Israel had not put
to death, Solomon subjugated as tributaries, even to this day.
{8:9} But he did not appoint anyone from the sons of Israel
to serve in the works of the king. For they were men of war,
and first rulers, and commanders of his chariots and
horsemen. {8:10} Now all the leaders of the army of king
Solomon were two hundred fifty, who were instructing the
people. {8:11} Truly, he transferred the daughter of Pharaoh,
from the City of David, to the house that he had built for her.
For the king said: “My wife shall not live in the house of
David, king of Israel, for it has been sanctified. For the ark of
the Lord has entered into it.” {8:12} Then Solomon offered
holocausts to the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had
constructed before the portico, {8:13} so that every day there
would be an offering on it, in accord with precept of Moses,
on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and three times a
year on the feast days, that is, on the solemnity of unleavened
bread, and on the solemnity of weeks, and in the solemnity of
tabernacles. {8:14} And he appointed, in accord with the
plan of his father David, the offices of the priests in their
ministries; and those of the Levites, in their orders, so that
they might praise and minister before the priests according to
the ritual of each day; and the porters, in their divisions, from
gate to gate. For so had David, the man of God, instructed.
{8:15} Neither the priests, nor the Levites, transgressed
against the commands of the king, in all that he had
instructed, and in the keeping of the treasuries.
{8:16} Solomon had all the expenses prepared, from the day
on which he founded the house of the Lord, even until the
day when he perfected it. {8:17} Then Solomon went away
to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, on the coast of the Red Sea,
which is in the land of Edom. {8:18} And Hiram sent to him
ships, by the hands of his servants, sailors and skillful
navigators of the sea, and they went away with the servants
of Solomon to Ophir. And they took from there four hundred
fifty talents of gold, and they brought it to king Solomon.


[2 Chronicles 9] {9:1} Also, when the queen of Sheba had
heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem, with
great riches and with camels which were carrying aromatics,
and very much gold, and precious gems, so that she might
test him with enigmas. And when she had approached
Solomon, she spoke to him all that was in her heart.
{9:2} And Solomon explained for her all that she had
proposed. And there was nothing that he did not make clear
to her. {9:3} And after she saw these things, specifically, the
wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built,
{9:4} indeed also the foods of his table, and the habitations of
the servants, and the duties of his ministers, and their apparel,
and also his cupbearers and their garments, and the victims
which he was immolating in the house of the Lord, there was
no longer any spirit in her, due to astonishment. {9:5} And
she said to the king: “The word is true, which I had heard in
my own land, about your virtues and wisdom. {9:6} I did not
believe those who described it, until I had arrived and my
eyes had seen, and I had proven that not even half of your
wisdom had been described to me. You have exceeded your
fame with your virtue. {9:7} Blessed are your men, and
blessed are your servants, who stand before you at all times
and listen to your wisdom. {9:8} Blessed is the Lord your
God, who willed to set you upon his throne as a king for the
Lord your God. Since God loves Israel, he wishes to preserve
them unto eternity. For this reason, he appointed you as king
over them, so that you may accomplish judgment and
justice.” {9:9} Then she gave to the king one hundred twenty
talents of gold, and an exceedingly great abundance of
aromatics, and very precious gems. Never were there such
aromatics as those that the queen of Sheba gave to king
Solomon. {9:10} Then too, the servants of Hiram, with the
servants of Solomon, brought gold from Ophir, and wood
from thyine trees, and very precious gems. {9:11} And the
king made, from this particular thyine wood, steps in the
house of the Lord, and in the house of the king, and also
harps and psalteries for the singing men. Never was there
seen such wood in the land of Judah. {9:12} Then king
Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, and
all that she requested, and much more than what she had
brought to him. And returning, she went away to her own
land with her servants. {9:13} Now the weight of the gold,
which was being brought to Solomon throughout each year,
was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, {9:14} apart from
the sum that the legates of various nations and the merchants
were accustomed to bring, and apart from the gold and silver
that all the kings of Arabia, and the princes of the lands, were
bringing together for Solomon. {9:15} And so, king Solomon
made two hundred gold spears, from six hundred gold pieces,
the amount used for each spear, {9:16} and also three
hundred gold shields, from three hundred gold pieces, which
covered each shield. And the king placed them in the armory,
which was situated in a forest. {9:17} Also, the king made a
great ivory throne, and he clothed it with the purest gold.
{9:18} And there were six steps, by which he would ascend
to the throne, and a footstool of gold, and two arms, one on
each side, and two lions standing beside the arms.
{9:19} Moreover, there were twelve additional little lions
standing upon the six steps on both sides. There was no
similar throne in all the kingdoms. {9:20} Also, all the vessels
for the feasts of the king were of gold, and the vessels of the
forest house of Lebanon were from the purest gold. For silver
in those days was considered as nothing. {9:21} For indeed,
the ships of the king went to Tarshish, with the servants of
Hiram, once every three years. And they brought from there
gold, and silver, and ivory, and primates, and peacocks.
{9:22} And so, Solomon was magnified above all the kings of
the earth in wealth and glory. {9:23} And all the kings of the
lands were desiring to see the face of Solomon, so that they
might hear the wisdom that God had granted to his heart.
{9:24} And they were bringing to him gifts, vessels of silver
and of gold, and garments, and armor, and aromatics, and
horses, and mules, throughout each year. {9:25} Also,
Solomon had forty thousand horses in the stables, and twelve
thousand chariots and horsemen, and he appointed them to
the cities of the chariots, and where the king was in Jerusalem.
{9:26} Now he also exercised authority over all the kings
from the river Euphrates as far as the land of the Philistines,
and as far as the borders of Egypt. {9:27} And he brought
forth so much silver that it was as plentiful in Jerusalem as
stones. And cedar trees were as great in number as the
sycamores that spring up in the plains. {9:28} And horses
were brought to him from Egypt and from every region.
{9:29} Now the rest of the works of Solomon, the first and
the last, have been written in the words of Nathan, the
prophet, and in the books of Ahijah, the Shilonite, as well as
in the vision of Iddo, the seer, against Jeroboam, the son of
Nabat. {9:30} And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, over all of
Israel, for forty years. {9:31} And he slept with his fathers.
And they buried him in the City of David. And his son,
Rehoboam, reigned in his place.


[2 Chronicles 10] {10:1} Now Rehoboam set out for
Shechem. For in that place all of Israel had convened, so that
they might appoint him as king. {10:2} But when Jeroboam,
the son of Nabat, who was in Egypt, (indeed he had fled to
that place from Solomon) had heard it, he promptly returned.
{10:3} And they summoned him, and he arrived with all of
Israel. And they spoke to Rehoboam, saying: {10:4} “Your
father pressed upon us a very difficult yoke. You should
govern us more lightly than your father, who imposed on us a
heavy servitude, and so lift up some of the burden, so that we
may serve you.” {10:5} But he said, “Return to me after three
days.” And when the people had gone away, {10:6} he took
counsel with the elders, who had stood before his father
Solomon while he was still living, saying, “What counsel
would you give to me, so that I may respond to the people?”
{10:7} And they said to him, “If you please this people, and
if you soothe them with words of clemency, they will be your
servants for all days.” {10:8} But he set aside the counsel of
the elders, and he began to have discussion with the youth,
who had been raised with him and who were among his
companions. {10:9} And he said to them: “How does it seem
to you? Or how should I respond to this people, who have
said to me, ‘Lift up the yoke that your father imposed upon
us?’ ” {10:10} But they responded like youths, having been
raised with him in luxury, and they said: “So shall you speak
to the people, who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke
heavy; you should lighten it,’ and so shall you respond to
them: ‘My little finger is thicker than the back of my father.
{10:11} My father imposed a heavy yoke upon you, and I
will place more weight upon it. My father cut you with whips;
truly, I will beat you with scorpions.’ ” {10:12} Then
Jeroboam, and the entire people, went to Rehoboam on the
third day, just as he had instructed them. {10:13} And the
king responded harshly, abandoning the counsel of the elders.
{10:14} And he spoke according to the will of the youths:
“My father imposed a heavy yoke upon you, which I will
make heavier. My father cut you with whips; truly, I will beat
you with scorpions.” {10:15} And he did not acquiesce to the
pleadings of the people. For it was the will of God that his
word be fulfilled, which he had spoken by the hand of Ahijah,
the Shilonite, to Jeroboam, the son of Nabat. {10:16} Then
the entire people, speaking more harshly to the king, spoke to
him in this way: “There is no portion for us in David, and
there is no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Return to your
dwellings, O Israel. Then you, O David, shall pasture your
own house.” And Israel went away to their dwellings.
{10:17} But Rehoboam reigned over the sons of Israel who
were living in the cities of Judah. {10:18} And king
Rehoboam sent Aduram, who was in charge of the tributes.
And the sons of Israel stoned him, and he died. And so king
Rehoboam hurried to climb into the chariot, and he fled to
Jerusalem. {10:19} And Israel withdrew from the house of
David, even to this day.


[2 Chronicles 11] {11:1} Then Rehoboam went to Jerusalem,
and he called together the entire house of Judah and of
Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand elect men of war, so
that he might contend against Israel, and turn back his
kingdom to himself. {11:2} And the word of the Lord came
to Shemaiah, the man of God, saying: {11:3} “Speak to
Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, the king of Judah, and to all
of Israel who are of Judah, or of Benjamin: {11:4} Thus says
the Lord: You shall not ascend and fight against your
brothers. Let each one return to his own house. For it is by
my will that this has happened.” And when they had heard
the word of the Lord, they turned back, and they did not
continue on against Jeroboam. {11:5} Then Rehoboam lived
in Jerusalem, and he built fortified cities in Judah.
{11:6} And he built up Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,
{11:7} and also Bethzur, and Soco, and Adullam,
{11:8} indeed also Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,
{11:9} then too Adoram, and Lachish, and Azekah,
{11:10} as well as Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which
were very fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin.
{11:11} And when he had enclosed them with walls, he
placed in them rulers, and storehouses of provisions, that is,
of oil and wine. {11:12} Moreover, in each city he made an
armory of shields and spears, and he strengthened them with
the utmost diligence. And he ruled over Judah and Benjamin.
{11:13} Then the priests and Levites, who were in all of
Israel, came to him from all their settlements, {11:14} leaving
behind their suburbs and possessions, and crossing over to
Judah and to Jerusalem. For Jeroboam and his followers had
cast them out, so that they could not exercise the priestly
office to the Lord. {11:15} And he appointed for himself
priests of high places, and of demons, and of calves that he
had made. {11:16} Moreover, out of all the tribes of Israel,
whosoever would give their heart so that they sought the
Lord God of Israel, they went to Jerusalem to immolate their
victims before the Lord, the God of their fathers.
{11:17} And they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and
they confirmed Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, for three
years. For they walked in the ways of David and of Solomon,
but only for three years. {11:18} Then Rehoboam took as
wife Mahalath, the daughter of Jertmoth, son of David, and
also Abihail, the daughter of Eliab, son of Jesse.
{11:19} They bore sons for him: Jeush, and Shemariah, and
Zaham. {11:20} And also after her, he married Maacah, the
daughter of Absalom, who bore for him Abijah, and Attai,
and Ziza, and Shelomith. {11:21} But Rehoboam loved
Maacah, the daughter of Absalom, above all his wives and
concubines. For he had taken eighteen wives and sixty
concubines. And he conceived twenty-eight sons and sixty
daughters. {11:22} Truly, he appointed as the head, Abijah,
the son of Maacah, to be the ruler over all his brothers. For
he thought to make him king, {11:23} since he was wiser and
more powerful than all his sons, even in all the regions of
Judah and Benjamin, and in all the fortified cities. And he
provided them with very much food, and he sought many
wives.


[2 Chronicles 12] {12:1} And when the kingdom of
Rehoboam had been strengthened and fortified, he
abandoned the law of the Lord, and all of Israel with him.
{12:2} Then, in the fifth year of the reign of Rehoboam,
Shishak, the king of Egypt, ascended against Jerusalem (for
they had sinned against the Lord) {12:3} with one thousand
two hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. And the
common people could not be numbered who had arrived
with him from Egypt, namely, the Libyans, and the
Troglodytes, and the Ethiopians. {12:4} And he seized the
most fortified cities in Judah, and he went even to Jerusalem.
{12:5} Then Shemaiah, the prophet, entered to Rehoboam,
and to the leaders of Judah who had gathered together in
Jerusalem while fleeing from Shishak, and he said to them:
“Thus says the Lord: You have abandoned me, and so I have
abandoned you into the hand of Shishak.” {12:6} And the
leaders of Israel, and the king, being in consternation, said,
“The Lord is just.” {12:7} And when the Lord had seen that
they were humbled, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah,
saying: “Because they have been humbled, I will not disperse
them. And I will give to them a little help, and my fury will
not rain down upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
{12:8} Yet truly, they shall serve him, so that they may know
the difference between my servitude, and the servitude of a
kingdom of the lands.” {12:9} And so Shishak, the king of
Egypt, withdrew from Jerusalem, taking up the treasures of
the house of the Lord and of the house of the king. And he
took away everything with him, even the gold shields that
Solomon had made. {12:10} In place of these, the king made
bronze ones, and he delivered them to the leaders of the
shield bearers, who were guarding the vestibule of the palace.
{12:11} And when the king would enter into the house of the
Lord, the shield bearers would arrive and take them, and they
would carry them back to their armory. {12:12} Yet truly,
because they were humbled, the wrath of the Lord turned
away from them, and so they were not utterly destroyed. And
indeed, good works were also found in Judah.
{12:13} Therefore, king Rehoboam was strengthened in
Jerusalem, and he reigned. He was forty-one years old when
he had begun to reign, and he reigned for seventeen years in
Jerusalem, the city that the Lord chose out of all the tribes of
Israel, so that he might confirm his name there. Now the
name of his mother was Naamah, an Ammonite. {12:14} But
he did evil, and he did not prepare his heart so as to seek the
Lord. {12:15} Truly, the works of Rehoboam, the first and
the last, have been written in the books of Shemaiah, the
prophet, and of Iddo, the seer, and diligently set forth. And
Rehoboam and Jeroboam fought against one another during
all their days. {12:16} And Rehoboam slept with his fathers,
and he was buried in the City of David. And his son, Abyah,
reigned in his place.


[2 Chronicles 13] {13:1} In the eighteenth year of king
Jeroboam, Abijah reigned over Judah. {13:2} He reigned for
three years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was
Micaiah, the daughter of Uriel, from Gibeah. And there was
war between Abijah and Jeroboam. {13:3} And when Abijah
had undertaken the conflict, and he had with him four
hundred thousand elect men, very fit for war, Jeroboam set
up a battle line opposite him of eight hundred thousand men,
who were also elect and very strong in warfare. {13:4} Then
Abyah stood upon mount Zemaraim, which was in Ephraim,
and he said: “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all of Israel.
{13:5} Are you ignorant that the Lord, the God of Israel,
gave David the kingship over Israel for all time, to him and to
his sons, by a covenant of salt? {13:6} But Jeroboam, the son
of Nabat, the servant of Solomon, son of David, rose up and
rebelled against his lord. {13:7} And there were gathered to
him very vain men, and sons of Belial. And they prevailed
against Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. For Rehoboam was
inexperienced, and he had a fearful heart, and so he was
unable to resist them. {13:8} Now therefore, you say that you
are able to resist the kingdom of the Lord, which he possesses
through the sons of David, and you have a great multitude of
people, and gold calves, which Jeroboam made for you as
gods. {13:9} And you have cast out the priests of the Lord,
the sons of Aaron, as well as the Levites. And like all the
peoples of the lands, you have made priests for yourselves.
Anyone who is willing to come and perform the ritual by his
hand, with a bull from the herd and with seven rams, is made
a priest of those who are not gods. {13:10} But the Lord is
our God, and we have not forsaken him. And the priests who
minister to the Lord are from the sons of Aaron. And the
Levites are in their proper order. {13:11} Also, they offer
holocausts to the Lord, each and every day, morning and
evening, and incense composed according to the precept of
the law, and the bread of the presence on a very pure table.
And there is with us the gold lampstand with its lamps, so
that they may burn continually in the evening. For certainly,
we keep the precepts of the Lord our God, whom you have
forsaken. {13:12} Therefore, God is the commander of our
army, with his priests, who sound the trumpets that ring out
against you. O sons of Israel, do not choose to fight against
the Lord, the God of your fathers. For it is not expedient for
you.” {13:13} While he was speaking these things, Jeroboam
set in motion an ambush behind them. And while they stood
facing the enemy, without Judah realizing it, his army circled
around. {13:14} And looking back, Judah saw the war
threatening in front and behind, and they cried out to the
Lord. And the priests began to sound the trumpets.
{13:15} And all the men of Judah shouted out. And behold,
when they cried out, God terrified Jeroboam, and all of Israel
who were standing in opposition to Abijah and Judah.
{13:16} And the sons of Israel fled from Judah, and the Lord
delivered them into their hand. {13:17} Therefore, Abijah
and his people struck them with a great slaughter. And five
hundred thousand strong men of Israel fell wounded.
{13:18} And the sons of Israel were humiliated at that time.
And the sons of Judah were very greatly strengthened,
because they had trusted in the Lord, the God of their fathers.
{13:19} Then Abijah pursued the fleeing Jeroboam. And he
seized cities from him: Bethel and her daughters, and
Jeshanah with her daughters, and also Ephron and her
daughters. {13:20} And Jeroboam no longer had the strength
to resist, in the days of Abijah. And the Lord struck him, and
he died. {13:21} And so Abijah, having been strengthened in
his authority, took fourteen wives. And he procreated twenty-
two sons and sixteen daughters. {13:22} Now the rest of the
words of Abijah, and his ways and works, have been written
very diligently in the book of Iddo, the prophet.


[2 Chronicles 14] {14:1} Then Abijah slept with his fathers,
and they buried him in the City of David. And his son, Asa,
reigned in his place. During his days, the land was quiet for
ten years. {14:2} Now Asa did what was good and pleasing
in the sight of his God. And he overturned the altars of
foreign worship, and the high places. {14:3} And he broke
apart the statues, and he cut down the sacred groves.
{14:4} And he instructed Judah that they should seek the
Lord, the God of their fathers, and that they should carry out
the law and all the commandments. {14:5} And he took
away, from all the cities of Judah, the altars and the shrines.
And he reigned in peace. {14:6} Also, he built fortified cities
in Judah. For it was quiet, and in his time no wars had arisen.
For the Lord was generously granting peace. {14:7} Then he
said to Judah: “Let us build these cities, and strengthen them
with walls, and fortify them with towers and gates and bars,
while all things are at rest from wars. For we have sought the
Lord, the God of our fathers, and he has granted to us peace
on every side.” And so they built, and there was nothing to
impede them from building. {14:8} Now Asa had in his army
three hundred thousand men of Judah, carrying shields and
spears, and truly, of Benjamin, two hundred eighty thousand
men with shields and bows. All of these were very valiant
men. {14:9} Then Zerah, the Ethiopian, went forth against
them with his army of one million men, and three hundred
chariots. And he approached as far as Mareshah.
{14:10} And Asa traveled to meet him, and he set up a battle
line for the war in the Valley of Zephathah, which is near
Mareshah. {14:11} And he called upon the Lord God, and he
said: “O Lord, there is no difference to you, whether you
assist by few, or by many. Help us, O Lord our God. For
having faith in you and in your name, we have gone forth
against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God. Do not
allow man to prevail against you.” {14:12} And so the Lord
terrified the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah. And the
Ethiopians fled. {14:13} And Asa, and the people who were
with him, pursued them as far as Gerar. And the Ethiopians
fell, even unto utter destruction, for the Lord was striking,
and his army was battling, and they were destroyed.
Therefore, they took many spoils. {14:14} And they struck all
the cities surrounding Gerar. For indeed, a great fear had
overwhelmed everyone. And they despoiled the cities, and
they carried away much plunder. {14:15} Then too,
destroying the fencing for the sheep, they took an
innumerable multitude of cattle and camels. And they
returned to Jerusalem.


[2 Chronicles 15] {15:1} Now Azariah, the son of Oded, had
the Spirit of God within him. {15:2} And he went out to
meet Asa, and he said to him: “Listen to me, Asa and all of
Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you, because you
have been with him. If you seek him, you will find him. But if
you abandon him, he will abandon you. {15:3} Then many
days will pass in Israel, apart from the true God, and apart
from a learned priest, and apart from the law. {15:4} And
when, in their anguish, they will have returned to the Lord,
the God of Israel, and will have sought him, they shall find
him. {15:5} In that time, there will be no peace for those who
depart and those who enter. Instead, there will be terror on
every side, among all the inhabitants of the lands. {15:6} For
nation will fight against nation, and city against city. For the
Lord will disturb them with every anguish. {15:7} But as for
you, be strengthened, and do not let your hands be weakened.
For there will be a reward for your work.” {15:8} And when
Asa had heard these particular words, and the prophecy of
the prophet Azariah, the son of Oded, he was strengthened,
and he took away the idols from the entire land of Judah, and
from Benjamin, and from the cities that he had seized of
mount Ephraim, and he dedicated the altar of the Lord,
which was before the portico of the Lord. {15:9} And he
gathered together all of Judah and Benjamin, and with them
the new arrivals from Ephraim and Manasseh and Simeon.
For many had fled to him from Israel, seeing that the Lord
his God was with him. {15:10} And when they had arrived in
Jerusalem, in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the
reign of Asa, {15:11} they immolated to the Lord on that day,
from the best of the spoils and from the plunder that they had
brought: seven hundred oxen and seven thousand rams.
{15:12} And he entered, according to custom, in order to
confirm the covenant, so that they would seek the Lord, the
God of their fathers, with their whole heart and with their
whole soul. {15:13} “But if anyone,” he said, “will not seek
the Lord, the God of Israel, let him die, from the least even to
the greatest, from man even to woman.” {15:14} And they
swore to the Lord, with a great voice, in jubilation, and with
the blare of trumpets, and with the sound of horns,
{15:15} all who were in Judah swore with a curse. For with
all their heart they swore, and with all their will they sought
and found him. And the Lord granted rest on all sides to
them. {15:16} Then too, Maacah, the mother of king Asa, he
deposed from the august authority, because she had made an
idol of Priapus within a sacred grove. And he entirely
crushed it, breaking it into pieces, and he burned it at the
torrent Kidron. {15:17} But some high places were left in
Israel. Even so, the heart of Asa was perfect during all his
days. {15:18} And whatever his father or he himself had
vowed, he brought into the house of the Lord: silver and gold,
and vessels for various uses. {15:19} Truly, there was no war,
until the thirty-fifth year of the kingdom of Asa.


[2 Chronicles 16] {16:1} Then, in the thirty-sixth year of his
reign, Baasha, the king of Israel, ascended against Judah.
And he encircled Ramah with a wall, so that no one could
safely depart or enter from the kingdom of Asa.
{16:2} Therefore, Asa brought forth silver and gold from the
treasuries of the house of the Lord, and from the treasuries of
the king. And he sent to Benhadad, the king of Syria, who
was living in Damascus, saying: {16:3} “There is a pact
between me and you. Also, my father and your father had an
agreement. For this reason, I have sent silver and gold to you,
so that you may break the pact that you have with Baasha,
the king of Israel, and so that you may cause him to
withdraw from me.” {16:4} And when he verified this,
Benhadad sent the leaders of his armies to the cities of Israel.
And they struck Ahion, and Dan, and Abelmaim, and all the
walled cities of Naphtali. {16:5} And when Baasha had heard
of it, he ceased to build around Ramah, and he interrupted
his work. {16:6} Then king Asa took all of Judah, and they
carried away from Ramah the stones and the wood that
Baasha had prepared for the things to be built. And he built
up Gibeah and Mizpah with them. {16:7} In that time, the
prophet Hanani went to Asa, the king of Judah, and he said
to him: “Because you have faith in the king of Syria, and not
in the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria
has escaped from your hand. {16:8} Were not the Ethiopians
and the Libyans much more numerous in chariots, and
horsemen, and an exceedingly great multitude? Yet when you
believed in the Lord, he delivered them into your hand.
{16:9} For the eyes of the Lord contemplate the entire earth,
and offer fortitude to those who believe in him with a perfect
heart. And so, you acted foolishly. And so, because of this,
from the present time wars shall rise up against you.”
{16:10} And Asa was angry against the seer, and he ordered
him to be sent into prison. For indeed, he had been very
indignant over this. And in that time, he put to death very
many of the people. {16:11} But the works of Asa, the first
and the last, have been written in the book of the kings of
Judah and Israel. {16:12} And now Asa became ill, in the
thirty-ninth year of his reign, with a very severe pain in his
feet. And yet, in his infirmity, he did not seek the Lord.
Instead, he trusted more in the skill of physicians.
{16:13} And he slept with his fathers. And he died in the
forty-first year of his reign. {16:14} And they buried him in
his own sepulcher, which he had made for himself in the City
of David. And they placed him upon his bed, full of the
aromatics and ointments of courtesans, which were
composed with the skill of the perfumers. And they burned
these over him with very great ostentation.


[2 Chronicles 17] {17:1} Then Jehoshaphat, his son, reigned
in his place. And he grew strong against Israel. {17:2} And
he appointed numbers of soldiers in all the cities of Judah
that had been fortified with walls. And he placed garrisons in
the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim that his father
Asa had seized. {17:3} And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat,
because he walked in the first ways of his father, David. And
he did not trust in the Baals, {17:4} but in the God of his
father. And he advanced in his precepts, and not according to
the sins of Israel. {17:5} And the Lord confirmed the
kingdom in his hand. And all of Judah gave gifts to
Jehoshaphat. And innumerable riches were brought to him,
and much glory. {17:6} And when his heart had taken
courage because of the ways of the Lord, he now also took
away the high places and the sacred groves from Judah.
{17:7} Then, in the third year of his reign, he sent Benhail,
and Obadiah, and Zechariah, and Nethanel, and Micaiah,
from among his leaders, so that they might teach in the cites
of Judah. {17:8} And with them were the Levites Shemaiah
and Nethaniah and Zebadiah, and also Asahel and
Shemiramoth and Jehonathan, and the Levites Adonijah and
Tobyah and Tobadonijah. And with them were the priests
Elishama and Jehoram. {17:9} And they were teaching the
people in Judah, having with them the book of the law of the
Lord. And they were traveling through all the cities of Judah,
and were instructing the people. {17:10} And so, the fear of
the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands which were
around Judah. And they did not dare to make war against
Jehoshaphat. {17:11} Moreover, the Philistines carried gifts
to Jehoshaphat, and a tribute in silver. Also, the Arabians
brought cattle: seven thousand seven hundred rams, and the
same number of he-goats. {17:12} Therefore, Jehoshaphat
increased and was magnified, even on high. And in Judah, he
built houses in the likeness of towers, and walled cities.
{17:13} And he prepared many works in the cities of Judah.
Also, there were men experienced in warfare in Jerusalem,
{17:14} and this is the number of them, by each of the houses
and families. In Judah, the leader of the army was Adnah,
the commander; and with him were three hundred thousand
very experienced men. {17:15} After him, Jehohanan was the
leader; and with him were two hundred eighty thousand.
{17:16} Also after him, there was Amasiah, the son of Zichri,
who was consecrated to the Lord; and with him were two
hundred thousand strong men. {17:17} Following him, there
was Eliada, who was experienced in battle; and with him
were two hundred thousand, holding bow and shield.
{17:18} Then too, after him, there was Jehozabad; and with
him were one hundred eighty thousand lightly-armed solders.
{17:19} All these were at the hand of the king, aside from the
others, whom he had positioned in the walled cities, in all of
Judah.


[2 Chronicles 18] {18:1} Therefore, Jehoshaphat was
wealthy and very famous, and he was joined by affinity to
Ahab. {18:2} And after some years, he descended to him in
Samaria. And upon his arrival, Ahab slaughtered very many
sheep and oxen, for him and for the people who had arrived
with him. And he persuaded him that he should ascend
against Ramoth Gilead. {18:3} And Ahab, the king of Israel,
said to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, “Come with me to
Ramoth Gilead.” And he answered him: “As I am, so also
are you. As your people are, so also are my people. And we
will be with you in war.” {18:4} And Jehoshaphat said to the
king of Israel, “Consult, I beg you, the word of the Lord for
the present circumstances.” {18:5} And so the king of Israel
gathered together four hundred men of the prophets, and he
said to them: “Should we go to war against Ramoth Gilead,
or should we be quieted?” But they said, “Ascend, and God
will deliver into the hand of the king.” {18:6} And
Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord here, so
that we may inquire of him as well?” {18:7} And the king of
Israel said to Jehoshaphat: “There is one man, from whom
we would be able to ask the will of the Lord. But I hate him,
for he never prophesies good to me, but at all times evil. And
it is Micaiah, the son of Imlah.” And Jehoshaphat said, “You
should not speak in this manner, O king.” {18:8} Therefore,
the king of Israel called one of the eunuchs, and said to him:
“Quickly, summon Micaiah, the son of Imlah.” {18:9} Now
the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were
both sitting upon their thrones, clothed in royal vestments.
And they were sitting in an open area, beside the gate of
Samaria. And all the prophets were prophesying before them.
{18:10} Truly, Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made for
himself horns of iron, and he said: “Thus says the Lord: With
these, you shall threaten Syria, until you crush it.”
{18:11} And all the prophets prophesied similarly, and they
said: “Ascend against Ramoth Gilead, and you shall prosper,
and the Lord will deliver them into the hand of the king.”
{18:12} Then the messenger who had gone to summon
Micaiah said to him: “Lo, the words of all the prophets, with
one mouth, announce good to the king. Therefore, I ask you
that you not dissent from them in your word, and that you
speak prosperity.” {18:13} And Micaiah responded to him,
“As the Lord lives, whatever my God will say to me, the
same shall I speak.” {18:14} Therefore, he went to the king.
And the king said to him, “Micaiah, should we go to war
against Ramoth Gilead, or should we be quieted?” And he
responded to him: “Ascend. For everything will come to
prosperity, and the enemies will be delivered into your
hands.” {18:15} And the king said, “Again and again, I bind
you by an oath, so that you will not speak to me except what
is true in the name of the Lord!” {18:16} Then he said: “I
saw all of Israel scattered amid the mountains, like sheep
without a shepherd. And the Lord said: ‘These have no
masters. Let each one return in peace to his own house.’ ”
{18:17} And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: “Did I
not tell you that this one would not prophesy to me anything
good, but only what is evil?” {18:18} Then he said:
“Therefore, listen to the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord
sitting upon his throne, and the entire army of heaven was
standing beside him, on the right and on the left.
{18:19} And the Lord said: ‘Who will deceive Ahab, the king
of Israel, so that he may ascend and fall at Ramoth Gilead?’
And when one spoke in one way, and another in another way,
{18:20} there came forward a spirit, and he stood before the
Lord and said, ‘I will deceive him.’ And the Lord said to him,
‘In what way will you deceive him?’ {18:21} And he
responded, ‘I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the
mouth of all his prophets.’ And the Lord said: ‘You will
deceive and prevail. Go forth and do so.’ {18:22} Therefore
now, behold: the Lord gave a lying spirit to the mouth of all
your prophets, and the Lord has spoken evil about you.”
{18:23} Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, approached,
and he struck Micaiah on the jaw, and he said: “In what way
did the Spirit of the Lord depart from me, so that he would
speak to you?” {18:24} And Micaiah said: “You yourself
shall see it, in that day, when you will enter a room within a
room, so that you may be hidden.” {18:25} Then the king of
Israel instructed, saying: “Take Micaiah, and lead him to
Amon, the leader of the city, and to Joash, the son of
Amalech. {18:26} And you shall say: ‘Thus says the king:
Send this man to prison, and give to him a little bread and a
little water, until I return in peace.’ ” {18:27} And Micaiah
said, “If you will have returned in peace, the Lord has not
spoken by me.” And he said, “May all the people listen.”
{18:28} And so, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king
of Judah, ascended against Ramoth Gilead. {18:29} And the
king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: “I will change my clothing,
and in this way I will go into battle. But you should be
clothed in your own garments.” And the king of Israel,
having changed his clothing, went to war. {18:30} Now the
king of Syria had instructed the commanders of his horsemen,
saying, “You shall not fight against the least or the greatest,
but only against the king of Israel.” {18:31} And so, when
the leaders of the horsemen had seen Jehoshaphat, they said,
“This one is the king of Israel.” And while fighting, they
surrounded him. But he cried out to the Lord, and he assisted
him, and he turned them away from him. {18:32} For when
the commanders of the horsemen had seen that he was not
the king of Israel, they left him. {18:33} Then it happened
that one of the people shot an arrow indiscriminately, and it
struck the king of Israel between the neck and the shoulder.
And so he said to his chariot driver: “Turn your hand, and
lead me away from the battle line. For I have been
wounded.” {18:34} And the fight ended on that day. But the
king of Israel was standing in his chariot facing the Syrians,
even until evening. And he died when the sun set.


[2 Chronicles 19] {19:1} Then Jehoshaphat, the king of
Judah, returned in peace to his house in Jerusalem.
{19:2} And the seer Jehu, the son of Hanani, met him, and
said to him: “You offer assistance to the impious, and you
are joined in friendship with those who hate the Lord. And
for this reason, you certainly deserve the wrath of the Lord.
{19:3} But good works have been found in you. For you have
taken away the sacred groves from the land of Judah. And
you have prepared your heart, so as to seek the Lord, the
God of your fathers.” {19:4} Then Jehoshaphat lived in
Jerusalem. And again he went out to the people, from
Beersheba as far as mount Ephraim. And he called them back
to the Lord, the God of their fathers. {19:5} And he
appointed judges of the land, in all the fortified cities of
Judah, in each place. {19:6} And instructing the judges, he
said: “Pay attention to what you are doing. For you exercise
judgment, not of man, but of the Lord. And whatever you
will have judged, it will come back to you. {19:7} Let the fear
of the Lord be with you, and do all things with diligence. For
there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of
persons, nor desire for gifts.” {19:8} Jehoshaphat also
appointed Levites and priests and leaders of families, out of
Israel, in Jerusalem, so that they might judge the judgment
and purpose of the Lord for its inhabitants. {19:9} And he
instructed them, saying, “So shall you act: faithfully, in the
fear of the Lord, and with a perfect heart. {19:10} Every case
that will come to you from your brothers, who live in their
cities, between kindred and kindred, wherever there is a
question concerning law, commandment, ceremonies, or
justifications, reveal it to them, so that they may not sin
against the Lord, and so that wrath may not overwhelm you
and your brothers. Then, by acting in this way, you will not
sin. {19:11} But Amariah, a priest and your high priest, shall
preside over those things which pertain to God. Then
Zebadiah, the son of Ishmael, who is a ruler in the house of
Judah, shall be over those works that pertain to the office of
the king. And you have before you the Levites as teachers. Be
strengthened and act diligently, and the Lord will be with you
for what is good.”


[2 Chronicles 20] {20:1} After these things, the sons of Moab,
and the sons of Ammon, and with them some from the
Ammonites, gathered together so that they might fight
against him. {20:2} And messengers arrived and reported to
Jehoshaphat, saying: “A great multitude has arrived against
you, from those places that are across the sea, and from Syria.
And behold, they are standing together at Hazazon-tamar,
which is Engedi.” {20:3} Then Jehoshaphat, being terrified
with fear, gave himself entirely to petitioning the Lord, and
he proclaimed a fast for all of Judah. {20:4} And Judah
gathered together to pray to the Lord. Moreover, everyone
from their cities came to beseech him. {20:5} And when
Jehoshaphat had stood up in the midst of the assembly of
Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the
new atrium, {20:6} he said: “O Lord, God of our fathers, you
are God in heaven, and you rule over all the kingdoms of the
Gentiles. In your hand is strength and power, and no one is
able to withstand you. {20:7} Did not you, our God, put to
death all the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel?
And you gave it to the offspring of your friend Abraham, for
all time. {20:8} And they lived in it. And they built a
Sanctuary to your name in it, saying: {20:9} ‘If evils will have
fallen upon us, the sword of judgment, or pestilence, or
famine, we will stand in your sight before this house, in
which your name is invoked, and we will cry out to you in
our tribulations. And you will heed us and accomplish our
salvation.’ {20:10} Now therefore, behold the sons of
Ammon, and of Moab, and mount Seir, through whose lands
you did not permit Israel to cross when they were departing
from Egypt. Instead, they turned aside from them, and they
did not put them to death. {20:11} They are doing the
contrary, and they are striving to cast us from the possession
which you delivered to us. {20:12} Therefore, will you, our
God, not judge them? Certainly, in us there is not enough
strength so that we would be able to withstand this multitude,
which rushes against us. But although we do not know what
we ought to do, we have this alone remaining, that we direct
our eyes to you.” {20:13} Truly, all of Judah was standing
before the Lord with their little ones and wives and children.
{20:14} But there was Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son
of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite
from the sons of Asaph, upon whom the Spirit of the Lord
went, in the midst of the crowd. {20:15} And he said: “Pay
attention, all of Judah, and you who live in Jerusalem, and
you, king Jehoshaphat. Thus says the Lord to you: Do not be
afraid. Neither should you be dismayed by this multitude.
For the fight is not yours, but God’s. {20:16} Tomorrow, you
shall descend against them. For they will ascend along the
incline named Ziz, and will find them at the summit of the
torrent, which is opposite the wilderness of Jeruel. {20:17} It
will not be you who will fight. Instead, only stand with
confidence, and you will see the help of the Lord over you, O
Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid. Neither should you
be dismayed. Tomorrow you shall go forth against them, and
the Lord will be with you.” {20:18} Then Jehoshaphat, and
Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell prone on the
ground before the Lord, and they adored him. {20:19} And
the Levites from the sons of Kohath, and from the sons of
Korah, were praising the Lord, the God of Israel, with a great
voice, on high. {20:20} And when they had risen up in the
morning, they went out through the desert of Tekoa. And as
they were setting out, Jehoshaphat, standing in their midst,
said: “Listen to me, men of Judah and all inhabitants of
Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be
secure. Believe in his prophets, and everything will come to
prosperity.” {20:21} And he gave counsel to the people. And
he appointed the singing men of the Lord, so that they would
praise him by their companies, and so that they would go
before the army, and with one voice say: “Confess to the
Lord. For his mercy is eternal.” {20:22} And when they had
begun to sing praises, the Lord turned their ambushes upon
themselves, that is, those of the sons of Ammon, and of
Moab, and of mount Seir, who had gone forth so that they
might fight against Judah. And they were struck down.
{20:23} For the sons of Ammon and of Moab rose up against
the inhabitants of mount Seir, so that they might slay and
destroy them. And when they had perpetrated this work, now
also turning upon themselves, they cut one another with
wounds. {20:24} Then, when Judah had gone to the high
point that looks out toward the desert, they saw, from far
away, the entire wide region filled with dead bodies. Neither
was there anyone who was left alive and had been able to
escape death. {20:25} Therefore, Jehoshaphat went, and all
the people with him, in order to take away the spoils of the
dead. And they found, among the dead bodies, diverse
equipment, and also garments, and very precious vessels.
And they despoiled these, to such an extent that they were
unable to carry everything. Neither could they, over three
days, take away the spoils because of the magnitude of the
plunder. {20:26} Then, on the fourth day, they were gathered
together in the Valley of Blessing. For they had blessed the
Lord there, and therefore they called that place the Valley of
Blessing, even to the present day. {20:27} And every man of
Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, returned, with
Jehoshaphat before them, to Jerusalem, with great rejoicing.
For the Lord had granted to them gladness concerning their
enemies. {20:28} And they entered into Jerusalem with
psalteries, and harps, and trumpets, into the house of the
Lord. {20:29} Then the fear of the Lord fell upon all the
kingdoms of the lands, when they had heard that the Lord
had fought against the enemies of Israel. {20:30} And the
kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet. And God granted to him
peace on all sides. {20:31} And so Jehoshaphat reigned over
Judah. And he was thirty-five years old when he had begun
to reign. Then he reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem.
And the name of his mother was Azubah, the daughter of
Shilhi. {20:32} And he walked in the way of his father, Asa,
and he did not decline from it, doing the things that were
pleasing before the Lord. {20:33} Yet truly, he did not take
away the high places, and the people still had not directed
their heart to the Lord, the God of their fathers. {20:34} But
the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, the first and the last, have
been written in the words of Jehu, the son of Hanani, which
he digested into the books of the kings of Israel. {20:35} After
these things, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, formed a
friendship with Ahaziah, the king of Israel, whose works
were very impious. {20:36} And he was a partner in the
making of ships, which would go to Tarshish. And they made
the fleet at Eziongeber. {20:37} Then Eliezer, the son of
Dodavahu, from Mareshah, prophesied to Jehoshaphat,
saying: “Because you have made a pact with Ahaziah, the
Lord has struck your works, and the ships have been broken,
and they have not been able to go to Tarshish.”


[2 Chronicles 21] {21:1} Then Jehoshaphat slept with his
fathers, and he was buried with them in the City of David.
And his son, Jehoram, reigned in his place. {21:2} And he
had brothers, sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, and Jehiel, and
Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah. All
these were sons of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah.
{21:3} And their father gave to them many gifts of silver, and
gold, and valuables, with very fortified cities in Judah. But
the kingdom he handed on to Jehoram, because he was the
firstborn. {21:4} Therefore, Jehoram rose up over the
kingdom of his father. And when he had established himself,
he killed with the sword all his brothers, and certain ones
from the leaders of Israel. {21:5} Jehoram was thirty-two
years old when he had begun to reign. And he reigned for
eight years in Jerusalem. {21:6} And he walked in the ways
of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done. For
his wife was a daughter of Ahab, and he did evil in the sight
of the Lord. {21:7} But the Lord was not willing to destroy
the house of David, because of the covenant that he had
formed with him, and because he had promised that he
would provide a lamp to him, and to his sons, for all time.
{21:8} In those days, Edom rebelled, so as not to be subject
to Judah, and they appointed for themselves a king.
{21:9} And when Jehoram had gone across with his leaders,
and all the horsemen who were with him, he arose in the
night, and struck the Edomites (who had surrounded him),
and all the commanders of his horsemen. {21:10} Even so,
Edom rebelled, so as not to be under the authority of Judah,
even to this day. Also at that time, Libnah withdrew, so as
not to be under his hand. For he had forsaken the Lord, the
God of his fathers. {21:11} Moreover, he also constructed
high places in the cities of Judah. And he caused the
inhabitants of Jerusalem to fornicate, and Judah to
prevaricate. {21:12} Then letters were conveyed to him from
the prophet Elijah, in which it was written: “Thus says the
Lord, the God of David, your father: Because you have not
walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat, your father, nor in the
ways of Asa, the king of Judah, {21:13} but instead you have
advanced along the paths of the kings of Israel, and you have
caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to fornicate,
imitating the fornication of the house of Ahab, and moreover,
you have killed your brothers, the house of your father, who
are better than you: {21:14} behold, the Lord will strike you
with a great plague, with all your people, and your sons and
wives, and all your substance. {21:15} And you shall be
sickened by a very grievous disease of your bowels, until your
inner organs depart, little by little, each day.”
{21:16} Therefore, the Lord stirred up, against Jehoram, the
spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, who are along
the borders of the Ethiopians. {21:17} And they ascended
into the land of Judah. And they laid waste to it. And they
despoiled all the substance that was found in the house of the
king, including even his sons and wives. Neither did there
remain for him any son, except Jehoahaz, who was the
youngest born. {21:18} And in addition to all these things,
the Lord struck him with an incurable disease of the bowels.
{21:19} And as day followed after day, and the space of time
turned, the course of two years was completed. And after
having been wasted by a long consumption, so much so that
even his inner organs were discharged, the disease ended
along with his life. And so he died of a very grievous illness.
And the people did not make a funeral for him, according to
the custom of burning, as they had done for his ancestors.
{21:20} He was thirty-two years old when he had begun to
reign, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. And he did
not walk uprightly. And they buried him in the City of David,
yet truly, not in the sepulcher of the kings.


[2 Chronicles 22] {22:1} Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem
appointed his youngest son, Ahaziah, as king in his place.
For the robbers of the Arabians, who had fallen upon the
camp, had put to death all those who were greater by birth
before him. And so Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, reigned as
king of Judah. {22:2} Ahaziah was forty-two years old when
he had begun to reign, and he reigned for one year in
Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Athaliah, the
daughter of Omri. {22:3} But he too went forth in the ways
of the house of Ahab. For his mother impelled him to act
impiously. {22:4} And so he did evil in the sight of the Lord,
just as the house of Ahab did. For after the death of his father,
they were counselors to him, to his destruction. {22:5} And
he walked in their counsels. And he went with Joram, the son
of Ahab, the king of Israel, to war against Hazael, the king of
Syria, at Ramoth Gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram.
{22:6} And he returned, so that he might be cured at Jezreel.
For he had received many wounds in the above-stated battle.
And so Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah,
descended, so that he might visit Joram, the son of Ahab, at
Jezreel, while he was ill. {22:7} Indeed, it was the will of
God against Ahaziah that he would go to Joram, and when
he had gone, that he also would go out with him against Jehu,
the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy
the house of Ahab. {22:8} Therefore, when Jehu was
overthrowing the house of Ahab, he found the leaders of
Judah, with the sons of the brothers of Ahaziah, who were
ministering to him, and he put them to death. {22:9} Also,
while he himself was seeking Ahaziah, he found him to be
hiding in Samaria. And having been led to him, he killed him.
And they buried him, because he was the son of Jehoshaphat,
who had sought the Lord with all his heart. But there was no
longer any hope that someone from the stock of Ahaziah
would reign. {22:10} For indeed, his mother, Athaliah,
seeing that her son had died, rose up and killed the entire
royal stock of the house of Jehoram. {22:11} But Jehosheba,
the daughter of the king, took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and
stole him from the midst the king’s sons when they were
being slain. And she hid him with his nurse in a bedroom.
Now Jehosheba, the one who had hidden him, was the
daughter of king Jehoram, and the wife of the high priest
Jehoiada, and the sister of Ahaziah. And because of this,
Athaliah did not kill him. {22:12} Therefore, he was with
them, hidden in the house of God, for six years, while
Athaliah reigned over the land.


[2 Chronicles 23] {23:1} Then in the seventh year, Jehoiada
having been strengthened, he took the centurions, namely,
Azariah, the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael, the son of
Jehohanan, and also Azariah, the son of Obed, and Maaseiah,
the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat, the son of Zichri, and he
formed a pact with them. {23:2} And traveling through
Judah, they gathered together the Levites from all of the cities
of Judah, and the leaders of the families of Israel, and they
went to Jerusalem. {23:3} Then the entire multitude formed a
pact with the king, in the house of God. And Jehoiada said to
them: “Behold, the son of the king shall reign, just as the
Lord has said concerning the sons of David. {23:4} Therefore,
this is the word that you shall do: {23:5} One third part of
you who arrive on the Sabbath, priests, and Levites, and
porters, shall be at the gates. Truly, one third part shall be at
the house of the king. And one third shall be at the gate
which is called the Foundation. Yet truly, let all the
remainder of the common people be in the courts of the
house of the Lord. {23:6} Let no one else enter into the house
of the Lord, except the priests, and those from the Levites
who are ministering. These alone may enter, for they have
been sanctified. And let all the remainder of the common
people observe the watches of the Lord. {23:7} Then let the
Levites encircle the king, each one having his weapons. And
if anyone else will have entered into the temple, let him be
slain. And may they be with the king, both entering and
departing.” {23:8} Then the Levites, and all of Judah, acted
in accord with all that the high priest Jehoiada had instructed.
And each of them took the men who were under him, and
who were arriving by the course of the Sabbath, with those
who had fulfilled the Sabbath and who were about to depart.
For indeed the high priest Jehoiada had not permitted the
companies to depart, which were accustomed to replace one
another each week. {23:9} And Jehoiada, the priest, gave to
the centurions the lances and round shields and crescent
shields of king David, which he had dedicated in the house of
the Lord. {23:10} And he positioned all the people, holding
short swords, from the right part of the temple to the left part
of the temple, before the altar and the temple, all around the
king. {23:11} And they led out the son of the king. And they
imposed the diadem on him, and the testimony. And they
gave him the law to hold in his hand. And they appointed
him as king. Also, the high priest Jehoiada and his sons
anointed him. And they prayed for him, and said, “May the
king live!” {23:12} And when Athaliah had heard it,
specifically the sound of running and the praising of the king,
she entered to the people in the temple of the Lord.
{23:13} And when she had seen the king standing upon the
step at the entrance, and the leaders and companies around
him, and all the people of the land rejoicing, and sounding
the trumpets, and playing on instruments of various kinds,
and the voice of those who were praising, she tore her
garments, and she said: “Treason! Treason!” {23:14} Then
the high priest Jehoiada, going out to the centurions and to
the leaders of the army, said to them: “Lead her away,
beyond the borders of the temple. And let her be put to death
outside, with the sword.” And the priest instructed that she
should not be killed in the house of the Lord. {23:15} And
they laid hands on her neck. And when she had entered the
gate for the horses at the king’s house, they put her to death
there. {23:16} Then Jehoiada formed a covenant between
himself and the entire people, and the king, so that they
would be the people of the Lord. {23:17} And so, all the
people entered into the house of Baal, and they destroyed it.
And they broke apart his altars and idols. Also, they put to
death Mattan, the priest of Baal, before the altars.
{23:18} Then Jehoiada appointed overseers in the house of
the Lord, under the hands of the priests and Levites, whom
David had distributed to the house of the Lord so that they
might offer holocausts to the Lord, just as it was written in
the law of Moses, with gladness and singing, in accord with
the disposition of David. {23:19} Also, he appointed porters
at the gates of the house of the Lord, so that whoever was
unclean for any reason would not enter. {23:20} And he took
the centurions, and the most valiant men, and the leaders of
the people, and all the common people of the land, and they
set out to descend to the king, from the house of the Lord,
and to enter through the middle of the upper gate, to the
house of the king. And they placed him on the royal throne.
{23:21} And all the people of the land were rejoicing, and the
city was quieted. But Athaliah was slain with the sword.


[2 Chronicles 24] {24:1} Joash was seven years old when he
had begun to reign. And he reigned for forty years in
Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Zibiah, from
Beersheba. {24:2} And he did what is good before the Lord
during all the days of Jehoiada, the priest. {24:3} Now
Jehoiada gave to him two wives, from whom he conceived
sons and daughters. {24:4} After these things, it pleased
Joash to repair the house of the Lord. {24:5} And he
gathered together the priests and Levites, and he said to them:
“Go out to the cities of Judah, and collect from all of Israel
money to repair the surfaces of the temple of your God,
throughout each year. And do this promptly.” But the Levites
acted negligently. {24:6} And the king summoned Jehoiada,
the leader, and he said to him: “Why was there no concern
with you, so that you would compel the Levites to bring,
from Judah and from Jerusalem, the money that was
appointed by Moses, the servant of the Lord, so as to bring it,
from the entire multitude of Israel, to the tabernacle of the
testimony? {24:7} For that very impious woman Athaliah
and her sons have destroyed the house of God, and they have
adorned the shrine of Baal from all the things that had been
sanctified in the temple of the Lord.” {24:8} Therefore, the
king instructed, and they made an ark. And they placed it
beside the gate of the house of the Lord, on the outside.
{24:9} And they proclaimed, in Judah and Jerusalem, that
each one should bring to the Lord the money that Moses, the
servant of God, appointed in the desert, concerning all of
Israel. {24:10} And all the leaders and all the people rejoiced.
And upon entering, they together took and placed so much
into the ark of the Lord that it was filled. {24:11} And when
it was time for them to bring the ark before the king by the
hands of the Levites, for they saw that there was much
money, the scribe of the king, and the one whom the high
priest had appointed, entered. And they poured out the
money that was in the ark. Then they carried the ark back to
its place. And they did this on each day. And an immense
sum of money was gathered. {24:12} And the king and
Jehoiada gave it to those who were in charge of the works of
the house of the Lord. Then with it they hired hewers of
stone, and artisans of every kind, so that they might repair the
house of the Lord, and also so that the works of iron and of
brass, which had begun to fall, would be reinforced.
{24:13} And those who were hired were working
industriously. And the breach in the walls was healed by their
hands. And they returned the house of the Lord to a pristine
state. And they caused it stand firm. {24:14} And when they
had completed all the works, they brought the remaining part
of the money before the king and Jehoiada. And from it, the
vessels of the temple were made, for the ministry and for the
holocausts, including bowls and other vessels of gold and
silver. And holocausts were being offered in the house of the
Lord continually, during all the days of Jehoiada.
{24:15} But Jehoiada was old and full of days. And he died
when he was one hundred thirty years old. {24:16} And they
buried him in the City of David, with the kings, because he
had done good to Israel and to his house. {24:17} Then, after
Jehoiada passed away, the leaders of Judah entered and
reverenced the king. And he was enticed by their
obsequiousness, and so he acquiesced to them. {24:18} And
they abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their
fathers, and they served sacred groves and graven images.
And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of this
sin. {24:19} And he sent prophets to them, so that they might
return to the Lord. And though they were offering testimony,
they were not willing to listen to them. {24:20} And so the
Spirit of God clothed Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the
priest. And he stood in the sight of the people, and he said to
them: “Thus says the Lord God: Why have you transgressed
the precept of the Lord, though it was not to your benefit,
and why have you abandoned the Lord, so that he would
then abandon you?” {24:21} And gathering together against
him, they stoned him, beside the place of the king, in the
atrium of the house of the Lord. {24:22} And king Joash did
not remember the mercy with which Jehoiada, his father, had
treated him; instead he put to death his son. And as he was
dying, he said: “May the Lord see and take account.”
{24:23} And when a year had turned, the army of Syria
ascended against him. And they went to Judah and
Jerusalem. And they put to death all the leaders of the people.
And they sent all the spoils to the king of Damascus.
{24:24} And although certainly there had arrived a very
small number of Syrians, the Lord delivered into their hands
an immense multitude. For they had forsaken the Lord, the
God of their fathers. Also, against Joash they executed
disgraceful judgments. {24:25} And upon departing, they left
him greatly debilitated. Then his servants rose up against him,
in vengeance for the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest.
And they killed him on his bed, and he died. And they buried
him in the City of David, but not in the sepulchers of the
kings. {24:26} Truly, those who ambushed him were Zabad,
the son of an Ammonite woman named Shimeath, and
Jehozabad, the son of a Moabite woman named Shimrith.
{24:27} But concerning his sons, and the sum of money that
had been amassed under him, and the repairing of the house
of God, these things have been written more diligently in the
book of kings. Then his son, Amaziah, reigned in his place.


[2 Chronicles 25] {25:1} Amaziah was twenty-five years old
when he had begun to reign. And he reigned for twenty-nine
years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Jehoaddan,
from Jerusalem. {25:2} And he accomplished good in the
sight of the Lord. Yet truly, not with a perfect heart.
{25:3} And when he saw himself to be strengthened in his
rule, he cut the throats of the servants who had killed his
father, the king. {25:4} But he did not put to death their sons,
just as it was written in the book of the law of Moses, where
the Lord instructed, saying: “The fathers shall not be slain
because of the sons, nor the sons because of their fathers.
Instead, each one shall die for his own sin.” {25:5} And then
Amaziah gathered together Judah, and he organized them by
families, and tribunes, and centurions, throughout all of
Judah and Benjamin. And he numbered them from twenty
years old and upward. And he found three hundred thousand
young men, who could go forth to battle, and who could hold
spear and shield. {25:6} Also, he hired for pay from Israel
one hundred thousand experienced men, for one hundred
talents of silver. {25:7} Then a man of God came to him, and
he said: “O king, let not the army of Israel go forth with you.
For the Lord is not with Israel, nor with all the sons of
Ephraim. {25:8} But if you think that a war stands by the
strength of the army, God will cause you to be overwhelmed
by the enemies. For indeed, it belongs to God to assist, and to
put to flight.” {25:9} And Amaziah said to the man of God,
“Then what will become of the one hundred talents, which I
gave to the soldiers of Israel?” And the man of God
responded to him, “The Lord has that from which he is able
to give much more than this to you.” {25:10} And so,
Amaziah separated the army, which had come to him from
Ephraim, so that they would return to their place. But having
become very angry against Judah, they returned to their own
region. {25:11} Then Amaziah confidently led forth his
people. And he went away to the Valley of the Salt Pits, and
he struck down ten thousand of the sons of Seir. {25:12} And
the sons of Judah captured another ten thousand of the men.
And they led them to the precipice of a certain rock. And
they threw them from the summit, and they were all broken
apart. {25:13} But the army that Amaziah had sent away, so
that they would not go with him into battle, spread out
among the cities of Judah, from Samaria as far as Beth-horon.
And having killed three thousand, they took away much
plunder. {25:14} Truly, after the slaughter of the Edomites,
and when the gods of the sons of Seir were brought, Amaziah
chose them as gods for himself. And he was adoring them,
and burning incense to them. {25:15} For this reason, the
Lord became angry against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet
to him, who would say to him, “Why have you adored gods
who did not free their own people from your hand?”
{25:16} And after he spoke these things, he responded to him:
“Are you the counselor of the king? Be quiet! Otherwise I will
put you to death.” And departing, the prophet said, “I know
that God has decided to kill you, because you have done this
evil, and also because you have not agreed to my counsel.”
{25:17} And so Amaziah, the king of Judah, undertaking a
very wicked counsel, sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the
son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying: “Come, let us see one
another.” {25:18} But he sent back messengers, saying: “The
thistle which is in Lebanon sent to the cedar of Lebanon,
saying: ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife.’ And behold,
the beasts that were in the forest of Lebanon passed through,
and they trampled the thistle. {25:19} You said, ‘I struck
down Edom.’ And for this reason, your heart is lifted up with
pride. Settle in your own house. Why do you provoke evil
against yourself, so that you may fall, and then Judah with
you?” {25:20} Amaziah was not willing to listen to him,
because it was the will of the Lord that he be delivered into
the hands of the enemies, because of the gods of Edom.
{25:21} And so Joash, the king of Israel, ascended, and they
presented themselves within the sight of one another. Now
Amaziah, the king of Judah, was in Beth-shemesh of Judah.
{25:22} And Judah fell before Israel. And each one fled to his
own tent. {25:23} Then Joash, the king of Israel, captured
Amaziah, the king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of
Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and he led him to Jerusalem.
And he destroyed its walls, from the gate of Ephraim as far as
the gate of the corner, four hundred cubits. {25:24} Also, he
brought back to Samaria all the gold and silver, and all the
vessels, which he had found in the house of God, and with
Obededom in the treasuries of the king’s house, as well as
sons for hostages. {25:25} Then Amaziah, the son of Joash,
the king of Judah, lived for fifteen years after the death of
Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel. {25:26} Now
the rest of the words of Amaziah, the first and the last, have
been written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
{25:27} And after he withdrew from the Lord, they set up an
ambush against him in Jerusalem. But since he had fled into
Lachish, they sent and killed him in that place. {25:28} And
having carried him back upon horses, they buried him with
his fathers in the City of David.


[2 Chronicles 26] {26:1} Then all the people of Judah
appointed his son, Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, as
king in place of his father, Amaziah. {26:2} He built up Eloth,
and he restored it to the dominion of Judah. After this, the
king slept with his fathers. {26:3} Uzziah was sixteen years
old when he had begun to reign. And he reigned for fifty-two
years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Jecoliah,
from Jerusalem. {26:4} And he did what was right in the eyes
of the Lord, in accord with all that his father, Amaziah, had
done. {26:5} And he sought the Lord, during the days of
Zechariah, who understood and saw God. And while he was
seeking the Lord, he directed him in all things. {26:6} Indeed,
he went out and fought against the Philistines. And he
destroyed the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the
wall of Ashdod. Also, he built towns in Ashdod, and among
the Philistines. {26:7} And God helped him against the
Philistines, and against the Arabians, who were living in
Gurbaal, and against the Ammonites. {26:8} And the
Ammonites weighed out gifts to Uzziah. And his name
became widely known, even to the entrance of Egypt,
because of his frequent victories. {26:9} And Uzziah built
towers in Jerusalem, above the gate of the corner, and above
the gate of the valley, and others on the same side of the wall,
and he fortified them. {26:10} Then he also constructed
towers in the wilderness, and dug many cisterns, because he
had much cattle, both in the plains and in the starkness of the
wilderness. Also, he had vineyards and dressers of vines in
the mountains and at Carmel. Certainly, he was a man
devoted to agriculture. {26:11} Now the army of his warriors,
who would go forth to battle, was under the hand of Jeiel, the
scribe, and Maaseiah, the teacher, and under the hand of
Hananiah, who was among the king’s commanders.
{26:12} And the entire number of the leaders, by the families
of strong men, was two thousand six hundred. {26:13} And
the entire army under them was three hundred and seven
thousand five hundred, who were fit for war, and who fought
on behalf of the king against the adversaries. {26:14} Also,
Uzziah prepared for them, that is, for the entire army, shields,
and spears, and helmets, and breastplates, and bows, as well
as slings for the casting of stones. {26:15} And in Jerusalem,
he made various kinds of machines, which he placed in the
towers, and at the corners of the walls, so as to shoot arrows
and large stones. And his name went forth to far away places,
for the Lord was helping him and had strengthened him.
{26:16} But when he had become strong, his heart was lifted
up, even to his own destruction. And he neglected the Lord
his God. And entering into the temple of the Lord, he
intended to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
{26:17} And entering immediately after him, Azariah the
priest, and with him eighty priests of the Lord, very valiant
men, {26:18} withstood the king, and they said: “It is not
your office, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord; rather, it is
the office of the priests, that is, of the sons of Aaron, who
have been consecrated for this same ministry. Depart from
the sanctuary, otherwise you will be in contempt. For this act
will not be reputed to you for your glory by the Lord God.”
{26:19} And Uzziah, having become angry, while holding in
his hand the censer so that he might burn incense, threatened
the priests. And immediately a leprosy arose on his forehead,
in the sight of the priests, in the house of the Lord, at the altar
of incense. {26:20} And when the high priest Azariah, and all
the rest of the priests, had gazed upon him, they saw the
leprosy on his forehead, and they hurried to expel him. Then
too, he himself, becoming terrified, rushed to depart, because
immediately he had become aware of the wound of the Lord.
{26:21} And so, king Uzziah was a leper, even until the day
of his death. And he lived in a separate house, being full of
leprosy, because of which he had been ejected from the house
of the Lord. Then Jotham, his son, directed the house of the
king, and he was judging the people of the land. {26:22} But
the rest of the words of Uzziah, the first and the last, were
written by the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz. {26:23} And
Uzziah slept with his fathers. And they buried him in the
field of the royal sepulchers, because he was a leper. And
Jotham, his son, reigned in his place.


[2 Chronicles 27] {27:1} Jotham was twenty-five years old
when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years
in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Jerusha, the
daughter of Zadok. {27:2} And he did what was right before
the Lord, in accord with all that his father, Uzziah, had done,
except that he did not enter into the temple of the Lord, and
still the people were transgressing. {27:3} He improved the
high gate of the house of the Lord. And he built many things
upon the wall of Ophel. {27:4} Also, he built cities in the
mountains of Judah, and fortresses and towers in the forests.
{27:5} He fought against the king of the sons of Ammon, and
he defeated them. And at that time, the sons of Ammon gave
to him one hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand cor of
wheat, and the same number of cor of barley. These things
the sons of Ammon offered to him in the second and third
year. {27:6} And Jotham was strengthened, because he had
directed his way before the Lord his God. {27:7} Now the
rest of the words of Jotham, and all his battles and works,
have been written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
{27:8} He was twenty-five years old when he had begun to
reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem.
{27:9} And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried
him in the City of David. And his son, Ahaz, reigned in his
place.


[2 Chronicles 28] {28:1} Ahaz was twenty years old when he
had begun to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in
Jerusalem. He did not do what is right in the sight of the Lord,
as his father David did. {28:2} Instead, he walked in the ways
of the kings of Israel. Moreover, he also cast statues for the
Baals. {28:3} It is he who burned incense in the Valley of the
son of Hinnom. And he purified his sons by fire, in accord
with the ritual of the nations that the Lord put to death at the
advent of the sons of Israel. {28:4} Also, he was sacrificing
and burning incense in the high places, and on the hills, and
under every leafy tree. {28:5} And so the Lord, his God,
delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria, who struck
him and took great plunder from his kingdom. And he
carried it away to Damascus. Also, he was delivered into the
hands of the king of Israel, and he struck him with great
affliction. {28:6} And Pekah, the son of Remaliah, killed, on
one day, one hundred twenty thousand, all of them men of
war from Judah, because they had forsaken the Lord, the
God of their fathers. {28:7} In the same time, Zichri, a
powerful man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah, the son of the
king, and Azrikam, the governor of his house, and also
Elkanah, who was second to the king. {28:8} And the sons of
Israel seized, from their brothers, two hundred thousand
women, boys, and girls, and immense plunder. And they
took it away to Samaria. {28:9} At that time, there was a
prophet of the Lord there, named Oded. And going out to
meet the army arriving in Samaria, he said to them: “Behold,
the Lord, the God of your fathers, having become angry
against Judah, has delivered them into your hands. But you
have killed them by atrocities, so that your cruelty has
reached up to heaven. {28:10} Moreover, you wanted to
subjugate the sons of Judah and Jerusalem as your men and
women servants, which is a work that should never be done.
And so you sinned in this matter against the Lord your God.
{28:11} But listen to my counsel, and release the captives,
whom you have brought from your brothers. For a great fury
of the Lord is hanging over you.” {28:12} And so, some of
the leaders of the sons of Ephraim, Azariah, the son of
Johanan, Berechiah, the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah, the
son of Shallum, and Amasa, the son of Hadlai, stood up
against those who were arriving from the battle. {28:13} And
they said to them: “You shall not lead back captives to here,
lest we sin against the Lord. Why are you willing to add to
our sins, and to build upon our old offenses? For indeed, the
sin is great, and the furious anger of the Lord is hanging over
Israel.” {28:14} And the warriors released the spoils and all
that they had seized, in the sight of the leaders and the entire
multitude. {28:15} And the men, whom we mentioned above,
rose up and took the captives. All those who were naked,
they clothed from the spoils. And when they had clothed
them, and had given them shoes, and had refreshed them
with food and drink, and had anointed them because of the
hardship, and had cared for them, whoever was not able to
walk and whoever was feeble in body, they set them upon
beasts of burden, and they led them to Jericho, the city of
palm trees, to their brothers, and they themselves returned to
Samaria. {28:16} In that time, king Ahaz sent to the king of
the Assyrians, requesting assistance. {28:17} And the
Edomites arrived and struck down many of Judah, and they
seized great plunder. {28:18} Also, the Philistines spread out
among the cities of the plains, and to the south of Judah. And
they seized Beth-shemesh, and Ayalon, and Gederoth, and
also Soco, and Timnah, and Gimzo, with their villages, and
they lived in them. {28:19} For the Lord had humbled Judah
because of Ahaz, the king of Judah, since he had stripped it
of help, and had shown contempt for the Lord. {28:20} And
he led against him Tilgath-pilneser, the king of the Assyrians,
who also afflicted him and laid waste to him, without
resistance. {28:21} And so Ahaz, despoiling the house of the
Lord, and the house of the kings and the leaders, gave gifts to
the king of the Assyrians, and yet it profited him nothing.
{28:22} Moreover, in the time of his anguish, he also added
to his contempt against the Lord. King Ahaz himself, by
himself, {28:23} immolated victims to the gods of Damascus,
those who had struck him. And he said: “The gods of the
kings of Syria assist them, and so I will please them with
victims, and they will help me.” But to the contrary, they had
been the ruin of him and of all Israel. {28:24} And so, Ahaz,
having despoiled and broken apart all the vessels of the house
of God, closed up the doors of the temple of God, and made
for himself altars in all the corners of Jerusalem. {28:25} Also,
he constructed altars in all the cities of Judah, in order to
burn frankincense, and so he provoked the Lord, the God of
his fathers, to wrath. {28:26} But the rest of his words, and
all his works, the first and the last, have been written in the
book of the kings of Judah and Israel. {28:27} And Ahaz
slept with his fathers. And they buried him in the city of
Jerusalem. And they did not allow him to be in the
sepulchers of the kings of Israel. And his son, Hezekiah,
reigned in his place.


[2 Chronicles 29] {29:1} And so Hezekiah began to reign
when he was twenty-five years old. And he reigned for
twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was
Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. {29:2} And he did what
was pleasing in the sight of the Lord, in accord with all that
his father David had done. {29:3} In the first year and month
of his reign, he opened the double doors of the house of the
Lord, and he repaired them. {29:4} And he brought together
the priests and Levites. And he gathered them in the wide
eastern street. {29:5} And he said to them: “Listen to me, O
Levites, and be sanctified. Cleanse the house of the Lord, the
God of your fathers, and take away every uncleanness from
the sanctuary. {29:6} Our fathers sinned and did evil in the
sight of the Lord our God, abandoning him. They turned
their faces away from the tabernacle of the Lord, and they
presented their backs. {29:7} They closed up the doors which
were in the portico, and they extinguished the lamps. And
they did not burn incense, and they did not offer holocausts,
in the sanctuary of the God of Israel. {29:8} And so the fury
of the Lord was stirred up against Judah and Jerusalem, and
he handed them over to turmoil, and to destruction, and to
hissing, just as you discern with your own eyes. {29:9} Lo,
our fathers have fallen by the sword. Our sons, and our
daughters and wives have been led away as captives because
of this wickedness. {29:10} Now therefore, it is pleasing to
me that we should enter into a covenant with the Lord, the
God of Israel. And he will turn away the fury of his
indignation from us. {29:11} My sons, do not choose to be
negligent. The Lord has chosen you so that you would stand
before him, and minister to him, and worship him, and burn
incense to him.” {29:12} Therefore, the Levites rose up,
Mahath, the son of Amasai, and Joel, the son of Azariah,
from the sons of Kohath; then, from the sons of Merari, Kish,
the son of Abdi, and Azariah, the son of Jehallelel; and from
the sons of Gershon, Joah, the son of Zimmah, and Eden, the
son of Joah; {29:13} and truly, from the sons of Elizaphan,
Shimri and Jeuel; also, from the sons of Asaph, Zechariah
and Mattaniah; {29:14} indeed also, from the sons of Heman,
Jehuel and Shimei; then too, from the sons of Jeduthun,
Shemaiah and Uzziel. {29:15} And they gathered together
their brothers. And they were sanctified. And they entered in
accord with the command of the king and the order of the
Lord, so that they might expiate the house of God.
{29:16} And the priests, entering the temple of the Lord so
that they might sanctify it, took every uncleanness, which
they had found inside, out to the vestibule of the house of the
Lord; and the Levites took it away and transported it outside,
to the torrent Kidron. {29:17} Now they began to cleanse on
the first day of the first month. And on the eighth day of the
same month, they entered the portico of the temple of the
Lord. And then they expiated the temple over eight days.
And on the sixteenth day of the same month, they finished
what they had begun. {29:18} Also, they entered to king
Hezekiah, and they said to him: “We have sanctified the
entire house of the Lord, and the altar of holocaust, and its
vessels, indeed also the table of the presence, with all its
vessels, {29:19} and all the equipment of the temple, which
king Ahaz, during his reign, had polluted after his
transgression. And behold, these have all been set forth
before the altar of the Lord.” {29:20} And rising up at first
light, king Hezekiah joined as one all the leaders of the city,
and they ascended to the house of the Lord. {29:21} And
together they offered seven bulls and seven rams, seven lambs
and seven he-goats, for sin, for the kingdom, for the
Sanctuary, for Judah. And he spoke to the priests, the sons of
Aaron, so that they would offer these upon the altar of the
Lord. {29:22} And so they slaughtered the bulls. And the
priests took up the blood, and they poured it upon the altar.
Then they also slaughtered the rams, and they poured their
blood upon the altar. And they immolated the lambs, and
they poured the blood upon the altar. {29:23} They brought
the he-goats for sin before the king and the entire multitude.
And they laid their hands upon them. {29:24} And the priests
immolated them, and they sprinkled their blood before the
altar, for the expiation of all Israel. For certainly the king had
instructed that the holocaust and the sin offering should be
made on behalf of all Israel. {29:25} Also, he situated the
Levites in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, and psalteries,
and harps, according to the disposition of king David, and of
the seer Gad, and of the prophet Nathan. For indeed, this
was the precept of the Lord, by the hand of his prophets.
{29:26} And the Levites stood, holding the musical
instruments of David, and the priests held the trumpets.
{29:27} And Hezekiah ordered that they should offer
holocausts upon the altar. And when the holocausts were
being offered, they began to sing praises to the Lord, and to
sound the trumpets, and to play various musical instruments,
which David, the king of Israel, had prepared. {29:28} Then
the entire crowd was adoring, and the singers and those who
were holding the trumpeters were exercising their office, until
the holocaust was completed. {29:29} And when the oblation
was finished, the king, and all who were with him, bowed
down and adored. {29:30} And Hezekiah and the rulers
instructed the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of
David, and of Asaph, the seer. And they praised him with
great joy, and kneeling down, they adored. {29:31} And now
Hezekiah also added: “You have filled your hands for the
Lord. Draw near, and offer victims and praises in the house
of the Lord.” Therefore, the entire multitude offered victims
and praises and holocausts, with devout intention.
{29:32} Now the number of the holocausts that the multitude
offered was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, two hundred
lambs. {29:33} And they sanctified to the Lord six hundred
oxen and three thousand sheep. {29:34} Truly, the priests
were few; neither were they sufficient to remove the pelts
from the holocausts. Therefore, the Levites, their brothers,
also assisted them, until the work was completed, and the
priests, who were of higher rank, were sanctified. For indeed,
the Levites are sanctified with an easier ritual than the priests.
{29:35} Thus, there were very numerous holocausts, with the
fat of the peace offerings and the libations of the holocausts.
And the service of the house of the Lord was completed.
{29:36} And Hezekiah and all the people were joyful because
the ministry of the Lord was accomplished. For certainly, it
had pleased them to do this suddenly.


[2 Chronicles 30] {30:1} Also, Hezekiah sent to all of Israel
and Judah. And he wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh,
so that they would come to the house of the Lord in
Jerusalem, and so that they would keep the Passover to the
Lord, the God of Israel. {30:2} Therefore, having taken
counsel, the king and the rulers, and the entire assembly of
Jerusalem, resolved that they would keep the Passover, in the
second month. {30:3} For they had not been able to keep it at
its proper time. For the priests, who were unable to suffice,
had not been sanctified. And the people had not yet been
gathered together in Jerusalem. {30:4} And the word was
pleasing to the king, and to the entire multitude. {30:5} And
they resolved that they would send messengers to all of Israel,
from Beersheba even to Dan, so that they might come and
keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem.
For many had not kept it, just as it was prescribed by the law.
{30:6} And carriers traveled with the letters, by order of the
king and his rulers, to all of Israel and Judah, proclaiming, in
accord with what the king had ordered: “O sons of Israel,
return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and
Israel. And he will return to the remnant who escaped from
the hand of the king of the Assyrians. {30:7} Do not choose
to be like your fathers and brothers, who withdrew from the
Lord, the God of their fathers. And so he delivered them over
to destruction, as you yourselves discern. {30:8} Do not
choose to harden your necks, as your fathers did. Surrender
to the hands of the Lord. And go to his Sanctuary, which he
has sanctified unto eternity. Serve the Lord, the God of your
fathers, and the fury of his wrath will be turned away from
you. {30:9} For if you will return to the Lord, your brothers
and sons will find mercy before their masters, who led them
away as captives, and they will be returned to this land. For
the Lord your God is compassionate and lenient, and he will
not avert his face from you, if you will return to him.”
{30:10} And so, the carriers were traveling quickly from city
to city, throughout the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far
as Zebulun, though they were ridiculing and mocking them.
{30:11} Even so, certain men from Asher, and from
Manasseh, and from Zebulun, acquiescing to this counsel,
went to Jerusalem. {30:12} Truly, the hand of God was
working in Judah, to give them one heart, so that they would
accomplish the word of the Lord, according to the precept of
the king and of the rulers. {30:13} And many people gathered
together in Jerusalem, so that they could keep the solemnity
of unleavened bread, in the second month. {30:14} And
rising up, they destroyed the altars which were in Jerusalem,
and all the things in which incense was burned to idols.
Overturning these things, they cast them into the torrent
Kidron. {30:15} Then they immolated the Passover on the
fourteenth day of the second month. Also, the priests and
Levites, at length having been sanctified, offered the
holocausts in the house of the Lord. {30:16} And they stood
in their order, according to the disposition and law of Moses,
the man of God. Yet truly, the priests took up the blood,
which was to be poured out, from the hands of the Levites,
{30:17} because a great number were not sanctified. And
therefore, the Levites immolated the Passover for those who
had not been sanctified to the Lord in time. {30:18} And now
a great portion of the people from Ephraim, and Manasseh,
and Issachar, and Zebulun, who had not been sanctified, ate
the Passover, which is not in accord with what was written.
And Hezekiah prayed for them, saying: “The good Lord will
be forgiving {30:19} to all who, with their whole heart, seek
the Lord, the God of their fathers. And he will not impute it
to them, though they have not been sanctified.” {30:20} And
the Lord heeded him, and was reconciled to the people.
{30:21} And the sons of Israel who were found at Jerusalem
kept the solemnity of unleavened bread for seven days with
great rejoicing, praising the Lord throughout each day, with
the Levites and the priests, accompanied by the musical
instruments corresponding to their office. {30:22} And
Hezekiah spoke to the heart of all the Levites, who had a
good understanding concerning the Lord. And they ate
during the seven days of the solemnity, immolating victims of
peace offerings, and praising the Lord, the God of their
fathers. {30:23} And it pleased the entire multitude that they
should celebrate, even for another seven days. And they did
this with enormous gladness. {30:24} For Hezekiah, the king
of Judah, had offered to the multitude one thousand bulls and
seven thousand sheep. Truly, the rulers had given the people
one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. Then a great
mulititude of priests was sanctified. {30:25} And the whole
multitude of Judah, as much the priests and Levites as the
entire crowd that had arrived from Israel, and also the
converts from the land of Israel, and those with a habitation
in Judah, was overflowing with cheerfulness. {30:26} And
there was a great celebration in Jerusalem, to such an extent
as had not been in that city since the days of Solomon, the
son of David, the king of Israel. {30:27} Then the priests and
Levites rose up and blessed the people. And their voice was
heeded. And their prayer reached the holy habitation of
heaven.


[2 Chronicles 31] {31:1} And when these things had been
celebrated according to ritual, all of Israel who had been
found in the cities of Judah went forth, and they broke apart
the idols and cut down the sacred groves. They demolished
the high places and destroyed the altars, not only out of all
Judah and Benjamin, but also out of Ephraim as well as
Manasseh, until they utterly destroyed them. And all the sons
of Israel returned to their possessions and cities. {31:2} Then
Hezekiah appointed the companies of the priests and Levites
by their divisions, each man in his proper office, certainly as
much for the priests as for the Levites, for the sake of
holocausts and peace offerings, so that they might minister
and confess and sing, at the gates of the camp of the Lord.
{31:3} Now the portion of the king, from his own substance,
was such that they could offer a holocaust always, in
morning and in evening, also on the Sabbaths, and the new
moons, and the other solemnities, just as it was written in the
law of Moses. {31:4} And now he instructed the people living
in Jerusalem that they were to give portions to the priests and
Levites, so that they would be able to attend to the law of the
Lord. {31:5} And when this had reached the ears of the
multitude, the sons of Israel brought an abundance of first-
fruits of grain, wine, and oil, and also honey. And they
offered a tenth part of all that the soil brings forth.
{31:6} Then too, the sons of Israel and Judah, who were
living in the cities of Judah, brought tithes of oxen and sheep,
and tithes of the holy things that they had vowed to the Lord
their God. And carrying all these things, they made many
stacks. {31:7} In the third month, they began to lay out the
foundations of the stacks. And in the seventh month, they
finished them. {31:8} And when Hezekiah and his rulers had
entered, they saw the stacks, and they blessed the Lord and
the people of Israel. {31:9} And Hezekiah questioned the
priests and Levites, as to why the stacks were laid out in this
way. {31:10} Azariah, the high priest from the stock of
Zadok, answered him, saying: “Since the first-fruits began to
be offered in the house of the Lord, we have eaten and been
satisfied, and much remains. For the Lord has blessed his
people. Then what was left over is this great abundance,
which you see.” {31:11} And so Hezekiah instructed that
they should prepare storage places for the house of the Lord.
And when they had done so, {31:12} they faithfully brought
in the first-fruits, as well as the tithes and all that they had
vowed. Now the overseer of these things was Conaniah, a
Levite; and his brother, Shimei, was second. {31:13} And
after him, there was Jehiel, and Azariah, and Nahath, and
Asaahel, and Jerimoth, and also Jozabad, and Eliel, and
Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, who were overseers
under the hands of Conaniah, and his brother, Shimei, by the
authority of Hezekiah, the king, and Azariah, the high priest
of the house of God, to whom all these things belonged.
{31:14} Yet truly, Kore, the son of Imnah, a Levite and the
porter of the eastern gate, was the overseer of the things that
were being offered freely to the Lord, and of the first-fruits,
and of the things consecrated for the Holy of Holies.
{31:15} And under his charge were Eden, and Benjamin,
Jeshua, and Shemaiah, and also Amariah, and Shecaniah, in
the cities of the priests, so that they would distribute faithfully
to their brothers, the small as well as the great, their portions
{31:16} (except for the males from three years old and
upward) for all who were entering the temple of the Lord,
and for whatever was needed for the ministry, throughout
each day, as well as for the observances according to their
divisions. {31:17} And so, for the priests, by their families,
and for the Levites, from the twentieth year and upward, by
their orders and companies, {31:18} and for the entire
multitude, as much for the wives as for their children of both
sexes, provisions were offered faithfully from whatever had
been sanctified. {31:19} Then too, men were appointed of the
sons of Aaron, throughout the fields and the suburbs of each
city, who would distribute portions to all the males among
the priests and Levites. {31:20} Therefore, Hezekiah did all
these things (which we have said) in all of Judah. And he
worked what is good and upright and true before the Lord his
God, {31:21} for the whole service of the ministry of the
house of the Lord, in accord with the law and the ceremonies,
desiring to seek his God with his whole heart. And he did so,
and he prospered.


[2 Chronicles 32] {32:1} After these things, and after this
manner of truth, Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians
arrived. And entering Judah, he besieged the fortified cities,
desiring to seize them. {32:2} And when Hezekiah had seen
this, specifically that Sennacherib had arrived, and that the
entire force of the war was turning against Jerusalem,
{32:3} he took counsel with the rulers and with the most
valiant men, so that they might obstruct the heads of the
springs which were beyond the city. And with everyone
discerning the same judgment about this, {32:4} he gathered
together a great multitude, and they obstructed all the springs,
and the brook which was flowing through the midst of the
land, saying: “Otherwise, the kings of the Assyrians might
arrive and find an abundance of water.” {32:5} Also, acting
industriously, he built up the entire wall that had been broken
apart. And he constructed towers upon it, and another wall
outside it. And he repaired Millo, in the City of David. And
he made all kinds of weapons and shields. {32:6} And he
appointed leaders of the warriors within the army. And he
summoned them all to the wide street of the gate of the city.
And he spoke to their heart, saying: {32:7} “Act manfully
and be strengthened. Do not be afraid. Neither should you
dread the king of the Assyrians and the entire multitude that
is with him. For many more are with us than with him.
{32:8} For with him is an arm of flesh; with us is the Lord
our God, who is our helper, and who fights for us.” And the
people were strengthened by this type of words from
Hezekiah, the king of Judah. {32:9} After these things,
Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, sent his servants to
Jerusalem, (for he and his entire army were besieging Lachish)
to Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and to all the people who
were in the city, saying: {32:10} “Thus says Sennacherib, the
king of the Assyrians: In whom do you have faith, as you sit
besieged in Jerusalem? {32:11} Does not Hezekiah deceive
you, so that he would deliver you to die from hunger and
thirst, by affirming that the Lord your God will free you from
the hand of the king of the Assyrians? {32:12} Is this not the
same Hezekiah who destroyed his own high places and altars,
and who instructed Judah and Jerusalem, saying: ‘You shall
worship before one altar, and you shall burn incense upon it?’
{32:13} Do you not know what I and my fathers have done
to all the peoples of the lands? Have the gods of the nations
and all the lands prevailed so as to free their region from my
hand? {32:14} Who is there, out of all the gods of the nations
that my fathers destroyed, who is able to rescue his people
from my hand, so that now also your God would be able to
rescue you from this hand? {32:15} Therefore, let not
Hezekiah deceive or delude you with vain persuasion. And
you should not believe him. For if no god out of all the
nations and kingdoms was able to free his people from my
hand, and from the hand of my fathers, consequently neither
will your God be able to rescue you from my hand.”
{32:16} Then too, his servants were speaking many other
things against the Lord God, and against his servant
Hezekiah. {32:17} Also, he wrote letters full of blasphemy
against the Lord God of Israel. And against him he said:
“Just as the gods of other nations were unable to free their
people from my hand, so also is the God of Hezekiah unable
to rescue his people from this hand.” {32:18} Moreover, he
also shouted with a great clamor, in the language of the Jews,
toward the people who were sitting upon the walls of
Jerusalem, so that he might frighten them and so seize the
city. {32:19} And he was speaking against the God of
Jerusalem, just as against the gods of the peoples of the earth,
which are works of the hands of men. {32:20} And Hezekiah
the king, and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed
against this blasphemy, and they cried out to heaven.
{32:21} And the Lord sent an Angel, who struck all the
experienced men and warriors, and the leaders of the army of
the king of the Assyrians. And he returned in disgrace to his
own land. And when he had entered the house of his god, the
sons who had gone forth from his loins killed him with the
sword. {32:22} And the Lord saved Hezekiah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib, the
king of the Assyrians, and from the hand of all. And he
presented to them peace on every side. {32:23} And now
many were bringing victims and sacrifices to the Lord in
Jerusalem, and gifts to Hezekiah, the king of Judah. And
after these things, he was exalted before all the nations.
{32:24} In those days, Hezekiah was sick, even unto death,
and he prayed to the Lord. And he heeded him, and gave to
him a sign. {32:25} But he did not repay according to the
benefits which he had received, for his heart was lifted up.
And so wrath was brought against him, and against Judah
and Jerusalem. {32:26} And after this, he was humbled,
because he had exalted his heart, both he and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem. And therefore the wrath of the Lord did not
overwhelm them in the days of Hezekiah. {32:27} Now
Hezekiah was wealthy and very famous. And he gathered for
himself many treasures of silver and gold and precious stones,
of aromatics, and all kinds of weapons, and vessels of great
price, {32:28} and also repositories of grain, wine, and oil,
and stalls for every beast of burden, and fencing for cattle.
{32:29} And he built for himself cities. For indeed, he had
innumerable herds and flocks of sheep. For the Lord had
given to him an exceedingly great substance. {32:30} This
same Hezekiah was the one who blocked the upper font of
the waters of Gihon, and who diverted them down to the
western part of the City of David. In all his works, he
prosperously accomplished whatever he willed. {32:31} Yet
still, concerning the legates from the leaders of Babylon, who
had been sent to him so that they might inquire about the
portent which had happened upon the earth, God permitted
him to be tempted, so that everything might be made known
which was in his heart. {32:32} Now the rest of the words of
Hezekiah, and his mercies, have been written in the vision of
the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amos, and in the book of the
kings of Judah and Israel. {32:33} And Hezekiah slept with
his fathers. And they buried him above the sepulchers of the
sons of David. And all of Judah, and all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, celebrated his funeral. And his son, Manasseh,
reigned in his place.


[2 Chronicles 33] {33:1} Manasseh was twelve years old
when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for fifty-five
years in Jerusalem. {33:2} But he did evil before the Lord, in
accord with all the abominations of the nations which the
Lord overturned before the sons of Israel. {33:3} And turning
away, he repaired the high places, which had been
demolished by his father, Hezekiah. And he constructed
altars to the Baals, and made sacred groves. And he adored
the entire army of heaven, and he served them. {33:4} Also,
he built altars in the house of the Lord, about which the Lord
had said, “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.”
{33:5} But he built these for the entire army of heaven, in the
two courts of the house of the Lord. {33:6} And he caused
his sons to pass through fire in the Valley of the son of
Hinnom. He observed dreams, followed divinations, served
the occult arts, had with him magicians and enchanters, and
worked many evils before the Lord, so that he provoked him.
{33:7} Also, he set up a graven image and molten statue in
the house of God, about which God said to David, and to his
son Solomon: “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have
chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will place my name
forever. {33:8} And I will not cause the foot of Israel to be
moved from the land which I delivered to their fathers. Yet
this is so, only if they will take care to do what I have
instructed them, by the hand of Moses, with the entire law
and the ceremonies and the judgments.” {33:9} And so
Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
so that they did evil, more so than all the nations which the
Lord had overturned before the face of the sons of Israel.
{33:10} And the Lord spoke to him and to his people, but
they were not willing to pay attention. {33:11} Therefore, he
led over them the leaders of the army of the king of the
Assyrians. And they captured Manasseh, and they led him,
bound with chains and fetters, to Babylon. {33:12} And after
this, being in great anguish, he prayed to the Lord his God.
And he did penance greatly before the God of his fathers.
{33:13} And he petitioned and begged him intently. And he
heeded his prayer, and led him back to Jerusalem, into his
kingdom. And Manasseh realized that the Lord himself was
God. {33:14} After these things, he built a wall outside the
City of David, to the west of Gihon, at the steep valley, from
the entrance to the fish gate, circling around as far as Ophel.
And he raised it up greatly. And he appointed leaders of the
army in all the fortified cities of Judah. {33:15} And he took
away the foreign gods, and the idol from the house of the
Lord, and also the altars which he had made on the mount of
the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem. And he cast all these
things outside the city. {33:16} Then he repaired the altar of
the Lord, and he immolated upon it victims, and peace
offerings, with praise. And he instructed Judah to serve the
Lord, the God of Israel. {33:17} Yet still the people were
immolating on the high places, to the Lord their God.
{33:18} But the rest of the deeds of Manasseh, and his prayer
to his God, and also the words of the seers who were
speaking to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel,
are contained in the words of the kings of Israel. {33:19} Also,
his prayer and its heeding, and all his sins and contempt, and
the sites on which he built high places and made sacred
groves and statues, before he repented, have been written in
the words of Hozai. {33:20} Then Manasseh slept with his
fathers, and they buried him in his own house. And his son,
Amon, reigned in his place. {33:21} Amon was twenty-two
years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for two
years in Jerusalem. {33:22} And he did evil in the sight of the
Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. And he
immolated to all the idols that Manasseh had fabricated, and
he served them. {33:23} But he did not turn his face to the
Lord, as his father Manasseh had turned himself. And he
sinned much more grievously. {33:24} And when his
servants had conspired against him, they killed him in his
own house. {33:25} But the rest of the multitude of the
people, having slain those who had struck down Amon,
appointed his son, Josiah, as king in his place.


[2 Chronicles 34] {34:1} Josiah was eight years old when he
had begun to reign, and he reigned for thirty-one years in
Jerusalem. {34:2} And he did what was right in the sight of
the Lord, and he walked in the ways of his father David. He
did not turn away, neither to the right, nor to the left.
{34:3} Now in the eighth year of his reign, when he was still
a boy, he began to seek the God of his father David. And in
the twelfth year after he had begun to reign, he cleansed
Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the sacred
groves, and the idols, and the graven images. {34:4} And in
his sight, they destroyed the altars of the Baals, and they
demolished the idols which had been set upon them. And
then he cut down the sacred groves and crushed the graven
images. And he scattered the fragments upon the tombs of
those who had been accustomed to immolate to them.
{34:5} And after that, he burned the bones of the priests upon
the altars of the idols. And so did he cleanse Judah and
Jerusalem. {34:6} Then too, in the cities of Manasseh, and of
Ephraim, and of Simeon, even to Naphtali, he overturned
everything. {34:7} And when he had destroyed the altars and
the sacred groves, and had broken the idols to pieces, and
when all the profane shrines had been demolished from the
entire land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. {34:8} And so,
in the eighteenth year of his reign, having now cleansed the
land and the temple of the Lord, he sent Shaphan, the son of
Azaliah, and Maaseiah, the ruler of the city, and Joah, the
son of Joahaz, the historian, to repair the house of the Lord
his God. {34:9} And they went to Hilkiah, the high priest.
And having accepted from him the money which had been
brought into the house of the Lord, and which the Levites
and porters had gathered together from Manasseh, and
Ephraim, and the entire remnant of Israel, and also from all
of Judah, and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
{34:10} they delivered it into the hands of those who were in
charge of the workers in the house of the Lord, so that they
might repair the temple, and restore whatever was weak.
{34:11} And they gave it to the artisans and the stoneworkers,
so that they might buy stones from the quarries, and wood for
the joints of the building and for the upper floors the houses,
which the kings of Judah had destroyed. {34:12} And they
did everything faithfully. Now the overseers of the workers
were Jahath and Obadiah, from the sons of Merari, and
Zechariah and Meshullam, from the sons of Kohath, who
were supervising the work. All were Levites who knew how
to play musical instruments. {34:13} Truly, scribes and
teachers, from among the Levites who were porters, were
over those who were carrying burdens for various uses.
{34:14} And when they carried out the money that had been
brought into the temple of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found
the book of the law of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
{34:15} And he said to Shaphan, the scribe: “I have found
the book of the law in the house of the Lord.” And he
delivered it to him. {34:16} Then he took the volume to the
king, and he reported to him, saying: “Behold, everything
that you entrusted to your servants is completed.
{34:17} They have melted together the silver that was found
in the house of the Lord. And it has been given to the
overseers of the artisans and craftsmen for various works.
{34:18} After this, Hilkiah the priest gave to me this book.”
And when he had read it in the presence of the king,
{34:19} and he had heard the words of the law, he tore his
garments. {34:20} And he instructed Hilkiah, and Ahikam,
the son of Shaphan, and Abdon, the son of Micah, and also
Shaphan, the scribe, and Asaiah, the servant of the king,
saying: {34:21} “Go, and pray to the Lord for me, and for the
remnant of Israel and Judah, concerning all the words of this
book, which has been found. For the great fury of the Lord
has rained down upon us, because our fathers did not keep
the words of the Lord, to do all that has been written in this
volume.” {34:22} Therefore, Hilkiah, and those who had
been sent with him by the king, went to Huldah, the
prophetess, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tokhath, the son
of Hasrah, the keeper of the vestments. She was living in
Jerusalem, in the second part. And they spoke to her the
words which we explained above. {34:23} And she
responded to them: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel:
Tell the man who sent you to me: {34:24} Thus says the Lord:
Behold, I will lead in evils over this place, and over its
inhabitants, with all the curses that have been written in this
book, which they have read before the king of Judah.
{34:25} For they have abandoned me, and they have
sacrificed to foreign gods, so that they provoked me to wrath
by all the works of their hands. Therefore, my fury will rain
down upon this place, and it will not be extinguished.
{34:26} To the king of Judah, who sent you to petition before
the Lord, so shall you speak: Thus says the Lord, the God of
Israel: Since you listened to the words of this volume,
{34:27} and your heart was softened, and you humbled
yourself in the sight of God concerning these things which
have been said against this place and against the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, and since, revering my face, you have torn your
garments, and have wept before me: I also have heeded you,
says the Lord. {34:28} For now I will gather you to your
fathers, and you will be brought into your sepulcher in peace.
Neither shall your eyes see all the evil that I will lead in, over
this place and over its inhabitants.” And so they took back to
the king all that she had said. {34:29} And he, calling
together all those greater by birth of Judah and Jerusalem,
{34:30} ascended to the house of the Lord, united with all the
men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests
and the Levites, and all the people, from the least even to the
greatest. And in their hearing, in the house of the Lord, the
king read all the words of the volume. {34:31} And standing
up at his tribunal, he struck a covenant before the Lord, so
that he would walk after him, and would keep his precepts
and testimonies and justifications, with his whole heart and
with his whole soul, and so that he would do the things that
were written in that volume, which he had read. {34:32} Also,
concerning this, he bound by oath all who had been found in
Jerusalem and Benjamin. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem
acted in accord with the covenant of the Lord, the God of
their fathers. {34:33} Therefore, Josiah took away all the
abominations from all the regions of the sons of Israel. And
he caused all who were remaining in Israel to serve the Lord
their God. During all his days, they did not withdraw from
the Lord, the God of their fathers.


[2 Chronicles 35] {35:1} Now Josiah kept the Passover to
the Lord in Jerusalem, and it was immolated on the
fourteenth day of the first month. {35:2} And he appointed
the priests in their offices, and he exhorted them to minister
in the house of the Lord. {35:3} Also, he spoke with the
Levites, by whose instruction all of Israel was sanctified to
the Lord, saying: “Place the ark in the sanctuary of the
temple, which Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel,
built. For never again shall you carry it. Instead, now you
shall minister to the Lord your God, and to his people Israel.
{35:4} And prepare yourselves by your houses and families,
within each division, just as David, the king of Israel,
instructed, and just as his son Solomon has written.
{35:5} And minister in the sanctuary, by the Levitical
families and companies. {35:6} And having been sanctified,
immolate the Passover. And then prepare your brothers, so
that they may be able to act in accord with the words which
the Lord has spoken by the hand of Moses.” {35:7} After this,
Josiah gave to all the people, those who had been found there
at the solemnity of the Passover, thirty thousand lambs and
young goats from the flocks, and other kinds of small cattle,
and also three thousand oxen. All these were from the
substance of the king. {35:8} Also, his rulers offered what
they had vowed freely, as much for the people as for the
priests and Levites. Moreover, Hilkiah, and Zechariah, and
Jehiel, rulers of the house of the Lord, gave to the priests, in
order to observe the Passover, two thousand six hundred
small cattle, and three hundred oxen. {35:9} And Conaniah,
with Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, indeed also
Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, rulers of the Levites, gave
to the rest of the Levites, in order to celebrate the Passover,
five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.
{35:10} And the ministry was prepared. And the priests stood
in their office, and the Levites also stood in their companies,
according to the order of the king. {35:11} And the Passover
was immolated. And the priests sprinkled the blood with their
hand, and the Levites drew away the pelts of the holocausts.
{35:12} And they put these aside, so that they might give
them to each one, by their houses and families, and so that
they might be offered to the Lord, just as it was written in the
book of Moses. And with the oxen, they acted similarly.
{35:13} And they roasted the Passover above fire, in accord
with what was written in the law. Yet truly, the victims of
peace offerings they boiled in cauldrons and kettles and pots.
And they promptly distributed these to all the common
people. {35:14} Then afterward, they made preparations for
themselves and for the priests. Indeed, the priests had been
occupied in the oblations of the holocausts and the fat
offerings, even until night. Therefore, the Levites made
preparations for themselves and for the priests, the sons of
Aaron, last. {35:15} Now the singers, the sons of Asaph,
were standing in their order, according to the instruction of
David, and of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, the prophets
of the king. Truly, the porters kept watch at each gate, so as
not to depart from their ministry even for one moment. And
for this reason, their brothers, the Levites, prepared foods for
them. {35:16} And so, the entire worship ritual of the Lord
was completed on that day, so that they observed the
Passover and offered holocausts upon the altar of the Lord, in
accord with the precept of king Josiah. {35:17} And the sons
of Israel, who had been found there, kept the Passover at that
time, with the solemnity of unleavened bread, for seven days.
{35:18} There was no Passover similar to this one in Israel,
from the days of Samuel the prophet. And neither did anyone,
out of all the kings of Israel, keep such a Passover as did
Josiah, the priests and Levites, and all those of Judah and
Israel who had been found, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
{35:19} In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, this
Passover was celebrated. {35:20} After Josiah had repaired
the temple, Neco, the king of Egypt, ascended to fight at
Carchemish, beside the Euphrates. And Josiah went out to
meet him. {35:21} But he sent messengers to him, saying:
“What is there between me and you, O king of Judah? I have
not come against you today. Instead, I am fighting against
another house, to which God instructed me to go promptly.
Refrain from acting against God, who is with me, otherwise
he may kill you.” {35:22} Josiah was not willing to return.
Instead, he prepared for war against him. Neither would he
agree to the words of Neco from the mouth of God. In truth,
he traveled so that he might do battle in the field of Megiddo.
{35:23} And there, having been wounded by archers, he said
to his servants: “Lead me away from the battle. For I have
been severely wounded.” {35:24} And they took him from
the chariot, into another chariot which was following him, as
was the custom of kings. And they transported him to
Jerusalem. And he died, and he was buried in the mausoleum
of his fathers. And all of Judah and Jerusalem mourned for
him, {35:25} most of all Jeremiah. All the singing men and
women repeat his lamentations over Josiah, even to the
present day. And this has become like a law in Israel. Behold,
it is found written in the Lamentations. {35:26} Now the rest
of the words of Josiah, and his mercies, which were
instructed by the law of the Lord, {35:27} and also his works,
the first and the last, have been written in the book of the
kings of Judah and Israel.


[2 Chronicles 36] {36:1} Then the people of the land took
Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and they appointed him king in
place of his father, in Jerusalem. {36:2} Jehoahaz was
twenty-three years old when he had begun to reign, and he
reigned for three months in Jerusalem. {36:3} Then the king
of Egypt, when he had arrived in Jerusalem, removed him,
and condemned the land to one hundred talents of silver and
one talent of gold. {36:4} And he appointed Eliakim, his
brother, as king in his place, over Judah and Jerusalem. And
he changed his name to Jehoiakim. Truly, he took Jehoahaz
with him, and he led him away to Egypt. {36:5} Jehoiakim
was twenty-five years old when he had begun to reign, and he
reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did evil before
the Lord his God. {36:6} Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the
Chaldeans, ascended against him, and led him bound in
chains to Babylon. {36:7} And to there, he also took away
the vessels of the Lord, and he placed them in his temple.
{36:8} But the rest of the words of Jehoiakim, and his
abominations that he worked, and the things that were found
in him, are contained in the book of the kings of Judah and
Israel. Then his son, Jehoiachin, reigned in his place.
{36:9} Jehoiachin was eight years old when he had begun to
reign, and he reigned for three months and ten days in
Jerusalem. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord.
{36:10} And when the course of a year had turned, king
Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, carrying
away, at the same time, the most precious vessels of the
house of the Lord. Truly, he appointed his uncle, Zedekiah,
as king over Judah and Jerusalem. {36:11} Zedekiah was
twenty-one years old when he had begun to reign. And he
reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. {36:12} And he did
evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. And he did not show
remorse before the face of the prophet Jeremiah, who was
speaking to him from the mouth of the Lord. {36:13} Also,
he withdrew from king Nebuchadnezzar, who had bound
him by an oath to God, and he hardened his own neck and
his own heart, so that he did not return to the Lord, the God
of Israel. {36:14} Then too, all the leaders of the priests, with
the people, transgressed iniquitously, in accord with all the
abominations of the Gentiles. And they polluted the house of
the Lord, which he had sanctified to himself in Jerusalem.
{36:15} Then the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent to them,
by the hand of his messengers, rising in the night and daily
admonishing them. For he was lenient to his people and to
his habitation. {36:16} But they ridiculed the messengers of
God, and they gave little weight to his words, and they
mocked the prophets, until the fury of the Lord ascended
against his people, and there was no remedy. {36:17} For he
led over them the king of the Chaldeans. And he put to death
their young men by the sword, in the house of his sanctuary.
There was no pity for adolescents, nor virgins, nor the elderly,
nor even for the disabled. Instead, he delivered them all into
his hands. {36:18} And all the vessels of the house of Lord,
as much the greater as the lesser, and the treasures of the
temple, and of the king and the rulers, he carried away to
Babylon. {36:19} The enemies set fire to the house of God,
and they destroyed the wall of Jerusalem. They burned down
all the towers. And whatever was precious, they demolished.
{36:20} If anyone had escaped from the sword, he was led
into Babylon. And he served the king and his sons, until the
king of Persia would command, {36:21} and the word of the
Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah would be fulfilled, and the
land would celebrate her Sabbaths. For during all the days of
the desolation, she kept a Sabbath, until the seventy years
were completed. {36:22} Then, in the first year of Cyrus, the
king of the Persians, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord,
which he had spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord
stirred up the heart of Cyrus, the king of the Persians, who
commanded this to be proclaimed throughout his entire
kingdom, and also in writing, saying: {36:23} “Thus says
Cyrus, the king of the Persians: The Lord, the God of heaven,
has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. And he has
instructed me that I should build for him a house in
Jerusalem, which is in Judea. Who among you is from his
entire people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let
him ascend.”


** The Book of Ezra **


[Ezra 1] {1:1} In the first year of Cyrus, king of the Persians,
the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of the Persians, so
that the word of the Lord from the mouth of Jeremiah would
be fulfilled. And he sent out a voice, throughout his entire
kingdom, and also in writing, saying: {1:2} “Thus says Cyrus,
the king of the Persians: The Lord, the God of heaven, has
given all the kingdoms of the earth to me, and he himself has
instructed me that I should build a house for him in
Jerusalem, which is in Judea. {1:3} Who among you is from
his entire people? May his God be with him. Let him ascend
to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and let him build the house
of the Lord, the God of Israel. He is the God who is in
Jerusalem. {1:4} And let all who remain, in all the places
wherever they may live, assist him, each man from his place,
with silver and gold, and goods and cattle, in addition to
whatever they may offer voluntarily to the temple of God,
which is in Jerusalem.” {1:5} And the leaders of the fathers
from Judah and from Benjamin, with the priests, and the
Levites, and all those whose spirit was stirred by God, rose
up, so that they might ascend to build the temple of the Lord,
which was in Jerusalem. {1:6} And all those who were all
around assisted their hands with vessels of silver and gold,
with goods and cattle, with equipment, in addition to
whatever they had offered freely. {1:7} Likewise, king Cyrus
offered the vessels of the temple of the Lord, which
Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed
in the temple of his god. {1:8} Now Cyrus, king of Persia,
offered these by the hand of Mithredath, the son of the
treasurer, and he counted these out to Sheshbazzar, the
leader of Judah. {1:9} And this is their number: thirty gold
bowls, one thousand silver bowls, twenty-nine knives, thirty
gold cups, {1:10} four hundred ten of a second kind of silver
cup, one thousand other vessels. {1:11} All the vessels of gold
and silver were five thousand four hundred. Sheshbazzar
brought all these, with those who ascended from the
transmigration of Babylon, into Jerusalem.


[Ezra 2] {2:1} Now these are the sons of the province, who
ascended from the captivity, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of
Babylon, had transferred to Babylon, and who were returned
to Jerusalem and to Judah, each one to his own city.
{2:2} They arrived with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah,
Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai,
Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of
Israel: {2:3} The sons of Parosh, two thousand one hundred
seventy-two. {2:4} The sons of Shephatiah, three hundred
seventy-two. {2:5} The sons of Arah, seven hundred seventy-
five. {2:6} The sons of Pahath-moab, of the sons of Jeshua
and Joab, two thousand eight hundred twelve. {2:7} The
sons of Elam, one thousand two hundred fifty-four.
{2:8} The sons of Zattu, nine hundred forty-five. {2:9} The
sons of Zaccai, seven hundred sixty. {2:10} The sons of Bani,
six hundred forty-two. {2:11} The sons of Bebai, six hundred
twenty-three. {2:12} The sons of Azgad, one thousand two
hundred twenty-two. {2:13} The sons of Adonikam, six
hundred sixty-six. {2:14} The sons of Bigvai, two thousand
fifty-six. {2:15} The sons of Adin, four hundred fifty-four.
{2:16} The sons of Ater, who were of Hezekiah, ninety-eight.
{2:17} The sons of Bezai, three hundred twenty-three.
{2:18} The sons of Jorah, one hundred twelve. {2:19} The
sons of Hashum, two hundred twenty-three. {2:20} The sons
of Gibbar, ninety-five. {2:21} The sons of Bethlehem, one
hundred twenty-three. {2:22} The men of Netophah, fifty-six.
{2:23} The men of Anathoth, one hundred twenty-eight.
{2:24} The sons of Azmaveth, forty-two. {2:25} The sons of
Kiriatharim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred forty-
three. {2:26} The sons of Ramah and Geba, six hundred
twenty-one. {2:27} The men of Michmas, one hundred
twenty-two. {2:28} The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred
twenty-three. {2:29} The sons of Nebo, fifty-two. {2:30} The
sons of Magbish, one hundred fifty-six. {2:31} The sons of
the other Elam, one thousand two hundred fifty-five.
{2:32} The sons of Harim, three hundred twenty. {2:33} The
sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred twenty-five.
{2:34} The sons of Jericho, three hundred forty-five.
{2:35} The sons of Senaah, three thousand six hundred thirty.
{2:36} The priests: the sons of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua,
nine hundred seventy-three. {2:37} The sons of Immer, one
thousand fifty-two. {2:38} The sons of Pashhur, one
thousand two hundred forty-seven. {2:39} The sons of Harim,
one thousand seventeen. {2:40} The Levites: the sons of
Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, seventy-four.
{2:41} The singing men: the sons of Asaph, one hundred
twenty-eight. {2:42} The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of
Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of
Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai: altogether one
hundred thirty-nine. {2:43} The temple servants: the sons of
Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, {2:44} the
sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon,
{2:45} the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of
Akkub, {2:46} the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the
sons of Hanan, {2:47} the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar,
the sons of Reaiah, {2:48} the sons of Rezin, the sons of
Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, {2:49} the sons of Uzza, the
sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, {2:50} the sons of Asnah,
the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephusim, {2:51} the sons
of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur,
{2:52} the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of
Harsha, {2:53} the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the
sons of Temah, {2:54} the sons of Neziah, the sons of
Hatipha; {2:55} the sons of the servants of Solomon, the sons
of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Peruda, {2:56} the
sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel,
{2:57} the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of
Pochereth, who were of Hazzebaim, the sons of Ami:
{2:58} all the temple servants and the sons of the servants of
Solomon, three hundred ninety-two. {2:59} And these were
the ones who ascended from Telmelah, Telharsha, Cherub,
and Addan, and Immer. And they were not able to indicate
the house of their fathers and their offspring, whether they
were of Israel: {2:60} The sons of Delaiah, the sons of
Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, six hundred fifty-two.
{2:61} And from the sons of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah,
the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife
from the daughters of Barzillai, the Gileadite, and who were
called by their name. {2:62} These sought the writing of their
genealogy, and they did not find it, and so they were cast out
of the priesthood. {2:63} And the cupbearer said to them that
they should not eat from the Holy of Holies, until there
would arise a priest, learned and perfect. {2:64} The entire
multitude joined together was forty-two thousand three
hundred sixty, {2:65} not including their men and women
servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred
thirty-seven. And among these were singing men and singing
women, two hundred. {2:66} Their horses were seven
hundred thirty-six; their mules were two hundred forty-five;
{2:67} their camels were four hundred thirty-five; their
donkeys were six thousand seven hundred twenty.
{2:68} And some of the leaders among the fathers, when they
entered into the temple of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem,
freely offered some of these to the house of God, in order to
construct it in its location. {2:69} They gave to the expenses
of the work in accord with their ability: sixty-one thousand
gold coins, five thousand silver minas, and one hundred
priestly vestments. {2:70} Therefore, the priests and the
Levites, and some of the people, and the singing men, and
the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their cities,
and all of Israel lived in their cities.


[Ezra 3] {3:1} And now the seventh month had arrived, and
the sons of Israel were in their cities. Then, the people were
gathered together, like one man, in Jerusalem. {3:2} And
Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, rose up with his brothers, the
priests. And Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, rose up with his
brothers. And they built the altar of the God of Israel, so that
they might offer holocausts upon it, just as it was written in
the law of Moses, the man of God. {3:3} Now they set the
altar of God upon its bases, while keeping the people of all
the surrounding lands away from it. And they offered upon it
a holocaust to the Lord, morning and evening. {3:4} And
they kept the solemnity of tabernacles, just as it was written,
and the holocaust of each day in order, according to the
precept, the work of each day in its time. {3:5} And after
these, they offered the continual holocaust, as much on the
new moons as on all the solemnities of the Lord that were
consecrated, and on all those when a voluntary gift was
offered to the Lord. {3:6} From the first day of the seventh
month, they began to offer holocausts to the Lord. But the
temple of God had not yet been founded. {3:7} And so they
gave money to those who cut and laid stones. Similarly, they
gave food, and drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the
Tyrians, so that they would bring cedar wood, from Lebanon
to the sea at Joppa, in accord with what had been
commanded of them by Cyrus, the king of the Persians.
{3:8} Then, in the second year of their advent to the temple
of God in Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel, the
son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and the
remainder of their brothers, the priests, and the Levites, and
all who had arrived from the captivity to Jerusalem, began,
and they appointed Levites, from twenty years and over, to
hasten the work of the Lord. {3:9} And Jeshua and his sons
and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, and the sons of
Judah, like one man, stood so that they might have charge
over those who did the work in the temple of God: the sons
of Henadad, and their sons, and their brothers, the Levites.
{3:10} And when the builders had founded the temple of the
Lord, the priests stood in their adornment with trumpets, and
the Levites, the sons of Asaph, stood with cymbals, so that
they might praise God by the hand of David, the king of
Israel. {3:11} And they sung together with hymns and
confession to the Lord: “For he is good. For his mercy is over
Israel unto eternity.” And likewise, all the people shouted
with a great clamor in praise to the Lord, because the temple
of the Lord had been founded. {3:12} And many of the
priests and the Levites, and the leaders of the fathers and of
the elders, who had seen the former temple, when now this
temple was founded and was before their eyes, wept with a
great voice. And many of them, shouting for joy, lifted up
their voice. {3:13} Neither could anyone distinguish between
the voice of clamor of joy, and a voice of weeping of the
people. For the shouting of the people mixed into a great
clamor, and the voice was heard from far away.


[Ezra 4] {4:1} Now the enemies of Judah and of Benjamin
heard that the sons of the captivity were building a temple to
the Lord, the God of Israel. {4:2} And so, drawing near to
Zerubbabel and to the leaders of the fathers, they said to them:
“Let us build with you, for we seek your God just as you do.
Behold, we have immolated victims to him from the days of
Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here.”
{4:3} And Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders
of the fathers of Israel said to them: “It is not for you to build
the house of our God with us. Instead, we alone shall build to
the Lord our God, just as Cyrus, the king of the Persians, has
commanded us.” {4:4} Therefore, it happened that the
people of the land impeded the hands of the people of Judah,
and they troubled them in building. {4:5} Then they hired
counselors against them, so that they might argue against
their plan during all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, even
until the reign of Darius, king of the Persians. {4:6} And so,
during the reign of Ahasuerus, at the beginning of his reign,
they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and
of Jerusalem. {4:7} And so, in the days of Artaxerxes,
Bishlam, Mithredath, and Tabeel, and the others who were in
their council wrote to Artaxerxes, king of the Persians. Now
the letter of accusation was written in Syriac, and was being
read in the Syrian language. {4:8} Rehum, the commander,
and Shimshai, the scribe, wrote one letter from Jerusalem to
king Artaxerxes, in this manner: {4:9} “Rehum, the
commander, and Shimshai, the scribe, and the rest of their
counselors, the judges, and rulers, the officials, those from
Persia, from Erech, from Babylonia, from Susa, the
Dehavites, and the Elamites, {4:10} and the rest of the
nations, whom the great and glorious Osnappar transferred
and caused to live in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of
the regions across the river in peace: {4:11} to king
Artaxerxes. (This is a copy of the letter, which they sent to
him.) Your servants, the men who are across the river, send a
greeting. {4:12} Let it be known to the king, that the Jews,
who ascended from you to us, have arrived in Jerusalem, a
rebellious and most wicked city, which they are building,
constructing its ramparts and repairing the walls. {4:13} And
now let be it known to the king, that if this city will have been
built up, and its walls repaired, they will not pay tribute, nor
tax, nor yearly revenues, and this loss will affect even the
kings. {4:14} But, remembering the salt that we have eaten in
the palace, and because we are led to believe that it a crime to
see the king harmed, we have therefore sent and reported to
the king, {4:15} so that you may search in the books of the
histories of your fathers, and you may find written in the
records, and you may know that this city is a rebellious city,
and that it is harmful to the kings and the provinces, and that
wars were incited within it from the days of antiquity. For
which reason also, the city itself was destroyed. {4:16} We
report to the king that if this city will have been built, and its
walls repaired, you will have no possession across the river.”
{4:17} The king sent word to Rehum, the commander, and to
Shimshai, the scribe, and to the rest who were in their council,
to the inhabitants of Samaria, and to the others across the
river, offering a greeting and peace. {4:18} “The accusation,
which you have sent to us, has been read aloud before me.
{4:19} And it was commanded by me, and they searched and
found that this city, from the days of antiquity, has rebelled
against the kings, and that seditions and battles have been
incited within it. {4:20} Then too, there have been very
strong kings in Jerusalem, who also ruled over the entire
region which is across the river. They have also taken tribute,
and tax, and revenues. {4:21} Now therefore, hear the
sentence: Prohibit those men, so that this city may be not
built, until perhaps there may be further orders from me.
{4:22} See to it that you are not negligent in fulfilling this,
otherwise, little by little, the evil may increase against the
kings.” {4:23} And so a copy of the edict of king Artaxerxes
was read before Rehum, the commander, and Shimshai, the
scribe, and their counselors. And they went away hurriedly to
Jerusalem, to the Jews. And they prohibited them by force
and by strength. {4:24} Then the work of the house of the
Lord in Jerusalem was interrupted, and it did not resume
until the second year of the reign of Darius, the king of the
Persians.


[Ezra 5] {5:1} Now Haggai, the prophet, and Zechariah, the
son of Iddo, prophesying to the Jews who were in Judea and
Jerusalem, prophesied in the name of the God of Israel.
{5:2} Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the
son of Jozadak, rose up and began to build the temple of God
in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them,
assisting them. {5:3} Then, at the same time, Tattenai, who
was the governor beyond the river, and Shetharbozenai, and
their counselors came to them. And they spoke in this way to
them: “Who has given you counsel, so that you would build
this house and repair its walls?” {5:4} We responded to this
by giving them the names of the men who were the founders
of that building. {5:5} But the eye of their God was set over
the elders of the Jews, and so they were unable to hinder
them. And it was agreed that the matter should be referred to
Darius, and then they would give a reply against that
accusation. {5:6} A copy of the letter that Tattenai, the
governor of the region beyond the river, and Shetharbozenai,
and his counselors, the rulers who were beyond the river, sent
to Darius the king. {5:7} The word that they sent him was
written in this way: “To Darius, the king of all peace.
{5:8} Let it be known to the king, that we went to the
province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which they
are building with rough stones, and with timber set into the
walls. And this work is being built up diligently, and it
increases by their hands. {5:9} Therefore, we questioned
those elders, and we spoke to them in this way: ‘Who has
given authority to you, so that you would build this house
and repair these walls?’ {5:10} But we also required of them
their names, so that we might report to you. And we have
written down the names of their men, those who are leaders
among them. {5:11} Then they responded a word to us in
this manner, saying: ‘We are the servants of the God of
heaven and earth. And we are building the temple that was
constructed these many years before, and which a great king
of Israel had built and constructed. {5:12} But afterward, our
fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, so he
delivered them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the king
of Babylon, the Chaldean. And he destroyed this house, and
he transferred its people to Babylon. {5:13} Then, in the first
year of Cyrus, the king of Babylon, king Cyrus issued a
decree, so that this house of God would be built. {5:14} And
now the vessels of gold and silver from the temple of God,
which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple that was
in Jerusalem, and which he had carried away to the temple of
Babylon, king Cyrus brought out of the temple of Babylon,
and they were given to one called Sheshbazzar, whom he
also appointed as governor. {5:15} And he said to him:
“Take these vessels, and go, and set them in the temple that is
in Jerusalem. And let the house of God be built in its place.”
{5:16} And so this same Sheshbazzar then came and set the
foundations of the temple of God in Jerusalem. And from
that time, even until now, it is being built, and it is not yet
completed.’ {5:17} Now then, if it seems good to the king, let
him search in the king’s library, which is in Babylon, to see
whether it was ordered by king Cyrus, that the house of God
in Jerusalem should be built. And may the will of the king be
sent to us about this matter.”


[Ezra 6] {6:1} Then king Darius instructed, and they
searched in the library of books that were deposited in
Babylon. {6:2} And there was found at Ecbatana, which is a
fortified place in the province of Media, one volume, and this
record was written in it: {6:3} “In the first year of king Cyrus,
Cyrus the king decreed that the house of God, which is in
Jerusalem, shall be built in the place where they immolate
victims, and that they should set the foundations so as to
support a height of sixty cubits and a width of sixty cubits,
{6:4} with three rows of rough stones, and so as to have rows
of new timber, and that the expenses shall be given from the
house of the king. {6:5} But also, let the gold and silver
vessels of the temple of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took
from the temple of Jerusalem, and which he carried away to
Babylon, be restored and be carried back to the temple of
Jerusalem, to their place, just as they had been placed in the
temple of God. {6:6} Now therefore, let Tattenai, the
governor of the region which is beyond the river,
Shetharbozenai, and your counselors, the rulers who are
beyond the river, withdraw far away from them, {6:7} and let
this temple of God be released to the governor of the Jews
and to their elders, so that they may build that house of God
in its place. {6:8} Moreover, it has been instructed by me as
to what ought to be done by those priests of the Jews, so that
the house of God may be built, specifically, that from the
king’s treasury, that is, from the tribute which is taken from
the region beyond the river, the expenses shall be
scrupulously given to those men, so that the work may not be
impeded. {6:9} But if it may be necessary, let also calves, and
lambs, and young goats for holocausts to the God of heaven,
with grain, salt, wine, and oil, according to the rite of the
priests who are in Jerusalem, be given to them for each day,
so that there may be no complaint in anything. {6:10} And
let them offer oblations to the God of heaven, and let them
pray for the life of the king and for the lives of his sons.
{6:11} Therefore, the decree has been set forth by me, so that,
if there be any man who will change this order, a beam shall
be taken from his own house, and it shall be set up, and he
shall be nailed to it. Then his house shall be confiscated.
{6:12} So then, may the God who has caused his name to
live there destroy any kingdoms or people who would extend
their hand to fight against or to destroy that house of God,
which is in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have established the decree,
which I wish to be fulfilled scrupulously.” {6:13} Therefore,
Tattenai, the governor of the region beyond the river, and
Shetharbozenai, and his counselors, in accord with what king
Darius had instructed, diligently executed the same.
{6:14} Then the elders of the Jews were building and
prospering, in accord with the prophecy of Haggai, the
prophet, and Zechariah, the son of Iddo. And they built and
constructed by the order of the God of Israel, and by the
order of Cyrus and Darius, as well as Artaxerxes, the kings of
the Persians. {6:15} And they completed this house of God
on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth
year of the reign of king Darius. {6:16} Then the sons of
Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the remainder of the
sons of the transmigration celebrated the dedication of the
house of God with gladness. {6:17} And they offered, for the
dedication of the house of God, one hundred calves, two
hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and, as a sin offering for
all of Israel, twelve he-goats from among the goats, according
to the number of the tribes of Israel. {6:18} And they
appointed the priests into their divisions, and the Levites into
their turns, over the works of God in Jerusalem, just as it was
written in the book of Moses. {6:19} Then the sons of Israel
of the transmigration kept the Passover, on the fourteenth
day of the first month. {6:20} For the priests and Levites had
been purified as one. All were cleansed in order to immolate
the Passover for all the sons of the transmigration, and for
their brothers, the priests, and for themselves. {6:21} And the
sons of Israel, who had been returned from the
transmigration, and all those who had separated themselves
from the defilement of the Gentiles of the earth to them, so
that they might seek the Lord, the God of Israel, ate
{6:22} and kept the solemnity of unleavened bread for seven
days with joy. For the Lord had made them joyful, and he
had converted the heart of the king of Assur to them, so that
he would assist their hands in the work of the house of the
Lord, the God of Israel.


[Ezra 7] {7:1} Now after these things, during the reign of
Artaxerxes, the king of the Persians, Ezra, the son of Seraiah,
the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, {7:2} the son of
Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, {7:3} the son
of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,
{7:4} the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
{7:5} the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of
Eleazar, the son of Aaron, priest from the beginning,
{7:6} this same Ezra, ascended from Babylon; and he was a
proficient scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God
gave to Israel. And the king granted to him his every petition.
For the hand of the Lord, his God, was over him. {7:7} And
some from the sons of Israel, and from the sons of the priests,
and from the sons of the Levites, and from the singing men,
and from the gatekeepers, and from the temple servants
ascended to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of king Artaxerxes.
{7:8} And they arrived at Jerusalem in the fifth month, in the
same seventh year of the king. {7:9} For on the first day of
the first month, he began to ascend from Babylon, and on the
first day of the fifth month, he arrived at Jerusalem. For the
good hand of his God was over him. {7:10} For Ezra
prepared his heart, so that he might search the law of the
Lord, and so that he might keep and teach precept and
judgment in Israel. {7:11} Now this is a copy of the letter of
the edict, which king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra, the priest, a
scribe well-taught in the words and precepts of the Lord and
in his ceremonies in Israel: {7:12} “Artaxerxes, king of kings,
to Ezra, the priest, a very learned scribe of the law of the God
of heaven: a greeting. {7:13} It has been decreed by me, that
whosoever wishes, among the people of Israel and their
priests and Levites within my kingdom, to go to Jerusalem,
may go with you. {7:14} For you have been sent from the
face of the king and his seven counselors, so that you may
visit Judea and Jerusalem by the law of your God, which is in
your hand, {7:15} and so that you may carry the silver and
gold, which the king and his counselors have freely offered to
the God of Israel, whose tabernacle is in Jerusalem.
{7:16} And all the silver and gold, as much as you will find in
the entire province of Babylon, and which the people will
wish to offer, and which some of the priests will offer freely
to the house of their God, which is in Jerusalem,
{7:17} accept it freely. And with this money, carefully
purchase calves, rams, lambs, and their sacrifices and
libations, and offer these upon the altar of the temple of your
God, which is in Jerusalem. {7:18} But also, whatever it will
please you and your brothers to do with the remainder of the
silver and gold, do so in accord with the will of your God.
{7:19} Likewise, the vessels that have been given to you for
the ministry of the house of your God, deliver these to the
sight of God in Jerusalem. {7:20} Then, whatever more will
be needed for the house of your God, as much as is necessary
for you to spend, it shall be given from the treasury, and from
the king’s finances, {7:21} and by me. I, king Artaxerxes,
have appointed and decreed to all the keepers of the public
treasury, those who are beyond the river, that whatever Ezra,
the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall ask
of you, you shall provide it without delay, {7:22} even up to
one hundred talents of silver, and up to one hundred cors of
wheat, and up to one hundred baths of wine, and up to one
hundred baths of oil, and truly salt without measure.
{7:23} All that pertains to the rite of the God of heaven, let it
be distributed scrupulously to the house of the God of heaven,
lest perhaps he may become angry against the kingdom of the
king and his sons. {7:24} Likewise, we would make known
to you, about all the priests, and the Levites, and the singers,
and the gatekeepers, and the temple servants, and the
ministers of the house of this God, that you have no authority
to impose tax, or tribute, or duty upon them. {7:25} But as
for you, Ezra, in accord with the wisdom of your God, which
is in your hand, appoint judges and magistrates, so that they
may judge the entire people, which is beyond the river,
especially so that they may know the law of your God, but
also so as to teach the ignorant freely. {7:26} And any one
who will not diligently keep the law of your God, and the law
of the king, judgment shall be upon him, either to death, or to
exile, or to the confiscation of his goods, or certainly to
prison.” {7:27} Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers,
who has put this into the heart of the king, so that he may
glorify the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem.
{7:28} For he has turned his mercy toward me in the sight of
the king, and his counselors, and all the powerful leaders of
the king. And so, having been strengthened by the hand of
the Lord, my God, which was upon me, I gathered together
some of the leaders of Israel, those who were to go up with
me.


[Ezra 8] {8:1} And so these are the leaders of the families,
with their genealogy, of those who ascended with me from
Babylon, during the reign of king Artaxerxes. {8:2} From the
sons of Phinehas, Gershom. From the sons of Ithamar,
Daniel. From the sons of David, Hattush. {8:3} From the
sons of Shecaniah, the son of Parosh, Zechariah, and one
hundred fifty men were numbered with him. {8:4} From the
sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, the son of Zerahiah, and
two hundred men were with him. {8:5} From the sons of
Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel, and three hundred men were
with him. {8:6} From the sons of Adin, Ebed, the son of
Jonathan, and fifty men were with him. {8:7} From the sons
of Elam, Jeshaiah, the son of Athaliah, and seventy men
were with him. {8:8} From the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah,
the son of Michael, and eighty men were with him.
{8:9} From the sons of Joab, Obadiah, the son of Jehiel, and
two hundred eighteen men were with him. {8:10} From the
sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah, and one hundred
sixty men were with him. {8:11} From the sons of Bebai,
Zechariah, the son of Bebai, and twenty-eight men were with
him. {8:12} From the sons of Azgad, Johanan, the son of
Hakkatan, and one hundred and ten men were with him.
{8:13} From the sons of Adonikam, who were the last, and
these were their names: Eliphelet, and Jeuel, and Shemaiah,
and sixty men were with them. {8:14} From the sons of
Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and seventy men were with them.
{8:15} Now I gathered them together at the river that runs
down to Ahava, and we stayed there for three days. And I
sought among the people and among the priests for the sons
of Levi, and I found none there. {8:16} And so I sent Eliezer,
and Ariel, and Shemaiah, and Elnathan, and Jarib, and
another Elnathan, and Nathan, and Zechariah, and
Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan,
who were wise. {8:17} And I sent them to Iddo, who is first
within the place of Casiphia. And I placed in their mouth the
words that they should speak to Iddo and his brothers, the
temple servants, in the place of Casiphia, so that they would
lead to us ministers for the house of our God. {8:18} And
because the good hand of our God was over us, they led to us
a very learned man from the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi,
the son of Israel, with Sherebiah, and his sons, and his
eighteen brothers, {8:19} and Hashabiah, and with him
Jeshaiah, of the sons of Merari, and his brothers, and his sons,
numbering twenty. {8:20} And from the temple servants,
whom David, and the leaders had provided for the ministry
of the Levites, there were two hundred twenty temple
servants. All these were called by their names. {8:21} And I
proclaimed a fast in that place, beside the river Ahava, so that
we might afflict ourselves in the sight of the Lord our God,
and so that we might request of him the right way for us, and
for our sons, and for all our substance. {8:22} For I was
ashamed to petition the king for assistance and for horsemen,
who would defend us from the enemy along the way. For we
had said to the king: “The hand of our God is over all those
who seek him in goodness. And his authority, and his
strength and fury, is over all those who forsake him.”
{8:23} And so we fasted and begged our God for this; and as
a result, we prospered. {8:24} And I separated twelve from
among the leaders of the priests: Sherebiah, and Hashabiah,
and with them ten of their brothers. {8:25} And I weighed
out to them the silver and the gold, and the vessels
consecrated to the house of our God, which had been offered
by the king, and by his counselors and his leaders, and by all
those of Israel who had been found. {8:26} And I weighed
out to their hands six hundred fifty talents of silver, and one
hundred vessels of silver, and one hundred talents of gold,
{8:27} and twenty gold bowls which had the weight of one
thousand coins, and two vessels of the finest shining brass, as
beautiful as gold. {8:28} And I said to them: “You are the
holy ones of the Lord, and the vessels are holy, with the silver
and the gold, which has been offered freely to the Lord, the
God of our fathers. {8:29} Watch and guard them, until you
weigh them out before the leaders of the priests and the
Levites, and the rulers of the families of Israel in Jerusalem,
into the treasury of the house of the Lord.” {8:30} Then the
priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver, and
the gold, and the vessels, so that they might carry these to
Jerusalem, into the house of our God. {8:31} Therefore, we
set out from the river Ahava, on the twelfth day of the first
month, so that we might travel to Jerusalem. And the hand of
our God was over us, and he freed us from the hand of the
enemy and of those who lay in ambush along the way.
{8:32} And we arrived at Jerusalem, and we stayed there for
three days. {8:33} Then, on the fourth day, the silver and the
gold and the vessels were weighed out in the house of our
God, by the hand of Meremoth, the son of Uriah, the priest;
and with him was Eleazar, the son of Phinehas, and with
them were the Levites, Jozabad, the son of Jeshua, and
Noadiah, the son of Binnui. {8:34} This was done according
to the number and weight of everything; and every weight
was written down at that time. {8:35} Moreover, those who
came from the captivity, the sons of the transmigration,
offered holocausts to the God of Israel: twelve calves on
behalf of all the people of Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-
seven lambs, and twelve he-goats for sin. All these were a
holocaust to the Lord. {8:36} Then they gave the edicts of the
king to the rulers who served in the sight of the king, and to
the governors beyond the river, and they exalted the people
and the house of God.


[Ezra 9] {9:1} Then, after these things were completed, the
leaders came to me, saying: “The people of Israel, the priests,
and the Levites, have not been separated from the peoples of
the lands and from their abominations, especially those of the
Canaanites, and Hittites, and Perizzites, and Jebusites, and
Ammonites, and Moabites, and Egyptians, and Amorites.
{9:2} For they have taken from their daughters for
themselves and for their sons, and they have mixed a holy
lineage with the peoples of the lands. And even the hand of
the leaders and the magistrates has been first in this
transgression.” {9:3} And when I had heard this word, I tore
my cloak and my tunic, and I pulled out the hairs of my head
and beard, and I sat in mourning. {9:4} Then all those who
feared the word of the God of Israel gathered to me, because
of the transgression of those who had arrived from the
captivity. And I sat in sorrow, until the evening sacrifice.
{9:5} And at the evening sacrifice, I rose up from my
affliction, and, having torn my cloak and my tunic, I fell to
my knees, and I reached out my hands to the Lord, my God.
{9:6} And I said: “My God, I am confounded and ashamed
to lift up my face to you. For our iniquities have been
multiplied over our heads, and our offenses have increased,
even up to heaven, {9:7} from the days of our fathers. But
also, we ourselves have sinned gravely, even to this day. And
for our iniquities, we ourselves, and our kings and our priests,
have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the lands,
and to the sword, and to captivity, and to plunder, and to
confusion of face, just as it is also in this day. {9:8} And now,
to a small extent and for a moment, our petition has been
made with the Lord our God, so that they may leave us a
remnant, and so that a secure place in his holy land may be
given to us, and so that our God may illuminate our eyes,
and may give us a little life in our servitude. {9:9} For we are
servants, yet in our servitude our God has not forsaken us,
but he has inclined mercy upon us in the sight of the king of
the Persians, so that he may give us life, and may raise up the
house of our God, and repair its desolations, and give us a
hedge in Judah and Jerusalem. {9:10} And now, our God,
what should we say after these things? For we abandoned
your commandments, {9:11} which you instructed by the
hand of your servants, the prophets, saying: ‘The land, which
you shall enter so that you may possess it, is an unclean land,
due to the uncleanness of the peoples and of the other lands,
the abominations of those who have filled it, from mouth to
mouth, with their filth.’ {9:12} Now therefore, you should
not give your daughters to their sons, nor should you receive
their daughters for your sons. And you should not seek their
peace, nor their prosperity, even forever. So shall you be
strengthened, and so shall you eat the good things of the land,
and have your sons as your heirs, even for all time.
{9:13} And after all that has happened to us because of our
very wicked works and our great offense, you, our God, have
freed us from our iniquity, and you have given us salvation,
just as it is this day, {9:14} so that we would not turn away
and make your commandments void, and so that we would
not unite in marriage with the peoples of these abominations.
Could you be angry with us even to the very end, so that you
would not to leave us a remnant to be saved? {9:15} O Lord,
the God of Israel, you are just. For we have been left behind
to be saved, just as it is this day. Behold, we are before your
sight in our offense. And it is not possible to withstand you in
this matter.”


[Ezra 10] {10:1} Therefore, as Ezra was praying, and
imploring, and weeping in this way, and was prostrate before
the temple of God, an exceedingly great assembly of men and
women and children was gathered to him from Israel. And
the people wept with a great weeping. {10:2} And Shecaniah,
the son of Jehiel, from the sons of Elam, responded and said
to Ezra: “We have sinned against our God, and have taken
foreign wives from the peoples of the land. And now, if there
is repentance within Israel over this, {10:3} let us strike a pact
with the Lord our God, so that we may cast aside all the
wives, and those who have been born from them, in accord
with the will of the Lord, and of those who fear the precept of
the Lord our God. So let it be done, according to the law.
{10:4} Rise up. It is for you to discern, and we shall be with
you. Be strengthened and act.” {10:5} Therefore, Ezra rose
up, and he caused the leaders of the priests and the Levites,
and all of Israel, to swear that they would act in accord with
this word. And they swore it. {10:6} And Ezra rose up before
the house of God, and he went away to the chamber of
Jehohanan, the son of Eliashib, and he entered into it. He did
not eat bread, and he did not drink water. For he was
mourning the transgression of those who had arrived from
the captivity. {10:7} And a voice was sent into Judah and
Jerusalem, to all the sons of the transmigration, so that they
would gather together in Jerusalem. {10:8} And all those
who would not arrive within three days, in accord with the
counsel of the leaders and the elders, would have all his
substance taken away, and he would be cast out of the
assembly of the transmigration. {10:9} And so, all the men of
Judah and of Benjamin convened in Jerusalem within three
days. This was in the ninth month, on the twentieth day of
the month. And all the people sat in the street of the house of
God, trembling because of the sin and the rain. {10:10} And
Ezra, the priest, rose up, and he said to them: “You have
transgressed, and you have taken foreign wives, so that you
added to the offenses of Israel. {10:11} And now, make
confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers, and do what
pleases him, and separate yourselves from the peoples of the
land, and from your foreign wives.” {10:12} And the entire
multitude responded, and they said with a great voice: “In
accord with your word to us, so let be it done. {10:13} Yet
truly, since the people are many, and it is the time of rain,
and we cannot endure standing outside, and this is not a task
for one or two days, (for certainly we have sinned greatly in
this matter,) {10:14} let leaders be appointed among the
entire multitude. And in all our cities, let those who have
taken foreign wives arrive at appointed times, and with them
the elders from city to city, and the judges, until the wrath of
our God has been averted from us over this sin.”
{10:15} And so Jonathan, the son of Asahel, and Jahzeiah,
the son of Tikvah, were appointed over this, and the Levites
Meshullam and Shabbethai assisted them. {10:16} And the
sons of the transmigration did so. And Ezra, the priest, and
the men who were the leaders of the families in the houses of
their fathers, and all according to their names, went and sat
down, on the first day of the tenth month, so that they might
examine the matter. {10:17} And they made an end with all
the men who had taken foreign wives, by the first day of the
first month. {10:18} And there were found among the sons of
the priests some who had taken foreign wives: From the sons
of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brothers, Maaseiah,
and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah. {10:19} And they
swore with their hands that they would cast aside their wives,
and that they would offer for their offense a ram from among
the sheep. {10:20} And from the sons of Immer, Hanani and
Zebadiah. {10:21} And from the sons of Harim, Maaseiah,
and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah.
{10:22} And from the sons of Pashhur, Elioenai, Maaseiah,
Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah. {10:23} And from
the sons of the Levites, Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah,
the same is Kelita, Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
{10:24} And from the singing men, Eliashib. And from the
gatekeepers, Shallum, and Telem, and Uri. {10:25} And out
of Israel, from the sons of Parosh, Ramiah, and Izziah, and
Malchijah, and Miamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and
Benaiah. {10:26} And from the sons of Elam, Mattaniah,
Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Elyah.
{10:27} And from the sons of Zattu, Elioenai, Eliashib,
Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza.
{10:28} And from the sons of Bebai, Jehohanan, Hananiah,
Zabbai, Athlai. {10:29} And from the sons of Bani,
Meshullam, and Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal,
and Ramoth. {10:30} And from the sons of Pahath-moab,
Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, and Maaseiah, Mattaniah,
Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh. {10:31} And from the sons
of Harim, Eliezer, Jeshua, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Simeon,
{10:32} Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah. {10:33} And from
the sons of Hashum, Mattenai, Mattettah, Zabad, Eliphelet,
Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei. {10:34} From the sons of Bani,
Maadai, Amram, and Uel, {10:35} Benaiah, and Bedeiah,
Cheluhi, {10:36} Vaniah, Meremoth, and Eliashib,
{10:37} Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu, {10:38} and Bani,
and Binnui, Shimei, {10:39} and Shelemiah, and Nathan,
and Adaiah, {10:40} and Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,
{10:41} Azarel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah, {10:42} Shallum,
Amariah, Joseph. {10:43} From the sons of Nebo, Jeiel,
Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, and Joel, and Benaiah.
{10:44} All these had taken foreign wives, and there were
among them women who had borne sons.


** The Book of Nehemiah **


[Nehemiah 1] {1:1} The words of Nehemiah, the son of
Hacaliah. And it happened that, in the month of Chislev, in
the twentieth year, I was in the capital city of Susa.
{1:2} And Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived, he and some
men of Judah. And I questioned them about the Jews who
had remained and were left behind from the captivity, and
about Jerusalem. {1:3} And they said to me: “Those who
have remained and have been left behind from the captivity,
there in the province, are in great affliction and in disgrace.
And the wall of Jerusalem has been broken apart, and its
gates have been burned with fire.” {1:4} And when I had
heard this manner of words, I sat down, and I wept and
mourned for many days. I fasted and prayed before the face
of the God of heaven. {1:5} And I said: “I beg you, O Lord,
God of heaven, strong, great, and terrible, who keeps
covenant and mercy with those who love you and who keep
your commandments: {1:6} may your ears be attentive, and
may your eyes be open, so that you may hear the prayer of
your servant, which I am praying before you today, night and
day, for the sons of Israel, your servants. And I am confessing
the sins of the sons of Israel, which they have sinned against
you. We have sinned, I and my father’s house. {1:7} We
have been seduced by vanity. And we have not kept your
commandments and ceremonies and judgments, which you
have instructed to your servant Moses. {1:8} Remember the
word which you commanded to your servant Moses, saying:
‘When you will have transgressed, I will disperse you among
the nations. {1:9} But if you will return to me, and keep my
precepts, and do them, even if you will have been led away to
the furthest reaches of the heavens, I will gather you from
there, and I will lead you back to the place that I have chosen
so that my name would dwell there.’ {1:10} And these same
are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed
by your great strength and by your powerful hand. {1:11} I
beg you, O Lord, may your ear be attentive to the prayer of
your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who are
willing to fear your name. And so, guide your servant today,
and grant to him mercy before this man.” For I was the
cupbearer of the king.


[Nehemiah 2] {2:1} Now it happened that, in the month of
Nisan, in the twentieth year of king Artaxerxes, wine was
before him; and I lifted up the wine, and I gave it to the king.
And I was like someone languishing before his face.
{2:2} And the king said to me: “Why is your expression sad,
though you do not appear to be sick? This is not without
cause, but some evil, I know not what, is in your heart.” And
I was struck with an exceedingly great fear. {2:3} And I said
to the king: “O king, live forever. Why should my expression
not be mournful, since the city of the house of the sepulchers
of my father is desolate, and its gates have been burned with
fire?” {2:4} And the king said to me: “What would you
request?” And I prayed to the God of heaven. {2:5} And I
said to the king: “If it seems good to the king, and if your
servant is pleasing before your face: that you would send me
into Judea, to the city of the sepulcher of my father. And I
will rebuild it.” {2:6} And the king said to me, with the
queen who was sitting beside him: “Until what time will your
journey be, and when will you return?” And it was pleasing
before the countenance of the king, and so he sent me. And I
established a time for him. {2:7} And I said to the king: “If it
seems good to the king, may he give me letters to the
governors of the region beyond the river, so that they may
lead me through, until I arrive in Judea, {2:8} and a letter to
Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, so that he may give me
timber, in order that I may be able to cover the gates of the
tower of the house, and the walls of the city, and the house
that I will enter.” And the king granted to me in accord with
the good hand of my God, who is with me. {2:9} And I went
to the governors of the region beyond the river, and I gave
them the letters of the king. Now the king had sent with me
military leaders and horsemen. {2:10} And Sanballat, a
Horonite, and the servant Tobiah, an Ammonite, heard this.
And they were saddened, with a great affliction, that a man
had arrived who was seeking the prosperity of the sons of
Israel. {2:11} And I arrived at Jerusalem, and I was there for
three days. {2:12} And I got up in the night, I and a few men
with me. And I did not reveal to anyone what God had
placed in my heart to do in Jerusalem. And there was no
animal with me, except the animal on which I was sitting.
{2:13} And I departed in the night through the gate of the
valley, and before the fountain of the dragon, and toward the
dung gate. And I considered the wall of Jerusalem, which
was broken apart, and its gates, which had been consumed by
fire. {2:14} And I continued on to the gate of the fountain,
and to the aqueduct of the king. And there was no room for
the beast on which I was sitting to pass through. {2:15} And
so I climbed up in the night along the torrent, and I
considered the wall. And turning back, I went by the gate of
the valley, and I returned. {2:16} Now the magistrates did
not know where I had gone, or what I had done. For I had
revealed nothing, even to that point in time, to the Jews, or to
the priests, or to the nobles, or to the magistrates, or to the
others who were doing the work. {2:17} And so I said to
them: “You know the affliction in which we are, because
Jerusalem is desolate, and its gates have been consumed by
fire. Come, and let us rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and let
us no longer be in disgrace.” {2:18} And I revealed to them
how the hand of my God was with me for good, and the
words of the king, which he had spoken to me. And I said:
“Let us rise up, and build.” And their hands were
strengthened for good. {2:19} But Sanballat, a Horonite, and
the servant Tobiah, an Ammonite, and Geshem, an Arab,
heard of it. And they ridiculed and disparaged us, and they
said: “What is this thing that you are doing? Could you be
rebelling against the king?” {2:20} And I replied to them a
word, and I said to them: “The God of heaven himself is
helping us, and we are his servants. Let us rise up and build.
But there is no portion, or justice, or remembrance in
Jerusalem for you.”


[Nehemiah 3] {3:1} And Eliashib, the great priest, rose up,
with his brothers, the priests, and they built the gate of the
flock. They sanctified it, and they set up its double doors, and
as far as the tower of one hundred cubits, they sanctified it,
even to the tower of Hananel. {3:2} And beside him, the men
of Jericho built. And beside them, Zaccur, the son of Imri,
built. {3:3} But the sons of Hassenaah built the fish gate.
They covered it, and they set up its double doors and locks
and bars. And beside them, Meremoth, the son of Uriah, the
son of Hakkoz, built. {3:4} And beside him, Meshullam, the
son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, built. And beside
them, Zadok, the son of Baana, built. {3:5} And beside them,
the Tekoites built. But the nobles among them did not put
their necks to the work of their Lord. {3:6} And Joiada, the
son of Paseah, and Meshullam, the son of Besodeiah, built
the old gate. They covered it, and they set up its double doors
and locks and bars. {3:7} And beside them, Melatiah, a
Gibeonite, and Jadon, a Meronothite, men from Gibeon and
Mizpah, built, on behalf of the governor who was in the
region across the river. {3:8} And beside him, Uzziel, the son
of Harhaiah the goldsmith, built. And beside him, Hananiah,
the son of the perfumer, built. And they left aside Jerusalem
as far as the wall of the broad street. {3:9} And beside him,
Rephaiah, the son of Hur, leader of a street of Jerusalem,
built. {3:10} And beside him, Jedaiah, the son of Harumaph,
built, opposite his own house. And beside him, Hattush, the
son of Hashabneiah, built. {3:11} Malchijah, the son of
Harim, and Hasshub, the son of Pahath-moab, built one half
part of the street and the tower of the furnaces. {3:12} And
beside him, Shallum, the son of Hallohesh, the leader of one
half part of a street of Jerusalem, built, he and his daughters.
{3:13} And Hanun built the gate of the valley, with the
inhabitants of Zanoah. They built it, and they set up its
double doors and locks and bars, with one thousand cubits of
the wall, as far as the gate of the dunghill. {3:14} And
Malchijah, the son of Rechab, the leader of the street of Beth-
haccherem, built the gate of the dunghill. He built it, and he
set up its double doors and locks and bars. {3:15} And
Shallum, the son of Colhozeh, the leader of the district of
Mizpah, built the gate of the fountain. He built it, and he
covered it, and he set up its double doors and locks and bars,
and the walls of the pool of Shelah at the garden of the king,
and as far as the steps that descend from the City of David.
{3:16} After him, Nehemiah, the son of Azbuk, the leader of
one half part of the street of Bethzur, built, as far as opposite
the sepulcher of David, and even to the pool, which was
constructed with great labor, and even to the house of the
strong. {3:17} After him, the Levites, Rehum, the son of Bani,
built. After him, Hashabiah, the leader of one half part of the
street of Keilah, built, in his own neighborhood. {3:18} After
him, their brothers, Binnui, the son of Henadad, the leader of
one half part of Keilah, built. {3:19} And beside him, Ezer,
the son of Jeshua, the leader of Mizpah, built another
measure, opposite the ascent to the strongest corner.
{3:20} After him, at the mount, Baruch, the son of Zabbai,
built another measure, from the corner even to the door of
the house of Eliashib, the great priest. {3:21} After him,
Meremoth, the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, built
another measure, from the door of the house of Eliashib,
along the length of the house of Eliashib. {3:22} And after
him, the priests, men from the plains of the Jordan, built.
{3:23} After him, Benjamin and Hasshub built, opposite their
own house. And after him, Azariah, the son of Maaseiah, the
son of Ananiah, built, opposite his own house. {3:24} After
him, Binnui, the son of Henadad, built another measure,
from the house of Azariah, even to the bend and to the corner.
{3:25} Palal, the son of Uzai, built, opposite the bend and the
tower that projects from the high house of the king, that is,
into the court of the prison. After him, Pedaiah, the son of
Parosh, built. {3:26} And the temple servants, who were
living in Ophel, built to a point opposite the water gate,
toward the east, and the tower that is prominent. {3:27} After
him, the Tekoites built another measure in the opposite area,
from the great and prominent tower to the wall of the temple.
{3:28} Then, upward from the horse gate, the priests built,
each one opposite his own house. {3:29} After them, Zadok,
the son of Immer, built, opposite his own house. And after
him, Shemaiah, the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the east
gate, built. {3:30} After him, Hananiah, the son of Shelemiah,
and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, built another measure.
After him, Meshullam, the son of Berechiah, built, opposite
his own storehouse. After him, Malchijah, the son of the
goldsmith, built, even up to the house of the temple servants
and of the sellers of small items, opposite the judgment gate,
and even to the upper room of the corner. {3:31} And within
the upper room of the corner, at the gate of the flock, the
goldsmiths and the merchants built.


[Nehemiah 4] {4:1} Now it happened that, when Sanballat
had heard that we were building the wall, he was very angry.
And having been moved exceedingly, he ridiculed the Jews.
{4:2} And he said, before his brothers and a crowd of the
Samaritans: “What are the foolish Jews doing? Can it be that
the Gentiles will allow them? Will they sacrifice and finish in
one day? Do they have the ability to make stones out of piles
of dust that have been burned up?” {4:3} Then too, Tobiah,
an Ammonite, his assistant, said: “Let them build. When the
fox climbs, he will leap over their stone wall.” {4:4} Listen,
O our God, for we have become an object of contempt. Turn
their reproach upon their own head, and grant that they may
be despised in a land of captivity. {4:5} May you not conceal
their iniquity, and may their sin not be wiped away, before
your face, for they have ridiculed those who are building.
{4:6} And so we built the wall, and we joined it together,
even to the unfinished portion. And the heart of the people
was stirred up for the work. {4:7} Now it happened that,
when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabs, and the
Ammonites, and the Ashdodites had heard that the walls of
Jerusalem had been closed, and that the breaches had begun
to be repaired, they were exceedingly angry. {4:8} And they
all gathered together, so that they might go forth and fight
against Jerusalem, and so that they might prepare ambushes.
{4:9} And we prayed to our God, and we stationed guards
upon the wall, day and night, against them. {4:10} Then
Judah said: “The strength of those who carry has diminished,
and the amount of material is very great, and so we will not
be able to build the wall.” {4:11} And our enemies said: “Let
them neither know, nor realize, until we arrive in their midst,
and kill them, and cause the work to cease.” {4:12} Now it
happened that, on ten occasions, some Jews arrived who
were living near them, from all the places from which they
came to us, and they told us this. {4:13} So I stationed the
people in order, in places behind the wall, all around it, with
their swords, and lances, and bows. {4:14} And I gazed
around, and I rose up. And I said to the nobles, and to the
magistrates, and to the rest of the common people: “Do not
be afraid before their face. Remember the great and terrible
Lord, and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons and
your daughters, and your wives and your households.”
{4:15} Then it happened that, when our enemies had heard
that it had been reported to us, God defeated their counsel.
And we all returned to the walls, each one to his own work.
{4:16} And it happened that, from that day, half of their
young men were doing the work, and half were prepared for
war with lances, and shields, and bows, and armor. And the
leaders were behind them in all the house of Judah.
{4:17} As for those building the wall, and carrying the
burdens, and setting things in place: one of his hands was
doing the work, and the other was holding a sword.
{4:18} For each one of the builders was girded with a sword
at the waist. And they were building, and they were sounding
a trumpet beside me. {4:19} And I said to the nobles, and to
the magistrates, and to the rest of the common people: “The
work is great and wide, and we are separated on the wall far
from one another. {4:20} At whatever place you hear the
sound of the trumpet, rush to that place for us. Our God will
fight on our behalf. {4:21} And so let us accomplish the work.
And let one half part of us hold spears, from the ascent of
dawn until the stars come out.” {4:22} Also at that time, I
said to the people: “Let each one with his servant remain in
the midst of Jerusalem. And let us take turns, throughout the
night and day, in doing the work.” {4:23} But I and my
brothers, and my servants, and the guards who were behind
me, we did not take off our clothes; each one only removed
his clothes to wash.


[Nehemiah 5] {5:1} And there occurred a great outcry of the
people and their wives against their brothers, the Jews.
{5:2} And there were those who were saying: “Our sons and
our daughters are very many. Let us receive grain as a price
for them, and then we may eat and live.” {5:3} And there
were those who were saying: “Let us offer up our fields and
vineyards, and our houses, and then we may receive grain
during the famine.” {5:4} And others were saying: “Let us
borrow money for the tribute of the king, and let us surrender
our fields and vineyards.” {5:5} “And now, as is the flesh of
our brothers, so is our flesh; and as are their sons, so also are
our sons. Behold, we have subjugated our sons and our
daughters into servitude, and some of our daughters are
slaves, nor do we have the ability to redeem them, for others
possess our fields and our vineyards.” {5:6} And when I had
heard their outcry in these words, I was exceedingly angry.
{5:7} And my heart considered within me. And I rebuked the
nobles and the magistrates, and I said to them, “Have you
each been exacting usury from your brothers?” And I
gathered together a great assembly against them. {5:8} And I
said to them: “As you know, in accord with what was
possible for us, we have redeemed our brothers, the Jews,
who had been sold to the Gentiles. And yet you now sell
your brothers, and we must redeem them?” And they were
silent, nor did they find anything to answer. {5:9} And I said
to them: “The thing that you are doing is not good. Why are
you not walking in the fear of our God, so that there may be
no reproach against us from our enemies, the Gentiles?
{5:10} Both I and my brothers, with my servants, have lent
money and grain to many. Let us agree not to ask for its
return. Let us forgive the other money that is owed to us.
{5:11} On this day, restore their fields, and their vineyards,
and their olive groves, and their houses to them. Then, too,
the hundredth part of the money, and of the grain, wine, and
oil, which you usually exact from them, give it to them.”
{5:12} And they said: “We will restore it, and we will require
nothing from them. And we will do just as you say.” And I
called the priests, and I had them swear an oath, so that they
would act in accord with what I had said. {5:13} Moreover, I
shook out my lap, and I said: “So may God shake out every
man, who does not fulfill this word. From his house and from
his labors, so may he be shaken out and become empty.” And
the entire multitude said, “Amen.” And they praised God.
Therefore, the people acted in accord with what was said.
{5:14} Now from that day, on which the king had ordered
me to be governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth
year even to the thirty-second year of king Artaxerxes, for
twelve years, I and my brothers did not eat the yearly
allowance that was owed to the governors. {5:15} But the
former governors, the ones who had been before me, were a
burden to the people, and they took from them bread and
wine, and forty shekels of money each day. And their
officials also oppressed the people. But I did not do so, out of
fear of God. {5:16} In fact, I preferred to build in the work of
the wall, and I bought no land, and all my servants were
gathered to do the work. {5:17} Likewise, the Jews and the
magistrates, one hundred and fifty men, were at my table,
with those who came to us from among the Gentiles that are
around us. {5:18} Now there was prepared for me, on each
day, one ox and six choice rams, along with poultry. And
once every ten days, I distributed diverse wines and many
other things. Yet I did not require my yearly allowance as
governor. For the people were greatly impoverished.
{5:19} Remember me, O my God, for good, in accord with
all that I have done for this people.


[Nehemiah 6] {6:1} Now it happened that, when Sanballat,
and Tobiah, and Geshem, an Arab, and our other enemies,
had heard that I had built the wall, and that there was no
interruption remaining in it, (even though, at that time, I had
not set up the double doors at the gates,) {6:2} Sanballat and
Geshem sent to me, saying: “Come, and let us strike a pact
together in the villages, on the plain of Ono.” But they were
thinking that they would do me harm. {6:3} Therefore, I sent
messengers to them, saying: “I am doing a great work, and I
cannot descend, lest perhaps it may be neglected when I go
out and descend to you.” {6:4} Then they sent to me, with
this same word, four times. And I responded to them with the
same word as before. {6:5} And Sanballat sent his servant to
me a fifth time, with the former word, and he had a letter in
his hand written in this manner: {6:6} “It has been heard
among the Gentiles, and Geshem has said it, that you and the
Jews are planning to rebel, and because of this, you are
building the wall and thinking to raise yourself as a king over
them. For this reason, {6:7} you also have stationed prophets,
who preach about you in Jerusalem, saying: ‘There is a king
in Judea!’ But the king will hear about these words. Therefore,
come now, so that we may go to counsel together.”
{6:8} And I sent to them, saying: “There has been nothing
done according to these words, which you have spoken. For
you are inventing these things from your own heart.”
{6:9} For all these men wished to frighten us, thinking that
our hands would cease from the work, and that we would
cease. For this reason, I strengthened my hands all the more.
{6:10} And I entered into the house of Shemaiah, the son of
Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, in secret. And he said: “Let us
consult together in the house of God, in the midst of the
temple. And let us close the doors of the temple. For they will
come to kill you, and they will arrive in the night to put you
to death.” {6:11} And I said: “How could anyone like me
flee? And who like me should enter the temple, so that he
may live? I will not enter.” {6:12} And I understood that
God had not sent him, but he had spoken to me as if he were
prophesying, and that Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
{6:13} For he had accepted money, so that I would be afraid,
and would sin, and so that they would have some evil with
which to rebuke me. {6:14} Remember me, O Lord, because
of Tobiah and Sanballat, because of their works of this kind.
Then, too, Noadiah, a prophetess, and the rest of the
prophets, would have made me afraid. {6:15} Now the wall
was completed on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul,
in fifty-two days. {6:16} Then it happened that, when all our
enemies had heard of it, all the nations that were around us
were afraid, and they were downcast within themselves. For
they knew that this work had been accomplished by God.
{6:17} But also, in those days, many letters were being sent
by the nobles of the Jews to Tobiah, and were arriving from
Tobiah to them. {6:18} For there were many in Judea who
had sworn an oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of
Shecaniah, the son of Arah, and because Jehohanan, his son,
had married the daughter of Meshullam, the son of Berechiah.
{6:19} Moreover, they praised him before me, and they
reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters, so that he
might make me afraid.


[Nehemiah 7] {7:1} Then, after the wall was built, and I set
up the double doors, and I enrolled the gatekeepers, and the
singing men, and the Levites, {7:2} I instructed Hanani, my
brother, and Hananiah, the leader of the house of Jerusalem,
(for he seemed to be a truthful man, fearing God more than
the others,) {7:3} and I said to them: “Let not the gates of
Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot.” And while they
were standing there, the gates were closed and barred. And I
stationed guards from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each one
in his turn, and each one opposite his own house. {7:4} Now
the city was great and very wide, and the people in its midst
were few, and the houses were not yet built. {7:5} But God
had given to my heart, and I gathered the nobles, and the
magistrates, and the common people, so that I might enroll
them. And I found a book of the census of those who first
went up, and in it there was found written: {7:6} These are
the sons of the province, who ascended from the captivity of
the transmigration, those whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of
Babylon, had taken away, and who returned into Jerusalem
and Judea, each one to his own city. {7:7} They arrived with
Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah,
Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum,
Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:
{7:8} The sons of Parosh, two thousand one hundred
seventy-two. {7:9} The sons of Shephatiah, three hundred
seventy-two. {7:10} The sons of Arah, six hundred fifty-two.
{7:11} The sons of Pahath-moab of the sons of Jeshua and of
Joab, two thousand eight hundred eighteen. {7:12} The sons
of Elam, one thousand two hundred fifty-four. {7:13} The
sons of Zattu, eight hundred forty-five. {7:14} The sons of
Zaccai, seven hundred sixty. {7:15} The sons of Binnui, six
hundred forty-eight. {7:16} The sons of Bebai, six hundred
twenty-eight. {7:17} The sons of Azgad, two thousand three
hundred twenty-two. {7:18} The sons of Adonikam, six
hundred sixty-seven. {7:19} The sons of Bigvai, two
thousand sixty-seven. {7:20} The sons of Adin, six hundred
fifty-five. {7:21} The sons of Ater, sons of Hezekiah, ninety-
eight. {7:22} The sons of Hashum, three hundred twenty-
eight. {7:23} The sons of Bezai, three hundred twenty-four.
{7:24} The sons of Hariph, one hundred twelve. {7:25} The
sons of Gibeon, ninety-five. {7:26} The sons of Bethlehem
and Netophah, one hundred eighty-eight. {7:27} The men of
Anathoth, one hundred twenty-eight. {7:28} The men of
Beth-azmaveth, forty-two. {7:29} The men of Kiriath-jearim,
Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred forty-three.
{7:30} The men of Ramah and Geba, six hundred twenty-
one. {7:31} The men of Michmas, one hundred twenty-two.
{7:32} The men of Bethel and Ai, one hundred twenty-three.
{7:33} The men of the other Nebo, fifty-two. {7:34} The men
of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred fifty-four.
{7:35} The sons of Harim, three hundred twenty. {7:36} The
sons of Jericho, three hundred forty-five. {7:37} The sons of
Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred twenty-one. {7:38} The
sons of Senaah, three thousand nine hundred thirty.
{7:39} The priests: the sons of Jedaiah in the house of Jeshua,
nine hundred seventy-three. {7:40} The sons of Immer, one
thousand fifty-two. {7:41} The sons of Pashhur, one
thousand two hundred forty-seven. {7:42} The sons of Harim,
one thousand and seventeen. {7:43} The Levites: the sons of
Jeshua and Kadmiel, the sons {7:44} of Hodaviah, seventy-
four. The singing men: {7:45}the sons of Asaph, one
hundred forty-eight. {7:46} The gatekeepers: the sons of
Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of
Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, one hundred
thirty-eight. {7:47} The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the
sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, {7:48} the sons of
Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon, the sons of
Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Shalmai,
{7:49} the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of
Gahar, {7:50} the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons
of Nekoda, {7:51} the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the
sons of Paseah, {7:52} the sons of Besai, the sons of Meunim,
the sons of Nephusim, {7:53} the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of
Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, {7:54} the sons of Bazluth, the
sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, {7:55} the sons of
Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, {7:56} the sons
of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha. {7:57} The sons of the
servants of Solomon: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth,
the sons of Perida, {7:58} the sons of Jaalah, the sons of
Darkon, the sons of Giddel, {7:59} the sons of Shephatiah,
the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth, who was born from
Hazzebaim, the son of Amon. {7:60} All the temple servants
and the sons of the servants of Solomon, three hundred
ninety-two. {7:61} Now these are the ones who ascended
from Telmelah, Telharsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer; and
they were not able to indicate the house of their fathers and
their offspring, whether they were of Israel: {7:62} the sons of
Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, six hundred
forty-two; {7:63} and among the priests: the sons of Hobaiah,
the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife
from the daughters of Barzillai, a Gileadite, and he was
called by their name. {7:64} These sought their writing in the
census, and they did not find it, and so they were cast out of
the priesthood. {7:65} And the cupbearer said to them that
they should not eat from the Holy of Holies, until a priest
would stand up who was learned and skillful. {7:66} The
entire multitude, which was like one man, was forty-two
thousand three hundred sixty, {7:67} aside from their men
and women servants, who were seven thousand three
hundred thirty-seven, and among them were singing men and
singing women, two hundred forty-five. {7:68} Their horses
were seven hundred thirty-six; their were mules two hundred
forty-five. {7:69} Their camels were four hundred thirty-five;
their donkeys were six thousand seven hundred twenty.
{7:70} Now several of the leaders of the families gave to the
work. The cupbearer gave to the treasury one thousand
drachmas of gold, fifty bowls, and five hundred thirty priestly
garments. {7:71} And some of the leaders of the families gave
to the treasury of the work twenty thousand drachmas of gold,
and two thousand two hundred minas of silver. {7:72} And
what the remainder of the people gave was twenty thousand
drachmas of gold, and two thousand minas of silver, and
sixty-seven priestly garments. {7:73} Now the priests, and the
Levites, and the gatekeepers, and the singing men, and the
rest of the common people, and the temple servants, and all
of Israel dwelt in their own cities.


[Nehemiah 8] {8:1} And the seventh month had arrived.
Now the sons of Israel were in their cities. And all the people
were gathered together, like one man, in the street which is
before the water gate. And they spoke to Ezra the scribe, so
that he would bring the book of the law of Moses, which the
Lord had instructed to Israel. {8:2} Therefore, Ezra the priest
brought the law before the multitude of men and women, and
all those who were able to understand, on the first day of the
seventh month. {8:3} And he read it openly in the street
which was before the water gate, from morning even until
midday, in the sight of the men and women, and those who
understood. And the ears of all the people were attentive to
the book. {8:4} Then Ezra the scribe stood upon a step of
wood, which he had made for speaking. And standing beside
him were Mattithiah, and Shemaiah, and Anaiah, and Uriah,
and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right. And on the left were
Pedaiah, Mishael, and Malchiyah, and Hashum, and
Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. {8:5} And Ezra
opened the book before all the people. For he stood out above
all the people. And when he had opened it, all the people
stood up. {8:6} And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.
And all the people responded, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up
their hands. And they bowed down, and they adored God,
facing the ground. {8:7} Then Jeshua, and Bani, and
Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah,
Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites,
caused the people to be silent in order to hear the law. And
the people were standing on their feet. {8:8} And they read
from the book of the law of God, distinctly and plainly, so as
to be understood. And when it was read, they did understand.
{8:9} Then Nehemiah (the same is the cupbearer) and Ezra,
the priest and scribe, and the Levites, who were interpreting
for all the people, said: “This day has been sanctified to the
Lord our God. Do not mourn, and do not weep.” For all of
the people were weeping, as they were listening to the words
of the law. {8:10} And he said to them: “Go, eat fat foods
and drink sweet drinks, and send portions to those who have
not prepared for themselves. For it is the holy day of the Lord.
And do not be sad. For the joy of the Lord is also our
strength.” {8:11} Then the Levites caused the people to be
silent, saying: “Be quiet. For the day is holy. And do not be
sorrowful.” {8:12} And so all the people went forth, so that
they might eat and drink, and so that they might send
portions, and so that they might make a great rejoicing. For
they understood the words that he had taught to them.
{8:13} And on the second day, the leaders of the families of
all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered
together to Ezra the scribe, so that he might interpret for
them the words of the law. {8:14} And they found written in
the law, which the Lord had instructed by the hand of Moses,
that the sons of Israel should live in tabernacles on the day of
solemnity in the seventh month, {8:15} and that they should
proclaim and send out a voice in all their cities and in
Jerusalem, saying: “Go forth to the mount, and bring olive
branches, and the branches of beautiful trees, myrtle branches,
and palm branches, and the branches of thick trees,” so that
they might make tabernacles, just as it was written.
{8:16} And the people went forth and brought. And they
made for themselves tabernacles, each one at his own
dwelling, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of
God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of
the gate of Ephraim. {8:17} Therefore, the entire assembly of
those who had returned from the captivity made tabernacles
and lived in tabernacles. For from the days of Jeshua, the son
of Nun, even to that day, the sons of Israel had not done so.
And there was exceedingly great rejoicing. {8:18} Now he
read in the book of the law of God, throughout each day,
from the first day even to the very last day. And they kept the
solemnity for seven days. And on the eighth day, there was a
gathering according to the ritual.


[Nehemiah 9] {9:1} Then, on the twenty-fourth day of the
same month, the sons of Israel came together in fasting and
in sackcloth, and with soil upon them. {9:2} And the
offspring of the sons of Israel were separated from all the sons
of foreigners. And they stood up, and they confessed their
sins and the iniquities of their fathers. {9:3} And they arose
to stand. And they read in the volume of the law of the Lord
their God, four times in the day, and four times they
confessed. And they adored the Lord their God. {9:4} Then,
upon the step of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, and Kadmiel,
Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani rose up.
And they cried out in a great voice to the Lord their God.
{9:5} And the Levites, Jeshua and Kadmiel, Bunni,
Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah
said: “Rise up. Bless the Lord your God, from eternity even
to eternity! And blessed be the exalted name of your glory,
with all blessing and praise. {9:6} You yourself alone, O
Lord, made heaven, and the heaven of the heavens, and all
their host, the earth and all things that are in it, the seas and
all things that are in them. And you gave life to all these
things. And the host of heaven adores you. {9:7} You
yourself, O Lord God, are the One who chose Abram. And
you led him away from the fire of the Chaldeans, and you
gave him the name Abraham. {9:8} And you found his heart
to be faithful before you. And you formed a covenant with
him, so that you might give to him the land of the Canaanite,
of the Hittite, and of the Amorite, and of the Perizzite, and of
the Jebusite, and of the Girgashite, so that you might give it
to his offspring. And you have fulfilled your words, for you
are just. {9:9} And you saw the affliction of our fathers in
Egypt. And you heard their outcry beside the Red Sea.
{9:10} And you gave signs and portents to Pharaoh, and to
all his servants, and to the people of his land. For you knew
that they acted arrogantly against them. And you made a
name for yourself, just as it is in this day. {9:11} And you
divided the sea before them, and they crossed through the
midst of the sea on dry land. But their pursuers you cast into
the depths, like a stone into great waters. {9:12} And in the
pillar of cloud, you were their leader by day, and in the pillar
of fire, by night, so that they might see the way along which
they might advance. {9:13} You also descended to mount
Sinai, and you spoke with them from heaven. And you gave
them upright judgments, and the law of truth, and
ceremonies, and good precepts. {9:14} You revealed to them
your sanctified Sabbath, and you instructed them in
commandments, and ceremonies, and the law, by the hand of
Moses, your servant. {9:15} You also gave them bread from
heaven in their hunger, and you brought forth water from the
rock for them in their thirst. And you said to them that they
should enter and possess the land, over which you lifted up
your hand so that you might give it to them. {9:16} Yet truly,
they and our fathers acted arrogantly, and they hardened
their necks, and they did not listen to your commandments.
{9:17} And they were not willing to hear, and they did not
remember, your miracles which you had accomplished for
them. And they hardened their necks, and they offered their
head, so that they would return to their servitude, as if in
contention. But you, a forgiving God, lenient and merciful,
longsuffering and full of compassion, did not abandon them.
{9:18} Indeed, even when they had made for themselves a
molten calf, and they had said, “This is your God, who led
you away from Egypt!’ and had committed great blasphemies,
{9:19} even so, in the multitude of your mercies, you did not
send them away in the desert. The pillar of cloud did not
withdraw from them by day, so that it might lead them on the
way, nor the pillar of fire by night, so that it might show them
the way along which they might advance. {9:20} And you
gave them your good Spirit, so that he might teach them, and
you did not withhold your manna from their mouth, and you
gave them water in their thirst. {9:21} For forty years, you
fed them in the desert, and nothing was lacking to them; their
garments did not grow old, and their feet were not worn
down. {9:22} And you gave them kingdoms and peoples, and
you distributed to them by lot. And they possessed the land of
Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of
Og, the king of Bashan. {9:23} And you multiplied their sons
like the stars of heaven. And you led them into the land,
about which you had said to their fathers that they would
enter and possess it. {9:24} And the sons arrived and
possessed the land. And you humbled the inhabitants of the
land, the Canaanites, before them. And you delivered them
into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land,
so that they might do with them just as it was pleasing to
them. {9:25} And so they seized fortified cities and fat soil.
And they possessed houses filled with all kinds of goods,
cisterns made by others, vineyards, and olive groves, and fruit
trees in abundance. And they ate and were satisfied. And
they were fattened, and they abounded with delights from
your great goodness. {9:26} But they provoked you to wrath,
and they withdrew from you, and they cast your law behind
their backs. And they killed your prophets, who contended
with them so that they might return to you. And they
committed great blasphemies. {9:27} And so you gave them
into the hand of their enemies, and they afflicted them. And
in the time of their tribulation, they cried out to you, and
from heaven you heard them. And in accord with your great
compassion, you gave to them saviors, who might save them
from the hand of their enemies. {9:28} But after they had
rested, they turned back, so that they did evil in your sight.
And you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, and
they possessed them. And they converted, and they cried out
to you. And from heaven you heeded them, and you freed
them many times, by your mercies. {9:29} And you
contended with them, so that they might return to your law.
Yet truly, they acted in arrogance, and they did not listen to
your commandments, and they sinned against your
judgments, which, if a man does them, he shall live by them.
And they withdrew from offering their shoulder, and they
hardened their neck; neither would they listen. {9:30} And
you continued to forbear them for many years. And you
contended with them by your Spirit, through the hand of
your prophets. And they did not listen, and so you delivered
them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. {9:31} Yet in
your very many mercies, you did not cause them to be
consumed, nor did you abandon them. For you are a
compassionate and lenient God. {9:32} Now therefore, our
great God, strong and terrible, who keeps covenant and
mercy, may you not avert your face from all the hardship that
has found us, we and our kings, and our leaders, and our
priests, and our prophets, and our fathers, and all the people,
from the days of king Assur, even to this day. {9:33} For you
are just, concerning all things that have overwhelmed us. For
you have done truth, but we have acted impiously.
{9:34} Our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our fathers
have not done your law, and they have not been attentive to
your commandments and your testimonies, to which you
have testified among them. {9:35} And they have not served
you, in their kingdoms and with your many good things,
which you gave to them, and in the very wide and fat land,
which you delivered into their sight, nor did they return from
their most wicked pursuits. {9:36} Behold, we ourselves this
day are servants. And the land, which you gave to our fathers
so that they might eat its bread and have its good things, we
ourselves are servants within it. {9:37} And its fruits are
multiplied for the kings, whom you have set over us because
of our sins. And they rule over our bodies, and over our cattle,
according to their will. And we are in great tribulation.
{9:38} Therefore, concerning all of these things, we ourselves
are forming and writing a covenant, and our leaders, our
Levites, and our priests are signing it.”


[Nehemiah 10] {10:1} And the signatories were: Nehemiah,
the cupbearer, the son of MHacaliah, and Zedekiah,
{10:2} Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, {10:3} Pashhur, Amariah,
Malchijah, {10:4} Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
{10:5} Harim, | Meremoth, Obadiah, {10:6} Daniel,
Ginnethon, Baruch, {10:7} Meshullam, Abijah, Miamin,
{10:8} Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these were the priests.
{10:9} And the Levites were: Jeshua, the son of Azaniah,
Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel, {10:10} and their
brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,
{10:11} Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, {10:12} Zaccur, Sherebiah,
Shebaniah, {10:13} Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. {10:14} The
heads of the people were: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu,
Bani, {10:15} Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, {10:16} Adonijah,
Bigvai, Adin, {10:17} Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,
{10:18} Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, {10:19} Hariph, Anathoth,
Nebai, {10:20} Magpiash, Meshullam, Hazir,
{10:21} Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, {10:22} Pelatiah,
Hanan, Anaiah, {10:23} Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,
{10:24} Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, {10:25} Rehum,
Hashabnah, Maaseiah, {10:26} Ahiah, Hanan, Anan,
{10:27} Malluch, Harim, Baanah. {10:28} And the rest of the
people were the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, and the
singers, the temple servants, and all who had separated
themselves, from the peoples of the lands, to the law of God,
with their wives, their sons, and their daughters. {10:29} All
who were able to understand, pledged on behalf of their
brothers, with their nobles, and they came forward to promise
and to swear that they would walk in the law of God, which
he had given to the hand of Moses, the servant of God, that
they would do and keep all the commandments of the Lord
our God, and his judgments and his ceremonies, {10:30} and
that we would not give our daughters to the people of the
land, and that we would not accept their daughters for our
sons, {10:31} also that, if the people of the land carry in
goods for sale or any useful things, so that they might sell
them on the day of the Sabbath, that we would not buy them
on the Sabbath, nor on a sanctified day, and that we would
release the seventh year and the collection of debt from every
hand. {10:32} And we established precepts over ourselves, so
that we would give one third part of a shekel each year for the
work of the house of our God, {10:33} for the bread of the
presence, and for the continual sacrifice, and for a continual
holocaust on the Sabbaths, on the new moons, on the
solemnities, and for the holy things, and for the sin offering,
so that atonement would be made for Israel, and for every
use within the house of our God. {10:34} Then we cast lots
concerning the oblation of the wood among the priests, and
the Levites, and the people, so that it would be carried into
the house of our God, by the households of our fathers, at set
times, from the times of one year to another, so that they
might burn upon the altar of the Lord our God, just as it was
written in the law of Moses, {10:35} and so that we might
bring in the first-fruits of our land, and the first-fruits of all the
produce from every tree, from year to year, in the house of
our Lord, {10:36} and the firstborn of our sons, and of our
cattle, just as it was written in the law, and the firstborn of
our oxen and our sheep, so that they might be offered in the
house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of
our God, {10:37} and so that we might bring in the first-fruits
of our foods, and of our libations, and the fruits of every tree,
also of the vintage and of the oil, to the priests, to the
storehouse of our God, with the tithes of our land for the
Levites. The Levites also shall receive tithes from our works
out of all the cities. {10:38} Now the priest, the son of Aaron,
shall be with the Levites in the tithes of the Levites, and the
Levites shall offer a tenth part of their tithes in the house of
our God, to the storeroom in the house of the treasury.
{10:39} For the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi shall carry
to the storehouse the first-fruits of the grain, of the wine, and
of the oil. And the sanctified vessels shall be there, and the
priests, and the singing men, and the gatekeepers, and the
ministers. And we shall not forsake the house of our God.


[Nehemiah 11] {11:1} Now the leaders of the people lived in
Jerusalem. Yet truly, the remainder of the people cast lots, so
that they might choose one part in ten who were to live in
Jerusalem, the holy city, and nine parts for the other cities.
{11:2} Then the people blessed all the men who freely offered
themselves to live in Jerusalem. {11:3} And so these are the
leaders of the province, who were living in Jerusalem, and in
the cities of Judah. Now each one lived in his possession, in
their cities: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants,
and the sons of the servants of Solomon. {11:4} And in
Jerusalem, there lived some of the sons of Judah, and some
of the sons of Benjamin: of the sons of Judah, Athaiah, the
son of Aziam, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the
son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, of the sons of Perez;
{11:5} Maaseiah, the son of Baruch, the son of Colhozeh,
the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the
son of Zechariah, the son of a Silonite. {11:6} All these sons
of Perez lived in Jerusalem, four hundred sixty-eight strong
men. {11:7} Now these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu, the
son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the
son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son
of Jeshaiah; {11:8} and after him Gabbai, Sallai. These were
nine hundred twenty-eight. {11:9} And Joel, the son of Zichri,
was their foremost leader. And Judah, the son of Hassenuah,
was second over the city. {11:10} And from the priests, there
were Jedaiah, the son of Joiarib, Jachin, {11:11} Seraiah, the
son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the
son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of the house of
God, {11:12} and their brothers, who were doing the works
of the temple: eight hundred twenty-two. And Adaiah, the
son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son
of Zachariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchiah,
{11:13} and his brothers, the leaders among the fathers: two
hundred forty-two. And Amassai, the son of Azarel, the son
of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer,
{11:14} and their brothers, who were very powerful: one
hundred twenty-eight. And their foremost leader was Zabdiel,
the son of the powerful. {11:15} And from the Levites, there
were Shemaiah, the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the
son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni, {11:16} and Shabbethai
and Jozabad, who were over all the works which were
exterior to the house of God, from among the leaders of the
Levites. {11:17} And Mattaniah, the son of Mica, the son of
Zabdi, the son of Asaph, was the leader of praise and
confession in prayer, with Bakbukiah, second among his
brothers, and Abda, the son of Shammua, the son of Galal,
the son of Jeduthun. {11:18} All the Levites in the holy city
were two hundred eighty-four. {11:19} And the gatekeepers,
Akkub, Talmon, and their brothers, who guarded the
doorways, were one hundred seventy-two. {11:20} And the
remainder of Israel, the priests and the Levites, were in all the
cities of Judah, each one in his own possession. {11:21} And
the temple servants were living at Ophel, with Ziha and
Gishpa, of the temple servants. {11:22} And the director of
the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi, the son of Bani, the son of
Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica. The
singing men in the ministry of the house of God were from
the sons of Asaph. {11:23} In fact, there was a precept of the
king about them, and an order among the singing men,
throughout each day. {11:24} And Pethahiah, the son of
Meshezabel, from the sons of Zerah, the son of Judah, was at
the hand of the king concerning every word of the people,
{11:25} and in the houses throughout all their regions. Some
of the sons of Judah lived at Kiriatharba and in its daughter
villages, and at Dibon and in its daughter villages, and at
Jekabzeel and in its vicinity, {11:26} and at Jeshua, and at
Moladah, and at Bethpelet, {11:27} and at Hazarshual, and
at Beersheba and in its daughter villages, {11:28} and at
Ziklag, and at Meconah and in its daughter villages,
{11:29} and at Enrimmon, and at Zorah, and at Jarmuth,
{11:30} Zanoah, Adullam, and in their villages, at Lachish
and its regions, and at Azekah and in its daughter villages.
And they dwelt from Beersheba as far as the valley of
Hinnom. {11:31} But the sons of Benjamin lived from Geba,
at Michmash, and Aya, and Bethel and in its daughter
villages, {11:32} to Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, {11:33} Hazor,
Ramah, Gittaim, {11:34} Hadid, Zeboim, and Neballat, Lod,
{11:35} and Ono, the valley of craftsmen. {11:36} And some
of the Levites were apportioned with Judah and Benjamin.


[Nehemiah 12] {12:1} Now these are the priests and the
Levites who ascended with Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,
and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, {12:2} Amariah,
Malluch, Hattush, {12:3} Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,
{12:4} Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah, {12:5} Mijamin, Maadiah,
Bilgah, {12:6} Shemaiah, and Joiarib, Jedaiah, Sallu, Amok,
Hilkiah, Jedaiah. {12:7} These were the leaders of the priests
and of their brothers, in the days of Jeshua. {12:8} And the
Levites, Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah,
Mattaniah, they and their brothers were over the hymns,
{12:9} with Bakbukiah, as well as Hannai, and their brothers,
each one in his office. {12:10} Now Jeshua conceived
Joiakim, and Joiakim conceived Eliashib, and Eliashib
conceived Joiada, {12:11} and Joiada conceived Jonathan,
and Jonathan conceived Jaddua. {12:12} And in the days of
Joiakim, the priests and the leaders of the families were: of
Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; {12:13} of Ezra,
Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; {12:14} of Maluchi,
Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; {12:15} of Harim, Adna; of
Meraioth, Helkai; {12:16} of Adaiah, Zechariah; of
Ginnethon, Meshullam; {12:17} of Abijah, Zichri; of
Mijamin and Moadiah, Piltai; {12:18} of Bilgah, Shammua;
of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; {12:19} of Joiarib, Mattenai; of
Jedaiah, Uzzi; {12:20} of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber;
{12:21} of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.
{12:22} The Levites, in the days of Eliashib, and Joiada, and
Johanan, and Jaddua, and the priests, were written according
to the leaders of the families, during the reign of Darius the
Persian. {12:23} The sons of Levi, according to the leaders of
the families, were written in the book of the words of those
days, even to the days of Johanan, the son of Eliashib.
{12:24} Now the leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah,
Sherebiah, and Jeshua, the son of Kadmiel, and their brothers,
in their turns, so that they would praise and confess,
according to the precept of David, the man of God. And they
served equally and in order. {12:25} Mattaniah, and
Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were
keepers of the gates and of the vestibules before the gates.
{12:26} These were in the days of Joiakim, the son of Jeshua,
the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah, the
governor, and of Ezra, the priest and scribe. {12:27} Now at
the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought the
Levites from all their places, so that they might bring them to
Jerusalem, and so that they might keep the dedication, and
rejoice with thanksgiving, and with singing, and with
cymbals, psalteries, and lyres. {12:28} Now the sons of the
singing men were gathered from the plains surrounding
Jerusalem, and from the villages of Netophati, {12:29} and
from the house of Gilgal, and from the regions of Geba and
Azmaveth. For the singing men had built villages for
themselves around Jerusalem. {12:30} And the priests and
the Levites were cleansed, and they cleansed the people, and
the gates, and the wall. {12:31} Then I caused the leaders of
Judah to ascend the wall, and I appointed two great choirs to
give praise. And they went to the right upon the wall, toward
the dung gate. {12:32} And after them went Hoshaiah, and
one half part of the leadership of Judah, {12:33} and Azariah,
Ezra, and Meshullam, Judah, and Benjamin, and Shemaiah,
and Jeremiah. {12:34} And some of the sons of the priests
went forth with trumpets: Zachariah, the son of Jonathan, the
son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah,
the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph. {12:35} And his
brothers, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai,
Nethanel, and Judah, and Hanani, went forth with the
canticles of David, the man of God. And Ezra, the scribe,
was before them at the fountain gate. {12:36} And opposite
them, they ascended by the steps of the city of David, at the
ascent of the wall above the house of David, and as far as the
water gate to the east. {12:37} And the second choir of those
who gave thanks went forth on the opposite side, and I went
after them, and one half part of the people were upon the wall,
and upon the tower of the furnaces, as far as the widest wall,
{12:38} and above the gate of Ephraim, and above the
ancient gate, and above the fish gate, and the tower of
Hananel, and the tower of Hamath, and as far as the flock
gate. And they stood still at the watch gate. {12:39} And the
two choirs of those who gave praise stood still at the house of
God, with myself and one half part of the magistrates who
were with me. {12:40} And the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah,
Myamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, Hananiah, went
forth with trumpets, {12:41} with Maaseiah, and Shemaiah,
and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and
Elam, and Ezer. And the singers were singing clearly, and
Jezrahiah was their foremost leader. {12:42} And on that day,
they immolated great sacrifices, and they rejoiced. For God
had caused them to rejoice with great joy. And their wives
and children also were glad. And the rejoicing of Jerusalem
was heard from far away. {12:43} On that day also, they
enrolled men over the storehouses of the treasury, for the
libations, and for the first-fruits, and for the tithes, so that the
leaders of the city might bring these in, by them, with proper
thanksgiving, for the priests and the Levites. For Judah was
rejoicing in the priests and the Levites who were assisting.
{12:44} And they kept the vigil of their God, and the vigil of
expiation, with the singing men and the gatekeepers, in
accord with the precept of David, and of Solomon, his son.
{12:45} For in the days of David and Asaph, from the
beginning, there were leaders appointed over the singers, to
give praise in verses, and to confess to God. {12:46} And all
of Israel, in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of
Nehemiah, gave portions to the singing men and to the
gatekeepers, for each day, and they sanctified the Levites, and
the Levites sanctified the sons of Aaron.


[Nehemiah 13] {13:1} Now on that day, they read from the
book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it, there
was found written that the Ammonites and the Moabites
must not enter the church of God, even for all time,
{13:2} because they did not meet the sons of Israel with
bread and water, and they hired Balaam against them, to
curse them. But our God turned the curse into a blessing.
{13:3} Now it happened that, when they had heard the law,
they separated every foreigner from Israel. {13:4} And
Eliashib, the priest, was over this task; he had been given
charge of the treasury of the house of our God, and he was a
close relative of Tobiah. {13:5} Then he made for himself a
large storeroom, and in that place, there was laid before him
gifts, and frankincense, and vessels, and the tithes of grain,
wine, and oil, the portions of the Levites, and of the singing
men, and of the gatekeepers, and the first-fruits of the priests.
{13:6} But during all this, I was not in Jerusalem, because in
the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, the king of Babylon, I
went to the king, and at the end of some days, I petitioned the
king. {13:7} And I went to Jerusalem, and I understood the
evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, such that he would
make him a storeroom in the vestibules of the house of God.
{13:8} And it seemed to me very evil. And I cast the vessels
of the house of Tobiah outside of the storeroom. {13:9} And
I gave instructions, and they cleansed again the storeroom.
And I brought back, into that place, the vessels of the house
of God, the sacrifice, and the frankincense. {13:10} And I
realized that the portions of the Levites had not been given to
them, and that each one had fled into his own region, from
the Levites, and from the singing men, and from those who
were ministering. {13:11} And I brought the case before the
magistrates, and I said, “Why have we forsaken the house of
God?” And I gathered them together, and I caused them to
stand at their stations. {13:12} And all of Judah brought the
tithes of the grain, and the wine, and the oil into the
storehouses. {13:13} And we appointed over the storehouses,
Shelemiah, the priest, and Zadok, the scribe, and Pedaiah
from the Levites, and next to them Hanan, the son of Zaccur,
the son of Mattaniah. For they had proven to be faithful. And
so the portions of their brothers were entrusted to them.
{13:14} Remember me, O my God, because of this, and may
you not wipe away my acts of compassion, which I have
done for the house of my God and for his ceremonies.
{13:15} In those days, I saw, in Judah, some who were
treading the presses on the Sabbath, and who were carrying
sheaves, and placing on donkeys burdens of wine, and of
grapes, and of figs, and all manner of burdens, and who were
bringing these into Jerusalem on the day of the Sabbath. And
I contended with them, so that they would sell on a day when
it was permitted to sell. {13:16} And some Tyrians dwelt
within, who were bringing fish and all kinds of items for sale.
And they were selling on the Sabbaths to the sons of Judah in
Jerusalem. {13:17} And I put the nobles of Judah under oath,
and I said to them: “What is this evil thing that you are doing,
profaning the Sabbath day? {13:18} Did not our fathers do
these things, and so our God brought all this evil upon us and
upon this city? And you are adding more wrath upon Israel
by violating the Sabbath!” {13:19} And it happened that,
when the gates of Jerusalem had rested on the day of the
Sabbath, I spoke, and they closed the gates. And I instructed
that they should not open them until after the Sabbath. And I
appointed some of my servants over the gates, so that no one
would carry in a burden on the day of the Sabbath.
{13:20} And so the merchants and those who sold all kinds
of items remained just outside of Jerusalem, once and again.
{13:21} And I contended with them, and I said to them:
“Why are you remaining just beyond the wall? If you do this
again, I will send hands upon you.” And so, from that time,
they no longer came on the Sabbath. {13:22} I also spoke to
the Levites, so that they would be cleansed, and would arrive
to guard the gates and to sanctify the day of the Sabbath.
Because of this also, O my God, remember me and spare me,
in accord with the multitude of your mercies. {13:23} But
also in those days, I saw some Jews taking wives from the
Ashdodites, and the Ammonites, and the Moabites.
{13:24} And their sons spoke partly in the speech of Ashdod,
and they did not know how to speak the Jewish language,
and they were speaking according to the language of one
people or another. {13:25} And I put them under oath, and I
cursed them. And I struck some of their men, and I shaved
off their hair, and I made them swear to God that they would
not give their daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters
for their sons, nor for themselves, saying: {13:26} “Did not
Solomon, king of Israel, sin in this kind of thing? And
certainly, among many nations, there was no king similar to
him, and he was beloved of his God, and God set him as king
over all of Israel. And yet foreign women led even him into
sin! {13:27} So how could we disobey and do all this great
evil, so that we would transgress against our God, and take
foreign wives?” {13:28} Now one of the sons of Joiada, the
son of Eliashib, the high priest, was a son-in-law to Sanballat,
a Horonite, and I made him flee from me. {13:29} O Lord,
my God, remember against those who defile the priesthood
and the law of the priests and the Levites! {13:30} And so I
cleansed them from all foreigners, and I established the
orders of the priests and the Levites, each one in his ministry.
{13:31} O my God, remember me also, for good, because of
the offering of wood, at the appointed times, and because of
the first-fruits. Amen.


** The Book of Tobit **


[Tobit 1] {1:1} Tobit was from the tribe and city of Naphtali
(which is in the upper parts of Galilee above Asher, after the
way, which leads to the west, that has on its left the city of
Sephet). {1:2} Although he had been taken captive in the
days of Shalmaneser, the king of the Assyrians, even in such
a situation as captivity, he did not desert the way of truth.
{1:3} So then, every day, all that he was able to obtain, he
bestowed on his fellow captive brothers, who were from his
kindred. {1:4} And, when he was among the youngest of any
in the tribe of Naphtali, he showed not so much as any
childish behavior in his work. {1:5} And then, when all went
to the golden calves which Jeroboam, king of Israel, had
made, he alone fled from the company of them all. {1:6} Yet
he continued on to Jerusalem, to the temple of the Lord, and
there he adored the Lord God of Israel, offering faithfully all
his first-fruits and his tithes. {1:7} So then, in the third year,
he administered all his tithes to new converts and to new
arrivals. {1:8} These and similar such things, even as a boy,
he observed according to the law of God. {1:9} Truly, when
he had become a man, he received as wife Anna of his own
tribe, and he conceived a son by her, to whom he assigned his
own name. {1:10} From his infancy, he taught him to fear
God and to abstain from all sin. {1:11} Therefore, when,
during the captivity, he had arrived with his wife and son at
the city of Nineveh, with all his tribe, {1:12} (even though
they all ate from the foods of the Gentiles,) he guarded his
soul and never was contaminated with their foods.
{1:13} And because he was mindful of the Lord with his
whole heart, God gave him favor in the sight of Shalmaneser
the king. {1:14} And he gave him the power to go wherever
he would want, having the freedom to do whatever he wished.
{1:15} Therefore, he continued on to all who were in
captivity, and he gave them helpful advice. {1:16} But when
he had arrived at Rages, a city of the Medes, he had ten
talents of silver, from that which he had been given in honor
by the king. {1:17} And when, in the midst of the great
tumult of his kindred, he saw the destitution of Gabael, who
was from his tribe, he loaned him, under a written agreement,
the aforementioned weight of silver. {1:18} In truth, after a
long time, Shalmaneser the king died, while Sennacherib his
son reigned in his place, and he held a hatred for the sons of
Israel. {1:19} Every day, Tobit traveled though all his own
people, and he consoled them, and he distributed to each one
as much as he could from his resources. {1:20} He nourished
the hungry, and he supplied clothes to the naked, and he
showed concern for the burial of the dead and of the slain.
{1:21} And then, when king Sennacherib had returned from
Judea, fleeing the scourge which God had caused all around
him because of his blasphemy, and, being angry, he was
slaughtering many from the sons of Israel, Tobit buried their
bodies. {1:22} And when it was reported to the king, he
ordered him to be slain, and he took away all his belongings.
{1:23} In truth, Tobit, fleeing with nothing but his son and
his wife, was able to remain hidden because many loved him.
{1:24} In truth, after forty-five days, the king was slain by his
own sons, {1:25} and Tobit was able to return to his house,
and all his resources were restored to him.


[Tobit 2] {2:1} In truth, after this, when there was a feast day
of the Lord, and a good dinner had been prepared in the
house of Tobit, {2:2} he said to his son: “Go, and bring some
others who fear God from our tribe to feast with us.”
{2:3} And after he had gone, returning, he reported to him
that one of the sons of Israel, with his throat cut, was lying in
the street. And immediately, he leapt from his place reclining
at table, left behind his dinner, and went forth with fasting to
the body. {2:4} And taking it up, he carried it in secret to his
house, so that, after the sun had set, he might bury him
cautiously. {2:5} And after he had hidden the body, he
chewed his bread with mourning and fear,
{2:6} remembering the word that the Lord spoke through the
prophet Amos: “Your feast days shall be turned into
lamentation and mourning.” {2:7} Truly, when the sun had
set, he went out, and he buried him. {2:8} Yet all his
neighbors argued with him, saying: “Now, an order was
given to execute you because of this matter, and you barely
escaped a death sentence, and again you are burying the
dead?” {2:9} But Tobit, fearing God more than the king,
stole away the bodies of the slain and concealed them in his
house, and in the middle of the night, he buried them.
{2:10} But it happened one day, being tired from burying the
dead, he came into his house, and he threw himself down
next to the wall, and he slept. {2:11} And, as he was sleeping,
warm droppings from a swallow’s nest fell upon his eyes, and
he was made blind. {2:12} And so the Lord permitted this
trial to befall him, in order that an example might be given to
posterity of his patience, which is even like that of holy Job.
{2:13} For, even from his infancy, he had always feared God
and kept his commandments, so he was not discouraged
before God because of the scourge of blindness that had
befallen him. {2:14} But he remained immoveable in the fear
of God, giving thanks to God all the days of his life.
{2:15} For just as kings have mocked blessed Job, so also his
relatives and acquaintances ridiculed his life, saying:
{2:16} “Where is your hope, on behalf of which you gave
alms and buried the dead?” {2:17} In truth, Tobit corrected
them, saying: “Do not speak in this way, {2:18} for we are
the sons of the holy ones, and we look forward to that life
which God will give to those who never change in their faith
before him.” {2:19} In truth, his wife Anna went out to
weaving work daily, and she brought back the provisions that
she was able to obtain by the labor of her hands.
{2:20} Whereupon it happened that, having received a young
goat, she brought it home. {2:21} When her husband heard
the sound of its bleating, he said, “Look, so that it might not
be stolen, return it to its owners, for it is not lawful for us
either to eat, or to touch, anything stolen.” {2:22} At this, his
wife, being angry, answered, “Clearly, your hope has become
vanity, and the manner of your almsgiving has become
apparent.” {2:23} And with these and other similar such
words, she reproached him.


[Tobit 3] {3:1} Then Tobit sighed, and he began to pray with
tears, {3:2} saying, “O Lord, you are just and all your
judgments are just, and all your ways are mercy, and truth,
and judgment. {3:3} And now, O Lord, remember me, and
do not take vengeance for my sins, and do not call to mind
my offenses, nor those of my parents. {3:4} For we have not
obeyed your precepts, and so we have been handed over to
plundering and to captivity, and to death, and to mockery,
and as a disgrace before all the nations, among which you
have dispersed us. {3:5} And now, O Lord, great are your
judgments. For we have not acted according to your precepts,
and we have not walked sincerely before you. {3:6} And now,
O Lord, do with me according to your will, and order my
spirit to be received in peace. For it is more expedient for me
to die, than to live.” {3:7} And so, on the same day, it
happened that Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, in Rages, a city
of the Medes, also heard a reproach from one of her father’s
servant maids. {3:8} For she had been given to seven
husbands, and a demon named Asmodeus had killed them,
as soon as they had approached her. {3:9} Therefore, when
she corrected the maid for her fault, she answered her, saying,
“May we never see son or daughter from you upon the earth,
you murderess of your husbands. {3:10} Would you also kill
me, just as you have already killed seven husbands?” At these
words, she proceeded to an upper room of her house. And for
three days and three nights, she did not eat or drink.
{3:11} But, continuing in prayer with tears, she beseeched
God, so that he would liberate her from this reproach.
{3:12} And it happened on the third day, while she was
completing her prayer, blessing the Lord, {3:13} that she said:
“Blessed is your name, O God of our fathers, who, though
you had been angry, will show mercy. And in time of
tribulation, you dismiss the sins of those who call upon you.
{3:14} To you, O Lord, I turn my face; to you, I direct my
eyes. {3:15} I beg you, O Lord, that you may absolve me
from the chains of this reproach, or at least take me away
from the earth. {3:16} You know, O Lord, that I have never
coveted a husband, and I have preserved my soul clean from
all impure desire. {3:17} I have never mingled myself with
those who play. And I have not presented myself as a
participant with those who walk with levity. {3:18} But I
consented to accept a husband, in your fear, not in my lust.
{3:19} And, either I was unworthy of them, or they perhaps
were not worthy of me. For perhaps you have preserved me
for another husband. {3:20} For your counsel is not within
the ability of man. {3:21} But all who worship you are
certain of this: that one’s life, if it should be tested, shall be
crowned, and if it should be in tribulation, shall be delivered,
and if it should be corrected, shall be permitted to approach
your mercy. {3:22} For you are not delighted with our
perdition. For, after a storm, you create tranquility, and after
tears and weeping, you pour out exultation. {3:23} May your
name, O God of Israel, be blessed forever.” {3:24} At that
time, the prayers of them both were heard in the sight of the
glory of the most high God. {3:25} And the holy Angel of the
Lord, Raphael, was sent to care for both of them, whose
prayers were recited at the same time in the sight of the Lord.


[Tobit 4] {4:1} Therefore, when Tobit considered that his
prayer was heard, so that he might be able to die, he called
his son Tobias to him. {4:2} And he said to him: “My son,
hear the words of my mouth, and set them, like a foundation,
in your heart. {4:3} When God will receive my soul, bury my
body. And you shall honor your mother, all the days of her
life. {4:4} For you are obliged to be mindful of what great
perils she suffered because of you in her womb. {4:5} But
when she too will have completed the time of her life, bury
her near me. {4:6} Yet, for all the days of your life, have God
in your mind. And be careful that you never consent to sin,
nor overlook the precepts of the Lord our God. {4:7} Give
alms from your substance, and do not turn away your face
from any pauper. For so it shall be that neither will the face
of the Lord be turned away from you. {4:8} In whatever way
that you are able, so shall you be merciful. {4:9} If you have
much, distribute abundantly. If you have little, nevertheless
strive to bestow a little freely. {4:10} For you store up for
yourself a good reward for the day of necessity. {4:11} For
almsgiving liberates from every sin and from death, and it
will not suffer the soul to go into darkness. {4:12} Almsgiving
will be a great act of faith before the most high God, for all
those who practice it. {4:13} Take care to keep yourself, my
son, from all fornication, and, except for your wife, never
permit yourself to know such an offense. {4:14} Never permit
arrogance to rule in your mind or in your words. For in it, all
perdition had its beginning. {4:15} And whoever has done
any kind of work for you, immediately pay him his wages,
and do not let the wages of your hired hand remain with you
at all. {4:16} Whatever you would hate to have done to you
by another, see that you never do so to another. {4:17} Eat
your bread with the hungry and the needy, and cover the
naked with your own garments. {4:18} Set out your bread
and your wine at the burial of a just man, and do not eat and
drink from it with sinners. {4:19} Always seek the counsel of
a wise man. {4:20} Bless God at all times. And petition him
that he direct your ways and that all your counsels may
remain in him. {4:21} And now, I reveal to you, my son, that
I lent ten talents of silver, while you were still a young child,
to Gabael, in Rages, a city of the Medes, and I have his
written agreement with me. {4:22} And so, inquire how you
may travel to him and receive from him the aforementioned
weight of silver, and return to him the written agreement.
{4:23} Do not be afraid, my son. We do indeed lead a poor
life, but we will have many good things: if we fear God, and
withdraw from all sin, and do what is good.”


[Tobit 5] {5:1} Then Tobias responded to his father, and he
said: “I will do everything just as you have instructed me,
father. {5:2} But I do not know how to obtain this money.
He does not know me, and I do not know him. What proof
shall I give to him? And I do not know any part of the way,
which leads to that place.” {5:3} Then his father answered
him, and he said: “Indeed, I have a written agreement about
that in my possession, which, when you show it to him, he
will immediately repay it. {5:4} But go out now, and inquire
after some faithful man, who would go with you to keep you
safe in return for his wages, so that you may receive it while I
am still alive.” {5:5} Then Tobias, departing, found a
splendid young man, standing girded and seemingly ready for
travel. {5:6} And not knowing that he was an Angel of God,
he greeted him, and he said, “Where are you from, good
young man?” {5:7} And so he answered, “From the sons of
Israel.” And Tobias said to him, “Do you know the way that
leads to the region of the Medes?” {5:8} And he answered: “I
know it. And I have frequently walked through all its paths,
and I stayed with Gabael, our brother, who lives in Rages, a
city of the Medes, which is situated at the mount of
Ecbatana.” {5:9} Tobias said to him, “I implore you, wait
here for me, until I tell these same things to my father.”
{5:10} Then Tobias, entering, revealed all these things to his
father. Upon which, his father, in admiration, asked that he
would enter to him. {5:11} And so, entering, he greeted him,
and he said, “May gladness be always with you.” {5:12} And
Tobit said, “What kind of gladness will be for me, since I sit
in darkness and do not see the light of heaven?” {5:13} And
the young man said to him, “Be steadfast in soul. Your cure
from God is near.” {5:14} And so Tobit said to him, “Are
you able to lead my son to Gabael in Rages, a city of the
Medes? And when you return, I will pay you your wages.”
{5:15} And the Angel said to him, “I will lead him, and I will
bring him back to you.” {5:16} And Tobit responded to him,
“I ask you to tell me: which family or which tribe are you
from?” {5:17} And Raphael the Angel said, “Do you seek the
family of the one you hire, or else the hired hand himself, to
go with your son? {5:18} But, lest perhaps I cause you to
worry: I am Azariah, the son of Hananiah the great.”
{5:19} And Tobit responded, “You are from a great family.
But I ask you, do not be angry that I wanted to know your
family.” {5:20} But the Angel said to him, “I will lead your
son safely, and I will bring him back safely to you.”
{5:21} And so Tobit, answering, said, “May you walk well,
and may God be with you on your journey, and may his
Angel accompany you.” {5:22} Then, when all things were
ready which were to be carried on their journey, Tobias said
farewell to his father, and to his mother, and the two of them
walked together. {5:23} And when they had set out, his
mother began to weep, and to say: “You have taken the staff
of our old age, and you have sent him away from us. {5:24} I
wish that the money, for which you sent him, had never been.
{5:25} For our poverty has been sufficient for us, so that we
might count it as riches that we saw our son.” {5:26} And
Tobit said to her: “Do not weep. Our son will arrive safely,
and he will return safely to us, and your eyes shall see him.
{5:27} For I believe that the good Angel of God accompanies
him and that he orders all things well which occur around
him, such that he will be returned to us with gladness.”
{5:28} At these words, his mother ceased weeping, and she
was silent.


[Tobit 6] {6:1} And so Tobias continued on, and the dog was
following him, and he stayed at the first stopping point, near
the river Tigris. {6:2} And he went out to wash his feet, and
behold, an immense fish came out to devour him. {6:3} And
Tobias, being frightened of it, cried out with a loud voice,
saying, “Sir, it is attacking me!” {6:4} And the Angel said to
him, “Catch it by the gills, and draw it to you.” And when he
had done so, he pulled it onto dry land, and it began to thrash
before his feet. {6:5} Then the Angel said to him:
“Disembowel this fish, and put aside his heart, and his gall,
and his liver for yourself. For these things are necessary as
useful medicines.” {6:6} And when he had done so, he
roasted its flesh, and they took it with them on the way. The
rest they salted, so that it might be sufficient for them, until
they would arrive at Rages, a city of the Medes. {6:7} Then
Tobias questioned the Angel, and he said to him, “I implore
you, brother Azariah, to tell me what remedies these things
hold, which you have told me to retain from the fish?”
{6:8} And the Angel, answering, said to him: “If you put a
little piece of its heart on burning coals, its smoke will drive
away all kind of demons, whether from a man or from a
woman, so that they will no longer approach them.
{6:9} And the gall is useful for anointing the eyes, in which
there may be a white speck, and they will be cured.”
{6:10} And Tobias said to him, “Where do you prefer that
we stay?” {6:11} And the Angel, responding, said: “Here is
one named Raguel, a man closely related to you from your
tribe, and he has a daughter named Sarah, but he has no
other male or female, except her. {6:12} All his livelihood is
dependent upon you, and you ought to take her to yourself in
marriage. {6:13} Therefore, ask for her from her father, and
he will give her to you as wife.” {6:14} Then Tobias
responded, and he said: “I hear that she has been given to
seven husbands, and they passed away. But I have even
heard this: that a demon killed them. {6:15} Therefore, I am
afraid, lest this may happen to me also. And since I am the
only child of my parents, I might send their old age with
sorrow to the grave.” {6:16} Then the Angel Raphael said to
him: “Listen to me, and I will reveal to you who they are,
over whom the demon can prevail. {6:17} For example,
those who receive marriage in such manner as to exclude
God from themselves and from their mind, and in such a
manner as to empty themselves to their lust, like the horse
and mule, which have no understanding, over them the
demon has power. {6:18} But you, when you will have
accepted her, enter the bedroom and for three days keep
yourself continent from her, and empty yourself to nothing
other than prayers with her. {6:19} Moreover, on that night,
burn the liver of the fish like incense, and the demon will be
put to flight. {6:20} In truth, on the second night, you will
become ready to receive a physical union like that of the holy
Patriarchs. {6:21} And then, on the third night, you will
obtain a blessing, so that healthy children may be procreated
from you both. {6:22} And so, the third night having been
accomplished, you will receive the virgin with the fear of the
Lord, led more by love of children than by physical desire, so
that, as the offspring of Abraham, you will then obtain a
blessing in children.


[Tobit 7] {7:1} And so they went to Raguel, and Raguel
received them with gladness. {7:2} And Raguel, gazing upon
Tobias, said to Anna his wife, “How much like my cousin is
this young man!” {7:3} And when he had spoken this, he
said, “Which of our brethren are you from, young men?”
{7:4} But they said, “We are from the tribe of Naphtali, from
the captivity of Nineveh.” {7:5} And Raguel said to them,
“Do you know my brother Tobit?” They said to him, “We
know him.” {7:6} And since he was saying many good things
about him, the Angel said to Raguel, “The Tobit about
whom you inquire is the father of this young man.”
{7:7} And Raguel threw himself towards him and kissed him
with tears and weeping upon his neck, saying, “May a
blessing be upon you, my son, because you are the son of a
good and most noble man.” {7:8} And his wife Anna, and
their daughter Sarah, were weeping. {7:9} And so, after they
had spoken, Raguel instructed a sheep to be killed, and a
feast to be prepared. And when he exhorted them to recline
for dinner, {7:10} Tobias said, “Here, today, I will not eat or
drink, unless you first confirm my petition, and promise to
give Sarah your daughter to me.” {7:11} When Raguel heard
this word, he became afraid, knowing what had befallen
those seven men, who had approached her. And he began to
fear, lest it might happen to him also in the same way. And,
since he wavered and gave no further response to the petition,
{7:12} the Angel said to him: “Do not be afraid to give her to
this one, because this one fears God. He is obliged to be
joined to your daughter. Because of this, no other one could
have her.” {7:13} Then Raguel said: “I do not doubt that
God has admitted my prayers and tears before his sight.
{7:14} And I believe, therefore, that he has caused you to
come to me, so that this one might be joined in marriage to
one of her own kindred, according to the law of Moses. And
now, do not continue to doubt that I will give her to you.”
{7:15} And taking the right hand of his daughter, he gave it
into the right hand of Tobias, saying, “May the God of
Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob be
with you. And may he join you together in marriage and
fulfill his blessing in you.”
{7:16} And taking paper, they made a written record of the
marriage. {7:17} And after this, they feasted, blessing God.
{7:18} And Raguel called his wife Anna to him, and he
instructed her to prepare another bedroom. {7:19} And she
brought her daughter Sarah into it, and she was weeping.
{7:20} And she said to her, “Be steadfast in spirit, my
daughter. May the Lord of heaven give you gladness in place
of the grief that you have had to endure.”


[Tobit 8] {8:1} In truth, after they had dined, they introduced
the young man to her. {8:2} And so, Tobias, remembering
the word of the Angel, took part of the liver from his bag, and
he placed it over the live coals. {8:3} Then the Angel Raphael
caught the demon, and bound him in the desert of upper
Egypt. {8:4} Then Tobias exhorted the virgin, and he said to
her: “Sarah, get up and let us pray to God this day, and
tomorrow, and the following day. For, during these three
nights, we are being joined to God. And then, when the third
night has passed, we ourselves will be joined together.
{8:5} For certainly, we are the children of the saints, and we
must not be joined together in such a manner as the heathens,
who are ignorant of God.” {8:6} And so, rising up together,
they both prayed earnestly, at the same time, that health
might be given to them. {8:7} And Tobias said: “Lord, the
God of our fathers, may the heavens and the earth bless you,
and the sea, and the fountains, and the rivers, and all your
creatures that are in them. {8:8} You formed Adam from the
mud of the earth, and you gave Eve to him as a helper.
{8:9} And now, O Lord, you know that I take my sister in
conjugal union, not by reason of worldly pleasure, but solely
for the love of posterity, in which your name may be blessed
forever and ever.” {8:10} Sarah likewise said, “Be merciful to
us, O Lord, be merciful to us. And let us both grow old
together in health.” {8:11} And it happened, about the time
of the rooster’s crowing, that Raguel ordered his servants to
be summoned, and they went out with him together to dig a
grave. {8:12} For he said, “Lest perhaps, in the same way, it
may have happened to him, as it did also to the other seven
men who approached her.” {8:13} And when they had
prepared the pit, Raguel returned to his wife, and he said to
her, {8:14} “Send one of your maids, and let her see if he is
dead, so that I may bury him before the dawn of day.”
{8:15} And so, she sent one of her maidservants, who entered
the bedroom and discovered them safe and unharmed,
sleeping both together. {8:16} And returning, she reported
the good news. And they blessed the Lord: Raguel, especially,
and his wife Anna. {8:17} And they said: “We bless you,
Lord God of Israel, because it has not happened in the way
that we thought it might. {8:18} For you have acted in your
mercy toward us, and you have excluded from us the enemy
who pursued us. {8:19} Moreover, you have had compassion
on two only children. Make them, O Lord, able to bless you
more fully and to offer you a sacrifice of your praise and of
their health, so that all peoples everywhere may know that
you alone are God in all the earth.” {8:20} And immediately
Raguel instructed his servants to refill the pit, which they had
made, before daylight. {8:21} And then he told his wife to
make ready a feast, and to prepare all the provisions that are
necessary for those who undertake a journey.
{8:22} Likewise, he caused two fat cows and four rams to be
killed, and a banquet to be prepared for all his neighbors and
every one of his friends. {8:23} And Raguel pleaded with
Tobias to delay with him for two weeks. {8:24} Moreover, of
all the things that Raguel possessed, he gave one half part to
Tobias, and he made a writing, so that the half that remained
should also pass into the ownership of Tobias, after their
deaths.


[Tobit 9] {9:1} Then Tobias called the Angel to him, whom
he indeed considered to be a man, and he said to him:
“Brother Azariah, I implore you to listen to my words:
{9:2} If I should give myself to be your servant, I would not
be equally worthy of your providence. {9:3} Even so, I beg
you to take with you beasts or even servants, and to go to
Gabael in Rages, the city of the Medes, and restore to him his
handwritten note, and receive from him the money, and
petition him to come to my wedding celebration. {9:4} For
you know that my father numbers the days. And if I delay
one day more, his soul will be afflicted. {9:5} And surely you
see how Raguel has obtained my oath, an oath that I am not
able to spurn.” {9:6} Then Raphael borrowed four of the
servants of Raguel, and two camels, and he traveled to Rages,
the city of the Medes. And upon finding Gabael, he gave him
his handwritten note, and he received from him all the
money. {9:7} And he revealed to him, concerning Tobias the
son of Tobit, all that had been done. And he made him come
with him to the wedding celebration. {9:8} And when he had
entered into the house of Raguel, he discovered Tobias
reclining at table. And leaping up, they kissed each other.
And Gabael wept, and he blessed God. {9:9} And he said:
“May the God of Israel bless you, for you are the son of a
man most noble and just, fearing God and performing
almsgiving. {9:10} And may a blessing be spoken over your
wife and over your parents. {9:11} And may you see your
sons, and the sons of your sons, even to the third and fourth
generation. And may your offspring be blessed by the God of
Israel, who reigns forever and ever.” {9:12} And when all
had said, “Amen,” they approached the feast. But they also
celebrated the marriage feast with the fear of the Lord.


[Tobit 10] {10:1} In truth, when Tobias was delayed because
of the marriage celebration, his father Tobit was worried,
saying: “Why do you think my son is delayed, or why has he
been detained there? {10:2} Do you think that Gabael has
died, and that no one will repay him the money?”
{10:3} And so he began to be exceedingly sad, both he and
his wife Anna with him. And they both began to weep
together, because their son did not at least return to them on
the appointed day. {10:4} But his mother wept inconsolable
tears, and also said: “Woe, woe to me, O my son. Why did
we send you to journey far away, you: the light of our eyes,
the staff of our old age, the solace of our life, the hope of our
posterity? {10:5} Having all things together as one in you, we
ought not to have dismissed you from us.” {10:6} And Tobit
was saying to her: “Be calm, and do not be troubled. Our son
is safe. That man, with whom we sent him, is faithful
enough.” {10:7} Yet she was by no means able to be
consoled. But, leaping up every day, she looked all round,
and traveled around all the ways, by which there seemed any
hope that he might return, so that she might possibly see him
coming from afar. {10:8} In truth, Raguel said to his son-in-
law, “Remain here, and I will send a message of your health
to your father Tobit.” {10:9} And Tobias said to him, “I
know that my father and my mother have now counted the
days, and their spirit must be tortured within them.”
{10:10} And when Raguel had repeatedly petitioned Tobias,
and he was by no means willing to listen to him, he delivered
Sarah to him, and half of all his substance: with men and
women servants, with sheep, camels, and cows, and with
much money. And he dismissed him away, in safety and
gladness, from him, {10:11} saying: “May the holy Angel of
the Lord be with your journey, and may he lead you through
unharmed, and may you discover that all is right concerning
your parents, and may my eyes see your sons before I die.”
{10:12} And the parents, taking hold of their daughter, kissed
her and let her go: {10:13} admonishing her to honor her
father-in-law, to love her husband, to guide the family, to
govern the household, and to behave irreproachably herself.


[Tobit 11] {11:1} And as they were returning, they came
through to Haran, which is in the middle of the journey,
opposite Nineveh, on the eleventh day. {11:2} And the Angel
said: “Brother Tobias, you know how you left behind your
father. {11:3} And so, if it pleases you, let us go on ahead,
and let the family follow after us with a slower step, together
with your bride, and with the animals.” {11:4} And since it
pleased him to go on in this way, Raphael said to Tobias,
“Take with you from the gall of the fish, for it will be
necessary.” And so, Tobias took from its gall, and he went
ahead. {11:5} But Anna sat beside the way every day, on the
top of a hill, from where she would be able to see for a long
distance. {11:6} And while she was watching for his arrival
from that place, she looked far off, and soon she realized that
her son was approaching. And running, she reported it to her
husband, saying: “Behold, your son arrives.” {11:7} And
Raphael said to Tobias: “As soon as you enter into your
house, immediately adore the Lord your God. And, giving
thanks to him, approach your father, and kiss him.
{11:8} And immediately anoint his eyes from this gall of the
fish, which you carry with you. For you should know that his
eyes will soon be opened, and your father will see the light of
heaven, and he will rejoice at the sight of you.” {11:9} Then
the dog, which had been with them in the way, ran ahead,
and, arriving like a messenger, he showed his joy by fawning
and wagging his tail. {11:10} And rising up, his blind father
began to run, stumbling with his feet. And giving his hand to
a servant, he ran on to meet his son. {11:11} And receiving
him, he kissed him, as did his wife, and they both began to
weep for joy. {11:12} And when they had adored God and
had given thanks, they sat down together. {11:13} Then
Tobias, taking from the gall of the fish, anointed his father’s
eyes. {11:14} And about half an hour passed, and then a
white film began to come out of his eyes, like the membrane
of an egg. {11:15} So, taking hold of it, Tobias pulled it away
from his eyes, and immediately he received his sight.
{11:16} And they glorified God: Tobit especially, and his
wife, and all those who knew him. {11:17} And Tobit said,
“I bless you, O Lord God of Israel, because you have
chastised me, and you have saved me, and behold, I see my
son Tobias.” {11:18} And then, after seven days, Sarah, the
wife of his son, and all the family arrived safely, along with
the sheep, and the camels, and much money from his wife,
but also with that money which he had received from Gabael.
{11:19} And he explained to his parents all the benefits from
God, which he had produced all around him, by means of the
man who had led him. {11:20} And then Ahikar and Nadab
arrived, the maternal first cousins of Tobias, rejoicing for
Tobias, and congratulating with him for all the good things
that God had revealed all around him. {11:21} And for seven
days they feasted, and all were rejoicing with great joy.


[Tobit 12] {12:1} Then Tobit called his son to him, and he
said to him, “What are we able to give to this holy man, who
accompanied you?” {12:2} Tobias, answering, said to his
father: “Father, what wages shall we give him? And what
could be worthy of his benefits? {12:3} He led me and he
brought me back safely. He received the money from Gabael.
He caused me to have my wife. And he confined the demon
away from her. He caused joy to her parents. Myself, he
rescued from being devoured by the fish. As for you, he also
caused you to see the light of heaven. And so, we have been
filled with all good things through him. What could we
possibly give to him that would be worthy of these things?
{12:4} But I implore you, my father, to ask him if he would
perhaps deign to take for himself half of all the things that
have been brought.” {12:5} And calling him, the father
especially, and the son, they took him aside. And they began
to petition him, so that he would deign to accept ownership
of one half part of all things that they had brought.
{12:6} Then he said to them privately: “Bless the God of
heaven, and confess to him in the sight of all who live, for he
has acted in his mercy toward you. {12:7} For it is good to
conceal the secret of a king, just as it is also honorable to
reveal and to confess the works of God. {12:8} Prayer with
fasting is good, and almsgiving is better than hiding away
gold in storage. {12:9} For almsgiving delivers from death,
and the same is what purges sins and makes one able to find
mercy and everlasting life. {12:10} But those who commit sin
and iniquity are enemies to their own soul. {12:11} Therefore,
I reveal the truth to you, and I will not hide the explanation
from you. {12:12} When you prayed with tears, and buried
the dead, and left behind your dinner, and hid the dead by
day in your house, and buried them by night: I offered your
prayer to the Lord. {12:13} And because you were acceptable
to God, it was necessary for you to be tested by trials.
{12:14} And now, the Lord has sent me to cure you, and to
free Sarah, your son’s wife, from the demon. {12:15} For I
am the Angel Raphael, one of seven, who stand before the
Lord.” {12:16} And when they had heard these things, they
were troubled, and being seized with fear, they fell upon the
ground on their face. {12:17} And the Angel said to them:
“Peace be to you. Fear not. {12:18} For when I was with you,
I was there by the will of God. Bless him, and sing to him.
{12:19} Indeed, I seemed to eat and drink with you, but I
make use of an invisible food and drink, which cannot be
seen by men. {12:20} Therefore, it is time that I return to him
who sent me. But as for you, bless God, and describe all his
wonders.” {12:21} And when he had said these things, he
was taken from their sight, and they were not able to see him
any longer. {12:22} Then, lying prostrate for three hours
upon their face, they blessed God. And rising up, they
described all his wonders.


[Tobit 13] {13:1} And so, the elder Tobit, opening his mouth,
blessed the Lord, and he said: “O Lord, you are great in
eternity and your kingdom is with all ages. {13:2} For you
scourge, and you save. You lead down to the grave, and you
bring up again. And there is no one who can escape from
your hand. {13:3} Confess to the Lord, O sons of Israel, and
praise him in the sight of the nations. {13:4} For, indeed, he
has dispersed you among the Gentiles, who are ignorant of
him, that you may proclaim his wonders, and that you may
cause them to know that there is no other almighty God,
except him. {13:5} He has chastised us because of our
iniquities, and he will save us because of his mercy.
{13:6} Therefore, look upon what he has done for us, and,
with fear and trembling, confess to him. And extol the King
of all ages with your works. {13:7} But as for me, I will
confess him in the land of my captivity. For he has revealed
his majesty within a sinful nation. {13:8} And so, be
converted, you sinners, and do justice in the presence of God,
believing that he will act in his mercy toward you. {13:9} But
I and my soul will rejoice in him. {13:10} Bless the Lord, all
you his elect. Keep days of rejoicing, and confess to him.
{13:11} O Jerusalem, the city of God, the Lord has chastised
you for the works of your hands. {13:12} Confess to the Lord
with your good things, and bless the God of all ages, so that
he may rebuild his tabernacle in you, and he may recall all
the captives to you, and you may be glad in all ages and
forever. {13:13} You will shine with a splendid light, and all
the ends of the earth will adore by you. {13:14} Nations from
far away will come to you, bringing gifts. And in you, they
shall adore the Lord, and they will hold your land in
sanctification. {13:15} For they will invoke the Great Name
in you. {13:16} Those who despise you will be cursed, and all
those who blaspheme by you will be condemned, and those
who build you up will be blessed. {13:17} But you will
rejoice in your sons, because they will all be blessed, and they
will be gathered together for the Lord. {13:18} Blessed are all
those who love you and who rejoice in your peace.
{13:19} Bless the Lord, O my soul, for the Lord our God has
freed Jerusalem, his city, from every one of her tribulations.
{13:20} Happy will I be, if any of my offspring will be left to
see the brightness of Jerusalem. {13:21} The gates of
Jerusalem will be built from sapphire and emerald, and all its
walls will be surrounded with precious stones. {13:22} All its
streets will be paved with stones, white and clean. And
‘Alleluia’ will be sung throughout its neighborhoods.
{13:23} Blessed be the Lord, who has exalted it, and may he
reign over it, forever and ever. Amen.”


[Tobit 14] {14:1} And the sermon of Tobit was completed.
And after Tobit received his sight, he lived forty-two years,
and he saw the sons of his grandchildren. {14:2} And so,
having completed one hundred and two years, he was buried
honorably at Nineveh. {14:3} For he was fifty-six years old,
when he lost the light of his eyes, and he was sixty years old,
when he truly received it again. {14:4} And, in truth, the
remainder of his life was in gladness. And so, with the good
accomplishment of the fear of God, he departed in peace.
{14:5} But, in the hour of his death, he called to himself his
son Tobias, along with his sons, the seven youths who were
his grandsons, and he said to them: {14:6} “Nineveh will
pass away soon. For the word of the Lord goes forward, and
our brothers, who have been dispersed away from the land of
Israel, shall return to it. {14:7} Thus its deserted land will be
entirely filled again. And the house of God, which was
burned like incense within it, will be rebuilt again. And all
those who fear God will return there. {14:8} And the
Gentiles will relinquish their idols, and they will enter into
Jerusalem, and they will dwell in it. {14:9} And all the kings
of the earth will rejoice in it, adoring the King of Israel.
{14:10} Therefore, my sons, listen to your father. Serve the
Lord in truth, and seek to do the things that please him.
{14:11} And command your sons, so that they may
accomplish justice and almsgiving, and so that they may be
mindful of God and may bless him at all times, in truth and
with all their strength. {14:12} And now, sons, listen to me,
and do not remain here. But, on whatever day you will bury
your mother near me in one sepulcher, from that time, direct
your steps to leave this place. {14:13} For I see that its
iniquity will bring about its end.” {14:14} And it happened
that, after the death of his mother, Tobias withdrew from
Nineveh, with his wife, and sons, and sons of sons, and he
was returned to his father-in-law. {14:15} And he found them
unharmed in a good old age. And he took care of them, and
he closed their eyes. And all the inheritance of the house of
Raguel passed to him. And he saw the sons of his sons to the
fifth generation. {14:16} And, having completed ninety-nine
years in the fear of the Lord, with joy, they buried him.
{14:17} But all his family and all his lineage continued with a
good life and in holy conversation, so that they were
acceptable both to God and to men, as well as to everyone
who dwelt in the land.


+*+ The Book of Judith **


[Judith 1] {1:1} And so Arphaxad, king of the Medes,
subjugated many nations under his authority, and he built a
very powerful city, which he called Ecbatana. {1:2} From
stones, cut and squared, he made its walls: seventy cubits in
height and thirty cubits in breadth. And, in truth, he set its
towers one hundred cubits in height. {1:3} In fact, at its
corners, each side was extended for the space of twenty feet.
And he set its gates according to the height of the towers.
{1:4} And he glorified it, in its power, with the force of his
army and with the glory of his chariots. {1:5} Thereafter, in
the twelfth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar, king of the
Assyrians, who reigned in Nineveh the great city, fought
against Arphaxad and prevailed over him: {1:6} in the great
plain, which is called Ragae, near the Euphrates, and the
Tigris, and the Hydaspes, at the encampment of Arioch, king
of the Elymaeans. {1:7} Then the kingdom of
Nebuchadnezzar was exalted, and his heart was elevated.
And he sent to all who dwelt in Cilicia, and Damascus, and
Lebanon, {1:8} and to the nations that are in Carmel and
Kedar, and to the inhabitants of Galilee, in the great plain of
Esdrelon, {1:9} and to all who were in Samaria and across
the river Jordan, even to Jerusalem and to all the land of
Jesse, until one passes through to the borders of Ethiopia.
{1:10} To all these, Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians,
sent messengers: {1:11} whom they all with one mind
contradicted, and they sent them back empty, and they
rejected them without honor. {1:12}Then king
Nebuchadnezzar, being indignant against all that land, swore
by his throne and his kingdom that he would defend himself
against all those regions.


[Judith 2] {2:1} In the thirteenth year of the reign of
Nebuchadnezzar, on the twenty-second day of the first
month, the word went forth from the house of
Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, that he would defend
himself. {2:2} And he called all the native leaders, and all the
commanders, and his officers of war, and he met with them
in his secret council. {2:3} And he said to them that his
thoughts were to subjugate all the earth to his authority.
{2:4} And when this saying pleased them all, king
Nebuchadnezzar called Holofernes, the leader of his military.
{2:5} And he said to him: “Go out against all the kingdoms
of the west, and against those in particular who showed
contempt for my authority. {2:6} Your eye must not spare
any kingdom, and all the fortified cities you will subjugate to
me.” {2:7} Then Holofernes called the commanders and the
magistrates of the army of the Assyrians. And he numbered
men for the expedition, just as the king had instructed him:
one hundred and twenty thousand foot-soldiers, and twelve
thousand archers on horseback. {2:8} And he caused his
entire expeditionary force to go ahead with an innumerable
multitude of camels, with whatever was needed in abundance
for the armies, and with herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep,
which could not be numbered. {2:9} He appointed grain to
be prepared from all of Syria, as he passed through it.
{2:10} In fact, he took up gold and silver from the house of
the king in great abundance. {2:11} And he set out, he and all
the army, with the four-horse chariots, and horsemen, and
archers. And they covered the face of the earth like locusts.
{2:12} And when he had crossed over the borders of the
Assyrians, he came to the great mountains of Ange, which
are on the left of Cilicia. And he ascended to all their castles,
and he prevailed over all the fortifications. {2:13} Moreover,
he broke open the renowned city of Melothus, and he
pillaged all the sons of Tarshish, and the sons of Ishmael,
who were opposite the face of the desert and to the south of
the land of Cellon. {2:14} And he crossed over the Euphrates
and came into Mesopotamia. And he crushed all the lofty
cities that were there, from the torrent of Mambre, even until
one passes through to the sea. {2:15} And he occupied its
furthest regions, from Cilicia all the way to the coastlines of
Japheth, which are towards the south. {2:16} And he carried
away all the sons of Midian, and he plundered them in all
their wealthy regions. And all who resisted him, he slew with
the edge of the sword. {2:17} And after these things, he
descended to the plains of Damascus, in the days of the
harvest, and he set fire to all the crops, and he caused all the
trees and the vineyards to be cut down. {2:18} And the fear
of them fell upon all the inhabitants of the land.


[Judith 3] {3:1} Then the kings as well as the princes of the
provinces sent their emissaries from all of the cities: from
Syria, particularly Mesopotamia, and Syria Sobal, and Libya
as well as Cilicia. These, upon coming to Holofernes, said:
{3:2} “Let your indignation concerning us cease. For it is
better for us to live in service to Nebuchadnezzar, the great
king, and to become subject to you, rather than to die, even
though we may have to suffer our condemnation into the
annihilation of slavery. {3:3} All our cities and all our
possessions, all mountains, and hills, and fields, and herds of
cattle, and flocks of sheep, and goats, and horses, and camels,
and all our resources and families are in your sight. {3:4} Let
all that we have be subject to your law. {3:5} We, and our
sons, are your servants. {3:6} Come to us as a peaceful lord,
and use our service, just as it pleases you.” {3:7} Then he
descended from the mountains with horsemen, in great
power, and he took charge of every city and of every
inhabitant of the land. {3:8} And, from all the cities, he took
for himself auxiliaries: strong men and well-chosen for war.
{3:9} And such a dread lay upon those provinces, that the
leading and honored inhabitants of all the cities, together
with the people, went out to meet him at his arrival.
{3:10} They received him with garlands and lamps; they
were led by choirs with timbrels and flutes. {3:11} Yet, not
even by doing these things were they able to mitigate the
ferocity of his chest. {3:12} For he both destroyed their cities
and cut down their sacred groves. {3:13} For king
Nebuchadnezzar had instructed him to exterminate all the
gods of the earth, evidently so that he alone might be called
‘god’ by those nations which were able to be subjugated by
the power of Holofernes. {3:14} But when he had passed
through Syria Sobal, and all of Apamea, and all
Mesopotamia, he came to the Idumeans in the land of
Gibeah. {3:15} And he took their cities, and he sat there for
thirty days, during which days he instructed all the troops of
his army to regroup.


[Judith 4] {4:1} Then, upon hearing these things, the sons of
Israel, who dwelt in the land of Judah, were very afraid
before his face. {4:2} Trembling and horror invaded their
senses, lest he should do the same thing to Jerusalem and to
the temple of the Lord that he had done to other cities and
their temples. {4:3} And they sent into all of Samaria, and by
an indirect route even to Jericho, and they seized in advance
all the tops of the mountains. {4:4} And they surrounded
their villages with walls, and they gathered together grain in
preparation for the fight. {4:5} And then Eliachim the priest
wrote to all who were opposite Esdrelon, which is opposite
the face of the great plain near Dothain, and to all whom he
would be able to reach through a passable way: {4:6} that
they should hold the ascents of the mountains, through which
there might be any passage able to reach Jerusalem, and that
they should keep watch where the passage was narrow,
wherever possible, between the mountains. {4:7} And the
sons of Israel did just as Eliachim, the priest of the Lord, had
appointed them. {4:8} And all the people cried out to the
Lord with great urgency, and they humbled their souls with
fastings, and prayers, both they and their wives. {4:9} And
the priests clothed themselves with haircloths, and they
prostrated the little children opposite the face of the temple of
the Lord, and they covered the altar of the Lord with
haircloth. {4:10} And they cried out to the Lord God of
Israel with one accord, lest their children should be given
over as prey, and their wives into distribution, and their cities
into extermination, and their holy things into defilement, and
so that they might not become the disgrace of the Gentiles.
{4:11} Then Eliachim, the high priest of the Lord, traveled all
around Israel, and he was talking to them, {4:12} saying:
“Know that the Lord will heed your prayers, if you continue
to persevere in fastings and prayers in the sight of the Lord.
{4:13} Recall that Moses, the servant of the Lord, overcame
Amalek, who trusted in his own strength, and in his power,
and in his army, and in his bronze shields, and in his swift
chariots, and in his horsemen. He overcame him, not by
fighting with iron, but by pleading with holy prayers.
{4:14} So will it be with all the enemies of Israel, if you
persevere in this work that you have begun.”
{4:15} Therefore, by this exhortation and his prayer to the
Lord, they continued in the sight of the Lord, {4:16} so that
even those who offered holocausts to the Lord, offered the
sacrifices to the Lord girded with haircloths, and there were
ashes upon their heads. {4:17} And they all begged God with
their whole heart, that he would visit his people Israel.


[Judith 5] {5:1} And it was reported to Holofernes, the
leader of the military of the Assyrians, that the sons of Israel
were preparing themselves to resist, and also that they had
closed the mountain passes. {5:2} And he was enraged with
extreme fury and great indignation, and he called together all
the leaders of Moab and the leaders of Ammon. {5:3} And he
said to them: “Tell me who this people may be, who obstruct
the mountains. And which are their cities, and of what kind,
and how many? And then, what may be their power, and
what may be their number, and who is king over their
military? {5:4} And why have these, more than all who dwell
in the east, shown contempt for us, and have not gone out to
meet us, so that they might receive us with peace?”
{5:5} Then Achior, commander of all the sons of Ammon,
responding, said: “If you would deign to listen, my lord, I
will tell the truth in your sight about this people, who dwell in
the mountains, and not a false word will go forth from my
mouth. {5:6} This people is from the progeny of the
Chaldeans. {5:7} These dwelt at first in Mesopotamia,
because they were not willing to follow the gods of their
fathers, who were in the land of the Chaldeans. {5:8} And so,
forsaking the ceremonies of their fathers, which were with a
multitude of gods, {5:9} they worshipped one God of heaven,
who also instructed them to go forth from that place and to
dwell in Canaan. And when a famine covered the whole land,
they went down into Egypt, and there, through four hundred
years, they were so multiplied, that the army of them could
not be numbered. {5:10} And when the king of Egypt
oppressed them, and also subjugated them to labor with clay
and brick in the building of his cities, they cried out to their
Lord, and he struck the entire land of Egypt with various
plagues. {5:11} And when the Egyptians had cast them away
from them, and the plague had ceased from them, and they
were willing to seize them again and recall them to their
servitude: {5:12} the God of heaven opened the sea to these
as they fled, so that the waters were made to stand firm like a
wall on either side, and these walked across the bottom of the
sea and passed through with dry feet. {5:13} In that place,
when an innumerable army of the Egyptians pursued after
them, they were so overwhelmed with the waters, that not
even one remained to report to posterity what had happened.
{5:14} In truth, going forth from the Red Sea, they occupied
the deserts of mount Sinai, in which man could never dwell,
nor a son of man take rest. {5:15} In that place, bitter
fountains became sweet for them to drink, and, through forty
years, they continued to receive provisions from heaven.
{5:16} And, although they had entered without bow and
arrow, and without shield and sword, their God fought on
their behalf and was victorious. {5:17} And there was no one
who could attack this people, except when they withdrew
from the worship of the Lord their God. {5:18} But as often
as they worshipped any other, except their own God, they
were delivered to plunder, and to the sword, and into
reproach. {5:19} But as often as they were repentant for
having withdrawn from the worship of their God, the God of
heaven gave them the power to resist. {5:20} And, indeed,
they overthrew the king of the Canaanites, and of the
Jebusites, and of the Perizzites, and of the Hethites, and of
the Hevites, and of the Amorrhites, and all the powerful ones
in Hesebon, and these same possessed their lands and their
cities. {5:21} And, as long as they did not sin in the sight of
their God, it was well with them. For their God hates iniquity.
{5:22} And even some years ago, when they had withdrawn
from the way that their God had given them to walk, they
were destroyed in battles by many nations and very many of
them were led away captive into a land not their own.
{5:23} But, more recently, returning to the Lord their God,
from the dispersion in which they had been scattered, they
have united and have ascended into all these mountains, and
they again possess Jerusalem, where their holy things are.
{5:24} Therefore, now my lord, inquire if there may be any
iniquity of theirs in the sight of their God. If so, let us ascend
to them, because their God will surely deliver them to you,
and they will be subjugated under the yoke of your power.
{5:25} But if, in truth, there may be no offense of this people
before their God, we will not be able to resist them, because
their God will defend them, and we will become a disgrace to
the whole earth.” {5:26} And it happened, when Achior had
ceased to speak these words, all the great men of Holofernes
were angry, and they intended to execute him, saying to each
other: {5:27} “Who is this, that says the sons of Israel are
able to resist king Nebuchadnezzar and his armies: unarmed
men, and without strength, and without skill in the art of
fighting? {5:28} Therefore, so that Achior may know that he
has failed us, let us ascend to the mountains. And, when the
most powerful among them have been taken, then, with them,
he will be impaled with the sword. {5:29} So may every
people know that Nebuchadnezzar is god of the earth, and
there is no other, except him.”


[Judith 6] {6:1} But when they had ceased speaking, it
happened that Holofernes, being very indignant, said to
Achior: {6:2} “Because you have prophesied to us, saying
that the people of Israel may be defended by their God, and
so as to reveal to you that there is no God, except
Nebuchadnezzar: {6:3} when we will have struck them all as
one man, then you also will pass away with them by the
sword of the Assyrians, and all Israel will perish into
perdition with you. {6:4} And you will be shown that
Nebuchadnezzar is the lord of the whole earth. And then, the
sword of my army will pass through your sides, and, being
stabbed, you will fall among the wounded of Israel, and you
will breathe no longer, when you have been destroyed with
them. {6:5} And furthermore, if you consider your prophecy
to be true, do not let your countenance fall, and let the
paleness that has taken hold of your face depart from you, if
you claim that these my words cannot be fulfilled. {6:6} But
so that you may know that you will experience these things
together with them, behold, from this hour you will be
associated with their people, so that, when they receive the
punishment that they deserve from my sword, you will fall
under the same vengeance.” {6:7} Then Holofernes
instructed his servants to apprehend Achior, and to lead him
through to Bethulia, and to deliver him into the hands of the
sons of Israel. {6:8} And, taking him, the servants of
Holofernes traveled through the plains. But when they
approached close to the mountains, the slingers of stones
went forth against them. {6:9} Then, diverting by the side of
the mountain, they tied Achior, hands and feet, to a tree, and
so they abandoned him, bound with ropes, and they returned
to their lord. {6:10} Thereafter, the sons of Israel, descending
from Bethulia, came to him. Releasing him, they brought him
to Bethulia. And so, standing him in the midst of the people,
they interrogated him as to what event caused the Assyrians
to abandon him, bound. {6:11} In those days, the rulers of
that place were Uzziah, the son of Micah of the tribe of
Simeon, and Chabris, also called Gothoniel. {6:12} And so,
in the midst of the elders and in the sight of everyone, Achior
explained all that he had said in reply to the questioning of
Holofernes, and in what manner the people of Holofernes
wanted to have him killed because of this word, {6:13} and
how Holofernes himself, being angry, had ordered him to be
handed over to the Israelites, for this reason: so that when he
would prevail over the sons of Israel, then he would also
command Achior himself to be executed by diverse torments,
because he had said that the God of heaven is their defender.
{6:14} And when Achior had declared all these things, all the
people fell on their faces, adoring the Lord, and, communing
together with mourning and weeping, they poured out their
prayers with one mind to the Lord, {6:15} saying: “O Lord,
God of heaven and earth, behold their arrogance, and gaze
upon our humility, and attend to the face of your holy ones,
and reveal that you do not abandon those who rely on you,
and that those who rely on themselves and who glory in their
own strength, you humble.” {6:16} And so, when their
weeping was ended, and the prayer of the people throughout
the entire day was completed, they consoled Achior,
{6:17} saying: “The God of our fathers, whose power you
have predicted, will give to you this in return: that you,
instead, will see the destruction of them. {6:18} Truly, when
the Lord our God will give this freedom to his servants, may
God also be with you in our midst, so that, just as it pleases
you, everyone who is with you may keep company with us.”
{6:19} Then Uzziah, after the council was ended, received
him into his own house, and he made him a great supper.
{6:20} And all the elders were invited; together they
refreshed themselves at the completion of their fast. {6:21} In
truth, after this, all the people were called together, and they
prayed throughout the entire night within the assembly,
petitioning help from the God of Israel.


[Judith 7] {7:1} But Holofernes, on another day, instructed
his army to ascend against Bethulia. {7:2} Moreover, there
were one hundred and twenty thousand foot-soldiers, and
twenty-two thousand horsemen, besides the contingents of
those men who had been taken captive, and all the youths
who had been abducted from the provinces and the cities.
{7:3} All these prepared themselves together to fight against
the sons of Israel, and they came through the foothills of the
mountain, even to the apex, which looks down upon Dothain,
from the place which is called Belma, up to Chelmon, which
is opposite Esdrelon. {7:4} But the sons of Israel, when they
saw the multitude of them, prostrated themselves upon the
ground, scattering ashes over their heads, praying with one
accord that the God of Israel would show his mercy upon his
people. {7:5} And, taking up their arms of war, they set up
positions at the places that lead along a narrow footpath
between the mountains, and they guarded them all day and
night. {7:6} Now Holofernes, while circling around,
discovered that the fountain that flowed in to them, led
directly through an aqueduct on the south side, beyond the
city. And he instructed their aqueduct to be cut off.
{7:7} Even so, there were springs not far from the walls, from
which they were seen to draw water secretly, to refresh
themselves a little rather than to drink their fill. {7:8} But the
sons of Ammon and Moab approached Holofernes, saying:
“The sons of Israel do not trust in their lances, nor in their
arrows, but the mountains are their defense, and the steep
hills and precipices constitute their fortifications.
{7:9} Therefore, so that you may be able to overcome them
without joining battle, set guards at the springs so that they
may not draw water from them, and you will put them to
death without the sword, or at least, being weary, they will
hand over their city, which they suppose to be, by its position
in the mountains, unable to be conquered.” {7:10} And these
words were pleasing before Holofernes and before his
attendants, and so he stationed a hundred men around every
spring. {7:11} And when they had kept this watch through
twenty full days, the cisterns and collections of waters failed
among all the inhabitants of Bethulia, so that there was
within the city not enough to satisfy them for even one day,
because water was given out to the people daily by measure.
{7:12} Then, all the men and women, youths and little ones,
gathering together before Uzziah, all with one voice together,
{7:13} said: “May God be judge between us and you, for you
have done evil with us, in not being willing to speak
peacefully with the Assyrians, and because of this, God has
sold us into their hands. {7:14} And therefore, there is no one
to help us, while we are prostrated before their eyes with
thirst and great destruction. {7:15} And now, gather together
all who are in the city, so that we may willingly deliver
everyone of us to the people of Holofernes. {7:16} For it is
better that as captives, being alive, we should bless the Lord,
than that we should die and become a disgrace to all flesh,
after we have seen our wives and our children die before our
eyes. {7:17} We call to witness this day heaven and earth,
and the God of our fathers, who takes vengeance upon us
according to our sins, so that now you may deliver the city
into the hand of the military of Holofernes. And may our end
be brief, by the edge of the sword, that would be made longer
by the dryness of thirst.” {7:18} And when they had said
these things, there happened a great weeping and a loud
lamentation within the assembly. From everyone and for
many hours, with one voice, they cried out to God, saying:
{7:19} “We have sinned like our fathers, we have acted
unjustly, we have committed iniquity. {7:20} May you have
mercy on us, for you are pious, or with your own scourges
avenge our iniquities, but do not be willing to deliver those
trusting in you to a people who are ignorant of you, {7:21} so
that they may not say among the Gentiles, ‘Where is their
God?’ ” {7:22} And when, being weary from these outcries,
and tired from these weepings, they became silent,
{7:23} Uzziah, rising up covered in tears, said: “Be steadfast
in soul, brothers, and let us wait these five days for mercy
from the Lord. {7:24} For perhaps he will break off his
indignation and give glory to his own name. {7:25} But if,
with five days passing, help does not arrive, we will
accomplish the words that you have spoken.”


[Judith 8] {8:1} And it happened that these words were
heard by Judith, a widow who was the daughter of Merari,
the son of Idox, the son of Joseph, the son of Oziel, the son
of Elai, the son of Jamnor, the son of Gideon, the son of
Raphaim, the son of Ahitub, the son of Melchiel, the son of
Enan, the son of Nathaniel, the son of Salathiel, the son of
Simeon, the son of Ruben. {8:2} And her husband was
Manasseh, who died in the days of the barley harvest.
{8:3} For he was standing over those who bound sheaves in
the field, and the heat overcame his head, and he died in
Bethulia, his own city, and he was buried there with his
fathers. {8:4} But Judith, his bereaved, was a widow now for
three years and six months. {8:5} And she made herself a
private chamber in the upper part of her house, in which she
stayed enclosed with her handmaids. {8:6} And she had
haircloth around her waist, and she fasted all the days of her
life, except Sabbaths, and new moons, and the feasts of the
house of Israel. {8:7} Moreover, she was exceedingly elegant
in appearance, and her husband left her many riches, and an
abundant household, as well as the ownership of plentiful
herds of oxen and flocks of sheep. {8:8} And she was greatly
renowned among all, because she feared the Lord very much,
nor was there anyone who spoke an ill word about her.
{8:9} And so, when she heard that Uzziah had promised that
he would hand over the city with the passing of five days, she
sent to the elders Chabris and Charmis. {8:10} And they
came to her, and she said to them: “What is this word, by
which Uzziah has consented to hand over the city to the
Assyrians, if within five days no help arrives for us?
{8:11} And who are you to test the Lord? {8:12} This is not a
word that will provoke mercy, but rather one that may excite
wrath and enkindle fury. {8:13} You have set a time limit for
the mercy of the Lord, and you have established a day for
him, according to your choice. {8:14} But, since the Lord is
patient, let us be repentant about this same matter, and let us
beg his indulgence with many tears. {8:15} For God will not
threaten like man, nor will he be inflamed to anger like a son
of man. {8:16} And, for this reason, let us humble our souls
before him, and, continuing to serve him in a spirit of
humility, {8:17} let us speak to the Lord with tears, so that he
may act according to his will in his mercy toward us. So then,
just as our heart is disturbed by their arrogance, so also may
we glory in our humility. {8:18} For we have not followed
the sins of our fathers, who abandoned their God in order to
worship strange gods. {8:19} Because of this crime, they were
given over to their enemies: to the sword, and to pillaging,
and to confusion. But we know no other God except him.
{8:20} Let us wait with humility for his consolation, and the
Lord our God will requite our blood by the afflictions of our
enemies, and he will humble all the nations that will rise up
against us, and he will cause them to be without honor.
{8:21} And now, brothers, because you are the elders among
the people of God, and their very soul hangs upon you,
rescue their hearts by your eloquence, so that they may
remember that our fathers were tested in order to prove
whether or not they truly worshiped their God. {8:22} They
are obliged to remember how our father Abraham was tested,
and being proved by many tribulations, he was made the
friend of God. {8:23} So Isaac, so Jacob, so Moses, and all
that have pleased God, passed through many tribulations,
remaining faithful. {8:24} But those who did not accept the
trials with the fear of the Lord, and who brought forward
their impatience and the disgrace of their murmuring against
the Lord, {8:25} were exterminated by the exterminator, and
they perished by serpents. {8:26} And as for us, therefore, let
us not revenge ourselves for these things that we suffer.
{8:27} But, in considering these same sufferings to be less
than our sins deserve, let us believe that the scourges of the
Lord, by which we are corrected like servants, have occurred
for our improvement and not for our destruction.”
{8:28} And Uzziah and the elders said to her: “All the things
that you have spoken are true, and there is nothing
reprehensible in your words. {8:29} Now, therefore, pray for
us, because you are a holy woman, and one fearing God.”
{8:30} And Judith said to them: “You know that what I have
been able to say is of God. {8:31} So, concerning that which
I propose to do, examine whether or not it is from God, and
pray that God may act to strengthen my plan. {8:32} You
will stand at the gate this night, and I will go forth with my
handmaid. And pray that, just as you have said, within five
days the Lord may look kindly on his people Israel.
{8:33} But I am not willing to have you examine my actions,
and, until I report to you, let nothing else be done, except to
pray for me to the Lord our God.” {8:34} And Uzziah, the
leader of Judah, said to her, “Go in peace, and may the Lord
be with you to take revenge among our enemies.” So, turning
back, they departed.


[Judith 9] {9:1} And when they were gone, Judith entered
her place of prayer. And clothing herself with haircloth, she
placed ashes on her head. And prostrating herself to the Lord,
she cried out to the Lord, saying: {9:2} “O Lord, God of my
father Simeon, you gave him a sword to defend against
foreigners, who stood out as violators by their defilement,
and who uncovered the thigh of the virgin unto shame.
{9:3} And you gave their wives into plunder, and their
daughters into captivity, and all their spoils to be divided to
the servants, who were zealous with your zeal. Bring help, I
ask you, O Lord my God, to me, a widow. {9:4} For you
have acted in the past, and you have decided one thing after
another. And what you have willed, this too has happened.
{9:5} For all your ways have been prepared, and you have
placed your judgments within your providence. {9:6} Look
upon the camp of the Assyrians now, just as you deigned to
look upon the camp of the Egyptians, when their weapons
rushed after your servants, trusting in their four-horse
chariots, and in their horsemen, and in a multitude of
warriors. {9:7} But you gazed upon their camp, and darkness
wearied them. {9:8} The abyss took hold of their feet, and the
waters covered them. {9:9} So may it be with these also, O
Lord, who trust in their multitude, and in their swift chariots,
and in their pikes, and in their shields, and in their arrows,
and the glory in their lances. {9:10} And they do not know
that you are our God, who crushes wars from the beginning,
and the Lord is your name. {9:11} Raise up your arm, just as
from the beginning, and throw down their power by your
power. Let their power fall, in their anger, for they promise
themselves to violate your sanctuary, and to pollute the
tabernacle of your name, and to cut down by their sword the
horn of your altar. {9:12} Act, O Lord, so that his arrogance
may be cut off with his own sword. {9:13} Let him be seized
by the snare of his own eyes in my regard, and may you strike
him by the attraction of my lips. {9:14} Give me constancy in
my soul, so that I may hold him in contempt, and give me
virtue, so that I may overthrow him. {9:15} For this will be a
memorial to your name, when he will be overthrown by the
hand of a woman. {9:16} For your power, O Lord, is not in
numbers, nor is your will with the strength of horses, nor
from the beginning have the arrogant been pleasing to you.
But the pleas of the humble and the meek have always
pleased you. {9:17} O God of the heavens, Creator of the
waters, and Lord of all creation, heed me, a miserable thing,
pleading you and depending on your mercy.
{9:18} Remember, O Lord, your covenant, and put your
words in my mouth, and reinforce the plan in my heart, so
that your house may continue with your sanctification,
{9:19} and so that all the nations may acknowledge that you
are God, and there is no other beside you.”


[Judith 10] {10:1} And it happened that, when she had
ceased to cry out to the Lord, she arose from the place where
she lay prostrate before the Lord. {10:2} And she called her
handmaid, and descending into her house, she took away
from herself the haircloth, and she put away from herself the
garments of her widowhood, {10:3} and she washed her
body, and she anointed herself with the best ointment, and
she plaited the hair of her head, and she put a headdress on
her head, and she clothed herself with the garments of her
elegance, and she put sandals on her feet, and she put on her
little bracelets, and lilies, and earrings, and rings, and she
adorned herself with all her ornaments. {10:4} And also, the
Lord conferred upon her a splendor. For all this dressing up
did not proceed from sensuality, but from virtue. And
therefore, the Lord increased this, her beauty, so that she
appeared with incomparable honor before the eyes of all.
{10:5} And so, she appointed to her handmaid a wineskin,
and a vessel of oil, and parched grain, and dried figs, and
bread, and cheese, and they departed. {10:6} And when they
came to the gate of the city, they found Uzziah and the elders
of the city waiting. {10:7} And when they saw her, being
astounded, they wondered at her surpassing beauty.
{10:8} So, not questioning her at all, they dismissed her to go
forth, saying: “May the God of our fathers give you grace,
and may he strengthen all the advice of your heart with his
virtue, so that Jerusalem may glory over you, and your name
may be counted among the holy and the just.” {10:9} And
those who were there, all with one voice, said: “Amen.
Amen.” {10:10} In truth, Judith was praying to the Lord as
she crossed through the gates, she and her handmaid.
{10:11} But it happened that, when she descended the
mountain at about the break of day, the scouts of the
Assyrians met her, and they stopped her, saying, “Where are
you coming from? And where are you going?” {10:12} And
she answered: “I am a daughter of the Hebrews. This is why I
have fled from their face: because I realized that in the future
they would be given over to you with pillaging, for they hold
you in contempt, and they would never be willing to
surrender themselves, so that they might find mercy in your
sight. {10:13} For this reason, I thought to myself, saying: I
will go to the face of the leader Holofernes, so that I may
reveal to him their secrets, and show him by what means he
may be able to prevail over them, without one man of his
army being slain.” {10:14} And when the men had heard her
words, they beheld her face, and their eyes were astounded,
because they wondered exceedingly at her beauty.
{10:15} And they said to her: “You have preserved your life
by following such an excellent plan, to descend to our lord.
{10:16} But know this, that when you will stand in his sight,
he will treat you well, and you will be very pleasing to his
heart.” And they led her to the tabernacle of Holofernes,
announcing her. {10:17} And when she had entered before
his face, immediately Holofernes was captivated by his eyes.
{10:18} And his attendants said to him, “Who can hold the
people of the Hebrews in contempt, who have such beautiful
women? So, we ought to think it not worthwhile, for their
sakes, to fight against them.” {10:19} And so, Judith looked
upon Holofernes, sitting under a canopy, which was woven
from purple and gold, with emeralds and precious stones.
{10:20} And, after she had gazed into his face, she showed
reverence for him, prostrating herself to the ground. And the
servants of Holofernes lifted her up, at the command of their
lord.


[Judith 11] {11:1} Then Holofernes said to her: “Be steadfast
in soul, and do not be terrified in your heart. For I have never
harmed a man who was willing to serve king
Nebuchadnezzar. {11:2} But if your people had not despised
me, I would not have lifted up my lance over them.
{11:3} But now, tell me, for what reason have you
withdrawn from them, and why has it pleased you to come to
us?” {11:4} And Judith said to him: “Receive the words of
your maidservant. For, if you will follow the words of your
maidservant, the Lord will accomplish an excellent thing by
you. {11:5} For, as Nebuchadnezzar the king of the earth
lives, and as his power lives, which is with you for the
chastising of all straying souls: not only men serve him
through you, but also the beasts of the field are submissive to
him. {11:6} For the diligence of your mind is being reported
to all nations, and it has been revealed to all of this age that
you alone are good and powerful in all his kingdom, and
your discipline is being announced beforehand in all the
provinces. {11:7} This is not hidden, what Achior has said,
nor are we ignorant of what you have ordered to befall him.
{11:8} For it is agreed that our God is so offended with sins
that he has commanded, through his prophets to the people,
that he will deliver them up for their sins. {11:9} And since
the sons of Israel know that they have offended their God,
your trembling is upon them. {11:10} Moreover, now also a
famine has assailed them, and, by drought of water, they are
already counted among the dead. {11:11} And finally, they
have a plan to put to death their herds, and to drink their
blood. {11:12} And the sacred things of the Lord their God,
which God instructed them not to touch, among the grain,
wine, and oil, these they have decided to expend, and they
are willing to consume the things that they ought not to touch
with their hands. Therefore, because they do these things, it is
certain that they will be given over to perdition. {11:13} And
I, your maidservant, knowing this, have fled from them, and
the Lord has sent me to report to you these same things.
{11:14} For I, your maidservant, worship God even now that
I am with you, and your maidservant will go out, and I will
pray to God. {11:15} And he will tell me when he will repay
them for their sins, and I will return and announce it to you,
so that I may bring you through the midst of Jerusalem, and
you will hold all the people of Israel, like sheep that have no
shepherd, and there will not be so much as one dog that barks
against you. {11:16} For these things have been told to me
through the providence of God. {11:17} And because God
has been angry with them, I have been sent to report these
same things to you.” {11:18} And so, all these words were
pleasing before Holofernes, and before his servants, and they
wondered at her wisdom, and they said to one another:
{11:19} “There is not another woman so great upon the earth:
in appearance, in beauty, and in charming words.”
{11:20} And Holofernes said to her: “God has done well,
who sent you ahead of the people, so that you may give them
into our hands. {11:21} And if your promise is good, if your
God will do this for me, he will also be my God, and you will
be great in the house of Nebuchadnezzar, and your name will
be renowned through all the earth.”


[Judith 12] {12:1} Then he ordered her to enter where his
valuables were stored, and he ordered her wait there, and he
appointed what should be given to her from his own feast.
{12:2} And Judith responded to him, and she said: “Now, I
am not able to eat from these things which you instructed to
be allotted to me, lest an offense come upon me. But I will eat
from that which I have brought.” {12:3} And Holofernes said
to her, “If these things that you have brought with you should
fail you, what shall we do for you?” {12:4} And Judith said,
“As your soul lives, my lord, your maidservant will not
expend all these things, until God accomplishes by my hand
what I have in mind.” And his servants led her into the
tabernacle, as he instructed. {12:5} And, as she was entering,
she requested that it be permitted to her to go outside at night,
before daylight, in order to pray and to petition the Lord.
{12:6} And he instructed his chamberlains that she may exit
and enter, just as it may please her, to adore her God, for
three days. {12:7} And she went out in the nights into the
valley of Bethulia, and she washed herself in a fountain of
water. {12:8} And, as she climbed up, she prayed to the Lord
God of Israel that he would direct her way, to the liberation
of his people. {12:9} And entering, she remained pure in the
tabernacle, until she received her own food in the evening.
{12:10} And it happened on the fourth day that Holofernes
made a supper for his servants, and he said to Vagao his
eunuch: “Go, and persuade that Hebrew woman to willingly
consent to live with me. {12:11} For it is disgraceful among
the Assyrians, if a woman mocks a man, acting so as to pass
through with immunity from him.” {12:12} Then Vagao
entered toward Judith, and he said, “May she not dread, my
good young woman, to enter to my lord, so that she may be
honored before his face, so that she may eat with him and
drink wine with cheerfulness.” {12:13} Judith answered him:
“Who am I, that I should contradict my lord? {12:14} All
that will be good and best before his eyes, I will do. Moreover,
whatever will please him, to me, that will be what is best, all
the days of my life.” {12:15} And she arose and dressed
herself with her garments, and entering, she stood before his
face. {12:16} But the heart of Holofernes was struck. For he
was burning with desire for her. {12:17} And Holofernes said
to her, “Drink now, and recline with cheerfulness, for you
have found favor before me.” {12:18} And Judith said, “I
will drink, my lord, because my soul has been magnified this
day, beyond all my days.” {12:19} And she accepted and ate
and drank in his sight what her handmaid had prepared for
her. {12:20} And Holofernes became pleased with her, and
he drank very much wine, more than he had ever drunk in his
life.


[Judith 13] {13:1} So then, when it had become late, his
servants hurried to their lodgings, and Vagao closed the
chamber doors, and he went away. {13:2} But they were all
drowsy from the wine. {13:3} And Judith was alone in the
chamber. {13:4} Moreover, Holofernes, being very inebriated,
was fast asleep, reclining on his bed. {13:5} And Judith told
her handmaid to stand outside before the chamber, and to
watch. {13:6} And Judith stood in front of the bed, praying
with tears, and her lips moved in silence, {13:7} saying:
“Confirm me, O Lord God of Israel, and in this hour look
kindly upon the works of my hands, so that, just as you
promised, you may raise up Jerusalem, your city, and so that,
believing through you that this plan is able to be
accomplished, I may succeed.” {13:8} And when she had
said this, she approached the pillar, which was at the head of
the bed, and she released his blade, which was hanging tied
to it. {13:9} And when she had unsheathed it, she grabbed
him by the hair of his head, and she said, “Confirm me, O
Lord God, in this hour.” {13:10} And she struck him twice
on his neck, and she cut off his head, and she took off his
canopy from the pillars, and she rolled away the trunk of his
body. {13:11} And after a little while, she went out, and she
delivered the head of Holofernes to her handmaid, and she
ordered her to put it in her bag. {13:12} And the two went
out, according to their custom, as if to prayer, and they
passed through the camp, and having circled around the
valley, they came to the gate of the city. {13:13} And Judith,
from a distance, spoke to the watchmen on the walls, “Open
the gates, for God is with us, and he has acted with his power
in Israel.” {13:14} And it happened that, when the men had
heard her voice, they called the elders of the city.
{13:15} And all rushed toward her, from the least to the
greatest. For, until then, they held no hope that she would
return. {13:16} And, enflaming the lights, they gathered all
around her. But she climbed up to a higher place, and she
ordered them to be made silent. And when all had quieted
down, {13:17} Judith said: “Praise the Lord our God, who
has not abandoned those who hope in him. {13:18} And by
me, his handmaid, he has fulfilled his mercy, which he
promised to the house of Israel. And he has killed the enemy
of his people, by my hand this night.” {13:19} Then, taking
the head of Holofernes from the bag, she displayed it to them,
saying: “Behold, the head of Holofernes the leader of the
military of the Assyrians, and behold his canopy, under
which he reclined in his drunkenness, where the Lord our
God struck him by the hand of a woman. {13:20} But, as the
Lord himself lives, his angel has been my guardian both from
my departure, and while staying there, and when returning
from there. And the Lord has not permitted me, his
handmaid, to be defiled, but he has called me back to you
without the pollution of sin, rejoicing in his victory, in my
escape, and in your liberation. {13:21} Confess everything to
him, for he is good, for his mercy is with every generation.”
{13:22} Then everyone adored the Lord, and they said to her,
“The Lord has blessed you by his power, because, through
you, he has reduced our enemies to nothing.”
{13:23} Furthermore, Uzziah, the leader of the people of
Israel, said to her: “O daughter, you have been blessed by the
Lord, the most high God, above all the women on earth.
{13:24} Blessed is the Lord, who made heaven and earth,
who has guided you in harming the head of the leader of our
enemies. {13:25} For he has so magnified your name this day,
that your praise will not retire from the mouth of men, who
will be mindful of the power of the Lord forever, because you
have risked your life for the sake of the distress and
tribulation of your people, and you have prevented our ruin
before the sight of our God.” {13:26} And all the people said:
“Amen. Amen.” {13:27} And so, Achior was called, and he
drew near, and Judith said to him: “The God of Israel, to
whom you gave testimony, has avenged himself on his
enemies. He has cut down the head of all unbelievers, by my
hand this night. {13:28} And, so that you may determine that
this is so, behold, the head of Holofernes, who, in the
contempt of his pride, despised the God of Israel and
threatened Israel with ruin, saying, ‘When the people of
Israel have been captured, I will instruct your sides to be
pierced through with a sword.’ ” {13:29} Then Achior, seeing
the head of Holofernes, and being distressed by fear, fell upon
his face on the ground, and his soul became agitated.
{13:30} In truth, after this, when he had recovered his breath,
he fell down before her feet, and he showed reverence for her,
and he said: {13:31} “Blessed are you by your God, in every
tabernacle of Jacob, for in every nation that will hear of your
name, the God of Israel will be magnified over you.”


[Judith 14] {14:1} Then Judith said to all the people: “Hear
me, brothers. Suspend this head over our walls. {14:2} And,
as soon as the sun rises, let everyone take up his weapons and
go out to attack, not going down all the way, but only to
seem as if making an assault. {14:3} Then the scouts will
have to hurry to awaken their leader for the fight. {14:4} And
when their commanders rush into the tabernacle of
Holofernes, and they find his headless body wallowing in his
blood, fear will fall over them. {14:5} And when you realize
that they are fleeing, go after them in security, for the Lord
will crush them under your feet.” {14:6} Then Achior, seeing
the power that the God of Israel had wrought, left behind the
rituals of the Gentiles. He believed in God, and he
circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, and he was placed
among the people of Israel, and so were all the succession of
his kindred, even until this present day. {14:7} And soon, at
the rising of day, they suspended the head of Holofernes
above the walls, and every man took up his weapons, and
they went out with a great uproar and howling. {14:8} When
the scouts saw this, they rushed to the tent of Holofernes.
{14:9} Moreover, those who were in the tent came and made
a loud noise before the entrance to the bedchamber, hoping
to awaken him by an attempt at skillful noise-making, not by
intruding on him, so that Holofernes might be roused from
sleep. {14:10} For no one dared to knock, or to open and
enter, the bedchamber of the powerful leader of the Assyrians.
{14:11} But when his commanders and tribunes had arrived,
with all the chiefs of the army of the king of the Assyrians,
they said to the chamberlains: {14:12} “Enter and awaken
him, for the mice have come out of their holes, intending to
challenge us to fight.” {14:13} Then Vagao, entering his
bedchamber, stood before the curtain, and he made a
clapping noise with his hands. For he suspected that he was
sleeping with Judith. {14:14} But when, with attentiveness,
he perceived no motion of anyone reclining, he approached
the curtain. And lifting it up, he saw the dead body of
Holofernes, without a head, lying on the ground, soaked in
his own blood. He cried out with a loud voice and weeping,
and he tore his garments. {14:15} And he entered the tent of
Judith and did not find her. And he ran out to the people,
{14:16} and he said: “One Hebrew woman has caused
confusion in the house of Nebuchadnezzar the king. For
behold, Holofernes lies on the ground, and his head is not
with him.” {14:17} Now when the leaders of the army of the
Assyrians had heard this, they all tore their garments, and an
intolerable fear and trembling fell over them, and their minds
were greatly disturbed. {14:18} And there was an
unprecedented outcry in the midst of their camp.


[Judith 15] {15:1} And when the entire army had heard that
Holofernes was beheaded, reason and resolution fled from
them, and, being moved by trembling and fear alone, they
thought only to flee to safety. {15:2} So then, no one spoke
with his neighbor, but hanging their heads and leaving
everything behind, they hurried to escape from the Hebrews,
who, as they had heard, were advancing against them well-
armed. And they fled through the ways of the fields and the
paths of the hills. {15:3} And so, the sons of Israel, seeing
them fleeing, pursued them. And they went down after them,
sounding the trumpets and howling. {15:4} And, since the
Assyrians were not united, they rushed headlong in their
flight. But the sons of Israel, pursuing like one unit, struck
down all they were able to find. {15:5} And so, Uzziah sent
messengers through all the cities and regions of Israel.
{15:6} And then, every region and every city sent their
chosen young men with weapons after them, and they
pursued them with the edge of the sword, until they passed
through to the extremities of their borders. {15:7} But the
remainder, who were in Bethulia, entered the camp of the
Assyrians and took away the plunder that the Assyrians, in
their flight, had left behind, and they were exceedingly
burdened. {15:8} In truth, those who returned victorious to
Bethulia brought with them everything that was theirs. So
there was no numbering their cattle, and beasts, and
everything they could carry, so much so that, from the least
to the greatest, all were made rich by their spoils. {15:9} But
Joachim, the high priest, came from Jerusalem to Bethulia
with all his elders to see Judith. {15:10} And when she had
gone out to him, they all blessed her with one voice, saying:
“You are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the joy of Israel,
you are the honor of our people. {15:11} For you have acted
manfully, and your heart has been strengthened. For you
loved chastity, and, after your husband, you have not known
any other. Therefore, also the hand of the Lord has
strengthened you, and, therefore, you will be blessed for all
eternity.” {15:12} And all the people said: “Amen. Amen.”
{15:13} But all of thirty days were scarcely enough for the
people of Israel to collect the spoils of the Assyrians.
{15:14} But moreover, all of those things that were clearly
the particular possessions of Holofernes they gave to Judith:
with gold, and silver, and garments, and gems, and furniture.
And these were all delivered to her by the people.
{15:15} And all the people rejoiced, with the women, and the
virgins, and the young men, playing on wind instruments and
stringed instruments.


[Judith 16] {16:1} Then Judith sang this canticle to the Lord,
saying: {16:2} “Call to the Lord with drums, sing to the Lord
with cymbals, play for him a new psalm, exalt and invoke his
name. {16:3} The Lord crushes wars; the Lord is his name.
{16:4} He has set up his camp in the midst of his people, to
rescue us from the hand of all our enemies. {16:5} Assur
came from the mountains, from the North, with the
multitude of his strength. His multitude blockaded the
torrents, and their horses covered the valleys. {16:6} He told
himself that he would set fire to my borders, and kill my
young men with the sword, to give my children into plunder
and my virgins into captivity. {16:7} But the almighty Lord
has harmed him, and he has delivered him into the hands of a
woman, and he has pierced him through. {16:8} For their
powerful one did not fall by young men, nor did the sons of
Titan strike him, nor did lofty giants set themselves against
him, but Judith, the daughter of Merari, dissolved him with
the splendor of her face. {16:9} For she put away from herself
the garments of widowhood, and she clothed herself with the
garments of rejoicing, for the sake of the exultation of the
sons of Israel. {16:10} She anointed her face with ointment,
and she gathered the locks of her hair with a headdress; she
accepted a new dress in order to deceive him. {16:11} Her
sandals ravished his eyes; her beauty made his soul her
captive; with a blade, she cut off his head. {16:12} The
Persians were horrified at her constancy, and the Medes at
her boldness. {16:13} Then the camp of the Assyrians howled,
when my humble ones appeared, parched with thirst.
{16:14} The sons of the servant girls have pierced them
through, and, like fleeing servants, they have killed them.
They perished in battle before the face of the Lord, my God.
{16:15} Let us sing a canticle to the Lord; let us sing a new
hymn to our God. {16:16} O Adonai, O Lord, you are great,
and splendor is in your virtue, and no one is able to overcome
you. {16:17} Let all your creatures serve you. For you spoke,
and they became. You sent forth your Spirit, and they were
created. And there is no one who can withstand your voice.
{16:18} The mountains will be moved from the foundations
by the waters. The rocks, like wax, will liquefy before your
face. {16:19} But those who fear you will be great with you,
throughout all things. {16:20} Woe to the people that rises up
against my people. For the Lord almighty will be vindicated
against them; in the day of judgment, he will visit them.
{16:21} For he will bestow fire and worms on their flesh, so
that they may burn and have sensations without ceasing.”
{16:22} And it happened that, after these things, all the
people came to Jerusalem after the victory, to adore the Lord.
And as soon as they were purified, they all offered holocausts,
and vows, and their promises. {16:23} Moreover, Judith
offered all the implements of war from Holofernes, which the
people gave to her, and the canopy that she had taken away
from his chamber, as an anathema unto oblivion. {16:24} But
the people were cheerful before the face of the sanctuary, and
for three months the gladness of this victory was celebrated
with Judith. {16:25} And after those days, each one returned
to his own house, and Judith became great in Bethulia, and
she had great splendor in all the land of Israel. {16:26} For
chastity was one with her virtue, so that she did not know
man all the days of her life, after the passing away of her
husband, Manasseh. {16:27} And then, on feast days, she
came forth with great glory. {16:28} But she remained in her
husband’s house for one hundred and five years, and she set
her handmaid free. And she passed away and was buried
with her husband in Bethulia. {16:29} And all the people
mourned her, for seven days. {16:30} And, during all the
time of her life, there was no one who disturbed Israel, nor
for many years after her death. {16:31} Moreover, the day of
the festivity of this victory was accepted by the Hebrews in
the numbering of holy days, and it was religiously observed
by the Jews, from that time, even to the present day.


** The Book of Esther **


[Esther 1] {1:1} In the second year of the reign of Artaxerxes
the great, on the first day of the month of Nisan, Mordecai
the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, of the tribe
of Benjamin, {1:2} a Jewish man who lived in the city of
Susa, a great gentleman, and among the first ones of the
king’s court, saw a dream. {1:3} Now he was one of a
number of captives, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
had carried away from Jerusalem with Jeconiah king of
Judah. {1:4} And this was his dream: voices appeared, and
confusion, and thunders, and earthquakes, and a disturbance
upon the earth. {1:5} And behold, there were two great
dragons making preparations against one another for battle.
{1:6} And at their cry all peoples rushed forth to fight against
the nation of the just. {1:7} And that was a day of darkness
and division, of tribulation and anguish, and there was an
unnatural dread over the earth. {1:8} And the nation of the
just was disturbed, fearing their own evils, and was prepared
for death. {1:9} And they cried out to God, and from their
loud crying, a little fountain grew into a very great river and
overflowed into many waters. {1:10} The light and the sun
rose up, and the humble were exalted, and they devoured the
illustrious. {1:11} When Mordecai had seen this, and he
arose from bed, he was considering what God might want to
do, and he kept it fixed in his soul, desiring to know what the
dream might signify.


[Esther 2] {2:1} Now he was staying at that time in the
king’s court with Bagatha and Thara the king’s eunuchs, who
were porters of the palace. {2:2} And when he realized their
thoughts, and had diligently paid close attention, he learned
that they were attempting to cast their hand against king
Artaxerxes, and he reported this to the king. {2:3} Then the
king had both of them questioned, and when they confessed,
he ordered a sentence of death. {2:4} But the king had what
had happened written in the commentaries. And even
Mordecai handed over the memory of these things into
writing. {2:5} And the king instructed him to remain in the
court of the palace, having given him this position for the
information. {2:6} In truth, Haman the son of Hammedatha
the Bougaean had great honor in the eyes of the king, and he
wanted to harm Mordecai and his people because of the two
eunuchs of the king who had been executed.


[Esther 3] {3:1} In the days of Artaxerxes, who reigned from
India to Ethiopia over one hundred twenty-seven provinces,
{3:2} when he sat on the throne of his kingdom, the city of
Susa was the root of his kingdom. {3:3} And so, in the third
year of his reign, he made a great feast for all the leaders and
his servants, for the most powerful among the Persians and
the distinguished among the Medes, and for the rulers of the
provinces before him, {3:4}so that he might show the
glorious riches of his kingdom, as well as its greatness, and so
boast of his power, for a long time, namely, one hundred and
eighty days. {3:5} And when the days of the feast were nearly
completed, he invited all the people, who had been found in
Susa, from the greatest even to the least, and he commanded
a feast to be prepared, for seven days, in the court of the
garden and the arboretum, which had been planted by the
care and by the hand of the king. {3:6} And, in every
direction, tents the color of the sky and of flax as well as
hyacinth were hung up, suspended by cords of linen and even
purple, which had been placed through rings of ivory and
were held up with marble columns. The couches also, of gold
and silver, had been arranged over a pavement of emerald-
green, bearing scattered jewels, which was decorated with a
wonderful variety of images. {3:7} Moreover, those who had
been invited drank from golden cups, and dishes of foods
were brought in one after another. Likewise, choice wine was
presented in abundance, as was worthy of royal magnificence.
{3:8} Nor was anyone compelled to drink who was unwilling,
but, just as the king had appointed, one of his nobles was set
over each table, so that each one might select what he wanted.
{3:9} Likewise, Vashti the queen made a feast for the women,
in the palace where king Artaxerxes was accustomed to stay
the night. {3:10} And so, on the seventh day, when the king
was more cheerful, and, after excessive drinking, had become
warmed with wine, he ordered Mehuman, and Biztha, and
Harbona, and Bigtha, and Abagtha, and Zethar, and Charkas,
seven eunuchs who served in his presence, {3:11} to bring in
queen Vashti before the king, with the crown set upon her
head, to show her beauty to the whole people and to the
leaders, for she was very beautiful. {3:12} She refused, and
she showed contempt towards the king’s command, which he
had delivered to her by the eunuchs. Whereupon the king,
being angry and inflamed with a very great fury,
{3:13} questioned the wise men, who, according to royal
custom were always near him and all he did was by their
counsel, who knew the laws as well as the judgments of their
ancestors, {3:14} (but first and foremost were Carshena, and
Shethar, and Admatha, and Tarshish, and Meres, and
Marsena, and Memucan, seven rulers of the Persians as well
as the Medes, who saw the face of the king and who were
accustomed to sitting down first after him,) {3:15} as to what
sentence should fall upon Vashti the queen, who had refused
to do the commandment of king Artaxerxes, which he had
delivered to her by the eunuchs. {3:16} And Memucan
answered, in the hearing of the king as well as the rulers,
“Queen Vashti has wounded not only the king, but also all
the people and the leaders, who are in all the provinces of
king Artaxerxes. {3:17} For word about the queen will go out
to all the women, so that they will show contempt for they
husbands, and they will say, ‘King Artaxerxes ordered that
queen Vashti should enter before him, and she would not.’
{3:18} And so, by this example all the wives of the leaders of
the Persians and the Medes will belittle the authority of their
husbands; therefore, the indignation of the king is just.
{3:19} If it pleases you, let an edict be sent out from your
presence, and let it be written according to the law of the
Persians and the Medes, which it is forbidden to disregard,
that Vashti shall no longer enter before the king, but let
another, who is better than her, receive her queenship.
{3:20} And let this be published in all the provinces of your
empire, (which is very wide,) and let all wives, the greater as
much as the lesser, give honor to their husbands.” {3:21} His
counsel pleased the king and the rulers, and the king acted
according to the counsel of Memucan, {3:22} and he sent
letters to all the provinces of his kingdom, so that every
nation was able to hear and to read, in various languages and
letters, that husbands are to be the greater rulers in their own
houses, and that this should be published to every people.


[Esther 4] {4:1} And so, after this had been carried out, and
the indignation of king Artaxerxes had subsided, he
remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what had
happened to her. {4:2} And the servants of the king, and his
ministers, said, “Let young women be sought for the king,
virgins and beautiful, {4:3} and let investigators be sent
throughout all the provinces for young women, beautiful and
virgins. And let them bring them to the city of Susa, and
deliver them to the house of the women under the hand of
Hegai the eunuch, who is the overseer and keeper of the
king’s women. And let them receive feminine ornaments, and
other things necessary for their use. {4:4} And whoever
among them all will please the king’s eyes, let her reign
instead of Vashti.” The idea pleased the king, and so he
ordered it to be done as they had suggested. {4:5} There was
a Jewish man in the city of Susa, by the name of Mordecai,
son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, of the house of
Benjamin, {4:6} who had been carried away from Jerusalem
at the time that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon carried
away Jeconiah king of Judah, {4:7} who had raised his
brother’s daughter Hadassah, who by another name was
called Esther. And she had lost both her parents. She was
very beautiful, with a graceful appearance. Since her father
and mother had both died, Mordecai adopted her as his own
daughter. {4:8} And when the king’s command became very
well-known, in accordance with his command, many
beautiful virgins were brought to Susa, and were delivered to
Hegai the eunuch. Likewise, Esther, along with the other
young women, was delivered to him, to be protected with the
assembled women. {4:9} She was pleasing to him, and she
found favor in his sight. And he commanded a eunuch to
hasten the women’s ornaments, and to deliver her share to
her, along with seven of the most beautiful young women of
the king’s house, so as to both adorn and honor her and her
handmaids. {4:10} She was not willing to reveal to him her
people or her native land. For Mordecai had instructed her
that she should keep silent about all these things. {4:11} He
went for a walk every day, in the front courtyard of the house
in which the chosen virgins were kept, having concern for
Esther’s welfare and wanting to know what would happen to
her. {4:12} But, when the time came for each in the line of
young women to go in to the king, after everything had been
completed concerning feminine grooming, the twelfth month
had been reached, to the extent that for six months they were
anointed with oil of myrrh, and for another six months they
used certain types of makeup and perfumes. {4:13} And
when they were going in to the king, whatever they requested
to adorn themselves, they received, and when each was
pleased with herself, having been prepared in the chamber of
the women, she passed on to the king’s chamber. {4:14} And
whoever entered at evening, departed in the morning, and
then from there she was led to the second house, which was
under the hand of Shaashgaz the eunuch, who presided over
the king’s concubines. Nor did she have the power to return
again to the king, unless the king desired it and had
summoned her by name. {4:15} But, as the order continued
to progress, the day arrived when Esther, the daughter of
Abihail the brother of Mordecai, whom he had adopted as his
daughter, was required to go in to the king. She did not seek
feminine ornaments, except that whatever Hegai the eunuch
and keeper of the virgins chose, he gave her to adorn her. For
she was very attractive, and her incredible beauty made her
appear gracious and amiable in the eyes of all. {4:16} And so
she was led to the chamber of king Artaxerxes, in the tenth
month, which is called Tebeth, in the seventh year of his
reign. {4:17} And the king loved her more than all the
women, and she had favor and mercy in his eyes above all
the women, and he set the royal crown on her head, and he
made her queen instead of Vashti. {4:18} And he ordered a
magnificent feast to be prepared for all the rulers, and for his
servants, because of the union and wedding of Esther. And
he gave a holiday to all the provinces, and he bestowed gifts
befitting of princely generosity. {4:19} And when the virgins
were sought for the second time and gathered together,
Mordecai remained at the king’s gate. {4:20} Esther had not
yet declared her native land and her people, according to his
command. For whatever he instructed, Esther observed. And
so she did all things as she had become accustomed in the
time when he raised her from early childhood.
{4:21} Therefore, at that time, when Mordecai was staying at
the king’s gate, Bagatha and Thara, two of the king’s eunuchs,
who were gatekeepers and who presided over the first
entryway of the palace, were angry, and they decided to rise
up against the king and kill him. {4:22} But Mordecai did not
keep this secret, and immediately he reported it to queen
Esther, and she reported it to the king in Mordecai’s name,
who had brought the matter to her. {4:23} It was inquired
into and discovered, and they were both hanged on a gallows.
And it was committed to the histories and the chronicles
which are delivered in the sight of the king.


[Esther 5] {5:1} After this, king Artaxerxes exalted Haman,
the son of Hammedatha, who was of Agag lineage, and he
set his throne above all the rulers whom he had. {5:2} And
all the king’s servants, who passed by the doors of the palace,
bent their knees and adored Haman, for so the ruler had
instructed them. Only Mordecai did not bend his knee, nor
adore him. {5:3} The king’s servants, who presided over the
doors of the palace, said to him, “Why do you, more than the
others, not observe the king’s command?” {5:4} And when
they were saying this frequently, and he would not listen to
them, they reported it to Haman, desiring to know whether
he would continue in his resolution, for he had told them that
he was a Jew. {5:5} Now when Haman had heard this, and
had proved by a test that Mordecai did not bend his knee to
him, nor adore him, he was very angry. {5:6} And he
considered it pointless to lay his hands on Mordecai alone,
for he had heard that he was part of the Jewish people. And
so he wanted more: to destroy the entire nation of the Jews,
who were in the kingdom of Artaxerxes. {5:7} In the first
month, which is called Nisan, in the twelfth year of the reign
of Artaxerxes, the lot was cast into an urn, which in Hebrew
is called Pur, in the presence of Haman, to determine on
what day and in which month the Jewish people should be
destroyed. And it turned out to be the twelfth month, which
is called Adar. {5:8} And Haman said to king Artaxerxes,
“There is a people dispersed throughout all the provinces of
your kingdom and separated one from another, who make
use of unusual laws and ceremonies, and who, in addition,
show contempt for the king’s ordinances. And you know very
well that it is not expedient for your kingdom that they
should become insolent through independence. {5:9} If it
pleases you, declare that they may be destroyed, and I will
weigh out ten thousand talents to the keepers of your
treasury.” {5:10} And so the king took the ring that he used,
from his own hand, and gave it to Haman, the son of
Hammedatha, of Agag lineage, enemy of the Jews.
{5:11} And he said to him, “Let the silver, which you
promise, be for yourself. As for the people, do with them as it
pleases you.” {5:12} And the scribes of the king were
summoned, in the first month Nisan, on the thirteenth day of
the same month. And it was written, as Haman had
commanded, to all the king’s governors, and to the judges of
the provinces, and to various peoples, so that each people
could read and hear according to their various languages, in
the name of king Artaxerxes. And the letters were sealed with
his ring. {5:13} These were sent by the king’s messengers to
all the provinces, so as to kill and destroy all the Jews, from
children all the way to the elderly, even little children and
women, on one day, that is, on the thirteenth of the twelfth
month, which is called Adar, and to plunder their goods,
even their necessities.


[Esther 6] {6:1} And this was the text of the letter:
“Artaxerxes, the great king from India all the way to Ethiopia,
to the leaders and generals of the one hundred twenty-seven
provinces, which are subject to his authority, greetings.
{6:2} Although I have reigned over many nations and
subjugated the whole world under my realm, I was by no
means willing to abuse the greatness of this power, but to
govern my subjects with clemency and leniency, so that they
would settle into a quiet life, apart from any terror, and
delight in peace, as all mortals would choose to do. {6:3} Yet,
in asking my counselors how this might be able to be
accomplished, one who excelled the others in wisdom and
fidelity, and who was second after the king, named Haman,
{6:4} explained to me that there was a people, scattered
throughout the whole world, that used strange laws, and,
acting against the customs of all peoples, despised the
commandments of kings and violated the harmony of all
nations with their dissension. {6:5} When we had learned
this, seeing one nation rebellious against all mankind, having
overthrown the usefulness of laws, and going against our
orders, and disturbing the peace and harmony of the
provinces subject to us, {6:6} we commanded that whomever
Haman, who is chief over all the provinces, and second after
the king, and whom we honor in the place of a father,
whomever he would point out should be destroyed by their
enemies, with their wives and children, and that no one may
take pity on them, on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month
Adar of this present year, {6:7} so that these guilty men, all
on one day, may go down to the underworld, restoring to our
empire the peace that they had disturbed.” {6:8} And the
effect of the letters was this: that all provinces would know
and prepare for the prescribed day. {6:9} The couriers, who
had been sent, hurried to complete the king’s command, but
the edict was hung up in Susa immediately. And the king and
Haman celebrated a feast, while all the Jews in the city were
weeping.


[Esther 7] {7:1} When Mordecai had heard this, he tore his
garments and put on sackcloth, strewing ashes on his head,
and he cried out with a loud voice in the main street of the
city, revealing the anguish of his soul. {7:2} And he
continued with this lamenting, even up to the gate of the
palace, for no one clothed with sackcloth is permitted to enter
the king’s court. {7:3} Likewise, in all provinces, towns, and
places where the king’s cruel decision arrived, there was
extraordinary mourning among the Jews with fasting, wailing,
and weeping, with many using sackcloth and ashes for their
bed. {7:4} Then Esther’s maids and eunuchs went in and
informed her. When she heard it, she was shocked, and she
sent a garment to clothe him and to take away the sackcloth,
but he would not accept it. {7:5} And she sent for Hathach
the eunuch, whom the king had appointed to minister to her,
and she instructed him to go to Mordecai and to discern from
him why he was doing this. {7:6} And departing, Hathach
went to Mordecai, who was standing in the street of the city,
in front of the palace entrance. {7:7} He told him everything
that had happened, how Haman had promised to transfer
silver into the king’s treasury for the death of the Jews.
{7:8} Also, he gave him a copy of the edict that was hanging
up in Susa, so that he would show it to the queen and advise
her to go in to the king and beg him on behalf of her people.
{7:9} And Hathach returned and informed Esther of all that
Mordecai had said. {7:10} “Remember,” he said, “the days
of your lowliness, how you were nurtured as if in my hand,
because Haman, who is second after the king, has spoken
against us to death. {7:11} And you must call upon the Lord,
and speak with the king on our behalf, and free us from
death.” {7:12} She answered him, and ordered him say to
Mordecai: {7:13} “All the servants of the king and all the
provinces that are under his realm understand that anyone,
whether man or woman, who enters the king’s inner court,
who has not been summoned, is immediately to be put to
death without any delay, unless the king should happen to
extend the golden scepter to him, as a sign of clemency, so
that he will be able to live. How then can I go in to the king,
when, for thirty days now, I have not been called to him?”
{7:14} And when Mordecai had heard this, he again sent
word to Esther, saying, “Do not think that you will save so
much as your own soul, just because you are in the king’s
house and are above all the Jews. {7:15} For, if you remain
silent now, the Jews will be delivered through some other
opportunity, but you and your father’s house will perish. And
who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for this
reason, so that you would be prepared for such a time as
this?” {7:16} And he entrusted her (there was no question but
that it was Mordecai) to go in to the king, and to petition on
behalf of her people and her native land. {7:17} And again
Esther sent to Mordecai in these words: {7:18} “Go and
gather together all the Jews whom you will find in Susa, and
pray for me. Neither eat nor drink for three days and three
nights, and I will fast with my handmaids similarly, and then
I will go in to the king, doing what is against the law, not
having been called, and so expose myself to mortal danger.”
{7:19} And so Mordecai went, and he did everything that
Esther had instructed him. {7:20} Now Mordecai beseeched
the Lord, remembering all his works, {7:21} and he said, “O
Lord, Lord, almighty King, truly all things are possible for
you, and there is no one who is able to resist your will, if you
would determine to save Israel. {7:22} You have created
heaven and earth, and everything that is contained under the
cycle of heaven. {7:23} You are Lord of all, and there is no
one who can resist your majesty. {7:24} You know
everything, and you know that it was not out of arrogance or
indignation or some desire for glory that I did this, so that I
refused to adore the very proud Haman. {7:25} (For I was
freely prepared, for the sake of the salvation of Israel, to have
willingly kissed even the footsteps of his feet.) {7:26} But I
feared, lest I should transfer the honor of my God to a man,
and lest I should adore anyone except my God. {7:27} And
now Lord, King, God of Abraham, may you have mercy on
your people because our enemies want to destroy us and to
erase your inheritance. {7:28} Do not despise your portion,
which you have redeemed for yourself out of Egypt.
{7:29} Listen to my supplication, and be gracious to your lot
and your token, and change our sorrow into gladness, so that,
in living, we may praise your name, Lord; and do not close
the mouths of those who sing to you.” {7:30} Likewise, all
Israel cried out to the Lord with the same intention and
supplication because certain death was hanging over them.


[Esther 8] {8:1} Queen Esther also, fearing the danger that
was imminent, fled to the Lord. {8:2} And when she had put
aside her royal apparel, she took up garments suitable for
weeping and mourning, and instead of various ointments, she
covered her head with ashes from burnt dung, and she
humbled her body with fasting, and all the aspects of her
beauty, she covered with her torn hair. {8:3} And she begged
the Lord God of Israel, saying, “My Lord, who alone is our
King, help me, a solitary woman, for there is no other helper
but you. {8:4} My peril is close at hand. {8:5} I have heard
from my father that you, Lord, chose Israel from among all
nations and our fathers from among all their former ancestors,
to possess them as an everlasting inheritance, and you have
done for them just as you said. {8:6} We have sinned in your
sight, and therefore you have delivered us into the hands of
our enemies, {8:7} for we have worshipped their gods. You
are just, O Lord. {8:8} And now they are not content to
oppress us with a very difficult servitude, but attributing the
strength of their hands to the power of their idols, {8:9} they
want to alter your promises, and erase your inheritance, and
close the mouths of those who praise you, and extinguish the
glory of your temple and your altar, {8:10} so that they may
open the mouths of the nations, and praise the strength of
idols, and proclaim a worldly king in perpetuity. {8:11} Lord,
do not hand over your scepter to that which does not exist,
lest they laugh at our ruin, but turn their counsel upon
themselves and destroy him who has begun to rage against us.
{8:12} Be mindful, Lord, and show yourself to us in the time
of our tribulation, and give me faith, Lord, King of gods and
of every power. {8:13} Grant fitting words to my mouth in
the sight of the lion, and transform his heart to hate our
enemy, so that both he, and the others who conspire with
him, may perish. {8:14} But free us by your hand, and help
me, who has no other helper but you, Lord, who holds the
knowledge of all things. {8:15} And you know that I hate the
glory of the wicked, and I detest the bed of the uncircumcised,
and of all outsiders. {8:16} You know my necessity, that I
loathe the sign of my exaltation and glory, which is on my
head in the days of my exhibition, and that I detest it like a
menstruous rag and do not wear it in the days of my silence,
{8:17} and that I have not eaten at Haman’s table, nor has
the king’s feasts pleased me, and that I have not drunk the
wine of his libations, {8:18} and that your handmaid has
never rejoiced, from the time that I was carried here until this
very day, except in you, Lord, God of Abraham. {8:19} O
God, whose strength is above all things, heed the voice of
those who have no other hope, and free us from the hand of
the wicked, and rescue me from my fear.”


[Esther 9] {9:1} So, on the third day, she put away her
ornate apparel, and surrounded herself with glory. {9:2} And
when she was shining in a royal manner, and had called upon
God, the Guide and Savior of all, she took two maids with
her. {9:3} And she was leaning upon one of them, as if, out
of delicateness and great tenderness, she were not able to bear
carrying her own body. {9:4} And the other maid followed
her lady, carrying her garment flowing on the ground.
{9:5} Yet she had a rosy color pouring over her face, for,
with gracious and bright eyes, she restrained a sorrowful soul
and very great fear. {9:6} And so, entering hesitantly through
a series of doors, she stood opposite the king, where he sat
upon his royal throne, clothed in royal robes, and shining
with gold and precious stones. And he was terrible to behold.
{9:7} And when he had lifted up his face, and with burning
eyes had shown the fury of his heart, the queen collapsed,
and her color turned pale, and she rested her exhausted head
upon her handmaid. {9:8} And God changed the king’s spirit
into gentleness; quickly and apprehensively, he leapt from his
throne, and lifting her up in his arms until she came to herself,
he coaxed her with these words: {9:9} “What is the matter,
Esther? I am your brother, do not be afraid. {9:10} You will
not die. For this law has not been established for you, but for
all others. {9:11} So approach and touch the scepter.”
{9:12} And since she remained silent, he took the golden
scepter and placed it on her neck, and he kissed her and said,
“Why do you not speak to me?” {9:13} She answered, “I saw
you, my lord, as an angel of God, and my heart was
disturbed for fear of your glory. {9:14} For you, my lord, are
great and wonderful, and your face is full of grace.”
{9:15} And while she was speaking, she collapsed again,
because she was out of breath. {9:16} But the king was
troubled, and all his servants consoled her.
Alternate text from the Hebrew, verses 17-18: {9:17} And so, on
the third day, Esther had put on her royal apparel and was
standing in the atrium of the king’s house, which was inside,
opposite the king’s hall, while he was sitting on his throne in
the council room of the palace, opposite the entrance of the
house. {9:18} And when he saw Esther the queen standing
there, she pleased his eyes, and he extended toward her the
golden scepter, which he held in his hand, and she
approached and kissed the top of his scepter.
{9:19} And the king said to her, “What do you wish, queen
Esther? What is your request? Even if you ask for half of the
kingdom, it will be given to you.” {9:20} But she responded,
“If it pleases the king, I beg you to come with me today, and
Haman with you, to the feast that I have prepared.”
{9:21} And immediately the king said, “Call Haman quickly,
so that he may obey Esther’s will. And so the king and
Haman came to the feast, which the queen had prepared for
them. {9:22} And the king said to her, after he had drunk
wine abundantly, “What are you asking for that should be
given to you? And which things do you require? Even if you
request half of my kingdom, you will obtain it.”
{9:23} Esther answered him, “My petition and prayer is this:
{9:24} If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it
pleases the king to give me what I ask, and to fulfill my
petition, let the king and Haman come to the feast which I
have prepared for them, and tomorrow I will open my mind
to the king.” {9:25} And so Haman went out that day joyful
and cheerful. And when he saw that Mordecai was sitting in
front of the gate of the palace, and that he alone did not get
up for him, but did not so much as move from the place
where he sat, he was very indignant. {9:26} But, concealing
his anger and returning into his house, he gathered to him his
friends and Zeresh, his wife. {9:27} And he explained to
them the greatness of his riches, and the influence of his sons,
and how, with such glory, the king had elevated him above
all his rulers and servants. {9:28} And after this, he said,
“Also, queen Esther has called no one else to the feast with
the king, except me. And I will be dining with the king again
tomorrow. {9:29} And though I have all these things, I
consider that I have nothing as long as I see Mordecai the
Jew sitting in front of the king’s gate.” {9:30} And Zeresh his
wife and his other friends answered him, “Order a great beam
to be prepared, having a height of fifty cubits, and in the
morning speak to the king, so that Mordecai may be hanged
from it, and so you will go joyfully with the king to the feast.”
This advice pleased him, and so he ordered a high cross to be
prepared.


[Esther 10] {10:1} The king passed that night without sleep,
and so he ordered the histories and chronicles of former times
to be brought to him. And when they were reading them
before him, {10:2} they came to that place where it had been
written, how Mordecai had reported the treachery of Bigthan
and Teresh the eunuchs, who desired to cut the throat of king
Artaxerxes. {10:3} When the king had heard this, he said,
“What honor and reward has Mordecai been given for this
fidelity?” His servants and ministers said to him, “He has
received no compensation at all.” {10:4} And immediately
the king said, “Who is in the atrium?” For, you see, Haman
was entering the inner atrium of the king’s house to suggest
to the king that he should order Mordecai to be hanged on
the gallows, which had been prepared for him. {10:5} The
servants answered, “Haman is standing in the atrium.” And
the king said, “Let him enter.” {10:6} And when he had
entered, he said to him, “What ought to be done for the man
whom the king wishes to honor?” But Haman, thinking in his
heart and supposing that the king would honor no one else
but himself, {10:7} answered, “The man whom the king
wishes to honor, {10:8} ought to be clothed with the king’s
apparel, and be set upon the horse that the king rides, and
receive the royal crown upon his head. {10:9} And let the
first of the king’s rulers and sovereigns hold his horse, and, as
they advance through the street of the city, proclaim before
him and say, ‘Thus shall he be honored, whom the king
decides to honor.’ ” {10:10} And the king said to him,
“Hurry, take the robe and the horse, and do as you have said
to Mordecai the Jew, who sits in front of the gate of the
palace. Be careful not to omit any of those things which you
have mentioned.” {10:11} And so Haman took the robe and
the horse, and arraying Mordecai in the street of the city, and
setting him on the horse, he went before him and cried out,
“He is worthy of this honor, whom the king has decided to
honor.” {10:12} And Mordecai returned to the palace door.
And Haman hurried to go to his house, mourning and hiding
his head. {10:13} And he explained to Zeresh his wife and to
his friends all that had happened to him. And the wise men,
whom he held in counsel, and his wife, answered him, “If
Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is from the
offspring of the Jews, you will not be able to withstand him,
but you will fall in his sight.” {10:14} As they were still
speaking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and compelled him to go
quickly to the feast, which the queen had prepared.


[Esther 11] {11:1} And so the king and Haman entered to
drink with the queen. {11:2} And the king said to her again
on the second day, after he was warmed with wine, “What is
your request, Esther, so that it may be given to you? And
what do you want done? Even if you ask for half of my
kingdom, you will obtain it.” {11:3} She answered him, “If I
have found favor in your eyes, O king, and if it pleases you,
spare my soul, I ask you, and spare my people, I beg you.
{11:4} For I and my people have been handed over to be
crushed, to be slain, and to perish. And if we were only being
sold as servants and slaves, the evil might be tolerable, and I
would have mourned in silence. But now our enemy is one
whose cruelty overflows upon the king.” {11:5} And king
Artaxerxes answered and said, “Who is this, and of what
power, that he would dare to do these things?” {11:6} And
Esther said, “This is our most wicked enemy and foe:
Haman!” Hearing this, Haman was suddenly dumbfounded,
unable to bear the faces of the king and the queen. {11:7} But
the king, being angry, rose up and, from the place of the feast,
entered into the arboretum of the garden. Haman likewise
rose up to entreat Esther the queen for his soul, for he
understood that evil was prepared for him by the king.
{11:8} When the king returned from the arboretum of the
garden and entered into the place of the feast, he found
Haman collapsed on the couch on which Esther lay, and he
said, “And now he wishes to oppress the queen, in my
presence, in my house!” The word had not yet gone out of
the king’s mouth, and immediately they covered his face.
{11:9} And Harbona, one of the eunuchs who stood in
ministry to the king, said, “Behold the wood, which he had
prepared for Mordecai, who spoke up on behalf of the king,
stands in Haman’s house, having a height of fifty cubits.”
The king said to him, “Hang him from it.” {11:10} And so
Haman was hanged on the gallows, which he had prepared
for Mordecai, and the king’s anger was quieted.


[Esther 12] {12:1} On that day king, Artaxerxes gave the
house of Haman, the adversary of the Jews, to queen Esther,
and Mordecai entered before the king. For Esther had
confessed to him that he was her paternal uncle. {12:2} And
the king took the ring, which he had ordered to be taken from
Haman, and he handed it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed
Mordecai over her house. {12:3} Not content with these
things, she threw herself down at the king’s feet and wept,
and, speaking to him, pleaded that he would give orders that
the malice of Haman the Agagite, and his most wicked
schemes, which he had contrived against the Jews, would be
made ineffective. {12:4} But he, as was the custom, extended
the golden scepter with his hand, which was the sign of
clemency, and she rose up and stood before him. {12:5} And
she said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in
his eyes, and my request is not seen to be disagreeable to him,
I beg you that the former letters of Haman, the traitor and
enemy of the Jews, by which he instructed them to be
destroyed in all the king’s provinces, may be corrected by
new letters. {12:6} For how will I be able to endure the
murder and execution of my people?” {12:7} And king
Artaxerxes answered Esther the queen and Mordecai the Jew,
“I have granted Haman’s house to Esther, and I have ordered
him to be fastened to a cross, because he dared to lay hands
on the Jews. {12:8} Therefore, write to the Jews, just as it
pleases you, in the king’s name, sealing the letters with my
ring.” For this was the custom, that letters which were sent in
the king’s name and were sealed with his ring, no one would
dare to contradict. {12:9} Then the scribes and copyists were
brought in, (now it was the time of the third month which is
called Sivan,) on the twenty-third day of the month, and
letters were written, as Mordecai wanted, to the Jews, and to
the governors, and procurators, and judges, who presided
over the one hundred twenty-seven provinces, from India all
the way to Ethiopia: to one province and another, to one
people and another, in accordance with their languages and
letters, and to the Jews, exactly as they were able to read and
hear. {12:10} And these letters, which were sent in the king’s
name, had been signed with his ring, and were sent by swift
couriers who were to rush in every direction, through all the
provinces, so as to prevent the former letters with new
messages. {12:11} The king commanded them to bring
together the Jews throughout each city, and to instruct them
to join together, so as to make a stand for their lives, and to
execute and destroy all their enemies, with their wives and
children and their entire houses, and to plunder their spoil.
{12:12} And one day of retribution was established
throughout all the provinces, namely, the thirteenth of the
twelfth month Adar.


[Esther 13] {13:1} “Artaxerxes, the great king from India all
the way to Ethiopia, to the generals and leaders of the one
hundred twenty-seven provinces that obey our command:
greetings, he says. {13:2} In arrogance, many have abused
the goodness of leaders and the honor that has been bestowed
on them, {13:3} and they strive, not only to oppress the
king’s subjects, but, not acting according to the glory given to
them, set in motion a plan to ambush those very ones who
gave it. {13:4} Neither are they content to withhold thanks
for benefits and to violate in themselves the laws of humanity,
but they also think they are able to escape from every
sentence of the sifting judgment of God. {13:5} And they
rush forth in such insanity that they attempt to subvert by
filthy lies those who carefully fulfill the offices delegated to
them and so perform everything that is deserving of the praise
of all. {13:6} Meanwhile, they craftily deceive by fraud the
ears of single-minded leaders, and they judge others
according to their own nature. {13:7} These things are
proven both from the ancient histories and from those things
which happen daily: how the zeal of kings can be corrupted
by the evil suggestions of such persons. {13:8} Therefore, we
will make provision for the peace of all the provinces.
{13:9} Neither should you think, if we change our orders,
that they come from a fickle mind, but that we draw
conclusions from the quality and necessity of the times, just
as the expediency of the public good demands. {13:10} And,
so that you may more clearly understand what we are saying:
Haman the son of Hammedatha, a Macedonian both in mind
and ancestry, and foreign to Persian blood, and with his
cruelty contaminating our piety, was accepted by us as a
sojourner. {13:11} And our humanity proved to be so great
towards him that he was called our father and was adored by
all as second only to the king. {13:12} But he was so filled
with arrogance as to strive to deprive us of our kingdom and
our life. {13:13} For example, with certain strange and
unheard of machinations, he sought the death of Mordecai,
whose faith and kindness kept us alive, and Esther, the
partner of our kingdom, and all their people. {13:14} This he
planned so that, after they were executed, he might work
treason against us in our solitude and transfer the kingdom of
the Persians to the Macedonians. {13:15} But we, having
been resolved to ruin in death the mortal Jews, discovered no
fault within them, but on the contrary, they use just laws
{13:16} and are sons of the highest and greatest and ever-
living God, by whose kindness the kingdom was handed
down both to our fathers and to us, and is cared for even unto
this day. {13:17} Therefore, you should understand to be null
and void those letters that he administered under our name.
{13:18} For this crime, before the gates of this city, that is,
Susa, both he who devised it, and all his associates, hang on
gallows: not we, but God repaying him as he deserved.
{13:19} But this edict, which we now send, shall be displayed
in all cities so that the Jews may be allowed to use their own
laws. {13:20} You must be a support to them, so that they
may be able to execute those, who themselves had prepared
to kill them, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month,
which is called Adar. {13:21} For the almighty God has
turned this day of grief and sorrow into joy for them.
{13:22} Therefore, you too will keep this day, along with the
other festival days, and celebrate it with all joy, so that it may
be known even by future generations. {13:23} All those who
faithfully obey the Persians deserve, for their fidelity, to
receive a reward, but those who are traitors to their kingdom
deserve to be destroyed for their crime. {13:24} But every
province and city, which is not willing to participate in this
solemnity, must perish by the sword and by fire, and be
destroyed in this way so that they will be forever an
indisputable example of contempt and disobedience, not only
to humans, but even to wild animals.” {13:25} And such was
the content of the letter, so that it would be made known in
all lands and nations, which are subject to the authority of
king Artaxerxes, that the Jews have been made ready to be
vindicated of their enemies. {13:26} And so the swift couriers
departed in haste, carrying through the announcement, and
the king’s edict was hung up in Susa. {13:27} But Mordecai,
going forth from the palace and from the king’s presence,
shone in royal apparel the color of hyacinth and of the sky,
wearing a golden crown on his head, and clothed with a
cloak of silk and purple. And all the city rejoiced and was
joyful. {13:28} But for the Jews, a new light seemed to rise;
there was joy, honor, and dancing. {13:29} With all the
peoples, cities, and provinces, wherever the king’s orders
arrived, there was wonderful rejoicing, banquets and feasts,
and a solemn holy day, so much so that many of the other
nations joined themselves to their religious practices and
ceremonies. For a great fear of the name of the Jews had
overcome them all.


[Esther 14] {14:1} Therefore, on the thirteenth day of the
twelfth month, which as we have said before is called Adar,
when all the Jews were prepared to be executed and their
enemies were greedy for their blood, the situation turned
around, and the Jews began to have the upper hand and to
vindicate themselves of their adversaries. {14:2} And they
gathered together throughout each city, and town, and place,
so as to extend their hands against their enemies and their
persecutors. And no one dared to resist them, because their
great power had pierced all the peoples. {14:3} For even the
judges of the provinces, and the rulers, and the procurators,
and everyone of dignity, who presided over every place and
work, extolled the Jews for fear of Mordecai. {14:4} For they
knew him to be the leader of the palace and to have much
power. Likewise, the fame of his name increased daily and
flew everywhere through word of mouth. {14:5} And so the
Jews struck their enemies like a great plague and killed them,
repaying according to what they had prepared to do to them,
{14:6} so much so that even in Susa they executed five
hundred men, besides the ten sons of Haman the Agagite, the
enemy of the Jews, and their names are these:
{14:7} Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha {14:8} and
Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha, {14:9} and Parmashta,
and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vaizatha. {14:10} When they
had slain them, they were unwilling to touch the spoils of
their belongings. {14:11} And immediately the number of
those who had been killed in Susa was reported to the king.
{14:12} He said to the queen, “In the city of Susa, the Jews
have executed five hundred men, and also the ten sons of
Haman. How many executions do you think that they have
carried out in all the provinces? What more do you ask, and
what do you wish, so that I may order it to be done?”
{14:13} And she answered, “If it pleases the king, may power
be granted to the Jews, so as to do tomorrow in Susa just as
they have done today, and that the ten sons of Haman may
be hung up the gallows.” {14:14} And the king instructed
that it should be so done. And immediately the edict was
hung up in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hung up.
{14:15} On the fourteenth day of the month Adar, the Jews
gathered themselves together, and they executed in Susa
three hundred men, but they did not seize their belongings
from them. {14:16} Moreover, throughout all the provinces
which were subject to the king’s dominion, the Jews made a
stand for their lives, and they executed their enemies and
their persecutors, so much so that the number of those who
were killed amounted to seventy-five thousand, and yet no
one touched any of their belongings. {14:17} Now the
thirteenth day of the month Adar was the first day with all of
the executions, and on the fourteenth day they ceased the
killing. This day they established to be sacred, so that in all
times hereafter they would be free for feasting, joyfulness,
and celebration. {14:18} But, as for those who were carrying
out the killings in the city of Susa, they turned to killing on
the thirteenth and fourteenth day of the same month. But on
the fifteenth day they ceased to attack. And for that reason
they established that day as sacred, with feasting and with
gladness. {14:19} But in truth, those Jews who were staying
in unwalled towns and villages, appointed the fourteenth day
of the month Adar for celebration and gladness, so as to
rejoice on that day and send one another portions of their
feasts and their meals. {14:20} And so Mordecai wrote down
all these things and sent them, composed in letters, to the
Jews who were staying in all the king’s provinces, as much to
those in nearby places as to those far away, {14:21} so that
they would accept the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the
month Adar for holy days, and always, at the return of the
year, would celebrate them with sacred esteem. {14:22} For
on those days, the Jews vindicated themselves of their
enemies, and their mourning and sorrow were turned into
mirth and joy, so that these would be days of feasting and
gladness, in which they would send one another portions of
their feasts, and would grant gifts to the poor. {14:23} And
the Jews accepted as a solemn ritual all the things which they
had begun to do at that time, which Mordecai had
commanded with letters to be done. {14:24} For Haman, the
son of Hammedatha of Agag lineage, the enemy and
adversary of the Jews, had devised evil against them, to kill
them and to destroy them. And he had cast Pur, which in our
language means the lot. {14:25} And after this, Esther had
entered before the king, begging him that his efforts might be
made ineffective by the king’s letters, and that the evil he
intended against the Jews might return upon his own head.
Finally, both he and his sons were fastened to a cross.
{14:26} And so, from that time, these days are called Purim,
that is, of the lots, because Pur, that is, the lot, was cast into
the urn. And all things that had been carried out are
contained in the volume of this epistle, that is, of this book.
{14:27} And whatever they suffered, and whatever was
altered afterwards, the Jews received for themselves and their
offspring and for all who were willing to be joined to their
religion, so that none would be permitted to transgress the
solemnity of these two days, to which the writing testifies,
and which certain times require, as the years continually
succeed one another. {14:28} These are the days which no
one ever will erase into oblivion, and which every province in
the whole world, throughout each generation, shall celebrate.
Neither is there any city wherein the days of Purim, that is, of
lots, may not be observed by the Jews, and by their posterity,
which has been obligated to these ceremonies. {14:29} And
Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the
Jew, also wrote a second letter, so that with all zealousness
this day would be confirmed as customary for future
generations. {14:30} And they sent to all the Jews, who had
been stirred up in the one hundred twenty-seven provinces of
king Artaxerxes, that they should have peace and receive
truth, {14:31} and observe the days of lots, and celebrate
them with joy at their proper time, just as Mordecai and
Esther had established. And they accepted these to be
observed by themselves and by their offspring: fasting, and
crying out, and the days of lots, {14:32} and all things which
are contained in the history of this book, which is called
Esther.


[Esther 15] {15:1} Truly, king Artaxerxes made all the land,
and all the islands of the sea, tributaries. {15:2} And his
strength and his authority, and the dignity and supremacy
with which he exalted Mordecai, have been written in the
books of the Medes and the Persians, {15:3} and how
Mordecai of Jewish birth, was second after king Artaxerxes,
and great among the Jews, and acceptable to the people of his
brethren, seeking the good of his people, and speaking about
things which pertained to peace for their descendents.
{15:4} And Mordecai said, “By God have these things been
done. {15:5} I remember a dream that I saw, which signified
these same things, and nothing of this whatsoever has failed
to occur. {15:6} The little fountain which grew into a river,
and had turned into light and into the sun, and overflowed
into many waters, is Esther, whom the king received as wife
and whom he preferred to be queen. {15:7} But the two
dragons are I and Haman. {15:8} The peoples who gathered
together are those who had attempted to erase the name of
the Jews. {15:9} And my people is Israel, who cried out to
the Lord, and the Lord brought salvation to his people, and
he freed us from all evils, and he created great signs and
portents among the nations. {15:10} And he commanded
there to be two lots, one for the people of God and the other
for all the nations. {15:11} And both lots arrived at the day
appointed before God, even from that past time, for all
peoples. {15:12} And the Lord remembered his people and
had mercy on his inheritance. {15:13} And these days shall
be observed in the month of Adar, on the fourteenth and
fifteenth day of the same month, with all zealousness and joy,
by the people gathered together into one union, throughout
all the generations hereafter of the people of Israel.”
{15:14} In the fourth year of the reigns of Ptolemy and
Cleopatra, Dositheus, who was himself a priest and born of
the Levites, and Ptolemy his son, brought this epistle of
Purim, which they said was a translation by Lysimachus the
son of Ptolemy in Jerusalem.


** The Book of Job **


[Job 1] {1:1} There was a man in the land of Uz named Job,
and he was a simple and honest man, fearing God and
withdrawing from evil. {1:2} And there had been born to him
seven sons and three daughters. {1:3} And his possession was
seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, along with
five hundred pairs of oxen and five hundred she-donkeys, and
also a very large family. And this man was great among all
the people of the east. {1:4} And his sons went and made a
feast by houses, each one on his day. And sending, they
called their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
{1:5} And when the days of their feasting had been
completed, Job sent to them and sanctified them, and, getting
up at dawn, he offered holocausts for each one. For he said,
“Perhaps my sons have sinned and have not praised God in
their hearts.” So Job did all the days. {1:6} But on a certain
day, when the sons of God came to attend in the presence of
the Lord, Satan also arrived among them. {1:7} The Lord
said to him, “Where do you come from?” Answering, he said,
“T have circled the land, and walked around in it.” {1:8} And
the Lord said to him, “Have you not considered my servant,
Job? For there is no one like him in the land, a simple and
honest man, fearing God and withdrawing from evil.”
{1:9} Answering him, Satan said, “Does Job fear God to no
purpose? {1:10} Have you not fortified him, as well as his
house and every one of his belongings around him, blessed
the works of his hands, and his possession has increased in
the land? {1:11} But extend your hand a little, and touch all
that he possesses, and see if he still praises you to your face.”
{1:12} Therefore, the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, everything
that he has is in your hand, only do not extend your hand
against him.” And Satan departed from the face of the Lord.
{1:13} So, on a certain day, when his sons and daughters
were eating and drinking wine, in the house of their first-born
brother, {1:14} a messenger came to Job, who said, “The
oxen were plowing, and the donkeys were grazing beside
them, {1:15} and the Sabeans rushed in and carried away
everything, and they struck the servants with the sword; and I
alone evaded them to tell you.” {1:16} And while he was still
speaking, another arrived, and he said, “The fire of God fell
from heaven, and, having struck the sheep and the servants, it
consumed them; and I alone escaped to tell you.” {1:17} And
while he also was still speaking, another arrived, and he said,
“The Chaldeans organized three attacks, and advanced on
the camels and took them; and not only that, but they have
struck the servants with the sword; and I alone fled to tell
you.” {1:18} He was still speaking, and behold, another
entered, and he said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting
and drinking wine in the house of their first-born brother,
{1:19} when suddenly a severe wind rushed forth from a
region of the desert and shook the four corners of the house,
which collapsed and crushed your children, and they are
dead; and I alone escaped to tell you.” {1:20} Then Job got
up and tore his garments, and, having shaved his head, he
collapsed on the ground, and worshipped, {1:21} and he said,
“Naked I departed from my mother’s womb, and naked I
shall return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.
Just as it pleased the Lord, so has it been done. Blessed be the
name of the Lord.” {1:22} In all this, Job did not sin by his
lips, nor did he speak any foolish thing against God.


[Job 2] {2:1} But it happened that, on a certain day, when
the sons of God had arrived and they stood before the Lord,
Satan likewise arrived among them, and he stood in his sight.
{2:2} So the Lord said to Satan, “Where do you come from?”
Answering, he said, “I have circled the land, and walked
around in it.” {2:3} And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you
not considered my servant, Job, that there is no one like him
in the land, a simple and honest man, fearing God and
withdrawing from evil, and still retaining his innocence? Yet
you have stirred me against him, so that I would afflict him
to no purpose.” {2:4} Answering him, Satan said, “Skin for
skin; and everything that a man has, he will give for his life.
{2:5} Yet send your hand and touch his bone and his flesh,
and then you will see whether or not he blesses you to your
face.” {2:6} Therefore, the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is
in your hand, but even so, spare his life.” {2:7} And so, Satan
departed from the face of the Lord and he struck Job with a
very serious ulcer from the sole of the foot all the way to the
crown of his head. {2:8} So he took a shard of earthenware
and scraped the discharge, while sitting on a heap of refuse.
{2:9} But his wife said to him, “Do you still continue in your
simplicity? Bless God and die.” {2:10} He said to her, “You
have spoken like one of the foolish wives. If we accepted
good things from the hand of God, why should we not accept
bad things?” In all this, Job did not sin with his lips.
{2:11} And so, three friends of Job, hearing about all the evil
that had befallen him, arrived, each one from his own place,
Eliphaz the Themanite, and Baldad the Suhite, and Zophar
the Naamathite. For they had agreed to come together to visit
and console him. {2:12} And when they had raised up their
eyes from a distance, they did not recognize him, and, crying
out, they wept, and, tearing their garments, they scattered
dust over their heads into the sky. {2:13} And they sat with
him on the ground for seven day and seven nights, and no
one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his sorrow was
very great.


[Job 3] {3:1} After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his
day, {3:2} and this is what he said: {3:3} May the day perish
on which I was born, and the night, in which it was said, “A
man has been conceived.” {3:4} May that day be turned into
darkness, may God not seek it from above, and may light not
illuminate it. {3:5} Let darkness and the shadow of death
obscure it, let a fog overtake it, and let it be enveloped in
bitterness. {3:6} Let a whirlwind of darkness take hold of that
night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor
numbered in the months. {3:7} May that night be alone and
unworthy of praise. {3:8} May they curse it, who curse the
day, who are prepared to awaken a leviathan. {3:9} Let the
stars be concealed with its darkness. Let it expect light, and
not see it, nor the rising of the dawn in the East. {3:10} For it
did not close the doors of the womb that bore me, nor take
away evils from my eyes. {3:11} Why did I not die in the
womb? Having left the womb, why did I not immediately
perish? {3:12} Why was I received upon the knees? Why was
I suckled at the breasts? {3:13} For by now, I should have
been sleeping silently, and taking rest in my sleep {3:14} with
the kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves
solitudes, {3:15} either with princes, who possess gold and
fill their houses with silver, {3:16} or, like a hidden
miscarriage, I should not have continued, just like those who,
being conceived, have not seen the light. {3:17} There the
impious cease from rebellion, and there the wearied in
strength take rest. {3:18} And at such times, having been
bound together without difficulty, they have not heard the
voice of the bailiff. {3:19} The small and great are there, and
the servant is free from his master. {3:20} Why is light given
to the miserable, and life to those who are in bitterness of soul,
{3:21} who expect death, and it does not arrive, like those
who dig for treasure {3:22} and who rejoice greatly when
they have found the grave, {3:23} to a man whose way is
hidden and whom God has surrounded with darkness?
{3:24} Before I eat, I sigh; and like overflowing waters, so is
my howl, {3:25} for the terror that I feared has happened to
me, and so has the dread befallen me. {3:26} Have I not
remained hidden? Have I not kept silence? Have I not
remained calm? Yet indignation has overcome me.


[Job 4] {4:1} But Eliphaz the Themanite, answering, said:
{4:2} If we start to speak to you, perhaps you will take it
badly, but who can hold back the words he has conceived?
{4:3} Behold, you have taught many, and you have
strengthened weary hands. {4:4} Your words have reassured
the wavering, and you have fortified the trembling knees.
{4:5} But now the scourge has overcome you, and you falter.
It has touched you, and you are disturbed. {4:6} Where is
your reverence, your fortitude, your patience, and the
perfection of your ways? {4:7} Consider this, I beg you: who
ever perished being innocent? Or when have the righteous
been destroyed? {4:8} In fact, I have instead seen those who
work iniquity and who sow resentments, reap them,
{4:9} perishing by the breath of God, and being consumed by
the wrath of his spirit. {4:10} The roaring of the lion, and the
voice of the lioness, and the teeth of young lions have been
worn away. {4:11} The tiger has perished because it does not
have prey, and the young lions have been scattered.
{4:12} Furthermore, a word was spoken to me in secret, and,
as if by theft, my ears received the pulse of its whisper.
{4:13} In the horror of a vision by night, when men are
accustomed to be overtaken by a deep sleep, {4:14} fear and
trembling seized me and all my bones were terrified.
{4:15} And when a spirit passed before me, the hair on my
body stood up. {4:16} There appeared an image before my
eyes, someone whose face I did not recognize, and I heard a
voice like a gentle breeze. {4:17} Should man be justified in
relation to God, or will a man be more pure than his Maker?
{4:18} Behold, those who serve him are not steadfast, and in
his angels he finds imperfection. {4:19} How much more will
those who live in houses of clay, which have an earthly
foundation, be consumed like the moth? {4:20} From
morning all the way to evening, they will be cut down, and
because no one understands, they will be destroyed without
ceasing. {4:21} But those who are left behind will be taken
away from them; they will die, and not in wisdom.


[Job 5] {5:1} Therefore call, if there are any who will respond
to you, and turn to one or another of the saints. {5:2} Truly,
anger condemns the foolish to death, and envy kills the petty.
{5:3} I have seen a fool with a strong root, and I have cursed
his excellence without hesitation. {5:4} His sons will be far
from prosperity and will be crushed at the gate, and there will
be none who can rescue them. {5:5} Their harvest, the
starving will eat. The armed man will rob him, and the thirsty
will drink his resources. {5:6} Nothing on earth occurs
without a reason, and sorrow does not rise from the earth.
{5:7} Man is born to labor, and the bird to fly.
{5:8} Therefore, because of this, I will beg the Lord, and
place my eloquence before God. {5:9} He does great and
unfathomable and miraculous things without number.
{5:10} He gives rain over the face of the earth and irrigates all
things with the waters. {5:11} He places the humble on high
and encourages the grieving towards health. {5:12} He
dispels the thoughts of the spiteful, lest their hands be able to
complete what they had begun. {5:13} He catches the wise in
their cleverness and dissipates the counsel of the perverse.
{5:14} They will encounter darkness in the daytime, and they
will grope at midday just as in the night. {5:15} Thereafter,
he will act to save the needy from the sword of their mouth,
and the poor from the hand of the violent. {5:16} And there
will be hope for those in need, for iniquity will diminish its
speech. {5:17} Blessed is the man whom God corrects;
therefore, do not reject the chastisement of the Lord.
{5:18} For he wounds and he cures; he strikes and his hands
will heal. {5:19} He will deliver you into six tribulations, and
in the seventh, evil will not touch you. {5:20} During famine,
he will rescue you from death, and during war, from the hand
of the sword. {5:21} You will be hidden from the scourge of
the tongue, and you will not fear calamity when it arrives.
{5:22} In desolation and in famine, you will laugh, and you
will not dread the beasts of the earth. {5:23} For you are in
harmony with the stones of the land, and the beasts of the
earth will make peace with you. {5:24} And you will know
that your home has peace, and, concerning your appearance,
you will not sin. {5:25} Likewise, you will know that your
offspring will be manifold and your progeny will be like the
grass of the earth. {5:26} You will enter the grave with
abundance, just as a crop of wheat is gathered in its time.
{5:27} Behold, this is just as we have found it, which you
have heard; walk it through your mind.


[Job 6] {6:1} But Job, responding, said: {6:2} I wish that my
sins, for which I deserve wrath, and the calamity that I
endure, were weighed out on a balance. {6:3} Compared to
the sand of the sea, they would appear heavier, and so my
words are full of sorrow. {6:4} For the arrows of the Lord are
in me, my spirit drinks of their indignation, and the terrors of
the Lord are soldiers against me. {6:5} Will the wild ass bray
when he has grass? Or will the ox bellow when he stands
before a full manger? {6:6} Or can one eat bland food, which
is not seasoned with salt? Or can anyone taste that which, if
tasted, causes death? {6:7} The things that my soul was
unwilling to touch before, now, because of anguish, are my
foods. {6:8} Who will grant that my petition may arrive and
that God may bestow on me what I expect, {6:9} and that he
who, at first, had crushed me, will let loose his hand and cut
me down? {6:10} And may this be my consolation, that in
afflicting me with sorrow, although he might not be lenient
with me, I still do not contradict the words of the Holy One.
{6:11} For what is my strength, that I may continue? Or what
is my goal, so that I may act patiently? {6:12} My strength is
not the strength of stones, nor is my flesh made of bronze.
{6:13} Behold, there is no help for me in myself, and my
loved ones also have withdrawn from me. {6:14} He who
takes away mercy from his friend, abandons the fear of the
Lord. {6:15} My brethren have disregarded me, like a torrent
that passes swiftly through the steep valleys. {6:16} Those
who fear frost, snow will rush over them. {6:17} At that time,
when they are scattered, they will perish, and when it
becomes hot, they will be freed from their place. {6:18} The
paths of their steps are entangled; they will walk in vain and
will perish. {6:19} Consider the paths of Thema, the ways of
Saba, and wait a little while. {6:20} They have been thrown
into confusion, just as I had hoped; they have even come to
me and are overwhelmed with shame. {6:21} Now you have
arrived, and merely by seeing my affliction, you are afraid.
{6:22} Did I say: “Bring to me and give to me from your
necessities?” {6:23} or, “Free me from the hand of the enemy
and rescue me from the hand of the strong?” {6:24} Teach
me, and I will be silent, and if by chance I have been ignorant
of anything, instruct me. {6:25} Why have you diminished
the words of truth, when there is none of you who is able to
offer proof against me? {6:26} You prepare speeches as so
much noise, and you offer words into the wind. {6:27} You
encroach upon the orphan, and you strive to undermine your
friend. {6:28} Such is true, so finish what you have begun.
Listen closely, and see if I lie. {6:29} Respond, I beg you,
without contention, and, speaking what is just, pass judgment.
{6:30} And you will not find iniquity on my tongue, nor will
foolishness resound in my throat.


[Job 7] {7:1} The life of a man on the earth is a battle, and
his days are like the days of a hired hand. {7:2} Just as a
servant desires the shade, and just as the hired hand looks
forward to the end of his work, {7:3} so also have I had
empty months and have counted my burdensome nights.
{7:4} If I lie down to sleep, I will say, “When will I rise?”
And next I will hope for the evening and will be filled with
sorrows even until darkness. {7:5} My flesh is clothed with
particles of rottenness and filth; my skin is dried up and
tightened. {7:6} My days have passed by more quickly than
threads are cut by a weaver, and they have been consumed
without any hope. {7:7} Remember that my life is wind, and
my eye will not return to see good things. {7:8} Neither will
the sight of man gaze upon me; your eyes are upon me, and I
will not endure. {7:9} Just as a cloud is consumed and passes
away, so he who descends to hell will not ascend. {7:10} He
will not return again to his house, nor will his own place
know him any longer. {7:11} And because of this, I will not
restrain my mouth. I will speak in the affliction of my spirit. I
will converse from the bitterness of my soul. {7:12} Am I an
ocean or a whale, that you have encircled me in a prison?
{7:13} If I say, “My bed will comfort me, and I will find rest,
speaking with myself on my blanket,” {7:14} then you will
frighten me with dreams, and strike dread through visions,
{7:15} so that, because of these things, my soul would choose
hanging, and my bones, death. {7:16} I despair; by no means
will I live any longer. Spare me, for my days are nothing.
{7:17} What is man, that you should praise him? Or why do
you place your heart near him? {7:18} You visit him at dawn,
and you test him unexpectedly. {7:19} How long will you not
spare me, nor release me to ingest my saliva? {7:20} I have
sinned; what should I do for you, O keeper of men? Why
have you set me against you, so that I have become
burdensome even to myself? {7:21} Why do you not steal
away my sin, and why do you not sweep away my iniquity?
Behold, now I will sleep in the dust, and if you seek me in the
morning, I will not remain.


[Job 8] {8:1} But Baldad the Suhite, responding, said:
{8:2} How long will you speak this way, so that the words of
your mouth are like a changeable wind? {8:3} Does God
supplant judgment, or does the Almighty subvert that which
is just? {8:4} And if now your children have sinned against
him, and he has dismissed them into the power of their
iniquity, {8:5} even so, you should arise early to God, so as
to beseech the Almighty. {8:6} If you approach with purity
and honesty, he will quickly be attentive to you, and a
peaceful life will repay your righteousness, {8:7} so much so
that, if your former things were small, your latter things
would be multiplied greatly. {8:8} For inquire of the earliest
generation, and investigate diligently the history of the fathers,
{8:9} (of course, we are but of yesterday and are ignorant that
our days on earth are like a shadow,) {8:10} and they will
teach you; they will speak with you and will offer you the
eloquence of their hearts. {8:11} Can the marsh plant live
without moisture? Or can sedges grow without water?
{8:12} When it is still in flower, and has not been pulled up
by hand, it withers before all other plants. {8:13} Just so are
the ways of all who forget God, and the hope of the hypocrite
will perish. {8:14} His frenzy will not please him, and his
faith will be like a spider’s web. {8:15} He will lean on his
house, and it will not stand; he will prop it up, but it will not
rise. {8:16} He seems to have moisture before the sun arrives;
and at sunrise, his sprout shoots forth. {8:17} His roots will
crowd together over a heap of stones, and among the stones
he will remain. {8:18} If someone is devoured right beside
him, he will deny him and will say: “I do not know you.”
{8:19} For this is the benefit of his way, that others in turn
may spring up from the earth. {8:20} God will not discard
the simple, nor will he extend his hand to the spiteful,
{8:21} even until your mouth is filled with laughter and your
lips with rejoicing. {8:22} Those who hate you, will be
clothed with confusion, and the tabernacle of the impious
will not continue.


[Job 9] {9:1} And Job, responding, said: {9:2} Truly, I know
that it is so, and that man cannot be justified compared with
God. {9:3} If he chooses to contend with him, he is not able
to respond to him once out of a thousand times. {9:4} He is
understanding in heart and mighty in strength; who has
resisted him and yet had peace? {9:5}He has moved
mountains, and those whom he overthrew in his fury did not
know it. {9:6} He shakes the earth out of its place and its
pillars tremble. {9:7} He commands the sun and it does not
rise, and he closes the stars as if under a seal. {9:8} He alone
extends the heavens, and he walks upon the waves of the sea.
{9:9} He fashions Arcturus, and Orion, and Hyades, and the
interior of the south. {9:10} He accomplishes great and
incomprehensible and miraculous things, which cannot be
numbered. {9:11} If he approaches me, I will not see him; if
he departs, I will not understand. {9:12} If he suddenly
should question, who will answer him? Or who can say,
“Why did you do so?” {9:13} God, whose wrath no one is
able to resist, and under whom they bend who carry the
world, {9:14} what am I then, that I should answer him and
exchange words with him? {9:15} And if I now have any
justice, I will not respond, but will beseech my judge.
{9:16} And if he should listen to me when I call, I would not
believe that he had heard my voice. {9:17} For he will crush
me in a whirlwind and multiply my wounds, even without
cause. {9:18} He does not permit my spirit to rest, and he fills
me with bitterness. {9:19} If strength is sought, he is most
strong; if equity in judgment, no one would dare to give
testimony for me. {9:20} If I wanted to justify myself, my
own mouth will condemn me; if I would reveal my innocence,
he would prove me depraved. {9:21} And if I now became
simple, my soul would be ignorant even of this, and my life
would weary me. {9:22} There is one thing that I have said:
both the innocent and the impious he consumes. {9:23} If he
scourges, let him kill all at once, and not laugh at the
punishment of the innocent. {9:24} Since the earth has been
given into the hand of the impious, he covers the face of its
judges; for if it is not him, then who is it? {9:25} My days
have been swifter than a messenger; they have fled and have
not seen goodness. {9:26} They have passed by like ships
carrying fruits, just like an eagle flying to food. {9:27} If I say:
“By no means will I speak this way.” I change my face and I
am tortured with sorrow. {9:28} I have dreaded all my works,
knowing that you did not spare the offender. {9:29} Yet, if I
am also just as impious, why have I labored in vain? {9:30} If
I had been washed with snow-like waters, and my hands
were shining like the cleanest thing, {9:31} yet you would
plunge me in filth, and my own garments would abhor me.
{9:32} For even I would not answer a man who were like
myself, nor one who could be heard with me equally in
judgment. {9:33} There is no one who could both prevail in
argument and in placing his hand between the two.
{9:34} Let him take his staff away from me, and let not the
fear of him terrify me. {9:35} I will speak and I will not fear
him, for in fearfulness I am not able to respond.


[Job 10] {10:1} My soul is weary of my life. I will release my
words against myself. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
{10:2} I will say to God: Do not be willing to condemn me.
Reveal to me why you judge me this way. {10:3} Does it
seem good to you, if you find fault with me and oppress me,
the work of your own hands, and assist the counsel of the
impious? {10:4} Do you have bodily eyes? Or, just as man
sees, will you see? {10:5} Are your days just like the days of
man, and are your years as the times of humans, {10:6} so
that you would inquire about my iniquity and examine my
sin? {10:7} And you know that I have done nothing impious,
yet there is no one who can deliver from your hand.
{10:8} Your hands have made me and formed me all around,
and, in this way, do you suddenly throw me away?
{10:9} Remember, I ask you, that you have fashioned me like
clay, and you will reduce me to dust. {10:10} Have you not
extracted me like milk and curdled me like cheese?
{10:11} You have clothed me with skin and flesh. You have
put me together with bones and nerves. {10:12} You have
assigned to me life and mercy, and your visitation has
preserved my spirit. {10:13} Though you may conceal this in
your heart, yet I know that you remember everything.
{10:14} If I have sinned, and you have spared me for an hour,
why do you not endure me to be clean from my iniquity?
{10:15} And if I should be impious, woe to me, and if I
should be just, I will not lift up my head, being drenched with
affliction and misery. {10:16} And because of pride, you will
seize me like a lioness, and having returned, you torment me
to an extraordinary degree. {10:17} You renew your
testimony against me, and you multiply your wrath against
me, and these punishments make war within me.
{10:18} Why did you lead me out of the womb? If only I had
been consumed, so that no eye would ever see me! {10:19} I
should have been as if I had not been: transferred from the
womb to the tomb. {10:20} Will not my few days be
completed soon? Release me, therefore, so that I may lament
my sorrows a little, {10:21} before I depart and return no
more to a land that is dark and covered with the fog of death,
{10:22} a land of misery and darkness, where the shadow of
death, and nothing else but everlasting horror, dwells.


[Job 11] {11:1} But Zophar the Naamathite, responding, said:
{11:2} Will he who speaks much, not also listen? Or will a
talkative man be justified? {11:3} Will men be silent only for
you? And when you have mocked others, will no one refute
you? {11:4} For you said: “My word is pure, and I am clean
in your sight.” {11:5} Yet I wish that God would speak with
you, and would open his lips to you, {11:6} so that he might
reveal to you the secrets of wisdom, and how intricate his law
is, and that you would understand how much less he requires
of you than your iniquity deserves. {11:7} By chance, will
you comprehend the footsteps of God and reach all the way
to the perfection of the Almighty? {11:8} He is higher than
heaven, and what will you do? He is deeper than hell, but
how will you know? {11:9} His measure is longer than the
earth and wider than the sea. {11:10} If he overturns all
things, or packs them together, who will contradict him?
{11:11} For he knows the vanity of men, and when he sees
iniquity, does he not evaluate it? {11:12} A vain man is lifted
up in arrogance, and he thinks that he is born free like a wild
ass’s colt. {11:13} But you have fortified your heart and
extended your hands to him. {11:14} If you would send away
from you the iniquity that is in your hand, and not let
injustice remain in your tabernacle, {11:15} then you would
be able to lift up your face without blemish, and you would
be steadfast and unafraid. {11:16} Misery, likewise, you
would forget, or would remember only like waters that have
passed by. {11:17} And brightness, like that of midday, will
rise upon you until evening, and when you would think
yourself consumed, you will rise up like the morning star.
{11:18} And, when hope has been set before you, you will
have faith, and, when buried, you will sleep secure.
{11:19} You will rest, and there will be nothing to make you
afraid, and many will make requests before your face.
{11:20} But the eyes of the impious will fade away, and the
path to escape will perish before them, for the abomination of
the soul is their hope.


[Job 12] {12:1} Then Job, answering, said: {12:2} Are you,
therefore, alone among men, and will wisdom die with you?
{12:3} And I have a heart just as you also do, and I am not
inferior to you. For who is ignorant of these things, which
you know? {12:4} He who is mocked by his friends as I am,
will call upon God, and he will listen to him because it is the
sincerity of the just that is being mocked. {12:5} The lamp
that is despised in the thoughts of the rich is ready for the
appointed time. {12:6} The tabernacles of robbers are
numerous, and they provoke God boldly; whereas, it is he
who has given all things into their hands. {12:7} In truth, ask
the mules, and they will teach you, and the birds of the sky,
and they will reveal to you. {12:8} Speak with the earth, and
it will respond to you, and the fish of the sea will explain.
{12:9} Who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord has made
all these things? {12:10} In his hand is the soul of all the
living and the spirit of all the flesh of mankind. {12:11} Does
not the ear perceive words, and the palate, when eating,
perceive flavor? {12:12} In old age is wisdom, and in length
of days is prudence. {12:13} With him is wisdom and
strength, he has counsel and understanding. {12:14} If he
tears down, there is no one who can build up; if he encloses a
man, there is no one who can open. {12:15} If he restrains
the waters, everything will dry up; and if he sends them forth,
they will subdue the land. {12:16} With him is strength and
wisdom; he knows both the deceiver and he who is deceived.
{12:17} He leads advisors to a foolish end and judges to
stupidity. {12:18} He removes the belt of kings and encircles
their waist with a rope. {12:19} He leads away priests in
dishonor and displaces nobles, {12:20} altering the lips of
those who speak the truth and sweeping away the teaching of
the aged. {12:21} He pours distain upon the leaders, relieving
those who had been oppressed. {12:22} He reveals the depths
of the darkness, and he brings the shadow of death into the
light. {12:23} He multiplies peoples, and destroys them, and,
having been overthrown, he restores them anew. {12:24} He
transforms the heart of the leaders of the people on earth, and
misleads those who in vain advance upon the inviolable.
{12:25} They will grope as in the darkness, not the light, and
he will make them stagger like drunkards.


[Job 13] {13:1} Behold, my eye has seen all these things, and
my ear has heard, and I have understood each one. {13:2} In
conformity with your knowledge, I also know. I am not
inferior to you. {13:3} Yet I speak this way to the Almighty,
and I desire to argue with God, {13:4} having first shown
that you fabricate lies and cultivate perverse teachings.
{13:5} And I wish that you would remain silent, so that you
would be counted among the wise. {13:6} Therefore, listen to
my correction, and pay attention to the judgment of my lips.
{13:7} Does God require your lie, so that you would speak
deceitfully for him? {13:8} Have you taken his place, and do
you struggle to give judgment in favor of God? {13:9} Or,
will it please him, from whom nothing can be concealed? Or,
will he be deceived, like a man, by your deceitfulness?
{13:10} He will accuse you because in secret you have
preempted his presence. {13:11} As soon as he moves himself,
he will disturb you, and his dread will fall over you.
{13:12} Your remembrance will be compared to ashes, and
your necks will be reduced to clay. {13:13} Be silent for a
little while, so that I may speak whatever my mind suggests
to me. {13:14} Why do I wound my flesh with my teeth, and
carry my soul in my hands? {13:15} And now, if he would
kill me, I will hope in him; in this, truly, I will correct my
ways in his sight. {13:16} And he will be my savior, for no
hypocrite at all will approach in his sight. {13:17} Listen to
my words, and perceive an enigma with your ears. {13:18} If
I will be judged, I know that I will be found to be just.
{13:19} Who is it that will go to judgment with me? Let him
approach. Why should I be consumed in silence? {13:20} Do
not do such things to me twice, and then I will not hide from
your face. {13:21} Take your hand far away from me, and do
not let your dread terrify me. {13:22} Call me, and I will
answer you, or else I will speak, and you can answer me.
{13:23} How many iniquities and sins do I have? Reveal my
crimes and offenses to me. {13:24} Why do you conceal your
face and consider me to be your enemy? {13:25} Against a
leaf, which is carried away by the wind, you reveal your
power, and you pursue dry straw. {13:26} For you write
bitter things against me, and you want to consume me for the
sins of my youth. {13:27} You have put my feet on a tether,
and you have observed all my paths, and you have
considered the steps of my feet. {13:28} I will be left to decay
like something rotten and like a garment that is being eaten
by moths.


[Job 14] {14:1} Man, born of woman, living for a short time,
is filled with many miseries. {14:2} He comes forth like a
flower, and is crushed, and he flees, as if a shadow, and never
remains in the same state. {14:3} And do you consider it
fitting to look down with your eyes on someone in this way
and to lead him into judgment with you? {14:4} Who can
make him clean who is conceived of unclean seed? Are you
not the only one who can? {14:5} The days of man are short,
and the number of his months is with you; you have
determined his limits, which cannot be surpassed.
{14:6} Withdraw a little from him, so that he may rest, until
his awaited day arrives, like that of the hired hand. {14:7} A
tree has hope: if it has been cut, it turns green again, and its
branches spring forth. {14:8} If its roots grow old in the earth,
and its trunk passes into dust, {14:9} at the scent of water, it
will sprout and bring forth leaves, as when it had first been
planted. {14:10} Truly, when a man dies, and has been left
unprotected, and has decayed, I ask you where is he?
{14:11} It is as if the waters had receded from the sea and an
emptied river had dried up; {14:12} just so, when a man is
fallen asleep, he will not rise again, until the heavens are
worn away; he will not awaken, nor rise from his sleep.
{14:13} Who will grant this to me, that you will protect me in
the underworld, and hide me until your fury passes by, and
establish a time for me, in which you will remember me?
{14:14} Do you suppose that a dead man will live again? On
each of the days in which I now battle, I wait until my
transformation occurs. {14:15} You will call me and I will
answer you; to the work of your hands, you will extend your
right hand. {14:16} Indeed, you have numbered my steps, but
you have been lenient with my sins. {14:17} You have sealed
up my offenses, as if in a purse, but you have cured my
iniquity. {14:18} A falling mountain flows away, and a stone
is transferred from its place. {14:19} Waters wear away
stones, and with a flood the land is reduced little by little; and
similarly, you will destroy man. {14:20} You have
strengthened him for a little while, so that he may cross over
into eternity. You will change his face and send him forth.
{14:21} Whether his sons have been noble or ignoble, he will
not understand. {14:22} And in this way his body, while he
yet lives, will have grief, and his soul will mourn over himself.


[Job 15] {15:1} But Eliphaz the Themanite, answering, said:
{15:2} Will a wise man answer as if he were speaking wind,
and will he fill his stomach with fire? {15:3} You rebuke with
words he who is not equal to you, and you speak what is not
expedient for you, {15:4} to such an extent that, within
yourself, you have expelled reverence and have taken away
prayers from the presence of God. {15:5} For your iniquity
has mislead your mouth, and you imitate the tongue of
blasphemers. {15:6} Your own mouth will condemn you, not
I; and your own lips will answer you. {15:7} Are you the first
man who was born, or were you formed before the hills?
{15:8} Have you heard the intentions of God, and will his
wisdom be inferior to you? {15:9} What do you know, about
which we are ignorant? What do you understand that we do
not know? {15:10} There are with us both aged and ancient
men, even more senior than your fathers. {15:11} Is it so
important that God should console you? But your own
depraved words prevent this. {15:12} Why does your heart
exalt you, and why do you gaze with your eyes, as if thinking
great things? {15:13} Why does your spirit stir against God,
so as to utter such speeches from your mouth? {15:14} What
is man that he should be immaculate, and that he should
appear just, having been born of woman? {15:15} Behold,
among his holy ones not one is immutable, and even the
heavens are not pure in his sight. {15:16} How much more
abominable and useless is the man who drinks as if from the
water of iniquity? {15:17} I will reveal to you, so listen to me;
and I will explain to you what I have seen. {15:18} The wise
acknowledge, and they do not leave behind, their fathers,
{15:19} to whom alone the earth has been given, and no
stranger passed among them. {15:20} The impious is
arrogant for all his days, and the number of the years of his
tyranny is uncertain. {15:21} The sound of terror is always in
his ears; and when there is peace, he always suspects treason.
{15:22} He does not believe that it is possible for him to be
turned from darkness into the light, for he sees around him
the sword on every side. {15:23} When he moves himself to
seek bread, he knows that the day of darkness has been
prepared for his hand. {15:24} Tribulation will terrify him,
and anguish will prevail over him, like a king who is being
prepared to go to battle. {15:25} For he has extended his
hand against God, and he has strengthened himself against
the Almighty. {15:26} He has rushed against him with his
throat exposed, and he has been armed with a fat neck.
{15:27} Thickness has covered his face, and lard hangs down
from his sides. {15:28} He has lived in desolate cities and
deserted houses, which have been turned into tombs.
{15:29} He will not be enriched, nor will his basic necessities
endure, nor will he establish his root in the earth. {15:30} He
will not withdraw from the darkness; the flame will burn up
his branches, and he will be defeated by the breath of his own
mouth. {15:31} He will not believe, being vainly deceived by
error, that he could be redeemed at any price. {15:32} Before
his time is completed, he will pass into ruin and his hands
will wither away. {15:33} He will be wounded like a
grapevine, when its cluster is in first flower, and like an olive
tree that casts off its flower. {15:34} For the congregation of
the hypocrites is fruitless, and fire will devour the tabernacles
of those who love to accept money. {15:35} He has
conceived sorrow, and he has brought forth iniquity, and his
womb prepares deceit.


[Job 16] {16:1} Then Job, answering, said: {16:2} I have
often heard such things; you are all aggravating comforters.
{16:3} Will there be no end to windy words? Or is it at all a
burden to you, if you speak? {16:4} I, too, can speak like you;
and I also wish that your soul favored my soul. {16:5} I
would also comfort you with speeches and would wag my
head over you. {16:6} I would strengthen you with my
mouth, and would move my lips, as if being lenient to you.
{16:7} But what can I do? When I am speaking, my grief will
not be quiet; and if I am quiet, it will not withdraw from me.
{16:8} But now my grief has crushed me, and all my limbs
have been reduced to nothing. {16:9} My wrinkles bear
witness against me, and a liar rises up against my face,
contradicting me. {16:10} He has gathered together his fury
towards me, and, threatening me, he has roared against me
with his teeth; my enemy has beheld me with terrible eyes.
{16:11} They have opened their mouths against me, and,
reproaching me, they have struck me on the cheek; they are
nourished by my sufferings. {16:12} God has confined me
with the immoral, and he has delivered me into the hands of
the impious. {16:13} I, who once was wealthy, am now
crushed. He has grabbed me by my neck; he has broken me
and has place me before him as a sign. {16:14} He has
surrounded me with his lances. He has severely wounded my
lower back, he has not been lenient, and he has poured out
my organs upon the earth. {16:15} He has cut me with
wound after wound. He has rushed upon me like a giant.
{16:16} I have sewn sackcloth over my skin, and I have
covered my body with ashes. {16:17} My face is swollen
from weeping, and my eyelids have dimmed my vision.
{16:18} These things I have endured without iniquity in my
hand, while I held pure prayers before God. {16:19} O earth,
do not conceal my blood, nor let my outcry find a hiding
place in you. {16:20} For behold, my witness is in heaven,
and my confidante is on high. {16:21} My friends are full of
words; my eye rains tears upon God. {16:22} And I wish that
a man might be so judged before God, just as the son of man
is judged with his assistant! {16:23} For behold, a few years
pass by, and I am walking a path by which I will not return.


[Job 17] {17:1} My spirit will be wasted, my days will be
shortened, and only the grave will left for me. {17:2} I have
not sinned, yet my eye remains in bitterness. {17:3} Free me,
O Lord, and set me beside you, and let the hand of anyone
you wish fight against me. {17:4} You have set their heart far
from discipline; therefore, they will not be praised. {17:5} He
promises prey to his companions, but the eyes of his sons will
grow faint. {17:6} He has posted me like a proverb to the
people, and I am an example in their presence. {17:7} My
eyesight has been clouded by indignation, and my limbs have
been reduced, as if to nothing. {17:8} The just will be
astounded over this, and the innocent will be stirred up
against the hypocrite. {17:9} And the just will cling to his
way, and clean hands will increase strength.
{17:10} Therefore, be converted, all of you, and approach,
for I do not find in you any wisdom. {17:11} My days have
passed away; my thoughts have been scattered, tormenting
my heart. {17:12} They have turned night into day, and I
hope for light again after the darkness. {17:13} If I should
wait, the underworld is my house, and in darkness I have
spread out my bed. {17:14} I have said to decay and to
worms: “You are my father, my mother, and my sister.”
{17:15} Therefore, where is my expectation now, and who is
it that considers my patience? {17:16} Everything of mine
will descend into the deepest underworld; do you think that,
in that place at least, there will be rest for me?


[Job 18] {18:1} But Baldad the Suhite responded by saying:
{18:2} How long will you throw around words? Understand
first, and then let us speak. {18:3} Why have we been treated
like mules, as if we were unworthy before you? {18:4} You,
who ruins your own soul in your fury, will the earth be
forsaken because of you, and will the cliffs be moved from
their place? {18:5} Will not the light of the impious be put
out, and the flame of his fire refuse to shine? {18:6} Light will
become darkness in his tabernacle, and the lamp that is over
him will be extinguished. {18:7} His strong steps will be
constrained, and his own counsel will cast him down
uncontrollably. {18:8} For he has caused his own feet to go
into a net, and he has walked into its web. {18:9} His heel
will be held in a snare, and thirst will rage against him.
{18:10} A trap has been hidden for him in the earth, and a
decoy, along his path. {18:11} Horrifying things will terrify
him everywhere and will entangle his feet. {18:12} Let his
strength be diminished by famine, and let starvation invade
his ribs. {18:13} Let it devour the beauty of his skin; let the
ancient death consume his arms. {18:14} Let his confidence
be torn away from his tabernacle, and let ruin trample over
him like a king. {18:15} Let the companions of he who is not,
dwell in his tabernacle; let brimstone rain down upon his
tabernacle. {18:16} Let his roots be dried up from beneath
him, and his harvest be crushed from above. {18:17} Let the
memory of him perish from the earth, and let not his name be
celebrated in the streets. {18:18} He will expel him from light
into darkness, and he will remove him from the world.
{18:19} Neither his offspring, nor his descendents, will exist
among his people, nor will there be any remnants in his
country. {18:20} The last will be astonished at his day, and
the first will be overcome with horror. {18:21} And so, these
are the tabernacles of the sinful, and this the place of he who
does not know God.


[Job 19] {19:1} But Job answered by saying: {19:2} How
long will you afflict my soul and wear me down with words?
{19:3} So, ten times you confound me and are not ashamed
to oppress me. {19:4} Now, of course, if I have been ignorant,
my ignorance will be with me. {19:5} But you have risen up
against me, and you accuse me to my disgrace. {19:6} At
least now you should understand that God has not afflicted
me with a balanced judgment, though he has encompassed
me with his scourges. {19:7} Behold, I will cry out, enduring
violence, and no one will hear. I will announce loudly, but
there is no one who may judge. {19:8} He has hemmed in
my path, and I cannot pass; he has added darkness to my
difficult path. {19:9} He has plundered me of my glory, and
he has stolen the crown from my head. {19:10} He has
destroyed me on every side, and I am lost, and, like an
uprooted tree, he has taken away my hope. {19:11} His fury
has raged against me, and in this way he has treated me like
his enemy. {19:12} His troops have gathered together, and
they have made their way to me, and they have besieged my
tabernacle all around. {19:13} He has put my brothers far
from me, and my friends have withdrawn from me like
strangers. {19:14} My kinsmen have forsaken me, and those
who knew me, have forgotten me. {19:15} The inhabitants of
my house and my maidservants treat me just as if I were a
stranger, and I have been like an sojourner in their eyes.
{19:16} I called my servant, and he did not respond; I
pleaded with him with my own mouth. {19:17} My wife has
shuddered at my breath, and I have begged the sons of my
loins. {19:18} Even the foolish have looked down on me, and,
when I withdrew from them, they spoke ill of me.
{19:19} Those who were sometime my counselors, treat me
like an abomination; and he whom I valued the most has
turned against me. {19:20} Since my flesh has been
consumed, my bone adheres to my skin, and only my lips
have been left around my teeth. {19:21} Have mercy on me,
have compassion on me, at least you my friends, because the
hand of the Lord has touched me. {19:22} Why do you
pursue me just as God does, and satiate yourselves with my
flesh? {19:23} Who will grant to me that my words may be
written down? Who will grant to me that they may be
inscribed in a book, {19:24} with an iron pen and a plate of
lead, or else be carved in stone? {19:25} For I know that my
Redeemer lives, and on the last day I will rise out of the earth.
{19:26} And I will be enveloped again with my skin, and in
my flesh I will see my God. {19:27} It is he whom I myself
will see, and he whom my eyes will behold, and no other.
This, my hope, has taken rest in my bosom. {19:28} Why
then do you now say: “Let us pursue him, and let us find a
basis to speak against him?” {19:29} So then, flee from the
face of the sword, for the sword is the avenger of iniquities;
but know this: there is to be a judgment.


[Job 20] {20:1} Then Zophar the Naamathite answered by
saying: {20:2} In response, various thoughts succeed one
another in me, and my mind moves quickly through different
ideas. {20:3} The teaching you use to admonish me, I will
hear, and the spirit of my understanding will respond for me.
{20:4} This, I know, is from the beginning, from the time that
man was set over the earth: {20:5} that the praise of the
impious shall be short, and the joy of the hypocrite lasts only
a moment. {20:6} If his pride ascends even towards the
heavens, and his head touches the clouds, {20:7} in the end,
he will be destroyed like a trash heap, and those who had
seen him will say: “Where is he?” {20:8} Like a dream that
flies away, he will not be found; he will pass away like a
nightmare. {20:9} The eyes that had seen him, will not see
him; no longer will his own place admire him. {20:10} His
sons will be worn away by poverty, and his own hands will
deliver his grief to him. {20:11} His bones will be filled with
the vices of his youth, and they will sleep with him in the dust.
{20:12} For, when evil will be sweet in his mouth, he will
hide it under his tongue. {20:13} He will permit it, and not
abandon it, and he will conceal it in his throat. {20:14} His
bread in his belly will be turned into the venom of snakes
within him. {20:15} The riches that he devours, he will vomit
up, and from his stomach God will draw them out.
{20:16} He will suck the head of snakes, and the tongue of
the viper will kill him. {20:17} (May he never see the streams
of the river, the torrents of honey and butter.) {20:18} He will
be repaid for all he has done, yet he will not be consumed;
according to the multitude of his schemes, so also will he
suffer. {20:19} For, having broken in, he stripped the poor.
He has quickly stolen away a house he did not build.
{20:20} And yet his stomach will not be satisfied, and when
he has the things he desires, he will not be able to possess
them. {20:21} Nothing remained of his portion, and, because
of this, nothing will continue of his kind. {20:22} When he
will be satisfied, he will be constrained; he will seethe, and all
anguish will fall upon him. {20:23} May his stomach be filled,
so that God may send forth the fury of his wrath to him and
may rain down his battle upon him. {20:24} He will flee from
weapons of iron, and he will fall in an arc of brass,
{20:25} which had been drawn and had issued forth from its
sheath, glittering in its bitterness: the horrible ones will go
forth and approach over him. {20:26} All darkness has been
hidden in his secrecy. A fire that has not been set will devour
him; he will be thrown down and forsaken in his tabernacle.
{20:27} The heavens will reveal his sinfulness, and the earth
will rise up against him. {20:28} The offspring of his house
will be exposed; he will be pulled down in the day of God’s
wrath. {20:29} This is the portion of a wicked man from God,
and the inheritance of his words from the Lord.


[Job 21] {21:1} Then Job responded by saying: {21:2} I
beseech you to hear my words and to do penance.
{21:3} Permit me, and I will speak, and afterwards, if you see
fit, you can laugh at my words. {21:4} Is my dispute against
man, so that I would have no reason to be discouraged?
{21:5} Listen to me and be astonished, and place a finger
over your mouth. {21:6} As for me, when I think it over, I
am afraid, and trembling convulses my body. {21:7} Why
then do the impious live, having been lifted up and
strengthened with riches? {21:8} They see their offspring
continue before them: a commotion of close relatives and of
children’s children in their sight. {21:9} Their houses have
been secure and peaceable, and there is no staff of God over
them. {21:10} Their cattle have conceived and have not
miscarried; their cow has given birth and is not deprived of
her newborn. {21:11} Their little ones go out like a flock, and
their children jump around playfully. {21:12} They take up
the timbrel and the lyre, and they rejoice at the sound of the
organ. {21:13} Their days are prolonged in wealth, yet, in an
instant, they descend into hell. {21:14} Who has said to God,
“Depart from us, for we do not want the knowledge of your
ways. {21:15} Who is the Almighty that we should serve him?
And how is it helpful to us if we pray to him?” {21:16} It is
true that their good things are not in their power. May the
counsel of the impious be far from me! {21:17} How often
will the lamp of the wicked be extinguished, and a deluge
overtake them, and how often will he distribute the afflictions
of his wrath? {21:18} They will be like chaff before the face of
the wind, and like ashes that the whirlwind scatters.
{21:19} God will preserve the grief of the father for his sons,
and, when he repays, then he will understand. {21:20} His
eyes will see his own destruction, and he will drink from the
wrath of the Almighty. {21:21} For what does he care what
happens to his house after him, or if the number of its months
are reduced by half? {21:22} Can anyone teach holy
knowledge to God, who judges the exalted? {21:23} This one
dies strong and healthy, rich and happy. {21:24} His gut is
full of fat and his bones are moistened with marrow.
{21:25} In truth, another dies in bitterness of soul, without
any resources. {21:26} And yet they will sleep together in the
dust, and worms will cover them. {21:27} Surely, I know
your thoughts and your sinful judgments against me.
{21:28} For you say, “Where is the house of the ruler, and
where are the tabernacles of the impious?” {21:29} Ask any
passerby whom you wish, and you will realize that he
understands these same things: {21:30} that the evil-doer is
reserved for the day of destruction, and he will be led to the
day of wrath. {21:31} Who will reprove his way to his face,
and who will repay him for what he has done? {21:32} He
will be led to the tomb, and he will remain awake in the
chaos of the dead. {21:33} He has been found acceptable to
the banks of the River of Lamentation, and he will draw any
man towards him, and there are countless before him.
{21:34} Therefore, how long will you console me in vain,
when your answer is shown to be repugnant to truth?


[Job 22] {22:1} Then Eliphaz the Themanite responded by
saying: {22:2} Can man be compared with God, even if he
were perfect in knowledge? {22:3} What advantage is it to
God, if you were just? Or what do you provide for him, if
your way should be immaculate? {22:4} Will he reprove you
and take you to judgment for being afraid, {22:5} and not
because of your many evil deeds and your infinite unfairness?
{22:6} For you have taken away the collateral of your
brothers without cause, and stripped them naked of their
clothing. {22:7} You have not given water to the weary; you
have taken bread away from the hungry. {22:8} By the
strength of your arm, you took possession of the land, and
you retain it by being the strongest. {22:9} You have sent
widows away empty, and you have crushed the shoulders of
orphans. {22:10} Because of this, you are surrounded by
traps, and unexpected fears will disturb you. {22:11} And did
you think that you would not see darkness and that you were
not to be overwhelmed by the on-rush of overflowing waters?
{22:12} Have you not considered that God is higher than the
heavens and is lifted above the height of the stars?
{22:13} And you say: “Well, what does God know?” and,
“He judges, as if through a fog,” {22:14} and, “The clouds
are his hiding-place,” and, “He does not examine us closely,”
and, “He makes his rounds at the limits of the heavens.”
{22:15} Do you not want to tend the path of the ages, which
wicked men have spurned? {22:16} These were taken away
before their time, and a flood overthrew their foundation.
{22:17} They said to God, “Withdraw from us,” and they
treated the Almighty as if he could do nothing,
{22:18} though he had filled their houses with good things.
May their way of thinking be far from me. {22:19} The just
will see and will rejoice, and the innocent will mock them.
{22:20} Has not their haughtiness been cut down, and has
not fire devoured the remnants of them? {22:21} So, repose
yourself with him and be at peace, and, in this way, you will
have the best fruits. {22:22} Accept the law from his mouth,
and place his words in your heart. {22:23} If you will return
to the Almighty, you will be rebuilt, and you will put
sinfulness far from your tabernacle. {22:24} He will give you
stone in place of dirt, and torrents of gold in place of stone.
{22:25} And the Almighty will be against your enemies, and
silver will be gathered together for you. {22:26} Then will
you flock together in delight over the Almighty, and you will
lift up your face to God. {22:27} You will plead with him,
and he will listen to you, and you will pay your vows.
{22:28} You will decide on something, and it will come to
you, and the light will shine in your ways. {22:29} For he
who had been humbled, will be in glory; and he who will
lower his eyes, will be the one saved. {22:30} The innocent
will be saved, and he will be saved with purity in his hands.


[Job 23] {23:1} Then Job answered by saying: {23:2} Now
again my conversation is in bitterness, and the force of my
scourging weighs more heavily on me because of my
mourning. {23:3} Who will grant me that I might know and
find him, and that I may approach even to his throne?
{23:4} I would place judgment before his eye, and my mouth
would fill with criticism, {23:5} so that I may know the
words that he will answer me and understand what he will
say to me. {23:6} I do not want him to contend with me with
much strength, nor to overwhelm me with the bulk of his
greatness. {23:7} Let him show fairness in response to me,
and let my judgment reach to victory. {23:8} If I go to the
east, he does not appear; if I go to the west, I will not
understand him. {23:9} If I turn to the left, what can I do? I
will not take hold of him. If I turn myself to the right, I will
not see him. {23:10} Truly, he knows my way and has tested
me like gold that passes through fire. {23:11} My feet have
been following his footsteps; I have kept to his way and have
not strayed from it. {23:12} I have not withdrawn from the
commands of his lips, and the words of his mouth I have
hidden in my sinews. {23:13} For he is alone, and no one is
able to disturb his intention; and whatever his spirit wills, that
he accomplishes. {23:14} And when he fulfills his will in me,
many other similar ones will also be present with him.
{23:15} And, for this reason, I have been troubled at his
presence, and, when I consider him, I am approached by fear.
{23:16} God has weakened my heart, and the Almighty has
confused me. {23:17} Yet I have not perished because of the
threatening darkness, nor has gloom covered my face.


[Job 24] {24:1} The times are not hidden from the Almighty;
even those who know him, do not know his days.
{24:2} Some have crossed the boundaries, plundered the
flocks, and given them pasture. {24:3} They have driven
away the donkey of orphans, and have taken the cow from
the widow as collateral. {24:4} They have undermined the
way of the poor, and have pressed together the meek of the
earth. {24:5} Others, like wild asses in the desert, go forth to
their work; by watching for prey, they obtain bread for their
children. {24:6} They reap a field that is not their own, and
they harvest a vineyard that they have taken by force.
{24:7} They send men away naked, having taken the clothing
of those who have no covering in the cold; {24:8} these are
wet with the mountain rain, and, having no covering, they
embrace the rocks. {24:9} They have used violence to deprive
orphans, and they have robbed the poor common people.
{24:10} From the naked and those who do not have enough
clothing, and from the hungry, they have taken away sheaves
of grain. {24:11} They take their midday rest among the
stockpiles of those who, though they have trodden the
winepresses, suffer thirst. {24:12} In the cities, they caused
the men to groan and the spirit of the wounded to cry out,
and so God does not allow this to go unpunished.
{24:13} They have been rebellious against the light; they
have not known his ways, nor have they returned by his paths.
{24:14} The killer of men rises at first light; he executes the
destitute and the poor, but, in truth, he is like a thief in the
night. {24:15} The eye of the adulterer waits for darkness,
saying, “No eye will see me,” and he covers his face.
{24:16} He passes through houses in the nighttime, just as
they had agreed among themselves in the daytime; and they
are ignorant of the light. {24:17} If sunrise should suddenly
appear, it is treated by them like the shadow of death; and
they walk in darkness, as if in light. {24:18} He is nimble on
the surface of water. His place on land is to be accursed. May
he not walk by way of the vineyards. {24:19} May he cross
from the snowy waters to excessive heat, and his sin, all the
way to hell. {24:20} Let mercy forget him. His charm is
worms. Let him not be remembered, but instead be broken
like an unfruitful tree. {24:21} For he has fed on the barren,
who does not bear fruit, and he has not done good to the
widow. {24:22} He has pulled down the strong by his
strength, and, when he stands up, he will not have trust in his
life. {24:23} God has given him a place for repentance, and
he abuses it with arrogance, but his eyes are upon his ways.
{24:24} They are lifted up for a little while, but they will not
continue, and they will be brought low, just like all things,
and they will be taken away, and, like the tops of the ears of
grain, they will be crushed. {24:25} But, if this is not so, who
is able to prove to me that I have lied and to place my words
before God?


[Job 25] {25:1} Then Baldad the Suhite answered by saying:
{25:2} Power and terror are with him that makes a pact with
those in high places. {25:3} Is there any limit to the number
of his soldiers or to the number of those over whom his light
rises? {25:4} Is it right for man to compare himself to God, or
to appear pure though he is born of woman? {25:5} Behold,
even the moon is not radiant, and the stars are not pure, in
his sight. {25:6} Is man much more than rottenness and the
son of man much more than worms?


[Job 26] {26:1} Then Job responded by saying:
{26:2} Whose assistant are you? Is he weak-minded? And do
you sustain the arm of him that is not strong? {26:3} To
whom have you given advice? Perhaps it is to him that has no
wisdom or prudence that you have revealed your many ideas.
{26:4} Who is it that you wanted to teach? Was it not him
that created the breath of life? {26:5} Behold, giant things
groan under the waters, and they dwell with them.
{26:6} The underworld is naked before him, and there is no
covering for perdition. {26:7} He stretched out the North
over emptiness, and he suspended the land over nothing.
{26:8} He secures the waters in his clouds, so that they do
not burst forth downward all at once. {26:9} He holds back
the face of his throne, and he stretches his cloud over it.
{26:10} He has set limits around the waters, until light and
darkness shall reach their limit. {26:11} The pillars of heaven
tremble and are frightened at his nod. {26:12} By his strength,
the seas suddenly gather together, and his foresight has struck
the arrogant. {26:13} His spirit has adorned the heavens, and
his birthing hand has brought forth the winding serpent.
{26:14} Behold, these things have been said about his ways in
part, and, since we barely have heard a small drop of his
word, who will be able to gaze upon the thunder of his
greatness?


[Job 27] {27:1} Job also added to this, using figures of speech,
and he said: {27:2} As God lives, who has taken away my
judgment, and the Almighty, who has led my soul to
bitterness, {27:3} as long as my breath remains in me and the
breath of God remains in my nostrils, {27:4} my lips will not
speak iniquity, nor will my tongue devise lies. {27:5} Far be
it from me that I should judge you to be right, for, until I
expire, I will not withdraw from my innocence. {27:6} I will
not forsake my justification, which I have just begun to grasp,
for my heart does not find blame for me in my whole life.
{27:7} Let the impious be as my enemy, and the sinful, as my
adversary. {27:8} For what hope is there for the hypocrite, if
he greedily plunders and God does not free his soul?
{27:9} Will God pay attention to his cry, when anguish
overcomes him? {27:10} Or will he take delight in the
Almighty and call upon God at all times? {27:11} I will teach
you through the hand of God, what the Almighty holds, and
I will not conceal it. {27:12} Behold, you know all this, and
so why do you speak vain things without a reason?
{27:13} This is the portion of the impious man with God,
and the inheritance of the violent, which they will receive
from the Almighty. {27:14} If his sons should happen to
increase, they will be for the sword, and his grandsons will
not be satisfied with bread. {27:15} Whatever will remain of
him will be buried in the ruins, and his widows will not weep.
{27:16} If he will amass silver as if it were dirt and fabricate
garments as if they were clay, {27:17} then yes, he will gather,
but the just will be clothed with it and the innocent will
divide the silver. {27:18} He has built his house like a moth,
and he has made a makeshift shelter like a sentry.
{27:19} When he falls asleep, the rich man will leave him
with nothing; he will open his eyes and find nothing.
{27:20} Destitution will surround him like water; a storm will
overwhelm him in the night. {27:21} A burning wind will
pick him up and carry him away, and, like a whirlwind, it
will rush him from his place. {27:22} And it will hurl over
him and will not spare him; fleeing from its power, he will go
into exile. {27:23} He will clasp his hands over himself, and
he will hiss at himself, while considering his situation.


[Job 28] {28:1} Silver has its fissures where it is first found,
and gold has a place where it is melted. {28:2} Iron is taken
from the earth, and ore, unbound by heat, is turned into brass.
{28:3} He has established a time for darkness, and he has
settled on an end for all things, as well as for the stone that is
in the gloom and shadow of death. {28:4} The burning
separates a pilgrim people from those who have been
forgotten by the feet of the destitute man and from the
unapproachable. {28:5} The land, where bread appeared in
its place, has been destroyed by fire. {28:6} Its stones are
embedded with sapphires, and its soil, with gold. {28:7} The
bird does not know its path, nor has the eye of the vulture
beheld it. {28:8} The sons of merchants have not walked
there, nor has the lioness traveled through it. {28:9} He has
stretched out his hand to the rocks; he has overturned the
foundations of the mountains. {28:10} He has cut rivers
through the rocks, and his eye has seen all precious things.
{28:11} The depths of rivers he has also examined, and he
has brought hidden things into the light. {28:12} But, in truth,
where is wisdom to be found, and where is the place of
understanding? {28:13} Man does not know its price, nor is it
found in the land of those who live in sweetness. {28:14} The
abyss declares, “It is not in me.” And the sea says, “It is not
with me.” {28:15} The finest gold will not be paid for it, nor
will silver be weighed in exchange for it. {28:16} It will not
be compared with the dyed colors of India, nor with the very
costly stone sardonyx, nor with the sapphire. {28:17} Neither
gold nor crystal will be its equal; neither will vessels of gold
be fitted for it. {28:18} The exalted and the eminent will not
be remembered in comparison with it. Yet wisdom is drawn
out of concealment. {28:19} The topaz of Ethiopia will not
be equal to it, nor will it be compared to the purest dyes.
{28:20} So then, where does wisdom begin, and where is the
place of understanding? {28:21} It has been hidden from the
eyes of all living things, just as the birds of the heavens escape
notice. {28:22} Perdition and death have said, “With our ears,
we have heard its fame.” {28:23} God understands its way,
and he knows its location. {28:24} For he beholds the limits
of the world, and he looks upon all things that are under
heaven. {28:25} He created a counterweight for the winds,
and he suspended the waters to measure them. {28:26} At
that time, he gave a law to the rain and a path to the
resounding storms. {28:27} Then he saw and explained it,
and he made ready and examined it. {28:28} And he said to
man, “Behold the fear of the Lord. Such is wisdom. And to
withdraw from evil, this is understanding.”


[Job 29] {29:1} Job also added to this, using figures of speech,
and he said: {29:2} Who will grant to me that I might be as I
was in former months, according to the days when God kept
watch over me? {29:3} At that time, his lamp shined over my
head, and by his light, I walked through the darkness.
{29:4} I was then just as in the days of my youth, when God
was privately in my tabernacle. {29:5} At that time, the
Almighty was with me and my children surrounded me.
{29:6} Then, I washed my feet with butter, and a boulder
poured out rivers of oil for me. {29:7} When I went to the
gate of the city, or to the main street, they prepared a chair
for me. {29:8} The youths saw me and hid themselves, and
the elders, rising up, remained standing. {29:9} The leaders
stopped talking, and they placed a finder over their mouth.
{29:10} The commanders subdued their voice, and their
tongue adhered to their throat. {29:11} The ear that heard me,
blessed me, and the eye that saw me, gave testimony for me.
{29:12} This was because I had freed the poor, who cried out,
and the orphan, who had no helper. {29:13} The blessing of
him who would have been destroyed came upon me, and I
consoled the heart of the widow. {29:14} I put on justice, and
I clothed myself with my judgment, like a robe and a diadem.
{29:15} I was an eye for the blind and a foot for the lame.
{29:16} I was the father of the poor; and if I lacked
knowledge about any case, I investigated very diligently.
{29:17} I crushed the jaws of the impious, and I took away
prey from his teeth. {29:18} And I said, “I will die in my little
nest, and like a palm tree, I will multiply my days.
{29:19} My root has been spread beside the waters, and the
dew will remain with my harvest. {29:20} My glory will
always be restored, and my bow will be restored to my
hand.” {29:21} Those who heard me, expected vindication,
and they listened closely in silence to my counsel. {29:22} To
my words, they dared to add nothing, and my eloquence
poured over them. {29:23} They waited for me as for rain,
and they opened their mouth as for belated rains. {29:24} If I
had ever laughed at them, they would not have believed it,
and the light of my face was not cast down towards the
ground. {29:25} If I wished to go to them, I sat down first,
and, though I sat like a king surrounded by an army, yet I
was a comforter to whose who mourned.


[Job 30] {30:1} But now, those younger in years scorn me,
whose fathers I would not have seen fit to place with the dogs
of my flock, {30:2} the strength of whose hands was nothing
to me, and they were considered unworthy of life itself.
{30:3} They were barren from poverty and hunger; they
gnawed in solitude, layered with misfortune and misery.
{30:4} And they chewed grass and the bark from trees, and
the root of junipers was their food. {30:5} They took these
things from the steep valleys, and when they discovered one
of these things, they rushed to the others with a cry.
{30:6} They lived in the parched desert and in caves
underground or above the rocks. {30:7} They rejoiced among
these kinds of things, and they considered it delightful to be
under thorns. {30:8} These are the sons of foolish and base
men, not even paying any attention to the land. {30:9} Now I
become their song, and I have been made into their proverb.
{30:10} They loathe me, and so they flee far from me, and
they are not reluctant to spit in my face. {30:11} For he has
opened his quiver and has afflicted me, and he has placed a
bridle in my mouth. {30:12} Immediately, upon rising, my
calamities rise up to the right. They have overturned my feet
and have pressed me down along their way like waves.
{30:13} They have diverted my journeys; they have waited to
ambush me, and they have prevailed, and there was no one
who might bring help. {30:14} They have rushed upon me, as
when a wall is broken or a gate opened, and they have been
pulled down into my miseries. {30:15} I have been reduced
to nothing. You have taken away my desire like a wind, and
my health has passed by like a cloud. {30:16} But now my
soul withers within myself, and the days of affliction take
hold of me. {30:17} At night, my bone is pierced with
sorrows, and those who feed on me, do not sleep. {30:18} By
the sheer number of them my clothing is worn away, and
they have closed in on me like the collar of my coat.
{30:19} I have been treated like dirt, and I have been turned
into embers and ashes. {30:20} I cry to you, and you do not
heed me. I stand up, and you do not look back at me.
{30:21} You have changed me into hardness, and, with the
hardness of your hand, you oppose me. {30:22} You have
lifted me up, and, placing me as if on the wind, you have
thrown me down powerfully. {30:23} I know that you will
hand me over to death, where a home has been established
for all the living. {30:24} Truly, then, you do not extend your
hand in order to consume them, and if they fall down, you
will save them. {30:25} Once, I wept over him who was
afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor. {30:26} I
expected good things, but evil things have come to me. I
stood ready for light, yet darkness burst forth. {30:27} My
insides have seethed, without any rest, for the days of
affliction have prevented it. {30:28} I went forth mourning,
without anger, and rising up, I cried out in confusion.
{30:29} I was the brother of snakes, and the companion of
ostriches. {30:30} My skin has become blackened over me,
and my bones have dried up because of the heat. {30:31} My
harp has been turned into mourning, and my pipes have been
turned into a voice of weeping.


[Job 31] {31:1} I reached an agreement with my eyes, that I
would not so much as think about a virgin. {31:2} For what
portion should God from above hold for me, and what
inheritance should the Almighty from on high keep? {31:3} Is
not destruction held for the wicked and repudiation kept for
those who work injustice? {31:4} Does he not examine my
ways and number all my steps? {31:5} If I have walked in
vanity, or if my foot has hurried towards deceitfulness,
{31:6} let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know
my simplicity. {31:7} If my steps have turned aside from the
way, or if my heart has followed my eyes, or if a blemish has
clung to my hands, {31:8} then may I sow, and let another
consume, and let my offspring be eradicated. {31:9} If my
heart has been deceived over a woman, or if I have waited in
ambush at my friend’s door, {31:10} then let my wife be the
harlot of another, and let other men lean over her.
{31:11} For this is a crime and a very great injustice.
{31:12} It is a fire devouring all the way to perdition, and it
roots out all that springs forth. {31:13} If I have despised
being subject to judgment with my servant or my maid, when
they had any complaint against me, {31:14} then what will I
do when God rises to judge, and, when he inquires, how will
I respond to him? {31:15} Is not he who created me in the
womb, also he who labored to make him? And did not one
and the same form me in the womb? {31:16} If I have denied
the poor what they wanted and have made the eyes of the
widow wait; {31:17} if I have eaten my morsel of food alone,
while orphans have not eaten from it; {31:18} (for from my
infancy mercy grew with me, and it came out with me from
my mother’s womb;) {31:19} if I have looked down on him
who was perishing because he had no clothing and the poor
without any covering, {31:20} if his sides have not blessed
me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
{31:21} if I have lifted up my hand over an orphan, even
when it might seem to me that I the advantage over him at
the gate; {31:22} then may my shoulder fall from its joint,
and may my arm, with all its bones, be broken. {31:23} For I
have always feared God, like waves flowing over me, whose
weight I was unable to bear. {31:24} If I have considered
gold to be my strength, or if I have called purified gold ‘my
Trust;’ {31:25} if I have rejoiced over my great success, and
over the many things my hand has obtained; {31:26} if I
gazed upon the sun when it shined and the moon advancing
brightly, {31:27} so that my heart rejoiced in secret and I
kissed my hand with my mouth, {31:28} which is a very
great iniquity and a denial against the most high God;
{31:29} if I have been glad at the ruin of him who hated me
and have exulted that evil found him, {31:30} for I have not
been given my throat to sin by asking for a curse on his soul;
{31:31} if the men around my tabernacle have not said: “He
might give us some of his food, so that we will be filled,”
{31:32} for the foreigner did not remain at the door, my door
was open to the traveler; {31:33} if, as man does, I have
hidden my sin and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom;
{31:34} if I became frightened by an excessive crowd, and the
disrespect of close relatives alarmed me, so that I would
much rather have remained silent or have gone out the door;
{31:35} then, would he grant me a hearing, so that the
Almighty would listen to my desire, and he who judges
would himself write a book, {31:36} which I would then
carry on my shoulder and wrap around me like a crown?
{31:37} With each of my steps, I would pronounce and offer
it, as if to a prince. {31:38} So, if my land cries out against
me, and if its furrows weep with it, {31:39} if I have used its
fruits for nothing but money and have afflicted the souls of its
tillers, {31:40} then, may thistles spring forth for me instead
of grain, and thorns instead of barley. (This ended the words
of Job.)


[Job 32] {32:1} But these three men ceased to answer Job,
because he considered himself justified. {32:2} And Eliu the
son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram, was angry
and indignant. But he was angry against Job because he
described himself to be just in the presence of God.
{32:3} Moreover, he was indignant with his friends because
they had not found a reasonable response, except in so far as
they condemned Job. {32:4} Therefore, Eliu waited while
Job was talking, for these were his elders that were speaking.
{32:5} But when he saw that these three were not able to
respond, he was extremely angry. {32:6} And so Eliu the son
of Barachel the Buzite responded by saying: I am younger in
years, and you are more ancient; therefore, I kept my head
low, for I was afraid to reveal to you my opinion. {32:7} For
I had hoped that greater age would speak, and that a
multitude of years would teach wisdom. {32:8} But I see now
that there is only breath in men, and that it is the inspiration
of the Almighty that gives understanding. {32:9} The wise
are not the aged, nor do the elders understand judgment.
{32:10} Therefore, I will speak. Listen to me, and so I will
show you my wisdom. {32:11} For I have endured your
words; I have paid attention to your deliberations, while you
were being argumentative with words. {32:12} And as long
as I supposed that you were saying something, I considered;
but now I see that there is none of you that is able to argue
with Job and to respond to his words. {32:13} So that you
will not say, “We have found wisdom,” God has thrown him
down, not man. {32:14} He has said nothing to me, and I
will not respond to him according to your words.
{32:15} Then they were filled with dread, and so they no
longer responded, and they withdrew from their
speechmaking. {32:16} Therefore, because I have waited and
they have not been speaking, for they stood firm and did not
respond at all, {32:17} I also will answer in my turn, and I
will reveal my knowledge. {32:18} For I am full of words,
and the feeling in my gut inspires me. {32:19} Yes, my
stomach is like fermenting wine without a vent, which bursts
the new containers. {32:20} I should speak, but I will also
breathe a little; I will open my lips, and I will answer.
{32:21} I will not esteem the reputation of a man, and I will
not equate God with man. {32:22} For I do not know how
long I will continue, and whether, after a while, my Maker
might take me away.


[Job 33] {33:1} Therefore, hear my speeches, Job, and listen
to all my words. {33:2} Behold, I have opened my mouth; let
my tongue speak along with my throat. {33:3} My words are
from my simple heart, and my lips will speak a pure
judgment. {33:4} The Spirit of God made me, and the breath
of the Almighty gave me life. {33:5} If you can, answer me,
and oppose me to my face. {33:6} Behold, God has made me,
just as he also has made you, and I, likewise, have been
formed of the same clay. {33:7} So, truly, do not let my
wonders terrify you, and do not let my eloquence be
burdensome to you. {33:8} For you have spoken in my
hearing, and I have heard the voice of your words, saying:
{33:9} “I am clean and without sin; I am immaculate, and
there is no iniquity in me. {33:10} Yet he has discovered
blame in me, and so he has treated me like his enemy.
{33:11} He has put my feet in fetters; he has kept watch over
all my ways.” {33:12} Therefore, it is for this reason that you
have not been justified. For I tell you that God is greater than
man. {33:13} Do you contend against him because he has
not responded to all of your words? {33:14} God speaks once,
and he does not repeat the same thing a second time.
{33:15} Through a dream in a vision of the night, when a
deep sleep falls over men, and they are sleeping in their beds,
{33:16} then, he opens the ears of men, and, educating them,
he teaches discipline, {33:17} so that he may divert a man
from the things that he is doing, and may free him from pride,
{33:18} rescuing his soul from corruption and his life from
passing away by the sword. {33:19} Likewise, he rebukes by
sorrow in bed, and he causes all of his bones to become weak.
{33:20} Bread becomes abominable to him in his life, and, to
his soul, the meat which before he desired. {33:21} His body
will waste away, and his bones, which had been covered, will
be revealed. {33:22} His soul has approached corruption, and
his life has drawn near to what is deadly. {33:23} If there
were an angel speaking for him, one among thousands, to
declare the fairness of the man, {33:24} he will have mercy
on him, and he will say, “Free him, so that he will not
descend to destruction. I have found a reason to be favorable
to him. {33:25} His body is consumed by suffering. Let him
return to the days of his youth.” {33:26} He will beg pardon
from God, and he will be soothing to him; and he will look
upon his face in jubilation, and he will restore his justice to
man. {33:27} He will consider mankind, and he will say: “I
have sinned and truly I have offended, yet I was not treated
as I deserved.” {33:28} He has freed his soul from continuing
into destruction, so that, in living, it may see the light.
{33:29} Behold, all these things God works three times
within each one, {33:30} so that he may revive their souls
from corruption and enlighten them with the light of life.
{33:31} Pay attention Job, and listen to me; and remain silent,
while I speak. {33:32} Yet, if you have anything to say,
answer me and speak, for I want you to be treated justly.
{33:33} But if you do not have anything to say, then listen to
me. Be quiet and I will teach you wisdom.


[Job 34] {34:1} After proclaiming these things, Eliu now had
this to say: {34:2} May the wise hear my words, and may the
educated listen to me. {34:3} For the ear examines words,
and the mouth discerns foods by the taste. {34:4} Let us
choose judgment for ourselves, and let us consider among
ourselves what is best. {34:5} For Job has said: “I am just, yet
God has subverted my judgment. {34:6} For, within my
judgment, there is a lie: my vehement barbs are without any
sin.” {34:7} What man is there that is like Job, who drinks up
derision as if it were water, {34:8} who accompanies those
who work iniquity, and who walks with impious men?
{34:9} For he has said, “Man will not please God, even if he
should travel with him.” {34:10} Therefore, prudent men,
hear me: impiety is far from God, and iniquity is far from the
Almighty. {34:11} For he will restore to man his works, and
according to the ways of each, he will repay them.
{34:12} For truly, God will not condemn in vain, nor will the
Almighty repudiate judgment. {34:13} What other is
established over the earth? Or whom has he placed over the
world, which he made? {34:14} But, if he directs his heart
towards him, he will draw his spirit and breath to himself.
{34:15} All flesh will fail together, and man will return to
ashes. {34:16} Therefore, if you have understanding, hear
what is said, and heed the sound of my eloquence. {34:17} Is
he that does not love judgment able to be corrected? And
how can you so greatly condemn him who is just?
{34:18} He says to the king, “You are an apostate.” He calls
commanders impious. {34:19} He does not accept the
reputation of leaders; nor does he recognize the tyrant as he
contends against the poor. For all are the work of his hands.
{34:20} They will die suddenly, and the people will be
troubled in the middle of the night, but they will pass through
it, and the violent will be taken away without a hand.
{34:21} For his eyes are upon the ways of men, and he
examines all of their steps. {34:22} There is no darkness and
no shadow of death, where those who work iniquity may be
hidden. {34:23} For it is no longer within the power of man
to enter into judgment with God. {34:24} He will break into
many innumerable pieces, and he will cause others to stand
up in their place. {34:25} For he knows their works, and, as a
result, he will bring the night, and they will be crushed.
{34:26} Just as the impious do, he has struck them in a place
where they can be seen. {34:27} They, as if with great
diligence, have withdrawn from him, and they refused to
understand all his ways, {34:28} so that they caused the
outcry of the needy to reach him, and he heard the voice of
the poor. {34:29} For, when he grants peace, who is there
that can condemn? When he hides his face, who is there that
can contemplate him, either among the nations, or among all
men? {34:30} He causes a hypocritical man to reign because
of the sins of the people. {34:31} Therefore, since I have been
speaking about God, I will not prevent you from doing the
same. {34:32} If I have erred, you may teach me; if I have
spoken unfairly, I will add no more. {34:33} Does God
require this of you because it is displeasing to you? For you
were the first to speak, and not I. But if you know something
better, speak. {34:34} Let men of understanding speak to me,
and let a wise man listen to me. {34:35} But Job has been
speaking foolishly, and his words contain unsound teaching.
{34:36} My father, let Job be tested even to the end; may you
not retreat from a man of iniquity. {34:37} For he adds
blasphemy on top of his sins; nevertheless, let him be
constrained to be among us, and then let him provoke God to
judgment with his speeches.


[Job 35] {35:1} After this, Eliu again spoke in this way:
{35:2} Does it seem right to you in your thoughts, that you
should say, “I am more just than God?” {35:3} For you said,
“Having done what is right does not please you,” and, “How
will it benefit you, if I sin?” {35:4} And so, I will respond to
your words, and to your friends who are with you.
{35:5} Look up towards heaven and consider; also, think
about the sky, which is higher than you. {35:6} If you sin,
how will it hurt him? And if your iniquities are multiplied,
what will you do against him? {35:7} Furthermore, if you act
justly, what will you give him, or what will he receive from
your hand? {35:8} Your impiety may hurt a man who is like
you, though your justice may help the son of the man.
{35:9} Because of the multitude of false accusers, they will
cry out; and they will lament because of the strong arm of the
tyrants. {35:10} Yet he has not said: “Where is God, who
made me, who has given songs in the night, {35:11} who
teaches us in addition to the beasts of the earth, and who
educates us along with the birds of the air?” {35:12} There
they will cry, and he will not heed them, because of the
arrogance of the wicked. {35:13} Therefore, God does not
hear in vain, and the Almighty will look into each and every
case. {35:14} And so, when you say, “He does not examine,”
be judged before him, but wait for him. {35:15} For, at the
present time, he does not bring forth his fury, nor does he
punish sin exceedingly. {35:16} Therefore, Job has opened
his mouth in vain and has multiplied words without
knowledge.


[Job 36] {36:1} Continuing in a similar manner, Eliu had this
to say: {36:2} Bear with me for a little while and I will show
you; for I have still more to say in favor of God. {36:3} I will
review my knowledge from the beginning, and I will prove
my Maker to be just. {36:4} For truly my words are without
any falsehood and perfect knowledge will be proven to you.
{36:5} God does not abandon the powerful, for he himself is
also powerful. {36:6} But he does not save the impious,
though he grants judgment to the poor. {36:7} He will not
take his eyes away from the just, and he continually
establishes kings on their throne, and they are exalted.
{36:8} And, if they are in captivity, or are bound with the
chains of poverty, {36:9} he will reveal to them their works,
as well as their sinfulness, in that they were violent.
{36:10} Likewise, he will open their ears to his correction,
and he will speak to them, so that they may return from
iniquity. {36:11} If they listen and obey, they will fill their
days with goodness and complete their years in glory.
{36:12} But if they will not listen, they will pass away by the
sword and will be consumed by foolishness. {36:13} The
false and the crafty provoke the wrath of God, yet they do not
cry out to him when they are chained. {36:14} Their soul will
die in a storm, and their life, among the unmanly. {36:15} He
will rescue the poor from his anguish, and he will open his
ear during tribulation. {36:16} Therefore, he will save you
from the narrow mouth very widely, even though it has no
foundation under it. Moreover, your respite at table will be
full of fatness. {36:17} Your case has been judged like that of
the impious; you will withdraw your plea and your judgment.
{36:18} Therefore, do not let anger overwhelm you so that
you oppress another; neither should you allow a multitude of
gifts to influence you. {36:19} Lay down your greatness
without distress, and put aside all of your power with courage.
{36:20} Do not prolong the night, even if people rise on their
behalf. {36:21} Be careful that you do not turn to iniquity; for,
after your misery, you have begun to follow this.
{36:22} Behold, God is exalted in his strength, and there is
no one like him among the law-givers. {36:23} Who is able to
investigate his ways? And who can say, “You have done
iniquity,” to him? {36:24} Remember that you are ignorant
of his work, yet men have sung its praises. {36:25} All men
consider him; and each one ponders from a distance.
{36:26} Behold, God is great, defeating our knowledge; the
number of his years is inestimable. {36:27} He carries away
the drops of rain, and he sends forth showers like a raging
whirlpool; {36:28} they flow from the clouds that are woven
above everything. {36:29} If he wills it, he extends the clouds
as his tent {36:30} and shines with his light from above;
likewise, he covers the oceans within his tent. {36:31} For he
judges the people by these things, and he gives food to a
multitude of mortals. {36:32} Within his hands, he hides the
light, and he commands it to come forth again. {36:33} He
announces it to his friend, for it is his possession and he is
able to reach out to it.


[Job 37] {37:1} At this, my heart became frightened, and it
has been moved from its place. {37:2} Pay close attention to
the alarm of his voice and to the sound that proceeds from his
mouth. {37:3} He beholds everything under the heavens, and
his light reaches beyond the ends of the earth. {37:4} After
this, a noise will sound; he will thunder with the voice of his
greatness, and it will not be tracked down, yet his voice will
be obeyed. {37:5} God will thunder with his voice
miraculously, for he performs great and unsearchable things.
{37:6} He commands the snow to descend on earth, and the
winter rains, and the shower of his strength. {37:7} He signs
the hand of all men, so that each one may know his works.
{37:8} The beast will enter his hiding-place, and he will
remain in his cave. {37:9} From the interior, a storm will
come forth, and a cold winter from the north. {37:10} As
God breathes out, frost forms, and the waters are poured
forth very widely again. {37:11} Crops desire clouds, and the
clouds scatter their light. {37:12} It shines all around,
wherever the will of him that governs them will lead, to
anywhere he will command, over the whole face of the earth,
{37:13} whether in one tribe, or in his own region, or in
whatever place of his mercy that he will order them to be
found. {37:14} Listen to these things, Job. Stand up and
consider the wonders of God. {37:15} Do you know when
God ordered the rains, so as to show the light of his clouds?
{37:16} Do you know the great paths of the clouds, and the
perfect sciences? {37:17} Are not your garments hot, when
the south wind blows across the land? {37:18} Perhaps you
have made the heavens with him, which are very solid, as if
they had been cast from brass. {37:19} Reveal to us what we
should say to him, for, of course, we are wrapped in darkness.
{37:20} Who will explain to him the things that I am saying?
Even while a man is still speaking, he will be devoured.
{37:21} Although they do not see the light, the air will be
thickened suddenly into clouds, and the wind, passing by,
will drive them away. {37:22} Riches arrive from the north,
and fearful praise reaches out to God. {37:23} We are not
worthy to be able to find him. Great in strength, great in
judgment, great in justice: he is indescribable.
{37:24} Therefore, men will fear him, and all those who seem
to themselves to be wise, will not dare to contemplate him.


[Job 38] {38:1} But the Lord, responding to Job from a
whirlwind, said: {38:2} Who is this that wraps sentences in
unskilled words? {38:3} Gird your waist like a man. I will
question you, and you must answer me. {38:4} Where were
you, when I set the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you
have understanding. {38:5} Who set its measurements, if you
know, or who stretched a line over it? {38:6} Upon what
have its bases been grounded, and who set forth its
cornerstone, {38:7} when the morning stars praised me
together, and all the sons of God made a joyful noise?
{38:8} Who enclosed the sea with doors, when it broke forth
as if issuing from the womb, {38:9} when I stationed a cloud
as its garment and wrapped it in a mist as if swaddling an
infant? {38:10} I encircled it with my limits, and I positioned
its bars and doors. {38:11} And I said: “This far you will
approach, and you will proceeded no further, and here you
will break your swelling waves.” {38:12} Did you, after your
birth, command the birth of the sun and show the sunrise its
place? {38:13} And did you hold the extremities of the earth,
shaking them, and have you shaken the impious out of it?
{38:14} The seal will be restored like clay, and it will remain
in place like a garment. {38:15} From the impious, the light
will be taken away, and the exalted arm will be broken.
{38:16} Have you entered the depths of the sea, and have you
taken a walk in the uttermost parts of the abyss?
{38:17} Have the gates of death been opened to you, and
have you seen the doors of darkness? {38:18} Have you
considered the breadth of the earth? If you know all things,
reveal them to me. {38:19} Which is the way that holds the
light, and which is the place of darkness? {38:20} In this way,
you might lead each thing to its final place, and understand
the paths of its house. {38:21} So then, did you know when
you were to be born? And did you know the number of your
days? {38:22} Have you been admitted into the storehouses
of the snows, and have you gazed upon the stockpile of the
brimstone, {38:23} which I have prepared for the time of the
enemy, for the day of the battle and the war? {38:24} In what
way is the light scattered, and the heat distributed, over the
earth? {38:25} Who gave a course to the rainstorms, and a
path to the resounding thunder, {38:26} so that it would rain
on the earth far from man, in the wilderness where no mortal
lingers, {38:27} so that it would fill impassable and desolate
places, and would bring forth green plants? {38:28} Who is
the father of rain, or who conceived the drops of dew?
{38:29} From whose womb did the ice proceed, and who
created the frost from the air? {38:30} The waters are
hardened to become like stone, and the surface of the abyss
freezes over. {38:31} Will you have the strength to join
together the sparkling stars of the Pleiades, or are you able to
disperse the circling of Arcturus? {38:32} Can you bring forth
the morning star, in its time, and make the evening star rise
over the sons of the earth? {38:33} Do you know the order of
heaven, and can you explain its rules here on the earth?
{38:34} Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that an
onslaught of waters will cover you? {38:35} Can you send
forth lightning bolts, and will they go, and on returning, say
to you: “Here we are?” {38:36} Who placed discernment in
the guts of man, or who gave the rooster intelligence?
{38:37} Who can describe the rules of the heavens, or who
can put to rest the harmony of heaven? {38:38} When was
the dust cast to become the earth, and when were its clods
fastened together? {38:39} Will you seize prey for the lioness,
and will you sustain the lives of her young, {38:40} as they
rest in their dens or lie in wait in pits? {38:41} Who provides
the raven with its meal, when her chicks cry out to God, as
they wander around because they have no food?


[Job 39] {39:1} Do you know at what time the wild goats
have given birth among the rocks, or do you observe the deer
when they go into labor? {39:2} Have you numbered the
months since their conception, and do you know at what
time they gave birth? {39:3} They bend themselves for their
offspring, and they give birth, and they emit roars.
{39:4} Their young are weaned and go out to feed; they
depart and do not return to them. {39:5} Who has set the
wild ass free, and who has released his bonds? {39:6} I have
given a house in solitude to him, and his tabernacle is in the
salted land. {39:7} He despises the crowded city; he does not
pay attention to the bellow of the tax collector. {39:8} He
looks around the mountains of his pasture, and he searches
everywhere for green plants. {39:9} Will the rhinoceros be
willing to serve you, and will he remain in your stall?
{39:10} Can you detain the rhinoceros with your harness to
plough for you, and will he loosen the soil of the furrows
behind you? {39:11} Will you put your faith in his great
strength, and delegate your labors to him? {39:12} Will you
trust him to return to you the seed, and to gather it on your
drying floor? {39:13} The wing of the ostrich is like the wings
of the heron, and of the hawk. {39:14} When she leaves eggs
behind in the earth, will you perhaps warm them in the dust?
{39:15} She forgets that feet may trample them, or that the
beasts of the field may shatter them. {39:16} She is hardened
against her young, as if they were not hers; she has labored in
vain, with no fear compelling her. {39:17} For God has
deprived her of wisdom; neither has he given her
understanding. {39:18} Yet, when the time is right, she raises
her wings on high; she ridicules the horse and his rider.
{39:19} Will you supply strength to the horse, or envelope his
throat with neighing? {39:20} Will you alarm him as the
locusts do? His panic is revealed by the display of his nostrils.
{39:21} He digs at the earth with his hoof; he jumps around
boldly; he advances to meet armed men. {39:22} He despises
fear; he does not turn away from the sword. {39:23} Above
him, the quiver rattles, the spear and the shield shake.
{39:24} Seething and raging, he drinks up the earth; neither
does he pause when the blast of the trumpet sounds.
{39:25} When he hears the bugle, he says, “Ha!” He smells
the battle from a distance, the exhortation of the officers, and
the battle cry of the soldiers. {39:26} Does the hawk grow
feathers by means of your wisdom, spreading her wings
towards the south? {39:27} Will the eagle lift herself up at
your command and make her nest in steep places?
{39:28} She dwells among the rocks, and she lingers among
broken boulders and inaccessible cliffs. {39:29} From there,
she looks for food, and her eyes catch sight of it from far
away. {39:30} Her young will drink blood, and wherever the
carcass will be, she is there immediately. {39:31} And the
Lord continued, and he said to Job: {39:32} Will he who
contends with God be so easily silenced? Certainly, he who
argues with God must also respond to him. {39:33} Then Job
answered the Lord, saying: {39:34} What could I possibly
answer, since I have been speaking thoughtlessly? I will place
my hand over my mouth. {39:35} One thing I have spoken,
which I wish I had not said; and another, to which I will add
no more.


[Job 40] {40:1} But the Lord, answering Job out of the
whirlwind, said: {40:2} Gird your waist like a man. I will
question you, and you must answer me. {40:3} Will you
make my judgment null and void; and will you condemn me
so that you may be justified? {40:4} And do you have an arm
like God, or a voice like thunder? {40:5} Envelop yourself
with splendor, and raise yourself up on high, and be glorious,
and put on splendid garments. {40:6} Scatter the arrogant
with your wrath, and, when you see all the arrogant, humble
them. {40:7} Look down upon each of the arrogant and
confound them, and crush the impious in their place.
{40:8} Hide them in the dust together and plunge their faces
into the pit. {40:9} Then I will confess that your right hand is
able to save you. {40:10} Behold, the behemoth, whom I
created along with you, eats hay like an ox. {40:11} His
strength is in his lower back, and his power is in the center of
his abdomen. {40:12} He draws up his tail like a cedar; the
sinews of his thighs have been drawn together. {40:13} His
bones are like pipes of brass; his cartilage is like plates of iron.
{40:14} He is the beginning of the ways of God, who made
him; he will use him as his sword. {40:15} The mountains
bring forth grass for him; all the beasts of the field will play
there. {40:16} He sleeps in the shadows, under the cover of
branches, and in moist places. {40:17} The shadows cover his
shadow; the willows of the brook will encircle him.
{40:18} Behold, he will drink a river and not be amazed, and
he has confidence that the Jordan could flow into his mouth.
{40:19} He will seize him through his eyes, as if with a hook,
and he will bore through his nostrils, as if with stakes.
{40:20} Can you draw out the leviathan with a hook, and can
you bind his tongue with a cord? {40:21} Can you place a
ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw with an arm band?
{40:22} Will he offer many prayers to you, or speak to you
quietly? {40:23} Will he form a covenant with you, and will
you accept him as a servant forever? {40:24} Will you play
with him as with a bird, or tether him for your handmaids?
{40:25} Will your friends cut him into pieces, will dealers
distribute him? {40:26} Will you fill up bags with his hide,
and let his head be used as a home for fishes? {40:27} Place
your hand upon him; remember the battle and speak no more.
{40:28} Behold, his hope will fail him, and in the sight of all,
he will be thrown down.


[Job 41] {41:1} I will not rouse him, as the cruel would do,
for who is able to withstand my countenance? {41:2} Who
has given to me beforehand, so that I should repay him? All
things that are under heaven are mine. {41:3} I will not spare
him, nor his powerful words and counterfeit attempts at
supplication. {41:4} Who can reveal the beauty of his
garment? And who can enter the middle of his mouth?
{41:5} Who can open the doors of his face? I gave fear to the
circle of his teeth. {41:6} His body is like shields fused
together, like dense scales pressed over one another.
{41:7} One is joined to another, and not even air can pass
between them. {41:8} They adhere to one another, and they
hold themselves in place and will not be separated.
{41:9} His sneezing has the brilliance of fire, and his eyes are
like the eyelids of the morning. {41:10} Lamps proceed from
his mouth, like torches of fire burning brightly.
{41:11} Smoke passes out of his nostrils, like a pot that is
heated and boiling. {41:12} His breath causes coal to burn,
and a flame comes forth from his mouth. {41:13} Strength
dwells in his neck, and destitution goes before his presence.
{41:14} The parts of his body work in harmony together. He
will send lightning bolts against him, and they will not be
carried to another place. {41:15} His heart will be as hard as
a stone and as dense as a blacksmith’s anvil. {41:16} When
he will be raised up, the angels will be afraid, and, because
they are terrified, they will purify themselves. {41:17} When
a sword catches up with him, it will not be able to settle in,
nor a spear, nor a breastplate. {41:18} For he will consider
iron as if it were chaff, and brass as if it were rotten wood.
{41:19} The archer will not cause him to flee; the stones of
the sling have been turned into stubble for him. {41:20} He
will treat the hammer as if it were stubble, and he will
ridicule those who brandish the spear. {41:21} The beams of
the sun will be under him, and he will dispense gold to them
as if it were clay. {41:22} He will make the depths of the sea
boil like a pot, and he will set it to bubble just as ointments do.
{41:23} A path will shine after him; he will esteem the abyss
as if it were weakening with age. {41:24} There is no power
on the earth that is being compared to him, who has been
made so that he fears no one. {41:25} He sees every
prominent thing; he is king over all the sons of arrogance.


[Job 42] {42:1} Then Job, responding to the Lord, said:
{42:2} I know that you are able to do all things, and that no
thoughts are hidden from you. {42:3} So, who is it that
would disguise a lack of knowledge as counsel? Therefore, I
have been speaking foolishly, about things whose measure
exceeds my knowledge. {42:4} Listen, and I will speak. I will
question you, and you may answer me. {42:5} By paying
attention with the ear, I have heard you, but now my eye sees
you. {42:6} Therefore, I find myself reprehensible, and I will
do penance in embers and ashes. {42:7} But after the Lord
had finished speaking these words to Job, he said to Eliphaz
the Themanite: My wrath has been kindled against you, and
against your two friends, because you have not been speaking
correctly in my eyes, as my servant Job has done.
{42:8} Therefore, have seven bulls and seven rams brought
to you, and go to my servant Job, and offer these as a
holocaust for yourselves. But also, my servant Job will pray
for you; I will accept his face, so that foolishness will not be
imputed to you. For you have not been speaking correctly
about me, as my servant Job has done. {42:9} So Eliphaz the
Themanite, and Baldad the Suhite, and Zophar the
Naamathite departed, and they did just as the Lord had
spoken to them, and the Lord accepted the face of Job.
{42:10} Likewise, the Lord was moved by the repentance of
Job, when he prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave to
Job twice as much as he had before. {42:11} Yet all his
brethren came to him, and all his sisters, and everyone who
had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his
house. They also shook their heads over him and comforted
him, because of all the bad things that God had inflicted on
him. And each one of them gave him one female sheep, and
one earring of gold. {42:12} And the Lord blessed the latter
end of Job even more than his beginning. And he had
fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a
thousand pairs of oxen, and a thousand she-donkeys.
{42:13} And he had seven sons and three daughters.
{42:14} And he called the name of one, Daylight, and the
name of the second, Cinnamon, and the name of the third,
Horn of Cosmetics. {42:15} And, in the whole world, there
were not found women so beautiful as the daughters of Job.
And so their father gave them an inheritance along with their
brothers. {42:16} But Job lived long after these events, for a
hundred and forty years, and he saw his children, and his
children’s children, all the way to the fourth generation, and
he died an old man and full of days.


** The Book of Psalms **


[Psalm 1] {1:1} Blessed is the man who has not followed the
counsel of the impious, and has not remained in the way of
sinners, and has not sat in the chair of pestilence. {1:2} But
his will is with the law of the Lord, and he will meditate on
his law, day and night. {1:3} And he will be like a tree that
has been planted beside running waters, which will provide
its fruit in its time, and its leaf will not fall away, and all
things whatsoever that he does will prosper. {1:4} Not so the
impious, not so. For they are like the dust that the wind casts
along the face of the earth. {1:5} Therefore, the impious will
not prevail again in judgment, nor sinners in the council of
the just. {1:6} For the Lord knows the way of the just. And
the path of the impious will pass away.


[Psalm 2] {2:1} Why have the Gentiles been seething, and
why have the people been pondering nonsense? {2:2} The
kings of the earth have stood up, and the leaders have joined
together as one, against the Lord and against his Christ:
{2:3} “Let us shatter their chains and cast their yoke away
from us.” {2:4} He who dwells in heaven will ridicule them,
and the Lord will mock them. {2:5} Then will he speak to
them in his anger and trouble them with his fury. {2:6} Yet I
have been appointed king by him over Zion, his holy
mountain, preaching his precepts. {2:7} The Lord has said to
me: You are my son, this day have I begotten you. {2:8} Ask
of me and I will give to you: the Gentiles for your inheritance,
and the ends of the earth for your possession. {2:9} You will
rule them with an iron rod, and you will shatter them like a
potter’s vessel. {2:10} And now, O kings, understand.
Receive instruction, you who judge the earth. {2:11} Serve
the Lord in fear, and exult in him with trembling.
{2:12} Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord might
become angry, and you would perish from the way of the just.
{2:13} Though his wrath can flare up in a short time, blessed
are all those who trust in him.


[Psalm 3] {3:1} A Psalm of David. When he fled from the
face of his son, Absalom. {3:2} Lord, why have those who
trouble me been multiplied? Many rise up against me.
{3:3} Many say to my soul, “There is no salvation for him in
his God.” {3:4} But you, Lord, are my supporter, my glory,
and the one who raises up my head. {3:5} I have cried out to
the Lord with my voice, and he has heard me from his holy
mountain. {3:6} I have slept, and I have been stupefied. But I
awakened because the Lord has taken me up. {3:7} I will not
fear the thousands of people surrounding me. Rise up, Lord.
Save me, my God. {3:8} For you have struck all those who
oppose me without cause. You have broken the teeth of
sinners. {3:9} Salvation is of the Lord, and your blessing is
upon your people.


[Psalm 4] {4:1} In parts according to verses. A Psalm of
David. {4:2} When I called upon him, the God of my justice
heeded me. In tribulation, you have enlarged me. Have
mercy on me, and heed my prayer. {4:3} Sons of men, how
long will you be dull in heart, so that whatever you love is in
vain, and whatever you seek is false? {4:4} And know this:
the Lord has made wondrous his holy one. The Lord will
heed me when I cry out to him. {4:5} Be angry, and do not
be willing to sin. The things that you say in your hearts: be
sorry for them on your beds. {4:6} Offer the sacrifice of
justice, and hope in the Lord. Many say, “Who reveals to us
what is good?” {4:7} The light of your countenance, Lord,
has been sealed upon us. You have given joy to my heart.
{4:8} By the fruit of their grain, wine, and oil, they have been
multiplied. {4:9} In peace itself, I will sleep and I will rest.
{4:10} For you, O Lord, have established me singularly in
hope.


[Psalm 5] {5:1} Unto the end. For her who pursues the
inheritance. A Psalm of David. {5:2} O Lord, listen closely to
my words. Understand my outcry. {5:3} Attend to the voice
of my prayer, my King and my God. {5:4} For to you, I will
pray. In the morning, Lord, you will hear my voice. {5:5} In
the morning, I will stand before you, and I will see. For you
are not a God who wills iniquity. {5:6} And the malicious
will not dwell close to you, nor will the unjust endure before
your eyes. {5:7} You hate all who work iniquity. You will
destroy all who speak a lie. The bloody and deceitful man,
the Lord will abominate. {5:8} But I am in the multitude of
your mercy. I will enter your house. I will show adoration
toward your holy temple, in your fear. {5:9} Lord, lead me in
your justice. Because of my enemies, direct my way in your
sight. {5:10} For there is no truth in their mouth: their heart
is vain. {5:11} Their throat is an open sepulcher. They have
acted deceitfully with their tongues. Judge them, O God. Let
them fall by their own intentions: according to the multitude
of their impiety, expel them. For they have provoked you, O
Lord. {5:12} But let all those who hope in you rejoice. They
will exult in eternity, and you will dwell in them. And all
those who love your name will glory in you. {5:13} For you
will bless the just. You have crowned us, O Lord, as if with a
shield of your good will.


[Psalm 6] {6:1} In parts according to verses. A Psalm of
David. For the octave. {6:2} O Lord, do not rebuke me in
your fury, nor chastise me in your anger. {6:3} Have mercy
on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my bones
have become disturbed, {6:4} and my soul has been very
troubled. But as for you, Lord, when? {6:5} Turn to me, Lord,
and rescue my soul. Save me because of your mercy.
{6:6} For there is no one in death who would be mindful of
you. And who will confess to you in Hell? {6:7} I have
labored in my groaning. Every night, with my tears, I will
wash my bed and drench my blanket. {6:8} My eye has been
troubled by rage. I have grown old among all my enemies.
{6:9} Scatter before me, all you who work iniquity, for the
Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. {6:10} The Lord
has heard my supplication. The Lord has accepted my prayer.
{6:11} Let all my enemies be ashamed and together be
greatly troubled. May they be converted and become
ashamed very quickly.


[Psalm 7] {7:1} A Psalm of David, which he sang to the
Lord because of the words of Cush, the son of Jemini.
{7:2} O Lord, my God, in you I have hoped. Save me from
all those who persecute me, and free me: {7:3} lest at any
time, like a lion, he might seize my soul, while there is no one
to redeem me, nor any who can save. {7:4} O Lord, my God,
if there is iniquity in my hands, if I have done this: {7:5} if I
have repaid those who rendered evils to me, may I deservedly
fall away empty before my enemies: {7:6} let the enemy
pursue my soul, and take hold of it, and trample my life into
the earth, and drag down my glory into the dust. {7:7} Rise
up, Lord, in your anger. And be exalted to the borders of my
enemies. And rise up, O Lord my God, according to the
precept that you commanded, {7:8} and a congregation of
people will surround you. And, because of this, return on
high. {7:9} The Lord judges the people. Judge me, O Lord,
according to my justice and according to my innocence
within me. {7:10} The wickedness of sinners will be
consumed, and you will direct the just: the examiner of hearts
and temperaments is God. {7:11} Just is my help from the
Lord, who saves the upright of heart. {7:12} God is a just
judge, strong and patient. How could he be angry throughout
every day? {7:13} Unless you will be converted, he will
brandish his sword. He has extended his bow and made it
ready. {7:14} And with it, he has prepared instruments of
death. He has produced his arrows for those on fire.
{7:15} Behold him who has given birth to injustice: he has
conceived sorrow and has begotten iniquity. {7:16} He has
opened a pit and enlarged it. And he has fallen into the hole
that he made. {7:17} His sorrow will be turned upon his own
head, and his iniquity will descend upon his highest point.
{7:18} I will confess to the Lord according to his justice, and
I will sing a psalm to the name of the Lord Most High.


[Psalm 8] {8:1} Unto the end. For the oil and wine presses.
A Psalm of David. {8:2} O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is
your name throughout all the earth! For your magnificence is
elevated above the heavens. {8:3} Out of the mouths of babes
and infants, you have perfected praise, because of your
enemies, so that you may destroy the enemy and the revenger.
{8:4} For I will behold your heavens, the works of your
fingers: the moon and the stars, which you have founded.
{8:5} What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of
man, that you visit him? {8:6} You reduced him to a little
less than the Angels; you have crowned him with glory and
honor, {8:7} and you have set him over the works of your
hands. {8:8} You have subjected all things under his feet, all
sheep and oxen, and in addition: the beasts of the field,
{8:9} the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, which pass
through the paths of the sea. {8:10} O Lord, our Lord, how
admirable is your name throughout all the earth!


[Psalm 9] (Psalm 9 - 10) {9:1} Unto the end. For the secrets
of the Son. A Psalm of David. {9:2} I will confess to you,
Lord, with my whole heart. I will recount all your wonders.
{9:3} I will rejoice and exult in you. I will sing a psalm to
your name, O Most High. {9:4} For my enemy will be turned
back. They will be weakened and perish before your face.
{9:5} For you have accomplished my judgment and my cause.
You have sat upon the throne that judges justice. {9:6} You
have rebuked the Gentiles, and the impious one has perished.
You have deleted their name in eternity and for all
generations. {9:7} The spears of the enemy have failed in the
end, and their cities, you have destroyed. Their memory has
perished with a loud noise. {9:8} But the Lord remains in
eternity. He has prepared his throne in judgment. {9:9} And
he will judge the whole world in equity. He will judge the
people in justice. {9:10} And the Lord has become a refuge
for the poor, a helper in opportunity, in tribulation.
{9:11} And may they hope in you, who know your name.
For you have not abandoned those seeking you, Lord.
{9:12} Sing a psalm to the Lord, who dwells in Zion.
Announce his study among the Gentiles. {9:13} Because of
those who yearned for their blood, he has remembered them.
He has not forgotten the cry of the poor. {9:14} Have mercy
on me, Lord. See my humiliation from my enemies.
{9:15} You lift me up from the gates of death, so that I may
announce all your praises at the gates of the daughter of Zion.
{9:16} I will exult in your salvation. The Gentiles have
become trapped in the ruin that they made. Their foot has
been caught in the same snare that they themselves had
hidden. {9:17} The Lord will be recognized when making
judgments. The sinner has been caught in the works of his
own hands. {9:18} The sinners will be turned into Hell: all
the Gentiles who have forgotten God. {9:19} For the poor
will not be forgotten in the end. The patience of the poor will
not perish in the end. {9:20} Rise up, Lord: do not let man be
strengthened. Let the Gentiles be judged in your sight.
{9:21} O Lord, establish a lawgiver over them, so that the
Gentiles may know that they are only men.
{9:22} So then, why, O Lord, have you withdrawn far away?
Why have you overlooked us in opportunity, in tribulation?
{9:23} While the impious is arrogant, the poor is enflamed.
They are held by the counsels that they devise. {9:24} For the
sinner is praised by the desires of his soul, and the iniquitous
is blessed. {9:25} The sinner has provoked the Lord;
according to the multitude of his wrath, he will not seek him.
{9:26} God is not before his sight. His ways are stained at all
times. Your judgments are removed from his face. He will be
master of all his enemies. {9:27} For he has said in his heart,
“I will not be disturbed: from generation to generation
without evil.” {9:28} His mouth is full of curses, and
bitterness, and deceit. Under his tongue are hardship and
sorrow. {9:29} He sits in ambush, with resources in hidden
places, so that he may execute the innocent. {9:30} His eyes
catch sight of the poor. He lies in ambush, in hiding like a
lion in his den. He lies in ambush, so that he may seize the
poor, to seize the poor as he draws him in. {9:31} With his
snare, he will bring him down. He will crouch down and
pounce, when he has power over the poor. {9:32} For he has
said in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has turned away his
face, lest he see to the end.” {9:33} O Lord God, rise up. Let
your hand be exalted. Do not forget the poor. {9:34} How
has the impious one provoked God? For he has said in his
heart, “He will not inquire.” {9:35} You do see, for you
examine hardship and sorrow, so that you may deliver them
into your hands. The poor one has been abandoned to you.
You will be a helper to the orphan. {9:36} Break the arm of
the sinner and the malicious. His sin will be sought, and it
will not be found. {9:37} The Lord shall reign in eternity,
even forever and ever. You will perish the Gentiles from his
land. {9:38} The Lord has heeded the desire of the poor.
Your ear has listened to the preparation of their heart,
{9:39} so as to judge for the orphan and the humble, so that
man may no longer presume to magnify himself upon the
earth.


[Psalm 10] (Psalm 11) {10:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David. {10:2} I trust in the Lord. How can you say to my
soul, “Sojourn to the mountain, like a sparrow.” {10:3} For
behold, the sinners have bent their bow. They have prepared
their arrows in the quiver, so as to shoot arrows in the dark at
the upright of heart. {10:4} For they have destroyed the
things that you have completed. But what has the just one
done? {10:5} The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord’s
throne is in heaven. His eyes look upon the poor. His eyelids
question the sons of men. {10:6} The Lord questions the just
and the impious. Yet he who loves iniquity, hates his own
soul. {10:7} He will rain down snares upon sinners. Fire and
brimstone and windstorms will be the portion of their cup.
{10:8} For the Lord is just, and he has chosen justice. His
countenance has beheld equity.


[Psalm 11] (Psalm 12) {11:1} Unto the end. For the octave.
A Psalm of David. {11:2} Save me, O Lord, because holiness
has passed away, because truths have been diminished,
before the sons of men. {11:3} They have been speaking
emptiness, each one to his neighbor; they have been speaking
with deceitful lips and a duplicitous heart. {11:4} May the
Lord scatter all deceitful lips, along with the tongue that
speaks malice. {11:5} They have said: “We will magnify our
tongue; our lips belong to us. What is Lord to us?”
{11:6} Because of the misery of the destitute and the
groaning of the poor, now I will arise, says the Lord. I will
place him in safety. I will act faithfully toward him.
{11:7} The eloquence of the Lord is pure eloquence, silver
tested by fire, purged from the earth, refined seven times.
{11:8} You, O Lord, will preserve us, and you will guard us
from this generation into eternity. {11:9} The impious
wander aimlessly. According to your loftiness, you have
multiplied the sons of men.


[Psalm 12] (Psalm 13) {12:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David. How long, O Lord? Will you forget me until the end?
How long will you turn your face away from me?
{12:2} How long can IJ take counsel in my soul, sorrowing in
my heart throughout the day? {12:3} How long will my
enemy be exalted over me? {12:4} Look upon me and listen
to me, O Lord my God. Enlighten my eyes, lest I fall asleep
forever in death, {12:5} lest at any time my enemy may say,
“I have prevailed against him.” Those who trouble me will
exult, if I have been disturbed. {12:6} But I have hoped in
your mercy. My heart will exult in your salvation. I will sing
to the Lord, who assigns good things to me. And I will sing
psalms to the name of the Lord Most High.


[Psalm 13] (Psalm 14) {13:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David. The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They were corrupted, and they have become abominable in
their studies. There is no one who does good; there is not
even one. {13:2} The Lord has looked down from heaven
upon the sons of men, to see if there were any who were
considering or seeking God. {13:3} They have all gone astray;
together they have become useless. There is no one who does
good; there is not even one. {13:4} Their throat is an open
sepulcher. With their tongues, they have been acting
deceitfully; the venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth
is full of curses and bitterness. {13:5} Their feet are swift to
shed blood. Grief and unhappiness are in their ways; and the
way of peace, they have not known. {13:6} There is no fear
of God before their eyes. {13:7} Will they never learn: all
those who work iniquity, who devour my people like a meal
of bread? {13:8} They have not called upon the Lord. There,
they have trembled in fear, where there was no fear.
{13:9} For the Lord is with the just generation. You have
confounded the counsel of the needy because the Lord is his
hope. {13:10} Who will grant the salvation of Israel from
Zion? When the Lord turns away the captivity of his people,
Jacob will exult, and Israel will rejoice.


[Psalm 14] (Psalm 15) {14:1} A Psalm of David. O Lord,
who will dwell in your tabernacle? Or who will rest on your
holy mountain? {14:2} He who walks without blemish and
who works justice. {14:3} He who speaks the truth in his
heart, who has not acted deceitfully with his tongue, and has
not done evil to his neighbor, and has not taken up a
reproach against his neighbors. {14:4} In his sight, the
malicious one has been reduced to nothing, but he glorifies
those who fear the Lord. He who swears to his neighbor and
does not deceive. {14:5} He who has not given his money in
usury, nor accepted bribes against the innocent. He who does
these things will be undisturbed for eternity.


[Psalm 15] (Psalm 16) {15:1} The inscription of a title: of
David himself. Preserve me, O Lord, because I have hoped in
you. {15:2} I have said to the Lord: “You are my God, so
you have no need of my goodness.” {15:3} As for the saints,
who are in his land: he has made all my desires wonderful in
them. {15:4} Their infirmities have been multiplied; after this,
they acted more quickly. I will not gather for their
convocations of blood, nor will I remember their names with
my lips. {15:5} The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and
my cup. It is you who will restore my inheritance to me.
{15:6} The lots have fallen upon me with clarity. And,
indeed, my inheritance has been very clear to me. {15:7} I
will bless the Lord, who has bestowed understanding upon
me. Moreover, my temperament has also corrected me, even
through the night. {15:8} I have made provision for the Lord
always in my sight. For he is at my right hand, so that I may
not be disturbed. {15:9} Because of this, my heart has been
joyful, and my tongue has exulted. Moreover, even my body
will rest in hope. {15:10} For you will not abandon my soul
to Hell, nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption.
{15:11} You have made known to me the ways of life; you
will fill me with joy by your countenance. At your right hand
are delights, even to the end.


[Psalm 16] (Psalm 17) {16:1} A Prayer of David. Lord, listen
to my justice, attend to my supplication. Pay attention to my
prayer, which is not from deceitful lips. {16:2} Let my
judgment proceed from your presence. Let your eyes behold
fairness. {16:3} You have tested my heart and visited it by
night. You have examined me by fire, and iniquity has not
been found in me. {16:4} Therefore, may my mouth not
speak the works of men. I have kept to difficult ways because
of the words of your lips. {16:5} Perfect my steps in your
paths, so that my footsteps may not be disturbed. {16:6} I
have cried out because you, O God, have listened to me.
Incline your ear to me and heed my words. {16:7} Make
your mercies wonderful, for you save those who hope in you.
{16:8} From those who resist your right hand, preserve me
like the pupil of your eye. Protect me under the shadow of
your wings, {16:9} from the face of the impious who have
afflicted me. My enemies have surrounded my soul.
{16:10} They have concealed their fatness; their mouth has
been speaking arrogantly. {16:11} They have cast me out,
and now they have surrounded me. They have cast their eyes
down to the earth. {16:12} They have taken me, like a lion
ready for the prey, and like a young lion dwelling in hiding.
{16:13} Rise up, O Lord, arrive before him and displace him.
Deliver my soul from the impious one: your spear from the
enemies of your hand. {16:14} Lord, divide them from the
few of the earth in their life. Their gut has been filled from
your hidden stores. They have been filled with sons, and they
have bequeathed to their little ones the remainder.
{16:15} But as for me, I will appear before your sight in
justice. I will be satisfied when your glory appears.


[Psalm 17] (Psalm 18) {17:1} Unto the end. For David, the
servant of the Lord, who spoke the words of this canticle to
the Lord, in the day that the Lord delivered him from the
hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he
said: {17:2} I will love you, O Lord my strength. {17:3} The
Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my liberator. My God
is my helper, and I hope in him: my protector, and the horn
of my salvation, and my support. {17:4} Praising, I will call
upon the Lord. And I will be saved from my enemies.
{17:5} The sorrows of death surrounded me, and the torrents
of iniquity dismayed me. {17:6} The sorrows of Hell
encompassed me, and the snares of death intercepted me.
{17:7} In my tribulation, I called upon the Lord, and I cried
out to my God. And he listened to my voice from his holy
temple. And my cry in his presence entered into his ears.
{17:8} The earth was shaken, and it trembled. The
foundations of the mountains were disturbed, and they were
shaken, because he was angry with them. {17:9} A smoke
ascended by his wrath, and a fire flared up from his face:
coals were kindled by it. {17:10} He bent the heavens, and
they descended. And darkness was under his feet.
{17:11} And he ascended upon the cherubim, and he flew: he
flew upon the feathers of the winds. {17:12} And he set
darkness as his hiding place, with his tabernacle all around
him: dark waters in the clouds of the air. {17:13} At the
brightness that was before his sight, the clouds crossed by,
with hail and coals of fire. {17:14} And the Lord thundered
from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice: hail and
coals of fire. {17:15} And he sent forth his arrows and
scattered them. He multiplied lightnings, and he set them in
disarray. {17:16} Then the fountains of waters appeared, and
the foundations of the world were revealed, by your rebuke,
O Lord, by the inspiration of the Spirit of your wrath.
{17:17} He sent from on high, and he accepted me. And he
took me up, out of many waters. {17:18} He rescued me
from my strongest enemies, and from those who hated me.
For they had been too strong for me. {17:19} They
intercepted me in the day of my affliction, and the Lord
became my protector. {17:20} And he led me out, into a wide
place. He accomplished my salvation, because he willed me.
{17:21} And the Lord will reward me according to my justice,
and he will repay me according to the purity of my hands.
{17:22} For I have preserved the ways of the Lord, and I
have not behaved impiously before my God. {17:23} For all
his judgments are in my sight, and his justice, I have not
pushed away from me. {17:24} And I will be immaculate
together with him, and I will keep myself from my iniquity.
{17:25} And the Lord will reward me according to my justice
and according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.
{17:26} With the holy, you will be holy, and with the
innocent, you will be innocent, {17:27} and with the elect,
you will be elect, and with the perverse, you will be perverse.
{17:28} For you will save the humble people, but you will
bring down the eyes of the arrogant. {17:29} For you
illuminate my lamp, O Lord. My God, enlighten my
darkness. {17:30} For in you, I will be delivered from
temptation; and with my God, I will climb over a wall.
{17:31} As for my God, his way is undefiled. The eloquence
of the Lord has been examined by fire. He is the protector of
all who hope in him. {17:32} For who is God, except the
Lord? And who is God, except our God? {17:33} It is God
who has wrapped me with virtue and made my way
immaculate. {17:34} It is he who has perfected my feet, like
the feet of deer, and who stations me upon the heights.
{17:35} It is he who trains my hands for battle. And you have
set my arms like a bow of brass. {17:36} And you have given
me the protection of your salvation. And your right hand
sustains me. And your discipline has corrected me unto the
end. And your discipline itself will teach me. {17:37} You
have expanded my footsteps under me, and my tracks have
not been weakened. {17:38} I will pursue my enemies and
apprehend them. And I will not turn back until they have
failed. {17:39} I will break them, and they will not be able to
stand. They will fall under my feet. {17:40} And you have
wrapped me with virtue for the battle. And those rising up
against me, you have subdued under me. {17:41} And you
have given the back of my enemies to me, and you have
destroyed those who hated me. {17:42} They cried out, but
there was none to save them, to the Lord, but he did not heed
them. {17:43} And I will crush them into dust before the face
of the wind, so that I will obliterate them like the mud in the
streets. {17:44} You will rescue me from the contradictions of
the people. You will set me at the head of the Gentiles.
{17:45} A people I did not know has served me. As soon as
their ears heard, they were obedient to me. {17:46} The sons
of foreigners have been deceitful to me, the sons of foreigners
have grown weak with time, and they have wavered from
their paths. {17:47} The Lord lives, and blessed is my God,
and may the God of my salvation be exalted: {17:48} O God,
who vindicates me and who subdues the people under me,
my liberator from my enraged enemies. {17:49} And you will
exalt me above those who rise up against me. From the
iniquitous man, you will rescue me. {17:50} Because of this,
O Lord, I will confess to you among the nations, and I will
compose a psalm to your name: {17:51} magnifying the
salvation of his king, and showing mercy to David, his Christ,
and to his offspring, even for all time.


[Psalm 18] (Psalm 19) {18:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David. {18:2} The heavens describe the glory of God, and
the firmament announces the work of his hands. {18:3} Day
proclaims the word to day, and night to night imparts
knowledge. {18:4} There are no speeches or conversations,
where their voices are not being heard. {18:5} Their sound
has gone forth through all the earth, and their words to the
ends of the world. {18:6} He has placed his tabernacle in the
sun, and he is like a bridegroom coming out of his bedroom.
He has exulted like a giant running along the way; {18:7} his
departure is from the summit of heaven. And his course
reaches all the way to its summit. Neither is there anyone
who can hide himself from his heat. {18:8} The law of the
Lord is immaculate, converting souls. The testimony of the
Lord is faithful, providing wisdom to little ones. {18:9} The
justice of the Lord is right, rejoicing hearts. The precepts of
the Lord are brilliant, enlightening the eyes. {18:10} The fear
of the Lord is holy, enduring for all generations. The
judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves:
{18:11} desirable beyond gold and many precious stones, and
sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. {18:12} For, indeed,
your servant keeps them, and in keeping them, there are
many rewards. {18:13} Who can understand transgression?
From my hidden faults, cleanse me, O Lord, {18:14} and
from those of others, spare your servant. If they will have no
dominion over me, then I will be immaculate, and I will be
cleansed from the greatest transgression. {18:15} And the
eloquence of my mouth will be so as to please, along with the
meditation of my heart, in your sight, forever, O Lord, my
helper and my redeemer.


[Psalm 19] (Psalm 20) {19:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David. {19:2} May the Lord hear you in the day of
tribulation. May the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
{19:3} May he send you help from the sanctuary and watch
over you from Zion. {19:4} May he be mindful of all your
sacrifices, and may your burnt-offerings be fat. {19:5} May
he grant to you according to your heart, and confirm all your
counsels. {19:6} We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the
name of our God, we will be magnified. {19:7} May the Lord
fulfill all your petitions. Now I know that the Lord has saved
his Christ. He will hear him from his holy heaven. The
salvation of his right hand is in his power. {19:8} Some trust
in chariots, and some in horses, but we will call upon the
name of the Lord our God. {19:9} They have been bound,
and they have fallen. But we have risen up, and we have been
set upright. {19:10} O Lord, save the king, and hear us on the
day that we will call upon you.


[Psalm 20] (Psalm 21) {20:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David. {20:2} In your virtue, Lord, the king will rejoice, and
over your salvation, he will exult exceedingly. {20:3} You
have granted him the desire of his heart, and you have not
cheated him of the wish of his lips. {20:4} For you have gone
ahead of him with blessings of sweetness. You have placed a
crown of precious stones on his head. {20:5} He petitioned
you for life, and you have granted him length of days, in the
present time, and forever and ever. {20:6} Great is his glory
in your salvation. Glory and great adornment, you will lay
upon him. {20:7} For you will give him as a blessing forever
and ever. You will make him rejoice with gladness in your
presence. {20:8} Because the king hopes in the Lord, and in
the mercy of the Most High, he will not be disturbed.
{20:9} May your hand be found by all your enemies. May
your right hand discover all those who hate you. {20:10} You
will make them like an oven of fire, in the time of your
presence. The Lord will stir them up with his wrath, and fire
will devour them. {20:11} You will destroy their fruit from
the earth and their offspring from the sons of men.
{20:12} For they have turned evils upon you; they have
devised plans, which they have not been able to accomplish.
{20:13} For you will make them turn their back; with your
remnants, you will prepare their countenance. {20:14} Be
exalted, Lord, by your own power. We will play music and
sing psalms to your virtues.


[Psalm 21] (Psalm 22) {21:1} Unto the end. For the tasks of
early morning. A Psalm of David. {21:2} O God, my God,
look upon me. Why have you forsaken me? Far from my
salvation are the words of my offenses. {21:3} My God, I will
cry out by day, and you will not heed, and by night, and it
will not be foolishness for me. {21:4} But you dwell in
holiness, O Praise of Israel. {21:5} In you, our fathers have
hoped. They hoped, and you freed them. {21:6} They cried
out to you, and they were saved. In you, they hoped and
were not confounded. {21:7} But I am a worm and not a
man: a disgrace among men, and an outcast of the people.
{21:8} All those who saw me have derided me. They have
spoken with the lips and shook the head. {21:9} He has
hoped in the Lord, let him rescue him. Let him save him
because he chooses him. {21:10} For you are the one who
has drawn me out of the womb, my hope from the breasts of
my mother. {21:11} I have been thrown upon you from the
womb; from the womb of my mother, you are my God.
{21:12} Do not depart from me. For tribulation is near, since
there is no one who may help me. {21:13} Many calves have
surrounded me; fat bulls have besieged me. {21:14} They
have opened their mouths over me, just like a lion seizing
and roaring. {21:15} And so, I have been poured out like
water, and all my bones have been scattered. My heart has
become like wax, melting in the midst of my chest.
{21:16} My strength has dried up like clay, and my tongue
has adhered to my jaws. And you have pulled me down, into
the dust of death. {21:17} For many dogs have surrounded
me. The council of the malicious has besieged me. They have
pierced my hands and feet. {21:18} They have numbered all
my bones. And they have examined me and stared at me.
{21:19} They divided my garments among them, and over
my vestment, they cast lots. {21:20} But you, O Lord, do not
take your help far from me; be attentive to my defense.
{21:21} O God, rescue my soul from the spear, and my only
one from the hand of the dog. {21:22} Save me from the
mouth of the lion, and my humility from the horns of single-
horned beast. {21:23}I will declare your name to my
brothers. In the midst of the Church, I will praise you.
{21:24} You who fear the Lord, praise him. All the offspring
of Jacob, glorify him. {21:25} May all the offspring of Israel
fear him. For he has neither spurned nor despised the pleas of
the poor. Neither has he turned his face away from me. And
when I cried out to him, he heeded me. {21:26} My praise is
with you, within a great church. I will pay my vows in the
sight of those who fear him. {21:27} The poor will eat and be
satisfied, and those who yearn for the Lord will praise him.
Their hearts will live forever and ever. {21:28} All the ends of
the earth will remember, and they will be converted to the
Lord. And all the families of the Gentiles will adore in his
sight. {21:29} For the kingdom belongs to the Lord, and he
will have dominion over the Gentiles. {21:30} All the fat of
the earth have gnashed their teeth, and they have adored. In
his sight, they will fall down, all those who descend to the
ground. {21:31} And my soul will live for him, and my
offspring will serve him. {21:32} There will be announced for
the Lord a future generation, and the heavens will announce
his justice to a people who will be born, whom the Lord has
made.


[Psalm 22] (Psalm 23) {22:1} A Psalm of David. The Lord
directs me, and nothing will be lacking to me. {22:2} He has
settled me here, in a place of pasture. He has led me out to
the water of refreshment. {22:3} He has converted my soul.
He has led me away on the paths of justice, for the sake of his
name. {22:4} For, even if I should walk in the midst of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evils. For you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, they have given me consolation.
{22:5} You have prepared a table in my sight, opposite those
who trouble me. You have anointed my head with oil, and
my cup, which inebriates me, how brilliant it is! {22:6} And
your mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and so may
I dwell in the house of the Lord for length of days.


[Psalm 23] (Psalm 24) {23:1} For the First Sabbath. A Psalm
of David. The earth and all its fullness belong to the Lord: the
whole world and all that dwells in it. {23:2} For he has
founded it upon the seas, and he has prepared it upon the
rivers. {23:3} Who will ascend to the mountain of the Lord?
And who will stand in his holy place? {23:4} The innocent of
hands and the clean of heart, who has not received his soul in
vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbor. {23:5} He will
receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God, his
Saviour. {23:6} This is the generation that seeks him, that
seeks the face of the God of Jacob. {23:7} Lift up your gates,
you princes, and be lifted up, eternal gates. And the King of
Glory shall enter. {23:8} Who is this King of Glory? The
Lord who is strong and powerful; the Lord powerful in battle.
{23:9} Lift up your gates, you princes, and be lifted up,
eternal gates. And the King of Glory shall enter.
{23:10} Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of virtue. He
himself is the King of Glory.


[Psalm 24] (Psalm 25) {24:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David. To you, Lord, I have lifted up my soul. {24:2} In you,
my God, I trust. Let me not be put to shame. {24:3} And do
not let my enemies laugh at me. For all who remain with you
will not be confounded. {24:4} May all those who act
unjustly over nothing be confounded. O Lord, demonstrate
your ways to me, and teach me your paths. {24:5} Direct me
in your truth, and teach me. For you are God, my Saviour,
and I remain with you all day long. {24:6} O Lord,
remember your compassion and your mercies, which are
from ages past. {24:7} Do not remember the offenses of my
youth and my ignorances. Remember me according to your
mercy, because of your goodness, O Lord. {24:8} The Lord is
sweet and righteous. Because of this, he will grant a law to
those who fall short in the way. {24:9} He will direct the mild
in judgment. He will teach the meek his ways. {24:10} All
the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, to those who yearn
for his covenant and his testimonies. {24:11} Because of your
name, O Lord, you will pardon my sin, for it is great.
{24:12} Which is the man who fears the Lord? He has
established a law for him, on the way that he has chosen.
{24:13} His soul will dwell upon good things, and his
offspring will inherit the earth. {24:14} The Lord is a
firmament to those who fear him, and his covenant will be
made manifest to them. {24:15} My eyes are ever toward the
Lord, for he will pull my feet from the snare. {24:16} Look
upon me and have mercy on me; for I am alone and poor.
{24:17} The troubles of my heart have been multiplied.
Deliver me from my needfulness. {24:18} See my lowliness
and my hardship, and release all my offenses.
{24:19} Consider my enemies, for they have been multiplied,
and they have hated me with an unjust hatred.
{24:20} Preserve my soul and rescue me. I will not be
ashamed, for I have hoped in you. {24:21} The innocent and
the righteous have adhered to me, because I have remained
with you. {24:22} Free Israel, O God, from all his
tribulations.


[Psalm 25] (Psalm 26) {25:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David. Judge me, Lord, for I have been walking in my
innocence, and by hoping in the Lord, I will not be weakened.
{25:2} Examine me, Lord, and test me: enkindle my
temperament and my heart. {25:3} For your mercy is before
my eyes, and I am serene in your truth. {25:4} I have not sat
with the council of emptiness, and I will not enter with those
who carry out injustice. {25:5} I have hated the assembly of
the malicious; and I will not sit with the impious. {25:6} I
will wash my hands among the innocent, and I will surround
your altar, O Lord, {25:7} so that I may hear the voice of
your praise and describe all your wonders. {25:8} O Lord, I
have loved the beauty of your house and the dwelling place
of your glory. {25:9} O God, do not let my soul perish with
the impious, nor my life with the men of blood, {25:10} in
whose hands are iniquities: their right hand has been filled by
bribes. {25:11} But as for me, I have been walking in my
innocence. Redeem me, and have mercy on me. {25:12} My
foot has stood firm in the straight path. In the churches, I will
bless you, O Lord.


[Psalm 26] (Psalm 27) {26:1} A Psalm of David, before he
was sealed. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom
shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom
shall I be afraid? {26:2} Meanwhile, the guilty draw near to
me, so as to eat my flesh. Those who trouble me, my enemies,
have themselves been weakened and have fallen. {26:3} If
entrenched armies were to stand together against me, my
heart would not fear. If a battle were to rise up against me, I
would have hope in this. {26:4} One thing I have asked of the
Lord, this I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life, so that I may behold the delight
of the Lord, and may visit his temple. {26:5} For he has
hidden me in his tabernacle. In the day of evils, he has
protected me in the hidden place of his tabernacle. {26:6} He
has exalted me upon the rock, and now he has exalted my
head above my enemies. I have circled around and offered a
sacrifice of loud exclamation in his tabernacle. I will sing,
and I will compose a psalm, to the Lord. {26:7} Hear my
voice, O Lord, with which I have cried out to you. Have
mercy on me, and hear me. {26:8} My heart has spoken to
you; my face has sought you. I yearn for your face, O Lord.
{26:9} Do not turn your face away from me. In your wrath,
do not turn aside from your servant. Be my helper. Do not
abandon me, and do not despise me, O God, my Saviour.
{26:10} For my father and my mother have left me behind,
but the Lord has taken me up. {26:11} O Lord, establish a
law for me in your way, and direct me in the right path,
because of my enemies. {26:12} Do not surrender me to the
souls of those who trouble me. For unjust witnesses have
risen up against me, and iniquity has lied to itself. {26:13} I
believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land
of the living. {26:14} Wait for the Lord, act manfully; and let
your heart be strengthened, and remain with the Lord.


[Psalm 27] (Psalm 28) {27:1} A Psalm of David himself. To
you, Lord, I will cry out. My God, do not be silent toward
me. For if you remain silent toward me, I will become like
those who descend into the pit. {27:2} Hear, O Lord, the
voice of my supplication, when I pray to you, when I lift up
my hands toward your holy temple. {27:3} Do not draw me
away together with sinners; and let me not perish with those
who work iniquity, who speak peacefully to their neighbor,
yet evils are in their hearts. {27:4} Give to them according to
their works and according to the wickedness of their
inventions. Assign to them according to the works of their
hands. Repay them with their own retribution. {27:5} Since
they have not understood the works of the Lord and the
works of his hands, you will destroy them, and you will not
build them up. {27:6} Blessed is the Lord, for he has heard
the voice of my supplication. {27:7} The Lord is my helper
and my protector. In him, my heart has hoped and I have
been helped. And my flesh has flourished again. And from
my will, I shall confess to him. {27:8} The Lord is the
strength of his people and the protector of the salvation of his
Christ. {27:9} O Lord, save your people and bless your
inheritance, and reign over them and exalt them, even unto
eternity.


[Psalm 28] (Psalm 29) {28:1} A Psalm of David, at the
completion of the tabernacle. Bring to the Lord, O sons of
God, bring to the Lord the sons of rams. {28:2} Bring to the
Lord, glory and honor. Bring to the Lord, glory for his name.
Adore the Lord in his holy court. {28:3} The voice of the
Lord is over the waters. The God of majesty has thundered.
The Lord is over many waters. {28:4} The voice of the Lord
is in virtue. The voice of the Lord is in magnificence.
{28:5} The voice of the Lord shatters the cedars. And the
Lord will shatter the cedars of Lebanon. {28:6} And it will
break them into pieces, like a calf of Lebanon, and in the
same way as the beloved son of the single-horned beast.
{28:7} The voice of the Lord cuts through the flame of fire.
{28:8} The voice of the Lord shakes the desert. And the Lord
will quake the desert of Kadesh. {28:9} The voice of the Lord
is preparing the stags, and he will reveal the dense woods.
And in his temple, all will speak his glory. {28:10} The Lord
causes the great flood to dwell. And the Lord will sit as King
in eternity. {28:11} The Lord will give virtue to his people.
The Lord will bless his people in peace.


[Psalm 29] (Psalm 30) {29:1} A Canticle Psalm. In
dedication to the house of David. {29:2} I will extol you,
Lord, for you have sustained me, and you have not allowed
my enemies to delight over me. {29:3} O Lord my God, I
have cried out to you, and you have healed me. {29:4} Lord,
you led my soul away from Hell. You have saved me from
those who descend into the pit. {29:5} Sing a psalm to the
Lord, you his saints, and confess with remembrance of his
holiness. {29:6} For wrath is in his indignation, and life is in
his will. Toward evening, weeping will linger, and toward
morning, gladness. {29:7} But I have said in my abundance:
“I will never be disturbed.” {29:8} O Lord, in your will, you
made virtue preferable to beauty for me. You turned your
face away from me, and I became disturbed. {29:9} To you,
Lord, I will cry out. And I will make supplication to my God.
{29:10} What use would there be in my blood, if I descend
into corruption? Will dust confess to you or announce your
truth? {29:11} The Lord has heard, and he has been merciful
to me. The Lord has become my helper. {29:12} You have
turned my mourning into gladness for me. You have cut off
my sackcloth, and you have surrounded me with joy.
{29:13} So then, may my glory sing to you, and may I not
regret it. O Lord, my God, I will confess to you for eternity.


[Psalm 30] (Psalm 31) {30:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David according to an ecstasy. {30:2} In you, Lord, I have
hoped; let me never be confounded. In your justice, deliver
me. {30:3} Incline your ear to me. Hasten to rescue me. Be
for me a protector God and a house of refuge, so as to
accomplish my salvation. {30:4} For you are my strength and
my refuge; and for the sake of your name, you will lead me
and nourish me. {30:5} You will lead me out of this snare,
which they have hidden for me. For you are my protector.
{30:6} Into your hands, I commend my spirit. You have
redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth. {30:7} You have hated
those who practice emptiness to no purpose. But I have
hoped in the Lord. {30:8} I will exult and rejoice in your
mercy. For you have looked upon my humility; you have
saved my soul from needfulness. {30:9} And you have not
enclosed me in the hands of the enemy. You have set my feet
in a spacious place. {30:10} Have mercy on me, Lord, for I
am troubled. My eye has been disturbed by wrath, along with
my soul and my gut. {30:11} For my life has fallen into
sorrow, and my years into sighing. My virtue has been
weakened in poverty, and my bones have been disturbed.
{30:12} I have become a disgrace among all my enemies, and
even more so to my neighbors, and a dread to my
acquaintances. Those who catch sight of me, flee away from
me. {30:13} I have become forgotten, like one dead to the
heart. I have become like a damaged utensil. {30:14} For I
have heard the harsh criticism of many who linger in the area.
While assembled together against me in that place, they
deliberated on how to take away my life. {30:15} But I have
hoped in you, O Lord. I said, “You are my God.”
{30:16} My fate is in your hands. Rescue me from the hand
of my enemies and from those who are persecuting me.
{30:17} Shine your face upon your servant. Save me in your
mercy. {30:18} Do not let me be confounded, Lord, for I
have called upon you. Let the impious be ashamed and be
drawn down into Hell. {30:19} May deceitful lips be silenced:
those that speak iniquity against the just, in arrogance and in
abusiveness. {30:20} How great is the multitude of your
sweetness, O Lord, which you keep hidden for those who
fear you, which you have perfected for those who hope in
you, in the sight of the sons of men. {30:21} You hide them
in the concealment of your face, from the disturbance of men.
You protect them in your tabernacle, from the contradiction
of tongues. {30:22} Blessed is the Lord. For he has shown his
wonderful mercy to me, in a fortified city. {30:23} But I said
in the excess of my mind: “I have been cast away from the
glance of your eyes.” And so, you heeded the voice of my
prayer, while I was still crying out to you. {30:24} Love the
Lord, all you his saints. For the Lord will require truth, and
he will abundantly repay those who act with arrogance.
{30:25} Act manfully, and let your heart be strengthened, all
you who hope in the Lord.


[Psalm 31] (Psalm 32) {31:1} The understanding of David
himself. Blessed are they whose iniquities have been forgiven
and whose sins have been covered. {31:2} Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord has not imputed sin, and in whose spirit
there is no deceit. {31:3} Because I was silent, my bones grew
old, while still I cried out all day long. {31:4} For, day and
night, your hand was heavy upon me. I have been converted
in my anguish, while still the thorn is piercing. {31:5} I have
acknowledged my offense to you, and I have not concealed
my injustice. I said, “I will confess against myself, my
injustice to the Lord,” and you forgave the impiety of my sin.
{31:6} For this, everyone who is holy will pray to you in due
time. Yet truly, in a flood of many waters, they will not draw
near to him. {31:7} You are my refuge from the tribulation
that has surrounded me. You are my exultation: rescue me
from those who are surrounding me. {31:8} I will give you
understanding, and I will instruct you in this way, in which
you will walk. I will fix my eyes upon you. {31:9} Do not
become like the horse and the mule, which have no
understanding. Their jaws are constrained with bit and bridle,
so as not to draw near to you. {31:10} Many are the scourges
of the sinner, but mercy will surround him that hopes in the
Lord. {31:11} Rejoice in the Lord and exult, you just ones,
and glory, all you upright of heart.


[Psalm 32] (Psalm 33) {32:1} A Psalm of David. Exult in the
Lord, you just omnes; together praise the upright.
{32:2} Confess to the Lord with stringed instruments; sing
psalms to him with the psaltery, the instrument of ten strings.
{32:3} Sing to him a new song. Sing psalms to him skillfully,
with loud exclamation. {32:4} For the word of the Lord is
upright, and all his works are in faith. {32:5} He loves mercy
and judgment. The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord.
{32:6} By the word of the Lord, the heavens were established,
and all their power, by the Spirit of his mouth:
{32:7} gathering together the waters of the sea, as if in a
container, placing the depths in storage. {32:8} Let all the
earth fear the Lord, and may all the inhabitants of the world
quake before him. {32:9} For he spoke, and they became. He
commanded, and they were created. {32:10} The Lord
scatters the counsels of the nations. Moreover, he reproves
the thoughts of the people, and he rejects the counsels of the
leaders. {32:11} But the counsel of the Lord remains for
eternity, the thoughts of his heart from generation to
generation. {32:12} Blessed is the nation whose God is the
Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his inheritance.
{32:13} The Lord has looked down from heaven. He has
seen all the sons of men. {32:14} From his well-prepared
dwelling place, he has gazed upon all who dwell on the earth.
{32:15} He has formed the hearts of each one of them; he
understands all their works. {32:16} The king is not saved by
great power, nor will the giant be saved by his many powers.
{32:17} The horse is false safety; for he will not be saved by
the abundance of his powers. {32:18} Behold, the eyes of the
Lord are on those who fear him and on those who hope in his
mercy, {32:19} so as to rescue their souls from death and to
feed them during famine. {32:20} Our soul remains with the
Lord. For he is our helper and protector. {32:21} For in him,
our heart will rejoice, and in his holy name, we have hoped.
{32:22} Let your mercy be upon us, O Lord, just as we have
hoped in you.


[Psalm 33] (Psalm 34) {33:1} To David, when he changed
his appearance in the sight of Abimelech, and so he dismissed
him, and he went away. {33:2} I will bless the Lord at all
times. His praise will be ever in my mouth. {33:3} In the
Lord, my soul will be praised. May the meek listen and
rejoice. {33:4} Magnify the Lord with me, and let us extol his
name in itself. {33:5} I sought the Lord, and he heeded me,
and he carried me away from all my tribulations.
{33:6} Approach him and be enlightened, and your faces will
not be confounded. {33:7} This poor one cried out, and the
Lord heeded him, and he saved him from all his tribulations.
{33:8} The Angel of the Lord will encamp around those who
fear him, and he will rescue them. {33:9} Taste and see that
the Lord is sweet. Blessed is the man who hopes in him.
{33:10} Fear the Lord, all you his saints. For there is no
destitution for those who fear him. {33:11} The rich have
been needy and hungry, but those who seek the Lord will not
be deprived of any good thing. {33:12} Come forward, sons.
Listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
{33:13} Which is the man who wills life, who chooses to see
good days? {33:14} Prohibit your tongue from evil and your
lips from speaking deceit. {33:15} Turn away from evil, and
do good. Inquire about peace, and pursue it. {33:16} The
eyes of the Lord are on the just, and his ears are with their
prayers. {33:17} But the countenance of the Lord is upon
those who do evil, to perish the remembrance of them from
the earth. {33:18} The just cried out, and the Lord heard
them, and he freed them from all their tribulations.
{33:19} The Lord is near to those who are troubled in heart,
and he will save the humble in spirit. {33:20} Many are the
afflictions of the just, but from them all the Lord will free
them. {33:21} The Lord preserves all of their bones, not one
of them shall be broken. {33:22} The death of a sinner is very
harmful, and those who hate the just will fare badly.
{33:23} The Lord will redeem the souls of his servants, and
none of those who hope in him will fare badly.


[Psalm 34] (Psalm 35) {34:1} Of David himself. O Lord,
judge those who harm me; assail those who attack me.
{34:2} Take hold of weapons and a shield, and rise up in
assistance to me. {34:3} Bring forth the spear, and close in on
those who persecute me. Say to my soul, “I am your
salvation.” {34:4} Let them be confounded and in awe, who
pursue my soul. Let them be turned back and be confounded,
who think up evil against me. {34:5} May they become like
dust before the face of the wind, and let the Angel of the Lord
hem them in. {34:6} May their way become dark and
slippery, and may the Angel of the Lord pursue them.
{34:7} For, without cause, they have concealed their snare
for me unto destruction. Over nothing, they have rebuked my
soul. {34:8} Let the snare, of which he is ignorant, come
upon him, and let the deception, which he has hidden, take
hold of him: and may he fall into that very snare. {34:9} But
my soul will exult in the Lord and delight over his salvation.
{34:10} All my bones will say, “Lord, who is like you?” He
rescues the needy from the hand of the stronger one, the
indigent and the poor from those who plunder him.
{34:11} Unfair witnesses have risen up, interrogating me
about things of which I am ignorant. {34:12} They repaid me
evil for good, to the deprivation of my soul. {34:13} But as
for me, when they were harassing me, I was clothed with
haircloth. I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer will
become my sinews. {34:14} Like a neighbor, and like our
brother, so did I please; like one mourning and contrite, so
was I humbled. {34:15} And they have been joyful against
me, and they joined together. Scourges have been gathered
over me, and I was ignorant of it. {34:16} They have been
scattered, yet they were unremorseful. They have tested me.
They scoffed at me with scorn. They gnashed their teeth over
me. {34:17} Lord, when will you look down upon me?
Restore my soul from before their malice, my only one from
before the lions. {34:18} I will confess to you in a great
Church. I will praise you among a weighty people.
{34:19} May those who are my unjust adversaries not be glad
over me: those who have hated me without cause, and who
nod agreement with their eyes. {34:20} For indeed, they
spoke peacefully to me; and speaking with passion to the
earth, they intended deceit. {34:21} And they opened their
mouth wide over me. They said, “Well, well, our eyes have
seen.” {34:22} You have seen, O Lord, do not be silent. Lord,
do not depart from me. {34:23} Rise up and be attentive to
my judgment, to my cause, my God and my Lord.
{34:24} Judge me according to your justice, O Lord, my God,
and do not let them be glad over me. {34:25} Do not let them
say in their hearts, “Well, well, to our soul.” Neither let them
say, “We have devoured him.” {34:26} Let them blush and
be in awe together, those who congratulate at my misfortunes.
Let them be clothed with confusion and awe, who speak
great things against me. {34:27} Let them exult and rejoice,
who wish my justice, and let them ever say, “The Lord be
magnified,” who will the peace of his servant. {34:28} And
so my tongue will express your justice: your praise all day
long.


[Psalm 35] (Psalm 36) {35:1} Unto the end. To the servant of
the Lord, David himself. {35:2} The unjust one has said
within himself that he would commit offenses. There is no
fear of God before his eyes. {35:3} For he has acted
deceitfully in his sight, such that his iniquity will be found to
be hatred. {35:4} The words of his mouth are iniquity and
deceit. He is unwilling to understand, so that he may act well.
{35:5} He has been considering iniquity on his bed. He has
set himself on every way that is not good; moreover, he has
not hated evil. {35:6} Lord, your mercy is in heaven, and
your truth is even to the clouds. {35:7} Your justice is like the
mountains of God. Your judgments are a great abyss. Men
and beasts, you will save, O Lord. {35:8} How you have
multiplied your mercy, O God! And so the sons of men will
hope under the cover of your wings. {35:9} They will be
inebriated with the fruitfulness of your house, and you will
give them to drink from the torrent of your enjoyment.
{35:10} For with you is the fountain of life; and within your
light, we will see the light. {35:11} Extend your mercy before
those who know you, and your justice to these, who are
upright in heart. {35:12} May arrogant feet not approach me,
and may the hand of the sinner not disturb me. {35:13} In
that place, those who work iniquity have fallen. They have
been expelled; they were not able to stand.


[Psalm 36] (Psalm 37) {36:1} A Psalm of David himself. Do
not choose to imitate the malicious; neither should you envy
those who work iniquity. {36:2} For they will quickly wither
away like dry grass, and in like manner to kitchen herbs, they
will soon droop. {36:3} Hope in the Lord and do good, and
dwell in the land, and so you shall be pastured with its riches.
{36:4} Delight in the Lord, and he will grant to you the
petitions of your heart. {36:5} Reveal your way to the Lord,
and hope in him, and he will accomplish it. {36:6} And he
will bring forth your justice like the light, and your judgment
like the midday. {36:7} Be subject to the Lord and pray to
him. Do not choose to compete with him who prospers in his
way, with the man who does injustice. {36:8} Cease from
wrath and leave behind rage. Do not choose to imitate the
malicious. {36:9} For those who are malicious will be
exterminated. But those who remain with the Lord, these will
inherit the land. {36:10} Yet still a little while, and the sinner
will not be. And you will search his place and find nothing.
{36:11} But the meek shall inherit the earth, and they will
delight in the multitude of peace. {36:12} The sinner will
observe the just, and he will gnash his teeth over him.
{36:13} But the Lord will laugh at him: for he knows in
advance that his day will come. {36:14} The sinners have
drawn the sword, they have bent their bow, so as to cast
down the poor and the needy, so as to massacre the upright
of heart. {36:15} Let their sword enter into their own hearts,
and let their bow be broken. {36:16} A little is better to the
just than the many riches of sinners. {36:17} For the arms of
sinners will be crushed, but the Lord confirms the just.
{36:18} The Lord knows the days of the immaculate, and
their inheritance will be in eternity. {36:19} They will not be
confounded in an evil time; and in days of famine, they will
be satisfied: {36:20} for sinners will perish. Truly, the
adversaries of the Lord, soon after they have been honored
and exalted, will fade away, in the same way that smoke
fades away. {36:21} The sinner will lend and not release, but
the just one shows compassion and donates. {36:22} For
those who bless him will inherit the earth, but those who
curse him will perish. {36:23} The steps of a man will be
directed by the Lord, and he will choose his way.
{36:24} When he falls, he will not be harmed, because the
Lord places his hand under him. {36:25} I have been young,
and now I am old; and I have not seen the just forsaken, nor
his offspring seeking bread. {36:26} He shows compassion
and lends, all day long, and his offspring will be in blessing.
{36:27} Turn away from evil and do good, and dwell forever
and ever. {36:28} For the Lord loves judgment, and he will
not abandon his saints. They will be kept safe in eternity. The
unjust will be punished, and the offspring of the impious will
perish. {36:29} But the just will inherit the earth, and they
will dwell upon it forever and ever. {36:30} The mouth of the
just one will express wisdom, and his tongue will speak
judgment. {36:31} The law of his God is in his heart, and his
steps shall not be supplanted. {36:32} The sinner considers
the just one and seeks to put him to death. {36:33} But the
Lord will not abandon him into his hands, nor condemn him,
when he will be judged. {36:34} Wait for the Lord, and keep
to his way. And he will exalt you, so as to inherit the land
that you may seize. When the sinners will have passed away,
then you shall see. {36:35} I have seen the impious over-
exalted, and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon.
{36:36} And I passed by, and behold, he was not. And I
sought him, and his place was not found. {36:37} Keep to
innocence, and gaze upon fairness: because there are
allotments for the peaceful man. {36:38} But the unjust will
be destroyed together: the allotments of the impious will pass
away. {36:39} But the salvation of the just is from the Lord,
and he is their protector in time of tribulation. {36:40} And
the Lord will help them and free them. And he will rescue
them from sinners and save them, because they have hoped
in him.


[Psalm 37] (Psalm 38) {37:1} A Psalm of David, in
commemoration of the Sabbath. {37:2} O Lord, do not
rebuke me in your fury, nor chastise me in your wrath.
{37:3} For your arrows have been driven into me, and your
hand has been confirmed over me. {37:4} There is no health
in my flesh before the face of your wrath. There is no peace
for my bones before the face of my sins. {37:5} For my
iniquities have walked over my head, and they have been like
a heavy burden weighing upon me. {37:6} My sores have
putrefied and been corrupted before the face of my
foolishness. {37:7} I have become miserable, and I have been
bent down, even to the end. I have walked with contrition all
day long. {37:8} For my loins have been filled with illusions,
and there is no health in my flesh. {37:9} I have been afflicted
and greatly humbled. I bellowed from the groaning of my
heart. {37:10} O Lord, all my desire is before you, and my
groaning before you has not been hidden. {37:11} My heart
has been disturbed. My strength has abandoned me, and the
light of my eyes has abandoned me, and it is not with me.
{37:12} My friends and my neighbors have drawn near and
stood against me. And those who were next to me stood far
apart. And those who sought my soul used violence.
{37:13} And those who sought evil accusations against me
were speaking emptiness. And they practiced deceitfulness all
day long. {37:14} But, like someone deaf, I did not hear. And
I was like someone mute, not opening his mouth.
{37:15} And I became like a man who does not hear, and
who has no reproofs in his mouth. {37:16} For in you, Lord,
I have hoped. You will listen to me, O Lord my God.
{37:17} For I said, “Lest at any time, my enemies might
rejoice over me,” and, “While my feet are being shaken, they
have spoken great things against me.” {37:18} For I have
been prepared for scourges, and my sorrow is ever before me.
{37:19} For I will announce my iniquity, and I will think
about my sin. {37:20} But my enemies live, and they have
been stronger than me. And those who have wrongfully hated
me have been multiplied. {37:21} Those who render evil for
good have dragged me down, because I followed goodness.
{37:22} Do not forsake me, O Lord my God. Do not depart
from me. {37:23} Be attentive to my help, O Lord, the God
of my salvation.


[Psalm 38] (Psalm 39) {38:1} Unto the end. For Jeduthun
himself. A Canticle of David. {38:2} I said, “I will keep to
my ways, so that I will not offend with my tongue.” I posted
a guard at my mouth, when a sinner took up a position
against me. {38:3} I was silenced and humbled, and I was
quiet before good things, and my sorrow was renewed.
{38:4} My heart grew hot within me, and, during my
meditation, a fire would flare up. {38:5} I spoke with my
tongue, “O Lord, make me know my end, and what the
number of my days will be, so that I may know what is
lacking to me.” {38:6} Behold, you have made my days
measurable, and, before you, my substance is as nothing. Yet
truly, all things are vanity: every living man. {38:7} So then,
truly man passes by like an image; even so, he is disquieted in
vain. He stores up, and he knows not for whom he will gather
these things. {38:8} And now, what is it that awaits me? Is it
not the Lord? And my substance is with you. {38:9} Rescue
me from all my iniquities. You have handed me over as
reproach to the foolish. {38:10} I was silenced, and I did not
open my mouth, because it was you who acted.
{38:11} Remove your scourges from me. {38:12} I fall short
at corrections from the strength of your hand. For you have
chastised man for iniquity. And you have made his soul
shrink away like a spider. Nevertheless, it is in vain that any
man be disquieted. {38:13} O Lord, heed my prayer and my
supplication. Pay attention to my tears. Do not be silent. For
I am a newcomer with you, and a sojourner, just as all my
fathers were. {38:14} Forgive me, so that I may be refreshed,
before I will go forth and be no more.


[Psalm 39] (Psalm 40) {39:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David himself. {39:2} I have waited expectantly for the Lord,
and he was attentive to me. {39:3} And he heard my prayers
and he led me out of the pit of misery and the quagmire. And
he stationed my feet upon a rock, and he directed my steps.
{39:4} And he sent a new canticle into my mouth, a song to
our God. Many will see, and they will fear; and they will
hope in the Lord. {39:5} Blessed is the man whose hope is in
the name of the Lord, and who has no respect for vanities
and absurd falsehoods. {39:6} You have accomplished your
many wonders, O Lord my God, and there is no one similar
to you in your thoughts. I have announced and I have spoken:
they are multiplied beyond number. {39:7} Sacrifice and
oblation, you did not want. But you have perfected ears for
me. Holocaust and sin offering, you did not require.
{39:8} Then I said, “Behold, I draw near.” At the head of the
book, it has been written of me: {39:9} that I should do your
will. My God, I have willed it. And your law is in the midst
of my heart. {39:10} I have announced your justice in a great
Church: behold, I will not restrain my lips. O Lord, you have
known it. {39:11} I have not concealed your justice within
my heart. I have spoken your truth and your salvation. I have
not concealed your mercy and your truth from a great
assembly. {39:12} O Lord, do not take your tender mercies
far from me. Your mercy and your truth ever sustain me.
{39:13} For evils without number have surrounded me. My
iniquities have taken hold of me, and I was not able to see.
They have been multiplied beyond the hairs of my head. And
my heart has forsaken me. {39:14} Be pleased, O Lord, to
rescue me. Look down, O Lord, to help me. {39:15} Let
them together be confounded and awed, who seek after my
soul to steal it away. Let them be turned back and be in awe,
who wish evils upon me. {39:16} Let them bear their
confusion all at once, who say to me, “Well, well.”
{39:17} Let all who seek you exult and rejoice over you. And
let those who love your salvation always say, “May the Lord
be magnified.” {39:18} But I am a beggar and poor. The
Lord has been concerned about me. You are my helper and
my protector. My God, do not delay.


[Psalm 40] (Psalm 41) {40:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David himself. {40:2} Blessed is he who shows
understanding toward the needy and the poor. The Lord will
deliver him in the evil day. {40:3} May the Lord preserve
him and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth.
And may he not hand him over to the will of his adversaries.
{40:4} May the Lord bring him help on his bed of sorrow. In
his infirmity, you have changed his entire covering. {40:5} I
said, “O Lord, be merciful to me. Heal my soul, because I
have sinned against you.” {40:6} My enemies have spoken
evils against me. When will he die and his name perish?
{40:7} And when he came in to see me, he was speaking
emptiness. His heart gathered iniquity to itself. He went
outside, and he was speaking in the same way. {40:8} All my
enemies were whispering against me. They were thinking up
evils against me. {40:9} They established an unjust word
against me. Will he that sleeps no longer rise again?
{40:10} For even the man of my peace, in whom I hoped,
who ate my bread, has greatly supplanted me. {40:11} But
you, O Lord, have mercy on me, and raise me up again. And
I will requite them. {40:12} By this, I knew that you preferred
me: because my adversary will not rejoice over me.
{40:13} But you have sustained me, because of my innocence,
and you have confirmed me in your sight in eternity.
{40:14} Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for all generations
and even forever. Amen. Amen.


[Psalm 41] (Psalm 42) {41:1} Unto the end. The
understanding of the sons of Korah. {41:2} As the deer longs
for fountains of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.
{41:3} My soul has thirsted for the strong living God. When
will I draw close and appear before the face of God?
{41:4} My tears have been my bread, day and night.
Meanwhile, it is said to me daily: “Where is your God?”
{41:5} These things I have remembered; and my soul within
me, I have poured out. For I will cross into the place of the
wonderful tabernacle, all the way to the house of God, with a
voice of exultation and confession, the sound of feasting.
{41:6} Why are you sad, my soul? And why do you disquiet
me? Hope in God, for I will still confess to him: the salvation
of my countenance, {41:7} and my God. My soul has been
troubled within myself. Because of this, I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan and from Hermon, from the little
mountain. {41:8} Abyss calls upon abyss, with the voice of
your floodgate. All your heights and your waves have passed
over me. {41:9} In the daylight, the Lord has ordered his
mercy; and in the night, a canticle to him. With me is a
prayer to the God of my life. {41:10} I will say to God, “You
are my supporter. Why have you forgotten me? And why do
I walk in mourning, while my adversary afflicts me?”
{41:11} While my bones are being broken, my enemies, who
trouble me, have reproached me. Meanwhile, they say to me
every single day, “Where is your God?” {41:12} My soul,
why are you saddened? And why do you disquiet me? Hope
in God, for I will still confess to him: the salvation of my
countenance and my God.


[Psalm 42] (Psalm 43) {42:1} A Psalm of David. Judge me,
O God, and discern my cause from that of a nation not holy;
rescue me from a man unjust and deceitful. {42:2} For you
are God, my strength. Why have you rejected me? And why
do I walk in sadness, while the adversary afflicts me?
{42:3} Send forth your light and your truth. They have
guided me and led me, to your holy mountain and into your
tabernacles. {42:4} And I will enter, up to the altar of God, to
God who enlivens my youthfulness. To you, O God, my God,
I will confess upon a stringed instrument. {42:5} Why are
you sad, my soul? And why do you disquiet me? Hope in
God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my
countenance and my God.


[Psalm 43] (Psalm 44) {43:1} Unto the end. To the sons of
Korah, toward understanding. {43:2} We have heard, O God,
with our own ears. Our fathers have announced to us the
work that you wrought in their days and in the days of
antiquity. {43:3} Your hand dispersed the Gentiles, and you
transplanted them. You afflicted a people, and you expelled
them. {43:4} For they did not take possession of the land by
their sword, and their own arm did not save them. But your
right hand and your arm, and the light of your countenance
did so, because you were pleased with them. {43:5} You
yourself are my king and my God, who commands the
salvation of Jacob. {43:6} With you, we will brandish a horn
before our enemies; and in your name, we will spurn those
rising up against us. {43:7} For I will not hope in my bow,
and my sword will not save me. {43:8} For you have saved
us from those who afflict us, and you have bewildered those
who hate us. {43:9} In God, we will give praise all day long;
and in your name, we will confess forever. {43:10} But now,
you have rejected and bewildered us, and you will not go
forth with our armies, O God. {43:11} You have turned our
back to our enemies, and those who hated us have plundered
for themselves. {43:12} You have given us over like sheep for
food. You have scattered us among the Gentiles.
{43:13} You have sold your people without a price, and no
great number was exchanged for them. {43:14} You have set
us as a disgrace to our neighbors, a scoff and a derision to
those who are around us. {43:15} You have set us as a
parable among the Gentiles, a shaking of the head among the
peoples. {43:16} All day long my shame is before me, and the
confusion of my face has covered me, {43:17} before the
voice of the reproacher and the commentator, before the face
of the adversary and the pursuer. {43:18} All these things
have come upon us, yet we have not forgotten you, and we
have not acted unjustly in your covenant. {43:19} And our
heart has not turned back. And you have not diverted our
steps from your way. {43:20} For you humbled us in a place
of affliction, and the shadow of death has covered us.
{43:21} If we have forgotten the name of our God, and if we
have extended our hands to a foreign god, {43:22} will not
God find this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart. For,
because of you, we are being killed all day long. We are
considered as sheep for the slaughter. {43:23} Rise up. Why
do you fall asleep, O Lord? Rise up, and do not reject us in
the end. {43:24} Why do you turn your face away, and why
do you forget our needfulness and our tribulation?
{43:25} For our soul has been humbled into the dust. Our
belly has been bound to the earth. {43:26} Rise up, O Lord.
Help us and redeem us, because of your name.


[Psalm 44] (Psalm 45) {44:1} Unto the end. For those who
will be changed. To the sons of Korah, toward understanding.
A Canticle for the Beloved. {44:2} My heart has uttered a
good word. I speak of my works to the king. My tongue is
like the pen of a scribe who writes quickly. {44:3} You are a
brilliant form before the sons of men. Grace has been poured
freely into your lips. Because of this, God has blessed you in
eternity. {44:4} Fasten your sword to your thigh, O most
powerful one. {44:5} With your splendor and your excellence
extended, proceed prosperously, and reign for the sake of
truth and meekness and justice, and so will your right hand
lead you wondrously. {44:6} Your arrows are sharp; the
people will fall under you, with the hearts of the enemies of
the king. {44:7} Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of true aim.
{44:8} You have loved justice and hated iniquity. Because of
this, God, your God, has anointed you, before your co-heirs,
with the oil of gladness. {44:9} Myrrh and balsam and
cinnamon perfume your garments, from the houses of ivory.
From these, they have delighted you: {44:10} the daughters
of kings in your honor. The queen assisted at your right hand,
in clothing of gold, encircled with diversity. {44:11} Listen,
daughter, and see, and incline your ear. And forget your
people and your father’s house. {44:12} And the king will
desire your beauty. For he is the Lord your God, and they
will adore him. {44:13} And the daughters of Tyre will
entreat your countenance with gifts: all the rich men of the
people. {44:14} All the glory of the daughter of its king is
inside, in golden fringes, {44:15} clothed all around with
diversities. After her, virgins will be led to the king. Her
neighbors will be brought to you. {44:16} They will be
brought with gladness and exultation. They will be led into
the temple of the king. {44:17} For your fathers, sons have
been born to you. You will establish them as leaders over all
the earth. {44:18} They will remember your name always, for
generation after generation. Because of this, people will
confess to you in eternity, even forever and ever.


[Psalm 45] (Psalm 46) {45:1} Unto the end. To the sons of
Korah, for confidants. A Psalm. {45:2} Our God is our
refuge and strength, a helper in the tribulations that have
greatly overwhelmed us. {45:3} Because of this, we will not
be afraid when the earth will be turbulent and the mountains
will be transferred into the heart of the sea. {45:4} They
thundered, and the waters were stirred up among them; the
mountains have been disturbed by his strength. {45:5} The
frenzy of the river rejoices the city of God. The Most High
has sanctified his tabernacle. {45:6} God is in its midst; it will
not be shaken. God will assist it in the early morning.
{45:7} The peoples have been disturbed, and the kingdoms
have been bowed down. He uttered his voice: the earth has
been moved. {45:8} The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of
Jacob is our supporter. {45:9} Draw near and behold the
works of the Lord: what portents he has set upon the earth,
{45:10} carrying away wars even to the end of the earth. He
will crush the bow and break the weapons, and he will burn
the shield with fire. {45:11} Be empty, and see that I am God.
I will be exalted among the peoples, and I will be exalted
upon the earth. {45:12} The Lord of hosts is with us. The
God of Jacob is our supporter.


[Psalm 46] (Psalm 47) {46:1} Unto the end. A Psalm for the
sons of Korah. {46:2} All nations, clap your hands. Shout
joyfully to God with a voice of exultation. {46:3} For the
Lord is exalted and terrible: a great King over all the earth.
{46:4} He has subjected the peoples to us and subdued the
nations under our feet. {46:5} He has chosen us for his
inheritance: the splendor of Jacob, whom he has loved.
{46:6} God ascends with jubilation, and the Lord with the
voice of the trumpet. {46:7} Sing psalms to our God, sing
psalms. Sing psalms to our King, sing psalms. {46:8} For
God is the King of all the earth. Sing psalms wisely.
{46:9} God will reign over the peoples. God sits upon his
holy throne. {46:10} The leaders of the peoples have been
gathered together by the God of Abraham. For the strong
gods of the earth have been exceedingly exalted.


[Psalm 47] (Psalm 48) {47:1} A Canticle Psalm. To the sons
of Korah, on the second Sabbath. {47:2} The Lord is great
and exceedingly praiseworthy, in the city of our God, on his
holy mountain. {47:3} Mount Zion is being founded with the
exultation of the whole earth, on the north side, the city of
the great king. {47:4} In her houses, God will be known,
since he will support her. {47:5} For behold, the kings of the
earth have been gathered together; they have convened as
one. {47:6} Such did they see, and they were astonished: they
were disturbed, they were moved. {47:7} Trembling took
hold of them. In that place, their pains were that of a woman
in labor. {47:8} With a vehement spirit, you will crush the
ships of Tarshish. {47:9} As we have heard, so we have seen,
in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God. God
has founded it in eternity. {47:10} We have received your
mercy, O God, in the midst of your temple.
{47:11} According to your name, O God, so does your praise
reach to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is full of
justice. {47:12} Let mount Zion rejoice, and let the daughters
of Judah exult, because of your judgments, O Lord.
{47:13} Encircle Zion and embrace her. Discourse in her
towers. {47:14} Set your hearts on her virtue. And distribute
her houses, so that you may discourse of it in another
generation. {47:15} For this is God, our God, in eternity and
forever and ever. He will rule us forever.


[Psalm 48] (Psalm 49) {48:1} Unto the end. A Psalm to the
sons of Korah. {48:2} Hear these things, all nations. Pay
attention, all inhabitants of the world: {48:3} whoever is
earth-born, you sons of men, together as one, the rich and the
poor. {48:4} My mouth will speak wisdom, and the
meditation of my heart will speak prudence. {48:5} I will
incline my ear to a parable. I will open my case with the
psaltery. {48:6} Why should I fear in the evil day? The
iniquity at my heel will surround me. {48:7} Those who trust
in their own strength and who glory in the multitude of their
riches, {48:8} no brother redeems, nor will man buy back. He
will not give to God his appeasement, {48:9} nor the price for
the redemption of his soul. And he will labor continuously,
{48:10} and he will still live, until the end. {48:11} He will
not see death, when he sees the wise dying: the foolish and
the senseless will perish together. And they will leave their
riches to strangers. {48:12} And their sepulchers will be their
houses forever, their tabernacles from generation to
generation. They have called their names in their own lands.
{48:13} And man, when he was held in honor, did not
understand. He has been compared to the senseless beasts,
and he has become like them. {48:14} This way of theirs is a
scandal to them. And afterwards, they will delight in their
mouth. {48:15} They have been placed in Hell like sheep.
Death will feed on them. And the just will have dominion
over them in the morning. And their help will grow old in
Hell for their glory. {48:16} Even so, truly God will redeem
my soul from the hand of Hell, when he will receive me.
{48:17} Do not be afraid, when a man will have been made
rich, and when the glory of his house will have been
multiplied. {48:18} For when he dies, he will take nothing
away, and his glory will not descend with him. {48:19} For
his soul will be blessed in his lifetime, and he will admit to
you when you do good to him. {48:20} He will even enter
with the progeny of his fathers, but, even in eternity, he will
not see the light. {48:21} Man, when he was in honor, did
not understand. He has been compared to the senseless beasts,
and he has become like them.


[Psalm 49] (Psalm 50) {49:1} A Psalm of Asaph. The God of
gods, the Lord has spoken, and he has called the earth, from
the rising of the sun even to its setting, {49:2} from Zion, the
brilliance of his beauty. {49:3} God will arrive manifestly.
Our God also will not keep silence. A fire will flare up in his
sight, and a mighty tempest will surround him. {49:4} He
will call to heaven from above, and to the earth, to discern his
people. {49:5} Gather his holy ones to him, you who order
his covenant above sacrifices. {49:6} And the heavens will
announce his justice. For God is the judge. {49:7} Listen, my
people, and I will speak. Listen, Israel, and I will testify for
you. I am God, your God. {49:8} I will not reprove you for
your sacrifices. Moreover, your holocausts are ever in my
sight. {49:9} I will not accept calves from your house, nor he-
goats from your flocks. {49:10} For all the wild beasts of the
forest are mine: the cattle on the hills and the oxen. {49:11} I
know all the flying things of the air, and the beauty of the
field is with me. {49:12} If I should be hungry, I would not
tell you: for the whole world is mine, and all its plentitude.
{49:13} Shall I gnaw on the flesh of bulls? Or would I drink
the blood of goats? {49:14} Offer to God the sacrifice of
praise, and pay your vows to the Most High. {49:15} And
call upon me in the day of tribulation. I will rescue you, and
you will honor me. {49:16} But to the sinner, God has said:
Why do you discourse on my justices, and take up my
covenant through your mouth? {49:17} Truly, you have
hated discipline, and you have cast my sermons behind you.
{49:18} If you saw a thief, you ran with him, and you have
placed your portion with adulterers. {49:19} Your mouth has
abounded with malice, and your tongue has concocted
deceits. {49:20} Sitting, you spoke against your brother, and
you set up a scandal against your mother’s son.
{49:21} These things you have done, and I was silent. You
thought, unjustly, that I ought to be like you. But I will
reprove you, and I will set myself against your face.
{49:22 Understand these things, you who forget God; lest at
any time, he might quickly take you away, and there would
be no one to rescue you. {49:23} The sacrifice of praise will
honor me. And in that place is the journey by which I will
reveal to him the salvation of God.


[Psalm 50] (Psalm 51) {50:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David, {50:2} when Nathan the prophet came to him, after
he went to Bathsheba. {50:3} Be merciful to me, O God,
according to your great mercy. And, according to the
plentitude of your compassion, wipe out my iniquity.
{50:4} Wash me once again from my iniquity, and cleanse
me from my sin. {50:5} For I know my iniquity, and my sin
is ever before me. {50:6} Against you only have I sinned, and
I have done evil before your eyes. And so, you are justified in
your words, and you will prevail when you give judgment.
{50:7} For behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in
sinfulness did my mother conceive me. {50:8} For behold,
you have loved truth. The obscure and hidden things of your
wisdom, you have manifested to me. {50:9} You will
sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be cleansed. You will
wash me, and I will be made whiter than snow. {50:10} In
my hearing, you will grant gladness and rejoicing. And the
bones that have been humbled will exult. {50:11} Turn your
face away from my sins, and erase all my iniquities.
{50:12} Create a clean heart in me, O God. And renew an
upright spirit within my inmost being. {50:13} Do not cast
me away from your face; and do not take your Holy Spirit
from me. {50:14} Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and confirm me with an unsurpassed spirit. {50:15} I will
teach the unjust your ways, and the impious will be
converted to you. {50:16} Free me from blood, O God, the
God of my salvation, and my tongue will extol your justice.
{50:17} O Lord, you will open my lips, and my mouth will
announce your praise. {50:18} For if you had desired
sacrifice, I would certainly have given it, but with holocausts,
you will not be delighted. {50:19} A crushed spirit is a
sacrifice to God. A contrite and humbled heart, O God, you
will not spurn. {50:20} Act kindly, Lord, in your good will
toward Zion, so that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.
{50:21} Then you will accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations,
and holocausts. Then they will lay calves upon your altar.


[Psalm 51] (Psalm 52) {51:1} Unto the end. The
understanding of David. {51:2} When Doeg the Edomite
came and reported to Saul, David went to the house of
Ahimelech. {51:3} Why do you glory in malice, you who are
powerful in iniquity? {51:4} All day long your tongue thinks
up injustice. Like a sharp razor, you have wrought deceit.
{51:5} You have loved malice above goodness, and iniquity
more than speaking righteousness. {51:6} You have loved all
precipitous words, you deceitful tongue. {51:7} Because of
this, God will destroy you in the end. He will pull you up,
and he will remove you from your tabernacle and your root
from the land of the living. {51:8} The just will see and be
afraid, and they will laugh over him, and say: {51:9} “Behold
the man who did not set God as his helper. But he hoped in
the multitude of his riches, and so he prevailed in his
emptiness.” {51:10} But I, like a fruitful olive tree in the
house of God, have hoped in the mercy of God unto eternity,
and forever and ever. {51:11} I will confess to you forever,
because you have accomplished it. And I will wait on your
name, for it is good in the sight of your saints.


[Psalm 52] (Psalm 53) {52:1} Unto the end. For Mahalath:
the thoughts of David. The fool has said in his heart, “There
is no God.” {52:2} They were corrupted, and they became
abominable with iniquities. There is no one who does good.
{52:3} God gazed down from heaven on the sons of men, to
see if there were any who were considering or seeking God.
{52:4} All have gone astray; together they have become
useless. There is no one who does good; there is not even one.
{52:5} Will they never learn: all those who work iniquity,
who devour my people like a meal of bread? {52:6} They
have not called upon God. In that place, they have trembled
in fear, where there was no fear. For God has scattered the
bones of those who please men. They have been confounded,
because God has spurned them. {52:7} Who will grant from
Zion the salvation of Israel? Jacob will exult, when God will
convert the captivity of his people; and Israel will rejoice.


[Psalm 53] (Psalm 54) {53:1} Unto the end. In verses, the
understanding of David, {53:2} when the Ziphites had
arrived and they said to Saul, “Has not David been hidden
with us?” {53:3} Save me, O God, by your name, and judge
me in your virtue. {53:4} O God, listen to my prayer. Pay
attention to the words of my mouth. {53:5} For strangers
have risen up against me, and the strong have sought my soul.
And they have not set God before their eyes. {53:6} For
behold, God is my helper, and the Lord is the protector of my
soul. {53:7} Turn back the evils upon my adversaries, and
ruin them by your truth. {53:8} I will freely sacrifice to you,
and I will confess your name, O God, because it is good.
{53:9} For you have quickly rescued me from all tribulation,
and my eye has looked down upon my enemies.


[Psalm 54] (Psalm 55) {54:1} Unto the end. In verses, the
understanding of David. {54:2} Listen to my prayer, O God,
and despise not my supplication. {54:3} Be attentive to me,
and heed me. I have been grieved in my training, and I have
been disturbed {54:4} at the voice of the adversary and at the
tribulation of the sinner. For they have diverted iniquities
toward me, and they have been harassing me with rage.
{54:5} My heart has become disturbed within me, and the
dread of death has fallen over me. {54:6} Fear and trembling
have overwhelmed me, and darkness has buried me.
{54:7} And I said, “Who will give me wings like the dove, so
that I may fly away and take rest?” {54:8} Behold, I have fled
far away, and I linger in solitude. {54:9} I waited for him
who saved me from a weak-minded spirit and from a tempest.
{54:10} Cast them down, O Lord, and divide their tongues.
For I have seen iniquity and contradiction in the city.
{54:11} Day and night, iniquity will surround it upon its
walls, and hardship is in its midst, {54:12} with injustice.
And usury and deceit have not fallen away from its streets.
{54:13} For if my enemy had spoken evil about me, certainly,
I would have sustained it. And if he who hated me had been
speaking great things against me, I would perhaps have
hidden myself from him. {54:14} Truly, you are a man of one
mind: my leader and my acquaintance, {54:15} who took
sweet food together with me. In the house of God, we walked
side-by-side. {54:16} Let death come upon them, and let
them descend alive into Hellfire. For there is wickedness in
their dwellings, in their midst. {54:17} But I have cried out to
God, and the Lord will save me. {54:18} Evening and
morning and midday, I will discourse and announce, and he
will heed my voice. {54:19} He will redeem my soul in peace
from those who draw near to me. For, among the many, they
were with me. {54:20} God will hear, and He who is before
time will humble them. For there is no change with them,
and they have not feared God. {54:21} He has stretched forth
his hand in retribution. They have contaminated his covenant.
{54:22} They were divided by the wrath of his countenance,
and his heart has drawn near. His words are smoother than
oil, and they are arrows. {54:23} Cast your cares upon the
Lord, and he will nurture you. He will not allow the just to be
tossed about forever. {54:24} Truly, O God, you will lead
them away into the well of death. Bloody and deceitful men
will not divide their days in half. But I will hope in you, O
Lord.


[Psalm 55] (Psalm 56) {55:1} Unto the end. For the people
who have become far removed from the Sacred. Of David,
with the inscription of a title, when the Philistines held him in
Gath. {55:2} Have mercy on me, O God, because man has
trampled over me. All day long, he has afflicted me by
fighting against me. {55:3} My enemies have trampled over
me all day long. For those who make war against me are
many. {55:4} From the height of the day, I will be afraid. But
truly, I will hope in you. {55:5} In God, I will praise my
words. In God, I have put my trust. I will not fear what flesh
can do to me. {55:6} All day long, they curse my words. All
their intentions are for evil against me. {55:7} They will
dwell and hide themselves. They will watch my heel, just as
they waited for my soul; {55:8} because of this, nothing will
save them. In your anger, you will crush the people. {55:9} O
God, I have announced my life to you. You have placed my
tears in your sight, and even in your promise. {55:10} Then
my enemies will be turned back. On whatever day that I call
upon you, behold, I know that you are my God. {55:11} In
God, I will praise the word. In the Lord, I will praise his
speech. In God, I have hoped. I will not fear what man can
do to me. {55:12} My vows to you, O God, are in me. I will
repay them. Praises be to you. {55:13} For you have rescued
my soul from death and my feet from slipping, so that I may
be pleasing in the sight of God, in the light of the living.


[Psalm 56] (Psalm 57) {56:1} Unto the end. May you not
destroy. Of David, with the inscription of a title, when he fled
from Saul into a cave. {56:2} Be merciful to me, O God, be
merciful to me. For my soul trusts in you. And I will hope in
the shadow of your wings, until iniquity passes away.
{56:3} I will cry out to God Most High, to God who has been
kind to me. {56:4} He sent from heaven and freed me. He
has surrendered into disgrace those who trampled me. God
has sent his mercy and his truth. {56:5} And he has rescued
my soul from the midst of the young lions. I slept troubled.
The sons of men: their teeth are weapons and arrows, and
their tongue is a sharp sword. {56:6} Be exalted above the
heavens, O God, and your glory above all the earth.
{56:7} They prepared a snare for my feet, and they bowed
down my soul. They dug a pit before my face, yet they have
fallen into it. {56:8} My heart is prepared, O God, my heart
is prepared. I will sing, and I will compose a psalm.
{56:9} Rise up, my glory. Rise up, psaltery and harp. I will
arise in early morning. {56:10} I will confess to you, O Lord,
among the peoples. I will compose a psalm to you among the
nations. {56:11} For your mercy has been magnified, even to
the heavens, and your truth, even to the clouds. {56:12} Be
exalted above the heavens, O God, and your glory above all
the earth.


[Psalm 57] (Psalm 58) {57:1} Unto the end. May you not
destroy. Of David, with the inscription of a title. {57:2} If,
truly and certainly, you speak justice, then judge what is right,
you sons of men. {57:3} For, even in your heart, you work
iniquity. Your hands construct injustice on the earth.
{57:4} Sinners have become foreigners from the womb; they
have gone astray from conception. They have been speaking
falsehoods. {57:5} Their fury is similar to that of a serpent; it
is like a deaf asp, who even blocks her ears, {57:6} who will
not listen to the voice of charmers, nor even to the enchanter
who chants wisely. {57:7} God will crush their teeth within
their own mouth. The Lord will break the molars of the lions.
{57:8} They will come to nothing, like water flowing away.
He has aimed his bow, while they are being weakened.
{57:9} Like wax that flows, they will be carried away. Fire
has fallen upon them, and they will not see the sun.
{57:10} Before your thorns could know the brier, he
consumes them alive, as if in rage. {57:11} The just one will
rejoice when he sees vindication. He will wash his hands in
the blood of the sinner. {57:12} And man will say, “If the just
one is fruitful, then, truly, there is a God judging them on
earth.”


[Psalm 58] (Psalm 59) {58:1} Unto the end. May you not
destroy. Of David, with the inscription of a title, when Saul
sent and watched his house, in order to execute him.
{58:2} Rescue me from my enemies, my God, and free me
from those who rise up against me. {58:3} Rescue me from
those who work iniquity, and save me from men of blood.
{58:4} For behold, they have seized my soul. The strong have
rushed upon me. {58:5} And it is neither my iniquity, nor my
sin, O Lord. I have run and gone directly, without iniquity.
{58:6} Rise up to meet me, and see: even you, O Lord, the
God of hosts, the God of Israel. Reach out to visit all nations.
Do not take pity on all those who work iniquity. {58:7} They
will return toward evening, and they will suffer hunger like
dogs, and they will wander around the city. {58:8} Behold,
they will speak with their mouth, and a sword is in their lips:
“For who has heard us?” {58:9} And you, O Lord, will laugh
at them. You will lead all the Gentiles to nothing. {58:10} I
will guard my strength toward you, for you are God, my
supporter. {58:11} My God, his mercy will precede me.
{58:12} God will oversee my enemies for me. Do not slay
them, lest at times my people may forget them. Scatter them
by your virtue. And depose them, O Lord, my protector,
{58:13} by the offense of their mouth and by the speech of
their lips. And may they be caught in their arrogance. And,
for their cursing and lying, they will be made known
{58:14} at the consummation, in the fury of the
consummation, and so they will be no more. And they will
know that God will rule over Jacob, even to the ends of the
earth. {58:15} They will return toward evening, and they will
suffer hunger like dogs, and they will wander around the city.
{58:16} They will be dispersed in order to gnaw, and truly,
when they will not have been satisfied, they will murmur.
{58:17} But I will sing your strength, and I will extol your
mercy, in the morning. For you have been my supporter and
my refuge in the day of my tribulation. {58:18} To you, my
helper, I will sing psalms. For you are God, my supporter.
My God is my mercy.


[Psalm 59] (Psalm 60) {59:1} Unto the end. For those who
will be changed, with the inscription of a title, of David
himself, for instruction: {59:2} when he set fire to
Mesopotamia of Syria and Sobal, and Joab turned back and
struck Idumea, in the valley of the salt pits, twelve thousand
men. {59:3} O God, you have rejected us, and you have
ruined us. You became angry, and yet you have been
merciful to us. {59:4} You have moved the earth, and you
have disturbed it. Heal its breaches, for it has been moved.
{59:5} You have revealed to your people difficulties. You
have made us drink the wine of remorse. {59:6} You have
given a warning sign to those who fear you, so that they may
flee from before the face of the bow, so that your beloved
may be delivered. {59:7} Save me with your right hand, and
hear me. {59:8} God has spoken in his holy place: I will
rejoice, and I will divide Shechem, and I will measure the
steep valley of the tabernacles. {59:9} Gilead is mine, and
Manasseh is mine. And Ephraim is the strength of my head.
Judah is my king. {59:10} Moab is the cooking pot of my
hope. Into Idumea, I will extend my shoe. To me, the
foreigners have been made subject. {59:11} Who will lead me
into the fortified city? Who will lead me all the way to
Idumea? {59:12} Will not you, O God, who has rejected us?
And will not you, O God, go out with our armies?
{59:13} Grant us help from tribulation. For salvation from
man is empty. {59:14} In God, we will act virtuously. And
those who trouble us, he will lead to nothing.


[Psalm 60] (Psalm 61) {60:1} Unto the end. With hymns, of
David. {60:2} O God, pay attention to my supplication. Be
attentive to my prayer. {60:3} I cried out to you from the
ends of the earth. When my heart was in anguish, you
exalted me on a rock. You have led me, {60:4} for you have
been my hope, a tower of strength before the face of the
enemy. {60:5} I will dwell in your tabernacle forever. I will
be protected under the cover of your wings. {60:6} For you,
my God, have listened to my prayer. You have granted an
inheritance to those who fear your name. {60:7} You will
add days to the days of the king, to his years, even to the time
of generation after generation. {60:8} He remains in eternity,
in the sight of God. Who will long for his mercy and truth?
{60:9} So I will compose a psalm to your name, forever and
ever, so that I may repay my vows from day to day.


[Psalm 61] (Psalm 62) {61:1} Unto the end. For Jeduthun. A
Psalm of David. {61:2} Will my soul not be subject to God?
For from him is my salvation. {61:3} Yes, he himself is my
God and my salvation. He is my supporter; I will be moved
no more. {61:4} How is it that you rush against a man? Every
one of you puts to death, as if you were pulling down a
ruined wall, leaning over and falling apart. {61:5} So, truly,
they intended to reject my price. I ran in thirst. They blessed
with their mouth and cursed with their heart. {61:6} Yet,
truly, my soul will be subject to God. For from him is my
patience. {61:7} For he is my God and my Savior. He is my
helper; I will not be expelled. {61:8} In God is my salvation
and my glory. He is the God of my help, and my hope is in
God. {61:9} All peoples gathered together: trust in him. Pour
out your hearts in his sight. God is our helper for eternity.
{61:10} So, truly, the sons of men are untrustworthy. The
sons of men are liars in the scales, so that, by emptiness, they
may deceive among themselves. {61:11} Do not trust in
iniquity, and do not desire plunder. If riches flow toward you,
do not be willing to set your heart on them. {61:12} God has
spoken once. I have heard two things: that power belongs to
God, {61:13} and that mercy belongs to you, O Lord. For
you will repay each one according to his works.


[Psalm 62] (Psalm 63) {62:1} A Psalm of David, when he
was in the desert of Idumea. {62:2} O God, my God: to you,
I keep vigil until first light. For you, my soul has thirsted, to
you my body, in so many ways. {62:3} By a deserted land,
both inaccessible and waterless, so I have appeared in the
sanctuary before you, in order to behold your virtue and your
glory. {62:4} For your mercy is better than life itself. It is you
my lips will praise. {62:5} So will I bless you in my life, and I
will lift up my hands in your name. {62:6} Let my soul be
filled, as if with marrow and fatness; and my mouth will give
praise with exultant lips. {62:7} When I have remembered
you on my bed in the morning, I will meditate on you.
{62:8} For you have been my helper. And I will exult under
the cover of your wings. {62:9} My soul has clung close to
you. Your right hand has supported me. {62:10} Truly, these
ones have sought my soul in vain. They will enter into the
lower parts of the earth. {62:11} They will be delivered into
the hand of the sword. They will be the portions of foxes.
{62:12} Truly, the king will rejoice in God: all those who
swear by him will be praised, because the mouth of those
who speak iniquity has been blocked.


[Psalm 63] (Psalm 64) {63:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David. {63:2} Hear, O God, my prayer of supplication.
Rescue my soul from the fear of the enemy. {63:3} You have
protected me from the assembly of the malignant, from a
multitude of workers of iniquity. {63:4} For they have
sharpened their tongues like a sword; they have formed their
bow into a bitter thing, {63:5} so that they may shoot arrows
from hiding at the immaculate. {63:6} They will suddenly
shoot arrows at him, and they will not be afraid. They are
resolute in their wicked talk. They have discussed hidden
snares. They have said, “Who will see them?” {63:7} They
have been searching carefully for iniquities. Their exhaustive
search has failed. Man will approach with a deep heart,
{63:8} and God will be exalted. The arrows of the little ones
have become their wounds, {63:9} and their tongues have
been weakened against them. All those who saw them have
been troubled; {63:10} and every man was afraid. And they
announced the works of God, and they understood his acts.
{63:11} The just will rejoice in the Lord, and they will hope
in him. And all the upright of heart will be praised.


[Psalm 64] (Psalm 65) {64:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David. A Canticle of Jeremiah and Ezekiel to the people of
the captivity, when they began to go into exile. {64:2} O God,
a hymn adorns you in Zion, and a vow will be repaid to you
in Jerusalem. {64:3} Hear my prayer: all flesh will come to
you. {64:4} Words of iniquity have prevailed over us. And
you will pardon our impieties. {64:5} Blessed is he whom
you have chosen and taken up. He will dwell in your courts.
We will be filled with the good things of your house. Holy is
your temple: {64:6} wonderful in equity. Hear us, O God our
Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of a sea far
away. {64:7} You prepare the mountains in your virtue,
wrapped with power. {64:8} You stir up the depths of the sea,
the noise of its waves. The nations will be troubled,
{64:9} and those who dwell at the limits will be afraid, before
your signs. You will make the passing of morning and
evening enjoyable. {64:10} You have visited the earth, and
you have saturated it. You have enriched it in so many ways.
The river of God has been filled with water. You have
prepared their food. For thus is its preparation.
{64:11} Drench its streams, multiply its fruits; it will spring
up and rejoice in its showers. {64:12} You will bless the
crown of the year with your kindness, and your fields will be
filled with abundance. {64:13} The beauty of the desert will
fatten, and the hills will be wrapped with exultation.
{64:14} The rams of the sheep have been clothed, and the
valleys will abound with grain. They will cry out; yes, they
will even utter a hymn.


[Psalm 65] (Psalm 66) {65:1} Unto the end. A Canticle
Psalm of the Resurrection. Shout joyfully to God, all the
earth. {65:2} Proclaim a psalm to his name. Give glory to his
praise. {65:3} Exclaim to God, “How terrible are your works,
O Lord!” According to the fullness of your virtue, your
enemies will speak lies about you. {65:4} Let all the earth
adore you and sing psalms to you. May it sing a psalm to
your name. {65:5} Draw near and see the works of God, who
is terrible in his counsels over the sons of men. {65:6} He
converts the sea into dry land. They will cross the river on
foot. There, we will rejoice in him. {65:7} He rules by his
virtue for eternity. His eyes gaze upon the nations. May those
who exasperate him, not be exalted in themselves.
{65:8} Bless our God, you Gentiles, and make the voice of
his praise be heard. {65:9} He has set my soul toward life,
and he has granted that my feet may not be shaken.
{65:10} For you, O God, have tested us. You have examined
us by fire, just as silver is examined. {65:11} You have led us
into a snare. You have placed tribulations on our back.
{65:12} You have set men over our heads. We have crossed
through fire and water. And you have led us out to
refreshment. {65:13} I will enter your house with holocausts.
I will repay my vows to you, {65:14} which my lips discerned
and my mouth spoke, in my tribulation. {65:15} I will offer
to you holocausts full of marrow, with the burnt offerings of
rams. I will offer to you bulls as well as goats. {65:16} Draw
near and listen, all you who fear God, and I will describe to
you how much he has done for my soul. {65:17} I cried out
to him with my mouth, and I extolled him under my breath.
{65:18} If I have seen iniquity in my heart, the Lord would
not heed me. {65:19} And yet, God has heeded me and he
has attended to the voice of my supplication. {65:20} Blessed
is God, who has not removed my prayer, nor his mercy, from
me.


[Psalm 66] (Psalm 67) {66:1} Unto the end. With hymns, a
Canticle Psalm of David. {66:2} May God have mercy on us
and bless us. May he shine his countenance upon us, and
may he have mercy on us. {66:3} So may we know your way
upon the earth, your salvation among all nations. {66:4} Let
the peoples confess to you, O God. Let all the peoples confess
to you. {66:5} May the nations rejoice and exult. For you
judge the peoples with equity, and you direct the nations on
earth. {66:6} Let the peoples confess to you, O God. Let all
the peoples confess to you. {66:7} The earth has provided her
fruit. May God, our God, bless us. {66:8} May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him.


[Psalm 67] (Psalm 68) {67:1} Unto the end. A Canticle
Psalm of David himself. {67:2} May God rise up, and may
his enemies be scattered, and may those who hate him flee
from before his face. {67:3} Just as smoke vanishes, so may
they vanish. Just as wax flows away before the face of fire, so
may sinners pass away before the face of God. {67:4} And so,
let the just feast, and let them exult in the sight of God and be
delighted in gladness. {67:5} Sing to God, sing a psalm to his
name. Make a path for him, who ascends over the west. The
Lord is his name. Exult in his sight; they will be stirred up
before his face, {67:6} the father of orphans and the judge of
widows. God is in his holy place. {67:7} It is God who
makes men dwell in a house under one custom. He leads out
those who are strongly bound, and similarly, those who
exasperate, who dwell in sepulchers. {67:8} O God, when
you departed in the sight of your people, when you passed
through the desert, {67:9} the earth was moved, for the
heavens rained down before the face of the God of Sinai,
before the face of the God of Israel. {67:10} You will set
aside for your inheritance, O God, a willing rain. And though
it was weak, truly, you have made it perfect. {67:11} Your
animals will dwell in it. O God, in your sweetness, you have
provided for the poor. {67:12} The Lord will give the word to
evangelizers, along with great virtue. {67:13} The King of
virtue is beloved among the beloved. And the beauty of the
house will divide spoils. {67:14} If you take your rest in the
midst of the clergy, you will be like a dove whose wings are
covered with fine silver and edged with pale gold.
{67:15} When heaven discerns kings to be over her, they will
be whitened with the snows of Zalmon. {67:16} The
mountain of God is a fat mountain, a dense mountain, a
thick mountain. {67:17} So then, why are you distrustful of
dense mountains? The mountain on which God is well
pleased to dwell, even there, the Lord will dwell until the end.
{67:18} The chariot of God is ten thousand fold: thousands
rejoice. The Lord is with them in Sinai, in the holy place.
{67:19} You have ascended on high; you have taken captivity
captive. You have accepted gifts among men. For even those
who do not believe dwell with the Lord God. {67:20} Blessed
is the Lord, day after day. The God of our salvation will
make our journey prosper for us. {67:21} Our God is the
God who will bring about our salvation, and our Lord is the
Lord who has brought an end to death. {67:22} So then, truly,
God will break the heads of his enemies, the hairy skull of
those who wander around in their offenses. {67:23} The Lord
said: I will turn them away from Bashan, I will turn them
into the depths of the sea, {67:24} so that your feet may be
soaked in the blood of your enemies, so that the tongue of
your dogs may be soaked with the same. {67:25} O God,
they have seen your arrival, the arrival of my God, of my
king who is in a holy place. {67:26} The leaders went ahead,
united with the singers of psalms, in the midst of girls playing
on timbrels. {67:27} In the churches, bless the Lord God
from the fountains of Israel. {67:28} In that place, Benjamin
is a youth in ecstasy of mind. The leaders of Judah are their
governors: the leaders of Zebulun, the leaders of Naphtali.
{67:29} Command by your virtue, O God. Confirm in this
place, O God, what you have wrought in us. {67:30} Before
your temple in Jerusalem, kings will offer gifts to you.
{67:31} Rebuke the wild beasts of the reeds, a congregation
of bulls with the cows of the people, for they seek to exclude
those who have been tested like silver. Scatter the nations that
are pleased by wars. {67:32} Ambassadors will come out of
Egypt. Ethiopia will offer in advance her hands to God.
{67:33} Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth. Sing psalms
to the Lord. Sing psalms to God. {67:34} He ascends, up to
the heaven of the heavens, toward the east. Behold, he will
utter his voice, the voice of virtue. {67:35} Give glory to God
beyond Israel. His magnificence and his virtue is in the
clouds. {67:36} God is wonderful in his saints. The God of
Israel himself will give virtue and strength to his people.
Blessed is God.


[Psalm 68] (Psalm 69) {68:1} Unto the end. For those who
will be changed: of David. {68:2} Save me, O God, for the
waters have entered, even to my soul. {68:3} I have become
stuck in a deep quagmire, and there is no firm footing. I have
arrived at the height of the sea, and a tempest has
overwhelmed me. {68:4} I have endured hardships, while
crying out. My jaws have become hoarse; my eyes have failed.
Meanwhile, I hope in my God. {68:5} Those who hate me
without cause have been multiplied beyond the hairs of my
head. My enemies, who persecuted me unjustly, have been
strengthened. Then I was required to pay for what I did not
take. {68:6} O God, you know my foolishness, and my
offenses have not been hidden from you. {68:7} Let those
who wait for you, O Lord, the Lord of hosts, not be shamed
in me. Let those who seek you, O God of Israel, not be
confounded over me. {68:8} For because of you, I have
endured reproach; confusion has covered my face. {68:9} I
have become a stranger to my brothers and a sojourner to the
sons of my mother. {68:10} For zeal for your house has
consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproached
you have fallen upon me. {68:11} And I covered my soul
with fasting, and it has become a reproach to me.
{68:12} And I put on a haircloth as my garment, and I
became a parable to them. {68:13} Those who sat at the gate
spoke against me, and those who drank wine made me their
song. {68:14} But as for me, truly, my prayer is to you, O
Lord. This time has pleased you well, O God. In the
multitude of your mercy, in the truth of your salvation, hear
me. {68:15} Rescue me from the quagmire, so that I may not
become trapped. Free me from those who hate me and from
deep waters. {68:16} Do not allow the tempest of water to
submerge me, nor the deep to absorb me. And do not allow
the well to close in on me. {68:17} Hear me, O Lord, for
your mercy is kind. Look upon me, according to the fullness
of your compassion. {68:18} And do not turn your face away
from your servant, for I am in trouble: heed me quickly.
{68:19} Attend to my soul, and free it. Rescue me, because of
my enemies. {68:20} You know my reproach, and my
confusion, and my reverence. {68:21} All those who trouble
me are in your sight; my heart has anticipated reproach and
misery. And I sought for one who might grieve together with
me, but there was no one, and for one who might console me,
and I found no one. {68:22} And they gave me gall for my
food. And in my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.
{68:23} Let their table be a snare before them, and a
retribution, and a scandal. {68:24} Let their eyes be darkened,
so that they may not see, and may their back always be
crooked. {68:25} Pour out your indignation upon them, and
may the fury of your anger take hold of them. {68:26} May
their dwelling place be deserted, and may there be no one
who dwells in their tabernacles. {68:27} For they persecuted
whomever you struck. And they have added to the grief of
my wounds. {68:28} Assign an iniquity upon their iniquity,
and may they not enter into your justice. {68:29} Delete
them from the Book of the Living, and let them not be
written down with the just. {68:30} I am poor and sorrowful,
but your salvation, O God, has taken me up. {68:31} I will
praise the name of God with a canticle, and I will magnify
him with praise. {68:32} And it will please God more than a
new calf producing horns and hoofs. {68:33} Let the poor see
and rejoice. Seek God, and your soul will live. {68:34} For
the Lord has heard the poor, and he has not despised his
prisoners. {68:35} Let the heavens and the earth praise him:
the sea, and everything that crawls in it. {68:36} For God
will save Zion, and the cities of Judah will be built up. And
they will dwell there, and they will acquire it by inheritance.
{68:37} And the offspring of his servants will possess it; and
those who love his name will dwell in it.


[Psalm 69] (Psalm 70) {69:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David, in remembrance that the Lord had saved him.
{69:2} O God, reach out to help me. O Lord, hasten to assist
me. {69:3} May those who seek my soul be confounded and
awed. {69:4} May those who wish evils upon me be turned
back and blush with shame. May they be turned away
immediately, blushing with shame, who say to me: “Well,
well.” {69:5} Let all who seek you exult and rejoice in you,
and let those who love your salvation forever say: “The Lord
be magnified.” {69:6} I am truly destitute and poor. O God,
assist me. You are my helper and my deliverer. O Lord, do
not delay.


[Psalm 70] (Psalm 71) {70:1} A Psalm of David. Of the sons
of Jonadab and the former captives. In you, O Lord, I have
hoped; do not let me be brought to ruin forever. {70:2} Free
me by your justice, and rescue me. Incline your ear to me,
and save me. {70:3} Be a God of protection and a place of
strength for me, so that you may accomplish my salvation.
For you are my firmament and my refuge. {70:4} Rescue me,
O my God, from the hand of the sinner, and from the hand of
the unjust and those who act against the law. {70:5} For you,
O Lord, are my patience: my hope from my youth, O Lord.
{70:6} In you, I have been confirmed from conception. From
my mother’s womb, you are my protector. In you, I will sing
forever. {70:7} I have become to many as if I were a portent,
but you are a strong helper. {70:8} Let my mouth be filled
with praise, so that I may sing your glory, your greatness all
day long. {70:9} Do not cast me off in the time of old age.
Do not abandon me when my strength will fail. {70:10} For
my enemies have spoken against me. And those who
watched for my soul have taken counsel as one,
{70:11} saying: “God has abandoned him. Pursue and
overtake him. For there is no one to rescue him.” {70:12} O
God, do not be far from me. O my God, provide for my
assistance. {70:13} May they be confounded, and may they
fail, who drag down my soul. Let them be covered with
confusion and shame, who seek evils for me. {70:14} But I
will always have hope. And I will add more to all your praise.
{70:15} My mouth will announce your justice, your salvation
all day long. For I have not known letters. {70:16} I will
enter into the powers of the Lord. I will be mindful of your
justice alone, O Lord. {70:17} You have taught me from my
youth, O God. And so I will declare your wonders
continuously, {70:18} even in old age and with grey hairs.
Do not abandon me, O God, while I announce your arm to
every future generation: your power {70:19} and your justice,
O God, even to the highest great things that you have done.
O God, who is like you? {70:20} How great is the tribulation
that you have revealed to me: very great and evil. And so,
turning back, you have brought me to life, and you have led
me back again from the abyss of the earth. {70:21} You have
multiplied your magnificence. And so, turning back to me,
you have consoled me. {70:22} Therefore, I will confess your
truth to you, with the instruments of the Psalter. O God, I
will sing psalms to you with stringed instruments, O Holy
One of Israel. {70:23} My lips will exult, when I sing to you,
and also my soul, which you have redeemed. {70:24} And
even my tongue will meditate on your justice all day long,
when those who seek evils for me have been confounded and
set in awe.


[Psalm 71] (Psalm 72) {71:1} A Psalm according to Solomon.
{71:2} Give your judgment, O God, to the king, and your
justice to the king’s son, to judge your people with justice and
your poor with judgment. {71:3} Let the mountains take up
peace for the people, and the hills, justice. {71:4} He will
judge the poor of the people, and he will bring salvation to
the sons of the poor. And he will humble the false accuser.
{71:5} And he will remain, with the sun and before the moon,
from generation to generation. {71:6} He will descend like
rain upon fleece, and like showers showering upon the earth.
{71:7} In his days, justice will rise like the sun, with
abundance of peace, until the moon is taken away.
{71:8} And he will rule from sea to sea and from the river to
the limits of the whole world. {71:9} In his sight, the
Ethiopians will fall prostrate, and his enemies will lick the
ground. {71:10} The kings of Tarshish and the islands will
offer gifts. The kings of Arabia and of Seba will bring gifts.
{71:11} And all the kings of the earth shall adore him. All
nations will serve him. {71:12} For he will free the poor from
the powerful, and the poor one who has no helper.
{71:13} He will spare the poor and the indigent, and he will
bring salvation to the souls of the poor. {71:14} He will
redeem their souls from usuries and from iniquity, and their
names shall be honorable in his sight. {71:15} And he will
live, and to him will be given from the gold of Arabia, and by
him they will always adore. They will bless him all day long.
{71:16} And there will be a firmament on earth, at the
summits of mountains: its fruits will be extolled above
Lebanon, and those of the city will flourish like the grass of
the earth. {71:17} May his name be blessed forever; may his
name remain before the sun. And all the tribes of the earth
will be blessed in him. All nations will magnify him.
{71:18} Blessed is the Lord, God of Israel, who alone does
wondrous things. {71:19} And blessed is the name of his
majesty in eternity. And all the earth will be filled with his
majesty. Amen. Amen. {71:20} The praises of David, the son
of Jesse, have reached an end.


[Psalm 72] (Psalm 73) {72:1} A Psalm of Asaph. How good
is God to Israel, to those who are upright in heart. {72:2} But
my feet were nearly moved; my steps had nearly slipped.
{72:3} For I was zealous over the iniquitous, seeing the
peacefulness of sinners. {72:4} For they have no respect for
their death, nor do they have support in their wounds.
{72:5} They are not with the hardships of men, nor will they
be scourged with men. {72:6} Therefore, arrogance has held
on to them. They have been covered with their iniquity and
impiety. {72:7} Their iniquity has proceeded, as if from fat.
They have parted from the affection of the heart. {72:8} They
have thought and spoken wickedness. They have spoken
iniquity in high places. {72:9} They have set their mouth
against heaven, and their tongue has traversed the earth.
{72:10} Therefore, my people will be converted here, and
fullness of days will be found in them. {72:11} And they said,
“How would God know?” and, “Isn’t there knowledge in
high places?” {72:12} Behold, these are sinners, and,
abounding in this age, they have obtained riches.
{72:13} And I said: So then, it is without purpose that I have
justified my heart and washed my hands among the innocent.
{72:14} And I have been scourged all day long, and I have
received my chastisement in the mornings. {72:15} If I were
to say that I would explain this: Behold, I would condemn
this nation of your sons. {72:16} I considered, so that I might
know this. It is a hardship before me, {72:17} until I may
enter into the Sanctuary of God, and understand it to its last
part. {72:18} So, because of deceitfulness, truly, you have
placed it before them. While they were being lifted up, you
were casting them down. {72:19} How have they been
brought to desolation? They have suddenly failed. They have
perished because of their iniquity. {72:20} As a dream is to
those who awaken, O Lord, so will you reduce their image to
nothing in your city. {72:21} For my heart has been inflamed,
and my temperament has been changed. {72:22} And so, I
have been reduced to nothing, and I did not know it.
{72:23} I have become like a beast of burden to you, and I
am always with you. {72:24} You have held my right hand.
And in your will, you have conducted me, and with your
glory, you have taken me up. {72:25} For what is there for
me in heaven? And what do I wish for on earth before you?
{72:26} My body has failed, and my heart: O God of my
heart, and God my portion, into eternity. {72:27} For behold,
those who put themselves far from you will perish. You have
perished all those who fornicate away from you. {72:28} But
it is good for me to adhere to God, to put my hope in the
Lord God, so that I may announce all your prophecies, at the
gates of the daughter of Zion.


[Psalm 73] (Psalm 74) {73:1} The understanding of Asaph.
O God, why have you rejected us to the end. Why has your
fury become enraged over the sheep of your pasture?
{73:2} Be mindful of your congregation, which you have
possessed from the beginning. You redeemed the scepter of
your inheritance, mount Zion, in which you have dwelt.
{73:3} Lift up your hands against their arrogance in the end.
How great the malice of the enemy has been in the sanctuary!
{73:4} And those who hate you have been glorified, in the
midst of your solemnity. They have set up their own signs as
a proof, {73:5} as if it had been issued from on high; yet they
did not understand. As in a forest of chopped wood,
{73:6} they have cut down the entrances themselves. With
axe and hatchet, they have brought it down. {73:7} They
have set fire to your Sanctuary. They have polluted the
tabernacle of your name on earth. {73:8} They have said in
their heart, the whole group of them together: “Let us cause
all the feast days of God to cease from the land. {73:9} We
have not seen our proof; there is now no prophet. And he will
no longer know us.” {73:10} How long, O God, will the
enemy place blame? Is the adversary to provoke your name
until the end? {73:11} Why do you turn your hand away,
even your right hand, from the midst of your sinews, until the
end? {73:12} But God is our king before all ages. He has
wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. {73:13} In your
virtue, you confirmed the sea. You crushed the heads of the
serpents in the waters. {73:14} You have broken the heads of
the serpent. You have given him as food for the people of the
Ethiopians. {73:15} You have disrupted the fountains and
the torrents. You have dried up the rivers of Ethan.
{73:16} Yours is the day, and yours is the night. You have
made the morning light and the sun. {73:17} You have made
all the limits of the earth. The summer and the spring were
formed by you. {73:18} Be mindful of this: the enemy placed
blame against the Lord, and a foolish people has incited
against your name. {73:19} Do not hand over to beasts the
souls that confess to you; and do not forget the souls of your
poor until the end. {73:20} Consider your covenant. For
those who have been darkened upon the earth have been
filled by the iniquity of the houses. {73:21} Do not allow the
humble to be turned away in confusion. The poor and the
needy will praise your name. {73:22} Rise up, O God, judge
your own case. Call to mind the accusations against you,
which are made by the foolish all day long. {73:23} Do not
forget the voices of your adversaries. The arrogance of those
who hate you rises up continually.


[Psalm 74] (Psalm 75) {74:1} Unto the end. May you not be
corrupted. A Canticle Psalm of Asaph. {74:2} We will
confess to you, O God. We will confess, and we will call
upon your name. We will describe your wonders.
{74:3} While I have time, I will judge justices. {74:4} The
earth has been dissolved, with all who dwell in it. I have
confirmed its pillars. {74:5} I said to the iniquitous: “Do not
act unjustly,” and to the offenders: “Do not exalt the horn.”
{74:6} Do not exalt your horn on high. Do not speak iniquity
against God. {74:7} For it is neither from the east, nor from
the west, nor before the desert mountains. {74:8} For God is
judge. This one he humbles and that one he exalts.
{74:9} For, in the hand of the Lord, there is a cup of
undiluted wine, full of consternation. And he has tipped it
from here to there. So, truly, its dregs have not been emptied.
All the sinners of the earth will drink. {74:10} But I will
announce it in every age. I will sing to the God of Jacob.
{74:11} And I will break all the horns of sinners. And the
horns of the just will be exalted.


[Psalm 75] (Psalm 76) {75:1} Unto the end. With Praises. A
Psalm of Asaph. A Canticle to the Assyrians. {75:2} In Judea,
God is known. In Israel, his name is great. {75:3} And his
place has been formed with peace. And his dwelling place is
in Zion. {75:4} In that place, he has broken the powers of the
bows, the shield, the sword, and the battle. {75:5} You
illuminate wondrously from the mountains of eternity.
{75:6} All the foolish of heart have been disturbed. They
have slept their sleep, and all the men of riches have found
nothing in their hands. {75:7} At your rebuke, O God of
Jacob, those who were mounted on horseback have fallen
asleep. {75:8} You are terrible, and so, who can withstand
you? From thence is your wrath. {75:9} You have caused
judgment to be heard from heaven. The earth trembled and
was quieted, {75:10} when God rose up in judgment in order
to bring salvation to all the meek of the earth. {75:11} For the
thinking of man will confess to you, and the legacy of his
thinking will keep a feast day to you. {75:12} Make vows and
pay them to the Lord, your God. All you who surround him
bring gifts: to him who is terrible, {75:13} even to him who
takes away the spirit of leaders, to him who is terrible with
the kings of the earth.


[Psalm 76] (Psalm 77) {76:1} Unto the end. For Jeduthun. A
Psalm of Asaph. {76:2} I cried out to the Lord with my voice,
to God with my voice, and he attended to me. {76:3} In the
days of my tribulation, I sought God, with my hands
opposite him in the night, and I was not deceived. My soul
refused to be consoled. {76:4} I was mindful of God, and I
was delighted, and I was distressed, and my spirit fell away.
{76:5} My eyes anticipated the vigils. I was disturbed, and I
did not speak. {76:6} I considered the days of antiquity, and I
held the years of eternity in my mind. {76:7} And I meditated
in the night with my heart, and I was distressed, and I
examined my spirit. {76:8} So then, will God reject for
eternity? Will he not continue to allow himself to show favor?
{76:9} Or, will he cut off his mercy in the end, from
generation to generation? {76:10} And would God ever
forget to be merciful? Or, would he, in his wrath, restrict his
mercies? {76:11} And I said, “Now I have begun. This
change is from the right hand of the Most High.” {76:12} I
was mindful of the works of the Lord. For I will be mindful
from the beginning of your wonders, {76:13} and I will
meditate on all your works. And I will take part in your
intentions. {76:14} Your way, O God, is in what is holy.
Which God is great like our God? {76:15} You are the God
who performs miracles. You have made your virtue known
among the peoples. {76:16} With your arm, you have
redeemed your people, the sons of Jacob and of Joseph.
{76:17} The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you,
and they were afraid, and the depths were stirred up.
{76:18} Great was the sound of the waters. The clouds
uttered a voice. For your arrows also pass by. {76:19} The
voice of your thunder is like a wheel. Your flashes have
illuminated the whole world. The earth has quaked and
trembled. {76:20} Your way is through the sea, and your
paths are through many waters. And your traces will not be
known. {76:21} You have conducted your people like sheep,
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.


[Psalm 77] (Psalm 78) {77:1} The understanding of Asaph.
O my people, attend to my law. Incline your ears to the
words of my mouth. {77:2} I will open my mouth in parables.
I will speak about concepts that are from the beginning.
{77:3} We have heard and known such great things, as our
fathers have described to us. {77:4} These things have not
been hidden from their sons in any generation: declaring the
praises of the Lord, and his virtues, and the wonders that he
has done. {77:5} And he has received testimony with Jacob,
and he has set a law within Israel. Such great things, he has
commanded our fathers, so as to make these things known to
their sons, {77:6} so that another generation might know
them, and so that the sons, who will be born and who will
grow up, shall describe them to their sons. {77:7} So then,
may they put their hope in God, and may they not forget the
works of God, and may they seek his commandments.
{77:8} May they not become like their fathers, a perverse and
exasperating generation: a generation that does not straighten
their heart and whose spirit is not trustworthy with God.
{77:9} The sons of Ephraim, who bend and shoot the bow,
have been turned back in the day of battle. {77:10} They have
not kept the covenant of God. And they were not willing to
walk in his law. {77:11} And they have been forgetful of his
benefits, and of his miracle, which he revealed to them.
{77:12} He performed miracles in the sight of their fathers, in
the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis. {77:13} He broke the
sea and he led them through. And he stationed the waters, as
if in a vessel. {77:14} And he led them with a cloud by day,
and with illumination by fire throughout the night.
{77:15} He broke through the rock in the wasteland, and he
gave them to drink, as if from the great abyss. {77:16} He
brought forth water from the rock, and he conducted the
waters, as if they were rivers. {77:17} And yet, they
continued to sin against him. In a waterless place, they
provoked the Most High with resentment. {77:18} And they
tempted God in their hearts, by asking for food according to
their desires. {77:19} And they spoke badly about God. They
said, “Would God be able to prepare a table in the desert?
{77:20} He struck the rock, and so waters flowed and the
torrents flooded, but would even he be able to provide bread,
or provide a table, for his people?” {77:21} Therefore, the
Lord heard, and he was dismayed, and a fire was kindled
within Jacob, and an anger ascended into Israel. {77:22} For
they neither put their trust in God, nor did they hope in his
salvation. {77:23} And he commanded the clouds from
above, and he opened the doors of heaven. {77:24} And he
rained down manna upon them to eat, and he gave them the
bread of heaven. {77:25} Man ate the bread of Angels. He
sent them provisions in abundance. {77:26} He transferred
the south wind from heaven, and, in his virtue, he brought in
the Southwest wind. {77:27} And he rained down flesh upon
them, as if it were dust, and feathered birds, as if they were
the sand of the sea. {77:28} And they fell down in the midst
of their camp, encircling their tabernacles. {77:29} And they
ate until they were greatly satisfied, and he brought to them
according to their desires. {77:30} They were not cheated out
of what they wanted. Their food was still in their mouth,
{77:31} and then the wrath of God came upon them. And he
slew the fat ones among them, and he impeded the elect of
Israel. {77:32} In all these things, they continued to sin, and
they were not trustworthy with his miracles. {77:33} And
their days faded away into vanity, and their years with haste.
{77:34} When he slew them, then they sought him. And they
returned, and they drew near to him in the early morning.
{77:35} And they were mindful that God is their helper and
that the Most High God is their redeemer. {77:36} And they
chose him with their mouth, and then they lied to him with
their tongue. {77:37} For their heart was not upright with
him, nor have they been living faithfully in his covenant.
{77:38} Yet he is merciful, and he will pardon their sins. And
he will not destroy them. And he has abundantly turned aside
his own wrath. And he did not enflame his wrath entirely.
{77:39} And he remembered that they are flesh: with a spirit
that goes forth and does not return. {77:40} How often did
they provoke him in the desert and stir him to wrath in a
waterless place? {77:41} And they turned back and tempted
God, and they exasperated the Holy One of Israel.
{77:42} They did not remember his hand, in the day that he
redeemed them from the hand of the one troubling them.
{77:43} Thus, he positioned his signs in Egypt and his
wonders in the field of Tanis. {77:44} And he turned their
rivers into blood, along with their rain showers, so that they
could not drink. {77:45} He sent among them the common
fly, and it devoured them, and the frog, and it scattered them.
{77:46} And he gave up their fruits to mold and their labors
to the locust. {77:47} And he slew their vineyards with hail
and their mulberry trees with severe frost. {77:48} And he
delivered their cattle to the hail and their possessions to fire.
{77:49} And he sent the wrath of his indignation among
them: indignation and wrath and tribulation, sent forth by
evil angels. {77:50} He made way for the path of his anger.
He did not spare their souls from death. And he enclosed
their beasts of burden in death. {77:51} And he struck all the
first-born in the land of Egypt: the first-fruits of all their labor
in the tabernacles of Ham. {77:52} And he took away his
own people like sheep, and he led them through the
wilderness like a flock. {77:53} And he led them out in hope,
and they did not fear. And the sea covered their enemies.
{77:54 And he led them to the mountain of his
sanctification: the mountain that his right hand had acquired.
And he cast out the Gentiles before their face. And he
divided their land by lot to them, with a line of distribution.
{77:55} And he caused the tribes of Israel to dwell in their
tabernacles. {77:56} Yet they tempted and aggravated God
Most High, and they did not keep his testaments.
{77:57} And they turned themselves aside, and they did not
serve the covenant. In the same manner as their fathers, they
were turned backwards, like a crooked bow. {77:58} They
impelled him to anger on their hills, and they provoked him
to rivalry with their graven images. {77:59} God listened,
and he spurned them, and he reduced Israel greatly, almost to
nothing. {77:60} And he rejected the tabernacle of Shiloh, his
tabernacle where he had dwelt among men. {77:61} And he
delivered their virtue into captivity, and their beauty into the
hands of the enemy. {77:62} And he enclosed his people with
the sword, and he spurned his inheritance. {77:63} Fire
consumed their young men, and their virgins were not
lamented. {77:64} Their priests fell by the sword, and their
widows did not weep. {77:65} And the Lord was awaked, as
if out of sleep, and like a powerful man impaired by wine.
{77:66} And he struck his enemies on the back. He gave
them over to everlasting disgrace. {77:67} And he rejected
the tabernacle of Joseph, and he did not choose the tribe of
Ephraim. {77:68} But he chose the tribe of Judah: mount
Zion, which he loved. {77:69} And he built up his sanctuary,
like a single-horned beast, in the land that he founded for all
ages. {77:70} And he chose his servant David, and he took
him from the flocks of the sheep: he received him from
following the ewes with their young, {77:71} in order to
pasture Jacob his servant and Israel his inheritance.
{77:72} And he fed them with the innocence of his heart.
And he led them with the understanding of his hands.


[Psalm 78] (Psalm 79) {78:1} A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the
Gentiles have entered into your inheritance; they have
polluted your holy temple. They have set Jerusalem as a
place to tend fruit trees. {78:2} They have placed the dead
bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the sky, the
flesh of your saints for the beasts of the earth. {78:3} They
have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one who would bury them. {78:4} We have
become a disgrace to our neighbors, an object of ridicule and
mockery to those who are around us. {78:5} How long, O
Lord? Will you be angry until the end? Will your zeal be
kindled like a fire? {78:6} Pour out your wrath among the
Gentiles, who have not known you, and upon the kingdoms
that have not invoked your name. {78:7} For they have
devoured Jacob, and they have desolated his place.
{78:8} Do not remember our iniquities of the past. May your
mercies quickly intercept us, for we have become exceedingly
poor. {78:9} Help us, O God, our Savior. And free us, Lord,
for the glory of your name. And forgive us our sins for the
sake of your name. {78:10} Let them not say among the
Gentiles, “Where is their God?” And may your name
become known among the nations before our eyes. For the
retribution of your servants’ blood, which has been poured
out: {78:11} may the groans of the shackled enter before you.
According to the greatness of your arm, take possession of
the sons of those who have been killed. {78:12} And repay
our neighbors sevenfold within their sinews. It is the reproach
of the same ones who brought reproach against you, O Lord.
{78:13} But we are your people and the sheep of your pasture:
we will give thanks to you in all ages. From generation to
generation, we will announce your praise.


[Psalm 79] (Psalm 80) {79:1} Unto the end. For those who
will be changed. The testimony of Asaph. A Psalm.
{79:2} The One who reigns over Israel: Be attentive. For you
lead Joseph like a sheep. The One who sits upon the
cherubim: Shine forth {79:3} in the presence of Ephraim,
Benjamin, and Manasseh. Awaken your power and draw
near, so as to accomplish our salvation. {79:4} Convert us, O
God. And reveal your face, and we will be saved. {79:5} O
Lord, God of hosts, how long will you be angry over the
prayer of your servant? {79:6} How long will you feed us the
bread of tears, and give us to drink a full measure of tears?
{79:7} You have set us as a contradiction to our neighbors.
And our enemies have ridiculed us. {79:8} O God of hosts,
convert us. And reveal your face, and we will be saved.
{79:9} You have transferred a vineyard from Egypt. You
have cast out the Gentiles, and planted it. {79:10} You were
the leader of the journey in its sight. You planted its roots,
and it filled the earth. {79:11} Its shadow covered the hills,
and its branches covered the cedars of God. {79:12} It
extended its new branches even to the sea, and its new
seedlings even to the river. {79:13} So then, why have you
destroyed its walls, so that all those who pass by the way
gather its grapes? {79:14} The wild boar of the forest has
trampled it, and a single wild beast has laid waste to it.
{79:15} Turn back, O God of hosts. Look down from heaven,
and see, and visit this vineyard; {79:16} and complete what
your right hand has planted, and look upon the son of man,
whom you have confirmed for yourself. {79:17} Whatever
has been set on fire and dug under will perish at the rebuke of
your countenance. {79:18} Let your hand be over the man on
your right, and over the son of man, whom you have
confirmed for yourself. {79:19} For we do not depart from
you, and you will revive us. And we will invoke your name.
{79:20} O Lord, God of hosts, convert us. And reveal your
face, and we will be saved.


[Psalm 80] (Psalm 81) {80:1} Unto the end. For the wine and
oil presses. A Psalm of Asaph himself. {80:2} Exult before
God our helper. Sing joyfully to the God of Jacob.
{80:3} Take up a psalm, and bring forth the timbrel: a
pleasing Psalter with stringed instruments. {80:4} Sound the
trumpet at the new moon, on the noteworthy day of your
solemnity, {80:5} for it is a precept in Israel and a judgment
for the God of Jacob. {80:6} He set it as a testimony with
Joseph, when he went out of the land of Egypt. He heard a
tongue that he did not know. {80:7} He turned the burdens
away from his back. His hands had been a slave to baskets.
{80:8} You called upon me in tribulation, and I freed you. I
heard you within the hidden tempest. I tested you with
waters of contradiction. {80:9} My people, listen and I will
call you to testify. If, O Israel, you will pay heed to me,
{80:10} then there will be no new god among you, nor will
you adore a foreign god. {80:11} For I am the Lord your
God, who led you out of the land of Egypt. Widen your
mouth, and I will fill it. {80:12} But my people did not hear
my voice, and Israel was not attentive to me. {80:13} And so,
I sent them away, according to the desires of their heart.
They will go forth according to their own inventions.
{80:14} If my people had heard me, if Israel had walked in
my ways, {80:15} I would have humbled their enemies, as if
it were nothing, and I would have sent my hand upon those
who troubled them. {80:16} The enemies of the Lord have
lied to him, and their time will come, in every age.
{80:17} And he fed them from the fat of the grain, and he
saturated them with honey from the rock.


[Psalm 81] (Psalm 82) {81:1} A Psalm of Asaph. God has
stood in the synagogue of gods, but, in their midst, he decides
between gods. {81:2} How long will you judge unjustly and
favor the faces of sinners? {81:3} Judge for the indigent and
the orphan. Do justice to the humble and the poor.
{81:4} Rescue the poor, and free the needy from the hand of
the sinner. {81:5} They did not know and did not understand.
They wander in darkness. All the foundations of the earth
will be moved. {81:6} I said: You are gods, and all of you are
sons of the Most High. {81:7} But you will die like men, and
you will fall just like one of the princes. {81:8} Rise up, O
God. Judge the earth. For you will inherit it with all the
nations.


[Psalm 82] (Psalm 83) {82:1} A Canticle Psalm of Asaph.
{82:2} O God, who will ever be like you? Do not be silent,
and do not be unmoved, O God. {82:3} For behold, your
enemies have sounded off, and those who hate you have
carried out a head. {82:4} They have acted with malice in
counsel over your people, and they have plotted against your
holy ones. {82:5} They have said, “Come, let us scatter them
from the nations and not allow the name of Israel to be
remembered any longer.” {82:6} For they plotted
unanimously. Joined together against you, they ordained a
covenant: {82:7} the tabernacle of Edomites and Ishmaelites,
and Moab and the Hagarites, {82:8} and Gebal, and Ammon,
and Amalek, the foreigners among the inhabitants of Tyre.
{82:9} For even Assur comes with them. They have become
the helpers of the sons of Lot. {82:10} Do to them as you did
to Midian and Sisera, just as to Jabin at the torrent of Kishon.
{82:11} They perished at Endor, and they became like the
dung of the earth. {82:12} Set their leaders to be like Oreb
and Zeeb, and Zebah and Zalmunna: all their leaders
{82:13} who said, “Let us possess the Sanctuary of God for
an inheritance.” {82:14} My God, set them like a wheel, and
like stubble before the face of the wind. {82:15} Set them like
a fire burning up the forest, and like a flame burning up the
mountains. {82:16} So will you pursue them in your tempest,
and disturb them in your wrath. {82:17} Fill their faces with
shame, and they will seek your name, O Lord. {82:18} Let
them be ashamed and troubled, from age to age, and let them
be confounded and perish. {82:19} And let them know that
the Lord is your name. You alone are the Most High in all
the earth.


[Psalm 83] (Psalm 84) {83:1} Unto the end. For the wine and
oil presses. A Psalm to the sons of Korah. {83:2} How
beloved are your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! {83:3} My
soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and
my flesh have exulted in the living God. {83:4} For even the
sparrow has found a home for himself, and the turtle-dove a
nest for herself, where she may lay her young: your altars, O
Lord of hosts, my king and my God. {83:5} Blessed are those
who dwell in your house, O Lord. They will praise you from
age to age. {83:6} Blessed is the man whose help is from you.
In his heart, he is disposed to ascend {83:7} from the valley
of tears, from the place which he has determined. {83:8} For
even the lawgiver will provide a blessing; they will go from
virtue to virtue. The God of gods will be seen in Zion.
{83:9} O Lord, God of hosts, hear my prayer. Pay attention,
O God of Jacob. {83:10} O God, gaze upon our protector,
and look upon the face of your Christ. {83:11} For one day in
your courts is better than thousands elsewhere. I have chosen
to be lowly in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in
the tabernacles of sinners. {83:12} For God loves mercy and
truth. The Lord will give grace and glory. {83:13} He will not
withhold good things from those who walk in innocence. O
Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who hopes in you.


[Psalm 84] (Psalm 85) {84:1} Unto the end. A Psalm to the
sons of Korah. {84:2} O Lord, you have blessed your land.
You have turned aside the captivity of Jacob. {84:3} You
have released the iniquity of your people. You have covered
all their sins. {84:4} You have mitigated all your wrath. You
have turned aside from the wrath of your indignation.
{84:5} Convert us, O God, our Savior, and turn your anger
away from us. {84:6} Will you be angry with us forever? And
will you extend your wrath from generation to generation?
{84:7} O God, you will turn back and revive us. And your
people will rejoice in you. {84:8} O Lord, reveal to us your
mercy, and grant to us your salvation. {84:9} I will listen to
what the Lord God may be saying to me. For he will speak
peace to his people, and to his saints, and to those who are
being converted to the heart. {84:10} So then, truly his
salvation is near to those who fear him, so that glory may
inhabit our land. {84:11} Mercy and truth have met each
other. Justice and peace have kissed. {84:12} Truth has risen
from the earth, and justice has gazed down from heaven.
{84:13} For so will the Lord give goodness, and our earth
will give her fruit. {84:14} Justice will walk before him, and
he will set his steps upon the way.


[Psalm 85] (Psalm 86) {85:1} A Prayer of David himself.
Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear me. For I am needy and
poor. {85:2} Preserve my soul, for I am holy. My God, bring
salvation to your servant who hopes in you. {85:3} O Lord,
be merciful to me, for I have cried out to you all day long.
{85:4} Give joy to the soul of your servant, for I have lifted
up my soul to you, Lord. {85:5} For you are sweet and mild,
Lord, and plentiful in mercy to all who call upon you.
{85:6} Pay attention, Lord, to my prayer, and attend to the
voice of my supplication. {85:7} In the day of my tribulation,
I cried out to you, because you heeded me. {85:8} There is
no one like you among the gods, O Lord, and there is no one
like you in your works. {85:9} All the nations, which you
have made, will draw near and adore in your presence, O
Lord. And they will glorify your name. {85:10} For you are
great, and you perform wonders. You alone are God.
{85:11} Lead me, O Lord, in your way, and I will walk in
your truth. May my heart rejoice, so that it will fear your
name. {85:12} I will confess to you, O Lord my God, with
my whole heart. And I will glorify your name in eternity.
{85:13} For your mercy toward me is great, and you have
rescued my soul from the lower part of Hell. {85:14} O God,
the iniquitous have risen up against me, and the synagogue of
the powerful have sought my soul, and they have not placed
you in their sight. {85:15} And you, Lord God, are
compassionate and merciful, being patient and full of mercy
and truthful. {85:16} Look down upon me and have mercy
on me. Grant your authority to your servant, and bring
salvation to the son of your handmaid. {85:17} Make me a
sign of what is good, so that those who hate me, may look
and be confounded. For you, O Lord, have helped me and
consoled me.


[Psalm 86] (Psalm 87) {86:1} A Canticle Psalm to the sons of
Korah. Its foundations are in the holy mountains: {86:2} the
Lord loves the gates of Zion above all the tabernacles of
Jacob. {86:3} Glorious things are being said of you, O City of
God. {86:4} I will be mindful of Rahab and of Babylon
knowing me. Behold, the foreigners, and Tyre, and the
people of the Ethiopians: these have been there. {86:5} Will
not Zion say that this man and that man were born in her?
And the Most High himself has founded her. {86:6} The
Lord will explain, in the writings of peoples and of leaders,
about those who have been in her. {86:7} For so the dwelling
place within you is with all rejoicing.


[Psalm 87] (Psalm 88) {87:1} A Canticle Psalm to the sons of
Korah. Unto the end. For Mahalath, to answer the
understanding of Heman the Ezrahite. {87:2} O Lord, God
of my salvation: I have cried out, day and night, in your
presence. {87:3} Let my prayer enter in your sight. Incline
your ear to my petition. {87:4} For my soul has been filled
with evils, and my life has drawn near to Hell. {87:5} I am
considered to be among those who will descend into the pit. I
have become like a man without assistance, {87:6} idle
among the dead. I am like the wounded sleeping in
sepulchers, whom you no longer remember, and who have
been repelled by your hand. {87:7} They have lain me in the
lower pit: in dark places and in the shadow of death.
{87:8} Your fury has been confirmed over me. And you have
brought all your waves upon me. {87:9} You have sent my
acquaintances far from me. They have set me as an
abomination to themselves. I was handed over, yet I did not
depart. {87:10} My eyes languished before destitution. All
day long, I cried out to you, O Lord. I stretched out my
hands to you. {87:11} Will you perform wonders for the dead?
Or will physicians raise to life, and so confess to you?
{87:12} Could anyone declare your mercy in the sepulcher,
or your truth from within perdition? {87:13} Will your
wonders be known in the darkness, or your justice in the land
of oblivion? {87:14} And I have cried out to you, O Lord,
and in early morning, my prayer will come before you.
{87:15} Lord, why do you reject my prayer? Why do you
turn your face away from me? {87:16} I am poor, and I have
been amid hardships from my youth. And, though I have
been exalted, I am humbled and disturbed. {87:17} Your
wrath has crossed into me, and your terrors have disturbed
me. {87:18} They have surrounded me like water, all day
long. They have surrounded me, all at once. {87:19} Friend
and neighbor, and my acquaintances, you have sent far away
from me, away from misery.


[Psalm 88] (Psalm 89) {88:1} The understanding of Ethan
the Ezrahite. {88:2} I will sing the mercies of the Lord in
eternity. I will announce your truth with my mouth, from
generation to generation. {88:3} For you have said: Mercy
will be built in the heavens, unto eternity. Your truth will be
prepared there. {88:4} I have set up a covenant with my elect.
I have sworn to David my servant: {88:5} I will prepare your
offspring, even in eternity. And I will build up your throne,
from generation to generation. {88:6} The heavens will
confess your miracles, Lord, and also your truth, in the
Church of the saints. {88:7} For who among the clouds is
equal to the Lord? Who among the sons of God is like God?
{88:8} God is glorified by the counsel of the saints. He is
great and terrible above all those who are around him.
{88:9} O Lord, God of hosts, who is like you? You are
powerful, Lord, and your truth is all around you.
{88:10} You rule over the power of the sea, and you even
mitigate the movement of its waves. {88:11} You have
humbled the arrogant one, like one who has been wounded.
You have scattered your enemies with the arm of your
strength. {88:12} Yours are the heavens, and yours is the
earth. You founded the whole world in all its fullness.
{88:13} You created the north and the sea. Tabor and
Hermon will exult in your name. {88:14} Your arm acts with
power. Let your hand be strengthened, and let your right
hand be exalted. {88:15} Justice and judgment are the
preparation of your throne. Mercy and truth will precede
your face. {88:16} Blessed is the people that knows jubilation.
They will walk in the light of your countenance, O Lord,
{88:17} and they will exult in your name all day long, and
they will be exalted in your justice. {88:18} For you are the
glory of their virtue, and in your goodness, our horn will be
exalted. {88:19} For our assumption is of the Lord, and it is
of our king, the holy one of Israel. {88:20} Then you spoke in
a vision to your holy ones, and you said: I have stationed
help with the powerful one, and I have exalted the elect one
from my people. {88:21} I have found my servant David. I
have anointed him with my holy oil. {88:22} For my hand
will assist him, and my arm will fortify him. {88:23} The
enemy will have no advantage over him, nor will the son of
iniquity be positioned to harm him. {88:24} And I will cut
down his enemies before his face. And those who hate him, I
will turn to flight. {88:25} And my truth and my mercy will
be with him. And his horn will be exalted in my name.
{88:26} And I will place his hand on the sea and his right
hand on the rivers. {88:27} He will invoke me: “You are my
father, my God, and the support of my salvation.”
{88:28} And I will make him the first-born, preeminent
before the kings of the earth. {88:29} I will preserve my
mercy for him eternally, and my covenant for him faithfully.
{88:30} And I will set his offspring from generation to
generation, and his throne like the days of heaven.
{88:31} But if his sons abandon my law, and if they do not
walk in my judgments, {88:32} if they profane my justices,
and if they do not keep my commandments: {88:33} I will
visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with a beating.
{88:34} But I will not scatter my mercy from him, and I will
not do harm to my truth. {88:35} And I will not profane my
covenant, and I will not make void that which proceeds from
my lips. {88:36} I have sworn by my holiness one time: I will
not lie to David, {88:37} his offspring will remain for eternity.
And his throne will be like the sun in my sight, {88:38} and,
like the moon, it is perfected in eternity, and it is a faithful
witness in heaven. {88:39} Yet, truly, you have rejected and
despised, you have pushed away, my Christ. {88:40} You
have overthrown the covenant of your servant. You have
profaned his sanctuary on earth. {88:41} You have destroyed
all his fences. You have made his territory dreadful.
{88:42} All who pass by the way have plundered him. He has
become a disgrace to his neighbors. {88:43} You have
exalted the right hand of those who oppress him. You have
brought joy to all his enemies. {88:44} You have diverted the
help of his sword, and you have not assisted him in battle.
{88:45} You have torn him away from cleansing, and you
have smashed his throne down to the ground. {88:46} You
have reduced the days of his time. You have flooded him
with confusion. {88:47} How long, O Lord? Will you turn
away unto the end? Will your wrath flare up like a fire?
{88:48} Remember what my substance is. For could you
really have appointed all the sons of men in vain?
{88:49} Who is the man that will live, and yet not see death?
Who will rescue his own soul from the hand of the
underworld? {88:50} O Lord, where are your mercies of
antiquity, just as you swore to David in your truth?
{88:51} Be mindful, O Lord, of the disgrace of your servants
(which I have sustained in my sinews) among many nations.
{88:52} With these, your enemies have reproached you, O
Lord; with these, they have reproached the commutation of
your Christ. {88:53} Blessed is the Lord for all eternity.
Amen. Amen.


[Psalm 89] (Psalm 90) {89:1} A prayer of Moses, the man of
God. O Lord, you have been our refuge from generation to
generation. {89:2} Before the mountains became, or the land
was formed along with the world: from ages past, even to all
ages, you are God. {89:3} And, lest man be turned aside in
humiliation, you have said: Be converted, O sons of men.
{89:4} For a thousand years before your eyes are like the
days of yesterday, which have passed by, and they are like a
watch of the night, {89:5} which was held for nothing: so
their years shall be. {89:6} In the morning, he may pass away
like grass; in the morning, he may flower and pass away. In
the evening, he will fall, and harden, and become dry.
{89:7} For, at your wrath, we have withered away, and we
have been disturbed by your fury. {89:8} You have placed
our iniquities in your sight, our age in the illumination of
your countenance. {89:9} For all our days have faded away,
and at your wrath, we have fainted. Our years will be
considered to be like a spider’s web. {89:10} The days of our
years in them are seventy years. But in the powerful, they are
eighty years, and more of these are with hardship and sorrow.
For mildness has overwhelmed us, and we shall be corrected.
{89:11} Who knows the power of your wrath? And, before
fear, can your wrath {89:12} be numbered? So make known
your right hand, along with men learned in heart, in wisdom.
{89:13} Return, O Lord, how long? And may you be
persuaded on behalf of your servants. {89:14} We were filled
in the morning with your mercy, and we exulted and
delighted all our days. {89:15} We have been rejoicing,
because of the days in which you humbled us, because of the
years in which we saw evils. {89:16} Look down upon your
servants and upon their works, and direct their sons.
{89:17} And may the splendor of the Lord our God be upon
us. And so, direct the works of our hands over us; direct even
the work of our hands.


[Psalm 90] (Psalm 91) {90:1} The Praise of a Canticle, of
David. Whoever dwells with the assistance of the Most High
will abide in the protection of the God of heaven. {90:2} He
will say to the Lord, “You are my supporter and my refuge.”
My God, I will hope in him. {90:3} For he has freed me from
the snare of those who go hunting, and from the harsh word.
{90:4} He will overshadow you with his shoulders, and you
will hope under his wings. {90:5} His truth will surround you
with a shield. You will not be afraid: before the terror of the
night, {90:6} before the arrow flying in the day, before the
troubles that wander in the darkness, nor of invasion and the
midday demon. {90:7} A thousand will fall before your side
and ten thousand before your right hand. Yet it will not draw
near you. {90:8} So then, truly, you will consider with your
eyes, and you will see the retribution of sinners. {90:9} For
you, O Lord, are my hope. You have set the Most High as
your refuge. {90:10} Disaster will not draw near to you, and
the scourge will not approach your tabernacle. {90:11} For
he has given his Angels charge over you, so as to preserve
you in all your ways. {90:12} With their hands, they will
carry you, lest you hurt your foot against a stone.
{90:13} You will walk over the asp and the king serpent, and
you will trample the lion and the dragon. {90:14} Because he
has hoped in me, I will free him. I will protect him because
he has known my name. {90:15} He will cry out to me, and I
will heed him. I am with him in tribulation. I will rescue him,
and I will glorify him. {90:16} I will fill him with length of
days. And I will reveal to him my salvation.


[Psalm 91] (Psalm 92) {91:1} A Canticle Psalm. On the day
of the Sabbath. {91:2} It is good to confess to the Lord and to
sing psalms to your name, O Most High: {91:3} to announce
your mercy in the morning, and your truth throughout the
night, {91:4} upon the ten strings, upon the psaltery, with a
canticle, upon stringed instruments. {91:5} For you, O Lord,
have delighted me with your doings, and I will exult in the
works of your hands. {91:6} How great are your works, O
Lord! Your thoughts have been made exceedingly deep.
{91:7} A foolish man will not know these things, and a
senseless one will not understand: {91:8} when sinners will
have risen up like grass, and when all those who work
iniquity will have appeared, that they shall pass away, age
after age. {91:9} But you, O Lord, are the Most High for all
eternity. {91:10} For behold your enemies, O Lord, for
behold your enemies will perish, and all those who work
iniquity will be dispersed. {91:11} And my horn will be
exalted like that of the single-horned beast, and my old age
will be exalted in fruitful mercy. {91:12} And my eye has
looked down upon my enemies, and my ear will hear of the
malignant rising up against me. {91:13} The just one will
flourish like the palm tree. He will be multiplied like the
cedar of Lebanon. {91:14} Those planted in the house of the
Lord will flourish in the courts of the house of our God.
{91:15} They will still be multiplied in a fruitful old age, and
they will endure well, {91:16} so that they may announce
that the Lord our God is righteous and that there is no
iniquity in him.


[Psalm 92] (Psalm 93) {92:1} The Praise of a Canticle, of
David himself. In the time before the Sabbath, when the earth
was founded. {92:2} The Lord has reigned. He has been
clothed with beauty. {92:3} The Lord has been clothed with
strength, and he has girded himself. Yet he has also
confirmed the world, which will not be moved. {92:4} My
throne is prepared from of old. You are from everlasting.
{92:5} The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have
lifted up their voice. The floods have lifted up their waves,
{92:6} before the noise of many waters. Wondrous are the
surges of the sea; wondrous is the Lord on high. {92:7} Your
testimonies have been made exceedingly trustworthy.
Sanctity befits your house, O Lord, with length of days.


[Psalm 93] (Psalm 94) {93:1} A Psalm of David himself. The
Fourth Sabbath. The Lord is the God of retribution. The God
of retribution acts in order to deliver. {93:2} Lift yourself up,
for you judge the earth. Repay the arrogant with retribution.
{93:3} How long will sinners, O Lord, how long will sinners
glory? {93:4} How long will they utter and speak iniquity?
How long will all who work injustice speak out? {93:5} They
have humiliated your people, O Lord, and they have
harassed your inheritance. {93:6} They have executed the
widow and the new arrival, and they have slaughtered the
orphan. {93:7} And they have said, “The Lord will not see,
nor will the God of Jacob understand.” {93:8} Understand,
you senseless ones among the people. And be wise at last,
you foolish ones. {93:9} He who formed the ear, will he not
hear? And he who forged the eye, does he not look closely?
{93:10} He who chastises nations, he who teaches man
knowledge, will he not rebuke? {93:11} The Lord knows the
thoughts of men: that these are in vain. {93:12} Blessed is the
man whom you will instruct, O Lord. And you will teach
him from your law. {93:13} So may you soothe him from the
evil days, until a pit may be dug for sinners. {93:14} For the
Lord will not drive away his people, and he will not abandon
his inheritance, {93:15} even until the time when justice is
being converted into judgment, and when those who are
close to justice are all those who are upright of heart.
{93:16} Who will rise up with me against the malignant? Or
who will stand with me against the workers of iniquity?
{93:17} Except that the Lord assisted me, my soul almost
would have dwelt in Hell. {93:18} If ever I said, “My foot is
slipping,” then your mercy, O Lord, assisted me.
{93:19} According to the multitude of my sorrows in my
heart, your consolations have given joy to my soul.
{93:20} Does the seat of iniquity adhere to you, you who
contrive hardship within a commandment? {93:21} They will
hunt down the soul of the just, and they will condemn
innocent blood. {93:22} And the Lord has been made into a
refuge for me, and my God into the assistance of my hope.
{93:23} And he will repay them their iniquity, and he will
destroy them in their malice. The Lord our God will utterly
destroy them.


[Psalm 94] (Psalm 95) {94:1} The Praise of a Canticle, of
David himself. Come, let us exult in the Lord. Let us shout
joyfully to God, our Savior. {94:2} Let us anticipate his
presence with confession, and let us sing joyfully to him with
psalms. {94:3} For the Lord is a great God and a great King
over all gods. {94:4} For in his hand are all the limits of the
earth, and the heights of the mountains are his. {94:5} For
the sea is his, and he made it, and his hands formed the dry
land. {94:6} Come, let us adore and fall prostrate, and let us
weep before the Lord who made us. {94:7} For he is the Lord
our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep
of his hand. {94:8} If today you hear his voice, harden not
your hearts: {94:9} as in the provocation, according to the
day of temptation in the wilderness, where your fathers
tempted me; they tested me, though they had seen my works.
{94:10} For forty years, I was offended by that generation,
and I said: These have always strayed in heart. {94:11} And
these have not known my ways. So I swore in my wrath:
They shall not enter into my rest.


[Psalm 95] (Psalm 96) {95:1} A Canticle of David himself,
when the house was built after the captivity. Sing to the Lord
a new song. Sing to the Lord, all the earth. {95:2} Sing to the
Lord and bless his name. Announce his salvation from day to
day. {95:3} Announce his glory among the Gentiles, his
miracles among all peoples. {95:4} For the Lord is great and
greatly to be praised. He is terrible, beyond all gods.
{95:5} For all the gods of the Gentiles are demons, but the
Lord made the heavens. {95:6} Confession and beauty are in
his sight. Sanctity and magnificence are in his sanctuary.
{95:7} Bring to the Lord, you natives of the nations, bring to
the Lord glory and honor. {95:8} Bring to the Lord glory for
his name. Lift up sacrifices, and enter into his courts.
{95:9} Adore the Lord in his holy court. Let the entire earth
be shaken before his face. {95:10} Say among the Gentiles:
The Lord has reigned. For he has even corrected the whole
world, which will not be shaken. He will judge the peoples
with fairness. {95:11} Let the heavens rejoice, and let the
earth exult; let the sea and all its fullness be moved.
{95:12} The fields and all the things that are in them will be
glad. Then all the trees of the forest will rejoice
{95:13} before the face of the Lord: for he arrives. For he
arrives to judge the earth. He will judge the whole world with
fairness and the peoples with his truth.


[Psalm 96] (Psalm 97) {96:1} This is to David, when his land
was restored to him. The Lord has reigned, let the earth exult.
Let the many islands rejoice. {96:2} Clouds and mist are all
around him. Justice and judgment are corrections from his
throne. {96:3} A fire will precede him, and it will enflame his
enemies all around. {96:4} His lightnings have enlightened
the whole world. The earth saw, and it was shaken.
{96:5} The mountains flowed like wax before the face of the
Lord, before the face of the Lord of all the earth. {96:6} The
heavens announced his justice, and all peoples saw his glory.
{96:7} May all those who adore graven images be
confounded, along with those who glory in their false images.
All you his Angels: Adore him. {96:8} Zion heard, and was
glad. And the daughters of Judah exulted because of your
judgments, O Lord. {96:9} For you are the Most High Lord
over all the earth. You are greatly exalted above all gods.
{96:10} You who love the Lord: hate evil. The Lord watches
over the souls of his holy ones. He will free them from the
hand of the sinner. {96:11} The light has risen for the just,
and joy for the upright of heart. {96:12} Rejoice in the Lord,
you just ones, and confess to the memory of his sanctuary.


[Psalm 97] (Psalm 98) {97:1} A Psalm of David himself. Sing
to the Lord a new song, for he has performed wonders. His
right hand has accomplished salvation for him, with his holy
arm. {97:2} The Lord has made known his salvation. He has
revealed his justice in the sight of the nations. {97:3} He has
remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of
Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our
God. {97:4} Sing joyfully to God, all the earth. Sing and
exult, and sing psalms. {97:5} Sing psalms to the Lord with
stringed instruments, with strings and the voice of a psalmist,
{97:6} with subtle wind instruments and the voice of
woodwinds. Make a joyful noise before the Lord our king.
{97:7} Let the sea be moved and all its fullness, the whole
world and all who dwell in it. {97:8} The rivers will clap their
hands, the mountains will exult together, {97:9} before the
presence of the Lord. For he comes to judge the earth. He
will judge the whole world with justice, and the peoples with
fairness.


[Psalm 98] (Psalm 99) {98:1} A Psalm of David himself. The
Lord has reigned: let the peoples be angry. He sits upon the
cherubim: let the earth be moved. {98:2} The Lord is great in
Zion, and he is high above all peoples. {98:3} May they
confess to your great name, for it is terrible and holy.
{98:4} And the honor of the king loves judgment. You have
prepared guidance. You have accomplished judgment and
justice in Jacob. {98:5} Exalt the Lord our God, and adore
the footstool of his feet, for it is holy. {98:6} Moses and
Aaron are among his priests, and Samuel is among those who
call upon his name. They called upon the Lord, and he
heeded them. {98:7} He spoke to them in the pillar of the
cloud. They kept his testimonies and the precept that he gave
them. {98:8} You heeded them, O Lord our God. You were
a forgiving God to them, though taking vengeance on all
their inventions. {98:9} Exalt the Lord our God, and adore
on his holy mountain. For the Lord our God is holy.


[Psalm 99] (Psalm 100) {99:1} A Psalm of Confession.
{99:2} Shout joyfully to God, all the earth. Serve the Lord
with rejoicing. Enter into his sight in exultation.
{99:3} Know that the Lord himself is God. He made us, and
we ourselves did not. We are his people and the sheep of his
pasture. {99:4} Enter his gates with confession, his courts
with hymns, and acknowledge him. Praise his name.
{99:5} For the Lord is sweet, his mercy is in eternity, and his
truth is from generation to generation.


[Psalm 100] (Psalm 101) {100:1} A Psalm of David himself.
I will sing mercy and judgment to you, O Lord. I will sing
psalms. {100:2} And I will have understanding within the
immaculate way, when you will draw near to me. I wandered
about in the innocence of my heart, in the midst of my house.
{100:3} I will not display any unjust thing before my eyes. I
have hated those carrying out betrayals. {100:4} The perverse
heart did not adhere to me. And the malignant, who turned
away before me, I would not recognize. {100:5} The one
who secretly detracted his neighbor, this one I pursued. The
one with an arrogant eye and an insatiable heart, with that
one I would not eat. {100:6} My eyes looked toward the
faithful of the earth, to sit with me. The one walking in the
immaculate way, this one ministered to me. {100:7} He who
has acted arrogantly will not dwell in the midst of my house.
He who has spoken iniquity was not guided with the sight of
my eyes. {100:8} In the morning, I executed all the sinners of
the earth, so that I might scatter all the workers of iniquity
from the city of the Lord.


[Psalm 101] (Psalm 102) {101:1} The prayer of the pauper,
when he was anxious, and so he poured out his petition in
the sight of the Lord. {101:2} O Lord, hear my prayer, and
let my outcry reach you. {101:3} Do not turn your face away
from me. In whatever day that I am in trouble, incline your
ear to me. In whatever day that I will call upon you, heed me
quickly. {101:4} For my days have faded away like smoke,
and my bones have dried out like firewood. {101:5} I have
been cut down like hay, and my heart has withered, for I had
forgotten to eat my bread. {101:6} Before the voice of my
groaning, my bone has adhered to my flesh. {101:7} I have
become like a pelican in solitude. I have become like a night
raven in a house. {101:8} I have kept vigil, and I have
become like a solitary sparrow on a roof. {101:9} All day
long my enemies reproached me, and those who praised me
swore oaths against me. {101:10} For I chewed on ashes like
bread, and I mixed weeping into my drink. {101:11} By the
face of your anger and indignation, you lifted me up and
threw me down. {101:12} My days have declined like a
shadow, and I have dried out like hay. {101:13} But you, O
Lord, endure for eternity, and your memorial is from
generation to generation. {101:14} You will rise up and take
pity on Zion, for it is time for its mercy, for the time has
come. {101:15} For its stones have pleased your servants,
and they will take pity on its land. {101:16} And the Gentiles
will fear your name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth
your glory. {101:17} For the Lord has built up Zion, and he
will be seen in his glory. {101:18} He has noticed of the
prayer of the humble, and he has not despised their petition.
{101:19} Let these things be written in another generation,
and the people who will be created will praise the Lord.
{101:20} For he has gazed from his high sanctuary. From
heaven, the Lord has beheld the earth. {101:21} So may he
hear the groans of those in shackles, in order that he may
release the sons of the slain. {101:22} So may they announce
the name of the Lord in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem:
{101:23} while the people convene, along with kings, in
order that they may serve the Lord. {101:24} He responded
to him in the way of his virtue: Declare to me the brevity of
my days. {101:25} Do not call me back in the middle of my
days: your years are from generation to generation.
{101:26} In the beginning, O Lord, you founded the earth.
And the heavens are the work of your hands. {101:27} They
will perish, but you remain. And all will grow old like a
garment. And, like a blanket, you will change them, and they
will be changed. {101:28} Yet you are ever yourself, and your
years will not decline. {101:29} The sons of your servants
will live, and their offspring will be guided aright in every age.


[Psalm 102] (Psalm 103) {102:1} To David himself. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and bless his holy name, all that is within
me. {102:2} Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all
his recompenses. {102:3} He forgives all your iniquities. He
heals all your infirmities. {102:4} He redeems your life from
destruction. He crowns you with mercy and compassion.
{102:5} He satisfies your desire with good things. Your youth
will be renewed like that of the eagle. {102:6} The Lord
accomplishes mercies, and his judgment is for all who
patiently endure injuries. {102:7} He has made his ways
known to Moses, his will to the sons of Israel. {102:8} The
Lord is compassionate and merciful, patient and full of mercy.
{102:9} He will not be angry forever, and he will not threaten
for eternity. {102:10} He has not dealt with us according to
our sins, and he has not repaid us according to our iniquities.
{102:11} For according to the height of the heavens above
the earth, so has he reinforced his mercy toward those who
fear him. {102:12} As far as the east is from the west, so far
has he removed our iniquities from us. {102:13} As a father is
compassionate to his sons, so has the Lord been
compassionate to those who fear him. {102:14} For he
knows our form. He has called to mind that we are dust.
{102:15} Man: his days are like hay. Like the flower of the
field, so will he flourish. {102:16} For the spirit in him will
pass away, and it will not remain, and he will know his place
no longer. {102:17} But the mercy of the Lord is from
eternity, and even unto eternity, upon those who fear him.
And his justice is with the sons of the sons, {102:18} with
those who serve his covenant and have been mindful of his
commandments by doing them. {102:19} The Lord has
prepared his throne in heaven, and his kingdom will rule over
all. {102:20} Bless the Lord, all you his Angels: powerful in
virtue, doing his word, in order to heed the voice of his
discourse. {102:21} Bless the Lord, all his hosts: his ministers
who do his will. {102:22} Bless the Lord, all his works: in
every place of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul.


[Psalm 103] (Psalm 104) {103:1} To David himself. Bless the
Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are exceedingly great.
You have clothed yourself with confession and beauty;
{103:2} you are dressed with light like a garment, while you
stretch out heaven like a tent. {103:3} You cover its heights
with water. You set the clouds as your stairs. You walk upon
the wings of the winds. {103:4} You make your Angels a
breath of life, and your ministers a burning fire. {103:5} You
founded the earth upon its stable base. It will not be bent
from age to age. {103:6} The abyss, like a garment, is its
clothing. The waters will remain standing above the
mountains. {103:7} At your rebuke, they will flee. At the
voice of your thunder, they will dread. {103:8} The
mountains ascend, and the plains descend, to the place which
you have founded for them. {103:9} You have set a limit that
they will not cross. And they will not return to cover the
earth. {103:10} You spring forth fountains in steep valleys.
The waters will cross through the midst of the mountains.
{103:11} All the wild beasts of the field will drink. The wild
donkeys will anticipate in their thirst. {103:12} Above them,
the flying things of the air will dwell. From the midst of the
rocks, they will utter voices. {103:13} You irrigate the
mountains from your heights. The earth will be satiated from
the fruit of your works, {103:14} producing grass for cattle
and herbs for the service of men. So may you draw bread
from the earth, {103:15} and wine, in order to cheer the heart
of man. Then he may gladden his face with oil, and bread
will confirm the heart of man. {103:16} The trees of the field
will be saturated, along with the cedars of Lebanon, which he
planted. {103:17} There, the sparrows will make their nests.
The leader of them is the house of the heron. {103:18} The
heights of the hills are for the deer; the rock is a refuge for the
hedgehog. {103:19} He has made the moon for seasons; the
sun knows its setting. {103:20} You appointed darkness, and
it has become night; all the beasts of the forest will cross
through it. {103:21} The young lions will roar, while
searching for and seizing their meal from God. {103:22} The
sun arose, and they were gathered together; and in their dens,
they will lie down together. {103:23} Man will go forth to his
work and to his activities, until the evening. {103:24} How
great are your works, O Lord! You have made all things in
wisdom. The earth has been filled with your possessions.
{103:25} This sea is great and its hands are spacious. There
are creeping things without number: the small animals with
the great. {103:26} There, the ships will pass by this sea-
serpent that you have formed to mock them. {103:27} All
these expect you to give them food in due time.
{103:28} What you give to them, they will gather. When you
open your hand, they will all be filled with goodness.
{103:29} But if you turn your face away, they will be
disturbed. You will take away their breath, and they will fail,
and they will return to their dust. {103:30} You will send
forth your Spirit, and they will be created. And you will
renew the face of the earth. {103:31} May the glory of the
Lord be for all ages. The Lord will rejoice in his works.
{103:32} He considers the earth, and he makes it tremble. He
touches the mountains, and they smoke. {103:33} I will sing
to the Lord with my life. I will sing psalms to my God, as
long as I am. {103:34} May my speech be pleasing to him.
Truly, I will take delight in the Lord. {103:35} Let sinners
fade away from the earth, along with the unjust, so that they
may not be. Bless the Lord, O my soul.


[Psalm 104] (Psalm 105) {104:1} Alleluia. Confess to the
Lord, and invoke his name. Announce his works among the
nations. {104:2} Sing to him, and sing psalms to him.
Describe all his wonders. {104:3} Be praised in his holy name.
Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
{104:4} Seek the Lord, and be confirmed. Seek his face
always. {104:5} Remember his miracles, which he has done,
his portents and the judgments of his mouth: {104:6} you
offspring of Abraham his servant, you sons of Jacob his elect.
{104:7} He is the Lord our God. His judgments are
throughout the entire earth. {104:8} He has remembered his
covenant for all ages: the word that he entrusted to a
thousand generations, {104:9} which he assigned to
Abraham, and his oath to Isaac. {104:10} And he stationed
the same for Jacob with a precept, and for Israel with an
eternal testament, {104:11} saying: To you, I will give the
land of Canaan, the allotment of your inheritance.
{104:12} Though they may have been but a small number,
very few and foreigners there, {104:13} and though they
passed from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to
another people, {104:14} he allowed no man to harm them,
and he reproved kings on their behalf. {104:15} Do not be
willing to touch my Christ, and do not be willing to malign
my prophets. {104:16} And he called a famine upon the land,
and he crushed every foundation of the bread. {104:17} He
sent a man before them: Joseph, who had been sold as a slave.
{104:18} They humbled his feet in shackles; the iron pierced
his soul, {104:19} until his word arrived. The eloquence of
the Lord inflamed him. {104:20} The king sent and released
him; he was the ruler of the people, and he dismissed him.
{104:21} He established him as master of his house and ruler
of all his possessions, {104:22} so that he might instruct his
princes as himself, and teach his elders prudence.
{104:23} And Israel entered into Egypt, and Jacob became a
sojourner in the land of Ham. {104:24} And he helped his
people greatly, and he strengthened them over their enemies.
{104:25} He turned their heart to hate his people, and to deal
deceitfully with his servants. {104:26} He sent Moses, his
servant, and Aaron, the one whom he chose. {104:27} He
placed with them signs of his word, and portents in the land
of Ham. {104:28} He sent darkness and made it conceal, and
he did not afflict them with his speech. {104:29} He turned
their waters into blood, and he slaughtered their fish.
{104:30} Their land brought forth frogs, even in the inner
chambers of their kings. {104:31} He spoke, and there came
forth common flies and gnats, in every region. {104:32} He
gave them a shower of hail and a burning fire, in the same
land. {104:33} And he struck their vineyards and their fig
trees, and he crushed the trees of their region. {104:34} He
spoke, and the locust came forth, and the caterpillar, of which
there was no number. {104:35} And it devoured all the grass
in their land, and it consumed all the fruit of their land.
{104:36} And he struck all the first-born in their land, the
first-fruits of all their labor. {104:37} And he led them out
with silver and gold, and there was not an infirm one among
their tribes. {104:38} Egypt was joyful at their departure, for
the fear of them lay heavy upon them. {104:39} He spread a
cloud for their protection, and a fire, to give them light
through the night. {104:40} They petitioned, and the quail
came; and he satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
{104:41} He ruptured the rock and the waters flowed: rivers
gushed in the dry land. {104:42} For he had called to mind
his holy word, which he kept near to his servant Abraham.
{104:43} And he led forth his people in exultation, and his
elect in rejoicing. {104:44} And he gave them the regions of
the Gentiles, and they possessed the labors of the peoples,
{104:45} so that they might observe his justifications, and
inquire about his law.


[Psalm 105] (Psalm 106) {105:1} Alleluia. Confess to the
Lord, for he is good, for his mercy is with every generation.
{105:2} Who will declare the powers of the Lord? Who make
a hearing for all his praises? {105:3} Blessed are those who
keep judgment and who do justice at all times.
{105:4} Remember us, O Lord, with good will for your
people. Visit us with your salvation, {105:5} so that we may
see the goodness of your elect, so that we may rejoice in the
joy of your nation, so that you may be praised along with
your inheritance. {105:6} We have sinned, as have our
fathers. We have acted unjustly; we have wrought iniquity.
{105:7} Our fathers did not understand your miracles in
Egypt. They did not remember the multitude of your mercies.
And they provoked you, while going up to the sea, even the
Red Sea. {105:8} And he saved them for the sake of his name,
so that he might make known his power. {105:9} And he
rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up. And he led them into
the abyss, as if into a desert. {105:10} And he saved them
from the hand of those who hated them. And he redeemed
them from the hand of the enemy. {105:11} And the water
covered those who troubled them. Not one of them remained.
{105:12} And they believed his words, and they sang his
praises. {105:13} As soon as they had finished, they forgot
his works, and they would not endure his counsel.
{105:14} And they coveted their desire in the desert, and they
tempted God in a waterless place. {105:15} And he granted
to them their request, and he sent abundance into their souls.
{105:16} And they provoked Moses in the camp, and Aaron,
the holy one of the Lord. {105:17} The earth opened and
swallowed Dathan, and it covered the congregation of
Abiram. {105:18} And a fire broke out in their congregation.
A flame burned up the sinners. {105:19} And they fashioned
a calf at Horeb, and they adored a graven image.
{105:20} And they exchanged their glory for the likeness of a
calf that eats hay. {105:21} They forgot God, who saved
them, who did great things in Egypt: {105:22} miracles in the
land of Ham, terrible things at the Red Sea. {105:23} And he
said that he would destroy them, yet Moses, his elect, stood
firm before him in the breach, in order to avert his wrath, lest
he destroy them. {105:24} And they held the desirable land
to be nothing. They did not trust in his word. {105:25} And
they murmured in their tabernacles. They did not heed the
voice of the Lord. {105:26} And he lifted up his hand over
them, in order to prostrate them in the desert, {105:27} and
in order to cast their offspring among the nations, and to
scatter them among the regions. {105:28} And they were
initiated into Baal of Peor, and they ate the sacrifices of the
dead. {105:29} And they provoked him with their inventions,
and ruination was multiplied in them. {105:30} Then
Phinehas stood up and placated him: and so the violent
disturbance ceased. {105:31} And it was reputed to him unto
justice, from generation to generation, even forever.
{105:32} And they provoked him at the Waters of
Contradiction, and Moses was afflicted because of them,
{105:33} for they exasperated his spirit. And so he divided
them with his lips. {105:34} They did not destroy the nations,
about which the Lord had spoken to them. {105:35} And
they were mixed among the Gentiles. And they learned their
works, {105:36} and they served their graven images, and it
became a scandal to them. {105:37} And they sacrificed their
sons and their daughters to demons. {105:38} And they shed
innocent blood: the blood of their sons and of their daughters,
which they sacrificed to the graven images of Canaan. And
the land was infected with bloodshed, {105:39} and was
contaminated with their works. And they fornicated
according to their own inventions. {105:40} And the Lord
became furiously angry with his people, and he abhorred his
inheritance. {105:41} And he delivered them into the hands
of the nations. And those who hated them became rulers over
them. {105:42} And their enemies afflicted them, and they
were humbled under their hands. {105:43} Many times, he
delivered them. Yet they provoked him with their counsel,
and they were brought low by their iniquities. {105:44} And
he saw that they were in tribulation, and he heard their
prayer. {105:45} And he was mindful of his covenant, and he
repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
{105:46} And he provided for them with mercies, in the sight
of all those who had seized them. {105:47} Save us, O Lord
our God, and gather us from the nations, so that we may
confess your holy name and glory in your praise.
{105:48} Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, from ages past,
even to all ages. And let all the people say: Amen. Amen.


[Psalm 106] (Psalm 107) {106:1} Alleluia. Confess to the
Lord, for he is good, for his mercy is with every generation.
{106:2} Let those who have been redeemed by the Lord say
so: those whom he redeemed from the hand of the enemy
and gathered from the regions, {106:3} from the rising of the
sun and its setting, from the north and from the sea.
{106:4} They wandered into solitude in a waterless place.
They did not find the way of the city to be their dwelling
place. {106:5} They were hungry, and they were thirsty.
Their soul fainted within them. {106:6} And they cried out to
the Lord in tribulation, and he rescued them in their necessity.
{106:7} And he led them in the right way, so that they might
go forth to a city of habitation. {106:8} Let his mercies
confess to the Lord, and let his miracles confess to the sons of
men. {106:9} For he has satisfied the empty soul, and he has
satisfied the hungry soul with good things: {106:10} those
sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, shackled by
extreme poverty and by iron. {106:11} For they exasperated
the eloquence of God, and they irritated the deliberation of
the Most High. {106:12} And their heart was brought low
with hardships. They were weakened, and there was no one
to help them. {106:13} And they cried out to the Lord in
their tribulation, and he freed them from their distress.
{106:14} And he led them out of darkness and the shadow of
death, and he broke apart their chains. {106:15} Let his
mercies confess to the Lord, and let his miracles confess to
the sons of men. {106:16} For he has crushed the gates of
brass and broken the iron bars. {106:17} He has taken them
up, from the way of their iniquity. For they were brought low,
because of their injustices. {106:18} Their soul abhorred all
food, and they drew near even to the gates of death.
{106:19} And they cried out to the Lord in their tribulation,
and he delivered them in their necessity. {106:20} He sent his
word, and he healed them, and he rescued them from their
utter destruction. {106:21} Let his mercies confess to the
Lord, and let his miracles confess to the sons of men.
{106:22} And let them offer sacrifice with the sacrifice of
praise, and let them announce his works in exultation.
{106:23} Those who descend to the sea in ships, making their
livelihood in the great waters: {106:24} these have seen the
works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep. {106:25} He
spoke: and a windstorm stood up, and its waves were exalted.
{106:26} They ascend even to the heavens, and they descend
even to the abyss. Their soul will waste away in distress.
{106:27} They were troubled, and they moved like a
drunkard, and all their wisdom was consumed. {106:28} And
they cried out to the Lord in their tribulation, and he led
them out of their distress. {106:29} And he replaced the
storm with a breeze, and its waves were stilled. {106:30} And
they were joyful that it was stilled, and he led them into the
haven that they desired. {106:31} Let his mercies confess to
the Lord, and let his miracles confess to the sons of men.
{106:32} And let them exalt him in the Church of the people,
and praise him in the chair of the elders. {106:33} He has
placed rivers in the desert and sources of water in dry places,
{106:34} a fruit-bearing land in the midst of brine, before the
malice of those who dwell in it. {106:35} He has placed a
desert in the midst of pools of waters, and a land without
water in the midst of sources of water. {106:36} And he has
gathered the hungry together there, and they constructed a
city of habitation. {106:37} And they sowed fields and
planted vineyards, and they produced the fruit of nativity.
{106:38} And he blessed them, and they were multiplied
exceedingly. And he did not diminish their beasts of burden.
{106:39} And they became few, and they were afflicted by
the tribulation of evils and of sorrow. {106:40} Contempt was
poured over their leaders, and he caused them to wander in
an impassable place, and not on the way. {106:41} And he
helped the poor out of destitution, and he stationed families
like sheep. {106:42} The upright will see, and they will
rejoice. And every iniquity will block its mouth.
{106:43} Who is wise and will keep these things? And who
will understand the mercies of the Lord?


[Psalm 107] (Psalm 108) {107:1} A Canticle Psalm, of David
himself. {107:2} My heart is prepared, O God, my heart is
prepared. I will sing songs, and I will sing psalms in my glory.
{107:3} Rise up, my glory. Rise up, Psalter and harp. I will
arise in early morning. {107:4} I will confess to you, O Lord,
among the peoples. And I will sing psalms to you among the
nations. {107:5} For your mercy is great, beyond the heavens,
and your truth, even to the clouds. {107:6} Be exalted, O
God, beyond the heavens, and your glory, beyond all the
earth, {107:7} so that your beloved may be freed. Save with
your right hand, and heed me. {107:8} God has spoken in his
holiness. I will exult, and I will divide Shechem, and I will
divide by measure the steep valley of tabernacles.
{107:9} Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine, and Ephraim
is the supporter of my head. Judah is my king.
{107:10} Moab is the cooking pot of my hope. I will extend
my shoe in Idumea; the foreigners have become my friends.
{107:11} Who will lead me into the fortified city? Who will
lead me, even into Idumea? {107:12} Will not you, O God,
who had rejected us? And will not you, O God, go out with
our armies? {107:13} Grant us help from tribulation, for vain
is the help of man. {107:14} In God, we will act virtuously,
and he will bring our enemies to nothing.


[Psalm 108] (Psalm 109) {108:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David. {108:2} O God, do not be silent toward my praise, for
the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful one
have been opened against me. {108:3} They have spoken
against me with deceitful tongues, and they have surrounded
me with hateful words, and they fought against me over
nothing. {108:4} Instead of choosing to act on my behalf,
they detracted me. But I gave myself to prayer. {108:5} And
they set evil against me, instead of good, and hatred, in return
for my love. {108:6} Establish the sinner over him, and let
the devil stand at his right hand. {108:7} When he is judged,
may he go forth in condemnation, and may his prayer be
counted as sin. {108:8} May his days be few, and let another
take his episcopate. {108:9} May his sons be orphans, and his
wife a widow. {108:10} May his sons be carried by those
who walk unsteadily, and may they go begging. And may
they be cast out of their dwelling places. {108:11} May the
money lenders scrutinize all his belongings, and let foreigners
plunder his labors. {108:12} May there be no one to assist
him, nor anyone to be compassionate to his orphaned
children. {108:13} May his posterity be in utter ruin. In one
generation, may his name be wiped away. {108:14} May the
iniquity of his fathers return in memory before the sight of the
Lord, and do not let the sin of his mother be wiped away.
{108:15} May these be opposite the Lord always, but let their
memory perish from the earth. {108:16} For certain things
are not remembered about them, in order to be merciful.
{108:17} And so the destitute man was pursued, with the
beggar and the remorseful in heart, so as to be put to death.
{108:18} And he loved a curse, and it came to him. And he
was unwilling to have a blessing, and it went far from him.
And he clothed himself with curses like a garment, and it
entered his inner self like water, and it entered his bones like
oil. {108:19} May it be to him like a garment that covers him,
and like a belt that always cinches him. {108:20} This is the
work of those who detract me with the Lord and who speak
evils against my soul. {108:21} But as for you, Lord, O Lord:
act on my behalf for your name’s sake. For your mercy is
sweet. {108:22} Free me, for I am destitute and poor, and my
heart has been disquieted within me. {108:23} I have been
taken away like a shadow when it declines, and I have been
shaken off like locusts. {108:24} My knees have been
weakened by fasting, and my flesh has been replaced by oil.
{108:25} And I have become a disgrace to them. They saw
me, and they shook their heads. {108:26} Help me, O Lord,
my God. Save me according to your mercy. {108:27} And let
them know that this is your hand, and that you, O Lord, have
done this. {108:28} They will curse, and you will bless. May
those who rise up against me be confounded. But your
servant will rejoice. {108:29} May those who detract me be
clothed with shame, and may they be covered with their
confusion, as if with a double cloak. {108:30} I will confess
exceedingly to the Lord with my mouth. And I will praise
him in the midst of the multitude. {108:31} For he stands at
the right hand of the poor, in order to save my soul from
persecutors.


[Psalm 109] (Psalm 110) {109:1} A Psalm of David. The
Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make
your enemies your footstool.” {109:2} The Lord will send
forth the scepter of your virtue from Zion. Rule in the midst
of your enemies. {109:3} It is with you from the beginning, in
the day of your virtue, in the splendor of the saints. From
conception, before the light-bearer, I begot you. {109:4} The
Lord has sworn, and he will not repent: “You are a priest
forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” {109:5} The
Lord is at your right hand. He has broken kings in the day of
his wrath. {109:6} He will judge between the nations; he will
fill up ruination. He will shatter heads in the land of the
many. {109:7} He will drink from the torrent on the way.
Because of this, he will exalt the head.


[Psalm 110] (Psalm 111) {110:1} Alleluia. I will confess to
you, O Lord, with my whole heart, in the council of the just
and in the congregation. {110:2} Great are the works of the
Lord, exquisite in all his intentions. {110:3} Confession and
magnificence are his work. And his justice remains from age
to age. {110:4} He has created a memorial to his wonders; he
is a merciful and compassionate Lord. {110:5} He has given
food to those who fear him. He will be mindful of his
covenant in every age. {110:6} He will announce the virtue of
his works to his people, {110:7} so that he may give them the
inheritance of the nations. The works of his hands are truth
and judgment. {110:8} All his commands are faithful:
confirmed from age to age, created in truth and fairness.
{110:9} He has sent redemption upon his people. He has
commanded his covenant for all eternity. Holy and terrible is
his name. {110:10} The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom. A good understanding is for all who do it. His praise
remains from age to age.


[Psalm 111] (Psalm 112) {111:1} Alleluia. Of the return of
Haggai and Zachariah. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord.
He will prefer his commandments exceedingly. {111:2} His
offspring will be powerful on the earth. The generation of the
upright will be blessed. {111:3} Glory and wealth will be in
his house, and his justice shall remain from age to age.
{111:4} For the upright, a light has risen up in the darkness.
He is merciful and compassionate and just. {111:5} Pleasing
is the man who shows mercy and lends. He will order his
words with judgment. {111:6} For he will not be disturbed in
eternity. {111:7} The just one will be an everlasting memorial.
He will not fear a report of disasters. His heart is prepared to
hope in the Lord. {111:8} His heart has been confirmed. He
will not be disturbed, until he looks down upon his enemies.
{111:9} He has distributed, he has given to the poor. His
justice shall remain from age to age. His horn shall be exalted
in glory. {111:10} The sinner will see and become angry. He
will gnash his teeth and waste away. The desire of sinners
will perish.


[Psalm 112] (Psalm 113) {112:1} Alleluia. Praise the Lord,
children. Praise the name of the Lord. {112:2} Blessed is the
name of the Lord, from this time forward and even forever.
{112:3} From the rising of the sun, even to its setting,
praiseworthy is the name of the Lord. {112:4} The Lord is
high above all nations, and his glory is high above the
heavens. {112:5} Who is like the Lord, our God, who dwells
on high, {112:6} and who gazes upon the humble things in
heaven and on earth? {112:7} He lifts up the needy from the
ground, and he urges the poor away from filth, {112:8} so
that he may place him with the leaders, with the leaders of
his people. {112:9} He causes a barren woman to live in a
house, as the joyful mother of sons.


[Psalm 113] (Psalm 114115) {113:1} Alleluia. At the
departure of Israel from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a
barbarous people: {113:2} Judea was made his sanctuary;
Israel was made his power. {113:3} The sea looked, and it
fled. The Jordan was turned back again. {113:4} The
mountains exulted like rams, and the hills like lambs among
the sheep. {113:5} What happened to you, O sea, so that you
fled, and to you, O Jordan, so that you were turned back
again? {113:6} What happened to you, O mountains, so that
you exulted like rams, and to you, O hills, so that you exulted
like lambs among the sheep? {113:7} Before the face of the
Lord, the earth was moved, before the face of the God of
Jacob. {113:8} He converted the rock into pools of water,
and the cliff into fountains of waters.
{113:9} Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give
glory. {113:10} Give glory to your mercy and your truth, lest
the Gentiles should say, “Where is their God?” {113:11} But
our God is in heaven. All things whatsoever that he has
willed, he has done. {113:12} The idols of the nations are
silver and gold, the works of the hands of men.
{113:13} They have mouths, and do not speak; they have
eyes, and do not see. {113:14} They have ears, and do not
hear; they have noses, and do not smell. {113:15} They have
hands, and do not feel; they have feet, and do not walk.
Neither will they cry out with their throat. {113:16} Let those
who make them become like them, along with all who trust
in them. {113:17} The house of Israel has hoped in the Lord.
He is their helper and their protector. {113:18} The house of
Aaron has hoped in the Lord. He is their helper and their
protector. {113:19} Those who fear the Lord have hoped in
the Lord. He is their helper and their protector. {113:20} The
Lord has been mindful of us, and he has blessed us. He has
blessed the house of Israel. He has blessed the house of
Aaron. {113:21} He has blessed all who fear the Lord, the
small with the great. {113:22} May the Lord add blessings
upon you: upon you, and upon your sons. {113:23} Blessed
are you by the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
{113:24} The heaven of heaven is for the Lord, but the earth
he has given to the sons of men. {113:25} The dead will not
praise you, Lord, and neither will all those who descend into
Hell. {113:26} But we who live will bless the Lord, from this
time forward, and even forever.


[Psalm 114] (Psalm 116A) {114:1} Alleluia. I have loved:
therefore, the Lord will heed the voice of my prayer.
{114:2} For he has inclined his ear to me. And in my days, I
will call upon him. {114:3} The sorrows of death have
surrounded me, and the perils of Hell have found me. I have
found tribulation and sorrow. {114:4} And so, I called upon
the name of the Lord. O Lord, free my soul. {114:5} Merciful
is the Lord, and just. And our God is compassionate.
{114:6} The Lord is the keeper of little ones. I was humbled,
and he freed me. {114:7} Turn again, my soul, to your rest.
For the Lord has done good to you. {114:8} For he has
rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet
from slipping. {114:9} I will please the Lord in the land of the
living.


[Psalm 115] (Psalm 116B) {115:1} Alleluia. I had confidence,
because of what I was saying, but then I was greatly humbled.
{115:2} I said in my excess, “Every man is a liar.”
{115:3} What shall I repay to the Lord, for all the things that
he has repaid to me? {115:4} I will take up the cup of
salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
{115:5} I will repay my vows to the Lord, in the sight of all
his people. {115:6} Precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of his holy ones. {115:7} O Lord, because I am your
servant, your servant and the son of your handmaid, you
have broken my bonds. {115:8} I will sacrifice to you the
sacrifice of praise, and I will invoke the name of the Lord.
{115:9} I will repay my vows to the Lord in the sight of all
his people, {115:10} in the courts of the house of the Lord, in
your midst, O Jerusalem.


[Psalm 116] (Psalm 117) {116:1} Alleluia. All nations, praise
the Lord. All peoples, praise him. {116:2} For his mercy has
been confirmed over us. And the truth of the Lord remains
for all eternity.


[Psalm 117] (Psalm 118) {117:1} Alleluia. Confess to the
Lord, for he is good, for his mercy is forever. {117:2} Let
Israel now say: For he is good, for his mercy is forever.
{117:3} Let the house of Aaron now say: For his mercy is
forever. {117:4} Let those who fear the Lord now say: For
his mercy is forever. {117:5} In my tribulation, I called upon
the Lord. And the Lord heeded me with generosity.
{117:6} The Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man can
do to me. {117:7} The Lord is my helper. And I will look
down upon my enemies. {117:8} It is good to trust in the
Lord, rather than to trust in man. {117:9} It is good to hope
in the Lord, rather than to hope in leaders. {117:10} All the
nations have surrounded me. And, in the name of the Lord, I
have been avenged over them. {117:11} Surrounding me,
they closed in on me. And, in the name of the Lord, I have
been avenged over them. {117:12} They surrounded me like
a swarm, and they burned like fire among the thorns. And, in
the name of the Lord, I have been avenged over them.
{117:13} Having been pushed, I was overturned so as to fall.
But the Lord took me up. {117:14} The Lord is my strength
and my praise. And he has become my salvation. {117:15} A
voice of exultation and salvation is in the tabernacles of the
just. {117:16} The right hand of the Lord has wrought virtue.
The right hand of the Lord has exalted me. The right hand of
the Lord has wrought virtue. {117:17} I will not die, but I
will live. And I will declare the works of the Lord.
{117:18} When chastising, the Lord chastised me. But he has
not delivered me over to death. {117:19} Open the gates of
justice to me. I will enter them, and I will confess to the Lord.
{117:20} This is the gate of the Lord. The just will enter by it.
{117:21} I will confess to you because you have heard me.
And you have become my salvation. {117:22} The stone
which the builders have rejected, this has become the head of
the corner. {117:23} By the Lord has this been done, and it is
a wonder before our eyes. {117:24} This is the day that the
Lord has made. Let us exult and rejoice in it. {117:25} O
Lord, grant salvation to me. O Lord, grant good prosperity.
{117:26} Blessed is he who arrives in the name of the Lord.
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
{117:27} The Lord is God, and he has enlightened us.
Establish a solemn day amid a dense crowd, even to the horn
of the altar. {117:28} You are my God, and I will confess to
you. You are my God, and I will exalt you. I will confess to
you, for you have heeded me. And you have become my
salvation. {117:29} Confess to the Lord, for he is good, for
his mercy is forever.


[Psalm 118] (Psalm 119) {118:1} Alleluia. ALEPH. Blessed
are the immaculate in the way, who walk in the law of the
Lord. {118:2} Blessed are those who examine his testimonies.
They seek him with their whole heart. {118:3} For those who
work iniquity have not walked in his ways. {118:4} You have
ordered your commandments to be kept most diligently.
{118:5} I wish that my ways may be directed so as to keep
your justifications. {118:6} Then I will not be confounded,
when I will look into all your commandments. {118:7} I will
confess to you with honesty of heart. In this way, I have
learned the judgments of your justice. {118:8} I will keep
your justifications. Do not utterly abandon me.
{118:9} BETH. By what does an adolescent correct his way?
By keeping to your words. {118:10} With my whole heart, I
have sought you. Do not let me be driven away from your
commandments. {118:11} I have hidden your eloquence in
my heart, so that I may not sin against you. {118:12} Blessed
are you, O Lord. Teach me your justifications.
{118:13} With my lips, I have pronounced all the judgments
of your mouth. {118:14} I have been delighted in the way of
your testimonies, as if in all riches. {118:15} I will be trained
in your commandments, and I will consider your ways.
{118:16} I will meditate on your justifications. I will not
forget your words. {118:17} GHIMEL. Repay your servant,
revive me; and I will keep your words. {118:18} Reveal to
my eyes, and I will consider the wonders of your law.
{118:19} I am a sojourner on the earth. Do not hide your
commandments from me. {118:20} My soul has longed to
desire your justifications at all times. {118:21} You have
rebuked the arrogant. Those who decline from your
commandments are accursed. {118:22} Take me away from
disgrace and contempt, for I have sought your testimonies.
{118:23} For even the leaders sat and spoke against me. But
your servant has been trained in your justifications.
{118:24} For your testimonies are also my meditation, and
your justifications are my counsel. {118:25} DALETH. My
soul has adhered to the pavement. Revive me according to
your word. {118:26} I have declared my ways, and you have
heeded me. Teach me your justifications. {118:27} Instruct
me in the way of your justifications, and I will be trained in
your wonders. {118:28} My soul has slumbered because of
weariness. Confirm me in your words. {118:29} Remove the
way of iniquity from me, and have mercy on me by your law.
{118:30} I have chosen the way of truth. I have not forgotten
your judgments. {118:31} I have adhered to your testimonies,
O Lord. Do not be willing to confound me. {118:32} I have
run by way of your commandments, when you enlarged my
heart. {118:33} HE. O Lord, place the law before me, the
way of your justifications, and I will always inquire into it.
{118:34} Give me understanding, and I will examine your
law. And I will keep it with my whole heart. {118:35} Lead
me according to the path of your commandments, for I have
desired this. {118:36} Bend my heart with your testimonies,
and not with avarice. {118:37} Turn my eyes away, lest they
see what is vain. Revive me in your way. {118:38} Station
your eloquence with your servant, along with your fear.
{118:39} Cut off my disgrace, which I have taken up, for
your judgments are delightful. {118:40} Behold, I have
longed for your commandments. Revive me in your fairness.
{118:41} VAU. And let your mercy overwhelm me, O Lord:
your salvation according to your eloquence. {118:42} And I
will respond to those who reproach me by word, for I have
hoped in your words. {118:43} And do not utterly take away
the word of truth from my mouth. For in your judgments, I
have hoped beyond hope. {118:44} And I will always keep
your law, in this age and forever and ever. {118:45} And I
have wandered far and wide, because I was seeking your
commandments. {118:46} And I spoke of your testimonies in
the sight of kings, and I was not confounded. {118:47} And I
meditated on your commandments, which I loved.
{118:48} And I lifted up my hands to your commandments,
which I loved. And I was trained in your justifications.
{118:49} ZAIN. Be mindful of your word to your servant, by
which you have given me hope. {118:50} This has consoled
me in my humiliation, for your word has revived me.
{118:51} The arrogant act altogether iniquitously, but I have
not turned aside from your law. {118:52} I called to mind
your judgments of antiquity, O Lord, and I was consoled.
{118:53} Faintness has taken hold of me, because of the
sinners, those who abandon your law. {118:54} Your
justifications were the subject of my worthy singing, in the
place of my pilgrimage. {118:55} During the night, I
remembered your name, O Lord, and I kept your law.
{118:56} This has happened to me because I sought your
justifications. {118:57} HETH. O Lord, my portion, I have
said that I would keep your law. {118:58} I have beseeched
your face with my whole heart. Be merciful to me according
to your word. {118:59} I have considered my ways, and I
have turned my feet toward your testimonies. {118:60} I have
been prepared, and I have not been disturbed, so that I may
keep your commandments. {118:61} The ropes of the
impious have encircled me, and I have not forgotten your law.
{118:62} I arose in the middle of the night to confess to you,
over the judgments of your justification. {118:63} I am a
partaker with all those who fear you and who keep your
commandments. {118:64} The earth, O Lord, is full of your
mercy. Teach me your justifications. {118:65} TETH. You
have done well with your servant, O Lord, according to your
word. {118:66} Teach me goodness and discipline and
knowledge, for I have trusted your commandments.
{118:67} Before I was humbled, I committed offenses;
because of this, I have kept to your word. {118:68} You are
good, so in your goodness teach me your justifications.
{118:69} The iniquity of the arrogant has been multiplied
over me. Yet I will examine your commandments with all my
heart. {118:70} Their heart has been curdled like milk. Truly,
Ihave meditated on your law. {118:71} It is good for me that
you humbled me, so that I may learn your justifications.
{118:72} The law of your mouth is good for me, beyond
thousands of gold and silver pieces. {118:73} IOD. Your
hands have created me and formed me. Give me
understanding, and I will learn your commandments.
{118:74} Those who fear you will see me, and they will
rejoice. For I have greatly hoped in your words. {118:75} I
know, O Lord, that your judgments are fairness. And in your
truth, you have humbled me. {118:76} Let it be your mercy
that consoles me, according to your eloquence to your
servant. {118:77} Let your compassion draw near to me, and
I will live. For your law is my meditation. {118:78} Let the
arrogant be confounded, for unjustly they have done iniquity
to me. But I will be trained in your commandments.
{118:79} Let those who fear you turn to me, along with those
who know your testimonies. {118:80} Let my heart be
immaculate in your justifications, so that I may not be
confounded. {118:81} CAPH. My soul has faltered in your
salvation, yet in your word, I have hoped beyond hope.
{118:82} My eyes have failed in your eloquence, saying,
“When will you console me?” {118:83} For I have become
like a wineskin in the frost. I have not forgotten your
justifications. {118:84} How many are the days of your
servant? When will you bring judgment against those who
persecute me? {118:85} The iniquitous have spoken fables to
me. But these are unlike your law. {118:86} All your
commandments are truth. They have been persecuting me
unjustly: assist me. {118:87} They have nearly consumed me
on earth. Yet I have not forsaken your commandments.
{118:88} Revive me according to your mercy. And I will
keep the testimonies of your mouth. {118:89} LAMED. O
Lord, your word remains firm in heaven, for all eternity.
{118:90} Your truth is from generation to generation. You
have founded the earth, and it remains firm. {118:91} By
your ordinance, the day perseveres. For all things are in
service to you. {118:92} If your law had not been my
meditation, then perhaps I would have perished in my
humiliation. {118:93} I will not forget your justifications, for
eternity. For by them, you have enlivened me. {118:94} I am
yours. Accomplish my salvation. For I have inquired into
your justifications. {118:95} The sinners have waited for me,
in order to destroy me. I have understood your testimonies.
{118:96} I have seen the end of the consummation of all
things. Your commandment is exceedingly broad.
{118:97} MEM. How have I loved your law, O Lord? It is
my meditation all day long. {118:98} By your commandment,
you have made me able to see far, beyond my enemies. For it
is with me for eternity. {118:99} I have understood beyond
all my teachers. For your testimonies are my meditation.
{118:100} I have understood beyond the elders. For I have
searched your commandments. {118:101} I have prohibited
my feet from every evil way, so that I may keep your words.
{118:102} I have not declined from your judgments, because
you have stationed a law for me. {118:103} How sweet is
your eloquence to my palate, more so than honey to my
mouth! {118:104}1I obtained understanding by your
commandments. Because of this, I have hated every way of
iniquity. {118:105} NUN. Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my paths. {118:106} I have sworn it, and so I
am determined to keep the judgments of your justice.
{118:107} I have been altogether humbled, Lord. Revive me
according to your word. {118:108} Make the willing offerings
of my mouth well pleasing, Lord, and teach me your
judgments. {118:109} My soul is always in my hands, and I
have not forgotten your law. {118:110} Sinners have set a
snare for me, yet I have not strayed from your
commandments. {118:111} I have acquired your testimonies
as an inheritance unto eternity, because they are the
exultation of my heart. {118:112} I have inclined my heart to
do your justifications for eternity, as a recompense.
{118:113} SAMECH. I have hated the iniquitous, and I have
loved your law. {118:114} You are my helper and my
supporter. And in your word, I have greatly hoped.
{118:115} Turn away from me, you malignant ones. And I
will examine the commandments of my _ God.
{118:116} Uphold me according to your eloquence, and I
will live. And let me not be confounded in my expectation.
{118:117} Help me, and I will be saved. And I will meditate
always on your justifications. {118:118} You have despised
all those who fell away from your judgments. For their
intention is unjust. {118:119}I have considered all the
sinners of the earth to be transgressors. Therefore, I have
loved your testimonies. {118:120} Pierce my flesh with your
fear, for I am afraid of your judgments. {118:121} AIN. I
have accomplished judgment and justice. Do not hand me
over to those who slander me. {118:122} Uphold your
servant in what is good. And do not allow the arrogant to
slander me. {118:123} My eyes have failed in your salvation
and in the eloquence of your justice. {118:124} Deal with
your servant according to your mercy, and teach me your
justifications. {118:125}I am your servant. Give me
understanding, so that I may know your testimonies.
{118:126} It is time to act, O Lord. They have dissipated
your law. {118:127} Therefore, I have loved your
commandments beyond gold and topaz. {118:128} Because
of this, I was directed toward all your commandments. I held
hatred for every iniquitous way. {118:129} PHE. Your
testimonies are wonderful. Therefore, my soul has been
examined by them. {118:130} The declaration of your words
illuminates, and it gives understanding to little ones.
{118:131} I opened my mouth and drew breath, for I desired
your commandments. {118:132} Gaze upon me and be
merciful to me, according to the judgment of those who love
your name. {118:133} Direct my steps according to your
eloquence, and let no injustice rule over me.
{118:134} Redeem me from the slanders of men, so that I
may keep your commandments. {118:135} Make your face
shine upon your servant, and teach me your justifications.
{118:136} My eyes have gushed like springs of water,
because they have not kept your law. {118:137} SADE. You
are just, O Lord, and your judgment is right. {118:138} You
have commanded justice: your testimonies and your truth
even more so. {118:139} My zeal has caused me to pine
away, because my enemies have forgotten your words.
{118:140} Your eloquence has been greatly enflamed, and
your servant has loved it. {118:141} I am young and treated
with contempt. But I have not forgotten your justifications.
{118:142} Your justice is justice for all eternity, and your law
is truth. {118:143} Tribulation and anguish have found me.
Your commandments are my meditation. {118:144} Your
testimonies are fairness unto eternity. Give me understanding,
and I will live. {118:145} COPH. I cried out with my whole
heart. Heed me, O Lord. I will ask for your justifications.
{118:146} I cried out to you. Save me, so that I may keep
your commandments. {118:147} I arrived first in maturity,
and so I cried out. For in your words, I have hoped beyond
hope. {118:148} My eyes preceded the dawn for you, so that
I might meditate on your eloquence. {118:149} Hear my
voice according to your mercy, O Lord. And revive me
according to your judgment. {118:150} Those who persecute
me have drawn near to iniquity, but they been brought far
from your law. {118:151} You are near, O Lord, and all your
ways are truth. {118:152} I have known from the beginning
about your testimonies. For you founded them in eternity.
{118:153} RES. See my humiliation and rescue me, for I
have not forgotten your law. {118:154} Judge my judgment
and redeem me. Revive me because of your eloquence.
{118:155} Salvation is far from sinners, because they have
not inquired about your justifications. {118:156} Many are
your mercies, O Lord. Enliven me according to your
judgment. {118:157} Many are those who persecute me and
who trouble me. I have not turned away from your
testimonies. {118:158} I saw the prevaricators, and I pine
away. For they have not kept your word. {118:159} O Lord,
see how I have loved your commandments. Revive me in
your mercy. {118:160} The beginning of your words is truth.
All the judgments of your justice are for eternity.
{118:161} SIN. The leaders have persecuted me without
cause. And my heart has been awed by your words.
{118:162} I will rejoice over your eloquence, like one who
has found many spoils. {118:163}I have held hatred for
iniquity, and I have abhorred it. Yet I have loved your law.
{118:164} Seven times a day, I uttered praise to you about
the judgments of your justice. {118:165} Those who love
your law have great peace, and there is no scandal for them.
{118:166} I have waited for your salvation, O Lord. And I
have loved your commandments. {118:167} My soul has
kept to your testimonies and has loved them exceedingly.
{118:168} I have served your commandments and your
testimonies. For all my ways are before your sight.
{118:169} TAU. O Lord, let my supplication draw near in
your sight. Grant understanding to me according to your
eloquence. {118:170} Let my petition enter before you.
Rescue me according to your word. {118:171} A hymn will
burst forth from my lips, when you will teach me your
justifications. {118:172} My tongue will pronounce your
eloquence. For all your commandments are fairness.
{118:173} Let it be your hand that saves me. For I have
chosen your commandments. {118:174} O Lord, I have
longed for your salvation, and your law is my meditation.
{118:175} My soul will live and will praise you, and your
judgments will assist me. {118:176} I have gone astray like a
sheep that is lost. Seek out your servant, for I have not
forgotten your commandments.


[Psalm 119] (Psalm 120) {119:1} A Canticle in steps. When
troubled, I cried out to the Lord, and he heard me. {119:2} O
Lord, free my soul from lips of iniquity and from the deceitful
tongue. {119:3} What will be given to you, or what will be
added to you, for a deceitful tongue?: {119:4} the sharp
arrows of the powerful, along with the burning coals of
desolation. {119:5} Woe to me, for my sojourning has been
prolonged. I have lived with the inhabitants of Kedar.
{119:6} My soul has long been a sojourner. {119:7} With
those who hated peace, I was peaceful. When I spoke to them,
they fought against me without cause.


[Psalm 120] (Psalm 121) {120:1} A Canticle in steps. I have
lifted up my eyes to the mountains; from thence help will
come to me. {120:2} My help is from the Lord, who made
heaven and earth. {120:3} May he not allow your foot to be
moved, and may he not slumber, who guards you.
{120:4} Behold, he who guards Israel will neither sleep, nor
slumber. {120:5} The Lord is your keeper, the Lord is your
protection, above your right hand. {120:6} The sun will not
burn you by day, nor the moon by night. {120:7} The Lord
guards you from all evil. May the Lord guard your soul.
{120:8} May the Lord guard your entrance and your exit,
from this time forward and even forever.


[Psalm 121] (Psalm 122) {121:1} A Canticle in steps. I
rejoiced in the things that were said to me: “We shall go into
the house of the Lord.” {121:2} Our feet were standing in
your courts, O Jerusalem. {121:3} Jerusalem has been built
as a city, whose participation is unto itself. {121:4} For to
that place, the tribes ascended, the tribes of the Lord: the
testimony of Israel, to confess to the name of the Lord.
{121:5} For in that place, seats have sat down in judgment,
seats above the house of David. {121:6} Petition for the
things that are for the peace of Jerusalem, and for abundance
for those who love you. {121:7} Let peace be in your virtue,
and abundance in your towers. {121:8} For the sake of my
brothers and my neighbors, I spoke peace about you.
{121:9} For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I
sought good things for you.


[Psalm 122] (Psalm 123) {122:1} A Canticle in steps. I have
lifted up my eyes to you, who dwells in the heavens.
{122:2} Behold, as the eyes of the servants are on the hands
of their masters, as the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands
of her mistress, so our eyes are upon the Lord our God, until
he may be merciful to us. {122:3} Have mercy on us, O Lord,
have mercy on us. For we have been filled with utter disdain.
{122:4} For our soul has been greatly filled. We are the
disgrace of those who have abundance and the disdain of the
arrogant.


[Psalm 123] (Psalm 124) {123:1} A Canticle in steps. If the
Lord had not been with us, let Israel now say it: {123:2} if
the Lord had not been with us, when men rose up against us,
{123:3} perhaps they would have swallowed us alive. When
their fury was enraged against us, {123:4} perhaps the waters
would have engulfed us. {123:5} Our soul has passed through
a torrent. Perhaps, our soul had even passed through
intolerable water. {123:6} Blessed is the Lord, who has not
given us into the harm of their teeth. {123:7} Our soul has
been snatched away like a sparrow from the snare of the
hunters. The snare has been broken, and we have been freed.
{123:8} Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made
heaven and earth.


[Psalm 124] (Psalm 125) {124:1} A Canticle in steps. Those
who trust in the Lord will be like the mountain of Zion. He
will not be disturbed for eternity, who dwells {124:2} in
Jerusalem. Mountains surround it. And the Lord surrounds
his people, from this time forward and even forever.
{124:3} For the Lord will not allow the rod of sinners to
remain over the lot of the just, so that the just may not extend
their hands toward iniquity. {124:4} Do good, O Lord, to the
good and to the upright of heart. {124:5} But those who turn
away into obligation, the Lord will lead away with the
workers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel.


[Psalm 125] (Psalm 126) {125:1} A Canticle in steps. When
the Lord turned back the captivity of Zion, we became like
those who are consoled. {125:2} Then our mouth was filled
with gladness and our tongue with exultation. Then they will
say among the nations: “The Lord has done great things for
them.” {125:3} The Lord has done great things for us. We
have become joyful. {125:4} Convert our captivity, O Lord,
like a torrent in the south. {125:5} Those who sow in tears
shall reap in exultation. {125:6} When departing, they went
forth and wept, sowing their seeds. {125:7} But when
returning, they will arrive with exultation, carrying their
sheaves.


[Psalm 126] (Psalm 127) {126:1} A Canticle in steps: of
Solomon. Unless the Lord has built the house, those who
build it have labored in vain. Unless the Lord has guarded the
city, he who guards it watches in vain. {126:2} It is in vain
that you rise before daylight, that you rise up after you have
sat down, you who chew the bread of sorrow. Whereas, to
his beloved, he will give sleep. {126:3} Behold, the
inheritance of the Lord is sons, the reward is the fruit of the
womb. {126:4} Like arrows in the hand of the powerful, so
are the sons of those who have been cast out. {126:5} Blessed
is the man who has filled his desire from these things. He will
not be confounded when he speaks to his enemies at the gate.


[Psalm 127] (Psalm 128) {127:1} A Canticle in steps. Blessed
are all those who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways.
{127:2} For you will eat by the labors of your hands. Blessed
are you, and it will be well with you. {127:3} Your wife is
like an abundant vine on the sides of your house. Your sons
are like young olive trees surrounding your table.
{127:4} Behold, so will the man be blessed who fears the
Lord. {127:5} May the Lord bless you from Zion, and may
you see the good things of Jerusalem, all the days of your life.
{127:6} And may you see the sons of your sons. Peace be
upon Israel.


[Psalm 128] (Psalm 129) {128:1} A Canticle in steps. They
have often fought against me from my youth, let Israel now
say: {128:2} they have often fought against me from my
youth, yet they could not prevail over me. {128:3} The
sinners have made fabrications behind my back. They have
prolonged their iniquity. {128:4} The just Lord will cut the
necks of sinners. {128:5} Let all those who hate Zion be
confounded and turned backwards. {128:6} Let them be like
grass on the rooftops, which withers before it can be pulled
up: {128:7} with it, he who reaps does not fill his hand and
he who gathers sheaves does not fill his bosom. {128:8} And
those who were passing by have not said to them: “The
blessing of the Lord be upon you. We have blessed you in the
name of the Lord.”


[Psalm 129] (Psalm 130) {129:1} A Canticle in steps. From
the depths, I have cried out to you, O Lord. {129:2} O Lord,
hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my
supplication. {129:3} If you, O Lord, were to heed iniquities,
who, O Lord, could persevere? {129:4} For with you, there is
forgiveness, and because of your law, I persevered with you,
Lord. My soul has persevered in his word. {129:5} My soul
has hoped in the Lord. {129:6} From the morning watch,
even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord. {129:7} For with
the Lord there is mercy, and with him there is bountiful
redemption. {129:8} And he will redeem Israel from all his
iniquities.


[Psalm 130] (Psalm 131) {130:1} A Canticle in steps: of
David. O Lord, my heart has not been exalted, and my eyes
have not been raised up. Neither have I walked in greatness,
nor in wonders beyond me. {130:2} When I was not humble
in thought, then I lifted up my soul. Like one who has been
weaned from his mother, so was I recompensed in my soul.
{130:3} Let Israel hope in the Lord, from this time forward
and even forever.


[Psalm 131] (Psalm 132) {131:1} A Canticle in steps. O Lord,
remember David and all his meekness, {131:2} how he swore
to the Lord, how he made a vow to the God of Jacob:
{131:3} I shall not enter into the tabernacle of my house, nor
climb into the bed where I lie down; {131:4} I shall not give
sleep to my eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids {131:5} and rest
to my temples, until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle
for the God of Jacob. {131:6} Behold, we heard of it in
Ephrathah. We discovered it in the fields of the forest.
{131:7} We will enter into his tabernacle. We will adore in
the place where his feet stood. {131:8} Rise up, O Lord, into
your resting place. You and the ark of your sanctification.
{131:9} Let your priests be clothed with justice, and let your
saints exult. {131:10} For the sake of your servant David, do
not turn away the face of your Christ. {131:11} The Lord has
sworn the truth to David, and he will not disappoint: I will
set upon your throne from the fruit of your lineage.
{131:12} If your sons will keep my covenant and these, my
testimonies, which I will teach to them, then their sons will
sit upon your throne even forever. {131:13} For the Lord has
chosen Zion. He has chosen it as his dwelling place.
{131:14} This is my resting place, forever and ever. Here I
will dwell, for I have chosen it. {131:15} When blessing, I
will bless her widow. I will satisfy her poor with bread.
{131:16} I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her
saints will rejoice with great joy. {131:17} There, I will
produce a horn to David. There, I have prepared a lamp for
my Christ. {131:18} I will clothe his enemies with confusion.
But my sanctification will flourish over him.


[Psalm 132] (Psalm 133) {132:1} A Canticle in steps: of
David. Behold, how good and how pleasing it is for brothers
to dwell in unity. {132:2} It is like the ointment on the head
that descended to the beard, the beard of Aaron, which
descended to the hem of his garment. {132:3} It is like the
dew of Hermon, which descended from mount Zion. For in
that place, the Lord has commanded a blessing, and life, even
unto eternity.


[Psalm 133] (Psalm 134) {133:1} A Canticle in steps. Behold,
bless the Lord now, all you servants of the Lord, who stand
in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our
God. {133:2} In the nights, lift up your hands in sanctity, and
bless the Lord. {133:3} May the Lord, who made heaven and
earth, bless you from Zion.


[Psalm 134] (Psalm 135) {134:1} Alleluia. Praise the name of
the Lord. You servants, praise the Lord. {134:2} You who
stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of
our God: {134:3} praise the Lord, for the Lord is good. Sing
psalms to his name, for it is sweet. {134:4} For the Lord has
chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his own possession.
{134:5} For I have known that the Lord is great, and our
God is before all gods. {134:6} All things whatsoever that he
willed, the Lord did: in heaven, on earth, in the sea, and in all
the deep places. {134:7} He leads clouds from the ends of the
earth. He has created lightnings in the rain. He has produced
winds from his storehouses. {134:8} He struck the first-born
of Egypt, from man even to cattle. {134:9} He sent signs and
wonders into your midst, O Egypt: upon Pharaoh and upon
all his servants. {134:10} He has struck many nations, and he
has slaughtered strong kings: {134:11} Sihon, king of the
Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of
Canaan. {134:12} And he gave their land as an inheritance,
as an inheritance for his people Israel. {134:13} Your name,
O Lord, is in eternity. Your memorial, O Lord, is from
generation to generation. {134:14} For the Lord will judge
his people, and he will be petitioned by his servants.
{134:15} The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the
works of the hands of men. {134:16} They have a mouth,
and do not speak. They have eyes, and do not see.
{134:17} They have ears, and do not hear. For neither is
there any breath in their mouths. {134:18} Let those who
make them become like them, along with all who trust in
them. {134:19} Bless the Lord, O house of Israel. Bless the
Lord, O house of Aaron. {134:20} Bless the Lord, O house of
Levi. You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord. {134:21} The
Lord is blessed from Zion, by those who dwell in Jerusalem.


[Psalm 135] (Psalm 136) {135:1} Alleluia. Confess to the
Lord, for he is good: for his mercy is eternal. {135:2} Confess
to the God of gods, for his mercy is eternal. {135:3} Confess
to the Lord of lords, for his mercy is eternal. {135:4} He
alone performs great miracles, for his mercy is eternal.
{135:5} He made the heavens with understanding, for his
mercy is eternal. {135:6} He established the earth above the
waters, for his mercy is eternal. {135:7} He made the great
lights, for his mercy is eternal: {135:8} the sun to rule the day,
for his mercy is eternal: {135:9} the moon and the stars to
rule the night, for his mercy is eternal. {135:10} He struck
Egypt along with their first-born, for his mercy is eternal.
{135:11} He led Israel away from their midst, for his mercy is
eternal: {135:12} with a powerful hand and an outstretched
arm, for his mercy is eternal. {135:13} He divided the Red
Sea into separate parts, for his mercy is eternal. {135:14} And
he led out Israel through the middle of it, for his mercy is
eternal. {135:15} And he shook off Pharaoh and his army in
the Red Sea, for his mercy is eternal. {135:16} He led his
people through the desert, for his mercy is eternal.
{135:17} He has struck great kings, for his mercy is eternal.
{135:18} And he has slaughtered strong kings, for his mercy
is eternal: {135:19} Sihon, king of the Amorites, for his
mercy is eternal: {135:20} and Og, king of Bashan, for his
mercy is eternal. {135:21} And he granted their land as an
inheritance, for his mercy is eternal: {135:22}as an
inheritance for his servant Israel, for his mercy is eternal.
{135:23} For he was mindful of us in our humiliation, for his
mercy is eternal. {135:24} And he redeemed us from our
enemies, for his mercy is eternal. {135:25} He gives food to
all flesh, for his mercy is eternal. {135:26} Confess to the
God of heaven, for his mercy is eternal. {135:27} Confess to
the Lord of lords, for his mercy is eternal.


[Psalm 136] (Psalm 137) {136:1} A Psalm of David: to
Jeremiah. Above the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept,
while we remembered Zion. {136:2} By the willow trees, in
their midst, we hung up our instruments. {136:3} For, in that
place, those who led us into captivity questioned us about the
words of the songs. And those who carried us away said:
“Sing us a hymn from the songs of Zion.” {136:4} How can
we sing a song of the Lord in a foreign land? {136:5} If I ever
forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.
{136:6} May my tongue adhere to my jaws, if I do not
remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem first, as the beginning
of my joy. {136:7} O Lord, call to mind the sons of Edom, in
the day of Jerusalem, who say: “Despoil it, despoil it, even to
its foundation.” {136:8} O daughter of Babylon, have pity.
Blessed is he who will repay you with your payment, which
you have paid to us. {136:9} Blessed is he who will take hold
of your little ones and dash them against the rock.


[Psalm 137] (Psalm 138) {137:1} Of David himself. O Lord,
I will confess to you with my whole heart, for you have heard
the words of my mouth. I will sing psalms to you in the sight
of the Angels. {137:2} I will adore before your holy temple,
and I will confess your name: it is above your mercy and
your truth. For you have magnified your holy name above all.
{137:3} On whatever day that I will call upon you: hear me.
You will multiply virtue in my soul. {137:4} May all the
kings of the earth confess to you, O Lord. For they have
heard all the words of your mouth. {137:5} And let them sing
in accordance with the ways of the Lord. For great is the
glory of the Lord. {137:6} For the Lord is exalted, and he
looks with favor on the humble. But the lofty he knows from
a distance. {137:7} If I wander into the midst of tribulation,
you will revive me. For you extended your hand against the
wrath of my enemies. And your right hand has accomplished
my salvation. {137:8} The Lord will provide retribution on
my behalf. O Lord, your mercy is forever. Do not disdain the
works of your hands.


[Psalm 138] (Psalm 139) {138:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David. O Lord, you have examined me, and you have known
me. {138:2} You have known my sitting down and my rising
up again. {138:3} You have understood my thoughts from
afar. My path and my fate, you have investigated.
{138:4} And you have foreseen all my ways. For there is no
word in my tongue. {138:5} Behold, O Lord, you have
known all things: the newest and the very old. You have
formed me, and you have placed your hand over me.
{138:6} Your knowledge has become a wonder to me. It has
been reinforced, and I am not able to prevail against it.
{138:7} Where will I go from your Spirit? And where will I
flee from your face? {138:8} If I ascend into heaven, you are
there. If I descend into Hell, you are near. {138:9} If I
assume my feathers in early morning, and dwell in the utmost
parts of the sea, {138:10} even there, your hand will lead me
forth, and your right hand will hold me. {138:11} And I said:
Perhaps darkness will overwhelm me, and the night will be
my illumination, to my delight. {138:12} But darkness will
not be impenetrable to you, and night will illuminate like the
day: for just as its darkness is, so also is its light. {138:13} For
you have possessed my temperament. You have supported
me from the womb of my mother. {138:14} I will confess to
you, for you have been magnified terribly. Your works are
miraculous, as my soul knows exceedingly well. {138:15} My
bone, which you have made in secret, has not been hidden
from you, and my substance is in accord with the lower parts
of the earth. {138:16} Your eyes saw my imperfection, and
all this shall be written in your book. Days will be formed,
and no one shall be in them. {138:17} But to me, O God,
your friends have been greatly honored. Their first ruler has
been exceedingly strengthened. {138:18} I will number them,
and they will be more numerous than the sand. I rose up, and
I am still with you. {138:19} O God, if only you would cut
down sinners. You men of blood: depart from me.
{138:20} For you say in thought: They will accept your cities
in vain. {138:21} Have I not hated those who hated you,
Lord, and wasted away because of your enemies? {138:22} I
have hated them with a perfect hatred, and they have become
enemies to me. {138:23} Examine me, O God, and know my
heart. Question me, and know my paths. {138:24} And see if
there might be in me the way of iniquity, and lead me in the
way of eternity.


[Psalm 139] (Psalm 140) {139:1} Unto the end. A Psalm of
David. {139:2} Rescue me, O Lord, from the evil man.
Rescue me from the iniquitous leader. {139:3} Those who
have devised iniquities in their hearts: all day long they
constructed conflicts. {139:4} They have sharpened their
tongues like a serpent. The venom of asps is under their lips.
{139:5} Preserve me, O Lord, from the hand of the sinner,
and rescue me from men of iniquity. They have decided to
supplant my steps. {139:6} The arrogant have hidden a snare
for me. And they have stretched out cords for a snare. They
have placed a stumbling block for me near the road. {139:7} I
said to the Lord: You are my God. O Lord, heed the voice of
my supplication. {139:8} Lord, O Lord, the strength of my
salvation: you have overshadowed my head in the day of war.
{139:9} O Lord, do not hand me over to the sinner by my
desire. They have plotted against me. Do not abandon me,
lest they should triumph. {139:10} The head of those who
encompass me, the labor of their lips, will overwhelm them.
{139:11} Burning coals will fall upon them. You will cast
them down into the fire, into miseries that they will not be
able to withstand. {139:12} A talkative man will not be
guided aright upon the earth. Evils will drag the unjust man
unto utter ruin. {139:13}I know that the Lord will
accomplish justice for the needy and vindication for the poor.
{139:14} So then, truly, the just will confess your name, and
the upright will dwell with your countenance.


[Psalm 140] (Psalm 141) {140:1} A Psalm of David. O Lord,
I have cried out to you, hear me. Attend to my voice, when I
cry out to you. {140:2} Let my prayer be guided like incense
in your sight: the lifting up of my hands, like the evening
sacrifice. {140:3} O Lord, station a guard over my mouth and
a door enclosing my lips. {140:4} Do not turn aside my heart
to words of malice, to making excuses for sins, with men who
work iniquity; and I will not communicate, even with the best
of them. {140:5} The just one will correct me with mercy,
and he will rebuke me. But do not allow the oil of the sinner
to fatten my head. For my prayer will still be toward their
good will. {140:6} Their judges have been engulfed, joined to
the rocks. They will hear my words, which have prevailed,
{140:7} as when the lava of the earth has erupted above
ground. Our bones have been scattered beside Hell.
{140:8} For Lord, O Lord, my eyes look to you. In you, I
have hoped. Do not take away my soul. {140:9} Protect me
from the snare that they have set up for me and from the
scandals of those who work iniquity. {140:10} The sinners
will fall into his net. I am alone, until I pass over.


[Psalm 141] (Psalm 142) {141:1} The understanding of
David. A prayer, when he was in the cave. {141:2} With my
voice, I cried out to the Lord. With my voice, I made
supplication to the Lord. {141:3} In his sight, I pour out my
prayer, and before him, I declare my tribulation.
{141:4} Though my spirit may become faint within me, even
then, you have known my paths. Along this way, which I
have been walking, they have hidden a snare for me.
{141:5} I considered toward the right, and I looked, but there
was no one who would know me. Flight has perished before
me, and there is no one who has concern for my soul.
{141:6} I cried out to you, O Lord. I said: You are my hope,
my portion in the land of the living. {141:7} Attend to my
supplication. For I have been humbled exceedingly. Free me
from my persecutors, for they have been fortified against me.
{141:8} Lead my soul out of confinement in order to confess
your name. The just are waiting for me, until you repay me.


[Psalm 142] (Psalm 143) {142:1} A Psalm of David, when
his son Absalom was pursuing him. O Lord, hear my prayer.
Incline your ear to my supplication in your truth. Heed me
according to your justice. {142:2} And do not enter into
judgment with your servant. For all the living will not be
justified in your sight. {142:3} For the enemy has pursued my
soul. He has lowered my life to the earth. He has stationed
me in darkness, like the dead of ages past. {142:4} And my
spirit has been in anguish over me. My heart within me has
been disturbed. {142:5} I have called to mind the days of
antiquity. I have been meditating on all your works. I have
meditated on the workings of your hands. {142:6} I have
extended my hands to you. My soul is like a land without
water before you. {142:7} O Lord, heed me quickly. My
spirit has grown faint. Do not turn your face away from me,
lest I become like those who descend into the pit.
{142:8} Make me hear your mercy in the morning. For I
have hoped in you. Make known to me the way that I should
walk. For I have lifted up my soul to you. {142:9} O Lord,
rescue me from my enemies. I have fled to you.
{142:10} Teach me to do your will. For you are my God.
Your good Spirit will lead me into the righteous land.
{142:11} For the sake of your name, O Lord, you will revive
me in your fairness. You will lead my soul out of tribulation.
{142:12} And you will scatter my enemies in your mercy.
And you will destroy all those who afflict my soul. For I am
your servant.


[Psalm 143] (Psalm 144) {143:1} A Psalm of David versus
Goliath. Blessed is the Lord, my God, who trains my hands
for the battle and my fingers for the war. {143:2} My mercy
and my refuge, my supporter and my deliverer, my protector
and him in whom I have hoped: he subdues my people under
me. {143:3} O Lord, what is man that you have become
known to him? Or the son of man that you consider him?
{143:4} Man has been made similar to vanity. His days pass
by like a shadow. {143:5} O Lord, incline your heavens and
descend. Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.
{143:6} Send a flash of lightning, and you will scatter them.
Shoot your arrows, and you will set them in disarray.
{143:7} Send forth your hand from on high: rescue me, and
free me from many waters, from the hand of the sons of
foreigners. {143:8} Their mouth has been speaking vain
things, and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity.
{143:9} To you, O God, I will sing a new song. On the
psaltery, with an instrument of ten strings, I will sing psalms
to you. {143:10} He gives salvation to kings. He has
redeemed your servant David from the malignant sword.
{143:11} Rescue me, and deliver me from the hand of the
sons of foreigners. Their mouth has been speaking vain things,
and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity.
{143:12} Their sons are like new plantings in their youth.
Their daughters are dressed up: adorned all around like the
idols of a temple. {143:13} Their cupboards are full:
overflowing from one thing into another. Their sheep bear
young, brought forth in abundance. {143:14} Their cattle are
fat. There is no ruined wall or passage, nor anyone crying out
in their streets. {143:15} They have called the people that has
these things: blessed. But blessed is the people whose God is
the Lord.


[Psalm 144] (Psalm 145) {144:1} The Praise of David himself.
I will extol you, O God, my king. And I will bless your name,
in this time and forever and ever. {144:2} Throughout every
single day, I will bless you. And I will praise your name, in
this time and forever and ever. {144:3} The Lord is great and
exceedingly praiseworthy. And there is no end to his
greatness. {144:4} Generation after generation will praise
your works, and they will declare your power. {144:5} They
will tell of the magnificent glory of your sanctity. And they
will discourse of your wonders. {144:6} And they will talk
about the virtue of your terrible acts. And they will describe
your greatness. {144:7} They will shout about the memory of
your abundant sweetness. And they will exult in your justice.
{144:8} The Lord is compassionate and merciful, patient and
full of mercy. {144:9} The Lord is sweet to all things, and his
compassion is upon all his works. {144:10} O Lord, may all
your works confess to you, and let your holy ones bless you.
{144:11} They will speak of the glory of your kingdom, and
they will declare your power, {144:12} so as to make known
to the sons of men your power and the glory of your
magnificent kingdom. {144:13} Your kingdom is a kingdom
for all ages, and your dominion is with all, from generation to
generation. The Lord is faithful in all his words and holy in
all his works. {144:14} The Lord lifts up all who have fallen
down, and he sets upright all who have been thrown down.
{144:15} O Lord, all eyes hope in you, and you provide their
food in due time. {144:16} You open your hand, and you fill
every kind of animal with a blessing. {144:17} The Lord is
just in all his ways and holy in all his works. {144:18} The
Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon
him in truth. {144:19} He will do the will of those who fear
him, and he will heed their supplication and accomplish their
salvation. {144:20} The Lord watches over all who love him.
And he will destroy all sinners. {144:21} My mouth will
speak the praise of the Lord, and may all flesh bless his holy
name, in this time and forever and ever.


[Psalm 145] (Psalm 146) {145:1} Alleluia. Of Haggai and
Zachariah. {145:2} Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise
the Lord with my life. I will sing psalms to my God as long as
I shall be. Do not trust in the leaders, {145:3} in the sons of
men, in whom there is no salvation. {145:4} His spirit will
depart, and he will return to his earth. In that day, all their
thoughts will perish. {145:5} Blessed is he whose help is the
God of Jacob: his hope is in the Lord God himself,
{145:6} who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all the
things that are in them. {145:7} He preserves the truth forever.
He executes judgment for those who suffer injury. He
provides food for the hungry. The Lord releases those who
are bound. {145:8} The Lord enlightens the blind. The Lord
sets upright those who have been thrown down. The Lord
loves the just. {145:9} The Lord watches over new arrivals.
He will support the orphan and the widow. And he will
destroy the ways of sinners. {145:10} The Lord shall reign
forever: your God, O Zion, from generation to generation.


[Psalm 146] (Psalm 147A) {146:1} Alleluia. Praise the Lord,
because the psalm is good. Delightful and beautiful praise
shall be for our God. {146:2} The Lord builds up Jerusalem.
He will gather together the dispersed of Israel. {146:3} He
heals the contrite of heart, and he binds up their sorrows.
{146:4} He numbers the multitude of the stars, and he calls
them all by their names. {146:5} Great is our Lord, and great
is his virtue. And of his wisdom, there is no number.
{146:6} The Lord lifts up the meek, but he brings down the
sinner, even to the ground. {146:7} Sing before the Lord with
confession. Play psalms to our God on a stringed instrument.
{146:8} He covers heaven with clouds, and he prepares rain
for the earth. He produces grass on the mountains and herbs
for the service of men. {146:9} He gives their food to beasts
of burden and to young ravens that call upon him.
{146:10} He will not have good will for the strength of the
horse, nor will he be well pleased with the legs of a man.
{146:11} The Lord is well pleased with those who fear him
and with those who hope in his mercy.


[Psalm 147] (Psalm 147B) {147:1} Alleluia. Praise the Lord,
O Jerusalem. Praise your God, O Zion. {147:2} For he has
reinforced the bars of your gates. He has blessed your sons
within you. {147:3} He has stationed peace at your borders,
and he has satisfied you with the fat of the grain. {147:4} He
sends forth his eloquence to the earth. His word runs swiftly.
{147:5} He provides snow like wool. He strews clouds like
ashes. {147:6} He sends his ice crystals like morsels. Who
can stand firm before the face of his cold? {147:7} He will
send forth his word, and it will melt them. His Spirit will
breathe out, and the waters will flow. {147:8} He announces
his word to Jacob, his justices and his judgments to Israel.
{147:9} He has not done so much for every nation, and he
has not made his judgments manifest to them. Alleluia.


[Psalm 148] {148:1} Alleluia. Praise the Lord from the
heavens. Praise him on the heights. {148:2} Praise him, all
his Angels. Praise him, all his hosts. {148:3} Praise him, sun
and moon. Praise him, all stars and light. {148:4} Praise him,
heavens of the heavens. And let all the waters that are above
the heavens {148:5} praise the name of the Lord. For he
spoke, and they became. He commanded, and they were
created. {148:6} He has stationed them in eternity, and for
age after age. He has established a precept, and it will not
pass away. {148:7} Praise the Lord from the earth: you
dragons and all deep places, {148:8} fire, hail, snow, ice,
windstorms, which do his word, {148:9} mountains and all
hills, fruitful trees and all cedars, {148:10} wild beasts and all
cattle, serpents and feathered flying things, {148:11} kings of
the earth and all peoples, leaders and all judges of the earth,
{148:12} young men and virgins. Let the older men with the
younger men, praise the name of the Lord. {148:13} For his
name alone is exalted. {148:14} Confession of him is beyond
heaven and earth, and he has exalted the horn of his people.
A hymn to all his holy ones, to the sons of Israel, to a people
close to him. Alleluia.
[Psalm 149] {149:1} Alleluia. Sing to the Lord a new song.
His praise is in the Church of the saints. {149:2} Let Israel
rejoice in him who made them, and let the sons of Zion exult
in their king. {149:3} Let them praise his name in chorus. Let
them sing psalms to him with the timbrel and the psaltery.
{149:4} For the Lord is well pleased with his people, and he
will exalt the meek unto salvation. {149:5} The saints will
exult in glory. They will rejoice upon their couches.
{149:6} The exultations of God will be in their throat, and
two-edged swords will be in their hands: {149:7} to obtain
vindication among the nations, chastisements among the
peoples, {149:8} to bind their kings with shackles and their
nobles with manacles of iron, {149:9} to obtain judgment
over them, as it has been written. This is glory for all his
saints. Alleluia.


[Psalm 150] {150:1} Alleluia. Praise the Lord in his holy
places. Praise him in the firmament of his power.
{150:2} Praise him for his virtues. Praise him according to
the multitude of his greatness. {150:3} Praise him with the
sound of the trumpet. Praise him with psaltery and stringed
instrument. {150:4} Praise him with timbrel and choir. Praise
him with strings and organ. {150:5} Praise him with sweet-
sounding cymbals. Praise him with cymbals of jubilation.
{150:6} Let every spirit praise the Lord. Alleluia.


** The Book of Proverbs **


[Proverbs 1] {1:1} The parables of Solomon, son of David,
king of Israel, {1:2} in order to know wisdom and discipline,
{1:3} to understand words of prudence, and to accept the
instruction of doctrine, justice and judgment, and equity,
{1:4} so as to give discernment to little ones, knowledge and
understanding to adolescents. {1:5} By listening, the wise
shall become wiser and the intelligent shall possess
governments. {1:6} He shall turn his soul to a parable and to
its interpretation, to the words of the wise and their enigmas.
{1:7} The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The
foolish despise wisdom as well as doctrine. {1:8} Listen, my
son, to the discipline of your father, and forsake not the law
of your mother, {1:9} so that grace may be added to your
head and a collar to your neck. {1:10} My son, if sinners
should entice you, do not consent to them. {1:11} If they
should say: “Come with us. We will lie in wait for blood. We
will lay traps against the innocent, without cause. {1:12} Let
us swallow him alive, like Hell, and whole, like one
descending into the pit. {1:13} We will discover every
precious substance. We will fill our houses with spoils.
{1:14} Cast your lot with us. One purse will be for us all.”
{1:15} My son, do not walk with them. Preclude your feet
from their paths. {1:16} For their feet rush to evil, and they
hurry to shed blood. {1:17} But a net is thrown in vain before
the eyes of those who have wings. {1:18} Likewise, they lie
in ambush against their own blood, and they undertake
deceits against their own souls. {1:19} Thus, the ways of all
those who are greedy seize the souls of those who possess.
{1:20} Wisdom forewarns far and wide; she bestows her
voice in the streets. {1:21} She cries out at the head of crowds;
at the entrance of the gates of the city, she offers her words,
saying: {1:22} “Little ones, how long will you choose to be
childish, and how long will the foolish desire what is harmful
to themselves, and how long will the imprudent hate
knowledge? {1:23} Be converted by my correction. Lo, I will
offer my spirit to you, and I will reveal my words to you.
{1:24} For I called, and you refused. I extended my hand,
and there was no one who watched. {1:25} You have
despised all my counsels, and you have neglected my rebukes.
{1:26} Similarly, I will ridicule you at your demise, and I will
mock you, when that which you feared shall overcome you.
{1:27} When sudden calamity rushes upon you, and your
demise advances like a tempest, when tribulation and anguish
overcome you, {1:28} then they will call to me, and I will not
heed, they will arise in the morning, and not find me.
{1:29} For they held hatred for discipline, and they would
not accept the fear of the Lord; {1:30} they would not
consent to my counsel, but they detracted from all of my
corrections. {1:31} Therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their
way, and they shall have their fill of their own counsels.
{1:32} The loathing of the little ones shall destroy them, and
the prosperity of the foolish shall perish them. {1:33} But
whoever will listen to me shall rest without terror, and shall
have full enjoyment of abundance, without fear of evils.”


[Proverbs 2] {2:1} My son, if you would accept my words,
and conceal my commandments within you, {2:2} so that
your ears may listen to wisdom, then bend your heart in
order to know prudence. {2:3} For if you would call upon
wisdom and bend your heart to prudence, {2:4} if you will
seek her like money, and dig for her as if for treasure,
{2:5} then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and you
will discover the knowledge of God. {2:6} For the Lord
bestows wisdom, and out of his mouth, prudence and
knowledge. {2:7} He will preserve the salvation of the
righteous, and he will protect those who walk in simplicity:
{2:8} serving the paths of justice, and guarding the ways of
sanctity. {2:9} Then you shall understand justice and
judgment, and equity, and every good path. {2:10} If wisdom
is to enter into your heart, and if knowledge is to become
pleasing to your soul, {2:11} then counsel must guard you,
and prudence must serve you, {2:12} so that you may be
rescued from the evil way, and from the man who speaks
perversities, {2:13} from those who leave the straight path to
walk in dark ways, {2:14} who rejoice when they have done
evil, and who exult in the most wicked things. {2:15} Their
ways are perverse, and their steps are infamous. {2:16} So
may you be rescued from the foreign woman, and from the
outsider, who softens her speech, {2:17} and who leaves
behind the Guide of her youth, {2:18} and who has forgotten
the covenant of her God. For her household inclines toward
death, and her paths toward Hell. {2:19} All those who enter
to her will not return again, nor will they take hold of the
paths of life. {2:20} So may you walk in the good way, and
keep to the difficult paths of the just. {2:21} For those who
are upright shall live upon the earth, and the simple shall
continue upon it. {2:22} Yet truly, the impious shall perish
from the earth, and those who act unjustly shall be taken
away from it.


[Proverbs 3] {3:1} My son, do not forget my law, but let
your heart guard my precepts. {3:2} For they shall set before
you length of days, and years of life, and peace. {3:3} Let not
mercy and truth abandon you: encircle them around your
throat, and inscribe them on the tablets of your heart.
{3:4} And so shall you discover grace and good discipline, in
the sight of God and men. {3:5} Have confidence in the Lord
with all your heart, and do not depend upon your own
prudence. {3:6} In all your ways, consider him, and he
himself will direct your steps. {3:7} Do not seem wise to
yourself. Fear God, and withdraw from evil. {3:8} Certainly,
it shall be health to your navel, and refreshment to your
bones. {3:9} Honor the Lord with your substance, and give
to him from the first of all your fruits, {3:10} and then your
storehouses will be filled with abundance, and your presses
shall overflow with wine. {3:11} My son, do not discard the
discipline of the Lord, and do not fall away when you are
corrected by him. {3:12} For whomever the Lord loves, he
corrects, and just as a father does with a son, he wins him
over. {3:13} Blessed is the man who finds wisdom and who
advances to prudence. {3:14} Her acquisition is better than
trading in silver, and her fruit is better than the first and
purest gold. {3:15} She is more precious than all riches, and
all that can be desired cannot prevail in comparison to her.
{3:16} Length of days is at her right hand, and at her left
hand is wealth and glory. {3:17} Her ways are beautiful ways,
and all her paths are peaceful. {3:18} She is a tree of life to
those who overtake her, and he who shall take hold of her is
blessed. {3:19} The Lord founded the earth on wisdom. He
secured the heavens with prudence. {3:20} By his wisdom,
the abyss erupted and the clouds increased with dew.
{3:21} My son, let not these things move away from your
eyes. Preserve law as well as counsel. {3:22} And so shall
there be life in your soul and grace in your voice.
{3:23} Then you shall walk confidently in your way, and
your feet will not stumble. {3:24} When you slumber, you
shall not fear. When you rest, your sleep also will be sweet.
{3:25} Do not fear unexpected terror, nor the power of the
impious falling upon you. {3:26} For the Lord will be at your
side, and he will guard your feet, so that you may not be
seized. {3:27} Do not prevent him who is able from doing
good. When you are able, do good yourself too. {3:28} Do
not say to your friend: “Go away, and then return.
Tomorrow I will give to you.” When you are able to do so,
give in the present. {3:29} Do not undertake evil against your
friend, even though he has trust in you. {3:30} Do not
contend against a man without cause, even though he has
done no evil to you. {3:31} Do not rival an unjust man, and
do not imitate his ways. {3:32} For everyone who ridicules is
an abomination to the Lord, and his communication is for
the simple. {3:33} Destitution in the house of the impious is
from the Lord. But the habitations of the just shall be blessed.
{3:34} He will ridicule those who ridicule, but he will bestow
grace upon the mild. {3:35} The wise will possess glory. The
exaltation of the foolish is disgraceful.


[Proverbs 4] {4:1} Listen, sons, to the discipline of a father,
and pay attention, so that you may know prudence. {4:2} I
will bestow upon you a good gift. Do not relinquish my law.
{4:3} For I, too, was the son of my father, tender and an only
son in the sight of my mother. {4:4} And he taught me, and
he also said: “Let your heart accept my words. Keep my
precepts, and you shall live. {4:5} Obtain wisdom, obtain
prudence. May you neither forget, nor turn away from, the
words of my mouth. {4:6} Do not send her away, and she
will guard you. Love her, and she will preserve you.
{4:7} The beginning of wisdom is to obtain wisdom, and,
with all that you possess, to acquire prudence. {4:8} Grasp
her, and she will exalt you. You will be glorified by her, when
you have embraced her. {4:9} She will bestow upon your
head an increase in graces, and she will protect you with a
noble crown. {4:10} Listen, my son, and accept my words, so
that years of life may be multiplied for you. {4:11} I will
demonstrate to you the way of wisdom. I will lead you along
the paths of equity. {4:12} When you have entered by these,
your steps will not be constrained, and when running, you
will have no obstacle. {4:13} Take hold of discipline. Do not
dismiss it. Guard it, for it is your life. {4:14} Do not delight
in the paths of the impious, nor permit the way of evil-doers
to please you. {4:15} Take flight from it. Do not pass close to
it. Turn away and abandon it. {4:16} For they do not sleep,
unless they have done evil. And their sleep is quickly taken
away from them, unless they have overthrown. {4:17} They
eat the bread of impiety, and they drink the wine of iniquity.
{4:18} But the path of the just is like a shining light: it
advances and increases, even to the day of completion.
{4:19} The way of the impious is darkened. They do not
know where they may fall. {4:20} My son, pay attention to
my sermons, and incline your ear to my eloquent words.
{4:21} Let them not recede from your eyes. Keep them in the
midst of your heart. {4:22} For they are life to those who find
them and health to all that is flesh. {4:23} Preserve your heart
with all watchfulness, for life proceeds from this.
{4:24} Remove from yourself a corrupt mouth, and let
detracting lips be far from you. {4:25} Let your eyes look
straight ahead, and let your eyelids precede your steps.
{4:26} Direct the path of your feet, and all your ways shall be
secure. {4:27} Turn aside, neither to the right, nor to the left;
yet turn your foot away from evil. For the Lord knows the
ways that are on the right, and truly, those that are on the left
are perverse. But he himself will make your courses straight.
Then your journey will advance in peace.


[Proverbs 5] {5:1} My son, pay attention to my wisdom, and
incline your ear to my prudence, {5:2} so that you may guard
your thinking, and so that your lips may preserve discipline.
Do not pay attention to the deceit of a woman. {5:3} For the
lips of a loose woman are like a dripping honeycomb, and her
voice is smoother than oil. {5:4} But in the end, she is as
bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
{5:5} Her feet descend into death, and her steps reach even to
Hell. {5:6} They do not walk along the path of life; her steps
are wandering and untraceable. {5:7} Therefore, my son,
listen to me now, and do not withdraw from the words of my
mouth. {5:8} Make your way at a distance from her, and do
not approach the doors of her house. {5:9} Do not give your
honor to foreigners, and your years to the cruel.
{5:10} Otherwise, outsiders may be filled with your strength,
and your labors may be in a foreign house, {5:11} and you
may mourn in the end, when you will have consumed your
flesh and your body. And so you may say: {5:12} “Why have
I detested discipline, and why has my heart not been quieted
by correction? {5:13} And why have I not listened to the
voice of those who guided me? And why has my ear not
inclined to my teachers? {5:14} I have almost been with all
evil in the midst of the church and of the assembly.”
{5:15} Drink water from your own cistern and from the
springs of your own well. {5:16} Let your fountains be
diverted far and wide, and divide your waters in the streets.
{5:17} Hold them for yourself alone, and do not let strangers
be partakers with you. {5:18} Let your spring be blessed, and
rejoice with the wife of your youth: {5:19} a beloved doe and
most pleasing fawn. Let her breasts inebriate you at all times.
Be delighted continually by her love. {5:20} Why are you
seduced, my son, by a strange woman, and why are you kept
warm by the bosom of another? {5:21} The Lord beholds the
ways of man, and he considers all his steps. {5:22} His own
iniquities take hold of the impious, and he is bound by the
cords of his own sins. {5:23} He shall die, for he has not held
to discipline. And by the multitude of his foolishness, he shall
be deceived.


[Proverbs 6] {6:1} My son, if you have taken a pledge on
behalf of your friend, then you have bound your hand to an
outsider, {6:2} then you are ensnared by the words of your
own mouth, and taken captive by your own words.
{6:3} Therefore, my son, do what I say, and free yourself, for
you have fallen into the hand of your neighbor. Run, hurry,
awaken your friend. {6:4} Do not grant sleep to your eyes,
nor let your eyelids slumber. {6:5} Rescue yourself like a
gazelle from the hand, and like a bird from the hand of the
fowler. {6:6} Go to the ant, you lazy one, and consider her
ways, and so learn wisdom. {6:7} For though she has no
ruler, nor instructor, nor leader, {6:8} she provides meals for
herself in the summer, and she gathers at the harvest what she
may eat. {6:9} How long will you slumber, you lazy one?
When will you rise up from your sleep? {6:10} You will sleep
a little, you will slumber a little, you will fold your hands a
little to sleep, {6:11} and then destitution will meet with you,
like a traveler, and poverty, like an armed man. Yet truly, if
you would be diligent, then your harvest will arrive like a
fountain, and destitution will flee far from you. {6:12} An
apostate man, a harmful man, walks with a perverse mouth;
{6:13} he winks with the eyes, touches with the foot, speaks
with the finger. {6:14} With a depraved heart he devises evil,
and at all times he sows conflict. {6:15} To this one, his
perdition will arrive promptly, and he shall be crushed
suddenly: he will no longer have any remedy. {6:16} Six
things there are that the Lord hates, and the seventh, his soul
detests: {6:17} haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed
innocent blood, {6:18} a heart that devises the most wicked
thoughts, feet running swiftly unto evil, {6:19} a deceitful
witness bringing forth lies, and he who sows discord among
brothers. {6:20} My son, preserve the precepts of your father,
and do not dismiss the law of your mother. {6:21} Bind them
to your heart unceasingly, and encircle them around your
throat. {6:22} When you walk, let them keep step with you.
When you sleep, let them guard you. And when you keep
watch, speak with them. {6:23} For commandment is a lamp,
and law is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way
of life. {6:24} So may they guard you from an evil woman,
and from the flattering tongue of the outsider. {6:25} Let not
your heart desire her beauty; do not be captivated by her
winks. {6:26} For the price of a prostitute is only one loaf.
Yet the woman seizes the precious soul of a man.
{6:27} Would a man be able to conceal fire in his bosom, so
that his garments would not burn? {6:28} Or could he walk
over burning coals, so that his feet would not be burned?
{6:29} So also, he who enters to the wife of his neighbor shall
not be clean when he touches her. {6:30} Not so great is the
fault when someone has stolen. For he steals so as to satisfy a
hungry soul. {6:31} Also, if he is apprehended, he shall repay
sevenfold and hand over all the substance of his house.
{6:32} But whoever is an adulterer, because of the emptiness
of his heart, will destroy his own soul. {6:33} He gathers
shame and dishonor to himself, and his disgrace will not be
wiped away. {6:34} For the jealousy and fury of the husband
will not spare him on the day of vindication, {6:35} nor will
he agree to the pleadings of anyone, nor will he accept, as
repayment, a multitude of gifts.


[Proverbs 7] {7:1} My son, guard my words and conceal my
precepts within you. {7:2} Son, preserve my commandments,
and you shall live. And keep my law as the pupil of your eye.
{7:3} Bind it with your fingers; write it on the tablets of your
heart. {7:4} Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call
prudence your friend. {7:5} So may she guard you from the
woman who is an outsider, and from the stranger who
sweetens her words. {7:6} For I gaze from the window of my
house, through the lattice, {7:7} and I see little ones. I
consider a frenzied youth, {7:8} who crosses the street at the
corner and close to the way of that house. {7:9} He steps into
shadows, as day becomes evening, into the darkness and
gloom of the night. {7:10} And behold, a woman meets him,
dressed like a harlot, prepared to captivate souls: chattering
and rambling, {7:11} unwilling to bear silence, unable to
keep her feet at home, {7:12} now outside, now in the streets,
now lying in ambush near the corners. {7:13} And overtaking
the youth, she kisses him, and with a provocative face, she
flatters him, saying: {7:14} “I vowed sacrifices for well-being.
Today I have repaid my vows. {7:15} Because of this, I have
gone out to meet you, desiring to see you, and I have found
you. {7:16} I have woven my bed with cords. I have strewn it
with embroidered tapestries from Egypt. {7:17} I have
sprinkled my bed with myrrh, aloe, and cinnamon.
{7:18} Come, let us be inebriated in abundance, and let us
delight in the embraces of desire, until the day begins to dawn.
{7:19} For my husband is not in his house. He has gone
away on a very long journey. {7:20} He took with him a bag
of money. He will return to his house on the day of the full
moon.” {7:21} She enmeshed him with many words, and she
drew him forward with the flattery of her lips.
{7:22} Immediately, he follows her, like an ox being led to
the sacrifice, and like a lamb acting lasciviously, and not
knowing that he is being drawn foolishly into chains,
{7:23} until the arrow pierces his liver. It is just as if a bird
were to hurry into the snare. And he does not know that his
actions endanger his own soul. {7:24} Therefore, my son,
hear me now, and attend to the words of my mouth.
{7:25} Do not let your mind be pulled into her ways. And do
not be deceived by her paths. {7:26} For she has tossed aside
many wounded, and some of those who were very strong
have been slain by her. {7:27} Her household is the way to
Hell, reaching even to the inner places of death.


[Proverbs 8] {8:1} Does not wisdom call out, and prudence
bestow her voice? {8:2} At the summits and the tops of
exalted places, standing above the ways, in the midst of the
paths, {8:3} beside the gates of the city, at the very doors, she
speaks, saying: {8:4} “O men, to you I call out, and my voice
is to the sons of men. {8:5} O little ones, understand
discernment. And you who are unwise, turn your souls.
{8:6} Listen, for I will speak about great things, and my lips
will be opened, so as to foretell what is right. {8:7} My throat
shall practice truth, and my lips shall detest the impious.
{8:8} All my words are just. There is no depravity in them,
and no perversity. {8:9} They are upright to those who
understand, and equitable to those who discover knowledge.
{8:10} Accept my discipline, and not money. Choose the
doctrine that is greater than gold. {8:11} For wisdom is better
than all that is most precious, and everything that is desirable
cannot compare to her. {8:12} I, wisdom, dwell in counsel,
and I am inside learned thoughts. {8:13} The fear of the Lord
hates evil. I detest arrogance, and pride, and every wicked
way, and a mouth with a double tongue. {8:14} Counsel is
mine, and equity. Prudence is mine. Strength is mine.
{8:15} Through me, kings reign and legislators decree just
conditions. {8:16} Through me, princes rule and the
powerful decree justice. {8:17} I love those who love me.
And those who stand watch for me until morning shall
discover me. {8:18} With me, are wealth and glory, superb
riches and justice. {8:19} For my fruit is better than gold and
precious stones, and my progeny better than choice silver.
{8:20} I walk in the way of justice, in the midst of the paths
of judgment, {8:21} so that I may enrich those who love me,
and thus complete their treasures. {8:22} The Lord possessed
me in the beginning of his ways, before he made anything,
from the beginning. {8:23} I was ordained from eternity, and
out of antiquity, before the earth was formed. {8:24} The
abyss did not yet exist, and I was already conceived; neither
had the fountains of waters yet erupted. {8:25} The
mountains, with their great mass, had not yet been
established. Before the hills, I was brought forth. {8:26} Still
he had not made the earth, and the rivers, and the poles of
the globe of the earth. {8:27} I was already present: when he
prepared the heavens; when, with a certain law and a circuit,
he fortified the abyss; {8:28} when he made firm the sky
above, and set free the fountains of waters; {8:29} when he
encompassed the sea within its limits, and laid down a law
for the waters, lest they transgress their limits; when he
weighed the foundations of the earth. {8:30} I was with him
in composing all things. And I was delighted, throughout
every day, by playing in his sight at all times, {8:31} playing
in globe of the earth. And my delight was to be with the sons
of men. {8:32} Therefore, sons, hear me now. Blessed are
those who preserve my ways. {8:33} Listen to discipline, and
become wise, and do not be willing to cast it aside.
{8:34} Blessed is the man who listens to me, and who stands
watch at my gates everyday, and who observes at the posts of
my doors. {8:35} He who finds me, finds life, and he will
draw salvation from the Lord. {8:36} But he who sins against
me will wound his own soul. All who hate me love death.”


[Proverbs 9] {9:1} Wisdom has built a house for herself. She
has hewn seven columns. {9:2} She has immolated her
victims. She has mixed her wine and set forth her table.
{9:3} She has sent her maids to call out to the tower and to
the fortified walls of the city, {9:4} “If anyone is little, let him
come to me.” And to the unwise, she has said:
{9:5} “Approach. Eat my bread, and drink the wine that I
have mixed for you. {9:6} Leave behind childishness. And
live and walk by the ways of prudence.” {9:7} Whoever
teaches a mocker causes injury to himself. And whoever
argues with the impious produces a blemish on himself.
{9:8} Do not be willing to argue with a mocker, lest he hate
you. Dispute with the wise, and he will love you.
{9:9} Present an opportunity to the wise, and wisdom shall
be added to him. Teach the just, and he will hurry to receive
it. {9:10} The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of holiness is prudence. {9:11} For by me,
your days will be multiplied and years of life will be added to
you. {9:12} If you would be wise, you will be so for yourself.
But if you would be one who ridicules, you alone shall carry
the evil. {9:13} A foolish and loud woman, who is full of
enticements and who knows nothing at all, {9:14} sat at the
entrance of her house on a seat, in a high place of the city,
{9:15} so as to call to those who were passing by the way and
continuing on their journey: {9:16} “Whoever is little, let
him turn aside to me.” And to the frenzied, she said,
{9:17} “Stolen waters are more soothing, and secret bread is
more pleasant.” {9:18} And he did not know that giants are
there, and that her companions are in the depths of Hell.


[Proverbs 10] {10:1} A wise son gladdens the father. Yet
truly, a foolish son is the grief of his mother. {10:2} Treasures
of impiety will profit nothing. Truly, justice shall liberate
from death. {10:3} The Lord will not afflict with famine the
soul of the just, and he will overthrow the treacheries of the
impious. {10:4} The neglectful hand has wrought destitution.
But the hand of the steadfast prepares riches. He who
advances by lies, this one feeds on the wind. For he is the
same as one who runs after flying birds. {10:5} He who
gathers the harvest is a wise son. But he who snores in warm
weather is a son of confusion. {10:6} The blessing of the
Lord is on the head of the just. But iniquity covers the mouth
of the impious. {10:7} The remembrance of the just is with
praises. And the name of the impious shall decay. {10:8} The
wise of heart accept precepts. The foolish are cut down by the
lips. {10:9} He who walks in simplicity walks in confidence.
But he who corrupts his ways shall be discovered. {10:10} He
who winks with the eye gives sorrow. And the foolish in lips
shall be beaten. {10:11} The mouth of the just is a vein of life.
And the mouth of the impious covers iniquity.
{10:12} Hatred rises up from disputes. And charity covers all
offenses. {10:13} In the lips of the wise, wisdom is discovered.
And a rod is for the back of one who lacks heart. {10:14} The
wise store away knowledge. But the mouth of the foolish is a
neighbor to confusion. {10:15} The substance of the rich is
the city of his strength. The fear of the poor is their
destitution. {10:16} The work of the just is unto life. But the
fruit of the impious is unto sin. {10:17} The way of life is for
those who observe discipline. But whoever abandons
correction wanders astray. {10:18} Lying lips conceal hatred;
whoever brings forth contempt is unwise. {10:19} In a
multitude of speaking, sin will not be lacking. But whoever
tempers his lips is most prudent. {10:20} The tongue of the
just is choice silver. But the heart of the impious is exchanged
for nothing. {10:21} The lips of the just instruct many. But
those who are unlearned shall die in destitution of heart.
{10:22} The blessing of the Lord causes riches. Affliction will
not be a companion to them. {10:23} The foolish work
wickedness as if in jest. But wisdom is prudence to a man.
{10:24} What the impious fear will overwhelm them. The
just shall be given their desire. {10:25} Like a passing tempest,
so the impious one will be no more. But the just one is like an
everlasting foundation. {10:26} Like vinegar to the teeth, and
smoke to the eyes, so is a lazy one to those who sent him.
{10:27} The fear of the Lord adds days. And the years of the
impious will be shortened. {10:28} The expectation of the
just is rejoicing. But the hope of the impious will perish.
{10:29} The strength of the simple is the way of the Lord,
and it is fear to those who work evil. {10:30} The just in
eternity shall not be moved. But the impious will not live
upon the earth. {10:31} The mouth of the just shall bring
forth wisdom. The tongue of the depraved will perish.
{10:32} The lips of the just consider what is acceptable. And
the mouth of the impious considers perversities.


[Proverbs 11] {11:1} A deceitful scale is an abomination
with the Lord, and a fair weighing is his will.
{11:2} Wherever arrogance may be, there too is insult. But
wherever humility is, there too is wisdom. {11:3} The
simplicity of the just shall direct them, and the rebellion of
the perverse will devastate them. {11:4} Wealth will not
profit in the day of vengeance. But justice shall liberate from
death. {11:5} The justice of the simple shall direct his way.
And the impious will fall in his impiety. {11:6} The justice of
the upright shall free them. And the iniquitous will be seized
by their own treachery. {11:7} When the impious man is
dead, there will no longer be any hope. And the expectation
of the anxious will perish. {11:8} The just one is freed from
anguish. And the impious one will be handed over instead of
him. {11:9} The pretender deceives his friend by mouth. But
the just shall be freed by knowledge. {11:10} In the good of
the just, the city shall exult. And in the perdition of the
impious, there shall be praise. {11:11} By the blessing of the
just, the city shall be exalted. And by the mouth of the
impious, it will be subverted. {11:12} Whoever despises his
friend is destitute in heart. But the prudent man will remain
silent. {11:13} Whoever walks dishonestly reveals secrets.
But whoever is of a faithful soul conceals what is confided by
a friend. {11:14} Where there is no governor, the people shall
fall. But where there is much counsel, well-being shall be.
{11:15} He will be afflicted with evil, who provides a
guarantee for an outsider. But whoever is wary of traps shall
be secure. {11:16} A gracious woman shall discover glory.
And the robust will have wealth. {11:17} A merciful man
benefits his own soul. But whoever is cruel casts out even his
close relatives. {11:18} The impious does work with
inconstancy. But for the sower of justice, there is the reward
of faithfulness. {11:19} Clemency prepares life. And the
pursuit of evils prepares death. {11:20} A depraved heart is
abominable to the Lord. And his will is with those who walk
in simplicity. {11:21} Hand in hand, the evil shall not be
innocent. But the offspring of the just shall be saved.
{11:22} A beautiful and senseless woman is like a gold ring
in the snout of a swine. {11:23} The desire of the just is
entirely good. The anticipation of the impious is fury.
{11:24} Some distribute their own goods, and they become
wealthier. Others seize what is not their own, and they are
always in need. {11:25} The soul that blesses shall be made
fat. And whoever inebriates will likewise be inebriated
himself. {11:26} Whoever hides away grain shall be cursed
among the people. But a blessing is upon the head of those
who sell it. {11:27} He does well to rise early, who seeks
what is good. But whoever is a seeker of evils shall be
oppressed by them. {11:28} Whoever trusts in his riches will
fall. But the just shall spring up like a green leaf.
{11:29} Whoever troubles his own house will possess the
winds. And whoever is foolish will serve the wise.
{11:30} The fruit of the just one is the tree of life. And
whoever receives souls is wise. {11:31} If the just are repaid
upon the earth, how much more the impious and the sinner!


[Proverbs 12] {12:1} Whoever loves discipline loves
knowledge. But whoever hates correction is unwise.
{12:2} Whoever is good shall draw grace from the Lord. But
whoever trusts in his own thoughts acts impiously.
{12:3} Man will not be made strong from impiety. And the
root of the just shall not be moved. {12:4} A diligent woman
is a crown to her husband. And she who acts with confusion
as to which things are worthy is decay to his bones.
{12:5} The thoughts of the just are judgments. And the
counsels of the impious are dishonest. {12:6} The words of
the impious lie in wait for blood. The mouth of the just shall
free them. {12:7} Turn from the impious, and they will not be.
But the house of the just shall stand firm. {12:8} A man will
be known by his doctrine. But whoever is vain and heartless
will suffer contempt. {12:9} Better is a pauper who has what
he needs, than someone glorious and in need of bread.
{12:10} The just one knows the lives of his beasts. But the
inner most parts of the impious are cruel. {12:11} Whoever
works his land shall be satisfied with bread. But whoever
continually pursues leisure is most foolish. Whoever is
soothed by lingering over wine leaves behind contempt in his
strongholds. {12:12} The desire of the impious is the
fortification of what is most wicked. But the root of the just
shall prosper. {12:13} For the sins of the lips draw ruin to the
evil. But the just shall escape from distress. {12:14} By the
fruit of his own mouth, each one shall be filled with good
things, and according to the works of his own hands, it will
be distributed to him. {12:15} The way of the foolish is right
in his own eyes. But whoever is wise listens to counsels.
{12:16} The senseless immediately reveals his anger. But
whoever ignores injuries is clever. {12:17} He is a sign of
justice, who speaks what he knows. But whoever deceives is a
dishonest witness. {12:18} He who makes promises is also
jabbed, as if with a sword, in conscience. But the tongue of
the wise is reasonable. {12:19} The lips of truth shall be
steadfast forever. But a hasty witness readies a lying tongue.
{12:20} Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evils. But
gladness follows those who take up counsels of peace.
{12:21} Whatever may befall the just, it will not discourage
him. But the impious will be filled with disasters.
{12:22} Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. But
whoever acts faithfully pleases him. {12:23} A resourceful
man conceals knowledge. And the heart of the unwise
provokes foolishness. {12:24} The hand of the strong will
rule. But anyone who is neglectful will pay tribute.
{12:25} Grief in the heart of a man humbles him. And with a
good word he shall be made glad. {12:26} He who ignores a
loss for the sake of a friend is just. But the way of the impious
will deceive them. {12:27} The dishonest will not discover
gain. But the substance of a man will be like precious gold.
{12:28} In the path of justice, there is life. But the devious
way leads to death.


[Proverbs 13] {13:1} A wise son is the doctrine of his father.
But he who ridicules does not listen when he is reproved.
{13:2} From the fruit of his own month, a man shall be
satisfied with good things. But the soul of betrayers is iniquity.
{13:3} Whoever guards his mouth guards his soul. But
whoever gives no consideration to his speech shall experience
misfortunes. {13:4} The lazy one is willing and then not
willing. But the soul of he who labors shall be made fat.
{13:5} The just shall detest a lying word. But the impious
confound and will be confounded. {13:6} Justice guards the
way of the innocent. But impiety undermines the sinner.
{13:7} One is like the rich, though he has nothing. And
another is like the poor, though he has many riches.
{13:8} The redemption of a man’s life is his riches. But he
who is poor cannot tolerate correction. {13:9} The light of
the just enriches. But the lamp of the impious will be
extinguished. {13:10} Among the arrogant, there are always
conflicts. But those who do everything with counsel are ruled
by wisdom. {13:11} Substance obtained in haste will be
diminished. But what is collected by hand, little by little, shall
be multiplied. {13:12} Hope, when it is delayed, afflicts the
soul. The arrival of the desired is a tree of life.
{13:13} Whoever denounces something obligates himself for
the future. But whoever fears a lesson shall turn away in
peace. Deceitful souls wander into sins. The just are merciful
and compassionate. {13:14} The law of the wise is a fountain
of life, so that he may turn aside from the ruin of death.
{13:15} Good doctrine bestows grace. In the way of the
contemptuous, there is a chasm. {13:16} The discerning do
everything with counsel. But whoever is senseless discloses
his stupidity. {13:17} The messenger of the impious will fall
into evil. But a faithful ambassador shall prosper.
{13:18} Destitution and disgrace are for those who abandon
discipline. But whoever agrees with a reproof shall be
glorified. {13:19} The desired, when perfected, shall delight
the soul. The foolish detest those who flee from evils.
{13:20} Whoever keeps step with the wise shall be wise. A
friend of the foolish will become like them. {13:21} Evil
pursues sinners. And good things shall be distributed to the
just. {13:22} The good leave behind heirs: children and
grandchildren. And the substance of the sinner is preserved
for the just. {13:23} Much nourishment is in the fallow land
of the fathers. But for others, it is gathered without judgment.
{13:24} He who spares the rod hates his son. But he who
loves him urgently instructs him. {13:25} The just eats and
fills his soul. But the belly of the impious is never satisfied.


[Proverbs 14] {14:1} A wise woman builds up her household.
But a foolish one will pull down with her own hands what
has been built up. {14:2} One who walks on a virtuous
journey, and who fears God, is despised by him who
advances along a disreputable way. {14:3} In the mouth of
the foolish, there is a rod of arrogance. But the lips of the
wise guard them. {14:4} Where there are no oxen, the
feeding trough is empty. But where there are many crops,
there the strength of the ox is manifest. {14:5} A faithful
witness will not lie. But a deceitful witness offers a lie.
{14:6} A mocker seeks wisdom and does not find it. The
doctrine of the prudent is accessible. {14:7} Go against a
foolish man, and he does not acknowledge lips of prudence.
{14:8} The wisdom of a discerning man is to understand his
way. And the imprudence of the foolish is to be wandering
astray. {14:9} The foolish will speak mockingly of sin. But
grace lingers among the just. {14:10} The heart that knows
the bitterness of its own soul, in its gladness the outsider shall
not meddle. {14:11} The house of the impious will be wiped
away. Yet truly, the tabernacles of the just shall spring forth.
{14:12} There is a way which seems just to a man, but its
conclusion leads to death. {14:13} Laughter shall be mingled
with sorrow, and mourning occupies the limits of joy.
{14:14} The foolish will be filled up by his own ways. And
the good man shall be above him. {14:15} The innocent trust
every word. The astute one considers his own steps. Nothing
good will be for the deceitful son. But the wise servant shall
act prosperously and his way will be set in order. {14:16} The
wise fear, and so turn away from evil. The foolish leap ahead
with confidence. {14:17} The impatient will work foolishness.
And a resourceful man is hated. {14:18} The childish will
possess foolishness, and the discerning will anticipate
knowledge. {14:19} The evil will fall down before the good.
And the impious will fall down before the gates of the just.
{14:20} The pauper will be hated, even by his own neighbor.
Yet truly, the friends of the wealthy are many.
{14:21} Whoever despises his neighbor, sins. But whoever
pities the poor shall be blessed. Whoever trusts in the Lord
loves mercy. {14:22} They wander astray who work evil. But
mercy and truth prepare good things. {14:23} In every work,
there shall be abundance. But where there are many words,
there is often need. {14:24} The crown of the wise is their
wealth. The senselessness of the foolish is imprudence.
{14:25} A faithful witness frees souls. And the chameleon
utters lies. {14:26} In the fear of the Lord is the faithfulness of
strength, and there shall be hope for his sons. {14:27} The
fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, so as to turn aside from
the ruin of death. {14:28} In a multitude of people, there is
dignity for the king. And in a paucity of people, there is
disgrace for the prince. {14:29} Whoever is patient is
governed by much prudence. But whoever is impatient exalts
his foolishness. {14:30} The well-being of the heart is life for
the flesh. But envy is decay for the bones. {14:31} Whoever
slanders the indigent argues against his Maker. But he who
has compassion on the poor honors his Maker. {14:32} The
impious will be expelled in his malice. But the just finds hope
even in his own death. {14:33} In the heart of the prudent,
wisdom finds rest. And so shall he instruct all the uneducated.
{14:34} Justice elevates a nation. But sin makes the peoples
miserable. {14:35} An intelligent minister is acceptable to the
king. Whoever is useless shall bear his wrath.


[Proverbs 15] {15:1} A mild response shatters anger. But a
harsh word stirs up fury. {15:2} The tongue of the wise
adorns knowledge. But the mouth of the senseless gushes
with foolishness. {15:3} In every place, the eyes of the Lord
consider good and evil. {15:4} A peaceful tongue is a tree of
life. But that which is immoderate will crush the spirit.
{15:5} A fool laughs at the discipline of his father. But
whoever preserves rebukes will become astute. In abundant
justice, there is very great virtue. But the intentions of the
impious will be eradicated. {15:6} The house of the just has
very great strength. And in the fruits of the impious, there is
disorder. {15:7} The lips of the wise shall disseminate
knowledge. The heart of the foolish will be dissimilar.
{15:8} The sacrifices of the impious are abominable to the
Lord. The vows of the just are appeasing. {15:9} The way of
the impious is an abomination to the Lord. Whoever pursues
justice is loved by him. {15:10} Doctrine is evil to those who
abandon the way of life. Whoever hates correction shall die.
{15:11} Hell and perdition are in the sight of the Lord. How
much more the hearts of the sons of men! {15:12} He who
corrupts himself does not love the one who afflicts him, nor
will he step toward the wise. {15:13} A rejoicing heart
gladdens the face. But by the grief of the soul, the spirit is cast
down. {15:14} The heart of the wise seeks doctrine. And the
mouth of the foolish feeds on ignorance. {15:15} All the days
of the poor are evil. A secure mind is like a continual feast.
{15:16} Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great
treasures and dissatisfaction. {15:17} It is better to be called
to vegetables with charity, than to a fatted calf with hatred.
{15:18} A short-tempered man provokes conflicts. Whoever
is patient tempers those who are stirred up. {15:19} The way
of the slothful is like a hedge of thorns. The way of the just is
without offense. {15:20} A wise son gladdens the father. But
the foolish man despises his mother. {15:21} Folly is gladness
to the foolish. And the prudent man sets his own steps in
order. {15:22} Intentions dissipate where there is no counsel.
Yet truly, they are confirmed where there are many
counselors. {15:23} A man rejoices in the verdict of his own
mouth. And a word at the right time is best. {15:24} The path
of life is for the wise above, so that he may turn away from
the end of Hell. {15:25} The Lord will demolish the house of
the arrogant. And He will make firm the borders of the
widow. {15:26} Evil intentions are an abomination to the
Lord. And pure conversation, most beautiful, shall be
confirmed by him. {15:27} Whoever pursues avarice disturbs
his own house. But whoever hates bribes shall live. Through
mercy and faith, sins are purged. But through the fear of the
Lord, each one turns aside from evil. {15:28} The mind of
the just meditates on obedience. The mouth of the impious
overflows with evils. {15:29} The Lord is distant from the
impious. And he will heed the prayers of the just.
{15:30} The light of the eyes rejoices the soul. A good
reputation fattens the bones. {15:31} The ear that listens to
the reproofs of life shall abide in the midst of the wise.
{15:32} Whoever rejects discipline despises his own soul. But
whoever agrees to correction is a possessor of the heart.
{15:33} The fear of the Lord is the discipline of wisdom. And
humility precedes glory.


[Proverbs 16] {16:1} It is for man to prepare the soul, and for
the Lord to govern the tongue. {16:2} All the ways of a man
are open to his eyes; the Lord is the one who weighs spirits.
{16:3} Open your works to the Lord, and your intentions will
be set in order. {16:4} The Lord has wrought all things
because of himself. Likewise the impious is for the evil day.
{16:5} All the arrogant are an abomination to the Lord. Even
if hand will be joined to hand, he is not innocent. The
beginning of a good way is to do justice. And this is more
acceptable with God than to immolate sacrifices. {16:6} By
mercy and truth, iniquity is redeemed. And by the fear of the
Lord, one turns away from evil. {16:7} When the ways of
man will please the Lord, he will convert even his enemies to
peace. {16:8} Better is a little with justice, than many fruits
with iniquity. {16:9} The heart of man disposes his way. But
it is for Lord to direct his steps. {16:10} Foreknowledge is in
the lips of the king. His mouth shall not err in judgment.
{16:11} Weights and scales are judgments of the Lord. And
all the stones in the bag are his work. {16:12} Those who act
impiously are abominable to the king. For the throne is made
firm by justice. {16:13} Just lips are the will of kings. He who
speaks honestly shall be loved. {16:14} The indignation of a
king is a herald of death. And the wise man will appease it.
{16:15} In the cheerfulness of the king’s countenance, there is
life. And his clemency is like belated rain. {16:16} Possess
wisdom, for it is better than gold. And acquire prudence, for
it is more precious than silver. {16:17} The path of the just
turns away from evils. He who guards his soul preserves his
way. {16:18} Arrogance precedes destruction. And the spirit
is exalted before a fall. {16:19} It is better to be humbled with
the meek, than to divide spoils with the arrogant.
{16:20} The learned in word shall find good things. And
whoever hopes in the Lord is blessed. {16:21} Whoever is
wise in heart shall be called prudent. And whoever is sweet in
eloquence shall attain to what is greater. {16:22} Learning is
a fountain of life to one who possesses it. The doctrine of the
foolish is senseless. {16:23} The heart of the wise shall
instruct his mouth and add grace to his lips. {16:24} Careful
words are a honeycomb: sweet to the soul and healthful to
the bones. {16:25} There is a way which seems right to a man,
and its end result leads to death. {16:26} The soul of the
laborer labors for himself, because his mouth has driven him
to it. {16:27} The impious man digs up evil, and in his lips is
a burning fire. {16:28} A perverse man stirs up lawsuits. And
one who is verbose divides leaders. {16:29} A man of
iniquity entices his friend, and he leads him along a way that
is not good. {16:30} Whoever, with astonished eyes, thinks
up depravities, biting his lips, accomplishes evil. {16:31} Old
age is a crown of dignity, when it is found in the ways of
justice. {16:32} A patient man is better than a strong one.
And whoever rules his soul is better than one who assaults
cities. {16:33} Lots are cast into the lap, but they are
tempered by the Lord.


[Proverbs 17] {17:1} A dry morsel with gladness is better
than a house full of sacrifices along with conflict. {17:2} A
wise servant shall rule over foolish sons, and he will divide
the inheritance among brothers. {17:3} Just as silver is tested
by fire, and gold is tested in the furnace, so also does the Lord
test hearts. {17:4} The evil obey an unjust tongue. And the
false are submissive to lying lips. {17:5} Whoever despises
the poor rebukes his Maker. And whoever rejoices in the ruin
of another will not go unpunished. {17:6} Sons of sons are
the crown of old age. And the glory of sons is their fathers.
{17:7} Well-chosen words are not fitting for the foolish, nor
are lying lips fitting for a leader. {17:8} The expectation of
those who stand ready is a most pleasing jewel. Whichever
way he turns himself, he understands prudently.
{17:9} Whoever conceals an offense seeks friendships.
Whoever repeats the words of another separates allies.
{17:10} A correction benefits more with a wise man, than a
hundred stripes with a fool. {17:11} The evil one continually
seeks conflicts. But a cruel Angel shall be sent against him.
{17:12} It is more expedient to meet a bear robbed of her
young, than the foolish trusting in his own folly.
{17:13} Whoever repays evil for good, evil shall not
withdraw from his house. {17:14} Whoever releases the
water is the head of the conflict. And just before he suffers
contempt, he abandons judgment. {17:15} Those who justify
the impious, and those who condemn the just, both are
abominable with God. {17:16} What does it profit the foolish
to have riches, when he is not able to buy wisdom? Whoever
makes his house high seeks ruin. And whoever shuns
learning shall fall into evils. {17:17} Whoever is a friend
loves at all times. And a brother is proved by distress.
{17:18} A foolish man will clap his hands, when he makes a
pledge for his friend. {17:19} Whoever dwells on discord
loves disputes. And whoever exalts his door seeks ruin.
{17:20} Whoever is of a perverse heart shall not find good.
And whoever turns his tongue shall fall into evil. {17:21} A
foolish one is born into his own disgrace. But his father will
not rejoice in one who is senseless. {17:22} A joyful soul
makes a lifetime flourish. A gloomy spirit dries out the bones.
{17:23} The impious receives gifts from the bosom, so that he
may pervert the paths of judgment. {17:24} Prudence shines
from the face of the wise. The eyes of the foolish are on the
ends of the earth. {17:25} A foolish son is the anger of the
father and the grief of the mother who conceived him.
{17:26} It is not good to inflict damage on the just, nor to
strike the leader who judges uprightly. {17:27} Whoever
moderates his words is learned and prudent. And a man of
learning has a precious spirit. {17:28} If he would remain
silent, even the foolish would be considered wise, and if he
closes his lips, intelligent.


[Proverbs 18] {18:1} Whoever has a will to withdraw from a
friend, seeks occasions; he shall be reproached at all times.
{18:2} The foolish do not accept words of prudence, unless
you say what is already turning in his heart. {18:3} The
impious, when he has arrived within the depths of sin, thinks
little of it. But ill repute and disgrace follow him.
{18:4} Words from the mouth of a man are deep waters. And
the fountain of wisdom is a torrent overflowing. {18:5} It is
not good to accept the character of the impious, so as to turn
away from true judgment. {18:6} The lips of the foolish
meddle in disputes. And his mouth provokes conflicts.
{18:7} The mouth of the foolish is his destruction, and his
own lips are the ruin of his soul. {18:8} The words of the
double-tongued seem simple. And they reach even to the
interior of the gut. Fear casts down the lazy, but the souls of
the effeminate shall go hungry. {18:9} Whoever is dissolute
and slack in his work is the brother of him who wastes his
own works. {18:10} The name of the Lord is very strong
tower. The just one rushes to it, and he shall be exalted.
{18:11} The substance of the wealthy is the city of his
strength, and it is like a strong wall encircling him.
{18:12} The heart of a man is exalted before it is crushed and
humbled before it is glorified. {18:13} Whoever responds
before he listens, demonstrates himself to be foolish and
deserving of confusion. {18:14} The spirit of a man sustains
his weakness. Yet who can sustain a spirit that is easily
angered? {18:15} A prudent heart shall possess knowledge.
And the ear of the wise seeks doctrine. {18:16} A man’s gift
expands his way and makes space for him before leaders.
{18:17} The just is the first accuser of himself; his friend
arrives and shall investigate him. {18:18} Casting a lot
suppresses contentions and passes judgment, even among the
powerful. {18:19} A brother who is helped by a brother is like
a reinforced city, and judgments are like the bars of cities.
{18:20} From the fruit of a man’s mouth shall his belly be
filled. And the harvest of his own lips shall satisfy him.
{18:21} Death and life are in the power of the tongue.
Whoever values it shall eat from its fruits. {18:22} He who
has found a good wife has found goodness, and he shall draw
contentment from the Lord. He who expels a good wife
expels goodness. But he who holds on to an adulteress is
foolish and impious. {18:23} The poor will speak with
supplications. And the rich will express themselves roughly.
{18:24} A man amiable to society shall be more friendly than
a brother.


[Proverbs 19] {19:1} Better is the poor who walks in his
simplicity, than the rich who twists his lips and is unwise.
{19:2} Where there is no knowledge of the soul, there is no
good. And whoever hurries with his feet will stumble.
{19:3} The foolishness of a man undermines his steps. And
then he seethes in his soul against God. {19:4} Riches adds
many friends. But from the pauper, even those whom he had
become separated. {19:5} A false witness shall not go
unpunished. And whoever speaks lies will not escape.
{19:6} Many honor the character of one who is powerful,
and there are friends for a giver of gifts. {19:7} The brothers
of the poor man hate him. Moreover, even his friends have
withdrawn far from him. Whoever pursues only words shall
have nothing. {19:8} But whoever possesses reason loves his
own soul. And one who guards prudence shall discover good
things. {19:9} A false witness shall not go unpunished. And
whoever speaks lies will perish. {19:10} Fine things are not
fitting for the foolish, nor is it fitting for a servant to rule over
princes. {19:11} The doctrine of a man is known through
patience. And his glory is to pass beyond iniquities.
{19:12} Like the roaring of a lion, so also is the wrath of a
king. And his cheerfulness is like the dew upon the grass.
{19:13} A foolish son is the grief of his father. And an
argumentative wife is like a roof that is continually leaking.
{19:14} A house and its riches are given by parents. But a
prudent wife is particularly from the Lord. {19:15} Laziness
sends one into a deep sleep, and a dissolute soul will go
hungry. {19:16} Whoever guards a commandment guards his
own soul. But whoever neglects his own way will die.
{19:17} Whoever is merciful to the poor lends to the Lord.
And he will repay him for his efforts. {19:18} Teach your son;
do not despair. But do not set your soul toward putting him
to death. {19:19} Whoever is impatient will sustain damage.
And when it has been taken away, he will set up another.
{19:20} Listen to counsel and take up discipline, so that you
may be wise in your latter days. {19:21} There are many
intentions in the heart of a man. But the will of the Lord shall
stand firm. {19:22} An indigent man is merciful. And a
pauper is better than a deceitful man. {19:23} The fear of the
Lord is unto life. And he shall linger in plentitude, without
being visited by disaster. {19:24} The lazy conceals his hand
under his arm, and he will not so much as bring it to his
mouth. {19:25} When the pestilent are scourged, the foolish
will become wiser. But if you chastise the wise, he will
understand discipline. {19:26} Whoever afflicts his father and
flees from his mother is disreputable and unhappy.
{19:27} Son, do not cease listening to doctrine, and do not be
ignorant of the sermons of knowledge. {19:28} An unjust
witness ridicules judgment. And the mouth of the impious
devours iniquity. {19:29} Judgments are prepared for those
who ridicule. And striking hammers are prepared for the
bodies of the foolish.


[Proverbs 20] {20:1} It is a luxurious thing, wine, and
inebriation is tumultuous. Anyone who is delighted by this
will not be wise. {20:2} Just like the roaring of a lion, so also
is the dread of a king. Whoever provokes him sins in his own
soul. {20:3} Honor is for the man who separates himself from
contentions. But all the foolish meddle in altercations.
{20:4} Because of the cold, the lazy one was not willing to
plough. Therefore, in the summer, he will beg, and it will not
be given to him. {20:5} Counsel in the heart of a man is like
deep waters. But a wise man will draw it out. {20:6} Many
men are called merciful. But who will find a faithful man?
{20:7} The just who walks in his simplicity shall leave behind
him blessed sons. {20:8} The king who sits on the throne of
judgment scatters all evil with his gaze. {20:9} Who is able to
say: “My heart is clean. I am pure from sin?” {20:10} Diverse
weights, diverse measures: both are abominable with God.
{20:11} A child may be understood by his interests: whether
his works may be clean and upright. {20:12} The hearing ear
and the seeing eye: the Lord has made them both.
{20:13} Do not love sleep, lest deprivation oppress you.
Open your eyes and be satisfied with bread. {20:14} “It is bad,
it is bad,” says every buyer; and when he has withdrawn,
then he will boast. {20:15} There is gold, and there are a
multitude of jewels. But lips of knowledge are a precious
vessel. {20:16} Take away the vestments of him who stands
up to vouch for a stranger, and take a pledge from him
instead of from outsiders. {20:17} The bread of lies is sweet
to a man. But afterwards, his mouth will be filled with
pebbles. {20:18} Plans are strengthened by counsels. And
wars are to be handled by governments. {20:19} Do not
become involved with him who reveals mysteries, and who
walks  deceitfully, and who enlarges his lips.
{20:20} Whoever curses his father and mother, his lamp will
be extinguished in the midst of darkness. {20:21} When an
inheritance is obtained hastily in the beginning, in the end it
will be without a blessing. {20:22} Do not say, “I will repay
evil.” Wait for the Lord, and he will free you.
{20:23} Diverse weights are an abomination with the Lord.
A deceitful balance is not good. {20:24} The steps of men are
directed by the Lord. But who is the man able to understand
his own way? {20:25} It is ruin for a man to devour what is
holy, or, after making vows, to retract them. {20:26} A wise
king scatters the impious and bends an archway over them.
{20:27} The spirit of a man is a lamp to the Lord, which
investigates all the secrets of the inner self. {20:28} Mercy
and truth guard the king, and his throne is strengthened by
clemency. {20:29} The joy of youths is their strength. And
the dignity of old men is their grey hairs. {20:30} The bruise
of a wound, as well as scourges, shall wipe away evils in the
more secret places of the inner self.


[Proverbs 21] {21:1} Just as with the dividing of the waters,
so also is the heart of the king in the hand of the Lord. He
shall bend it whichever way he wills. {21:2} Every way of a
man seems right to himself. But the Lord weighs hearts.
{21:3} To do mercy and judgment is more pleasing to the
Lord than sacrifices. {21:4} To lift up the eyes is to enlarge
the heart. The lamp of the impious is sin. {21:5} The
intentions of the robust continually bring forth abundance.
But all the lazy are continually in need. {21:6} Whoever
gathers treasures by a lying tongue is vain and heartless. And
he will stumble into the snares of death. {21:7} The robberies
of the impious will drag them down, because they were not
willing to do judgment. {21:8} The perverse way of a man is
foreign. But whoever is pure: his work is upright. {21:9} It is
better to sit in a corner of the attic, than with a contentious
woman and in a shared house. {21:10} The soul of the
impious desires evil; he will not take pity on his neighbor.
{21:11} When the pestilent is punished, a little one will
become wiser. And if he pursues what is wise, he will receive
knowledge. {21:12} The just thinks carefully about the house
of the impious, so that he may draw the impious away from
evil. {21:13} Whoever blocks his ears to the outcry of the
poor shall also cry out himself, and he will not be heeded.
{21:14} A surprise gift extinguishes anger. And a gift
concealed in the bosom extinguishes the greatest indignation.
{21:15} It is gladness for the just to do judgment; and it is
dread for those who work iniquity. {21:16} A man who
wanders astray from the way of doctrine will linger in the
company of the giants. {21:17} Whoever loves a feast will be
in deprivation. Whoever loves wine and fatness will not be
enriched. {21:18} The impious is given over instead of the
just, and the iniquitous is given over in place of the upright.
{21:19} It is better to live in a deserted land, than with a
quarrelsome and emotional woman. {21:20} There is
desirable treasure, as well as oil, in the habitations of the just.
And the imprudent man will waste it. {21:21} Whoever
follows justice and mercy shall discover life, justice, and glory.
{21:22} The wise has ascended the city of the strong, and he
has torn down the bulwark of its confidence.
{21:23} Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue guards his
soul from anguish. {21:24} A proud and arrogant one is also
called ignorant, if he, in anger, acts according to pride.
{21:25} Desires kill the lazy, for his hands are not willing to
work at all. {21:26} He covets and desires all day long. But
whoever is just shall distribute and shall not cease.
{21:27} The sacrifices of the impious are abominable,
because they are offered out of wickedness. {21:28} A lying
witness will perish. An obedient man shall speak of victory.
{21:29} The impious man insolently hardens his face. But
whoever is upright corrects his own way. {21:30} There is no
wisdom, there is no prudence, there is no counsel, which is
against the Lord. {21:31} The horse is prepared for the day of
battle. But the Lord bestows salvation.


[Proverbs 22] {22:1} A good name is better than many riches.
And good esteem is above silver and gold. {22:2} The rich
and poor have met one another. The Lord is the maker of
them both. {22:3} The clever saw evil and hid himself. The
innocent continued on and was afflicted with damage.
{22:4 The end of moderation is the fear of the Lord, riches
and glory and life. {22:5} Weapons and swords are on the
way of the perverse. But he who guards his own soul
withdraws far from them. {22:6} The proverb is: A youth is
close to his way; even when he is old, he will not withdraw
from it. {22:7} The rich rule over the poor. And the borrower
is servant to the lender. {22:8} Whoever sows iniquity will
reap evils, and by the rod of his own wrath he will be
consumed. {22:9} Whoever is inclined to mercy shall be
blessed, for from his bread he has given to the poor. Whoever
gives gifts will acquire victory and honor. But he carries away
the soul of the receiver. {22:10} Cast out the one who
ridicules, and conflict will go out with him, and accusations
and insults will cease. {22:11} Whoever loves cleanness of
heart, because of the grace of his lips, will have the king as his
friend. {22:12} The eyes of the Lord watch over knowledge.
And the words of the iniquitous are supplanted. {22:13} The
lazy one says: “There is a lion outside. I might be slain in the
midst of the streets.” {22:14} The mouth of a foreign woman
is a deep pit; the Lord was angry with him who will fall into
it. {22:15} Foolishness has been bound to the heart of a child,
and a rod of discipline shall cause it to flee. {22:16} Whoever
slanders the poor, so as to augment his own riches, will give
it away to one who is richer, and will be in need.
{22:17} Incline your ear, and listen to the words of the wise.
Then apply your heart to my doctrine. {22:18} It shall be
beautiful to you, if you preserve it in your inner self, and it
shall overflow from your lips, {22:19}so that your
confidence may be in the Lord. Therefore, I also have
revealed it to you this day. {22:20} Behold, I have written it
for you in three ways, and with meditations and knowledge,
{22:21} so that I might reveal to you, firmly and with words
of truth, in order to respond about these things to those who
sent you. {22:22} Do not act with violence toward the pauper
because he is poor. And do not weary the needy at the gate.
{22:23} For the Lord will judge his case, and he will pierce
those who have pierced his soul. {22:24} Do not be willing to
be a friend to an angry man, and do not walk with a furious
man, {22:25} lest perhaps you learn his ways, and take up a
stumbling block to your soul. {22:26} Do not be willing to be
with those who certify with their hands, and who offer
themselves as a guarantee against debts. {22:27} For if you
do not have the means to restore, what reason should there
be for him to take the covering from your bed? {22:28} Do
not cross beyond the ancient limits that your fathers have set.
{22:29} Have you seen a man swift in his work? He shall
stand in the sight of kings, and not before those who are
disreputable.


[Proverbs 23] {23:1} When you sit down to eat with a leader,
pay close attention to what has been set before your face,
{23:2} and put a knife to your throat, if, in such a way, you
could hold your soul in your own power. {23:3} Do not
desire his foods, in which is the bread of deceit. {23:4} Do
not be willing to labor so that you may be enriched. But set
limits by your prudence. {23:5} Do not raise your eyes
toward wealth that you are not able to have. For they will
make themselves wings, like those of an eagle, and they will
fly in the sky. {23:6} Do not eat with an envious man, and do
not desire his foods. {23:7} For, like a seer and an interpreter
of dreams, he presumes what he does not know. “Eat and
drink,” he will say to you; and his mind is not with you.
{23:8} The foods that you had eaten, you will vomit up. And
you will lose the beauty in your words. {23:9} Do not speak
into the ears of the unwise. They will despise the doctrine of
your eloquence. {23:10} Do not touch the boundaries of little
ones, and do not enter into the field of the fatherless.
{23:11} For their close relative is strong, and he will judge
their case against you. {23:12} Let your heart enter into
doctrine, and let your ears enter into words of knowledge.
{23:13} Do not be willing to take away discipline from a
child. For if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
{23:14} You will strike him with the rod, and so shall you
deliver his soul from Hell. {23:15} My son, if your soul will
become wise, my heart will be glad with you. {23:16} And
my temperament will exult, when your lips will have spoken
what is upright. {23:17} Let not your heart compete with
sinners. But be in the fear of the Lord all day long.
{23:18} For you will have hope in the end, and your
expectation will not be taken away. {23:19} Listen, my son,
and be wise, and direct your soul along the way. {23:20} Do
not be willing to be in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in the
carousings of those who gather to feed on flesh. {23:21} For
those who waste time drinking, and who surrender
themselves to symbols, will be consumed. And those who
sleep will be clothed in rags. {23:22} Listen to your father,
who conceived you. And do not despise your mother, when
she is old. {23:23} Purchase truth, and do not sell wisdom, or
doctrine, or understanding. {23:24} The father of the just
exults in gladness; he who has conceived the wise will rejoice
in him. {23:25} Let your father and your mother be joyful,
and may she who conceived you exult. {23:26} My son, offer
me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways.
{23:27} For a loose woman is a deep pit, and a foreign
woman is a constricted well. {23:28} She lies in wait along
the way like a robber. And the incautious one whom she sees,
she will put to death. {23:29} Who has woe? Whose father
has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has
wounds without cause? Who has watery eyes? {23:30} Is it
not those who linger over wine, and who strive to be drinking
from their cups? {23:31} Do not gaze into the wine when it
turns gold, when its color shines in the glass. It enters
pleasantly, {23:32} but in the end, it will bite like a snake,
and it will spread poison like a king of snakes. {23:33} Your
eyes will see women who are outsiders, and your heart will
utter perversities. {23:34} And you will be like someone
sleeping in the middle of the sea, and like a pilot, fast asleep,
who has lost his hold on the helm. {23:35} And you will say:
“They have beaten me, but I did not feel pain. They have
dragged me, and I did not realize it. When will I awaken and
find more wine?”


[Proverbs 24] {24:1} Do not imitate evil men, nor desire to
be among them. {24:2} For their mind meditates on robberies,
and their lips speak deceptions. {24:3} By wisdom shall a
house be built, and by prudence shall it be strengthened.
{24:4} By doctrine, the storerooms shall be filled with every
substance that is precious and most beautiful. {24:5} A wise
man is strong, and a well-taught man is robust and valiant.
{24:6} For war is undertaken in an orderly manner, and
safety shall be where there are many counsels.
{24:7} Wisdom is beyond the foolish; at the gate he will not
open his mouth. {24:8} Whoever intends to do evil shall be
called foolish. {24:9} The intention of the foolish is sin. And
the detractor is an abomination among men. {24:10} If you
despair, being weary in the day of anguish, your strength will
be diminished. {24:11} Rescue those who are led away to
death. And do not cease from delivering those who are
dragged away to a violent death. {24:12} If you would say: “I
do not have sufficient strength.” He who inspects the heart,
the same one understands, and nothing slips past the one
who preserves your soul. And he shall repay a man according
to his works. {24:13} My son, eat honey, because it is good,
and the honeycomb, because it is so sweet to your throat.
{24:14} So, too, is the doctrine of wisdom to your soul.
When you have found it, you will have hope in the end, and
your hope shall not perish. {24:15} Do not lie in wait, and do
not seek impiety in the house of the just, nor spoil his rest.
{24:16} For the just one will fall seven times, and he shall rise
again. But the impious will fall into evil. {24:17} When your
enemy will fall, do not be glad, and do not let your heart
exult in his ruin, {24:18} lest perhaps the Lord see, and it
displease him, and he may take away his wrath from him.
{24:19} Do not contend with the most wicked, and do not be
a rival to the impious. {24:20} For the evil hold no hope in
the future, and the lamp of the impious will be extinguished.
{24:21} My son, fear the Lord, as well as the king. And do
not mingle with detractors. {24:22} For their perdition shall
up rise suddenly. And who knows what ruin will be for each
of them? {24:23} Likewise, these things are for the wise. It is
not good to base judgment on knowledge of character.
{24:24} Those who say to the impious, “You are just,” shall
be cursed by the people, and the tribes shall detest them.
{24:25} Those who argue against the impious shall be praised,
and a blessing shall come upon them. {24:26} He shall kiss
the lips, who responds with upright words. {24:27} Prepare
your outdoor work, and diligently cultivate your field, so that
afterward, you may build your house. {24:28} Do not be a
witness without cause against your neighbor. And do not
mislead anyone with your lips. {24:29} Do not say, “I will do
to him as he has done to me.” I will repay each one
according to his work. {24:30} I passed by the field of a lazy
man, and by the vineyard of a foolish man, {24:31} and
behold, it was entirely filled with nettles, and thorns had
covered its surface, and the stonewall was destroyed.
{24:32} When I had seen this, I laid it up in my heart, and by
this example, I received discipline. {24:33} You will sleep a
little,” I said. “You will slumber briefly. You will fold your
hands a little, so as to rest. {24:34} And destitution will
overtake you like a runner, and begging will overtake you like
an armed man.”


[Proverbs 25] {25:1} These, too, are parables of Solomon,
which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, transferred.
{25:2} It is to the glory of God to conceal a word, and it is to
the glory of kings to investigate speech. {25:3} Heaven above,
and earth below, and the heart of kings are each unsearchable.
{25:4} Take away the tarnish from silver, and a most pure
vessel will go forth. {25:5} Take away impiety from the face
of the king, and his throne shall be made firm by justice.
{25:6} Do not appear glorious before the king, and do not
stand in the place of the great. {25:7} For it is better that it
should be said to you, “Ascend to here,” than that you
should be humbled before the prince. {25:8} The things that
your eyes have seen, do not offer hastily in a quarrel, lest
afterward you may not be able to make amends, when you
have dishonored your friend. {25:9} Argue your case with
your friend, and do not reveal the secret to an outsider,
{25:10} lest perhaps he may insult you, when he has heard it,
and he might not cease to reproach you. Grace and friendship
free a man; preserve these for yourself, lest you fall under
reproach. {25:11} Whoever speaks a word at an opportune
time is like apples of gold on beds of silver. {25:12} Whoever
reproves the wise and obedient ear is like an earring of gold
with a shining pearl. {25:13} Just like the cold of snow in a
time of harvest, so also is a faithful messenger to him who
sent him: he causes his soul to rest. {25:14} A man who
boasts and does not fulfill his promises is like clouds and
wind, when rain does not follow. {25:15} By patience, a
leader shall be appeased, and a soft tongue shall break
hardness. {25:16} You have discovered honey; eat what is
sufficient for you, lest perhaps, being filled up, you may
vomit it. {25:17} Withdraw your feet from the house of your
neighbor, lest, when he has had his fill, he may hate you.
{25:18} A man who speaks false testimony against his
neighbor is like a dart and a sword and a sharp arrow.
{25:19} Whoever sets his hopes on the unfaithful in a day of
anguish is like a rotten tooth and weary foot, {25:20} and like
one who loosens his garment in cold weather. Whoever sings
verses to a wicked heart is like vinegar on baking soda. Just
like a moth to a garment, and a worm to wood, so too does
the sadness of a man do harm to the heart. {25:21} If your
enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him water to
drink. {25:22} For you will gather hot coals upon his head,
and the Lord will repay you. {25:23} The north wind brings
forth the rain, and a sorrowful face brings forth a detracting
tongue. {25:24} It is better to sit in a corner of the attic, than
with an argumentative woman and in a shared house.
{25:25} Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so too are good
reports from a far away land. {25:26} The just falling down
before the impious is like a fountain stirred up by feet and like
a corrupted spring. {25:27} Just as whoever eats too much
honey, it is not good for him, so also whoever is an
investigator of what is majestic will be overwhelmed by glory.
{25:28} Just like a city lying in the open and without
surrounding walls, so also is a man who is unable to restrain
his own spirit in speaking.


[Proverbs 26] {26:1} In the manner of snow in the summer,
and rain at the harvest, so also is glory unfit for the foolish.
{26:2} Like a bird flying away to another place, and like a
sparrow that hurries away freely, so also a curse uttered
against someone without cause will pass away. {26:3} A
whip is for a horse, and a muzzle is for donkey, and a rod is
for the back of the imprudent. {26:4} Do not respond to the
foolish according to his folly, lest you become like him.
{26:5} Respond to the foolish according to his folly, lest he
imagine himself to be wise. {26:6} Whoever sends words by
a foolish messenger has lame feet and drinks iniquity.
{26:7} In the manner of a lame man who has beautiful legs to
no purpose, so also is a parable unfit for the mouth of the
foolish. {26:8} Just like one who casts a stone into the pile of
Mercury, so also is he who gives honor to the foolish.
{26:9} In the manner of a thorn, if it were to spring up from
the hand of a drunkard, so also is a parable in the mouth of
the foolish. {26:10} Judgment determines cases. And
whoever imposes silence on the foolish mitigates anger.
{26:11} Like a dog that returns to his vomit, so also is the
imprudent who repeats his foolishness. {26:12} Have you
seen a man who seems wise to himself? There will be greater
hope held for the unwise than for him. {26:13} The lazy one
says, “There is a lion along the way, and a lioness in the
roads.” {26:14} Just as a door turns upon its hinges, so also
does the lazy one turn upon his bed. {26:15} The lazy one
conceals his hand under his arms, and it is a labor for him to
move it to his mouth. {26:16} The lazy one seems wiser to
himself than seven men speaking judgments. {26:17} Just like
one who takes hold of a dog by the ears, so also is he who
crosses impatiently and meddles in the quarrels of another.
{26:18} Just as he is guilty who let loose the arrows and the
lances unto death, {26:19} so also is the man who harms his
friend by deceitfulness. And when he has been apprehended,
he says, “I did it jokingly.” {26:20} When the wood fails, the
fire will be extinguished. And when the gossiper is taken
away, conflicts will be quelled. {26:21} Just as charcoals are
to burning coals, and wood is to fire, so also is an angry man
who stirs up quarrels. {26:22} The words of a whisperer seem
simple, but they penetrate to the innermost parts of the self.
{26:23} In the same manner as an earthen vessel, if it were
adorned with impure silver, conceited lips are allied with a
wicked heart. {26:24} An enemy is known by his lips, though
it is from his heart that he draws out deceit. {26:25} When he
will have lowered his voice, do not believe him, for there are
seven vices in his heart. {26:26} Whoever covers hatred with
deceit, his malice shall be revealed in the assembly.
{26:27} Whoever digs a pit will fall into it. And whoever rolls
a stone, it will roll back to him. {26:28} A false tongue does
not love truth. And a slippery mouth works ruin.


[Proverbs 27] {27:1} Do not boast about tomorrow, for you
do not know what the future day may bring. {27:2} Let
another praise you, and not your own mouth: an outsider,
and not your own lips. {27:3} A stone is weighty, and sand is
burdensome; but the wrath of the foolish is heavier than both.
{27:4} Anger holds no mercy, nor does fury when it erupts.
And who can bear the assault of one who has been provoked?
{27:5} An open rebuke is better than hidden love. {27:6} The
wounds of a loved one are better than the deceitful kisses of a
hateful one. {27:7} A sated soul will trample the honeycomb.
And a hungry soul will accept even bitter in place of sweet.
{27:8} Just like a bird migrating from her nest, so also is a
man who abandons his place. {27:9} Ointment and various
perfumes delight the heart. And the good advice of a friend is
sweet to the soul. {27:10} Do not dismiss your friend or your
father’s friend. And do not enter your brother’s house in the
day of your affliction. A close neighbor is better than a distant
brother. {27:11} My son, study wisdom, and rejoice my heart,
so that you may be able to respond to the one who
reproaches. {27:12} The discerning man, seeing evil, hides
himself. The little ones, continuing on, sustain losses.
{27:13} Take away the garment of him who has vouched for
an outsider. And take a pledge from him on behalf of
foreigners. {27:14} Whoever blesses his neighbor with a
grand voice, rising in the night, shall be like one who curses.
{27:15} A roof leaking on a cold day, and an argumentative
woman, are comparable. {27:16} He who would restrain her,
he is like one who would grasp the wind, or who would
gather together oil with his right hand. {27:17} Iron sharpens
iron, and a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
{27:18} Whoever maintains the fig tree shall eat its fruit. And
whoever is the keeper of his master shall be glorified.
{27:19} In the manner of faces looking into shining water, so
are the hearts of men made manifest to the prudent.
{27:20} Hell and perdition are never filled; similarly the eyes
of men are insatiable. {27:21} In the manner of silver being
tested in the refinery, and gold in the furnace, so also is a
man tested by the mouth of one who praises. The heart of the
iniquitous inquires after evils, but the heart of the righteous
inquires after knowledge. {27:22} Even if you were to crush
the foolish with a mortar, as when a pestle strikes over
pearled barley, his foolishness would not be taken from him.
{27:23} Be diligent to know the countenance of your cattle,
and consider your own flocks, {27:24} for you will not
always hold this power. But a crown shall be awarded from
generation to generation. {27:25} The meadows are open,
and the green plants have appeared, and the hay has been
collected from the mountains. {27:26} Lambs are for your
clothing, and goats are for the price of a field. {27:27} Let the
milk of goats be sufficient for your food, and for the
necessities of your household, and for the provisions of your
handmaids.


[Proverbs 28] {28:1} The impious flees, though no one
pursues. But the just, like a confident lion, shall be without
dread. {28:2} Because of the sins of the land, it has many
princes. And because of the wisdom of a man, and the
knowledge of those things that are said, the life of the leader
shall be prolonged. {28:3} A poor man slandering the poor is
like a violent rainstorm in advance of a famine. {28:4} Those
who abandon the law praise the impious. Those who guard it
are inflamed against him. {28:5} Evil men do not intend
judgment. But those who inquire after the Lord turn their
souls toward all things. {28:6} Better is the pauper walking in
his simplicity, than the rich walking in ways of depravity.
{28:7} Whoever keeps the law is a wise son. But whoever
feeds gluttons brings shame to his father. {28:8} Whoever
piles up riches by usury and profit gathers them for him who
will give freely to the poor. {28:9} Whoever turns away his
ears from listening to the law: his prayer will be detestable.
{28:10} Whoever deceives the just in a malicious way will
fall into his own perdition. And the simple shall possess his
goods. {28:11} The rich one seems wise to himself. But the
poor one, being prudent, shall evaluate him. {28:12} In the
exultation of the just, there is great glory. When the impious
reign, men are brought to ruin. {28:13} Whoever hides his
crimes will not be guided. But whoever will have confessed
and abandoned them shall overtake mercy. {28:14} Blessed is
the man who is ever fearful. Yet truly, whoever is hardened
in mind will fall into evil. {28:15} An impious leader over a
poor people is like a roaring lion and a hungry bear.
{28:16} A leader destitute of prudence will oppress many
through false accusations. But whoever hates avarice shall
prolong his days. {28:17} A man who slanders the blood of a
life, even if he flees to the pit, no one will tolerate him.
{28:18} Whoever walks simply shall be saved. Whoever is
perverse in his steps will fall all at once. {28:19} Whoever
works his land shall be satisfied with bread. But whoever
pursues leisure will be filled with need. {28:20} A faithful
man shall be greatly praised. But whoever rushes to become
rich will not be innocent. {28:21} Whoever shows favoritism
in judgment does not do well; even if it is for a morsel of
bread, he forsakes the truth. {28:22} A man who hurries to
become rich, and who envies others, does not know that
destitution will overwhelm him. {28:23} Whoever corrects a
man, afterward he shall find favor with him, more so than he
who deceives him with a flattering tongue. {28:24} Whoever
takes away anything from his father or mother, and who says,
“This is not a sin,” is the associate of a murderer.
{28:25} Whoever boasts and enlarges himself stirs up
conflicts. Yet truly, whoever trusts in the Lord will be healed.
{28:26} Whoever trusts in his own heart is a fool. But
whoever treads wisely, the same shall be saved.
{28:27} Whoever gives to the poor shall not be in need.
Whoever despises his petition will suffer scarcity.
{28:28} When the impious rise up, men will hide themselves.
When they perish, the just shall be multiplied.


[Proverbs 29] {29:1} The man who, with a stiff neck, treats
the one who corrects him with contempt will be suddenly
overwhelmed to his own destruction, and reason shall not
follow him. {29:2} When just men are multiplied, the
common people shall rejoice. When the impious take up the
leadership, the people shall mourn. {29:3} The man who
loves wisdom rejoices his father. But whoever nurtures
promiscuous women will lose his substance. {29:4} A just
king guides the land. A man of avarice will destroy it.
{29:5 A man who speaks to his friend with flattering and
feigned words spreads a net for his own feet. {29:6} A snare
will entangle the iniquitous when he sins. And the just shall
praise and be glad. {29:7} The just knows the case of the poor.
The impious is ignorant of knowledge. {29:8} Pestilent men
squander a city. Yet truly, the wise avert fury. {29:9} A wise
man, if he were to contend with the foolish, whether in anger
or in laughter, would find no rest. {29:10} Bloodthirsty men
hate the simple one; but the just seek out his soul. {29:11} A
foolish one offers everything on his mind. A wise one
reserves and defers until later. {29:12} A leader who freely
listens to lying words has only impious servants. {29:13} The
pauper and the creditor have met one another. The Lord is
the illuminator of them both. {29:14} The king who judges
the poor in truth, his throne shall be secured in eternity.
{29:15} The rod and its correction distribute wisdom. But the
child who is left to his own will brings shame to his mother.
{29:16} When the impious are multiplied, crimes will be
multiplied. But the just shall see their ruin. {29:17} Teach
your son, and he will refresh you, and he will give delight to
your soul. {29:18} When prophecy fails, the people will be
scattered. Yet truly, whoever guards the law is blessed.
{29:19} A servant cannot be taught by words, because he
understands what you say, but he disdains to respond.
{29:20} Have you seen a man rushing to speak? Foolishness
has more hope than his correction. {29:21} Whoever
nurtures his servant delicately from childhood, afterwards
will find him defiant. {29:22} A short-tempered man
provokes quarrels. And whoever is easily angered is more
likely to sin. {29:23} Humiliation follows the arrogant. And
glory shall uphold the humble in spirit. {29:24} Whoever
participates with a thief hates his own soul; for he listens to
his oath and does not denounce him. {29:25} Whoever fears
man will quickly fall. Whoever hopes in the Lord shall be
lifted up. {29:26} Many demand the face of the leader. But
the judgment of each one proceeds from the Lord.
{29:27} The just abhor an impious man. And the impious
abhor those who are on the right way. By keeping the word,
the son shall be free from perdition.


[Proverbs 30] {30:1} The words of the Gatherer, the son of
the Vomiter. The vision that the man spoke. God is with him,
and he, being strengthened by God and abiding with him,
said: {30:2} “I am the most foolish among men, and the
wisdom of men is not with me. {30:3} I have not learned
wisdom, and I have not known the knowledge of sanctity.
{30:4} Who has ascended to heaven and also descended?
Who has grasped the wind in his hands? Who has tied the
waters together, as with a garment? Who has raised all the
limits of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name
of his son, if you know? {30:5} Every word of God is fire-
tested. He is a bronze shield to those who hope in him.
{30:6} Do not add anything to his words, lest you be
reproved and be discovered to be a liar. {30:7} Two things I
have asked of you; do not deny them to me before I die.
{30:8} Remove, far from me, vanity and lying words. Give
me neither begging, nor wealth. Apportion to me only the
necessities of my life, {30:9} lest perhaps, being filled, I might
be enticed into denial, and say: ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or, being
compelled by destitution, I might steal, and then perjure
myself in the name of my God. {30:10} Do not accuse a
servant to his lord, lest he curse you, and you fall.
{30:11} There is a generation which curses their father, and
which does not bless their mother. {30:12} There is a
generation which seems pure to themselves, and yet they are
not even washed from their filthiness. {30:13} There is a
generation, whose eyes have been elevated, and their eyelids
are lifted on high. {30:14} There is a generation which has
swords in place of teeth, and which commands their molars
to devour the indigent from the earth and the poor from
among men. {30:15} The leech has two daughters, who say,
‘Bring, bring.’ Three things are insatiable, and a fourth never
says ‘Enough’: {30:16} Hell, and the mouth of the womb,
and a land that is not filled with water. And truly, fire never
says, ‘Enough.’ {30:17} The eye of one who mocks his father
and who despises the childbearing of his mother, let the
ravens of the torrent tear it out, and let the sons of the eagles
consume it. {30:18} Three things are difficult for me, and
about a fourth, I am nearly ignorant: {30:19} the way of an
eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a
ship in the middle of the sea, and the way of a man in
adolescence. {30:20} Such is the way also of an adulterous
woman, who eats, and wiping her mouth, says: “I have done
no evil.” {30:21} By three things, the earth is moved, and a
fourth it is not able to sustain: {30:22} by a slave when he
reigns, by the foolish when he has been filled with food,
{30:23} by a hateful woman when she has been taken in
matrimony, and by a handmaid when she has been heir to
her mistress. {30:24} Four things are least upon the earth,
and they are wiser than the wise: {30:25} the ants, an infirm
people who provide food for themselves at the harvest,
{30:26} the rabbit, a sickened people who make their bed
upon the rock. {30:27} The locust has no king, but they all
depart by their troops. {30:28} The lizard supports itself on
hands and dwells in the buildings of kings. {30:29} There are
three things that advance well, and a fourth that marches
happily on: {30:30} a lion, the strongest of beasts, who fears
nothing that he meets, {30:31} a rooster prepared at the loins,
likewise a ram, and a king, whom none can resist.
{30:32} There is one who has appeared foolish, after he was
lifted up on high; for if he had understood, he would have
placed his hand over his mouth. {30:33} But whoever
strongly squeezes the udder to bring out the milk, presses out
butter. And whoever violently blows his nose, brings out
blood. And whoever provokes wrath, brings forth discord.”


[Proverbs 31] {31:1} The words of king Lamuel. The vision
by which his mother instructed him: {31:2} “What, O my
beloved? What, O beloved of my womb? What, O beloved of
my vows? {31:3} Do not give your substance to women, or
your riches to overthrow kings. {31:4} Not to kings, O
Lamuel, not to kings give wine. For there are no secrets
where drunkenness reigns. {31:5} And perhaps they may
drink and forget judgments, and alter the case of the sons of
the poor. {31:6} Give strong drink to the grieving, and wine
to those who are bitter in soul. {31:7} Let them drink, and
forget their needs, and remember their sorrow no more.
{31:8} Open your mouth for the mute and for all the cases of
the sons who are passing through. {31:9} Open your mouth,
declare what is just, and do justice to the indigent and the
poor. {31:10} Who shall find a strong woman? Far away,
and from the furthest parts, is her price. {31:11} The heart of
her husband confides in her, and he will not be deprived of
spoils. {31:12} She will repay him with good, and not evil, all
the days of her life. {31:13} She has sought wool and flax,
and she has worked these by the counsel of her hands.
{31:14} She has become like a merchant’s ship, bringing her
bread from far away. {31:15} And she has risen in the night,
and given a prey to her household, and provisions to her
maids. {31:16} She has considered a field and bought it.
From the fruit of her own hands, she has planted a vineyard.
{31:17} She has wrapped her waist with fortitude, and she
has strengthened her arm. {31:18} She has tasted and seen
that her tasks are good; her lamp shall not be extinguished at
night. {31:19} She has put her hand to strong things, and her
fingers have taken hold of the spindle. {31:20} She has
opened her hand to the needy, and she has extended her
hands to the poor. {31:21} She shall not fear, in the cold of
snow, for her household. For all those of her household have
been clothed two-fold. {31:22} She has made embroidered
clothing for herself. Fine linen and purple is her garment.
{31:23} Her husband is noble at the gates, when he sits
among the senators of the land. {31:24} She has made finely
woven cloth and sold it, and she has delivered a waistband to
the Canaanite. {31:25} Strength and elegance are her
clothing, and she will laugh in the final days. {31:26} She has
opened her mouth to wisdom, and the law of clemency is on
her tongue. {31:27} She has considered the paths of her
household, and she has not eaten her bread in idleness.
{31:28} Her sons rose up and predicted great happiness; her
husband rose up and praised her. {31:29} Many daughters
have gathered together riches; you have surpassed them all.
{31:30} Charm is false, and beauty is vain. The woman who
fears the Lord, the same shall be praised. {31:31} Give to her
from the fruit of her own hands. And let her works praise her
at the gates.


+*+ The Words of Ecclesiastes **


[Ecclesiastes 1] {1:1} The words of Ecclesiastes, the son of
David, the king of Jerusalem. {1:2} Ecclesiastes said: Vanity
of vanities! Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity! {1:3} What
more does a man have from all his labor, as he labors under
the sun? {1:4} A generation passes away, and a generation
arrives. But the earth stands forever. {1:5} The sun rises and
sets; it returns to its place, and from there, being born again,
{1:6} it circles through the south, and arcs toward the north.
The spirit continues on, illuminating everything in its circuit,
and turning again in its cycle. {1:7} All rivers enter into the
sea, and the sea does not overflow. To the place from which
the rivers go out, they return, so that they may flow again.
{1:8} Such things are difficult; man is not able to explain
them with words. The eye is not satisfied by seeing, nor is the
ear fulfilled by hearing. {1:9} What is it that has existed? The
same shall exist in the future. What is it that has been done?
The same shall continue to be done. {1:10} There is nothing
new under the sun. Neither is anyone able to say: “Behold,
this is new!” For it has already been brought forth in the ages
that were before us. {1:11} There is no remembrance of the
former things. Indeed, neither shall there be any record of
past things in the future, for those who will exist at the very
end. {1:12} I, Ecclesiastes, was king of Israel at Jerusalem.
{1:13} And I was determined in my mind to seek and to
investigate wisely, concerning all that is done under the sun.
God has given this very difficult task to the sons of men, so
that they may be occupied by it. {1:14} I have seen all that is
done under the sun, and behold: all is emptiness and an
affliction of the spirit. {1:15} The perverse are unwilling to be
corrected, and the number of the foolish is boundless.
{1:16} I have spoken in my heart, saying: “Behold, I have
achieved greatness, and I have surpassed all the wise who
were before me in Jerusalem.” And my mind has
contemplated many things wisely, and I have learned.
{1:17} And I have dedicated my heart, so that I may know
prudence and doctrine, and also error and foolishness. Yet I
recognize that, in these things also, there is hardship, and
affliction of the spirit. {1:18} Because of this, with much
wisdom there is also much anger. And whoever adds
knowledge, also adds hardship.


[Ecclesiastes 2] {2:1} I said in my heart: “I will go forth and
overflow with delights, and I will enjoy good things.” And I
saw that this, too, is emptiness. {2:2} Laughter, I considered
an error. And to rejoicing, I said: “Why are you being
deceived, to no purpose?” {2:3} I decided in my heart to
withdraw my flesh from wine, so that I might bring my mind
to wisdom, and turn away from foolishness, until I see what
is useful for the sons of men, and what they ought to do
under the sun, during the number of the days of their life.
{2:4} I magnified my works. I built houses for myself, and I
planted vineyards. {2:5} I made gardens and orchards. And I
planted them with trees of every kind. {2:6} And I dug out
fishponds of water, so that I might irrigate the forest of
growing trees. {2:7} I obtained men and women servants,
and I had a great family, as well as herds of cattle and great
flocks of sheep, beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem.
{2:8} I amassed for myself silver and gold, and the wealth of
kings and governors. I chose men and women singers, and
the delights of the sons of men, bowls and pitchers for the
purpose of pouring wine. {2:9} And I surpassed in opulence
all who were before me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also
persevered with me. {2:10} And all that my eyes desired, I
did not refuse them. Neither did I prohibit my heart from
enjoying every pleasure, and from amusing itself in the things
that I had prepared. And I regarded this as my share, as if I
were making use of my own labors.
{2:11} But when I turned myself toward all the works that
my hands had made, and to the labors in which I had
perspired to no purpose, I saw emptiness and affliction of the
soul in all things, and that nothing is permanent under the
sun. {2:12} I continued on, so as to contemplate wisdom, as
well as error and foolishness. “What is man,” I said, “that he
would be able to follow his Maker, the King?” {2:13} And I
saw that wisdom surpasses foolishness, so much so that they
differ as much as light from darkness. {2:14} The eyes of a
wise man are in his head. A foolish man walks in darkness.
Yet I learned that one would pass away like the other.
{2:15} And I said in my heart: “If the death of both the
foolish and myself will be one, how does it benefit me, if I
have given myself more thoroughly to the work of wisdom?”
And as I was speaking within my own mind, I perceived that
this, too, is emptiness. {2:16} For there will not be a
remembrance in perpetuity of the wise, nor of the foolish.
And the future times will cover everything together, with
oblivion. The learned die in a manner similar to the
unlearned. {2:17} And, because of this, my life wearied me,
since I saw that everything under the sun is evil, and
everything is empty and an affliction of the spirit.
{2:18} Again, I detested all my efforts, by which I had
earnestly labored under the sun, to be taken up by an heir
after me, {2:19} though I know not whether he will be wise
or foolish. And yet he will have power over my labors, in
which I have toiled and been anxious. And is there anything
else so empty? {2:20} Therefore, I ceased, and my heart
renounced further laboring under the sun. {2:21} For when
someone labors in wisdom, and doctrine, and prudence, he
leaves behind what he has obtained to one who is idle. So this,
too, is emptiness and a great burden. {2:22} For how can a
man benefit from all his labor and affliction of spirit, by
which he has been tormented under the sun? {2:23} All his
days have been filled with sorrows and hardships; neither
does he rest his mind, even in the night. And is this not
emptiness? {2:24} Is it not better to eat and drink, and to
show his soul the good things of his labors? And this is from
the hand of God. {2:25} So who will feast and overflow with
delights as much as I have? {2:26} God has given, to the man
who is good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and
rejoicing. But to the sinner, he has given affliction and
needless worrying, so as to add, and to gather, and to deliver,
to him who has pleased God. But this, too, is emptiness and a
hollow worrying of the mind.


[Ecclesiastes 3] {3:1} All things have their time, and all
things under heaven continue during their interval. {3:2} A
time to be born, and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time
to pull up what was planted. {3:3} A time to kill, and a time
to heal. A time to tear down, and a time to build up. {3:4} A
time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a
time to dance. {3:5} A time to scatter stones, and a time to
gather. A time to embrace, and a time to be far from
embraces. {3:6} A time to gain, and a time to lose. A time to
keep, and a time to cast away. {3:7} A time to rend, and a
time to sew. A time to be silent, and a time to speak. {3:8} A
time of love, and a time of hatred. A time of war, and a time
of peace. {3:9} What more does a man have from his labor?
{3:10} I have seen the affliction that God has given to the
sons of men, in order that they may be occupied by it.
{3:11} He has made all things good in their time, and he has
handed over the world to their disputes, so that man may not
discover the work which God made from the beginning, even
until the end. {3:12} And I realize that there is nothing better
than to rejoice, and to do well in this life. {3:13} For this is a
gift from God: when each man eats and drinks, and sees the
good results of his labor. {3:14} I have learned that all the
works which God has made continue on, in perpetuity. We
are not able to add anything, nor to take anything away, from
those things which God has made in order that he may be
feared. {3:15} What has been made, the same continues.
What is in the future, has already existed. And God restores
what has passed away. {3:16} I saw under the sun: instead of
judgment, impiety, and instead of justice, iniquity.
{3:17} And I said in my heart: “God will judge the just and
the impious, and then the time for each matter shall be.”
{3:18} I said in my heart, about the sons of men, that God
would test them, and reveal them to be like wild animals.
{3:19} For this reason, the passing away of man and of beasts
is one, and the condition of both is equal. For as a man dies,
so also do they die. All things breathe similarly, and man has
nothing more than beast; for all these are subject to vanity.
{3:20} And all things continue on to one place; for from the
earth they were made, and unto the earth they shall return
together. {3:21} Who knows if the spirit of the sons of Adam
ascend upward, and if the spirit of the beasts descend
downward? {3:22} And I have discovered nothing to be
better than for a man to rejoice in his work: for this is his
portion. And who shall add to him, so that he may know the
things that will occur after him?


[Ecclesiastes 4] {4:1} I turned myself to other things, and I
saw the false accusations which are carried out under the sun,
and the tears of the innocent, and that there was no one to
console them; and that they were not able to withstand their
violence, being destitute of all help. {4:2} And so, I praised
the dead more than the living. {4:3} And happier than both
of these, I judged him to be, who has not yet been born, and
who has not yet seen the evils which are done under the sun.
{4:4} Again, I was contemplating all the labors of men. And I
took notice that their endeavors are open to the envy of their
neighbor. And so, in this, too, there is emptiness and
superfluous anxiety. {4:5} The foolish man folds his hands
together, and he consumes his own flesh, saying: {4:6} “A
handful with rest is better than both hands filled with labors
and with affliction of the soul.” {4:7} While considering this,
I also discovered another vanity under the sun. {4:8} He is
one, and he does not have a second: no son, no brother. And
yet he does not cease to labor, nor are his eyes satisfied with
wealth, nor does he reflect, saying: “For whom do I labor and
cheat my soul of good things?” In this, too, is emptiness and
a most burdensome affliction. {4:9} Therefore, it is better for
two to be together, than for one to be alone. For they have
the advantage of their companionship. {4:10} If one falls, he
shall be supported by the other. Woe to one who is alone. For
when he falls, he has no one to lift him up. {4:11} And if two
are sleeping, they warm one another. How can one person
alone be warmed? {4:12} And if a man can prevail against
one, two may withstand him, and a threefold cord is broken
with difficulty. {4:13} Better is a boy, poor and wise, than a
king, old and foolish, who does not know to look ahead for
the sake of posterity. {4:14} For sometimes, one goes forth
from prison and chains, to a kingdom, while another, born to
kingly power, is consumed by need. {4:15} I saw all the
living who are walking under the sun, and I saw the next
generation, who shall rise up in their places. {4:16} The
number of people, out of all who existed before these, is
boundless. And those who will exist afterwards shall not
rejoice in them. But this, too, is emptiness and an affliction of
the spirit. {4:17} Guard your foot, when you step into the
house of God, and draw near, so that you may listen. For
obedience is much better than the sacrifices of the foolish,
who do not know the evil that they are doing.


[Ecclesiastes 5] {5:1} You should not speak anything rashly,
nor should your heart be hasty to present a word before God.
For God is in heaven, and you are on earth. For this reason,
let your words be few. {5:2} Dreams follow many worries,
and in many words foolishness will be found. {5:3} If you
have vowed anything to God, you should not delay to repay
it. And whatever you have vowed, render it. But an
unfaithful and foolish promise displeases him. {5:4} And it is
much better not to make a vow, than, after a vow, not to
fulfill what was promised. {5:5} You should not use your
mouth so as to cause your flesh to sin. And you should not
say, in the sight of an Angel, “There is no Providence.” For
God, being angry at your words, may scatter all the works of
your hands. {5:6} Where there are many dreams, there are
many vanities and innumerable words. Yet truly, you must
fear God. {5:7} If you see false accusations against the
indigent, and violent judgments, and subverted justice in the
government, do not be surprised over this situation. For those
in high places have others who are higher, and there are still
others, more eminent, over these. {5:8} But finally, there is
the King who rules over the entire earth, which is subject to
him. {5:9} A greedy man will not be satisfied by money. And
whoever loves wealth will reap no fruit from it. Therefore,
this, too, is emptiness. {5:10} Where there are many riches,
there will also be many to consume these things. And how
does it benefit the one who possesses, except that he discerns
the wealth with his own eyes? {5:11} Sleep is sweet to one
who works, whether he consumes little or much. But the
satiation of a wealthy man will not permit him to sleep.
{5:12} There is even another most burdensome infirmity,
which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept to the harm of
the owner. {5:13} For they are lost in a most grievous
affliction. He has produced a son, who will be in the utmost
destitution. {5:14} Just as he went forth naked from his
mother's womb, so shall he return, and he shall take nothing
with him from his labors. {5:15} It is an utterly miserable
infirmity that, in the same manner as he has arrived, so shall
he return. How then does it benefit him, since he has labored
for the wind? {5:16} All the days of his life he consumes: in
darkness, and with many worries, and in distress as well as
sadness. {5:17} And so, this has seemed good to me: that a
person should eat and drink, and should enjoy the fruits of
his labor, in which he has toiled under the sun, for the
number of the days of his life that God has given him. For
this is his portion. {5:18} And this is a gift from God: that
every man to whom God has given wealth and resources, and
to whom he has granted the ability to consume these, may
enjoy his portion, and may find joy in his labors. {5:19} And
then he will not fully remember the days of his life, because
God occupies his heart with delights.


[Ecclesiastes 6] {6:1} There is also another evil, which I have
seen under the sun, and, indeed, it is frequent among men.
{6:2} It is a man to whom God has given wealth, and
resources, and honor; and out of all that he desires, nothing is
lacking to his life; yet God does not grant him the ability to
consume these things, but instead a man who is a stranger
will devour them. This is emptiness and a great misfortune.
{6:3} If a man were to produce one hundred children, and to
live for many years, and to attain to an age of many days, and
if his soul were to make no use of the goods of his resources,
and if he were lacking even a burial: concerning such a man,
I declare that a miscarried child is better than he. {6:4} For
he arrives without a purpose and he continues on into
darkness, and his name shall be wiped away, into oblivion.
{6:5} He has not seen the sun, nor recognized the difference
between good and evil. {6:6} Even if he were to live for two
thousand years, and yet not thoroughly enjoy what is good,
does not each one hurry on to the same place? {6:7} Every
labor of man is for his mouth, but his soul will not be filled.
{6:8} What do the wise have which is more than the foolish?
And what does the pauper have, except to continue on to that
place, where there is life? {6:9} It is better to see what you
desire, than to desire what you cannot know. But this, too, is
emptiness and a presumption of spirit. {6:10} Whoever shall
be in the future, his name has already been called. And it is
known that he is a man and that he is not able to contend in
judgment against one who is stronger than himself.
{6:11} There are many words, and many of these, in disputes,
hold much emptiness.


[Ecclesiastes 7] {7:1} Why is it necessary for a man to seek
things that are greater than himself, when he does not know
what is advantageous for himself in his life, during the
number of the days of his sojourn, and while time passes by
like a shadow? Or who will be able to tell him what will be in
the future after him under the sun? {7:2} A good name is
better than precious ointments, and a day of death is better
than a day of birth. {7:3} It is better to go to a house of
mourning, than to a house of feasting. For in the former, we
are admonished about the end of all things, so that the living
consider what may be in the future. {7:4} Anger is better than
laughter. For through the sadness of the countenance, the
soul of one who offends may be corrected. {7:5} The heart of
the wise is a place of mourning, and the heart of the foolish is
a place of rejoicing. {7:6} It is better to be corrected by a wise
man, than to be deceived by the false praise of the foolish.
{7:7} For, like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so
is the laughter of the foolish. But this, too, is emptiness.
{7:8} A false accusation troubles the wise man and saps the
strength of his heart. {7:9} The end of a speech is better than
the beginning. Patience is better than arrogance. {7:10} Do
not be quickly moved to anger. For anger resides in the
sinews of the foolish. {7:11} You should not say: “What do
you think is the reason that the former times were better than
they are now?” For this type of question is foolish.
{7:12} Wisdom with riches is more useful and more
advantageous, for those who see the sun. {7:13} For as
wisdom protects, so also does money protect. But learning
and wisdom have this much more: that they grant life to one
who possesses them. {7:14} Consider the works of God, that
no one is able to correct whomever he has despised. {7:15} In
good times, enjoy good things, but beware of an evil time.
For just as God has establish the one, so also the other, in
order that man may not find any just complaint against him.
{7:16} I also saw this, in the days of my vanity: a just man
perishing in his justice, and an impious man living a long
time in his malice. {7:17} Do not try to be overly just, and do
not try to be more wise than is necessary, lest you become
stupid. {7:18} Do not act with great impiety, and do not
choose to be foolish, lest you die before your time. {7:19} It is
good for you to support a just man. Furthermore, you should
not withdraw your hand from him, for whoever fears God,
neglects nothing. {7:20} Wisdom has strengthened the wise
more than ten princes of a city. {7:21} But there is no just
man on earth, who does good and does not sin. {7:22} So
then, do not attach your heart to every word that is spoken,
lest perhaps you may hear your servant speaking ill of you.
{7:23} For your conscience knows that you, too, have
repeatedly spoken evil of others. {7:24}I have tested
everything in wisdom. I have said: “I will be wise.” And
wisdom withdrew farther from me, {7:25} so much more
than it was before. Wisdom is very profound, so who shall
reveal her? {7:26} I have examined all things in my soul, so
that I may know, and consider, and seek out wisdom and
reason, and so that I may recognize the impiety of the foolish,
and the error of the imprudent. {7:27} And I have discovered
a woman more bitter than death: she who is like the snare of
a hunter, and whose heart is like a net, and whose hands are
like chains. Whoever pleases God shall flee from her. But
whoever is a sinner shall be seized by her. {7:28} Behold,
Ecclesiastes said, I have discovered these things, one after
another, in order that I might discover the explanation
{7:29} which my soul still seeks and has not found. One man
among a thousand, I have found; a woman among them all, I
have not found. {7:30} This alone have I discovered: that
God made man righteous, and yet he has adulterated himself
with innumerable questions. Who is so great as the wise?
And who has understood the meaning of the word?


[Ecclesiastes 8] {8:1} The wisdom of a man shines in his
countenance, and even the expression of a most powerful
man will change. {8:2} I heed the mouth of the king, and the
commandment of an oath to God. {8:3} You should not
hastily withdraw from his presence, nor should you remain in
an evil work. For all that pleases him, he will do. {8:4} And
his word is filled with authority. Neither is anyone able to say
to him: “Why are you acting this way?” {8:5} Whoever keeps
the commandment will not experience evil. The heart of a
wise man understands the time to respond. {8:6} For every
matter, there is a time and an opportunity, as well as many
difficulties, for man. {8:7} For he is ignorant of the past, and
he is able to know nothing of the future by means of a
messenger. {8:8} It is not in the power of a man to prohibit
the spirit, nor does he have authority over the day of death,
nor is he permitted to rest when war breaks out, and neither
will impiety save the impious. {8:9} I have considered all
these things, and I have applied my heart to all the works
which are being done under the sun. Sometimes one man
rules over another to his own harm. {8:10} I have seen the
impious buried. These same, while they were still living, were
in the holy place, and they were praised in the city as workers
of justice. But this, too, is emptiness. {8:11} For the sons of
men perpetrate evils without any fear, because judgment is
not pronounced quickly against the evil. {8:12} But although
a sinner may do evil of himself one hundred times, and by
patience still endure, I realize that it will be well with those
who fear God, who revere his face. {8:13} So, may it not go
well with the impious, and may his days not be prolonged.
And let those who do not fear the face of the Lord pass away
like a shadow. {8:14} There is also another vanity, which is
done upon the earth. There are the just, to whom evils
happen, as though they had done the works of the impious.
And there are the impious, who are very secure, as though
they possess the deeds of the just. But this, too, I judge to be a
very great vanity. {8:15} And so, I praised rejoicing, because
there was no good for a man under the sun, except to eat and
drink, and to be cheerful, and because he may take nothing
with him from his labor in the days of his life, which God has
given to him under the sun. {8:16} And I applied my heart,
so that I might know wisdom, and so that I might understand
a disturbance that turns upon the earth: it is a man, who takes
no sleep with his eyes, day and night. {8:17} And I
understood that man is able to find no explanation for all
those works of God which are done under the sun. And so,
the more that he labors to seek, so much the less does he find.
Yes, even if a wise man were to claim that he knows, he
would not be able to discover it.


[Ecclesiastes 9] {9:1} I have drawn all these things through
my heart, so that I might carefully understand. There are just
men as well as wise men, and their works are in the hand of
God. And yet a man does not know so much as whether he is
worthy of love or of hatred. {9:2} But all things in the future
remain uncertain, because all things happen equally to the
just and to the impious, to the good and to the bad, to the
pure and to the impure, to those who offer sacrifices and to
those who despise sacrifices. As the good are, so also are
sinners. As those who commit perjury are, so also are those
who swear to the truth. {9:3} This is a very great burden
among all things that are done under the sun: that the same
things happen to everyone. And when the hearts of the sons
of men are filled with malice and contempt in their lives,
afterwards they shall be dragged down to hell. {9:4} There is
no one who lives forever, or who even has confidence in this
regard. A living dog is better than a dead lion. {9:5} For the
living know that they themselves will die, yet truly the dead
know nothing anymore, nor do they have any recompense.
For the memory of them is forgotten. {9:6} Likewise, love
and hatred and envy have all perished together, nor have they
any place in this age and in the work which is done under the
sun. {9:7} So then, go and eat your bread with rejoicing, and
drink your wine with gladness. For your works are pleasing
to God. {9:8} Let your garments be white at all times, and let
not oil be absent from your head. {9:9} Enjoy life with the
wife whom you love, all the days of your uncertain life which
have been given to you under the sun, during all the time of
your vanity. For this is your portion in life and in your labor,
with which you labor under the sun. {9:10} Whatever your
hand is able to do, do it earnestly. For neither work, nor
reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge will exist in death,
toward which you are hurrying. {9:11} I turned myself
toward another thing, and I saw that under the sun, the race
is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to
the wise, nor wealth to the learned, nor grace to the skilful:
but there is a time and an end for all these things. {9:12} Man
does not know his own end. But, just as fish are caught with a
hook, and birds are captured with a snare, so are men seized
in the evil time, when it will suddenly overwhelm them.
{9:13} This wisdom, likewise, I have seen under the sun, and
I have examined it intensely. {9:14} There was a small city,
with a few men in it. There came against it a great king, who
surrounded it, and built fortifications all around it, and the
blockade was completed. {9:15} And there was found within
it, a poor and wise man, and he freed the city through his
wisdom, and nothing was recorded afterward of that poor
man. {9:16} And so, I declared that wisdom is better than
strength. But how is it, then, that the wisdom of the poor man
is treated with contempt, and his words are not heeded?
{9:17} The words of the wise are heard in silence, more so
than the outcry of a prince among the foolish.
{9:18} Wisdom is better than weapons of war. And whoever
offends in one thing, shall lose many good things.


[Ecclesiastes 10] {10:1} Dying flies ruin the sweetness of the
ointment. Wisdom and glory is more precious than a brief
and limited foolishness. {10:2} The heart of a wise man is in
his right hand, and the heart of a foolish man is in his left
hand. {10:3} Moreover, as a foolish man is walking along the
way, even though he himself is unwise, he considers
everyone to be foolish. {10:4} If the spirit of one who holds
authority rises over you, do not leave your place, because
attentiveness will cause the greatest sins to cease.
{10:5} There is an evil which I have seen under the sun,
proceeding from the presence of a prince, as if by mistake:
{10:6} a foolish man appointed to a high dignity, and the rich
sitting beneath him. {10:7} I have seen servants on horses,
and princes walking on the ground like servants.
{10:8} Whoever digs a pit will fall into it. And whoever tears
apart a hedge, a snake will bite him. {10:9} Whoever carries
away stones will be harmed by them. And whoever cuts
down trees will be wounded by them. {10:10} If the iron is
dull, and if it was not that way before, but has been made dull
by much labor, then it will be sharpened. And wisdom will
follow after diligence. {10:11} Whoever slanders in secret is
nothing less than a snake that bites silently. {10:12} Words
from the mouth of a wise man are graceful, but the lips of a
foolish man will throw him down with violence. {10:13} At
the beginning of his words is foolishness, and at the end of his
talk is a most grievous error. {10:14} The fool multiplies his
words. A man does not know what has been before him, and
who is able to reveal to him what will be in the future after
him? {10:15} The hardship of the foolish will afflict those
who do not know to go into the city. {10:16} Woe to you, the
land whose king is a boy, and whose princes consume in the
morning. {10:17} Blessed is the land whose king is noble, and
whose princes eat at the proper time, for refreshment and not
for self-indulgence. {10:18} By laziness, a framework shall be
brought down, and by the weakness of hands, a house shall
collapse through. {10:19} While laughing, they make bread
and wine, so that the living may feast. And all things are
obedient to money. {10:20} You should not slander the king,
even in your thoughts, and you should not speak evil of a
wealthy man, even in your private chamber. For even the
birds of the air will carry your voice, and whatever has wings
will announce your opinion.


[Ecclesiastes 11] {11:1} Cast your bread over running waters.
For, after a long time, you shall find it again. {11:2} Give a
portion to seven, and indeed even to eight. For you do not
know what evil may be upon the earth in the future. {11:3} If
the clouds have been filled, they will pour forth rain upon the
earth. If a tree falls to the south, or to the north, or to
whatever direction it may fall, there it shall remain.
{11:4} Whoever heeds the wind will not sow. And whoever
considers the clouds will never reap. {11:5} In the same
manner that you do not know the way of the spirit, nor the
way that bones are joined together in the womb of a pregnant
woman, so you do not know the works of God, who is the
Maker of all. {11:6} In the morning, sow your seed, and in
the evening, do not let your hand cease. For you do not know
which of these may rise up, the one or the other. But if both
rise up together, so much the better. {11:7} Light is pleasant,
and it is delightful for the eyes to see the sun. {11:8} If a man
lives for many years, and if he has rejoiced in all of these, he
must remember the many days of the dark times, which,
when they will have arrived, will accuse the past of vanity.
{11:9} So then, rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let
your heart remain in what is good during the days of your
youth. And walk in the ways of your heart, and with the
perception of your eyes. And know that, concerning all these
things, God will bring you to judgment. {11:10} Remove
anger from your heart, and set aside evil from your flesh. For
youth and pleasure are empty.


[Ecclesiastes 12] {12:1} Remember your Creator in the days
of your youth, before the time of affliction arrives and the
years draw near, about which you will say, “These do not
please me.” {12:2} Before the sun, and the light, and the
moon, and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after
the rain, {12:3} when the guardians of the house will tremble,
and the strongest men will waver, and those who grind grain
will be idle, except for a small number, and those who look
through the keyholes will be darkened. {12:4} And they will
close the doors to the street, when the voice of he who grinds
the grain will be humbled, and they will be disturbed at the
sound of a flying thing, and all the daughters of song shall
become deaf. {12:5} Likewise, they will fear the things above
them, and they will dread the way. The almond tree will
flourish; the locust will be fattened; and the caper plant will
scattered, because man shall go into the house of his eternity,
and the mourners shall wander around in the street.
{12:6} Before the silver cord is broken, and the golden band
pulls away, and the pitcher is crushed over the fountain, and
the wheel is broken above the cistern, {12:7} and the dust
returns to its earth, from which it was, and the spirit returns
to God, who granted it. {12:8} Vanity of vanities, said
Ecclesiastes, and all is vanity! {12:9} And since Ecclesiastes
was very wise, he taught the people, and he described what
he had accomplished. And while searching, he composed
many parables. {12:10} He sought useful words, and he
wrote most righteous words, which were full of truth.
{12:11} The words of the wise are like a goad, and like nails
deeply fastened, which, through the counsel of teachers, are
set forth by one pastor. {12:12} You should require no more
than this, my son. For there is no end to the making of many
books. And excessive study is an affliction to the flesh.
{12:13} Let us all listen together to the end of the discourse.
Fear God, and observe his commandments. This is
everything for man. {12:14} And so, for all that is done and
for each error, God will bring judgment: whether it was good
or evil.


** The Song of Songs of Solomon **


[Song of Songs 1] {1:1} Bride: May he kiss me with the kiss
of his mouth. {1:2} Groom to Bride: So much better than wine
are your breasts, fragranced with the finest perfumes.
{1:3} Bride to Groom: Your name is oil that has been poured
out; therefore, the maidens have loved you. Draw me
forward. {1:4} Chorus to Bride: We will run after you in the
odor of your perfumes. {1:5} Bride to Chorus: The king has led
me into his storerooms. {1:6} Chorus to Bride: We will exult
and rejoice in you, remembering your breasts above wine.
{1:7} Groom to Bride: The righteous love you. {1:8} Bride to
Chorus: O daughters of Jerusalem: I am black, but shapely,
like the tabernacles of Kedar, like the tents of Solomon.
{1:9} Do not be concerned that I am dark, for the sun has
changed my color. {1:10} The sons of my mother have
fought against me. They have made me the keeper of the
vineyards. My own vineyard I have not kept. {1:11} Bride to
Groom: Reveal to me, you whom my soul loves, where you
pasture, where you recline at midday, lest I begin to wander
after the flocks of your companions. {1:12} Groom to Bride: If
you yourself do not know, O most beautiful among women,
then go out and follow after the steps of the flocks, and
pasture your young goats beside the tabernacles of the
shepherds. {1:13} O my love, I have compared you to my
company of horsemen against the chariots of Pharaoh.
{1:14} Your cheeks are beautiful, like those of a turtledove.
Your neck is like a bejeweled collar. {1:15} Chorus to Bride:
We will fashion for you chains of gold, accented with
reddened silver. {1:16} Bride to Chorus: While the king was
taking his rest, my aromatic ointment sent forth its odor.
{1:17} My beloved is a bundle of myrrh to me. He shall abide
between my breasts. {1:18} My beloved is a cluster of Cyprus
grapes to me, in the vineyards of Engaddi. {1:19} Groom to
Bride: Behold, you are beautiful, O my love. Behold, you are
beautiful. Your eyes are those of a dove. {1:20} Bride to
Groom: Behold, you are handsome, O my beloved, and
graceful. Our bed is flourishing. {1:21} Groom to Bride: The
timbers of our houses are of cedar; our ceilings are of cypress.


[Song of Songs 2] {2:1} Bride: I am a flower of the open field
and a lily of the steep valleys. {2:2} Groom: Like a lily among
the thorns, so is my loved one among the daughters.
{2:3} Bride to Chorus: Like an apple tree among the trees of
the forest, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat beneath the
shadow of the one whom I desired, and his fruit was sweet to
my palate. {2:4} He brought me into the storeroom of wine.
He set charity in order within me. {2:5} Prop me up with
flowers. Close me in with apples. For I languish through love.
{2:6} His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall
embrace me. {2:7} Groom to Chorus: I bind you by oath, O
daughters of Jerusalem, by the does and the stags of the open
field, not to disturb or awaken the beloved, even for as long
as she wills. {2:8} Bride to Chorus: The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he arrives leaping along the mountains, jumping
across the hills. {2:9} My beloved is like a doe and like a
young stag. {2:10} Lo, he stands beyond our wall, gazing
through the windows, watching through the lattices.
{2:11} Lo, my beloved speaks to me: {2:12} Groom to Bride:
Rise up, quickly, my love, my dove, my shapely one, and
advance. {2:13} For winter has now past; the rain has
decreased and gone away. {2:14} The flowers have appeared
in our land; the time for pruning has arrived. The voice of the
turtledove has been heard in our land. {2:15} The fig tree has
brought forth its green figs; the flowering vines bestow their
odor. Rise up, my love, my brilliant one, and advance.
{2:16} My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollows of the
wall, reveal to me your face. Let your voice sound in my ears.
For your voice is sweet, and your face is graceful.
{2:17} Chorus to Groom and Bride: Capture for us the little
foxes, which are tearing down the vines; for our vineyard has
flourished. {2:18} Bride to Chorus: My beloved is for me, and I
am for him. He pastures among the lilies, until the day rises
and the shadows decline. {2:19} Bride to Groom: Return, O
my beloved. Be like a doe and like a young stag upon the
mountains of Bether.


[Song of Songs 3] {3:1} Bride: On my bed, throughout the
night, I sought him whom my soul loves. I sought him, and
did not find him. {3:2} I will rise up, and I will circle through
the city. Through the side streets and thoroughfares, I will
seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, and did not find
him. {3:3} The watchers who guard the city found me:
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?” {3:4} When I
had passed by them a little, I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not release him, until I would bring
him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her
who bore me. {3:5} Groom to Chorus: I bind you by oath, O
daughters of Jerusalem, by the does and the stags of the open
field, not to disturb or awaken the beloved, until she wills.
{3:6} Chorus to Groom: Who is she, who ascends through the
desert, like a staff of smoke from the aromatics of myrrh, and
frankincense, and every powder of the perfumer? {3:7} Chorus
to Bride: Lo, sixty strong ones, out of all the strongest in Israel,
stand watch at the bed of Solomon, {3:8} all holding swords
and well-trained in warfare, each one’s weapon upon his
thigh, because of fears in the night. {3:9} Bride to Chorus: King
Solomon made himself a portable throne from the wood of
Lebanon. {3:10} He made its columns of silver, the reclining
place of gold, the ascent of purple; the middle he covered well,
out of charity for the daughters of Jerusalem. {3:11} O
daughters of Zion, go forth and see king Solomon with the
diadem with which his mother crowned him, on the day of
his espousal, on the day of the rejoicing of his heart.


[Song of Songs 4] {4:1} Groom to Bride: How beautiful you
are, my love, how beautiful you are! Your eyes are those of a
dove, except for what is hidden within. Your hair is like
flocks of goats, which ascend along the mountain of Gilead.
{4:2} Your teeth are like flocks of shorn sheep, which ascend
from the washing, each one with its identical twin, and not
one among them is barren. {4:3} Your lips are like a scarlet
ribbon, and your eloquence is sweetness. Like a piece of
pomegranate, so are your cheeks, except for what is hidden
within. {4:4} Your neck is like the tower of David, which
was built with ramparts: a thousand shields are hanging from
it, all the armor of the strong. {4:5} Your two breasts are like
two young does, twins that pasture among the lilies.
{4:6} Until the day rises and the shadows decline, I will go to
the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.
{4:7} You are totally beautiful, my love, and there is no
blemish in you. {4:8} Advance from Lebanon, my spouse,
advance from Lebanon, advance. You shall be crowned at
the head of Amana, near the summit of Senir and Hermon,
by the dens of lions, by the mountains of leopards. {4:9} You
have wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse. You have
wounded my heart with one look of your eyes, and with one
lock of hair on your neck. {4:10} How beautiful are your
breasts, my sister, my spouse! Your breasts are more beautiful
than wine, and the fragrance of your ointments is above all
aromatic oils. {4:11} Your lips, my spouse, are a dripping
honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue. And the
fragrance of your garments is like the odor of frankincense.
{4:12} An enclosed garden is my sister, my spouse: an
enclosed garden, a sealed fountain. {4:13} You send forth a
paradise of pomegranates along with the fruits of the orchard:
Cypress grapes, with aromatic oil; {4:14} aromatic oil and
saffron; sweet cane and cinnamon, with all the trees of
Lebanon; myrrh and aloe, with all the best ointments.
{4:15} The fountain of the gardens is a well of living waters,
which flow forcefully from Lebanon. {4:16} Rise up, north
wind, and advance, south wind. Send a breeze through my
garden, and carry its aromatic scents.


[Song of Songs 5] {5:1} Bride: May my beloved enter into his
garden, and eat the fruit of his apple trees. {5:2} Groom to
Bride: I have arrived in my garden, O my sister, my spouse. I
have harvested my myrrh, with my aromatic oils. I have
eaten the honeycomb with my honey. I have drunk my wine
with my milk. Eat, O friends, and drink, and be inebriated, O
most beloved. {5:3} Bride: I sleep, yet my heart watches. The
voice of my beloved knocking: {5:4} Groom to Bride: Open to
me, my sister, my love, my dove, my immaculate one. For
my head is full of dew, and the locks of my hair are full of the
drops of the night. {5:5} Bride: I have taken off my tunic; how
shall I be clothed in it? I have washed my feet; how shall I
spoil them? {5:6} My beloved put his hand through the
window, and my inner self was moved by his touch. {5:7} I
rose up in order to open to my beloved. My hands dripped
with myrrh, and my fingers were full of the finest myrrh.
{5:8} I opened the bolt of my door to my beloved. But he had
turned aside and had gone away. My soul melted when he
spoke. I sought him, and did not find him. I called, and he
did not answer me. {5:9} The keepers who circulate through
the city found me. They struck me, and wounded me. The
keepers of the walls took my veil away from me. {5:10} I
bind you by oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my
beloved, announce to him that I languish through love.
{5:11} Chorus to Bride: What kind of beloved is your beloved,
O most beautiful among women? What kind of beloved is
your beloved, so that you would bind us by oath? {5:12} Bride:
My beloved is white and ruddy, elect among thousands.
{5:13} His head is like the finest gold. His locks are like the
heights of palm trees, and as black as a raven. {5:14} His eyes
are like doves, which have been washed with milk over
rivulets of waters, and which reside near plentiful streams.
{5:15} His cheeks are like a courtyard of aromatic plants,
sown by perfumers. His lips are like lilies, dripping with the
best myrrh. {5:16} His hands are smoothed gold, full of
hyacinths. His abdomen is ivory, accented with sapphires.
{5:17} His legs are columns of marble, which have been
established over bases of gold. His appearance is like that of
Lebanon, elect like the cedars. {5:18} His throat is most
sweet, and he is entirely desirable. Such is my beloved, and
he is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. {5:19} Chorus to
Bride: Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among
women? To where has your beloved turned aside, so that we
may seek him with you?


[Song of Songs 6] {6:1} Bride: My beloved has descended to
his garden, to the courtyard of aromatic plants, in order to
pasture in the gardens and gather the lilies. {6:2} I am for my
beloved, and my beloved is for me. He pastures among the
lilies. {6:3} Groom to Bride: My love, you are beautiful: sweet
and graceful, like Jerusalem; terrible, like an army in battle
array. {6:4} Avert your eyes from me, for they have caused
me fly away. Your hair is like a flock of goats, which have
appeared out of Gilead. {6:5} Your teeth are like a flock of
sheep, which have ascended from the washing, each one with
its identical twin, and not one among them is barren.
{6:6} Like the skin of a pomegranate, so are your cheeks,
except for your hiddenness. {6:7} There are sixty queens, and
eighty concubines, and maidens without number. {6:8} One
is my dove, my perfect one. One is her mother; elect is she
who bore her. The daughters saw her, and they proclaimed
her most blessed. The queens and concubines saw her, and
they praised her. {6:9} Chorus to Groom: Who is she, who
advances like the rising dawn, as beautiful as the moon, as
elect as the sun, as terrible as an army in battle array?
{6:10} Bride: I descended to the garden of nuts, in order to see
the fruits of the steep valleys, and to examine whether the
vineyard had flourished and the pomegranates had produced
buds. {6:11} I did not understand. My soul was stirred up
within me because of the chariots of Amminadab.
{6:12} Chorus to Bride: Return, return, O Sulamitess. Return,
return, so that we may consider you.


[Song of Songs 7] {7:1} Chorus to Groom: What will you see
in the Sulamitess, other than choruses of encampments?
{7:2} Chorus to Bride: How beautiful are your footsteps in
shoes, O daughter of a ruler! The joints of your thighs are like
jewels, which have been fabricated by the hand of an artist.
{7:3} Your navel is a round bowl, never lacking in curvature.
Your abdomen is like a bundle of wheat, surrounded with
lilies. {7:4} Your two breasts are like two young twin does.
{7:5} Your neck is like a tower of ivory. Your eyes like the
fish ponds at Heshbon, which are at the entrance to the
daughter of the multitude. Your nose is like the tower of
Lebanon, which looks out toward Damascus. {7:6} Your
head is like Carmel, and the hairs of your head are like the
purple of the king, bound into pleats. {7:7} Most beloved one,
how beautiful you are, and how graceful in delights!
{7:8} Your stature is comparable to the palm tree, and your
breasts to clusters of grapes. {7:9} Groom: I said, I will ascend
to the palm tree, and take hold of its fruit. And your breasts
will be like clusters of grapes on the vine. And the fragrance
of your mouth will be like apples. {7:10} Bride: Your throat is
like the finest wine: wine worthy for my beloved to drink, and
for his lips and teeth to contemplate. {7:11} I am for my
beloved, and his turning is to me. {7:12} Approach, my
beloved. Let us go out into the field; let us linger in the
villages. {7:13} Let us go up in the morning to the vineyards;
let us see if the vineyard has flourished, if the flowers are
ready to bear fruit, if the pomegranates have flourished.
There I will give my breasts to you. {7:14} The mandrakes
yield their fragrance. At our gates is every fruit. The new and
the old, my beloved, I have kept for you.


[Song of Songs 8] {8:1} Bride to Groom: Who will give you to
me as my brother, feeding from the breasts of my mother, so
that I may discover you outside, and may kiss you, and so
that now no one may despise me? {8:2} I will take hold of
you and lead you into my mother’s house. There you will
teach me, and I will give you a cup of spiced wine, and of
new wine from my pomegranates. {8:3} His left hand is
under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me.
{8:4} Groom to Chorus: I bind you by oath, O daughters of
Jerusalem, not to disturb or awaken the beloved, until she
wills. {8:5} Chorus to Groom: Who is she, who ascends from
the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved?
{8:6} Groom to Bride: Under the apple tree, I awakened you.
There your mother was corrupted. There she who bore you
was violated. {8:7} Set me like a seal upon your heart, like a
seal upon your arm. For love is strong, like death, and envy is
enduring, like hell: their lamps are made of fire and flames.
{8:8} A multitude of waters cannot extinguish love, nor can a
river overwhelm it. If a man were to give all the substance of
his house in exchange for love, he would despise it as nothing.
{8:9} Chorus: Our sister is little and has no breasts. What shall
we do for our sister on the day when she is called upon?
{8:10} If she is a wall, let us build a rampart of silver upon it.
If she is a door, let us join it together with boards of cedar.
{8:11} Bride to Chorus: I am a wall, and my breasts are like
towers, since, in his presence, I have become like one who
has discovered peace. {8:12} The peaceful one had a
vineyard, in that which held the peoples. He handed it on to
the caretakers; a man brought, in exchange for its fruit, a
thousand pieces of silver. {8:13} Groom: My vineyard is
before me. The thousand is for your peacefulness, and two
hundred is for those who care for its fruit. {8:14} Bride to
Groom: Your friends are attentive to those who have been
dwelling in the gardens. Cause me to heed your voice.
{8:15} Flee away, my beloved, and become like the doe and
the young stag upon the mountains of aromatic plants.


** The Wisdom of Solomon **


[Wisdom 1] {1:1} Love justice, you who judge the land.
Think of the Lord in goodness and seek him in simplicity of
heart. {1:2} For he is found by those who do not test him, yet
he reveals himself to those who have faith in him. {1:3} For
perverse thoughts separate from God. But his virtue, when it
is tested, corrects the foolish. {1:4} For wisdom will not enter
into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subdued by sin.
{1:5} For the holy spirit of instruction will flee from
falsehood, and he will withdraw himself from thoughts that
are without understanding, and he will not be reached when
iniquity overcomes. {1:6} For the spirit of wisdom is
benevolent, and will not release the evil speaker from his talk,
because God is a witness of his temperament, and a true
examiner of his heart, and an auditor of his words. {1:7} For
the spirit of the Lord has filled the world, and he who
contains all things, retains knowledge of every voice.
{1:8} Therefore, he who speaks unjust things cannot escape
notice, nor will the chastising judgment pass him by.
{1:9} For inquiry will be made into the thoughts of the
impious, his conversation also will reach the hearing of God,
to the chastising of his iniquities. {1:10} For the zealous ear
hears all things, and the disturbance of complaining will not
be hidden. {1:11} Therefore, keep yourselves from
complaining, which benefits nothing, and refrain your tongue
from slander, because secret conversation will not pass into
nothingness, and the mouth that deceives kills the soul.
{1:12} Do not court death by the error of your life, nor
procure your destruction by the works of your hands,
{1:13} because God did not make death, nor does he rejoice
in the loss of the living. {1:14} For he created all things that
they might exist, and he made the nations of the world
curable, and there is no medicine of extermination in them,
nor a kingdom of hell upon the earth. {1:15} For justice is
perpetual and immortal. {1:16} But the impious, with hands
and words, have called death to them, and, esteeming it a
friend, they have fallen away and have made a covenant with
death, because they deserved to take part in it.


[Wisdom 2] {2:1} For they have said, reasoning with
themselves incorrectly: “Our lifetime is brief and tedious, and
there is no relief within the limits of man, and no one is
acknowledged to have returned from the dead. {2:2} For we
are born from nothing, and after this we will be as if we had
not been, because the breath in our nostrils is like smoke, and
conversation sends out sparks from the stirring of our heart;
{2:3} therefore, when it is extinguished, our body will be
ashes, and our spirit will be diffused like a soft breeze, and
our life will pass away like the wisp of a cloud, just as a mist
is dissolved when it is driven away by the rays of the sun and
overpowered by its heat. {2:4} And in time our name will
surrender to oblivion, and no one will have remembrance of
our works. {2:5} For our time is like the passing of a shadow,
and nothing can reverse our end, for it is signed and sealed,
and cannot be returned. {2:6} Therefore, hurry, let us enjoy
the good things of the present time, and let us quickly use up
passing things, just as in youth. {2:7} Let us indulge
ourselves with costly wine and ointments, and let no flower
of youth pass us by. {2:8} Let us surround ourselves with
rosebuds before they wither; let no meadow be left untouched
by our indulgence. {2:9} Let no one among us be exempt
from our indulgence. Let us leave behind tokens of
enjoyment everywhere, for this is our portion, and this is fate.
{2:10} Let us oppress the poor just man, and not spare the
widow, nor respect the aged grey hairs of elders. {2:11} But
let our strength be the law of justice, for what is weak is
found to be useless. {2:12} Therefore, let us encircle the just,
because he is useless to us, and he is against our works, and
he reproaches us with our legal offenses, and makes known to
us the sins of our way of life. {2:13} He promises that he has
the knowledge of God and he calls himself the son of God.
{2:14} He was made among us to expose our very thoughts.
{2:15} He is grievous for us even to behold, for his life is
unlike other men’s lives, and immutable are his ways.
{2:16} It is as if we are considered by him to be insignificant,
and he abstains from our ways as from filth; he prefers the
newly justified, and he glories that he has God for his father.
{2:17} Let us see, then, if his words are true, and let us test
what will happen to him, and then we will know what his
end will be. {2:18} For if he is the true son of God, he will
receive him and deliver him from the hands of his adversaries.
{2:19} Let us examine him with insult and torture, that we
may know his reverence and try his patience. {2:20} Let us
condemn him to a most shameful death, for, according to his
own words, God will care for him.” {2:21} These things they
thought, and they were mistaken, for their own malice
blinded them. {2:22} And they were ignorant of the mysteries
of God; they neither hoped for the reward of justice, nor
judged the value of holy souls. {2:23} For God created man
to be immortal, and he made him in the image of his own
likeness. {2:24} But by the envy of the devil, death entered
the world, {2:25} yet they imitate him, who are from his side.


[Wisdom 3] {3:1} But the souls of the just are in the hand of
God and no torment of death will touch them. {3:2} In the
eyes of the foolish, they seemed to die, and their departure
was considered an affliction, {3:3} and their going away from
us, a banishment. Yet they are in peace. {3:4} And though, in
the sight of men, they suffered torments, their hope is full of
immortality. {3:5} Troubled in few things, in many things
they will be well compensated, because God has tested them
and found them worthy of himself. {3:6} Like gold in the
furnace, he has proved them, and as a holocaust victim, he
has received them, and in the time of their visitation
{3:7} they will shine, and they will dash about like sparks
among stubble. {3:8} They will judge the nations and they
will rule over the people, and their Lord will reign forever.
{3:9} Those who trust in him, will understand the truth, and
those who are faithful in love will rest in him, because grace
and peace is for his elect. {3:10} But the impious will be
chastised according to their thoughts, for they have neglected
the just and have retreated from the Lord. {3:11} For
whoever abandons wisdom and instruction is unhappy, and
their hope is empty, and their labors without fruit, and their
works useless. {3:12} Their wives are foolish and their sons
are wicked; the things that serve them are accursed.
{3:13} Therefore, fertile is the barren and undefiled, who has
not known transgressions in bed; she will bear fruit by caring
for holy souls. {3:14} And fertile is the celibate, who has not
wrought iniquity with his hands, nor thought wickedness
against God; for to him will be given a special gift of faith
and a very welcome place in the temple of the Lord.
{3:15} For the fruit of good labors is glorious and the root of
wisdom shall never perish. {3:16} But the sons of adulterers
will not reach completion, and the offspring of a sinful bed
will be banished. {3:17} And if they live long, they will be
counted as nothing, and their last years of old-age will be
without honor. {3:18} And if they die quickly, they will have
no hope, nor words of comfort on the day of reckoning.
{3:19} For the iniquities of the people have a dreadful result.


[Wisdom 4] {4:1} O how beautiful is the chaste fruit of
purity! For its remembrance is immortal, because it is
observed both with God and with men. {4:2} When it is
present, they imitate it, and they desire it when it has
withdrawn itself, and it triumphs crowned forever, winning
the reward of undefiled conflicts. {4:3} But the great number
of the many different kinds of the impious will not be to their
advantage, and spurious seedlings will not be given deep
roots, nor will they establish any firm foundation. {4:4} And
if they spring forth with branches for a time, yet, being set
infirmly, they will be shaken by the wind, and, by the
superabundance of the winds, they will be eradicated.
{4:5} For the incomplete branches will be broken, and their
fruits will be useless, and bitter to eat, and fit for nothing.
{4:6} For all the sons born from iniquity are witnesses of
wickedness against their parents at their interrogation.
{4:7} But the just, if death seizes him beforehand, will be
refreshed. {4:8} For old age is made venerable, neither by
lasting long, nor by counting the number of years; yet
understanding is the gray hair of wisdom for men, {4:9} and
an immaculate life is a generation of sages. {4:10} Pleasing to
God, having been made beloved, and living among sinners,
he was transformed. {4:11} He was quickly taken away, for
malice could not alter his understanding, nor could deceit
beguile his soul. {4:12} For fascination with entertainment
obscures good things, and the unfaithfulness of desire
subverts the mind without malice. {4:13} Completed in a
short time, he fulfilled many times. {4:14} Truly his soul was
pleasing to God. Because of this, he hastened to bring him
out of the midst of iniquities, but the people see this and do
not understand, nor do they place such things in their hearts:
{4:15} that the grace and mercy of God is with his holy ones,
and he watches over his elect. {4:16} But the just dead will
condemn the impious living, and youth hastily completed
results in a long unjust life. {4:17} For they will see the end of
the wise, and will neither understand, nor imagine, that he is
of God, and that therefore the Lord has safeguarded him.
{4:18} For they will see and despise him, but the Lord will
ridicule them. {4:19} And after this, they will fall without
honor and with contempt among the dead forever. Seeing
that they are puffed up and speechless, he will shatter them
and will shake them from the foundations all the way to the
top, to their utter desolation, and they will grieve and their
remembrance will perish. {4:20} They will hurry with fear at
the understanding of their sins, and their iniquities will bear
witness against them.


[Wisdom 5] {5:1} Then the just will stand with great
steadfastness against those who have oppressed them and
have taken away their labors. {5:2} Seeing this, they will be
troubled with terrible fear, and they will be amazed at the
suddenness of unexpected salvation. {5:3} Driven toward
regret, and through the anguish of their groaning spirit, they
will say within themselves: “These are the ones whom we
held for some time in derision and in mocking reproach.
{5:4} We foolish considered their life to be madness, and
their end to be without honor. {5:5} How is it that they are
counted among the sons of God, and their place is among the
holy? {5:6} Therefore, we have strayed from the way of truth,
and the light of justice has not shined on us, and the sun of
understanding has not risen on us. {5:7} We exhausted
ourselves in the way of iniquity and perdition, and have
walked a difficult way, while ignoring the way of the Lord.
{5:8} How has arrogance benefited us? Or what has exalting
in riches brought us? {5:9} All those things have passed away
like a shadow, and like a messenger traveling quickly by;
{5:10} and like a ship passing over the waves of water, when
it has gone by, its trace cannot be found, nor can the pathway
of its keel in the waves; {5:11} or, like a bird flying through
the air, there is no evidence of her journey to be found, but
there is hardly a sound as the beating of her wings lifts up the
air and, by the force of her journey, divides the air she has
flown across, which was disturbed by her wings, and
afterwards there is no sign of her journey to be found;
{5:12} or, like an arrow shot at a selected mark, the air
continues to be divided and to be brought together again, so
that its passing is unknown. {5:13} And in like manner we,
having been born, continuously cease to exist, and indeed, we
depart with no sign of virtue to show, but we are consumed
in our malice.” {5:14} Such things those who sinned said in
hell. {5:15} For the hope of the impious is like feathers,
which are blown away by the wind, and like a thin foam,
which is dispersed by a storm, and like smoke, which is
scattered by the wind, and like the memory of a guest who
passes by one day. {5:16} But the just will live forever, and
their reward is with the Lord, and the thought of them is with
the Most High. {5:17} Therefore, they will receive a beautiful
kingdom and a crown of splendor from the hand of the Lord,
for with his right hand he will cover them, and with his holy
arm he will defend them. {5:18} And his zeal will take up
arms, and he will equip his servants for retribution on their
enemies. {5:19} He will put on justice as a breastplate, and he
will grasp sure judgment as a helmet. {5:20} He will select
fairness as an invincible shield. {5:21} Yet he will sharpen his
severe wrath into a spear, and he will fight with those of the
world against the irrational. {5:22} Shafts of lightning will
hurl forth accurately, and, as if from a well-curved bow of
clouds, they will be expelled and will fly to the determined
mark. {5:23} And hail will be cast like stones full of anger,
and the water of the sea will rise up against them, and the
rivers will charge forth harshly. {5:24} The spirit of virtue
will stand firm against them and like a whirlwind will divide
them, and he will lead all the world of iniquity into a
wasteland, and malice will overthrow the seats of power.


[Wisdom 6] {6:1} Wisdom is better than power, and a
prudent man is better than a powerful one. {6:2} Therefore,
hear, O kings, and understand; learn, you judges of the ends
of the earth. {6:3} Listen closely, you who hold the attention
of the crowds, and who please yourselves by disturbing the
nations. {6:4} For power has been given to you from the
Lord and strength from the Most High, who will examine
your works and scrutinize your thoughts. {6:5} For, when
you were ministers of his kingdom, you did not judge
correctly, nor keep the law of justice, nor walk according to
the will of God. {6:6} Horribly and quickly he will appear to
you, because he will make a severe judgment for those who
are in charge. {6:7} For, to the little, great mercy is granted,
but the powerful will endure powerful torment. {6:8} For the
Lord will not exempt anyone’s character, nor will he stand in
awe of anyone’s greatness, because he himself made the little
and the great, and he is equally concerned for everyone.
{6:9} But a powerful torture pursues the powerful.
{6:10} Therefore, O kings, these, my words, are for you, so
that you may learn wisdom and not perish. {6:11} For those
who have justly preserved justice will be justified, and those
who have learned these things will find what to answer.
{6:12} Therefore, desire my words, love them, and you will
have instruction. {6:13} Wisdom is pure and never fades
away, and is easily seen by those who love her and found by
those who seek her. {6:14} She anticipates those who desire
her, so that she first reveals herself to them. {6:15} Whoever
awakens early to seek her, will not labor, for he will find her
sitting at his door. {6:16} Therefore, by thinking about her,
understanding is perfected, and whoever remains watchful for
her, will quickly be secure. {6:17} For she goes about seeking
such as are worthy of her, and she reveals herself to them
cheerfully in the ways, and meets them with all foresight.
{6:18} For the very true beginning of her is the desire for
instruction. {6:19} Therefore, the zeal for instruction is love,
and love is the keeping of her laws, and the keeping of her
laws is the perfection of incorruptibility, {6:20} while
incorruptibility makes us near to God. {6:21} And so, the
desire for wisdom leads to an everlasting kingdom. {6:22} If,
therefore, your delight is in thrones and scepters, O kings of
the people, love wisdom, so that you may reign forever;
{6:23} love the light of wisdom, all you who lead the peoples.
{6:24} But what wisdom is, and how she was made, I will
report, and I will not hide the mysteries of God from you, but
I will investigate her from the beginning of her birth, and I
will place the knowledge of her in the light, and will not pass
over the truth. {6:25} Neither will I hold to the path that
dwindles away with envy, because such a man will not
partake in wisdom. {6:26} For the proliferation of the wise is
sanity for the world, and a wise king is the mainstay of the
people. {6:27} Therefore, receive instruction by my words,
and it will benefit you.


[Wisdom 7] {7:1} Certainly, I myself am also a mortal man,
like everyone, and the offspring of this earth, which was
made beforehand; and in my mother’s womb I was fashioned
with care, {7:2} within the time of ten months, made of
blood, from the seed of man and the delight of sleeping
together. {7:3} And when I was born, I drew in the common
air, and in similar fashion, I fell upon the earth, and the first
voice I uttered, like everyone, was crying. {7:4} I was nursed
in swaddling clothes and with great care. {7:5} For none of
the kings had any other beginning of birth. {7:6} Therefore,
there is only one entrance for everyone into life, and the same
in leaving. {7:7} Because of this, I chose, and understanding
was given to me; and I prayed, and the spirit of wisdom came
to me; {7:8} and I placed her before kingdoms and thrones,
and I considered riches nothing in comparison with her.
{7:9} Neither did I compare to her a precious stone, for all
gold in comparison with her is like a little sand, and silver, in
view of her, will be valued as if dirt. {7:10} I loved her above
health and beauty, and I placed having her before light, for
her light is unfailing. {7:11} Yet all good things came to me
together with her, and innumerable honors by her hand;
{7:12} and I rejoiced in all these, because this wisdom went
before me, although I did not know that she is the mother of
them all. {7:13} This I have learned without falsehood and
communicate without envy, and her integrity I do not hide.
{7:14} Indeed, she is an infinite treasure chest for men, and
those who make use of it, become partakers in the friendship
of God, because they are recommended by the gifts of
instruction. {7:15} Yet God has given to me to speak my
mind, and to conceive thoughts worthy of those things that
are given to me, because he is the leader of wisdom and the
repairer of understanding. {7:16} For in his hand are both we,
and our words, and all wisdom, and the works of science,
and instruction. {7:17} For he has given me true knowledge
of these things which exist: so as to know the orderly
arrangement of the world, and the powers of the elements,
{7:18} the beginning and the end and the midpoint of the
seasons, the characteristics of changing things, and the
divisions of time, {7:19} the courses of the years, and the
orderly arrangement of the stars, {7:20} the natures of
animals, and the rage of wild beasts, the force of winds, and
the reasonings of men, the diversities of plants, and the
benefits of roots, {7:21} and all such things as are hidden and
unexpected, I have learned; for wisdom, the artisan of all
things, taught me. {7:22} For in her is the spirit of
understanding: holy, singular, manifold, subtle, perceptive,
lively, chaste, reliable, gracious, loving, good, astute, who
forbids nothing beneficial, {7:23} humane, kind, steadfast,
trustworthy, secure, having all virtue, watching for all things
and grasping all things with a pure and most delicate
understanding of spirit. {7:24} For wisdom is more active
than all active things, yet she reaches everywhere because of
her purity. {7:25} For she is a breath of the virtue of God and
a genuine emanation from the purity of the almighty God,
and therefore nothing unclean can invade her. {7:26} Indeed,
she is the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror
of the majesty of God, and the image of his goodness.
{7:27} And though she is one, she can do all things; and,
unchanging in herself, she renews all things, and throughout
the nations she conveys herself to holy souls, establishing
them as friends and prophets of God. {7:28} For God loves
none but those who dwell with wisdom. {7:29} For she is
more spectacular than the sun, and above the array of all the
stars; compared with the light, she is found to be before it.
{7:30} Indeed, after her comes night, but wisdom will not be
overcome by malice.


[Wisdom 8] {8:1} Thus, she reaches mightily from one end
all the way to the other, and she orders all things sweetly.
{8:2} I have loved her and searched for her from my youth,
and have asked to take her to me as my spouse, and I became
a lover of her form. {8:3} She glorifies her lineage by having
companionship with God; yes and of all things, the Lord
loves her. {8:4} For she teaches the teaching of God and is
the chooser of his works. {8:5} And if riches are longed for in
life, what is richer than wisdom, which is being served in all
things? {8:6} But if the mind is to be served, who, of all that
exists, is a greater artisan than she? {8:7} And if anyone loves
justice, her labors hold great virtues; for she teaches
temperance and prudence, justice and virtue, and nothing is
more useful in human life. {8:8} And if one desires a
multitude of knowledge, she knows the past and forecasts the
future; she knows the subtleties of conversation and the
response to arguments; she understands the signs and
portents, before the events take place, events both of the
present time and of future ages. {8:9} Therefore, I resolved to
take her to me to live together, knowing that she will be a
good counselor and will console my thoughts and my
weariness. {8:10} Because of her, I have clarity in the midst
of confusion, and honor among the elders in my youth;
{8:11} and I will be found to be astute in judgment, and will
be admired in the sight of the mighty, and the faces of leaders
will wonder at me. {8:12} When I am silent, they will wait
for me; when I speak, they will respect me; and when I talk
for too long, they will put their hands on their mouths.
{8:13} Thus, by means of her, I will have immortality, and I
will bequeath an everlasting memorial to those who come
after me. {8:14} I will set the peoples in order, and nations
will be subject to me. {8:15} Hearing me, terrible kings will
be afraid; to the multitude, I will be seen as good and valiant
in war. {8:16} When I go into my house, I will repose myself
with her, for her conversation has no bitterness, nor her
company any tediousness, but only joy and gladness.
{8:17} Thinking these things within myself, and recalling in
my heart that immortality is the intention of wisdom,
{8:18} and that in her friendship is good enjoyment, and in
the works of her hands are honors without flaw, and in
debate with her is understanding, and glory in sharing
conversation with her; I went about seeking, so that I might
take her to myself. {8:19} For I was an ingenious boy and
had been dealt a good soul. {8:20} Even more so, being good,
I came to have an undefiled body. {8:21} And since I know
that it is not possible to be chaste except as a gift from God,
and that it is a point of wisdom to know whose gift it is, I
approached the Lord, and I besought him, and I said with my
whole heart:


[Wisdom 9] {9:1} “God of my fathers and Lord of mercy,
who has made all things with your word, {9:2} and by your
wisdom has established man to have dominion over the
creatures which have been made by you, {9:3} so that he
would order the world in equity and justice, and execute
judgment with an upright heart, {9:4} give me wisdom, the
handmaiden at your throne, and be unwilling to reject me
from among your children, {9:5} because I am your servant,
and the son of your handmaid, a weak man, and short-lived,
with limited understanding of judgment and laws. {9:6} And
if someone were perfect among the sons of men, yet if your
wisdom was taken away from him, he would be counted as
nothing. {9:7} You have chosen me to be a king of your
people, and a judge of your sons and daughters. {9:8} And
you called me to construct a temple on your holy mount, and,
in the city of your dwelling, an altar in the likeness of your
holy tabernacle, which you have prepared from the beginning.
{9:9 And with you is wisdom, who is familiar with your
works, and who was nearby when you made the world, and
who knows what is pleasing to your eyes, and who is guided
by your teachings. {9:10} Send her out of your holy heavens
and from the throne of your majesty, so that she is with me
and labors with me, and I will know what is acceptable with
you. {9:11} For she knows and understands all things, and
will lead me soberly in my works, and will guard me by her
power. {9:12} And my works will be acceptable, and I will
govern your people justly, and I will be worthy of the throne
of my father. {9:13} For who among men can know the
counsel of God? Or who can imagine the will of God?
{9:14} For the thoughts of mortals are timid, and our
foresight is uncertain. {9:15} For the corruptible body weighs
down the soul, and this earthy dwelling presses many
thoughts upon the mind. {9:16} And we assess with difficulty
the things that are of earth, and we discover with labor the
things that are within our view. So who will search out the
things that are in heaven? {9:17} Moreover, who will know
your mind, unless you give wisdom and send your holy spirit
from on high? {9:18} And in this way, those who are on
earth are corrected in their path, and men learn the things
that are pleasing to you. {9:19} For by wisdom they are saved,
who have pleased you, O Lord, from the beginning.”


[Wisdom 10] {10:1} This is he, who was formed first by God,
the father of the world, who was alone when created; she
preserved him, {10:2} and led him out of his offense, and
gave him the power to maintain all things. {10:3} After this,
when the unjust man withdrew from her in his anger, he
perished through anger by the murder of his brother.
{10:4} Because of this, when water destroyed the earth,
wisdom healed it again, guiding the just by means of
contemptible wood. {10:5} Moreover, when the nations had
conspired together to consent to wickedness, she knew the
just, and preserved him without blame before God, and
preserved his strength out of mercy for his sons. {10:6} She
freed this just man from the destruction of the impious,
fleeing descending fire in the Five Cities, {10:7} which, as a
testimony to their wickedness, is a constantly smoking
desolate land, and the trees bear fruit at uncertain times, and
a figure of salt stands as a monument to an unbelieving soul.
{10:8} For, in disregarding wisdom, they are fallen, not so
much in this, that they were ignorant of good, but that they
bequeathed to men a memorial of their foolishness, so that, in
the things in which they sinned, they were unable to escape
notice. {10:9} Yet wisdom has freed from sorrow those who
are self-observant. {10:10} She led the just man, this fugitive
of his brother’s wrath, by the right ways, and revealed to him
the kingdom of God, and gave him the knowledge of holiness,
honored him in his labors, and completed his labors.
{10:11} In the midst of encircling deceit, she flowed around
him and made him honest. {10:12} She guarded him from his
enemies, and she defended him from seducers, and she gave
him a strong conflict so that he might overcome and might
know that the power of all things is wisdom. {10:13} She did
not abandon the just man when he was sold, but freed him
from sinners; she went down with him into the pit,
{10:14} and she did not abandon him in chains, while she
brought him the scepter of the kingdom and power against
those who oppressed him, and revealed them to be liars who
had dishonored him, and gave him everlasting glory.
{10:15} She freed this just people and the blameless offspring,
from the nations that had oppressed them. {10:16} She
entered the soul of the servant of God and stood against
dreadful kings in the midst of portents and signs, {10:17} and
she rendered to the just the wages of their labors, and led
them along a wondrous way; and she was to them, like a
cover by day, and like the light of the stars by night.
{10:18} She carried them through the Red Sea, and led them
across a great water. {10:19} But their enemies, she
submerged in the sea, and from the furthest depths, she drew
them up. Therefore, the just carried off the spoils of the
impious. {10:20} And they chanted to your holy name, Lord,
and they together praised your victorious hand,
{10:21} because wisdom opened the mouth of the mute, and
made the speech of infants eloquent.


[Wisdom 11] {11:1} She directed their works in the hands of
the holy prophet. {11:2} They made a path through desolate
areas, which were uninhabited, and set up their homes in
remote places. {11:3} They stood firm against the enemy,
and vindicated themselves from their adversaries.
{11:4} They thirsted, and they called upon you, and water
was given them out of the deepest rock, and respite from
thirst out of the hard stone. {11:5} For through water, their
enemies had been punished, by the corruption of their
drinking water; and so, among them, when the sons of Israel
lacked the abundance they would have had, their enemies
rejoiced; {11:6} yet though water, when they were in need, it
turned out well for them. {11:7} For instead of a fountain,
even everlasting in flow, you gave human blood to the unjust,
{11:8} and while they would be crushed into disgrace
because of the murdering of infants, you unexpectedly gave
your own abundant water, {11:9} revealing through the thirst,
which occurred at that time, how you would exalt your own
and would kill their adversaries. {11:10} For when they were
being tested, and even when receiving merciful correction,
they knew in what way, when your wrath judged the impious,
they would suffer torments. {11:11} For these, advising like a
father, you approved; but the others, interrogating like a
severe king, you condemned. {11:12} For whether absent or
present, they were tortured alike. {11:13} For they had
received double: weariness and groaning in the remembrance
of things past. {11:14} For when they paid attention to their
punishments, to attend to their own benefit, they called to
mind the Lord, admiring the end result. {11:15} For though
they showed scorn by throwing out distorted statements, in
the end they were amazed at the result, but this is not the
same as thirsting for justice. {11:16} For according to the
thinking of their irrational iniquity, because some, going
astray, were worshiping mute serpents and worthless beasts,
you sent upon them a multitude of mute beasts for vengeance,
{11:17} so that they might know that by whatever things a
man sins, by the same also is he tormented. {11:18} For it
was not impossible for your all-powerful hand, which created
the world from unknown material, to send forth upon them a
multitude of bears, or fierce lions, {11:19} or, in anger, beasts
of a new kind, massive and strange, either breathing out a
fiery vapor, or sending forth an odorous smoke, or shooting
horrible sparks from their eyes; {11:20} whereby, not only
wounds would be able to destroy them, but also the very sight
would kill them through fear. {11:21} Yet, even without
these, they could have been killed with one breath, suffering
persecution of their own making and being scattered by your
spirit of virtue; but you have ordered all things in size and
number and weight. {11:22} Though many are strong, you
alone always overcome. And who will withstand the strength
of your arm? {11:23} For, like a tiny grain on a scale, just so
is the world before you, and like a drop dew before dawn,
which descends upon the earth. {11:24} But you are merciful
to all, because you can do all, and you dismiss the sins of
man because of repentance. {11:25} For you love all things
that are, and you hate nothing of the things you have made;
for you would not have created or established anything that
you hated. {11:26} For how could anything endure, except
by your will? Or what, having been called by you not to exist,
would be preserved? {11:27} Yet you spare all things,
because they are yours, O Lord, who loves souls.


[Wisdom 12] {12:1} O how good and gracious, Lord, is your
spirit in all things! {12:2} Therefore, those who wander afield,
you correct, and, as to those who sin, you counsel them and
admonish them, so that, having abandoned malice, they may
believe in you, O Lord. {12:3} For those ancient inhabitants
of your holy land, who you abhorred, {12:4} because they
were doing works hateful to you, through unjust medicines
and sacrifices, {12:5} and the merciless murderers of their
own sons, and the eaters of human entrails, and the
devourers of blood apart from your community sacrament,
{12:6} and the sellers performing the ceremonies of helpless
souls, you willed to destroy by the hands of our parents,
{12:7} so that they might worthily secure the sojourn of the
children of God, in the land which is most beloved by you.
{12:8} Yet, so that you were lenient even to these men, you
sent wasps, forerunners of your army, so that you might
destroy them little by little, {12:9} not because you were
unable to subdue the impious under the just by war or by
cruel beasts, or with a harsh word to exterminate them at
once, {12:10} but, in judging by degrees, you were giving
them a place of repentance, not unaware that their nation is
wicked, and their malice is inherent, and that their thinking
could never be changed. {12:11} For this offspring was
accursed from the beginning. Neither did you, fearing anyone,
give favor to their sins. {12:12} For who will say to you,
“What have you done?” Or who will stand against your
judgment? Or who will come before you as a defender of
unfair men? Or who will accuse you, if the nations perish,
which you have made? {12:13} For neither is there any other
God but you, who has care of all, to whom you would show
that you did not give judgment unjustly. {12:14} Neither will
king or tyrant inquire before you about those whom you
destroyed. {12:15} Therefore, since you are just, you order all
things justly, considering it foreign to your virtue to condemn
him who does not deserve to be punished. {12:16} For your
power is the beginning of justice, and, because you are Lord
of all, you make yourself to be lenient to all. {12:17} For you
reveal power to those who do not believe you to be perfect in
power, and you expose the arrogance of those who do not
know you. {12:18} Yet, you are the master of power, since
you judge with tranquility, and since you administer us with
great reverence; for it is close to you to be used whenever you
will. {12:19} But you have taught your people, through such
works, that they must be just and humane, and you have
made your sons to be of good hope, because in judging you
provide a place for repentance from sins. {12:20} For even if
the enemies of your servants were deserving of death, you
afflicted them with great attentiveness, providing a time and a
place whereby they would be able to be changed from malice;
{12:21} with what diligence, then, have you judged your sons,
whose parents you have given oaths and covenants in good
faith! {12:22} Therefore, while you give us discipline, you
give our enemies a multiplicity of scourges, so that in judging
we may think on your goodness, and when we are judged, we
may hope for mercy. {12:23} Therefore, also to these, who
have lived their lived their life irrationally and unjustly,
through these things that they worshiped, you gave the
greatest torments. {12:24} And, indeed, they wandered for a
long time in the way of error, valuing those things as gods,
which are worthless even among animals, living in foolish
irrational behavior. {12:25} Because of this, you have given a
judgment in derision, as if from foolish children. {12:26} But
those who have not been corrected by mockery and chiding,
have experienced a judgment worthy of God. {12:27} For
among those who were indignant at their sufferings, which
came through those things that they reputed to be gods, when
they saw that they would be destroyed by these same things,
those who formerly refused knowledge of him, now
acknowledged the true God, and, because of this, the end of
their condemnation came upon them.


[Wisdom 13] {13:1} But all men are vain, who are not under
the knowledge of God, and who, from these good things that
are seen, were not able to understand he who is, nor, by
paying attention to the works, did they acknowledge he who
was the artisan. {13:2} Instead, they had considered either
the fire, or the air, or the atmosphere, or the circle of stars, or
the great sea, or the sun and moon, to be the gods that rule
the world. {13:3} If they, being delighted by such sights,
supposed them to be gods, let them know how great the Lord
of them is in splendor. For he who created all things is the
author of beauty. {13:4} Or, if they wondered at their power
and their effects, let them understand by these things, that he
who created them is mightier than they are. {13:5} For, by
the greatness of the creation and its beauty, the creator of
these will be able to be seen discernibly. {13:6} Yet, up to this
point, the complaint about this is lesser. For perhaps they
made a mistake in this, while desiring and seeking to find
God. {13:7} And, indeed, having some familiarity with him
through his works, they search, and they are persuaded,
because the things that they are seeing are good. {13:8} But,
then again, neither can their debt be ignored. {13:9} For, if
they were able to know enough so that they could value the
universe, how is it they did not easily discover the Lord of it?
{13:10} Yet they are unhappy, and their hope is among the
dead, for they have called ‘gods’ the works of the hands of
men, gold and silver, the inventions of skill, and the likeness
of animals, or a useless stone, the work of an ancient hand.
{13:11} Or, it is as if a craftsman, a workman of the forest,
had cut straight wood, and, with his expertise, shaved off all
of its bark, and, with his skill, diligently fashioned a vessel,
practical for use in life, {13:12} and even the remains of his
work were exhausted in the preparation of food; {13:13} and,
from the remainder of this, which has become useful for
nothing, a curved piece of wood and full of knots, he
diligently carves it in his spare time, and, through the
knowledge of his art, forms it and makes it in the image of a
man, {13:14} or something comparable to an animal,
thoroughly rubbing it with red ochre, to make it red with the
color of the pigment, and to cover every imperfection which
is in it; {13:15} and it is as if he made a fitting resting place
for it, even setting it in a wall and fastening it with iron,
{13:16} providing for it, lest it should fall, knowing that it is
unable to help itself, for it is an image and it is in need of help.
{13:17} And then, making an offering, he inquires about his
wealth, and about his sons, and about marriage. And he is
not ashamed to talk to that which has no soul. {13:18} And
for health, indeed, something unhealthy is being prayed to,
and for life, he petitions what is dead, and for help, he calls
upon something helpless, {13:19} and for a good journey, he
entreats that which is unable to walk, and for acquiring, and
for working, and for success in all things, he entreats that
which is useless in all things.


[Wisdom 14] {14:1} Again, another, thinking to sail, and
beginning to make his voyage through the raging waves, calls
upon a piece of wood more fragile than the wood that carries
him. {14:2} For this is what desire has contrived to be
acquired, and the craftsman has formed its understanding.
{14:3} But your providence, O Father, governs, because you
have provided for both a way in the sea and a very reliable
path among the waves, {14:4} revealing that you are able to
save out of all things, even if someone were to go to sea
without skill. {14:5} But, so that the works of your wisdom
might not be empty, therefore, men trust their souls even to a
little piece of wood, and, crossing over the sea by raft, they
are set free. {14:6} But, from the beginning, when the proud
giants were perishing, the hope of the world, fleeing by boat,
gave back to future ages a seed of birth, which was governed
by your hand. {14:7} For blessed is the wood through which
justice is made. {14:8} But, through the hand that makes the
idol, both it, and he who made it, is accursed: he, indeed,
because it has been served by him, and it, because, though it
is fragile, it is called ‘god.’ {14:9} But the impious and his
impiety are similarly offensive to God. {14:10} For that
which is made, together with him who made it, will suffer
torments. {14:11} Because of this, and according to the
idolatries of the nations, there will be no refuge, for the things
created by God have been made into hatred, and into a
temptation to the souls of men, and into a snare for the feet of
the foolish. {14:12} For the beginning of fornication is the
search for idols, and from their invention comes corruption of
life. {14:13} For they neither existed from the beginning, nor
will they exist forever. {14:14} For by the great emptiness of
men they came into the world, and therefore their end is soon
discovered. {14:15} For a father, embittered with the
suffering of grief, made an image of his son, who had been
suddenly taken away from him, and then, he who had died as
a man, now begins to be worshiped as if a god, and so rites
and sacrifices are established among his servants.
{14:16} Then, in the course of time, iniquity gains strength
within this erroneous custom, so that this error has been
observed as if it were a law, and this figment has been
worshiped at the command of tyrants. {14:17} And those,
whom men could not openly honor because they were far off,
a likeness of them was carried from far off, and from it they
made a similar image of the king that they wanted to honor,
so that, by their solicitude, they might worship he who was
absent, just as if he were present. {14:18} Yet, it passes into
their care, and those whom they did not know, they love
because of the excellence of the artist. {14:19} For he,
wishing to please the one who hired him, embellished his art,
so as to fashion a better likeness. {14:20} But the multitude of
men, brought together by the beauty of the work, now
considered him to be a god, whom they had formerly
honored as a man. {14:21} And this was the deception of
human life: that men, serving either their own inclination or
their kings, assigned the unutterable name to stones and
wood. {14:22} And it was not enough for them to go astray
concerning the knowledge of God, but also, while living in a
great war of ignorance, they call so many and such great evils
‘peace.’ {14:23} For either they sacrifice their own sons, or
they make dark sacrifices, or they hold vigils full of madness,
{14:24} so that now they neither protect life, nor preserve a
clean marriage, but one kills another through envy, or grieves
him by adultery. {14:25} And all things are mixed together:
blood, murder, theft and fraud, corruption and infidelity,
disturbances and perjury, disorder within good things,
{14:26} forgetfulness of God, pollution of souls, alteration of
procreation, inconstancy of marriage, unnatural adultery and
homosexuality. {14:27} For the worship of unspeakable idols
is the cause, and the beginning and the end, of all evil.
{14:28} For they either act with madness while happy, or
they insistently speak wild lies, or they live unjustly, or they
are quick to commit perjury. {14:29} For, while they trust in
idols, which are without a soul, vowing evil, they hope not to
be harmed themselves. {14:30} Therefore, from both sides it
will fittingly happen, because they have thought evil of God,
paying attention to idols, and because they have sworn
unjustly, in guile despising justice. {14:31} For swearing is
not virtue, but sinning always comes around to a punishment
according to the transgression of the unjust.


[Wisdom 15] {15:1} But you, our God, are gracious and true,
patient, and in mercy ordering all things. {15:2} And, indeed,
if we sin, we are yours, knowing your greatness; and, if we do
not sin, we know that we are counted with you. {15:3} For to
have known you is perfect justice, and to know justice and
your virtue is the root of immortality. {15:4} For the skillful
planning of evil men has not led us into error, nor the shadow
of a picture, a fruitless labor, an image having been sculpted
through the use of diverse colors, {15:5} the sight of which
gives desire to the foolish, and he loves the likeness of a
lifeless image without a soul. {15:6} Deserving are the lovers
of evil, those who hope in such things, and those who make
them, and those who love them, and those who promote
them. {15:7} But even the potter, pressing laboriously, molds
the soft earth into vessels, each one for our use. And from the
same clay he molds vessels, those which are for clean use,
and similarly, those which are for the opposite. But, as to
what is the use of a vessel, the potter is the judge. {15:8} And
with effort he molds an empty god of the same clay, he who a
little before had been made from the earth, and, after brief
time, he himself returns from whence he came, to be claimed
by he who holds the debt of his soul. {15:9} Yet his concern
is, not what his work will be, nor that his life is short, but that
he is being contested by those who work with gold and silver,
yet he also does the same to those who work with copper,
and he glories that he makes worthless things. {15:10} For
his heart is ashes, and his hope is worthless dirt, and his life is
more common than clay, {15:11} because he ignores the One
who molded him, and who instilled in him a working soul,
and who breathed into him a living spirit. {15:12} Yet they
even considered our life to be a plaything, and the usefulness
of life to be the accumulation of wealth, and that we must be
acquiring things in every possible way, even from evil.
{15:13} For, above all else, he knows himself to be lacking,
who, from fragile material of the earth forms vessels and
graven images. {15:14} For all the foolish and unhappy, in
charge of the way of the arrogant soul, are enemies of your
people and rule over them, {15:15} because they have
esteemed all the idols of the nations as gods, which neither
have the use of eyes to see, nor noses to draw breath, nor ears
to hear, nor the fingers of hands to grasp, and even their feet
are slow to walk. {15:16} For man made them, and he who
borrowed his own breath, formed them. For no man will be
able to form God in the likeness of himself. {15:17} For,
being mortal, he forms a dead thing with his unjust hands.
Yet, he is better than those things that he worships, because
he indeed has lived, though he is mortal, but they never have.
{15:18} Moreover, they worship the most miserable animals,
for, to make a foolish comparison, these others are worse.
{15:19} But not even from their appearance can anyone
discern anything good in these animals. Yet they have fled
from the praise of God, and from his blessing.


[Wisdom 16] {16:1} Because of this, and by means of things
similar to these, they were allowed to endure fitting torments,
and they were exterminated by a multitude of beasts.
{16:2} Instead of these torments, you administered your
people kindly, giving them a desire for a new taste from your
delights, and preparing quails for their food, {16:3} so that,
even those desiring food, because of those things which were
sent and revealed to them, were now turned away from a
necessary desire. Yet these, after a brief time, having become
weak, tasted a new food. {16:4} For it was necessary, though
they are without excuse, for them to unexpectedly come upon
the ruin of exercising tyranny, yet this was as if to show them
how their enemies were being exterminated. {16:5} And so,
when fierce beasts overcame them in anger, they were
exterminated by the bites of perverse snakes. {16:6} But your
anger did not continue forever, though they were troubled for
a short time for their correction, they have a sign of salvation
as a remembrance of the commandment of your law.
{16:7} For he who turned to it was not healed by what he
saw, but by you, the Savior of all. {16:8} Yet in this you
revealed to our enemies that you are he who delivers from all
evil. {16:9} For they were killed by the biting of locusts and
flies, and there was found no remedy for their life, because
they deserved to be destroyed by such things. {16:10} But not
even the teeth of venomous serpents conquered your sons, for
your mercy came to them and healed them. {16:11} For, in
remembrance of your words, they were examined and were
quickly saved, for forgetfulness is not engraved into your altar
so that they would be unable to obtain your help.
{16:12} And, indeed, neither an herb, nor a poultice, healed
them, but your word, O Lord, which heals all. {16:13} For it
is you, O Lord, who holds the power of life and death; you
both lead to the threshold of death and you restore.
{16:14} Yet man, indeed, kills his own soul through malice,
and when his spirit goes forth, it will not be returned, nor will
he call back his soul when it has been received. {16:15} But it
is impossible to escape your hand. {16:16} For the impious,
having refused to know you, have been scourged by the
strength of your arm, enduring persecution by unusual waters,
and by hailstorms, and by rain storms, and being consumed
by fire. {16:17} For there was something extraordinary in
water, which extinguishes all things; it has prevailed more
than fire; for the world is the defender of the just.
{16:18} Indeed, at a certain time, the fire was subdued, so as
not to burn away the animals, which were sent against the
impious; and so that, in seeing this, they might know that
they are suffering persecution by the judgment of God.
{16:19} And, at another time, fire burned, beyond its own
power, in the midst of water, and it flared up from all around,
so as to destroy the nations of an unjust land. {16:20} Instead
of these things, you nourished your people with the food of
angels, and, having prepared bread from heaven, you served
them without labor that which holds within itself every
delight and the sweetness of every flavor. {16:21} For your
nature showed your sweetness, which you hold within your
sons, and serving the will of each one, it was converted to
what each one preferred. {16:22} But snow and ice held back
the strength of fire, and did not melt, so that they might know
that fire, burning in the hail and flashing in the rain,
destroyed the fruits of the enemies. {16:23} Yet it was also
the case, so that the just might be nourished, that fire had
even been deprived of its own power. {16:24} For the
creature serving you, the Creator, grows red hot in the midst
of the conflict against the unjust, and yet it subsides for the
benefit of those who trust in you. {16:25} Because of this,
and at that time, having been transfigured in all things, your
grace was diligently serving as the nursemaid of all things,
according to the will of those who long for you, {16:26} so
that your sons, whom you loved, O Lord, might know that it
is not the fruits of nature which feed men, but your word,
which preserves those who believe in you. {16:27} For that
which could not be destroyed by fire, was immediately
melted when warmed by a few rays of the sun, {16:28} so
that it might be clear to all that it is right to come before the
sun to bless you, and to adore you at the dawning of the light.
{16:29} For the hope of the ungrateful will melt away like the
winter’s ice and will disperse like overflowing water.


[Wisdom 17] {17:1} For your judgments, O Lord, are great,
and your words are indescribable. Therefore, undisciplined
souls have wandered astray. {17:2} For, while they managed
to convince the unjust, so as to obtain dominion over the
holy nation, they themselves were fettered with chains of
darkness and of endless night, enclosed in their houses,
fugitives of everlasting providence, lying in ruins. {17:3} And,
while they thought to escape notice in their secret sins, they
were scattered under a dark veil of oblivion, being horribly
afraid, and having been disturbed with great astonishment.
{17:4} For neither did the cave which enclosed them preserve
them from fear, because descending noises disturbed them,
and the sorrowful persons appearing to them intensified their
fear. {17:5} And, indeed, even fire had no strength to provide
them light, nor could the clear flames of the stars illuminate
that horrible night. {17:6} Yet there appeared to them a
sudden fire, filled with fear; and, having been struck with the
fear of that face which is unseen, they considered those things
which they did see to be worse, {17:7} and, having been
ridiculed, the illusions were removed from their arts along
with their contemptuous rebuke of glorious wisdom.
{17:8} Indeed, those who promised to drive away fears and
disturbances from a languishing soul, though they were filled
with derision, were themselves languishing in fear.
{17:9} And, even if nothing unnatural disturbed them, yet
being agitated by the passing of animals and the hissing of
snakes, they died of fear, denying what they themselves saw
even in the air, which no one thinks to be able to escape.
{17:10} For, while there may be apprehension with
wickedness, it gives testimony to condemnation, for a
troubled conscience always forecasts harshness. {17:11} For
fear is nothing else but unfaithfulness to thinking helpful
things. {17:12} And, while expectation is driven from within,
the cause of this is supposing that one is great in knowledge,
and as a result, conflict excels. {17:13} Yet those who were
truly powerless that night, being overcome by both the vilest
and the deepest hell, were sleeping the same sleep,
{17:14} sometimes stirred up by the fear of unnatural things,
other times sinking down in disgrace of soul, for a sudden
and unexpected fear overcame them. {17:15} Then, if any
among them had fallen away, he was kept in a prison without
bars which had been left open. {17:16} For if a farmer, or a
shepherd, or a worker in a field of labor were suddenly
overcome, he endured an inescapable necessity. {17:17} For
they were all bound together with one chain of darkness. Or
if there were a whistling wind, or the sweet sound of birds
among the thick tree branches, or the force of water rushing
excessively, {17:18} or the strong noise of rocks crashing
down, or the scattering of playful animals having been seen,
or the strong voice of bellowing beasts, or the resounding of
the highest mountain echo, these things made them sink
down because of fear. {17:19} For the whole world was
enlightened with a clear light, and none were being hindered
in their labors. {17:20} But then, the heavy night was placed
over the sun for them, an image of that darkness which was
about to overcome them. Yet they were more grievous to
themselves than was the darkness.


[Wisdom 18] {18:1} But your saints were your greatest light,
and they heard your voice, but did not see your form. And
because they themselves did not also suffer the same things,
they praised you greatly. {18:2} And those who were
wounded before, gave thanks, because they were no longer
being wounded, and because they had petitioned for this gift,
that there would be this difference. {18:3} Because of this,
they had a burning column of fire as a guide on the unknown
way, and you displayed a harmless sun of a good hospitality.
{18:4} The others, indeed, deserved to be deprived of the
light and to endure a prison of darkness, who watched for an
opportunity to imprison your sons, by whom the
incorruptible light of the law was beginning to be given to
future generations. {18:5} When they thought to kill the
babes of the just, one son having been exposed and set free, to
their disgrace, you took away a multitude of their sons and
destroyed them all together in a mighty water. {18:6} For
that night was known beforehand by our fathers, so that,
knowing the truth of the oaths in which they had trusted,
they might be more peaceful in their souls. {18:7} Yet your
people received not only the salvation of the just, but also the
destruction of the unjust. {18:8} For just as you wounded our
adversaries, so also did you greatly esteem calling us forth.
{18:9} For the just children of goodness were secretly offering
sacrifice, and in agreement they administered the law of
justice, so that both good and bad would be able to receive
justice, and so that you might now approve of their chanting
to the father. {18:10} On the other hand, a dissimilar voice
was resounding from the enemies, and a lamentable wailing
was heard for the children who were being cried over.
{18:11} But the same punishment afflicted the servant with
the master, and the common man endured the same as the
king. {18:12} Therefore, all were the same, with one name
for death, and the dead were innumerable. For neither were
the living sufficient to bury the dead, because, with a single
effort, their most illustrious nation was exterminated.
{18:13} For they would not believe anything because of the
drugs; then truly, at the beginning, when the extermination of
the firstborn happened, they pledged the people to belong to
God. {18:14} For, when a quiet silence surrounded all things,
and when the course of the night was passing the middle of
its journey, {18:15} your almighty word from heaven leapt
down from your royal throne, as a fierce warrior in the midst
of the land of extermination, {18:16} as a sharp sword
carrying your unfeigned authority, and standing, filled all
things with death, and, standing on the earth, reached all the
way up to touch heaven. {18:17} Then, incessant visions of
nightmares disturbed them, and unexpected fears overcame
them. {18:18} And another was thrown down elsewhere half-
alive; and so, by means of that which was dying, the cause of
death was revealed. {18:19} For the visions that disturbed
them had forewarned of these things, lest they should perish
and not know why they suffered these evils. {18:20} Yet, at
that time, the trial of death touched even the just, and there
was a disturbance of the multitude in the wilderness, but your
wrath did not continue for long. {18:21} For a blameless man,
prospering, is to be entreated for your people, bringing forth
the shield of your service, through prayer and incense,
making prayerful supplication, he withstands anger, and so
establishes an end to the necessary difficulty, revealing that
he is your servant. {18:22} Yet he outlasted the disturbance,
not by virtue of the body, nor by force of arms, but, with a
word, he subdued those who were troubling him,
commemorating the oaths and covenant of the parents.
{18:23} For when they were now fallen down dead by heaps
one upon another, he stood between them and cut off their
attack, and he divided those who controlled the path to the
living. {18:24} For, within the garment of shame which he
held, the world was all together, and the great deeds of the
parents were engraved on four orders of stones, and your
majesty was engraved on the crown of his head. {18:25} Yet
he who was exterminating yielded even to those he frightened.
For one trial of wrath was sufficient.


[Wisdom 19] {19:1} But the impious, all the way to the very
end, were overcome by anger without mercy. Indeed, he
knew beforehand even their future. {19:2} Yet, seeing that
they might have repented, so that they would be led by him
and be sent forth with great concern, the just sought the
impious, while regretting their deeds. {19:3} For, while the
just were still holding grief in their hands and weeping at the
tombs of the dead, these others took upon themselves another
senseless thought, and they cast out the legislators and
pursued them as if they were fugitives. {19:4} For a fitting
necessity was leading them to this end, and they were losing
the remembrance of those things which had happened, so
that what was lacking in the sufferings of the conflict might
be completed by the punishment, {19:5} and so that your
people, indeed, might wonderfully pass through, but these
others might find a new death. {19:6} For every creature
according to its kind was fashioned again as from the
beginning, diligently serving your teachings, so that your
children would be preserved unharmed. {19:7} For a cloud
overshadowed their camp, and where water was before, dry
land appeared, and in the Red Sea, a way without hindrance,
and out of the great deep, a level field sprung up,
{19:8} through which the whole nation passed, protected by
your hand, seeing your miracles and wonders. {19:9} For
they consumed food like horses, and they leapt about like
lambs, praising you, O Lord, who had freed them.
{19:10} For they were still mindful of those things which had
happened during the time of their sojourn, how, instead cattle,
the earth brought forth flies, and instead of fish, the river cast
up a multitude of frogs. {19:11} And, lastly, they saw a new
kind of bird, when, being led by their desire, they demanded
a feast of meat. {19:12} For, to console their loss, the quail
came up to them from the sea, and yet troubles overcame the
sinners, though they were not without the evidence of what
had happened before by the power of lightning, for they
suffered justly according to their own wickedness.
{19:13} And indeed, they set up a more detestable
inhospitality. Certainly, some have refused to receive
unknown foreigners, but these others were drafting good
guests into servitude, {19:14} and not only foreigners, but
also those who had been under their care, because they were
reluctantly sheltering the outsiders. {19:15} Yet whoever had
sheltered them with gladness, by making use of the very same
justice, they afflicted with the most severe sorrow.
{19:16} Yet they were struck with blindness, like someone
brought before the gates of justice, so that they were suddenly
covered with darkness, and each one was left searching for
the threshold of his front door. {19:17} For the elements in
themselves are in the process of being changed, just as when
the sound of a musical instrument is being altered in quality,
yet each one keeps its own sound, from where it is considered
to be and according to its fixed appearance. {19:18} For the
countryside was transformed by water, and things which
were swimming, crossed over the land. {19:19} Fire prevailed
in the midst of water, beyond its own power, and the water
forgot its quenching nature. {19:20} On the other hand, the
flames did not trouble the bodies of the mortal animals
walking around, nor did they melt that good food, which is as
easily melted as ice. For in all things, O Lord, you magnified
your people, and honored them, and did not despise them,
but at every time and in every place, you assisted them.


** The Book of Ecclesiasticus **
The Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirach


[Sirach Prologue] {P:1} The wisdom of many great things
has been revealed to us through the law, and the prophets,
and the other books that followed these. Concerning these
things, Israel ought to be praised, because of doctrine and
wisdom. For it is necessary, not only for those who are
speaking, but even for outsiders, to be skillful, both in
speaking and in writing, so as to become very learned.
{P:2} My grandfather Jesus, after he gave himself fully to a
diligent reading of the law, and the prophets, and the other
books that were handed down to us by our ancestors, also
wanted to write something himself, about the things that
pertain to doctrine and wisdom, so that those who desire to
learn and to become skillful in these things would be more
and more attentive in mind, and would be strengthened to
live according to the law. {P:3} And so, I exhort you to
approach with benevolence, and to perform the reading with
attentive study, and to be forbearing in these things when we
may seem, while pursuing the image of wisdom, to fall short
in the composition of words. {P:4} For the Hebrew words are
deficient when they have been translated into another
language. {P:5} And not only these words, but also the law
itself, and the prophets, and the remainder of the books, have
no small difference from when they have been spoken in their
own language. {P:6} For in the time of king Ptolemy
Euergetes, in the thirty-eighth year after I had arrived in
Egypt, after I had been there for a long time, I found, left
behind there, books with a doctrine neither small nor
contemptible. {P:7} And so I considered it to be both good
and necessary for me to apply some significant diligence and
labor in order to translate this book. {P:8} Then, after much
attentiveness to doctrine over a length of time, I brought to a
close the things being considered, so as to offer this book for
those who are willing to apply their mind and to learn how
they ought to conduct their way of life, {P:9} for those who
have decided to form their life in accord with the law of the
Lord.


[Sirach 1] {1:1} All wisdom is from the Lord God, and has
always been with him, and is before all time. {1:2} Who has
numbered the sand of the sea, and the drops of the rain, and
the days of the world? Who has measured the height of
heaven, and the breadth of the earth, and the depth of the
abyss? {1:3} Who has examined the wisdom of God, which
precedes all things? {1:4} Wisdom was created before all
things, and the understanding of prudence is before all time.
{1:5} The Word of God on high is the source of wisdom,
whose steps are eternal commandments. {1:6} To whom has
the root of wisdom been revealed, and who has recognized
her astuteness? {1:7} To whom has the discipline of wisdom
been revealed and made manifest? And who has understood
the multiplicity of her steps? {1:8} The most high omnipotent
Creator is One, and he is the mighty King, and he is
exceedingly to be feared, sitting upon his throne, and he is the
sovereign God. {1:9} He created wisdom through the Holy
Spirit, and he saw her, and numbered her, and measured her.
{1:10} And he poured her over all his works, and over all
flesh, to the extent of his favor, and he has offered her to
those who love him. {1:11} The fear of the Lord is glory, and
honor, and rejoicing, and a crown of exultation. {1:12} The
fear of the Lord will delight the heart, and will give joy and
gladness and length of days. {1:13} It will be well, in the very
end, for him who fears the Lord, and on the day that he
passes away, he will be blessed. {1:14} The love of God is
honorable wisdom. {1:15} And those to whom she will
appear for their consideration love her because of what they
see and know of her great works. {1:16} The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom, and was created with the faithful
in the womb, and walks with elect women, and is known by
the just and the faithful. {1:17} The fear of the Lord is the
sanctity of knowledge. {1:18} Sanctity will guard and justify
the heart, and will bestow happiness and joy. {1:19} It will be
well with him who fears the Lord, and at the consummation
of his days, he will be blessed. {1:20} To fear God is the
fullness of wisdom, and it is a fullness from its fruits.
{1:21} She will fill her entire house from her offspring, and
storehouses from her treasures. {1:22} The fear of the Lord is
the crown of wisdom, the completion of peace, and the fruit
of salvation. {1:23} And the fear of the Lord has seen and
numbered wisdom; but both are gifts of God. {1:24} Wisdom
will distribute knowledge and an understanding of prudence;
and she lifts up the glory of those who hold to her.
{1:25} The root of wisdom is to fear the Lord, and its
branches are long-lived. {1:26} In the treasures of wisdom is
understanding and the sanctity of knowledge. But to sinners,
wisdom is an abomination. {1:27} The fear of the Lord
expels sin. {1:28} For he who is without fear is not able to be
justified. For the disposition of his spirit is his undoing.
{1:29} Those who are patient will suffer for a brief time, and
afterwards, happiness will return. {1:30} A noble mind will
hide his words for a brief time, and then the lips of many will
declare his understanding. {1:31} Among the treasures of
wisdom is the outward sign of discipline. {1:32} But to those
who sin, the worship of God is an abomination. {1:33} Son,
if you desire wisdom, observe justice, and then God will offer
her to you. {1:34} For the fear of the Lord is wisdom and
discipline. {1:35} And what pleases him is faith and
meekness. And so shall he complete his treasures. {1:36} You
should not be incredulous to the fear of the Lord. And you
should not draw close to him with a duplicitous heart.
{1:37} You should not be a hypocrite in the sight of men.
And you should not scandalize with your lips. {1:38} Attend
to these things, otherwise you may fall and bring dishonor to
your soul. {1:39} And then God may uncover your secrets,
and he may cast you down forcefully in the midst of the
congregation. {1:40} For you drew near to the Lord wickedly,
and your heart was filled with deceit and falseness.


[Sirach 2] {2:1} Son, when you apply yourself to the service
of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare your soul for
temptation. {2:2} Humble your heart, and persevere. Incline
your ear, and accept words of understanding. And you
should not hurry away in the time of distress. {2:3} Endure
steadfastly for God. Join yourself to God, and persevere, so
that your life may increase in the very end. {2:4} Accept
everything that will happened to you, and persevere in your
sorrow, and have patience in your humiliation. {2:5} For
gold and silver are tested in fire, yet truly, acceptable men are
tested in the furnace of humiliation. {2:6} Believe God, and
he will restore you to health. And straighten your way, and
hope in him. Observe his fear, and grow old in it. {2:7} You
who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy. And do not turn away
from him, lest you fall. {2:8} You who fear the Lord, believe
in him. And your reward will not be taken away. {2:9} You
who fear the Lord, hope in him. And mercy will approach
you, to your delight. {2:10} You who fear the Lord, love him.
And your hearts will be illuminated. {2:11} My sons,
consider the nations of men, and know that not one of them
hoped in the Lord and was confounded. {2:12} For who has
remained in his commandment and been abandoned? Or
who has called upon him, and yet he despised him?
{2:13} For God is upright and merciful, and he will forgive
sins in the day of tribulation. And he is the Protector to all
those who seek him in truth. {2:14} Woe to the duplicitous
heart, and to the wicked lips, and to the hands that do evil,
and to the sinner who walks the earth by two ways!
{2:15} Woe to the dissolute in heart, who do not trust God!
For, as a result, they will not be protected by him.
{2:16} Woe to those who have lost endurance, and who have
abandoned upright ways, and who have turned aside to
depraved ways! {2:17} And what will they do when the Lord
begins to examine them? {2:18} Those who fear the Lord will
not be unbelieving toward his Word. And those who love
him will keep to his way. {2:19} Those who fear the Lord
will seek the things that are well-pleasing to him. And those
who love him will be filled with his law. {2:20} Those who
fear the Lord will prepare their hearts, and they will sanctify
their souls in his sight. {2:21} Those who fear the Lord keep
his commandments, and they will have patience even until
his examination, {2:22} saying: “If we do not do penance,
then we will fall into the hands of the Lord, and not into the
hands of men.” {2:23} For according to his greatness, so also
is his mercy with him.


[Sirach 3] {3:1} The sons of wisdom are the Church of the
just: and their generation is obedience and love. {3:2} Sons,
listen to the judgment of your father, and act accordingly, so
that you may be saved. {3:3} For God has honored the father
in the sons, and, when seeking the judgment of the mother,
he has confirmed it in the children. {3:4} He who loves God
will plead with him on behalf of sins, and will keep himself
away from sin, and will be heeded in the prayers of his days.
{3:5} And, like one who stores up treasure, so also is he who
honors his mother. {3:6} He who honors his father will find
happiness in his own children, and he will be heeded in the
day of his prayer. {3:7} He who honors his father will live a
long life. And he who obeys his father will be a refreshment
to his mother. {3:8} He who fears the Lord honors his
parents, and he will serve them as masters, for it is they who
conceived him. {3:9} In word and deed, and in all things,
honor your father with patience, {3:10} so that a blessing
may come to you from him, and so that his blessing may
remain to the very end. {3:11} The blessing of the father
strengthens the houses of the sons; but the curse of the
mother uproots even its foundation. {3:12} Do not boast in
the disgrace of your father; for his shame is not your glory.
{3:13} For the glory of a man is from the honor of his father,
and a father without honor is a discredit to the son.
{3:14} Son, support your father in his old age, and do not
grieve him in his life. {3:15} And if his mind should fail,
show kindness; and do not spurn him when you are in your
strength. For almsgiving to the father will never be forgotten.
{3:16} For even in return for the sin of the mother, good will
be repaid to you. {3:17} And you will be built up in justice,
and you will be remembered in the day of tribulation. And
your sins will dissolve like ice in warm weather. {3:18} What
an evil form has he who forsakes his father! And whoever
exasperates his mother is accursed by God. {3:19} Son,
perform your works in meekness, and you shall be loved
beyond the glory of men. {3:20} However great you may be,
humble yourself in all things, and you will find grace in the
presence of God. {3:21} For only the power of God is great,
and he is honored by the humble. {3:22} You should not seek
the things that are too high for you, and you should not
examine the things that are beyond your ability. But as for
the things that God has entrusted to you, consider these
always. But you should not be curious in too many of his
works. {3:23} For it is not necessary for you to see with your
own eyes the things that are hidden. {3:24} In unnecessary
matters, do not choose to be an examiner of many different
things, and you should not be curious about too many of his
works. {3:25} For many things have been revealed to you,
beyond the understanding of men. {3:26} Yet uncertainty in
these things has also undermined many persons and has
detained their minds in vanity. {3:27} A hardened heart will
have evil in the very end, and he who loves peril will perish in
it. {3:28} A heart advancing in two directions will not have
success, and the depraved heart will be scandalized in this
way. {3:29} A wicked heart will be burdened with sorrows,
and a sinner will add further sins. {3:30} The synagogue of
the arrogant will not be healed. For the stalk of sinfulness will
take root in them, and it will not be understood. {3:31} The
heart of the wise is understood by wisdom, and a good ear
will listen to wisdom with all its desire. {3:32} A wise and
understanding heart will abstain from sins, and will have
success in works of justice. {3:33} Water extinguishes a
burning fire, and almsgiving withstands sins. {3:34} And
God is the watchman for him who repays a kindness. He
remembers him afterwards, and in the time of his fall, he will
find a firm support.


[Sirach 4] {4:1} Son, you should not cheat the poor out of
alms, nor should you avert your eyes from a poor man.
{4:2} You should not despise the hungry soul, and you
should not aggravate a poor man in his need. {4:3} You
should not afflict the heart of the needy, and you should not
delay an offer to someone in anguish. {4:4} You should not
make requests of one who is greatly troubled, and you should
not avert your face from the indigent. {4:5} You should not
avert your eyes from the needy out of anger. And you should
not abandon those who seek help from you, so that they
speak curses behind your back. {4:6} For the pleadings of
him who speaks curses of you, in the bitterness of his soul,
will be heeded. For the One who made him will heed him.
{4:7} Make yourself a friend to the congregation of the poor,
and humble your soul before an elder, and humble your head
before the great. {4:8} Turn your ear without sadness toward
the poor, and repay your debt, and respond to him peacefully
in meekness. {4:9} Free him who suffers injury at the hand of
the arrogant, and do not carry animosity in your soul.
{4:10} In judging, be merciful to the orphan, like a father,
and be merciful to their mother, like a husband. {4:11} And
then you shall be like an obedient son of the Most High, and
he will take pity on you more than a mother would.
{4:12} Wisdom breathes life into her sons, and she lifts up
those who are seeking her, and she will precede them in the
way of justice. {4:13} And he who loves her loves life. And
those who watch for her shall embrace her delights.
{4:14} Those who hold to her will inherit life. And whatever
place she enters, God will bless. {4:15} Those who serve her
will yield to what is holy. And God loves those who love
wisdom. {4:16} He who listens to her shall judge the nations.
And he who gazes upon her will remain secure. {4:17} If he
believes in her, he will inherit her, and whatever arises from
him will be confirmed. {4:18} For she walks with him
through temptation, and she chooses him from the beginning.
{4:19} She will lead fear and dread and trials over him, and
she will crucify him with the tribulation of her doctrine, until
she has tested him in his thoughts and she can trust in his
soul. {4:20} And then she will strengthen him, and lead him
along a straight path, and rejoice in him. {4:21} And she will
disclose her secrets to him, and she will store up treasure, of
the knowledge and understanding of justice, in him.
{4:22} But if he has wandered astray, she will leave him
behind, and she will deliver him into the hands of his enemy.
{4:23} Son, be continually observant, and keep away from
evil. {4:24} For the sake of your soul, you should not be
ashamed to speak the truth. {4:25} For there is a shame that
brings sin, and there is a shame that brings glory and grace.
{4:26} You should not accept a face contrary to your own
face, nor should you accept a lie contrary to your own soul.
{4:27} You should not enjoy the fall of your neighbor.
{4:28} Neither should you withhold words at an opportunity
for salvation. You should not conceal your wisdom in her
beauty. {4:29} For wisdom is discerned within speech. And
understanding and knowledge and doctrine are discerned in
the words of those who understand and by their steadfastness
in the works of justice. {4:30} You should not contradict a
word of truth in any way. Otherwise, by a falsehood born of
ignorance, you will be confounded. {4:31} You should not be
ashamed to confess your sins, but do not subject yourself to
any man because of sin. {4:32} Do not choose to stand
against the face of the powerful, for you should not strive
against the current of the river. {4:33} Suffer for justice, on
behalf of your soul, and struggle, even unto death, on behalf
of justice, and God will fight against your enemies on your
behalf. {4:34} Do not choose to be quick with your words,
nor unproductive or neglectful in your works. {4:35} Do not
choose to be like a lion in your house, distressing those of
your household, and oppressing those who are subject to you.
{4:36} Do not let your hand be open when receiving, but
closed when giving.


[Sirach 5] {5:1} Do not choose to seek iniquitous possessions,
and you should not say: “I have all I need in life.” For it will
be of no benefit to you in the time of retribution and darkness.
{5:2} You should not pursue, in your strength, the desires of
your heart. {5:3} And you should not say: “How powerful
am I?” or, “Who will cast me down because of my deeds?”
For God will vindicate with vengeance. {5:4} You should not
say, “I sinned, and what grief has befallen me?” For the Most
High is a patient recompensor. {5:5} Do not be willing to be
without fear concerning a forgiven sin, and you should not
add sin upon sin. {5:6} And you should not say: “The
compassion of the Lord is great; he will take pity on the
multitude of my sins.” {5:7} For both mercy and wrath go
forth quickly from him, and his wrath sets its gaze upon
sinners. {5:8} You should not delay being converted to the
Lord, and you should not set it aside from day to day.
{5:9} For his wrath will approach suddenly, and in the time
of vindication, he will destroy you. {5:10} Do not choose to
be anxious for unjust wealth. For these things will not benefit
you in the day of darkness and retribution. {5:11} You
should not winnow in every wind, and you should not go
forth into every path. For so is every sinner proven by his
duplicitous tongue. {5:12} Be steadfast in the way of the Lord
and in the truth of your understanding and knowledge, and
let words of peace and justice overtake you. {5:13} Be meek
when listening to a word, so that you may understand. And
offer a true response in wisdom. {5:14} If you understand,
then answer your neighbor. But if you do not, then let your
hand be over your mouth, so that you are not caught by an
inept word, and then confounded. {5:15} Honor and glory
are in the words of those who understand, yet truly, the
tongue of the imprudent man is his undoing. {5:16} You
should not be called a whisperer, and you should not be
caught by your own tongue, and then confounded.
{5:17} For confusion and remorse is upon a thief, and a
wicked mark is upon the double-tongued; but for the
whisperer, there is hatred and animosity and disgrace.
{5:18} Justify the small and the great similarly.


[Sirach 6] {6:1} Do not be willing to become an enemy
instead of a friend to your neighbor. For an evil man will
inherit reproach and disgrace, as will every sinner who is
envious and double-tongued. {6:2} You should not extol
yourself, like a bull, in the thoughts of your soul, lest perhaps
your strength may be cast down through foolishness,
{6:3} which would consume your leaves, and destroy your
fruit, and leave you behind like a dry tree in the desert.
{6:4} For a wicked soul will destroy the one who has it. For
it gladly provides enemies to him, and it will lead him to the
fate of the impious. {6:5} A sweet word multiplies friends
and mitigates enemies. And thankful words abound in a good
man. {6:6} Allow many to be at peace with you, but allow
one out of a thousand to be your counselor. {6:7} If you
would obtain a friend, test him before you accept him, and do
not trust him readily. {6:8} For there is a friend according to
his own time, but he will not remain in the day of tribulation.
{6:9} And there is a friend who can be turned to animosity.
And there is a friend who will reveal hatred and ridicule and
insults. {6:10} And there is a friend who is a companion at
table, but he will not remain in a day of need. {6:11} A friend,
if he remains steadfast, will be to you as you are to yourself,
and he will act with faithfulness among those of your
household. {6:12} If he humbles himself before you and
hides himself from your face, you shall have a noble and
harmonious friendship. {6:13} Distance yourself from your
enemies, and pay attention to your friends. {6:14} A faithful
friend is a strong shelter, and whoever has found one has
found a treasure. {6:15} Nothing is comparable to a faithful
friend, and no weight of silver or gold is worth more than the
goodness of his fidelity. {6:16} A faithful friend is a medicine
for life and immortality; and those who fear the Lord will
find one. {6:17} He who fears God will have a similar good
friendship, because his friend will be like him. {6:18} Son,
from your youth receive instruction, and then you will find
wisdom, even to your grey hairs. {6:19} Approach wisdom
like one who plows and sows, and then wait for her good
fruits. {6:20} For in doing her work, you will labor a little,
but you will soon eat from her produce. {6:21} How
exceedingly harsh is wisdom to unlearned men! And so, the
witless will not remain with her. {6:22} She will be to them
like a great stone of trial, and they will cast her away from
them without delay. {6:23} For the wisdom of doctrine is in
accord with her name, and she is not manifest to many. But
she continues with those by whom she is recognized, even in
the sight of God. {6:24} Listen, son, and accept an
understanding counsel, for you should not discard my advice.
{6:25} Set your feet in her fetters and your neck in her chains.
{6:26} Incline your shoulder, and carry her, for you will not
be grieved by her bindings. {6:27} Approach her with all your
soul, and serve her ways with all your strength.
{6:28} Examine her, and she will be revealed to you, and
when you have obtained her, you should not abandon her.
{6:29} For, in the very end, you will find rest in her, and she
will turn into your delight. {6:30} Then her fetters will be a
strong protection and a firm foundation for you, and her
chains will be a robe of glory. {6:31} For in her is the beauty
of life, and her bindings are a healing bandage. {6:32} You
will be clothed with her as with a robe of glory, and you will
set her upon your head like a crown of rejoicing. {6:33} Son,
if you heed me, you will learn. And if you adapt your mind,
you will be wise. {6:34} If you incline your ear, you will
receive doctrine. And if you love to listen, you will be wise.
{6:35} Stand among the multitude of prudent elders, and join
yourself to their wisdom from the heart, so that you may be
able to hear every discourse about God, and so that the
proverbs of praise may not flee from you. {6:36} And if you
see a man of understanding, stand watch for him, and let
your feet wear down the steps of his doors. {6:37} Set your
thoughts on the precepts of God, and be entirely constant in
his commandments. And he himself will give a heart to you,
and the desire of wisdom will be given to you.


[Sirach 7] {7:1} Do not choose to do evil, and evil will not
take hold of you. {7:2} Withdraw from the iniquitous, and
evil will withdraw from you. {7:3} Son, do not sow evil in
the furrows of injustice, and you will not reap them sevenfold.
{7:4} Do not seek a role of leadership from the Lord, and do
not seek a seat of honor from the king. {7:5} You should not
justify yourself before God, for he is the Knower of hearts.
And by no means should you wish to seem wise before the
king. {7:6} Do not seek to become a judge, unless you have
sufficient strength to shatter iniquities. Otherwise, you might
fear the face of the powerful, and so establish a scandal
within your integrity. {7:7} You should not sin against the
multitude of a city, nor should you cast yourself against the
people. {7:8} And you should not bind two sins together. For
even in one sin, you will not go unpunished. {7:9} Do not be
cowardly in your soul. {7:10} You should not be unwilling to
beg, nor to give alms. {7:11} You should not say: “God will
look with favor on the multitude of my gifts, and when I
make an offering to the most high God, he will accept my
gift.” {7:12} You should not ridicule a man in bitterness of
soul. For there is One who humbles and who exalts: the all-
seeing God. {7:13} Do not love a lie against your brother,
nor should you act the same toward your friend. {7:14} Do
not be willing to devise a lie of any kind. For the practice of
lying is not good. {7:15} Do not choose to be verbose among
a multitude of elders, and you should not repeat the words of
your prayers. {7:16} You should not hate laborious works,
nor the rustic life created by the Most High. {7:17} You
should not consider yourself to be among the multitude of the
undisciplined. {7:18} Remember wrath. For it will not be
delayed. {7:19} Humble your spirit greatly. For the
retribution against the flesh of the impious is with fire and
worms. {7:20} Do not betray your friend for the sake of
money, and you should not spurn your dearest brother for the
sake of gold. {7:21} Do not choose to depart from a good and
understanding wife, whom you have been allotted in the fear
of the Lord. For the grace of her modesty is above gold.
{7:22} You should not harm the servant whose works are
honest, nor the hired hand who entrusts his life to you.
{7:23} Let an understanding servant be loved by you like
your own soul. You should not cheat him out of freedom,
nor abandon him to destitution. {7:24} Are cattle yours?
Tend to them. And if they are useful, let them remain with
you. {7:25} Are sons yours? Instruct them, and bow them
down from their childhood. {7:26} Are daughters yours?
Watch over their bodies. And you should not display a light-
hearted attitude toward them. {7:27} Give your daughter in
marriage, and give her to an understanding man, and you
will be doing a great work. {7:28} If a wife in accord with
your soul is yours, you should not reject her. But do not
entrust yourself to her who is hateful. {7:29} With your
whole heart, honor your father. And you should not forget
the complaints of your mother. {7:30} Remember that you
would not have been born except through them. And so, give
back to them as they also have done for you. {7:31} With all
your soul, fear the Lord, and consider his priests to be holy.
{7:32} With all your strength, love him who made you, and
you should not abandon his ministers. {7:33} Honor God
from your whole soul, and confer honor on the priests, and
continue to purify yourself with your strength. {7:34} Give
them their portion, just as it has been commanded of you,
from the first-fruits and from the purifications. And for your
ignorant offenses, purify yourself with a smaller offering.
{7:35} You should offer to the Lord the gift of your strength,
and the sacrifice of sanctification, and the first-fruits of what
is holy. {7:36} And reach out your hand to the poor, so that
your atonement and your blessing may be perfected.
{7:37} A gift has grace in the sight of all the living, but you
should not prohibit grace for the dead. {7:38} You should not
fail to console those who are weeping, nor to walk with those
who are mourning. {7:39} Do not let yourself be slow to visit
the sick. For in this way, you will be confirmed in love.
{7:40} In all your works, remember your very end, and so
you will not sin, unto eternity.


[Sirach 8] {8:1} You should not quarrel with a powerful man,
lest perhaps you may fall into his hands. {8:2} You should
not contend with a wealthy man, lest perhaps he may bring
an action against you. {8:3} For gold and silver have
destroyed many, and have reached and corrupted even the
hearts of kings. {8:4} You should not quarrel with a man
who is full of words, for you should not cast wood upon his
fire. {8:5} You should not confide in an ignorant man, lest he
speak evil about your family. {8:6} You should not despise a
man who turns himself away from sin, nor reproach him with
it. Remember that we are all subject to correction. {8:7} You
should not spurn a man in his old age. For we are all subject
to growing old. {8:8} Do not be willing to rejoice at the death
of your enemy, knowing that we all die, and that we do not
want others rejoice over us. {8:9} You should not despise the
discourse of those who are old and wise; instead, ponder their
proverbs. {8:10} For from them, you will learn wisdom and
intelligent doctrine, so as to serve great men without blame.
{8:11} Do not allow the discourse of your elders to pass you
by. For they have learned from their fathers. {8:12} And
from them, you will learn understanding, and you will learn
what response to give in a time of necessity. {8:13} You
should not kindle the coals of sinners by arguing with them.
For you might be scorched by the flame from the fire of their
sins. {8:14} You should not stand against the face of a
contemptuous person, otherwise he may sit down as if
waiting in ambush against your words. {8:15} You should
not lend to a man who is stronger than you. But if you do
lend, consider it lost. {8:16} You should not promise beyond
your ability. But if you do promise, consider how to fulfill it.
{8:17} You should not judge against a judge. For he judges
according to what is just. {8:18} You should not go forth on
the way with an audacious man, lest perhaps he may burden
you with his evils. For he goes forth according to his own will,
and you will perish with him in his folly. {8:19} You should
not start a conflict with an angry man, and you should not go
into the desert with an audacious man. For shedding blood is
nothing to him, and in a place where there is no help for you,
he will overthrow you. {8:20} You should not hold counsel
with the foolish. For they are not able to love anything except
what pleases them. {8:21} You should not take counsel in the
sight of an outsider. For you do not know what he will do
next. {8:22} You should not reveal your heart to every man,
lest perhaps he may offer a false kindness to you, and then
speak reproachfully about you.


[Sirach 9] {9:1} You should not be jealous of the wife of your
bosom, lest she reveal, because of you, the malice of a wicked
lesson. {9:2} You should not give authority over your soul to
a woman, lest she obtain your strength, and then you would
be confounded. {9:3} You should not look with favor on a
woman with many desires, lest perhaps you may fall into her
traps. {9:4} You should not be continually in need of
entertainment, nor should you be persuaded by it, lest
perhaps you may perish by its effectiveness. {9:5} You
should not stare at a virgin, lest perhaps you may be
scandalized by her beauty. {9:6} You should not give your
soul, in any way, to fornicators, lest you destroy yourself and
your inheritance. {9:7} Do not choose to look around in the
streets of the city, nor should you wander along its
thoroughfares. {9:8} Avert your face from an ornate woman,
for you should not gaze upon strange beauty. {9:9} Many
have perished because of the beauty of a woman; and by this,
desire is kindled like a fire. {9:10} Every woman who is a
fornicator will be trampled down, like the filth in the street.
{9:11} Many, by admiring the beauty of the wife of another,
have become reprobate. For familiarity with her flares up like
a fire. {9:12} You should not sit down at all with another
man’s wife, nor recline with her on a couch. {9:13} And you
should not argue with her over wine, lest perhaps your heart
may turn toward her, and by your emotion, you would be
toppled into perdition. {9:14} You should not abandon a old
friend. For a new one will not be similar to him. {9:15} A
new friend is like new wine. It will grow old, and then you
will enjoy drinking it. {9:16} You should not envy the glory
and wealth of a sinner. For you do not know what may be his
undoing in the future. {9:17} The injury of the unjust should
not please you, knowing that, until they are in hell, the
impious will not please. {9:18} Keep yourself far from a man
having the power to kill, and then you will not have the fear
of death suspended over you. {9:19} But if you do approach
him, do nothing to offend, lest perhaps he may take away
your life. {9:20} Know that this is a communion with death.
For you would be entering the midst of snares, and walking
upon the arms of the grieving. {9:21} According to your
ability, be cautious of your neighbor, and treat him as the
wise and prudent would. {9:22} Let just men be your
companions, and let your glory be in the fear of God.
{9:23} And let the thought of God be in your mind, and let
all your discourse be on the precepts of the Most High.
{9:24} Works will be praised for the hands of the artists, and
a leader of the people will be praised for the wisdom of his
words, yet truly, the word of the elders will be praised for its
understanding. {9:25} A man full of words is a dread to his
city, but one who speaks rashly will be hated for his word.


[Sirach 10] {10:1} A wise judge will judge his people, and
the leadership of an understanding man will be steadfast.
{10:2} As the judge of the people is, so also are his assistants.
And whatever kind of man the ruler of a city is, of such a
kind also are those who live in it. {10:3} A foolish king will
be the ruin of his people. For cities will be inhabited through
the understanding of those with power. {10:4} Power over
the earth is in the hand of God, and, in due time, he will raise
up a helpful leader over the earth. {10:5} The prosperity of a
man is in the hand of God, and he will place his honor above
the face of the scribe. {10:6} You should forget all injury
done to you by your neighbor, and you should do nothing
among the works of injury. {10:7} Arrogance is hateful in the
sight of God and of men. And all iniquity among the nations
is abominable. {10:8} A kingdom is transferred from one
people to another because of injustices, and injuries, and
contempt, and every kind of deceit. {10:9} But nothing is
more wicked than a greedy man. Why should that which is
earth and ashes be arrogant? {10:10} There is nothing more
iniquitous than to love money. For such a one has sold even
his own soul. For in his life, he casts aside his innermost
being. {10:11} All power is of short life. A prolonged sickness
is of grave concern to a physician. {10:12} A physician
causes a sickness to be shortened. So also, a king is here
today, and tomorrow he will die. {10:13} For when a man
dies, he will inherit serpents, and wild beasts, and worms.
{10:14} The beginning of the arrogance of man is apostasy
from God. {10:15} For his heart has withdrawn from the
One who made him. For arrogance is the beginning of all sin.
Whoever holds to it, will be filled with evil words, and it will
overthrow him in the end. {10:16} Because of this, the Lord
has dishonored the gatherings of the evil, and he has
destroyed them, even unto the end. {10:17} God has
destroyed the seats of arrogant leaders, and he has caused the
meek to be seated in their place. {10:18} The roots of
arrogant nations, God has dried up, and the humble among
these nations, he has planted. {10:19} The Lord has
overthrown the lands of the Gentiles, and he has utterly
destroyed them, even to their foundation. {10:20} He has
dried up some of them, and he has utterly destroyed them,
and he has caused their memory to depart from the earth.
{10:21} God has abolished the memory of the arrogant, and
he has left behind only the memory of those who are humble
in mind. {10:22} Arrogance was not created for men, nor
was an angry temperament created for the gender of women.
{10:23} Those who fear God among the offspring of men will
be honored. But those among the offspring who ignore the
commandments of the Lord will be dishonored. {10:24} In
the midst of his brothers, a ruler has honor. And those who
fear the Lord will have honor in his eyes. {10:25} The fear of
God is the glory of the wealthy, and of the honorable, and of
the poor. {10:26} Do not choose to despise a just man who is
poor, and do not choose to magnify a sinful man who is rich.
{10:27} The great man, and the judge, and the powerful have
honor. But no one is greater than he who fears God.
{10:28} Those who are free will serve an understanding
servant. And a prudent and disciplined man will not murmur
at correction. But an ignorant man will not be honored.
{10:29} Do not choose to extol yourself in doing your work,
and do not be unproductive during the time of distress.
{10:30} He who works, and so abounds in all things, is better
than he who boasts, and so lacks bread. {10:31} Son,
preserve your soul in meekness, and give it honor according
to its merit. {10:32} Who will justify one who sins in his soul?
And who will honor one who dishonors his soul?
{10:33} The poor man is glorified by his discipline and fear.
And there is a man who is honored because of his substance.
{10:34} But if someone is glorified in poverty, how much
more in substance? And whoever is glorified in substance, let
him fear poverty.


[Sirach 11] {11:1} The wisdom of one who is humble will
exalt his head, and will cause him to sit down in the midst of
great men. {11:2} You should not praise a man for his beauty,
and you should not despise a man for his appearances.
{11:3} The bee is small among flying things, but its fruit
holds the summit of sweetness. {11:4} You should not glory
in clothing at any time, and you should not let yourself be
extolled in the day of your honor. For the works of the Most
High alone are wondrous; and glorious and hidden and
unseen are his works. {11:5} Many tyrants have sat upon a
throne, and one whom no one would admire has worn a
diadem. {11:6} Many powerful men have been powerfully
cast down, and the illustrious have been handed over into the
hands of others. {11:7} Before you inquire, you should not
place blame on anyone; and when you have inquired, reprove
justly. {11:8} Before you listen, you should not respond a
word; and you should not interrupt in the middle of a
discourse. {11:9} You should not contend in a matter which
does not concern you, and you should not sit in judgment
together with sinners. {11:10} Son, you should not be
involved in many matters. And if you become rich, you will
not be free from transgression. For if you pursue, you will not
apprehend; and if you run ahead, you will not escape.
{11:11} There is an impious man who labors and hurries and
grieves, but all the more will he be without abundance.
{11:12} There is a debilitated man in need of recovery, who
is lacking in strength and abundant in poverty. {11:13} Yet
the eye of God has looked with favor upon him for his benefit,
and he has lifted him up from his humiliation, and he has
exalted his head. And many have wondered at him, and they
have honored God. {11:14} Good things and misfortune, life
and death, poverty and wealth, are from God.
{11:15} Wisdom, and discipline, and knowledge of the law
are with God. Love and the ways of good things are with him.
{11:16} Error and darkness have been created by sinners.
And those who exult in evil, grow old in evil. {11:17} The
gift of God remains with the just man, and his advancement
will have success unto eternity. {11:18} There is one who is
enriched by spending sparingly, and this is the extent of his
reward. {11:19} About this, he says: “I have found rest for
myself, and now I alone will eat from my goods.”
{11:20} But he does not know how much time will pass
before death approaches, and then he must leave everything
behind to others and die. {11:21} Stand fast in your covenant,
and become familiar with it, and grow old in the work of
your commandments. {11:22} You should not spend time in
the works of sinners. Instead, trust in God and remain in
your own place. {11:23} For it is easy, in the eyes of God, to
make a pauper suddenly rich. {11:24} The blessing of God
hurries to reward the just man, and in a fleeting hour his
advancement bears fruit. {11:25} You should not say: “What
do I need?” or, “What good will there be for me in this?”
{11:26} You should not say: “I have enough for myself,” or,
“What could be worse than this?” {11:27} In a day of good
things, you should not be forgetful of misfortunes. And in a
day of misfortunes, you should not be forgetful of good things.
{11:28} For it is easy, in the sight of God, on the day of one’s
passing, to repay each one according to his ways.
{11:29} The affliction of an hour causes one to forget great
delights, and in the end of a man is the uncovering of his
works. {11:30} You should not praise any man before death.
For a man is known by his children. {11:31} You should not
bring every man into your house. For many are the snares of
the deceitful. {11:32} For as a stomach with a bad smell
vomits, and as a partridge is led into a cage, and like a deer
led into a snare, so also is the heart of the arrogant. And it is
like a bystander watching his neighbor fall. {11:33} For it lies
in ambush, and then turns good into evil, and it will place the
blame on the elect. {11:34} From one spark, a great fire
grows; and from one deceitful man, much blood flows. But a
very sinful man lies in ambush for blood. {11:35} Pay close
attention to yourself before a harmful man, for he fabricates
evils. Otherwise, he may lead over you a whispered reproach
unceasingly. {11:36} Receive a stranger to yourself, and he
will overthrow you with a whirlwind, and he will alienate
you from what is your very own.


[Sirach 12] {12:1} If you do good, know to whom you do it,
and there will be many thanks for your good deeds.
{12:2} Do good to the just, and you will find great
recompense, and if not from him, certainly from the Lord.
{12:3} For there is no good for someone who is always
occupied in evil, or who does not give alms. For the Most
High holds hatred for sinners, but he takes pity on the
repentant. {12:4} Give to the merciful, and you should not
assist the sinner. For the impious and the sinner will be
repaid with the vengeance being held for them on the day of
retribution. {12:5} Give to the good, but you should not
receive from a sinner. {12:6} Do good to the humble, but you
should not give to the impious; withhold your bread, do not
give it to him, otherwise he may overpower you with it.
{12:7} For you will find twice the evil for all the good you
will have done to him. For the Most High also holds hatred
for sinners, and he will repay vengeance to the impious.
{12:8} A friend will not be known in good times, and an
enemy will not be hidden in adversity. {12:9} By the good
fortune of a man, his enemies are grieved; and by his
misfortune, a friend is revealed. {12:10} You should never
trust your enemy. For his wickedness rusts like a brass pot.
{12:11} And if he humbles himself and goes about bowed
down, increase your alertness and guard yourself from him.
{12:12} You should not sit down anywhere near him, nor
should you allow him to sit at your right hand, lest perhaps
he may turn toward your place, and seek your seat, and then,
in the very end, you would understand my words and be
stung by my sermon. {12:13} Who will take pity on an
enchanter struck by a serpent, or on someone who draws
near to wild beasts? And so it is with one who keeps
company with an iniquitous man and is involved in his sins.
{12:14} For one hour, he will abide with you. But if you
begin to turn aside, he will not permit it. {12:15} An enemy
speaks sweetly with his lips, but in his heart, he waits in
ambush, so that he may throw you into a pit. {12:16} An
enemy has tears in his eyes. But if he finds an opportunity, he
will not be satisfied with blood. {12:17} And if misfortunes
happen upon you, you will find him there first. {12:18} An
enemy has tears in his eyes, but while pretending to help you,
he will dig under your feet. {12:19} He will shake his head,
and clap his hands, and whisper much, and change his
expression.


[Sirach 13] {13:1} Whoever touches pitch will be
contaminated by it. And whoever associates with the
arrogant will be clothed by arrogance. {13:2} Whoever
associates with those more honorable than himself sets a
burden on himself. And so, you should have no fellowship
with someone who is wealthier than you. {13:3} What will
the cooking pot have in common with the earthen vessel?
And when they collide with one another, one will be broken.
{13:4} The rich man has suffered no injustice, and yet he
fumes. But the poor man, though he has been wounded, will
remain silent. {13:5} If you are generous, he will take you up;
and when you have nothing, he will cast you aside. {13:6} If
you possess, he will feast with you, and he will empty you,
and he will not grieve over you. {13:7} If he has need of you,
he will deceive you; and while smiling, he will give you hope.
He will converse with you pleasantly, and he will say: “What
is it that you need?” {13:8} And he will impress you with his
foods, until he has drained you two or three times, and in the
very end, he will ridicule you. And afterward, when he sees
you, he will abandon you, and he will shake his head at you.
{13:9} Humble yourself before God, and wait for his hands.
{13:10} Be careful. Otherwise, having been seduced into
foolishness, you will be humiliated. {13:11} Do not choose to
be low in your wisdom, otherwise, having been brought low,
you will be seduced into foolishness. {13:12} If you are
invited by someone who is more powerful than you, you
should decline. Otherwise, he will invite you all the more.
{13:13} You cannot be rude to him, lest you be pushed away.
And you cannot stray far from him, lest you be forgotten.
{13:14} You cannot hold a discussion with him as with an
equal. You should not trust his many words. For by much
talking, he will probe you, and while smiling, he will question
you about your secrets. {13:15} His cruel mind will store up
your words; and he will not spare you from affliction, nor
from prison. {13:16} Be cautious of yourself, and attend
diligently to what you are hearing. For you are walking
toward your own destruction. {13:17} Yet truly, while
listening to these things, consider it as if it were a dream, and
you will awaken. {13:18} Love God for your entire life, and
call upon him for your salvation. {13:19} Every animal loves
its own kind; so also every man loves those closest to himself.
{13:20} All flesh will join with whatever is similar to itself,
and every man will associate with whomever is similar to
himself. {13:21} If a wolf would at any time have fellowship
with a lamb, so also would a sinner have fellowship with the
just. {13:22} What fellowship does a holy man have with a
dog? Or what portion do the wealthy have with the poor?
{13:23} In the desert, the wild donkey is the prey of the lion.
So also are the poor the pasture of the rich. {13:24} And just
as humility is an abomination to the arrogant, so also does
the rich man abhor the poor man. {13:25} When a wealthy
man has been shaken, he is strengthened by his friends. But
when a lowly man has fallen, he is expelled even by those
who know him well. {13:26} When a rich man has been
deceived, many will help him recover; he has spoken
arrogantly, and yet they justify him. {13:27} When a poor
man has been deceived, in addition he is rebuked; he has
spoken with understanding, and no place is given to him.
{13:28} The rich man has spoken, and all remain silent, and
they repeat his words, even to the clouds. {13:29} The poor
man has spoken, and they say: “Who is this?” And if he
stumbles, they will overthrow him. {13:30} Substance is good
for him who has no sin on his conscience. And poverty is
called very wicked by the mouth of the impious. {13:31} The
heart of a man changes his face, either for better or for worse.
{13:32} You will find, with difficulty and much labor, the
sign of a good heart and a good face.


[Sirach 14] {14:1} Blessed is the man who has not slipped
because of a word from his mouth, and who has not been
stung by grief because of an offense. {14:2} Happy is he who
does not have sadness in his mind, and who has not fallen
away from his hope. {14:3} Substance is senseless for a
greedy and stingy man. And what would a spiteful man do
with gold? {14:4} Whoever acquires unjustly, according to
his own mind, gathers for others. For another will spend his
goods lavishly. {14:5} Whoever is wicked to himself, to
whom will he be good? For he will not take enjoyment in his
own goods. {14:6} Whoever has ill will toward himself,
nothing is more worthless than he is. But such is the reward
of his wickedness. {14:7} And if he does good, he does it
ignorantly and unwillingly. And in the very end, he realizes
his own malice. {14:8} The eye of the spiteful man is wicked,
and he averts his face and despises his own soul. {14:9} The
eye of the greedy man is insatiable in his portion of iniquity.
He will not be satisfied until he has consumed his own soul,
withering it away. {14:10} An evil eye is directed at evil
things. And he will not be satisfied by bread; instead, he will
be needy and grieving at his own table. {14:11} Son, if you
have anything, do good to yourself, and offer worthy
oblations to God. {14:12} Remember that death has not been
delayed, and that the covenant of the grave has been revealed
to you. For the covenant of this world will pass away in death.
{14:13} Do good to your friend before you die. And
according to your ability, extend your hand and give to the
poor. {14:14} Do not cheat yourself out of a good day, and
do not let the smallest good gift pass you by. {14:15} Should
you not leave it to others to divide your sorrows and labors
by lot? {14:16} Give, and receive, and justify your soul.
{14:17} Before your passing, accomplish justice. For in death,
there is no food to be found. {14:18} All flesh grows old like
the grass, and like the foliage that springs forth from a green
tree. {14:19} Some spring up, and others fall away. Such is
the generation of flesh and blood. One is finished, and
another is born. {14:20} Every corruptible work will fail in
the end. And its worker will go with it. {14:21} But every
excellent work will be justified. And whoever worked it will
be honored by it. {14:22} Blessed is the man who will abide
in wisdom, and who will meditate on her righteousness, and
who, in his mind, will consider the circumspection of God.
{14:23} He considers her ways in his heart, and he finds
understanding in her secrets. He goes after her like an
investigator, and he is constant in her ways. {14:24} He gazes
through her windows, and he listens at her door. {14:25} He
rests next to her house, and, fastening a peg in her walls, he
sets up his cottage by her hands. And so, good things will
find rest in his cottage as time passes. {14:26} He will station
his sons under her covering, and he will abide under her
branches. {14:27} He will be protected by her covering from
the heat, and he will rest in her glory.


[Sirach 15] {15:1} Whoever fears God will do good. And
whoever holds to justice will obtain it. {15:2} And like an
honorable mother, she will meet him, and like a virgin bride,
she will receive him. {15:3} She will feed him with the bread
of life and understanding. And she give him to drink from the
water of salvific wisdom. And she will be confirmed in him,
and he will not waver. {15:4} And she will hold to him, and
he will not be confounded. And she will exalt him, along
with those closest to him. {15:5} And in the midst of the
Church, she will open his mouth, and she will fill him with
the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and she will clothe
him with a robe of glory. {15:6} She will store up in him a
treasure of rejoicing and exultation, and she will cause him to
inherit an everlasting name. {15:7} But foolish men will not
take hold of her. And though understanding men will meet
her, foolish men will not catch sight of her. For she is far
from arrogance and deceit. {15:8} Lying men will be wary of
her. But men who speak the truth will be found with her, and
they will have success, even when examined by God.
{15:9} Praise is not beautiful in the mouth of a sinner.
{15:10} For wisdom was sent from God. And praise will
stand before the wisdom of God, and praise will abound in
the mouths of the faithful, and the sovereign Lord will give
praise to wisdom. {15:11} You should not say: “It is because
of God that wisdom is absent.” For you should not do what
he detests. {15:12} You should not say: “He has led me
astray.” For the impious are of no use to him. {15:13} The
Lord hates all abominable error, and those who fear him will
not love such things. {15:14} God established man from the
beginning, and he left him in the hand of his own counsel.
{15:15} He added his commandments and precepts.
{15:16} If you choose to keep the commandments, and if,
having chosen them, you fulfill them with perpetual fidelity,
they will preserve you. {15:17} He has set water and fire
before you. Extend your hand to whichever one you would
choose. {15:18} Before man is life and death, good and evil.
Whichever one he chooses will be given to him. {15:19} For
the wisdom of God is manifold. And he is strong in power,
seeing all things without ceasing. {15:20} The eyes of the
Lord are upon those who fear him, and he knows each one of
the works of man. {15:21} He has commanded no one to act
impiously, and he has given no one permission to sin.
{15:22} For he does not desire a multitude of unfaithful and
useless sons.


[Sirach 16] {16:1} You should not rejoice in impious
children, if they are successful; nor should you take delight in
them, if the fear of God is not in them. {16:2} You should
not approve of their life, nor should you look with favor on
their labors. {16:3} For one child who fears God is better
than one thousand impious children. {16:4} And it is better
to die without children, than to leave behind impious
children. {16:5} By means one person with understanding, a
country will be inhabited. The tribe of the impious will
become desolate. {16:6} Many such things my eyes have seen,
and greater things than these my ear has heard. {16:7} In the
synagogue of sinners, a fire will blaze forth; and amid an
unbelieving people, wrath will flare up. {16:8} The giants of
antiquity did not obtain pardon for their sins; they were
destroyed by trusting in their own abilities. {16:9} And he did
not spare the place of Lot’s sojourn, and he abhorred them
because of the arrogance of their words. {16:10} He did not
take pity on them, destroying an entire people, who even
extolled themselves concerning their sins. {16:11} And this
was so with six hundred thousand men, who were gathered
together in the hardness of their hearts. And if even a single
obstinate person had escaped unpunished, it would be a
wonder. {16:12} For mercy and wrath are with him. He is
powerful in forgiveness, and he pours forth wrath. {16:13} As
is his mercy, so also is his correction; he judges a man
according to his works. {16:14} The sinner, in his violations,
will not escape; but the patience of the One who shows mercy
will not be diminished. {16:15} Every mercy will make a
place for each man, according to the merit of his works, and
according to the understanding of his sojourn. {16:16} You
should not say: “I am hidden from God,” or, “Who, from on
high, will take note of me?” {16:17} or, “Among a great
number of people, I will not be noticed. For what is my soul
amid such an immense creation?” {16:18} Behold: the
heavens, and the heaven of the heavens, the abyss, and the
entire earth, and the things that are within these, will be
shaken by his gaze, {16:19} together with mountains and
hills, and the foundations of the earth. When God casts his
gaze upon them, they will be struck with trembling.
{16:20} And concerning all these things, the heart is without
understanding; but every heart is understood by him.
{16:21} And who will understand his ways, or the tempest,
which no eye of man will see? {16:22} For many of his works
are concealed. But who will announce the works of his justice?
Or who will endure them? For the testament is far from some
persons, and the examination of each thing is in its end.
{16:23} Whoever diminishes the heart, thinks empty
thoughts. For the imprudent and erring man thinks up
foolishness. {16:24} Listen to me, son, and learn the
discipline of understanding, and attend to my words in your
heart. {16:25} And I will speak with equity about discipline,
and I will strive to announce wisdom. So attend to my words
in your heart, and I will speak with equity of spirit, about the
virtues that God has set within his works from the beginning,
and I will announce his knowledge in truth. {16:26} With the
judgment of God, his works have been done from the
beginning; and from their institution, he himself
distinguished their parts and set their beginnings, in their
kinds. {16:27} He has beautified their works unto eternity.
They have neither hungered, nor labored, and they have not
ceased from their works. {16:28} Neither will any one of
them cause anguish to his neighbor, forever. {16:29} You
should not be incredulous at his word. {16:30} Afterward,
God looked with favor upon the earth, and he filled it with
his goodness. {16:31} The soul of every living thing brought
word from before his face, and their return again is to him.


[Sirach 17] {17:1} God created man from the earth, and he
made him according to his own image. {17:2} And he
returned him again to it, and he clothed him with virtue
according to himself. {17:3} He gave him the number and
time of his days, and he gave him authority over all the things
that are upon the earth. {17:4} He placed the fear of him over
all flesh, and he had dominion over wild beasts and flying
things. {17:5} He created from him a helper, similar to
himself. He gave them counsel, and language, and sight, and
hearing, and a heart, in order to think. And he filled them
with the discipline of understanding. {17:6} He created
within them the knowledge of the spirit. He filled their heart
with understanding, and he showed them both good and evil.
{17:7} He set his eye upon their hearts, to reveal to them the
greatness of his works, {17:8} so that they might highly praise
the name of sanctification, and give glory to his wonders, so
that they might declare the greatness of his works. {17:9} In
addition, he gave them discipline and the law of life, as their
inheritance. {17:10} He established an eternal covenant with
them, and he revealed to them his justice and judgments.
{17:11} And their eye saw the greatness of his honor, and
their ears heard the honor of his voice, and he said to them:
“Beware of all iniquity.” {17:12} And he commanded each
one concerning his neighbor. {17:13} Their ways are always
in his sight; they are not hidden from his eyes. {17:14} Over
each and every people, he has appointed a ruler. {17:15} And
Israel was made to be the manifest portion of God.
{17:16} And in the sight of God, all their works are like the
sun. And his eyes, without ceasing, inspect their ways.
{17:17} The covenants are not hidden by their iniquity, and
all their iniquities are in the sight of God. {17:18} The
almsgiving of a man is like a seal upon him, which will guard
the grace of a man like the pupil of an eye. {17:19} And
afterward, it will rise up and repay them their reward, each
one upon his head, and it will return to the hidden places of
the earth. {17:20} Now, to the repentant, he has given the
way of justice, and he has strengthened those lacking in
patience, and he has fastened them to a destiny of truth.
{17:21} Convert to the Lord, and relinquish your sins.
{17:22} Make supplication before the face of the Lord, and
diminish your offenses. {17:23} Return to the Lord, and turn
away from your injustice, and have immense hatred for
abomination. {17:24} And acknowledge the justices and
judgments of God, and stand firm in the circumstances set
before you and in prayer to the most high God. {17:25} Go
to the side of the holy generation, to those who live in order
to give praise to God. {17:26} You should not linger in the
error of the impious; confess before death. Confession
perishes from the dead as if it were nothing. {17:27} Confess
while living; you should give thanks while you are still alive
and healthy. And you should praise God and glory in his
compassion. {17:28} How great is the mercy of the Lord, and
his forgiveness, for those who convert to him! {17:29} For
not all things can be in men, because the son of man is not
immortal, and because they are pleased by the emptiness of
malice. {17:30} What is brighter than the sun? Yet this will
fail. Or what is more wicked than that which flesh and blood
has invented? And this will be reproved. {17:31} He beholds
the power of the heights of heaven. And all men are earth
and ashes.


[Sirach 18] {18:1} The One who dwells in eternity created all
things together. God alone will be justified, and he remains
an invincible King for eternity. {18:2} Who is able to declare
his works? {18:3} For who can examine his greatness?
{18:4} And who will announce the power of his magnitude?
Or who would be able to describe his mercy? {18:5} There is
no diminishing, and no increasing, and there is no
discovering, the greatness of God. {18:6} When man has
reached the end, then he will begin. And when he ceases, he
will be in need. {18:7} What is man, and what is his grace?
And what is his good, or what is his evil? {18:8} The number
of the days of men are as many as one hundred years. Like a
drop of water in the ocean, so they are considered to be. And
like a grain of sand on the shore, so do these few years
compare to the days of all time. {18:9} For this reason, God
is patient with them, and he pours forth his mercy upon them.
{18:10} He has seen that the presumption of their heart is evil,
and he knows that their rebelliousness is wicked.
{18:11} Therefore, he has bestowed his forgiveness on them,
and he has revealed to them the way of equity. {18:12} The
compassion of man is toward those closest to him. But the
mercy of God is upon all flesh. {18:13} He is merciful, and
he teaches and corrects, like a shepherd with his flock.
{18:14} He takes pity on those who accept the doctrine of
compassion, and he applies his judgments promptly.
{18:15} Son, in your good works, you should not complain,
and in giving anything, you should not cause grief with evil
words. {18:16} Is heat not refreshed by the dew? So also is a
good word better than a gift. {18:17} Behold, is a word not
greater than a gift? But both are with a justified man.
{18:18} The foolish place blame sharply. And a gift from the
undisciplined causes the eyes to fail. {18:19} Before you
judge, put justice in order within yourself, and before you
speak, learn. {18:20} Before you become sick, obtain
medicine. And before you judge, examine yourself. And then
you will find forgiveness in the sight of God. {18:21} Before
you become weak, humble yourself; and in a time of infirmity,
show your way of life. {18:22} Let nothing impede you from
praying always. And then you will not dread to be justified,
even unto death. For the reward of God dwells in eternity.
{18:23} Before you pray, prepare your soul. And do not
choose to be like a man who tempts God. {18:24} Remember
the wrath that will be on the day of consummation, and
remember the time of retribution, when he will turn away his
face. {18:25} Remember poverty in a time of abundance, and
remember the deficiency of poverty in a day of riches.
{18:26} From morning until evening, the time will be
changed, and all these are swift in the eyes of God. {18:27} A
wise man will be cautious in all things, and during a time of
many offenses, he will be attentive against inaction.
{18:28} Anyone who is astute recognizes wisdom, and he
will acknowledge anyone who finds it. {18:29} Those who
show understanding with words also have acted wisely
themselves, and they have understood truth and justice, and
they have fulfilled proverbs and judgments. {18:30} You
should not go after your desires; instead, turn away from
your own will. {18:31} If you offer your desires to your soul,
this will cause you to become a joy to your enemies.
{18:32} Take no delight in disorderly gatherings, whether
large or small. For their commission of offenses is unceasing.
{18:33} You should not be reduced by the contention of
borrowing, even if there is nothing in your purse. For you
would be contending against your own life.


[Sirach 19] {19:1} An inebriated worker will not be wealthy.
And whoever despises littleness will fall a little at a time.
{19:2} Wine and women cause wise men to fall away, and
then they will complain against those who understand.
{19:3} And whoever joins himself to fornicators will become
wicked. Decay and worms will inherit him, and he will be
denounced as the greater example, and his soul will be
deducted from the number. {19:4} Whoever is quick to
believe has a trivial heart and will be diminished. And
whoever offends against his own soul will have even less.
{19:5} Whoever rejoices in iniquity will be condemned. And
whoever hates correction will have less in life. But whoever
hates excessive talk extinguishes evil. {19:6} Whoever sins
against his own soul will be punished. And whoever rejoices
in malice will be condemned. {19:7} You should not repeat a
wicked and harsh word, and then you will not be diminished.
{19:8} Do not reveal your mind to friend or foe. And if there
is a sin within you, do not disclose it. {19:9} For he will listen
to you and watch you, and while pretending to defend your
sin, he will despise you, and so he will be whenever he is with
you. {19:10} Have you heard a word against your neighbor?
Let it die within you, trusting that it will not burst forth from
you. {19:11} Before the face of a word, a foolish man labors,
like a woman groaning as she gives birth to a child.
{19:12} Like an arrow fixed in the flesh of the thigh, so is a
word in the heart of a foolish man. {19:13} Correct a friend,
though perhaps there was a misunderstanding, and he may
say, “I did not do it.” Or, if he did do it, correct him, so that
he may not do it again. {19:14} Correct your neighbor, for
perhaps he did not say it. But if he did say it, correct him, so
that he may not say it again. {19:15} Correct your friend. For
often a fault has been committed. {19:16} And do not believe
every word. There is one who slips with his word, but not
with his heart. {19:17} For who is there who has not
offended with his words? Correct your neighbor before you
reprimand him. {19:18} And make a place for the fear of the
Most High. For all wisdom is fear of God, and it is wise to
fear God, and in all wisdom is the orderly disposition of the
law. {19:19} But the discipline of wickedness is not wisdom.
And there is no prudence in the thoughts of sinners.
{19:20} There is a wickedness, and in it there is abomination.
And there is a foolish man who has been diminished in
wisdom. {19:21} Better is a man who has been diminished in
wisdom because his mind is failing, but with the fear of God,
than he who abounds in intelligence, but with transgression
against the law of the Most High. {19:22} There is a certain
cleverness, and it is unjust. {19:23} And there is one who
utters a careful word, explaining away the truth. There is one
who humbles himself wickedly, for his interior is filled with
deceit. {19:24} And there is one who lowers himself
excessively with a great debasement. And there is one who
inclines his face downward, and pretends as if he did not see
what has not been made known. {19:25} And if he is
prevented from sinning by a lack of ability, and then finds an
opportunity for evildoing, he will do evil. {19:26} A man is
recognized by his appearances. But when you meet an
understanding man, he is recognized by his face. {19:27} The
clothing of the body, and the laughter of the teeth, and the
walk of a man, give a report about him. {19:28} There is a
lying correction in the anger of a contemptuous man. And
there is a judgment which does not prove to be good. But
there is one who is silent, and the same is prudent.


[Sirach 20] {20:1} How much better is it to reprove, than to
become angry, so as not to hinder him who may confess in
prayer. {20:2} The lust of an eunuch will deflower a young
maiden; {20:3} similar is he who by violence gives an
iniquitous judgment. {20:4} How good it is, when you are
corrected, to show contrition! For in this way, you will
escape deliberate sin. {20:5} There is one who, by remaining
silent, is found to be wise. And there is another who is hateful
and who provokes by speaking out. {20:6} There is one who,
not having the understanding to speak, remains silent. And
there is another who remains silent, knowing the proper time.
{20:7} A wise man will remain silent until the proper time.
But an unrestrained and imprudent person will not heed the
times. {20:8} Whoever uses many words will wound his own
soul. And whoever unjustly takes authority upon himself will
be hated. {20:9} There is advancement in evil for an
undisciplined man, and there is a plan which turns to his
detriment. {20:10} There is a gift which is not helpful, and
there is a gift, the repayment for which is double.
{20:11} There is a loss for the sake of boasting, and there is
one who will lift up his head from lowliness. {20:12} There is
one who buys much for a small price, and who pays it back
sevenfold. {20:13} Anyone wise in words makes himself
loved. But the graces of the foolish will be poured away.
{20:14} A gift from the unwise will not benefit you. For his
gaze is divided, sevenfold. {20:15} He will give little, and
reproach much. And the opening of his mouth is like a
burning flame. {20:16} There is one who lends today and
demands repayment tomorrow. A man such as this is hateful.
{20:17} A foolish man will not have a friend, and there will
be no thanks for his good deeds. {20:18} For those who eat
his bread have a false tongue. How often and how many are
those who will ridicule him! {20:19} For what he possesses,
he does not distribute with correct understanding. And he
acts similarly with what he does not possess. {20:20} The slip
of a false tongue is like someone who falls upon pavement.
Such a fall for the wicked will arrive quickly. {20:21} A
disagreeable man is like a pointless fable; it will be
continually in the mouth of the undisciplined. {20:22} A
parable from the mouth of a fool will be rejected. For he does
not speak it at the proper time. {20:23} There is one who is
prevented from sinning by poverty, and in his rest, he will be
vexed. {20:24} There is one who will lose his own soul
because of pretense, and he will lose it by an example of
imprudence. For by seeking the approval of another, he will
destroy himself. {20:25} There is one who, for the sake of
what other’s think, makes a promise to a friend, and so he
gains him as an enemy for no reason. {20:26} A lie is a
wicked disgrace to a man, and yet lies will be continually in
the mouths of those without discipline. {20:27} A thief is
better than a man who constantly lies. But both of them will
inherit perdition. {20:28} The habits of lying men are without
honor. And their shame is with them without ceasing.
{20:29} A wise man will benefit himself by his own words,
and a prudent man will please the powerful.
{20:30} Whoever works his land will raise high a stockpile of
grain. And whoever works justice will himself be raised high.
Yet truly, whoever pleases the powerful will escape unfair
treatment. {20:31} Presents and gifts blind the eyes of judges,
and silence their mouths, turning them aside from their task
of correction. {20:32} Wisdom hidden, and treasure unseen:
of what use is either of these? {20:33} He who hides his
foolishness is better than a man who conceals his wisdom.


[Sirach 21] {21:1} Son, have you sinned? You should not
add further sins. Then too, for your former sins, pray so that
they may be forgiven you. {21:2} Flee from sins, as if from
the face of a serpent. For if you approach them, they will take
hold of you. {21:3} Their teeth are like the teeth of a lion,
bringing death to the souls of men. {21:4} All iniquity is like
a two-edged spear; there is no healing in its wound.
{21:5} Reproach and injury will make resources useless. And
a house that is exceedingly wealthy will become powerless
through pride. In this way, the resources of the arrogant will
be eradicated. {21:6} Supplications from the mouth of the
pauper will reach all the way to the ears of God, and
judgment will come to him quickly. {21:7} Whoever hates
correction is walking in the steps of a sinner. But whoever
fears God will convert within his heart. {21:8} He who has
power by means of a bold tongue will be known from far
away. But an understanding man knows to slip past him.
{21:9} Whoever builds his house, paid for by another, is like
one who gathers his building stones in winter. {21:10} The
synagogue of sinners is like stubble piled up; for the end of
them both is a burning fire. {21:11} The way of sinners is
paved and level, and at their end is hell and darkness and
punishments. {21:12} Whoever observes justice will obtain
an understanding of it. {21:13} The consummation of the
fear of God is wisdom and understanding. {21:14} One who
is not wise in goodness will not accept instruction.
{21:15} Now there is a wisdom which abounds in evil. But
there is no understanding where there is bitterness.
{21:16} The knowledge of the wise will increase like a flood,
and his counsel will continue like a fountain of life.
{21:17} The heart of the foolish is like a broken vessel, for it
will not hold any wisdom. {21:18} A knowledgeable man
will praise any wise word he hears, and he will apply it to
himself. The self-indulgent man has heard it, and it displeases
him, and so he casts it behind his back. {21:19} The talk of
the foolish is like a burden on a journey. But in the lips of the
understanding, grace will be found. {21:20} The mouth of the
prudent is sought in the Church, and they will consider his
words in their hearts. {21:21} Like a house which has been
demolished, so is wisdom to the foolish. And the knowledge
of the unwise is like meaningless words. {21:22} Doctrine to
the senseless is like fetters on the feet, and like chains on the
right hand. {21:23} A foolish man lifts up his voice in
laughter. But a wise man will not even laugh quietly to
himself. {21:24} Doctrine is to the prudent like a gold
ornament, and like an armband on the right arm.
{21:25} The feet of the foolish step easily into his neighbor’s
house. But an experienced man will be apprehensive in the
presence of the powerful. {21:26} A senseless man will gaze
through a window into the house. But a man who has been
well-taught will stand outside. {21:27} It is foolish for a man
to listen through the door. And a prudent man will be grieved
at this disgrace. {21:28} The lips of the imprudent will
describe senseless things. But the words of the prudent will be
weighed on a balance. {21:29} The hearts of the foolish are in
their mouths. But the mouths of the wise are with their hearts.
{21:30} Whenever the impious curse the devil, they curse
their own soul. {21:31} Those who whisper accusations defile
their own souls, and they will be hated by all. And whoever
abides with them will be hateful. The silent and
understanding man will be honored.


[Sirach 22] {22:1} The lazy man is pelted with a dirty stone,
and all will speak about his rejection. {22:2} The lazy man is
pelted with the dung of oxen, and all who touch him will
brush off their hands. {22:3} An undisciplined son is the
shame of his father, but an undisciplined daughter will be to
his degradation. {22:4} A prudent daughter brings an
inheritance to her husband. But she who causes shame will be
a disgrace to him who conceived her. {22:5} She who is bold
shames her father and her husband, and she will not be less
offensive to the impious. For she will be held in dishonor by
both. {22:6} An untimely explanation is like music in a time
of mourning. But the sharp correction and doctrine of
wisdom are ever timely. {22:7} Whoever teaches the foolish
is like someone who glues together a broken pot.
{22:8} Whoever explains a word to one who is not listening
is like someone who suddenly awakens a sleeping person
from a deep sleep. {22:9} Whoever explains wisdom to the
senseless is like one speaking to a sleeping person. And at the
end of the explanation, he says: “Who is this?” {22:10} Weep
over the dead, for his light has failed. And weep over the
foolish, for his understanding has failed. {22:11} Weep only a
little over the dead, for he is at rest. {22:12} But the wicked
life of a wicked fool is worse than death. {22:13} The
mourning for the dead is seven days; but for the foolish and
the impious, it is all the days of their life. {22:14} You should
not talk at length with the foolish, and you should not go
with the senseless. {22:15} Keep yourself from him, so that
you may not have problems, and so that you will not be
polluted by his sin. {22:16} Turn away from him, and you
will find rest, and you will not be discouraged by his
foolishness. {22:17} What is heavier than lead? And what
else can he be called but foolish? {22:18} Sand, and salt, and
an iron weight are each easier to bear than an imprudent man,
who is both foolish and impious. {22:19} A bundle of wood
strapped together in the foundation of a building will not be
loosened. And similar is the heart that has been strengthened
by thoughtful counsel. {22:20} The thoughts of one who is
understanding will not be corrupted by fear in any situation.
{22:21} Just as chaff in a high place, or a wall made of
mortar without stones set within, will not continue against
the face of the wind, {22:22} so also a timid heart, and the
thoughts of the senseless, will not withstand the forcefulness
of fear. {22:23} Despite a cowardly heart, the thoughts of the
foolish will not fear any situation; yet neither will one who
continues always in the precepts of God. {22:24} He who
jabs an eye produces tears. And he who jabs the heart
produces understanding. {22:25} He who throws a stone at
birds will drive them away. So also, he who accuses his friend
dissolves the friendship. {22:26} But if you have drawn a
sword against a friend, you should not despair; for there may
be a way back. {22:27} If you have opened a harsh mouth
against a friend, you should not fear; for there may be a
reconciliation. However, if there are accusations, or abuse, or
arrogance, or the revealing of secrets, or a wound from
deceitfulness, in all these cases, a friend will flee away.
{22:28} Hold to faithfulness with a friend in his poverty, so
that you may also rejoice in his prosperity. {22:29} In the
time of his tribulation, remain faithful to him, so that you
may also be an heir with him in his inheritance. {22:30} Just
as the steam from an oven, or the smoke from a fire, rises up
before a flame, so also do curses and insults and threats rise
up before bloodshed. {22:31} I shall not be ashamed to greet
a friend, nor shall I hide myself from his face. And if
misfortunes befall me because of him, I will endure.
{22:32} Anyone who hears of this will be wary around him.
{22:33} Who will provide a keeper for my mouth, and a
reliable seal over my lips, so that I may not fall because of
them, and so that my tongue does not destroy me?


[Sirach 23] {23:1} Lord, Father and Ruler of my life: may
you not abandon me to their counsel, nor permit me to fall by
them. {23:2} They would impose scourges over my thoughts
and over the discipline of wisdom in my heart. And they
would not spare me from their ignorances, nor would they
allow their own offenses to become apparent. {23:3} And
they intend that my ignorances would increase, and my
offenses be multiplied, and my sins abound. And so I would
fall in the sight of my adversaries, and be rejoiced over by my
enemy. {23:4} Lord, Father and God of my life: may you not
abandon me to their plans. {23:5} Do not leave me with the
haughtiness of my eyes. And avert all desire from me.
{23:6} Take the desire of the body from me, and do not allow
sexual desire to take hold of me, and do not permit an
irreverent and senseless mind within me. {23:7} O sons:
listen to the doctrine of my mouth. For those who observe it
will not perish by the lips, nor be scandalized into wicked
works. {23:8} A sinner is held by his own emptiness. And the
arrogant and those who speak evil will be scandalized by
these things. {23:9} Do not allow your mouth to become
accustomed to swearing oaths. For in this, there are many
pitfalls. {23:10} Truly, do not allow the naming of God to be
continually in your mouth, and do not treat as if common the
names of the holy ones. For you will not escape punishment
by them. {23:11} Just as a servant, continually interrogated,
will not be without a bruise, so everyone who swears oaths
and takes God’s name will not be entirely free from sin.
{23:12} A man who swears many oaths will be filled with
iniquity, and scourges will not depart from his house.
{23:13} And if he fails to fulfill it, his offense will be over him,
and if he pretends he fulfilled it, he offends doubly.
{23:14} And if he swears an oath insincerely, he will not be
justified. For his house will be filled with retribution for him.
{23:15} There is yet another kind of talk which faces death;
let it not be found in the inheritance of Jacob. {23:16} For all
these things will be taken away from the merciful, and they
shall not wallow in offenses. {23:17} Do not allow your
mouth to become accustomed to undisciplined speech. For in
this, there is the sin of words. {23:18} When you sit in the
midst of great men, remember your father and mother.
{23:19} Otherwise, God may forget you, when you are in
their sight, and then you would be repeatedly ridiculed and
would suffer disgrace, and you might wish that you had never
been born, and you might curse the day of your nativity.
{23:20} The man who is accustomed to disgraceful words
will not accept instruction, all the days of his life.
{23:21} Two kinds of persons abound in sins, and a third
adds wrath and perdition. {23:22} A desirous soul is like a
burning fire, it will not be quenched, until it devours
something. {23:23} And a man who is wicked in the desires
of his flesh will not desist until he has kindled a fire.
{23:24} To a man of fornication, all bread is sweet; he will
not tire of transgression, to the very end. {23:25} Every man
who transgresses his own bed has contempt for his own soul.
And so he says: “Who can see me? {23:26} Darkness
surrounds me, and the walls enclose me, and no one catches
sight of me. Whom should I fear? The Most High will not
remember my offenses.” {23:27} And he does not understand
that God’s eye sees all things. For fear within a man such as
this drives away from him both the fear of God and the eyes
of those men who fear God. {23:28} And he does not
acknowledge that the eyes of the Lord are much brighter than
the sun, keeping watch over all the ways of men, even to the
depths of the abyss, and gazing into the hearts of men, even
to the most hidden parts. {23:29} For all things, before they
were created, were known to the Lord God. And even after
their completion, he beholds all things. {23:30} This man will
be punished in the streets of the city, and he will be chased
like a young horse. And in a place that he does not suspect,
he will be captured. {23:31} And because he did not
understand the fear of the Lord, he will be in disgrace before
all men, {23:32} as will be every woman, too, who abandons
her husband and establishes an inheritance by marriage to
another man. {23:33} For first, she was unbelieving of the
law of the Most High. Second, she offended against her
husband. Third, she fornicated by adultery, and so
established her children by another man. {23:34} This
woman will be led into the assembly, and she will be stared at
by her children. {23:35} Her children will not take root, and
her branches will not produce fruit. {23:36} She will leave
behind her memory as a curse, and her infamy will not be
wiped away. {23:37} And those who are left behind will
acknowledge that there is nothing better than the fear of God,
and that there is nothing sweeter than to have respect for the
commandments of the Lord. {23:38} It is a great glory to
follow the Lord. For length of days will be received from him.


[Sirach 24] {24:1} Wisdom will praise her own mind, and
she will be honored by God, and she will be glorified in the
midst of her people. {24:2} And she will open her mouth in
the churches of the Most High, and she will be glorified in the
sight of his virtue. {24:3} And in the midst of her own people,
she will be exalted. And she will be admired by the holy
assembly. {24:4} And she will have praise within the
multitude of the elect. And she will be blessed among the
blessed. And she will say: {24:5} “I went forth from the
mouth of the Most High, as the first-born before all creatures.
{24:6} I caused an unfailing light to arise in the heavens. And
I covered all the earth like a cloud. {24:7} I lived in the
highest places, and my throne is in the pillar of a cloud.
{24:8} I alone have encompassed the circuit of heaven, and
have penetrated to the depths of the abyss, and have walked
upon the waves of the sea, {24:9} and have stood upon the
whole earth. And among every people, {24:10} and in every
nation, I have held primacy. {24:11} And by virtue, I have
tread upon the hearts of all, the great and the lowly. And I
have sought my rest in all of them. And I will continue, as the
inheritance of the Lord. {24:12} Then the Creator of all
things instructed and spoke with me. And the One who
created me rested in my tabernacle. {24:13} And he said to
me: ‘Let your dwelling place be with Jacob, and let your
inheritance be in Israel, for you shall take root among my
elect.’ {24:14} From the beginning, and before the world, I
was created. And even unto the future world, I will not cease
to exist. For I have ministered before him in the holy
habitation. {24:15} And in this way, I was established in
Zion. And likewise, in the holy city, I found rest. And my
authority was in Jerusalem. {24:16} And I took root among
an honorable people, within the portion of my God, within
his inheritance. And so my abode is in the full assembly of
the saints. {24:17} I was exalted like a cedar in Lebanon and
like a cypress on Mount Zion. {24:18} I was exalted like a
palm tree in Kadesh and like a rose bush in Jericho. {24:19} I
was exalted like a beautiful olive tree in the plains, and like a
sycamore tree beside the waters along a wide road. {24:20} I
gave off an aromatic fragrance like cinnamon or balsam. I
produced a sweet odor like the best myrrh. {24:21} And I
perfumed my dwelling place with sweet gum, and aromatic
resin, and flower petals, and aloe, as well as the finest cedar
from Lebanon. And my fragrance is like undiluted balsam.
{24:22} I have extended my branches like a terebinth tree,
and my branches are of honor and grace. {24:23} Like the
vine, I have born the fruit of a sweet fragrance. And my
flowers are the fruit of honor and integrity. {24:24} I am the
mother of the beauty of love, and of fear, and of knowledge,
and of holy hope. {24:25} All grace of the way and of the
truth is in me. All hope of life and of virtue is in me.
{24:26} Journey toward me, all you who desire me, and be
filled by my harvest. {24:27} For my spirit is sweeter than
honey, and my inheritance is better than honey and the
honeycomb. {24:28} My memory is for the generations of all
ages. {24:29} Whoever consumes me will hunger still. And
whoever drinks me will thirst still. {24:30} Whoever listens to
me will not be confounded. And whoever acts in me will not
sin. {24:31} Whoever elucidates me will have eternal life.”
{24:32} All this is a book of life, and a covenant of the Most
High, and an acknowledgement of truth. {24:33} Moses
commanded the law by the precepts of justice, and an
inheritance to the house of Jacob, and the promises to Israel.
{24:34} God appointed David as his servant, in order to raise
up from him a most mighty King, who would sit upon the
throne of honor forever. {24:35} It is he who fulfills wisdom,
like the Phison river and the Tigris river in the first days.
{24:36} It is he who fulfills understanding, like the river
Euphrates. It is he who multiplies understanding, like the
river Jordan in the time of the harvest. {24:37} He sends forth
discipline like the light, and he stands forth like the river
Gehon in the time of the vintage. {24:38} He first had perfect
knowledge of her, for a weaker one would not search for her.
{24:39} For her thoughts abound like the sea, and her
counsels abound like the great abyss. {24:40} “I, wisdom,
have poured forth rivers. {24:41} I am like a brook leading to
a river of immense waters. I am like a channel flowing from a
river. And I went forth from Paradise like an aqueduct.
{24:42} I said: I will irrigate my garden of plantings, and I
will thoroughly water the fruits of my field. {24:43} And
behold, my brook became overflowing, and my river drew
near to the sea. {24:44} For I illuminate doctrine to all, like
the first light. And I will announce doctrine, even to those
who are far away. {24:45} I will reach to all the lower parts
of the earth, and I will gaze upon all who sleep, and I will
illuminate all who hope in the Lord. {24:46} Even now, I
pour forth doctrine like prophecy. And even now, I bequeath
doctrine to those who seek wisdom. And I will not cease
from their progeny, even unto the holy time. {24:47} See
how I have not labored for myself alone, but for all who are
seeking truth!”


[Sirach 25] {25:1} My spirit is pleased with three things;
these are approved in the sight of God and men: {25:2} the
harmony of brothers, and the love of neighbors, and a
husband and wife agreeing well together. {25:3} My soul
hates three kinds of things; and I am greatly distressed over
their souls: {25:4} an arrogant pauper, a wealthy liar, a
foolish and senseless elder. {25:5} The things that you have
not obtained in your youth, how will you find them in your
old age? {25:6} How beautiful it is for a grey head to have
judgment, and for elders to know counsel! {25:7} How
beautiful it is for those who are aged to have wisdom, and for
those who are honored to have understanding and counsel!
{25:8} Great experience is the crown of the aged, and the fear
of God is their glory. {25:9} I have magnified nine things,
overlooked by the heart; and a tenth, I will declare to men
with my tongue: {25:10} a man who finds joy in his children,
and one who lives to see the undoing of his enemies.
{25:11} Blessed is he who lives with a wise wife, and he who
has not slipped with his tongue, and he who has not served
those unworthy of himself. {25:12} Blessed is he who finds a
true friend, and he who describes justice to an attentive ear.
{25:13} How great is he who finds wisdom and knowledge!
But there is no one above him who fears the Lord.
{25:14} The fear of God has set itself above all things.
{25:15} Blessed is the man to whom it has been given to have
the fear of God. He who holds to it, to whom can he be
compared? {25:16} The fear of God is the beginning of his
love; and the beginning of faith has been joined closely to the
same. {25:17} The sadness of the heart is every wound. And
the wickedness of a wife is every malice. {25:18} And a man
will choose any wound, but the wound of the heart,
{25:19} and any wickedness, but the wickedness of a wife,
{25:20} and any obstacle, but the obstacle of those who hate
him, {25:21} and any vindication, but the vindication of his
enemies. {25:22} There is no head worse than the head of a
serpent, {25:23} and there is no anger above the anger of a
wife. It would be more agreeable to abide with a lion or a
dragon, than to live with a wicked wife. {25:24} A wicked
wife changes her face. And she darkens her countenance like
a bear. And she displays it like sackcloth. In the midst of her
neighbors, {25:25} her husband groans, and hearing of this,
he sighs a little. {25:26} All malice is brief compared to the
malice of a wife. Let the fate of sinners fall upon her!
{25:27} As climbing over sand is to the feet of the aged, so is
a talkative wife to a quiet man. {25:28} You should not favor
a woman’s beauty, and you should not desire a wife for her
beauty. {25:29} The anger and disrespect and shame from a
wife can be great. {25:30} The wife, if she has primacy, is set
against her husband. {25:31} A wicked wife debases the heart,
and saddens the face, and wounds the heart. {25:32} A wife
who does not make her husband happy enfeebles the hands
and weakens the knees. {25:33} The beginning of sin came
from a woman; and through her, we all die. {25:34} You
should not provide an exit to your water, not even a little; nor
should you give permission for a wicked wife to exceed the
limit. {25:35} If she will not walk at your hand, she will
confound you in the sight of your enemies. {25:36} Tear her
away from your body, lest she abuse you continually.


[Sirach 26] {26:1} Blessed is the husband of a good wife. For
the number of his years is doubled. {26:2} A good wife
delights her husband, and she will fill up the years of his life
with peace. {26:3} A good wife is a good portion. She will be
given the portion of those who fear God, like a man who has
done good deeds. {26:4} But, rich or poor, with a good heart,
his countenance will be cheerful at all times. {26:5} Of three
things, my heart has been afraid, and at a fourth, my face has
shown dread: {26:6} an accusation made by a city, and the
gathering of a mob, {26:7} and a deceitful false accusation.
All these are more grievous than death. {26:8} A jealous wife
is a grief and a mourning to the heart. {26:9} In a jealous
wife, there is a scourge of the tongue, which communicates
with everyone. {26:10} Like a yoke of oxen being provoked,
so also is a wicked wife. He who has hold of her is like one
who has taken hold of a scorpion. {26:11} An inebriated wife
is a great wrath. And her disgrace and indecency will not be
covered. {26:12} The fornication of a wife will become
known by the haughtiness of her eyes and by her eyelids.
{26:13} So that her daughter will not also turn away, keep a
strict watch; otherwise, having found an opportunity, she
may enjoy herself. {26:14} Be wary of the irreverence of her
eyes, and you should not wonder if she might disregard you.
{26:15} Like a thirsty traveler, she will open her mouth to the
fountain, and she will drink from every water nearby, and she
will sit down beside every fencepost, and she will open her
quiver to every arrow, until she becomes weary. {26:16} The
grace of an attentive wife will delight her husband, and will
fatten his bones. {26:17} Her discipline is a gift from God.
{26:18} Such is an understanding and quiet wife. For there is
no substitution for a well-instructed soul. {26:19} A holy and
contrite wife is grace upon grace. {26:20} And no amount of
money is equal to the value of a soul with self-restraint.
{26:21} Like the sun rising over the world in the high places
of God, so the beauty of a good wife is the adornment of her
house. {26:22} Like a lamp shining atop a holy lampstand, so
is the beauty of a face in the mature stage of life. {26:23} Like
golden pillars upon bases of silver, so are the firm feet of a
mature wife upon the soles of her feet. {26:24} Like
everlasting foundations upon a solid rock, so are the
commandments of God in the heart of a holy wife.
{26:25} By two things, my heart is greatly saddened, and at a
third, anger overwhelms me: {26:26} a man of war failing
because of dire need, and an understanding man treated with
contempt, {26:27} and anyone who crosses over from justice
to sin. God has prepared such a one for the spear.
{26:28} Two kinds of things have seemed difficult and
dangerous to me: a merchant will not be easily freed from his
negligence, and a shopkeeper will not be justified by the sins
of his lips.


[Sirach 27] {27:1} Because of need, many have sinned. And
whoever seeks to be enriched, averts his eye. {27:2} Like a
post fixed in the middle of adjoining stones, so also will sin
become wedged between selling and buying. {27:3} Sin will
be crushed with the one who sins. {27:4} If you do not hold
yourself steadfastly to the fear of the Lord, your house will be
quickly overthrown. {27:5} Just as the dust remains when
one shakes a sieve, so will the doubt of a man remain in his
thoughts. {27:6} The furnace tests the potter’s vessels, and
the trial of the tribulation tests just men. {27:7} As the
pruning of a tree reveals its fruit, so does a word reveal the
thoughts in the heart of a man. {27:8} You should not praise
a man before he speaks; for such is the testing of men.
{27:9} If you pursue justice, you will obtain it. And you will
be clothed with justice, as with a long robe of honor. And
you will live with justice. And justice will protect you
continually. And on the day of reckoning, you will find a
strong foundation.
{27:10} Birds flock to their own kind. And truth will return
to those who practice it. {27:11} The lion lies in wait for its
prey continually. So also do sins lie in wait for those who
work iniquity. {27:12} A holy man persists in wisdom like
the sun. But a senseless man changes like the moon.
{27:13} In the midst of the senseless, retain a word for the
proper time. But be continually in the midst those who are
thoughtful. {27:14} The discussions of sinners are hateful,
and their laughter is a delight in sin. {27:15} The speech that
swears many oaths will cause the hair of the head to stand
upright; and its irreverence will cause the ears to be blocked.
{27:16} The shedding of blood is in the quarrels of the
arrogant; and their evil talk is grievous to hear.
{27:17} Whoever discloses the secret of a friend breaks faith;
and he will not find a friend for his soul. {27:18} Love your
neighbor, and be united with him faithfully. {27:19} But if
you disclose his secrets, you should not continue to follow
after him. {27:20} For like a man who destroys his friend, so
also is he who destroys the friendship of his neighbor.
{27:21} And like someone releasing a bird from his hand, so
have you abandoned your neighbor, and you will not obtain
him again. {27:22} You should no longer seek him, for he is
now far away; he has fled like a roe-deer from a snare. For
his soul has been wounded. {27:23} You will no longer be
able to bind his wound. For there may be a reconciliation
from cursing. {27:24} But to disclose the secrets of a friend is
the hopeless act of an unhappy soul. {27:25} One who winks
with the eye fabricates iniquity, and no one will cast him
aside. {27:26} In the sight of your eyes, he will sweeten his
mouth, and he will admire your talk. But at the very end, he
will pervert his mouth, and he will offer a scandal from your
own words. {27:27} I have hated many things, but I have not
done as he has done, and the Lord will hate him.
{27:28} Whoever throws a stone straight up will find that it
falls on his own head. And a deceitful wound will return to
wound the deceitful. {27:29} And whoever digs a pit will fall
into it. And whoever positions a stone against his neighbor
will stumble over it. And whoever lays a trap for another will
perish by it. {27:30} Whoever sets in motion a wicked plan
will find that it rolls back over him, and he will not know
from which direction it will arrive. {27:31} Mockery and
derision are of the arrogant, and vengeance will lie in wait for
them, like a lion. {27:32} Whoever enjoys the fall of the just
will perish in a snare, and grief will consume them before
they die. {27:33} Anger and fury are both abominable, and
the sinful man will be held by them.


[Sirach 28] {28:1} Whoever wishes for vengeance will find
vengeance from the Lord, and he will surely be attentive to
his sins. {28:2} Forgive your neighbor, if he has harmed you,
and then your sins will be forgiven you when you pray.
{28:3} A man holds on to anger against another man, and
does he then seek a remedy from God? {28:4} He has no
mercy on a man like himself, and does he then entreat for his
own sins? {28:5} He who is but flesh holds on to anger, and
does he then request forgiveness from God? Who can obtain
pardon for his sins in this way? {28:6} Remember your very
end, and let animosities cease. {28:7} For corruption and
death are suspended over his commandments.
{28:8} Remember the fear of God, and do not be angry with
your neighbor. {28:9} Remember the covenant of the Most
High, and overlook the ignorant offenses of your neighbor.
{28:10} Refrain from strife, and you will diminish your sins.
{28:11} For a ill-tempered man enflames conflict, and a
sinful man troubles his friends, and he casts hostility into the
midst of those who have peace. {28:12} For the fire burns
according to the wood of the forest. And the anger of a man
burns according to the strength of the man. And according to
his resources, he will exalt his anger. {28:13} A hasty
contention kindles a fire. And a hasty quarrel sheds blood.
And an accusatory tongue brings death. {28:14} If you blow
on a spark, it will increase to a fire. But if you spit on it, it
will be extinguished. Both of these proceed from the mouth.
{28:15} The double-tongued whisperer is accursed. For he
has disturbed many who had peace. {28:16} A third tongue
has stirred up many, and has scattered them from nation to
nation. {28:17} It has destroyed the walled cities of the
wealthy, and has undermined the houses of the great.
{28:18} It has cut down the virtues of the peoples, and has
broken strong nations. {28:19} A third tongue has cast down
virtuous women, and has deprived them of their labors.
{28:20} Whoever favors it will not have rest, nor will he have
a friend in whom he may find peace. {28:21} The wound of a
whip causes a bruise, but the wound of the tongue will crush
the bones. {28:22} Many have fallen by the mouth of the
sword, but not as many as have perished by their own tongue.
{28:23} Blessed is he who is protected from a wicked tongue,
who has not gone over to its wrath, and has not pulled its
yoke, and has not been bound by its chains. {28:24} For its
yoke is a yoke of iron. And its chains are chains of brass.
{28:25} Its death is a most wicked death. And hell is more
useful than it is. {28:26} Its continuance will not be
permanent, but it will take hold of the ways of the unjust.
And the just will not be burned by its flame. {28:27} Those
who abandon God will fall by it, and it will burn within them
and not be quenched. And it will be sent upon them, like a
lion, and it will wound them, like a leopard. {28:28} Hedge
your ears with thorns. Do not be willing to listen to a wicked
tongue. And make doors and bars for your mouth.
{28:29} Melt down your gold and your silver. And make a
scale for your words, and an upright bridle for your mouth.
{28:30} And be attentive, lest perhaps you may slip with your
tongue, and fall in the sight of your enemies, who are lying in
wait for you, and then your fall may be incurable unto death.


[Sirach 29] {29:1} He shows mercy who lends to his
neighbor, for he keeps the commandments by strengthening
him. {29:2} Lend to your neighbor in his time of need, and
receive it again from your neighbor in his time. {29:3} Keep
your word, and act faithfully with him, and then you will find
whatever you need in every time. {29:4} Many have treated a
loan like found money, and they offered trouble to those who
helped them. {29:5} Until they receive, they kiss the hands of
the giver, and they humble their voice in promises.
{29:6} But at the time of repayment, they will ask for more
time, and they will speak annoying and complaining words,
and they will make excuses for the time. {29:7} Then, if he is
able to repay, he will turn away. He will pay barely one half,
and he will consider it as if he had found it. {29:8} But if not,
then he will defraud him of his money, and he will have him
as an enemy without cause. {29:9} And he will repay him
with accusations and curses, and he will repay him with
contempt, instead of with honor and kindness. {29:10} Many
have refused to lend, not because of wickedness, but because
they were afraid to be defrauded without cause. {29:11} Yet
truly, be more steadfast toward the humble, and you should
not delay in acts of mercy toward them. {29:12} Assist the
poor because of the commandment. And you should not send
him away empty because of his dire need. {29:13} Lose your
money to your brother and your friend. For you should not
hide it under a stone to be lost. {29:14} Let your treasure be
in the precepts of the Most High, and it will benefit you more
than gold. {29:15} Store your alms in the hearts of the poor,
and it will obtain help for you against all evil. {29:16} Better
than the shield or the lance of a powerful man, {29:17} it will
fight for you against your enemy. {29:18} A good man offers
credit for the sake of his neighbor. But one who abandons
him to himself will perish in shame. {29:19} You should not
forget the kindness of your benefactor. For he has offered his
life on your behalf. {29:20} The sinner and the unclean flee
from such promises. {29:21} A sinner attributes to himself
the goods of his loan. And an ungrateful mind will abandon
the one who has freed him. {29:22} A man offers credit to his
neighbor. But when he will have lost respect, he will abandon
him. {29:23} A wicked promise has destroyed many who had
good intentions, and has tossed them like a wave on the
ocean. {29:24} It has caused powerful men to travel around,
and they have wandered amid foreign nations. {29:25} A
sinner transgressing the commandment of the Lord will fall
into a wicked promise. And he who undertakes many things
will fall into judgment. {29:26} Help your neighbor to
recover according to your ability, but attend to yourself, lest
you also fall. {29:27} The primary need in a man’s life is
water and bread, and clothing, and a house to protect
modesty. {29:28} A pauper’s food under a roof of boards is
better than a splendid feast on a sojourn away from home.
{29:29} Let yourself be pleased with little instead of much,
and you will not hear the reproach of being away from home.
{29:30} It is a wicked life to go from house to house as a
guest. For wherever he is a guest, he will not act confidently,
nor open his mouth. {29:31} He will entertain, and feed, and
give drink to the ungrateful, and beyond this, he will listen to
bitter words: {29:32} “Go, my guest, and set the table, and let
others eat from what you have in your hand.”
{29:33} “Depart from the honored face of my friends. For it
has become necessary for my house to host my brother
instead.” {29:34} These things are grievous to a man having
understanding: to take advantage of a household, and to
reproach a lender.


[Sirach 30] {30:1} He who loves his son will frequently
chastise him, so that he may be happy in the very end, and
not grope for the doors of his neighbors. {30:2} He who
instructs his son will be praised over him and will glory in
him, in the midst of his household. {30:3} He who teaches
his son will make his enemy jealous, and in the midst of his
friends, he will glory in him. {30:4} When his father has died,
it will be as if he were not dead. For he will have left behind
someone who is like himself. {30:5} In his life, he saw him
and rejoiced in him. And at his passing, he was not sorrowful,
nor was he confounded in the sight of his enemies.
{30:6} For he left behind himself a defender of his house
against his enemies, and someone who will repay his friends
with kindness. {30:7} For the sake of the souls of his sons, he
will bind up his wounds, and at every voice, his gut will be
stirred up. {30:8} An untamed horse becomes stubborn, and
a child left to himself becomes headstrong. {30:9} Coddle a
son, and he will make you afraid. Play with him, and he will
make you sorrowful. {30:10} You should not laugh with him;
otherwise you may have grief, and in the end, your teeth be
clenched. {30:11} You should not give him power in his
youth, but you should not despise his thoughts. {30:12} Bow
down his neck in his youth, and slap his sides while he is a
child, lest perhaps he may become stubborn, and then he will
not trust you, and so he will bring sorrow to your soul.
{30:13} Instruct your son, and work with him, lest you give
offense by his shameful behavior. {30:14} Better is a healthy
pauper with a strong constitution, than a wealthy man who is
weak and afflicted by maladies. {30:15} A healthy soul with
the sanctity of justice is better than all the gold and silver.
And a sound body is better than immense revenues.
{30:16} There is no revenue above the revenue of a healthy
body. And there is no delight above a joyful heart.
{30:17} Death is better than a bitter life. And eternal rest is
better than continual sickness. {30:18} Good things hidden in
a closed mouth are like seats at a feast placed around a grave.
{30:19} What benefit is there in an offering to an idol? For it
can neither eat, nor smell. {30:20} So is he who flees from
the Lord, carrying the wages of his iniquity. {30:21} He sees
with his eyes and groans, like a eunuch who embraces a
virgin and sighs. {30:22} You should not give your soul to
sadness, and you should not afflict yourself by your own
counsel. {30:23} The gladness of the heart is the life of a man,
and it is a treasure of sanctity without defect. And the
exultation of a man is length of life. {30:24} Take pity on
your own soul by pleasing God, and show self-restraint.
Gather your heart into his sanctity, and drive sadness far
away from yourself. {30:25} For sadness has killed many,
and there is no usefulness in it. {30:26} Envy and anger will
diminish your days, and pensiveness will bring old age before
its time. {30:27} A cheerful and good heart is like a feast.
And its feasts are formed by diligence.


[Sirach 31] {31:1} Watching for wealth consumes the flesh,
and thinking about it takes away sleep. {31:2} Anticipation in
thought distracts the mind, and a grievous infirmity makes
the soul sober. {31:3} The rich man has labored in gathering
wealth, and in his rest, he will be filled with his goods.
{31:4} The poor man has labored in his lowly way, and in
the end, he may still be in need. {31:5} Whoever loves gold
will not be justified. And whoever pursues consumption will
be consumed by it. {31:6} Many have been caused to fall
because of gold, and it became their ruin by its beauty.
{31:7} Gold is a stumbling block to those who sacrifice for it.
Woe to those who pursue it eagerly, for all the imprudent will
perish by it. {31:8} Blessed is the rich man who is found to be
without blemish. And blessed is he who has not gone after
gold, nor placed his hope in money or treasures. {31:9} Who
is he? For we should praise him. For he has done wonderful
things in his life. {31:10} He has been tested by it, and has
become perfect; he will have eternal glory. He was able to
transgress, but he has not transgressed. He was able to do evil,
but he has not done evil. {31:11} Therefore, his good things
are established in the Lord, and the entire Church of the
saints will proclaim his almsgiving. {31:12} Are you seated at
a great table? You should not open your mouth over it first.
{31:13} You should not speak in this way: “There are many
things that are upon it.” {31:14} Remember that a wicked eye
is evil. {31:15} What has been made more wicked than the
eye? Therefore, when it sees, it will shed tears over the entire
face. {31:16} You should not extend your hand first, for then,
having been corrupted by envy, you would be ashamed.
{31:17} You should not press forward at a feast.
{31:18} Understand which things are your neighbor’s and not
your own. {31:19} Make use of the things that are set before
you, just as a frugal man would. Otherwise, if you eat much,
you will be hated. {31:20} Cease eating first, for the sake of
discipline. And do not eat to excess, lest you offend.
{31:21} And if you sit in the midst of many, you should not
extend your hand before they do, and you should not be the
first to ask for a drink. {31:22} How sufficient is a little wine
for a well-taught man! For in sleep, you will not labor
because of it, and you will not feel pain. {31:23} Worry, and
disease, and torment are with an intemperate man. {31:24} A
healthy sleep is with a temperate man. He will sleep until
morning, and his soul will be delighted with him.
{31:25} And if you have been coaxed into eating too much,
rise up, go outside, and vomit. And it will refresh you, and
you will not bring sickness upon your body. {31:26} Listen to
me, son, for you should not spurn me. And in the very end,
you will discover my words. {31:27} In all your works, be
prompt, and then no infirmity will befall you. {31:28} The
lips of many will bless the splendid in bread. For the
testimony of his truthfulness is faithful. {31:29} The city will
murmur against the wicked in bread. For the testimony
against his wickedness is true. {31:30} Do not choose to
provoke those who love wine. For wine has destroyed many.
{31:31} Fire tests the hardness of iron; similarly, drinking
wine to inebriation will rebuke the hearts of the arrogant.
{31:32} Drinking wine in sobriety gives a contented life to
men. If you drink it in moderation, you will be sober.
{31:33} What is life to him who is diminished by wine?
{31:34} What can cheat him of his life? Death. {31:35} From
the beginning, wine was created for cheerfulness, but not for
inebriation. {31:36} Wine taken in moderation lifts up the
mind and the heart. {31:37} Sober drinking is healthful to
mind and body. {31:38} Wine taken in excess stirs up conflict
and anger, and brings many to ruin. {31:39} Wine taken in
excess is bitter to the soul. {31:40} The effects of inebriation
are a stumbling block to the imprudent, diminishing strength
and causing wounds. {31:41} You should not argue with
your neighbor during a banquet of wine. And you should not
spurn him in his cheerfulness. {31:42} You should not speak
words of reproach to him. And you should not press him
with repeated requests.


[Sirach 32] {32:1} Have they appointed you as a leader? Do
not be willing to be extolled. Be among them as one of them.
{32:2} Have concern for them, and in this way sit down with
them, and when you have explained all your concerns, sit
back. {32:3} Then you may rejoice because of them, and you
may receive a crown as an adornment of grace, and so obtain
the dignity of the assembly. {32:4} Speak, you who are
greater by birth. For it is fitting for you {32:5} to speak the
first word with careful knowledge. But you should not hinder
the music. {32:6} Where no one is listening, you should not
pour out words. And do not choose to be extolled improperly
for your wisdom. {32:7} A gemstone of garnet is set amid an
ornament of gold, and a concert of music is set amid a
banquet of wine. {32:8} Just as a signet of emerald is set
amid a work of gold, so is a melody of music set amid
delightful and moderate wine. {32:9} Listen silently, and for
your reverence, good graces will be added to you.
{32:10} Young man, speak in your own case only reluctantly.
{32:11} If you have been asked twice, let your response be
concise. {32:12}In many matters, be as if you lack
knowledge, and listen silently as well as intently. {32:13} In
the midst of great men, you should not be presumptuous.
And where the elders are present, you should not speak much.
{32:14} Lightning goes before a hailstorm, and grace goes
before modesty. And so, for your reverence, good graces will
be added to you. {32:15} And at the hour for rising, you
should not be lax. Later, be the first to run ahead to your
house, and there withdraw, and there take your pastime.
{32:16} And act according to your intentions, but not in sin
and not in arrogant speech. {32:17} And for all these things,
bless the Lord, who made you, and who fills you to
overflowing with all his good things. {32:18} Whoever fears
the Lord will accept his doctrine. And whoever watches for
him diligently will find a blessing. {32:19} Whoever seeks the
law will be filled from the law. But whoever acts with
treachery will be scandalized by treachery. {32:20} Those
who fear the Lord will find just judgment, and they will
kindle justice like a light. {32:21} A sinful man will shun
correction, and he will find a rationalization in accord with
his own will. {32:22} A man of counsel will not reject
understanding. A strange and arrogant man will not be
disturbed by fear. {32:23} Even so, after he has acted out of
fear and without counsel, he will be rebuked by his own
criticism. {32:24} Son, you should do nothing without
counsel, and then you will not regret what you have done.
{32:25} You should not go into the way of ruin, and you
then will not stumble on stones. You should not commit
yourself to a laborious way; otherwise, you may set up a
scandal against your own soul. {32:26} And be cautious
concerning your own sons. And be attentive to those of your
own household. {32:27} In all of your works, trust your soul
to faith. For this is the keeping of the commandments.
{32:28} Whoever believes God attends to the
commandments. And whoever trusts in him will not be
diminished.


[Sirach 33] {33:1} No evils will befall one who fears the Lord.
Instead, God will preserve him during temptation and will
free him from evils. {33:2} A wise man does not hate the
commandments and the justices, and so he will not be
thrown about violently, like a ship in a storm. {33:3} A man
of understanding puts his faith in the law of God, and so the
law is faithful to him. {33:4} Whoever would resolve a
dispute will prepare a word, and so, having prayed, he will be
heard. And he will observe discipline, and then he will
respond. {33:5} The heart of a fool is like the wheel of a cart.
And his thoughts are like a turning axel. {33:6} A friend who
is a whisperer is like an untamed horse: he neighs under
anyone who sits upon him. {33:7} Why does day follow after
day, and light follow after light, and year follow after year, in
accord with the sun? {33:8} By the knowledge of the Lord,
they were arranged, after the sun was made, in keeping with
his command. {33:9} And so, the seasons changed, with their
feast days. And according to them, they celebrated the feast
days, in their hour. {33:10} Some of them, God exalted and
magnified. And some of them, he set amid the ordinary days.
And all men are from the ground, and from the earth, from
which Adam was created. {33:11} With a mulititude of
disciplines, the Lord has distinguished them and diversified
their ways. {33:12} Some of them, he has blessed and exalted.
And some of them he has sanctified and placed close to
himself. And some of them, he has cursed and brought low,
and he has turned them from their station. {33:13} Just as the
clay is in the potter’s hand, so as to form and to shape it,
{33:14} so are all his ways in accord with his dispensation,
and so is man in the hand of the One who made him. And he
will repay him according to his judgment. {33:15} Good is
against evil, and life is against death; so also is a sinner
against a just man. And so should you consider all the works
of the Most High: two and two, and one against another.
{33:16} And I awakened at the very end, and I was like one
who gathers grapes after the grape-gatherers. {33:17} I, too,
have hoped in the blessing of God. And I have filled the
winepress like one who gathers grapes. {33:18} Consider
how I have not labored for myself alone, but for all who are
seeking discipline. {33:19} Listen to me, you great ones, with
all the peoples. And incline your ears, you rulers of the
Church. {33:20} You should not give authority over yourself
to a son or wife, to a brother or friend, in your life. And you
should not give your estate to another, lest perhaps you may
regret it, and then you would be begging for the same.
{33:21} While you are still living and breathing, let no one
among all flesh change you. {33:22} For it is better if your
children petition you, than if you look toward the hands of
your children. {33:23} In all your works, be pre-eminent.
{33:24} You should not allow a blemish upon your glory. On
the day of the consummation of the days of your life, at the
time of your passing, distribute your inheritance.
{33:25} Fodder and a rod and a burden are for a donkey;
bread and discipline and work are for a servant. {33:26} He
works under discipline, and he seeks rest. Allow his hands to
be idle, and he seeks liberty. {33:27} The yoke and the strap
bend a stiff neck, and continual labors bend a servant.
{33:28} Torture and chains are for a malevolent servant; send
him to work, so that he may not be idle. {33:29} For idleness
has taught much evil. {33:30} Appoint him to a task. For this
is fitting for him. And if he will not be obedient, bend him
with chains. But you should do no more than any flesh can
bear. Truly, you should do nothing grievous without
judgment. {33:31} If you have a faithful servant, let him be to
you like your own soul. Treat him like a brother. For you
have obtained him by the blood of your soul. {33:32} If you
harm him unjustly, he will turn away and flee. {33:33} And
then, when he lifts himself up and departs, you will not know
whom to ask, or in what way to seek him.


[Sirach 34] {34:1} The hopes of a senseless man are empty
and false; and dreams extol the imprudent. {34:2} Like one
who chases a shadow and pursues the wind, so also is one
who pays attention to lying visions. {34:3} In the vision of
dreams, one thing represents another, as when a mask is
before the face of a man. {34:4} What can be cleansed by the
unclean? And what truth can be spoken from a lie?
{34:5} Erroneous divinations and false signs and the dreams
of evildoers are emptiness. {34:6} For your heart suffers from
imagination, like a woman suffering in childbirth. Unless it is
a visitation sent from the Most High, you should not set your
heart upon it. {34:7} For dreams have caused many to go
astray, and those who have hoped in them have fallen away.
{34:8} The word of the law will be fulfilled without a lie, and
wisdom will be made plain in the mouths of the faithful.
{34:9} He who has not been tested, what does he know? A
man with much experience will consider many things. And
whoever has learned much will explain with understanding.
{34:10} He who has no experience knows little. And he who
has done many things has made many mistakes. {34:11} He
who has not been tested, what kind of things can he know?
He who has been deceived will be more cunning. {34:12} I
have seen much by wandering, and the customs of many
things. {34:13} At times, I have even been in danger of death
because of these things, but I was freed by the grace of God.
{34:14} The spirit of those who fear God is sought, and they
will be blessed by his providence. {34:15} For their hope is in
him who saves them, and the eyes of God are on those who
love him. {34:16} Those who fear the Lord will tremble at
nothing, and they will not be terrified. For he is their hope.
{34:17} The soul of him who fears the Lord is blessed.
{34:18} To whom should he look, and who is his strength?
{34:19} The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him.
He is a powerful Protector, a Firmament of virtue, a Shelter
from the heat, and a Covering from the midday sun,
{34:20} a Guardian from offenses, and a Helper from falling,
who exalts the soul and illuminates the eyes, and who gives
health and life and blessing. {34:21} An immolation from
iniquity is a stained oblation, and the derisions of the unjust
are not well pleasing. {34:22} The Lord is only for those who
persevere for him in the way of truth and justice. {34:23} The
Most High does not approve of the gifts of the iniquitous.
Neither does he have respect for the oblations of the unjust;
neither will he forgive their sins because of the multitude of
their sacrifices. {34:24} Whoever offers a sacrifice from the
substance of the poor is like one who sacrifices the son in the
sight of his father. {34:25} The bread of the indigent is the life
of the poor. Whoever cheats them out of it is a man of blood.
{34:26} Whoever takes away the bread of sweat is like one
who kills his neighbor. {34:27} He who sheds blood, and he
who cheats the hired hand out of his wages, are brothers.
{34:28} When one builds and another destroys, what benefit
do they have from their labor? {34:29} When one prays and
another curses, whose voice will God heed? {34:30} He who
washes himself after touching the dead, and then touches him
again, what was the benefit of his washing? {34:31} Similarly,
a man who fasts for his sins, and then does the same again,
what was the benefit of his humbling himself? Who will heed
his prayer?


[Sirach 35] {35:1} Whoever observes the law multiplies
oblations. {35:2} It is a salutary sacrifice to attend to the
commandments and to withdraw from all iniquity.
{35:3} And to depart from injustice is to offer a propitiatory
sacrifice for injustices and a supplication for sins.
{35:4} Whoever gives thanks, offers a gift of fine flour, and
whoever acts with mercy, offers a sacrifice. {35:5} To
withdraw from iniquity is well-pleasing to the Lord. And to
withdraw from injustice is a supplication for sins. {35:6} You
should not appear empty before the sight of the Lord.
{35:7} For all these things are to be done because of the
commandment of God. {35:8} The oblation of the just
fattens the altar, and is a fragrance of sweetness in the sight of
the Most High. {35:9} The sacrifice of the just is acceptable,
and the Lord will never forget the memorial of it.
{35:10} Render glory to God with a good heart. And you
should not reduce the first-fruits of your hands. {35:11} With
every gift, have a cheerful countenance, and sanctify your
tithes with exultation. {35:12} Give to the Most High
according to his gifts to you, and act with a good eye toward
the creations of your hands. {35:13} For the Lord gives
recompense, and he will repay you seven times as much.
{35:14} Do not be willing to offer corrupt gifts. For he will
not accept them. {35:15} And do not be willing to consider
an unjust sacrifice. For the Lord is the judge, and with him
there is no favoritism toward anyone. {35:16} The Lord will
not accept favoritism against the poor, but he will heed the
prayer of one who has been harmed. {35:17} He will not
despise the prayers of the orphan, nor of the widow, if she
utters a lamenting complaint. {35:18} Do a widow’s tears not
run down her cheek? And will her outcry not cause their
downfall? {35:19} For from her cheek, her tears ascend even
to heaven. And the Lord, the One who listens, will not take
delight in them. {35:20} Whoever adores God with joy will
be accepted, and his prayer will reach even to the clouds.
{35:21} The prayer of one who humbles himself will pierce
the clouds. And it will not be consoled until it draws near;
and it will not withdraw until the Most High beholds.
{35:22} And the Lord will not delay, and he will judge for
those who are just, and he will accomplish judgment. And
the Almighty will not have patience with them, so that he
may crush their back. {35:23} And he will repay vengeance
to the Gentiles, until he has taken away the multitude of the
arrogant, and broken the scepters of the iniquitous,
{35:24} until he has rendered to men according to their deeds,
and according to the works of Adam, and according to his
presumption, {35:25} until he has judged the judgment of his
people. And he will delight the just with his mercy.
{35:26} The mercy of God is beautiful in the time of
tribulation, like a rain cloud in the time of drought.


[Sirach 36] {36:1} O God of all, take pity on us, and look
with favor on us, and show us the light of your compassion.
{36:2} And send your fear upon the Gentiles, who have not
sought you, so that they may acknowledge that there is no
God except you, and so that they may declare your great
deeds. {36:3} Lift up your hand over unbelieving nations, so
that they may see your power. {36:4} For just as, in their
sight, you have been sanctified in us, so also, in our sight, you
will be magnified in them. {36:5} So may they know you, as
we also have known you. For there is no God apart from you,
O Lord. {36:6} Renew your signs, and work new wonders.
{36:7} Glorify your hand and your right arm. {36:8} Stir up
your fury, and pour out your wrath. {36:9} Take away our
adversary, and afflict our enemy. {36:10} Hasten the time,
and remember the end, so that they may declare your
miracles. {36:11} Let those who escape be devoured by the
wrath of fire. And let those who harass your people find
perdition. {36:12} Crush the head of the leaders of the
enemies, for they say: “There is no other beside us.”
{36:13} Gather together all the tribes of Jacob, so that they
may acknowledge that there is no God except you, and so
that they may declare your great deeds. And you will inherit
them, as from the beginning. {36:14} Take pity on your
people, over whom your name has been invoked, and on
Israel, whom you have treated as your firstborn.
{36:15} Take pity on Jerusalem, the city of your
sanctification, the city of your rest. {36:16} Fill Zion with
your ineffable words, and fill your people with your glory.
{36:17} Give testimony to those who have been your
creations from the beginning, and lift up the prophecies
which the former prophets spoke in your name. {36:18} Give
a reward to those who endure for you, so that your prophets
may be found to be faithful. And heed the prayers of your
servants, {36:19} in accord with the blessing of Aaron over
your people. And direct us in the way of justice, and let all
who inhabit the earth know that you are God, the Beholder
of all ages. {36:20} The belly can devour any food, yet one
meal is better than another. {36:21} The palate tests the meat
of wild animals, and the understanding heart tests false words.
{36:22} A corrupt heart will cause grief, and a man of
experience will resist it. {36:23} A woman can receive any
male, yet one daughter is better than another. {36:24} The
beauty of a wife cheers the face of her husband, and rises
above his desire, above all the desires of man. {36:25} If she
offers healing words, then she both comforts and shows
mercy; and so her husband is not like other men. {36:26} He
who holds to a good wife establishes a possession. She is a
helper in agreement with him, and she is a pillar of rest.
{36:27} Where there is no hedge, a possession will be
trampled. And where there is no wife, he will mourn her
absence. {36:28} Who will trust one who has no nest, and
who conceals himself wherever his course may take him, like
a well-equipped robber passing from city to city?


[Sirach 37] {37:1} Every friend will say: “I also am a close
friend.” But there is a friend who is a friend in name only. Is
this not a grief even unto death? {37:2} But a companion and
friend may turn into an enemy. {37:3} O wicked presumption!
From what were you created that you would cover the dry
land with your malice and deceitfulness? {37:4} A
companion may rejoice with his friend in good times, but in a
time of tribulation, he will be an adversary. {37:5} There is a
companion who commiserates with a friend for the sake of
the stomach, but he will shield himself from the enemy.
{37:6} You should not forget your friend in your soul, and
you should not be unmindful of him in your wealth.
{37:7} Do not choose to consult with someone who waits in
ambush for you. And hide your counsel from those who rival
you. {37:8} Every counselor offers advice, but some are
counselors only for themselves. {37:9} Guard your soul from
a counselor. And know beforehand what his interests are. For
he will form thoughts from his own soul. {37:10} Otherwise,
he may set a signpost in the ground, and he may say to you:
{37:11} “Your own way is good.” But then he will stand at a
distance to see what befalls you. {37:12} Do not discuss
holiness with an irreligious man, nor justice with one who is
unjust. You should not speak with a woman about her who is
a rival, nor with a coward about war, nor with a merchant
about exaggeration, nor with a buyer about selling, nor with a
spiteful man about giving thanks, {37:13} nor with the
impious about piety, nor with the dishonest about honesty,
nor with the field worker about other kinds of work,
{37:14} nor with a worker hired for a year about the end of
the year, nor with a lazy servant about great works. You
should pay no heed to these persons in any matter of counsel.
{37:15} But be continually with a holy man, with anyone
whom you know to observe the fear of God, {37:16} whose
soul is in agreement with your own soul, and who, when you
falter in the dark, will share your sorrows. {37:17} And
establish a heart of good counsel within yourself. For there is
nothing of greater usefulness to you than this. {37:18} At any
time, the soul of a holy man declares more truths than seven
vigilant watchmen sitting in a high place. {37:19} But
concerning all things, pray to the Most High, so that he may
direct your way in truth. {37:20} In all your works, let a true
word precede you, with steadfast counsel before every deed.
{37:21} A wicked word can change the heart. From the heart
four kinds of things arise: good and evil, life and death. And
the tongue is continually their ruler. There is a man who is an
astute teacher of many, and yet this is useless to his own soul.
{37:22} A man of experience has taught many, and this is
pleasant to his own soul. {37:23} Whoever speaks mere
rhetoric is hateful; he will be deceived in every matter.
{37:24} Grace is not given to him from the Lord. For he has
been deprived of all wisdom. {37:25} There is a wise man
who is wise within his own soul, and the fruit of his
understanding is praiseworthy. {37:26} A wise man instructs
his own people, and the fruit of his understanding is faithful.
{37:27} A wise man will be filled with blessings, and those
who see will praise him. {37:28} The life of a man is in the
number of his days. But the days of Israel are innumerable.
{37:29} A wise man will inherit honor among the people,
and his name will live in eternity. {37:30} Son, test your own
mind in your life, and if it is lacking, you should not give it
authority. {37:31} For not all things are fitting for all persons,
and not every kind of thing is agreeable to every soul.
{37:32} Do not choose to be eager during any feast, and you
should not act with excess toward any food. {37:33} For in
excessive eating there will be infirmity, and gluttony will
continue even unto illness. {37:34} By excessive drinking,
many have passed away. But he who abstains will add to his
life.


[Sirach 38] {38:1} Honor the physician because of necessity,
and because the Most High created him. {38:2} For all
healing is from God, and so he will receive gifts from the
King. {38:3} The expertise of the physician will lift up his
head, and in the sight of great men, he will be praised.
{38:4} The Most High has created medicines from the earth,
and a prudent man will not abhor them. {38:5} Was not
bitter water made sweet with wood? {38:6} The benefits of
these things is recognized by men, and the Most High has
given this knowledge to men, so that he may be honored in
his wonders. {38:7} By these things, he will cure or mitigate
their suffering, and the pharmacist will make soothing
ointments, and he will form healing medicines, and there will
be no end to his works. {38:8} For the peace of God is upon
the surface of the earth. {38:9} Son, in your infirmity, you
should not neglect yourself, but pray to the Lord, and he will
cure you. {38:10} Turn away from sin, and direct your hands,
and cleanse your heart from every offense. {38:11} Give a
sweet offering, and a memorial of fine flour, and fatten your
oblation, but also give a place to the physician. {38:12} For
the Lord created him. And so, do not let him depart from you,
for his works are necessary. {38:13} For there is a time when
you may fall into their hands. {38:14} Truly, they will
beseech the Lord, so that he may direct their treatments and
cures, for the sake of their way of life. {38:15} He who sins in
the sight of the One who made him will fall into the hands of
the physician. {38:16} Son, shed tears over the dead, and
begin to weep, as if you had suffered dreadfully. And
according to judgment, cover his body, and you should not
neglect his burial. {38:17} And though you will sink down
into bitterness, bear his mourning for one day, and then be
consoled in your sadness. {38:18} And carry out his
mourning, according to his merit, for one or two days
because of this loss. {38:19} Yet sadness hastens death and
overwhelms strength, and the sorrow of the heart bows down
the neck. {38:20} When one is taken away, sorrow remains.
But the resources of a destitute man is found in his heart.
{38:21} You should not give your heart over to sadness, but
push it away from you. And remember the very end.
{38:22 Do not be willing to forget this; for there is no
turning back. Otherwise, it will not benefit you, and you will
cause great harm to yourself. {38:23} Call to mind my
judgment. For so shall it be for you also. Yesterday is mine,
and today is yours. {38:24} When the deceased is at rest, let
his memory rest also. And console him at the departure of his
spirit. {38:25} The wisdom of a scribe is found in his time of
leisure. So whoever has less to do will gain wisdom.
{38:26} With what wisdom will someone be filled who holds
the plow, and who boasts of the cattle prod that drives the
oxen forward, and who is occupied in these labors, and
whose only conversation is about the offspring of bulls?
{38:27} He will give his mind over to the plowing of furrows,
and his vigilance to the fattening of the cows.
{38:28} Similarly, every craftsman and artisan, who crafts in
the night as well as in the day, who sculpts graven seals, and
who, by his diligence, varies the image, will give his mind
over to the likeness of the image. And he will complete the
work by his vigilance. {38:29} The blacksmith, sitting by his
anvil and considering a work of iron, is similar. The steam
from the fire singes his flesh, and he struggles against the heat
of the furnace. {38:30} The voice of the hammer is ever in his
ears, and his eye is upon the pattern of the ironwork.
{38:31} He gives his heart to the completion of his work, and
his vigilance adorns it to perfection. {38:32} The potter,
sitting at his work and turning the wheel with his feet, is
similar. He has settled into a continual concern for his work,
and there is a rhythm in all that he does. {38:33} He forms
the clay with his arm, and he bends his strength over his feet.
{38:34} He will give his heart over to the completion of the
glazing, and his vigilance to the cleansing of the furnace.
{38:35} All these persons trust in their own hands, and each
one is wise in his own art. {38:36} Without these persons, a
city is not built. {38:37} But they will neither inhabit nor
walk around in the city. And they will not go across to the
church. {38:38} They will not sit upon the seats of judges,
and they will not understand a decree of judgment. And they
will not make clear discipline and judgment, and they will
not be found to understand parables. {38:39} But they will
strengthen the state of the world, and their prayer will be in
their artistic works, applying their soul, and searching the law
of the Most High.


[Sirach 39] {39:1} A wise man will seek the wisdom of all
the ancients, and he will be occupied in the prophets.
{39:2} He will preserve the words of renowned men, and he
will enter with them into the subtleties of parables. {39:3} He
will search for the hidden meanings of proverbs, and he will
become familiar with the mysteries of parables. {39:4} He
will minister in the midst of great men, and he will appear in
the sight of the foremost leader. {39:5} He will pass through
the land of foreign nations. For he will test good and evil
among men. {39:6} At first light, he will offer his heart with
watchfulness to the Lord who made him, and he will pray in
the sight of the Most High. {39:7} He will open his mouth in
prayer, and he will make supplication for his offenses.
{39:8} For if the great Lord is willing, he will fill him with
the Spirit of understanding. {39:9} And he will send forth the
eloquence of his wisdom like rain showers, and in his prayer,
he will confess to the Lord. {39:10} And he will direct his
counsel and his discipline, and he will meditate on his
mysteries. {39:11} He will make the discipline of his doctrine
clear, and he will glory in the law of the covenant of the Lord.
{39:12} Many persons will together praise his wisdom, and it
will never be abolished, for all ages. {39:13} The memory of
him will not fade away, and his name will be sought from
generation to generation. {39:14} The peoples will declare his
wisdom, and the Church will announce his praise.
{39:15} While he remains, he leaves behind a name greater
than a thousand, and when he will rest, it will be to his
benefit. {39:16} I will meditate further, so that I may explain.
For I have been filled with a passion. {39:17} In a voice, he
says: Listen to me, divine fruits. You shall bear fruit, like
roses planted beside streams of waters. {39:18} You shall
have a sweet fragrance, like the cedars of Lebanon.
{39:19} Blossom with flowers, like the lily, and diffuse a
fragrance, and sprout leaves in grace, and give praise with
canticles, and bless the Lord in his works. {39:20} Give
magnificence to his name, and confess to him with the voice
of your lips and with the canticles of your mouth and with
stringed instruments. And in so praising him, you will
confess: {39:21} All the works of the Lord are very good.
{39:22} At his word, the waters stood still, as if piled together.
And at the words of his mouth, the waters were contained, as
if in basins of water. {39:23} For it is made pleasing by his
precept, and there is no decrease in his salvation. {39:24} The
works of all flesh are in his sight, and there is nothing hidden
from his eyes. {39:25} His gaze is from eternity to eternity,
and nothing is a wonder in his sight. {39:26} Let it not be
said: “What is this?” or, “What is that?” For all things will be
sought in their time. {39:27} His blessing has overflowed like
a river. {39:28} In the same way that a flood inundates the
dry land, so also will his wrath inherit the peoples that have
not sought him. {39:29} In the same way that he turned the
waters into dry land, and made the earth dry, and just as his
ways have been directed for their journey, so also will sinners
stumble before his wrath. {39:30} From the beginning, good
things were created for those who are good, and similarly,
good and evil things are for those who are wicked.
{39:31} The principal things necessary for the life of men are:
water, fire, and iron, salt, milk, and flour for bread, and
honey, and the grape cluster, and oil, and clothing.
{39:32} All these things will be used for good by those who
are holy, but they will be turned to evil use by the impious
and by sinners. {39:33} There are spirits that have been
created for vengeance, and they strengthen their torments by
their fury. {39:34} In the time of the consummation, they will
pour forth their strength. And they will appease the fury of
the One who made them. {39:35} Fire, hail, famine, and
death: all these were created for vengeance. {39:36} The teeth
of wild beasts, and scorpions, and serpents, and the spear: all
these take vengeance upon the impious, unto utter
destruction. {39:37} At his command, they will feast. And
they will be prepared upon the earth until they are needed.
And in their time, they will not ignore his word. {39:38} For
this reason, from the beginning, I was strengthened, and I
have meditated, and I have considered, and I have put these
things in writing. {39:39} All the works of the Lord are good,
and he will provide for each work in its own hour.
{39:40} Let it not be said: “This is worse than that.” For all
things will be tested in their time. {39:41} And now, with the
whole heart and mouth, give praise to him, and bless the
name of the Lord.


[Sirach 40] {40:1} A great occupation was created for all
men, and a heavy yoke is upon the sons of Adam, from the
day of their departure from their mother’s womb, even until
the day of their burial into the mother of all: {40:2} their
thoughts, and the fears of their heart, their imagined
expectations, and the day of their end, {40:3} from him who
sits upon a glorious throne, even to him who is humbled in
earth and ashes, {40:4} from him who wears hyacinth and
bears a crown, even to him who is covered with rough linen:
wrath, envy, tumult, restlessness, and the fear of death,
continual anger and contention. {40:5} And in the time of
rest upon his bed, the sleep of the night changes his
knowledge. {40:6} There is little or no rest, and sleep is taken
from him, as if on a day of keeping watch. {40:7} He is
disturbed by a vision of his heart, as if he had escaped in a
day of warfare. In the time of his salvation, he rose up and
wondered that there was no fear. {40:8} This is so with all
flesh, from man even to cattle, but upon sinners it is seven
times as great. {40:9} Add to this: death, bloodshed,
contention, and the spear, oppression, famine, and affliction,
and scourges. {40:10} All these things have been created
because of iniquity, and it is due to iniquity that the great
flood was made. {40:11} All things that are of the earth shall
return to the earth, and all waters shall return to the sea.
{40:12} All bribery and iniquity will be wiped away, but faith
shall stand forever. {40:13} The substance of the unjust will
dry up like a river, and will pass away with a noise like loud
thunder in a rainstorm. {40:14} When he opens his hands, he
will rejoice. So will transgressors pass away at the
consummation. {40:15} The descendents of the impious will
not produce many branches, for they may be compared to
dirty roots at the edge of a rock. {40:16} The weeds, which
grow above every water and beside the banks of the river, will
be uprooted before all the grass. {40:17} Grace is like a
paradise of blessings, and mercy continues for eternity.
{40:18} The life of a worker, when content with what is
sufficient, will become sweet, and in it you will find a
treasure. {40:19} Sons, and the building of a city, will
establish a name, but an immaculate wife will be ranked
above these things. {40:20} Wine and music rejoice the heart,
but the love of wisdom is above them both. {40:21} The flute
and the psaltery make a sweet melody, but a pleasant word is
above them both. {40:22} Your eye desires elegance and
beauty, but verdant fields are above these things. {40:23} A
friend and a companion meet one another in time, but above
them both is a wife with her husband. {40:24} Brothers are a
help in time of tribulation, but mercy will liberate, more so
than they will. {40:25} Gold and silver provide a firm
position for the feet, but well-spoken counsel is above them
both. {40:26} Ability and strength lift up the heart, but the
fear of the Lord is above these things. {40:27} There is no
loss in the fear of the Lord, and it has no need to ask for
assistance. {40:28} The fear of the Lord is like a paradise of
blessings, and they have covered it above all glory.
{40:29} Son, in your lifetime you should not be indigent, for
it is better to die than to be destitute. {40:30} The life of him
who looks to another man’s table should not be thought of as
a way of life. For he feeds his life with another man’s food.
{40:31} But a disciplined and well-taught man will take care
of himself. {40:32} Scarcity will seem sweet to the mouth of
the imprudent, but a fire will burn in his belly.


[Sirach 41] {41:1} O death, how bitter is the memory of you:
to a man who has peace in his substance, {41:2} to a quiet
man, and to him whose ways are directed properly in all
things, and who still has the strength to take nourishment.
{41:3} O death, your judgment is good to the indigent man,
and to him whose strength has diminished, {41:4} who is
failing due to old age, and who is anxious about all things,
and to the unbelieving man who has lost patience. {41:5} Do
not choose to dread the judgment of death. Remember the
things that occurred before you, and the things that will occur
after you. This judgment is from the Lord upon all flesh.
{41:6} And what will happen to you is well-pleasing to the
Most High, whether in ten, or one hundred, or one thousand
years. {41:7} For death is no indictment of life. {41:8} The
sons of sinners, and those who pass their time in the manner
of the houses of the impious, become sons of abominations.
{41:9} The inheritance of the sons of sinners will perish, and
continual disgrace will be with their offspring. {41:10} The
sons of an impious father will complain, for they are in
disgrace because of him. {41:11} Woe to you, impious men,
who have abandoned the law of the Most High Lord!
{41:12} And when you are born, you will be born into a
curse; and when you die, your portion will be in a curse.
{41:13} All things that are from the earth shall return to the
earth. Similarly, the impious will proceed from a curse unto
perdition. {41:14} The grieving of men is in their body, but
the name of the impious will be wiped away. {41:15} Have
concern for your good name. For this will continue with you,
more so than a thousand precious and great treasures.
{41:16} A good life has its number of days, but a good name
will continue forever. {41:17} Sons, practice discipline
peacefully. For what use is there in either concealed wisdom,
or undiscovered treasure? {41:18} Better is the man who
hides his foolishness than the man who hides his wisdom.
{41:19} Yet truly, have respect for these things which
proceed from my mouth. {41:20} For it is not good to
observe every reverence. And all things do not please all
persons in their beliefs. {41:21} Have shame of these things:
of fornication before father and mother, and of a lie before
the first leader and the powerful, {41:22} of a crime before a
ruler or a judge, of iniquity before a congregation or a people,
{41:23} of injustice before a companion or a friend, and of
the place in which you live, {41:24} of theft, and of the truth
before God, and of the covenant, of reclining to eat bread,
and of deceitfulness in giving or receiving, {41:25} of silence
before those who greet you, of looking upon a woman of
fornication, and of averting your face from a relative.
{41:26} You should not avert your face from your neighbor,
nor should you take away a portion and not restore it.
{41:27} You should not stare at another man’s wife, and nor
pursue his handmaid, nor approach her bed. {41:28} Avoid
reproachful speeches before friends, and when you give, you
should not place blame.


[Sirach 42] {42:1} You should not repeat a claim heard from
the revealing of a hidden word. And then, truly, you will be
without shame, and you will find favor in the sight of all men.
You should not accept the reputation of someone, so that you
would sin, nor should you be confounded in any of the
following things: {42:2} in the law of the Most High and his
covenant, or by giving a judgment to justify the impious;
{42:3} in a word among companions and fellow travelers, or
by distributing the inheritance of friends; {42:4} in the
fairness of scales and weights, or in acquiring much or little;
{42:5} by the corruption of buying and negotiating, or in the
ample discipline of children, or in causing the side of a
wicked servant to bleed. {42:6} A seal is good over a wicked
wife. {42:7} Where there are many hands, seal and deliver all
things by number and weight; and truly, give and receive
everything in writing. {42:8} You should not have shame in
correcting the senseless, the foolish, and those youths who
would judge their elders. And so shall you be well-instructed
in all things and well-approved in the sight of all the living.
{42:9} The vigilance of a father for his daughter is hidden,
and his concern for her takes away his sleep. For perhaps, in
her adolescence, she might be brought into adulthood. Or
when she lives with her husband, she might become hateful.
{42:10} In her virginity, she might be defiled, and then she
may be found to be pregnant in her father’s house. Or
perhaps, when she lives with her husband, she might stray, or
at least become barren. {42:11} Keep a close watch over a
self-indulgent daughter. Otherwise, at some time, she might
bring you into disgrace before your enemies, and into
disrepute in the city, and into reproach among the people,
and so she may confound you before the multitude of the
people. {42:12} She should not choose to gaze upon the
beauty of every man, and she should not choose to spend her
time in the midst of married women. {42:13} For a moth
goes forth from garments, and iniquity over a man goes forth
from a woman. {42:14} Yet iniquity over a man is better for
her than if a married woman, seeking to benefit her, instead
leads her into confusion and disgrace. {42:15} And now, I
will remember the works of the Lord, and I will announce
what I have seen. The words of the Lord are in his works.
{42:16} The sun illuminates and considers all things, and its
work shows the fullness of the glory of the Lord. {42:17} Has
not the Lord caused the holy ones to describe all his miracles,
which the all-powerful Lord has firmly established in his
glory? {42:18} He has examined the abyss and the hearts of
men. And he has considered their astuteness. {42:19} For the
Lord comprehends all knowledge, and he has gazed upon the
signs of the times: announcing the things of the past, as well
as the things of the future, and revealing the traces of hidden
things. {42:20} No thought passes by him unnoticed, and no
word can conceal itself from him. {42:21} He has adorned
the magnificent works of his wisdom. He is before eternity
and even unto eternity. And nothing can be added,
{42:22} and nothing can be taken away. And he has no need
of any counselor. {42:23} O how desirable are all his works!
And all that we consider is but a spark. {42:24} All these
works exist, and they remain in the present age, and they all
obey him in every purpose. {42:25} All things are two-fold,
one facing another, and he has not made anything to be
lacking. {42:26} He has confirmed each thing as good. And
who would tire of beholding his glory?


[Sirach 43] {43:1} The firmament on high is his beauty; it is
the beauty of heaven in a vision of glory. {43:2} The sun, at
its appearance, announces its journey; it is an instrument of
wonder, a work of the Most High. {43:3} At midday, it
scorches the earth. And in the presence of its heat, who
would be able to endure? It is like the custodian of a furnace
in its works of heat. {43:4} In three ways, the sun acts:
scorching the mountains, emitting fiery rays, and shining
with its beams that can blind the eyes. {43:5} Great is the
Lord who made it, and at his word, it hurries on its journey.
{43:6} And the moon, in all its phases, serves to mark the
seasons and to be a sign of the times. {43:7} From the moon
is the sign of a feast day; it is a light which diminishes at its
consummation. {43:8} A month is named according to its
phases, increasing wonderfully at its culmination. {43:9} It is
an instrument of the armies on high, shining gloriously in the
firmament of heaven. {43:10} The glory of the stars is the
beauty of heaven; the Lord illuminates the world from on
high. {43:11} At the words of the Holy One, they stand for
judgment, and they will never fail in their vigilance.
{43:12} Consider the rainbow, and bless the One who made
it; it is very beautiful in its splendor. {43:13} It encompasses
the heavens with the circle of its glory; the hands of the Most
High made it appear. {43:14} By his order, he hastens the
snow, and he spurs on the lightning to express his judgment.
{43:15} In like manner, his storehouses are opened, and the
clouds fly out like birds. {43:16} By his greatness, he has
positioned the clouds, and the hailstones have been broken.
{43:17} At his glance, the mountains will be shaken, and by
his will, the south wind will blow. {43:18} The voice of his
thunder will reverberate through the earth, by a storm from
the north, and by a gathering of the whirlwind. {43:19} And
like the birds landing in a flock upon the earth, he sends
down the snow; and its descent is like the arrival of a swarm
of locusts. {43:20} The eye is in wonder at the beauty of its
whiteness, and the heart is astonished at its falling.
{43:21} He will pour out frost like salt upon the earth. And
when it freezes, it will become like the tops of thistles.
{43:22} The cold north wind blows, and the water freezes
into crystals; it will rest upon every gathering of water, and it
will clothe the water like a breastplate. {43:23} And it will
devour the mountains, and burn the wilderness, and
extinguish the greenery, like a fire. {43:24} Relief for all is in
the hurried arrival of a cloud. And the lowly dew will arrive
to meet the heat and overpower it. {43:25} At his word, the
wind grows quiet, and by his thought, he appeases the abyss,
for the Lord has planted islands in it. {43:26} Let those who
navigate the sea describe its perils. And when we have heard
it with our ears, we will wonder. {43:27} There are illustrious
and wondrous works: the various kinds of wild animals, and
all manner of cattle, and the great creatures of the sea.
{43:28} Through him, the end of their journey is confirmed,
and by his word, all things fit together. {43:29} We can say
much, and yet still lack for words. But the consummation of
our words is this: He is in all things. {43:30} What would we
be able to do to glorify him? For the Almighty himself is
above all his own works. {43:31} The Lord is terrible, and
exceedingly great, and his power is wonderful.
{43:32} Glorify the Lord as much as you are able, yet still he
will far exceed this. For his magnificence is beyond wonder.
{43:33} Bless the Lord and exalt him, as much as you are
able. But he is beyond all praise. {43:34} When you exalt
him, use all your ability, and do not cease in this labor. For
you can never comprehend him. {43:35} Who will see him
and explain? And who will magnify him, as he is from the
beginning? {43:36} There are many things, hidden from us,
which are greater than these things. For we have seen but a
few of his works. {43:37} But the Lord has made all things,
and he has given wisdom to those who act with piety.


[Sirach 44] {44:1} Let us praise the men of glory, and our
ancestors in their generation. {44:2} The Lord has wrought
great glory, by his own magnificence, from ancient times.
{44:3} There are those who rule with their authority, men of
great virtue, who are gifted with prudence. There are those
who announce among the prophets, with the dignity of
prophets. {44:4} And there are those who rule over the
present generation, by the virtue of prudence, with very holy
words for the people. {44:5} There are those who, by their
skill, compose musical themes, so as to set the verses of
Scripture to music. {44:6} There are men rich in virtue, who
make a study of beauty, who live in peacefulness in their
houses. {44:7} All these obtained glory in their generations,
and they had praise in their days. {44:8} They left behind a
name for those who were born of them, so that their praises
might be described. {44:9} But for some of them, there is no
memorial. They have passed away as if they had never
existed; and they have become as if they had never been born,
and their sons along with them. {44:10} But these were men
of mercy, whose pious deeds have not failed. {44:11} Good
things continue with their offspring. {44:12} Their
descendents are a holy inheritance, and their offspring stand
firm in the covenants. {44:13} And because of them, their
sons remain even unto eternity. Their offspring and their
glory will not be forsaken. {44:14} Their bodies were buried
in peace, and their name lives on, from generation to
generation. {44:15} Let the people declare their wisdom, and
let the Church announce their praise. {44:16} Enoch pleased
God, and he was transferred to Paradise, so that he might
offer repentance to the nations. {44:17} Noah was found to
be perfect and just, and so, in the time of wrath, he was made
a reconciliation. {44:18} As a result, there was a remnant left
for the earth, when the great flood was made. {44:19} The
covenants of the world were placed with him, so that all flesh
would not be wiped away by the great flood.
{44:20} Abraham was the great father of a multitude of
nations, and no one was found to be like him in glory. He
observed the law of the Most High, and he formed a
covenant with him. {44:21} In his flesh, he caused the
covenant to stand, and when tested, he was found to be
faithful. {44:22} Therefore, by an oath, he gave glory to him
among his people, so as to increase him like the dust of the
earth, {44:23} and to exalt his offspring like the stars, and to
give an inheritance to them from sea to sea, and from the
river even to the ends of the earth. {44:24} And he acted in
like manner toward Isaac, because of his father Abraham.
{44:25} The Lord gave the blessing of all the nations to him,
and he confirmed his covenant upon the head of Jacob.
{44:26} He acknowledged him in his blessings, and he gave
an inheritance to him, and he distributed to him the portion
of the twelve tribes. {44:27} And he preserved for him men of
mercy, who were found to have grace before the eyes of all
flesh.


[Sirach 45] {45:1} Moses was beloved by God and men. The
remembrance of him is a blessing. {45:2} He made him like
the holy ones in glory, and he magnified him by the fear of
his enemies, and he appeased great portents by his words.
{45:3} He glorified him in the sight of kings, and he gave
commandments to him in the sight of his people, and he
revealed his glory to him. {45:4} He made him holy by his
faith and meekness, and he chose him from among all flesh.
{45:5} For he heard him and his voice, and he led him into a
cloud. {45:6} And he gave him precepts in his presence, with
a law of life and discipline, so as to teach Jacob his covenant
and Israel his judgments. {45:7} He exalted his brother
Aaron and those who were similar to him from the tribe of
Levi. {45:8} He established an eternal covenant with him,
and he gave him the priesthood of the people, and he caused
him to be blessed in glory. {45:9} And he encircled him with
a glorious belt, and he clothed him with a robe of glory, and
he crowned him with virtuous attire. {45:10} He placed upon
him a garment to the feet, and pants, and an ephod, and he
wrapped him all around with many little bells of gold,
{45:11} so that there would be a sound at his arrival, and so
as to make a noise that would be heard in the temple, as a
memorial for the sons of his people. {45:12} He provided
him with a holy robe of gold and hyacinth and purple, a
woven work for a wise man of judgment and truth, {45:13} a
work of twisted scarlet, the work of an artist, with precious
stones, cut and set in gold, and engraved by the work of a
jeweler, as a memorial according to the number of the tribes
of Israel. {45:14} He provided him with a crown of gold
upon his headdress, on which was written a symbol of
holiness, a mark of honor. This was a work of virtue and a
delight to the eyes in its beauty. {45:15} Prior to him, there
was no one of such beauty, even from the beginning.
{45:16} No foreigner was ever clothed with these things, but
only his sons and his descendents alone, for all time.
{45:17} His sacrifices were consumed by fire daily.
{45:18} Moses filled his hands and anointed him with holy
oil. {45:19} An eternal covenant was made, with him and
with his offspring, like the days of heaven, to execute the
office of the priesthood, and to give praise and to glorify his
people, in his name. {45:20} He chose him from among all
living men to offer to God sacrifice, incense, and a pleasing
fragrance, as a memorial of appeasement on behalf of his
people. {45:21} And he gave him authority by his precepts, in
the covenants of his judgments, to teach Jacob his testimonies,
and to give light by his law to Israel. {45:22} Then strangers
stood up against him, and, because of envy, the men who
were with Dathan and Abiram surrounded him in the desert,
along with the congregation of Korah, in their anger.
{45:23} The Lord God saw this, and it did not please him,
and so they were consumed by the force of his anger.
{45:24} He wrought great portents among them, and he
consumed them with a flame of fire. {45:25} And he added
glory to Aaron, and he gave him an inheritance, and he
allotted to him the first-fruits of the earth. {45:26} He
prepared for them the finest bread unto fullness. And they
shall also eat from the sacrifices of the Lord, which he gave to
him and to his offspring. {45:27} And yet he will not have an
inheritance among the people of the land, and he has no
portion among the people. For the Lord himself is his portion
and his inheritance. {45:28} Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, is
third in glory, by imitating him in the fear of the Lord.
{45:29} And he stood up against the shamefulness of the
people. By the goodness and responsiveness of his soul, he
appeased God on behalf of Israel. {45:30} For this reason, he
made him a covenant of peace, a leader of the sanctuary and
of his people, so that the dignity of the priesthood would
remain with him and with his offspring unto eternity.
{45:31} And he made a covenant with king David, the son of
Jesse from the tribe of Judah, an inheritance for him and for
his offspring, so that he might provide wisdom for our hearts,
so as to judge his people in justice, lest their good things be
abolished. And he caused their glory within their nation to be
everlasting.


[Sirach 46] {46:1} Joshua, the son of Nun, was valiant in
warfare; he was the successor of Moses among the prophets.
He was great in accord with his name, {46:2} very great in
the saving the elect of God. He fought against the insurgent
enemies, so that he might obtain the inheritance for Israel.
{46:3} What great glory he secured, by lifting up his hands
and throwing his spears against the cities! {46:4} Who before
him has stood so firmly? For the Lord himself led forward the
enemies. {46:5} Was not the sun halted by his wrath, and
one day made as if two? {46:6} He called upon the Most
High Power, when the enemies assailed him on every side.
And the great and holy God answered him with hailstones of
exceedingly great force. {46:7} He made a violent assault
against a hostile nation, and at his descent, he destroyed his
adversaries, {46:8} so that the nations would acknowledge
his power: that it is not easy to fight against God. And he
followed the Almighty. {46:9} And in the days of Moses, he
accomplished a work of mercy. He and Caleb, the son of
Jephuneh, stood against the enemy, and forbid the people
from sin, and broke their wicked murmuring. {46:10} And
these two, having been appointed, were freed from peril, from
foot soldiers numbering six hundred thousand, so as to lead
them into their inheritance, into a land flowing with milk and
honey. {46:11} And the Lord gave strength to Caleb also,
and his strength remained even in his old age, so that he
ascended to the high places of the land, and his offspring
obtained it as an inheritance. {46:12} This was so that all the
sons of Israel would see that it is good to obey the holy God.
{46:13} Then there were the judges, each one called by name,
whose heart was not corrupted. They did not turn away from
the Lord, {46:14} so that their memory might be blessed, and
their bones might spring forth from their place, {46:15} and
their name might remain forever, continuing in their sons,
holy men of glory. {46:16} Samuel, prophet of the Lord,
beloved by the Lord his God, established a new government,
and he anointed leaders over his people. {46:17} By the law
of the Lord, he judged the congregation, and the God of
Jacob saw it, and so, by his fidelity, he was proven to be a
prophet. {46:18} And he was known to be faithful in his
words. For he saw the God of light. {46:19} And when
fighting against the enemies, who stood against him on every
side, he called upon the name of the Almighty Lord, with an
offering of an inviolate lamb. {46:20} And the Lord
thundered from heaven, and with a great noise, he made his
voice to be heard. {46:21} And he crushed the leaders of the
Tyrians, and all the commanders of the Philistines.
{46:22} And before the time of the end of his life in the world,
he offered testimony in the sight of the Lord and of his Christ,
that he had not taken a bribe from any flesh, not even so
much as a shoe, and that no man made an accusation against
him. {46:23} And after this, he slept. And he made known to
the king and revealed to him the end of his life. And he lifted
up his voice from the earth in prophecy, to abolish the
impiety of the people.


[Sirach 47] {47:1} After these things, Nathan the prophet
arose, in the days of David. {47:2} And just as fat is
separated from meat, so was David separated from the sons
of Israel. {47:3} He played with lions, as if with lambs, and
he acted similarly with bears, as if they were lambs of the
flock, in his youth. {47:4} Did he not kill the giant, and take
away the reproach from his people? {47:5} By lifting up his
hand, with a stone in a sling, he threw down the boasting of
Goliath. {47:6} For he called upon the Almighty Lord, and
he swore with his right hand to take away the mighty man of
war, and to exalt the horn of his people. {47:7} So he
glorified him amid ten thousand, and he praised him with the
blessings of the Lord, by offering him a crown of glory.
{47:8} For he crushed the enemies on every side, and he
eradicated his adversaries, the Philistines, even to this day.
He broke their horn, even for all time. {47:9} In all his works,
he gave thanks to the Holy One, to the Most High, with
words of glory. {47:10} With all his heart, he praised the
Lord and he loved God, who made him and who gave him
power against his enemies. {47:11} And he appointed singers
to stand opposite the altar, and by their voices he provided
sweet music. {47:12} And he provided beauty for the
celebrations, and he gave order to the times, even until the
end of his life, so that they would praise the holy name of the
Lord, and magnify the sanctity of God, from early morning.
{47:13} The Lord purged his sins, and he exalted his horn
forever. And he gave him the covenant of the kingdom, and a
throne of glory in Israel. {47:14} After him, an understanding
son rose up. And by means of him, he cast down all the
power of the enemies. {47:15} Solomon reigned in days of
peace, and God subjected all his enemies to him, so that he
might build a house in his name, and prepare a sanctuary for
all time. O how well-taught you were in your youth!
{47:16} And you were filled with wisdom like a river, and
your mind exposed the world. {47:17} And you explained
mysteries by means of parables. Your name became known
to far off islands, and you were beloved for your peace.
{47:18} The earth was in wonder over your canticles, and
proverbs, and parables, and interpretations, {47:19} and over
the name of the Lord God, who is known as the God of
Israel. {47:20} You gathered gold like copper, and you
multiplied silver like lead. {47:21} But you bent your thigh to
women, and you were held by the power of your body.
{47:22 You brought a stain upon your glory, and you
profaned your seed, so as to bring wrath upon your children,
and to incite your foolishness, {47:23} so that you would
cause the kingdom to be divided, and an obstinate kingdom
to rule from Ephraim. {47:24} But God will not abandon his
mercy, nor will he corrupt or abolish his own works. And he
will not perish the stock of the descendents of his elect. And
he will not destroy the offspring of him who loves the Lord.
{47:25} Therefore, he left behind a remnant for Jacob and for
David, from the same stock. {47:26} And Solomon had his
end with his fathers. {47:27} And he left behind himself some
of his offspring, as the folly of the nation: {47:28} both
Rehoboam, who had little prudence, and who turned away
the people by his counsel, {47:29} and Jeroboam, the son of
Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, and who provided a way of
sin to Ephraim. And their sins were multiplied exceedingly.
{47:30} They thoroughly turned them away from their own
land. {47:31} And they sought every kind of wickedness,
even until punishment overwhelmed them, and freed them
from every kind of sin.


[Sirach 48] {48:1} And the prophet Elijah arose like a fire,
and his word burned like a torch. {48:2} He brought a famine
upon them, and those who provoked him in their envy
became few. For they could not bear the precepts of the Lord.
{48:3} By the word of the Lord, he closed the heavens, and
he brought down fire from heaven three times. {48:4} In this
way, Elijah was magnified in his wondrous works. So who
can say that he is similar to you in glory? {48:5} He raised up
a dead man from the grave, from the fate of death, by the
word of the Lord God. {48:6} He threw down kings unto
perdition, and he easily shattered their power and boasting
from his bed. {48:7} He heeded the judgment at Sinai, and
the judgments of punishment at Horeb. {48:8} He anointed
kings unto repentance, and he chose the prophets who would
follow after him. {48:9} He was received into a whirlwind of
fire, into a swift chariot with fiery horses. {48:10} He is
written in the judgments of the times, so as to lessen the
wrath of the Lord, to reconcile the heart of the father to the
son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob. {48:11} Blessed are
those who saw you, and who were adorned with your
friendship. {48:12} For we live only in our life, and after
death, our name will not be the same. {48:13} Certainly,
Elijah was covered by the whirlwind, and his spirit was
completed in Elisha. In his days, he was not fearful of the
ruler, and no power defeated him. {48:14} No word
overwhelmed him, and after death, his body prophesied.
{48:15} In his life, he gave great portents, and in death, he
wrought miracles. {48:16} In all these things, the people did
not repent, and they did not withdraw from their sins, even
until they were cast out of their land, and were dispersed
throughout all the earth. {48:17} And there was left behind a
people very few in number, but with a leader in the house of
David. {48:18} Some of these did what pleased God. But
others committed many sins. {48:19} Hezekiah fortified his
city, and he brought water into its midst, and he dug into
rock with iron, and he built a well for water. {48:20} In his
days, Sennacherib rose up, and he sent Rabshakeh, and he
lifted up his hand against them, and he extended his hand
against Zion, and he became arrogant in his power.
{48:21} Then their hearts and hands shook. And they were in
pain, like women giving birth. {48:22} And they called upon
the merciful Lord. And they spread their hands and lifted
them up to heaven. And the holy Lord God quickly heeded
their voice. {48:23} He was not mindful of their sins, and he
did not give them over to their enemies. Instead, he purified
them by the hand of Isaiah, the holy prophet. {48:24} He
threw down the army of the Assyrians, and the Angel of the
Lord crushed them. {48:25} For Hezekiah did what pleased
God, and he went with fortitude in the way of David his
father, just as he had been commanded by Isaiah, a prophet
great and faithful in the sight of God. {48:26} In his days, the
sun went backwards, and he added to the king’s life.
{48:27} With a great spirit he saw the final things. And he
consoled the mourners in Zion. {48:28} He revealed the
future, even the distant future, and hidden things before they
occurred.


[Sirach 49] {49:1} The memory of Josiah is like a blend of
fragrances composed by the work of a perfumer. {49:2} His
remembrance will be sweet like honey in every mouth, and
like music at a banquet of wine. {49:3} He was divinely
directed for the repentance of the nation, and he took away
the abominations of impiety. {49:4} And he guided his heart
toward the Lord. And during the days of sinners, he
strengthened piety. {49:5} Other than David, and Hezekiah,
and Josiah, everyone committed sin. {49:6} For the kings of
Judah abandoned the law of the Most High, and they held
contempt for the fear of God. {49:7} For they gave their
kingdom to foreigners, and their glory to a strange people.
{49:8} They set fire to the chosen city of sanctity, and they
made its streets desolate, in accord with the hand of Jeremiah.
{49:9} For they treated him wickedly, though he was
consecrated as a prophet from his mother’s womb: to
overthrow, and to root out, and to destroy, and also to
rebuild and to renew. {49:10} It was Ezekiel who saw a
vision of glory, which was revealed to him with the chariot of
the Cherubim. {49:11} For it called to mind the enemies
under the figure of rain, to do good to those who have
revealed the upright ways. {49:12} And may the bones of the
twelve prophets spring up from their place. For they
strengthened Jacob, and they redeemed themselves with a
virtuous faith. {49:13} How will we magnify Zerubbabel? For
he, too, was like a signet on the right hand. {49:14} So also
was Jesus, the son of Jozadak, who in their days built the
house, and raised up a holy temple to the Lord, as a
preparation for everlasting glory. {49:15} And may
Nehemiah be remembered for a long time. He raised up for
us the walls that had been torn down. And he made firm the
gates and the bars. He raised up our houses. {49:16} No one
has been born upon the earth like Enoch. And he was also
taken up from the earth. {49:17} And there was no one like
Joseph, who was a man born to be foremost among his
brothers, the firmament of his clan, a guide to his brethren,
the mainstay of his people. {49:18} And his bones were
visited, and after death, they prophesied. {49:19} Shem and
Seth obtained glory among men. And above every soul, at the
very beginning, was Adam.


[Sirach 50] {50:1} Simon, the high priest, son of Onias: in his
life, he propped up the house, and in his days, he
strengthened the temple. {50:2} Even the height of the temple
was established by him: the double building and the high
walls of the temple. {50:3} In his days, waters flowed out
from the wells, and these were full beyond measure, like the
sea. {50:4} He cared for his nation, and he freed it from
perdition. {50:5} He prevailed, so as to enlarge the city. And
he obtained glory by his behavior among the people. And he
enlarged the entrance of the house and of the atrium.
{50:6} He shined in his days like the morning star through
the midst of a cloud, and like the full moon. {50:7} And he
shined forth in the temple of God in this manner: like the sun
when it shines brightly, {50:8} and like a rainbow shining
amid clouds of glory, and like flowering roses in the days of
spring, and like lilies along the water’s edge, and like sweet
smelling frankincense in the days of summer, {50:9} like a
fire shining brightly, and like frankincense burning within a
fire, {50:10} like a vessel of solid gold, adorned with every
precious stone, {50:11} like an olive tree producing buds, and
like a cypress tree lifting itself on high, when he received the
robe of glory and was vested with the consummation of
virtue. {50:12} He gave glory to the vestment of sanctity,
when he ascended to the holy altar. {50:13} Then, when he
received the portions from the hands of the priests, he himself
stood next to the altar. And around him was the crown of his
brethren, like a cedar planted on a mountain of Lebanon.
{50:14} And they stood around him like palm branches, and
all were sons of Aaron in their glory. {50:15} Then the
oblation of the Lord was in their hands, in the sight of the
entire synagogue of Israel. And completing his service at the
altar, so as to magnify the offering to the Most High King,
{50:16} he extended his hand to make a libation, and he
offered from the blood of the grape. {50:17} At the base of
the altar, he poured out a divine fragrance to the Most High
Prince. {50:18} Then the sons of Aaron shouted; they
sounded finely-made trumpets, and they made a great noise,
as a memorial in the sight of God. {50:19} Then all the
people at once hurried forward, and they fell to the ground on
their faces, to adore the Lord their God, and to offer prayers
to Almighty God Most High. {50:20} And the singers of
Psalms raised their voices, and a full sweet sound increased in
the great house. {50:21} And the people petitioned the Most
High Lord in prayer, even until the honor of the Lord was
completed, and they finished offering their gifts.
{50:22} Then, descending, he extended his hands over the
entire congregation of the sons of Israel, to give glory to God
from his lips, and to glory in his name. {50:23} And he
repeated his prayer, wanting to reveal the virtue of God.
{50:24} And now, pray to the God of all, who has
accomplished great things over all the earth, who has
increased our days from our mother’s womb, and who has
acted toward us in accord with his mercy. {50:25} May he
give us joyfulness in heart, and may there be peace in our
days, in Israel for unending days, {50:26} so that Israel may
trust the mercy of God to be with us, in order to free us in his
days. {50:27} Two nations my soul hates, and a third, which
I hate, is not a nation: {50:28} those who sit upon mount Seir,
and the Philistines, and the foolish people who live at
Shechem. {50:29} Jesus, the son of Sirach, of Jerusalem, who
renewed wisdom from his heart, wrote the doctrine of
wisdom and discipline in this book. {50:30} Blessed is he
who lives by these good things. Whoever places these things
in his heart will be ever wise. {50:31} For if he does these
things, he will prevail in all things. For the light of God is
upon his footsteps.


[Sirach 51] {51:1} The prayer of Jesus, the son of Sirach: I
will confess to you, O Lord and King, and I will give praise
to you, O God my Saviour. {51:2} I will acknowledge your
name. For you have been my Helper and Protector.
{51:3} And you have freed my body from perdition, from the
snare of the iniquitous tongue, and from the lips of those who
forge lies. And you have been my Helper in the sight of those
who stood nearby. {51:4} And you have freed me according
to the multitude of the mercy of your name: from those who
roared and prepared to devour, {51:5} from the hands of
those who sought my life, and from the gates of tribulation
that surrounded me, {51:6} from the oppression of the flames
that surrounded me, and so I was not burned in the midst of
the fire, {51:7} from the depths of the bowels of hell, and
from the defiled tongue, and from lying words, from an
iniquitous king, and from an unjust tongue. {51:8} My soul
shall praise the Lord, even unto death. {51:9} For my life was
drawing near to hell below. {51:10} And they surrounded me
on every side. And there was no one who would help me. I
looked around for the assistance of men, and there was none.
{51:11} Then I remembered your mercy, O Lord, and your
works, which are from the very beginning. {51:12} For you
rescue those who persevere for you, O Lord, and you free
them from the hands of the Gentiles. {51:13} You exalted my
habitation upon the earth, and I made supplication that death
would pass away. {51:14} I called upon the Lord, the Father
of my Lord, so that he would not abandon me in the day of
my tribulation, nor in the time of arrogance without
assistance. {51:15} I will praise your name unceasingly, and I
will praise it with thanksgiving, for my prayer was heeded.
{51:16} And you freed me from perdition, and you rescued
me from the time of iniquity. {51:17} Because of this, I will
give thanks and praise to you, and I will bless the name of the
Lord. {51:18} When I was still young, before I wandered
astray, I sought wisdom openly in my prayer. {51:19} I asked
for her before the temple, and even to the very end, I will
inquire after her. And she flourished like a newly-ripened
grape. {51:20} My heart rejoiced in her. My feet walked in
the right path. From my youth, I pursued her. {51:21} I bent
my ear a little and accepted her. {51:22} I found much
wisdom within myself, and I benefited greatly by her.
{51:23} I will give glory to him who gives wisdom to me.
{51:24} For I have decided that I should act according to
wisdom. I have been zealous for what is good, and so I will
not be confounded. {51:25} My soul has struggled for
wisdom, and in doing so, I have been confirmed. {51:26} I
extended my hands on high, and I mourned my ignorance of
her. {51:27} I directed my soul toward her, and I found her
within knowledge. {51:28} From the beginning, I held my
heart to wisdom. Because of this, I will not be forsaken.
{51:29} My stomach was stirred up while seeking her.
Because of her, I will hold a good possession. {51:30} The
Lord has given me a tongue as my reward, and I will praise
him with it. {51:31} Draw near to me, you who are untaught,
and gather yourselves into the house of discipline.
{51:32} Why are you reluctant? And what do you have to say
about these things? Your souls are exceedingly thirsty!
{51:33} I have opened my mouth, and I have spoken. Buy
wisdom for yourselves without silver, {51:34} and subject
your neck to her yoke, and let your soul accept her discipline.
For she is close enough to be found. {51:35} See with your
own eyes how I have labored only a little, and have found
much rest for myself. {51:36} Take up discipline, as if it were
a great sum of money, and possess an abundance of gold in
her. {51:37} Let your soul rejoice in his mercy. For you will
not be confounded by his praise. {51:38} Accomplish your
work before the time. And he will give you your reward in his
time.


** The Prophecy of Isaiah **


[Isaiah 1] {1:1} The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which
he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of
Uzziah, Joatham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
{1:2} Listen, O heavens, and pay attention, O earth, for the
Lord has spoken. I have nurtured and raised children, but
they have spurned me. {1:3} An ox knows his owner, and a
donkey knows the manger of his lord, but Israel has not
known me, and my people have not understood. {1:4} Woe
to a sinful nation, a people burdened by iniquity, a wicked
offspring, accursed children. They have abandoned the Lord.
They have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel. They been
taken away backwards. {1:5} For what reason shall I
continue to strike you, as you increase transgressions? The
entire head is feeble, and the entire heart is grieving.
{1:6} From the sole of the foot, even to the top of the head,
there is no soundness within. Wounds and bruises and
swelling sores: these are not bandaged, nor treated with
medicine, nor soothed with oil. {1:7} Your land is desolate.
Your cities have been set ablaze. Foreigners devour your
countryside in your sight, and it will become desolate, as if
devastated by enemies. {1:8} And the daughter of Zion will
be left behind, like an arbor in a vineyard, and like a shelter in
a cucumber field, and like a city being laid to waste. {1:9} If
the Lord of hosts had not bequeathed us offspring, we would
have been like Sodom, and we would have been comparable
to Gomorrah. {1:10} Listen to the Word of the Lord, you
leaders of the people of Sodom. Listen closely to the law of
our God, O people of Gomorrah. {1:11} The multitude of
your sacrifices, what is that to me, says the Lord? I am full. I
do not desire holocausts of rams, nor the fat of fatlings, nor
the blood of calves and of lambs and of he-goats.
{1:12} When you approach before my sight, who is it that
requires these things from your hands, so that you would
walk in my courts? {1:13} You should no longer offer
sacrifice vain. Incense is an abomination to me. The new
moons and the Sabbaths and the other feast days, I will not
receive. Your gatherings are iniquitous. {1:14} My soul hates
your days of proclamation and your solemnities. They have
become bothersome to me. I labor to endure them.
{1:15} And so, when you extend your hands, I will avert my
eyes from you. And when you multiply your prayers, I will
not heed you. For your hands are full of blood. {1:16} Wash,
become clean, take away the evil of your intentions from my
eyes. Cease to act perversely. {1:17} Learn to do good. Seek
judgment, support the oppressed, judge for the orphan,
defend the widow. {1:18} And then approach and accuse me,
says the Lord. Then, if your sins are like scarlet, they shall be
made white like snow; and if they are red like vermillion,
they shall become white like wool. {1:19} If you are willing,
and you listen to me, then you will eat the good things of the
land. {1:20} But if you are not willing, and you provoke me
to anger, then the sword will devour you. For the mouth of
the Lord has spoken. {1:21} How has the faithful city, full of
judgment, become a harlot? Justice lived in her, but now
murderers. {1:22} Your silver has turned into dross. Your
wine has been mixed with water. {1:23} Your leaders are
unfaithful, the associates of thieves. They all love gifts; they
pursue rewards. They do not judge for orphans, and the
widow’s case is not brought before them. {1:24} Because of
this, the Lord God of hosts, the Strength of Israel, says: Ah! I
will be consoled over my enemies, and I will be vindicated
from my adversaries. {1:25} And I will turn my hand to you.
And I will temper your dross unto purity, and I will take
away all your tin. {1:26} And I will restore your judges, so
that they will be as before, and your counselors as in times
long past. After this, you shall be called the City of the Just,
the Faithful City. {1:27} Zion will be redeemed in judgment,
and they will lead her back to justice. {1:28} And he shall
crush the accursed and sinners together. And those who have
abandoned the Lord will be consumed. {1:29} For they shall
be confounded because of the idols, to which they have
sacrificed. And you shall be ashamed over the gardens that
you chose, {1:30} when you were like an oak with falling
leaves, and like a garden without water. {1:31} And your
strength will be like the embers from stubble, and your work
will be like a spark, and both will burn together, and there
will be no one to extinguish it.


[Isaiah 2] {2:1} The word that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem. {2:2} And in the last days,
the mountain of the house of the Lord will be prepared at the
summit of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the
hills, and all the nations shall flow to it. {2:3} And many
peoples will go, and they will say: “Let us approach and
ascend to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the
God of Jacob. And he will teach us his ways, and we will
walk in his paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion, and
the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. {2:4} And he will
judge the nations, and he will rebuke many peoples. And
they shall forge their swords into plowshares, and their spears
into sickles. Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
neither will they continue to train for battle. {2:5} O house of
Jacob, let us approach and walk in the light of the Lord.
{2:6} For you have cast aside your people, the house of Jacob,
because they have been filled up, as in past times, and
because they have had soothsayers as the Philistines have,
and because they have joined themselves to foreign servants.
{2:7} Their land has been filled with silver and gold. And
there is no end to their storehouses. {2:8} And their land has
been filled with horses. And their four-horse chariots are
innumerable. And their land has been filled with idols. They
have adored the work of their hands, which their own fingers
have made. {2:9} And man has bowed himself down, and so
man has become debased. Therefore, you should not forgive
them. {2:10} Enter into the rock, and hide in a ditch in the
soil, from the presence of the fear of the Lord, and from the
glory of his majesty. {2:11} The lofty eyes of man have been
humbled, and the haughtiness of men will be bowed down.
Then the Lord alone shall be exalted, in that day. {2:12} For
the day of the Lord of hosts will prevail over all the proud
and self-exalted, and over all the arrogant, and each one shall
be humbled, {2:13} and over all the straight and tall cedars of
Lebanon, and over all the oaks of Bashan; {2:14} and over all
the lofty mountains, and over all the elevated hills;
{2:15} and over every lofty tower, and over every fortified
wall; {2:16} and over all the ships of Tarshish, and over all
the beauty that may be seen. {2:17} And the loftiness of men
will be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men will be
brought low. And the Lord alone shall be exalted, in that day.
{2:18} And idols will be thoroughly crushed. {2:19} And
they will go into the caves of the rocks, and into the caverns
of the earth, from the presence of the dread of the Lord, and
from the glory of his majesty, when he will have risen up to
strike the earth. {2:20} In that day, man shall cast aside his
idols of silver and his images of gold, which he had made for
himself, as if to reverence the moles and the bats. {2:21} And
so he will go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the caverns
of stone, from the presence of the dread of the Lord, and
from the glory of his majesty, when he will have risen up to
strike the earth. {2:22} Therefore, rest away from man,
whose breath is in his nostrils, for he considers himself to be
exalted.


[Isaiah 3] {3:1} For behold, the sovereign Lord of hosts will
take away, from Jerusalem and from Judah, the powerful and
the strong: all the strength from bread, and all the strength
from water; {3:2} the strong man, and the man of war, the
judge and the prophet, and the seer and the elder; {3:3} the
leader over fifty and the honorable in appearance; and the
counselor, and the wise among builders, and the skillful in
mystical speech. {3:4} And I will provide children as their
leaders, and the effeminate will rule over them. {3:5} And the
people will rush, man against man, and each one against his
neighbor. The child shall rebel against the elder, and the
ignoble against the noble. {3:6} For a man will apprehend his
brother, from the household of his own father, saying: “The
vestment is yours. Be our leader, but let this ruin be under
your hand.” {3:7} In that day, he will respond by saying: “I
am not a healer, and there is no bread or vestment in my
house. Do not choose to appoint me as a leader of the
people.” {3:8} For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah has fallen,
because their words and their plans are against the Lord, in
order to provoke the eyes of his majesty. {3:9} The
acknowledgement of their countenance is their response. For
they have proclaimed their own sin, like Sodom; and they
have not concealed it. Woe to their souls! For evils are being
repaid to them. {3:10} Tell the just man that it is well, for he
shall eat from the fruit from his own plans. {3:11} Woe to the
impious man immersed in evil! For retribution will be given
to him from his own hands. {3:12} As for my people, their
oppressors have despoiled them, and women have ruled over
them. My people, who call you blessed, the same are
deceiving you and disrupting the path of your steps.
{3:13} The Lord stands for judgment, and he stands to judge
the people. {3:14} The Lord will enter into judgment with the
elders of his people, and with their leaders. For you have
been devouring the vineyard, and the plunder from the poor
is in your house. {3:15} Why do you wear down my people,
and grind up the faces of the poor, says the Lord, the God of
hosts? {3:16} And the Lord said: Because the daughters of
Zion have been lifted up, and have walked with extended
necks and winking eyes, because they have continued on,
walking noisily and advancing with a pretentious stride,
{3:17} the Lord will make the heads of the daughters of Zion
bald, and the Lord will strip them of the locks of their hair.
{3:18} In that day, the Lord will take away their decorative
shoes, {3:19} and the little moons and chains, and the
necklaces and bracelets, and the hats, {3:20} and the
ornaments for their hair, and the anklets, and the touches of
myrrh and little bottles of perfumes, and the earrings,
{3:21} and the rings, and the jewels hanging on their
foreheads, {3:22} and the continual changes in appearance,
and the short skirts, and the fine linens and embroidered
cloths, {3:23} and the mirrors, and scarves, and ribbons, and
their sparse clothing. {3:24} And in place of a sweet
fragrance, there will be stench. And in place of a belt, there
will be a rope. And in place of stylish hair, there will be
baldness. And in place of a blouse, there will be haircloth.
{3:25} Likewise, your most handsome men will fall by the
sword, and your strong men will fall in battle. {3:26} And her
gates will grieve and mourn. And she will sit on the ground,
desolate.


[Isaiah 4] {4:1} And seven women will take hold of one man,
in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our
own clothing, only let us be called by your name, so as to
take away our reproach.” {4:2} In that day, the seedling of
the Lord will have magnificence and glory, and the fruit of
the earth will be greatly-esteemed and a source of joy to those
who will have been saved out of Israel. {4:3} And this shall
be: all who are left behind in Zion, and who remain in
Jerusalem, shall be called holy, all who have been written in
life in Jerusalem. {4:4} Then the Lord will have washed
away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and will have washed
away the blood of Jerusalem from its midst, by means of a
spirit of judgment and a spirit of intense devotion. {4:5} And
the Lord will create, over every place of Mount Zion and
wherever he is called upon, a cloud by day and a smoke with
the splendor of burning fire by night. For protection will be
over every glory. {4:6} And there will be a tabernacle for
shade from the heat in daytime, and for security, and for
protection from the whirlwind and from rain.


[Isaiah 5] {5:1} I will sing to my beloved the canticle of my
paternal cousin, about his vineyard. A vineyard was made for
my beloved, at the horn in the son of oil. {5:2} And he fenced
it in, and he picked the stones out of it, and he planted it with
the best vines, and he built a tower in the middle of it, and he
set up a winepress within it. And he expected it to produce
grapes, but it produced wild vines. {5:3} Now then,
inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah: judge between
me and my vineyard. {5:4} What more should I have done
for my vineyard that I did not do for it? Should I not have
expected it to produce grapes, though it produced wild vines?
{5:5} And now, I will reveal to you what I will do to my
vineyard. I will take away its fence, and it will be plundered. I
will pull down its wall, and it will be trampled. {5:6} And I
will make it desolate. It will not be pruned, and it will not be
dug. And briers and thorns will rise up. And I will command
the clouds not to rain upon it. {5:7} For the vineyard of the
Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. And the man of Judah is
his delightful seedling. And I expected that he would do
judgment, and behold iniquity, and that he would do justice,
and behold an outcry. {5:8} Woe to you who join house to
house, and who combine field to field, even to the limits of
the place! Do you intend to live alone in the midst of the
earth? {5:9} These things are in my ears, says the Lord of
hosts. Otherwise, many houses, great and beautiful, will
become desolate, without an inhabitant. {5:10} Then ten
acres of vineyard will produce one small bottle of wine, and
thirty measures of seed will produce three measures of grain.
{5:11} Woe to you who rise up in the morning to pursue
drunkenness, and to drink even until evening, so as to be
inflamed with wine. {5:12} Harp and lyre and timbrel and
pipe, as well as wine, are at your feasts. But you do not
respect the work of the Lord, nor do you consider the works
of his hands. {5:13} Because of this, my people have been led
away as captives, for they did not have knowledge, and their
nobles have passed away from famine, and their multitudes
have dried up from thirst. {5:14} For this reason, Hell has
expanded its soul, and has opened its mouth without any
limits. And their strong ones, and their people, and their
exalted and glorious ones will descend into it. {5:15} And
man will be bowed down, and man will be humbled, and the
eyes of the exalted will be brought low. {5:16} And the Lord
of hosts will be exalted in judgment, and the holy God will be
sanctified in justice. {5:17} And the lambs will pasture in
proper order, and new arrivals will eat from the deserts
turned into fertile lands. {5:18} Woe to you who draw
iniquity with cords of vanity, and who draw sin as if with the
rope of a cart, {5:19} and who say: “Let him hurry, and let
his work arrive soon, so that we may see it. And let the plan
of the Holy One of Israel approach and arrive, so that we
may know it.” {5:20} Woe to you who call evil good, and
good evil; who substitute darkness for light, and light for
darkness; who exchange bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
{5:21} Woe to you who are wise in your own eyes, and
prudent in your own sight! {5:22} Woe to you who are
powerful at drinking wine, who are strong men in contriving
inebriation! {5:23} For you justify an impious man in
exchange for bribes, and you carry away the justice of a just
man from him. {5:24} Because of this, as the tongue of fire
devours stubble, and as the heat of a flame burns it
completely, so will their root become like glowing embers,
and so will their offshoot ascend like dust. For they have cast
aside the law of the Lord of hosts, and they have blasphemed
the eloquence of the Holy One of Israel. {5:25} For this
reason, the fury of the Lord has been enraged against his
people, and he has extended his hand over them, and he has
struck them. And the mountains were disturbed. And their
carcasses became like dung in the midst of the streets. After
all this, his fury was not turned away; instead, his hand was
still extended. {5:26} And he will lift up a sign to nations far
away, and he will whistle to them from the ends of the earth.
And behold, they will rush forward speedily. {5:27} There is
no one weak or struggling among them. They will not
become drowsy, and they will not sleep. Neither will the belt
around their waist be loosened, nor the laces of their boots be
broken. {5:28} Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows are
taut. The hoofs of their horses are like flint, and their wheels
are like the force of a tempest. {5:29} Their roaring is like the
lion; they will roar like young lions. They will both roar and
seize their prey. And they will wrap themselves around it,
and there will be no one who can rescue it. {5:30} And in
that day, they will make a noise over it, like the sound of the
sea. We will gaze out toward the land, and behold, the
darkness of the tribulation, and even the light has been
darkened by its gloom.


[Isaiah 6] {6:1} In the year in which king Uzziah died, I saw
the Lord sitting on a throne, sublime and exalted, and the
things that were under him filled the temple. {6:2} The
Seraphims were standing above the throne. One had six
wings, and the other had six wings: with two they were
covering his face, and with two they were covering his feet,
and with two they were flying. {6:3} And they were crying
out to one another, and saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God of hosts! All the earth is filled with his glory!” {6:4} And
the lintels above the hinges were shaken at the voice of the
one crying out. And the house was filled with smoke.
{6:5} And I said: “Woe to me! For I have remained silent.
For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live in the midst of a
people having unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the
King, the Lord of hosts!” {6:6} And one of the Seraphims
flew to me, and in his hand was a burning coal, which he had
taken with tongs from the altar. {6:7} And he touched my
mouth, and he said, “Behold, this has touched your lips, and
so your iniquities will be taken away, and your sin will be
cleansed.” {6:8} And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send?” and, “Who will go for us?” And I said:
“Here I am. Send me.” {6:9} And he said: “Go forth! And
you shall say to this people: ‘When you listen, you will hear
and not understand. And when you see a vision, you will not
comprehend.’ {6:10} Blind the heart of this people. Make
their ears heavy and close their eyes, lest they see with their
eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their
heart, and be converted, and then I would heal them.”
{6:11} And I said, “For how long, O Lord?” And he said,
“Until the cities are desolate, without an inhabitant, and the
houses are without a man, and the land will be left behind,
deserted.” {6:12} For the Lord will take the men far away,
and she who will have been left behind will be multiplied in
the midst of the earth. {6:13} But still, there will be a tithing
within her, and she will be converted, and she will be put on
display, like a terebinth tree and like an oak which extends its
branches. And what will remain standing within her will be a
holy offspring.


[Isaiah 7] {7:1} And it happened in the days of Ahaz, the son
of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, the king of Judah, that Rezin,
the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, king of
Israel, ascended to Jerusalem to battle against it. But they
were not able to defeat it. {7:2} And they reported to the
house of David, saying: “Syria has withdrawn to Ephraim.”
And his heart was shaken, with the heart of his people, just as
the trees of the forest are moved by the face of the wind.
{7:3} And the Lord said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz, you
and your son, Jashub, who was left behind, to the end of the
aqueduct, at the upper pool, on the road to the fuller’s field.
{7:4} And you shall say to him: “See to it that you are silent.
Do not be afraid. And have no dread in your heart over the
two tails of these firebrands, nearly extinguished, which are
the wrath of the fury of Rezin, king of Syria, and of the son of
Remaliah.” {7:5} For Syria has undertaken a plan against
you, with the evil of Ephraim and the son of Remaliah,
saying: {7:6} “Let us ascend to Judah, and stir it up, and tear
it away for ourselves, and appoint the son of Tabeel as a king
in its midst.” {7:7} Thus says the Lord God: This shall not
stand, and this shall not be. {7:8} For the head of Syria is
Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within
sixty-five years from now, Ephraim will cease to be a people.
{7:9} For the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of
Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you
will not continue. {7:10} And the Lord spoke further to Ahaz,
saying: {7:11} Ask for a sign for yourself from the Lord your
God, from the depths below, even to the heights above.
{7:12} And Ahaz said, “I will not ask, for I will not tempt the
Lord.” {7:13} And he said: “Then listen, O house of David.
Is it such a small thing for you to trouble men, that you must
also trouble my God? {7:14} For this reason, the Lord
himself will grant to you a sign. Behold, a virgin will
conceive, and she will give birth to a son, and his name will
be called Immanuel. {7:15} He will eat butter and honey, so
that he may know to reject evil and to choose good.
{7:16} But even before the boy knows to refuse evil and to
choose good, the land that you detest will be abandoned by
the face of her two kings. {7:17} The Lord will lead over you,
and over your people, and over the house of your father, such
days as have not occurred since the days of the separation of
Ephraim from Judah by the king of the Assyrians.
{7:18} And this shall be in that day: the Lord will call for the
fly, which is in the most distant parts of the rivers of Egypt,
and for the swarm, which is in the land of Assur. {7:19} And
they will arrive, and they all will rest in the torrents of the
valleys, and in the caverns of the rocks, and in every thicket,
and in every opening. {7:20} In that day, the Lord will shave
with a razor the ones hired by those who are across the river,
by the king of the Assyrians, from the head to the hairs of the
feet, with the entire beard. {7:21} And this shall be in that
day: a man will raise a cow among oxen, and two sheep,
{7:22} and, instead of an abundance of milk, he will eat
butter. For all who are left behind in the midst of the land will
eat butter and honey. {7:23} And this shall be in that day:
every place, where there were a thousand grapevines worth a
thousand pieces of silver, will become thorns and briers.
{7:24} They will enter such places with arrows and bows. For
briers and thorns will be throughout the entire land.
{7:25} But as for all the mountains, which will be dug with a
hoe, the terror of thorns and briers will not approach those
places. And there will be pasture land for oxen, and a range
for cattle.”


[Isaiah 8] {8:1} And the Lord said to me: “Take up for
yourself a large book, and with a man’s pen write in it: ‘Take
away the spoils quickly; plunder swiftly.’ ” {8:2} And I
summoned to myself faithful witnesses: Uriah, the priest, and
Zechariah, the son of Berechiah. {8:3} And I joined with the
prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And
the Lord said to me: “Call his name: ‘Rush to take away the
spoils; Hurry to be plundered.’ {8:4} For before the boy
knows how to call to his father and his mother, the strength
of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be taken away, in
the sight of the king of the Assyrians.” {8:5} And the Lord
spoke to me further, saying: {8:6} “Because this people has
cast aside the waters of Shiloah, which go forth silently, and
has instead chosen Rezin and the son of Remaliah, {8:7} for
this reason, behold, the Lord will lead over them the waters
of a river, strong and plentiful: the king of the Assyrians with
all his glory. And he will rise up throughout all his streams,
and he will overflow all his banks. {8:8} And he will pass
through Judah, inundating it, and he will cross over and
arrive, even at its neck. And he will extend his wings, filling
the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.” {8:9} O people,
gather together, and be conquered! All distant lands, listen!
Be strengthened, and be conquered! Gird yourselves, and be
conquered! {8:10} Undertake a plan, and it will be dissipated!
Speak a word, and it will not be done! For God is with us.
{8:11} For the Lord said this to me, and he has instructed
this to me with a strong hand, lest I go forth in the way of this
people, saying: {8:12} “You should not say ‘It is conspiracy!’
For all that this people speaks is a conspiracy. And you
should be frightened or alarmed with their fear.
{8:13} Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself. Let him be your
dread, and let him be your fear. {8:14} And so shall he be a
sanctification to you. But he will be a stone of offense and a
rock of scandal to the two houses of Israel, and a snare and a
ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. {8:15} And very many
of them will stumble and fall, and they will be broken and
entangled and seized. {8:16} Bind the testimony, seal the law,
among my disciples.” {8:17} And I will wait for the Lord,
who has concealed his face from the house of Jacob, and I
will stand before him. {8:18} Behold: I and my children,
whom the Lord has given to me as a sign and a portent, in
Israel, from the Lord of hosts, who lives on Mount Zion.
{8:19} And though they say to you, “Seek from seers and
diviners,” they who hiss in their incantations, should not the
people seek from their God, for the sake of the living, and not
from the dead? {8:20} And this is, moreover, for the sake of
the law and the testimony. But if they do not speak according
to this Word, then he will not have the morning light.
{8:21} And he will pass by it; he will fall and become hungry.
And when he is hungry, he will become angry, and he will
speak evil against his king and his God, and he will lift
himself upward. {8:22} And he will gaze downward to the
earth, and behold: tribulation and darkness, dissolution and
distress, and a pursuing gloom. For he will not be able to fly
away from its distress.


[Isaiah 9] {9:1} In the earlier time, the land of Zebulun and
the land of Naphtali were lifted up. But in the later time, the
way of the sea beyond the Jordan, the Galilee of the Gentiles,
was weighed down. {9:2} The people who walked in
darkness have seen a great light. A light has risen for the
inhabitants of the region of the shadow of death. {9:3} You
have increased the nation, but you have not increased the
rejoicing. They will rejoice before you, like those who rejoice
at the harvest, like the victorious exulting after capturing the
prey, when they divide the spoils. {9:4} For you have
prevailed over the yoke of their burden, and over the rod of
their shoulder, and over the scepter of their oppressor, as in
the day of Midian. {9:5} For every violent plunder with a
tumult, and every garment mixed with blood, will be burned
up and will become fuel for the fire. {9:6} For unto us a child
is born, and unto us a son is given. And leadership is placed
upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called: wonderful
Counselor, mighty God, father of the future age, Prince of
Peace. {9:7} His reign will be increased, and there will be no
end to his peace. He will sit upon the throne of David and
over his kingdom, to confirm and strengthen it, in judgment
and justice, from now even unto eternity. The zeal of the
Lord of hosts shall accomplish this. {9:8} The Lord sent a
word to Jacob, and it fell upon Israel. {9:9} And all the
people of Ephraim will know it. And the inhabitants of
Samaria will say it, in the arrogance and haughtiness of their
heart: {9:10} “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with
squared stones. They have cut down the sycamores, but we
will replace them with cedars.” {9:11} And the Lord will
raise up the enemies of Rezin over him, and he will turn his
adversaries into a tumult: {9:12} the Syrians from the east
and the Philistines from the west. And they will devour Israel
with their whole mouth. After all this, his fury was not turned
away; instead, his hand was still extended. {9:13} And the
people did not return to the One who struck them, and they
did not seek the Lord of hosts. {9:14} And so, the Lord will
disperse, away from Israel, the head and the tail, he who
bows down and he who refrains, in one day. {9:15} The long-
lived and honorable, he is the head; and the prophet who
teaches lies, he is the tail. {9:16} And those who deceitfully
praise this people, and those who are praised, will be thrown
down violently. {9:17} For this reason, the Lord will not
rejoice over their youths. And he will not take pity on their
orphans and widows. For each one is a hypocrite, and each
one is wicked, and every mouth has spoken foolishness. After
all this, his fury was not turned away; instead, his hand was
still extended. {9:18} For impiety has been kindled like a fire:
it will devour brier and thorn, and it will burn in the dense
forest, and it will be interwoven with the ascending smoke.
{9:19} The earth has been shaken by the wrath of the Lord of
hosts, and the people will become like fuel for the fire. A man
will not spare his own brother. {9:20} And he will turn
toward the right, and he will be hungry. And he will eat
toward the left, and he will not be satisfied. Each one will eat
the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh Ephraim, and Ephraim
Manasseh, and together they will be against Judah.
{9:21} After all this, his fury was not turned away; instead,
his hand was still extended.


[Isaiah 10] {10:1} Woe to those who make unfair laws, and
who, when writing, write injustice: {10:2} in order to oppress
the poor in judgment, and to do violence to the case of the
humble of my people, in order that widows may be their prey,
and that they might plunder the orphan. {10:3} What will
you do on the day of visitation and calamity which is
approaching from afar? To whom will you flee for assistance?
And where will you leave behind your own glory, {10:4} so
that you may not be bowed down under the chains, and fall
with the slain? Concerning all this, his fury was not turned
away; instead, his hand was still extended. {10:5} Woe to
Assur! He is the rod and the staff of my fury, and my
indignation is in their hands. {10:6} I will send him to a
deceitful nation, and I will order him against the people of
my fury, so that he may take away the plunder, and tear apart
the prey, and place it to be trampled like the mud of the
streets. {10:7} But he will not consider it to be so, and his
heart will not suppose it to be this way. Instead, his heart will
be set to crush and to exterminate more than a few nations.
{10:8} For he will say: {10:9} “Are not my princes like many
kings? Is not Calno like Carchemish, and Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus? {10:10} In the same manner
as my hand reached the kingdoms of the idol, so also will it
reach their false images, those of Jerusalem and of Samaria.
{10:11} Should I not do to Jerusalem and her false images,
just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?” {10:12} And
this shall be: when the Lord will have completed each of his
works on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I will act against the
fruit of the exalted heart of king Assur, and against the glory
of the haughtiness of his eyes. {10:13} For he has said: “I
have acted with the strength of my own hand, and I have
understood with my own wisdom, and I have removed the
limits of the people, and I have plundered their leaders, and,
like one with power, I have pulled down those residing on
high. {10:14} And my hand has reached to the strength of the
people, as to a nest. And, just as the eggs which have been
left behind are gathered, so have I gathered the entire earth.
And there was no one who moved a wing, or opened a
mouth, or uttered a snarl.” {10:15} Should the axe glorify
itself over him who wields it? Or can the saw exalt itself over
him who pulls it? How can a rod lift itself up against him who
wields it, or a staff exalt itself, though it is only wood?
{10:16} Because of this, the sovereign Lord, the Lord of hosts,
will send leanness among his fat ones. And under the
influence of his glory, a burning ardor will rage, like a
consuming fire. {10:17} And the light of Israel will be like a
fire, and the Holy One of Israel will be like a flame. And his
thorns and briers will be set ablaze and devoured, in one day.
{10:18} And the glory of his forest and of his beautiful hill
will be consumed, from the soul even to the flesh. And he
will flee away in terror. {10:19} And what remain of the trees
of his forest will be so few, and so easily numbered, that even
a child could write them down. {10:20} And this shall be in
that day: those not added to the remnant of Israel, and those
who escape of the house of Jacob, will not lean upon him
who strikes them. Instead, they will lean upon the Lord, the
Holy One of Israel, in truth. {10:21} The remnant of Jacob,
again I say the remnant, will be converted to the mighty God.
{10:22} For though your people, O Israel, will be like the
sand of the sea, yet only a remnant of them will be converted.
The consummation, having been shortened, will be
inundated with justice. {10:23} For the Lord, the God of
hosts, will accomplish an abbreviation and a consummation,
in the midst of all the earth. {10:24} For this reason, the Lord,
the God of hosts, says this: “My people, who inhabit Zion:
do not be afraid of Assur. He will strike you with his rod, and
he will lift up his staff over you, on the way of Egypt.
{10:25} But after a little while and a brief time, my
indignation will be consumed, and my fury will turn to their
wickedness.” {10:26} And the Lord of hosts will raise up a
scourge over him, like the scourge of Midian at the rock of
Oreb, and he will raise up his rod over the sea, and he will lift
it up against the way of Egypt. {10:27} And this shall be in
that day: his burden will be taken away from your shoulder,
and his yoke will be taken away from your neck, and the
yoke will decay at the appearance of the oil. {10:28} He will
approach Aiath; he will cross into Migron; he will entrust his
vessels to Michmash. {10:29} They have passed through in
haste; Geba is our seat; Ramah was stupefied; Gibeah of Saul
fled. {10:30} Neigh with your voice, daughter of Gallim; pay
attention, Laishah, impoverished woman of Anathoth.
{10:31} Madmenah has moved away; be strengthened, you
inhabitants of Gebim. {10:32} It is still daylight, so stand at
Nob. He will shake his hand against the mountain of the
daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. {10:33} Behold, the
sovereign Lord of hosts will crush the little bottle of wine
with terror, and the exalted in stature will be cut down, and
the lofty will be brought low. {10:34} And the dense forest
will be overturned with iron. And Lebanon, with its exalted
ones, will fall.


[Isaiah 11] {11:1} And a rod will go forth from the root of
Jesse, and a flower will ascend from his root. {11:2} And the
Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of
knowledge and piety. {11:3} And he will be filled with the
spirit of the fear of the Lord. He will not judge according to
the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of
the ears. {11:4} Instead, he will judge the poor with justice,
and he will reprove the meek of the earth with fairness. And
he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and he will
slay the impious with the spirit of his lips. {11:5} And justice
will be the belt around his waist. And faith will be the
warrior’s belt at his side. {11:6} The wolf will dwell with the
lamb; and the leopard will lie down with the kid; the calf and
the lion and the sheep will abide together; and a little boy will
drive them. {11:7} The calf and the bear will feed together;
their young ones will rest together. And the lion will eat straw
like the ox. {11:8} And a breastfeeding infant will play above
the lair of the asp. And a child who has been weaned will
thrust his hand into the den of the king snake. {11:9} They
will not harm, and they will not kill, on all my holy mountain.
For the earth has been filled with the knowledge of the Lord,
like the waters covering the sea. {11:10} In that day, the root
of Jesse, who stands as a sign among the people, the same the
Gentiles shall beseech, and his sepulcher will be glorious.
{11:11} And this shall be in that day: the Lord will send forth
his hand a second time to take possession of the remnant of
his people who will be left behind: from Assyria, and from
Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Ethiopia, and from Elam,
and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of
the sea. {11:12} And he will lift up a sign to the nations, and
he will gather together the fugitives of Israel, and he will
collect the dispersed of Judah from the four regions of the
earth. {11:13} And the envy of Ephraim will be taken away,
and the enemies of Judah will perish. Ephraim will not be a
rival to Judah, and Judah will not fight against Ephraim.
{11:14} And they will fly upon the shoulders of the
Philistines through the sea; together they will plunder the
sons of the east. Idumea and Moab will be under the rule of
their hand, and the sons of Ammon will be obedient.
{11:15} And the Lord will desolate the tongue of the sea of
Egypt. And he will lift up his hand over the river, with the
strength of his Spirit; and he will strike it, in its seven streams,
so that they may cross through it in their shoes. {11:16} And
there will be a way for the remnant of my people, who will be
left behind by the Assyrians: just as there was for Israel in the
day that he ascended from the land of Egypt.


[Isaiah 12] {12:1} And you will say in that day: “I will
confess to you, O Lord, because you have been angry with
me; but your fury has been turned away, and you have
consoled me. {12:2} Behold, God is my savior, I will act
faithfully, and I will not be afraid. For the Lord is my
strength and my praise, and he has become my salvation.”
{12:3} You will draw water with gladness from the fountains
of the Savior. {12:4} And you will say in that day: “Confess
the Lord, and invoke his name! Make his plans known
among the peoples! Remember that his name is exalted!
{12:5} Sing to the Lord, for he has acted magnificently!
Announce it to the whole world! {12:6} Exult and give praise,
O habitation of Zion! For the Great One, the Holy One of
Israel, is in your midst!”


[Isaiah 13] {13:1} The burden of Babylon which Isaiah, the
son of Amoz, saw. {13:2} Over the foggy mountain lift up a
sign! Raise the voice, lift up the hand, and let the rulers enter
through the gates! {13:3} In my wrath, I commanded my
sanctified ones, and I called my strong ones, those who exult
in my glory. {13:4} On the mountains, there is the voice of a
multitude, as if of a numerous people, a voice with the sound
of kings, of nations gathered together. For the Lord of hosts
has given orders to soldiers of war, {13:5} to those who are
arriving from a far off land, from the heights of the heavens.
It is the Lord and the instruments of his fury, so that he may
bring ruin to all the earth. {13:6} Wail aloud! For the day of
the Lord draws near! It will arrive like a devastation from the
Lord. {13:7} Because of it, every hand will fail, and every
heart of man will waste away and be crushed.
{13:8} Writhing and pain will seize them. They will be in
pain, like a woman in labor. Each one will appear stupefied
to his neighbor. Their countenances will be like faces which
have been burned up. {13:9} Behold, the day of the Lord
approaches: a cruel day, full of indignation and wrath and
fury, which will place the earth in solitude and crush the
sinners from it. {13:10} For the stars of the heavens, in their
splendor, will not display their light. The sun will be obscured
at its rising, and the moon will not shine in her brightness.
{13:11} And I will act against the evils of the world, and
against the impious for their iniquity. And I will cause the
pride of the unfaithful to cease, and I will bring down the
arrogance of the strong. {13:12} A man will be more precious
than gold, and mankind will become like pure refined gold.
{13:13} For this purpose, I will stir up heaven, and the earth
will be moved from its place, because of the indignation of
the Lord of hosts, because of the day of his furious wrath.
{13:14} And they will be like a doe fleeing away, or like
sheep; and there will be no one who may gather them
together. Each one will turn to his own people, and every one
will flee to his own land. {13:15} All who are found will be
killed, and all who are caught unaware will fall by the sword.
{13:16} Their infants will be thrown down violently before
their eyes. Their houses will be plundered, and their wives
will be violated. {13:17} Behold, I will stir up the Medes
against them. They will not seek silver, nor desire gold.
{13:18} Instead, with their arrows, they will put the little
children to death, and they will take no pity on breastfeeding
women, and their eye will not spare their children.
{13:19} And then Babylon, the glorious one among
kingdoms, that famous pride of the Chaldeans, will be
destroyed, even as the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
{13:20} It will not be inhabited, even unto the end, and it will
not be reestablished, even from generation to generation. The
Arab will not pitch his tents there, nor will the shepherds take
rest there. {13:21} Instead, the wild beasts will rest there, and
their houses will be filled with serpents, and ostriches will live
there, and the hairy ones will leap about there. {13:22} And
the tawny owls will answer one another there, in its buildings,
and the Sirens in its shrines of pleasure.


[Isaiah 14] {14:1} Her time is drawing near, and her days
will not be prolonged. For the Lord will take pity on Jacob,
and he will still choose from Israel, and he will cause them to
rest upon their own soil. And the new arrival will be joined to
them, and he will adhere to the house of Jacob. {14:2} And
the people will take them, and lead them to their place. And
the house of Israel will possess them, in the land of the Lord,
as men and women servants. And they will take captive those
who had taken them captive. And they will subjugate their
oppressors. {14:3} And this shall be in that day: when God
will have given you rest from your labor, and from your
oppression, and from the difficult servitude under which you
served before, {14:4} you will accept this parable against the
king of Babylon, and you will say: “How is it that the
oppressor has ceased, along with his tribute? {14:5} The Lord
has crushed the staff of the impious, the scepter of despots,
{14:6} which struck the people in wrath with an incurable
wound, which subjugated the nations in fury, which
persecuted with cruelty. {14:7} All the earth has become
quiet and still; it has been gladdened and has rejoiced.
{14:8} The evergreens, too, have rejoiced over you, and the
cedars of Lebanon, saying: ‘Since you have slept, no one has
ascended who would cut us down.’ {14:9} Hell below was
stirred up to meet you at your advent; it has awakened the
giants for you. All the leaders of the earth have risen from
their thrones, all the leaders among the nations.”
{14:10} Everyone will respond and will say to you: “Now
you are wounded, just as we were; you have become like us.
{14:11} Your arrogance has been dragged down to Hell.
Your body has fallen dead. The moths will be strewn beneath
you, and the worms will be your covering. {14:12} How is it
that you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who used to rise
like the sun? How is it that you have fallen to the earth, you
who wounded the peoples? {14:13} And you said in your
heart: ‘I will climb up to heaven. I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God. I will be enthroned upon the mountain of
the covenant, on the northern parts. {14:14} I will ascend
above the tops of the clouds. I will be like the Most High.’
{14:15} Yet truly, you shall be dragged down to Hell, into the
depths of the pit. {14:16} Those who see you, will lean
toward you, and will gaze upon you, saying: ‘Could this be
the man who disturbed the earth, who shook kingdoms,
{14:17} who made the world into a desert and destroyed its
cities, who would not even open a prison for his prisoners?’ ”
{14:18} All the kings of the nations throughout the whole
world have slept in glory, each man in his own house.
{14:19} But you have been rejected from your grave, like a
useless polluted plant, and you have been bound up with
those who were slain by the sword, and who descended to the
bottom of the pit, like a rotting carcass. {14:20} You will not
be associated with them, even in the grave. For you have
destroyed your own land; you have slain your own people.
The offspring of the wicked ones will not be called upon for
eternity. {14:21} Prepare his sons for the slaughter, according
to the iniquity of their fathers. They will not rise up, nor
inherit the earth, nor fill the face of the world with cities.
{14:22} But I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts.
And I will perish the name of Babylon and its remnants: both
the plant and its progeny, says the Lord. {14:23} And I will
appoint it as a possession for the hedgehog, with swamps of
water. And I will sweep it out and wear it away with a brush,
says the Lord of hosts. {14:24} The Lord of hosts has sworn,
saying: Surely, just as I have considered it, so shall it be, and
in the same manner as I have drawn it through my mind,
{14:25} so shall it occur. So shall I crush the Assyrian in my
land, and I will trample him upon my mountains, and his
yoke will be taken away from them, and his burden will be
removed from their shoulder. {14:26} This is the plan that I
have decided, concerning the entire earth, and this is the
hand which is extended over all the nations. {14:27} For the
Lord of hosts has decreed it, and who is able to weaken it?
And his hand is extended, so who can avert it? {14:28} In the
year in which king Ahaz died, this burden was given:
{14:29} You should not rejoice, all you of Philistia, that the
rod of him who struck you has been crushed. For from the
root of the serpent will go forth a king snake, and his
offspring will engulf that which flies. {14:30} And the
firstborn of the poor will be pastured, and the poor will rest in
faithfulness. And I will cause your root to pass away by
famine, and I will put to death your remnant. {14:31} Wail,
O gate! Cry out, O city! All of Philistia has been prostrated.
For a smoke will arrive from the north, and there is no one
who will escape his army. {14:32} And what will be the
response to this news among the nations? It will be that the
Lord has established Zion, and that the poor of his people
will hope in him.


[Isaiah 15] {15:1} The burden of Moab. Because Ar of Moab
has been destroyed by night, it is utterly silent. Because the
wall of Moab has been destroyed by night, it is utterly silent.
{15:2} The house has ascended with Dibon to the heights, in
mourning over Nebo and over Medeba. Moab has wailed.
There will be baldness on all of their heads, and every beard
will be shaven. {15:3} At their crossroads, they have been
wrapped with sackcloth. On their rooftops and in their streets,
everyone descends, wailing and weeping. {15:4} Heshbon
will cry out with Elealeh. Their voice has been heard as far as
Jahaz. Over this, the well-equipped men of Moab wail; each
soul will wail to itself. {15:5} My heart will cry out to Moab;
its bars will cry out even to Zoar, like a three-year-old calf.
For they will ascend weeping, by way of the ascent of Luhith.
And along the way of Horonaim, they will lift up a cry of
contrition. {15:6} For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate,
because the plants have withered, and the seedling has failed,
and all the greenery has passed away. {15:7} This is in accord
with the magnitude of their works and of their visitation.
They will lead them to the torrent of the willows. {15:8} For
an outcry has circulated along the border of Moab; its wailing
even to Eglaim, and its clamor even to the well of Elim.
{15:9} Because the waters of Dibon have been filled with
blood, I will place even more upon Dibon: those from Moab
who flee the lion, and the survivors of the earth.


[Isaiah 16] {16:1} O Lord, send forth the Lamb, the Ruler of
the earth, from the Rock of the desert to the mountain of the
daughter of Zion. {16:2} And this shall be: like a bird fleeing
away, and like fledglings flying from the nest, so will the
daughters of Moab be at the passage of Arnon. {16:3} Form
a plan. Call a council. Let your shadow be as if it were night,
even at midday. Conceal the fugitives, and do not betray the
wanderers. {16:4} My fugitives will live with you. Become a
hiding place, O Moab, from the face of the destroyer. For the
dust is at its end; the miserable one has been consumed. He
who trampled the earth has failed. {16:5} And a throne will
be prepared in mercy, and One shall sit upon it in truth, in
the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment, and
quickly repaying what is just. {16:6} We have heard of the
pride of Moab; he is very proud. His pride and his arrogance
and his indignation is more than his strength. {16:7} For this
reason, Moab will wail to Moab; each one will wail. Speak of
their wounds to those who rejoice upon the brick walls.
{16:8} For the suburbs of Heshbon are deserted, and the
lords of the Gentiles have cut down the vineyard of Sibmah.
Its vines have arrived even at Jazer. They have wandered in
the desert. Its seedlings have been abandoned. They have
crossed over the sea. {16:9} I will weep with the tears of
Jazer over this, the vineyard of Sibmah. I will inebriate you
with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh! For the sound of those
who trample has rushed over your vintage and over your
harvest. {16:10} And so, rejoicing and exultation will be
taken away from Carmel, and there will be no jubilation or
exultation in the vineyards. He who was accustomed to tread
will not tread out the wine in the winepress. I have taken
away the sound of those who tread. {16:11} Over this, my
heart will resonate like a harp for Moab, and my inner most
being for the brick wall. {16:12} And this shall be: when it is
seen that Moab has struggled upon his high places, he will
enter his holy places to pray, but he will not prevail.
{16:13} This is the word that the Lord has spoken to Moab
concerning that time. {16:14} And now the Lord has spoken,
saying: In three years, like the years of a hired hand, the glory
of Moab concerning the entire multitude of the people will be
taken away, and what is left behind will be small and weak
and not so numerous.


[Isaiah 17] {17:1} The burden of Damascus. Behold,
Damascus will cease to be a city, and it will be like a heap of
stones in ruin. {17:2} The cities in ruin will be left for the
flocks, and they will take rest there, and there will be no one
who may terrify them. {17:3} And assistance will cease from
Ephraim, and the kingdom will cease from Damascus. And
the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the sons of Israel,
says the Lord of hosts. {17:4} And this shall be in that day:
the glory of Jacob will be thinned, and the fatness of his flesh
will be reduced. {17:5} And it shall be like the gathering of
the harvest which remains, and his arm will pick the ears of
grain. And it shall be like a search for grain in the valley of
Rephaim. {17:6} And what is left behind in it will be like one
cluster of grapes, or like a shaken olive tree with two or three
olives at the top of a branch, or like four or five olives at the
top of a tree, says the Lord God of Israel. {17:7} In that day,
a man will bow before his Maker, and his eyes will consider
the Holy One of Israel. {17:8} And he will not bow before
the altars that his hands have made. And he will not consider
the things that his fingers have made, the sacred groves and
the shrines. {17:9} In that day, his strong cities will be
abandoned, like the plows and the grain fields which were left
behind before the face of the sons of Israel, and you shall be
deserted. {17:10} For you have forgotten God your Savior,
and you have not remembered your strong Helper. Because
of this, you will plant trustworthy plants, but you will sow a
foreign seed. {17:11} In the day of your planting, the wild
grapevine and your morning seed will flourish. The harvest
has been taken away to the day of inheritance, and you will
grieve heavily. {17:12} Woe to the multitude of many
peoples, like the multitude of the roaring sea! Woe to the
tumult of crowds, like the noise of many waters! {17:13} The
peoples will make a noise, like the noise of waters
overflowing, but he will rebuke him, and so he will flee far
away. And he will be quickly taken away, like the dust of the
mountains before the face of the wind, and like a whirlwind
before a tempest. {17:14} In the time of the evening, behold:
there will be a disturbance. When it is early morning, he will
not remain. This is the portion of those who have devastated
us, and this is the lot of those who have plundered us.


[Isaiah 18] {18:1} Woe to the land, that winged cymbal,
which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, {18:2} which sends
ambassadors by sea and in vessels of papyrus above the
waters. Go forth, O swift Angels, to a nation which has been
convulsed and torn apart, to a terrible people, after whom
there is no other, to a nation apprehensive and downtrodden,
whose land the rivers have spoiled. {18:3} All inhabitants of
the world, you who dwell upon the earth: when the sign will
have been elevated on the mountains, you will see, and you
will hear the blast of the trumpet. {18:4} For the Lord says
this to me: I will be quiet, and I will consider in my place, as
the light at midday is clear, and as a cloud of dew in the day
of the harvest. {18:5} For before the harvest, all was
flourishing. And it will spring forth with an untimely
completion, and its little branches will be pruned with a
curved blade. And what is left over will be cut away and
shaken off. {18:6} And together they will be abandoned to
the birds of the mountains and to the wild beasts of the earth.
And the birds will be continuously on them in the summer,
and all the wild beasts of the earth will winter over them.
{18:7} In that time, a gift will be carried to the Lord of hosts,
from a people divided and torn apart, from a terrible people,
after whom there has been no other, from an apprehensive
nation, apprehensive and downtrodden, whose land the rivers
have ruined, and it will be carried to the place of the name of
the Lord of hosts, to mount Zion.


[Isaiah 19] {19:1} The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord
will ascend upon a lofty cloud, and he will enter into Egypt,
and the false images of Egypt will be moved before his face,
and the heart of Egypt will waste away in its midst.
{19:2} And I will cause Egyptian to rush against Egyptian.
And they will fight: a man against his brother, and a man
against his friend, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.
{19:3} And the spirit of Egypt will be ruptured to its very
core. And I will cast down their plan violently. And they will
seek answers from their false images, and their diviners, and
those led by demons, and their seers. {19:4} And I will
deliver Egypt into the hand of cruel masters, and a strong
king will dominate them, says the Lord, the God of hosts.
{19:5} And the waters of the sea will dry up, and the river
will be desolate and dry. {19:6} And the rivers will fail. The
streams of its banks will diminish and dry up. The reed and
the bulrush will wither away. {19:7} The channel of the river
will be stripped down to its source, and everything irrigated
by it will dry up and wither and be no more. {19:8} And the
fishermen will grieve. And all who cast a hook into the river
will mourn. And those who cast a net upon the surface of its
waters will languish. {19:9} Those who work with linen,
combing and weaving fine textiles, will be confounded.
{19:10} And its irrigated places will begin to fail, with all
those who make pools to take fish. {19:11} The leaders of
Tanis are foolish. The wise counselors of Pharaoh have given
foolish counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh: “I am the son
of wisemen, the son of the kings of antiquity?”
{19:12} Where are your wisemen now? Let them announce it
to you, and let them reveal what the Lord of hosts intends for
Egypt. {19:13} The leaders of Tanis have become foolish.
The leaders of Memphis have decayed. They have deceived
Egypt, the corner of its people. {19:14} The Lord has mixed a
spirit of giddiness into its midst. And they have caused Egypt
to err in all its works, like a drunken man who staggers and
vomits. {19:15} And there will be no work for Egypt that
would produce a head or a tail, one who bows down or one
who refrains from bowing down. {19:16} In that day, Egypt
will be like women, and they will be stupefied and fearful
before the presence of the shaking hand of the Lord of hosts,
the hand which he will move over them. {19:17} And the
land of Judah will be a dread to Egypt. Everyone who thinks
about it will be terrified before the presence of the plan of the
Lord of hosts, the plan which he has decided concerning
them. {19:18} In that day, there will be five cities in the land
of Egypt which speak the language of Canaan, and which
swear by the Lord of hosts. One will be called the City of the
Sun. {19:19} In that day, there will be an altar of the Lord in
the midst of the land of Egypt and a monument of the Lord
beside its borders. {19:20} This shall be a sign and a
testimony to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. For they
will cry out to the Lord before the face of the tribulation, and
he will send them a savior and a defender who will free them.
{19:21} And the Lord will be acknowledged by Egypt, and
the Egyptians will recognize the Lord in that day, and they
will worship him with sacrifices and gifts. And they will
make vows to the Lord, and they will fulfill them.
{19:22} And the Lord will strike Egypt with a scourge, and
he will heal them. And they will return to the Lord. And he
will be placated toward them, and he will heal them.
{19:23} In that day, there will be a way from Egypt to the
Assyrians, and the Assyrian will enter into Egypt, and the
Egyptian will be with the Assyrians, and the Egyptians will
serve Assur. {19:24} In that day, will Israel be the third to the
Egyptian and the Assyrian, a blessing in the midst of the
earth, {19:25} which the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying:
Blessed be my people of Egypt, and the work of my hands for
the Assyrian, but Israel is my inheritance.


[Isaiah 20] {20:1} In the year in which Tharthan entered into
Ashdod, when Sargon, the king of the Assyrians, had sent
him, and when he had fought against Ashdod and had
captured it, {20:2} in that same time, the Lord spoke by the
hand of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saying: “Go forth, and
remove the sackcloth from your waist, and take your shoes
from your feet.” And he did so, going out naked and barefoot.
{20:3} And the Lord said: Just as my servant Isaiah has
walked naked and barefoot, as a sign and as a portent of three
years over Egypt and over Ethiopia, {20:4} so also will the
king of the Assyrians force the captivity of Egypt, and the
transmigration of Ethiopia: young and old, naked and
barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of
Egypt. {20:5} And they will be afraid and confounded over
Ethiopia, their hope, and Egypt, their glory. {20:6} And in
that day, the inhabitants of a certain island will say: “Behold,
this was our hope, we fled to them for help, to free us from
the face of the king of the Assyrians. And now, how will we
be able to escape?”


[Isaiah 21] {21:1} The burden of the desert of the sea. Just as
the whirlwinds approach from Africa, it approaches from the
desert, from a terrible land. {21:2} A difficult vision has been
announced to me: he who is unbelieving, he acts unfaithfully,
and he who is a plunderer, he devastates. Ascend, O Elam!
Lay siege, O Media! I have caused all its mourning to cease.
{21:3} Because of this, my lower back has been filled with
pain, and anguish has possessed me, like the anguish of a
woman in labor. I fell down when I heard it. I was disturbed
when I saw it. {21:4} My heart withered. The darkness
stupefied me. Babylon, my beloved, has become a wonder to
me. {21:5} Prepare the table. Contemplate, from a place of
observation, those who eat and drink. Rise up, you leaders!
Take up the shield! {21:6} For the Lord has said this to me:
“Go and station a watchman. And let him announce
whatever he will see.” {21:7} And he saw a chariot with two
horsemen, and a rider on an donkey, and a rider on a camel.
And he considered them diligently, with an intense gaze.
{21:8} And a lion cried out: “I am on the watchtower of the
Lord, standing continually by day. And I am at my station,
standing throughout the night. {21:9} Behold, a certain man
approaches, a man riding on a two-horse chariot.” And he
responded, and he said: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! And all its
graven gods have been crushed into the earth! {21:10} O my
threshed grain! O sons of my threshing floor! What I have
heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have
announced to you.” {21:11} The burden of Dumah, cried out
to me from Seir: “Watchman, how goes the night?
Watchman, how goes the night?” {21:12} The watchman
said: “Morning approaches with the night. If you are seeking:
seek, and convert, and approach.” {21:13} The burden in
Arabia. In the forest you shall sleep, in the evening on the
paths of Dedanim. {21:14} You who inhabit the land of the
south: upon meeting the thirsty, bring water; meet the
fugitive with bread. {21:15} For they are fleeing before the
face of swords, before the face of a sword hanging over them,
before the face of a bent bow, before the face of a grievous
battle. {21:16} For the Lord said this to me: “After one more
year, just like one year for a hired hand, all the glory of Kedar
will be taken away. {21:17} And the remainder of the
multitude of strong archers from the sons of Kedar will be
few, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken it.”


[Isaiah 22] {22:1} The burden of the valley of vision. What
does it mean to you, then, that each of you have even
climbed to the rooftops? {22:2} Filled with clamor, a busy
city, an exultant city: your dead have not been slain by the
sword, nor did they die in battle. {22:3} All your leaders have
fled together, and they have been bound by hardship. All who
were found were chained together. They have fled far away.
{22:4} For this reason, I said: “Depart from me. I will weep
bitterly. Make no attempt to console me, over the devastation
of the daughter of my people.” {22:5} For it is a day of death,
and of trampling, and of weeping to the Lord, the God of
hosts, in the valley of vision: examining the wall and the
magnificence above the mountain. {22:6} And Elam took up
the quiver and the chariot of the horseman; and he stripped
the wall of the shield. {22:7} And your elect valleys will be
filled with chariots, and the horsemen will position
themselves at the gates. {22:8} And the covering of Judah
will be exposed, and in that day, you will see the weaponry of
the forest house. {22:9} And you will see breaches in the city
of David, for these have been multiplied. But you have
gathered together the waters of the lower fish-pool.
{22:10} And you have numbered the houses of Jerusalem.
And you have destroyed the houses in order to fortify the
wall. {22:11} And you have made a pit between two walls for
the waters of the ancient fish-pool. But you have not gazed
upward to him who made it, and you have not considered,
even from a distance, its Maker. {22:12} And in that day, the
Lord, the God of hosts, will call to weeping and mourning, to
baldness and the wearing of sackcloth. {22:13} But behold:
gladness and rejoicing, the killing of calves and the slaughter
of rams, the eating of meat and the drinking of wine: “Let us
eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.” {22:14} And the
voice of the Lord of hosts was revealed in my ears: “Surely
this iniquity will not be forgiven you, until you die,” says the
Lord, the God of hosts. {22:15} Thus says the Lord, the God
of hosts: Go forth and enter to him who lives in the
tabernacle, to Shebna, who is in charge of the temple, and
you shall say to him: {22:16} “What are you here, or who are
you claiming to be here? For you have hewn a sepulcher for
yourself here. You have diligently hewn a memorial in a rock,
as a tabernacle to yourself. {22:17} Behold, the Lord will
cause you to be carried away, like a domesticated rooster,
and he will remove you, like an outer garment. {22:18} He
will crown you with a crown of tribulation. He will toss you
like a ball into a broad and spacious land. There you will die,
and there the chariot of your glory will be, for it is a shame to
the house of your Lord.” {22:19} And I will expel you from
your station, and I will depose you from your ministry.
{22:20} And this shall be in that day: I will call my servant
Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah. {22:21} And I will clothe him
with your vestment, and I will strengthen him with your belt,
and I will give your authority to his hand. And he shall be
like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house
of Judah. {22:22} And I will place the key of the house of
David upon his shoulder. And when he opens, no one will
close. And when he closes, no one will open. {22:23} And I
will fasten him like a peg in a trustworthy place. And he will
be upon a throne of glory in the house of his father.
{22:24} And they will suspend over him all the glory of his
father’s house: various kinds of vessels and every little article,
from the vessels of bowls even to every instrument of music.
{22:25} In that day, says the Lord of hosts, the peg which
was fastened in a trustworthy place shall be taken away. And
he will be broken, and he will fall, and he will perish, along
with all that had depended upon him, because the Lord has
spoken it.


[Isaiah 23] {23:1} The burden of Tyre. Wail, you ships of the
sea! For the house, from which they were accustomed to go
forth, has been laid waste. From the land of Kittim, this has
been revealed to them. {23:2} Be silent, you inhabitants of
the island! The merchants of Sidon, crossing over the sea,
have filled you. {23:3} The offspring of the Nile is in the
midst of many waters. The harvest of the river is her crop.
And she has become the marketplace of the nations.
{23:4} Be ashamed, O Sidon! For the sea speaks, the strength
of the sea, saying: “I have not been in labor, and I have not
given birth, and I have not raised young men, nor have I
promoted the development of virgins.” {23:5} When it has
been heard in Egypt, they will be in anguish, when they hear
of Tyre. {23:6} Cross over the seas. Wail, you inhabitants of
the island! {23:7} Is this not your place, which from its
earliest days has gloried in its antiquity? Her feet will lead her
to a sojourn far away. {23:8} Who has made this plan against
Tyre, which formerly was crowned, whose merchants were
leaders, whose traders were illustrious on the earth?
{23:9} The Lord of hosts has planned this, so that he may
tear down the arrogance of all glory, and may bring disgrace
to all the illustrious of the earth. {23:10} Cross through your
land, as through a river, O daughter of the sea. You no longer
have a belt. {23:11} He has extended his hand over the sea.
He has stirred up kingdoms. The Lord has given an order
against Canaan, so that he may crush its strong. {23:12} And
he said: “You shall no longer increase so as to glory, while
enduring calumny, O virgin daughter of Sidon. Rise up and
set sail for Kittim; in that place, too, there will be no rest for
you.” {23:13} Behold, the land of the Chaldeans: never
before was there such a people! Assur founded it. They have
led away its strong ones into captivity. They have dug under
its houses. They have left it in ruins. {23:14} Wail, you ships
of the sea! For your strength has been devastated.
{23:15} And this shall be in that day: you, O Tyre, will be
forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. Then,
after seventy years, there will be, for Tyre, something like the
canticle of a harlot. {23:16} Take up a stringed instrument.
Circulate through the city, you harlot who had been forgotten.
Sing many canticles well, so that you may be remembered.
{23:17} And this shall be after seventy years: the Lord will
visit Tyre, and he will lead her back to her profits. And she
will fornicate again with all the kingdoms of the world upon
the face of the earth. {23:18} And her businesses and her
profits will be sanctified to the Lord. They will not be locked
away and they will not be stored. For her business will be for
those who will live in the presence of the Lord, so that they
may eat until satisfied, and may be well-clothed even into old
age.


[Isaiah 24] {24:1} Behold, the Lord will lay waste to the
earth, and he will strip it, and he will afflict its surface, and he
will scatter its inhabitants. {24:2} And this shall be: as with
the people, so with the priest; and as with the servant, so with
his master; as with the handmaid, so with her mistress; as
with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with
the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor.
{24:3} The earth will be utterly devastated and utterly
plundered. For the Lord has spoken this word. {24:4} The
earth mourned, and slipped away, and languished. The world
slipped away; the loftiness of the people of the earth was
weakened. {24:5} And the earth was corrupted by its
inhabitants. For they have transgressed the laws, they have
changed the ordinance, they have dissipated the everlasting
covenant. {24:6} Because of this, a curse will devour the
earth, and its inhabitants will sin. And for this reason, its
caretakers will become crazed, and few men will be left
behind. {24:7} The vintage has mourned. The vine has
languished. All those who were rejoicing in their hearts have
groaned. {24:8} The gladness of the drums has ceased. The
sound of rejoicing has quieted. The sweetness of stringed
instruments has been silenced. {24:9} They will not drink
wine with a song. The drink will be bitter to those who drink
it. {24:10} The city of vanity has been worn away. Every
house has been closed up; no one enters. {24:11} There will
be a clamor for wine in the streets. All rejoicing has been
abandoned. The gladness of the earth has been carried away.
{24:12} Solitude is what remains in the city, and calamity
will overwhelm its gates. {24:13} For so shall it be in the
midst of the earth, in the midst of the people: it is as if the few
remaining olives are being shaken from the olive tree, and it
is like a few clusters of grapes, when the grape harvest has
already ended. {24:14} These few shall lift up their voice and
give praise. When the Lord will have been glorified, they will
make a joyful noise from the sea. {24:15} Because of this,
glorify the Lord in doctrine: the name of the Lord, the God of
Israel, in the islands of the sea. {24:16} From the ends of the
earth, we have heard the praises of the glory of the Just One.
And I said: “My secret is for myself! My secret is for myself!
Woe to me! Those who would betray us have betrayed us,
and they have betrayed us with the betrayal of transgression.”
{24:17} Dread, and the pit, and the snare are over you, O
inhabitant of the earth! {24:18} And this shall be: whoever
will flee from the voice of dread will fall into the pit. And
whoever will extricate himself from the pit will be caught in
the snare. For the floodgates from above have been opened,
and the foundations of the earth will be shaken. {24:19} The
earth will be utterly broken! The earth will be utterly crushed!
The earth will be utterly shaken! {24:20} The earth will
stagger greatly, like a drunken man, and will be carried away,
like the tent of a single night. And its iniquity will be heavy
upon it, and it will fall and not rise up again. {24:21} And
this shall be: in that day, the Lord will visit upon the armies
of the sky above, and upon the kings of the earth who are on
the ground. {24:22} And they will be gathered together like
the gathering of one bundle into a pit. And they will be
enclosed in that place, as in a prison. And after many days,
they will be visited. {24:23} And the moon will be ashamed,
and the sun will be confounded, when the Lord of hosts will
reign on mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and when he will
have been glorified in the sight of his elders.


[Isaiah 25] {25:1} O Lord, you are my God! I will exalt you,
and I will confess your name. For you have accomplished
miracles. Your plan, from antiquity, is faithful. Amen.
{25:2} For you have appointed a city as a tomb, a strong city
for ruination, a house of foreigners: so that it may not be a
city, and so that it may not be rebuilt forever.
{25:3} Concerning this, a strong people will praise you; a city
with a robust people will fear you. {25:4} For you have been
the strength of the poor, the strength of the indigent in his
tribulation, a refuge from the whirlwind, a shadow from the
heat. For the spirit of the mighty is like a whirlwind striking
against a wall. {25:5} You will bring low the uprising of
foreigners, just as heat brings thirst. And like heat under a
torrential cloud, you will cause the offshoot of the strong to
wither away. {25:6} And the Lord of hosts will cause all the
peoples on this mountain to feast on fatness, to feast on wine,
a fatness full of marrow, a purified wine. {25:7} And he will
cast down violently, on this mountain, the face of the chains,
with which all peoples had been bound, and the net, with
which all nations had been covered. {25:8} He will violently
cast down death forever. And the Lord God will take away
the tears from every face, and he will take away the disgrace
of his people from the entire earth. For the Lord has spoken it.
{25:9} And they will say in that day: “Behold, this is our
God! We have waited for him, and he will save us. This is the
Lord! We have endured for him. We will exult and rejoice in
his salvation.” {25:10} For the hand of the Lord will rest
upon this mountain. And Moab will be trampled under him,
just as stubble is worn away by a wagon. {25:11} And he will
extend his hands under him, like a swimmer extending his
hands to swim. And he will bring down his glory with a clap
of his hands. {25:12} And the fortifications of your sublime
walls will fall, and be brought low, and be torn down to the
ground, even to the dust.


[Isaiah 26] {26:1} In that day, this canticle will be sung in the
land of Judah. Within it will be set the city of our strength:
Zion, a savior, a wall with a bulwark. {26:2} Open the gates,
and let the just people who guard the truth enter. {26:3} The
old error has gone away. You will serve peace: peace, for we
have hoped in you. {26:4} You have trusted in the Lord for
all eternity, in the Lord God almighty forever. {26:5} For he
will bend down those living in the heights. He will bring low
the lofty city. He will lower it, even to the ground. He will
tear it down, even to the dust. {26:6} The foot will tread it
down: the feet of the poor, the steps of the indigent.
{26:7} The path of the just is upright; the difficult path of the
just is right to walk in. {26:8} And in the path of your
judgments, O Lord, we have endured for you. Your name
and your remembrance are the desire of the soul. {26:9} My
soul has desired you in the night. But I will also watch for
you with my spirit, in my inmost heart, from the morning.
When you accomplish your judgments upon the earth, the
inhabitants of the world will learn justice. {26:10} Let us take
pity on the impious one, but he will not learn justice. In the
land of the holy ones, he has done iniquity, and so he will not
see the glory of the Lord. {26:11} Lord, let your hand be
exalted, and let them not see it. May the envious people see
and be confounded. And may fire devour your enemies.
{26:12} Lord, you will give us peace. For all our works have
been wrought for us by you. {26:13} O Lord our God, other
lords have possessed us apart from you, but in you alone let
us remember your name. {26:14} Let not the dead live; let
not the giants rise up again. For this reason, you have visited
and destroyed them, and you have perished all remembrance
of them. {26:15} You have been lenient to the people, O
Lord, lenient to the people. But have you been glorified? You
have removed all the limits of the earth. {26:16} Lord, they
have sought you in anguish. Your doctrine was with them,
amid the tribulation of murmuring. {26:17} Like a woman
who has conceived and is approaching the time for delivery,
who, in anguish, cries out in her pains, so have we become
before your face, O Lord. {26:18} We have conceived, and it
is as if we were in labor, but we have given birth to wind. We
have not brought forth salvation on the earth. For this reason,
the inhabitants of the earth have not fallen. {26:19} Your
dead shall live. My slain will rise again. Be awakened, and
give praise, you who live in the dust! For your dew is the dew
of the light, and you shall be dragged down to the land of the
giants, to ruination. {26:20} Go, my people! Enter your
chambers. Close your doors behind you. Conceal yourselves
for a very brief time, until the indignation has passed over
you. {26:21} For behold, the Lord will go forth from his
place, so that he may visit the iniquity of each inhabitant of
the earth against him. And the earth will reveal its blood, and
it will no longer cover its slain.


[Isaiah 27] {27:1} In that day, the Lord will visit, with his
harsh and great and strong sword, against Leviathan, the
barred serpent, and against Leviathan, the twisted serpent,
and he will slay the whale that is in the sea. {27:2} In that
day, the vineyard of pure wine will sing to them. {27:3} Iam
the Lord, who watches over it. I will suddenly give drink to it.
I will watch over it, night and day, lest perhaps someone visit
against it. {27:4} Indignation is not mine. Who will be a
thorn and a brier to me in battle? I will advance against them.
I set them on fire together. {27:5} Or will he, instead, take
hold of my strength? Will he make peace with me? Will she
make peace with me? {27:6} As they advance with violence
against Jacob, Israel will flourish and spring forth, and they
will fill the face of the world with offspring. {27:7} Has he
struck him with the scourge that he himself used to strike
others? Or has he killed in the manner that he himself used to
kill his victims? {27:8} You will judge this by comparing one
measure to another, when he has been cast out. He has
decided this, by his stern spirit, for the day of heat.
{27:9} Therefore, concerning this, the iniquity of the house of
Jacob will be forgiven. And this is the reward of all: that their
sin be taken away, when he will have made all the stones of
the altar to be like crushed cinders. For the sacred groves and
the shrines shall not stand. {27:10} For the fortified city will
be desolate. The shining city will be abandoned and will be
left behind like a desert. In that place, the calf will pasture,
and in that place, he will lie down, and he will feed from its
summits. {27:11} Its harvest will be crushed by dryness.
Women will arrive and teach it, for it is not a wise people.
Because of this, he who made it will not take pity on it, and
he who formed it will not spare it. {27:12} And this shall be:
in that day, the Lord will strike, from the channel of the river,
even to the torrent of Egypt. And you shall be gathered
together, one by one, O sons of Israel. {27:13} And this shall
be: in that day, a noise will be made with a great trumpet.
And those who had been lost will approach from the land of
the Assyrians, with those who had been outcasts in the land
of Egypt. And they will adore the Lord, on the holy
mountain, in Jerusalem.


[Isaiah 28] {28:1} Woe to the crown of arrogance, to the
inebriated of Ephraim, and to the falling flower, the glory of
his exultation, to those who were at the top of the very fat
valley, staggering from wine. {28:2} Behold, the Lord is
powerful and steadfast, like a storm of hail, like a crushing
whirlwind, like the force of many waters, inundating, sent
forth over a spacious land. {28:3} The arrogant crown of the
inebriated of Ephraim will be trampled under foot.
{28:4} And the falling flower, the glory of his exultation, who
is at the summit of the fat valley, will be like a premature fruit
before the ripeness of autumn, which, when the onlooker
beholds it, as soon he takes it in his hand, he will devour it.
{28:5} In that day, the Lord of hosts will be the crown of
glory and the wreath of exultation for the remnant of his
people. {28:6} And he will be the spirit of judgment for those
who sit in judgment, and the strength of those who return
from war to the gates. {28:7} Yet truly, these also have been
ignorant due to wine, and they have gone astray due to
inebriation. The priest and the prophet have been ignorant
because of inebriation. They have been absorbed by wine.
They have staggered in drunkenness. They have not known
the One who sees. They have been ignorant of judgment.
{28:8} For all the tables have been filled with vomit and filth,
so much so that there was no place left. {28:9} To whom will
he teach knowledge? And to whom will he grant an
understanding of what is heard? To those who have been
weaned from the milk, who have been pulled away from the
breasts. {28:10} So then: command, and command again;
command, and command again; expect, and expect again; a
little here, and a little there. {28:11} For with the speech of
lips and with a different language, he will speak to this people.
{28:12} He said to them: “This is my rest. Refresh the
weary,” and, “This is my refreshment.” And yet they were
unwilling to listen. {28:13} And so, the word of the Lord to
them will be: “Command, and command again; command,
and command again; expect, and expect again; a little here,
and a little there,” so that they may go forward and fall
backward, and so that they may be broken and ensnared and
captured. {28:14} Because of this, listen to the word of the
Lord, you mocking men, who lord it over my people who are
at Jerusalem. {28:15} For you have said: “We struck a deal
with death, and we formed a pact with Hell. When the
inundating scourge passes through, it will not overwhelm us.
For we have placed our hope in lies, and we are protected by
what is false.” {28:16} For this reason, thus says the Lord
God: Behold, I will set a stone within the foundations of Zion,
a tested stone, a cornerstone, a precious stone, which has
been established in the foundation: whoever trusts in him
need not hurry. {28:17} And I will establish judgment in
weights, and justice in measures. And a hailstorm will
overturn hope in what is false; and waters will inundate its
protection. {28:18} And your deal with death will be
abolished, and your pact with Hell will not stand. When the
inundating scourge passes through, you will be trampled
down by it. {28:19} Whenever it passes through, it will take
you away. For, at first light of morning, it will pass through,
in the day and in the night, and vexation alone will make you
understand what you hear. {28:20} For the bed has been
narrowed, so much so that one alone would fall out, and the
short blanket is not able to cover two. {28:21} For the Lord
will stand, just as at the mountain of divisions. He will be
angry, just as in the valley which is in Gibeon, so that he may
accomplish his work, his strange work, so that he may
complete his work, his work which is foreign even to him.
{28:22} And now, do not be willing to mock, lest your chains
be tightened. For I have heard, from the Lord, the God of
hosts, about the consummation and the abridgement
concerning the entire earth. {28:23} Pay close attention, and
listen to my voice! Attend and hear my eloquence!
{28:24} Would the plowman, after plowing all day so that he
may sow, instead cut open and hoe his soil? {28:25} Will he
not, when he has made the surface level, sow coriander, and
scatter cumin, and plant wheat in rows, and barley, and
millet, and vetch in their places? {28:26} For he will be
instructed in judgment; his God will teach him. {28:27} For
coriander cannot be threshed with a saw, and a cartwheel
cannot revolve over cumin. Instead, coriander is shaken out
with a stick, and cumin with a staff. {28:28} But grain for
bread must be crushed. Truly, the thresher cannot thresh it
unceasingly, and the cartwheel can neither disrupt it, nor
break it with its surface. {28:29} And this has gone forth from
the Lord, the God of hosts, so that he may accomplish his
miraculous plan and magnify justice.


[Isaiah 29] {29:1} Woe to Ariel, to Ariel the city against
which David fought: year has been added to year, the
solemnities have unfolded. {29:2} And I will surround Ariel
with siege works, and it will be in sorrow and mourning, and
it will be like Ariel to me. {29:3} And I will surround you like
a sphere all around you, and I will raise up a rampart against
you, and I will set up fortifications to blockade you.
{29:4} You will be brought low. You will speak from the
ground, and your eloquence will be heard from the dirt. And,
from the ground, your voice will be like that of the python,
and your eloquence will mumble from the dirt. {29:5} And
the multitude of those who fan you will be like fine dust. And
the multitude of those who have prevailed against you will be
like embers fading away. {29:6} And this will happen
suddenly and swiftly. It will be visited from the Lord of hosts
with thunder and earthquakes, and with the great noise of a
whirlwind and a storm, and with a flame of devouring fire.
{29:7 And the multitude of all the nations that have
struggled against Ariel will be like the dream of a vision by
night, along with all who have battled, and besieged, and
prevailed against it. {29:8} And it will be like one who is
hungry and dreams of eating, but, when he has been
awakened, his soul is empty. And it will be like one who is
thirsty and dreams of drinking, but, after he has been
awakened, he still languishes in thirst, and his soul is empty.
So shall the multitude of all the nations be, who have
struggled against Mount Zion. {29:9} Be stupefied and in
wonder! Shake and quiver! Be inebriated, but not from wine!
Stagger, but not from drunkenness! {29:10} For the Lord has
mixed for you a spirit of deep sleep. He will close your eyes.
He will cover your prophets and leaders, who see visions.
{29:11} And the vision of all will be to you like the words of
a sealed book, which, when they have given it to someone
who knows how to read, they will say, “Read this,” but he
will respond, “I cannot; for it has been sealed.” {29:12} But if
the book is given to someone who does not know how to
read, and it is said to him, “Read,” then he will respond, “I
do not know how to read.” {29:13} And the Lord said: Since
this people have drawn near to me only with their mouth,
and their lips glorify me while their heart is far from me, and
their fear of me is based on the commandments and doctrines
of men, {29:14} for this reason, behold, I will proceed to
accomplish a wonder for this people, a great and mystifying
miracle. For wisdom will perish from their wise, and the
understanding of their prudent will be concealed.
{29:15} Woe to you who use the depths of the heart, so that
you may hide your intentions from the Lord. Their works are
done in darkness, and so they say: “Who sees us?” and “Who
knows us?” {29:16} This intention of yours is perverse. It is
as if the clay were to plan against the potter, or as if the work
were to say to its maker: “You did not make me.” Or it is as
if what has been formed were to say to the one who formed it,
“You do not understand.” {29:17} In not more than a little
while and a brief time, Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful
field, and a fruitful field will be considered to be a forest.
{29:18} And in that day, the deaf will hear the words of a
book, and out of darkness and obscurity the eyes of the blind
will see. {29:19} And the meek will increase their rejoicing in
the Lord, and the poor among men will exult in the Holy
One of Israel. {29:20} For the one who was prevailing has
failed, the one who was mocking has been consumed, and all
those who were standing guard over iniquity have been cut
down. {29:21} For they caused men to sin by a word, and
they supplanted him who argued against them at the gates,
and they turned away from justice in vain. {29:22} Because
of this, thus says the Lord, he who has redeemed Abraham,
to the house of Jacob: From now on, Jacob will not be
confounded; from now on his countenance will not blush
with shame. {29:23} Instead, when he sees his children, they
will be the work of my hands in his midst, sanctifying my
name, and they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and they
will preach the God of Israel. {29:24} And those who had
gone astray in spirit will know understanding, and those who
had murmured will learn the law.


[Isaiah 30] {30:1} “Woe to the sons of apostasy!” says the
Lord. For you would take advice, but not from me. And you
would begin to weave, but not by my spirit. Thus do you add
sin upon sin! {30:2} You are walking so as to descend into
Egypt, and you have not sought answers from my mouth,
instead hoping for assistance from the strength of Pharaoh
and placing trust in the shadow of Egypt. {30:3} And so, the
strength of Pharaoh will be your confusion, and trust in the
shadow of Egypt will be your disgrace. {30:4} For your
leaders were at Tanis, and your messengers have traveled
even as far as Hanes. {30:5} They have all been confounded
because of a people who were not able to offer profit to them,
who were not of assistance, nor of other usefulness, except to
offer confusion and reproach. {30:6} The burden of the beasts
in the south. In a land of tribulation and anguish, from which
go forth the lioness and the lion, the viper and the flying king
snake, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of beasts of
burden, and their valuables upon the humps of camels, to a
people who are not able to offer profit to them. {30:7} For
Egypt will offer assistance, but without purpose or success.
Therefore, concerning this, I cried out: “It is only arrogance!
Remain calm.” {30:8} Now, therefore, enter and write for
them upon a tablet, and note it diligently in a book, and this
shall be a testimony in the last days, and even unto eternity.
{30:9} For they are a people who provoke to wrath, and they
are lying sons, sons unwilling to listen to the law of God.
{30:10} They say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to those
who behold: “Do not behold for us the things that are right.
Speak to us of pleasing things. See errors for us. {30:11} Take
me from the way. Avert me from the path. Let the Holy One
of Israel cease from before our face.” {30:12} Because of this,
thus says the Holy One of Israel: Since you have rejected this
word, and you have hoped in calumny and rebellion, and
since you have depended upon these things, {30:13} for this
reason, this iniquity will be to you like a breach that has
fallen, and like a gap in a high wall. For its destruction will
happen suddenly, when it is not expected. {30:14} And it will
be crushed, just as the earthen vessel of a potter is destroyed
by a sharp blow. And not even a fragment of its earthenware
will be found, which might carry a little fire from the hearth,
or which might draw a little water from a hollow.
{30:15} For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
If you return and are quiet, you shall be saved. Your strength
will be found in silence and in hope. But you are not willing!
{30:16} And you have said: “Never! Instead, we will flee by
horseback.” For this reason, you will be put to flight. And
you have said, “We will climb upon swift ones.” For this
reason, those who pursue you will be even swifter. {30:17} A
thousand men will flee in terror from the face of one, and you
will flee in terror from the face of five, until you who have
been left behind are like the mast of a ship at the top of a
mountain, or like a sign on a hill. {30:18} Therefore, the
Lord waits, so that he may take pity on you. And therefore,
he will be exalted for sparing you. For the Lord is the God of
judgment. Blessed are all those who wait for him.
{30:19} For the people of Zion will live in Jerusalem. Bitterly,
you will not weep. Mercifully, he will take pity on you. At
the voice of your outcry, as soon as he hears, he will respond
to you. {30:20} And the Lord will give you thick bread and
accessible water. And he will not cause your teacher to fly
away from you anymore. And your eyes will behold your
instructor. {30:21} And your ears will listen to the word of
one admonishing you behind your back: “This is the way!
Walk in it! And do not turn aside, neither to the right, nor to
the left.” {30:22} And you will defile the plates of your silver
graven images and the vestment of your gold molten idols.
And you will throw these things away like the uncleanness of
a menstruating woman. You will say to it, “Go away!”
{30:23} And wherever you sow seed upon the earth, rain will
be given to the seed. And bread from the grain of the earth
will be very plentiful and full. In that day, the lamb will
pasture in the spacious land of your possession. {30:24} And
your bulls, and the colts of the donkeys that work the ground,
will eat a mix of grains like that winnowed on the threshing
floor. {30:25} And there will be, on every lofty mountain,
and on every elevated hill, rivers of running water, in the day
of the slaughter of many, when the tower will fall.
{30:26} And the light of the moon will be like the light of the
sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of
seven days, in the day when the Lord will bind the wound of
his people, and when he will heal the stroke of their scourge.
{30:27} Behold, the name of the Lord arrives from far away.
His fury is burning and heavy to bear. His lips have been
filled with indignation, and his tongue is like a devouring fire.
{30:28} His Spirit is like a torrent, inundating, even as high
as the middle of the neck, in order to reduce the nations to
nothing, along with the bridle of error that was in the jaws of
the people. {30:29} There will be a song for you, as in the
night of a sanctified solemnity, and a joy of heart, as when
one travels with music to arrive at the mountain of the Lord,
to the Strong One of Israel. {30:30} And the Lord will cause
the glory of his voice to be heard, and, with a threatening fury
and a devouring flame of fire, he will reveal the terror of his
arm. He will crush with the whirlwind and with hailstones.
{30:31} For at the voice of the Lord, Assur will dread being
struck with the staff. {30:32} And when the passage of the
staff has been begun, the Lord will cause it to rest upon him,
with timbrels and harps. And with special battles, he will
fight against them. {30:33} For a burning place, deep and
wide, has been prepared from yesterday, prepared by the
King. Its nourishment is fire and much wood. The breath of
the Lord, like a torrent of brimstone, kindles it.


[Isaiah 31] {31:1} Woe to those who descend into Egypt for
assistance, hoping in horses, and putting their trust in four-
horse chariots because they are many, and in horsemen
because they are exceedingly strong. And they have not
believed in the Holy One of Israel, and they have not sought
the Lord. {31:2} Therefore, being wise, he has permitted
harm, and he has not removed his words, and he will rise up
against the house of the wicked and against those who assist
the workers of iniquity. {31:3} Egypt is man, and not God.
And their horses are flesh, and not spirit. And so, the Lord
will reach down his hand, and the helper will fall, and the
one who was being helped will fall, and they will all be
consumed together. {31:4} For the Lord says this to me: In
the same way that a lion roars, and a young lion is over his
prey, and though a multitude of shepherds may meet him, he
will not dread their voice, nor be afraid of their number, so
will the Lord of hosts descend in order to battle upon mount
Zion and upon its hill. {31:5} Like birds flying, so will the
Lord of hosts protect Jerusalem, protecting and freeing,
passing over and saving. {31:6} Be converted to the same
depth that you have drawn away, O sons of Israel. {31:7} For
in that day, a man will cast away his idols of silver and his
idols of gold, which your hands have made for you unto sin.
{31:8} And Assur will fall by a sword not of man, and a
sword not of man will devour him. And he will not flee from
the face of the sword, and his young men will be subject to a
penalty. {31:9} And his strength will pass away in terror, and
his princes will flee in fear. The Lord has said it. His fire is in
Zion, and his furnace is at Jerusalem.


[Isaiah 32] {32:1} Behold, the king will reign in justice, and
the princes will rule in judgment. {32:2} And a man will be
like someone hidden from the wind, who conceals himself
from a storm, or like rivers of waters in a time of thirst, or like
the shadow of a rock that juts out in a desert land. {32:3} The
eyes of those who see will not be obscured, and the ears of
those who hear will listen closely. {32:4} And the heart of the
foolish will understand knowledge, and the tongue of those
with impaired speech will speak quickly and plainly.
{32:5} He who is foolish will no longer be called leader, nor
will the deceitful be called greater. {32:6} For a foolish man
speaks foolishness and his heart works iniquity in order to
accomplish deception. And he speaks to the Lord deceitfully,
so as to empty the soul of the hungry and to take away drink
from the thirsty. {32:7} The tools of the deceitful are very
wicked. For they have concocted plans to destroy the meek
by lying words, though the poor speak judgment. {32:8} Yet
truly, the prince will plan things that are worthy of a prince,
and he will stand above the rulers. {32:9} You opulent
women, rise up and listen to my voice! O confident daughters,
play close attention to my eloquence! {32:10} For after a year
and some days, you who are confident will be disturbed. For
the vintage has been completed; the gathering will no longer
occur. {32:11} Be stupefied, you opulent women! Be
disturbed, O confident ones! Strip yourselves, and be
confounded; gird yourselves at the waist. {32:12} Mourn
over your breasts, over the delightful country, over the fruitful
vineyard. {32:13} Thorn and brier will rise up, over the soil
of my people. How much more over all the houses of
gladness, over the city of exultation? {32:14} For the house
has been forsaken. The multitude of the city has been
abandoned. A darkness and a covering have been placed over
its dens, even unto eternity. It will be the gladness of wild
donkeys and the pasture of flocks, {32:15} until the Spirit is
poured over us from on high. And the desert will be a fruitful
field, and the fruitful field will be considered as a forest.
{32:16} And judgment will live in solitude, and justice will be
seated in a fruitful place. {32:17} And the work of justice will
be peace. And the service of justice will be quiet and secure,
forever. {32:18} And my people will be seated in the beauty
of peacefulness, and in the tabernacles of faithfulness, and in
the opulence of restfulness. {32:19} But hail will be in the
descent of the forest, and the city will be brought exceedingly
low. {32:20} Blessed are you who sow over any waters,
sending the feet of the ox and the donkey there.


[Isaiah 33] {33:1} Woe to you who plunder! Will you
yourselves not also be plundered? And woe to you who
despise! Will you yourselves not also be despised? When you
will have completed your plundering, you will be plundered.
When, out of fatigue, you will have ceased acting with
contempt, you will be treated with contempt. {33:2} O Lord,
take pity on us. For we have waited for you. Be our arm in
the morning and our salvation in the time of tribulation.
{33:3} From the voice of the Angel, the people fled. And
from your exultation, the nations were scattered. {33:4} And
your spoils will be gathered together, just as the locusts are
collected when the ditches have become filled with them.
{33:5} The Lord has been magnified, because he has lived on
high. He has filled Zion with judgment and justice.
{33:6} And there will be faith in your times: the riches of
salvation, wisdom and knowledge. For the fear of the Lord is
his treasure. {33:7} Behold, outside, those who see will cry
out. The Angels of peace will weep bitterly. {33:8} The roads
have become desolate. Travelers have ceased along the paths.
The covenant has been nullified. He has tossed aside cities.
He has disregarded men. {33:9} The earth has mourned and
languished. Lebanon has been confounded and desecrated.
And Sharon has become like a desert. And Bashan and
Carmel have been struck together. {33:10} “Now, I will rise
up!” says the Lord. “Now I will be exalted! Now I will lift
myself up!” {33:11} You will conceive heat. You will give
birth to stubble. Your own spirit will devour you like fire.
{33:12} And the people will be like the ashes from a fire.
They will be consumed by fire like a bundle of thorns.
{33:13} “You who are far away, listen to what I have done!
And you who are near, acknowledge my strength!”
{33:14} The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling has taken
hold of the hypocrites. Who among you is able to live with a
devouring fire? Who among you will live with an everlasting
flame? {33:15} The one who walks in justice and speaks the
truth, who casts out avarice with oppression and shakes all
bribes from his hands, who blocks his ears so that he may not
listen to blood, and closes his eyes so that he may not see evil.
{33:16} Such a one will live on high; the fortification of rocks
will be his lofty place. Bread has been given to him; his
waters are reliable. {33:17} His eyes will see the king in his
elegance; they will discern the land from far away.
{33:18} Your heart will meditate on fear. Where are the
learned? Where are those who ponder the words of the law?
Where are the teachers of little ones? {33:19} You will not
look upon a shameless people, a people of exalted words. For
you are not able to understand the dissertation of a tongue in
which there is no wisdom. {33:20} Look with favor upon
Zion, the city of our solemnity. Your eyes will behold
Jerusalem: an opulent habitation, a tabernacle that can never
be taken away. Its stakes will not be taken away forever, nor
will any of its cords be broken. {33:21} For only in that place
has our Lord been magnified. It is a place of rivers, very
broad and open. No ship with oars will cross through it, nor
will the great Greek ship pass through it. {33:22} For the
Lord is our judge. The Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our
king. He himself will save us. {33:23} Your ropes have
become loose, and they will not prevail. Your mast will be
such that you will not be able to unfurl a flag. Then the spoils
of much plunder will be divided. The lame will seize the
spoils. {33:24} He who is nearby will not say: “I am too
weak.” The people who live in it will have their iniquity
taken away from them.


[Isaiah 34] {34:1} O nations and peoples: draw near, and
listen, and pay attention! Let the earth and its fullness hear,
the entire world and all its offspring. {34:2} For the
indignation of the Lord is over all the nations, and his fury is
over all their armies. He has put them to death, and he has
given them over to slaughter. {34:3} Their slain will be cast
out, and from their carcasses a foul odor will rise up. The
mountains will languish because of their blood. {34:4} And
the entire army of the heavens will languish, and the heavens
will be folded like a book. And their entire army will fall
away, as a leaf falls from the vine or from the fig tree.
{34:5} “For my sword in heaven has been inebriated. Behold,
it will descend upon Idumea, and upon the people of my
slaughter, unto judgment.” {34:6} The sword of the Lord has
been filled with blood. It has been thickened by the blood of
lambs and he-goats, by the innermost blood of rams. For the
victim of the Lord is in Bozrah, and a great slaughter is in the
land of Edom. {34:7} And the single-horned beasts will
descend with them, and the bulls along with the mighty.
Their land will be inebriated by blood, and their ground by
the fat of their lazy ones. {34:8} For this is the day of the
vengeance of the Lord, the year of retribution for the
judgment of Zion. {34:9} And its torrents will be turned into
tar, and its soil into sulfur. And its land will become burning
tar. {34:10} Night and day, it will not be extinguished; its
smoke will rise up without ceasing. From generation to
generation it will remain desolate. No one will pass through
it, forever and ever. {34:11} The pelican and the hedgehog
will possess it. And the ibis and the raven will live in it. And
a measuring line will be extended over it, so that it may be
reduced to nothing, and a plumb line, unto desolation.
{34:12} Its nobles will not be in that place. Instead, they will
call upon the king, and all its leaders will be as nothing.
{34:13} And thorns and nettles will rise up in its houses, and
the thistle in its fortified places. And it will be the lair of
serpents and the pasture of ostriches. {34:14} And demons
and monsters will meet, and the hairy ones will cry out to one
another. There, the ogress has lain down and found rest for
herself. {34:15} In that place, the hedgehog has kept its den,
and has raised its young, and has dug around them, and has
kept them warm in its shadow. In that place, the birds of prey
have joined together, one to another. {34:16} Search and
read diligently in the book of the Lord. Not one of them was
lacking; not one has sought for the other. For what has
proceeded from my mouth, he has commanded, and his very
Spirit has gathered them. {34:17} And he has cast lots over
them. And his hand has distributed this to them by measure.
They will possess it, even unto eternity. From generation to
generation, they will dwell in it.


[Isaiah 35] {35:1} The desolate and impassable land will
rejoice, and the place of solitude will exult, and it will
flourish like the lily. {35:2} It will spring up and blossom,
and it will exult with rejoicing and praising. The glory of
Lebanon has been given to it, with the beauty of Carmel and
Sharon. These will see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of
our God. {35:3} Strengthen the lax hands, and confirm the
weak knees! {35:4} Say to the fainthearted: “Take courage
and fear not! Behold, your God will bring the vindication of
retribution. God himself will arrive to save you.”
{35:5} Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears
of the deaf will be cleared. {35:6} Then the disabled will leap
like a buck, and the tongue of the mute will be untied. For the
waters have burst forth in the desert, and torrents in solitary
places. {35:7} And the land that was dry will have a pond,
and the thirsty land will have fountains of water. In the
hollows where the serpents lived before, there will rise up the
greenery of reed and bulrush. {35:8} And there shall be a
path and a road in that place. And it will be called the Holy
Way. The defiled will not pass through it. For this will be an
upright path for you, so much so that the foolish will not
wander along it. {35:9} There will be no lions in that place,
and harmful wild animals will neither climb up to it, nor be
found there. Only those who have been freed will walk in that
place. {35:10} And the redeemed of the Lord will be
converted, and they will return to Zion with praising. And
everlasting joy will be upon their heads. They will obtain
gladness and rejoicing. For pain and sorrow will flee away.


[Isaiah 36] {36:1} And it happened that, in the fourteenth
year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians,
went up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and he seized
them. {36:2} And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabshakeh
from Lachish into Jerusalem, to king Hezekiah, with a great
force, and he stood near the aqueduct of the upper pool, at
the road to the fuller’s field. {36:3} And those who went to
him were Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, who was over the house,
and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the historian.
{36:4} And Rabshakeh said to them: “Tell Hezekiah: Thus
says the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this
faith in which you believe? {36:5} And by what counsel or
strength would you prepare to rebel? In whom do you have
faith, so much so that you would withdraw from me?
{36:6} Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, in that broken staff
of a reed. But if a man were to lean against it, it would enter
his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to all
who trust in him. {36:7} But if you answer me by saying:
‘We trust in the Lord our God.’ Is it not his high places and
altars that Hezekiah has taken away? And he has said to
Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar.’
{36:8} And now, hand yourselves over to my lord, the king
of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses,
and you will not be able to find riders for them on your own.
{36:9} So how will you withstand the face of the ruler of even
one place, of even the least of my lord’s subordinates? But if
you trust in Egypt, in four-horse chariots and in horsemen:
{36:10} do I intend to go up against this land to destroy it
without the Lord? But the Lord said to me, ‘Go up against
this land, and destroy it.’ ” {36:11} And Eliakim, and Shebna,
and Joah said to Rabshakeh: “Speak to your servants in the
Syrian language. For we understand it. Do not speak to us in
the Jewish language, in the hearing of the people, who are
upon the wall.” {36:12} And Rabshakeh said to them: “Has
my lord sent me to your lord and to you in order to speak all
these words, and not even more so to the men who are sitting
on the wall, so that they may eat their own dung and drink
their own urine with you?” {36:13} Then Rabshakeh stood
up, and he cried out with a loud voice in the Jewish language,
and he said: “Listen to the words of the great king, the king
of the Assyrians. {36:14} Thus says the king: Do not let
Hezekiah deceive you. For he will not be able to rescue you.
{36:15} And do not let Hezekiah cause you to trust in the
Lord, saying: ‘The Lord will rescue and free us. This city will
not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.’
{36:16} Do not listen to Hezekiah. For the king of the
Assyrians says this: Act with me to your own benefit, and
come out to me. And let each one eat from his own vine, and
each one from his own fig tree. And let each one drink water
from his own well, {36:17} until I arrive and take you away
to a land which is like your own: a land of grain and of wine,
a land of bread and of vineyards. {36:18} But you should not
let Hezekiah disturb you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.’
Have any of the gods of each of the nations delivered their
land from the hand of the king of the Assyrians?
{36:19} Where is the god of Hamath and of Arpad? Where is
the god of Sepharvaim? Have they freed Samaria from my
hand? {36:20} Who is there, among all the gods of these
lands, who has rescued his land from my hand, so that the
Lord would rescue Jerusalem from my hand?” {36:21} And
they remained silent and did not answer a word to him. For
the king had commanded them, saying, “You shall not
respond to him.” {36:22} And Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, who
was over the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, son of
Asaph, the historian, entered to Hezekiah with their garments
rent, and they reported to him the words of Rabshakeh.


[Isaiah 37] {37:1} And it happened that, when king
Hezekiah had heard this, he rent his garments, and he
wrapped himself in sackcloth, and he entered the house of the
Lord. {37:2} And he sent Eliakim, who was over the house,
and Shebna, the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered
with sackcloth, to Isaiah, the son of Amoz, the prophet.
{37:3} And they said to him: “Thus says Hezekiah: This day
is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy. For
the sons have arrived at the time for birth, but there is not
enough strength to bring them forth. {37:4} Perhaps,
somehow, the Lord your God will hear the words of
Rabshakeh, whom the king of the Assyrians, his lord, has
sent to blaspheme the living God, and will rebuke the words
that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, lift up your
prayers on behalf of the remnant which has been left behind.”
{37:5} And so the servants of king Hezekiah went to Isaiah.
{37:6} And Isaiah said to them: “You shall say this to your
lord: Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid to face the words
that you have heard, by which the servants of the king of the
Assyrians blasphemed me. {37:7} Behold, I will send a spirit
to him, and he will hear a message, and he will return to his
own land. And I will cause him to fall by the sword, in his
own land.” {37:8} Then Rabshakeh returned, and he found
the king of the Assyrians fighting against Libnah. For he had
heard that he had set out from Lachish. {37:9} And he heard
from Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia: “He has gone forth so
that he may fight against you.” And when he had heard this,
he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying: {37:10} “You shall
say this to Hezekiah, the king of Judah, saying: Do not let
your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying:
‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of the
Assyrians.’ {37:11} Behold, you have heard about all that the
kings of the Assyrians have done to all the lands that they
have conquered, and so, how can you be delivered?
{37:12} Have the gods of the nations rescued those whom my
fathers have conquered: Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and
the sons of Eden who were at Telassar? {37:13} Where is the
king of Hamath and the king of Arpad, or the king of the city
of Sepharvaim, or of Hena and Ivvah?” {37:14} And
Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers,
and he read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord, and
Hezekiah spread it out in the sight of the Lord. {37:15} And
Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying: {37:16} “O Lord of
hosts, the God of Israel who sits upon the Cherubim: you
alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have
made heaven and earth. {37:17} O Lord, incline your ear and
listen. O Lord, open your eyes and see. And hear all the
words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to blaspheme the
living God. {37:18} For truly, O Lord, the kings of the
Assyrians have laid waste to countries and territories.
{37:19} And they have cast their gods into the fire. For these
were not gods, but the works of men’s hands, of wood and of
stone. And they broke them into pieces. {37:20} And now, O
Lord our God, save us from his hand. And let all the
kingdoms of the earth acknowledge that you alone are Lord.”
{37:21} And Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah,
saying: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because of
what you have prayed to me about Sennacherib, the king of
the Assyrians, {37:22} this is the word that the Lord has
spoken over him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised
you and mocked you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken
her head at you. {37:23} Whom have you insulted? And
whom have you blasphemed? And against whom have you
lifted up your voice and raised up your eyes on high? Against
the Holy One of Israel! {37:24} By the hand of your servants,
you have reproached the Lord. And you have said: ‘With a
multitude of my four-horse chariots, I have ascended the
heights of the mountains adjoining Lebanon. And I will cut
down its lofty cedars and its choice pine trees. And I will
reach the top of its summit, to the forest of its Carmel.
{37:25} I dug deep, and I drank water, and I dried up all the
river banks with the sole of my foot.’ {37:26} Have you not
heard what I have done to it in past times? In ancient times, I
formed it. And now I have brought it forth. And it has been
made so that the hills and the fortified cities would fight
together, unto its destruction. {37:27} Their inhabitants had
unsteady hands. They trembled and were confused. They
became like the plants of the field, and the grass of the
pastures, and like the weeds on the rooftops, which wither
before they are mature. {37:28} I know your habitation, and
your arrival, and your departure, and your madness against
me. {37:29} When you became angry against me, your
arrogance rose up to my ears. Therefore, I will place a ring in
your nose, and a bit between your lips. And I will turn you
back on the road by which you arrived. {37:30} But this shall
be a sign for you: Eat, in this year, whatever springs up on its
own. And in the second year, eat fruits. But in the third year,
sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
{37:31} And what will be saved from the house of Judah, and
what is left behind, will form deep roots, and will bear high
fruits. {37:32} For from Jerusalem, a remnant shall go forth,
and salvation from mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
will accomplish this. {37:33} For this reason, thus says the
Lord about the king of the Assyrians: He will not enter this
city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor overtake it with a shield,
nor dig a rampart all around it. {37:34} He will return on the
road by which he arrived. And into this city, he will not enter,
says the Lord. {37:35} And I will protect this city, so that I
may save it for my own sake, and for the sake of David, my
servant.” {37:36} Then the Angel of the Lord went forth and
struck down, in the camp of the Assyrians, one hundred
eighty-five thousand. And they arose in the morning, and
behold, all these were dead bodies. {37:37} And Sennacherib,
the king of the Assyrians, departed and went away. And he
returned and lived at Nineveh. {37:38} And it happened that,
as he was adoring his god in the temple of Nisroch, his sons,
Adramelech and Sharezer, struck him with the sword. And
they fled into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon, his son,
reigned in his place.


[Isaiah 38] {38:1} In those days Hezekiah became ill and was
near death. And so, Isaiah, the son of Amoz, the prophet,
entered to him, and he said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Put
your house in order, for you shall die, and you shall not live.”
{38:2} And Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and he
prayed to the Lord. {38:3} And he said: “I beg you, Lord, I
beseech you, to remember how I walked before you in truth
and with a whole heart, and that I have done what is good in
your sight.” And Hezekiah wept with a great weeping.
{38:4} And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying:
{38:5} “Go and say to Hezekiah: Thus says the Lord, the
God of David, your father: I have heard your prayer, and I
have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your
days. {38:6} And I will rescue you and this city from the
hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will protect it.
{38:7} And this will be a sign for you from the Lord, that the
Lord will do this word, which he has spoken: {38:8} Behold,
I will cause the shadow of the lines, which has now
descended on the sundial of Ahaz, to move in reverse for ten
lines.” And so, the sun moved backward by ten lines, through
the degrees by which it had descended. {38:9} The writing of
Hezekiah, the king of Judah, after he had fallen ill and had
recovered from his sickness: {38:10} “I said: In the middle of
my days, I will go to the gates of Hell. So I sought the
remainder of my years. {38:11} I said: I will not see the Lord
God in the land of the living. I will no longer behold man,
nor the habitation of rest. {38:12} My longevity has been
taken away; it has been folded up and taken from me, like the
tent of a shepherd. My life has been cut off, as if by a weaver.
While I was still beginning, he cut me off. From morning
until evening, you have marked out my limits. {38:13} I
hoped, even until morning. Like a lion, so has he crushed all
my bones. From morning until evening, you have marked my
limits. {38:14} I will cry out, like a young swallow. I will
meditate, like a dove. My eyes have been weakened by
gazing upward. O Lord, I suffer violence! Answer in my
favor. {38:15} What can I say, or what would he answer me,
since he himself has done this? I will acknowledge to you all
my years, in the bitterness of my soul. {38:16} O Lord, if
such is life, and if the life of my spirit is of such a kind, may
you correct me and may you cause me to live.
{38:17} Behold, in peace my bitterness is most bitter. But you
have rescued my soul, so that it would not perish. You have
cast all my sins behind your back. {38:18} For Hell will not
confess to you, and death will not praise you. Those who
descend into the pit will not hope for your truth. {38:19} The
living, the living, these will give praise to you, as I also do
this day! The father will make the truth known to the sons.
{38:20} O Lord, save me! And we will sing our psalms, all
the days of our life, in the house of the Lord.” {38:21} Now
Isaiah had ordered them to take a paste of figs, and to spread
it like plaster over the wound, so that he would be healed.
{38:22} And Hezekiah said, “What will be the sign that I
may go up to the house of the Lord?”
[Isaiah 39] {39:1} At that time, Merodach Baladan, the son
of Baladan, the king of Babylon, sent letters and gifts to
Hezekiah. For he had heard that he had fallen ill and had
recovered. {39:2} And Hezekiah rejoiced over them, and he
showed them the storehouses of his aromatic spices, and of
the silver and gold, and of the perfumes and precious
ointments, and all the repositories for his belongings, and all
the things that were found in his treasures. There was nothing
in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not
show them. {39:3} Then Isaiah the prophet entered before
king Hezekiah, and he said to him, “What did these men say,
and from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said,
“They came to me from a far away land, from Babylon.”
{39:4} And he said, “What did they see in your house?” And
Hezekiah said: “They have seen all the things that are in my
house. There was nothing that I did not show them among
my treasures.” {39:5} And Isaiah said to Hezekiah: “Hear
the word of the Lord of hosts: {39:6} Behold, the days are
coming when all that is in your house, and all that your
fathers have stored up, even to this day, will be taken away to
Babylon. There will be nothing left behind, says the Lord.
{39:7} And your children, who will issue from you, whom
you will produce, they will be taken away. And they will
become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
{39:8} And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord
which he has spoken is good.” And he said, “But let there be
peace and truth in my days.”


[Isaiah 40] {40:1} “Be consoled, be consoled, O my people!”
says your God. {40:2} Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and
call out to her! For her malice has reached its end. Her
iniquity has been forgiven. She has received double for all her
sins from the hand of the Lord. {40:3} The voice of one
crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make
straight the paths of our God, in a solitary place.
{40:4} Every valley will be exalted, and every mountain and
hill will be brought low. And the crooked will be straightened,
and the uneven will become level ways. {40:5} And the glory
of the Lord will be revealed. And all flesh together will see
that the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” {40:6} The voice of
one saying, “Cry out!” And I said, “What should I cry out?”
“All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the
field. {40:7} The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen.
For the Spirit of the Lord has blown over it. Truly, the people
are like grass. {40:8} The grass has dried up, and the flower
has fallen. But the Word of our Lord remains for eternity.”
{40:9} You who evangelize Zion, climb a high mountain!
You who evangelize Jerusalem, lift up your voice with
strength! Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of
Judah: “Behold, your God!” {40:10} Behold, the Lord God
will arrive in strength, and his arm will rule. Behold, his
reward is with him, and his work is before him. {40:11} He
will pasture his flock like a shepherd. He will gather together
the lambs with his arm, and he will lift them up to his bosom,
and he himself will carry the very young. {40:12} Who has
measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and who has
weighed the heavens with his palm? Who has suspended the
mass of the earth with three fingers, and who has weighed the
mountains on a balance and the hills on a scale?
{40:13} Who has assisted the Spirit of the Lord? Or who has
been his counselor and has revealed things to him?
{40:14} With whom has he consulted? And who has
instructed him, and taught him the path of justice, and guided
him to knowledge, and revealed the way of understanding to
him? {40:15} Behold, the nations are like a drop of water in a
bucket, and they are considered as the smallest grain on a
balance. Behold, the islands are like a little dust. {40:16} And
Lebanon will not be sufficient to start a fire, and its animals
will not be sufficient for a burnt offering. {40:17} All the
nations in his sight are as if they did not exist, and they are
considered by him as if they were nothingness and emptiness.
{40:18} Therefore, to whom would you liken God? Or with
what image would you replace him? {40:19} Should the
workman cast a statue? Or has the goldsmith formed it with
gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver? {40:20} He has
chosen strong wood that will not decay. The skillful artisan
seeks a way to set up an idol that cannot be moved.
{40:21} Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not
been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not
understood the foundations of the earth? {40:22} He is the
One who sits upon the globe of the earth, and its inhabitants
are like locusts. He extends the heavens as if they were
nothing, and he spreads them out like a tent, in which to
dwell. {40:23} He has brought those who examine what is
secret to nothingness. He has brought the judges of the earth
to emptiness. {40:24} And certainly, their stalk was neither
planted, nor sown, nor rooted in the ground. He has suddenly
blown them across them, and they have withered, and a
whirlwind will carry them away like chaff. {40:25} “And to
whom would you compare me or equate me?” says the Holy
One. {40:26} Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has
created these things. He leads forth their army by number,
and he calls them all by name. Because of the fullness of his
strength and robustness and virtue, not one of them was left
behind. {40:27} Why do you say this, O Jacob, and why do
you speak this way, O Israel? “My way has been hidden from
the Lord, and my judgment escaped notice by my God.”
{40:28} Do you not know, or have you not heard? The Lord
is the eternal God, who has created the limits of the earth. He
does not diminish, and he does not struggle. Neither is his
wisdom searchable. {40:29} It is he who gives strength to the
weary, and it is he who increases fortitude and strength in
those who are failing. {40:30} Servants will struggle and fail,
and young men will fall into infirmity. {40:31} But those who
hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will take up
wings like eagles. They will run and not struggle. They will
walk and not tire.


[Isaiah 41] {41:1} Let the islands be silent before me, and let
the nations take new strength. Let them draw near, and then
speak. Let us apply for judgment together. {41:2} Who has
raised up a just man from the east, and has called him to
follow him? He will place the nations under his gaze, and he
will rule over kings. He will cause them to be like dust before
his sword, like chaff driven by the wind before his bow.
{41:3} He will pursue them. He will pass by in peace. No
trace will appear after his feet. {41:4} Who has worked and
accomplished these things, calling to the generations from the
beginning? “It is I, the Lord! I am the first and the last.”
{41:5} The islands saw it and were afraid. The ends of the
earth were stupefied. They drew near and arrived.
{41:6} Each one will help his neighbor and will say to his
brother, “Be strengthened.” {41:7} The coppersmith striking
with the mallet encouraged him who was forging at that time,
saying, “It is ready for soldering.” And he strengthened it
with nails, so that it would not be moved. {41:8} But you, O
Israel, are my servant, O Jacob, whom I have chosen, the
offspring of my friend Abraham. {41:9} For his sake, I have
taken you from the ends of the earth, and I have called you
from its distant places. And I said to you: “You are my
servant. I have chosen you, and I have not cast you aside.”
{41:10} Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not turn
away, for I am your God. I have strengthened you, and I
have assisted you, and the right hand of my just one has
upheld you. {41:11} Behold, all who fight against you shall
be confounded and ashamed. They will be as if they did not
exist, and the men who contradict you will perish.
{41:12} You will seek them, and you will not find them. The
men who rebel against you will be as if they did not exist.
And the men who make war against you will be like
something that has been consumed. {41:13} For I am the
Lord your God. I take you by your hand, and I say to you:
Do not be afraid. I have helped you. {41:14} Fear not, O
worm of Jacob, you who are dead within Israel. I have
helped you, says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel. {41:15} I have established you like a new threshing
cart, having serrated blades. You will thresh the mountains
and crush them. And you will turn the hills into chaff.
{41:16} You will winnow them, and the wind will blow them
away, and the whirlwind will scatter them. And you shall
exult in the Lord; you shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
{41:17} The indigent and the poor are seeking water, but
there is none. Their tongue has been dried up by thirst. I, the
Lord, will heed them. I, the God of Israel, will not abandon
them. {41:18} I will open rivers in the high hills, and
fountains in the midst of the plains. I will turn the desert into
pools of water, and the impassable land into streams of water.
{41:19} I will plant the cedar in a deserted place, with the
thorn, and the myrtle, and the olive tree. In the desert, I will
plant the pine, and the elm, and the box tree together,
{41:20} so that they may see and know, acknowledge and
understand, together, that the hand of the Lord has
accomplished this, and that the Holy One of Israel has
created it. {41:21} Bring your case forward, says the Lord.
Bring it here, if you have anything to allege, says the King of
Jacob. {41:22} Let them approach and announce to us the
things that will occur. Announce to us the things that were
before. And we will apply our heart to them, and we will
know their end. And so, reveal to us the things that will occur.
{41:23} Announce the things that will occur in the future,
and we will know that you are gods. Likewise, accomplish
good or evil, if you are able, and let us speak of it and see it
together. {41:24} Behold, you exist out of nothing, and your
work is from what does not exist; he who has chosen you is
an abomination. {41:25} I have raised up one from the north,
and he will arrive from the rising of the sun. He will call upon
my name, and he will reduce magistrates to mud, like a
potter working with clay. {41:26} Who has announced this
from its rising, so that we may know it, or from its beginning,
so that we may say, “You are just.” There is no one who
either announces, or predicts, or hears your words.
{41:27} The first one will say to Zion: “Behold, they are
here,” and to Jerusalem, “I will present an evangelist.”
{41:28} And I saw, and there was no one among any of them
to consult, or who, when I asked, could answer a word.
{41:29} Behold, they are all unjust, and their works are
empty. Their idols are wind and emptiness.


[Isaiah 42] {42:1} Behold my servant, I will uphold him, my
elect, with him my soul is well-pleased. I have sent my Spirit
upon him. He will offer judgment to the nations. {42:2} He
will not cry out, and he will not show favoritism to anyone;
neither will his voice be heard abroad. {42:3} The bruised
reed he will not break, and the smoldering wick he will not
extinguish. He will lead forth judgment unto truth. {42:4} He
will not be saddened or troubled, until he establishes
judgment on earth. And the islands will await his law.
{42:5} Thus says the Lord God, who created the heavens and
expanded it, who formed the earth and all that springs from it,
who gives breath to the people in it, and spirit to those
walking on it. {42:6} I, the Lord, have called you in justice,
and I have taken your hand and preserved you. And I have
presented you as a covenant of the people, as a light to the
Gentiles, {42:7} so that you may open the eyes of the blind,
and lead out the prisoner from confinement and those sitting
in darkness from the house of incarceration. {42:8} I am the
Lord; this is my name. I will not give my glory to another,
nor my praise to graven things. {42:9} The things that were
first, behold, they have arrived. And I also announce what is
new. Before these things arise, I will cause you to hear about
them. {42:10} Sing to the Lord a new canticle, sing his praise
from the ends of the earth, you who descend into the sea and
all its fullness, the islands and their inhabitants. {42:11} Let
the desert and its cities be lifted up. Kedar will dwell in
houses. O inhabitants of the rock, give praise! They will cry
out from the top of the mountains. {42:12} They will give
glory to the Lord, and they will announce his praise to the
islands. {42:13} The Lord will go forth like a strong man; like
a man of battle, he will stir up zeal. He will shout and cry out.
He will prevail against his enemies. {42:14} I have always
been quiet; I have been silent; I have been patient. I will
speak like a woman giving birth. I will destroy and consume,
all at once. {42:15} I will desolate the mountains and the hills,
and I will wither all their grass. And I will turn rivers into
islands, and I will dry up the pools of water. {42:16} And I
will lead the blind along a way which they do not know. And
I will cause them to walk along paths with which they were
unfamiliar. I will turn darkness into light before them, and
crooked into straight. These things I have done for them. For
I have not abandoned them. {42:17} They have been
converted again. Let those who trust in graven idols be
greatly confounded, for they say to a molten thing, “You are
our god.” {42:18} You who are deaf, hear! You who are
blind, turn your gaze and see! {42:19} Who is blind, except
my servant? Who is deaf, except the one to whom I have sent
my messengers? Who is blind, except the one who has been
sold? And who is blind, except the servant of the Lord?
{42:20} You who see many things, will you not keep them?
You who have open ears, will you not listen? {42:21} And
the Lord was willing to sanctify him, and to magnify the law,
and to exalt him. {42:22} But this same people has robbed
and laid waste. All their youth are a snare, and they have
been hidden in houses of confinement. They have become
victims; there is no one who may rescue them. They have
been plundered; there is no one who may say, “Restore.”
{42:23} Who is there among you who will hear this, who will
listen closely and heed this in the future? {42:24 Who has
handed over Jacob into plunder, and Israel into devastation?
It is not the Lord himself, against whom we have sinned?
And they were not willing to walk in his ways, and they have
not listened to his law. {42:25} And so, he poured out over
him the indignation of his fury and a strong battle. And he
burned him all around, and he did not realize it. And he set
him on fire, and he did not understand it.


[Isaiah 43] {43:1} And now thus says the Lord who created
you, O Jacob, and who formed you, O Israel: Do not be
afraid. For I have redeemed you, and I have called you by
your name. You are mine. {43:2} When you pass through
the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers will not cover
you. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned,
and the flames will not scorch you. {43:3} For I am the Lord
your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. I have
presented Egypt as your atonement, Ethiopia and Seba on
your behalf. {43:4} Since then, you have become honorable
in my eyes, and glorious. I have loved you, and I will present
men on behalf of you, and people on behalf of your life.
{43:5} Fear not, for I am with you. I will lead your offspring
from the East, and I will gather you from the West. {43:6} I
will say to the North, “Release him,” and to the South, “Do
not turn him away.” Bring my sons from far away, and my
daughters from the ends of the earth. {43:7} And each one
who calls upon my name, I have created for my glory. I have
formed him, and I have made him. {43:8} Lead forth the
people who are blind and have eyes, who are deaf and have
ears. {43:9} All the nations have been assembled together,
and the tribes have been collected. Who among you will
announce this, and who will cause us to listen to the things
that are first? Let them present their witnesses. Let them act
justly, and listen, and say: “It is true.” {43:10} You are my
witnesses, says the Lord, and you are my servant, whom I
have chosen, so that you may know, and may believe in me,
and so that you may understand that I am the same. Before
me, there was no god formed, and after me there will be none.
{43:11} I am. I am the Lord. And there is no savior apart
from me. {43:12} I have announced, and I have saved. I have
caused it to be heard. And there was no stranger among you.
You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and I am God.
{43:13} And from the beginning, I am the same. And there is
no one who can rescue from my hand. I act, and who can
turn it aside? {43:14} Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel: For your sake, I sent to Babylon, and
tore down all their bars, with the Chaldeans who glory in
their ships. {43:15} I am the Lord, your Holy One, the
Creator of Israel, your King. {43:16} Thus says the Lord,
who gave you a way through the sea and a path through the
torrent of waters, {43:17} who led out the chariot and the
horse, the column of robust troops. They went to sleep
together, and they will not arise. They have been crushed like
flax, and they have been extinguished. {43:18} You need not
call to mind the past, nor consider the things of antiquity.
{43:19} Behold, I am accomplishing new things. And
presently, they will spring forth. With certainty, you will
know them. I will make a way in the desert, and rivers in an
impassible place. {43:20} The wild beasts of the field will
glorify me, with the serpents and the ostriches. For I have
brought waters to the desert, rivers to inaccessible places, in
order to give drink to my people, to my elect. {43:21} This is
the people whom I have formed for myself. They will speak
my praise. {43:22} But you have not called upon me, O
Jacob, nor have you struggled for me, O Israel. {43:23} You
have not offered me the ram of your holocaust, and you have
not glorified me with your victims. I have not burdened you
with oblations, nor have I wearied you with incense.
{43:24} You have bought me no sweet cane with money, and
you have not inebriated me with the fat of your victims. Yet
truly, you have burdened me with your sins; you have
wearied me with your iniquities. {43:25} I am. I am the very
One who wipes away your iniquities for my own sake. And I
will not remember your sins. {43:26} Call me to mind, and
let us go to judgment together. If you have anything to justify
yourself, explain it. {43:27} Your first father sinned, and your
interpreters have betrayed me. {43:28} And so, I have defiled
the holy leaders. I have handed over Jacob to slaughter, and
Israel to calumny.


[Isaiah 44] {44:1} And now, listen, Jacob, my servant, and
Israel, whom I have chosen. {44:2} Thus says the Lord, who
made and formed you, your Helper from the womb: Do not
be afraid, Jacob, my servant and my most righteous, whom I
have chosen. {44:3} For I will pour out waters upon the
thirsty ground, and rivers upon the dry land. I will pour out
my Spirit upon your offspring, and my benediction upon your
stock. {44:4} And they will spring up among the plants, like
willows beside running waters. {44:5} This one will say, “I
am the Lord’s,” and that one will call himself by the name of
Jacob, and yet another will write with his hand, “For the
Lord,” and he will take the name Israel. {44:6} Thus says the
Lord, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the Lord of hosts: I
am the first, and I am the last, and there is no God apart from
me. {44:7} Who is like me? Let him call out and announce it.
And let him explain to me the order of things, since it is I
who appointed the ancient people. The things of the near and
the distant future, let him announce them. {44:8} Do not be
afraid, and do not be disturbed. From the time when I caused
you to listen, I also announced it. You are my witnesses. Is
there another God beside me, also a Maker, whom I have not
known? {44:9} All of those who create idols are nothing, and
their most beloved things will not benefit them. These are
their witnesses, for they do not see, and they do not
understand, so that they might be confounded. {44:10} Who
has formed a god or cast a molten image, which is useful for
nothing? {44:11} Behold, all those who partake in this will be
confounded. For these makers are men. They will all
assemble together. They will stand and be terrified. And they
will be confounded together. {44:12} The maker of iron has
wrought with his file. With coals and hammers, he has
formed it, and he has wrought with the strength of his arm.
He will hunger and grow faint. He will not drink water, and
he will become weary. {44:13} The maker of wood has
extended his ruler. He has formed it with a plane. He has
made it with corners, and he has smoothed its curves. And he
has made the image of a man, a seemingly beautiful man,
dwelling in a house. {44:14} He has cut down cedars; he has
taken the evergreen oak, and the oak that stood among the
trees of the forest. He has planted the pine tree, which the
rain has nourished. {44:15} And it is used by men for fuel.
He took from it and warmed himself. And he set it on fire
and baked bread. But from the remainder, he made a god,
and he adored it. He made an idol, and he bowed down
before it. {44:16} Part of it, he burned with fire, and with part
of it, he cooked meat; he boiled food and was filled. And he
was warmed, and so he said: “Ah, I am warm. I have gazed
at the fire.” {44:17} But from its remainder, he made a god
and a graven image for himself. He bowed down before it,
and he adored it, and he prayed to it, saying: “Free me! For
you are my god.” {44:18} They have neither known nor
understood. For their eyes are obscured, lest they see with
their eyes and understand with their heart. {44:19} They do
not consider in their mind, nor do they know, nor do they
think to say: “I have burned part of it in the fire, and I have
baked bread upon its coals. I have cooked flesh and I have
eaten. And from its remainder, should I make an idol?
Should I fall prostrate before the trunk of a tree?”
{44:20} Part of it is ashes. His foolish heart adores it. And he
will not liberate his soul, and he will not say, “Perhaps there
is a lie in my right hand.” {44:21} Remember these things, O
Jacob, O Israel. For you are my servant. I have formed you.
You are my servant, Israel. Do not forget me. {44:22} I have
wiped away your iniquities like a cloud, and your sins like a
mist. Return to me, because I have redeemed you.
{44:23} Give praise, O heavens! For the Lord has shown
mercy. Shout with joy, O ends of the earth! Let the
mountains resound with praise, with the forest and all its
trees. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and Israel will be
glorified. {44:24} Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and
your Maker from the womb: I am the Lord, who makes all
things, who alone extends the heavens, who makes the earth
firm. And there is no one with me. {44:25} I make the signs
of the diviners useless, and I turn the seers to madness. I turn
the wise backwards, and make their knowledge into
foolishness. {44:26} I lift up the word of my servant, and I
fulfill the counsel of my messengers. I say to Jerusalem, “You
shall be inhabited,” and to the cities of Judah, “You shall be
rebuilt,” and I will lift up its deserts. {44:27} I say to the
depths, “Be desolate,” and, “I will dry up your rivers.”
{44:28} I say to Cyrus, “You are my shepherd, and you will
accomplish all that I will.” I say to Jerusalem, “You shall be
built,” and to the Temple, “Your foundations shall be laid.”


[Isaiah 45] {45:1} Thus says the Lord to my anointed Cyrus,
whose right hand I hold, so that I may subjugate the nations
before his face, and I may turn the backs of kings, and I may
open the doors before him, and so that the gates will not be
shut. {45:2} I will go before you. And I will humble the
glorious ones of the earth. I will shatter the gates of brass, and
I will break apart the bars of iron. {45:3} And I will give you
hidden treasures and the knowledge of secret things, so that
you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who
calls your name. {45:4} For the sake of Jacob, my servant,
and Israel, my elect, I have even called you by your name. I
have taken you up, and you have not known me. {45:5} I am
the Lord, and there is no one else. There is no god beside me.
I girded you, and you have not known me. {45:6} So may
those who are from the rising of the sun, and those who are
from its setting, know that there is no one beside me. I am the
Lord, and there is no other. {45:7} I form the light and create
the darkness. I make peace and create disaster. I, the Lord,
do all these things. {45:8} Send down dew from above, O
heavens, and let the clouds rain down upon the just! Let the
earth open and spring forth a savior! And let justice rise up at
once! I, the Lord, have created him. {45:9} Woe to him who
contradicts his Maker, a mere shard from an earthen vessel!
Should the clay say to the potter, “What are you making?” or,
“Your work is not made by your hands?” {45:10} Woe to
him who says to his father, “Why did you conceive?” or to a
woman, “Why did you give birth?” {45:11} Thus says the
Lord, the Holy One of Israel, his Maker: Would you question
me about the future, concerning my sons, and command me
concerning the work of my hands? {45:12} I made the earth,
and I created man upon it. My hand stretched out the
heavens, and I have commanded all their hosts. {45:13} I
have raised him up unto justice, and I will direct all his ways.
He himself will build my city and release my captives, but not
for ransom or gifts, says the Lord, the God of hosts.
{45:14} Thus says the Lord: The labor of Egypt, and the
business dealings of Ethiopia, and of the Sabeans, men of
stature, will pass to you and will be yours. They will walk
behind you. They will travel, bound in irons. And they will
adore you and petition you: “In you alone is God, and there
is no God apart from you. {45:15} Truly, you are a hidden
God, the God of Israel, the Savior.” {45:16} They have all
been confounded and should be ashamed! These fabricators
of errors have departed together into confusion!
{45:17} Israel is saved in the Lord by an eternal salvation.
You will not be confounded, and you will not be ashamed,
even forever and ever. {45:18} For thus says the Lord, who
created the heavens, God himself who formed the earth and
made it, the very Molder of it. He did not create it to no
purpose. He formed it so that it would be inhabited. I am the
Lord, and there is no other. {45:19} I have not spoken in
secret, in a dark place of the earth. I have not said to the
offspring of Jacob, “Seek me in vain.” I am the Lord, who
speaks justice, who announces what is right.
{45:20} Assemble yourselves, and approach, and draw near
together, you who have been saved among the Gentiles. They
lack knowledge, who lift up the wood of their sculpture, and
who petition a god unable to save. {45:21} Announce it, and
approach, and consult together. Who has caused this to be
heard from the beginning, and who has foretold it from that
time? Is it not I, the Lord? And is there some other god beside
me? I am a just God who saves, and there is no one except
me. {45:22} All ends of the earth, be converted to me, and
you will be saved. For I am God, and there is no other.
{45:23} I have sworn by myself. The Word of justice will
proceed from my mouth, and it will not turn back.
{45:24} For every knee shall bend to me, and every tongue
shall swear it. {45:25} Therefore, he will say, “In the Lord
are my justices and my dominion.” They will go to him. And
all who fight against him will be confounded. {45:26} In the
Lord, all the offspring of Israel will be justified and praised.


[Isaiah 46] {46:1} Bel has been broken. Nebo has been
crushed. Their idols have been placed upon beasts and cattle,
your grievous heavy burdens, even unto exhaustion.
{46:2} They have been melted down, or have been smashed
together. They were not able to save the one who carried
them, and their life will go into captivity. {46:3} Listen to me,
house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who
are carried in my bosom, who were born from my womb.
{46:4} Even to your old age, I am the same. And even with
your grey hairs, I will carry you. I have made you, and I will
sustain you. I will carry you, and I will save you. {46:5} To
whom would you likened me, or equate me, or compare me,
or consider me to be similar? {46:6} You take gold from a
bag, and you weigh silver on a scale, so as to hire a goldsmith
to make a god. And they fall prostrate and adore.
{46:7} They carry him on their shoulders, supporting him,
and they set him in his place. And he will stand still and will
not move from his place. But even when they will cry out to
him, he will not hear. He will not save them from tribulation.
{46:8} Remember this, and be confounded. Return, you
transgressors, to the heart. {46:9} Remember the past ages.
For I am God, and there is no other god. There is no one like
me. {46:10} From the beginning, I announce the last things,
and from the start, the things that have not yet been done,
saying: My plan will stand firm, and my entire will shall be
done. {46:11} I call a bird from the east, and from a far away
land, the man of my will. And I have spoken it, and I will
carry it out. I have created, and I will act. {46:12} Hear me,
you who are hard of heart, who are far from justice! {46:13} I
have brought my justice near. It will not be far away, and my
salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation in Zion,
and my glory in Israel.


[Isaiah 47] {47:1} Descend, sit in the dust, O virgin daughter
of Babylon! Sit on the ground. There is no throne for the
daughter of the Chaldeans. For you shall no longer be called
delicate and tender. {47:2} Take a millstone and grind meal.
Uncover your shame, bare your shoulder, reveal your legs,
cross the streams. {47:3} Your disgrace will be revealed, and
your shame will be seen. I will seize vengeance, and no man
will withstand me. {47:4} Our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is
his name, the Holy One of Israel. {47:5} Sit in silence, and
enter into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you
shall no longer be called the noblewoman of kingdoms.
{47:6} I was angry with my people. I have polluted my
inheritance, and I have given them into your hand. You have
not shown mercy to them. You have greatly increased the
burden of your yoke upon the elders. {47:7} And you have
said: “I will be a noblewoman forever.” You have not set
these things upon your heart, and you have not remembered
your end. {47:8} And now, hear these things, you who are
delicate and have confidence, who say in your heart: “I am,
and there is no one greater than me. I will not sit as a widow,
and I will not know barrenness.” {47:9} These two things
will suddenly overwhelm you in one day: barrenness and
widowhood. All things shall overwhelm you, because of the
multitude of your sorceries and because of the great cruelty of
your enchantments. {47:10} And you have trusted in your
malice, and you have said: “There is no one who sees me.”
Your wisdom and your knowledge, these have deceived you.
And you have said in your heart: “I am, and beside me there
is no other.” {47:11} Evil will overwhelm you, and you will
not notice its rising. And calamity will fall violently over you,
and you will not be able to avert it. You will suddenly be
overwhelmed by a misery such as you have never known.
{47:12} Stand with your incantations, and with the multitude
of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth,
as if somehow it might benefit you, or as if it were able to
make you stronger. {47:13} You have failed in the multitude
of your plans! Let the seers stand and save you, those who
were contemplating the stars, and figuring the months, so
that from these they might announce to you the things to
come. {47:14} Behold, they have become like stubble. Fire
has consumed them. They will not free themselves from the
power of the flames. These are not coals by which they may
be warmed, nor is this a fire which they may sit beside.
{47:15} So have all these things, in which you have labored,
become to you. Your merchants from your youth, each one
has erred in his own way. There is no one who can save you.


[Isaiah 48] {48:1} Listen to these things, O house of Jacob,
you who are called by the name of Israel, and who went forth
from the waters of Judah. You swear by the name of the Lord
and you call to mind the God of Israel, but not in truth, and
not in justice. {48:2} For they have been called from the holy
city, and they have been founded upon the God of Israel. The
Lord of hosts is his name. {48:3} From that time, I
announced the former things. They went forth from my
mouth, and I have caused them to be heard. I wrought these
things suddenly, and they were fulfilled. {48:4} For I knew
that you are stubborn, and that your neck is like an iron
sinew, and that your forehead is like brass. {48:5} From that
time, I foretold to you. Before these things happened, I
revealed them to you, lest you say: “My idols have
accomplished these things, and my graven and molten
images have commanded them.” {48:6} See all the things
that you have heard. But were you the ones who announced
them? From that time, I caused you to hear about new things,
and you do not know how these were preserved. {48:7} They
are created now, and not in that time. And even before today,
you did not hear of them; otherwise, you might say, “Behold,
I knew them.” {48:8} You have neither heard, nor known,
nor were your ears open in that time. For I knew that you
would transgress greatly, and so I called you a transgressor
from the womb. {48:9} For the sake of my name, I will take
the face of my fury far away. And for the sake of my praise, I
will bridle you, lest you perish. {48:10} Behold, I have
refined you, but not like silver. I have chosen you for the
furnace of poverty. {48:11} For my sake, for my own sake, I
will do it, so that I may not be blasphemed. For I will not
give my glory to another. {48:12} Listen to me, O Jacob, and
Israel whom I call. I am the same, I am the first, and I am the
last. {48:13} Also, my hand has founded the earth, and my
right hand has measured the heavens. I will call them, and
they will stand together. {48:14} Gather together, all of you,
and listen. Who among them has announced these things?
The Lord has loved him; he will do his will with Babylon,
and his arm is upon the Chaldeans. {48:15} I am, I have
spoken, and I have called him. I have led him forward, and
his way has been straight. {48:16} Draw near to me, and
listen to this. From the beginning, I have not spoken in secret.
From the time before it happened, I was there. And now, the
Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit. {48:17} Thus says the
Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord,
your God, who teaches you beneficial things, who guides you
in the way that you walk. {48:18} If only you had paid
attention to my commandments! Your peace would have
been like a river, and your justice would have been like the
waves of the sea, {48:19} and your offspring would have
been like the sand, and the stock from your loins would have
been like its stones. His name would not have passed away,
nor would it have been worn away before my face.
{48:20} Depart from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans!
Announce it with a voice of exultation. Cause it to be heard,
and carry it even to the ends of the earth. Say: “The Lord has
redeemed his servant Jacob.” {48:21} They did not thirst in
the desert, when he led them out. He produced water from
the rock for them. For he split the rock, and the waters
flowed out. {48:22} “There is no peace for the impious,” says
the Lord.


[Isaiah 49] {49:1} Pay attention, you islands, and listen
closely, you far away peoples. The Lord has called me from
the womb; from the womb of my mother, he has been
mindful of my name. {49:2} And he has appointed my
mouth as a sharp sword. In the shadow of his hand, he has
protected me. And he has appointed me as an elect arrow. In
his quiver, he has hidden me. {49:3} And he has said to me:
“You are my servant, Israel. For in you, I will glory.”
{49:4} And I said: “I have labored toward emptiness. I have
consumed my strength without purpose and in vain.
Therefore, my judgment is with the Lord, and my work is
with my God.” {49:5} And now, says the Lord, who formed
me from the womb as his servant, so that I may bring back
Jacob to him, for Israel will not be gathered together, but I
have been glorified in the eyes of the Lord and my God has
become my strength, {49:6} and so he has said: “It is a small
thing that you should be my servant so as to raise up the
tribes of Jacob, and so as to convert the dregs of Israel.
Behold, I have offered you as a light for the Gentiles, so that
you may be my salvation, even to the furthest regions of the
earth.” {49:7} Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel,
his Holy One, to a contemptible soul, to an abominable
nation, to the servant of lords: The kings will see, and the
princes will rise up, and they will adore, because of the Lord.
For he is faithful, and he is the Holy One of Israel, who has
chosen you. {49:8} Thus says the Lord: In a pleasing time, I
have heeded you, and in the day of salvation, I have assisted
you. And I have preserved you, and I have presented you as a
covenant of the people, so that you would lift up the earth,
and possess the scattered inheritances, {49:9} so that you
would say to those who are bound, “Go forth!” and to those
who are in darkness, “Be released!” They will pasture along
the roads, and their pastures will be in every open place.
{49:10} They will not hunger or thirst, nor will the heat of the
sun beat down upon them. For the one who takes pity on
them will rule them, and he will give them to drink from
fountains of waters. {49:11} And I will make all my
mountains into a road, and my paths will be exalted.
{49:12} Behold, some will come from far away, and behold,
others from the north and from the sea, and still others from
the land of the south. {49:13} Give praise, O heavens! And
exult, O earth! Let the mountains give praise with jubilation!
For the Lord has consoled his people, and he will take pity on
his poor ones. {49:14} And Zion said: “The Lord has
abandoned me, and the Lord has forgotten me.” {49:15} Can
a woman forget her infant, so as not to take pity on the child
of her womb? But even if she would forget, still I shall never
forget you. {49:16} Behold, I have engraved you on my
hands. Your walls are always before my eyes. {49:17} Your
builders have arrived. Those who would tear you down and
destroy you, they will depart from you. {49:18} Lift up your
eyes all around, and see: all these have been gathered
together; they have come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you
shall be clothed with all these things, as if with an ornament.
And like a bride, you shall wrap these things all around you.
{49:19} For your deserts, and your solitary places, and the
land of your ruination will now be too narrow, because of all
the inhabitants. And those who devoured you will be chased
far away. {49:20} Even the children of your barrenness will
say in your ears: “This place is too narrow for me. Make me
a spacious place in which to dwell.” {49:21} And you will
say in your heart: “Who has conceived them? I was barren
and unable to give birth. I was taken away and held captive.
And so, who has raised them? I was destitute and alone. And
so, where have they been?” {49:22} Thus says the Lord God:
Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and I will exalt
my sign before the peoples. And they will carry your sons in
their arms, and they will bear your daughters on their
shoulders. {49:23} And kings will be your caretakers, and
queens will be your nursemaids. They will reverence you
with their face to the ground, and they will lick the dust at
your feet. And you will know that I am the Lord. For those
who hope in him will not be confounded. {49:24} Can prey
be taken from the strong? Or is anything taken captive by the
powerful able to be saved? {49:25} For thus says the Lord:
Certainly, even the captives will be taken away from the
strong, even what has been taken by the powerful will be
saved. And truly, I will judge those who have judged you,
and I will save your children. {49:26} And I will feed your
enemies their own flesh. And they will be inebriated with
their own blood, as with new wine. And all flesh will know
that I am the Lord, who saves you, and your Redeemer, the
Strong One of Jacob.


[Isaiah 50] {50:1} Thus says the Lord: What is this bill of
divorce for your mother, by which I have dismissed her? Or
who is my creditor, to whom I have sold you? Behold, you
were sold by your iniquities, and I have dismissed your
mother for your wickedness. {50:2} For I arrived, and there
was no man. I called out, and there was no one who would
hear. Has my hand been shortened and become small, so that
Iam unable to redeem? Or is there no power in me to deliver?
Behold, at my rebuke, I will make the sea into a desert. I will
turn rivers into dry land. The fish will rot for lack of water
and will die of thirst. {50:3} I will clothe the heavens in
darkness, and I will make sackcloth their covering.
{50:4} The Lord has given me a learned tongue, so that I
would know how to uphold with a word, one who has
weakened. He rises in the morning, he rises to my ear in the
morning, so that I may heed him like a teacher. {50:5} The
Lord God has opened my ear. And I do not contradict him. I
have not turned back. {50:6} I have given my body to those
who strike me, and my cheeks to those who plucked them. I
have not averted my face from those who rebuked me and
who spit on me. {50:7} The Lord God is my helper.
Therefore, I have not been confounded. Therefore, I have set
my face like a very hard rock, and I know that I will not be
confounded. {50:8} He who justifies me is near. Who will
speak against me? Let us stand together. Who is my
adversary? Let him approach me. {50:9} Behold, the Lord
God is my helper. Who is the one who would condemn me?
Behold, they will all be worn away like a garment; the moth
will devour them. {50:10} Who is there among you who fears
the Lord? Who hears the voice of his servant? Who has
walked in darkness, and there is no light in him? Let him
hope in the name of the Lord, and let him lean upon his God.
{50:11} Behold, all you who kindle a fire, wrapped in flames:
walk in the light of your fire and in the flames that you have
kindled. This has been done to you by my hand. You will
sleep in anguish.


[Isaiah 51] {51:1} Listen to me, you who follow what is just
and who seek the Lord. Pay attention to the rock from which
you have been hewn, and to the walls of the pit from which
you have been dug. {51:2} Pay attention to Abraham, your
father, and to Sarah, who bore you. For I called him alone,
and I blessed him, and I multiplied him. {51:3} Therefore,
the Lord will console Zion, and he will console all its ruins.
And he will turn her desert into a place of delights, and her
wilderness into a garden of the Lord. Gladness and rejoicing
will be found in her, thanksgiving and a voice of praise.
{51:4} Pay attention to me, my people, and listen to me, my
tribes. For a law will go forth from me, and my judgment will
rest as a light for the nations. {51:5} My just one is near. My
savior has gone forth. And my arms will judge the people.
The islands will hope in me, and they will patiently wait for
my arm. {51:6} Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look down
to the earth below. For the heavens will vanish like smoke,
and the earth will be worn away like a garment, and its
inhabitants will pass away in like manner. But my salvation
will be forever, and my justice will not fail. {51:7} Listen to
me, you who know what is just, my people who have my law
in their heart. Do not be afraid of disgrace among men, and
do not dread their blasphemies. {51:8} For the worm will
consume them like a garment, and the moth will devour them
like wool. But my salvation will be forever, and my justice
will be from generation to generation. {51:9} Rise up, Rise
up! Clothe yourself in strength, O arm of the Lord! Rise up as
in the days of antiquity, as in generations long past. Have you
not struck the arrogant one and wounded the dragon?
{51:10} Have not you dried up the sea, the waters of the great
abyss, and turned the depths of the sea into a road, so that the
delivered could cross over it? {51:11} And now, those who
have been redeemed by the Lord will return. And they will
arrive in Zion, praising. And everlasting rejoicing will be
upon their heads. They will take hold of gladness and
rejoicing. Anguish and mourning will flee away. {51:12} It is
I, I myself, who will console you. Who are you that you
would be afraid of a mortal man, and of a son of man, who
will wither like the grass? {51:13} And have you forgotten the
Lord, your Maker, who extended the heavens, and who
founded the earth? And have you been in constant dread, all
day long, at the face of his fury, of the one who afflicted you
and who had prepared to destroy you? Where is the fury of
the oppressor now? {51:14} Advancing quickly, he will arrive
to be revealed, and he will not kill unto utter destruction, nor
will his bread fail. {51:15} But Iam the Lord, your God, who
stirs up the sea, and who makes the waves swell. The Lord of
hosts is my name. {51:16} I have placed my words in your
mouth, and I have protected you in the shadow of my hand,
so that you might plant the heavens, and found the earth, and
so that you might say to Zion, “You are my people.”
{51:17} Lift up, Lift up! Arise, O Jerusalem! You drank, from
the hand of the Lord, the cup of his wrath. You drank, even
to the bottom of the cup of deep sleep. And you were given to
drink, all the way to the dregs. {51:18} There is no one who
can uphold her, out of all the sons whom she has conceived.
And there is no one who would take her by the hand, out of
all the sons whom she has raised. {51:19} There are two
things which have happened to you. Who will be saddened
over you? There is devastation and destruction, and famine
and sword. Who will console you? {51:20} Your sons have
been cast out. They have slept at the head of all the roads,
and they have been ensnared like a gazelle. They have been
filled by the indignation of the Lord, by the rebuke of your
God. {51:21} Therefore, listen to this, O poor little ones, and
you who have been inebriated, but not by wine. {51:22} Thus
says your Sovereign, the Lord, and your God, who will fight
on behalf of his people: Behold, I have taken the cup of deep
sleep from your hand. You shall no longer drink from the
bottom of the cup of my indignation. {51:23} And I will set it
in the hand of those who have humiliated you, and who have
said to your soul: “Bow down, so that we pass over.” And
you placed your body on the ground, as a path for them to
pass over.


[Isaiah 52] {52:1} Rise up, Rise up! Clothe yourself in
strength, O Zion! Put on the garments of your glory, O
Jerusalem, the city of the Holy One! For the uncircumcised
and the unclean will no longer pass through you.
{52:2} Shake yourself from the dust! Arise and sit up, O
Jerusalem! Loose the chains from your neck, O captive
daughter of Zion! {52:3} For thus says the Lord: You were
sold for nothing, and you will be redeemed without money.
{52:4} For thus says the Lord God: My people descended
into Egypt, in the beginning, in order to sojourn there. But
the Assyrian oppressed them, without any cause at all.
{52:5} And now, what is left for me here, says the Lord? For
my people have been taken away without cause. Their lords
treat them unjustly, says the Lord. And my name is being
continually blasphemed all day long. {52:6} Because of this,
my people will know my name, in that day. For it is I myself
who is speaking. Behold, I am here. {52:7} How beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger and the
preacher of peace! Announcing good and preaching peace,
they are saying to Zion, “Your God will reign!” {52:8} It is
the voice of your watchmen. They have lifted up their voice.
They will praise together. For they will see eye to eye, when
the Lord converts Zion. {52:9} Be glad and rejoice together,
O deserts of Jerusalem! For the Lord has consoled his people.
He has redeemed Jerusalem. {52:10} The Lord has prepared
his holy arm, in the sight of all the Gentiles. And all the ends
of the earth will see the salvation of our God. {52:11} Depart,
depart, get out of here! Do not be willing to touch what is
polluted. Go out from her midst! Be cleansed, you who bear
the vessels of the Lord. {52:12} For you will not go out in a
tumult, nor will you take flight in a hurry. For the Lord will
precede you, and the God of Israel will gather you.
{52:13} Behold, my servant will understand; he will be
exalted and lifted up, and he will be very sublime.
{52:14} Just as they were stupefied over you, so will his
countenance be without glory among men, and his
appearance, among the sons of men. {52:15} He will sprinkle
many nations; kings will close their mouth because of him.
And those to whom he was not described, have seen. And
those who have not heard, have considered.


[Isaiah 53] {53:1} Who has believed our report? And to
whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? {53:2} And he
will rise up like a tender plant in his sight, and like a root
from the thirsty ground. There is no beautiful or stately
appearance in him. For we looked upon him, and there was
no aspect, such that we would desire him. {53:3} He is
despised and the least among men, a man of sorrows who
knows infirmity. And his countenance was hidden and
despised. Because of this, we did not esteem him.
{53:4} Truly, he has taken away our weaknesses, and he
himself has carried our sorrows. And we thought of him as if
he were a leper, or as if he had been struck by God and
humiliated. {53:5} But he himself was wounded because of
our iniquities. He was bruised because of our wickedness.
The discipline of our peace was upon him. And by his
wounds, we are healed. {53:6} We have all gone astray like
sheep; each one has turned aside to his own way. And the
Lord has placed all our iniquity upon him. {53:7} He was
offered up, because it was his own will. And he did not open
his mouth. He will be led like a sheep to the slaughter. And
he will be mute like a lamb before his shearer. For he will not
open his mouth. {53:8} He was lifted up from anguish and
judgment. Who will describe his life? For he has been cut off
from the land of the living. Because of the wickedness of my
people, I have struck him down. {53:9} And he will be given
a place with the impious for his burial, and with the rich for
his death, though he has done no iniquity, nor was deceit in
his mouth. {53:10} But it was the will of the Lord to crush
him with infirmity. If he lays down his life because of sin, he
will see offspring with long lives, and the will of the Lord will
be directed by his hand. {53:11} Because his soul has labored,
he will see and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my just servant
will himself justify many, and he himself will carry their
iniquities. {53:12} Therefore, I will allot to him a great
number. And he will divide the spoils of the strong. For he
has handed over his life to death, and he was reputed among
criminals. And he has taken away the sins of many, and he
has prayed for the transgressors.


[Isaiah 54] {54:1} Give praise, you who are barren and
unable to conceive. Sing praise and make a joyful noise, you
who have not given birth. For many are the children of the
desolate, more so than of her who has a husband, says the
Lord. {54:2} Enlarge the place of your tent and extend the
skins of your tabernacles, unsparingly. Lengthen your cords,
and strengthen your stakes. {54:3} For you shall extend to
the right and to the left. And your offspring shall inherit the
nations, and you shall inhabit the desolate cities. {54:4} Do
not be afraid! For you will not be confounded, and you will
not blush. And you will not be put to shame, because you
shall forget the confusion of your youth, and you shall no
longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood.
{54:5} For the One who made you will rule over you. The
Lord of hosts is his name. And your Redeemer, the Holy One
of Israel, will be called the God of all the earth. {54:6} For
the Lord has called you, like a woman forsaken and
mourning in spirit, and like a wife rejected in her youth, said
your God. {54:7} For a brief moment, I have forsaken you,
and with great pities, I will gather you. {54:8} In a moment
of indignation, I have hidden my face from you, for a little
while. But with everlasting mercy, I have taken pity on you,
said your Redeemer, the Lord. {54:9} For me, it is just as in
the days of Noah, to whom I swore that I would no longer
bring in the waters of Noah over the earth. Thus have I sworn
not to be angry with you, and not to rebuke you. {54:10} For
the mountains will be moved, and the hills will tremble. But
my mercy will not depart from you, and the covenant of my
peace will not be shaken, said the Lord, who has compassion
on you. {54:11} O poor little ones, convulsed by the tempest,
away from any consolation! Behold, I will set your stones in
order, and I will lay your foundation with sapphires,
{54:12} and I will make your ramparts out of jasper, and
your gates out of sculpted stones, and all your borders out of
desirable stones. {54:13} All your children will be taught by
the Lord. And great will be the peace of your children.
{54:14} And you will be founded in justice. Depart far from
oppression, for you will not be afraid. And depart from terror,
for it will not approach you. {54:15} Behold, a settler will
arrive, who was not with me, a certain new arrival will be
joined to you. {54:16} Behold, I created the smith who fans
the coals of the fire and produces an object by his work, and I
have created the slayer who destroys. {54:17} No object
which has been formed to use against you will succeed. And
every tongue that resists you in judgment, you shall judge.
This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and this is
their justice with me, says the Lord.


[Isaiah 55] {55:1} All you who thirst, come to the waters.
And you who have no money: hurry, buy and eat. Approach,
buy wine and milk, without money and without barter.
{55:2} Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and
expend your labor for what does not satisfy? Listen very
closely to me, and eat what is good, and then your soul will
be delighted by a full measure. {55:3} Incline your ear and
draw near to me. Listen, and your soul will live. And I will
make an everlasting covenant with you, by the faithful
mercies of David. {55:4} Behold, I have presented him as a
witness to the people, as a commander and instructor to the
nations. {55:5} Behold, you will call to a nation that you did
not know. And nations that did not know you will rush to
you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel.
For he has glorified you. {55:6} Seek the Lord, while he is
able to be found. Call upon him, while he is near. {55:7} Let
the impious one abandon his way, and the iniquitous man his
thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will take pity
on him, and to our God, for he is great in forgiveness.
{55:8} For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your
ways are not my ways, says the Lord. {55:9} For just as the
heavens are exalted above the earth, so also are my ways
exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your
thoughts. {55:10} And in the same manner as rain and snow
descend from heaven, and no longer return there, but soak
the earth, and water it, and cause it to bloom and to provide
seed to the sower and bread to the hungry, {55:11} so also
will my word be, which will go forth from my mouth. It will
not return to me empty, but it will accomplish whatever I will,
and it will prosper in the tasks for which I sent it. {55:12} For
you will go forth rejoicing, and you will be led forward in
peace. The mountains and the hills will sing praise before you,
and all the trees of the countryside will clap their hands.
{55:13} In place of the shrub, the pine tree will arise, and in
place of the nettle, the myrtle tree will grow. And the Lord
will be named with an eternal sign, which will not be taken
away.


[Isaiah 56] {56:1} Thus says the Lord: Preserve judgment,
and accomplish justice. For my salvation is close to its arrival,
and my justice is close to being revealed. {56:2} Blessed is the
man who does this, and the son of man who holds to this,
keeping the Sabbath and not profaning it, guarding his hands
and not doing any evil. {56:3} And let not the son of the new
arrival, who adheres to the Lord, speak, saying, “The Lord
will divide and separate me from his people.” And let not the
eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” {56:4} For thus says
the Lord to the eunuchs: They will keep my Sabbaths, and
they will choose the things that I will, and they will hold to
my covenant. {56:5} I will give them a place in my house,
within my walls, and a name better than sons and daughters.
I will give them an everlasting name, which will never perish.
{56:6} And the sons of the new arrival, who adhere to the
Lord so as to worship him and to love his name, shall be his
servants: all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it, and
who hold to my covenant. {56:7} I will lead them to my holy
mountain, and I will gladden them in my house of prayer.
Their holocausts and their victims will be pleasing to me
upon my altar. For my house will be called the house of
prayer for all peoples. {56:8} The Lord God, who gathers the
dispersed of Israel, says: Even now, I will gather his
congregation to him. {56:9} All beasts of the field, all the
beasts of the forest: approach and devour! {56:10} His
watchmen are all blind. They are all ignorant. They are mute
dogs without the ability to bark, seeing empty things, sleeping
and loving dreams. {56:11} And these very imprudent dogs
have never known satisfaction. The shepherds themselves do
not know understanding. All have turned aside in their own
way, each one to his own avarice, from the highest even to
the least: {56:12} “Come, let us take wine, and be filled by
inebriation. And as it is today, so shall it be tomorrow and for
a long time.”


[Isaiah 57] {57:1} The just man perishes, and there is no one
who acknowledges it in his heart; and men of mercy are
taken away, for there is no one who understands. For the just
man has been taken away before the face of malice.
{57:2} Let peace arrive. Let he who has walked in his
righteousness find rest on his bed. {57:3} But come here, you
sons of the prophetess, you offspring of an adulterous man
and a fornicating woman. {57:4} Whom are you mocking?
Against whom have you opened your mouth wide and
wagged your tongue? Are you not sons of wickedness, a lying
offspring, {57:5} who are being consoled by idols under every
leafy tree, immolating little children at the torrents, under the
high rocks? {57:6} Your portion is in the currents of the
torrent; this is your lot! And you yourselves have poured out
libations to them; you have offered sacrifice. Should I not be
angry over these things? {57:7} Upon a high and lofty
mountain, you have placed your bed, and you have ascended
to that place to immolate victims. {57:8} And behind the
door, and beyond the post, you have set up your memorial.
For you uncovered yourself next to me, and you received an
adulterer. You widened your bed, and you formed a pact
with them. You loved their bed with an open hand.
{57:9} And you have adorned yourself for the king with
ointments, and you have increased your cosmetics. You have
sent your representatives to distant places, and you have
debased yourself all the way to Hell. {57:10} You have been
wearied by the multitude of your own ways. Yet you did not
say, “I will cease.” You have found life by your own hand;
because of this, you have not prayed. {57:11} For whose sake
have you been anxiously afraid, so that you would lie and not
be mindful of me, nor consider me in your heart? For I am
silent, and I am like someone who does not see, and so you
have forgotten me. {57:12} I will announce your justice, and
your works will not benefit you. {57:13} When you cry out,
let your followers free you. But the wind will carry them all
away; a breeze will take them up. But he who has faith in me
will inherit the earth and will possess my holy mountain.
{57:14} And I will say: “Make way! Grant passage! Move to
the side of the path! Take the obstacles out of the way of my
people!” {57:15} For this is said by the Most High, the
Sublime One, who dwells in eternity. And his name is Holy,
for he dwells in the exalted and holy place, and he acts with a
restrained and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite. {57:16} For I will not
contend unceasingly, and I will not be angry to the end. For I
will exhale my breath, and the Spirit will go forth from my
face. {57:17} Because of the iniquity of his avarice, I was
angry, and I struck him down. I concealed my face from you,
and I was angry. And he went astray by wandering in his
heart. {57:18} I saw his ways, and I healed him, and I led
him back again, and I restored consolations to him and to
those who mourn for him. {57:19} I created the fruit of the
lips: peace, peace to him who is far away, and peace to him
who is near, said the Lord, and I healed him. {57:20} But the
impious are like the raging sea, which is not able to be
quieted, and its waves stir up dirt and mud. {57:21} There is
no peace for the impious, says the Lord God.


[Isaiah 58] {58:1} Cry out! Cease not! Exalt your voice like a
trumpet, and announce to my people their wicked acts, and
to the house of Jacob their sins. {58:2} For they also seek me,
from day to day, and they are willing to know my ways, like
a nation which has done justice and has not abandoned the
judgment of their God. They petition me for judgments of
justice. They are willing to draw near to God. {58:3} “Why
have we fasted, and you have not taken notice? Why have we
humbled our souls, and you have not acknowledged it?”
Behold, in the day of your fasting, your own will is found,
and you petition for payment from all your debtors.
{58:4} Behold, you fast with strife and contention, and you
strike with the fist impiously. Do not choose to fast as you
have done even to this day. Then your outcry will be heard
on high. {58:5} Is this a fast such as I have chosen: for a man
to afflict his soul for a day, to contort his head in a circle, and
to spread sackcloth and ashes? Should you call this a fast and
a day acceptable to the Lord? {58:6} Is not this, instead, the
kind of fast that I have chosen? Release the constraints of
impiety; relieve the burdens that oppress; freely forgive those
who are broken; and break apart every burden. {58:7} Break
your bread with the hungry, and lead the destitute and the
homeless into your house. When you see someone naked,
cover him, and do not despise your own flesh. {58:8} Then
your light will break forth like the morning, and your health
will improve quickly, and your justice will go before your
face, and the glory of the Lord will gather you up.
{58:9} Then you will call, and the Lord will heed; you will
cry out, and he will say, “Here I am,” if you take away the
chains from your midst, and cease to point your finger and to
speak what is not beneficial. {58:10} When you pour out
your life for the hungry, and you satisfy the afflicted soul,
then your light will rise up in darkness, and your darkness
will be like the midday. {58:11} And the Lord will give you
rest continually, and he will fill your soul with splendor, and
he will free your bones, and you will be like a watered garden
and like a fountain of water whose waters will not fail.
{58:12} And places that have been desolate for ages will be
built up by you. You will raise a foundation for generation
after generation. And you will be called the repairer of hedges,
who turns the roadways into quiet places. {58:13} If you
restrain your foot on the Sabbath, from doing your own will
on my holy day, and if you call the Sabbath delightful, and
the Holy of the Lord glorious, and if you glorify him, while
you do not act according to your own ways, and your own
will is not found, not even to speak a word, {58:14} then you
will find delight in the Lord, and I will take you up, above the
heights of the earth, and I will nourish you with the
inheritance of Jacob, your father. For the mouth of the Lord
has spoken.


[Isaiah 59] {59:1} Behold, the hand of the Lord has not been
shortened, so that it cannot save, and his ear has not been
blocked, so that it cannot hear. {59:2} But your iniquities
have made a division between you and your God, and your
sins have concealed his face from you, so that he would not
hear. {59:3} For your hands have been polluted by blood,
and your fingers by iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies, and
your tongue utters iniquity. {59:4} There is no one who calls
for justice, and there is no one who judges truly. For they
trust in nothing, and they speak emptiness. They have
conceived hardship, and they have given birth to iniquity.
{59:5} They have ruptured the eggs of asps, and they have
woven the webs of spiders. Whoever will eat of their eggs will
die. For what has been incubated will hatch into a king snake.
{59:6} Their weavings will not be for clothing, nor will they
cover themselves with their handiwork. Their works are
useless things, and the work of iniquity is in their hands.
{59:7} Their feet run to evil, and they rush to shed innocent
blood. Their thoughts are useless thoughts; devastation and
destruction are in their ways. {59:8} They have not known
the way of peace, and there is no judgment in their steps.
Their paths have become crooked for them. Anyone who
treads in them knows no peace. {59:9} Because of this,
judgment is far from us, and justice will not take hold of us.
We waited for light, and behold, darkness; we waited for
brightness, and we walked in darkness. {59:10} We groped
for the wall, like one who is blind, and we felt our way, like
one without eyes. We stumbled at midday, as if in darkness;
and in darkness, as if in death. {59:11} We will all roar like
bears, and we will sigh like despondent doves. We hoped for
judgment, and there is none; for salvation, and it is far from
us. {59:12} For our iniquities have been multiplied in your
sight, and our sins have answered us. For our wickedness is
with us, and we have acknowledged our iniquities:
{59:13} sinning and lying against the Lord. And we have
turned away, not so as to go after our God, and so that we
were speaking calumny and transgression. We have
conceived, and spoken from the heart, words of falsehood.
{59:14} And judgment has been turned backwards, and
justice has stood far away. For truth has fallen down in the
street, and fairness was not able to enter. {59:15} And the
truth has gone into oblivion. And he who withdraws from
evil endures plunder. And the Lord saw this, and it seemed
evil in his eyes. For there is no judgment. {59:16} And he
saw that there was no good man. And he was astonished that
there was no one to meet him. And his own arm brought
salvation to him, and his own justice strengthened him.
{59:17} He clothed himself with justice as with a breastplate,
and with a helmet of salvation upon his head. He put on the
vestments of vengeance, and he was covered with zeal as
with a cloak. {59:18} This was for vindication, as a
repayment of indignation to his adversaries, and as a sudden
reversal for his enemies. He will repay the islands in their
turn. {59:19} And those from the west will fear the name of
the Lord, and those from the rising of the sun will fear his
glory, when he arrives like a violent river, which the Spirit of
the Lord urges on. {59:20} And the Redeemer will arrive in
Zion, and to those who return from the iniquity within Jacob,
says the Lord. {59:21} This is my pact with them, says the
Lord. My Spirit is within you, and my words, which I have
put in your mouth, will not withdraw from your mouth, nor
from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of
your offspring’s offspring, says the Lord, from this moment,
and even forever.


[Isaiah 60] {60:1} Rise up to be illuminated, O Jerusalem!
For your light has arrived, and the glory of the Lord has risen
over you. {60:2} For behold, darkness will cover the earth,
and thick darkness will cover the peoples. Then the Lord will
rise above you, and his glory will be seen in you. {60:3} And
the nations will walk in your light, and the kings will walk by
the splendor of your rising. {60:4} Lift up your eyes all
around and see! All these have been gathered together; they
have arrived before you. Your sons will arrive from far away,
and your daughters will rise up from your side. {60:5} Then
you will see, and you will overflow, and your heart will be
amazed and expanded. When the multitude of the sea will
have been converted to you, the strength of the nations will
approach you. {60:6} A multitude of camels will inundate
you: the dromedaries from Midian and Ephah. All those
from Sheba will arrive, carrying gold and frankincense, and
announcing praise to the Lord. {60:7} All the flocks of Kedar
will be gathered together before you; the rams of Nebaioth
will minister to you. They will be offered upon my pleasing
altar, and I will glorify the house of my majesty. {60:8} Who
are these ones, who fly like the clouds and like doves to their
windows? {60:9} For the islands await me, and the ships of
the sea in the beginning, so that I may lead your sons from far
away, their silver and their gold with them, to the name of
the Lord your God and to the Holy One of Israel. For he has
glorified you. {60:10} And the sons of sojourners will build
up your walls, and their kings will minister to you. For in my
wrath, I have struck you. And in my reconciliation, I have
taken pity on you. {60:11} And your gates will be open
continually. They will not be closed day or night, so that the
strength of the nations may be brought before you, and their
kings may be lead in. {60:12} For the nation and the
kingdom that will not serve you will perish. And the Gentiles
will be devastated by solitude. {60:13} The glory of Lebanon
will arrive before you, the fir tree and the box tree and the
pine tree together, to adorn the place of my sanctification.
And I will glorify the place of my feet. {60:14} And the sons
of those who humiliate you will approach and will bow down
before you. And all who detract you will reverence the path
of your feet. And they will call you the City of the Lord, the
Zion of the Holy One of Israel. {60:15} For though you were
forsaken, and held in hatred, and there was no one who
would pass near you, I will establish you as an everlasting
glory, as a gladness from generation to generation.
{60:16} And you will drink the milk of the Gentiles, and you
will be nursed at the breasts of kings, and you will know that
I am the Lord, your Saviour and your Redeemer, the Strong
One of Jacob. {60:17} In exchange for brass, I will bring gold;
and in exchange for iron, I will bring silver; and for wood,
brass; and for stones, iron. And I will make your visitation
into peace, and your leaders into justice. {60:18} Iniquity will
no longer be heard in your land, nor devastation and
destruction in your borders. And salvation will occupy your
walls, and praise will occupy your gates. {60:19} The sun will
no longer be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the
moon illuminate you. Instead, the Lord will be an everlasting
light for you, and your God will be your glory. {60:20} Your
sun will no longer set, and your moon will not diminish. For
the Lord will be an everlasting light for you, and the days of
your mourning will be completed. {60:21} And your people
will all be just. They will inherit the earth in perpetuity, the
seedling of my planting, the work of my hand, so as to glorify
me. {60:22} The least will become a thousand, and a little
one will become a very strong nation. I, the Lord, will
accomplish this, suddenly, in its time.


[Isaiah 61] {61:1} The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for the
Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to
the meek, so as to heal the contrite of heart, to preach
leniency to captives and release to the confined, {61:2} and
so to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of
vindication of our God: to console all who are mourning,
{61:3} to take up the mourners of Zion and to give them a
crown in place of ashes, an oil of joy in place of mourning, a
cloak of praise in place of a spirit of grief. And there, they
shall be called the strong ones of justice, the planting of the
Lord, unto glorification. {61:4} And they will rebuild the
deserted places of past ages, and they will raise up the ruins
of antiquity, and they will repair the desolate cities, which
had been dissipated for generation after generation.
{61:5} And foreigners will stand up and will pasture your
flocks. And the sons of sojourners will be your farmers and
the workers of your vineyards. {61:6} But you yourselves will
be called the priests of the Lord. It will be said to you, “You
are the ministers of our God.” You will eat from the strength
of the Gentiles, and you will pride yourself on their glory.
{61:7} Instead of your double confusion and shame, they will
praise their portion. Because of this, they will possess double
in their land. Everlasting joy will be for them. {61:8} For I
am the Lord, who loves judgment and who holds hatred for
robbery within a burnt offering. And I will turn their work
into truth, and I will forge a perpetual covenant with them.
{61:9} And they will know their offspring among the nations,
and their progeny in the midst of the peoples. All who see
them will recognize them: that these are the offspring whom
the Lord has blessed. {61:10} I will rejoice greatly in the Lord,
and my soul will exult in my God. For he has clothed me
with the vestments of salvation, and he has wrapped me in
the clothing of justice, like a groom arrayed with a crown,
and like a bride adorned with her jewels. {61:11} For as the
earth brings forth its seedlings and the garden produces its
seeds, so will the Lord God bring forth justice and praise in
the sight of all the nations.


[Isaiah 62] {62:1} For the sake of Zion, I will not be silent,
and for the sake of Jerusalem, I will not rest, until her Just
One advances in splendor, and her Savior is kindled like a
lamp. {62:2} And the Gentiles will see your Just One, and all
the kings will see your Renown One. And you shall be called
by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will choose.
{62:3} And you shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the
Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
{62:4} You will no longer called Forsaken. And your land
will no longer be called Desolate. Instead, you shall be called
My Will within it, and your land shall be called Inhabited.
For the Lord has been well pleased with you, and your land
will be inhabited. {62:5} For the young man will live with the
virgin, and your children will live with you. And the groom
will rejoice over the bride, and your God will rejoice over you.
{62:6} Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have stationed
watchmen all day and all night unceasingly; they will not be
silent. You who are mindful of the Lord, you should not be
silent, {62:7} and you should not grant silence to him, until
he makes firm and establishes Jerusalem as a praise upon the
earth. {62:8} The Lord has sworn with his right hand and
with the arm of his strength: “Certainly, I will no longer
permit your grain to be the food of your enemies. And the
sons of foreigners will not drink your wine, for which you
have labored.” {62:9} For those who gather it will eat it, and
they will praise the Lord. And those who bring it together
will drink it in my holy courts. {62:10} Pass through, pass
through the gates! Prepare a way for the people! Make the
road level, remove the stones, and lift up a sign for the people!
{62:11} Behold, the Lord has caused it to be heard to the
ends of the earth. Tell the daughter of Zion: “Behold, your
Saviour approaches! Behold, his reward is with him, and his
work before him.” {62:12} And they will call them: The holy
people, the redeemed of the Lord. Then you will be called: A
city sought, and not forsaken.


[Isaiah 63] {63:1} Who is this, who arrives from Edom with
dyed garments from Bozrah? This is the Handsome One in
his robe, advancing by the fullness of his strength. It is I, the
Speaker of Justice, and I am the Fighter for Salvation.
{63:2} So then, why is your garment red, and why are your
vestments like the ones of those who tread the winepress?
{63:3} I have trod the winepress alone. And among the
nations, there is no man beside me. I have trampled on them
in my fury, and I have tread them down in my wrath. And so,
their blood has been sprinkled on my vestments, and I have
stained all my garments. {63:4} For the day of vengeance is
in my heart. The year of my redemption has arrived. {63:5} I
gazed around, and there was no one to assist. I sought, and
there was no one who would help. And so, my own arm has
saved for me, and my own wrath itself has assisted me.
{63:6} And I have trampled the peoples in my fury, and I
have inebriated them with my indignation, and I have torn
down their strength to the ground. {63:7} I will remember the
compassion of the Lord, the praise of the Lord over all that
the Lord has bestowed on us, and over the multitude of his
good things for the house of Israel, which he has granted to
them according to his leniency, and according to the
multitude of his mercies. {63:8} And he said: “Yet truly,
these are my people, sons who have not been disowned.”
And he became their Savior. {63:9} Throughout all their
tribulation, he was not troubled, for the Angel of his presence
saved them. With his love, and by his leniency, he has
redeemed them, and he has carried them and lifted them up,
throughout all the days of the ages. {63:10} But they
themselves provoked to wrath and afflicted his Holy Spirit,
and he was turned to be for them like an enemy, and he
himself went to war against them. {63:11} And he
remembered the days of ancient times, the days of Moses and
his people. Where is he who led them out of the sea, with the
shepherds of his flock? Where is he who placed his Holy
Spirit in their midst? {63:12} He led Moses by the right hand,
with the arm of his majesty. He split the waters before them,
in order to make an everlasting name for himself. {63:13} He
led them through the abyss, like a horse which does not
stumble, in the desert. {63:14} Like an animal who descends
to an open field, the Spirit of the Lord was their guide. Thus
did you lead your people, in order to make a glorious name
for yourself. {63:15} Gaze down from heaven, and behold
from your holy habitation and from your glory. Where is
your zeal, and your strength, the fullness of your heart and of
your compassion? They have held themselves back from me.
{63:16} For you are our Father, and Abraham has not known
us, and Israel has been ignorant of us. You are our Father, O
Lord our Redeemer. Your name is beyond all ages.
{63:17} Why have you allowed us to stray from your ways,
O Lord? Why have you hardened our heart, so that we do
not fear you? Return, for the sake of your servants, the tribes
of your inheritance. {63:18} They have possessed your holy
people as if it were nothing. Our enemies have trampled your
sanctuary. {63:19} We have become as we were in the
beginning, when you did not rule over us, and when we were
not called by your name.


[Isaiah 64] {64:1} I wish that you would rend the heavens,
and then descend! The mountains would flow away before
your face. {64:2} They would melt, as if thoroughly burned
by fire. The waters would burn with fire, so that your name
might be made known to your enemies, so that the nations
would be stirred up before your face. {64:3} When you will
perform miracles, we will not be able to withstand them. You
descended, and the mountains flowed away before your
presence. {64:4} From ages past, they have not heard it, and
they have not perceived it with the ears. Apart from you, O
God, the eye has not seen what you have prepared for those
who await you. {64:5} You have met with those who rejoice
in doing justice. By your ways, they will remember you.
Behold, you have been angry, for we have sinned. In this, we
have continued, but we will be saved. {64:6} And we have all
become like the unclean. And all our justices are like a rag of
menstruation. And we have all fallen away, like a leaf. And
our iniquities have carried us away, like the wind.
{64:7} There is no one who calls upon your name, who rises
up and holds fast to you. You have concealed your face from
us, and you have crushed us with the hand of our own
iniquity. {64:8} And now, O Lord, you are our Father, yet
truly, we are clay. And you are our Maker, and we are all the
works of your hands. {64:9} Do not be so angry, O Lord, and
no longer call to mind our iniquity. Behold, consider that we
are all your people. {64:10} The city of your sanctuary has
become a desert. Zion has become a desert. Jerusalem is
desolate. {64:11} The house of our sanctification and of our
glory, where our fathers praised you, has been completely
consumed by fire, and all our admirable things have been
turned into ruins. {64:12} Should you restrain yourself, O
Lord, concerning these things? Should you remain silent, and
afflict us vehemently?


[Isaiah 65] {65:1} Those who before were not asking for me
have sought me. Those who have not sought me have found
me. I said, “Behold, it is I! Behold, it is I!” to a nation which
was not invoking my name. {65:2} I have extended my
hands all day long to an unbelieving people, who advance
along a way that is not good, following their own thoughts,
{65:3} to a people who provoke me to anger before my face
continually, who immolate in the gardens, and who sacrifice
upon the bricks. {65:4} They live in sepulchers, and they
sleep in the shrines of idols. They eat the flesh of swine, and a
profane elixir is in their vessels. {65:5} They say: “Depart
from me! Do not approach me, for you are unclean!” Such as
these will be the smoke in my fury, a fire burning all day long.
{65:6} Behold, it has been written in my sight; I will not be
silent. Instead, I will render retribution into their sinews.
{65:7} Your iniquities are joined with the iniquities of your
fathers, says the Lord. For they have sacrificed upon the
mountains, and they have offended me upon the hills. And so,
I will measure back to them, from their first work, into their
sinews. {65:8} Thus says the Lord: In the same way as it is
said about a grain found in a cluster, “Do not destroy it,
because it is a blessing,” so will I act for the sake of my
servants, so that I may not destroy the whole. {65:9} And I
will lead forth an offspring from Jacob, and a possessor of my
mountains from Judah. And my elect shall inherit it, and my
servants shall live there. {65:10} And the open plains will
become sheepfolds for the flocks, and the valley of Achor will
become a domicile for the herds, for my people who have
sought me. {65:11} And you who have forsaken the Lord,
who have forgotten my holy mountain, who set a table for
Fortune, and who offer libations concerning her: {65:12} I
will number you with the sword, and you will all fall by
slaughter. For I called and you did not respond; I spoke, and
you did not listen. And you did what is evil in my eyes; and
what I did not will, you have chosen. {65:13} Because of this,
thus says the Lord God: Behold, my servants will eat, and
you will be hungry. Behold, my servants will drink, and you
will be thirsty. {65:14} Behold, my servants will rejoice, and
you will be confounded. Behold, my servants will give praise
in exultation of heart, and you will cry out in sorrow of heart,
and you will wail in contrition of spirit. {65:15} And you will
leave behind your name to my elect as a curse. And the Lord
God will put you to death, and he will call his servants by
another name. {65:16} By that name, whoever is blessed on
earth, will be blessed in God. Amen! And whoever swears on
earth, will swear by God. Amen! For the past anguishes have
been delivered into oblivion, and they have been hidden from
my eyes. {65:17} For behold, I create the new heavens and
the new earth. And the former things will not be in memory
and will not enter into the heart. {65:18} But you will be glad
and exult, even forever, in these things that I create. For
behold, I create Jerusalem as an exultation, and its people as
ajoy. {65:19} And I will exult in Jerusalem, and I will rejoice
in my people. And neither a voice of weeping, nor a voice of
outcry, will be heard in her anymore. {65:20} There will no
longer be an infant of only a few days there, nor an elder who
does not complete his days. For a mere child dies at a
hundred years of age, and a sinner of a hundred years will be
accursed. {65:21} And they will build houses, and will
inhabit them. And they will plant vineyards, and will eat their
fruits. {65:22} They will not build, so that another may
inhabit. They will not plant, so that another may eat. For
according to the days of a tree, so will be the days of my
people. And the works of their hands will be long-standing.
{65:23} My elect will not labor in vain, and they will not
bring forth in disorder. For they are the offspring of the
blessed of the Lord, and their posterity are with them.
{65:24} And this shall be: before they call out, I will perceive;
while they are still speaking, I will hear. {65:25} The wolf
and the lamb will pasture together. The lion and the ox will
eat hay. And dust will be the food of the serpent. They will
not harm, and they will not kill, on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.


[Isaiah 66] {66:1} Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool. What is this house that you
would build for me? And what is this place of my rest?
{66:2} My hand has made all these things, and all these
things have been made, says the Lord. But upon whom will I
look with favor, except upon a poor little one, who is contrite
in spirit, and who trembles at my words? {66:3} Whoever
immolates an ox, it is as if he slaughters a man. Whoever
sacrifices a sheep, it is as if he is smashing the head of a dog.
Whoever offers an oblation, it is as if he is offering swine’s
blood. Whoever makes remembrance with incense, it is as if
he is blessing an idol. All these things, they have chosen
according to their own ways, and their soul has taken delight
in their own abominations. {66:4} Therefore, I also will
choose their illusions, and I will lead over them the things
that they feared. For I called, and there was no one who
would respond. I have spoken, and they have not listened.
And they have done evil in my eyes; and what I did not will,
they have chosen. {66:5} Listen to the word of the Lord, you
who tremble at his word. Your brothers, who hate you and
who cast you out because of my name, have said: “Let the
Lord be glorified, and we will see by your rejoicing.” But they
themselves will be confounded. {66:6} A voice of the people
from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the Lord
repaying retribution to his enemies! {66:7} Before she was in
labor, she gave birth. Before her time arrived for delivery, she
gave birth to a male child. {66:8} Who has ever heard of such
a thing? And who has seen anything like this? Will the earth
give birth in one day? Or will a nation be born all at once?
For Zion has been in labor, and she has given birth to her
sons. {66:9} Will I, who causes others to give birth, not also
give birth myself, says the Lord? Will I, who bestows
generation upon others, be barren myself, says the Lord your
God? {66:10} Rejoice with Jerusalem, and exult in her, all
you who love her! Rejoice greatly with her, all you who
mourn over her! {66:11} So may you nurse and be filled,
from the breasts of her consolations. So may you receive milk
and overflow with delights, from every portion of her glory.
{66:12} For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will turn a river of
peace toward her, with an inundating torrent: the glory of the
Gentiles, from which you will nurse. You will be carried at
the breasts, and they will caress you upon the knees.
{66:13} In the manner of one whom a mother caresses, so
will I console you. And you will be consoled in Jerusalem.
{66:14} You will see, and your heart will be glad, and your
bones will flourish like a plant, and the hand of the Lord will
be known to his servants, and he will be angry with his
enemies. {66:15} For behold, the Lord will arrive with fire,
and his four-horse chariots will be like a whirlwind: to render
his wrath with indignation, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
{66:16} For the Lord will divide with fire, and with his sword
among all flesh, and those slain by the Lord will be many.
{66:17} Those who were sanctified, who thought themselves
to be clean in the gardens behind the inner gate, who were
eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse:
they will be consumed all at once, says the Lord. {66:18} But
I know their works and their thoughts. I am arriving, so that I
may gather them together with all nations and languages.
And they will approach, and they will see my glory.
{66:19} And I will set a sign among them. And I will send
some of those who will have been saved to the Gentiles in the
sea, to Africa, and to those who draw the bow in Lydia, to
Italy and Greece, to islands far away, to those who have not
heard of me, and to those who have not seen my glory. And
they will announce my glory to the Gentiles. {66:20} And
they will lead all of your brothers from all of the Gentiles as a
gift to the Lord, on horses, and in four-horse chariots, and on
stretchers, and on mules, and in coaches, to my holy
mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, in the same manner that
the sons of Israel would carry an offering in a pure vessel into
the house of the Lord. {66:21} And I will take from them to
be priests and Levites, says the Lord. {66:22} For in like
manner as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will
cause to stand before me, says the Lord, so will your
offspring and your name stand. {66:23} And there will be
month after month, and Sabbath after Sabbath. And all flesh
will approach, so as to adore before my face, says the Lord.
{66:24} And they will go out, and they will view the
carcasses of the men who have transgressed against me. Their
worm will not die, and their fire will not be extinguished.
And they will be a sight to all flesh even unto revulsion.


** The Prophecy of Jeremiah **


[Jeremiah 1] {1:1} The words of Jeremiah, the son of
Hilkiah of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of
Benjamin. {1:2} The word of the Lord, which came to him in
the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the
thirteenth year of his reign, {1:3} and which came to him in
the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, even
until the completion of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son
of Josiah, king of Judah, even until the transmigration of
Jerusalem in the fifth month. {1:4} And the word of the Lord
came to me, saying: {1:5} “Before I formed you in the womb,
I knew you. And before you went forth from the womb, I
sanctified you. And I made you a prophet to the nations.”
{1:6} And I said: “Alas, alas, alas, Lord God! Behold, I do
not know how to speak, for Iam a boy.” {1:7} And the Lord
said to me: “Do not choose to say, ‘Iam a boy.’ For you shall
go forth to everyone to whom I will send you. And you shall
speak all that I will command you. {1:8} You should not be
afraid before their face. For I am with you, so that I may
deliver you,” says the Lord. {1:9} And the Lord put forth his
hand, and he touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me:
“Behold, I have placed my words in your mouth.
{1:10} Behold, today I have appointed you over nations and
over kingdoms, so that you may root up, and pull down, and
destroy, and scatter, and so that you may build and plant.”
{1:11} And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “What
do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “I see a staff, keeping
watch.” {1:12} And the Lord said to me: “You have seen
well. For I will keep watch over my word, so that I may
accomplish it.” {1:13} And the word of the Lord came to me
a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see
a cooking pot upon a fire, and its face is before the face of the
north.” {1:14} And the Lord said to me: “From the north, an
evil will spread over all the inhabitants of the earth.
{1:15} For behold, I will call together all the close associates
of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord. And they will
arrive, and each one of them will place his throne at the
entrance to the gates of Jerusalem, and over all its
surrounding walls, and over all the cities of Judah.
{1:16} And I will speak my judgments with them, concerning
all the wickedness of those who have forsaken me, and who
have offered libations to strange gods, and who have adored
the work of their own hands. {1:17} Therefore, you should
gird your waist, and rise up, and speak to them everything
that I instruct you. You should not have dread before their
face. For I will cause you to be unafraid of their countenance.
{1:18} For certainly, this day, I have made you like a fortified
city, and an iron pillar, and a brass wall, over all the land, to
the kings of Judah, to its leaders, and to the priests, and to the
people of the land. {1:19} And they will make war against
you, but they will not prevail. For I am with you, says the
Lord, so that I may free you.”


[Jeremiah 2] {2:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {2:2} “Go, and cry out to the ears of Jerusalem,
saying: Thus says the Lord: I have remembered you, taking
pity on your youth and on the charity of your betrothal, when
you followed me into the desert, into a land which is not
sown. {2:3} Israel is holy to the Lord, the first of his fruits.
All those who devour him commit an offense. Evils will
overwhelm them, says the Lord.” {2:4} Listen to the word of
the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all you families of the house
of Israel. {2:5} Thus says the Lord: “What iniquity have your
fathers found in me, that they would draw far away from me,
and would walk after emptiness, and would become empty?
{2:6} And they have not said: ‘Where is the Lord, who
caused us to ascend from the land of Egypt; who led us
through the desert, through an uninhabited and impassable
land, through a land of drought and of the image of death,
through a land in which no one walked and in which no man
lived?’ {2:7} And I led you into the land of Carmel, so that
you would eat from its fruit and from its excellence. And
having entered it, you defiled my land, and you turned my
inheritance into an abomination. {2:8} The priests have not
sad: ‘Where is the Lord?’ And those who held the law did not
know me. And the pastors betrayed me. And the prophets
prophesied in Baal and followed idols. {2:9} Because of this,
I will still contend in judgment against you, says the Lord,
and I will dispute with your sons. {2:10} Cross over to the
isles of Kittim, and gaze. And send to Kedar, and consider
diligently. And see if anything like this has ever been done.
{2:11} See if a nation has ever changed their gods, though
certainly those are not gods. Yet truly, my people have
exchanged their glory for an idol. {2:12} Be astonished at this,
O heavens, and be utterly desolate, O gates of heaven, says
the Lord. {2:13} For my people have done two evils. They
have forsaken me, the Fountain of living water, and they
have dug for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that are
unable to hold water. {2:14} Is Israel a servant, or one born
into slavery? Then why has he become a prey? {2:15} The
lions have roared over him, and they have uttered their voice.
They have set his land in solitude; his cities have been burned
up, and there is no one who lives in them. {2:16} Likewise,
the sons of Memphis and of Tahpanhes have defiled you,
even to the top of the head. {2:17} Has this not been done to
you because you abandoned the Lord your God, in that time
when he was leading you by the way? {2:18} And now what
do you want from the way of Egypt, but to drink their turbid
water? And what do you want from the way of the Assyrians,
but to drink the water of their river? {2:19} Your own malice
will reprove you, and your own apostasy will rebuke you! But
know and perceive this: it is an evil and bitter thing for you to
forsake the Lord your God, and to be without my fear within
you, says the Lord, the God of hosts. {2:20} From ancient
times, you have broken my yoke; you have torn apart my
bonds, and you have said, ‘I will not serve.’ For on every
high hill, and under every leafy tree, you have been debased,
O harlot. {2:21} Yet I planted you as an elect vineyard, with
only true seed. Then how have you been turned away from
me, toward that which is depraved, O strange vineyard?
{2:22} Even if you wash yourself with soap, and increase
your use of herbal soaps, you are still stained by your iniquity
in my sight, says the Lord God. {2:23} How can you say: ‘I
have not been polluted. I have not walked after Baal?’
Consider your ways in the steep valley. Acknowledge what
you have done, so that you may be like a swift runner,
following his course. {2:24} A wild donkey accustomed to
solitude, out of the desire in his soul, caught the scent of his
lover. Now nothing will turn him away from her. All those
who seek her will not cease. But they will find her in her
menstruation. {2:25} You should keep your foot from being
naked, and your throat from being thirsty. But you have said:
‘T have lost hope. I will not do it. For certainly, I have loved
strangers, and I will walk after them.’ {2:26} In the same way
that a thief is confounded when he has been apprehended, so
the house of Israel has been confounded, they and their kings,
their leaders and priests and prophets. {2:27} For they say to
a piece of wood, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You
have conceived me.’ They have turned their back to me, and
not their face. But in the time of their affliction, they will say:
‘Rise up and deliver us.’ {2:28} Where are your gods that you
made for yourselves? Let them rise up and deliver you in the
time of your affliction. For certainly, your gods were like the
number of your cities, O Judah. {2:29} Why do you want to
contend against me in judgment? You have all forsaken me,
says the Lord. {2:30} I have struck your children to no effect;
they have not accepted discipline. Your own sword has
devoured your prophets. Your generation is like a raging lion.
{2:31} Consider the word of the Lord. Have I become like a
wilderness to Israel, or like a land late to bear fruit? Then
why have my people said, ‘We are withdrawing; we will no
longer approach you’? {2:32} Can a virgin forget her
ornament, or a bride the covering across her breast? Yet truly,
my people have forgotten me, for innumerable days.
{2:33} Why are you striving to claim that your way is good,
as if to seek my love, when all the while you are also
displaying your malice by your own way, {2:34} and in your
armpits there is found the blood of poor and innocent souls? I
have found them, not in ditches, but everywhere that I
mentioned previously. {2:35} And you have said: ‘I am
innocent and without sin. And because of this, let your fury
be turned away from me.’ Behold, I will contend with you in
judgment, because you have said: ‘I have not sinned.’
{2:36} How exceedingly vile you have become, repeating
your ways again and again! And so, you will be ashamed of
Egypt, just as you were ashamed of Assur. {2:37} For you
will also depart from that place, and your hand will be upon
your head. For the Lord has crushed your confidence, and
you will have nothing prosperous by it.”


[Jeremiah 3] {3:1} “It is commonly said: ‘If a man has
divorced his wife, and she departs from him, she will marry
another man.’ So why would he return to her again? Is not
that woman polluted and defiled? But you have fornicated
yourself with many lovers. Even so, return to me, says the
Lord, and I will accept you. {3:2} Lift your eyes straight up,
and see where you did not debase yourself. You were sitting
in the roadways, waiting for them, like a robber in the
wilderness. And you have polluted the land by your
fornications and by your wickedness. {3:3} For this reason,
the rain showers were withheld, and there were no late
season rains. You made your face like that of a promiscuous
woman; you were not willing to blush. {3:4} Therefore, at
least from this moment on, call out to me: ‘You are my father,
the guide of my virginity.’ {3:5} Why should you be angry
unceasingly? And will you continue in this to the end?
Behold, you have spoken and done evil, for you were able to
do so.” {3:6} And, in the days of king Josiah, the Lord said
to me: “Have you not seen what the apostate Israel has done?
She has brought herself up to every lofty mountain, and she
has lain down under every leafy tree, and she has committed
fornication there. {3:7} And when she had done all these
things, I said: ‘Return to me.’ But she did not return. And her
deceitful sister Judah saw this: {3:8} that because the apostate
Israel had committed adultery, I had dismissed her and had
given her a bill of divorce. Yet her deceitful sister Judah was
not afraid. But she, too, went and committed fornication
herself. {3:9} And by the act of her fornication, she defiled
the land. For she committed adultery with that which is stone
and wood. {3:10} And after all these things, her deceitful
sister Judah has not returned to me with her whole heart, but
with lies, says the Lord.” {3:11} And the Lord said to me:
“The apostate Israel has justified her own soul by comparing
herself to the deceitful Judah. {3:12} Go, and proclaim these
words toward the north, and you shall say: Return, O
apostate Israel, says the Lord. For I will not avert my face
from you. For I am holy, says the Lord, and I will not be
angry forever. {3:13} So then, truly acknowledge your
iniquity, that you have betrayed the Lord your God, and that
you have spread your ways to strangers, under every leafy
tree, and that you have not listened to my voice, says the
Lord. {3:14} Convert, O rebellious sons, says the Lord. For I
am your leader. And so, I will take you, one from a city, and
two from a family, and I will lead you into Zion. {3:15} And
I will give you pastors according to my own heart. And they
will feed you with knowledge and doctrine. {3:16} And when
you have been multiplied and increased in the land in those
days, says the Lord, they will no longer say: ‘The Ark of the
covenant of the Lord!’ And it will not enter into the heart,
and they will not call it to mind. It will neither be visited, nor
made use of, any longer. {3:17} In that time, Jerusalem will
be called: ‘The Throne of the Lord.’ And all the nations will
be gathered to it, in the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem. And
they will not walk after the depravity of their own most
wicked heart. {3:18} In those days, the house of Judah will
go to the house of Israel, and they will come from the land of
the north, at the same time, to the land that I gave to your
fathers. {3:19} But I said: How shall I place you among the
sons, and distribute to you a desirable land, the preeminent
inheritance of the host of the Gentiles? And I said: You will
call me Father, and you will not cease to walk after me.
{3:20} But, in the same way that a woman spurns her lover,
so also has the house of Israel spurned me, says the Lord.”
{3:21} A voice has been heard in the highways, the weeping
and wailing of the sons of Israel. For they have made their
own ways sinful; they have forgotten the Lord their God.
{3:22} “Convert, O rebellious sons! And I will heal your
rebelliousness.” “Behold, we are returning to you. For you
are the Lord our God! {3:23} Truly, the hills were liars, with
the multitude of the mountains. Truly, the salvation of Israel
is in the Lord our God. {3:24} Confusion has devoured the
labor of our fathers, from our youth, with their flocks and
their herds, with their sons and their daughters. {3:25} We
will sleep in our confusion, and our disgrace will cover us.
For we have sinned against the Lord our God: we and our
fathers, from our youth, even to this day. And we have not
listened to the voice of the Lord our God.”


[Jeremiah 4] {4:1} “O Israel, if you would return, says the
Lord, then be converted to me. If you remove your offense
from before my face, then you will not be shaken. {4:2} And
you will swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in truth and in judgment
and in justice.” And the Gentiles will bless him, and they will
praise him. {4:3} For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah
and of Jerusalem: “Break new ground, and do not choose to
sow upon thorns. {4:4} Be circumcised to the Lord, and take
away the foreskins from your hearts, O men of Judah, O
inhabitants of Jerusalem. Otherwise my indignation may
burst forth and flare up like a fire. And then there will be no
one who can extinguish it, because of the wickedness of your
thoughts. {4:5} Declare it in Judah, and make it known in
Jerusalem! Speak out and sound the trumpet in the land! Cry
out strongly and say: ‘Gather yourselves! And let us go forth
to fortified cities!’ {4:6} Lift up a standard in Zion. Be
strengthened! Do not choose to stand still. For I am bringing
an evil from the north, with great destruction. {4:7} The lion
has ascended from his den, and the pillager of the nations has
lifted himself up. He has gone forth from his place, so that he
may set your land in desolation. Your cities will be laid waste,
remaining without an inhabitant. {4:8} Concerning this,
wrap yourselves in haircloth, mourn and wail: ‘For the wrath
of the fury of the Lord has not been turned away from us.’
{4:9} And this shall be in that day, says the Lord: The heart
of the king will perish, with the heart of the princes. And the
priests will be stupefied, and the prophets will be in
consternation.” {4:10} And I said: “Alas, alas, alas, O Lord
God! Could it be that you have deceived this people and
Jerusalem, saying: ‘Peace shall be yours,’ while, behold, the
sword reaches even to the soul?” {4:11} “In that time, it will
be said to this people and to Jerusalem: ‘A burning wind is in
the ways that are in the desert, along the way of the daughter
of my people, but not to winnow and not to cleanse.’
{4:12} A full spirit from these places will come to me. And
now I will speak my judgments over them. {4:13} Behold, he
will ascend like a cloud, and his chariot will ascend like a
tempest. His horses are swifter than eagles. ‘Woe to us! For
we are being devastated!’ {4:14} Wash your heart from
malice, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long
will harmful thoughts abide in you? {4:15} For there is a
voice, of someone announcing from Dan, and he is making
known the idol from mount Ephraim. {4:16} Say to the
nations: ‘Behold, it has been heard in Jerusalem! Guardians
are coming from a far away land, to utter their voice against
the cities of Judah.’ {4:17} They have been stationed over her,
like the guardians of fields, all around. For she has provoked
me to wrath, says the Lord. {4:18} Your ways and your
thoughts have brought these things upon you. This is your
own wickedness. And it is bitter, because it has touched your
heart. {4:19} I am afflicted in my heart, in my heart. The
senses of my heart have been stirred up within me. I will not
remain silent. For my soul has heard the voice of the trumpet,
the clamor of the battle. {4:20} Destruction upon destruction
has been called forth. And the entire earth has been
devastated. My tabernacles have been destroyed suddenly,
and my tents in an instant. {4:21} How long shall I watch
those who are fleeing, and listen to the voice of the trumpet?
{4:22} For my foolish people have not known me. They are
foolish and mad sons. They are clever in doing evil, but they
do not know how to do good. {4:23} I gazed upon the earth,
and behold, it was empty and brought to nothing. And I
gazed upon the heavens, but there was no light in them.
{4:24} I watched the mountains, and behold, they trembled,
and all the hills were shaken. {4:25} I looked, and there was
no man. And all the flying things of the air had gone away.
{4:26} I gazed, and behold, Carmel was a desert, and all its
cities were destroyed before the face of the Lord, and before
the face of the wrath of his fury.” {4:27} For thus says the
Lord: “All the earth will be desolate, but I will not yet bring
about its consummation. {4:28} The earth will mourn, and
the heavens will lament from above. For I have spoken, I
have decided, and I have not regretted. Neither will I be
turned away from it. {4:29} Before the voice of the horsemen
and of those who send forth arrows, the entire city has fled.
They have entered steep places, and they have ascended the
cliffs. All of the cities have been abandoned, and no man lives
within them. {4:30} So then, when you have been devastated,
what will you do? Though you will clothe yourself with
scarlet, though you will adorn yourself with a gold necklace
and tint your eyes with cosmetics, you will be dressing
yourself up in vain. Your lovers have spurned you; they will
be seeking your life. {4:31} For I have heard a voice, like that
of a woman giving birth, during the difficulties of labor. It is
the voice of the daughter of Zion, dying, extending her hands:
‘Woe to me! For my soul is failing because of those who have
been slain!’ ”


[Jeremiah 5] {5:1} “Travel the streets of Jerusalem; and gaze,
and consider, and seek, in its wide streets. If you can find a
man exercising judgment and seeking faith, then I will be
forgiving to them. {5:2} For even though they say, ‘As the
Lord lives,’ in this, too, they swear falsely.” {5:3} O Lord,
your eyes look with favor upon faith. You have struck them,
and they have not grieved. You have bruised them, and they
have refused to accept discipline. They have hardened their
faces more than rock, and they are not willing to return.
{5:4} But I said: Perhaps these are the poor and the senseless,
who are ignorant of the way of the Lord, of the judgment of
their God. {5:5} Therefore, I will go to great men, and I will
speak with them. For they have known the way of the Lord,
the judgment of their God. And behold, these ones have
broken the yoke all the more; they have torn apart the bonds.
{5:6} For this reason, a lion from the forest has struck them
down, a wolf toward evening has laid waste to them, a
leopard lies in wait over their cities. All who go out from
there will be taken. For their transgressions have been
multiplied; their rebellions have been strengthened.
{5:7} “Over which things am I able to be merciful to you?
Your sons have forsaken me, and they swear by those who
are not gods. I gave them everything, and they committed
adultery, and they indulged themselves in the house of the
harlot. {5:8} They have become like wild horses in heat; each
one was neighing after his neighbor’s wife. {5:9} Shall I not
visit against these things, says the Lord? And shall my soul
not take vengeance on a nation such as this? {5:10} Scale its
walls and tear them down. But do not be willing to bring
about its very end. Take away its plantings, for they are not
the Lord’s. {5:11} For the house of Israel and the house of
Judah have greatly transgressed against me, says the Lord.
{5:12} They have denied the Lord, and they have said, ‘It is
not him,’ and, ‘Evil will not overwhelm us. We will not see
famine and the sword.’ {5:13} The prophets have spoken into
the wind, and there was no answer with them. Therefore,
these things will happen to them.” {5:14} Thus says the Lord,
the God of hosts: “Since you have spoken this word, behold,
I will make my words in your mouth like fire and this people
like wood, and it will devour them. {5:15} Behold, O house
of Israel, I will lead over you a far away nation, says the Lord,
a robust nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language
you will not know, nor will you understand what they are
saying. {5:16} Their quiver is like an open sepulcher. They
are all strong. {5:17} And they will consume your grain fields
and your bread. They will devour your sons and your
daughters. They will consume your flocks and your herds.
They will consume your vineyards and your figs. And with
the sword, they will crush your fortified cities, in which you
have placed your trust. {5:18} Yet truly, in those days, says
the Lord, I will not bring the consummation over you.
{5:19} And if they say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all
these things to us?’ You shall say to them: ‘Just as you have
abandoned me and have served a strange god in your own
land, so will you serve strangers in a land not your own.’
{5:20} Announce this to the house of Jacob, and make it
known in Judah, saying: {5:21} Listen, O foolish people who
have no heart! You have eyes, but you do not see, and ears,
but you do not hear. {5:22} So then, will you not fear me,
says the Lord. And will you not have sorrow before my face?
I have placed the shore as a limit for the sea, as an everlasting
precept that it will not transgress. And its waves will crash,
but they will not prevail; and its waves will swell, but they
will not go across. {5:23} But the heart of this people has
become incredulous and provocative; they have turned away
and departed. {5:24} And they have not said in their heart:
‘Let us dread the Lord our God, who gives us the timely and
the late rains, in their proper time, who guards the full
measure of the yearly harvest for us.’ {5:25} Your iniquities
have turned these things away, and your sins have held back
good things from you. {5:26} For the impious are found
among my people; they lie in ambush like fowlers setting
snares, for they set traps to catch men. {5:27} Just as a snare
is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. As a result,
they have become exalted and enriched. {5:28} They have
grown stout and fat. And they have transgressed my words
most wickedly. They have not judged the case of the widow;
they have not given guidance to the case of the orphan; and
they have not judged a judgment for the poor. {5:29} Shall I
not visit against these things, says the Lord? Or shall my soul
not take vengeance on a nation of this kind?
{5:30} Astonishing and wondrous things have been done
upon the earth. {5:31} The prophets have prophesied lies,
and the priests have applauded with their hands, and my
people have loved these things. So then, what shall be done at
the very end?”


[Jeremiah 6] {6:1} “O sons of Benjamin, be strengthened in
the midst of Jerusalem, and sound the trumpet in Tekoa, and
lift up a banner over the house of Haccherem. For an evil has
been seen from the north, with great destruction. {6:2} I have
compared the daughter of Zion to a beautiful and delicate
woman. {6:3} The pastors will come to her with their flocks.
They have pitched their tents against her all around. Each
one will feed those who are under his hand. {6:4} ‘Sanctify a
war against her! Rise up together, and let us ascend at
midday.’ ‘Woe to us! For the day has declined; for the
shadows of the evening have grown longer.’ {6:5} ‘Rise up,
and let us ascend in the night, and let us destroy her
houses.’ ” {6:6} For thus says the Lord of hosts: “Cut down
her trees, and build a rampart around Jerusalem. This is the
city of visitation! Every kind of false claim is in her midst.
{6:7} Just as a cistern makes its water cold, so has she made
her wickedness cold. Iniquity and devastation will be heard in
her; sickness and wounds will be ever before me. {6:8} O
Jerusalem, accept instruction, lest perhaps my soul may
withdraw from you; lest perhaps I may set you in a desert, in
an uninhabitable land.” {6:9} Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“They will gather the remnant of Israel, even as a single
cluster of grapes is gathered from a vine. Direct your hand, as
a grape-gatherer directs his hand to the basket. {6:10} To
whom should I speak, and to whom should I testify, so as to
be heard? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and so they
are unable to hear. Behold, for them, the word of the Lord
has become a disgrace. And so they will not accept it.
{6:11} For this reason, I have been filled with the fury of the
Lord. I labor to bear it. Let it be poured out upon the child
outside, or upon a group of young men meeting together. For
a man will be taken captive with a woman, an elder will be
taken captive with one who is full of days. {6:12} And their
houses will be given over to others, with both their lands and
their wives. For I will extend my hand over the inhabitants of
the earth, says the Lord. {6:13} Certainly, from the least of
them even to the greatest, all of them practice greed. And
from the prophet even to the priest, all of them act with deceit.
{6:14} And they healed the destruction of the daughter of my
people with disgrace, by saying: ‘Peace, peace.’ And there
was no peace. {6:15} They were confounded, because they
committed an abomination. Or rather, they were not
confounded with shame, because they did not know how to
blush. For this reason, they will fall among those who are
being destroyed. In the time of their visitation, they will fall,
says the Lord.” {6:16} Thus says the Lord: “Stand above the
ways, and see and ask, about the ancient paths, as to which is
the good way, and then walk in it. And you will find
refreshment for your souls. But they said: ‘We will not walk.’
{6:17} And I appointed watchers over you, saying: ‘Listen
for the sound of the trumpet.’ And they said: ‘We will not
listen.’ {6:18} For this reason, hear, O Gentiles, and know, O
congregation, how much I will do to them. {6:19} Hear, O
earth! Behold, I will lead evils over this people, as the fruits of
their own thoughts. For they have not listened to my words,
and they have cast aside my law. {6:20} For what reason are
you bringing me frankincense from Sheba, and sweet
smelling reeds from a far away land? Your holocausts are not
acceptable, and your sacrifices are not pleasing to me.”
{6:21} Therefore, thus says the Lord: “Behold I will bring
this people to utter ruin, and they will fall, with their fathers
and sons; neighbor and relative will perish together.”
{6:22} Thus says the Lord: “Behold, a people is coming from
the land of the north, and a great nation will rise up from the
ends of the earth. {6:23} They will take hold of arrow and
shield. They are cruel, and they will not take pity. Their voice
will roar like the ocean. And they will climb upon horses, for
they have been prepared like men for battle, against you, O
daughter of Zion. {6:24} ‘We have heard of their fame. Our
hands have become weakened. Tribulation has overtaken us,
like the pains of a woman giving birth.’ {6:25} Do not choose
to go out into the fields, and you should not walk along the
roadway. For the sword and the terror of the enemy is on
every side. {6:26} Wrap yourself in haircloth, O daughter of
my people. And sprinkle yourself with ashes. Make a
mourning for yourself, as for an only son, a bitter lamentation:
‘for the destroyer will overwhelm us suddenly.’ {6:27} I have
presented you as a strong tester among my people. And you
will test and know their way. {6:28} All these leaders who
are turning away and walking deceitfully, they are brass and
iron; they have all been corrupted. {6:29} The bellows has
failed; the lead has been consumed by fire; the molten metal
was melted to no purpose. For their wickedness has not been
consumed. {6:30} Call them: ‘Rejected silver.’ For the Lord
has cast them aside.”


[Jeremiah 7] {7:1} The word that came to Jeremiah from the
Lord, saying: {7:2} “Stand at the gate to the house of the
Lord, and preach this word there, and say: Listen to the word
of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter through these gates to
adore the Lord. {7:3} Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of
Israel: Make your ways and your intentions good, and I will
live with you in this place. {7:4} Do not choose to trust in
lying words, saying: ‘This is the temple of the Lord! The
temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord!’ {7:5} For if you
direct your ways and your intentions well, if you exercise
judgment between a man and his neighbor, {7:6} if you do
not act with deceit toward the new arrival, the orphan, and
the widow, and if you do not pour out innocent blood in this
place, and if you do not walk after strange gods, which is to
your own harm, {7:7} then I will live with you in this place,
in the land that I gave to your fathers from the beginning and
even forever. {7:8} Behold, you trust in false words, which
will not benefit you, {7:9} so as to steal, to murder, to
commit adultery, to swear falsely, to offer libations to Baal,
and to go after strange gods, which you do not know.
{7:10} And you arrived and stood before me in this house,
where my name is invoked, and you said: ‘We have been
freed because we carried out all these abominations.’
{7:11} So then, has this house, where my name has been
invoked, become a den of robbers in your eyes? It is I, I am, I
have seen, says the Lord. {7:12} Go to my place in Shiloh,
where my name has lived from the beginning, and see what I
did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.
{7:13} And now, because you have done all these works,
says the Lord, and because I have spoken to you from your
morning rising, and because I was speaking, but you were not
listening, and because I have called you, but you have not
responded: {7:14} I will do to this house, in which my name
is invoked, and in which you have confidence, even to this
place which I gave to you and to your fathers, just as I have
done to Shiloh. {7:15} And I will cast you away from my
face, just as I have cast away all your brothers, the entire
offspring of Ephraim. {7:16} Therefore, you should not pray
for this people, nor take up praise and supplication on their
behalf. And you should not stand in opposition to me. For
then I will not heed you. {7:17} Have you not seen what they
are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
{7:18} The sons gather the wood, and the fathers kindle the
fire, and the wives spread the grease, so as to make cakes to
the queen of heaven and to offer libations to strange gods,
and so as to provoke me to anger. {7:19} But are they
provoking me to anger, says the Lord? Are they not
provoking themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?”
{7:20} Therefore, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, my fury
and my indignation is kindled against this place, over men
and over beasts, and over the trees of the countryside and
over the fruits of the land, and it will burn and not be
extinguished.” {7:21} Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God
of Israel: “Add your holocausts to your sacrifices, and eat the
flesh. {7:22} For concerning the matter of holocausts and
sacrifices, I did not speak with your fathers, and I did not
instruct them, in the day when I led them away from the land
of Egypt. {7:23} But on this matter I did instruct them,
saying: Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you
will be my people. And walk in the entire way that I have
commanded you, so that it may be well with you. {7:24} But
they did not listen, nor did they incline their ear. Instead,
they walked by their own will and in the depravity of their
own wicked heart. And so, they went backward, and not
forward, {7:25} from the day when their fathers went forth
from the land of Egypt, even to this day. And I have sent all
my servants, the prophets, to you, throughout the day, rising
at first light and sending them. {7:26} But they have not
listened to me, nor have they inclined their ear. Instead, they
have stiffened their neck, and they have behaved worse than
their fathers did. {7:27} And so, you will speak to them all
these words, but they will not listen to you. And you will call
to them, but they will not respond to you. {7:28} And you
will say to them: This is the nation that has not listened to the
voice of the Lord their God, nor accepted discipline. Faith
has perished and been taken away from their mouth.
{7:29} Cut off your hair, and cast it away. And take up a
lamentation on high. For the Lord has cast aside and
abandoned this generation of his fury. {7:30} For the sons of
Judah have done evil in my eyes, says the Lord. They have
stationed their abominations in the house where my name is
invoked, so that they may defile it. {7:31} And they have
built the exalted places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of
the son of Hinnom, so that they may burn their sons and their
daughters with fire, something I neither instructed, nor
thought in my heart. {7:32} For this reason, behold, the days
will arrive, says the Lord, when it will no longer be called
Topheth, nor the Valley of the son of Hinnom, but instead
the Valley of Slaughter. Yet they will bury in Topheth,
because there will be no other place. {7:33} And the corpses
of this people will be food for the birds of the air and for the
wild beasts of the land, and there will be no one to drive them
away. {7:34} And from the cities of Judah and the streets of
Jerusalem, I will cause the cessation of the voice of gladness
and the voice of rejoicing, the voice of the groom and the
voice of the bride. For the land will be in utter desolation.”


[Jeremiah 8] {8:1} “In that time, says the Lord, they will cast
out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its
leaders, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the
prophets, and the bones of those who were living in
Jerusalem, from their graves. {8:2} And they will spread
them out before the sun and the moon and the entire army of
the heavens, which they have loved, and served, and
followed, and which they have sought and adored. They will
not be collected, and they will not be buried. They will be like
manure upon the face of the earth. {8:3} And they will
greatly prefer death to life: all those who will have been left
from this wicked kindred, in all the forsaken places to which I
will cast them out, says the Lord of hosts. {8:4} And you will
say to them: Thus says the Lord: He who falls, will he not
rise again? And he who has been turned away, will he not
return? {8:5} Then why have this people in Jerusalem turned
away with a contentious loathing? They have taken hold of
what is false, and they are not willing to return. {8:6} I paid
close attention and I listened carefully. No one is speaking
what is good. There is no one who does penance for his sin,
saying: ‘What have I done?’ They have all turned to their
own course, like a horse rushing with fury into battle.
{8:7} The hawk in the heavens has known her time. The
turtledove, and the swallow, and the stork have kept the time
of their arrival. But my people have not known the judgment
of the Lord. {8:8} How can you say: ‘We are wise, and the
law of the Lord is with us?’ Truly, the lying pen of the scribes
has wrought falsehood. {8:9} The wise men have been
confounded; they were terrified and captured. For they cast
aside the word of the Lord, and there is no wisdom in them.
{8:10} Because of this, I will give their wives to outsiders and
their fields to others as an inheritance. For from the least,
even to the greatest, they all pursue avarice; from the prophet,
even to the priest, they all act with deceit. {8:11} And they
healed the destruction of the daughter of my people with
disgrace, by saying: ‘Peace, peace,’ though there was no
peace. {8:12} They have been confounded because they
committed abomination. Or rather, they have not been
confounded with shame, for they do not know how to blush.
For this reason, they will fall among the fallen. In the time of
their visitation, they will fall, says the Lord. {8:13} When
gathering, I will gather them together, says the Lord. There
are no grapes on the vine, and there are no figs on the fig tree.
The leaves have fallen. And I have given them the things that
have passed away.” {8:14} “Why are we sitting still?
Assemble, and let us enter the fortified city, and let us remain
silent there. For the Lord our God has brought us to silence,
and he has given us the water of gall as a drink. For we have
sinned against the Lord. {8:15} We expected peace, but there
was nothing good. We expected a time of health, and behold,
dread.” {8:16} “From Dan, the snorting of his horses was
heard; the entire land was shaken by the voice of the neighing
of his fighters. And they arrived and devoured the land and
its plenitude, the city and its inhabitants. {8:17} For behold, I
will send among you serpents, king snakes, against which
there is no charm, and they will bite you, says the Lord.
{8:18} My sorrow is beyond sorrow; my heart mourns within
me. {8:19} Behold, the voice of the daughter of my people
from a far away land. Is the Lord not with Zion, and is her
king not within her? Then why have they provoked me to
wrath by their graven images, and by their strange vanities?
{8:20} The harvest has passed by, the summer is at an end,
and we have not been saved. {8:21} Over the destruction of
the daughter of my people, I am contrite and saddened;
astonishment has taken hold of me. {8:22} Is there no balm
in Gilead? Or is there no physician there? Then why has the
wound of the daughter of my people not been closed?”


[Jeremiah 9] {9:1} “Who will provide water for my head,
and a fount of tears for my eyes? And then I will weep day
and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.
{9:2} Who will provide me, in the wilderness, with a lodging
place along the road? And then I will forsake my people, and
withdraw from them. For they are all adulterers, a union of
transgressors. {9:3} And they have bent their tongue, like a
bow, to send forth lies and not the truth. They have been
strengthened upon the earth. And they have gone from one
evil to another. But they have not known me, says the Lord.
{9:4} Let each one guard himself against his neighbor, and let
him have no trust in any brother of his. For every brother will
utterly overthrow, and every friend will advance deceitfully.
{9:5} And a man will deride his brother, and they will not
speak the truth. For they have taught their tongue to speak
lies; they have labored to commit iniquity. {9:6} Your
habitation is in the midst of deceit. In their deceitfulness, they
have refused to know me, says the Lord.” {9:7} Because of
this, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will refine them,
and I will test them. For what else can I do before the face of
the daughter of my people? {9:8} Their tongue is a wounding
arrow; it has spoken deceit. With his mouth, he speaks peace
with his friend, and then he secretly lies in ambush for him.
{9:9} Shall I not visit upon them concerning these things,
says the Lord? Or shall my soul not take vengeance on a
nation of this kind? {9:10} I will take up weeping and
lamentation over the mountains, and mourning over the
beautiful places in the desert. For they have been scorched
because no man is passing through them. And they have not
heard the voice of any occupant. From the birds of the air,
even to the cattle, they have migrated and withdrawn.
{9:11} And I will make Jerusalem into piles of sand and into
a lair for serpents. And I will make the cities of Judah
desolate, so much so that there will be no inhabitant.
{9:12} Who is the wise man who understands this, and to
whom a word from the mouth of the Lord may be given, so
that he may announce this: why the land has perished, and
has been scorched like a desert, so much so that no one
passes through it?” {9:13} And the Lord said: “It is because
they have abandoned my law, which I gave to them, and they
have not listened to my voice, and they have not walked by it.
{9:14} And they have gone after the depravity of their own
heart, and after Baal, which they learned from their fathers.”
{9:15} For this reason, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God
of Israel: “Behold, I will feed this people with absinthe, and I
will give them the water of gall to drink. {9:16} And I will
disperse them among nations, which they and their fathers
have not known. And I will send the sword after them, until
they are consumed.” {9:17} Thus says the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel: “Consider and call upon the women mourners,
and let them approach. And send to those women who are
wise, and let them hurry. {9:18} ‘Let them hasten to take up
a lamentation over us. Let our eyes shed tears, and our
eyelids run with water.’ {9:19} For a voice of lamentation has
been heard from Zion: ‘How is it that we have been
devastated and greatly confounded? Our tabernacles have
been thrown down because we have forsaken the land.’ ”
{9:20} “Therefore, listen, O women, to the word of the Lord!
And let your ears take up the word of his mouth. And teach
your daughters to lament. And let each one teach her
neighbor to mourn: {9:21} ‘For death has climbed through
our windows. It has entered our houses to perish the little
children from the outdoors, the youths from the streets.’ ”
{9:22} “Speak: Thus says the Lord: And the corpses of men
will fall like manure over the face of the countryside, and like
hay behind the back of the reaper, and there will be no one to
gather it.” {9:23} Thus says the Lord: “The wise man should
not glory in his wisdom, and the strong man should not glory
in his strength, and the rich man should not glory in his
riches. {9:24} But he who glories should glory in this: to
know me and to know me well. For I am the Lord, who
accomplishes mercy and judgment and justice upon the earth.
For these things are pleasing to me, says the Lord.
{9:25} Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord,
when I will visit upon all who are uncircumcised:
{9:26} upon Egypt, and upon Judah, and upon Edom, and
upon the sons of Ammon, and upon Moab, and upon all who
have shaved off their hair, living in the desert. For all the
nations are uncircumcised in body, but all the house of Israel
is uncircumcised in heart.”


[Jeremiah 10] {10:1} Listen to the word that the Lord has
spoken concerning you, O house of Israel. {10:2} Thus says
the Lord: “Do not choose to learn according to the ways of
the Gentiles. And do not be willing to dread the signs of
heaven, which the Gentiles fear. {10:3} For the laws of the
people are empty. For the work of the hand of the craftsman
has cut a tree from the forest with an axe. {10:4} He has
adorned it with silver and gold. He has put it together with
nail and hammer, so that it will not fall apart. {10:5} They
have been fabricated in the likeness of a palm tree, and they
will not speak. They must be carried to be moved, because
they do not have the ability to walk. Therefore, do not be
willing to fear them, for they can do neither evil nor good.”
{10:6} O Lord, there is nothing similar to you. You are great,
and your name is great in strength. {10:7} Who will not fear
you, O King of the nations? For honor is yours. Among all
the wise of the nations, and within all their kingdoms, there is
nothing similar to you. {10:8} Together, they will all be
proven to be unwise and foolish. The doctrine of their vanity
is made of wood. {10:9} Rolled silver is brought from
Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. It is the work of a craftsman,
and of the hand of a coppersmith. Hyacinth and purple is
their clothing. All these things are the work of artists.
{10:10} But the Lord is the true God. He is the living God
and the everlasting King. Before his indignation, the earth
will shake. And the Gentiles will not be able to withstand his
threats. {10:11} “And so, you shall speak to them in this way:
The gods that have not made heaven and earth, let them
perish from the earth and from among those places which are
under heaven. {10:12} He made the earth by his power, he
prepared the world in his wisdom, and he stretched out the
heavens with his understanding. {10:13} At his voice, he
grants a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he lifts up
the clouds from the ends of the earth. He causes the lightning
with the rain, and he leads forth the wind from his
storehouses. {10:14} Every man has become a fool
concerning knowledge; every artist has been confounded by
his graven image. For what he has formed is false, and there
is no spirit in these things. {10:15} These things are empty,
and they are a work deserving of ridicule. In the time of their
visitation, they will perish. {10:16} Jacob’s portion is not like
their portion. For his portion is from the One who formed all
things. And Israel is the staff of his inheritance. The Lord of
hosts is his name. {10:17} Gather your shame from the earth,
you who are living under siege.” {10:18} For thus says the
Lord: “Behold, in this turn, I will cast the inhabitants of the
land far away. And I will afflict them no matter where they
may be found.” {10:19} Woe to me, concerning my
destruction! My wound is very grievous. And yet I said:
Clearly, this infirmity is mine, and I will carry it. {10:20} My
tent has been destroyed. All my cords have been broken. My
sons have gone away from me; they did not remain. There is
no one to stretch out my tent any more, nor to set up my
curtains. {10:21} For the pastors have acted foolishly, and
they have not sought the Lord. Because of this, they have not
understood, and all their flock has been dispersed.
{10:22} Behold, the sound of a voice approaches, a great
commotion from the land of the north: so that he may make
the cities of Judah into a wilderness and into a dwelling place
for serpents. {10:23} I know, O Lord, that the way of man is
not his own. Neither is it given to man to walk and to direct
his own steps. {10:24} Correct me, O Lord, yet truly, do so
with judgment, and not in your fury. Otherwise, you will
reduce me to nothing. {10:25} Pour out your indignation
upon the nations that have not known you, and upon the
provinces that have not invoked your name. For they have
fed upon Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and
they have utterly destroyed his honor.


[Jeremiah 11] {11:1} The word that came from the Lord to
Jeremiah, saying: {11:2} “Listen to the words of this
covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. {11:3} And you shall say to them:
Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Cursed is the man who
will not listen to the words of this covenant, {11:4} which I
commanded to your fathers in the day when I led them away
from the land of Egypt, away from the iron furnace, saying:
Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you, and then
you will be my people and I will be your God. {11:5} So shall
I uphold the oath which I swore to your fathers, that I would
give them a land flowing with milk and honey, just as it is
this day.” And I answered by saying: “Amen, O Lord.”
{11:6} And the Lord said to me: “Shout all these words in
the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying:
Listen to the words of the covenant, and do them. {11:7} For
when testing, I tested your fathers in the day when I led them
away from the land of Egypt, even until this day. Rising early,
I tested them, and I said: Listen to my voice. {11:8} But they
did not listen, nor did they incline their ear. Instead, each one
of them walked in the depravity of his own evil heart. And so,
I brought over them all the words of this covenant, which I
instructed them to do. But they would not do them.”
{11:9} And the Lord said to me: “A conspiracy has been
found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of
Jerusalem. {11:10} They have returned to the former
iniquities of their fathers, who refused to listen to my words.
And likewise, they have gone after strange gods, so that they
may serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah
have treated as void my covenant, which I made with their
fathers. {11:11} For this reason, thus says the Lord: Behold, I
will lead evils over them, from which they will not be able to
escape. And they will cry out to me, and I will not heed them.
{11:12} And the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem will go forth, and they will cry out to the gods, to
whom they offer libations, and they will not save them in the
time of their affliction. {11:13} For according to the number
of your cities, so were your gods, O Judah. And according to
the number of the streets of Jerusalem, so did you establish
altars of confusion, altars to offer libations to Baal.
{11:14} Therefore, you should not choose to pray for this
people, and you should not take up praise and petitioning on
their behalf. For I will not heed them in the time of their
outcry to me, in the time of their affliction. {11:15} Why has
my beloved wrought great wickedness in my house? How can
the holy flesh take away from you your wickedness, in which
you have gloried? {11:16} The Lord has called your name: a
beautiful, fruitful, splendid, and productive olive tree. At the
voice of a word, a great fire was kindled in it, and its greenery
was burned up. {11:17} And the Lord of hosts, who planted
you, has pronounced an evil against you, concerning the evils
of the house of Israel and the house of Judah, which they
have done to themselves so as to provoke me, by offering
libations to Baal.” {11:18} But you, O Lord, have revealed
this to me, and I have understood. Then you displayed their
efforts to me. {11:19} And I was like a meek lamb, who is
being carried to be a victim. And I did not realize that they
had devised plans against me, saying: “Let us place wood
upon his bread, and let us eradicate him from the land of the
living, and let his name no longer be remembered.”
{11:20} But you, O Lord of hosts, who judges justly, and
who tests the temperament and the heart, let me see your
vengeance against them. For I have revealed my case to you.
{11:21} “Because of this, thus says the Lord to the men of
Anathoth, who are seeking your life, and who are saying:
‘You shall not prophesy in the name of the Lord, and you
shall not die by our hands.’ {11:22} Because of this, thus says
the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will visit upon them. Their young
men will die by the sword. Their sons and their daughters
will die by famine. {11:23} And there will be nothing left of
them. For I will lead an evil over the men of Anathoth: the
year of their visitation.”


[Jeremiah 12] {12:1} Certainly, O Lord, you are just. But if I
may contend with you, while still speaking what is just to you:
Why does the way of the impious prosper? Why is it well
with all those who transgress and act unfairly? {12:2} You
planted them, and they took root. They are prospering and
bearing fruit. You are near to their mouths, but far from their
hearts. {12:3} And you, O Lord, have known me well. You
have seen me, and you have tested my heart with you.
Gather them together like a flock for the sacrifice and sanctify
them for the day of slaughter. {12:4} How long shall the
earth mourn? And how long shall the plants of every field
whither because of the wickedness of the inhabitants within
them? It has consumed the wild animals and the birds. For
they said: “He will not see our very end.” {12:5} “If you have
struggled to run on foot, how will you be able to compete
with horses? And if you have been secure in a land of peace,
what will you do about the arrogance of the Jordan?
{12:6} For even your brothers, and the house of your father,
even these have fought against you. And they have cried out
after you with loud voice: ‘You should not believe them,
when they speak good things to you.’ ” {12:7} “I have
abandoned my house. I have disowned my inheritance. I
have given my beloved soul into the hand of its enemies.
{12:8} My inheritance has become for me like a lion in the
forest. It has uttered a voice against me, therefore, I have
hated it. {12:9} Is my inheritance to me like a discolored bird?
Is it like a bird that has entirely changed color? Approach and
assemble, all beasts of the earth! Hurry, so that you may
devour! {12:10} Many pastors have demolished my vineyard.
They have trampled my portion. They have made my
desirable portion into a desert of solitude. {12:11} They have
squandered it, and it has grieved concerning me. The entire
earth has become utterly desolate, because there is no one
who understands with the heart.” {12:12} The devastators
have arrived, over all the ways of the wilderness. For the
sword of the Lord will devour, from one end of the earth
even to its furthest limits. There is no peace for all that is flesh.
{12:13} They sowed wheat, but they reaped thorns. They
received an inheritance, but it will not benefit them. You will
be confounded by your own fruits, because of the wrath of
the fury of the Lord. {12:14} Thus says the Lord against all
my wicked neighbors, who touch the inheritance that I have
distributed to my people Israel: “Behold, I will root them out
of their own land, and I will root the house of Judah out of
their midst. {12:15} And when I have rooted them out, I will
turn back and take pity on them. And I will lead them back,
one man to his inheritance, and another man to his land.
{12:16} And this shall be: if they are taught and they learn
the ways of my people, so that they swear by my name, ‘As
the Lord lives,’ just as they had taught my people to swear by
Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.
{12:17} But if they will not listen, I will uproot that nation
unto utter destruction and perdition, says the Lord.”


[Jeremiah 13] {13:1} Thus says the Lord to me: “Go, and
obtain for yourself a linen waistcloth. And you shall place it
over your loins, and you shall not put it into water.”
{13:2} And so I obtained a waistcloth, according to the word
of the Lord, and I placed it around my loins. {13:3} And the
word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying:
{13:4} “Take the waistcloth, which you obtained, which is
around your loins, and, rising up, go to the Euphrates, and
hide it there in an opening of the rock.” {13:5} And so I went,
and I hid it by the Euphrates, just as the Lord had instructed
me. {13:6} And it happened that, after many days, the Lord
said to me: “Rise up, go to the Euphrates, and take from
there the waistcloth, which I instructed you to hide there.”
{13:7} And so I went to the Euphrates, and I dug up and
took the waistcloth from the place where I had hidden it. And
behold, the waistcloth had rotted, so that it was not fit for any
use. {13:8} And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
{13:9} “Thus says the Lord: In the same way, I will cause the
arrogance of Judah and the arrogance of Jerusalem to rot.
{13:10} This most wicked people, they are not willing to
listen to my words, for they walk in the depravity of their
own heart, and they have gone after strange gods, so as to
serve them and to adore them. And so, they will become like
this waistcloth, which is not fit for any use. {13:11} For just
as the waistcloth clings to the loins of a man, so have I
brought close to me the entire house of Israel and the entire
house of Judah, says the Lord, so that they would be to me: a
people, and a name, and a praise, and a glory. But they did
not listen. {13:12} Therefore, you shall speak to them this
word: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Every bottle
will be filled with wine.’ And they will say to you: ‘Are we
ignorant that every bottle will be filled with wine?’
{13:13} And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord:
Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings
from the stock of David who sit upon his throne, and the
priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
unto inebriation. {13:14} And I will scatter them, a man from
his brother, and fathers and sons similarly, says the Lord. I
will not spare them, and I will not pardon them, and I will
not take pity, so as not to destroy them.” {13:15} Hear and
pay close attention. Do not choose to lift yourself up, for the
Lord has spoken. {13:16} Give glory to the Lord your God,
before darkness falls, and before your feet stumble on the
darkened mountains. You will expect light, but he will turn it
into the shadow of death and into utter darkness. {13:17} But
if you will not listen to this, then my soul will weep in secret
before the face of your pride. It will weep bitterly, and my
eyes will flow with tears, because the flock of the Lord has
been taken captive. {13:18} “Say to the king and to the
female ruler: Humble yourselves, sit down. For the crown of
your glory has gone down from your head. {13:19} The cities
of the south have been closed, and there is no one who may
open them. All of Judah has been taken away into complete
captivity. {13:20} Lift up your eyes and see, you who are
arriving from the north. Where is the flock that was given to
you, your famous cattle? {13:21} What will you say when he
visits upon you? For you have taught them against you, and
you have instructed them with your own head. Will not pains
take hold of you, as with a woman in labor? {13:22} But if
you say in your heart, ‘Why have these things happened to
me?’ it is because of the greatness of your iniquity that your
shame has been uncovered and the soles of your feet have
been defiled. {13:23} If the Ethiopian is able to change his
skin, or the leopard is able to change his spots, then you also
may be able to do well, though you have learned evil.
{13:24} And I will scatter them like chaff, which is carried
away by the wind in the desert. {13:25} This is your lot, and
this is the portion of your measure from me, says the Lord,
because you have forgotten me, and you have had confidence
in what is false. {13:26} Therefore, I have even bared your
thighs before your face, and your shame has been seen.
{13:27} For I have seen your adulteries, and your neighing
for the wickedness of your fornication, and your
abominations upon the hills in the field. Woe to you,
Jerusalem! How much longer before you will be made clean
after me?”


[Jeremiah 14] {14:1} The word of the Lord that came to
Jeremiah concerning the words of the drought. {14:2} “Judea
has mourned. And its gates have fallen and become hard to
discern on the ground. And the outcry of Jerusalem has
ascended. {14:3} The greater ones have sent their lesser ones
to the water. They went to draw water; they did not find
water; they carried their vessels back empty. They were
confounded and afflicted, and so they covered their heads.
{14:4} Because of the devastation of the earth, because rain
did not fall upon the earth, the farmers were confounded;
they covered their heads. {14:5} For even the doe has given
birth in the field, and then left it behind. For there was no
grass. {14:6} And the wild donkeys stood upon the rocks; like
dragons, they drew in the wind, but their eyes failed. For
there was no grass.” {14:7} “O Lord, if our iniquities have
responded against us, let it be for the sake of your name. For
our rebellions are many; we have sinned against you.
{14:8} O Hope of Israel, its Savior in time of tribulation, why
would you be like a sojourner in the land, and like a traveler
turning aside for lodging? {14:9} Why would you be like a
wandering man, like a strong man who is unable to save? But
you, O Lord, are with us, and your name is invoked over us,
so do not abandon us!” {14:10} Thus says the Lord to this
people, who have loved to move their feet, and who have not
rested, but who have not pleased the Lord: “Now he will
remember their iniquities, and now he will visit against their
sins.” {14:11} And the Lord said to me: “Do not choose to
pray for this people for good. {14:12} When they will fast, I
will not heed their petitions. And if they offer holocausts and
victims, I will not accept them. For I will consume them by
the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence.” {14:13} And I
said: “Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God! The prophets are saying
to them: ‘You will not see the sword, and there will be no
famine among you. Instead, he will give you true peace in
this place.’ ” {14:14} And the Lord said to me: “The prophets
prophesy falsely in my name. I did not send them, and I did
not instruct them, and I have not spoken to them. They
prophesy to you a lying vision, and a divination, and a fraud,
and a seduction from their own heart. {14:15} For this reason,
thus says the Lord about the prophets who prophesy in my
name, whom I have not sent, who say: ‘Sword and famine
will not be in this land.’ By sword and famine those prophets
will be consumed. {14:16} And the people, to whom they
prophesy, will be cast into the streets of Jerusalem, due to
famine and the sword, and there will be no one who may
bury them, they and their wives, their sons and daughters,
and I will pour out their own evil upon them. {14:17} And
you shall speak this word to them: Let my eyes shed tears
throughout the night and day, and let them not cease. For the
virgin daughter of my people has been crushed by a great
affliction, by a very grievous wound.” {14:18} “If I go out
into the fields: behold, those slain by the sword. And if I enter
into the city: behold, those weakened by famine. Likewise,
the prophet, too, and the priest, have gone into a land that
they did not know. {14:19} Could you have utterly cast out
Judah? Or has your soul abhorred Zion? Then why have you
struck us, so much so that there is no health for us? We have
waited for peace, but there is nothing good, and for the time
of healing, and behold, trouble. {14:20}O Lord, we
acknowledge our impieties, the iniquities of our fathers, that
we have sinned against you. {14:21} For the sake of your
name, do not give us over into disgrace. And do not dishonor
in us the throne of your glory. Remember, do not make void,
your covenant with us. {14:22} Could any of the graven
images of the Gentiles send rain? Or are the heavens able to
give showers? Have we not hoped in you, the Lord our God?
For you have made all these things.”


[Jeremiah 15] {15:1} And the Lord said to me: “Even if
Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my soul would
not be toward this people. Cast them away from my face, and
let them depart! {15:2} And if they say to you, ‘Where shall
we go?’ you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: Those
who go to death, shall go to death. And those who go to the
sword, shall go to the sword, and those go to famine, shall go
to famine, and those who go to captivity, shall go to captivity.
{15:3} And I will visit against them in four ways, says the
Lord: by the sword, to kill; and by dogs, to tear apart; and by
the birds of the air and by the beasts of the earth, to devour
and to scatter. {15:4} And I will give them over to the fervor
of all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the
son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, because of all that he did
in Jerusalem. {15:5} For who will take pity on you, O
Jerusalem? Or who will feel sorrow for you? Or who will go
to prayer for the sake of your peace? {15:6} You have
abandoned me, says the Lord. You have gone backwards.
And so, I will extend my hand over you, and I will destroy
you. I have labored to plead with you. {15:7} And I will
scatter them with a winnowing fan at the gates of the land. I
have killed and dispersed my people, and yet they have not
turned back from their ways. {15:8} Their widows have been
multiplied by me, more so than the sand of the sea. I have led
them against the mother of a youth like an attacker at midday.
I have sent a terror suddenly against the cities. {15:9} She
who gave birth to seven has become weak. Her life has faded
away. Her sun has set while it was still daytime. She has been
confounded and shamed. And the remainder of them I will
give over to the sword in the sight of their enemies, says the
Lord.” {15:10} “O my mother, woe to me! Why did you
conceive me, a man of strife, a man of discord to all the earth?
I have not lent money at interest, nor has anyone lent money
at interest to me. Yet everyone is cursing me.” {15:11} The
Lord says: “Certainly, it will be well with your remnant.
Certainly, I will run to meet you, in the time of affliction and
in the time of tribulation, against the enemy. {15:12} But
how can iron be joined with the iron from the north or with
brass? {15:13} Your riches and your treasures I will give over
to be freely despoiled, because of all your sins, even
throughout all your borders. {15:14} And I will lead in your
enemies from a land that you do not know. For a fire has
been kindled in my fury; it will burn upon you.”
{15:15} “You know me, O Lord. Remember me, and visit
me, and watch over me, because of those who persecute me.
In your patience, do not choose to let me endure. You know I
have suffered reproach because of you. {15:16} I discovered
your words and I consumed them. And your word became to
me as the gladness and joy of my heart. For your name has
been invoked over me, O Lord, the God of hosts. {15:17} I
did not sit in the company of mockers, nor did I glorify
myself before the presence of your hand. I sat alone, because
you filled me with threats. {15:18} Why has my sorrow
become never-ending, and why has my wound become so
dire that it refuses to be cured? It has become for me like the
deception of untrustworthy waters.” {15:19} Because of this,
thus says the Lord: “If you will be converted, I will convert
you. And you will stand before my face. And you will
separate what is precious from what is vile. You will be my
mouthpiece. They will be converted to you, but you will not
be converted to them. {15:20} And I will present you to this
people as a strong wall of brass. And they will fight against
you, and they will not prevail. For I am with you, so as to
save you and to rescue you, says the Lord. {15:21} And I will
free you from hand of those who are most wicked, and I will
redeem you from the hand of the powerful.”


[Jeremiah 16] {16:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {16:2} “You shall not take a wife, and there shall be
no sons or daughters for you in this place. {16:3} For thus
says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are
conceived in this place, and concerning their mothers who
give birth to them, and concerning their fathers, from whose
stock they have been born in this land: {16:4} They will die
from grievous mortal illnesses. They will not be mourned,
and they will not be buried. They will be like manure on the
face of the earth. And they will be consumed by sword and
by famine. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of
the air and the beasts of the land.” {16:5} For thus says the
Lord: “You shall not enter the house of feasting, and you
shall not go to mourn or to console them. For I have taken
away from this people, says the Lord, my peace, my mercy,
and my pity. {16:6} Both the great and the small will die in
this land. They will not be buried, and they will not be
mourned. And no one will cut themselves or make
themselves bald on their behalf. {16:7} And they will not
break bread among themselves for the sake of him who
mourns, so as to console him over the dead. And they will
not give them a chalice to drink, so as to console them over
their father and mother. {16:8} And so, you shall not enter
the house of feasting, so as to sit with them, and to eat and
drink.” {16:9} For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of
Israel: “Behold, I will take away from this place, in your sight
and in your days, the voice of gladness and the voice of
rejoicing, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride.
{16:10} And when you announce all these words to this
people, they will say to you: ‘Why would the Lord
pronounce all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity
and what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord
our God?’ {16:11} And you shall say to them: It is because
your fathers abandoned me, says the Lord. And they went
after strange gods, and they served them and adored them.
And they abandoned me, and they did not keep my law.
{16:12} But you have acted even worse than your fathers.
For behold, each one walks after the depravity of his own evil
heart, so that he does not listen to me. {16:13} And so, I will
cast you out of this land, into a land that you do not know,
and that your fathers did not know. And in that place, you
will serve, day and night, strange gods who will not give you
rest. {16:14} Therefore, behold, the days are approaching,
says the Lord, when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord
lives, who led the sons of Israel away from the land of Egypt,’
{16:15} but instead, ‘As the Lord lives, who led the sons of
Israel away from the land of the north,’ and from all the lands
to which I have cast them out. And I will lead them back into
their own land, which I gave to their fathers. {16:16} Behold,
I will send many fishermen, says the Lord, and they will fish
for them. And after this, I will send many hunters to them,
and they will hunt for them on every mountain, and on every
hilltop, and in the caverns of the rocks. {16:17} For my eyes
are upon all their ways. They have not been hidden from my
face, and their iniquity has not been concealed from my eyes.
{16:18} But first, I will repay their double iniquities and their
sins. For they have defiled my land with the dead bodies of
their idols, and they have filled my inheritance with their
abominations.” {16:19} “O Lord, my strength, and my
health, and my refuge in the day of tribulation: the Gentiles
will approach you from the ends of the earth, and they will
say: ‘Truly, our fathers possessed a lie, an emptiness that has
not benefited them.’ {16:20} How can man make gods for
himself, though these are not gods?” {16:21} “Concerning
this, behold: I will make it clear to them, in this turn. I will
reveal to them my hand and my virtue. And they will know
that the Lord is my name.”


[Jeremiah 17] {17:1} “The sin of Judah has been written
with a pen of iron and a point of diamond. It has been
engraved upon the breadth of their heart and upon the horns
of their shrines. {17:2} And their sons make a remembrance
of their shrines, and their sacred groves, and their leafy trees
on high mountains, {17:3} by sacrificing in the field. And so,
I will give over your strength and all your treasures to be
despoiled, along with your exalted places of sin, within all
your borders. {17:4} And you will be left behind without
your inheritance, which I gave to you. And I will cause you
to serve your enemies in a land that you do not know. For
you have kindled a fire in my fury; it shall burn, even unto
eternity.” {17:5} Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is a man who
trusts in man, and who establishes what is flesh as his right
arm, and whose heart withdraws from the Lord. {17:6} For
he will be like a saltcedar tree in the desert. And he will not
perceive it, when what is good has arrived. Instead, he will
live in dryness, in a desert, in a land of salt, which is
uninhabitable. {17:7} Blessed is the man who trusts in the
Lord, for the Lord will be his confidence. {17:8} And he will
be like a tree planted beside waters, which sends out its roots
to moist soil. And it will not fear when the heat arrives. And
its leaves will be green. And in the time of drought, it will not
be anxious, nor will it cease at any time to bear fruit.
{17:9} The heart is depraved above all things, and it is
unsearchable, who can know it? {17:10} I am the Lord, who
examines the heart and tests the temperament, who gives to
each one according to his way and according to the fruit of
his own decisions. {17:11} A partridge has hatched eggs that
she did not lay; a man has gathered riches, but without
judgment. In the midst of his days, he will leave it all behind,
and he will be foolish concerning his very end.” {17:12} “A
high and glorious throne is the place of our sanctification
from the beginning. {17:13} O Lord, Hope of Israel: all who
forsake you will be confounded. Those who withdraw from
you will be written into the earth. For they have abandoned
the Lord, the Source of living waters. {17:14} Heal me, O
Lord, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved. For
you are my praise. {17:15} Behold, they themselves are
saying to me: ‘Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come.’
{17:16} But I am not troubled; I am following you as my
shepherd. And I have not desired the day of man, as you
know. That which has gone forth from my lips has been right
in your sight. {17:17} May you not be a dread to me. You are
my hope in the day of affliction. {17:18} May those who
persecute me be confounded, but may I not be confounded.
May they be fearful, and may I not be fearful. Lead over
them the day of affliction, and crush them with a double
destruction.” {17:19} Thus says the Lord to me: “Go, and
stand at the gate of the sons of the people, through which the
kings of Judah enter and depart, and at all the gates of
Jerusalem. {17:20} And you shall say to them: Listen to the
word of the Lord, O kings of Judah, and all of Judah, and all
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter through these gates.”
{17:21} Thus says the Lord: “Guard your souls, and do not
choose to carry heavy things on the day of the Sabbath, nor
should you carry these things through the gates of Jerusalem.
{17:22} And do not be willing to cast burdens out of your
houses on the day of the Sabbath, nor should you do any
work. Sanctify the day of the Sabbath, just as I instructed
your fathers. {17:23} But they did not listen, nor did they
incline their ear. Instead, they hardened their neck, lest they
listen to me and receive discipline. {17:24} And this shall be:
If you listen to me, says the Lord, so that you do not carry in
burdens through the gates of this city on the day of the
Sabbath, and if you sanctify the day of the Sabbath, so that
you do not do work in it, {17:25} then there will enter
through the gates of this city: kings and princes, sitting on the
throne of David, and riding on chariots and horses, they and
their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem. And this city will be inhabited forever.
{17:26} And they will arrive from the cities of Judah and
from all around Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin,
and from the plains, and from the mountainous regions, and
from the south, carrying holocausts, and victims, and
sacrifices, and frankincense. And they will carry an oblation
into the house of the Lord. {17:27} But if you will not listen
to me, to sanctify the day of the Sabbath, and not to carry
burdens, and not to bring these things through the gates of
Jerusalem on the day of the Sabbath, then I will kindle a fire
at its gates, and it will devour the houses of Jerusalem, and it
will not be extinguished.”


[Jeremiah 18] {18:1} The word that came to Jeremiah from
the Lord, saying: {18:2} “Rise up and descend into the house
of the potter, and there you will hear my words.” {18:3} And
I descended into the house of the potter, and behold, he was
making a work on the wheel. {18:4} And the vessel, which he
was making with his hands out of clay, broke. And turning
away, he made another vessel, for it had been pleasing in his
eyes to make it. {18:5} Then the word of the Lord came to
me, saying: {18:6} “Am I not able to do with you, O house of
Israel, just as this potter has done, says the Lord? Behold, like
clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O
house of Israel. {18:7} Suddenly, I will speak against a nation
and against a kingdom, so that I may uproot, and destroy,
and scatter it. {18:8} If that nation, against which I have
spoken, will repent from their evil, I too will repent from the
evil that I have decided I would do to them. {18:9} And soon,
I will speak about a nation and about a kingdom, so that I
may build and plant it. {18:10} If it does evil in my sight, so
as not to listen to my voice, I will repent of the good that I
have said I would do to it. {18:11} Now, therefore, speak to
the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:
Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am forming an evil against you,
and I am considering a plan against you. Let each one of you
return from his evil way, and direct your ways and your
intentions well.” {18:12} And they said: “We have lost hope.
And so we will follow our own thoughts, and each of us will
act according to the depravity of his own evil heart.”
{18:13} For this reason, thus says the Lord: “Inquire among
the Gentiles. Who has heard of such horrible things as the
virgin of Israel has done to excess? {18:14} Do the snows of
Lebanon fail to fall on the rocks of the field? Or are the cold
waters, which burst forth and flow down, able to be rooted
out? {18:15} Yet my people have forgotten me, offering
useless libations, and stumbling in their ways, in the paths of
the world, so that they walk by these on an unmarked route.
{18:16} And so their land has been given over to desolation
and to perpetual hissing. Each one who passes by will be
astonished and will shake his head. {18:17} Like a burning
wind, I will disperse them in the sight the enemy. I will show
them the back, and not the face, in the day of their
perdition.” {18:18} And they said: “Come, and let us devise
a plan against Jeremiah. For the law will not perish from the
priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor a sermon from the
prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let
us pay no attention to any of his words.” {18:19} Attend to
me, O Lord, and hear the voice of my adversaries.
{18:20} Should evil be rendered for good? For they have dug
a pit for my soul! Remember that I have stood in your sight,
so as to speak on their behalf for good, and to avert your
indignation from them. {18:21} Because of this, give their
sons over to famine, and bring them to the hand of the sword.
Let their wives be widows without children. And let their
husbands be slain by death. Let their youths be stabbed with
the sword in battle. {18:22} Let an outcry be heard from their
houses. For you will lead the robber upon them suddenly.
For they have dug a pit, so that they may seize me, and they
have hidden snares for my feet. {18:23} But you, O Lord,
know all their plans against me unto death. May you not
forgive their iniquity, and do not allow their sin be taken
away from your face. Let them be thrown down in your sight,
in the time of your fury, so that you may destroy them.


[Jeremiah 19] {19:1} Thus says the Lord: “Go, and take a
potter’s earthen bottle from the elders of the people and from
the elders of the priests. {19:2} And go out to the valley of the
son of Hinnom, which is near the entrance to the earthen gate,
and there you shall proclaim the words that I will speak to
you. {19:3} And you shall say: Listen to the word of the Lord,
O kings of Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus
says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will lead
an affliction over this place, so much so that it will ring in the
ears of all who hear about it. {19:4} For they have
abandoned me, and they have made this place foreign, and
they have offered libations in it to foreign gods, whom neither
they, nor their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known.
And they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.
{19:5} And they have built the exalted places of Baal, in
order to burn their children with fire as a holocaust to Baal,
something that I did not instruct or speak of, nor did it enter
into my heart. {19:6} Because of this, behold, the days are
approaching, says the Lord, when this place will no longer be
called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the
Valley of Slaughter. {19:7} And I will scatter the counsel of
Judah and of Jerusalem in this place. And I will overthrow
them with the sword, in the sight of their enemies and by the
hand of those who seek their lives. And I will give their
carcasses to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the land as
food. {19:8} And I will set this city amid stupor and hissing.
Everyone who passes by it will be stupefied, and they will
hiss over all its wounds. {19:9} And I will feed them with the
flesh of their sons and with the flesh of their daughters. And
each one of them will eat the flesh of his friend during the
blockade and the embargo by which their enemies, and those
who seek their lives, will enclose them. {19:10} And you
shall crush the bottle in the sight of the men who will go with
you. {19:11} And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord
of hosts: In the same way, I will crush this people and this
city, just as the potter’s vessel was crushed and cannot be
made whole again. And they will be buried at Topheth,
because there will be no other place for burial. {19:12} So
will I do to this place and to its inhabitants, says the Lord.
And I will make this city to be like Topheth. {19:13} And the
houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will
be unclean, just like the place of Topheth: all the houses on
whose roofs they sacrificed to all the armies of heaven and
poured out libations to strange gods.” {19:14} Then Jeremiah
arrived from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to
prophesy, and he stood in the atrium of the house of the Lord,
and he said to all the people: {19:15} “Thus says the Lord of
hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will lead over this
community, and over all its cities, all the evils that I have
spoken against it. For they have hardened their necks, so that
they would not heed my words.”


[Jeremiah 20] {20:1} And Pashhur, the son of Immer, the
priest who had been appointed leader in the house of the
Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these words. {20:2} And
Pashhur struck the prophet Jeremiah, and he sent him to the
stocks, which were at the upper gate of Benjamin at the house
of the Lord. {20:3} And when it had become light on the
next day, Pashhur led Jeremiah from the stocks. And
Jeremiah said to him: “The Lord has not called your name:
‘Pashhur,’ but instead: ‘Fear all around.’ ” {20:4} For thus
says the Lord: “Behold, I will give you over to fear, you and
all your friends, and they will fall by the sword of their
enemies, and your eyes will see it. And I will give all of
Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. And he will lead
them away to Babylon, and he will strike them with the
sword. {20:5} And I will give away the entire substance of
this city, and all its labor, and every precious thing. And I
will give all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hands
of their enemies. And they will plunder them, and take them
away, and lead them into Babylon. {20:6} But you, Pashhur,
and all the inhabitants of your house, will go into captivity.
And you will go to Babylon. And there you shall die. And
there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, to whom
you have prophesied a lie.” {20:7} “You have led me away,
O Lord, and I have been led away. You have been stronger
than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a derision all
day long; everyone mocks me. {20:8} For I speak now as I
have long spoken: crying out against iniquity and
proclaiming devastation. And the word of the Lord has been
made into a reproach against me and a derision, all day long.
{20:9} Then I said: I will not call him to mind, nor will I
speak any longer in his name. And my heart became like a
raging fire, enclosed within my bones. And I became weary
of continuing to bear it. {20:10} For I heard the insults of
many, and terror all around: ‘Persecute him!’ and, ‘Let us
persecute him!’ from all the men who had been at peace with
me and who had kept watch by my side. ‘If only there were
some way that he might be deceived, and we might prevail
against him and obtain vengeance from him!’ {20:11} But the
Lord is with me, like a strong warrior. For this reason, those
who persecute me will fall, and they will be ineffective. They
will be greatly confounded. For they have not understood the
everlasting disgrace that will never be wiped away.
{20:12} And you, O Lord of hosts, the Tester of the just, who
sees the temperament and the heart: I beg you to let me see
your vengeance upon them. For I have revealed my case to
you. {20:13} Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For he has
freed the soul of the poor from the hand of the wicked.
{20:14} Cursed is the day on which I was born! The day on
which my mother gave birth to me: let it not be blessed!
{20:15} Cursed is the man who announced it to my father,
saying, ‘A male child has been born to you,’ causing him to
rejoice with gladness. {20:16} Let that man be like the cities
that the Lord has overthrown without regret. Let him hear an
outcry in the morning, and wailing at the time of midday!
{20:17} So let him be, who did not put me to death from the
womb, so that my mother would have been my sepulcher,
and her womb would have been my eternal resting place!
{20:18} Why did I depart from the womb, so that I would see
hardship and sorrow, and so that my days would be
consumed by trouble?”


[Jeremiah 21] {21:1} The word that came to Jeremiah from
the Lord, when king Zedekiah sent Pashhur, the son of
Malchiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to
him, saying: {21:2} “Question the Lord on our behalf, for
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, is fighting against us.
Perhaps it may be that the Lord will act toward us according
to all his wonders, and he may withdraw from us.”
{21:3} And Jeremiah said to them: “This is what you shall
say to Zedekiah: {21:4} Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel:
Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your
hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon and
the Chaldeans, who besiege you at the surrounding walls.
And I will gather these things together in the midst of this city.
{21:5} And I myself will make war against you: with an
outstretched hand, and with a strong arm, and in fury, and in
indignation, and in great wrath. {21:6} And I will strike the
inhabitants of this city; men and beasts will die from a great
pestilence. {21:7} And afterward, thus says the Lord: I will
give Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his servants, and his
people, and those who have been left behind in this city after
pestilence and the sword and famine, into the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of
their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their lives.
And he will strike them with the edge of the sword. And he
will not waver, and he will not be lenient, and he will not
take pity. {21:8} And to this people, you shall say: Thus says
the Lord: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way
of death. {21:9} Whoever lives in this city will die by the
sword, and by famine, and by pestilence. But whoever will
have departed and fled away to the Chaldeans, who besiege
you, will live, and his life will be to him like a spoil.
{21:10} For I have set my face against this city for evil, and
not for good, says the Lord. It will be given into the hand of
the king of Babylon, and he will bum it with fire.
{21:11} And to the house of the king of Judah, you shall say:
Listen to the word of the Lord, {21:12} O house of David!
Thus says the Lord: Judge with judgment from early morning,
and rescue anyone who is oppressed by violence from the
hand of a false accuser. Otherwise, my indignation may go
forth like a fire, and may flare up, and there will be no one
who can extinguish it, because of the evil of your intentions.
{21:13} Behold, I am against you, O inhabitants of a valley
with firm and level ground, says the Lord. And you say:
‘Who can strike us? And who can enter into our houses?’
{21:14} But I will visit against you according to the fruit of
your intentions, says the Lord. And I will kindle a fire in its
forest. And it shall devour everything around it.”


[Jeremiah 22] {22:1} Thus says the Lord: “Descend to the
house of the king of Judah, and there you shall speak this
word. {22:2} And you shall say: Listen to the word of the
Lord, O king of Judah, who sits upon the throne of David:
you and your servants, and your people, who enter through
these gates. {22:3} Thus says the Lord: Exercise judgment
and justice, and free anyone who is oppressed by violence
from the hand of a false accuser. And do not be willing to
sadden the new arrival, or the orphan, or the widow, nor
should you burden them unfairly. And you shall not shed
innocent blood in this place. {22:4} For if you will indeed
accomplish this word, then there will enter through the gates
of this house kings from the stock of David, sitting on his
throne, and riding on chariots and on horses: they, and their
servants, and their people. {22:5} But if you will not listen to
these words, I swear by myself, says the Lord, that this house
will be in desolation. {22:6} For thus says the Lord about the
house of the king of Judah: You are to me like Gilead, the
head of Lebanon. Certainly, I will make you desolate, with
uninhabitable cities. {22:7} And I will sanctify over you the
destroying man and his weapons. And they will cut down
your select cedars and throw them violently into the fire.
{22:8} And many nations will pass through this city. And
each one will say to his neighbor: ‘Why has the Lord acted in
this way toward this great city?’ {22:9} And they will answer:
‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their
God, and they adored strange gods and served them.’
{22:10} You should not choose to weep for the dead, nor
should you mourn over them with tears. Lament for him who
is departing, for he will return no more, nor will he see his
native land again. {22:11} For thus says the Lord to Shallum,
the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, who reigned in place of
his father, who has departed from this place: He will not
return here again. {22:12} Instead, he will die in the place to
which I have transferred him, and he will not see this land
anymore. {22:13} Woe to one who builds his house with
injustice and his upper rooms without judgment, who
oppresses his friend without cause and does not pay him his
wages. {22:14} And he says: ‘I will build a broad house for
myself, with spacious upper rooms.’ He makes windows for
himself, and he builds the roof out of cedar, and he paints it
with red ocher. {22:15} Will you reign because you compare
yourself to the cedar? Did your father not eat and drink, and
act with judgment and justice, so that it would be well with
him? {22:16} He judged the case of the poor and the indigent
for their good. Was this not because he knew me, says the
Lord? {22:17} Yet truly, your eyes and your heart are toward
avarice and the shedding of innocent blood, and toward false
accusations and the pursuit of evil deeds. {22:18} Because of
this, thus says the Lord toward Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah,
king of Judah: They will not mourn for him by saying, ‘Alas,’
to a brother, or, ‘Alas,’ to a sister. They will not make a noise
for him and say, ‘Alas,’ to a master, or, ‘Alas,’ to a nobleman.
{22:19} He will be buried with the burial of a donkey, having
rotted and been thrown out of the gates of Jerusalem.
{22:20} Ascend to Lebanon and cry out! And utter your
voice in Bashan, and cry out to those passing by. For all your
lovers have been crushed. {22:21} I spoke to you in your
abundance, and you said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been
your way from your youth, for you have not listened to my
voice. {22:22} The wind will feed all your shepherds, and
your lovers will go into captivity. And then you will be
confounded, and you will be ashamed of all your wickedness.
{22:23} You who sit in Lebanon, and who nest in the cedars,
in what way did you mourn when suffering came to you, like
the suffering of a woman giving birth? {22:24} As I live, says
the Lord, if Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah,
were a ring on my right hand, I would remove him from
there. {22:25} And I will deliver you into the hand of those
who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you
dread, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of
Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. {22:26} And I
will send you, and your mother who conceived you, into a
foreign land, in which you were not born, and there you shall
die. {22:27} And to the land about which they lift up their
mind, thinking to return there, they shall not return.
{22:28} Is this man, Jeconiah, a broken earthenware vessel?
Is he a vessel which is entirely unpleasing? Why have they
been cast out, he and his offspring, cast out even into a land
that they have not known? {22:29} O earth, O earth, O earth!
Listen to the word of the Lord! {22:30} Thus says the Lord:
Write: this man is barren; he is a man who will not prosper in
his days. For there will not be a man from among his
offspring who will sit upon the throne of David, or have
authority in Judah, anymore.”


[Jeremiah 23] {23:1} “Woe to the shepherds who scatter and
tear apart the sheep of my pasture, says the Lord.
{23:2} Because of this, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel,
to the shepherds who pasture my people: You have scattered
my flock, and you have driven them away, and you have not
visited them. Behold, I will visit upon you because of your
evil pursuits, says the Lord. {23:3} And I will gather together
the remnant of my flock from the entire earth, from the places
to which I had cast them out. And I will return them to their
own fields. And they will increase and be multiplied.
{23:4} And I will raise up shepherds over them, and they will
pasture them. They will no longer dread, and they will no
longer fear. And no one among their number will be seeking
more, says the Lord. {23:5} Behold, the days are approaching,
says the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous
branch. And a king will reign, and he will be wise. And he
will exercise judgment and justice upon the earth. {23:6} In
those days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in
confidence. And this is the name that they will call him: ‘The
Lord, our Just One.’ {23:7} Because of this, behold, the days
are approaching, says the Lord, when they will no longer say,
‘As the Lord lives, who led the sons of Israel away from the
land of Egypt,’ {23:8} but instead, ‘As the Lord lives, who
led away and brought back the offspring of the house of Israel
from the land of the north and from the entire earth,’ from
the places to which I had cast them out. And they will live in
their own land.” {23:9! To the prophets: “My heart is
crushed within me. All my bones are trembling. I have
become like an inebriated man, and like a man maddened by
wine, before the face of the Lord, and before the face of his
holy words. {23:10} For the earth is full of adulterers! And
the earth has mourned before the face of evil talk. The plains
of the desert have dried up, and their course has become
hazardous, and their firmness has become uneven.”
{23:11} “For both the prophet and the priest have become
polluted, and I have found their wickedness within my own
house, says the Lord. {23:12} For this reason, their way will
be like a slippery path in the dark. For they will be impelled
forward, and they will fall in it. For I will bring evils over
them, in the year of their visitation, says the Lord.
{23:13} And I have seen the foolishness of the prophets of
Samaria. They have prophesied in Baal, and they have
deceived my people Israel. {23:14} And in the prophets of
Jerusalem, I have seen the likeness of adulterers and the path
of falsehood. And they have strengthened the hands of the
wicked, so that each one would not convert from his malice.
They have all become to me like Sodom, and its inhabitants
have become like Gomorrah.” {23:15} Because of this, thus
says the Lord of hosts to the prophets: “Behold, I will feed
them absinthe, and I will give them gall to drink. For from
the prophets of Jerusalem corruption has gone forth over the
entire earth.” {23:16} Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not
choose to listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to
you and deceive you. They speak a vision from their own
heart, and not from the mouth of the Lord. {23:17} To those
who blaspheme me, they say: ‘The Lord has said: You shall
have peace.’ And to every one who walks in the depravity of
his own heart, they have said: ‘No evil will overwhelm
you.’ ” {23:18} For who has been present in the counsel of
the Lord, and who has seen and heard his word? Who has
considered his word and heard it? {23:19} Behold, the
whirlwind of the Lord’s indignation will go forth, and a
tempest will break out; it will overwhelm the head of the
impious. {23:20} The fury of the Lord will not return until it
succeeds, and until it completes the plan of his heart. In the
last days, you will understand this counsel. {23:21} “I did not
send these prophets, yet they hurry forward. I was not
speaking to them, yet they were prophesying. {23:22} If they
had stood in my counsel, and if I had made my words known
to my people, certainly I would have turned them away from
their evil ways and from their most wicked plans. {23:23} Do
you not realize that I am a God close by, says the Lord, and
not a God far away? {23:24} If a man is hidden in concealed
places, do I not see him, says the Lord? Do I not fill up
heaven and earth, says the Lord? {23:25} I have heard what
the prophets have said, prophesying falsehoods in my name,
and also saying: ‘I have dreamed! I have dreamed!’
{23:26} How long will this be in the heart of the prophets
who predict what is false, and who prophesy deceptions from
their own heart? {23:27} They want to cause my people to
forget my name, by means of their dreams, which each of
them describes to his neighbor, just as their fathers forgot my
name for the sake of Baal. {23:28} The prophet who has had
a dream, let him describe the dream. And he who receives
my word, let him speak my word in truth. For what has the
chaff to do with the wheat, says the Lord? {23:29} Are not
my words like a fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer
crushing rock? {23:30} Therefore, behold: I am against the
prophets, says the Lord, who steal my words, each one from
his neighbor. {23:31} Behold, I am against the prophets, says
the Lord, who take up their tongues and say: “The Lord says
it.’ {23:32} Behold, I am against the prophets, who dream
what is false, says the Lord; who explain and so seduce my
people with their falsehoods and with their miracles, though I
did not send them, nor did I command them. They have offer
nothing beneficial to this people, says the Lord.
{23:33} Therefore, if this people, or a prophet, or a priest
questions you, saying, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you
shall say to them, ‘You are the burden. And certainly I will
cast you away, says the Lord.’ {23:34} And as for the prophet,
and the priest, and the people who say, ‘The burden of the
Lord!’ I will visit upon that man and upon his house.
{23:35} And then you will speak in this way, each one to his
neighbor and to his brother: ‘What has the Lord answered?
And what has the Lord said?’ {23:36} And the burden of the
Lord will be no longer be called to mind. For each one’s own
word will be a burden. For you have perverted the words of
the living God, of the Lord of hosts, our God. {23:37} And
then you will speak in this way to the prophet: ‘What has the
Lord answered you? And what has the Lord spoken?’
{23:38} But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord!’ then
because of this, thus says the Lord: Since you have spoken
this word, ‘The burden of the Lord!’ though I sent to you
telling you not to say: ‘The burden of the Lord,’
{23:39} because of this, behold, I will take you away, like a
burden, and I will forsake you, as well as the city that I gave
to you and to your fathers, before my face. {23:40} And I will
give you over to an everlasting reproach and an eternal
disgrace, which shall never be wiped away into oblivion.”


[Jeremiah 24] {24:1} The Lord revealed to me, and behold,
two baskets full of figs were set before the temple of the Lord,
after Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, carried away
Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and his
leaders, and the craftsmen and engravers of Jerusalem, and
led them into Babylon. {24:2} One basket had exceedingly
good figs, like the figs usually found early in the season, and
the other basket had exceedingly bad figs, which could not be
eaten because they were so bad. {24:3} And the Lord said to
me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said: “Figs: the
good figs are very good, and the bad figs are very bad and
cannot be eaten because they are so bad.” {24:4} And the
word of the Lord came to me, saying: {24:5} “Thus says the
Lord, the God of Israel: Just like these good figs, so will I
regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent from
this place into the land of the Chaldeans. {24:6} And I will
set my eyes upon them, so as to be pleased. And I will lead
them back into this land. And I will build them up, and I will
not tear them down. And I will plant them, and I will not
uproot them. {24:7} And I will give them a heart, so that
they may know me, that I am the Lord. And they will be my
people, and I will be their God. For they shall return to me
with their whole heart. {24:8} And just like the very bad figs,
which cannot be eaten because they are so bad, thus says the
Lord: so will I regard Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his
leaders, and the rest of Jerusalem, those who have remained
in this city, and those who are living in the land of Egypt.
{24:9} And I will give them over, with upheaval and
affliction, to all the kingdoms of the earth: to be a disgrace,
and a parable, and a proverb, and a curse in all the places to
which I have cast them out. {24:10} And I will send among
them the sword, and famine, and pestilence: until they have
been worn away from the land, which I gave to them and to
their fathers.”


[Jeremiah 25] {25:1} The word that came to Jeremiah about
all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the
son of Josiah, the king of Judah. The same is the first year of
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. {25:2} And the
prophet Jeremiah spoke to all the people of Judah, and to all
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: {25:3} “From the
thirteenth year of Josiah, the son of Amon, the king of Judah,
even until this day, which is the twenty-third year, the word
of the Lord has been given to me, and I have spoken to you,
rising while it was still night, and speaking, and yet you have
not listened. {25:4} And the Lord has sent to you all his
servants, the prophets, rising at first light, and sending, and
yet you have not listened, and you have not inclined your
ears, so that you would hear, {25:5} when he said: Return,
each one from his evil way, and from your wicked thoughts.
And you shall dwell in the land, which the Lord has given to
you and to your fathers, from ancient times and even forever.
{25:6} And do not choose to go after strange gods, so that
you would serve them and adore them. And do not provoke
me to wrath by the works of your hands. And then I will not
afflict you. {25:7} And yet you have not listened to me, says
the Lord, and so you have provoked me to anger with the
works of your hands, to your own harm.” {25:8} Because of
this, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Since you have not listened
to my words, {25:9} behold, I will send for and take all the
associates of the north, says the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will lead them over
this land, and over its inhabitants, and over all the nations
that are around it. And I will destroy them, and I will set
them in the midst of stupor and hissing, and continual
desolations. {25:10} And I will perish from them the voice of
gladness and the voice of rejoicing, the voice of the groom
and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstone and the
light of the lamp. {25:11} And this entire land will be in
desolation and in stupor. And all these nations will serve the
king of Babylon, for seventy years. {25:12} And when the
seventy years have been completed, I will visit their iniquity
upon the king of Babylon, and upon that nation, and upon
the land of the Chaldeans, says the Lord. And I will set it in
continual desolations. {25:13} And I will lead over that land
all my words, which I have spoken against it, all that has
been written in this book, everything whatsoever that
Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. {25:14} For
they have served them, though these were populous nations
and great kings. And I will repay them according to their
works and according to the deeds of their hands.”
{25:15} For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
“Take the chalice of the wine of this fury from my hand. And
you shall cause all the nations, to which I will send you, to
drink from it. {25:16} And they will drink, and be stirred up,
and become maddened, before the face of the sword that I
will send among them.” {25:17} And I received the chalice
from the hand of the Lord, and I caused all the nations, to
which the Lord has sent me, to drink from it:
{25:18} Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and its kings, and
its leaders, so that I gave them over to desolation, and stupor,
and hissing, and a curse, just as it is this day. {25:19} “But as
for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and his servants, and his
leaders, and all his people, {25:20} and the entire populace in
general: all the kings of the land of the south, and all the
kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza,
and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod, {25:21} and Idumea,
and Moab, and the sons of Ammon, {25:22} and all the kings
of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the land
of the islands that are across the sea, {25:23} and Dedan, and
Tema, and Buz, and all those who have shaved off their hair,
{25:24} and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the
west, who live in the desert, {25:25} and all the kings of
Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media,
{25:26} and likewise, all the kings of the north from near to
far, each one facing his brother, and all the kingdoms upon
the face of the earth, and the king of Sesac: all these shall
drink after them. {25:27} And you shall say to them: Thus
says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, and be
inebriated, and vomit, and fall down. And you shall not rise
up before the face the sword that I will send among you.
{25:28} And if they refuse to receive the cup from your hand
and to drink, you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord of
hosts: Certainly, you shall drink! {25:29} For behold, I am
beginning to afflict the city in which my name has been
invoked, and will you be innocent and immune? You will not
be immune! For I will call the sword over all the inhabitants
of the earth, says the Lord of hosts. {25:30} And you shall
prophesy to them all these words, and you shall say to them:
The Lord will roar from on high, and he will utter his voice
from his holy habitation. When roaring, he will roar over the
place of his beauty. He will call out, like those who chant in
rhythm as they trample the grapes, against all the inhabitants
of the earth. {25:31} The sound of it will penetrate even to
the ends of the earth. For the Lord is entering into judgment
with the nations. He himself is entering into judgment with
all flesh. I have delivered the impious to the sword, says the
Lord.” {25:32} Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, an
affliction will go forth from nation to nation, and a great
whirlwind will go forth from the ends of the earth.
{25:33} And the slain of the Lord will be, on that day, from
one end of the earth, even to the other end. They will not be
mourned, and they will not be gathered, and they will not be
buried. They will lie upon the face of the earth like dung.
{25:34} Wail, O shepherds, and cry out! And sprinkle
yourselves with ashes, O nobles of the flock! For the days
have been completed that lead to your slaughter and your
destruction. And you will fall like precious vessels.
{25:35} And escape will flee from the shepherds, and safety
will flee from the nobility of the flock.” {25:36} There is a
voice of outcry from the shepherds, and a wailing among the
nobles among the flock! For the Lord has laid waste to their
pastures. {25:37} And the fields of peace have been silenced
before the face of the fury of the Lord. {25:38} He has
abandoned those he sheltered like a lion. For the earth has
become a desolation before the face of the anger of the dove,
and before the face of the fury of the Lord.


[Jeremiah 26] {26:1} In the beginning of the reign of
Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word
came from the Lord, saying: {26:2} “Thus says the Lord:
Stand in the atrium of the house of the Lord, and speak to all
the cities of Judah, from which they come to adore in the
house of the Lord, all the words that I have commanded you
to speak to them. Do not choose to subtract any word.
{26:3} So may they hear and be converted, each one from his
evil way. And then I may repent of the evil that I plan to do
to them because of the wickedness of their pursuits.
{26:4} And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: If you
will not listen to me, so that you walk in my law, which I
have given to you, {26:5} so that you listen to the words of
my servants, the prophets, whom I have sent to you, who
arise while it is still night, and though they give guidance,
you do not listen, {26:6} then I will make this house like
Shiloh, and I will make this city into a curse for all the
nations of the earth.” {26:7} And the priests, and the
prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these
words in the house of the Lord. {26:8} And when Jeremiah
had completed speaking all that the Lord had instructed him
to speak to all the people, then the priests, and the prophets,
and all the people apprehended him, saying: “You shall be
put to death.” {26:9} “Why has he prophesied in the name of
the Lord, saying: ‘Like Shiloh, so shall this house be,’ and,
‘This city shall be made desolate, even without an
inhabitant?’ ” And all the people were gathered together
against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. {26:10} And the
leaders of Judah heard these words. And they ascended from
the house of the king to the house of the Lord, and they sat at
the entrance by the new gate of the house of the Lord.
{26:11} And the priests and the prophets spoke to the leaders
and to all the people, saying: “A judgment of death is for this
man. For he has prophesied against this city, just as you have
heard with your own ears.” {26:12} And Jeremiah spoke to
all the leaders and to the entire people, saying: “The Lord has
sent me to prophesy, about this house and about this city, all
the words that you have heard. {26:13} Now, therefore,
make your ways and your intentions good, and heed the
voice of the Lord your God. And then the Lord will repent of
the evil that he has spoken against you. {26:14} But as for me,
behold, I am in your hands. Do to me what is good and right
in your eyes. {26:15} Yet truly, know and understand this: if
you kill me, you will be bringing innocent blood against
yourselves, and against this city and its inhabitants. For in
truth, the Lord sent me to you, so as to speak all these words
in your hearing.” {26:16} And then the leaders and all the
people said to the priests and to the prophets: “There is no
judgment of death against this man. For he has spoken to us
in the name of the Lord our God.” {26:17} Then some of the
elders of the land rose up. And they spoke to the entire
assembly of the people, saying: {26:18} “Micah from
Moresheth was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah, the king of
Judah, and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying: ‘Thus
says the Lord of hosts: Zion will be ploughed like a field. And
Jerusalem will be a pile of stones. And the mountain of the
house will be like the forests of high places.’ {26:19} Did the
king of Judah, Hezekiah, with all of Judah, condemn him to
death? Did they not fear the Lord, and petition the face of the
Lord? And so the Lord repented of the evil that he had
spoken against them. Therefore, we are committing a great
evil against our own souls. {26:20} Likewise, there was a
man prophesying in the name of the Lord: Uriah, the son of
Shemaiah, of Kiriath-jearim. And he prophesied against this
city and against this land, in accord with all the words of
Jeremiah. {26:21} And king Jehoiakim, with all his warriors
and leaders, heard these words. And so the king sought to put
him to death. And Uriah heard, and was afraid, and fled, and
he entered into Egypt. {26:22} And king Jehoiakim sent men
into Egypt: Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and the men who
went with him into Egypt. {26:23} And they led Uriah out of
Egypt. And they brought him to king Jehoiakim, and he
struck him down with the sword. And he cast his dead body
among the graves of the common people.” {26:24} But the
hand of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, was with Jeremiah, so
that he would not be delivered into the hands of the people,
and so that they would not put him to death.


[Jeremiah 27] {27:1} In the beginning of the reign of
Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word
came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: {27:2} “Thus says
the Lord to me: Make bands and chains for yourself. And
you shall place them on your neck. {27:3} And you shall
send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and
to the king of the sons of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre,
and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who
came to Jerusalem, to Zedekiah, the king of Judah.
{27:4} And you shall instruct them to say to their masters:
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You shall say
these things to your masters: {27:5} I made the earth, and the
men and beasts which are upon the face of the earth, by my
great strength and by my outstretched arm. And I have given
it to whomever it was pleasing in my eyes. {27:6} And now,
therefore, I have given all these lands into the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant. Moreover,
I have given to him also the beasts of the field, so that they
may serve him. {27:7} And all the nations will serve him,
and his son, and his son’s son. Many nations and great kings
will serve him, until the time arrives for him and his land.
{27:8} But the nation or kingdom that will not serve
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and whoever will not
bend his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will
visit upon that nation with the sword, and with famine, and
with pestilence, says the Lord, until I consume them by his
hand. {27:9} Therefore, you should not choose to listen to
your own prophets, and diviners, and dreamers, and
soothsayers, and sorcerers, who say to you: ‘You shall not
serve the king of Babylon.’ {27:10} For they prophesy lies to
you, so that they may cause you to be far from your own
country, and may cast you out, and may cause you to perish.
{27:11} Furthermore, the nation which will bend its neck
under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and which will serve
him, I will permit them to remain in their own land, says the
Lord. And they will cultivate it, and they will live in it.”
{27:12} And I spoke to Zedekiah, the king of Judah,
according to all these words, saying: “Subject your necks
under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his
people, and you will live. {27:13} Why should you suffer
death, you and your people, by the sword, and famine, and
pestilence, just as the Lord has spoken against any nation that
refuses to serve the king of Babylon? {27:14} Do not choose
to listen to the words of the prophets, saying to you: ‘You
will not serve the king of Babylon.’ For they are speaking a
lie to you. {27:15} For I have not sent them, says the Lord.
And they prophesy falsely in my name, so that they may cast
you out, and so that you may perish, both you and the
prophets who make predictions for you.” {27:16} I spoke
also to the priests and to this people, saying: “Thus says the
Lord: Do not choose to listen to the words of your prophets,
who prophesy to you, saying: ‘Behold, the vessels of the Lord
will now quickly be returned from Babylon.’ For they are
prophesying to you a lie. {27:17} Therefore, do not choose to
listen to them, but instead, serve the king of Babylon, so that
you may live. Why should this city be given over into
desolation? {27:18} But if they are prophets, and if the word
of the Lord is in them, then let them intercede before the
Lord of hosts, so that the vessels that were left behind in the
house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and
in Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon. {27:19} For thus says
the Lord of hosts to the pillars, and to the sea of brass, and to
the bases, and to the remainder of the vessels that have been
left behind in this city, {27:20} which Nebuchadnezzar, the
king of Babylon, did not take when he carried away Jeconiah,
the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, from Jerusalem into
Babylon, with all the nobility of Judah and Jerusalem:
{27:21} For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to
the vessels that were left behind in the house of the Lord and
in the house of the king of Judah and Jerusalem:
{27:22} They shall be carried away to Babylon, and there
they shall be, until the day of their visitation, says the Lord.
And then I will cause them to be carried back, and to be
restored to this place.


[Jeremiah 28] {28:1} And it happened in that year, in the
beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah, in the
fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah, the son of
Azur, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me, in the house of
the Lord, in the sight of the priests and all the people, saying:
{28:2} “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have
broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. {28:3} There are still
two years of days, and then I will cause to be carried back to
this place all the vessels of the house of the Lord that
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, took from this place
and carried away to Babylon. {28:4} And I will return to this
place: Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, and
all those taken captive from Judah, who were brought into
Babylon, says the Lord. For I will crush the yoke of the king
of Babylon.” {28:5} And Jeremiah the prophet spoke to
Hananiah the prophet, before the eyes of the priests and
before the eyes of all the people who were standing in the
house of the Lord. {28:6} And Jeremiah the prophet said:
“Amen, may the Lord accomplish this; may the Lord act
upon your words, which you have prophesied, so that the
vessels may be carried back to the house of the Lord, and so
that all those taken captive may return from Babylon to this
place. {28:7} Yet truly, listen to this word, which I am
speaking to your ears and to the ears of all the people.
{28:8} The prophets, who were before me and before you,
from the beginning, have prophesied over many lands and
over great kingdoms, about war, and about affliction, and
about famine. {28:9} The prophet who has predicted peace, if
his word will occur, then the prophet will be known as one
whom the Lord has sent in truth.” {28:10} And Hananiah
the prophet took the chain from the neck of Jeremiah the
prophet, and he broke it. {28:11} And Hananiah spoke in the
sight of all the people, saying: “Thus says the Lord: So shall I
break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, after
two years of days, from the neck of all the people.”
{28:12} And Jeremiah the prophet went his own way. And
after Hananiah the prophet had broken the chain from the
neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of the Lord came to
Jeremiah, saying: {28:13} “Go, and you shall say to
Hananiah: Thus says the Lord: You have broken chains of
wood, and so you will make for them chains of iron.
{28:14} For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I
have placed a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, so
that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.
And they shall serve him. Moreover, I have given to him
even the beasts of the earth.” {28:15} And Jeremiah the
prophet said to Hananiah the prophet: “Listen, Hananiah!
The Lord has not sent you, and so you have caused this
people to trust in a lie. {28:16} For this reason, thus says the
Lord: Behold, I will send you away from the face of the earth.
This year, you shall die. For you have spoken against the
Lord.” {28:17} And Hananiah the prophet died in that year,
in the seventh month.


[Jeremiah 29] {29:1} And these are the words of the letter
which Jeremiah, the prophet, sent from Jerusalem to the
remnant of the elders of the transmigration, and to the priests,
and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom
Nebuchadnezzar had led away from Jerusalem to Babylon,
{29:2} after king Jeconiah, with the queen, and the eunuchs,
and the leaders of Judah and of Jerusalem, and the craftsmen
and engravers, had departed from Jerusalem. {29:3} It was
sent by the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and by
Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, the king of
Judah, sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of
Babylon, saying: {29:4} “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel, to all who have been taken away, whom I have
caused to be transferred from Jerusalem to Babylon:
{29:5} Build houses and live in them. And plant gardens, and
eat from their fruit. {29:6} Take wives, and conceive sons
and daughters. And give wives to your sons, and give your
daughters to husbands, and let them bear sons and daughters.
And be multiplied there, and do not choose to be few in
number. {29:7} And seek the peace of the city, to which I
have caused you to be taken away, and pray to the Lord on
its behalf. For your peace will be in its peace. {29:8} For thus
says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not allow your
prophets and your diviners, who are in your midst, to seduce
you. And you should pay no attention to your dreams, which
you are dreaming. {29:9} For they prophesy falsely to you in
my name, and I have not sent them, says the Lord.
{29:10} For thus says the Lord: When the seventy years will
begin to be completed in Babylon, I will visit you. And I will
raise up Over you my good word, so that I may lead you back
to this place. {29:11} For I know the thoughts that I think
over you, says the Lord: thoughts of peace and not of
affliction, so that I may give you patience and an end.
{29:12} And you shall call upon me, and you shall go forth.
And you shall pray to me, and I will heed you. {29:13} You
shall seek me. And you will find me, when you have sought
me with your whole heart. {29:14} And I will be found by
you, says the Lord. And I will lead you back from your
captivity. And I will gather you from all the nations and all
the places, to which I have expelled you, says the Lord. And
I will return you from the place to which I sent you into
captivity. {29:15} For you have said: “The Lord has raised up
prophets for us in Babylon.’ {29:16} For thus says the Lord,
to the king who sits upon the throne of David, and to all the
people who live in this city, to your brothers who have not
departed with you in the transmigration: {29:17} Thus says
the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will send among them the sword,
and famine, and pestilence. And I will make them like the
bad figs, which cannot be eaten, because they are very bad.
{29:18} And I will pursue them with the sword, and with
famine, and with pestilence. And I will give them over to
affliction, amid all the kingdoms of the earth: as a curse, and
in stupor, and with hissing, and as a disgrace among all the
nations to which I have driven them out. {29:19} For they
have not listened to my words, says the Lord, which I sent to
them through my servants, the prophets, rising while it was
still night, and sending. But you have not listened, says the
Lord. {29:20} Therefore, listen to the word of the Lord, all
you of the transmigration, whom I have sent away from
Jerusalem into Babylon. {29:21} Thus says the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, to Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and to
Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy falsely to you
in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hands of
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and he will strike
them down before your eyes. {29:22} And a curse will be
taken up about them, by all the captives of Judah that are in
Babylon, saying: ‘May the Lord make you like Zedekiah, and
like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon fried in the fire!’
{29:23} For they have acted foolishly in Israel, and they have
committed adultery with the wives of their friends, and they
have spoken lying words in my name, which I did not
command them. I am the Judge and the Witness, says the
Lord. {29:24} And to Shemaiah of Nehelam, you shall say:
{29:25} Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
Similarly, you have sent letters in your name to all the people
that are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah,
the priest, and to all the priests, saying: {29:26} ‘The Lord
has made you priest in place of Jehoiada, the priest, so that
you would be the ruler in the house of the Lord over every
man who raves and prophesies, to send him to the stocks and
to prison. {29:27} And now why have you not rebuked
Jeremiah of Anathoth, who prophesies to you? {29:28} For
about this, he has sent to us in Babylon, saying: It is a long
time. Build houses and live in them. And plant gardens, and
eat from their fruits.’ ” {29:29} Thus, Zephaniah, the priest,
read this letter, in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.
{29:30} And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:
{29:31} “Send to all those of the transmigration, saying: Thus
says the Lord to Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because Shemaiah
has prophesied to you, though I did not send him, and
because he has caused you to trust in a lie: {29:32} For this
reason, thus says the Lord: Behold, I will visit upon
Shemaiah of Nehelam, and upon his offspring. There will not
be, for him, even one man sitting in the midst of this people.
And he will not see the good that I will accomplish for my
people, says the Lord. For he has spoken a betrayal against
the Lord.”


[Jeremiah 30] {30:1} This is the word that came to Jeremiah
from the Lord, saying: {30:2} “Thus says the Lord, the God
of Israel, saying: You shall write in a book all the words that I
have spoken to you. {30:3} For behold, the days are
approaching, says the Lord, when I will convert the turning
away of my people, Israel and Judah, says the Lord. And I
will return them to the land which I gave to their fathers, and
they will possess it.” {30:4} And these are the words which
the Lord has spoken to Israel and to Judah: {30:5} For thus
says the Lord: ‘We have heard a voice of terror. There is
dread, and there is no peace.’ {30:6} Inquire and see, does a
male give birth? Then why have I seen every man with his
hand on his lower back, like a woman bearing a child? And
why have all of their faces turned pale? {30:7} Woe! For that
day is great, and there is nothing like it. For it is the time of
tribulation for Jacob, but he will be saved from it. {30:8} And
this shall be in that day, says the Lord of hosts: I will crush
his yoke from your neck, and I will break open his bands.
And strangers will no longer rule over him. {30:9} Instead,
they will serve the Lord their God, and David their king,
whom I will raise up for them. {30:10} Therefore, O my
servant Jacob, you should not be afraid, says the Lord, and
you should not be frightened, O Israel. For behold, I will save
you from a far away land, and your offspring from the land of
their captivity. And Jacob will return and have rest, and he
shall flow with every good thing. And there will be no one for
him to dread. {30:11} For I am with you, says the Lord, so
that I may save you. For I will bring about the consummation
of all the nations, among which I have scattered you. But I
will not bring about your consummation. Instead, I will
chastise you in judgment, so that you will not seem innocent
to yourself.” {30:12} For thus says the Lord: “Your fracture
is incurable; your wound is very serious. {30:13} There is no
one who may judge your judgment, so as to bandage it; there
is no useful treatment for you. {30:14} All your lovers have
forgotten you, and they will not seek you. For I have
wounded you with the strike of an enemy, with a cruel
chastisement. Your sins have become hardened because of
the multitude of your iniquities. {30:15} Why do you cry out
over your affliction? Your pain is incurable. I have done these
things to you because of the multitude of your iniquity and
because of your hardened sins. {30:16} Because of this, all
those who devour you, will be devoured. And all your
enemies will be led into captivity. And those who devastate
you, will be devastated. And all those who prey upon you, I
will offer as a prey. {30:17} For I will close up your scar, and
I will heal you of your wounds, says the Lord. For they have
called you an outcast, O Zion: ‘This is she who has no one
asking for her.’ ” {30:18} Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will
turn back the turning away of the tabernacles of Jacob, and I
will take pity on his roofs. And the city will be built up in her
heights, and the temple will be founded according to its order.
{30:19} And praise will go forth from them, with the voice of
those who play. And I will multiply them, and they will not
be lessened. And I will glorify them, and they will not be
weakened. {30:20} And their sons will be as in the beginning.
And their assembly will remain in my sight. And I will visit
against all those who trouble them. {30:21} And their ruler
will one of their own. And their prince will be led forward
from their midst. And I will draw him near, and he will cling
to me. For who is the one who applies his heart, so that he
may draw near to me, says the Lord? {30:22} And you shall
be my people, and I will be your God.” {30:23} Behold the
whirlwind of the Lord, his fury going forth, a destroying
storm! It will rest upon the head of the impious. {30:24} The
Lord will not turn back the wrath of his indignation, until he
has accomplished and completed the plan of his heart. In the
last days, you shall understand these things.


[Jeremiah 31] {31:1} “In that time, says the Lord, I will be
the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my
people.” {31:2} Thus says the Lord: “The people who had
remained after the sword, found grace in the desert. Israel
will go to his rest.” {31:3} The Lord appeared to me from a
distance: “And I have loved you in perpetual charity.
Therefore, showing pity, I have drawn you. {31:4} And I will
build you up again. And you shall be built up, O virgin of
Israel. Still shall you be adorned with your timbrels, and still
shall you go forth to the singing of those who play.
{31:5} Still shall you plant vineyards on the mountains of
Samaria. The planters will plant, and they will not gather the
vintage until the time arrives. {31:6} For there will be a day
on which the guardians on mount Ephraim will cry out:
‘Arise! And let us ascend on Zion to the Lord our God!’ ”
{31:7} For thus says the Lord: “Exult in the joy of Jacob, and
neigh before the head of the Gentiles. Shout, and sing, and
say: ‘O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel!’
{31:8} Behold, I will lead them from the land of the north,
and I will gather them from the ends of the earth. Among
them will be the blind and the lame, she who is with child,
together with she who is giving birth: a great assembly
returning to this place. {31:9} They will approach with
weeping. And I will lead them back with mercy. And I will
lead them through the torrents of water, by an upright way,
and they will not stumble in it. For I have become Father to
Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.” {31:10} Listen to the
word of the Lord, O Gentiles, and announce it amid the
islands that are far away, and say: “Whoever has scattered
Israel will gather him, and he will guard him as a shepherd
guards his flock.” {31:11} For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
and he has freed him from the hand of one more powerful.
{31:12} And they will arrive and give praise on Mount Zion.
And they will flow together, to the good things of the Lord,
over grain, and wine, and oil, and the offspring of cattle and
herds. And their soul will be like an irrigated garden, and
they will no longer be hungry. {31:13} Then the virgin will
rejoice with singing, the young and the old together, and I
will turn their mourning into gladness, and I will console
them and gladden them after their sorrow. {31:14} And I will
inebriate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people
will be filled with my good things, says the Lord.”
{31:15} Thus says the Lord: “A voice has been heard on high:
of lamentation, mourning, and weeping; of Rachel crying for
her sons and refusing to be consoled over them, because they
are not.” {31:16} Thus says the Lord: “Let your voice cease
from crying and your eyes from tears. For there is a reward
for your work, says the Lord. And they will return from the
land of the enemy. {31:17} And there is hope for your very
end, says the Lord. And the sons will return to their own
borders. {31:18} Listening, I heard Ephraim going into
captivity: ‘You have chastised me, and I was instructed, like a
young untamed bull. Convert me, and I shall be converted.
For you are the Lord my God. {31:19} For after you
converted me, I did penance. And after you revealed to me, I
struck my thigh. I am confounded and ashamed. For I have
endured the disgrace of my youth.’ {31:20} Certainly,
Ephraim is an honorable son to me; surely, he is a tender
child. For I will still remember him, as in the time when I
first spoke about him. Because my heart is stirred up over
him, surely I will take pity on him, says the Lord.
{31:21} Establish a watchtower for yourself. Place yourself in
bitterness. Direct your heart into the upright way, in which
you used to walk. Return, return, O virgin of Israel, to these
your cities! {31:22} How long will you be absorbed in
delights, O wandering daughter? For the Lord has created
something new upon the earth: a woman will encompass a
man.” {31:23} Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
“Still they will speak this word in the land of Judah, and in its
cities, when I will convert their captivity: ‘May the Lord bless
you, the beauty of justice, the holy mountain.’ {31:24} And
they will live in it: Judah together with all its cities, the
farmer and those who drive the flocks. {31:25} For I have
inebriated the weary soul, and I have satisfied every hungry
soul. {31:26} Over this, I was awakened, as if from a deep
sleep. And I saw, and my sleep became sweet to me.
{31:27} Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord,
when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah
with the offspring of men and with the offspring of cattle.
{31:28} And just as I have watched over them, so that I may
root up, and tear down, and scatter, and destroy, and afflict,
so will I watch over them, so that I may build and plant them,
says the Lord. {31:29} In those days, they will no longer say:
‘The fathers ate a bitter grape, and the teeth of the sons have
been affected.’ {31:30} Instead, each one will die for his own
iniquity. Each man who will have eaten a bitter grape, his
own teeth will be affected. {31:31} Behold, the days are
approaching, says the Lord, when I will form a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
{31:32} not according to the covenant which I made with
their fathers, in the day when I took them by the hand, so as
to lead them away from the land of Egypt, the covenant
which they nullified, though I was the ruler over them, says
the Lord. {31:33} But this will be the covenant that I will
form with the house of Israel, after those days, says the Lord:
I will give my law to their inner most being, and I will write it
upon their heart. And I will be their God, and they shall be
my people. {31:34} And they will no longer teach, a man his
neighbor, and a man his brother, saying: ‘Know the Lord.’
For all will know me, from the littlest of them even to the
greatest, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I
will no longer remember their sin. {31:35} Thus says the
Lord, who gives the sun as the light of the day, who puts the
moon and the stars in order as the light of the night, who stirs
up the sea and makes its waves roar: the Lord of hosts is his
name. {31:36} If these laws fail in my sight, says the Lord,
then the offspring of Israel will also fail, so that they will not
be a people in my sight for all time.” {31:37} Thus says the
Lord: “If the heavens above are able to be measured, and if
the foundations of the earth beneath can be examined, I also
will cast aside all the offspring of Israel, because of all that
they have done, says the Lord. {31:38} Behold, the days are
approaching, says the Lord, when a city will be built for the
Lord from the tower of Hananel, even to the Gate of the
Corner; {31:39} and the measuring line will go on even
further in his sight, over the hill of Gareb, and it will encircle
Goah {31:40} and the entire Valley of dead bodies and ashes,
and the entire region of death, even to the torrent of Kedron,
and to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east. All this will
be the holy place of the Lord. It will not be rooted up, and it
will not be torn down, anymore, forever.”


[Jeremiah 32] {32:1} The word that came to Jeremiah from
the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah, the king of Judah.
The same is the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. {32:2} It
was then that the army of the king of Babylon besieged
Jerusalem. And Jeremiah, the prophet, was confined to the
atrium of the prison, which was in the house of the king of
Judah. {32:3} For Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had confined
him, saying: “Why do you make predictions, saying: ‘Thus
says the Lord: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the
king of Babylon, and he will capture it? {32:4} And Zedekiah,
the king of Judah, will not escape from the hand of the
Chaldeans. Instead, he will be delivered into the hands of the
king of Babylon. And he will speak to him, mouth to mouth,
and he will see him, eye to eye. {32:5} And he will lead
Zedekiah to Babylon. And he will be there until I visit him,
says the Lord. So then, if you contend against the Chaldeans,
you will have no success.’ ” {32:6} And Jeremiah said: “The
word of the Lord came to me, saying: {32:7} Behold,
Hanamel, the son of Shallum, your cousin, will come to you,
saying: ‘Buy for yourself my field, which is in Anathoth. For
it is your right, as next of kin, to buy it.’ {32:8} And in accord
with the word of the Lord, Hanamel, the son of my uncle,
came to me, to the entrance of the prison, and he said to me:
‘Take possession of my field, which is in Anathoth in the
land of Benjamin. For the right of inheritance is yours, and as
the next of kin you may possess it.’ Then I understood that
this was the word of the Lord. {32:9} And I bought the field,
which is in Anathoth, from Hanamel, the son of my uncle.
And I weighed out the money to him, seven small coins and
ten pieces of silver. {32:10} And I wrote it in a book and
signed it, and I summoned witnesses. And I weighed out the
silver on a scale. {32:11} And I received the signed deed of
possession, and the stipulations, and the ratifications, with
the exterior seals. {32:12} And I gave the deed of possession
to Baruch, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the
sight of Hanamel, the son of my uncle, in the sight of the
witnesses who had been recorded in the book of the purchase,
and in the sight of all the Jews who were sitting in the atrium
of the prison. {32:13} And I instructed Baruch, in their sight,
saying: {32:14} Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
‘Take these writings, this sealed deed of purchase, and this
deed which is open, and place them in an earthen vessel, so
that they will be preserved for many days.’ {32:15} For thus
says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Houses, and fields,
and vineyards will be possessed still, in this land.’
{32:16} And after I had delivered the deed of possession to
Baruch, the son of Neri, I prayed to the Lord, saying:
{32:17} Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God! Behold, you have
made heaven and earth, by your great strength and by your
outstretched arm. No word is difficult for you. {32:18} You
act with mercy a thousand-fold, but you repay the iniquity of
the fathers into the sinews of their sons after them. The Lord
of hosts is your name: most strong, great, and powerful!
{32:19} You are great in counsel and incomprehensible in
thought. Your eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of
Adam, so that you may repay each one according to his ways
and according to the fruit of his intentions. {32:20} You
caused signs and portents in the land of Egypt, and in Israel,
and among men, even until this day. And you have made a
name for yourself, just as in this day. {32:21} And you have
led your people Israel away from the land of Egypt, with
signs and portents, and with a robust hand and an
outstretched arm, and with great terror. {32:22} And you
have given them this land, which you swore, to their fathers,
that you would give to them, a land flowing with milk and
honey. {32:23} And they entered it and possessed it. But they
did not obey your voice, and they did not walk in your law.
And they did not do all of the things that you commanded
them to do. And so, all of these evils have happened to them.
{32:24} Behold, fortifications were built against the city, so as
to capture it. And the city was given into the hands of the
Chaldeans, who fight against it, before the face of the sword,
and of famine, and of pestilence. And what you have spoken
has occurred, just as you yourself discern. {32:25} So why, O
Lord God, are you saying to me: ‘Buy a field with money,
and summon witnesses,’ while the city is being given into the
hands of the Chaldeans?” {32:26} And the word of the Lord
came to Jeremiah, saying: {32:27} “Behold, I am the Lord
God; I am above all flesh. Can any word be difficult for me?
{32:28} Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, I will deliver
this city into the hands of the Chaldeans, and into the hands
of the king of Babylon, and they will capture it. {32:29} And
the Chaldeans fighting against this city will advance, and set
fire to it, and burn it, along with the houses on whose roofs
they were offering sacrifice to Baal and were pouring out
libations to strange gods, so that they provoked me to wrath.
{32:30} For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah, from
their youth, have continually done evil in my eyes. The sons
of Israel, even until now, have been provoking me with the
work of their hands, says the Lord. {32:31} For this city has
been a cause of fury and indignation to me, from the day
when they built it, until this day, in which it will be taken
away from my sight, {32:32} because of all the wickedness of
the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah, which they have
done, provoking me to wrath, they and their kings, their
leaders and their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. {32:33} And they have
turned their backs to me, and not their faces. And though I
taught them and instructed them, rising at first light, they
were not willing to listen, so that they would receive
discipline. {32:34} And they have placed their idols in the
house where my name is invoked, so that they defiled it.
{32:35} And they have built the exalted places of Baal, which
are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, so that they may
initiate their sons and their daughters into Molech, though I
did not command, nor did it enter into my heart, that they
should do this abomination, and so lead Judah into sin.
{32:36} And now, because of these things, thus says the Lord,
the God of Israel, to this city, about which you say that it will
be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon by the
sword, and by famine, and by pestilence: {32:37} Behold, I
will gather them together from all the lands to which I have
cast them out in my fury, and in my wrath, and in my great
indignation. And I will lead them back to this place, and I
will cause them to live in confidence. {32:38} And they will
be my people, and I will be their God. {32:39} And I will
give to them one heart and one way, so that they may fear me
all their days, and so that it may be well with them, and with
their sons after them. {32:40} And I will form an everlasting
covenant with them, and I will not cease to do good for them.
And I will put my fear into their heart, so that they do not
withdraw from me. {32:41} And I will rejoice over them,
while I do good for them. And I will plant them in this land,
in truth, with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
{32:42} For thus says the Lord: Just as I have led over this
people all this great evil, so will I lead over them all the good
that I am speaking to them now. {32:43} And fields will be
possessed in this land, about which you say that it is desolate
because there remains neither man nor beast, and because it
has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans.
{32:44} Fields will be bought for money, and deeds will be
written and signed, and witnesses will be summoned, in the
land of Benjamin and all around Jerusalem, in the cities of
Judah, and in the cities on the mountains, and in the cities on
the plains, and in the cities that are toward the south. For I
will convert their captivity, says the Lord.”


[Jeremiah 33] {33:1} And the word of the Lord came to
Jeremiah a second time, while he was still confined to the
atrium of the prison, saying: {33:2} “Thus says the Lord,
who will prepare, and form, and accomplish it; the Lord is
his name. {33:3} Cry out to me and I will heed you. And I
will announce to you great things, things that are certain,
though you do not know them. {33:4} For thus says the Lord,
the God of Israel, to the houses of this city, and to the houses
of the king of Judah, which have been destroyed, and to the
fortifications, and to the sword {33:5} of those who have
arrived, so that they may fight with the Chaldeans, and so
that they may have their fill of the dead bodies of the men
whom I have struck down in my fury and in my indignation,
concealing my face from this city, because of all their
wickedness: {33:6} Behold, I will lead over them scars and
health, and I will cure them. And I will reveal to them an
invocation of peace and truth. {33:7} And I will convert the
turning away of Judah and the turning away of Jerusalem.
And I will build them up, just as from the beginning.
{33:8} And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, by
which they have sinned against me. And I will forgive all
their iniquities, by which they have offended against me and
have despised me. {33:9} And this will be for me: a name,
and a joy, and a praise, and an exultation, among all the
nations of the earth who will hear about all the good things
that I will accomplish for them. And they will be afraid and
troubled over all these good things, and over all the peace,
that I will accomplish for them. {33:10} Thus says the Lord:
Still shall there be heard in this place, (which you say is
desolate, because there is neither man nor beast,) and in the
cities of Judah and outside of Jerusalem, (which are desolate,
without man, and without an inhabitant and without cattle,)
{33:11} the voice of gladness and the voice of rejoicing, the
voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the voice of
those who will say: ‘Confess to the Lord of hosts! For the
Lord is good! For his mercy is eternal!’ and the voice of those
fulfilling their vows in the house of the Lord. For I will lead
back the turning away of the land, just as from the beginning,
says the Lord.” {33:12} Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Still
shall there be in this place, (which is desolate without man
and without beast,) and in all of its cities: a habitation for the
shepherds giving rest to their flocks. {33:13} For even in the
cities on the mountains, and in the cities on the plains, and in
the cities that are toward the south, and in the land of
Benjamin, and all around Jerusalem, and in the cities of
Judah, still shall the flocks travel by the hand of him who
numbers them, says the Lord. {33:14} Behold, the days are
approaching, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the good word
that I have spoken to the house of Israel and to the house of
Judah. {33:15} In those days and at that time, I will cause the
seedling of justice to spring up from David, and he will
accomplish judgment and justice upon the earth. {33:16} In
those days, Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in
confidence. And this is the name that they will call him: ‘The
Lord, our Just One.’ {33:17} For thus says the Lord: There
shall not cease to be a man from David sitting upon the
throne of the house of Israel. {33:18} And there shall not
cease to be a man from the priests and from the Levites
before my face, who offers holocausts, and burns sacrifices,
and kills victims, for days without end.” {33:19} And the
word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: {33:20} “Thus
says the Lord: If my covenant with the day is able to be
nullified, or my covenant with the night, such that there
would be no day and no night in their time, {33:21} then, too,
my covenant with David, my servant, may be nullified, such
that he would not have a son who reigns upon his throne,
with both the Levites and the priests as my ministers.
{33:22} Just as the stars of heaven are not able to be
numbered, and the sand of the sea is not able to be measured,
so will I multiply the offspring of David, my servant, and the
Levites, my ministers.” {33:23} And the word of the Lord
came to Jeremiah, saying: {33:24} “Have you not seen what
this people has spoken? They say: ‘The two families which
the Lord had chosen have been rejected.’ And so they have
despised my people, as if they were no longer a nation in
their sight. {33:25} Thus says the Lord: If I have not
established my covenant with the day and the night, and my
laws over heaven and earth, {33:26} then truly I will also cast
aside the offspring of Jacob, and of David, my servant, so
that I do not take up any of his offspring to be leaders over
the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will lead
back their turning way, and I will take pity on them.”


[Jeremiah 34] {34:1} The word that came to Jeremiah from
the Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and
his entire army, and all the kingdoms of the earth that were
under the authority of his hand, and all the people were
making war against Jerusalem and against all of its cities,
saying: {34:2} “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go,
and speak to Zedekiah, the king of Judah. And you shall say
to him: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will deliver this city
into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with
fire. {34:3} And you will not escape from his hand. Instead,
you will be overtaken and captured, and you will be delivered
into his hand. And your eyes will see the eyes of the king of
Babylon, and his mouth will speak with your mouth, and you
will enter into Babylon. {34:4} Even so, listen to the word of
the Lord, Zedekiah, king of Judah: Thus says the Lord to you:
You will not die by the sword. {34:5} Instead, you will die in
peace. And, in accord with the burnings of your fathers, the
former kings who were before you, so will they burn you.
And they will mourn you, saying: ‘Alas, lord!’ For I have
spoken the word, says the Lord.” {34:6} And Jeremiah, the
prophet, spoke all these words to Zedekiah, the king of Judah,
in Jerusalem. {34:7} And the army of the king of Babylon
fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah
that remained, against Lachish and against Azekah. For only
these remained out of the cities of Judah that were fortified
cities. {34:8} The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord,
after king Zedekiah had struck a pact with all the people in
Jerusalem, proclaiming {34:9} that each one should release
his man servant, and each one his woman servant, as a free
Hebrew man and a free Hebrew woman, and that they
should never be rulers over them, that is, over the Jews, their
own brothers. {34:10} Then all the leaders and all the people
who entered into the pact, heard that each one should release
his man servant, and each one his woman servant, to be free,
and that they should no longer rule over them. Therefore,
they listened, and they released them. {34:11} But later on,
they turned back. And they took back again their man
servants and their woman servants, whom they had released
to be free. And they subjugated them as male and female
servants. {34:12} And the word of the Lord came to
Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: {34:13} “Thus says the Lord,
the God of Israel: I struck a pact with your fathers in the day
when I led them away from the land of Egypt, from the house
of servitude, saying: {34:14} ‘When seven years have been
completed, let each one release his brother, a Hebrew, who
had been sold to him. And so he will serve you for six years,
and then you shall release him to be free from you.’ But your
fathers did not listen to me, nor did they incline their ear.
{34:15} And today you converted, and you did what is right
in my eyes, so that you proclaimed liberty, each one to his
friend. And you entered into a pact in my sight, in the house
in which and over which my name is invoked. {34:16} But
now you have turned back, and you have stained my name.
For you have led back again, each one his man servant, and
each one his woman servant, whom you had released so that
they would be free and under their own authority. And you
have subjugated them, so that they would be your servants
and handmaids.” {34:17} Because of this, thus says the Lord:
“You have not heeded me, though you proclaimed liberty,
each one to his brother and each one to his friend. Behold, I
am proclaiming a liberty for you, says the Lord, to the sword,
to pestilence, and to famine. And I will cause you to be
removed to all the kingdoms of the earth. {34:18} And I will
give over the men who have betrayed my covenant, and who
have not observed the words of the covenant, to which they
assented in my sight when they cut the calf into two parts and
passed between its parts: {34:19} the leaders of Judah, and
the leaders of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all
the people of the land, who have passed between the parts of
the calf. {34:20} And I will give them into the hands of their
enemies and into the hands of those who are seeking their life.
And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the air and
for the beasts of the earth. {34:21} And Zedekiah, the king of
Judah, and his leaders, I will give over to the hands of their
enemies, and to the hands of those who are seeking their lives,
and to the hands of the armies of the king of Babylon, which
had withdrawn from you. {34:22} Behold, I will command,
says the Lord, and I will lead them back to this city, and they
will fight against it, and seize it, and set it on fire. And I will
make the cities of Judah into a desolation, for there shall be
no inhabitant.”


[Jeremiah 35] {35:1} The word that came to Jeremiah from
the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king
of Judah, saying: {35:2} “Go to the house of the Rechabites,
and speak to them, and lead them into the house of the Lord,
into one of the halls of the treasuries. And you shall give
them wine to drink.” {35:3} And so I took Jaazaniah, the son
of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all
his sons, and the entire house of the Rechabites, {35:4} and I
led them into the house of the Lord, to the treasury of the
sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was
near the treasury of the princes, above the storehouse of
Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, who was the guardian of the
entrance. {35:5} And I placed before the sons of the house of
the Rechabites bowls filled with wine, and chalices. And I
said to them, “Drink wine.” {35:6} And they responded:
“We will not drink wine. For Jonadab, the son of Rechab,
our father, instructed us, saying: ‘You shall not drink wine,
you and your sons, in perpetuity. {35:7} And you shall not
build houses, and you shall not sow any seeds, and you shall
not plant or have vineyards. Instead, you shall live in tents all
your days, so that you may live many days upon the face of
the earth, in which you are sojourners.’ {35:8} Therefore, we
have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our
father, in all that he has commanded us, so that we do not
drink wine all our days, we and our wives, our sons and
daughters. {35:9} And we do not build houses in which to
live. And we do not have vineyard, or field, or seed to sow.
{35:10} Instead, we live in tents, and we have been obedient
in accord with all that Jonadab, our father, has instructed us.
{35:11} But when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had
ascended to our land, we said: ‘Come and let us enter into
Jerusalem, before the face of the army of the Chaldeans, and
before the face of the army of Syria.’ And we have remained
in Jerusalem.” {35:12} And the word of the Lord came to
Jeremiah, saying: {35:13} “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel: Go, and say to the men of Judah and to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem: Will you not accept discipline, so
that you obey my words, says the Lord? {35:14} The words
of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, in which he instructed his
sons, so that they would not drink wine, have prevailed. And
they have not drunk wine, even to this day. For they have
obeyed the instruction of their father. But I have spoken to
you, rising and speaking from early morning, and you did not
obey me. {35:15} And I have sent to you all my servants, the
prophets, rising at first light, and sending, and saying:
‘Convert, each one from his wicked way, and make your
intentions good. And do not choose to follow strange gods,
nor shall you worship them. And then you shall live in the
land which I gave to you and to your fathers.’ And yet you
have not inclined your ear, and you have not heeded me.
{35:16} So the sons of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have
remained firm in the commandment of their father, which he
instructed to them, while this people has not been obedient to
me. {35:17} For this reason, thus says the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel: Behold, I will lead over Judah and over all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, every evil that I have declared
against them. For I have spoken to them, and they have not
listened. I have called to them, and they have not responded
to me.” {35:18} Then Jeremiah said to the house of the
Rechabites: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab,
your father, and have kept all his precepts, and have done all
that he has instructed you, {35:19} because of this, thus says
the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: There will not be a man
lacking from the stock of Jonadab, the son of Rechab,
standing in my sight, for all days.”


[Jeremiah 36] {36:1} And it happened in the fourth year of
Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah: it happened
that this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:
{36:2} “Take the volume of a book, and you shall write in it
all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and
Judah, and against all the nations, from the day when I first
spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.
{36:3} Perhaps it may be that the house of Judah, upon
hearing all the evils that I have decided to do to them, may
return, each one from his wicked way, and then I will forgive
their iniquity and their sin.” {36:4} Therefore, Jeremiah
called Baruch, the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote, from the
mouth of Jeremiah, all the words of the Lord, which he had
spoken to him, in the volume of a book. {36:5} And
Jeremiah instructed Baruch, saying: “I am confined, and so I
am unable to enter into the house of the Lord.
{36:6} Therefore, you shall enter and read from the volume,
in which you have written from my mouth the words of the
Lord, in the hearing of the people in the house of the Lord on
the day of the fast. Moreover, you shall also read them in the
hearing of all those of Judah who are arriving from their
cities. {36:7} Perhaps it may happen that they pray in the
sight of the Lord, and each one may return from his wicked
way. For great is the fury and indignation that the Lord has
declared against this people.” {36:8} And Baruch, the son of
Neriah, acted in accord with all that Jeremiah, the prophet,
had instructed him, reading from the volume the words of the
Lord, in the house of the Lord. {36:9} And it happened that,
in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of
Judah, in the ninth month, they proclaimed a fast, in the sight
of the Lord, to all the people in Jerusalem, and to the entire
multitude which had flowed together, from the cities of
Judah, into Jerusalem. {36:10} And Baruch read from the
volume the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, at
the treasury of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, the scribe, in
the upper vestibule, at the entrance to the new gate of the
house of the Lord, in the hearing of all the people.
{36:11} And when Micaiah, the son of Gemariah, the son of
Shaphan, had heard all the words of the Lord from the book,
{36:12} he descended to the house of the king, to the treasury
of the scribe. And behold, all the leaders were sitting there:
Elishama, the scribe, and Delaiah, the son of Shemaiah, and
Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and Gemariah, the son of
Shaphan, and Zedekiah, the son of Hananiah, and all the
leaders. {36:13} And Micaiah announced to them all the
words that he had heard when Baruch read from the volume
to the ears of the people. {36:14} And so, all the leaders sent
Jehudi, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son
of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the volume,
from which you have read in the hearing of the people, and
come.” Therefore, Baruch, the son of Neriah, took the
volume in his hand, and he went to them. {36:15} And they
said to him, “Sit and read these things in our hearing.” And
Baruch read in their hearing. {36:16} Therefore, when they
had heard all the words, each one looked at his neighbor in
astonishment, and they said to Baruch: “We ought to report
all these words to the king.” {36:17} And they questioned
him, saying, “Describe to us how you wrote all these words
from his mouth.” {36:18} Then Baruch said to them: “He
was speaking with his mouth, as if reading to me. And I
wrote in a volume with ink.” {36:19} And the leaders said to
Baruch: “Go away and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no
one know where you are.” {36:20} And they entered to the
king, in the court. Furthermore, they stored the volume in the
treasury of Elishama, the scribe. And they announced all the
words in the hearing of the king. {36:21} And the king sent
Jehudi to take the volume. And bringing it from the treasury
of Elishama, the scribe, he read it in the hearing of the king
and of all the leaders who were standing around the king.
{36:22} Now the king was sitting in the winter house, in the
ninth month. And there was a hearth placed before him,
filled with burning coals. {36:23} And when Jehudi had read
three or four pages, he cut it with a small knife, and he threw
it into the fire which was upon the hearth, until the entire
volume was consumed by the fire which was upon the hearth.
{36:24} And the king and all his servants, who had heard all
these words, were not afraid, and they did not rend their
garments. {36:25} Yet truly, Elnathan, and Delaiah, and
Gemariah contradicted the king, so that he might not burn
the book. But he did not listen to them. {36:26} And the king
instructed Jerahmeel, the son of Amelech, and Seraiah, the
son of Azriel, and Shelemiah, the son of Abdeel, so that they
would apprehend Baruch, the scribe, and Jeremiah, the
prophet. But the Lord concealed them. {36:27} And after the
king had burned the volume and the words that Baruch had
written from the mouth of Jeremiah, the word of the Lord
came to Jeremiah, the prophet, saying: {36:28} “Again, take
another volume and write in it all the former words, which
were in the first volume that Jehoiakim, the king of Judah,
has burned. {36:29} And you shall say to Jehoiakim, the king
of Judah: Thus says the Lord: You have burned that volume,
saying: ‘Why have you written in it, announcing that the king
of Babylon will advance quickly, and will devastate this land,
and will cause both man and beast to cease from it?’
{36:30} Because of this, thus says the Lord against Jehoiakim,
the king of Judah: There will be, from him, no one who may
sit upon the throne of David. And his dead body shall be cast
out: to the heat by day, and to the frost by night. {36:31} And
I will visit against him, and against his offspring, and against
his servants for their iniquities. And I will lead over them,
and over the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and over the men of
Judah, all the evil that I have declared against them, for they
have not listened.” {36:32} Then Jeremiah took up another
volume, and he gave it to Baruch, the son of Neriah, the
scribe, who wrote in it, from the mouth of Jeremiah, all the
words of the book that Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, had
burned with fire. And moreover, there were many more
words added than there had been before.


[Jeremiah 37] {37:1} And then king Zedekiah, the son of
Josiah, reigned in place of Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim.
For Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, appointed him as
king in the land of Judah. {37:2} And neither he himself, nor
his servants, nor the people of the land, obeyed the words of
the Lord, which he spoke by the hand of Jeremiah, the
prophet. {37:3} And king Zedekiah sent Jehucal, the son of
Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest,
to Jeremiah the prophet, saying: “Pray to the Lord our God
for us.” {37:4} Now Jeremiah was walking freely in the midst
of the people. For they had not yet sent him into the custody
of the prison. And then the army of Pharaoh went forth from
Egypt. And hearing this, the Chaldeans, who were besieging
Jerusalem, withdrew from Jerusalem. {37:5} And the word
of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
{37:6} “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: So shall you
say to the king of Judah, who sent you to question me:
Behold, the army of Pharaoh, which has gone forth in
assistance to you, will return to their own land, into Egypt.
{37:7} And the Chaldeans will return and will make war
against this city. And they will seize it and burn it with fire.
{37:8} Thus says the Lord: Do not be willing to deceive your
own souls, saying: ‘The Chaldeans will certainly withdraw
and go away from us.’ For they will not go away. {37:9} But
even if you were to strike down the entire army of the
Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and if there were left
behind from among them only a few wounded men, they
would rise up, each one from his tent, and they would burn
this city with fire.” {37:10} Therefore, when the army of the
Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of
Pharaoh’s army, {37:11} Jeremiah went forth from Jerusalem,
to go into the land of Benjamin, and to distribute a possession
there, in the sight of the citizens. {37:12} And when he had
arrived at the gate of Benjamin, the keeper of the gate, whose
turn it was to be there, was named Irijah, the son of
Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah. And he apprehended
Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are fleeing to the
Chaldeans.” {37:13} And Jeremiah responded: “That is false.
I am not fleeing to the Chaldeans.” But he did not listen to
him. And so Irijah took Jeremiah, and he brought him to the
leaders. {37:14} Therefore, the leaders were angry with
Jeremiah, and so they beat him and sent him to the prison
that was in the house of Jonathan, the scribe. For he was the
chief over the prison. {37:15} And so Jeremiah went into the
house of the prison and into a dungeon. And Jeremiah sat
there for many days. {37:16} Then Zedekiah the king,
sending, took him out and questioned him secretly in his
house, and he said: “Do you think that there is any word
from the Lord?” And Jeremiah said: “There is.” And he said:
“You will be delivered into the hands of the king of
Babylon.” {37:17} And Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah:
“How have I sinned against you, or your servants, or your
people, such that you would cast me into a house of
imprisonment? {37:18} Where are your prophets, who were
prophesying to you, and who were saying: ‘The king of
Babylon will not overwhelm you and this land?’
{37:19} Now therefore, listen, I beg you, my lord the king.
Let my petition prevail in your sight. And do not send me
back into the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.”
{37:20} Then king Zedekiah instructed that Jeremiah be
confined to the vestibule of the prison, and that they should
give him a twist of bread daily, along with stew, until all the
bread in the city had been consumed. And Jeremiah
remained at the entrance of the prison.


[Jeremiah 38] {38:1} Then Shephatiah, the son of Mattan,
and Gedaliah, the son of Pashhur, and Jehucal, the son of
Shelemiah, and Pashhur, the son of Malchiah, heard the
words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying:
{38:2} “Thus says the Lord: Whoever will remain in this city
will die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence. But
whoever will flee away from the Chaldeans, will live, and his
soul will dwell in safety. {38:3} Thus says the Lord: This city
will certainly be delivered into the hand of the army of the
king of Babylon, and he will capture it.” {38:4} And the
leaders said to the king: “We petition you to put this man to
death. For he is deliberately weakening the hands of the men
of war, who have remained in this city, and the hands of the
people, by speaking to them with these words. For this man is
certainly not seeking peace for this people, but evil.”
{38:5} And king Zedekiah said: “Behold, he is in your hands.
For it is not fitting for the king to deny you anything.”
{38:6} Therefore, they took Jeremiah and cast him into the
pit of Malchiah, the son of Amelech, which was at the
entrance to the prison. And they lowered Jeremiah by ropes
into the pit, in which there was no water, but only mud. And
so Jeremiah descended into the mire. {38:7} Now
Ebedmelech, an Ethiopian man, a eunuch who was in the
king’s house, heard that they had sent Jeremiah into the pit,
and also that the king was sitting at the gate of Benjamin.
{38:8} And so Ebedmelech departed from the king’s house,
and he spoke to the king, saying: {38:9} “My lord the king,
these men have done evil in all that they have perpetrated
against Jeremiah the prophet, casting him into the pit so that
he would die there from famine. For there is no more bread
in the city.” {38:10} And so the king instructed Ebedmelech,
the Ethiopian, saying: “Take with you thirty men from here,
and lift Jeremiah the prophet from the pit, before he dies.”
{38:11} Therefore, Ebedmelech, taking the men with him,
entered into the king’s house to a place below the storehouse.
And he took from there old garments, no longer in use, and
he sent them down by rope to Jeremiah in the pit.
{38:12} And Ebedmelech, the Ethiopian, said to Jeremiah:
“Place these old garments, and these cut and decaying cloths,
under your arms and over the ropes.” And Jeremiah did so.
{38:13} And they pulled up Jeremiah with the ropes, and
they led him away from the pit. And Jeremiah remained in
the vestibule of the prison. {38:14} And king Zedekiah sent
and took Jeremiah the prophet to him at the third gate, which
was at the house of the Lord. And the king said to Jeremiah:
“I will question you about a matter. You shall conceal
nothing from me.” {38:15} Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah:
“If I announce to you, will you not put me to death? And if I
give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” {38:16} Then
king Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah, secretly, saying: “As the
Lord lives, who made this soul for us, I will not kill you, nor
will I deliver you into the hands of those men who are
seeking your life.” {38:17} And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah:
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If, having set
out, you go to the rulers of the king of Babylon, your soul will
live, and this city will not be burned with fire. And you and
your house will be safe. {38:18} But if you will not go to the
rulers of the king of Babylon, this city will be delivered into
the hands of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire.
And you will not escape from their hand.” {38:19} And king
Zedekiah said to Jeremiah: “I am anxious, because of the
Jews who have crossed over to the Chaldeans, lest perhaps I
may be delivered into their hands, and they may abuse me.”
{38:20} But Jeremiah responded: “They will not deliver you.
Listen, I ask you, to the voice of the Lord, which I am
speaking to you, and it will be well with you, and your soul
will live. {38:21} But if you refuse to depart, this is the word
that the Lord has revealed to me: {38:22} Behold, all the
women who remain in the house of the king of Judah will be
led away to the rulers of the king of Babylon. And the women
will say: ‘Your men of peacefulness have led you astray, and
they have prevailed against you. They have immersed your
feet in mud and have set them in a slippery place. And they
have withdrawn from you.’ {38:23} And all your wives and
your sons will be led away to the Chaldeans, and you will not
escape from their hands. Instead, you will be seized by the
hand of the king of Babylon. And he will burn this city with
fire.” {38:24} Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah: “Let no one
know of these words, and you will not die. {38:25} But if the
leaders hear that I have spoken with you, and if they come to
you, and say to you: ‘Tell us what you said to the king. Do
not conceal it from us, and we will not put you to death. And
tell us what the king said to you,’ {38:26} then you shall say
to them: ‘I presented my supplication before the king, so that
he would not order me to be led back to the house of
Jonathan, to die there.’ ” {38:27} Then all the leaders came
to Jeremiah, and they questioned him. And he spoke to them
in accord with all the words that the king had commanded
him. And they withdrew from him, for they had learned
nothing. {38:28} Yet truly, Jeremiah remained at the
entrance of the prison, until the day when Jerusalem was
seized. And it happened that Jerusalem was captured.


[Jeremiah 39] {39:1} In the ninth year of Zedekiah, the king
of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of
Babylon, came to Jerusalem, with his entire army, and they
besieged it. {39:2} Then, in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in
the fourth month, on the fifth of the month, the city was
opened. {39:3} And all the rulers of the king of Babylon
entered and were seated at the middle gate: Nergal-Sharezer,
the priest of Nebo, Sarsechim, the chief eunuch, Nergal-
Sharezer, the chief magi, and all the other rulers of the king
of Babylon. {39:4} And when Zedekiah, the king of Judah,
with all the men of war, had seen them, they fled. And they
departed from the city at night, by way of the king’s garden,
and through the gate which was between the two walls. And
they departed along the way of the desert. {39:5} But the
army of the Chaldeans pursued them. And they overtook
Zedekiah in the plain of the desert of Jericho. And having
captured him, they led him to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of
Babylon, at Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath. And he
declared a judgment against him {39:6} And the king of
Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah, at Riblah, before his
eyes. And the king of Babylon killed all the nobles of Judah.
{39:7} Also, he plucked out the eyes of Zedekiah. And he
bound him with fetters, to be led away to Babylon.
{39:8} Also, the Chaldeans burned the house of the king and
the house of the people with fire, and they overturned the
wall of Jerusalem. {39:9} And Nebuzaradan, the leader of
the military, carried away captive to Babylon the remnant of
the people who had remained in the city, and the fugitives
who had fled to him, and all the rest of the people who had
remained. {39:10} And Nebuzaradan, the leader of the
military, released some of the poor people, those who had
almost nothing, into the land of Judah. And he gave them
vineyards and cisterns in that day. {39:11} Now
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had instructed
Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, about Jeremiah,
saying: {39:12} “Take him, and set your eyes on him, and
you shall do no harm to him at all. But as he is willing, so
shall you do with him.” {39:13} Therefore, Nebuzaradan, the
leader of the military, sent, and Nebushazban, the chief
eunuch, and Nergal-Sharezer, the chief magi, and all the
nobles of the king of Babylon sent, {39:14} and they took
Jeremiah from the vestibule of the prison, and they delivered
him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, so
that he could enter a house and live among the people.
{39:15} But the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah,
when he had been confined to the vestibule of the prison,
saying: “Go, and speak to Ebedmelech, the Ethiopian, saying:
{39:16} Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
Behold, I will bring my words over this city for evil, and not
for good; and they shall be in your sight in that day.
{39:17} And I will free you in that day, says the Lord. And
you will not be delivered into the hands of the men whom
you dread. {39:18} But when delivering, I will free you. And
you will not fall by the sword. Instead, your life will be saved
for you, because you had faith in me, says the Lord.”


[Jeremiah 40] {40:1} The word that came to Jeremiah from
the Lord, after Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, had
released him from Ramah, where he had taken him, bound in
chains, along with all those who were being carried away
from Jerusalem and from Judah, and were being led to
Babylon. {40:2} Therefore, the leader of the military, taking
Jeremiah, said to him: “The Lord your God has declared this
evil over this place, {40:3} and he has brought it. And the
Lord has done just as he has spoken. For you have sinned
against the Lord, and you have not heeded his voice, and so
this word has happened to you. {40:4} Now therefore, behold,
I have released you this day from the chains which were on
your hands. If it pleases you to come with me into Babylon,
then come. And I will set my eyes upon you. But if it
displeases you to come with me into Babylon, then remain.
Behold, all the land is in your sight. Whatever you will
choose, and wherever it will please you to go, so shall you go,
proceeding to that place. {40:5} And you may decline to
come with me. For you may live with Gedaliah, the son of
Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has
made governor over the cities of Judah. Therefore, you may
live with him in the midst of the people. And you may go
wherever it will please you to go.” And the leader of the
military also gave him foods and gifts, and he released him.
{40:6} Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam,
at Mizpah. And he lived with him in the midst of the people,
those who had been left behind in the land. {40:7} And when
all the leaders of the army, who had been dispersed
throughout the regions, they and their associates, had heard
that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah, the son of
Ahikam, governor of the land, and that he had committed to
him the men, and women, and children, and the poor of the
land, who had not been carried away to Babylon, {40:8} they
went to Gedaliah at Mizpah, with Ishmael, the son of
Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan, the sons of Kareah,
and Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai,
who were of Netophathi, and Jezaniah, the son of Maacathi,
they and their men. {40:9} And Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam,
the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their companions,
saying: “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Live in the
land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with
you. {40:10} Behold, I live at Mizpah, so that I may follow
the instruction of the Chaldeans who are sent to us. But as for
you, gather the vintage, and the harvest, and the oil, and
store it up in your vessels, and dwell in your cities, which you
hold.” {40:11} So then, all the Jews, who were in Moab, and
among the sons of Ammon, and in Idumea, and in all the
regions, when they had heard that the king of Babylon had
left a remnant in Judea, and that he had made Gedaliah, the
son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor over them,
{40:12} all the Jews, I say, returned from all the places to
which they had fled, and they came into the land of Judah, to
Gedaliah at Mizpah. And they gathered wine and an
exceedingly great harvest. {40:13} Then Johanan, the son of
Kareah, and all the leaders of the army, who had been
dispersed in the regions, came to Gedaliah at Mizpah.
{40:14} And they said to him: “Know that Baalis, the king of
the sons of Ammon, has sent Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah,
to strike down your life.” And Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam,
did not believe them. {40:15} But Johanan, the son of
Kareah, spoke to Gedaliah, separately, at Mizpah, saying: “I
will go, and I will strike down Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah,
without anyone knowing; otherwise he may kill you, and all
the Jews will be scattered who have been gathered to you,
and the remnant of Judah will perish.” {40:16} And
Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, said to Johanan, the son of
Kareah: “Do not do this word. For what you have said about
Ishmael is false.”


[Jeremiah 41] {41:1} And it happened that, in the seventh
month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama
of royal descent, with the nobles of the king, and
accompanied by ten men, went to Gedaliah, the son of
Ahikam, at Mizpah. And they ate bread together there, in
Mizpah. {41:2} Then Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, rose up,
and the ten men who were with him, and they struck down
Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the
sword, and they killed him whom the king of Babylon had
made governor over the land. {41:3} Likewise, Ishmael
struck down all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah,
with the Chaldeans who were found there, and the men of
war. {41:4} Then, on the second day after he had killed
Gedaliah, while no one yet knew of it, {41:5} men arrived
from Shechem, and from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty
men, with their beards shaved, and their garments rent, and
unbathed. And they had gifts and frankincense in hand, so
that they might make an offering in the house of the Lord.
{41:6} Therefore, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, departing
from Mizpah to meet them, went forth weeping as he was
walking. And when he had met them, he said to them,
“Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam.” {41:7} And when
they had arrived at the center of the city, Ishmael, the son of
Nethaniah, put them to death around the public cistern, he
and the men who were with him. {41:8} But ten men were
found among them, who said to Ishmael: “Do not kill us! For
in the field we have storehouses of grain and barley and oil
and honey.” And so he ceased, and he did not put them to
death with their brothers. {41:9} Now the cistern, into which
Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had
struck down because of Gedaliah, is the same one that king
Asa made out of fear of Baasha, the king of Israel. This same
cistern Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, filled with those who
were slain. {41:10} Then Ishmael led away captive all the
remnant of the people who were at Mizpah, the king’s
daughters as well as all the people who remained at Mizpah,
whom Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, had
committed to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael, the
son of Nethaniah, seized them and went away, so that he
might go over to the sons of Ammon. {41:11} But Johanan,
the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the fighters who
were with him, heard about all the evil that Ishmael, the son
of Nethaniah, had done. {41:12} And taking all the men,
they set out to make war against Ishmael, the son of
Nethaniah. And they found him at the great waters that are
in Gibeon. {41:13} And when all the people who were with
Ishmael had seen Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the
leaders of the fighters who were with him, they rejoiced.
{41:14} And all the people whom Ishmael had seized turned
back to Mizpah. And they returned and went over to
Johanan, the son of Kareah. {41:15} But Ishmael, the son of
Nethaniah, fled with eight men from the face of Johanan, and
they went over to the sons of Ammon. {41:16} Therefore,
Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the fighters
who were with him, took from Mizpah the entire remnant of
the common people, whom they had led away from Ishmael,
the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah, the
son of Ahikam. These were strong men of battle, and women,
and children, and eunuchs: those whom he had led away
from Gibeon. {41:17} And they went away and settled as
sojourners at Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, so that
they might continue on and enter into Egypt, {41:18} away
from the face of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them,
because Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had struck down
Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had
made governor in the land of Judah.


[Jeremiah 42] {42:1} And all the leaders of the warriors, and
Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Azariah, the son of
Hoshaiah, and the rest of the common people, from the least
even to the greatest, drew near. {42:2} And they said to
Jeremiah the prophet: “Let our supplication fall before your
sight. And pray for us to the Lord your God, on behalf of this
entire remnant. For few out of many have been left behind,
just as your eyes behold us. {42:3} And so, may the Lord
your God announce to us the way that we must travel, and
the word that we must accomplish.” {42:4} Then Jeremiah,
the prophet, said to them: “I have listened. Behold, I will
pray to the Lord your God according to your words. And
whatever word he will respond to me, I will declare to you.
And I will conceal nothing from you.” {42:5} And they said
to Jeremiah: “May the Lord be the witness between us of
truth and fidelity, if we do not act according to whatever
word the Lord your God will send by you to us.
{42:6} Whether it is for good or for harm, we will obey the
voice of the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you. So
may it be well with us, when we heed the voice of the Lord
our God.” {42:7} Then, when ten days had been completed,
the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. {42:8} And he called
Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of warriors
who were with him, and all the people, from the least even to
the greatest. {42:9} And he said to them: “Thus says the Lord,
the God of Israel, to whom you have sent me, so that I may
present your petitions in his sight: {42:10} If you dwell
quietly in this land, I will build you up, and I will not tear
you down. I will plant you, and I will not uproot you. For
now I have been appeased by the harm that I have done to
you. {42:11} Do not be afraid before the face of the king of
Babylon, whom you have dreaded with great fear. Do not
dread him, says the Lord. For I am with you, so that I may
accomplish your salvation, and so that I may rescue you from
his hand. {42:12} And I will give you mercies, and I will take
pity on you, and I will cause you to live in your own land.
{42:13} But if you say: ‘We will not live in this land, nor will
we heed the voice of the Lord our God,’ {42:14} saying:
‘Never! Instead, we will travel to the land of Egypt, where we
will not see war, and we will not hear the blast of the trumpet,
and we will not endure famine. And there we shall live.’
{42:15} Because of this, hear now the word of the Lord, O
remnant of Judah: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of
Israel: If you set your faces so as to advance into Egypt, and
if you enter so that you may live there, {42:16} the sword
which you dread will overtake you there, in the land of Egypt,
and the famine, about which you are anxious, will cling to
you in Egypt, and there you shall die. {42:17} And all the
men, who have set their faces so that they may advance to
Egypt in order to live there, will die by the sword, and by
famine, and by pestilence. None of them will remain, nor will
they escape from the face of the evil that I will bring over
them. {42:18} For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of
Israel: Just as my fury and my indignation has been enflamed
over the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will my indignation be
enflamed over you, when you will have entered into Egypt.
And so you will be an oath, and an astonishment, and a curse,
and a disgrace. And you will never see this place again.
{42:19} This is the word of the Lord concerning you, O
remnant of Judah: Do not choose to enter into Egypt, for
certainly you understand what I have sworn to you this day.
{42:20} For you have deceived your own souls. For you have
sent me to the Lord our God, saying: ‘Pray on our behalf to
the Lord our God. And in accord with anything whatsoever
that the Lord our God will tell you, announce this to us, and
we will do it.’ {42:21} And I have announced it to you this
day, and you have not heeded the voice of the Lord your
God, concerning everything about which he has sent me to
you. {42:22} Therefore, know with certainty now, that you
will die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, in the
place which you wish to enter so that you may live there.”


[Jeremiah 43] {43:1} Then it happened that, when Jeremiah
had finished speaking all the words of the Lord their God to
the people, all those words concerning which the Lord their
God had sent him to them, {43:2} Azariah, the son of
Hoshaiah, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the
exalted men, spoke to Jeremiah, saying: “You are speaking a
lie! The Lord our God has not sent you to say: ‘You shall not
enter into Egypt so as to live in that place.’ {43:3} Instead,
Baruch, the son of Neriah, has incited you against us, so as to
deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, to put us to death
and to cause us to be led away into Babylon.” {43:4} And so
Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the
warriors, and all the people, did not heed the voice of the
Lord to remain in the land of Judah. {43:5} But Johanan, the
son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the warriors, took away
all the remnant of Judah, who had returned from all the
nations (to which they had been scattered before) to live in
the land of Judah: {43:6} men, and women, and children,
and the daughters of the king, and every soul that
Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, had left behind with
Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as well as
Jeremiah, the prophet, and Baruch, the son of Neriah.
{43:7} And they entered into the land of Egypt. For they did
not obey the voice of the Lord. And they went as far as
Tahpanhes. {43:8} And the word of the Lord came to
Jeremiah at Tahpanhes, saying: {43:9} “Take great stones in
your hand, and you shall conceal them in the crypt which is
under the brick wall at the gate of the house of Pharaoh at
Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah. {43:10} And
you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God
of Israel: Behold, I will send for and take Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne over
these stones which I have concealed, and he will establish his
throne upon them. {43:11} And he will come and strike the
land of Egypt: those who are meant for death, shall go to
death, and those for captivity, to captivity, and those for the
sword, to the sword. {43:12} And he will kindle a fire in the
shrines of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them down,
and he will lead them away captive. And he will clothe
himself with the land of Egypt, just as a shepherd is clothed
with his cloak. And he will go forth from that place in peace.
{43:13} And he will crush the statues of the house of the Sun,
those that are in the land of Egypt, and the shrines of the gods
of Egypt he will burn up with fire.”


[Jeremiah 44] {44:1} The word that came through Jeremiah
to all the Jews who were living in the land of Egypt, living at
Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Memphis, and in the land
of Pathros, saying: {44:2} “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel: You yourselves have seen all this evil that I
have led over Jerusalem and over all the cities of Judah. And
behold, they are desolate to this day, and there is no
inhabitant in them, {44:3} because of the wickedness which
they have done, so that they provoked me to wrath, and
because they went to offer sacrifice and worship to strange
gods, which neither they, nor you, nor your fathers knew.
{44:4} And I sent to you all my servants, the prophets, rising
in the night, and sending, and saying: ‘Do not choose to do
this abominable word, which I hate.’ {44:5} But they did not
listen, nor did they incline their ear, so that they would
convert from their evil, and so that they would not sacrifice to
strange gods. {44:6} And so my indignation and my fury was
fanned and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of
Jerusalem. And they have been turned into desolation and
devastation, just as it is this day. {44:7} And now, thus says
the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this
great evil against your own souls, so that, among you, man
and woman, child and infant would pass away from the
midst of Judah, and so that no remnant at all would be left
behind of you? {44:8} For you have provoked me by the
works of your hands, by sacrificing to strange gods in the
land of Egypt, into which you have entered in order to live
there, and so that you would perish and become a curse and a
disgrace before all the nations of the earth. {44:9} How could
you have forgotten the evils of your fathers, and the evils of
the kings of Judah, and the evils of their wives, and your own
evils, and the evils of your own wives, which they have done
in the land of Judah and in the regions of Jerusalem?
{44:10} They have not been cleansed, even to this day. And
they have not feared, and they have not walked in the law of
the Lord and in my precepts, which I have given before you
and before your fathers. {44:11} For this reason, thus says the
Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set my face
upon you for evil. And I will disperse all of Judah.
{44:12} And I will take the remnant of Judah, who had set
their faces so that they would enter into the land of Egypt and
live there, and they will all be consumed in the land of Egypt.
They will fall by the sword and by famine. And they will be
consumed, from the least, even to the greatest. By sword and
by famine shall they die. And they will be an oath, and a
wonder, and a curse, and a disgrace. {44:13} And I will visit
against those who are living in the land of Egypt, just as I
have visited against Jerusalem: with the sword, and with
famine, and with pestilence. {44:14} And there will be no
one who escapes, of those who remain among the remnant of
the Jews, those who have gone to sojourn in the land of
Egypt. And they wish to be returned to the land of Judah, for
they lift up their souls so that they might return and live there.
But there will be no one who may return, except those who
will flee.” {44:15} Then all the men, knowing that their wives
were sacrificing to strange gods, and all of the women, a great
multitude of whom were standing there, and all of the people
who were living in the land of Egypt at Pathros, responded to
Jeremiah, by saying: {44:16} “Concerning the word that you
have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not heed
you. {44:17} But we will continue to do every word which
proceeds from our own mouth, so that we sacrifice to the
queen of heaven, and we pour out libations to her, just as we
and our fathers have done, our kings and our leaders, in the
cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For we were
filled with bread, and it was well with us, and we saw no evil.
{44:18} But since the time that we ceased to offer sacrifice to
the queen of heaven, and to pour out libations to her, we
have been in need of all things, and we have been consumed
by the sword and by famine. {44:19} But when we offer
sacrifice to the queen of heaven and pour out libations to her,
do we make cakes for her worship and offer libations to her
without our husbands?” {44:20} And Jeremiah spoke to all
the people, facing the men, and facing the women, and facing
all the people who had responded this word to him, saying:
{44:21} “Was this not the sacrifice that you offered in the
cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your
fathers, your kings and your leaders, and the people of the
land, which has been called to mind by the Lord and which
has entered into his heart? {44:22} And the Lord could no
longer bear this, because of the evil of your intentions, and
because of the abominations that you have done. And so,
your land has become a desolation, and an astonishment, and
a curse, and it is without an inhabitant, even to this day.
{44:23} This is because you have sacrificed to idols, and you
have sinned against the Lord. And you have not heeded the
voice of the Lord, and you have not walked in his law, and in
his precepts, and in his testimonies. It is for this reason that
these evils have happened to you, just as it is today.”
{44:24} Then Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the
women: “Listen to the word of the Lord, all you of Judah
who are in the land of Egypt: {44:25} Thus says the Lord of
hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You and your wives have
spoken it with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your
hands, saying: ‘Let us perform our vows that we have made,
so that we may offer sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and
pour out libations to her.’ You have fulfilled your vows and
accomplished their works. {44:26} Because of this, listen to
the word of the Lord, all you of Judah, who live in the land
of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the
Lord, that my name will never again be invoked by the
mouth of any man of Judah in the land of Egypt, saying: ‘As
the Lord God lives.’ {44:27} Behold, I will be vigilant over
them for harm, and not for good. And all the men of Judah
who are in the land of Egypt will be consumed, by the sword
and by famine, until they are thoroughly consumed.
{44:28} And a few men, who will flee from the sword, will
return from the land of Egypt into the land of Judah. And all
the remnant of Judah, who had entered into the land of
Egypt so as to live there, will know whose word will be
completed, mine or theirs. {44:29} And this will be a sign to
you, says the Lord, that I will visit against you in this place,
so that truly you may know that my words will be completed
against you for harm.” {44:30} Thus says the Lord: “Behold,
I will deliver Pharaoh Hophra, the king of Egypt, into the
hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who are
seeking his life, just as I delivered Zedekiah, the king of
Judah, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon,
his enemy and the one who was seeking his life.”
[Jeremiah 45] {45:1} The word that Jeremiah the prophet
spoke to Baruch, the son of Neriah, when he had written
these words in a book, from the mouth of Jeremiah, in the
fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah,
saying: {45:2} “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you,
Baruch: {45:3} You have said: ‘Woe to me, a wretched man!
For the Lord has added sorrow to my sorrow. I have labored
in my groaning, and I have not found rest.’ {45:4} Thus says
the Lord: So shall you say to him: Behold, those whom I
have built up, I destroy, and those whom I have planted, I
uproot, even this entire land. {45:5} And are you seeking
great things for yourself? Do not choose to seek them. For
behold, I will lead evil over all that is flesh, says the Lord. But
I will give your life to you unto salvation, in every place,
wherever you may travel.”


[Jeremiah 46] {46:1} The word of the Lord that came to
Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles, {46:2} about
Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt,
which was beside the river Euphrates at Carchemish, which
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, struck down, in the
fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah:
{46:3} “ ‘Prepare the heavy and the light shield, and advance
to war! {46:4} Harness the horses, and let the horsemen
climb upon them! Stand forth with helmets! Sharpen the
lances! Clothe yourselves in armor!’ {46:5} And what is next?
I have seen them terrified, and turning their backs, their
strong ones cut down. They have fled in disorder and have
not looked back. Terror on every side, says the Lord.
{46:6} Let not the swift take flight; let not the strong ones
think to save themselves. They have been conquered and
ruined, toward the north, near the river Euphrates.
{46:7} Who is this, who ascends like a flood, and whose
streams swell up, like those of the rivers? {46:8} Egypt
ascends in the form of a river, and its waves will be moved
like those of a river. And he will say: ‘I will ascend and cover
the earth! I will perish the city and its inhabitants!’
{46:9} Mount the horses, and exult upon chariots, and let the
strong ones advance: the Ethiopians, and the Libyans, who
hold the heavy shield, and the Lydians, who grasp and shoot
arrows. {46:10} For this is the day of the Lord, the God of
hosts, a day of vengeance, so that he may vindicate himself of
his enemies. The sword will devour, and be satiated, and be
inebriated with their blood. For there is a victim of the Lord,
the God of hosts, in the land of the north, beside the river
Euphrates. {46:11} Ascend to Gilead, and take its balm, O
virgin daughter of Egypt! It is in vain that you multiply
medicines; there will be no health for you! {46:12} The
nations have heard of your disgrace, and your wailing has
filled the earth. For the strong have stumbled against the
strong, and both have fallen together.” {46:13} The word that
the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, concerning how
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, would arrive and
strike the land of Egypt: {46:14} “Announce it to Egypt, and
make it heard in Migdol, and let it resonate in Memphis and
in Tahpanhes. Say this: Stand and prepare yourself! For the
sword will devour everything around you. {46:15} Why have
your strong ones decayed? They have not stood firm, because
the Lord has overthrown them. {46:16} He has multiplied
those in ruin, and each man has fallen beside his neighbor.
And they will say: ‘Rise up, and let us return to our own
people and to the land of our nativity, away from the face of
the sword of the dove. {46:17} Call the name of Pharaoh, the
king of Egypt: ‘Time has brought tumult.’ {46:18} As I live,
says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts, just as Tabor
is among the mountains, and just as Carmel is beside the sea,
so will he come. {46:19} Equip yourself for the
transmigration, O daughter who inhabitants Egypt. For
Memphis will be in desolation, and it will be deserted and
uninhabited. {46:20} Egypt is like a stately and finely-formed
calf. The one who will goad her will come from the north.
{46:21} Her hired hands also, who move within her midst,
like fatted calves have been turned back, and they have fled at
the same time, and they are not able to stand firm. For the
day of their passing away has overwhelmed them; it is the
time of their visitation. {46:22} Her voice will sound out like
brass. For they will rush forward with an army, and with axes
they will come against her, like those who chop wood.
{46:23} They have cut down her forest, says the Lord, which
was not able to be counted. They have been multiplied more
than locusts, and they are without number. {46:24} The
daughter of Egypt has been confounded, and she has been
delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
{46:25} The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: Behold, I
will visit against the tumult of Alexandria, and against
Pharaoh, and against Egypt, and against her gods, and
against her kings, and against Pharaoh, and against those
who trust in him. {46:26} And I will give them over to the
hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of
his servants. And after this, it shall be inhabited, just as in the
former days, says the Lord. {46:27} And as for you, my
servant Jacob, you should not be afraid, and you should not
dread, O Israel. For behold, I will bring your salvation from
afar, and your offspring from the land of your captivity. And
Jacob will return and have rest, and he will prosper. And
there will be no one who may terrify him. {46:28} And as for
you, my servant Jacob, do not be afraid, says the Lord. For I
am with you. For I will consume all the nations to which I
have cast you out. Yet truly, I will not consume you. Instead,
I will chastise you in judgment, but neither will I spare you,
as if you were innocent.”


[Jeremiah 47] {47:1} The word of the Lord that came to
Jeremiah, the prophet, against the Philistines, before Pharaoh
struck Gaza. {47:2} Thus says the Lord: “Behold, waters will
rise up from the north, and they will be like an inundating
torrent, and they will cover the land and its plenitude, the city
and its inhabitants. The men will cry out, and all the
inhabitants of the land will wail, {47:3} before the uproar of a
procession of weapons and of his soldiers, before the
commotion of his four-horse chariots and the multitude of his
wheels. The fathers have not looked back for the sons,
because of feebleness of hands, {47:4} because of the arrival
of the day on which all the Philistines will be devastated, and
Tyre and Sidon will be destroyed, with all the rest of their
helpers. For the Lord has depopulated the Philistines, the
remnant of the island of Cappadocia. {47:5} Baldness has
arrived over Gaza. Ashkelon has been silenced, along with
the remnant of their valley. And how long will you continue
to be cut down? {47:6} O sharp sword of the Lord, how long
will you be without rest? Enter your sheath; be refreshed and
silenced. {47:7} But how can it find rest, when the Lord has
ordered it against Ashkelon and against its maritime regions,
and when a task has been appointed to it there?”


[Jeremiah 48] {48:1} Against Moab, thus says the Lord of
hosts, the God of Israel: “Woe upon Nebo! For it has been
devastated and confounded. Kiriathaim has been seized; the
strong one has been confounded and has trembled.
{48:2} There is no longer any rejoicing in Moab over
Heshbon. They have devised evil. ‘Come and let us destroy it
as a nation.’ Then you will be utterly silenced, and the sword
will pursue you. {48:3} A voice of clamor from Horonaim:
devastation and great destruction! {48:4} Moab has been
crushed. Announce an outcry for her little ones. {48:5} For,
along the ascent of Luhith, the mourner will ascend with
weeping. For, on the descent of Horonaim, the enemies have
heard the wailing of devastation. {48:6} Flee, save your lives!
And you shall be like a saltcedar tree in the desert. {48:7} For
because you have had faith in your fortifications and in your
storehouses, you too will be seized. And Chemosh will go
into captivity: his priests and his leaders together. {48:8} And
the despoiler will overwhelm every city, and not a single city
will be saved. And the valleys will perish, and the fields will
be destroyed. For the Lord has spoken. {48:9} Give a
blossom to Moab. For it will depart when it is blossoming.
And its cities will become desolate and uninhabited.
{48:10} Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord
deceitfully. And cursed is he who prohibits his sword from
blood. {48:11} Moab has been fertile from his youth, and he
has rested amid his brood. And he has not been transferred
from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into the transmigration.
Therefore, his taste has remained with him, and his scent has
not changed. {48:12} Because of this, behold, the days are
approaching, says the Lord, when I will send to him those
who will line up and knock down his bottles, and they will
knock him down and empty his vessels, and they will break
their bottles against one another.
{48:13} And Moab will be confounded by Chemosh, just as
the house of Israel was shamed by Bethel, in which they had
faith. {48:14} How can you say: ‘We are strong and robust
men of battle?’ {48:15} Moab has been devastated, and they
have cut down her cities. And her elect young men have
descended to slaughter. So says the King, whose name is the
Lord of hosts. {48:16} The passing away of Moab draws near
and arrives. Its evil will rush forward with great speed.
{48:17} Console him, all you who surround him and all you
who know his name. Say: ‘How has the strong staff become
broken, the glorious staff?’ {48:18} Descend from your glory,
and sit in thirst, O habitation of the daughter of Dibon! For
the destroyer of Moab has ascended to you; he has dissipated
your fortifications. {48:19} Stand in the way, and gaze out, O
habitation of Aroer! Question him who is fleeing, and say to
him who has escaped: ‘What has happened?’ {48:20} Moab
has been confounded, because he has been conquered. Wail
and cry out! Announce it in Arnon: Moab has been
devastated, {48:21} and judgment has arrived upon the land
of the plains: upon Holon, and upon Jahzah, and upon
Mephaath, {48:22} and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and
upon the house of Deblathaim, {48:23} and upon Kiriathaim,
and upon the house of Gamul, and upon the house of Meon,
{48:24} and upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all
the cities of the land of Moab, those far away and those
nearby. {48:25} The horn of Moab has been cut away, and
his arm has been crushed, says the Lord. {48:26} Inebriate
him, for he has lifted himself up against the Lord. And Moab
will thrust his hand into his own vomit, and also now he
himself will become a derision. {48:27} For Israel had been a
derision to them. It was as if you had discovered him among
thieves. Because of your own words, then, which you have
spoken against him, you will be led away captive.
{48:28} Relinquish the cities, and live upon a rock, O
inhabitants of Moab, and be like a dove nesting at the mouth
of an opening at the summit. {48:29} We have listened to the
arrogance of Moab; he is very proud: his exaltation, and
arrogance, and pride, and the loftiness of his heart. {48:30} I
myself know, says the Lord, his boasting, and that his ability
is not in accord with it, nor is it in accord with what he has
been striving to do. {48:31} For this reason, I will wail over
Moab, and I will cry out to all of Moab, to the men on the
brick wall who are lamenting. {48:32} O vineyard of Sibmah,
I will weep for you, with the mourning of Jazer. Your
offshoots have crossed over the sea. They have reached even
to the sea of Jazer. The despoiler has rushed over your
harvest and your vintage. {48:33} Rejoicing and exultation
has been taken away from Carmel and from the land of Moab.
And I have taken the wine from the winepresses. The treader
of grapes will no longer sing the usual rhythmic chant.
{48:34} From the outcry of Heshbon, even to Elealeh and
Jahzah, they have uttered their voice; from Zoar, even to
Horonaim, like a three year old calf. So too, the waters of
Nimrim will be very bad. {48:35} And I will take away from
Moab, says the Lord, the one who makes offerings in exalted
places, and the one who sacrifices to his gods.
{48:36} Because of this, my heart will resound for Moab, like
the pipes, and my heart will make a sound like the pipes for
the men on the brick wall. For he has done more than he was
able, yet still they have perished. {48:37} For every head will
be bald, and every beard will be shaved. All the hands will be
bound together, and there will be haircloth on every back.
{48:38} Over all the rooftops of Moab, and in its streets,
everyone will mourn. For I have crushed Moab like a useless
vessel, says the Lord. {48:39} How was it conquered, so that
they would wail? How is it that Moab has cast down his neck
and been confounded? And Moab will be a derision and an
example to everyone around him.” {48:40} Thus says the
Lord: “Behold, he will fly like the eagle, and he will extend
his wings to Moab. {48:41} Kerioth has been captured, and
the fortifications have been taken. And in that day, the heart
of the strong ones of Moab will be like the heart of a woman
giving birth. {48:42} And Moab will cease to be a people. For
he has been glorified against the Lord. {48:43} Terror and the
pit and the snare will overwhelm you, O inhabitant of Moab,
says the Lord. {48:44} Whoever flees from the terror will fall
into the pit. And whoever climbs out of the pit will be seized
by the snare. For I will lead over Moab the year of their
visitation, says the Lord. {48:45} Those fleeing from the
snare stood in the shadow of Heshbon. For a fire has gone
forth from Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon,
and it will devour the portion of Moab, and the top of the
head of the sons of tumult. {48:46} Woe to you, O Moab!
You have been ruined, O people of Chemosh! For your sons
and your daughters have been taken into captivity.
{48:47} But I will convert the captivity of Moab in the last
days, says the Lord.” Such are the judgments of Moab thus
far.


[Jeremiah 49] {49:1} Against the sons of Ammon. Thus says
the Lord: “Does Israel have no sons? Or is there no heir for
him? Then why has Milcom possessed the inheritance of Gad,
and why have his people lived in his cities? {49:2} Therefore,
behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will
cause the noise of battle to be heard over Rabbah of the sons
of Ammon. And it will be scattered into a tumult, and her
daughters will be burned with fire. And Israel shall possess
those who had possessed him, says the Lord. {49:3} Wail, O
Heshbon! For Ai has been devastated. Cry out, O daughters
of Rabbah! Wrap yourselves with haircloth. Mourn and circle
the hedges. For Milcom will be led into the transmigration:
his priests and his leaders together. {49:4} Why have you
gloried in the valleys? Your valley has flowed away, O
delicate daughter, for you had confidence in your treasures,
and you were saying, ‘Who can approach me?’ {49:5} Behold,
I will lead a terror over you, says the Lord, the God of hosts,
from those who are all around you. And you will be
dispersed, each one from before your sight. There will be no
one who will gather together those who are fleeing.
{49:6} And after this, I will cause the captives of the sons of
Ammon to return, says the Lord.” {49:7} Against Idumea.
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Is there no longer any wisdom
in Teman? Counsel has perished from the sons. Their
wisdom has become useless. {49:8} Flee and turn your backs!
Descend into the chasm, O inhabitants of Dedan! For I have
brought the perdition of Esau over him, the time of his
visitation. {49:9} If those who gather grapes had passed by
you, would they not have left behind a cluster? If there were
thieves in the night, they would seize what was enough for
themselves. {49:10} Yet truly, I have stripped Esau bare. I
have revealed his secrets, and he is not able to be concealed.
His offspring has been devastated, with his brothers and his
neighbors, and he himself will not exist. {49:11} Leave
behind your orphans. I will make sure that they live. And
your widows will hope in me.” {49:12} For thus says the
Lord: “Behold, those who judged that they would not drink
the cup, will certainly drink. And so, will you be released as if
you were innocent? You will not be released as if innocent.
Instead, you shall certainly drink. {49:13} For I have sworn
by myself, says the Lord, that Bozrah will be a desolation,
and a disgrace, and a wasteland, and a curse. And all her
cities will be a perpetual wilderness. {49:14} I have heard a
report from the Lord, and an legate has been sent to the
nations: ‘Gather yourselves together, and go forth against her,
and let us rise up to battle.’ {49:15} For behold, I have made
you little among the nations, contemptible among men.
{49:16} Your arrogance has deceived you, by the pride of
your heart, you who live in the caverns of the rock and who
strive to take hold of the height of the hill. But even if you
make your nest like that of an eagle, I will pull you down
from there, says the Lord. {49:17} And Idumea will be a
desert. Everyone who passes by it will be stupefied and will
hiss over all its wounds. {49:18} Just as Sodom and
Gomorrah and their neighbors were overthrown, says the
Lord: there will not be a man living there, and no son of man
will tend it. {49:19} Behold, he will ascend like a lion from
the arrogance of the Jordan, against the robust beauty. For I
will cause him to rush against her suddenly. And who will be
the elect one, whom I may appoint over her? For who is like
me? And who can endure me? And who is that pastor who
can withstand my countenance? {49:20} Because of this,
listen to the counsel of the Lord, which he has undertaken
concerning Edom, and to his thoughts, which he has devised
concerning the inhabitants of Teman. Certainly, the little
ones of the flock will cast them down, unless they scatter
them with their habitation. {49:21} The earth has been
shaken at the noise of their destruction. The outcry of their
voice has been heard at the Red Sea. {49:22} Behold, he will
ascend like an eagle and will fly. And he will spread his wings
over Bozrah. And in that day, the heart of the strong ones of
Idumea will be like the heart of a woman giving birth.”
{49:23} Against Damascus. “Hamath has been confounded,
with Arpad. For they have heard a most grievous report.
They have been stirred up like the sea. Because of
anxiousness, they were not able to rest. {49:24} Damascus
has been broken. She has been turned to flight. Trembling has
taken hold of her. Anguish and sorrows have seized her, like
a woman giving birth. {49:25} How could they have
abandoned the praiseworthy city, the city of rejoicing?
{49:26} For this reason, her young men will fall in her streets.
And all the men of battle will be silenced in that day, says the
Lord of hosts. {49:27} And I will kindle a fire at the wall of
Damascus, and it will devour the defensive walls of Ben-
hadad.” {49:28} Against Kedar and against the kingdoms of
Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has
struck down. Thus says the Lord: “Rise up and ascend to
Kedar, and lay waste to the sons of the East. {49:29} They
will seize their tabernacles and their flocks. And they will
take for themselves their tents, and all their vessels, and their
camels. And they will call down a terror upon them on every
side. {49:30} Flee, go away urgently! Sit in deep pits, you
who inhabit Hazor, says the Lord. For Nebuchadnezzar, the
king of Babylon, has undertaken a counsel against you, and
he has devised plans against you. {49:31} Rise up, and
ascend to a nation that is quiet and lives in confidence, says
the Lord. They have neither gates nor bars. They dwell alone.
{49:32} And their camels will be a spoil, and the multitude of
their cattle will be a prey. And I will disperse, into every wind,
those who have shaved their hair. And from all their confines,
I will lead great destruction over them, says the Lord.
{49:33} And Hazor will be a habitation for serpents, deserted
even unto eternity. No man will abide there, nor will a son of
man tend it.” {49:34} The word of the Lord that came to
Jeremiah the prophet against Elam, in the beginning of the
reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah, saying: {49:35} “Thus
says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,
and the summit of their strength. {49:36} And I will lead the
four winds over Elam, from the four corners of heaven. And I
will scatter them into all these winds. And there will be no
nation to which the fugitives of Elam will not travel.
{49:37} And I will cause Elam to be terrified before their
enemies and in the sight of those who seek their life. And I
will lead an evil over them, the wrath of my fury, says the
Lord. And I will send the sword after them, until I consume
them. {49:38} And I will set my throne in Elam, and I will
perish the kings and princes from there, says the Lord.
{49:39} But in the last days, I will cause the captives of Elam
to return, says the Lord.”


[Jeremiah 50] {50:1} The word that the Lord has spoken
about Babylon and about the land of the Chaldeans, by the
hand of Jeremiah the prophet. {50:2} “Announce it among
the Gentiles, and make it known. Lift up a sign. Proclaim it
and do not conceal it. Say this: ‘Babylon has been captured.
Bel has been confounded. Merodach has been conquered.
Their graven things have been confounded. Their idols have
not survived.’ {50:3} For a nation has ascended against her
from the north, which will set her land in desolation. And
there will be no one who may live within it, from man even
to beast. For they have been removed and have gone away.
{50:4} In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the sons
of Israel will advance, they and the sons of Judah together.
Weeping as they walk, they will hurry on, and they will seek
the Lord their God. {50:5} They will ask the way to Zion;
their faces will be set toward this place. They will arrive and
will be joined to the Lord by an everlasting covenant, which
nothing will wipe away into oblivion. {50:6} My people have
become a lost flock. Their shepherds have led them astray
and have caused them to wander in the mountains. They
have crossed from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their
resting place. {50:7} All whom they have found, they have
devoured. And their enemies have said: ‘We have not sinned.
For it is they who have sinned against the Lord, the beauty of
justice, and against the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’
{50:8} Withdraw from the midst of Babylon, and go forth
from the land of the Chaldeans. And be like young goats
before the flock. {50:9} For behold, I am raising up, and I
will lead against Babylon, a congregation of great nations
from the land of the north. And they will be prepared against
her, and from there she will be taken. Their arrows, like those
of a strong man, a killer, will not return empty. {50:10} And
Chaldea will become a prey. All who lay waste to her will be
filled, says the Lord. {50:11} For you exult and you speak
great things, plundering my inheritance. For you have spread
out like calves upon the grass, and you have bellowed like
bulls. {50:12} Your mother has been exceedingly shamed,
and she who bore you has become equal to the dust. Behold,
she will be the last among the nations, a desert, impassable
and dry. {50:13} By the wrath of the Lord, it will not be
inhabited. Instead, it will be entirely desolate. Every one who
passes by Babylon will be stupefied and will hiss over all her
wounds. {50:14} Prepare yourselves against Babylon, on
every side, all you who bend the bow. Make war against her!
You should not spare the arrows, for she has sinned against
the Lord. {50:15} Cry out against her! For where she has put
forth a hand, her foundations have fallen, her walls have been
destroyed. For it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take
vengeance against her! Just as she has done, do so to her.
{50:16} Destroy the founder from Babylon, and the one who
holds the sickle in the time of harvest. Before the face of the
sword of the dove, each one will turn back to his people, and
every one will flee to his own land. {50:17} Israel is a
scattered flock. The lions have driven him away. First, the
king of Assyria devoured him. And last, this Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon, has taken away his bones.
{50:18} Because of this, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God
of Israel: Behold, I will visit the king of Babylon and his land,
just as I have visited the king of Assyria. {50:19} And I will
lead back Israel to his habitation. And he will pasture on
Carmel and Bashan, and his soul will be satiated at mount
Ephraim and Gilead. {50:20} In those days and at that time,
says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel will be sought, and there
will be none. And the sin of Judah will be sought, and none
will be found. For I will be forgiving to them, whom I will
leave behind. {50:21} Ascend against the land of the rulers,
and visit against its inhabitants! Scatter and destroy whatever
has been left behind them, says the Lord, and act according
to all that I have instructed you. {50:22} A voice of war in
the land, and great destruction! {50:23} How has the mallet
of the entire earth been broken and crushed? How has
Babylon been turned into a desert among the nations?
{50:24} I have ensnared you, and you have been captured, O
Babylon, and you did not realize it. You have been
discovered and seized, because you provoked the Lord.
{50:25} The Lord has opened his storehouse, and he has
brought forth the instruments of his wrath. For there is work
for the Lord, the God of hosts, within the land of the
Chaldeans. {50:26} Advance against her from the furthest
regions! Open, so that those who will trample her may go out!
Take stones from the road, and gather them into piles, and
destroy her. And let there be nothing left of her.
{50:27} Scatter all her strong ones. Let them descend to the
slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has arrived, the time of
their visitation. {50:28} It is the voice of those who are
fleeing and of those who have escaped from the land of
Babylon: to announce in Zion the revenge of the Lord our
God, the revenge of his Temple. {50:29} Announce it to the
many in Babylon, to all who bend the bow. Stand together
against her all around, and let no one escape. Repay her
according to her work. In accord with all that she has done,
do to her. For she has raised herself up against the Lord,
against the Holy One of Israel. {50:30} For this reason, her
young men will fall in her streets. And all her men of war will
be silenced, in that day, says the Lord. {50:31} Behold, I am
against you, O proud one, says the Lord, the God of hosts.
For your day has arrived, the time of your visitation.
{50:32} And the proud one will fall and be ruined. And there
will be no one who may lift him up. And I will kindle a fire in
his cities, and it will devour everything around him.”
{50:33} Thus says the Lord of hosts: “The sons of Israel and
the sons of Judah have endured calumny together. All who
have seized them are holding them and refusing to release
them. {50:34} Their redeemer is strong. The Lord of hosts is
his name. He will defend their case in judgment, so that he
may terrify the land and disturb the inhabitants of Babylon.
{50:35} A sword is for the Chaldeans, says the Lord, and for
the inhabitants of Babylon, and for her leaders, and for her
wise ones. {50:36} A sword is for her diviners, who will be
fooled. A sword is for her strong ones, who will be afraid.
{50:37} A sword is for their horses, and for their chariots,
and for all the common people who are in her midst. And
they will be like women. A sword is for her storehouses, and
they will be plundered. {50:38} A drought is over her waters,
and they will be dried up. For it is a land of graven images,
and they glory in portents. {50:39} Because of this, dragons
will live there with the fig fauns, and ostriches will live in it.
And it will no longer be inhabited, even in perpetuity, nor
will it be raised up, even from generation to generation.
{50:40} Just as the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and their neighboring towns, says the Lord, no man will live
there, and a son of man will not tend it. {50:41} Behold, a
people arrives from the north, and a great nation. And many
kings will rise up from the ends of the earth. {50:42} They
will take up the bow and the shield. They are cruel and
merciless. Their voice will sound out, like the sea, and they
will ride upon horses, like a man prepared for battle against
you, O daughter of Babylon. {50:43} The king of Babylon
has heard the report about them, and his hands have been
weakened. Anguish has overtaken him, like the pains of a
woman giving birth. {50:44} Behold, he will ascend like a
lion from the arrogance of the Jordan to the robust beauty.
For I will cause him to rush upon her suddenly. And who
will be the elect one, whom I may appoint over her? For who
is like me? And who can endure me? And who is that pastor
who can withstand my countenance?” {50:45} Because of
this, listen to the counsel of the Lord, which he has conceived
in his mind against Babylon, and to his thoughts, which he
has devised against the land of the Chaldeans: “Certainly the
little ones of the flocks will pull them down, unless their
habitation will have been destroyed with them. {50:46} At
the voice of the captivity of Babylon, the earth has been
moved, and an outcry has been heard among the nations.”


[Jeremiah 51] {51:1} Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will
raise up, over Babylon and over its inhabitants, who have
lifted up their heart against me, something like a pestilent
wind. {51:2} And I will send winnowers into Babylon, and
they will winnow her, and they will demolish her land. For
they will overwhelm her from every side in the day of her
affliction. {51:3} Let him who draws the bow, not draw his
bow. And let him who wears armor, not rise up. Do not spare
her young men. Destroy her entire military. {51:4} And the
slain will fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and the wounded
in its regions. {51:5} Yet Israel and Judah have not been
widowed by their God, the Lord of hosts, though their land
has been filled with transgression against the Holy One of
Israel. {51:6} Flee from the midst of Babylon! And let each
one save his own life. Do not be silent about her iniquity. For
it is the time of revenge from the Lord. He himself will repay
her, in her turn. {51:7} Babylon is a gold cup in the hand of
the Lord, inebriating the entire earth. The nations have drunk
from her wine, and therefore they have staggered.
{51:8} Suddenly, Babylon has fallen and been crushed. Wail
over her! Take a balm to her pain, if perhaps she may be
healed.” {51:9} “We would have cured Babylon, but there is
no cure. Let us abandon her, and let each one of us go to his
own land. For her judgment has reached even to the heavens,
and has been lifted up even to the clouds. {51:10} The Lord
has brought forth our justices. Come and let us describe in
Zion the work of the Lord our God.” {51:11} Sharpen the
arrows, fill the quivers. The Lord has raised up the spirit of
the kings of the Medes. And his mind is against Babylon, so
that he may destroy her. For this is the vengeance of the Lord,
the vengeance of his temple. {51:12} Upon the walls of
Babylon, lift up a sign. Increase the watch! Rouse the
watchmen! Prepare ambushes! For the Lord has planned and
has accomplished all that he has spoken, against the
inhabitants of Babylon. {51:13} You who live above many
waters, rich in treasures: your end has arrived, your measure
has been cut short. {51:14} The Lord of hosts has sworn by
himself, saying: “For I will fill you with men as with locusts,
and they will sing a rhythmic chant against you.”
{51:15} The One who made the earth by his strength, who
prepared the world by his wisdom, and who stretched out the
heavens by his prudence: {51:16} when he utters his voice,
the waters will be multiplied in the heavens. The One who
lifts up the clouds from the ends of the earth: he has turned
lightning into rain, and he has brought forth wind from his
storehouses. {51:17} Each man has become foolish before his
own knowledge. Each sculptor has been confounded by his
own sculpture. For what he has formed of them is a lie, and
there is no spirit in them. {51:18} They are empty works,
deserving of ridicule. In the time of their visitation, they will
perish. {51:19} The portion of Jacob is not like their portion.
For the One who made all things is his portion, and Israel is
the scepter of his inheritance. The Lord of hosts is his name:
{51:20} “For me, you strike together the instruments of war;
and with you, I will strike together nations; and with you, I
will scatter the kingdoms. {51:21} And with you, I will strike
together the horse and his rider; and with you, I will strike
together the chariot and its rider. {51:22} And with you, I
will strike together man and woman; and with you, I will
strike together the old man and the boy; and with you, I will
strike together the young man and the virgin. {51:23} And
with you, I will strike together the pastor and his flock; and
with you, I will strike together the farmer and his yoke of
oxen; and with you, I will strike together military leaders and
civil leaders. {51:24} And I will repay Babylon and all the
inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in
Zion, before your eyes, says the Lord. {51:25} Behold, I am
against you, you pestilent mountain, says the Lord, for you
are corrupting the entire earth. And I will extend my hand
over you, and I will roll you down from the rocks, and I will
make you into a burning mountain. {51:26} And they will
not take from you a stone for the corner, nor a stone for the
foundations. Instead, you will be destroyed unto eternity,”
says the Lord. {51:27} Lift up a sign in the land! Sound the
trumpet among the nations! Sanctify the nations against her.
Announce against her the kings of Ararat, Minni, and
Ashkenaz. Number against her Taphsar. Lead in the horse,
like the stinging locust. {51:28} Sanctify the nations against
her: the kings of Media, their military leaders, and all their
civil leaders, and the entire land under their authority.
{51:29} And the earth will be shaken and will be disturbed.
For the plan of the Lord against Babylon will awaken, so that
he may make the land of Babylon desolate and uninhabitable.
{51:30} The strong ones of Babylon have ceased to do battle.
They have lived in fortresses. Their health has been devoured,
and they have become like women. Her tabernacles have
been set ablaze; her bars have been broken. {51:31} Runner
will go forth to meet runner, and messenger will meet
messenger, so as to tell the king of Babylon that his city has
been captured, from one end to the other, {51:32} and that
the fords were seized in advance, and that the marshes have
been burned with fire, and that the men of war have been set
in disarray. {51:33} For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God
of Israel: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor.
This is the time of her threshing. A little while longer, and the
time of her harvest will arrive.” {51:34} “Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon, has consumed me, has devoured me. He
has made me like an empty vessel. He has swallowed me like
a dragon. He has filled his belly with my tender ones, and he
has cast me out. {51:35} This iniquity is against me, and so
my flesh is upon Babylon,” says the habitation of Zion. “And
my blood is upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,” says Jerusalem.
{51:36} Because of this, thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will
judge your case, and I will avenge your vengeance, and I will
make her sea into a desert, and I will dry up her spring.
{51:37} And Babylon will become a tumult, the habitation of
dragons, an astonishment, and a hissing, because there is no
inhabitant. {51:38} They will roar together, like lions, they
will shake their manes, like young lions. {51:39} In their heat,
I will give them a drink, and I will inebriate them, so that
they become drowsy, and sleep an everlasting sleep, and do
not rise up, says the Lord. {51:40} I will lead them away, like
lambs to the slaughter, and like rams with young goats.
{51:41} How was Sesac captured, and how was the
renowned one of all the earth seized? How has Babylon
become an astonishment among the nations? {51:42} The sea
has ascended over Babylon; she has been covered by the
multitude of its waves. {51:43} Her cities have become an
astonishment, an uninhabited and desolate land, a land in
which no one may live, nor may a son of man pass through it.
{51:44} And I will visit against Bel in Babylon, and I will cast
from his mouth what he has swallowed. And the nations will
no longer flow together before him. For even the wall of
Babylon will also fall. {51:45} Go forth from her midst, my
people, so that each one may save his life from the wrath of
the fury of the Lord. {51:46} For otherwise, your heart may
faint, and you may be afraid at the news that is heard in the
land. And the news will arrive within a year, and after that
year more news will arrive. And iniquity will be in the land,
and one ruler will be over another ruler. {51:47} Because of
this, behold, the days are approaching, when I will visit
against the graven images of Babylon. And her entire land
will be confounded, and all her slain will fall in her midst.
{51:48} And the heavens and the earth, and all the things
that are in them, will give praise over Babylon. For despoilers
will approach her from the north, says the Lord. {51:49} And
in the manner that Babylon has caused the slain to fall in
Israel, so the slain of Babylon will fall over the entire earth.
{51:50} You who have fled from the sword, approach, do not
stand still. Remember from afar the Lord, and let Jerusalem
rise up in your heart. {51:51} We have been confounded, for
we heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces, for
strangers have overwhelmed the holiness of the house of the
Lord. {51:52} Because of this, behold, the days are
approaching, says the Lord, when I will visit against her
graven images, and within all her land the wounded will
groan. {51:53} If Babylon were to ascend to heaven, and
establish her strength on high, her despoilers would go forth
from me, says the Lord.” {51:54} A voice of outcry from
Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the
Chaldeans! {51:55} For the Lord has despoiled Babylon, and
he has perished the great voice from her. And their wave will
make a sound like many waters. Their voice has uttered a
noise. {51:56} For the despoiler has overwhelmed her, that is,
Babylon, and her strong ones have been apprehended, and
their bow has been weakened. For the Lord, the powerful
revenger, will certainly repay. {51:57} “And I will inebriate
her leaders, and her wise ones, and her military rulers, and
her civil rulers, and her strong ones. And they will sleep an
everlasting sleep, and they will not awaken,” says the King:
the Lord of hosts is his name. {51:58} Thus says the Lord of
hosts: “That very wide wall of Babylon will be utterly
overturned, and her exalted gates will be burned with fire,
and the labors of the people will be as nothing, and the labors
of the nations will be sent into the fire and will perish.”
{51:59} The word that Jeremiah, the prophet, instructed to
Seraiah, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he
traveled with king Zedekiah into Babylon, in the fourth year
of his reign. Now Seraiah was the leader of the prophets.
{51:60} And Jeremiah wrote in one book all the evil that was
to overwhelm Babylon; all these words were written against
Babylon. {51:61} And Jeremiah said to Seraiah: “When you
will enter into Babylon, and you will see and read all these
words, {51:62} you will say: ‘O Lord, you have spoken
against this place so that you may destroy it, so that there
would not be anyone, from man even to beast, who may live
in it, and so that it may be desolate forever.’ {51:63} And
when you will have completed reading this book, you will tie
a stone to it, and you will cast it into the midst of the
Euphrates. {51:64} And you will say: ‘So shall Babylon be
submerged! And she will not rise up before the face of the
affliction that I will lead over her. And she will be broken.’ ”
The words of Jeremiah thus far.


[Jeremiah 52] {52:1} Zedekiah was a son of twenty-one
years when he first began to reign. And he reigned for eleven
years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was
Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. {52:2} And
he did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, in accord with
all that Jehoiakim had done. {52:3} And so the fury of the
Lord was toward Jerusalem, and toward Judah, even until he
cast them away from his face. And Zedekiah drew away from
the king of Babylon. {52:4} And it happened that, in the
ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the
month, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, he and his
entire army, came against Jerusalem. And they besieged it,
and they built fortifications against it, on every side.
{52:5} And the city was besieged, until the eleventh year of
king Zedekiah. {52:6} Then, in the fourth month, on the
ninth of the month, a famine gripped the city. And there was
no nourishment for the people of the land. {52:7} And the
city was broken, and all the men of war fled, and they
departed from the city at night by way of the gate which is
between the two walls, and which leads to the king’s garden,
while the Chaldeans were besieging the city all around, and
they went away by the road that leads to the wilderness.
{52:8} But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king. And
they overtook Zedekiah in the desert which is near Jericho.
And all of his companions fled away from him. {52:9} And
when they had captured the king, they led him away to the
king of Babylon at Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath.
And he spoke a judgment against him. {52:10} And the king
of Babylon cut the throats of the sons of Zedekiah before his
eyes, and he also killed all the leaders of Judah at Riblah.
{52:11} And he plucked out the eyes of Zedekiah, and he
bound him with shackles, and the king of Babylon led him
away to Babylon, and he placed him in the prison house,
even until the day of his death. {52:12} Then, in the fifth
month, on the tenth of the month, which is the nineteenth
year of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan,
the leader of the military, arrived. And he was standing
before the king of Babylon at Jerusalem. {52:13} And he set
fire to the house of the Lord, and to the house of the king,
and to all the houses of Jerusalem. And every great house he
burned with fire. {52:14} And the entire army of the
Chaldeans, who were with the chief of the military, destroyed
the entire wall all around Jerusalem. {52:15} Then
Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, took away some of
the poor people, and some of the rest of the common people,
who had remained in the city, and some of the fugitives, who
had fled over to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the
multitude. {52:16} Yet truly, some of the poor of the land,
Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, left behind as
vinedressers and farmers. {52:17} The Chaldeans also broke
apart the bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord,
and the bases, and the sea of brass that was in the house of
the Lord. And they took all the brass of these things to
Babylon. {52:18} And they took the cooking pots, and the
hooks, and the psalteries, and the bowls, and the little
mortars, and all the bronze vessels that had been used in the
ministry. {52:19} And the chief of the military took the water
pots, and the censers, and the pitchers, and the basins, and
the lampstands, and the mortars, and the little cups, whatever
was gold, for the gold, and whatever was silver, for the silver,
{52:20} as well as the two pillars, and the one brass sea, and
the twelve oxen of brass that were under the bases, which
king Solomon had made in the house of the Lord. There was
no weight of brass left behind out of all these vessels.
{52:21} Now concerning the pillars, one pillar was eighteen
cubits high, and a cord of twelve cubits encircled it. Moreover,
its thickness was four fingers, and the interior was hollow.
{52:22} And heads of brass were upon both. And the height
of one head was five cubits. And little nets with
pomegranates were upon the heads all around, all of brass.
The second pillar was similar, and the pomegranates.
{52:23} And there were ninety-six pomegranates hanging
down; and there were one hundred pomegranates in all,
surrounded by the little nets. {52:24} And the chief of the
military took Seraiah, the first priest, and Zephaniah, the
second priest, and the three keepers of the vestibule.
{52:25} He also took from the city one eunuch who was in
charge of the men of war, and seven men among those who
served before the face of the king, who were found in the city,
and a scribe, a leader of the military, who tested the new
recruits, and sixty men from the people of the land, who were
found in the midst of the city. {52:26} Then Nebuzaradan,
the chief of the military, took them, and he led them to the
king of Babylon at Riblah. {52:27} And the king of Babylon
struck them and put them to death at Riblah, in the land of
Hamath. And Judah was carried away from his land.
{52:28} This is the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried
away: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three
Jews; {52:29} in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar,
eight hundred thirty-two souls from Jerusalem; {52:30} in the
twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the
chief of the military, carried away of the Jews seven hundred
forty-five souls. Therefore, all the souls were four thousand
six hundred. {52:31} And it happened that, in the thirty-
seventh year of the transmigration of Jehoiachin, the king of
Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month,
Evilmerodach, the king of Babylon, in the very first year of
his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah,
and he brought him out of the prison house. {52:32} And he
spoke with him for good, and he set his throne above the
thrones of the kings who were after him in Babylon.
{52:33} And he changed his prison garments, and he ate
bread in his sight always, all the days of his life. {52:34} And
for his meals, a continual provision was allotted to him by the
king of Babylon, a measure for every single day, until the day
of his death, all the days of his life.


** The Lamentations of Jeremiah **


[Lamentations Prologue] {P:1} And it happened that, after
Israel was driven into captivity, and Jerusalem was deserted,
{P:2} the prophet Jeremiah sat weeping, and he wailed this
lamentation in Jerusalem. {P:3} And sighing with a bitter
soul, and mourning, he said:


[Lamentations 1] {1:1} ALEPH. O how a city once filled
with people now sits alone! The Governess of the Gentiles
has become like a widow. The Prince of the provinces has
been placed under tribute. {1:2} BETH. Weeping, she has
wept through the night, and her tears are on her cheeks.
There is no one to be a comfort to her and to all her beloved.
All her friends have spurned her, and they have become her
enemies. {1:3} GHIMEL. Judah has migrated because of
affliction and great servitude. She has lived among the
nations and not found rest. All of her persecutors have
apprehended her, amid torments. {1:4} DALETH. The
pathways of Zion mourn, because there are none who
approach for the solemnity. All her gates are destroyed. Her
priests groan. Her virgins are filthy. And she is overwhelmed
with bitterness. {1:5} HE. Her enemies have been made her
leaders; her adversaries have been enriched. For the Lord has
spoken against her, because of the multitude of her iniquities.
Her little ones have been led into captivity before the face of
the tribulator. {1:6} VAU. And all her elegance has departed,
from the daughter of Zion. Her leaders have become like
rams that cannot find pasture, and they have gone away
without strength before the face of the pursuer. {1:7} ZAIN.
Jerusalem has remembered the days of her affliction and the
betrayal of all her desirable ones, whom she held from the
days of antiquity, when her people fell into the hand of the
enemy, and there was no one to be a helper. The enemies
have looked upon her and mocked her Sabbaths.
{1:8} HETH. Jerusalem has sinned a grievous sin. Because of
this, she has become unstable. All who glorified her have
spurned her, because they have looked upon her disgrace.
Then she groaned and turned away again. {1:9} TETH. Her
filth is on her feet, and her end has not been remembered.
She has been vehemently put down, having no consolation.
O Lord, look upon my affliction, for the adversary has been
lifted up. {1:10} JOD. The enemy has sent his hand against
all her desirable ones. For she has watched the Gentiles enter
her sanctuary, even though you instructed that they should
not enter into your church. {1:11} CAPH. All her people are
groaning and seeking bread. They have given up whatever
was precious in exchange for food, so as to remain alive. See,
O Lord, and consider, for I have become vile.
{1:12} LAMED. O all you who pass by the way, attend, and
see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow. For he has made
me a vintage, just as the Lord has spoken in the day of his
furious anger. {1:13} MEM. From on high, he has sent fire
into my bones, and he has educated me. He has spread a net
for my feet; he has turned me back. He has placed me in
desolation, consumed by grief, all day long. {1:14} NUN.
Vigilant is the yoke of my iniquities. They have been folded
together in his hand and imposed on my neck. My virtue has
been weakened. The Lord has given me into a hand, out of
which I am not able to rise. {1:15} SAMECH. The Lord has
taken away all of my great ones from my midst. He has called
forth time against me, so as to crush my elect ones. The Lord
has trampled the winepress, which was for the virgin
daughter of Judah. {1:16} AIN. For this I weep, and my eyes
bring forth water. For the consoler has been far away from
me, changing my soul. My sons have become lost, because
the enemy has prevailed. {1:17} PHE. Zion has reached out
her hands; there is no one to console her. The Lord has given
orders against Jacob; his enemies are all around him.
Jerusalem among them is like a woman made unclean by
menstruation. {1:18} SADE. The Lord is just, for it is I who
has provoked his mouth to wrath. I beg all people to listen
and to see my sorrow. My virgins and my youths have gone
into captivity. {1:19} COPH. I called for my friends, but they
deceived me. My priests and my elders have been consumed
in the city. For they were seeking their food, so as to revive
their life. {1:20} RES. See, O Lord, that I am in tribulation.
My bowels have been disturbed, my heart has been subverted
within me, for I am filled with bitterness. Outside, the sword
puts to death, and at home there is a similar death.
{1:21} SIN. They have heard that I groan and that there is no
one to console me. All my enemies have heard of my
misfortune; they have rejoiced that you caused it. You have
brought in a day of consolation, and so they shall become like
me. {1:22} THAU. Let all their evil enter before you. And
make vintage of them, just as you made vintage of me,
because of all my iniquities. For my sighs are many, and my
heart is grieving.


[Lamentations 2] {2:1} ALEPH. O how the Lord has
covered the daughter of Zion with gloom in his fury! O how
he has thrown down from heaven to earth the famous one of
Israel, and he has not remembered his footstool in the day of
his fury. {2:2} BETH. The Lord has cast down, and he has
not been lenient, with all the beauties of Jacob. In his fury, he
has destroyed the fortifications of the virgin of Judah, and he
has thrown them down to the ground. He has polluted the
kingdom and its leaders. {2:3} GHIMEL. In the anger of his
fury, he has broken the entire horn of Israel. He has drawn
back his right hand before the face of the enemy. And he has
kindled within Jacob a flaming fire, devouring all around.
{2:4} DALETH. He has bent his bow like an enemy. He has
fixed his right hand like an adversary. And he has cut down
all that was beautiful to behold in the tabernacle of the
daughter of Zion. He has poured out his indignation like fire.
{2:5} HE. The Lord has become like an enemy. He has
thrown down Israel. He has thrown down all of his defenses.
He has torn apart his fortifications. And he has filled the
daughter of Judah with humbled men and humbled women.
{2:6} VAU. And he has torn apart her tent like a garden. He
has demolished her tabernacle. In Zion, the Lord has
delivered feast and Sabbath into oblivion, and king and priest
into disgrace, and into the indignation of his fury.
{2:7} ZAIN. The Lord has pushed away his own altar. He
has cursed his own sanctuary. He has delivered the walls of
its towers into the hand of the enemy. They have made a
noise in the house of the Lord, as if on the day of a solemnity.
{2:8} HETH. The Lord has decided to tear down the wall of
the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out his measuring line,
and he has not turn away his hand from perdition. And the
rampart has mourned, and with the wall it has been torn
apart. {2:9} TETH. Her gates have been buried in the ground.
He has ruined and crushed its bars. Her king and her princes
are with the Gentiles. There is no law, and her prophets have
found no vision from the Lord. {2:10} JOD. The elders of the
daughter of Zion have become idle; they sit on the ground.
They have sprinkled their heads with ashes. They have been
wrapped with haircloth. The virgins of Jerusalem have cast
their heads down to the ground. {2:11} CAPH. My eyes have
exhausted their tears. My internal organs have become
disturbed. My liver has been poured out on the earth, over
the grief of the daughter of my people, when the little ones
and the infants passed away in the streets of the town.
{2:12} LAMED. They said to their mothers, “Where is the
wheat and the wine?” when they fell like the wounded in the
streets of the city, when they breathed out their lives into the
bosoms of their mothers. {2:13} MEM. To what shall I
compare you, or to what shall I liken you, O daughter of
Jerusalem? To what shall I equate you, so as to console you,
O virgin daughter of Zion? For your destruction is as great as
the sea. Who will cure you? {2:14} NUN. Your prophets
have seen false and foolish things for you. And they have not
laid open your iniquity, so as to provoke you to repentance.
Yet they have seen for you false revelations and banishments.
{2:15} SAMECH. All those who passed by the way have
clapped their hands over you. They have hissed and shook
their heads over the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this
the city of perfect dignity, the joy of all the earth?”
{2:16} PHE. All your enemies have opened their mouth over
you. They have hissed and gnashed their teeth, and they said:
“We will devour her. Yes, this is the day we waited for. We
have found it, we have seen it.” {2:17} AIN. The Lord has
done what he decided to do. He has fulfilled his word, which
he instructed since the days of antiquity. He has destroyed,
and he has not been lenient, and he has caused the enemy to
rejoice over you, and he has exalted the horn of your
adversaries. {2:18} SADE. Their heart cried out to the Lord
from the walls of the daughter of Zion. Let tears run down
like a torrent throughout the day and the night. Do not give
rest to yourself, and do not allow the pupil of your eye to
cease. {2:19} COPH. Rise up. Give praise in the night, in the
first of the watches. Pour out your heart like water before the
sight of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him on behalf of the
souls of your little ones, who have passed away from famine
at the head of all the crossroads. {2:20} RES. O Lord, see
and consider those whom you have made into a such vintage.
So then, shall women eat their own fruit, little ones measured
by the palm of the hand? Shall priest and prophet be killed in
the sanctuary of the Lord? {2:21} SIN. The boy and the old
man lie down on the ground outside. My virgins and my
youths have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the
day of your fury. You have struck down, and you have not
shown pity. {2:22} THAU. You have called, as if to a day of
solemnity, those who would terrify me all around. And there
was no one, in the day of the fury of the Lord, who escaped
or was left behind. Those whom I educated and nourished,
my enemy has consumed.


[Lamentations 3] {3:1} ALEPH. I am a man watching my
own poverty by the rod of his indignation. {3:2} ALEPH. He
has driven me and led me into darkness, and not into light.
{3:3} ALEPH. Against me only, he has turned and turned
again his hand, all day long. {3:4} BETH. My skin and my
flesh, he has made old; he has crushed my bones.
{3:5} BETH. He has built all around me, and he has
encircled me with gall and hardship. {3:6} BETH. He has
gathered me into darkness, like those who are forever dead.
{3:7} GHIMEL. He has built against me all around, so that I
may not depart. He has increased the burden of my
confinement. {3:8} GHIMEL. Yet even when I cry out and
beg, he excludes my prayer. {3:9} GHIMEL. He has
enclosed my ways with square stones; he has subverted my
paths. {3:10} DALETH. He has become to me like a bear
lying in ambush, like a lion in hiding. {3:11} DALETH. He
has subverted my paths, and he has broken me. He has
placed me in desolation. {3:12} DALETH. He has bent his
bow, and he has positioned me like a target for his arrows.
{3:13} HE. He has shot into my kidneys the daughters of his
quiver. {3:14} HE. I have become a derision to all my people,
their song throughout the day. {3:15} HE. He has filled me
with bitterness; he has inebriated me with wormwood.
{3:16} VAU. And he has broken each one of my teeth; he has
fed me with ashes. {3:17} VAU. And my soul has been
driven away from peace; I have forgotten what is good.
{3:18} VAU. And I said, “My end and my hope from the
Lord has perished.” {3:19} ZAIN. Remember my poverty
and my transgression, the wormwood and the gall.
{3:20} ZAIN. I will call to mind the past, and my soul shall
languish within me. {3:21} ZAIN. These recollections are in
my heart; therefore, I shall hope. {3:22} HETH. By the
mercies of the Lord, we are not consumed. For his
compassion has not passed away. {3:23} HETH. I know it at
first light; great is your faithfulness. {3:24} HETH. “The
Lord is my portion,” said my soul. Because of this, I will wait
for him. {3:25} TETH. The Lord is good to those who hope
in him, to the soul that seeks him. {3:26} TETH. It is good to
stand ready in silence for the salvation of God. {3:27} TETH.
It is good for a man, when he has carried the yoke from his
youth. {3:28} JOD. He shall sit solitary and silent. For he has
lifted it upon himself. {3:29} JOD. He shall place his mouth
in the dirt, if perhaps there may be hope. {3:30} JOD. He
shall give his cheek to those who strike him; he shall be
saturated with reproaches. {3:31} CAPH. For the Lord will
not rebuke forever. {3:32} CAPH. For, if he has cast down,
he will also have compassion, according to the multitude of
his mercies. {3:33} CAPH. For he has not humiliated from
his heart, nor has he thrown aside the sons of men,
{3:34} LAMED. as if to crush under his feet all the prisoners
of the land, {3:35} LAMED. as if to turn aside the judgment
of a man in the sight of the presence of the Most High,
{3:36} LAMED. as if to pervert a man in his judgment: the
Lord does not do this. {3:37} MEM. Who is this, who said to
do what the Lord did not command? {3:38} MEM. Does not
both misfortune and good proceed from the mouth of the
Most High? {3:39} MEM. Why has a living man murmured,
a man suffering for his sins? {3:40} NUN. Let us examine
our ways, and seek out, and return to the Lord. {3:41} NUN.
Let us lift up our hearts, with our hands, toward the Lord in
the heavens. {3:42} NUN. We have acted sinfully, and we
have provoked to wrath. About this, you are relentless.
{3:43} SAMECH. You have covered us in your fury, and
you have struck us. You have killed, and have not spared.
{3:44} SAMECH. You have set a cloud opposite you, lest
our prayer pass through. {3:45} SAMECH. In the midst of
the peoples, you have uprooted me and cast me out.
{3:46} PHE. All our enemies have opened their mouths over
us. {3:47} PHE. Prediction has become for us a dread, and a
snare, and a grief. {3:48} PHE. My eye has brought forth
streams of water at the contrition of the daughter of my
people. {3:49} AIN. My eye has been afflicted, and it has not
been quieted, because there would be no rest {3:50} AIN.
until the Lord looked down and saw from the heavens.
{3:51} AIN. My eye has exhausted my soul over every one of
the daughters of my city. {3:52} SADE. My enemies have
chased me, and they have caught me like a bird, without
reason. {3:53} SADE. My life has fallen into a pit, and they
have placed a stone over me. {3:54} SADE. The waters have
flooded over my head. I said, “I am lost.” {3:55} COPH. I
called upon your name, O Lord, from the furthest pit.
{3:56} COPH. You have heard my voice. Do not turn away
your ear from my sobbing and my cries. {3:57} COPH. You
drew near in the daytime, when I called upon you. You said,
“Fear not.” {3:58} RES. You have judged, O Lord, the case
of my soul. You are the Redeemer of my life. {3:59} RES.
You have seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me. Judge my
case. {3:60} RES. You have seen all their fury, every one of
their thoughts is against me. {3:61} SIN. You have heard
their reproach, O Lord, all their thoughts are against me.
{3:62} SIN. The lips of those who rise up against me, and
their meditations, are against me all day long. {3:63} SIN.
Watch their sitting down and their rising up: I am their psalm.
{3:64} THAU. You shall pay a recompense to them, O Lord,
according to the works of their hands. {3:65} THAU. You
shall give them a heavy shield of the heart: your hardship.
{3:66} THAU. You shall pursue them in fury, and you shall
destroy them under the heavens, O Lord.


[Lamentations 4] {4:1} ALEPH. O how the gold has
become dulled, the finest color has been altered, the stones of
the sanctuary have been scattered at the head of every street.
{4:2} BETH. The famous sons of Zion, and those clothed
with the foremost gold: how they have become like earthen
vessels, the work of the hands of a potter. {4:3} GHIMEL.
Yet even savages expose their breast and give milk to their
young. But the daughter of my people is cruel, like the ostrich
in the desert. {4:4} DALETH. The tongue of the infant
adheres to his palate out of thirst. The little ones have asked
for bread, and there was no one to break it for them.
{4:5} HE. Those who were fed indulgently have passed away
in the roads. Those who were nourished with saffron have
welcomed filth. {4:6} VAU. And the iniquity of the daughter
of my people has been made greater than the sin of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment, and yet hands did not
take captives in her. {4:7} ZAIN. Her Nazirites were whiter
than snow, shinier than milk, more ruddy than ancient ivory,
more beautiful than sapphire. {4:8} HETH. Their face has
been blacked more than coals, and they are not recognized in
the streets. Their skin has adhered to their bones; it dried out
and became like wood. {4:9} TETH. It was better for those
slain by the sword, than for those put to death by famine. For
these waste away, being consumed by the sterility of the land.
{4:10} JOD. The hands of pitiable women have boiled their
sons. They became their food in the grief of the daughter of
my people. {4:11} CAPH. The Lord has completed his fury;
he has poured out the wrath of his indignation. And he has
kindled a fire in Zion, and it has devoured its foundations.
{4:12} LAMED. The kings of the earth, and all the
inhabitants of the world, did not believe that the adversary
and the enemy would enter through the gates of Jerusalem.
{4:13} MEM. It is because of the sins of her prophets, and
the iniquities of her priests, who have shed the blood of the
just in her midst. {4:14} NUN. They have wandered in the
streets like the blind; they have been defiled with blood. And
when they were not able, they held their garments.
{4:15} SAMECH. “Go back, you polluted ones!” they cried
out to them. “Go back, go away, do not touch!” Of course,
they argued, and being removed, they said among the
Gentiles, “He will no longer dwell among them.”
{4:16} PHE. The face of the Lord has divided them. He will
no longer respect them. They were not ashamed before the
faces of the priests, nor did they take pity on the elderly.
{4:17} AIN. While we were still standing, our eyes failed,
expecting help for us in vain, when we looked attentively
toward a nation that was not able to save. {4:18} SADE. Our
footsteps have slipped on the paths of our own streets. Our
end draws near. Our days have been completed, for our end
has arrived. {4:19} COPH. Our persecutors have been swifter
than the eagles of the sky. They have been pursuing us above
the mountains; they have lain in wait for us in the desert.
{4:20} RES. The spirit of our mouth, Christ the Lord, has
been captured by our sins; to him, we said, “In your shadow,
we will live among the Gentiles.” {4:21} SIN. Be glad and
rejoice, O daughter of Edom, who dwells in the Land of Uz.
The cup will also pass to you; you will be inebriated as well
as naked. {4:22} THAU. Your iniquity has been completed,
O daughter of Zion. He will no longer send you away to
captivity. He has visited your iniquity, O daughter of Edom;
he has uncovered your sins.


[Lamentations 5] {5:1} Remember, O Lord, what has
befallen us. Consider and look kindly upon our disgrace.
{5:2} Our inheritance has been turned over to foreigners; our
houses to outsiders. {5:3} We have become orphans without
a father; our mothers are like widows. {5:4} We paid for our
drinking water. We acquired our wood for a price. {5:5} We
were dragged by our necks. Being weary, no rest was given to
us. {5:6} We have given our hand to Egypt and to the
Assyrians, so that we may be satisfied with bread. {5:7} Our
fathers have sinned, and are not. And we have carried their
iniquities. {5:8} Servants have become rulers over us. There
was no one to redeem us from their hand. {5:9} We obtained
our bread at the risk of our lives, before the face of the sword,
in the wilderness. {5:10} Our skin was burned, as if by an
oven, before the face of the tempest of the famine.
{5:11} They humiliated the women in Zion and the virgins in
the cities of Judah. {5:12} The leaders were suspended by
their hand. They were not ashamed before the faces of the
elders. {5:13} They have sexually abused the adolescents,
and the children were corrupted in the wood. {5:14} The
elders have ceased from the gates, the youths from the choir
of the psalms. {5:15} The gladness of our heart has failed, our
singing has been turned into mourning. {5:16} The crown
has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned.
{5:17} Because of this, our heart became gloomy; for this
reason, our eyes have been darkened: {5:18} because of
mount Zion, because it was ruined. Foxes have wandered
upon it. {5:19} But you, O Lord, shall remain for eternity,
your throne from generation to generation. {5:20} Why
would you forget us forever? Why would you forsake us for a
long time? {5:21} Convert us, O Lord, to you, and we shall
be converted. Renew our days, as from the beginning.
{5:22} But you have utterly rejected us; you are vehemently
angry against us.


** The Book of Baruch **


[Baruch 1] {1:1} And these are the words of the book, which
Baruch the son of Neraiah, the son of Mahseiah, the son of
Zedekiah, the son of Hasadiah, the son Hilkiah, wrote in
Babylon, {1:2} in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the
month, since the time when the Chaldeans captured
Jerusalem and set it on fire. {1:3} And Baruch read the words
of this book to the ears of Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim
king of Judah, and to the ears of the entire people, who came
to the book: {1:4} even to the ears of the powerful sons of
kings, and to the ears of the elders, and to the ears of the
people, from the least to the greatest of them, of all those
living in Babylon, near the river Sud. {1:5} And upon hearing
it, they wept and fasted and prayed in the sight of the Lord.
{1:6} And they collected money in accordance with whatever
each one was able to handover. {1:7} And they sent it to
Jerusalem to Jehoiakim, the son of Hilkiah, the son of
Shalum the priest, and to the priests, and to all the people,
who were found with him in Jerusalem. {1:8} At that time,
he received the vessels of the temple of the Lord (which had
been carried away from the temple) so as to return them to
the land of Judah, on the tenth day of the month Sivan.
These were the silver vessels, which Zedekiah, the son of
Josiah king of Judah, had made. {1:9} After this,
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, captured Jeconiah,
and the leaders, and all the powerful, and the people of the
land, and led them captive from Jerusalem to Babylon.
{1:10} And they said, “Behold we have sent you money with
which to buy holocausts and frankincense. Therefore, make
manna and offer it for sin at the altar of the Lord our God.
{1:11} And pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of
Babylon, and for the life of Belshazzar his son, so that their
days may be just like the days of the heaven above the earth,
{1:12} and so that the Lord may give virtue to us, and
enlighten our eyes, so that we may live under the shadow of
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and under the shadow
of Belshazzar his son, and so that we may serve them for
many days and may find favor in their sight. {1:13} And pray
for us also to the Lord our God, for we have sinned against
the Lord our God, and the madness of our sin has not been
driven away from us even to this day. {1:14} And read this
book, which we have sent to you to be recited in the temple
of the Lord, on solemn days and on other suitable days.
{1:15} And you will say, ‘To the Lord our God is justice, but
to us is confusion of our face, just as it is this day for all of
Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, {1:16} even for our
kings, and our leaders, and our priests, and our prophets, and
our fathers. {1:17} We have sinned before the Lord our God
and we have not believed, lacking confidence in him.
{1:18} And we have not been submissive to him, and we
have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, so as to
walk in his commandments, which he has given to us.
{1:19} From the day that he led our fathers out of the land of
Egypt, even to this day, we were unfaithful to the Lord our
God, and, having been scattered, we fell away. We did not
listen to his voice. {1:20} And we joined ourselves to many
evils and to the curses which the Lord established through
Moses, his servant, who led our fathers out of the land of
Egypt, to give us a land flowing with milk and honey, just as
it is in the present day. {1:21} And we have not listened to
the voice of the Lord our God, according to all the words of
the prophets whom he sent to us. {1:22} And we have gone
astray, each one after the inclinations of his own malignant
heart, serving strange gods and doing evil before the eyes of
the Lord our God.


[Baruch 2] {2:1} “ ‘For this reason, the Lord our God has
fulfilled his word, which he has spoken to us, and to our
judges, who have judged Israel, and to our kings, and to our
leaders, and to all Israel and Judah. {2:2} And so the Lord
has brought upon us great evils, such as never before
happened under heaven, (but which have come to pass in
Jerusalem according to what was written in the law of Moses)
{2:3} even that a man would eat the flesh of his son and the
flesh of his daughter. {2:4} And so he placed them under the
hand of all the kings who surround us, in disgrace and
desolation among all the people where the Lord has scattered
us. {2:5} And we were brought down low and were not
raised up, because we sinned against the Lord our God, by
not obeying his voice. {2:6} To the Lord our God is justice,
but to us and to our fathers is confusion of face, just as on this
day. {2:7} For the Lord has pronounced against us all these
evils, which have overcome us. {2:8} And we have not
beseeched the face of the Lord our God, so that we might
return, each one of us from our most sinful ways. {2:9} And
the Lord has watched over us for evil and has brought it upon
us, because the Lord is just in all his works that he has
commanded us, {2:10} and we have not listened to his own
voice, so as to walk according to the teachings of the Lord,
which he has set before our face. {2:11} And now, O Lord
God of Israel, who has led your people out of the land of
Egypt with a strong hand, and with signs, and with wonders,
and with your great power, and with an exalted arm, and has
made a name for yourself, just as on this day, {2:12} we have
sinned, we become impious, we have acted unjustly, O Lord
our God, against all your principles. {2:13} May your wrath
be turned away from us because, having been forsaken, we
are few among the irreligious where you have scattered us.
{2:14} Heed, O Lord, our petitions and our prayers, and
deliver us for your own sake, and grant that we may find
favor before the face of those who have led us away,
{2:15} so that all the earth may know that you are the Lord
our God, and because your name has been invoked over
Israel and over his posterity. {2:16} Gaze upon us, O Lord,
from your holy home, and incline your ear, and heed us.
{2:17} Open your eyes and see, because the dead, who are in
the underworld, whose spirit has been taken away from their
vital organs, will not give honor and justification to the Lord.
{2:18} But the soul that is sorrowful for the greatness of evil,
approaches bowed down and weak, and the failing eyes and
the hungering soul give glory and justice to you, the Lord.
{2:19} For it is not according to the righteousness of our
fathers that we pour out our petitions and beg mercy in your
sight, O Lord our God, {2:20} but because you have sent
your wrath and your fury upon us, just as you have spoken by
the hand of your children the prophets, saying: {2:21} “Thus
says the Lord, ‘Bow down your shoulder and your neck, and
do work for the king of Babylon, and settle in the land which
I gave to your fathers, {2:22} because, if you will not listen to
the voice of the Lord your God, to serve the king of Babylon,
I will cause you to depart from the cities of Judah and from
the gates of Jerusalem. {2:23} And I will take away from you
the voice of cheerfulness and the voice of joy, and the voice
of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, and all the land
will be without any trace of its inhabitants.’ ” {2:24} And
they did not listen to your voice, that they should serve the
king of Babylon, and so you have fulfilled your words, which
you spoke by the hands of your children the prophets, so that
the bones of our kings and the bones of our fathers would be
carried away from their place. {2:25} And, behold, they have
been cast out into the heat of the sun and the frost of the
night, and they have died by means of grievous evils, by
famine, and by the sword, and by banishment. {2:26} And
you have set up the temple, in which your name itself was
called upon, just as it is on this day, because of the iniquity of
the house of Israel and the house of Judah. {2:27} And you
have accomplished in us, O Lord our God, according to all
your goodness and according to all your great mercy,
{2:28} just as you spoke by the hand of your child Moses, in
the day when you commanded him to write your law before
the sons of Israel, {2:29} saying: “If you will not listen to my
voice, this great multitude will be changed into the least
among the peoples, where I will scatter them. {2:30} For I
know that the people will not listen to me, for the people are
stiff necked. But they will have a change of their heart in the
land of their captivity, {2:31} and they will know that I am
the Lord their God. And I will give them a heart, and they
will understand, ears, and they will hear. {2:32} And they
will praise me in the land of their captivity, and will
remember my name. {2:33} And they will turn themselves
away from their stiff back, and from their wicked deeds, for
they will call to mind the way of their fathers, who sinned
against me. {2:34} And I will restore them to the land which
I pledged to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and
they will rule over it, and I will multiply them, and they will
not be diminished. {2:35} And I will establish for them a new
and everlasting covenant, so that I will be their God and they
will be my people. And I will no longer move my people, the
sons of Israel, out of the land which I have given them.”


[Baruch 3] {3:1} “ ‘And now, O Lord Almighty, the God of
Israel, the soul in anguish and the troubled spirit cry out to
you. {3:2} Listen, O Lord, and be merciful, for you are a
merciful God, and so be merciful to us, for we have sinned
before you. {3:3} For you are enthroned in eternity, but we
will pass away in time. {3:4} O Lord Almighty, the God of
Israel, listen now to the prayer of the dead of Israel and of
their sons, who have sinned before you and have not listened
to the voice of the Lord their God, and have joined
themselves to evil. {3:5} Remember not the iniquities of our
fathers, but remember your hand and your name at this time.
{3:6} For you are the Lord our God, and we will praise you,
O Lord. {3:7} And for this reason, you have imparted your
fear into our hearts, and also, so that we may call upon your
name and may praise you in our captivity, for we are
converted from the iniquity of our fathers, who sinned before
you. {3:8} And, behold, we are still in our captivity on this
day, where you have scattered us into disgrace, and into
slander, and into sin, according to all the iniquities of our
fathers, who withdrew from you, O Lord our God.
{3:9} Listen, O Israel, to the commandments of life! Pay
attention, so that you may learn prudence! {3:10} How is it,
O Israel, that you are in the land of your enemies, {3:11} that
you have grown old in a foreign land, that you are defiled
with the dead, that you are regarded as among those who are
descending into hell? {3:12} You have forsaken the fountain
of wisdom. {3:13} For if you had walked in the way of God,
you would certainly have lived in everlasting peace.
{3:14} Learn where prudence is, where virtue is, where
understanding is, so that you may know at the same time
where long life and prosperity are, where the light of the eyes
and peace are. {3:15} Who has discovered its place? And
who has entered its treasure chamber? {3:16} Where are the
leaders of the peoples, and those who rule over the beasts that
are upon the earth, {3:17} who play among the birds of the
air, {3:18} who store up treasures of silver and gold, in which
men trust, and with whom there is no end to their acquiring,
who work with silver and are anxious about it, and whose
works are inexplicable? {3:19} They have been banished and
have descended to hell, and others are risen up in their place.
{3:20} The youth have seen the light and have dwelt upon
the earth, yet they are ignorant of the way of instruction.
{3:21} They have neither understood the paths of it, nor have
their sons accepted it. It is far from their face. {3:22} It has
not been heard of in the land of Canaan, nor has it been seen
in Teman. {3:23} It is likewise with the sons of Hagar, who
search for the practicality that is of the earth, the negotiators
of Merran and Teman, and the storytellers, and the searchers
of discretion and intelligence. Yet the way of wisdom they
have not known, nor have they called to mind its paths.
{3:24} O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast
is the place of his possession! {3:25} It is great and has no
end! It is exalted and immense! {3:26} There were those who
were called giants, who existed from the beginning, of great
stature, expert in war. {3:27} The Lord did not choose them,
nor did they discover the way of instruction; for this reason
they perished, {3:28} and, because they did not have wisdom,
they passed away as a result of their foolishness. {3:29} Who
has gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her
down from the clouds? {3:30} Who has crossed the sea, and
found her, and brought her, chosen instead of gold?
{3:31} There is no one who is able to know her ways, nor
any who can search out her paths. {3:32} Yet he who knows
the universe is familiar with her, and in his foresight he
invented her, he who prepared the earth for time without end,
and filled it with cattle and four-footed beasts, {3:33} who
sends out the light, and it goes, and who summoned it, and it
obeyed him in fear. {3:34} Yet the stars have given light from
their posts, and they rejoiced. {3:35} They were called, and
so they said, “Here we are,” and they shined with
cheerfulness to him who made them. {3:36} This is our God,
and no other can compare to him. {3:37} He invented the
way of all instruction, and delivered it to Jacob his child, and
to Israel his beloved. {3:38} After this, he was seen on earth,
and he conversed with men.


[Baruch 4] {4:1} “ ‘This is the book of the commandments of
God and of the law, which exists in eternity. All those who
keep it will attain to life, but those who have forsaken it, to
death. {4:2} Convert, O Jacob, and embrace it, walk in the
way of its splendor, facing its light. {4:3} Do not surrender
your glory to another, nor your value to a foreign people.
{4:4} We have been happy, O Israel, because the things that
are pleasing to God have been made clear to us. {4:5} Be ever
more peaceful in soul, O people of God, the memorial of
Israel. {4:6} You have been sold to the nations, not into
destruction, but because of this, in resentment, you provoked
God to wrath, and so you have been delivered to adversity.
{4:7} For you have exasperated him who made you, the
eternal God, by sacrificing to evil spirits, and not to God.
{4:8} For you have forgotten God, who nurtured you, and
you have saddened Jerusalem, your nurse. {4:9} For she saw
the wrath of God approaching you, and she said, “Listen,
region of Zion, for God has brought upon me great sorrow.
{4:10} For I have seen the captivity of my people, my sons
and daughters, which the Eternal has led over them.
{4:11} For I nurtured them with joy, but I sent them away
with weeping and sorrow. {4:12} Let no one rejoice over me,
a widow and a desolation, for I am forsaken by many
because of the sins of my sons, because they strayed from the
law of God. {4:13} And they have not known his
righteousness, nor walked in the ways of the commandments
of God, nor have they advanced with justice along the paths
of his truth. {4:14} Let the region of Zion approach, and
remember the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the
Eternal led over them. {4:15} For he has brought a far away
people upon them, a guilty people, and of another language,
{4:16} who have not reverenced the aged, nor had mercy on
the children, and who have led away the beloved of the
widow, leaving me deserted and alone, without sons.
{4:17} But as for me, how am I able to help you? {4:18} For
he who has brought these evils upon you, will rescue you
from the hands of your enemies. {4:19} Walk on, sons, walk
on, for I have been abandoned and I am alone. {4:20} I have
taken off the garment of peace and have put on the sackcloth
of supplication, and I will cry out to the most High in my
days. {4:21} Be ever more peaceful, sons. Cry out to the Lord,
and he will rescue you from the hand of the hostile leaders.
{4:22} For I have placed my hope in your eternal salvation,
and joy approaches me from the Holy One, over the mercy
which will come to you by our eternal salvation. {4:23} For I
sent you forth with sorrow and weeping, but the Lord will
restore you to me with joy and gladness for eternity.
{4:24} For just as the neighbors of Zion have seen your
captivity from God, so also will they soon see your salvation
from God, which will overcome you with great honor and
eternal splendor. {4:25} Sons, endure patiently the wrath that
has come upon you, for your enemy has persecuted you, but
you will quickly see his destruction and you will climb over
his neck. {4:26} My delicate ones have walked rough ways,
for they were regarded as a flock torn apart by enemies.
{4:27} Be ever more peaceful in soul, sons, and call out to the
Lord, for you will be remembered by him who led you away.
{4:28} For as much as you thought to go astray from God,
ten times as much again he will require of you when
converting. {4:29} For he who led you into evil, he himself
will again lead you to eternal happiness with your salvation.”
{4:30} Be ever more peaceful in soul, Jerusalem, for he who
has named you, has been affected by you. {4:31} The
criminals who have troubled you, will perish, and those who
rejoiced in your ruin, will be punished. {4:32} The cities that
your sons have served, will be punished, and also, she who
received your sons. {4:33} For just as she was glad at your
ruin, and she rejoiced in your fall, so also will she be grieved
in her own desolation, {4:34} and the exaltation of her
multitude will be cut off, and her gladness will be turned to
sorrow. {4:35} For fire will overcome her from the Eternal
for many days, and she will be inhabited by evil spirits for a
long time. {4:36} Look around, Jerusalem, towards the east,
and see the happiness that comes to you from God.
{4:37} For behold, your sons approach, whom you sent away
scattered. They approach, gathering together, from the east
all the way to the west, at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing
in the honor of God.


[Baruch 5] {5:1} “ “Take off, O Jerusalem, the garment of
your sorrow and troubles, and put on your beauty and the
honor of that eternal glory, which you have from God.
{5:2} God will surround you with a double garment of justice,
and he will set a crown on your head of everlasting honor.
{5:3} For God will reveal his splendor in you to all who are
under heaven. {5:4} For your name will be given to you by
God for eternity: the peace of justice and the honor of piety.
{5:5} Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand in exaltation, and look
around towards the east, and see your sons, gathering
together, from the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun,
by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the remembrance
of God. {5:6} For they went out from you on foot, led by the
enemies, but the Lord will lead them to you, being carried in
honor like sons of the kingdom. {5:7} For God has resolved
to humble every high mountain and the longstanding cliffs,
and to fill up the steep valleys in order to level the ground, so
that Israel may walk diligently in the honor of God. {5:8} Yet
the woods and every sweet-smelling tree have provided shade
for Israel by the commandment of God. {5:9} For God will
lead Israel with joy into the light of his majesty, with mercy
and justice, which is from him.’ ”


[Baruch 6] {6:1} This is a copy of the letter that Jeremiah
sent to those who would be taken captive into Babylon by the
king of Babylon, so as to prophesy to them according to the
warning he had received about them from God. “Because of
the sins which you have sinned before God, you will be
carried away into the captivity of Babylon by
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. {6:2} And so, having
been taken into Babylon, you will be there many years and
for a long time, even to seven generations, yet after this, I will
lead you away from there with peace. {6:3} But now, you
will see in Babylon gods of gold and of silver, and of stone
and of wood, carried upon shoulders, an awful display for the
peoples. {6:4} See to it, then, that you do not in effect
become like these strangers and become afraid, so that in awe
you would be carried away into their midst. {6:5} And so,
seeing the turmoil, behind you and in front of you, as they
are worshiping, say in your hearts, ‘You ought to be adored,
O Lord.’ {6:6} For my angel is with you. And I myself will
examine your souls. {6:7} For their tongue is polished by the
craftsman, and they themselves are even inlaid with gold and
silver, yet they are false and unable to speak. {6:8} And, just
like a virgin who loves to decorate herself, so do they take up
gold and make designs with it. {6:9} Their gods have crowns
of certified gold upon their heads, from which the priests
subtract gold and silver, and spend it on themselves.
{6:10} Moreover, they even give from it to prostitutes, and
use it to adorn kept women, and when they receive it back
from the kept women, they use it to adorn their gods.
{6:11} But these cannot be freed from rust and moths.
{6:12} Although they are covered with a purple garment,
they must wipe off their face, because of the dust of the house,
which is very great around them. {6:13} Yet he who holds a
scepter like a man, like the judge of the region, cannot put to
death one who sins against him. {6:14} And though he holds
in his hand a sword and an axe, yet he cannot free himself
from war and robbers. From this let it be known to you that
they are not gods. {6:15} Therefore, do not fear them. For
just as the vessel a man uses becomes useless when broken, so
also are their gods. {6:16} When they are set up in a house,
their eyes are full of dust from the feet of those who enter.
{6:17} And like one who has offended the king and is
surrounded at every door, or like a corpse about to be carried
to the grave, so do the priests secure the doors with bars and
locks, lest they be plundered by robbers. {6:18} They light
candles to them, and in great number, and still they are
unable to see, for they are like logs in the house. {6:19} It is
truly said that the creeping things, which are of the earth,
gnaw their hearts, and yet when these devour them and their
garments, they do not feel it. {6:20} Their faces are made
black by the smoke that is made in the house. {6:21} Over
their bodies and over their heads fly owls and swallows and
birds, and similarly, even cats. {6:22} From this you should
understand that they are not gods. Therefore, neither should
you fear them. {6:23} Furthermore, the gold which they have
is shiny, but unless someone wipes off the rust, they will not
shine. And even when they were molten, they did not feel it.
{6:24} They acquire all kinds of costly things, yet there is no
breath in them. {6:25} Without feet, they are carried upon
shoulders, showing their unworthiness to all men. And so,
may those who worship them be confounded. {6:26} Because
of this, if they fall to the ground, they do not get up by
themselves; and if someone sets it upright, they will not stand
firm on their own; yet, just like the dead, offerings are placed
next to them. {6:27} The priests themselves sell their
sacrifices, and they spend it wastefully; and, in like manner,
their wives take part of it, never sharing anything with the
sick or the beggars. {6:28} Fertile and menstruous women
contaminate their sacrifices. And so, knowing from this that
they are not gods, you should not fear them. {6:29} For what
reason are they called gods? It is because the women serve
before the gods of silver and gold and wood, {6:30} and the
priests sit in their houses, with torn garments, and their heads
and beards shaven, and nothing on their heads. {6:31} But
they roar, shouting out to their gods, just as at a feast for the
dead. {6:32} The priests take away the garments of their gods,
and clothe their wives and their sons. {6:33} And whether
they endure evil from someone, or good, they are not able to
repay it. They can neither establish a king, nor remove him.
{6:34} Similarly, they can neither give riches, nor avenge evil.
If anyone makes a vow to them, and does not keep it, they
cannot require it. {6:35} They cannot free a man from death,
nor rescue the weak from the strong. {6:36} They cannot
restore sight to the blind, nor free a man from need.
{6:37} They will not have mercy on the widow, nor do good
to orphans. {6:38} Their gods of wood, and of stone, and of
gold, and of silver, are like stones from the mountain; and
those who worship them will be confounded. {6:39} In what
way, then, is it to be supposed or said that they are gods?
{6:40} For even the Chaldeans themselves do not honor
these, who, when they hear about a mute, unable to speak,
they offer him to Bel, asking from him that he may speak,
{6:41} as if these, who are unable to move, would be able to
perceive. And even they themselves, when they shall
understand this, will abandon them, for, having come to their
senses, they do not consider them to be gods. {6:42} Yet the
women, wrapped in cords, sit by the roads, burning olive-
stones. {6:43} And when any one of them, having been
attracted by someone passing by, would sleep with him, she
reproaches her neighbor because she was not found worthy,
as she was, nor was her cord broken. {6:44} But all things
that occur with them are false; in what way, then, is it to be
considered or said that they are gods? {6:45} Yet they have
been made by the workmen and the goldsmiths. They will be
nothing else but what the priests want them to be. {6:46} For
the artisans themselves, who make them, do not exist for a
long time. So then, can these things, which have been made
by them, be gods? {6:47} Yet they have bequeathed
falsehoods and disgrace after this to the future. {6:48} For
when they are overcome by battle or evil, the priests consider
among themselves where they may hide themselves with
them. {6:49} Therefore, why would they be perceived to be
gods, who can neither free themselves from war, nor rescue
themselves from evils? {6:50} For, in as much as they are
only wood, inlaid with gold and silver, so let it be known
henceforth, by all nations and kings, that they are false;
because it has been revealed that they are not gods, but the
work of men’s hands, and there is no work of God in them.
{6:51} For this reason, then, it has been accepted that they
are not gods, but are works of the hands of men, and no work
of God is in them. {6:52} They have not raised up a king in
the region, nor will they give rain to men. {6:53} They will
not discern a judgment for anyone, nor will they free a region
from injury, because they can do nothing, like crows in the
middle of heaven and earth. {6:54} And, indeed, when there
happens to be a fire in the house of these gods of wood, silver,
and gold, the priests will certainly run away and save
themselves, but these will truly be burned up like logs in the
midst of it. {6:55} Yet they cannot withstand a king and war.
In what way, then, is it to be considered or accepted that they
are gods? {6:56} These gods of wood and stone, inlaid with
gold and silver, can free themselves neither from thieves nor
from robbers; whoever is stronger than they are, {6:57} will
take up these things, the gold and the silver, and the garments
which cover them, and will get away; neither will they be
able to help themselves. {6:58} Therefore, it is better to be a
king displaying his power, or a useful vessel in a house, about
which he who owns it will boast, or a door in the house,
which keeps safe what is inside, than to be these gods of
falsehood. {6:59} For the sun, and the moon, and the
constellations, though they are brilliant and have been sent
forth to be useful, are obedient. {6:60} Similarly, the
lightning, when it appears and is evident, and, in like manner,
the wind blowing in every region, {6:61} and the clouds,
when God orders them to make their rounds over the whole
world, each carries out what was commanded.
{6:62} Furthermore, the fire, having been sent from above so
that it may consume mountains and woods, does what it has
been instructed to do. Yet these are not similar, neither in
splendor, nor in power, to any one of them. {6:63} From this,
it should neither be supposed, nor said, that they are gods;
since they are neither able to give judgment, nor to
accomplish anything for men. {6:64} And so, knowing that
they are not gods, therefore, have no fear of them. {6:65} For
they can neither curse kings, nor bless them. {6:66} Besides,
they show no signs in heaven to the nations; they neither
shine like the sun, nor give light like the moon. {6:67} Beasts
are better than they are, for they can flee under a covering,
and so protect themselves. {6:68} Therefore, in no way is it
clear to us that they are gods; because of this, you should not
fear them. {6:69} For just as a scarecrow in a cucumber field
protects nothing, so are their gods of wood, and silver, and
inlaid gold. {6:70} They are just the same as a white thorn in
a garden, on which all the birds sit; they are even like a
corpse thrown out into the darkness, just so are these gods of
wood, and inlaid gold, and inlaid silver. {6:71} By the purple,
and likewise the Royal purple, moth-eaten garments upon
them, you will then know that they are not gods. And finally,
they themselves are consumed and will be a disgrace in the
region. {6:72} Better is the just man who has no such images,
for he will be far from disgrace.”


** The Prophecy of Ezekiel **


[Ezekiel 1] {1:1} And it happened that, in the thirtieth year,
in the fourth month, on the fifth of the month, when I was in
the midst of the captives beside the river Chebar, the heavens
were opened, and I saw the visions of God. {1:2} On the fifth
of the month, the same is the fifth year of the transmigration
of king Joachin, {1:3} the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel,
a priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans, next to
the river Chebar. And the hand of the Lord was over him
there. {1:4} And I saw, and behold, a whirlwind arrived from
the north. And a great cloud, wrapped in fire and brightness,
was all around it. And from its midst, that is, from the midst
of the fire, there was something with the appearance of amber.
{1:5} And in its midst, there was the likeness of four living
creatures. And this was their appearance: the likeness of a
man was in them. {1:6} Each one had four faces, and each
one had four wings. {1:7} Their feet were straight feet, and
the sole of their foot was like the sole of the foot of a calf, and
they sparkled with the appearance of glowing brass.
{1:8} And they had the hands of a man under their wings on
the four sides. And they had faces with the wings on the four
sides. {1:9} And their wings were joined to one another.
They did not turn as they went. Instead, each one advanced
before his face. {1:10} But as for the likeness of their face,
there was the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right
of each of the four, then the face of an ox on the left of each
of the four, and the face of an eagle above each of the four.
{1:11} Their faces and their wings were extended above: two
wings of each one were joined together, and two covered
their bodies. {1:12} And each one of them advanced before
his face. Wherever the impetus of the spirit was to go, there
they went. And they did not turn as they advanced.
{1:13} And as for the likeness of the living creatures, their
appearance was like that of burning coals of fire, and like the
appearance of lamps. This was the vision dashing in the
midst of the living creatures, a bright fire, with lightning
going forth from the fire. {1:14} And the living creatures
went and returned like flashes of lightning. {1:15} And as I
beheld the living creatures, there appeared above the earth,
next to the living creatures, one wheel having four faces.
{1:16} And the appearance of the wheels and their work was
like the appearance of the sea. And each of the four were
similar to one another. And their appearance and work was
like a wheel in the center of a wheel. {1:17} Going forth, they
went by means of their four parts. And they did not turn as
they went. {1:18} Also, the size and height and appearance
of the wheels was dreadful. And the entire body was full of
eyes all around each of the four. {1:19} And when the living
creatures advanced, the wheels advanced together with them.
And when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth,
the wheels, too, were lifted up at the same time.
{1:20} Wherever the spirit went, as the spirit was going forth
to that place, the wheels, too, were lifted up together, so as to
follow them. For the spirit of life was in the wheels.
{1:21} When going forth, they went forth, and when standing
still, they stood still. And when they were lifted up from the
earth, the wheels, too, were lifted up together, so as to follow
them. For the spirit of life was in the wheels. {1:22} And
above the heads of the living creatures was the likeness of a
firmament: similar to crystal, but dreadful to behold, and
extending over their heads from above. {1:23} And their
wings were straight under the firmament, one toward the
other. One of them was covered by two wings on his body,
and the other was covered similarly. {1:24} And I heard the
sound of their wings, like the sound of many waters, like the
sound of the sublime God. When they walked, it was like the
sound of a multitude, like the sound of an army. And when
they stood still, their wings were let down. {1:25} For when a
voice came from above the firmament, which was over their
heads, they stood still, and they put down their wings.
{1:26} And above the firmament, which was suspended over
their heads, there was the likeness of a throne, with the
appearance of the sapphire stone. And over the likeness of the
throne, there was a likeness with the appearance of a man
above it. {1:27} And I saw something with the appearance of
amber, with the likeness of fire within it and all around it.
And from his waist and upward, and from his waist
downward, I saw something with the appearance of fire
shining all around. {1:28} There was the appearance of the
rainbow, as when it is in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the
appearance of the splendor on every side.


[Ezekiel 2] {2:1} This was the vision of the likeness of the
glory of the Lord. And I saw, and I fell on my face, and I
heard the voice of someone speaking. And he said to me:
“Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.”
{2:2} And after this was spoken to me, the Spirit entered into
me, and he set me on my feet. And I heard him speaking to
me, {2:3} and saying: “Son of man, I am sending you to the
sons of Israel, to an apostate nation, which has withdrawn
from me. They and their fathers have betrayed my covenant,
even to this day. {2:4} And those to whom I am sending you
are sons with a hard face and an unyielding heart. And you
shall say to them: ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ {2:5} Perhaps it
may be that they will hear, and perhaps they may be quieted.
For they are a provoking house. And they shall know that
there has been a prophet in their midst. {2:6} But as for you,
son of man, you should not fear them, and you should not
dread their words. For you are among unbelievers and
subversives, and you are living with scorpions. You should
not fear their words, and you should not dread their faces.
For they are a provoking house. {2:7} Therefore, you shall
speak my words to them, so that perhaps they may hear and
be quieted. For they are provoking. {2:8} But as for you, son
of man, listen to all that I say to you. And do not choose to
be provoking, as that house is a provoker. Open your mouth,
and eat whatever I give to you.” {2:9} And I looked, and
behold: a hand was put forth toward me; there was a scroll
rolled up in it. And he spread it out before me, and there was
writing on the inside and on the outside. And there were
written in it lamentations, and verses, and woes.


[Ezekiel 3] {3:1} And he said to me: “Son of man, eat
whatever you will find; eat this scroll, and, going forth, speak
to the sons of Israel.” {3:2} And I opened my mouth, and he
fed me that scroll. {3:3} And he said to me: “Son of man,
your stomach shall eat, and your interior shall be filled with
this scroll, which I am giving to you.” And I ate it, and in my
mouth it became as sweet as honey. {3:4} And he said to me:
“Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and you shall speak
my words to them. {3:5} For you will be sent, not to a people
of profound words or of an unknown language, but to the
house of Israel, {3:6} and not to many peoples of profound
words or of an unknown language, whose words you would
not be able to understand. But if you were sent to them, they
would listen to you. {3:7} Yet the house of Israel is not
willing to listen to you. For they are not willing to listen to
me. Certainly, the entire house of Israel has a brazen
forehead and a hardened heart. {3:8} Behold, I have made
your face stronger than their faces, and your forehead harder
than their foreheads. {3:9} I have made your face like
hardened iron and like flint. You should not fear them, and
you should not have dread before their face. For they are a
provoking house.” {3:10} And he said to me: “Son of man,
listen with your ears, and take into your heart, all my words,
which I am speaking to you. {3:11} And go forth and enter to
those of the transmigration, to the sons of your people. And
you shall speak to them. And you shall say to them: ‘Thus
says the Lord God.’ Perhaps it may be that they will listen
and be quieted.” {3:12} And the Spirit took me up, and I
heard behind me the voice of a great commotion, saying,
“Blessed is the glory of the Lord from his place,” {3:13} and
the voice of the wings of the living creatures striking against
one another, and the voice of the wheels following the living
creatures, and the voice of a great commotion. {3:14} Then
the Spirit lifted me and took me away. And I went forth in
bitterness, with the indignation of my spirit. For the hand of
the Lord was with me, strengthening me. {3:15} And I went
to those of the transmigration, to the stockpile of new crops,
to those who were living beside the river Chebar. And I sat
where they were sitting. And I remained there for seven days,
while mourning in their midst. {3:16} Then, when seven days
had passed, the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
{3:17} “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the
house of Israel. And so, you shall listen to the word from my
mouth, and you shall announce it to them from me. {3:18} If,
when I say to the impious man, ‘You shall certainly die,’ you
do not announce it to him, and you do not speak so that he
may turn aside from his impious way and live, then the same
impious man will die in his iniquity. But I will attribute his
blood to your hand. {3:19} But if you announce it to the
impious man, and he is not converted from his impiety and
from his impious way, then indeed he will die in his iniquity.
But you will have delivered your own soul. {3:20} Moreover,
if the just man turns aside from his justice and commits
iniquity, I will place a stumbling block before him. He shall
die, because you have not announced to him. He shall die in
his sin, and his justices that he did shall not be remembered.
Yet truly, I will attribute his blood to your hand. {3:21} But if
you announce to the just man, so that the just man may not
sin, and he does not sin, then he shall certainly live, because
you have announced to him. And you will have delivered
your own soul.” {3:22} And the hand of the Lord was over
me. And he said to me: “Rise up, and go out to the plain, and
there I will speak with you.” {3:23} And I rose up, and I
went out to the plain. And behold, the glory of the Lord was
standing there, like the glory that I saw beside the river
Chebar. And I fell upon my face. {3:24} And the Spirit
entered into me, and set me upon my feet. And he spoke to
me, and he said to me: “Enter and enclose yourself in the
midst of your house. {3:25} And as for you, son of man,
behold: they shall put chains upon you and bind you with
them. And you shall not go out from their midst. {3:26} And
I will cause your tongue to adhere to the roof of your mouth.
And you will be mute, not like a man who reproaches. For
they are a provoking house. {3:27} But when I will speak to
you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them:
‘Thus says the Lord God.’ Whoever is listening, let him hear.
And whoever is quieted, let him be quieted. For they are a
provoking house.”


[Ezekiel 4] {4:1} “And as for you, son of man, take up for
yourself a tablet, and you shall set it before you. And you
shall draw upon it the city of Jerusalem. {4:2} And you shall
set up a blockade against it, and you shall build fortifications,
and you shall put together a rampart, and you shall encamp
opposite it, and you shall place battering rams around it.
{4:3} And you shall take up for yourself an iron frying pan,
and place it as an iron wall between you and the city. And
harden your face against it, and it shall be under a siege, and
you shall surround it. This is a sign to the house of Israel.
{4:4} And you shall sleep on your left side. And you shall
place the iniquities of the house of Israel on it by the number
of days that you will sleep on it. And you shall take upon
yourself their iniquity. {4:5} For I have given to you the years
of their iniquity, by the number of the days: three hundred
and ninety days. And you shall bear the iniquity of the house
of Israel. {4:6} And when you will have completed this, you
shall sleep a second time, on your right side, and you shall
assume the iniquity of the house of Judah for forty days: one
day for each year; one day, I say, for each year, have I given
to you. {4:7} And you shall turn your face toward the siege
of Jerusalem, and your arm shall be extended. And you shall
prophesy against it. {4:8} Behold, I have surrounded you
with chains. And you shall not turn yourself from one side to
the other side, until you have completed the days of your
siege. {4:9} And you shall take for yourself wheat, and barley,
and beans, and lentils, and millet, and vetch. And you shall
set them in one vessel, and you shall make for yourself bread
by the number of days that you will sleep upon your side:
three hundred and ninety days shall you shall eat from it.
{4:10} But your food, which you will eat, shall be in weight
twenty staters a day. You shall eat it from time to time.
{4:11} And you shall drink water by measure, one sixth part
of a hin. You shall drink it from time to time. {4:12} And
you shall eat it like barley bread baked under ashes. And you
shall cover it, in their sight, with the dung that goes out of a
man.” {4:13} And the Lord said: “So shall the sons of Israel
eat their bread, polluted among the Gentiles, to whom I will
cast them out.” {4:14} And I said: “Alas, alas, alas, O Lord
God! Behold, my soul has not been polluted, and from my
infancy even until now, I have not eaten anything that has
died of itself, nor that which has been torn up by beasts, and
no unclean flesh at all has entered into my mouth.”
{4:15} And he said to me: “Behold, I have given to you cow
manure in place of human dung, and you shall make your
bread with it.” {4:16} And he said to me: “Son of man,
behold: I will crush the staff of bread in Jerusalem. And they
will eat bread by weight and with anxiety. And they will
drink water by measure and with anguish. {4:17} So then,
when bread and water fail, each one may fall against his
brother. And they shall waste away in their iniquities.”


[Ezekiel 5] {5:1} “And as for you, son of man, obtain for
yourself a sharp knife for shaving hair, and you shall take it
and draw it across your head and across your beard. And you
shall obtain for yourself a balance for weighing, and you shall
divide the hair. {5:2} A third part you shall burn with fire in
the midst of the city, according to the completion of the days
of the siege. And you shall take a third part, and you shall cut
it with the knife all around. Yet truly, the other third, you
shall scatter to the wind, for I will unsheathe the sword after
them. {5:3} And you shall take from there a small number.
And you shall bind them in the end of your cloak. {5:4} And
again, you shall take from them, and you shall throw them
into the midst of the fire, and you shall burn them with fire.
And from it, there shall go forth a fire to the entire house of
Israel.” {5:5} Thus says the Lord God: “This is Jerusalem. I
have placed her in the midst of the Gentiles and of the lands
all around her. {5:6} And she has despised my judgments, so
as to be more impious than the Gentiles, and my precepts,
more so than the lands that are all around her. For they have
cast aside my judgments, and they have not walked in my
precepts.” {5:7} For this reason, thus says the Lord God:
“Since you have surpassed the Gentiles who are all around
you, and have not walked in my precepts, and have not
accomplished my judgments, and have not even acted in
accord with the judgments of the Gentiles who are all around
you: {5:8} therefore, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am
against you, and I myself will accomplish judgments in your
midst, in the sight of the Gentiles. {5:9} And I will do in you
what I have not done before, and the likes of which I will not
do again, because of all your abominations. {5:10} Therefore,
the fathers shall consume the sons in your midst, and the sons
shall consume their fathers. And I will execute judgments in
you, and I will winnow your entire remnant in every wind.
{5:11} Therefore, as I myself live says the Lord God, because
you have violated my sanctuary with all your offenses and
with all your abominations, I also will break into pieces, and
my eye will not be lenient, and I will not take pity.
{5:12} One third part of you will die by pestilence or be
consumed by famine in your midst. And one third part of you
will fall by the sword all around you. Yet truly, one third part
of you I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe the
sword after them. {5:13} And I will fulfill my fury, and I will
cause my indignation to rest upon them, and I will be
consoled. And they shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken
in my zeal, when I will have fulfilled my indignation in them.
{5:14} And I will make you desolate, and a disgrace among
the Gentiles, who are all around you, in the sight of all who
pass by. {5:15} And you shall be a disgrace and a blasphemy,
an example and an astonishment, among the Gentiles, who
are all around you, when I will have executed judgments in
you, in fury and in indignation and with rebukes of wrath.
{5:16} I, the Lord, have spoken. At that time, I will send
among them the most grievous arrows of famine, which shall
bring death, and which I will send so that I may destroy you.
And I will gather a famine over you, and I will crush the staff
of bread among you. {5:17} And I will send among you
famine and very harmful beasts, even unto utter ruin. And
pestilence and blood shall pass through you. And I will bring
the sword over you. I, the Lord, have spoken.”


[Ezekiel 6] {6:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {6:2} “Son of man, set your face toward the
mountains of Israel, and you shall prophesy against them,
{6:3} and you shall say: O mountains of Israel, listen to the
word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the
mountains and hills and cliffs and valleys: Behold, I will lead
over you the sword. And I will destroy your exalted places.
{6:4} And I will demolish your altars. And your graven
images will be broken apart. And I will throw down your
slain before your idols. {6:5} And I will lay the dead bodies
of the sons of Israel before the face of your idols. And I will
scatter your bones around your altars. {6:6} In all of your
habitations, the cities will be made desolate, and the exalted
places will be torn down and scattered. And your altars will
be broken and destroyed. And your idols will cease to exist.
And your shrines will be crushed. And your works will be
wiped away. {6:7} And the slain will fall in your midst. And
you shall know that I am the Lord. {6:8} And I will leave
among you those who will escape the sword among the
Gentiles, when I will have dispersed you upon the earth.
{6:9} And your liberated shall remember me among the
nations to which they were led away as captives. For I have
crushed their heart, which fornicated and withdrew from me,
and their eyes, which fornicated after their idols. And they
will be displeased with themselves over the evils that they
have done by all their abominations. {6:10} And they shall
know that I, the Lord, have not spoken in vain, that I would
do this evil to them.” {6:11} Thus says the Lord God: “Strike
with your hand, and stomp with your foot, and say: ‘Alas, to
all the abominations of the evils of the house of Israel!’ For
they will fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.
{6:12} Whoever is far away will die of pestilence. But
whoever is near will fall by the sword. And whoever remains
and is besieged will die by famine. And I will fulfill my
indignation among them. {6:13} And you shall know that I
am the Lord, when your slain will be in the midst of your
idols, all around your altars, on every exalted hill, and on the
summits of all the mountains, and under every dense tree,
and under every leafy oak: the places where they burned
sweet-smelling incense to all their idols. {6:14} And I will
extend my hand over them. And I will make the earth
desolate and destitute: from the desert of Riblah to all their
dwelling places. And they shall know that I am the Lord.”


[Ezekiel 7] {7:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {7:2} “And as for you, son of man: Thus says the
Lord God to the land of Israel: The end is coming, the end is
coming, over the four regions of the earth. {7:3} Now the end
is over you, and I will send my fury upon you. And I will
judge you according to your ways. And I will place all your
abominations before you. {7:4} And my eye will not be
lenient over you, and I will not take pity. Instead, I will set
your ways upon you, and your abominations will be in your
midst. And you shall know that I am the Lord.” {7:5} Thus
says the Lord God: “One affliction, behold, one affliction is
approaching. {7:6} The end is coming, the end is coming. It
has been vigilant against you. Behold, it is approaching.
{7:7} Destruction is coming over you, who live upon the
earth. The time is approaching, the day of slaughter is near,
and it is not of the glory of the mountains. {7:8} Now, very
soon, I will pour out my wrath upon you, and I will fulfill my
fury in you. And I will judge you according to your ways,
and I will set upon you all your crimes. {7:9} And my eye
will not be lenient, nor will I take pity. Instead, I will place
your ways upon you, and your abominations will be in your
midst. And you shall know that I am the Lord, who is
striking. {7:10} Behold, the day! Behold, it approaches!
Destruction has gone forth, the rod has blossomed, arrogance
has germinated. {7:11} Iniquity has risen up into a rod of
impiety. There shall be nothing left of them, and of their
people, and of the sound of them. And there shall be no rest
for them. {7:12} The time is approaching; the day is very
near. Whoever buys should not rejoice. And whoever sells
should not mourn. For wrath is over all of their people.
{7:13} For whoever sells will not return to what he has sold,
but as yet their life will be among the living. For the vision
concerning their entire multitude will not turn back. And
man will not be strengthened in the iniquity of his life.
{7:14} Sound the trumpet! Let everyone be prepared! And yet
there is no one who may go to battle. For my wrath is over all
their people. {7:15} The sword is outside, and the pestilence
and the famine are inside. Whoever is in the field will die by
the sword. And whoever is in the city will be devoured by the
pestilence and the famine. {7:16} And those who flee from
among them will be saved. And they will be among the
mountains, like doves in steep valleys, with everyone of them
trembling, each one because of his iniquity. {7:17} All hands
will be weakened, and all knees will flow with water.
{7:18} And they will wrap themselves with haircloth, and
dread will cover them. And shame will be upon every face,
and baldness will be upon all of their heads. {7:19} Their
silver will be thrown away, and their gold will be like a
dunghill. Their silver and their gold will have no power to
free them in the day of the fury of the Lord. They will not
satisfy their soul, and their bellies will not be filled, because of
the scandal of their iniquity. {7:20} And they have set
arrogance as the ornament of their necklaces, and they have
made images of their abominations and graven idols. Because
of this, I have let it be an uncleanness for them. {7:21} And I
will give it into the hands of foreigners as a spoil, and to the
impious of the earth as a prey, and they will defile it.
{7:22} And I will avert my face from them, and they will
violate my place of mystery. And untamed persons will enter
into it, and they will defile it. {7:23} Cause it to be closed.
For the land has been filled with the judgment of blood, and
the city is full of iniquity. {7:24} And I will lead in the most
sinful among the Gentiles, and they will possess their houses.
And I will cause the arrogance of the powerful to be quieted.
And they will possess their sanctuaries. {7:25} When anguish
overwhelms them, they will seek peace, and there will be
none. {7:26} Disturbance will follow after disturbance, and
rumor after rumor. And they will seek the vision of the
prophet, and the law will perish from the priest, and counsel
will perish from the elders. {7:27} The king will mourn, and
the prince will be clothed with grief, and the hands of the
people of the earth will be greatly disturbed. I will act toward
them in accord with their own way, and I will judge them in
accord with their own judgments. And they shall know that I
am the Lord.”


[Ezekiel 8] {8:1} And it happened that, in the sixth year, in
the sixth month, on the fifth of the month, I was sitting in my
house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, and the
hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. {8:2} And I saw,
and behold, there was an image with the appearance of fire.
From the appearance of his waist, and downward, there was
fire. And from his waist, and upward, there was the
appearance of splendor, like the sight of amber. {8:3} And as
the image of a hand went out, it took hold of me by a lock of
my head. And the Spirit lifted me up between earth and
heaven. And he brought me into Jerusalem, within a vision
of God, next to the inner gate that looked toward the north,
where there was stationed an idol of rivalry, so as to provoke
an envious emulation. {8:4} And behold, the glory of the
God of Israel was there, in accord with the vision that I had
seen in the plain. {8:5} And he said to me: “Son of man, lift
up your eyes to the way of the north.” And I lifted up my
eyes to the way of the north. And behold, from the north of
the gate of the altar was the idol of rivalry, at the same
entrance. {8:6} And he said to me: “Son of man, you see
what these ones are doing, the great abominations that the
house of Israel is committing here. Do you not think, then,
that I should withdraw far away from my own sanctuary? But
if you turn again, you will see even greater abominations.”
{8:7} And he led me in by the door of the atrium. And I saw,
and behold, there was an opening in the wall. {8:8} And he
said to me: “Son of man, dig in the wall.” And when I had
dug in the wall, there appeared one door. {8:9} And he said
to me: “Enter and see the most wicked abominations which
they are committing here.” {8:10} And entering, I saw, and
behold, every kind of image of reptiles and animals, the
abominations, and all of the idols of the house of Israel were
depicted on the wall all around, throughout the entire place.
{8:11} And there were seventy men out of the elders of the
house of Israel, with Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, standing
in their midst, and they stood before the pictures. And each
one had a censer in his hand. And a cloud of smoke rose up
from the incense. {8:12} And he said to me: “Certainly, son
of man, you see what the elders of the house of Israel are
doing in the darkness, each one while hidden in his chamber.
For they say: ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has
forsaken the earth.’ ” {8:13} And he said to me: “If you turn
again, you will see even greater abominations, which these
ones are committing.” {8:14} And he led me in through the
door of the gate of the Lord’s house, which looked toward
the north. And behold, women were sitting there, mourning
for Adonis. {8:15} And he said to me: “Certainly, son of man,
you have seen. But if you turn again, you will see even
greater abominations than these.” {8:16} And he led me into
the inner atrium of the house of the Lord. And behold, at the
door of the temple of the Lord, between the vestibule and the
altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs
toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east.
And they were adoring toward the rising of the Sun.
{8:17} And he said to me: “Certainly, son of man, you have
seen. Can this be so trivial to the house of Judah, when they
commit these abominations, just as they have committed here,
that, having filled the earth with iniquity, they now turn to
provoke me? And behold, they are applying a branch to their
nose. {8:18} Therefore, I also will act toward them in my
fury. My eye will not be lenient, nor will I take pity. And
when they will have cried out to my ears with a loud voice, I
will not heed them.”


[Ezekiel 9] {9:1} And he cried out in my ears with a loud
voice, saying: “The visitations of the city have drawn near,
and each one has equipment for killing in his hand.”
{9:2} And behold, six men were approaching from the way
of the upper gate, which looks to the north. And each one
had equipment for killing in his hand. Also, one man in their
midst was clothed with linen, and an instrument for writing
was at his waist. And they entered and stood beside the
bronze altar. {9:3} And the glory of the Lord of Israel was
taken up, from the cherub upon which he was, to the
threshold of the house. And he called out to the man who
was clothed with linen and had an instrument for writing at
his waist. {9:4} And the Lord said to him: “Cross through the
middle of the city, in the center of Jerusalem, and seal a Tau
upon the foreheads of the grieving men, who are mourning
over all the abominations which are being committed in its
midst.” {9:5} And he said to the others, in my hearing:
“Cross through the city after him, and strike! Your eye shall
not be lenient, and you shall not take pity. {9:6} Kill, even to
utter destruction, old men, young men, and virgins, little ones,
and women. But all upon whom see the Tau, you shall not
kill. And begin from my sanctuary.” Therefore, they began
with the men among the elders, who were before the face of
the house. {9:7} And he said to them: “Defile the house, and
fill its courts with the slain! Go forth!” And they went forth
and struck down those who were in the city. {9:8} And when
the slaughter was completed, I remained. And I fell upon my
face, and crying out, I said: “Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God!
Will you now destroy the entire remnant of Israel, by pouring
out your fury upon Jerusalem?” {9:9} And he said to me:
“The iniquity of the house of Israel, and of Judah, is vast and
exceedingly great, and the land has been filled with blood,
and the city has been filled with what is abhorrent. For they
have said: ‘The Lord has forsaken the earth,’ and, ‘The Lord
does not see.’ {9:10} Therefore, my eye will not be lenient,
and I will not take pity. I will repay their own way upon their
head.” {9:11} And behold, the man who was clothed with
linen, who had a writing instrument at his back, responded a
word, saying: “I have done just as you instructed me.”


[Ezekiel 10] {10:1} And I saw, and behold, in the firmament
that was over the heads of the cherubim, there appeared
above them something like the sapphire stone, with the sight
of the likeness of a throne. {10:2} And he spoke to the man
who was clothed with linen, and he said: “Enter, between the
wheels that are under the cherubim, and fill your hand with
the coals of fire that are between the cherubim, and pour
them upon the city.” And he entered, in my sight.
{10:3} Now the cherubim were standing before the right side
of the house, when the man entered. And a cloud filled the
inner court. {10:4} And the glory of the Lord was lifted up,
from above the cherubim, to the threshold of the house. And
the house was filled with the cloud. And the court was filled
with the splendor of the glory of the Lord. {10:5} And the
sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even in the
outer court, like the voice of Almighty God speaking.
{10:6} And when he had instructed the man who was clothed
with linen, saying, “Take fire from the midst of the wheels
that are between the cherubim,” he entered and stood next to
the wheel. {10:7} And one cherub extended his hand, from
the midst of the cherubim, to the fire that was between the
cherubim. And he took and gave it into the hands of the one
who was clothed with linen, and he accepted it and went
forth. {10:8} And there appeared amid the cherubim the
likeness of the hand of a man, under their wings. {10:9} And
I saw, and behold, there were four wheels beside the
cherubim. One wheel was next to one cherub, and another
wheel was next to another cherub. And the appearance of the
wheels was like the sight of the chrysolite stone. {10:10} And
in their appearance, each one of the four were similar, as if a
wheel were in the midst of a wheel. {10:11} And when they
went, they advanced in four parts. And they did not turn as
they went. Instead, to the place to which they were inclined
to go at first, the rest also followed, and they did not turn
back. {10:12} And their entire body, with their necks and
their hands and their wings and the circles, were full of eyes
all around the four wheels. {10:13} And in my hearing, he
called these wheels: “constantly changing.” {10:14} Now
each one had four faces. One face was the face of a cherub,
and the second face was the face of a man, and in the third
was the face of a lion, and in the fourth was the face of an
eagle. {10:15} And the cherubim were lifted up. This is the
living creature, which I had seen beside the river Chebar.
{10:16} And when the cherubim advanced, the wheels also
went beside them. And when the cherubim lifted up their
wings in order to be raised up from the earth, the wheels did
not remain behind, but they also were beside them.
{10:17} When they were standing, these stood still. And
when they were lifted up, these were lifted up. For the spirit
of life was in them. {10:18} And the glory of the Lord went
forth from the threshold of the temple, and stood above the
cherubim. {10:19} And the cherubim, lifting up their wings,
were raised up from the earth in my sight. And as they went
away, the wheels also followed. And it stood at the entrance
to the east gate of the house of the Lord. And the glory of the
God of Israel was over them. {10:20} This is the living
creature, which I saw under the God of Israel beside the river
Chebar. And I understood that they were cherubim.
{10:21} Each one had four faces, and each one had four
wings. And the likeness of the hand of a man was under their
wings. {10:22} And, concerning the appearance of their faces,
these were the same faces that I had seen beside the river
Chebar, and the gaze and force of each one of them was to go
before his face.


[Ezekiel 11] {11:1} And the Spirit lifted me up, and he
brought me to the east gate of the house of the Lord, which
looks toward the rising of the sun. And behold, at the
entrance to the gate were twenty-five men. And I saw, in
their midst, Jaazaniah, the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah, the
son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. {11:2} And he said to
me: “Son of man, these are men who devise iniquity. And
they offer a wicked counsel in this city, {11:3} saying: ‘Was it
so long ago that houses were being built? This city is a
cooking pot, and we are the meat.’ {11:4} Therefore,
prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.”
{11:5} And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he said to
me: “Speak: Thus says the Lord: So have you spoken, O
house of Israel. And I know the thoughts of your heart.
{11:6} You have killed very many in this city, and you have
filled its streets with the slain. {11:7} Because of this, thus
says the Lord God: Your slain, whom you have placed in its
midst, these are the meat, and this city is the cooking pot.
And I will draw you out of its midst. {11:8} You have dread
the sword, and so I will lead the sword over you, says the
Lord God. {11:9} And I will cast you out of its midst, and I
will give you over to the hand of the enemies, and I will
execute judgments among you. {11:10} You will fall by the
sword. I will judge you within the borders of Israel. And you
shall know that I am the Lord. {11:11} This city will not be a
cooking pot for you, and you will not be like meat in its midst.
I will judge you within the borders of Israel. {11:12} And you
shall know that I am the Lord. For you have not walked in
my precepts, and you have not accomplished my judgments.
Instead, you have acted in accord with the judgments of the
Gentiles, who are all around you.” {11:13} And it happened
that, when I prophesied, Pelatiah, the son of Benaiah, died.
And I fell upon my face, and I cried out with a loud voice,
and I said: “Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God! Will you cause the
consummation of the remnant of Israel?” {11:14} And the
word of the Lord came to me, saying: {11:15} “Son of man,
your brothers, the men among your close relatives, your
brothers and the entire house of Israel, are all among those to
whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said: ‘Withdraw far
from the Lord; the earth has been given to us as a possession.’
{11:16} Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Since I have
caused them to be far away, among the Gentiles, and since I
have dispersed them among the lands, I will be a little
sanctuary for them within the lands to which they have gone.
{11:17} Because of this, say to them: Thus says the Lord God:
I will gather you from among the peoples, and I will unite
you, from the lands into which you were dispersed, and I will
give the soil of Israel to you. {11:18} And they shall go to
that place, and they shall remove all the offenses and all its
abominations from that place. {11:19} And I will give them
one heart. And I will distribute a new spirit to their interior.
And I will take away the heart of stone from their body. And
I will give them a heart of flesh. {11:20} So may they may
walk in my precepts, and observe my judgments, and
accomplish them. And so may they be my people, and I will
be their God. {11:21} But as for those whose heart walks
after their offenses and abominations, I will set their own way
upon their head, says the Lord God.” {11:22} And the
cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels with them.
And the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
{11:23} And the glory of the Lord ascended from the midst of
the city and stood above the mountain, which is to the east of
the city. {11:24} And the Spirit lifted me up, and he brought
me into Chaldea, to those of the transmigration, in a vision,
in the Spirit of God. And the vision that I had seen was raised
up, away from me. {11:25} And I spoke, to those of the
transmigration, all the words of the Lord that he had revealed
to me.


[Ezekiel 12] {12:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {12:2} “Son of man, you live in the midst of a
provoking house. They have eyes to see, and they do not see;
and ears to hear, and they do not hear. For they are a
provoking house. {12:3} As for you, then, son of man,
prepare for yourself the supplies for traveling far away, and
travel away in the daytime in their sight. And you shall travel
from your place to another place in their sight, so that
perhaps they may consider it. For they are a provoking house.
{12:4} And you shall carry your supplies outside, like the
supplies of one who is traveling far away, in the daytime in
their sight. Then you shall go forth in the evening in their
presence, just as one goes forth who is moving far away.
{12:5} Dig for yourself through the wall, before their eyes.
And you shall go out through it. {12:6} In their sight, you
shall be carried on shoulders, you shall be carried in the dark.
You shall cover your face, and you shall not see the ground.
For I have appointed you as a portent for the house of
Israel.” {12:7} Therefore, I did just as he had instructed me. I
brought out my supplies in the daytime, like the supplies of
one who is moving far away. And in the evening, I dug
myself through the wall by hand. And I went out in the dark,
and I was carried on shoulders, in their sight. {12:8} And the
word of the Lord came to me, in the morning, saying:
{12:9} “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the
provoking house, said to you: ‘What are you doing?’
{12:10} Say to them: Thus says the Lord God: This is the
burden concerning my leader who is in Jerusalem, and
concerning the entire house of Israel, who are in their midst.
{12:11} Say: Iam your portent. Just as I have done, so shall
it be done to them. They will be taken captive and moved far
away. {12:12} And the leader who is in their midst will be
carried on shoulders; he will go forth in darkness. They will
dig through the wall, so that they may lead him away. His
face will be covered, so that he may not see the land with his
eye. {12:13} And I will extend my net over him, and he will
be captured in my dragnet. And I will lead him to Babylon,
into the land of the Chaldeans, but he himself will not see it.
And there he shall die. {12:14} And all who are around him,
his guards and his companies, I will scatter into every wind.
And I will unsheathe the sword after them. {12:15} And they
shall know that I am the Lord, when I will have dispersed
them among the Gentiles, and will have sowed them among
the lands. {12:16} And I will leave behind a few men of them,
apart from the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence, so
that they may declare all their wicked deeds among the
Gentiles, to whom they will go. And they shall know that I
am the Lord.” {12:17} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {12:18} “Son of man, eat your bread in consternation.
Moreover, drink your water hurriedly and in sorrow.
{12:19} And say to the people of the land: Thus says the
Lord God, to those who are living in Jerusalem, in the land
of Israel: They shall eat their bread in anxiety, and drink their
water in desolation, so that the land may be desolate before
its multitude, because of the iniquity of all who are living in it.
{12:20} And cities that are now inhabited will become
desolate, and the land will be forsaken. And you shall know
that Iam the Lord.” {12:21} And the word of the Lord came
to me, saying: {12:22} “Son of man, what is this proverb that
you have in the land of Israel? saying: ‘The days shall be
extended in length, and every vision shall perish.’
{12:23} Therefore, say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I
will cause this proverb to cease, and it shall no longer be a
common saying in Israel. And tell them that the days are
approaching, and the word of every vision. {12:24} For there
shall be no longer be any empty visions, nor any ambiguous
divination in the midst of the sons of Israel. {12:25} For I,
the Lord, will speak. And whatever word I will speak, it shall
be done, and it shall not be delayed any more. Instead, in
your days, O provoking house, I will speak a word and do it,
says the Lord God.” {12:26} And the word of the Lord came
to me, saying: {12:27} “Son of man, behold the house of
Israel, those who are saying: ‘The visions that this one sees is
many days away,’ and, ‘This man prophesies about times
that are far away.’ {12:28} Because of this, say to them: Thus
says the Lord God: No word of mine will be delayed any
longer. The word that I will speak will be fulfilled, says the
Lord God.”


[Ezekiel 13] {13:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {13:2} “Son of man, prophesy to the prophets of
Israel who are prophesying, and you shall say to those who
prophesy from their own heart: Hear the word of the Lord:
{13:3} Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the foolish prophets,
who are following their own spirit, and who see nothing.
{13:4} Your prophets, O Israel, were like foxes in the deserts.
{13:5} You have not gone up against the adversary, and you
have not established a wall for the house of Israel, so as to
stand in battle on the day of the Lord. {13:6} They see
emptiness, and they foretell falsehoods, saying, ‘The Lord
says,’ though the Lord has not sent them. And they
continued to affirm what they said. {13:7} Have you not seen
a futile vision and spoken a lying divination? And yet you say,
‘The Lord says,’ though I have not spoken. {13:8} Because of
this, thus says the Lord God: Since you have spoken
emptiness and have seen falsehoods, therefore: behold, I am
against you, says the Lord God. {13:9} And my hand will be
over the prophets who are seeing emptiness and divining lies.
They shall not be in the council of my people, and they shall
not be written in the writing of the house of Israel. Neither
shall they enter into the land of Israel. And you shall know
that I am the Lord God. {13:10} For they have deceived my
people, saying, ‘Peace,’ and there is no peace. And they have
built a wall, but they have covered it in clay without straw.
{13:11} Say to those who spread mortar without mixing, that
it will fall apart. For there will be an inundating rain, and I
will cause full-grown hailstones to rush down from above,
and a windstorm to dissipate it. {13:12} So then, behold:
when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you: ‘Where is
the mortar with which you covered it?’ {13:13} Because of
this, thus says the Lord God: And I will cause a violent wind
to burst forth in my indignation, and there will be an
inundating rain in my fury, and great hailstones in wrath, to
consume. {13:14} And I will destroy the wall that you have
covered without tempering it. And I will level it to the ground,
and its foundation will be revealed. And it will fall and be
consumed in its midst. And you shall know that I am the
Lord. {13:15} And I will fulfill my indignation against the
wall, and against those who cover it without mixing the
mortar, and I will say to you: The wall is no more, and those
who covered it are no more: {13:16} the prophets of Israel,
who prophesy to Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for
her when there is no peace, says the Lord God. {13:17} And
as for you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of
your people, who prophesy from their own heart. And
prophesy about them, {13:18} and say: Thus says the Lord
God: Woe to those who sew together little pillows under
every forearm, and who make little cushions for the heads of
every stage of life, in order to capture souls. And when they
have seized the souls of my people, they became the life of
their souls. {13:19} And they violated me among my people,
for the sake of a handful of barley and a fragment of bread, so
that they would kill the souls that should not die, and enliven
the souls that should not live, lying to my people who believe
in falsehoods. {13:20} Because of this, thus says the Lord
God: Behold, I am against your little pillows, with which you
catch flying souls. And I will tear them away from your arms.
And I will release the souls that you are capturing, the souls
that should fly. {13:21} And I will tear away your little
cushions. And I will free my people from your hand. And
they shall no longer be a prey in your hands. And you shall
know that I am the Lord. {13:22} For by deception you have
caused the heart of the just to grieve, whom I would not
sadden. And I have strengthened the hands of the impious, so
that he would not be turned back from his evil way and live.
{13:23} Therefore, you shall not see emptiness, and you shall
not divine divinations, any more. And I will rescue my
people from your hand. And you shall know that I am the
Lord.”


[Ezekiel 14] {14:1} And men among the elders of Israel
came to me, and they sat down before me. {14:2} And the
word of the Lord came to me, saying: {14:3} “Son of man,
these men have placed their uncleanness in their hearts, and
they have stationed the scandal of their iniquities before their
face. So why should I respond when they inquire of me?
{14:4} Because of this, speak to them, and you shall say to
them: Thus says the Lord God: The man, the man of the
house of Israel, who places his uncleanness in his heart, and
who stations the scandal of his iniquities before his face, and
who approaches a prophet, so as to inquire of me through
him: I, the Lord, will respond to him in accord with the
multitude of his uncleannesses, {14:5} so that the house of
Israel may be seized within their own heart, by which they
have withdrawn from me to all their idols. {14:6} Because of
this, say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Be
converted, and withdraw from your idols, and turn your faces
away from all your abominations. {14:7} For the man, the
man of the house of Israel, and the new arrival among the
converts who may be in Israel, if he is alienated from me, and
he sets his idols in his heart, and he stations the scandal of his
iniquity before his face, and he approaches the prophet, so
that he may inquire of me through him: I, the Lord, will
respond to him through myself. {14:8} And I will set my face
against that man, and I will make him an example and a
proverb. And I will perish him from the midst of my people.
And you shall know that I am the Lord. {14:9} And when a
prophet has gone astray and has spoken a word: I, the Lord,
have deceived that prophet. And I will extend my hand over
him, and I will wipe him away from the midst of my people,
Israel. {14:10} And they shall bear their iniquity. In accord
with the iniquity of the one who inquires, so shall the iniquity
of the prophet be. {14:11} So may the house of Israel no
longer go astray from me, nor be polluted by all their
transgressions. Instead, may they be my people, and may I be
their God, says the Lord of hosts.” {14:12} And the word of
the Lord came to me, saying: {14:13} “Son of man, when a
land will have sinned against me, so that it transgresses
grievously, I will extend my hand over it, and I will crush the
staff of its bread. And I will send a famine upon it, and I will
destroy from it both man and beast. {14:14} And if these
three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would
deliver their own souls by their justice, says the Lord of hosts.
{14:15} And if I also lead in very harmful beasts upon the
land, so that I devastate it, and it becomes impassable, so that
no one may cross through it because of the beasts, {14:16} if
these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they
will deliver neither sons, nor daughters. But only they
themselves will be delivered, for the land shall be desolated.
{14:17} Or if I lead in the sword upon that land, and if I say
to the sword, ‘Pass through the land,’ and so I destroy from it
both man and beast, {14:18} and if these three men were in
its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they will deliver
neither sons, nor daughters, but only they themselves will be
delivered. {14:19} Then, if I also send the pestilence upon
that land, and I pour out my indignation upon it with blood,
so that I take away from it both man and beast, {14:20} and
if Noah, and Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live, says
the Lord God, they will deliver neither son, nor daughter, but
they will deliver only their own souls by their justice.
{14:21} For thus says the Lord God: Even though I will send
upon Jerusalem my four most grievous judgments, sword and
famine and harmful beasts and pestilence, so that I destroy
from it both man and beast, {14:22} yet still there shall be left
within it some who will be saved, who shall lead away their
own sons and daughters. Behold, they will enter to you, and
you will see their way and their accomplishments. And you
shall be consoled concerning the evil that I have brought
upon Jerusalem, concerning all the things that I have brought
to bear upon it. {14:23} And they shall console you, when
you see their ways and their accomplishments. And you shall
know that I have not acted to no purpose in all that I have
done within it, says the Lord God.”


[Ezekiel 15] {15:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {15:2} “Son of man, what can be made from the stalk
of a vine, compared to all the plants of the woods that are
among the trees of the forests? {15:3} Can any wood be taken
from it, so that it may be made into a work, or formed into a
peg so as to hang some kind of vessel upon it? {15:4} Behold,
it is used in the fire as fuel. The fire consumes both its ends;
and its middle is reduced to ashes. So how can it be useful for
any work? {15:5} Even when it was whole, it was unsuitable
for a work. How much more so, when fire has devoured it
and burned it up, will nothing of it be useful?
{15:6} Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Like the stalk of
the vine among the trees of the forests, which I have given to
be devoured by fire, so will I deliver the inhabitants of
Jerusalem. {15:7} And I will set my face against them. They
will go away from fire, and yet fire will consume them. And
you shall know that I am the Lord, when I will have set my
face against them, {15:8} and when I will have made their
land impassable and desolate. For they have stood forth as
transgressors, says the Lord God.”


[Ezekiel 16] {16:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {16:2} “Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her
abominations. {16:3} And you shall say: Thus says the Lord
God to Jerusalem: Your root and your lineage is from the
land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite, and your
mother was a Cethite. {16:4} And when you were born, on
the day of your nativity, your umbilical cord was not cut, and
you were not washed with water for health, nor salted with
salt, nor wrapped with cloths. {16:5} No eye took pity on you,
so as to do even one of these things to you, out of compassion
for you. Instead, you were cast upon the face of the earth, in
the abjection of your soul, on the day when you were born.
{16:6} But, passing by you, I saw that you were wallowing in
your own blood. And I said to you, when you were in your
blood: ‘Live.’ I tell you that I said to you, in your blood:
‘Live.’ {16:7} I multiplied you like the seedling of the field.
And you were multiplied and became great, and you
advanced and arrived at the ornament of a woman. Your
breasts rose up, and your hair grew. And you were naked and
full of shame. {16:8} And I passed by you and saw you. And
behold, your time was the time of lovers. And I spread my
garment over you, and I covered your disgrace. And I swore
to you, and I entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord
God, and you became mine. {16:9} And I washed you with
water, and I cleansed you of your blood. And I anointed you
with oil. {16:10} And I covered you with embroidery, and I
put violet shoes upon you, and I wrapped you in fine linen,
and I clothed you with delicate garments. {16:11} I adorned
you with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon your hands and
a necklace around your neck. {16:12} And I put gold upon
your face, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown
upon your head. {16:13} And you were adorned with gold
and silver, and you were clothed in fine linen, woven with
many colors. You ate fine flour, and honey, and oil. And you
became very beautiful. And you advanced to royal power.
{16:14} And your renown went forth among the Gentiles,
because of your beauty. For you were perfected by my beauty,
which I had placed upon you, says the Lord God.
{16:15} But, having confidence in your own beauty, you
fornicated in your fame. And you presented your fornication
to every passer-by, so as to become his. {16:16} And taking
from your garments, you made for yourself exalted things,
having sewed together disparate pieces. And you fornicated
upon them, in a way that has not been done before, nor will
be in the future. {16:17} And you took your beautiful items,
made of my gold and my silver, which I gave to you, and you
made for yourself images of men, and you fornicated with
them. {16:18} And you used your multicolored vestments to
cover these things. And you placed my oil and my incense
before them. {16:19} And my bread, which I gave to you, the
fine flour, and the oil, and the honey, by which I nourished
you, you placed in their sight as a sweet fragrance. And so it
was done, says the Lord God. {16:20} And you took your
sons and your daughters, whom you bore for me, and you
immolated them to be devoured. Is your fornication a small
matter? {16:21} You have immolated my sons, and you have
consecrated and delivered my sons to them. {16:22} And
after all your abominations and fornications, you have not
remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked
and full of shame, wallowing in your own blood.
{16:23} And it happened that, after all your wickedness, (woe,
woe to you, says the Lord God) {16:24} you built for yourself
a brothel, and you made for yourself a place of prostitution in
every street. {16:25} At the head of every way, you set up a
banner of your prostitution. And you caused your beauty to
become abominable. And you distributed your feet to every
passer-by. And you multiplied your fornications.
{16:26} And you fornicated with the sons of Egypt, your
neighbors, who have large bodies. And you multiplied your
fornications, so as to provoke me. {16:27} Behold, I will
extend my hand over you, and I will take away your
justification. And I will give you to the souls of those who
hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed
of your wicked way. {16:28} You also fornicated with the
sons of the Assyrians, for you were not yet done. And after
you fornicated, even then, you were not satisfied.
{16:29} And you multiplied your fornications in the land of
Canaan with the Chaldeans. And even then, you were not
satisfied. {16:30} With what can I cleanse your heart, says
the Lord God, since you do all these things, the works of a
woman who is a shameless prostitute? {16:31} For you have
built your brothel at the head of every way, and you have
made your exalted place on every street. And you have not
even been like a choosy prostitute, increasing her price,
{16:32} but instead like a woman who is an adulteress, who
prefers strangers to her own husband. {16:33} Wages are
given to all prostitutes. But you have given wages to all your
lovers, and you have given gifts to them, so that they would
enter to you from every side, in order to fornicate with you.
{16:34} And it is done with you, in your fornications,
contrary to the custom of women, and even after you, there
will be no such fornication. For in as much as you have given
payment, and not taken payment, what has been done in you
is the contrary.” {16:35} Because of this, O harlot, listen to
the word of the Lord. {16:36} Thus says the Lord God:
“Because your money has been poured out, and your
disgrace has been uncovered, in your fornications with your
lovers and with the idols of your abominations, in the blood
of your sons, whom you gave to them: {16:37} Behold, I will
gather all your lovers, with whom you have united, and all
those whom you have loved, together with all those whom
you have hated. And I will gather them together against you
on every side. And I will uncover your disgrace before them,
and they will see all your indecency. {16:38} And I will judge
you with the judgment of adulteresses and of those who shed
blood. And I will give you over to blood, in fury and in zeal.
{16:39} And I will deliver you into their hands. And they will
destroy your brothel and demolish your place of prostitution.
And they will strip you of your vestments. And they will take
away the ornaments of your beauty. And they will leave you
behind, naked and full of disgrace. {16:40} And they will
lead over you a multitude. And they will stone you with
stones, and massacre you with their swords. {16:41} And
they will burn up your houses with fire, and they will carry
out judgments against you in the sight of many women. And
you will cease from fornication, and no longer give payment.
{16:42} And my indignation will be quieted in you. And my
zeal will be taken from you. And I will rest, and no longer be
angry. {16:43} For you have not remembered the days of
your youth, and you have provoked me in all these things.
Because of this, I also have delivered all your ways upon your
head, says the Lord God, but I have not acted in accord with
your wickedness in all your abominations. {16:44} Behold,
all who speak a common proverb will take this up against
you, saying: ‘Like the mother, so also is her daughter.’
{16:45} You are your mother’s daughter, for she cast away
her husband and her children. And you are the sister of your
sisters, for they cast away their husbands and their children.
Your mother was a Cethite, and your father was an Amorite.
{16:46} And your older sister is Samaria, she and her
daughters are those who live to your left. But your younger
sister, who lives to your right, is Sodom and her daughters.
{16:47} But neither have you walked in their ways. For you
have done only a little less compared to their wickedness.
You have acted almost more wickedly, in all your ways, than
they have acted. {16:48} As I live, says the Lord God, your
sister Sodom herself, and her daughters, have not done as
you and your daughters have done. {16:49} Behold, this was
the iniquity of Sodom, your sister: arrogance, indulgence in
bread and abundance, and the idleness of her and her
daughters; and they did not reach out their hand to the needy
and the poor. {16:50} And they were exalted, and they
committed abominations before me. And so I took them
away, just as you have seen. {16:51} But Samaria has not
committed even half of your sins. For you have exceeded
them in your wickedness, and you have justified your sisters
by all your abominations, which you have wrought.
{16:52} Therefore, you also bear your shame, for you have
exceeded your sisters with your sins, acting more wickedly
than they did. So they have been justified above you. By this
also, you are confounded, and you bear your disgrace, for
you have justified your sisters. {16:53} But I will convert and
restore them, by converting Sodom with her daughters, and
by converting Samaria and her daughters. And I will convert
your return in their midst. {16:54} So may you bear your
disgrace and be confounded over all that you have done,
consoling them. {16:55} And your sister Sodom and her
daughters will return to their ancient state. And Samaria and
her daughters will return to their ancient state. And you and
your daughters will be returned to your ancient state.
{16:56} Your sister Sodom was not heard from your mouth,
then, in the day of your pride, {16:57} before your malice
was revealed, as it is at this time, with the reproach of the
daughters of Syria and of all the daughters of Palestine, who
surround you, who encircle you on every side. {16:58} You
have borne your wickedness and your disgrace, says the Lord
God.” {16:59} For thus says the Lord God: “I will act
toward you, just as you have despised the oath, so that you
would make void the covenant. {16:60} And I will remember
my covenant with you in the days of your youth. And I will
raise up for you an everlasting covenant. {16:61} And you
shall remember your ways and be confounded, when you will
have received your sisters, your elder with your younger. And
I will give them to you as daughters, but not by your
covenant. {16:62} And I will raise up my covenant with you.
And you shall know that I am the Lord. {16:63} So may you
remember and be confounded. And it will no longer be for
you to open your mouth, because of your shame, when I will
have been pacified toward you over all that you have done,
says the Lord God.”


[Ezekiel 17] {17:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {17:2} “Son of man, propose an enigma and describe
a parable to the house of Israel, {17:3} and you shall say:
Thus says the Lord God: A large eagle, with great wings and
elongated pinions, full of feathers with many colors, came to
Lebanon. And he took the kernel of the cedar. {17:4} He tore
off the summit of its branches, and he transported it to the
land of Canaan; he placed it in a city of merchants.
{17:5} And he took from the seed of the land and placed it in
the ground for seed, so that it might take firm root above
many waters; he placed it at the surface. {17:6} And when it
had germinated, it increased into a more extensive vine, low
in height, with its branches facing toward itself. And its roots
were underneath it. And so, it became a vine, and sprouted
branches, and produced shoots. {17:7} And there was
another large eagle, with great wings and many feathers. And
behold, this vine seemed to bend its roots towards him,
extending its branches toward him, so that he might irrigate it
from the garden of its germination. {17:8} It had been
planted in a good land, above many waters, so that it would
produce branches and bear fruit, so that it would become a
large vine. {17:9} Speak: Thus says the Lord God: What if it
does not prosper? Should he not pull up its roots, and strip off
its fruit, and dry up all the branches that it has produced, and
let it wither, though he is without a strong arm and without
many people to pull it up by the root? {17:10} Behold, it has
been planted. What if it does not prosper? Should it not be
dried up when the burning wind touches it, and should it not
wither in the garden of its germination?” {17:11} And the
word of the Lord came to me, saying: {17:12} “Say to the
provoking house: Do you not know what these things signify?
Say: Behold, the king of Babylon arrives in Jerusalem. And
he will take away its king and princes, and he will lead them
away to himself in Babylon. {17:13} And he will take one
from the offspring of the king, and he will strike a pact with
him and receive an oath from him. Moreover, he will take
away the strong ones of the land, {17:14} so that it may be a
lowly kingdom, and may not lift itself up, and may instead
keep his pact and serve it. {17:15} But, withdrawing from
him, he sent messengers to Egypt, so that it would give him
horses and many people. Should he who has done these
things prosper and obtain safety? And should he who has
broken the pact go free? {17:16} As I live, says the Lord God,
in the place of the king, who appointed him as king, whose
oath he has made void, and whose pact he has broken, under
which he was living with him, in the midst of Babylon, he
shall die. {17:17} And not with a great army, nor with many
people will Pharaoh undertake a battle against him, when he
will cast up ramparts and build defenses, in order to put to
death many souls. {17:18} For he has despised an oath, in
that he broke the pact. And behold, he had given his hand.
And so, since he has done all these things, he shall not escape.
{17:19} Because of this, thus says the Lord God: As I live, I
will place upon his head the oath that he has spurned and the
pact that he has betrayed. {17:20} And I will spread my net
over him, and he will be captured in my dragnet. And I will
lead him into Babylon, and I will judge him there for the
transgression by which he has despised me. {17:21} And all
his fugitives, with all his procession, will fall by the sword.
Then the remainder will be scattered into every wind. And
you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken.” {17:22} Thus
says the Lord God: “I myself will take from the kernel of the
exalted cedar, and I will establish it. I will tear off a tender
twig from the top of its branches, and I will plant it on a
mountain, lofty and exalted. {17:23} On the sublime
mountains of Israel, I will plant it. And it shall spring forth in
buds and bear fruit, and it shall be a great cedar. And all the
birds will live under it, and every bird will make its nest under
the shadow of its branches. {17:24} And all the trees of the
regions will know that I, the Lord, have brought low the
sublime tree, and have exalted the lowly tree, and have dried
up the green tree, and have caused the dry tree to flourish. I,
the Lord, have spoken and acted.”


[Ezekiel 18] {18:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {18:2} “Why is it that you circulate among yourselves
this parable, as a proverb in the land of Israel, saying: ‘The
fathers ate a bitter grape, and the teeth of the sons have been
affected.’ {18:3} As I live, says the Lord God, this parable
shall no longer be a proverb for you in Israel. {18:4} Behold,
all souls are mine. Just as the soul of the father is mine, so
also is the soul of the son. The soul that sins, the same shall
die. {18:5} And if a man is just, and he accomplishes
judgment and justice, {18:6} and if he does not eat upon the
mountains, nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of
Israel, and if he has not violated the wife of his neighbor, nor
approached a menstruating woman, {18:7} and if he has not
grieved any man, but has restored the collateral to the debtor,
if he has seized nothing by violence, has given his bread to
the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment,
{18:8} if he has not lent upon usury, nor taken any increase,
if he has averted his hand from iniquity, and has executed
true judgment between man and man, {18:9}if he has
walked in my precepts and kept my judgments, so that he acts
in accord with truth, then he is just; he shall certainly live,
says the Lord God. {18:10} But if he raises a son who is a
robber, who sheds blood, and who does any of these things,
{18:11} (even though he himself does not do any of these
things,) and who eats upon the mountains, and who defiles
the wife of his neighbor, {18:12} who grieves the needy and
the poor, who seizes with violence, who does not restore the
collateral, and who lifts up his eyes to idols, committing
abomination, {18:13} who lends upon usury, and who takes
an increase, then shall he live? He shall not live. Since he has
done all these detestable things, he shall certainly die. His
blood shall be upon him. {18:14} But if he raises a son, who,
seeing all his father’s sins that he has done, is afraid and so
does not act in a way similar to him, {18:15} who does not
eat upon the mountains, nor lift up his eyes to the idols of the
house of Israel, and who does not violate the wife of his
neighbor, {18:16} and who has not grieved any man, nor
withheld the collateral, nor seized by violence, but instead
has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked
with a garment, {18:17} who has averted his hand from
injuring the poor, who has not taken usury and an
overabundance, who has acted according to my judgments
and walked in my precepts, then this one shall not die for the
iniquity of his father; instead, he shall certainly live.
{18:18} As for his father, because he oppressed and did
violence to his brother, and worked evil in the midst of his
people, behold, he has died by his own iniquity. {18:19} And
you say, ‘Why has not the son borne the iniquity of the
father?’ Clearly, since the son has worked judgment and
justice, has observed all my precepts, and has done them, he
shall certainly live. {18:20} The soul that sins, the same shall
die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, and the
father shall not bear the iniquity of the son. The justice of the
just man shall be upon himself, but the impiety of the
impious man shall be upon himself. {18:21} But if the
impious man does penance for all his sins which he has
committed, and if he keeps all my precepts, and accomplishes
judgment and justice, then he shall certainly live, and he shall
not die. {18:22} I will not remember all his iniquities, which
he has worked; by his justice, which he has worked, he shall
live. {18:23} How could it be my will that an impious man
should die, says the Lord God, and not that he should be
converted from his ways and live? {18:24} But if a just man
turns himself away from his justice, and does iniquity in
accord with all the abominations that the impious man so
often does, why should he live? All his justices, which he has
accomplished, shall not be remembered. By the transgression,
in which he has transgressed, and by his sin, in which he has
sinned, by these he shall die. {18:25} And you have said,
‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Therefore, listen, O house
of Israel. How could it be that my way is not fair? And is it
not instead your ways that are perverse? {18:26} For when
the just man turns himself away from his justice, and
commits iniquity, he shall die by this; by the injustice that he
has worked, he shall die. {18:27} And when the impious man
turns himself away from his impiety, which he has done, and
accomplishes judgment and justice, he shall cause his own
soul to live. {18:28} For by considering and turning himself
away from all his iniquities, which he has worked, he shall
certainly live, and he shall not die. {18:29} And yet the sons
of Israel say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ How could it
be that my ways are not fair, O house of Israel? And is it not
instead your ways that are perverse? {18:30} Therefore, O
house of Israel, I will judge each one according to his ways,
says the Lord God. Be converted, and do penance for all your
iniquities, and then iniquity will not be your ruin.
{18:31} Cast all your transgressions, by which you have
transgressed, away from you, and make for yourselves a new
heart and a new spirit. And then why should you die, O
house of Israel? {18:32} For I do not desire the death of one
who dies, says the Lord God. So return and live.”


[Ezekiel 19] {19:1} “And as for you, take up a lament over
the leaders of Israel, {19:2} and you shall say: Why did your
mother, the lioness, recline among the male lions, and raise
her little ones in the midst of young lions? {19:3} And she led
away one of her little ones, and he became a lion. And he
learned to seize prey and to consume men. {19:4} And the
Gentiles heard about him, and they seized him, but not
without receiving wounds. And they led him away in chains
to the land of Egypt. {19:5} Then, when she had seen that
she was weakened, and that her hope had perished, she took
one of her little ones, and appointed him as a lion.
{19:6} And he advanced among the lions, and he became a
lion. And he learned to seize prey and to devour men.
{19:7} He learned to make widows, and to lead their citizens
into the desert. And the land, with its plenitude, was made
desolate by the voice of his roaring. {19:8} And the Gentiles
came together against him, on every side, from the provinces,
and they spread their net over him; by their wounds, he was
captured. {19:9} And they put him into a cage; they led him
in chains to the king of Babylon. And they cast him into a
prison, so that his voice would no longer be heard upon the
mountains of Israel. {19:10} Your mother is like a vine, in
your blood, planted by the water; her fruit and her branches
have increased because of many waters. {19:11} And her
strong branches were made into scepters for the rulers, and
her stature was exalted among the branches. And she saw her
own loftiness among the multitude of her branches.
{19:12} But she was uprooted in wrath, and cast upon the
ground. And the burning wind dried up her fruit. Her robust
branches withered and were dried up. A fire consumed her.
{19:13} And now she has been transplanted into the desert,
into a land impassable and dry. {19:14} And a fire has gone
forth from a rod of her branches, which has consumed her
fruit. And there is no strong branch in her to become a
scepter for the rulers. This is a lamentation, and it shall be a
lamentation.”


[Ezekiel 20] {20:1} And it happened that, in the seventh year,
in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, men from the
elders of Israel arrived, so that they might inquire of the Lord,
and they sat before me. {20:2} And the word of the Lord
came to me, saying: {20:3} “Son of man, speak to the elders
of Israel, and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God:
Have you arrived in order to inquire of me? As I live, I will
not answer you, says the Lord God. {20:4} If you judge them,
if you judge, O son of man, reveal to them the abominations
of their fathers. {20:5} And you shall say to them: Thus says
the Lord God: In the day when I chose Israel, and I lifted up
my hand on behalf of the stock of the house of Jacob, and I
appeared to them in the land of Egypt, and I lifted up my
hand on their behalf, saying, ‘I am the Lord your God,
{20:6} in that day, I lifted up my hand for their sake, so that I
would lead them away from the land of Egypt, into a land
which I had provided for them, flowing with milk and honey,
which was singular among all lands. {20:7} And I said to
them: ‘Let each one cast away the offenses of his eyes, and do
not choose to defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am
the Lord your God.’ {20:8} But they provoked me, and they
were not willing to listen to me. Each one of them did not
cast away the abominations of his eyes, nor did they leave
behind the idols of Egypt. And so, I said that I would pour
out my indignation upon them, and fulfill my wrath against
them, in the midst of the land of Egypt. {20:9} But I acted for
the sake of my name, so that it would not be violated in the
sight of the Gentiles, in the midst of whom they were, and
among whom I appeared to them, so that I might lead them
away from the land of Egypt. {20:10} Therefore, I cast them
out of the land of Egypt, and I led them away into the desert.
{20:11} And I gave them my precepts, and I revealed to them
my judgments, which, if a man does them, he shall live by
them. {20:12} Moreover, I also gave to them my Sabbaths, so
that these would be a sign between me and them, and so that
they would know that I am the Lord, who sanctifies them.
{20:13} But the house of Israel provoked me in the desert.
They did not walk in my precepts, and they cast aside my
judgments, which, if a man does them, he shall live by them.
And they grievously violated my Sabbaths. Therefore, I said
that I would pour out my fury upon them in the desert, and
that I would consume them. {20:14} But I acted for the sake
of my name, lest it be violated before the Gentiles, from
whom I cast them out, in their sight. {20:15} And so I lifted
up my hand over them in the desert, so as not to lead them
into the land that I had given to them, flowing with milk and
honey, the foremost of all lands. {20:16} For they cast aside
my judgments, and they did not walk in my precepts, and
they violated my Sabbaths. For their heart went after idols.
{20:17} Yet my eye was lenient concerning them, so that I
did not utterly destroy them, nor did I consume them in the
desert. {20:18} Then I said to their sons in the wilderness:
‘Do not choose to advance by the precepts of your fathers,
nor should you observe their judgments. And do not be
defiled by their idols. {20:19} I am the Lord your God. Walk
in my precepts, and observe my judgments, and accomplish
them. {20:20} And sanctify my Sabbaths, so that these may
be a sign between me and you, and so that you may know
that I am the Lord your God.’ {20:21} But their sons
provoked me. They did not walk in my precepts. And they
did not observe my judgments, so as to do them; for if a man
does them, he shall live by them. And they violated my
Sabbaths. And so, I threatened that I would pour out my fury
upon them, and that I would fulfill my wrath among them in
the desert. {20:22} But I turned aside my hand, and I acted
for the sake of my name, so that it would not be violated
before the Gentiles, from whom I cast them out, before their
eyes. {20:23} Again, I lifted up my hand against them, in the
wilderness, so that I would disperse them among the nations,
and scatter them among the lands. {20:24} For they had not
accomplished my judgments, and they had rejected my
precepts, and they had violated my Sabbaths. And their eyes
had been after the idols of their fathers. {20:25} Therefore, I
also gave them precepts that were not good, and judgments
by which they shall not live. {20:26} And I defiled them by
their own gifts, when they offered everything that opened the
womb, because of their offenses. And they shall know that I
am the Lord. {20:27} For this reason, son of man, speak to
the house of Israel, and you shall say to them: Thus says the
Lord God. Yet also in this did your fathers blaspheme me,
after they had spurned and despised me, {20:28} though I
had led them into the land, about which I lifted up my hand,
so that I might give it to them: They saw every lofty hill and
every leafy tree, and there they immolated their victims, and
there they presented the provocation of their oblations, and
there they stationed their sweet fragrances, and poured out
their libations. {20:29} And I said to them, ‘What is exalted
about the place to which you go?’ And yet its name is called
‘Exalted,’ even to this day. {20:30} Because of this, say to the
house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Certainly, you are
defiled by the way of your fathers, and you have fornicated
after their stumbling blocks. {20:31} And you are being
defiled by all of your idols, even to this day, by the oblation
of your gifts, when you lead your sons through the fire. And
should I respond to you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the
Lord God, I will not answer you. {20:32} And the plan of
your mind will not occur, saying: ‘We will be like the
Gentiles, and like the families of the earth, so that we
worship what is wood and stone.’ {20:33} As I live, says the
Lord God, I will reign over you with a strong hand, and with
an outstretched arm, and with fury poured forth.
{20:34} And I will lead you away from the peoples. And I
will gather you from the lands into which you were dispersed.
I will reign over you with a powerful hand, and with an
outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. {20:35} And I
will lead you into the desert of the peoples, and there I will
enter into judgment with you, face to face. {20:36} Just as I
contended in judgment against your fathers in the desert of
the land of Egypt, so also will I enter into judgment with you,
says the Lord God. {20:37} And I will subject you to my
scepter, and I will lead you into the bonds of the covenant.
{20:38} And I will select, from among you, the transgressors
and the impious. And I will lead them away from the land of
their sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel.
And you shall know that I am the Lord. {20:39} And as for
you, house of Israel: thus says the Lord God: Walk, each one
of you, after your idols and serve them. But if in this also you
will not listen to me, and you continue to defile my holy
name with your gifts and with your idols, {20:40} on my holy
mountain, on the exalted mountain of Israel, says the Lord
God, there all the house of Israel shall serve me; all of them, I
say, in the land in which they shall please me, and there I will
require your first-fruits, and the foremost of your tithes, with
all your sanctifications. {20:41} I will receive from you a
fragrance of sweetness, when I will have led you away from
the peoples, and gathered you from the lands into which you
were dispersed. And I will be sanctified in you before the eyes
of the nations. {20:42} And you shall know that I am the
Lord, when I will have led you into the land of Israel, into
the land about which I lifted up my hand, so that I would
give it to your fathers. {20:43} And there you shall remember
your ways and all your wickedness, by which you have been
defiled. And you will be displeased with yourselves in your
own sight, over all your evil deeds which you did.
{20:44} And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I will
have acted well toward you for the sake of my name, and not
according to your evil ways, nor according to your very great
wickedness, O house of Israel, says the Lord God.”
{20:45} And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
{20:46} “Son of man, set your face against the way of the
south, and pour in drops toward Africa, and prophesy against
the forest of the field of the meridian. {20:47} And you shall
say to the meridian forest: Listen to the word of the Lord.
Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will kindle a fire in you,
and I will burn up within you every green tree and every dry
tree. The flame of the kindling will not be extinguished. And
every face will be burned up within it, from the south, even to
the north. {20:48} And all flesh will see that I, the Lord, have
kindled it, and that it will not be extinguished.” {20:49} And
I said: “Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God! They are saying about
me: ‘Does this man not speak except through parables?’ ”


[Ezekiel 21] {21:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {21:2} “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem,
and pour in drops toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy
against the soil of Israel. {21:3} And you shall say to the land
of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you,
and I will cast my sword from its sheath, and I will slay the
just and the impious among you. {21:4} But in as much as I
have slain among you the just and the impious, for this
reason my sword will go forth from its sheath against all flesh,
from the south even to the north. {21:5} So may all flesh
know that I, the Lord, have led my sword out of its sheath
irrevocably. {21:6} And as for you, son of man, groan in the
breaking of your back, and groan in bitterness before them.
{21:7} And when they will say to you, ‘Why are you
groaning?’ you shall say: ‘On behalf of the report, For it is
approaching. And every heart will waste away, and every
hand will be broken, and every spirit will be weakened, and
water will flow across every knee.’ Behold, it is approaching
and it will happen, says the Lord God.” {21:8} And the word
of the Lord came to me, saying: {21:9} “Son of man,
prophesy, and you shall say: Thus says the Lord God: Speak:
The sword! The sword has been sharpened and polished!
{21:10} It has been sharpened, so that it may cut down
victims! It has been polished, so that it may shine! You are
disturbing the scepter of my son. You have cut down every
tree. {21:11} And I have sent it to be made smooth, so that it
may be handled. This sword has been sharpened, and it has
been polished, so that it may be in the hand of the one who
kills. {21:12} Cry out and wail, O son of man! For this has
been done among my people, this is among all the leaders of
Israel, who have fled. They have been handed over to the
sword, with my people. Therefore, slap your thigh,
{21:13} for it has been tested. And this one, when he will
have overthrown the scepter, will not be, says the Lord God.
{21:14} You therefore, O son of man, prophesy, and strike
hand against hand, and let the sword be doubled, and let the
sword of the slain be tripled. This is the sword of the great
slaughter, which causes them to be utterly stupefied,
{21:15} and to waste away in heart, and which multiplies
ruin. At all their gates, I have presented the consternation of
the sword, which has been sharpened and polished so as to
shine, which has been dressed for the slaughter. {21:16} Be
sharpened! Go to the right or to the left, whichever way is the
desire of your face. {21:17} And then I will clap hand against
hand, and I will fulfill my indignation. I, the Lord, have
spoken.” {21:18} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {21:19} “And as for you, son of man, set for yourself
two ways, so that the sword of the king of Babylon may
approach. Both shall go forth from one land. And with a
hand, he will grasp and cast lots; he will cast at the head of
the way of the community. {21:20} You shall appoint a way,
so that the sword may approach to Rabbah of the sons of
Ammon, or to Judah, into Jerusalem, greatly fortified.
{21:21} For the king of Babylon stood at the fork, at the head
of the two ways, seeking divination, shuffling arrows; he
inquired of idols, and he consulted entrails. {21:22} To his
right was set the divination over Jerusalem, to place battering
rams so as to open a mouth for the slaughter, to lift up the
voice of wailing, to place battering rams opposite the gates, to
cast up a rampart, to build fortifications. {21:23} And he
shall be, in their eyes, like someone consulting an oracle in
vain, or imitating the leisure of Sabbaths. But he will call to
mind iniquities, so that it will be captured. {21:24} Therefore,
thus says the Lord God: Because you have been remembered
in your iniquities, and you have revealed your betrayals, and
your sins have appeared within all your plans, because, I say,
you have been remembered, you will be captured by a hand.
{21:25} But as for you, O impious leader of Israel, whose day
has arrived that was predetermined at the time of iniquity:
{21:26} Thus says the Lord God: Take away the diadem,
remove the crown. Is this not what has exalted the lowly one,
and brought low the sublime one? {21:27} Iniquity, iniquity,
iniquity I will make it. And this was not done until the one
arrived to whom judgment belongs, and I will hand it over to
him. {21:28} And as for you, son of man, prophesy, and say:
Thus says the Lord God to the sons of Ammon, and to their
disgrace, and you shall say: O sword, O sword, unsheathe
yourself so as to slay; polish yourself so as to kill and to shine,
{21:29} while they look upon you in vain, and they divine
lies, so that you may be given over to the necks of the
wounded impious, whose day has arrived that was
predetermined at the time of iniquity. {21:30} Be returned to
your sheath! I will judge you in the place where you were
created, in the land of your nativity. {21:31} And I will pour
out upon you my indignation. In the fire of my fury, I will fan
you, and I will give you over to the hands of cruel men, who
have devised destruction. {21:32} You will be food for the
fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land; you will be
delivered to oblivion. For I, the Lord, have spoken.”


[Ezekiel 22] {22:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {22:2} “And you, son of man, should you not judge,
should you not judge the city of blood? {22:3} And you shall
reveal to her all her abominations. And you shall say: Thus
says the Lord God: This is the city which sheds blood in her
midst, so that her time may come, and which has made idols
against herself, so that she may be defiled. {22:4} You have
offended by your blood, which you shed from yourself. And
you have been defiled by your idols which you yourself made.
And you have caused your days to approach, and you have
brought on the time of your years. Because of this, I have
made you a disgrace to the Gentiles, and a derision to all the
lands. {22:5} Those that are near and those that are far from
you will triumph over you. You are filthy, infamous, great in
destruction. {22:6} Behold, the leaders of Israel have each
used his arm to shed blood within you. {22:7} They have
abused father and mother within you. The new arrival has
been oppressed in your midst. They have grieved the orphan
and the widow among you. {22:8} You have spurned my
sanctuaries, and you have defiled my Sabbaths.
{22:9} Maligning men were within you, in order to shed
blood, and they have eaten upon the mountains within you.
They have worked wickedness in your midst. {22:10} They
have uncovered the nakedness of their father within you.
They have debased the uncleanness of the menstruous
woman within you. {22:11} And each one has committed
abomination with the wife of his neighbor. And the father-in-
law has heinously defiled his daughter-in-law. The brother
has oppressed his sister, the daughter of his father, within you.
{22:12} They have accepted bribes among you to shed blood.
You have received usury and superabundance, and in avarice
you have oppressed your neighbors. And you have forgotten
me, says the Lord God. {22:13} Behold, I have clapped my
hands over your avarice, which you have worked, and over
the blood that has been shed in your midst. {22:14} How can
your heart endure, or your hands prevail, in the days that I
will bring upon you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will act.
{22:15} And I will disperse you among the nations, and I will
scatter you among the lands, and I will cause your
uncleanness to fade away from you. {22:16} And I will
possess you in the sight of the Gentiles. And you shall know
that I am the Lord.” {22:17} And the word of the Lord came
to me, saying: {22:18} “Son of man, the house of Israel has
become like dross to me. All these are brass, and tin, and iron,
and lead in the midst of the furnace; they have become like
the dross of silver. {22:19} Because of this, thus says the Lord
God: Since you have all turned into dross, therefore, behold,
I will gather you together in the midst of Jerusalem,
{22:20} just as they gather silver, and brass, and tin, and iron,
and lead in the midst of the furnace, so that I may kindle in it
a fire to melt it. So will I gather you together in my fury and
in my wrath, and I will be quieted, and I will melt you down.
{22:21} And I will gather you together, and I will burn you in
the fire of my fury, and you will be melted in its midst.
{22:22} Just as silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so
will you be in its midst. And you shall know that I am the
Lord, when I will have poured out my indignation upon
you.” {22:23} And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
{22:24} “Son of man, say to her: You are a land unclean and
not rained upon, in the day of fury. {22:25} There is a
conspiracy of prophets in her midst. Like a lion, roaring and
seizing the prey, they have devoured souls. They have taken
riches and a price. They have multiplied widows in her midst.
{22:26} Her priests have despised my law, and they have
defiled my sanctuaries. They have held no distinction
between holy and profane. And they have not understood the
difference between defiled and clean. And they have averted
their eyes from my Sabbaths. And I was profaned in their
midst. {22:27} Her leaders in her midst are like wolves
seizing the prey: to shed blood, and to perish souls, and to
continually pursue profit with avarice. {22:28} And her
prophets have covered them without tempering the mortar,
seeing emptiness, and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus
says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken.
{22:29} The people of the land have oppressed with slander
and have seized with violence. They have afflicted the needy
and the poor, and they have oppressed the new arrival by
accusations without judgment. {22:30} And I sought among
them for a man who might set up a hedge, and stand in the
gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I might not
destroy it; and I found no one. {22:31} And so I poured out
my indignation upon them; in the fire of my wrath I
consumed them. I have rendered their own way upon their
head, says the Lord God.”


[Ezekiel 23] {23:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {23:2} “Son of man, two women were daughters of
one mother, {23:3} and they fornicated in Egypt; they
committed fornication in their youth. In that place, their
breasts were conquered; the breasts of their adolescence were
subdued. {23:4} Now their names were Oholah, the elder,
and Oholibah, her younger sister. And I held them, and they
bore sons and daughters. As for their names: Oholah is
Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem. {23:5} And then,
Oholah committed fornication against me, and she acted
madly with her lovers, with the Assyrians who approached
her, {23:6} who were clothed with hyacinth: rulers and
magistrates, passionate youths and all of the horsemen,
mounted on horses. {23:7} And she distributed her
fornications to those chosen men, all of them sons of the
Assyrians. And she defiled herself with the uncleanness of all
those whom she madly desired. {23:8} Moreover, she also
did not abandon her fornications, which she had done in
Egypt. For they also slept with her in her youth, and they
bruised the breasts of her virginity, and they poured out their
fornication upon her. {23:9} Because of this, I have delivered
her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the sons of
the Assur, whom she has lustfully desired. {23:10} They
uncovered her shame; they took away her sons and daughters;
and they slew her with the sword. And they became
infamous women. And they carried out judgments in her.
{23:11} And when her sister, Oholibah, had seen this, she
was even more mad with lust than the other. And her
fornication was beyond the fornication of her sister.
{23:12} She shamelessly offered herself to the sons of the
Assyrians, to the rulers and magistrates who brought
themselves to her clothed with colorful garments, to the
horsemen who were carried by horses, and to the youths, all
of them exceptional in appearance. {23:13} And I saw that
she had been defiled, and that they both took the same path.
{23:14} And she increased her fornications. And when she
had seen men depicted on the wall, the images of the
Chaldeans, expressed in colors, {23:15} with belts wrapped
around the waist, and with dyed headdresses on their heads,
having seen the appearance of all the rulers, the likenesses of
the sons of Babylon and of the land of the Chaldeans in
which they were born, {23:16} she became mad for them
with the desire of her eyes, and she sent messengers to them
in Chaldea. {23:17} And when the sons of Babylon had gone
to her, to the bed of breasts, they defiled her with their
fornications, and she was polluted by them, and her soul was
gorged by them. {23:18} Also, her fornications were
uncovered, and her shame was revealed. And my soul
withdrew from her, as my soul had withdrawn from her sister.
{23:19} For she multiplied her fornications, remembering the
days of her youth, in which she fornicated in the land of
Egypt. {23:20} And she was mad with lust after lying with
them, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys, and whose
flow is like the flow of horses. {23:21} And you have
revisited the crimes of your youth, when your breasts were
conquered in Egypt, and the breasts of your adolescence were
subdued. {23:22} Because of this, Oholibah, thus says the
Lord God: Behold, I will raise up against you all of your
lovers, with whom your soul has been gorged. And I will
gather them together against you all around: {23:23} the sons
of Babylon, and all the Chaldeans, the nobles, the sovereigns
and princes, all the sons of the Assyrians, youths of
exceptional form, all the rulers and magistrates, the leaders
among leaders, and the renowned riders of horses.
{23:24} And they will overwhelm you, well-equipped with
chariot and wheel, a multitude of peoples. They will be
armed against you on every side with armor and shield and
helmet. And I will give judgment to their eyes, and they will
judge you with their judgments. {23:25} And against you, I
will set my zeal, which they will execute upon you with fury.
They will cut off your nose and your ears. And what remains
will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and your
daughters, and your youngest will be devoured by fire.
{23:26} And they will strip you of your vestments, and take
away the articles of your glory. {23:27} And I will cause your
wickedness to cease from you, and your fornication to cease
from the land of Egypt. Neither shall you lift up your eyes
toward them, and you shall no longer remember Egypt.
{23:28} For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver
you into the hands of those whom you have hated, into the
hands by which your soul has been gorged. {23:29} And they
will act toward you with hatred, and they will take away all
your labors, and they will send you away naked and filled
with disgrace. And the shame of your fornication will be
revealed: your crimes and your fornications. {23:30} They
have done these things to you, because you have fornicated
after the Gentiles, among whom you were defiled by their
idols. {23:31} You have walked in the way of your sister, and
so I will give her chalice into your hand. {23:32} Thus says
the Lord God: You will drink the chalice of your sister, deep
and wide. You will be held in derision and in ridicule, to a
very great extent. {23:33} You will be filled with inebriation
and sorrow, by the chalice of grief and sadness, by the chalice
of your sister Samaria. {23:34} And you will drink it, and
you will empty it, even to the dregs. And you will consume
even its particles. And you will wound your own breasts. For
I have spoken, says the Lord God. {23:35} Because of this,
thus says the Lord God: Since you have forgotten me, and
you have cast me behind your body, so also will you bear
your wickedness and your fornications.” {23:36} And the
Lord spoke to me, saying: “Son of man, should you not judge
Oholah and Oholibah, and announce to them their crimes?
{23:37} For they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands,
and they have fornicated with their idols. Moreover, they
have offered even their children, whom they bore for me, to
them to be devoured. {23:38} But they have done even this to
me: They have defiled my sanctuary on the same day, and
they have profaned my Sabbaths. {23:39} And when they
immolated their children to their idols, they also entered my
sanctuary on the same day, so that they defiled it. They have
done these things, even in the midst of my house.
{23:40} They sent for men who were coming from far away,
to whom they had sent a messenger. And so, behold, they
arrived, those for whom you washed yourself, and smeared
cosmetics around your eyes, and were adorned with feminine
ornaments. {23:41} You sat upon a very beautiful bed, and a
table was adorned before you, on which you placed my
incense and my ointment. {23:42} And the voice of a
multitude was exulting within her. And concerning certain
men, who were being led out of a multitude of persons, and
who were arriving from the desert, they placed bracelets on
their hands and beautiful crowns on their heads. {23:43} And
I said about her, as she was being worn away by her
adulteries, ‘Even now, she continues in her fornication!’
{23:44} And they entered to her, as if to a kept woman. So
did they enter to Oholah and Oholibah, nefarious women.
{23:45} But there are just men; these shall judge them with
the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of those
who shed blood. For they are adulteresses, and blood is on
their hands. {23:46} For thus says the Lord God: Lead upon
them a multitude, and hand them over to tumult and to
pillaging. {23:47} And may they be stoned with the stones of
the peoples, and may they be pierced with their own swords.
They will put to death their sons and daughters, and they will
burn their houses with fire. {23:48} And I will take away
wickedness from the land. And all women shall learn not to
act according to their wickedness. {23:49} And they will set
your own crimes upon you, and you will bear the sins of your
idols. And you shall know that Iam the Lord God.”


[Ezekiel 24] {24:1} And the word of the Lord came to me, in
the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the
month, saying: {24:2} “Son of man, write for yourself the
name of this day, on which the king of Babylon was
confirmed against Jerusalem today. {24:3} And you shall
speak, through a proverb, a parable to the inciting house.
And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Set out
a cooking pot; set it out, I say, and put water into it.
{24:4} Pile together within it every morsel, every good piece,
the thigh and the shoulder, the choice pieces and those full of
bones. {24:5} Take the fattest from the flock, and arrange
also a heap of bones under it. Its cooking has boiled over, and
its bones in its midst have been thoroughly cooked.
{24:6} Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Woe to the
city of blood, to the cooking pot that has rust in it, and whose
rust has not gone out of it! Cast it out piece by piece! No lot
has fallen upon it. {24:7} For her blood is in her midst; she
has shed it upon the smoothest rock. She has not shed it upon
the ground, so that it could be covered with dust. {24:8} So
shall I bring my indignation over her, and take my vengeance.
I have presented her blood upon the smoothest rock, so that it
would not be covered. {24:9} Because of this, thus says the
Lord God: Woe to the city of blood, out of which I will make
a great funeral pyre. {24:10} Pile together the bones, which I
will burn with fire. The flesh shall be consumed, and the
entire composition shall be boiled, and the bones shall
deteriorate. {24:11} Also, place it empty on burning coals, so
that it may be heated, and its brass may melt. And let the filth
of it be melted in its midst, and let its rust be consumed.
{24:12} There has been much sweat and labor, and yet its
extensive rust has not gone out of it, not even by fire.
{24:13} Your uncleanness is execrable. For I wanted to
cleanse you, and you have not been cleansed from your filth.
So then, neither will you be cleansed before I cause my
indignation over you to cease. {24:14} I, the Lord, have
spoken. It shall happen, and I will act. I will not pass over,
nor be lenient, nor be placated. I will judge you according to
your ways and according to your intentions, says the Lord.”
{24:15} And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
{24:16} “Son of man, behold, I am taking away from you,
with a stroke, the desire of your eyes. And you shall not
lament, and you shall not weep. And your tears shall not flow
down. {24:17} Groan silently; you shall make no mourning
for the dead. Let the band of your crown be on you, and let
your shoes be on your feet. And you shall not cover your face,
nor shall you eat the food of those who mourn.”
{24:18} Therefore, I spoke to the people in the morning. And
my wife died in the evening. And in the morning, I did just as
he had instructed me. {24:19} And the people said to me:
“Why won’t you explain to us what these things signify,
which you are doing?” {24:20} And I said to them: “The
word of the Lord came to me, saying: {24:21} ‘Speak to the
house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will defile
my sanctuary, the pride of your realm, and the desire of your
eyes, and the dread of your soul. Your sons and your
daughters, whom you have forsaken, will fall by the sword.’
{24:22} And so, you shall do just as I have done. You shall
not cover your faces, and you shall not eat the food of those
who mourn. {24:23} You shall have crowns on your heads,
and shoes on your feet. You shall not lament, and you shall
not weep. Instead, you will waste away in your iniquities,
and each one will groan to his brother. {24:24} ‘And Ezekiel
shall be a portent for you. In accord with all that he has done,
so shall you do, when this will happen. And you shall know
that I am the Lord God.’ ” {24:25} “And as for you, son of
man, behold, in the day when I will take away from them
their strength, and the joy of their dignity, and the desire of
their eyes, in which their souls find rest: their sons and their
daughters, {24:26} in that day, when one who is fleeing will
come to you, so that he may report to you, {24:27} in that
day, I say, your mouth shall be opened to him who has fled.
And you shall speak, and you shall no longer be silent. And
you shall be for them a portent. And you shall know that I
am the Lord.”


[Ezekiel 25] {25:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {25:2} “Son of man, set your face against the sons of
Ammon, and you shall prophesy about them. {25:3} And
you shall say to the sons of Ammon: Listen to the word of
the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God: Because you have
said, ‘Well, well!’ over my sanctuary, when it was profaned,
and over the land of Israel, when it was desolated, and over
the house of Judah, when they were led into captivity,
{25:4} therefore, I will deliver you to the sons of the East, as
an inheritance. And they will arrange their fences within you,
and they will place their tents within you. They will eat your
crops, and they will drink your milk. {25:5} And I will make
Rabbah into the habitation of camels, and the sons of
Ammon into the resting place of cattle. And you shall know
that I am the Lord. {25:6} For thus says the Lord God:
Because you have clapped your hands and stomped your foot,
and have rejoiced with all your heart against the land of Israel,
{25:7} therefore, behold, I will extend my hand over you,
and I will deliver you as a spoil of the Gentiles. And I will
destroy you from the peoples, and I will perish you from the
lands, and I will crush you. And you shall know that I am the
Lord. {25:8} Thus says the Lord God: Because Moab and
Seir have said, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the
Gentiles!’ {25:9} therefore, behold, I will open the shoulder
of Moab from the cities, from his cities, I say, and from his
borders, the famous cities of the land of Beth-Jesimoth, and
Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim, {25:10} with the sons of
Ammon, to the sons of the East, and I will give it to them as
an inheritance, so that there may no longer be a
remembrance of the sons of Ammon among the Gentiles.
{25:11} And I will execute judgments in Moab. And they
shall know that I am the Lord. {25:12} Thus says the Lord
God: Because Idumea has taken vengeance, so as to vindicate
herself against the sons of Judah, and has sinned grievously,
and has sought revenge against them, {25:13} therefore, thus
says the Lord God: I will extend my hand over Idumea, and I
will take from it both man and beast, and I will make it
desolate from the south. And those who are in Dedan will fall
by the sword. {25:14} And I will issue my vengeance upon
Idumea, by the hand of my people, Israel. And they shall act
in Idumea in accord with my wrath and my fury. And they
shall know my vengeance, says the Lord God. {25:15} Thus
says the Lord God: Because the Philistines have taken
vengeance, and have revenged themselves with all their soul,
destroying, and fulfilling ancient hostilities, {25:16} because
of this, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will extend my
hand over the Philistines, and I will destroy those who
destroy, and I will perish the remnant of the maritime regions.
{25:17} And I will execute great vengeance against them,
reproving them in fury. And they shall know that I am the
Lord, when I will send my vengeance upon them.”


[Ezekiel 26] {26:1} And it happened that, in the eleventh
year, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to
me, saying: {26:2} “Son of man, because Tyre has said about
Jerusalem: ‘It is Well! The gates of the peoples have been
broken! She has been turned toward me. I will be filled. She
will be deserted!’ {26:3} because of this, thus says the Lord
God: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will cause
many nations to rise up against you, just as the waves of the
sea rise up. {26:4} And they will break apart the walls of Tyre,
and they will destroy its towers. And I will scrape her dust
from her, and I will make her into the barest rock. {26:5} She
will be a drying place for nets from the midst of the sea. For I
have spoken, says the Lord God. And she will be a spoil for
the Gentiles. {26:6} Likewise, her daughters who are in the
field will be slain by the sword. And they shall know that I
am the Lord. {26:7} For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I
will lead into Tyre: Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, a
king among kings, from the north, with horses, and chariots,
and horsemen, and companies, and a great people.
{26:8} Your daughters who are in the field, he will kill with
the sword. And he will surround you with fortifications, and
he will put together a rampart on all sides. And he will lift up
a shield against you. {26:9} And he will combine moveable
shelters and battering rams before your walls, and he will
destroy your towers with his armaments. {26:10} He will
cover you with the inundation of his horses and with their
dust. Your walls will shake at the sound of horsemen and
wheels and chariots, when they will have entered your gates,
as if through the entrance of a city that has been broken open.
{26:11} With the hoofs of his horses, he will trample all your
streets. He will cut down your people with the sword, and
your noble statues will fall to the ground. {26:12} They will
lay waste to your wealth. They will despoil your businesses.
And they will tear down your walls and overturn your
eminent houses. And they will put your stones and your
timber and your dust into the midst of the waters.
{26:13} And I will cause the multitude of your songs to cease.
And the sound of your stringed instruments will no longer be
heard. {26:14} And I will make you like the barest rock; you
will be a drying place for nets. And you will no longer be
built up. For I have spoken, says the Lord God.”
{26:15} Thus says the Lord God to Tyre: “Will not the
islands shake at the sound of your ruin and at the groans of
your slain, when they will have been cut down in your midst?
{26:16} And all the leaders of the sea will descend from their
thrones. And they will cast aside their outer garments and
their colorful clothing, and they will be clothed in stupor.
They will sit on the ground, and they will wonder with
astonishment at your sudden downfall. {26:17} And taking
up a lamentation over you, they will say to you: ‘How could
you have perished, you who live in the sea, the famous city
that was strong in the sea, with your inhabitants, of whom
the whole world was in dread?’ {26:18} Now the ships will be
stupefied, in the day of your terror. And the islands of the sea
will be disturbed, because no one goes out from you.
{26:19} For thus says the Lord God: When I will have made
you a desolate city, like the cities that are uninhabited, and
when I will have led the abyss over you, and many waters
will have covered you, {26:20} and when I will have dragged
you down with those who descend into the pit to the
everlasting people, and when I will have assembled you in
the lowest parts of the earth, like the desolate places of
antiquity, with those who have been brought down into the
pit, so that you will be uninhabited, and moreover, when I
will have given glory to the land of the living: {26:21} I will
reduce you to nothing, and you shall not be, and if you are
sought, you will no longer be found, in perpetuity, says the
Lord God.”


[Ezekiel 27] {27:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {27:2} “You, therefore, son of man, take up a
lamentation over Tyre. {27:3} And you shall say to Tyre,
which lives at the entrance to the sea, which is the
marketplace of the peoples for the many islands: Thus says
the Lord God: O Tyre, you have said, ‘I am of perfect beauty,
{27:4} for I have been positioned at the heart of the sea!’
Your neighbors, who built you, have filled up your beauty.
{27:5} They constructed you with spruce from Senir, with all
the planks of the sea. They have taken cedars from Lebanon,
so that they might make a mast for you. {27:6} They have
formed your oars from the oaks of Bashan. And they have
made your crossbeams from Indian ivory, and the pilothouse
is from the islands of Italy. {27:7} Colorful fine linen from
Egypt was woven for you as a sail to be placed upon the mast;
hyacinth and purple from the islands of Elishah were made
into your covering. {27:8} The inhabitants of Sidon and of
Arwad were your rowers. Your wise ones, O Tyre, were your
navigators. {27:9} The elders of Gebal and its experts were
considered as sailors making use of your diverse equipment.
All the ships of the sea and their sailors were your merchants
among the people. {27:10} The Persians, and the Lydians,
and the Libyans were your men of war in your army. They
suspended shield and helmet within you for your adornment.
{27:11} The sons of Arwad were with your army upon your
walls all around. And even the Gammadim, who were in
your towers, suspended their quivers on your walls on all
sides; they completed your beauty. {27:12} The
Carthaginians, your merchants, supplied your festivals with a
multitude of diverse riches, with silver, iron, tin, and lead.
{27:13} Greece, Tubal, and Meshech, these were your
peddlers; they traveled to your people with slaves and with
brass vessels. {27:14} From the house of Togarmah, they
brought horses, and horsemen, and mules to your market.
{27:15} The sons of Dedan were your merchants. The many
islands were the marketplace of your hand. They traded teeth
of ivory and of ebony for your price. {27:16} The Syrian was
your merchant. Because of the multitude of your works, they
offered jewels, and purple, and patterned cloth, and fine linen,
and silk, and other valuables in your market. {27:17} Judah
and the land of Israel, these were your peddlers of the best
grain; they offered balsam, and honey, and oil, and resins at
your festivals. {27:18} The Damascene was your trader in the
multitude of your works, in greatly diverse wealth, in rich
wine, in wool with the finest coloring. {27:19} Dan, and
Greece, and Mosel have offered works made of iron at your
festivals. Storax ointment and sweet flag were in your
marketplace. {27:20} The men of Dedan were your peddlers
of tapestries used as seats. {27:21} Arabia and all the leaders
of Kedar, these were the merchants at your hand. Your
merchants came to you with lambs, and rams, and young
goats. {27:22} The vendors of Sheba and Raamah, these were
your merchants, with all the finest aromatics, and precious
stones, and gold, which they offered in your marketplace.
{27:23} Haran, and Canneh, and Eden were your merchants.
Sheba, Assur, and Chilmad were your sellers. {27:24} These
were your merchants in many places, with windings of
hyacinth and of colorful weavings, and with precious
treasures, which were wrapped and bound with cords. Also,
they had works of cedar among your merchandise.
{27:25} The ships of the sea were important to your business
dealings. For you were replenished and exceedingly glorified
in the heart of the sea. {27:26} Your rowers have brought
you into many waters. The south wind has worn you down
in the heart of the sea. {27:27} Your riches, and your
treasures, and your versatile equipment, your sailors and your
navigators, who handle your goods and who were first
among your people, likewise your men of war, who were
among you, and your entire multitude that is in your midst:
they will fall in the heart of the sea on the day of your ruin.
{27:28} Your fleets will be disturbed by the sound of an
outcry from your navigators. {27:29} And all who were
handling the oar will descend from their ships; the sailors and
all the navigators of the sea will stand upon the land.
{27:30} And they will howl over you with a great voice, and
they will cry out with bitterness. And they will cast dust upon
their heads, and they will be sprinkled with ashes.
{27:31} And they will shave their heads because of you, and
they will be wrapped in haircloth. And they will weep for you
with bitterness of soul, with a very bitter weeping.
{27:32} And they will take up a mournful verse over you,
and they will lament you: ‘What city is like Tyre, which has
become mute in the midst of the sea?’ {27:33} For by the
going forth of your merchandise by sea, you supplied many
peoples; by the multitude of your riches and of your people,
you enriched the kings of the earth. {27:34} Now you have
been worn away by the sea, your opulence is in the depths of
the waters, and your entire multitude that was in your midst
has fallen. {27:35} All the inhabitants of the islands have
been stupefied over you; and all their kings, having been
struck by the tempest, have changed their expression.
{27:36} The merchants of the peoples have hissed over you.
You have been reduced to nothing, and you shall not be
again, even forever.”


[Ezekiel 28] {28:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {28:2} “Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre: Thus
says the Lord God: Because your heart has been exalted, and
you have said, ‘I am God, and I sit in the chair of God, in the
heart of the sea,’ though you are a man, and not God, and
because you have presented your heart as if it were the heart
of God: {28:3} Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; no secret
is concealed from you. {28:4} By your wisdom and prudence,
you have made yourself strong, and you have acquired gold
and silver for your storehouses. {28:5} By the multitude of
your wisdom, and by your business dealings, you have
multiplied strength for yourself. And your heart has been
exalted by your strength. {28:6} Therefore, thus says the
Lord God: Because your heart has been exalted as if it were
the heart of God, {28:7} for this reason, behold, I will lead
over you foreigners, the most robust among the Gentiles.
And they will bare their swords over the beauty of your
wisdom, and they will defile your beauty. {28:8} They will
destroy you and pull you down. And you will die the death of
those slain in the heart of the sea. {28:9} So then, will you
speak, in the presence of those who are destroying you,
before the hand of those who are killing you, saying, ‘I am
God,’ though you are a man, and not God? {28:10} You will
die the death of the uncircumcised at the hand of foreigners.
For I have spoken, says the Lord God.” {28:11} And the
word of the Lord came to me, saying: “Son of man, take up a
lamentation over the king of Tyre, {28:12} and you shall say
to him: Thus says the Lord God: You were the seal of
similitudes, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
{28:13} You were with the delights of the Paradise of God.
Every precious stone was your covering: sardius, topaz, and
jasper, chrysolite, and onyx, and beryl, sapphire, and garnet,
and emerald. The work of your beauty was of gold, and your
fissures were ready in the day when you were formed.
{28:14} You were a cherub, stretched out and protecting, and
I stationed you on the holy mountain of God. You have
walked in the midst of stones containing fire. {28:15} You
were perfect in your ways, from the day of your formation,
until iniquity was found in you. {28:16} By the multitude of
your business dealings, your interior was filled with iniquity,
and you sinned. And I cast you away from the mountain of
God, and I perished you, O protecting cherub, from the midst
of the stones containing fire. {28:17} And your heart was
exalted by your beauty; you have destroyed your own
wisdom by your beauty. I have cast you to the ground. I have
presented you before the face of kings, so that they may
examine you. {28:18} You have defiled your sanctuaries, by
the multitude of your iniquities and by the iniquity of your
business dealings. Therefore, I will produce a fire from your
midst, which will consume you, and I will make you into
ashes upon the earth, in the sight of all who are watching you.
{28:19} All who gaze upon you among the Gentiles will be
stupefied over you. You were made out of nothing, and you
shall not be, forever.” {28:20} And the word of the Lord
came to me, saying: {28:21} “Son of man, set your face
against Sidon, and you shall prophesy about it. {28:22} And
you shall say: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against
you, Sidon, and I will be glorified in your midst. And they
shall know that I am the Lord, when I will have executed
judgments in her, and when I will have been sanctified in her.
{28:23} And I will send a pestilence upon her, and there will
be blood in her streets. And they will fall, slain by the sword,
on every side in her midst. And they shall know that I am the
Lord. {28:24} And the house of Israel will no longer be a
stumbling block of bitterness, nor a thorn bringing pain
everywhere around them, to those who turn against them.
And they shall know that I am the Lord God.” {28:25} Thus
says the Lord God: “When I will have gathered together the
house of Israel, from the peoples among whom they have
been dispersed, I shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the
Gentiles. And they shall live in their own land, which I gave
to my servant Jacob. {28:26} And they shall live within it
securely. And they shall build houses and plant vineyards.
And they shall live in confidence, when I will have executed
judgments upon all those who turn against them on every
side. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God.”


[Ezekiel 29] {29:1} In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on
the eleventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to
me, saying: {29:2} “Son of man, set your face against
Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and you shall prophesy about
him and about all of Egypt. {29:3} Speak, and you shall say:
Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, you great dragon, who rests in the midst of
your rivers. And you say: ‘Mine is the river, and I have made
myself.’ {29:4} But I will place a bridle in your jaws. And I
will adhere the fish of your rivers to your scales. And I will
draw you out of the midst of your rivers, and all your fish will
adhere to your scales. {29:5} And I will cast you into the
desert, with all the fish of your river. You will fall upon the
surface of the earth; you will not be taken up, nor gathered
together. I have given you to the beasts of the earth and to the
birds of the air, to be devoured. {29:6} And all the
inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord. For you
have been a staff made of reed to the house of Israel.
{29:7} When they took hold of you with the hand, you broke,
and so you wounded all of their shoulders. And when they
leaned on you, you shattered, and so you injured all of their
lower backs. {29:8} Because of this, thus says the Lord God:
Behold, I will lead the sword over you, and I will destroy
both man and beast from among you. {29:9} And the land of
Egypt will be a desert and a wilderness. And they shall know
that I am the Lord. For you have said, ‘The river is mine, and
I have made it.’ {29:10} Therefore, behold, I am against you
and against your rivers. And I will make the land of Egypt
into a wilderness, destroyed by the sword from the tower of
Syene all the way to the borders of Ethiopia. {29:11} The
foot of man will not pass through it, and the foot of cattle will
not walk in it. And it will be uninhabited for forty years.
{29:12} And I will set the land of Egypt in desolation, in the
midst of desolate lands, and its cities in the midst of
overturned cites. And they will be desolate for forty years.
And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and I will
disperse them among the lands. {29:13} For thus says the
Lord God: After the end of forty years, I will gather the
Egyptians from the peoples among whom they had been
scattered. {29:14} And I will lead back the captivity of Egypt,
and I will collect them in the land of Pathros, in the land of
their nativity. And in that place, they will be a lowly kingdom.
{29:15} It will be the lowest among the other kingdoms, and
it will no longer be exalted above the nations. And I will
diminish them, lest they rule over the Gentiles. {29:16} And
they will no longer be the confidence of the house of Israel,
teaching iniquity, so that they may flee and follow them. And
they shall know that I am the Lord God.” {29:17} And it
happened that, in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month,
on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {29:18} “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of
Babylon, has caused his army to serve with great servility
against Tyre. Every head was shaven, and every shoulder was
stripped of hair. And wages have not been paid to him, nor to
his army, for Tyre, for the service by which he served for me
against it. {29:19} Because of this, thus says the Lord God:
Behold, I will station Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon,
in the land of Egypt. And he will take its multitude, and he
will prey upon its profits, and he will plunder its spoils. And
this shall be the wages for his army {29:20} and for the work
by which he has served against it. I have given to him the
land of Egypt, because he has labored for me, says the Lord
God. {29:21} In that day, a horn will spring forth for the
house of Israel, and I will give to you an open mouth in their
midst. And they shall know that I am the Lord.”


[Ezekiel 30] {30:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {30:2} “Son of man, prophesy and say: Thus says the
Lord God: Wail: ‘Woe, woe to the day!’ {30:3} For the day
is near, and the day of the Lord is approaching! It is a day of
gloom; it will be the time of the Gentiles. {30:4} And the
sword will come to Egypt. And there will be dread in
Ethiopia, when the wounded will have fallen in Egypt, and
its multitude will have been taken away, and its foundations
will have been destroyed. {30:5} Ethiopia, and Libya, and
Lydia, and all the rest of the common people, and Chub, and
the sons of the land of the covenant, will fall with them by the
sword. {30:6} Thus says the Lord God: And those who prop
up Egypt will fall, and the arrogance of its reign will be
brought down. They will fall in it by the sword, before the
tower of Syene, says the Lord, the God of hosts. {30:7} And
they will be scattered into the midst of desolate lands, and its
cities will be in the midst of cities that have been deserted.
{30:8} And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I will
have brought a fire into Egypt, and when all its helpers will
have been worn away. {30:9} In that day, messengers will go
forth from my face in Greek warships, in order to crush the
confidence of Ethiopia. And there will be dread among them
in the day of Egypt; for without doubt, it will happen.
{30:10} Thus says the Lord God: By the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, I will cause the
multitude of Egypt to cease. {30:11} He, and his people with
him, the strongest of the Gentiles, will be brought forth in
order to destroy the land. And they will draw their swords
over Egypt. And they will fill the land with the slain.
{30:12} And I will cause the channels of the rivers to dry up.
And I will deliver the land into the hand of the most wicked.
And by the hands of foreigners, I will utterly destroy the land
and its plenitude. I, the Lord, have spoken. {30:13} Thus
says the Lord God: And I will destroy the graven images, and
I will cause the idols of Memphis to cease. And there will no
longer be a commander of the land of Egypt. And I will send
terror upon the land of Egypt. {30:14} And I will destroy the
land of Pathros, and I will send a fire upon Tahpanhes, and I
will execute judgments in Alexandria. {30:15} And I will
pour out my indignation upon Pelusium, the strength of
Egypt, and I will kill the multitude of Alexandria.
{30:16} And I will send a fire upon Egypt. Pelusium will be
in pain, like a woman giving birth. And Alexandria will be
utterly destroyed. And in Memphis, there will be anguish
every day. {30:17} The young men of Heliopolis and
Pibeseth will fall by the sword, and the young women will be
led into captivity. {30:18} And in Tahpanhes, the day will
grow black, when, in that place, I will break the scepters of
Egypt. And the arrogance of her authority will fail within her;
a gloom will cover her. Then her daughters will be led into
captivity. {30:19} And I will execute judgments in Egypt.
And they shall know that I am the Lord.” {30:20} And it
happened that, in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the
seventh of the month, the word of the Lord came, me, saying:
{30:21} “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, the
king of Egypt. And behold, it has not been wrapped, so that it
might be restored to health; it has not been bound with cloths,
or bandaged with linen, so that, having recovered strength, it
would be able to hold the sword. {30:22} Because of this,
thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh, the
king of Egypt, and I will shatter his strong arm, which has
already been broken. And I will cast the sword away from his
hand. {30:23} And I will disperse Egypt among the nations,
and I will scatter them among the lands. {30:24} And I will
strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon. And I will put my
sword into his hand. And I will break the arms of Pharaoh.
And they will groan acutely, when they are slain before his
face. {30:25} And I will strengthen the arms of the king of
Babylon. And the arms of Pharaoh will fall. And they shall
know that I am the Lord, when I will have given my sword
into the hand of the king of Babylon, and when he will have
extended it over the land of Egypt. {30:26} And I will
disperse Egypt among the nations, and I will scatter them
among the lands. And they shall know that I am the Lord.”


[Ezekiel 31] {31:1} And it happened that, in the eleventh
year, in the third month, on the first of the month, the word
of the Lord came to me, saying: {31:2} “Son of man, speak
to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his people: To whom
can you be compared in your greatness? {31:3} Behold,
Assur is like the cedar of Lebanon, with fair branches, and
full of leaves, and of high stature, and his summit has been
elevated above the thick branches. {31:4} The waters have
nourished him. The abyss has exalted him. Its rivers have
flowed around his roots, and it has sent forth its streams to all
the trees of the regions. {31:5} Because of this, his height was
exalted above all the trees of the regions, and his groves were
multiplied, and his own branches were elevated, because of
the many waters. {31:6} And when he had extended his
shadow, all the birds of the air made their nests in his
branches, and all the beasts of the forest conceived their
young under his foliage, and an assembly of the many
peoples lived under his shadow. {31:7} And he was most
beautiful in his greatness and in the expansion of his groves.
For his root was near many waters. {31:8} The cedars in the
Paradise of God were not higher than he was. The spruce
trees were not equal to his summit, and the plane trees were
not equal to his fullness. No tree in the Paradise of God was
similar to him or to his beauty. {31:9} For I made him
beautiful, and dense with many branches. And all the trees of
delight, which were in the Paradise of God, were jealous of
him. {31:10} Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Since
he was sublime in height, and he made his summit green and
dense, and his heart was exalted because of his height,
{31:11} I have delivered him into the hands of the most
powerful one among the Gentiles, so that he will deal with
him. I have cast him out, in accord with his impiety.
{31:12} And foreigners, and the most cruel among the
nations, will cut him down. And they will cast him on the
mountains. And his branches will fall in every steep valley,
and his grove will be broken apart on every cliff of the earth.
And all the peoples of the earth will withdraw from his
shadow, and abandon him. {31:13} All the birds of the air
lived upon his ruins, and all the beasts of the countryside
were among his branches. {31:14} For this reason, none of
the trees among the waters will exalt themselves because of
their height, nor will they place their summits above the thick
branches and foliage, nor will any of those that are irrigated
stand out because of their height. For they have all been
delivered unto death, to the lowest part of the earth, into the
midst of the sons of men, those who descend into the pit.
{31:15} Thus says the Lord God: In the day when he
descended into hell, I led in grieving. I covered him with the
abyss. And I held back its rivers, and I restrained the many
waters. Lebanon was saddened over him, and all the trees of
the field were struck together. {31:16} I shook the Gentiles
with the sound of his ruin, when I led him down to hell, with
those who were descending into the pit. And all the trees of
delights, the finest and best in Lebanon, all that were irrigated
with waters, were consoled in the deepest parts of the earth.
{31:17} For they, too, will descend with him into hell, to
those who have been slain by the sword. And the arm of each
one will reside under his shadow, in the midst of the nations.
{31:18} To whom can you be compared, O famous and
sublime one, among the trees of pleasure? Behold, you have
been brought down, with the trees of pleasure, to the lowest
part of the earth. You will sleep in the midst of the
uncircumcised, with those who have been slain by the sword.
This is Pharaoh, and all his multitude, says the Lord God.”


[Ezekiel 32] {32:1} And it happened that, in the twelfth year,
in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of
the Lord came to me, saying: {32:2} “Son of man, take up a
lamentation over Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and you shall
say to him: You are like the lion of the Gentiles, and like the
dragon that is in the sea. And you brandished a horn among
your rivers, and you disturbed the waters with your feet, and
you trampled upon their rivers. {32:3} Because of this, thus
says the Lord God: I will spread my net over you, with the
multitude of many peoples, and I will draw you into my
dragnet. {32:4} And I will throw you upon the land. I will
cast you upon the surface of the field. And I will cause all the
birds of the air to live upon you. And I will satiate the beasts
of the entire earth with you. {32:5} And I will place your
flesh upon the mountains. And I will fill up your hills with
your decaying flesh. {32:6} And I will irrigate the earth with
your rotting blood upon the mountains. And the valleys will
be filled with you. {32:7} And I will cover heaven, when you
will have been extinguished. And I will cause its stars to grow
dark. I will shroud the sun with gloom, and the moon will
not give her light. {32:8} I will cause all the lights of heaven
to grieve over you. And I will bring darkness upon your land,
says the Lord God, when your wounded will have fallen in
the midst of the land, says the Lord God. {32:9} And I will
provoke the heart of many peoples to anger, when I will have
led in your destruction among the Gentiles, over the lands
that you have not known. {32:10} And I will cause many
peoples to be stupefied over you. And their kings will be
afraid, with great horror, over you, when my sword will
begin to fly above their faces. And suddenly, they will be
struck with astonishment, each one concerning his own life,
on the day of their ruination. {32:11} For thus says the Lord
God: The sword of the king of Babylon will come to you.
{32:12} By the swords of the strong, I will cast down your
multitude. All these nations are invincible, and they will lay
waste to the arrogance of Egypt, and so its multitude will be
destroyed. {32:13} And I will perish all its cattle, which were
above the many waters. And the foot of man will no longer
disturb them, and the hoof of cattle will no longer trouble
them. {32:14} Then I will cause their waters to be very pure,
and their rivers to be like oil, says the Lord God,
{32:15} when I will have set the land of Egypt in desolation.
And the land will be deprived of her plenitude, when I will
have struck all its inhabitants. And they shall know that I am
the Lord. {32:16} This is the lamentation. And they shall
lament it. The daughters of the Gentiles shall lament it. They
shall lament it over Egypt and over its multitude, says the
Lord God.” {32:17} And it happened that, in the twelfth year,
on the fifteenth of the month, the word of the Lord came to
me saying: {32:18} “Son of man, sing mournfully over the
multitude of Egypt. And cast her down, both her and the
daughters of the robust nations, to the lowest part of the earth,
with those who descend into the pit. {32:19} Whom do you
exceed in beauty? Descend and sleep with the uncircumcised!
{32:20} They will fall by the sword in the midst of the slain.
The sword has been given. They have dragged her down,
with all her people. {32:21} The most powerful among the
strong will speak to him from the midst of hell, those who
descended with his helpers and who went to sleep
uncircumcised, slain by the sword. {32:22} Assur is in that
place, with all his multitude. Their graves are all around him:
all of the slain and those who fell by the sword. {32:23} Their
graves have been placed in the lowest parts of the pit. And his
multitude was stationed on all sides of his grave: all of the
slain, and those who fell by the sword, who formerly spread
terror in the land of the living. {32:24} Elam is in that place,
with all his multitude, on all sides of his grave, all those who
were slain or who fell by the sword, who descended
uncircumcised to the lowest part of the earth, who caused
their terror in the land of the living. And they have borne
their disgrace, with those who descend into the pit.
{32:25} They have appointed him a place to lie among all his
people, in the midst of the slain. Their graves are all around
him. All these are uncircumcised and were slain by the sword.
For they spread their terror in the land of the living, and they
have borne their disgrace, with those who descend into the
pit. They have been stationed in the midst of the slain.
{32:26} Meshech and Tubal are in that place, with all their
multitude. Their graves are all around him: all these are
uncircumcised, and they were slain and fell by the sword. For
they spread their terror in the land of the living. {32:27} But
they shall not sleep with the strong, and with those who also
fell uncircumcised, who descended to hell with their weapons,
and who placed their swords under their heads, while their
iniquities were in their bones. For they were the terror of the
strong in the land of the living. {32:28} Therefore, you also
will be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and you
will sleep with those who were slain by the sword.
{32:29} Idumea is in that place, with her kings and all her
commanders, who with their army have been given to those
who were slain by the sword. And they have slept with the
uncircumcised and with those who descend into the pit.
{32:30} All the leaders of the north are in that place, with all
the hunters, who were brought down with the slain, fearful
and confounded in their strength, who have gone to sleep
uncircumcised, with those who were slain by the sword. And
they have borne their disgrace, with those who descend into
the pit. {32:31} Pharaoh saw them, and he was consoled over
all his multitude, which was slain by the sword, even
Pharaoh and all his army, says the Lord God. {32:32} For I
have spread my terror in the land of the living, and he has
gone to sleep in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those
who were slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his
multitude, says the Lord God.”


[Ezekiel 33] {33:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {33:2} “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people,
and you shall say to them: Concerning the land, when I will
have led the sword over it: if the people of the land take a
man, one of their least, and appoint him over themselves as a
watchman, {33:3} and if he sees the sword approaching over
the land, and he sounds the trumpet, and he announces to the
people, {33:4} then, having heard the sound of the trumpet,
whoever he is, if he also does not take care of himself, and
the sword arrives and takes him: his blood will be upon his
own head. {33:5} He heard the sound of the trumpet, and he
did not take care of himself, so his blood will be upon him.
But if he guards himself, he will save his own life. {33:6} And
if the watchman sees the sword approaching, and he does not
sound the trumpet, and so the people do not guard
themselves, and the sword arrives and takes some of their
lives, certainly these have been taken due to their own
iniquity. But I will attribute their blood to the hand of the
watchman. {33:7} And as for you, son of man, I have made
you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore, having
heard the word from my mouth, you shall announce it to
them from me. {33:8} When I say to the impious, ‘O impious
man, you will die a death,’ if you have not spoken so that the
impious man will keep himself from his way, then that
impious man will die in his iniquity. But I will attribute his
blood to your hand. {33:9} But if you have announced to the
impious man, so that he may be converted from his ways,
and he has not converted from his way, then he will die in his
iniquity. Yet you will have freed your own soul. {33:10} You,
therefore, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: You have
spoken in this way, saying: ‘Our iniquities and our sins are
upon us, and we waste away in them. So then, how would
we be able to live?’ {33:11} Say to them: As I live, says the
Lord God, I do not desire the death of the impious, but that
the impious should convert from his way and live. Be
converted, be converted from your evil ways! For why should
you die, O house of Israel? {33:12} And as for you then, son
of man, say to the sons of your people: The justice of the just
man will not deliver him, on whatever day he will have
sinned. And the impiety of the impius man will not harm him,
on whatever day he will have been converted from his
impiety. And the just man will not be able to live by his
justice, on whatever day he will have sinned. {33:13} Even
now, if I say to the just man that he shall certainly live, and
so, with confidence in his justice, he commits iniquity, all his
justices will be delivered into oblivion, and by his iniquity,
which he has done, by this he shall die. {33:14} And if I say
to the impious man, ‘You shall certainly die,’ and yet he
repents from his sin, and he does judgment and justice,
{33:15} and if that impious man returns the collateral, and
repays what he has taken by force, and if he walks in the
commandments of life, and does not do anything unjust, then
he shall certainly live, and he shall not die. {33:16} None of
his sins, which he has committed, will be imputed to him. He
has done judgment and justice, so he shall certainly live.
{33:17} And the sons of your people have said, ‘The way of
the Lord is not a fair balance,’ even while their own way is
unjust. {33:18} For when the just man will have withdraw
from his justice, and committed iniquities, he shall die by
these. {33:19} And when the impious man will have
withdrawn from his impiety, and have done judgment and
justice, he shall live by these. {33:20} And yet you say, ‘The
way of the Lord is not right.’ But I shall judge each one of
you according to his own ways, O house of Israel.”
{33:21} And it happened that, in the twelfth year of our
transmigration, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month,
one who had fled from Jerusalem arrived saying, “The city
has been laid waste.” {33:22} But the hand of the Lord had
been upon me in the evening, before the one who had fled
arrived. And he opened my mouth, until he came to me in
the morning. And since my mouth had been opened, I was
no longer silent. {33:23} And the word of the Lord came to
me, saying: {33:24} “Son of man, as for those who live in
these ruinous ways on the soil of Israel, when speaking, they
say: ‘Abraham was one man, and he possessed the land as an
inheritance. But we are many; the land has been given to us
as a possession.’ {33:25} Therefore, you shall say to them:
Thus says the Lord God: You who eat even the blood, and
who lift up your eyes to your uncleannesses, and who shed
blood: will you possess the land as an inheritance?
{33:26} You stood by your swords, you committed
abominations, and each one has defiled his neighbor’s wife.
And will you possess the land as an inheritance? {33:27} You
shall say these things to them: So says the Lord God: As I
live, those who live in ruinous ways will fall by the sword.
And whoever is in the field will be delivered over to wild
beasts to be devoured. But those who are in fortresses and in
caves will die of the pestilence. {33:28} And I will make the
land into a wilderness and a desert. And its arrogant strength
will fail. And the mountains of Israel will be desolate; for
there will be no one who crosses through them. {33:29} And
they shall know that I am the Lord, when I will have make
their land desolate and deserted, because of all their
abominations, which they have worked. {33:30} And as for
you, O son of man: the sons of your people speak about you
beside the walls and in the doorways of houses. And they
speak to one another, each man to his neighbor, saying:
‘Come, and let us hear what may be the word going forth
from the Lord.’ {33:31} And they come to you, as if the
people were entering, and my people sit before you. And they
listen to your words, but they do not do them. For they turn
them into a song for their mouth, but their heart pursues their
own avarice. {33:32} And you are to them like a verse set to
music, which is sung with a sweet and pleasing voice. And
they hear your words, but they do not do them. {33:33} And
when what has been predicted occurs, for behold it is
approaching, then they shall know that a prophet was among
them.”


[Ezekiel 34] {34:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {34:2} “Son of man, prophesy about the shepherds of
Israel. Prophesy, and you shall say to the shepherds: Thus
says the Lord God: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed
themselves! Should not the flocks be fed by the shepherds?
{34:3} You consumed the milk, and you covered yourselves
with the wool, and you killed what was fattened. But my
flock you did not feed. {34:4} What was weak, you have not
strengthened, and what was sick, you have not healed. What
was broken, you have not bound, and what was cast aside,
you have not led back again, and what was lost, you have not
sought. Instead, you ruled over them with severity and with
power. {34:5} And my sheep were scattered, because there
was no shepherd. And they became devoured by all the wild
beasts of the field, and they were dispersed. {34:6} My sheep
have wandered to every mountain and to every exalted hill.
And my flocks have been scattered across the face of the
earth. And there was no one who sought them; there was no
one, I say, who sought them. {34:7} Because of this, O
shepherds, listen to the word of the Lord: {34:8} As I live,
says the Lord God, since my flocks have become a prey, and
my sheep have been devoured by all the wild beasts of the
field, since there was no shepherd, for my shepherds did not
seek my flock, but instead the shepherds fed themselves, and
they did not feed my flocks: {34:9} because of this, O
shepherds, listen to the word of the Lord: {34:10} Thus says
the Lord God: Behold, I myself will be over the shepherds. I
will require my flock at their hand, and I will cause them to
cease, so that they no longer refrain from feeding the flock.
Neither will the shepherds feed themselves any more. And I
will deliver my flock from their mouth; and it will no longer
be food for them. {34:11} For thus says the Lord God:
Behold, I myself will seek my sheep, and I myself will visit
them. {34:12} Just as a shepherd visits his flock, in the day
when he will be in the midst of his sheep that were scattered,
so will I visit my sheep. And I will deliver them from all the
places to which they had been scattered in the day of gloom
and darkness. {34:13} And I will lead them away from the
peoples, and I will gather them from the lands, and I will
bring them into their own land. And I will pasture them on
the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the
settlements of the land. {34:14} I will feed them in very fertile
pastures, and their pastures will be on the lofty mountains of
Israel. There they will rest on the green grass, and they will
be fed in the fat pastures, on the mountains of Israel.
{34:15} I will feed my sheep, and I will cause them to lie
down, says the Lord God. {34:16} I will seek what had been
lost. And I will lead back again what had been cast aside.
And I will bind up what had been broken. And I will
strengthen what had been infirm. And I will preserve what
was fat and strong. And I will feed them on judgment.
{34:17} But as for you, O my flocks, thus says the Lord God:
Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, among rams and
among he-goats. {34:18} Was it not enough for you to feed
upon good pastures? For you even trample with your feet
upon the remainder of your pastures. And when you drank
the purist water, you disturbed the remainder with your feet.
{34:19} And my sheep were pastured from what you had
trampled with your feet, and they drank from what your feet
had disturbed. {34:20} Because of this, thus says the Lord
God to you: Behold, I myself am judging between the fat
cattle and the lean. {34:21} For you have pushed with your
sides and shoulders, and you have threatened all the weak
cattle with your horns, until they were scattered abroad.
{34:22} I will save my flock, and it will be no longer be a
prey, and I will judge between cattle and cattle. {34:23} And
I will raise up over them ONE SHEPHERD, who will feed
them, my servant David. He himself will feed them, and he
will be their shepherd. {34:24} And I, the Lord, will be their
God. And my servant David will be the leader in their midst.
I, the Lord, have spoken. {34:25} And I will make a
covenant of peace with them. And I will cause the very
harmful beasts to cease from the land. And those who are
living in the desert will sleep securely in the forests.
{34:26} And I will make them a blessing all around my hill.
And I will send the rain in due time; there will be showers of
blessing. {34:27} And the tree of the field will yield its fruit,
and the land will yield its crop. And they will be in their own
land without fear. And they shall know that I am the Lord,
when I will have crushed the chains of their yoke, and when I
will have rescued them from the hand of those who rule over
them. {34:28} And they will no longer be a prey to the
Gentiles, nor will the wild beasts of the earth devour them.
Instead, they will live in confidence without any terror.
{34:29} And I will raise up for them a renown branch. And
they will be no longer be diminished by famine in the land,
nor will they carry any longer the reproach of the Gentiles.
{34:30} And they shall know that I, the Lord their God, am
with them, and that they are my people, the house of Israel,
says the Lord God. {34:31} For you are my flocks; the flocks
of my pasture are men. And I am the Lord your God, says
the Lord God.”


[Ezekiel 35] {35:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {35:2} “Son of man, set your face against mount Seir,
and you shall prophesy about it, and you shall say to it:
{35:3} Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you,
mount Seir, and I will extend my hand over you, and I will
make you desolate and deserted. {35:4} I will tear down your
cities, and you will be deserted. And you shall know that I
am the Lord. {35:5} For you have been a continual adversary,
and you have enclosed the sons of Israel, by the hands of the
sword, in the time of their affliction, in the time of extreme
iniquity. {35:6} Because of this, as I live, says the Lord God,
I will hand you over to blood, and blood will pursue you.
Even though you have hated blood, blood will pursue you.
{35:7} And I will make mount Seir desolate and deserted.
And I will take away from it the one who departs and the one
who returns. {35:8} And I will fill up its mountains with its
slain. In your hills, and in your valleys, as well as in your
torrents, the slain will fall by the sword. {35:9} I will hand
you over to everlasting desolations, and your cities will not be
inhabited. And you shall know that I am the Lord God.
{35:10} For you have said, ‘Two nations and two lands will
be mine, and I will possess them as an inheritance,’ though
the Lord was in that place. {35:11} Because of this, as I live,
says the Lord God, I will act in accord with your own wrath,
and in accord with your own zeal, by which you have acted
with hatred toward them. And I will be made known by them,
when I will have judged you. {35:12} And you shall know
that I, the Lord, have heard all your disgraces, which you
have spoken about the mountains of Israel, saying: “They are
deserted. They have been given to us to devour.’ {35:13} And
you rose up against me with your mouth, and you disparaged
against me with your words. I have heard. {35:14} Thus says
the Lord God: When the whole earth will rejoice, I will
reduce you to solitude. {35:15} Just as you have rejoiced over
the inheritance of the house of Israel, when it was laid waste,
so will I act toward you. You will be laid waste, O mount
Seir, with all of Idumea. And they shall know that I am the
Lord.”


[Ezekiel 36] {36:1} “But as for you, son of man, prophesy
over the mountains of Israel, and you shall say: O mountains
of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord. {36:2} Thus says the
Lord God: Because the enemy has said about you: ‘It is well!
The everlasting heights have been given to us as an
inheritance!’ {36:3} because of this, prophesy and say: Thus
says the Lord God: Because you have been made desolate,
and you have been trampled on every side, and you have
been made into an inheritance for the remainder of the
nations, and because you rose up, over the tip of the tongue
and over the shame of the people, {36:4} because of this, O
mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God. Thus
says the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the
torrents, and to the valleys, and to the deserts, and to the
ruins, and to the forsaken cities, which have been
depopulated and ridiculed by the remainder of the nations all
around: {36:5} Because of this, thus says the Lord God: In
the fire of my zeal, I have spoken about the remainder of the
nations, and about all of Idumea, who have given my land to
themselves, joyfully, as an inheritance, and with all the heart
and mind, and who have cast it out, so that they may lay
waste to it. {36:6} Therefore, prophesy over the soil of Israel,
and you shall say to the mountains, and to the hills, to the
ridges, and to the valleys: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I
have spoken in my zeal and in my fury, because you have
endured the shame of the Gentiles. {36:7} Therefore, thus
says the Lord God: I have lifted up my hand, so that the
Gentiles, who are all around you, will themselves bear their
shame. {36:8} But as for you, O mountains of Israel, spring
forth your branches, and bear your fruit, to my people Israel.
For they are close to their advent. {36:9} For behold, I am for
you, and I will turn to you, and you will be plowed, and you
will receive seed. {36:10} And I will multiply men among
you and among all the house of Israel. And the cities shall be
inhabited, and the ruinous places shall be restored.
{36:11} And I will fill you again with men and with cattle.
And they will be multiplied, and they will increase. And I
will cause you to live as from the beginning, and I will give
you even greater gifts than those you had from the start. And
you shall know that I am the Lord. {36:12} And I will lead
men over you, over my people Israel, and they will possess
you as an inheritance. And you shall be to them as an
inheritance. And you shall no longer be permitted to be
without them. {36:13} Thus says the Lord God: Because they
are saying about you, ‘You are a woman who devours men,
and you are strangling your own nation,’ {36:14} because of
this, you shall no longer consume men, and you shall no
longer harm your own nation, says the Lord God.
{36:15} Neither will I permit men to discover in you the
shame of the Gentiles any more. And you shall never again
bear the reproach of the peoples. And you shall not send your
people away any more, says the Lord God.” {36:16} And the
word of the Lord came to me, saying: {36:17} “Son of man,
the house of Israel lived on their own soil, and they defiled it
with their ways and with their intentions. Their way, in my
sight, became like the uncleanness of a menstruous woman.
{36:18} And so I poured out my indignation upon them,
because of the blood which they shed upon the land, and
because they defiled it with their idols. {36:19} And I
dispersed them among the Gentiles, and they have been
scattered among the lands. I have judged them according to
their ways and their plans. {36:20} And when they walked
among the Gentiles, to whom they had entered, they defiled
my holy name, though it was being said about them: ‘This is
the people of the Lord,’ and ‘They went forth from his land.’
{36:21} But I have spared my holy name, which the house of
Israel has defiled among the Gentiles, to whom they entered.
{36:22} For this reason, you shall say to the house of Israel:
Thus says the Lord God: I will act, not for your sake, O
house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which you
have defiled among the Gentiles, to whom you entered.
{36:23} And I will sanctify my great name, which was defiled
among the Gentiles, which you have defiled in their midst.
So may the Gentiles know that I am the Lord, says the Lord
of hosts, when I will have been sanctified in you, before their
eyes. {36:24} Certainly, I will take you away from the
Gentiles, and I will gather you together from all the lands,
and I will lead you into your own land. {36:25} And I will
pour clean water over you, and you shall be cleansed from all
your filth, and I will cleanse you from all your idols.
{36:26} And I will give to you a new heart, and I will place in
you a new spirit. And I will take away the heart of stone from
your body, and I will give to you a heart of flesh.
{36:27} And I will place my Spirit in your midst. And I will
act so that you may walk in my precepts and keep my
judgments, and so that you may fulfill them. {36:28} And
you shall live in the land that I gave to your fathers. And you
shall be my people, and I will be your God. {36:29} And I
will save you from all your filth. And I will call for grain, and
I will multiply it, and I will not impose a famine upon you.
{36:30} And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the
produce of the field, so that you may no longer bear the
disgrace of famine among the nations. {36:31} And you shall
remember your very wicked ways and your intentions, which
were not good. And you will be displeased by your own
iniquities and your own crimes. {36:32} It is not for your
sakes that I will act, says the Lord God; let this be known to
you. Be confounded and ashamed over your own ways, O
house of Israel. {36:33} Thus says the Lord God: In the day
when I will have cleansed you from all your iniquities, and
when I will have caused the cities to be inhabited, and when I
will have restored the ruinous places, {36:34} and when the
deserted land will have been cultivated, which previously was
desolate to the eyes of all who passed by, {36:35} then they
shall say: ‘This uncultivated land has become a garden of
delight, and the cities, which were deserted and destitute and
overturned, have been settled and fortified.’ {36:36} And the
Gentiles, those who remain around you, shall know that I,
the Lord, have built up what was destroyed, and have planted
what was uncultivated. I, the Lord, have spoken and acted.
{36:37} Thus says the Lord God: Even in this time, the house
of Israel shall find me, so that I may act for them. I will
multiply them like a flock of men, {36:38} like a holy flock,
like the flock of Jerusalem in her solemnities. So shall the
deserted cities be filled with flocks of men. And they shall
know that I am the Lord.”


[Ezekiel 37] {37:1} The hand of the Lord was set upon me,
and he led me away in the Spirit of the Lord, and he released
me in the midst of a plain which was full of bones.
{37:2} And he led me around, through them, on every side.
Now they were very many upon the face of the plain, and
they were exceedingly dry. {37:3} And he said to me, “Son of
man, do you think that these bones will live?” And I said, “O
Lord God, you know.” {37:4} And he said to me, “Prophesy
about these bones. And you shall say to them: Dry bones,
listen to the word of the Lord! {37:5} Thus says the Lord
God to these bones: Behold, I will send spirit into you, and
you shall live. {37:6} And I will set sinews upon you, and I
will cause flesh to grow over you, and I will extend skin over
you. And I will give you spirit, and you shall live. And you
shall know that I am the Lord.” {37:7} And I prophesied, just
as he had instructed me. But a noise occurred, as I was
prophesying, and behold: a commotion. And the bones
joined together, each one at its joint. {37:8} And I saw, and
behold: sinews and flesh rose up over them; and skin was
extended over them. But they had no spirit within them.
{37:9} And he said to me: “Prophesy to the spirit! Prophesy,
O son of man, and you shall say to the spirit: Thus says the
Lord God: Approach, O spirit, from the four winds, and
blow across these ones who were slain, and revive them.”
{37:10} And I prophesied, just as he had instructed me. And
spirit entered into them, and they lived. And they stood upon
their feet, an exceedingly great army. {37:11} And he said to
me: “Son of man: All these bones are the house of Israel.
They say: ‘Our bones are dried out, and our hope has
perished, and we have been cut off.’ {37:12} Because of this,
prophesy, and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God:
Behold, I will open your tombs, and I will lead you away
from your sepulchers, O my people. And I will lead you into
the land of Israel. {37:13} And you shall know that I am the
Lord, when I will have opened your sepulchers, and when I
will have led you away from your tombs, O my people.
{37:14} And I will place my Spirit within you, and you shall
live. And I will cause you to rest upon your own soil. And
you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and acted, says
the Lord God.” {37:15} And the word of the Lord came to
me, saying: {37:16} “And as for you, son of man, take up a
piece of wood for yourself, and write upon it: ‘For Judah, and
for the sons of Israel, his companions.’ And take up another
piece of wood, and write upon it: ‘For Joseph, the wood of
Ephraim, and for the entire house of Israel, and for his
companions.’ {37:17} And join these, one to the other, for
yourself, as one piece of wood. And they will be united in
your hand. {37:18} Then, when the sons of your people will
speak to you, saying: ‘Will you not tell us what you intend by
this?’ {37:19} you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God:
Behold, I will take up the wood of Joseph, which is in the
hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, which are joined to
him, and I will put them together with the wood of Judah,
and I will make them one piece of wood. And they will be
one in his hand. {37:20} Then the pieces of wood, on which
you have written, will be in your hand, before their eyes.
{37:21} And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God:
Behold, I will take up the sons of Israel, from the midst of the
nations to which they have gone, and I will gather them
together on every side, and I will lead them onto their own
soil. {37:22} And I will make them one nation in the land, on
the mountains of Israel, and one king will be ruler over all.
And they will no longer be two nations, nor will they be
divided any more into two kingdoms. {37:23} And they will
no longer be defiled by their idols, and by their abominations,
and by all their iniquities. And I will save them, out of all the
settlements in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse
them. And they will be my people, and I will be their God.
{37:24} And my servant David shall be the king over them,
and they shall have one shepherd. They shall walk in my
judgments, and they shall keep my commandments, and they
shall do them. {37:25} And they shall live upon the land that
I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived. And
they shall live upon it, they and their sons, and the sons of
their sons, even for all time. And David, my servant, shall be
their leader, in perpetuity. {37:26} And I will strike a
covenant of peace with them. This will be an everlasting
covenant for them. And I will establish them, and multiply
them. And I will set my sanctuary in their midst, unceasingly.
{37:27} And my tabernacle shall be among them. And I will
be their God, and they will be my people. {37:28} And the
Gentiles shall know that I am the Lord, the Sanctifier of
Israel, when my sanctuary will be in their midst, forever.”


[Ezekiel 38] {38:1} And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying: {38:2} “Son of man, set your face against Gog, the
land of Magog, the prince of the head of Meshech and Tubal,
and prophesy about him. {38:3} And you shall say to him:
Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog,
prince of the head of Meshech and Tubal. {38:4} And I will
turn you around, and I will place a bit in your jaws. And I
will lead you away, with all your army, the horses and the
horsemen all clothed in armor, a great multitude, equipped
with spears and light shields and swords, {38:5} the Persians,
the Ethiopians, and the Libyans with them, all with heavy
shields and helmets, {38:6} Gomer, and all his companies,
the house of Togarmah, the northern parts, and all his
strength, and the many peoples with you. {38:7} Prepare and
equip yourself, with all your multitude which has been
assembled to you. And you shall be like a commandment to
them. {38:8} After many days, you will be visited. At the end
of the years, you will arrive at the land which was turned
back by the sword, and which has been gathered from many
peoples to the mountains of Israel that have been continually
abandoned. These ones have been led away from the peoples,
and all of them will be living confidently within it. {38:9} But
you will ascend and arrive like a tempest and like a cloud, so
that you may cover the land, you and all your companies,
and the many peoples with you. {38:10} Thus says the Lord
God: In that day, words will climb into your heart, and you
will invent a most wicked plan. {38:11} And you will say: ‘I
will ascend to the land without a wall. I will go to those who
are resting and dwelling securely. All these live without a
wall; they have no bars or gates.’ {38:12} Thus, you will
plunder spoils, and you will take possession of prey, so that
you may lay your hand upon those who had been abandoned,
and afterwards were restored, and upon a people who were
gathered away from the Gentiles, a people who have begun
to possess, and to be the inhabitants of, the navel of the earth.
{38:13} Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish,
and all its lions will say to you: ‘Could you have arrived in
order to purchase from the spoils? Behold, you have gathered
your multitude in order to plunder a prey, so that you may
take silver and gold, and carry away equipment and
substance, and plunder immeasurable wealth.’
{38:14} Because of this, son of man, prophesy, and you shall
say to Gog: Thus says the Lord God: How is it that you do
not know of that day, when my people, Israel, will be living
in confidence? {38:15} And you will advance from your
place, from the parts of the north, you and the many peoples
with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and
an immense army. {38:16} And you will rise up over my
people, Israel, like a cloud, so that you may cover the earth.
In the latter days, you will be. And I will lead you over my
own land, so that the Gentiles may know me, when I will
have been sanctified in you, O Gog, before their eyes.
{38:17} Thus says the Lord God: Therefore, you are the one,
about whom I spoke in the days of antiquity, by the hand of
my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in the
days of those times that I would lead you over them.
{38:18} And this shall be in that day, in the day of the advent
of Gog over the land of Israel, says the Lord God: my
indignation will rise up in my fury. {38:19} And I have
spoken, in my zeal and in the fire of my wrath, that there
shall be a great commotion over the land of Israel, in that day.
{38:20} And before my face there shall be stirred up: the fish
of the sea, and the flying things of the air, and the beasts of
the field, and every crawling thing that moves across the soil,
and all the men who are upon the face of the earth. And the
mountains will be overturned, and the hedges will fall, and
every wall will fall in ruin to the ground. {38:21} And I will
call for the sword against him on all my mountains, says the
Lord God. Each one’s sword will be directed toward his
brother. {38:22} And I will judge him by pestilence, and
blood, and violent rainstorms, and immense hailstones. I will
rain fire and brimstone upon him, and upon his army, and
upon the many peoples who are with him. {38:23} And I will
be magnified and sanctified. And I will be known in the eyes
of the many nations. And they shall know that I am the
Lord.”


[Ezekiel 39] {39:1} “But as for you, son of man, prophesy
against Gog, and you shall say: Thus says the Lord God:
Behold, I am above you, O Gog, prince of the head of
Meshech and Tubal. {39:2} And I will turn you around, and
I will lead you away, and I will cause you to rise up from the
parts of the north. And I will bring you over the mountains of
Israel. {39:3} And I will strike your bow in your left hand,
and I will cast away your arrows from your right hand.
{39:4} You will fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all
your companies, and your peoples who are with you. I have
given you over to the wild animals, to the birds, and to every
flying thing, and to the beasts of the earth, in order to be
devoured. {39:5} You will fall upon the face of the field. For
I have spoken, says the Lord God. {39:6} And I will send a
fire upon Magog, and upon those who are living confidently
in the islands. And they shall know that I am the Lord.
{39:7} And I will make known my holy name in the midst of
my people, Israel, and my holy name will no longer be
defiled. And the Gentiles shall know that I am the Lord, the
Holy One of Israel. {39:8} Behold, it approaches, and it is
done, says the Lord God. This is the day, about which I have
spoken. {39:9} And the inhabitants from the cities of Israel
will go forth, and they will kindle and burn the weapons, the
shields and the spears, the bows and the arrows, and the staff
and the lance. And they will kindle fires with them for seven
years. {39:10} And they will not carry wood from the
countryside, and they will not cut from the forests. For they
will kindle the weapons with fire. And they will prey upon
those who had preyed upon them, and they will plunder
those who had plundered them, says the Lord God.
{39:11} And this shall be in that day: I will give Gog a
renown place as a sepulcher in Israel, the valley of the
wayfarers to the east of the sea, which will cause
astonishment in those who pass by. And in that place, they
will bury Gog and all his multitude, and it will be called the
valley of the multitude of Gog. {39:12} And the house of
Israel will bury them, so that they may cleanse the land, for
seven months {39:13} Then all the people of the earth will
bury them, and this shall be for them a renown day, on which
I have been glorified, says the Lord God. {39:14} And they
shall appoint men to continually examine the earth, so that
they may seek out and bury those who have remained on the
surface of the earth, so that they may cleanse it. Then, after
seven months, they will begin to seek. {39:15} And they will
go around, traveling the earth. And when they will have seen
the bone of a man, they will station a marker beside it, until
the undertakers may bury it in the valley of the multitude of
Gog. {39:16} And the name of the city will be: the Multitude.
And they shall cleanse the earth. {39:17} As for you, then,
son of man, thus says the Lord God: Say to every flying thing,
and to all the birds, and to all the beasts of the field:
Assemble! Hurry! Rush together from every side to my victim,
which I have immolated for you, a great victim upon the
mountains of Israel, so that you may consume flesh, and
drink blood! {39:18} You shall eat the flesh of the powerful,
and you shall drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of
rams and lambs and he-goats and bulls, and of fattened birds
and all that is fat. {39:19} And you shall consume the fat
unto satiation, and you shall drink the blood unto inebriation,
from the victim that I will immolate for you. {39:20} And
you shall be satiated, upon my table, from horses and
powerful horsemen, and from all the men of war, says the
Lord God. {39:21} And I will set my glory among the
Gentiles. And all the nations shall see my judgment, which I
have accomplished, and my hand, which I have laid upon
them. {39:22} And the house of Israel shall know that I am
the Lord, their God, from that day and thereafter.
{39:23} And the Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel
was taken captive because of their own iniquity, because they
abandoned me. And so I concealed my face from them, and I
delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and they all
fell by the sword. {39:24} I have acted toward them in accord
with their uncleanness and wickedness, and so I concealed
my face from them. {39:25} Because of this, thus says the
Lord God: Now I will lead back the captivity of Jacob, and I
will take pity upon the entire house of Israel. And I will act
with zeal on behalf of my holy name. {39:26} And they shall
bear their shame and all their transgression, by which they
betrayed me, though they were living in their own land
confidently, dreading no one. {39:27} And I will lead them
back from among the peoples, and I will gather them together
from the lands of their enemies, and I will be sanctified in
them, in the sight of the many nations. {39:28} And they
shall know that I am the Lord, their God, because I carried
them away to the nations, and I gathered them upon their
own land, and I did not abandon any of them there.
{39:29} And I will no longer conceal my face from them, for
I have poured out my Spirit upon the entire house of Israel,
says the Lord God.”


[Ezekiel 40] {40:1}In the twenty-fifth year of our
transmigration, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of
the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck, on
this very day, the hand of the Lord was placed upon me, and
he brought me to that place. {40:2} In the visions of God, he
brought me into the land of Israel, and he released me on an
exceedingly high mountain, on which there was something
like the edifice of a city, verging toward the south.
{40:3} And he led me into that place. And behold, there was
a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass,
with a linen rope in his hand, and a measuring reed in his
hand. And he was standing at the gate. {40:4} And the same
man said to me: “Son of man, look with your eyes, and listen
with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I will reveal
to you. For you have been brought to this place, so that these
things may be revealed to you. Announce all that you see to
the house of Israel.” {40:5} And behold, there was a wall
outside of the house, encircling it all around, and in the
man’s hand was a measuring reed of six cubits and a palm.
And he measured the width of the edifice with one reed;
likewise, the height with one reed. {40:6} And he went to the
gate which looked toward the east, and he ascended by its
steps. And he measured the width of the threshold of the gate
as one reed, that is, one threshold was one reed in width.
{40:7} And a chamber was one reed in length and one reed in
width. And between the chambers, there were five cubits.
{40:8} And the threshold of the gate, next to the inner
vestibule of the gate, was one reed. {40:9} And he measured
the vestibule of the gate as eight cubits, and its front as two
cubits. But the vestibule of the gate was inside.
{40:10} Moreover, the chambers of the gate, toward the way
of the east, were three from one side to the other. The three
were of one measure, and the fronts were of one measure, on
both sides. {40:11} And he measured the width of the
threshold of the gate as ten cubits, and the length of the gate
as thirteen cubits. {40:12} And before the chambers, the
border was one cubit. And on both sides, the border was one
cubit. But the chambers were six cubits, from one side to the
other. {40:13} And he measured the gate, from the roof of
one chamber to the roof of another, twenty-five cubits in
width, from door to door. {40:14} And he found the fronts to
be sixty cubits. And at the front, there was a court for the gate
on every side all around. {40:15} And before the face of the
gate, which extended even to the face of the vestibule of the
gate of the interior, there were fifty cubits. {40:16} And there
were slanting windows in the chambers and at their fronts,
which were within the gate on every side all around. And
similarly, there were also windows in the vestibules all
around the interior, and there were images of palm trees
before the fronts. {40:17} And he led me away to the outer
court, and behold, there were storerooms and a layer of
pavement stones throughout the court. Thirty storerooms
encircled the pavement. {40:18} And the pavement in front
of the gates, along the length of the gates, was lower.
{40:19} And he measured the width, from the face of the
lower gate to the front of the outer part of the inner court, to
be one hundred cubits, to the east and to the north.
{40:20} Likewise, he measured the gate of the outer court,
which looked to the way of the north, to be as much in length
as in width. {40:21} And its chambers were three from one
side to the other. And its front and its vestibule, in accord
with the measure of the former gate, were fifty cubits in its
length and twenty-five cubits in width. {40:22} Now its
windows, and the vestibule, and the engravings were in
accord with the measure of the gate which looked to the east.
And its ascent was by seven steps, and a vestibule was before
it. {40:23} And the gate of the inner court was opposite the
gate of the north, and that of the east. And he measured from
gate to gate as one hundred cubits. {40:24} And he led me to
the way of the south, and behold, there was a gate which
looked toward the south. And he measured its front and its
vestibule to be the same as the measures above. {40:25} And
its windows and the vestibule all around were like the other
windows: fifty cubits in length and twenty-five cubits in width.
{40:26} And there were seven steps to ascend to it, and a
vestibule before its doors. And there were engraved palm
trees, one on each side, at its front. {40:27} And there was a
gate at the inner court, on the way to the south. And he
measured from one gate to another, on the way to the south,
to be one hundred cubits. {40:28} And he led me into the
inner court, to the south gate. And he measured the gate to be
in accord with the measures above. {40:29} Its chamber, and
its front, and its vestibule had the same measures. And its
windows and its vestibule all around were fifty cubits in
length, and twenty-five cubits in width. {40:30} And the
vestibule all around was twenty-five cubits in length, and five
cubits in width. {40:31} And its vestibule was toward the
outer court, and its palm trees were at the front. And there
were eight steps to ascend to it. {40:32} And he led me into
the inner court, along the way of the east. And he measured
the gate to be in accord with the measures above. {40:33} Its
chamber, and its front, and its vestibule were as above. And
its windows and its vestibules all around were fifty cubits in
length, and twenty-five cubits in width. {40:34} And it had a
vestibule, that is, at the outer court. And the engraved palm
trees at its front were on one side and the other. And its
ascent was by eight steps. {40:35} And he led me to the gate
which looked toward the north. And he measured it to be in
accord with the measures above. {40:36} Its chamber, and its
front, and its vestibule, and its windows all around were fifty
cubits in length, and twenty-five cubits in width. {40:37} And
its vestibule looked toward the outer court. And an engraving
of palm trees at its front was on one side and the other. And
its ascent was by eight steps. {40:38} And at each one of the
storerooms, there was a door at the front of the gates. There,
they washed the holocaust. {40:39} And at the vestibule of
the gate, there were two tables on one side, and two tables on
the other side, so that the holocaust, and the offering for sin,
and the offering for transgression could be immolated upon
them. {40:40} And at the outer side, which ascends to the
door of the gate that goes toward the north, there were two
tables. And at the other side, before the vestibule of the gate,
there were two tables. {40:41} Four tables were on one side,
and four tables were on the other side; along the sides of the
gate, there were eight tables, upon which they immolated.
{40:42} Now the four tables for the holocausts were
constructed of square stones: one and a half cubit in length,
and one and a half cubits in width, and one cubit in height.
Upon these, they placed the vessels, in which the holocaust
and the victim were immolated. {40:43} And their edges
were one palm in width, turned inward all around. And the
flesh of the oblation was on the tables. {40:44} And outside
the interior gate, there were storerooms for the cantors, in the
inner court, which was beside the gate that looks toward the
north. And their face was opposite the way to the south; one
was beside the east gate, which looked toward the way of the
north. {40:45} And he said to me: “This is the storeroom that
looks toward the south; it shall be for the priests who keep
watch for the protection of the temple. {40:46} Moreover, the
storeroom that looks toward the north will be for the priests
who keep watch over the ministry of the altar. These are the
sons of Zadok, those among the sons of Levi who may draw
near to the Lord, so that they may minister to him.”
{40:47} And he measured the court to be one hundred cubits
in length, and one hundred cubits in width, with four equal
sides. And the altar was before the face of the temple.
{40:48} And he led me into the vestibule of the temple. And
he measured the vestibule to be five cubits on one side, and
five cubits on the other side. And the width of the gate was
three cubits on one side, and three cubits on the other side.
{40:49} Now the length of the vestibule was twenty cubits,
and the width was eleven cubits, and there were eight steps to
ascend to it. And there were pillars at the front, one on this
side and another on that side.


[Ezekiel 41] {41:1} And he led me into the temple, and he
measured the front to be six cubits in width on one side, and
six cubits in width on the other side, which is the width of the
tabernacle. {41:2} And the width of the gate was ten cubits.
And the sides of the gate were five cubits on one side, and
five cubits on the other side. And he measured its length to be
forty cubits, and the width to be twenty cubits. {41:3} And
proceeding inward, he measured the front of the gate to be
two cubits. And the gate was six cubits, and the width of the
gate was seven cubits. {41:4} And he measured its length to
be twenty cubits, and its width to be twenty cubits, before the
face of the temple. And he said to me, “This is the Holy of
Holies.” {41:5} And he measured the wall of the house to be
six cubits, and the width of the sides to be four cubits, all
around the house on every side. {41:6} Now the side
chambers were side by side, and twice thirty-three. And they
projected outward, so that they might enter along the wall of
the house, on the sides all around, in order to contain, but not
touch, the wall of the temple. {41:7} And there was a broad
circular path, rising upward by winding, and it led to the
cenacle of the temple by a circular course. As a result, the
temple was wider in the higher parts. And so, from the lower
parts, they rose up to the higher parts, in the center.
{41:8} And in the house, I saw the height all around the
foundations of the side chambers, which were the measure of
a reed, the space of six cubits. {41:9} And the width of the
exterior wall for the side chambers was five cubits. And the
inner house was within the side chambers of the house.
{41:10} And between the storerooms, there was the width of
twenty cubits, all around the house on every side.
{41:11} And the door of the side chambers was toward the
place of prayer. One door was toward the way of the north,
and one door was toward the way of the south. And the
width of the place for prayer was five cubits all around.
{41:12} And the edifice, which was separate, and which
verged toward the way looking toward the sea, was seventy
cubits in width. But the wall of the edifice was five cubits in
width on all sides, and its length was ninety cubits.
{41:13} And he measured the length of the house to be one
hundred cubits, and the edifice, which was separate, with its
walls, to be one hundred cubits in length. {41:14} Now the
width before the face of the house, and of that which was
separate facing the east, was one hundred cubits.
{41:15} And he measured the length of the edifice opposite
its face, which was separated at the back, and the porticos on
both sides, to be one hundred cubits, with the inner temple
and the vestibules of the court. {41:16} The thresholds, and
the oblique windows, and the porticoes, encircling it on three
sides, were opposite the threshold of each one, and were
floored with wood throughout the entire area. But the floor
reached even to the windows, and the windows were closed
above the doors; {41:17} and it reached even to the inner
house, and to the exterior, throughout the entire wall, all
around the interior and exterior, for the entire extent.
{41:18} And there were cherubim and palm trees wrought,
and each palm tree was between one cherub and another, and
every cherub had two faces. {41:19} The face of a man was
closest to the palm tree on one side, and the face of a lion was
closest to the palm tree on the other side. This was depicted
throughout the entire house all around. {41:20} From the
floor, even to the upper parts of the gate, there were cherubim
and palm trees engraved in the wall of the temple.
{41:21} The square threshold and the face of the sanctuary
were one sight facing the other. {41:22} The altar of wood
was three cubits in height, and its length was two cubits. And
its corners, and its length, and its walls were of wood. And he
said to me, “This is the table in the sight of the Lord.”
{41:23} And there were two doors in the temple and in the
sanctuary. {41:24} And in the two doors, on both sides, were
two little doors, which were folded within each other. For
two doors were on both sides of the doors. {41:25} And
cherubim were engraved in the same doors of the temple,
with the figures of palm trees, as were depicted also on the
walls. For this reason also, the boards were thicker in the
front of the vestibule on the exterior. {41:26} Upon these
were the oblique windows, with the representation of palm
trees on one side as well as on the other, at the sides of the
vestibule, in accord with the sides of the house, and the width
of the walls.


[Ezekiel 42] {42:1} And he led me into the outer court by the
way that leads to the north, and he led me into the storeroom
that was opposite the separate edifice, and opposite the shrine
that verges toward the north. {42:2} The length of the face of
the north gate was one hundred cubits, and the width was
fifty cubits. {42:3} Opposite the twenty cubits of the interior
court, and opposite the layer of pavement stones in the outer
court, in that place, there was a portico joined to a triple
portico. {42:4} And before the storerooms, there was a
walkway of ten cubits in width, looking toward the interior
along a way of one cubit. And their doors were toward the
north. {42:5} In that place, there were storerooms in the
upper part of the lower level. For they supported the porticos,
which projected from them out of the lower level, and out of
the middle of the building. {42:6} For they were of three
levels, and they did not have pillars, as they were like the
pillars of the courts. Because of this, they projected from the
lower levels and from the middle, fifty cubits from the ground.
{42:7} And the exterior enclosing wall, adjacent to the
storerooms that were along the way of the exterior court in
front of the storerooms, was fifty cubits long. {42:8} For the
length of the storerooms of the exterior court was fifty cubits,
and the length before the face of the temple was one hundred
cubits. {42:9} And under these storerooms, there was an
entrance from the east, for those who were entering into it
from the outer court. {42:10} In the width of the enclosing
wall of the court that was opposite the way of the east, at the
face of the separate edifice, there were also storerooms,
before the edifice. {42:11} And the way before their face was
in accord with the form of the storerooms which were along
the way of the north. As was their length, so also was their
width. And the entire entrance, and the likenesses, and their
doors {42:12} were in accord with the doors of the
storerooms that were on the way looking toward the Renown.
There was a door at the head of the way, and the way was
before a separate vestibule, along the way entering toward the
east. {42:13} And he said to me: “The storerooms of the
north, and the storerooms of the south, which are before the
separate edifice, these are holy storerooms, in which the
priests, who draw near to the Lord in the Holy of Holies,
shall eat. There they shall station the Holy of Holies, and the
offering for sin, and for trespasses. For it is a holy place.
{42:14} And when the priests will have entered, they shall
not depart from the holy places into the outer court. And in
that place, they shall set their vestments, in which they
minister, for they are holy. And they shall be clothed with
other vestments, and in this manner they shall go forth to the
people.” {42:15} And when he had completed measuring the
inner house, he led me out along the way of the gate that
looked toward the way of the east. And he measured it on
every side all around. {42:16} Then he measured facing the
east wind with the measuring reed: five hundred reeds with
the measuring reed throughout the course. {42:17} And he
measured facing the wind of the north: five hundred reeds
with the measuring reed throughout the course. {42:18} And
toward the south wind, he measured five hundred reeds with
the measuring reed throughout the course. {42:19} And
toward the west wind, he measured five hundred reeds with
the measuring reed. {42:20} By the four winds, he measured
its wall, on every side throughout the course: five hundred
cubits in length and five hundred cubits in width, dividing
between the sanctuary and the place of the common people.


[Ezekiel 43] {43:1} And he led me to the gate which looked
toward the way of the east. {43:2} And behold, the glory of
the God of Israel entered along the way of the east. And his
voice was like the voice of many waters. And the earth was
resplendent before his majesty. {43:3} And I saw a vision in
accord with the form that I had seen when he arrived so that
he might destroy the city. And the form was in accord with
the sight that I had seen beside the river Chebar. And I fell
upon my face. {43:4} And the majesty of the Lord advanced
into the temple, along the way of the gate which looked
toward the east. {43:5} And the Spirit lifted me up and
brought me into the inner court. And behold, the house was
filled with the glory of the Lord. {43:6} And I heard someone
speaking to me from the house, and the man who was
standing beside me {43:7} said to me: “Son of man, the place
of my throne, and the place of the steps of my feet, is where I
live: in the midst of the sons of Israel forever. And the house
of Israel, they and their kings, shall no longer defile my holy
name by their fornications, and by the ruinous ways of their
kings, and by exalted places. {43:8} They have fabricated
their threshold beside my threshold, and their doorposts
beside my doorposts. And there was a wall between me and
them. And they defiled my holy name by the abominations
which they committed. Because of this, I consumed them in
my wrath. {43:9} Now therefore, let them drive away their
fornications, and the ruinous ways of their kings, from before
me. And I will live in their midst forever. {43:10} But as for
you, son of man, reveal the temple to the house of Israel, and
let them be confounded by their iniquities, and let them
measure the fabrication, {43:11} and let them be ashamed at
all the things that they have done. Reveal to them the form
and the fabrication of the house, its exits and entrances, and
its entire description, and all of its precepts, and its entire
order, and all of its laws. And you shall write in their sight, so
that they may observe its entire description and its precepts,
and so that they may accomplish them.” {43:12} This is the
law of the house at the summit of the mountain, with all its
parts all around. It is the Holy of Holies. Therefore, this is the
law of the house. {43:13} Now these are the measures of the
altar by the most true cubit, which has a cubit and a palm. Its
bend was a cubit, and it was a cubit in width. And its
boundary, even to its edge and all around, was the width of
one palm. The trough of the altar was like this also.
{43:14} And from the bend at the floor even to the furthest
rim was two cubits, and the width was one cubit. And from
the lesser rim even to the greater rim was four cubits, and the
width was one cubit. {43:15} Now the hearth itself was four
cubits. And from the hearth going upward, there were four
horns. {43:16} And the hearth was twelve cubits in length by
twelve cubits in width, foursquare, with equal sides.
{43:17} And the rim was fourteen cubits in length, by
fourteen cubits in width, at its four corners. And the crown all
around it was one half cubit, and its bend was one cubit all
around. And its steps turned toward the east. {43:18} And he
said to me: “Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are
the rituals of the altar, in whatever day it will be made, so
that holocausts may be offered upon it, and blood may be
poured out. {43:19} And you shall present these to the priests
and to the Levites, who are of the offspring of Zadok, those
who draw near to me, says the Lord God, so that they may
offer to me a calf from the herd on behalf of sin. {43:20} And
you shall take from its blood, and you shall place it on its four
horns, and on the four corners of the rim, and on the crown
all around. And so shall you cleanse and expiate it.
{43:21} And you shall take the calf, which will be offered for
sin, and you shall burn it in a separate place in the house,
outside of the sanctuary. {43:22} And on the second day, you
shall offer an immaculate he-goat from among the she-goats
on behalf of sin. And they shall expiate the altar, just as they
expiated it with the calf. {43:23} And when you will have
completed expiating it, you shall offer an immaculate calf
from the herd and an immaculate ram from the flock.
{43:24} And you shall offer them in the sight of the Lord.
And the priests shall sprinkle salt over them, and they shall
offer them as a holocaust to the Lord. {43:25} For seven days,
you shall offer daily a he-goat on behalf of sin. Also, they
shall offer a calf from the herd, and a ram from the flock,
ones that are immaculate. {43:26} For seven days, they shall
expiate the altar, and they shall cleanse it, and they shall fill
its hand. {43:27} Then, when the days have been completed,
on the eighth day and thereafter, the priests shall offer your
holocausts upon the altar along with the peace offering. And
I will be pleased with you, says the Lord God.”


[Ezekiel 44] {44:1} And he turned me back, toward the way
of the gate of the outer sanctuary, which looked toward the
east. And it was closed. {44:2} And the Lord said to me:
“This gate will be closed; it will not be opened. And man
shall not cross through it. For the Lord, the God of Israel, has
entered through it, and it shall be closed {44:3} to the prince.
The prince himself will sit at it, so that he may eat bread
before the Lord; he will enter by the way of the vestibule of
the gate, and he will depart by the same way.” {44:4} And he
led me in, along the way of the north gate, in the sight of the
house. And I saw, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the
house of the Lord. And I fell upon my face. {44:5} And the
Lord said to me: “Son of man, set within your heart, and see
with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I am speaking
to you about all the ceremonies of the house of the Lord and
about all its laws. And set your heart upon the ways of the
temple, along all the exits of the sanctuary. {44:6} And you
shall say to the house of Israel, which provokes me: Thus
says the Lord God: Let all your wicked deeds be sufficient for
you, O house of Israel. {44:7} For you bring in foreign sons,
uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, so that
they may be in my sanctuary and may defile my house. And
you offer my bread, the fat, and the blood, yet you have
broken my covenant by all your wicked deeds. {44:8} And
you have not observed the precepts of my sanctuary, yet you
have stationed observers of my vigil in my sanctuary for
yourselves. {44:9} Thus says the Lord God: Any foreigner,
any foreign son who is in the midst of the sons of Israel, who
is uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall
not enter into my sanctuary. {44:10} And as for the Levites,
they have withdrawn far away from me, in the errors of the
sons of Israel, and they have gone astray from me after their
idols, and they have borne their iniquity. {44:11} They will
be caretakers in my sanctuary, and doorkeepers at the gates
of the house, and ministers to the house. They will slay the
holocausts and the victims of the people. And they will stand
before them, so that they may minister to them. {44:12} But
because they ministered to them in the sight their idols, and
they became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of
Israel, for this reason, I have lifted up my hand against them,
says the Lord God, and they will bear their iniquity.
{44:13} And they shall not draw near to me, so as to exercise
the priesthood for me, and they shall not approach to any of
my holy things, which are near the Holy of Holies. Instead,
they will bear their shame and their wicked deeds, which they
committed. {44:14} And I will make them doorkeepers of the
house, for all its ministries and for all that will be done within
it. {44:15} But the priests and the Levites who are the sons of
Zadok, who observed the ceremonies of my sanctuary when
the sons of Israel went astray from me, these shall draw near
to me, so that they may minister for me. And they shall stand
in my sight, so that they may offer to me the fat and the blood,
says the Lord God. {44:16} They shall enter into my
sanctuary, and they shall draw near to my table, so that they
may minister for me, and so that they may observe my
ceremonies. {44:17} And when they enter the gates of the
inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments.
Neither shall anything woolen be placed over them, when
they minister within the gates of the inner and the outer court.
{44:18} They shall have linen bands on their heads, and linen
undergarments over their loins, and they shall not be girded
so as to sweat. {44:19} And when they go forth to the outer
court to the people, they shall strip off their vestments, in
which they ministered, and they shall place them in the
storeroom of the sanctuary, and they shall clothe themselves
with other garments. And they shall not sanctify the people in
their vestments. {44:20} Now they shall not shave their heads,
and they shall not grow long hair. Instead, they shall trim the
hair of their heads. {44:21} And no priest shall drink wine,
when he will be entering into the inner court. {44:22} And
they shall not take as wife a widow or one who has been
divorced. Instead, they shall take virgins from the offspring of
the house of Israel. But they may also take a widow, if she is
the widow of a priest. {44:23} And they shall teach my
people the difference between holy and defiled, and they shall
distinguish for them between clean and unclean. {44:24} And
when there has been a controversy, they shall stand in my
judgments, and they shall judge. They shall observe my laws
and my precepts, in all my solemnities, and they shall
sanctify my Sabbaths. {44:25} And they shall not enter to a
dead person, lest they be defiled, except to father or mother,
or son or daughter, or brother, or to a sister who does not
have another man. By these, they may become unclean.
{44:26} And after he will have been cleansed, they shall
number for him seven days. {44:27} And on the day when he
enters into the sanctuary, to the inner court, so that he may
minister to me in the sanctuary, he shall make an offering
because of his offense, says the Lord God. {44:28} And there
shall be no inheritance for them. I am their inheritance. And
you shall not give them any possession in Israel. For I am
their possession. {44:29} They shall eat the victim both for
sin and for offenses. And every vowed offering in Israel shall
be theirs. {44:30} And the first-fruits of all the firstborn, and
all the libations out of all that is offered, shall belong to the
priests. And you shall give the first-fruits of your foods to the
priest, so that he may return a blessing to your house.
{44:31} The priests shall not consume anything which has
died on its own, or which was seized by a beast, whether
from the fowl or the cattle.”


[Ezekiel 45] {45:1} “And when you will begin to divide the
land by lot, separate as first-fruits for the Lord a sanctified
portion of the land, in length twenty-five thousand and in
width ten thousand. It will be holy within all its borders all
around. {45:2} And there shall be, out of the entire region, a
sanctified portion of five hundred by five hundred, foursquare
all around, with fifty cubits for its suburbs on all sides.
{45:3} And with this measure, you shall measure a length of
twenty-five thousand, and a width of ten thousand, and
within it shall be the temple and the Holy of Holies.
{45:4} The sanctified portion of the land shall be for the
priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who approach for the
ministry of the Lord. And it shall be a place for their houses,
and for the holy place of the sanctuary. {45:5} Now twenty-
five thousand in length, and ten thousand in width shall be
for the Levites, who minister in the house. They shall possess
twenty storerooms. {45:6} And you shall appoint a
possession in the city of five thousand in width, and twenty-
five thousand in length, in accord with the separation of the
sanctuary, for the entire house of Israel. {45:7} Appoint the
same for the prince, on one side and on the other, in the
separation of the sanctuary, and in the possession of the city,
opposite the face of the separation of the sanctuary, and
opposite the face of the possession of the city, from the side of
the sea even to the sea, and from the side of the east even to
the east. And the length shall be just as in each part, from the
western border even to the eastern border. {45:8} A portion
of the land in Israel shall be for him. And the princes shall no
longer plunder my people. Instead, they shall give the land to
the house of Israel according to their tribes. {45:9} Thus says
the Lord God: Let this be sufficient for you, O princes of
Israel! Cease from iniquity and robberies, and execute
judgment and justice. Separate your confines from my people,
says the Lord God. {45:10} You shall have just scales, and a
just unit of dry measure, and a just unit of liquid measure.
{45:11} The units of dry and liquid measure shall be one
uniform measure, so that a bath contains one tenth part of a
cor, and an ephah contains one tenth part of a cor; each shall
be of equal volume in accord with the measure of a cor.
{45:12} Now the shekel consists of twenty  obols.
Furthermore, twenty shekels, and twenty-five shekels, and
fifteen shekels makes one mina. {45:13} And these are the
first-fruits that you shall take: a sixth part of an ephah from
each cor of wheat, and a sixth part of an ephah from each cor
of barley. {45:14} Likewise, a measure of oil, a bath of oil, is
one tenth part of a cor. And ten baths make one cor. For ten
baths complete one cor. {45:15} And take one ram from each
flock of two hundred, out of those that Israel tends for
sacrifice and holocausts and peace offerings, in order to make
an expiation for them, says the Lord God. {45:16} All the
people of the land will take hold of these first-fruits for the
prince in Israel. {45:17} And concerning the prince, there
shall be holocausts and sacrifice and libations, on solemnities
and new moons and Sabbaths, and on all the solemnities of
the house of Israel. He himself shall offer the sacrifice for sin,
and the holocaust, and the peace offerings, in order to make
expiation for the house of Israel. {45:18} Thus says the Lord
God: In the first month, on the first of the month, you shall
take an immaculate calf from the herd, and you shall expiate
the sanctuary. {45:19} And the priest shall take from the
blood that will be for the sin offering. And he shall place it on
the doorposts of the house, and on the four corners of the rim
of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court.
{45:20} And so shall you do on the seventh day of the month,
on behalf of each one who was ignorant or who was deceived
by error. And you shall make expiation for the house.
{45:21} In the first month, the fourteenth day of the month
shall be for you the solemnity of the Passover. For seven days,
unleavened bread shall be eaten. {45:22} And on that day,
the prince shall offer, on behalf of himself and on behalf of all
the people of the land, a calf for sin. {45:23} And during the
solemnity of the seven days, he shall offer a holocaust to the
Lord of seven immaculate calves and seven immaculate rams,
daily for seven days, and a he-goat from among the she-goats,
daily for sin. {45:24} And he shall offer the sacrifice of an
ephah for each calf, and an ephah for each ram, and a hin of
oil for every ephah. {45:25} In the seventh month, on the
fifteenth day of the month, during the solemnities, he shall do
just as was said above for the seven days, as much for the sin
offering, as for the holocaust and sacrifice and oil.”


[Ezekiel 46] {46:1} Thus says the Lord God: “The gate of
the inner court which looks toward the east shall be closed for
the six days on which work is done. Then, on the Sabbath
day, it shall be opened. But also on the day of the new moon,
it shall be opened. {46:2} And the prince shall enter from
outside, by the way of the vestibule of the gate, and he shall
stand at the threshold of the gate. And the priests shall offer
his holocaust and his peace offerings. And he shall adore
upon the threshold of the gate, and then depart. But the gate
shall not be closed until evening. {46:3} And the people of
the land shall adore at the entrance of the same gate, on the
Sabbaths and on the new moons, in the sight of the Lord.
{46:4} Now this holocaust, which the prince shall offer to the
Lord on the Sabbath day, shall be six immaculate lambs, and
one immaculate ram. {46:5} The sacrifice shall be one ephah
for each ram. But for the lambs, the sacrifice shall be
whatever his hand shall give. And there shall be one hin of oil
for each ephah. {46:6} Then, on the day of the new moon, he
shall offer one immaculate calf from the herd. Both the six
lambs and the rams shall be immaculate. {46:7} And he shall
offer the sacrifice of one ephah for each calf, and also one
ephah for each ram. But for the lambs, it shall be just as his
hand will find. And there shall be one hin of oil for each
ephah. {46:8} And when the prince will enter, let him enter
by the way of the vestibule of the gate, and let him go out by
the same way. {46:9} And when the people of the land will
enter in the sight of the Lord on the solemnities, whoever
enters by the north gate so that he may adore, shall depart by
the way of the south gate. And whoever enters by the way of
the south gate shall depart by the way of the north gate. He
shall not return by way of the gate through which he entered.
Instead, he shall depart from the direction opposite to it.
{46:10} But the prince in their midst shall enter when they
enter, and he shall depart when they depart. {46:11} And
during the feasts and the solemnities, there shall be the
sacrifice of one ephah for each calf, and one ephah for each
ram. But for the lambs, the sacrifice shall be just as his hand
will find. And there shall be one hin of oil for each ephah.
{46:12} But when the prince will offer a voluntary holocaust
or a voluntary peace offering to the Lord, the gate which
looks toward the east shall be opened to him. And he shall
offer his holocaust and his peace offerings, just as is usually
done on the Sabbath day. And he shall depart, and the gate
shall be closed after he has gone out. {46:13} And daily he
shall offer, as a holocaust to the Lord, an immaculate lamb of
the same age. He shall offer it always in the morning.
{46:14} And he shall offer as a sacrifice with it, morning after
morning, one sixth part of an ephah, and one third part of a
hin of oil, to be mixed with the fine flour, as a sacrifice to the
Lord, by a continual and everlasting ordinance. {46:15} He
shall offer the lamb and the sacrifice and the oil, morning
after morning, as an everlasting holocaust. {46:16} Thus says
the Lord God: If the prince grants a gift to any of his sons,
the inheritance of it will go to his sons; they shall possess it as
an inheritance. {46:17} But if he grants a legacy from his
inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his only until the
year of remission, and then it shall be returned to the prince.
For his inheritance shall go to his sons. {46:18} And the
prince shall not take from the inheritance of the people by
force, nor from their possession. Instead, from his own
possession, he shall give an inheritance to his sons, so that
my people will not be scattered, each one from his
possession.” {46:19} And he led me in by the entrance which
was at the side of the gate, into the storerooms of the
sanctuary for the priests, which looked toward the north. And
there was a place there which verged toward the west.
{46:20} And he said to me: “This is the place where the
priests will cook the offering for sin and the offering for
trespasses. Here, they shall cook the sacrifice, so that they
need not carry it to the outer court, and so that the people
may be sanctified.” {46:21} And he led me away to the outer
court, and he led me around by the four corners of the court.
And behold, there was a little atrium at the corner of the
court; a little atrium was at each corner of the court.
{46:22} At the four corners of the court, little atriums were
positioned, forty cubits in length, and thirty in width; each of
the four were of the same measure. {46:23} And there was a
wall all around, encircling the four little atriums. And
kitchens had been constructed under the porticos on all sides.
{46:24} And he said to me: “This is the house of the kitchens,
in which the ministers of the house of the Lord will cook the
victims of the people.”


[Ezekiel 47] {47:1} And he turned me back to the gate of the
house. And behold, waters went out, from under the
threshold of the house, toward the east. For the face of the
house looked toward the east. But the waters descended on
the right side of the temple, toward the south of the altar.
{47:2} And he led me out, along the way of the north gate,
and he turned me back toward the way outside the exterior
gate, the way which looked toward the east. And behold, the
waters overflowed on the right side. {47:3} Then the man
who held the rope in his hand departed toward the east, and
he measured one thousand cubits. And he led me forward,
through the water, up to the ankles. {47:4} And again he
measured one thousand, and he led me forward, through the
water, up to the knees. {47:5} And he measured one
thousand, and he led me forward, through the water, up to
the waist. And he measured one thousand, into a torrent,
through which I was not able to pass. For the waters had
risen to become a profound torrent, which was not able to be
crossed. {47:6} And he said to me: “Son of man, certainly
you have seen.” And he led me out, and he turned me back
to the bank of the torrent. {47:7} And when I had turned
myself around, behold, on the bank of the torrent, there were
very many trees on both sides. {47:8} And he said to me:
“These waters, which go forth toward the hillocks of sand to
the east, and which descend to the plains of the desert, will
enter the sea, and will go out, and the waters will be healed.
{47:9} And every living soul that moves, wherever the torrent
arrives, will live. And there will be more than enough fish,
after these waters have arrived there, and they will be healed.
And all things will live, where the torrent arrives.
{47:10} And fishermen will stand over these waters. There
will be the drying of nets, from Engedi even to Eneglaim.
There will be very many kinds of fish within it: a very great
multitude, like the fish of the great sea. {47:11} But on its
shore and in the marshes, they will not be healed. For these
will be made into salt pits. {47:12} And above the torrent, on
its banks on both sides, every kind of fruit tree will rise up.
Their foliage will not fall away, and their fruit will not fail.
Every single month they will bring forth first-fruits. For its
waters will go forth from the sanctuary. And its fruits will be
for food, and its leaves will be for medicine.” {47:13} Thus
says the Lord God: “This is the border, by which you shall
possess the land, in accord with the twelve tribes of Israel.
For Joseph shall have a double portion. {47:14} And you
shall possess it, each one in equal manner as his brother. I
lifted up my hand over it, so that I might give it to your
fathers. And this land shall fall to you as a possession.
{47:15} Now this is the border of the land toward the
northern region, from the great sea, by the way of Hethlon,
arriving at Zedad: {47:16} Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim,
which is between the border of Damascus and the confines of
Hamath, the house of Ticon, which is beside the border of
Hauran, {47:17} and the border will be from the sea, even to
the entrance of Enon, at the border of Damascus, and from
the north to the north, at the border of Hamath, on the
northern side. {47:18} Moreover, the eastern region will be
from the midst of Hauran, and from the midst of Damascus,
and from the midst of Gilead, and from the midst of the land
of Israel, to the Jordan, marking the boundary to the eastern
sea. For so shall you measure the eastern region.
{47:19} Now the southern region, toward the meridian, will
be from Tamar, even to the Waters of Contradiction at
Kadesh, and from the Torrent, even to the great sea. And this
is the southern region, toward the meridian. {47:20} And the
region toward the sea will have its confines from the great sea
continuing directly until one arrives at Hamath. This is the
region of the sea. {47:21} And you shall divide this land
among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel.
{47:22} And you shall distribute it by lot as an inheritance,
for yourselves and for the new arrival who will be added to
you, who will conceive sons in your midst. And they shall be
to you as the indigenous among the sons of Israel. They shall
divide the possession with you, in the midst of the tribes of
Israel. {47:23} And in whatever tribe the new arrival will be,
there you shall give a possession to him, says the Lord God.”


[Ezekiel 48] {48:1} “And these are the names of the tribes,
from the parts of the north, beside the way of Hethlon,
continuing on to Hamath, at the entrance of Enon, to the
border of Damascus toward the north, beside the way of
Hamath. And from the region of the east to the sea, there will
be one portion for Dan. {48:2} And beyond the border of
Dan, from the eastern region, even to the region of the sea,
there shall be one portion for Asher. {48:3} And beyond the
border of Asher, from the eastern region, even to the region
of the sea, there shall be one portion for Naphtali.
{48:4} And beyond the border of Naphtali, from the eastern
region, even to the region of the sea, there shall be one
portion for Manasseh. {48:5} And beyond the border of
Manasseh, from the eastern region, even to the region of the
sea, there shall be one portion for Ephraim. {48:6} And
beyond the border of Ephraim, from the eastern region, even
to the region of the sea, there shall be one portion for Reuben.
{48:7} And beyond the border of Reuben, from the eastern
region, even to the region of the sea, there shall be one
portion for Judah. {48:8} And beyond the border of Judah,
from the eastern region, even to the region of the sea, there
shall be the first-fruits, which you shall separate, twenty-five
thousand in width, and in length, the same as each one of the
portions from the eastern region, even to the region of the sea.
And the sanctuary shall be in its midst. {48:9} The first-fruits,
which you shall separate to the Lord, shall be, in length,
twenty-five thousand, and in width, ten thousand.
{48:10} And these shall be the first-fruits for the sanctuary of
the priests: toward the north, in length, twenty-five thousand,
and toward the sea, in width, ten thousand, but also, toward
the east, in width, ten thousand, and toward the south, in
length, twenty-five thousand. And the sanctuary of the Lord
shall be in its midst. {48:11} The sanctuary shall be for the
priests from the sons of Zadok, who observed my ceremonies
and did not go astray, when the sons of Israel went astray,
just as the Levites also went astray. {48:12} And so the
foremost of the first-fruits of the land, the Holy of Holies,
beside the border of the Levites, shall be for them.
{48:13} But also the Levites, similarly, shall have, beside the
borders of the priests, twenty-five thousand in length, and ten
thousand in width. The entire length shall be twenty-five
thousand, and the width shall be ten thousand. {48:14} And
they shall not sell from it, nor exchange, and the first-fruits of
the land shall not be transferred. For these have been
sanctified to the Lord. {48:15} But the five thousand that is
left over, out of the twenty-five thousand in width, will be a
profane place of the city for dwelling and for the suburbs.
And the city shall be in the center. {48:16} And these shall be
its measurements: on the northern side, four thousand and
five hundred; and on the southern side, four thousand and
five hundred; and on the eastern side, four thousand and five
hundred; and on the western side, four thousand and five
hundred. {48:17} But the suburbs of the city shall be: to the
north, two hundred and fifty; and to the south, two hundred
and fifty; and to the east, two hundred and fifty; and to the
sea, two hundred and fifty. {48:18} Now what will remain of
the length, in accord with the first-fruits of the sanctuary, ten
thousand in the east, and ten thousand in the west, shall be as
the first-fruits of the sanctuary. And its produce will be for the
bread of those who serve the city. {48:19} And those who
serve the city will be taken from all the tribes of Israel.
{48:20} All the first-fruits, of the twenty-five thousand by
twenty-five thousand square, shall be separated as the first-
fruits of the sanctuary and as the possession of the city.
{48:21} And what will remain shall be for the prince out of
every portion of the first-fruits of the sanctuary and of the
possession of the city, from the region of the twenty-five
thousand of the first-fruits, even to the eastern border. But
also to the sea from the region of the twenty-five thousand,
even to the border of the sea, similarly shall be the portion of
the prince. And the first-fruits of the sanctuary, and the
sanctuary of the temple, shall be in its center. {48:22} Now
from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of
the city, which are in the midst of the prince’s portions,
whatever is between the border of Judah and the border of
Benjamin, shall also belong to the prince. {48:23} And for
the remainder of the tribes, from the eastern region, even to
the western region, there shall be one portion for Benjamin.
{48:24} And opposite the border of Benjamin, from the
eastern region, even to the western region, there shall be one
portion for Simeon. {48:25} And beyond the border of
Simeon, from the eastern region, even to the western region,
there shall be one portion for Issachar. {48:26} And beyond
the border of Issachar, from the eastern region, even to the
western region, there shall be one portion for Zebulun.
{48:27} And beyond the border of Zebulun, from the eastern
region, even to the region of the sea, there shall be one
portion for Gad. {48:28} And beyond the border of Gad,
toward the southern region, in the meridian, the last part
shall be from Tamar, even to the Waters of Contradiction at
Kadesh, as the inheritance opposite the great sea.
{48:29} This is the land that you shall distribute by lot to the
tribes of Israel, and these shall be their portions, says the
Lord God. {48:30} And these shall be the exits of the city:
from the northern region, you shall measure four thousand
and five hundred. {48:31} And the gates of the city shall be
according to the names of the tribes of Israel. There shall be
three gates from the north: the gate of Reuben one, the gate
of Judah one, the gate of Levi one. {48:32} And to the
eastern region, there shall be four thousand and five hundred.
And there shall be three gates: the gate of Joseph one, the
gate of Benjamin one, the gate of Dan one. {48:33} And to
the southern region, you shall measure four thousand and
five hundred. And there shall be three gates: the gate of
Simeon one, the gate of Issachar one, the gate of Zebulun one.
{48:34} And to the western region, there shall be four
thousand and five hundred, and their three gates: the gate of
Gad one, the gate of Asher one, the gate of Naphtali one.
{48:35} Along circumference, there shall be eighteen
thousand. And the name of the city, from that day, shall be:
‘The Lord is in that very place.’ ”


** The Prophecy of Daniel **


[Daniel 1] {1:1} In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim
king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to
Jerusalem and besieged it. {1:2} And the Lord delivered into
his hand Jehoiakim the king of Judah and a portion of the
vessels of the house of God. And he carried them away into
the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought
the vessels into the treasure chamber of his god. {1:3} And
the king told Ashpenaz, the chief of the eunuchs, that he
should bring in some of the sons of Israel, and some of the
offspring of the king and of the sovereigns: {1:4} young men,
in whom there was no blemish, noble in appearance, and
accomplished in all wisdom, cautious in knowledge, and
well-educated, and who could stand in the palace of the king,
so that he might teach them the letters and the language of
the Chaldeans. {1:5} And the king appointed for them
provisions for each day, from his own food and from the
wine which he himself drank, so that, after being nourished
for three years, they would stand in the sight of the king.
{1:6} Now, among those of the sons of Judah, there were
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. {1:7} And the
chief of the eunuchs assigned names to them: to Daniel,
Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach;
and to Azariah, Abednego. {1:8} But Daniel resolved in his
heart that he would not be polluted with the king’s meal, nor
with the wine he drank, and he requested of the chief of the
eunuchs that he might not be contaminated. {1:9} And so
God gave Daniel grace and mercy in the sight of the leader of
the eunuchs. {1:10} And the leader of the eunuchs said to
Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed
food and drink for you, who, if he should see that your faces
are leaner than those of the other youths your age, you would
condemn my head to the king.” {1:11} And Daniel said to
Malasar, whom the leader of the eunuchs had appointed over
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, {1:12} “I beg you
to test us, your servants, for ten days, and let roots be given to
us to eat and water to drink, {1:13} and then observe our
faces, and the faces of the children who eat the king’s food,
and then deal with your servants according to what you see.”
{1:14} When he had heard these words, he tested them for
ten days. {1:15} But, after ten days, their faces appeared
better and fatter than all the children who had eaten from the
king’s food. {1:16} Thereafter, Malasar took away their
portions and their wine for drinking, and he gave them roots.
{1:17} Yet, to these children, God gave knowledge and
instruction in every book, and wisdom, but to Daniel, also
the understanding of all visions and dreams. {1:18} And
when the time was completed, after which the king had said
that they would be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs
brought them in before the sight of Nebuchadnezzar.
{1:19} And, when the king conversed with them, there had
not been found any so great in all the world as Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; and so they stood in the
sight of the king. {1:20} And in every concept of wisdom and
understanding, about which the king consulted with them, he
found them to be ten times better than all the seers and
astrologers put together, who were in his entire kingdom.
{1:21} And so Daniel remained, even until the first year of
king Cyrus.


[Daniel 2] {2:1}In the second year of the reign of
Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar saw a dream, and his
spirit was terrified, and his dream fled from him. {2:2} Yet
the king commanded that the seers, and the astrologers, and
the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be gathered together to
reveal to the king his dreams. When they arrived, they stood
in front of the king. {2:3} And the king said to them, “I saw a
dream, and, being confused in mind, I do not know what I
saw.” {2:4} And the Chaldeans answered the king in Syriac,
“O king, live forever. Tell the dream to your servants, and we
will reveal its interpretation.” {2:5} And in answer, the king
said to the Chaldeans, “The memory of it has slipped away
from me. Unless you reveal the dream to me, and its meaning,
you will be put to death, and your houses will be confiscated.
{2:6} But if you explain the dream and its meaning, you will
receive from me rewards, and gifts, and great honor.
Therefore, reveal to me the dream and its interpretation.”
{2:7} They answered again and said, “Let the king tell the
dream to his servants, and we will reveal its interpretation.”
{2:8} The king answered and said, “I am certain that you are
stalling for time because you know that the memory of it has
slipped away from me. {2:9} Therefore, if you do not reveal
to me the dream, there is only one conclusion to be reached
about you, that the interpretation is likewise false, and
packed full of deception, so as to speak before me until the
time passes away. And so, tell me the dream, so that I will
also know that the interpretation that you tell me is likewise
true.” {2:10} Then the Chaldeans answered before the king,
and they said, “There is no man on earth who can
accomplish your word, O king. For neither has any king,
however great and mighty, asked for an answer of this kind
from every seer, and astrologer, and Chaldean. {2:11} For
the answer that you seek, O king, is very difficult. Neither
can anyone be found who can reveal it in the sight of the king,
except the gods, whose conversation is not with men.”
{2:12} When he heard this, the king commanded, in fury and
in great wrath, that all the wise men of Babylon should be
destroyed. {2:13} And when the decree had gone forth, the
wise men were put to death; and Daniel and his companions
were sought, to be destroyed. {2:14} Then Daniel inquired,
about the law and the sentence, of Arioch, the general of the
king’s army, who had gone forth to execute the wise men of
Babylon. {2:15} And he asked him, who had received the
orders of the king, for what reason such a cruel sentence had
gone forth from the face of the king. And so, when Arioch
had revealed the matter to Daniel, {2:16} Daniel went in and
asked of the king that he would grant him time to reveal the
solution to the king. {2:17} And he went into his house and
explained the task to Hananiah, and Mishael, and Azariah,
his companions, {2:18} so that they would seek mercy before
the face of the God of heaven, about this mystery, and so that
Daniel and his companions might not perish with the other
wise men of Babylon. {2:19} Then the secret was revealed to
Daniel by a vision in the night. And Daniel blessed the God
of heaven, {2:20} and speaking aloud, he said, “May the
name of the Lord be blessed by the present generation and for
ever; for wisdom and fortitude are his. {2:21} And he alters
the times and the ages. He takes away kingdoms and he
establishes them. He gives wisdom to those who are wise and
teaching skills to those who understand. {2:22} He reveals
deep and hidden things, and he knows what has been
established in darkness. And the light is with him. {2:23} To
you, God of our fathers, I confess, and you, I praise. For you
have given wisdom and fortitude to me, and now you have
revealed to me what we asked of you, for you have
uncovered for us the king’s thoughts.” {2:24} After this,
Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to
destroy the wise men of Babylon, and he spoke to him in this
way, “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in
before the king, and I will explain the solution to the king.”
{2:25} Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel to the king, and
he said to him, “I have found a man of the sons of the
transmigration of Judah, who would announce the solution
to the king.” {2:26} The king answered and said to Daniel,
whose name was Belteshazzar, “Do you really think that you
can reveal to me the dream that I saw and its interpretation?”
{2:27} And Daniel, facing the king, answered and said, “The
secret that the king seeks, the wise men, the seers, and the
soothsayers are unable to reveal to the king. {2:28} But there
is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, who has revealed
to you, king Nebuchadnezzar, what will happen in the latter
times. Your dream and the visions of your head upon your
bed, are such as these. {2:29} You, O king, began to think,
while in your blanket, about what will be hereafter. And he
who reveals secrets showed you what will happen. {2:30} To
me, likewise, this mystery is revealed, not according to the
wisdom that is in me more than in other living things, but so
that the interpretation might be made manifest to the king,
and so that you may know the thoughts of your mind.
{2:31} You, O king, saw, and behold, something like a great
statue. This statue, which was great and high, stood exalted
above you, and you considered how terrible it was.
{2:32} The head of this statue was of the finest gold, but the
breast and the arms were of silver, and further on, the belly
and the thighs were of brass; {2:33} but the shins were of iron,
a certain part of the feet were of iron and another part were of
clay. {2:34} And so you looked until a stone was broken off
without hands from a mountain, and it struck the statue on
its feet, which were of iron and clay, and it shattered them.
{2:35} Then the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the
gold were crushed together and diminished like the ashes of a
summer courtyard, and they were quickly taken away by the
wind, and no place was found for them; but the stone that
struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the
whole earth. {2:36} This is the dream; we will also tell its
interpretation before you, O king. {2:37} You are a king
among kings, and the God of heaven has given to you a
kingdom, and fortitude, and power, and glory, {2:38} and all
the places wherein the sons of men and the beasts of the field
dwell. He has likewise given the flying creatures of the air
into your hand, and he has placed all things under your realm.
Therefore, you are the head of gold. {2:39} And after you,
another kingdom will rise up, inferior to you, of silver, and
another third kingdom of brass, which will rule over the
whole world. {2:40} And the fourth kingdom will be like iron.
Just as iron shatters and conquers all things, so will it shatter
and crush all these. {2:41} Furthermore, because you saw the
feet and the toes to be part of potter’s clay and part of iron,
the kingdom will be divided, but still, from the slip of iron it
will take its origin, since you saw the iron mingled with the
earthenware from clay. {2:42} And as the toes of the feet
were partly of iron and partly of clay, part the kingdom will
be strong and part will be crushed. {2:43} Yet, because you
saw the iron mingled with pottery from the earth, they will
indeed be combined together with the offspring of man, but
they will not adhere to one another, just as iron cannot be
mixed with earthenware. {2:44} But in the days of those
kingdoms, the God of heaven will inspire a kingdom that will
never be destroyed, and his kingdom will not be handed over
to another people, and it will crush and will consume all
these kingdoms, and this kingdom itself will stand in eternity.
{2:45} In accordance with what you saw, because the stone
was torn away from the mountain without hands, and it
crushed the earthenware, and the iron, and the brass, and the
silver, and the gold, the great God has shown the king what
will happen after this. And the dream is true, and its
interpretation is faithful.” {2:46} Then king Nebuchadnezzar
fell on his face and adored Daniel, and he commanded that
they should offer in sacrifice to him victims and incense.
{2:47} And so the king spoke with Daniel and said, “Truly,
your God is the God of gods, and Lord of kings, and also a
revealer of secrets, since you could uncover this mystery.”
{2:48} Then the king raised Daniel to a high rank and gave
him many great gifts, and he appointed him as leader over all
the provinces of Babylon and as chief of the magistrates over
all the other wise men of Babylon. {2:49} However, Daniel
required of the king that he appoint Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego over the works of the province of Babylon. But
Daniel himself was at the king’s door.


[Daniel 3] {3:1} King Nebuchadnezzar made a statue of gold,
sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and he set it up in the
plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. {3:2} Then king
Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather together the governors,
magistrates and judges, generals and sovereigns and
commanders, and all the leaders of the regions, to come
together for the dedication of the statue, which king
Nebuchadnezzar had raised. {3:3} Then the governors,
magistrates and judges, generals and sovereigns and nobles,
who were appointed to power, and all the leaders of the
regions were brought together so as to convene for the
dedication of the statue, which king Nebuchadnezzar had
raised. And so they stood before the statue that king
Nebuchadnezzar had set up. {3:4} And a herald proclaimed
loudly, “To you it is said, to you peoples, tribes, and
languages, {3:5} that in the hour when you will hear the
sound of the trumpet and the pipe and the lute, the harp and
the psaltery, and of the symphony and every kind of music,
you must fall down and adore the gold statue, which king
Nebuchadnezzar has set up. {3:6} But if anyone will not bow
down and adore, in the same hour he will be cast into a
furnace of burning fire.” {3:7} After this, therefore, as soon as
all the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the pipe and
the lute, the harp and the psaltery, and of the symphony and
every kind of music, all the peoples, tribes, and languages fell
down and adored the gold statue, which king
Nebuchadnezzar had set up. {3:8} And soon, about the same
time, some influential Chaldeans came and accused the Jews,
{3:9} and they said to king Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live
forever. {3:10} You, O king, have established a decree, so
that every man who might hear the sound of the trumpet, the
pipe and the lute, the harp and the psaltery, and of the
symphony and every kind of music, will prostrate himself and
adore the gold statue. {3:11} But if any man will not fall
down and adore, he would be cast into a furnace of burning
fire. {3:12} Yet there are influential Jews, whom you have
appointed over the works of the region of Babylon, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have scorned
your decree. They do not worship your gods, and they do not
adore the gold statue which you have raised up.”
{3:13} Then Nebuchadnezzar, in fury and in wrath,
commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego should
be brought, and so, without delay, they were brought before
the king. {3:14} And king Nebuchadnezzar addressed them
and said, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that
you do not worship my gods, nor adore the gold statue,
which I have set up? {3:15} Therefore, if you are prepared
now, whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, pipe, lute,
harp and psaltery, and of the symphony and every kind of
music, prostrate yourselves and adore the statue which I have
made. But if you will not adore, in the same hour you will be
cast into the furnace of burning fire. And who is the God that
will rescue you from my hand?” {3:16} Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego answered and said to king Nebuchadnezzar,
“It is not right for us to obey you in this matter. {3:17} For
behold our God, whom we worship, is able to rescue us from
the oven of burning fire and to free us from your hands, O
king. {3:18} But even if he will not, let it be known to you, O
king, that we will not worship your gods, nor adore the gold
statue, which you have raised up.” {3:19} Then
Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury and the appearance of
his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, and he commanded that the furnace should be
heated to seven times its usual fire. {3:20} And he ordered
the strongest men of his army to bind the feet of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the furnace of
burning fire. {3:21} And immediately these men were bound,
and along with their coats, and their hats, and their shoes,
and their garments, were cast into the middle of the furnace
of burning fire. {3:22} But the king’s order was so urgent that
the furnace was heated excessively. As a result, those men
who had cast in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were
killed by the flame of the fire. {3:23} But these three men,
that is, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, having been
bound, fell down in the middle of the oven of burning fire.
{3:24} And they were walking in the midst of the flame,
praising God and blessing the Lord. {3:25} Then Azariah,
while standing, prayed in this manner, and opening his
mouth in the midst of the fire, he said: {3:26} “Blessed are
you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, and your name is
praiseworthy and glorious for all ages. {3:27} For you are just
in all the things that you have accomplished for us, and all
your works are true, and your ways are right, and all your
judgments are true. {3:28} For you have made equally true
judgments in all the things that you have brought upon us
and upon Jerusalem, the holy city of our fathers. For in truth
and in judgment, you have brought down all these things
because of our sins. {3:29} For we have sinned, and we have
committed iniquity in withdrawing from you, and we have
offended in all things. {3:30} And we have not listened to
your precepts, nor have we observed or done as you have
ordered us, so that it might go well with us. {3:31} Therefore,
everything that you have brought upon us, and all that you
have done for us, you have done in true judgment.
{3:32} And you have delivered us into the hands of our
enemies: traitors, unjust and most wicked, and to a king,
unjust and most wicked, even more so than all others on
earth. {3:33} And now we are not able to open our mouths.
We have become a shame and a disgrace to your servants
and to those who worship you. {3:34} Do not hand us over
forever, we ask you, because of your name, and do not
abolish your covenant. {3:35} And do not withdraw your
mercy from us, because of Abraham, your beloved, and Isaac,
your servant, and Israel, your holy one. {3:36} You have
spoken with them, promising that you would multiply their
offspring like the stars of heaven and like the sand on the
seashore. {3:37} For we, O Lord, are diminished more than
all other peoples, and we are brought low throughout all the
earth, this day, because of our sins. {3:38} Neither is there, at
this time, a leader, or a ruler, or a prophet, nor any holocaust,
or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, or place of first fruits, in
your eyes, {3:39} so that we may be able to find your mercy.
Nevertheless, with a contrite soul and humble spirit, let us be
accepted. {3:40} Just as in the holocausts of rams and
bullocks, and as in thousands of fat lambs, so let our sacrifice
be in your sight this day, in order to please you. For there is
no shame for those who trust in you. {3:41} And now we
follow you wholeheartedly, and we fear you, and we seek
your face. {3:42} Do not put us to shame, but deal with us in
agreement with your clemency and according to the
multitude of your mercies. {3:43} And rescue us by your
wonders and give glory to your name, O Lord. {3:44} And
let all those be confounded who lead your servants towards
evil. May they be confounded by all your power and may
their strength be crushed. {3:45} And may they know that
you are the Lord, the only God, and glorious above the
world.” {3:46} And they did not cease, those attendants of
the king who had cast them in, to heat the furnace with oil,
and flax, and pitch, and brush. {3:47} And the flame
streamed forth above the furnace for forty-nine cubits.
{3:48} And the fire erupted and burnt those of the Chaldeans
within its reach near the furnace. {3:49} But the angel of the
Lord descended with Azariah and his companions into the
furnace; and he cast the flame of the fire out of the furnace.
{3:50} And he made the middle of the furnace like the
blowing of a damp wind, and the fire did not touch them, nor
afflict them, nor bother them at all. {3:51} Then these three,
as if with one voice, praised and glorified and blessed God, in
the furnace, saying: {3:52} “Blessed are you, Lord, God of
our fathers: praiseworthy, and glorious, and exalted above all
forever. And blessed is the holy name of your glory:
praiseworthy, and exalted above al, for all ages.
{3:53} Blessed are you in the holy temple of your glory:
praiseworthy above all and exalted above all forever.
{3:54} Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom:
praiseworthy above all and exalted above all forever.
{3:55} Blessed are you who beholds the abyss and sits upon
the cherubims: praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
{3:56} Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven:
praiseworthy and glorious forever. {3:57} All works of the
Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever.
{3:58} Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt
him above all forever. {3:59} Heaven, bless the Lord: praise
and exalt him above all forever. {3:60} All waters that are
above the heavens, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above
all forever. {3:61} All powers of the Lord, bless the Lord:
praise and exalt him above all forever. {3:62} Sun and moon,
bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever.
{3:63} Stars of heaven, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him
above all forever. {3:64} Every rain and dew, bless the Lord:
praise and exalt him above all forever. {3:65} Every breath of
God, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever.
{3:66} Fire and steam, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him
above all forever. {3:67} Cold and heat, bless the Lord: praise
and exalt him above all forever. {3:68} Dews and frost, bless
the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever. {3:69} Sleet
and winter, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all
forever. {3:70} Ice and snow, bless the Lord: praise and exalt
him above all forever. {3:71} Nights and days, bless the Lord:
praise and exalt him above all forever. {3:72} Light and
darkness, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all
forever. {3:73} Lightning and clouds, bless the Lord: praise
and exalt him above all forever. {3:74} May the land bless
the Lord: and praise and exalt him above all forever.
{3:75} Mountains and hills, bless the Lord: praise and exalt
him above all forever. {3:76} All things that grow in the land,
bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever.
{3:77} Fountains, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above
all forever. {3:78} Seas and rivers, bless the Lord: praise and
exalt him above all forever. {3:79} Whales and all things that
move in the waters, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him
above all forever. {3:80} All things that fly in the heavens,
bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever.
{3:81} All beasts and cattle, bless the Lord: praise and exalt
him above all forever. {3:82} Sons of men, bless the Lord:
praise and exalt him above all forever. {3:83} May Israel
bless the Lord: and praise and exalt him above all forever.
{3:84} Priests of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt
him above all forever. {3:85} Servants of the Lord, bless the
Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever. {3:86} Spirits
and souls of the just, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him
above all forever. {3:87} Those who are holy and humble in
heart, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever.
{3:88} Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, bless the Lord: praise
and exalt him above all forever. For he has delivered us from
the underworld, and saved us from the hand of death, and
freed us from the midst of the burning flame, and rescued us
from the midst of the fire. {3:89} Give thanks to the Lord
because he is good: because his mercy is forever. {3:90} All
those who are pious, bless the Lord, the God of gods: praise
him and acknowledge him because his mercy is for all
generations.”
{3:91} Then king Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, and he
quickly got up and said to his nobles: “Did we not cast three
men shackled into the midst of the fire?” Answering the king,
they said, “True, O king.” {3:92} He answered and said,
“Behold, I see four men unbound and walking in the midst of
the fire, and no harm is in them, and the appearance of the
fourth is like a son of God.” {3:93} Then Nebuchadnezzar
approached the entrance of the furnace of burning fire, and
he said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the
supreme God, come out and approach.” And immediately
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego went out from the midst
of the fire. {3:94} And when the governors, and the
magistrates, and the judges, and the powerful of the king had
gathered together, they considered these men because the fire
had no power against their bodies, and not a hair of their
head had been scorched, and their pants had not been
affected, and the smell of the fire had not passed onto them.
{3:95} Then Nebuchadnezzar, bursting out, said, “Blessed is
their God, the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who sent his angel and rescued his servants who believed in
him. And they altered the verdict of the king, and they
delivered up their bodies, so that they would not serve or
adore any god except their God. {3:96} Therefore, this decree
is established by me: that every people, tribe, and language,
whenever they have spoken blasphemy against the God of
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, will perish and their
homes will be destroyed. For there is no other God who is
able to save in this way.” {3:97} Then the king promoted
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of
Babylon. {3:98} NEBUCHADNEZZAR, the king, to all
peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in the whole
world, may peace be increased with you. {3:99} The supreme
God has accomplished signs and wonders with me. Therefore,
it has pleased me to proclaim {3:100} his signs, which are
great, and his wonders, which are mighty. For his kingdom is
an everlasting kingdom, and his power continues from
generation to generation.


[Daniel 4] {4:1} I, Nebuchadnezzar, was content in my
house and prospering in my palace. {4:2} I saw a dream that
terrified me, and my thoughts on my bed and the visions in
my head disturbed me. {4:3} And so a decree was established
by me, that all of the wise men of Babylon should be brought
in before me, and that they should reveal to me the answer to
the dream. {4:4} Then the seers, the astrologers, the
Chaldeans, and the soothsayers entered, and I explained
about the dream in their presence, but they did not reveal its
answer to me. {4:5} And then their colleague came in before
me, Daniel, (whose name is Belteshazzar according to the
name of my god,) who has the spirit of the holy gods within
his very self, and I told the dream directly to him.
{4:6} Belteshazzar, leader of the seers, since I know that you
have in you the spirit of the holy gods, and that no mystery is
unreachable to you, explain to me the visions of my dreams,
which I saw, and the solution to them. {4:7} This was the
vision of my head on my bed. I looked, and behold, a tree in
the middle of the earth, and its height was exceedingly great.
{4:8} The tree was great and strong, and its height reached up
to heaven. It could be seen all the way to the ends of the
entire earth. {4:9} Its leaves were very beautiful, and its fruit
was very abundant, and in it was food for the whole world.
Under it, animals and beasts were dwelling, and in its
branches, the birds of the sky were sheltered, and from it, all
flesh was fed. {4:10} I saw in the vision of my head upon my
blanket, and behold, a watcher and a holy one descended
from heaven. {4:11} He cried out loudly, and he said this:
“Cut down the tree and prune its branches; shake off its
leaves and scatter its fruits; let flee the beasts, which are
under it, and the birds from its branches. {4:12} Nevertheless,
leave the stump of its roots in the earth, and let it be bound
with a band of iron and brass among the plants, which are
close by, and let it be touched by the dew of heaven, and let
its place be with the wild animals among the plants of the
earth. {4:13} Let his heart be changed from being human,
and let the heart of a wild animal be given to him, and let
seven periods of time pass over him. {4:14} This is the decree
from the judgment of the watchers, and the decision and
proclamation of the holy ones, until the living shall know that
the Supreme One is ruler in the kingdom of men, and that he
will give it to whomever he wills, and he will appoint the
lowest man over it.” {4:15} I, king Nebuchadnezzar, saw this
dream. And so you, Belteshazzar, must quickly explain to me
the interpretation because all the wise men of my kingdom
are not able to declare the meaning of it to me. But you are
able because the spirit of the holy gods is in you. {4:16} Then
Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, began silently to think
within himself for about one hour, and his thoughts troubled
him. But the king responded, saying, “Belteshazzar, do not
let the dream and its interpretation disturb you.” Belteshazzar
answered and said, “My lord, the dream is for those who hate
you, and its interpretation may be for your enemies.
{4:17} The tree that you saw was lofty and strong; its height
reached toward heaven, and it could be seen throughout the
whole world. {4:18} And its branches were very beautiful,
and its fruit very abundant, and in it was food for all. Under
it, dwelt the beasts of the field, and in its branches, the birds
of the air stayed. {4:19} It is you, O king, who has been
greatly esteemed, and you have grown strong. And you have
increased your power, and it reaches towards heaven, and
your rule is to the ends of the whole earth. {4:20} Yet the
king also saw a watcher and a holy one descend from heaven
and say: ‘Cut down the tree and scatter it; however, leave the
stump of its roots in the earth, and let it be bound with iron
and brass, among the surrounding plants, and let it be
sprinkled with the dew of heaven, and let his feeding be with
the wild beasts, until seven periods of time pass over him.’
{4:21} This is the interpretation of the judgment of the Most
High, which has reached my lord, the king. {4:22} They will
expel you from among men, and your dwelling will be with
the beasts and the wild animals, and you will eat hay like an
ox, and you will be drenched with the dew of heaven.
Likewise, seven periods of time will pass over you, until you
know that the Supreme One rules over the kingdom of men,
and he gives it to whomever he wills. {4:23} But, since he
commanded that the stump of its roots, that is, of the tree,
should be left behind, your kingdom will be left for you, after
you have realized that power is from divinity. {4:24} Because
of this, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you. And
redeem your sins with alms, and your iniquities with mercy
towards the poor. Perhaps he will forgive your offenses.”
{4:25} All these things came upon king Nebuchadnezzar.
{4:26} After the end of twelve months, he was taking a walk
in the palace of Babylon. {4:27} And the king spoke out loud,
saying, “Isn’t this the great Babylon, which I have built, as
the home of the kingdom, by the strength of my power and in
the glory of my excellence?” {4:28} And while the words
were still in the king’s mouth, a voice rushed down from
heaven, “To you, O king Nebuchadnezzar, it is said: ‘Your
kingdom will be taken away from you, {4:29} and they will
expel you from among men, and your dwelling will be with
the beasts and the wild animals. You will eat hay like an ox,
and seven times will pass over you, until you know that the
Supreme One rules in the kingdom of men, and he gives it to
whomever he wills.’ ” {4:30} The same hour, the sentence
was fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven away
from among men, and he ate hay like an ox, and his body
was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair increased
like the feathers of eagles, and his nails like those of birds.
{4:31} Therefore, at the end of these days, I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my mind
was restored to me. And I blessed the Most High, and I
praised and glorified him who lives forever. For his power is
an everlasting power, and his kingdom is from generation to
generation. {4:32} And all the inhabitants of the earth are
reputed as nothing before him. For he acts according to his
own will, with the inhabitants of the earth just as with the
holy inhabitants of heaven. And there is no one who can
resist his hand, or say to him, “Why have you done this?”
{4:33} At the same time, my mind returned to me, and I
arrived at the honor and glory of my kingdom. And my
appearance was given back to me. And my nobles and my
magistrates needed me. And I was restored to my kingdom,
and even greater majesty was added to me. {4:34} Therefore
I, Nebuchadnezzar, now praise, and magnify, and glorify the
King of heaven, because all his works and the judgments of
his way are true, and those who go forth in arrogance, he is
able to bring low.


[Daniel 5] {5:1} Belshazzar, the king, made a great feast for
a thousand of his nobles, and each one of them drank
according to his age. {5:2} And so, when they were drunk, he
instructed that the vessels of gold and silver should be
brought, which Nebuchadnezzar, his father, had carried
away from the temple, which was in Jerusalem, so that the
king, and his nobles, and his wives, and the concubines,
might drink from them. {5:3} Then the gold and silver vessels
were presented, which he had carried away from the temple
and which had been in Jerusalem, and the king, and his
nobles, wives, and concubines, drank from them. {5:4} They
drank wine, and they praised their gods of gold, and silver,
brass, iron, and wood and stone. {5:5} In the same hour,
there appeared fingers, as of the hand of a man, writing on
the surface of the wall, opposite the candlestick, in the king’s
palace. And the king observed the part of the hand that wrote.
{5:6} Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his
thoughts disturbed him, and he lost his self-control, and his
knees knocked against one other. {5:7} And the king cried
out loudly for them to bring in the astrologers, Chaldeans,
and soothsayers. And the king proclaimed to the wise men of
Babylon, saying, “Whoever will read this writing and make
known to me its interpretation will be clothed with purple,
and will have a golden chain on his neck, and will be third in
my kingdom.” {5:8} Then, in came all the wise men of the
king, but they could neither read the writing, nor reveal the
interpretation to the king. {5:9} Therefore, king Belshazzar
was quite confused, and his face was altered, and even his
nobles were disturbed. {5:10} But the queen, because of what
had happened to the king and his nobles, entered the banquet
house. And she spoke out, saying, “O king, live forever. Do
not let your thoughts confuse you, neither should your face
be altered. {5:11} There is a man in your kingdom, who has
the spirit of the holy gods within himself, and in the days of
your father, knowledge and wisdom were found in him. For
king Nebuchadnezzar, your father, appointed him leader of
the astrologers, enchanters, Chaldeans, and soothsayers, even
your father, I say to you, O king. {5:12} For a greater spirit,
and foresight, and understanding, and interpretation of
dreams, and the revealing of secrets, and the solution to
difficulties were found in him, that is, in Daniel, to whom the
king gave the name Belteshazzar. Now, therefore, let Daniel
be summoned, and he will explain the interpretation.”
{5:13} Then Daniel was brought in before the king. And the
king spoke to him, saying, “Are you Daniel, of the sons of
the captivity of Judah, whom my father the king led out of
Judea? {5:14} I have heard of you, that you have the spirit of
the gods, and that greater knowledge, as well as
understanding and wisdom, have been found in you.
{5:15} And now the wise astrologers have entered into my
presence, so as to read this writing and to reveal to me its
interpretation. And they were not able to tell me the meaning
of this writing. {5:16} Furthermore, I have heard about you
that you can interpret obscure things and solve difficulties. So
then, if you succeed in reading the writing, and in revealing
its interpretation, you will be clothed with purple, and you
will have a chain of gold around your neck, and you will be
the third leader in my kingdom.” {5:17} To this Daniel
responded by saying directly to the king, “Your rewards
should be for yourself, and the gifts of your house you may
give to another, but I will read to you the writing, O king,
and I will reveal to you its interpretation. {5:18} O king, the
Most High God gave to Nebuchadnezzar, your father, a
kingdom and greatness, glory and honor. {5:19} And because
of the greatness that he gave to him, all peoples, tribes, and
languages trembled and were afraid of him. Whomever he
wished, he put to death; and whomever he wished, he
destroyed; and whomever he wished, he exalted; and
whomever he wished, he lowered. {5:20} But when his heart
was lifted up and his spirit was hardened in arrogance, he
was deposed from the throne of his kingdom and his glory
was taken away. {5:21} And he was expelled from the sons
of men, and so his heart was placed with the beasts, and his
dwelling was with the wild donkeys, and he ate hay like an
ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until
he realized that the Most High holds power over the kingdom
of men, and that whoever he wishes, he will set over it.
{5:22} Likewise, you, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled
your heart, though you knew all these things. {5:23} But you
have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. And the
vessels of his house have been presented before you. And you,
and your nobles, and your wives, and your concubines, have
drunk wine from them. Likewise, you have praised the gods
of silver, and gold, and brass, iron, and wood and stone, who
neither see, nor hear, nor feel, yet you have not glorified the
God who holds your breath and all your ways in his hand.
{5:24} Therefore, he has sent the part of the hand which has
written this, which has been inscribed. {5:25} But this is the
writing that has been decreed: MANE, THECEL, PHARES.
{5:26} And this is the interpretation of the words. MANE:
God has numbered your kingdom and has finished it.
{5:27} THECEL: you have been weighed on the scales and
found lacking. {5:28} PHARES: your kingdom has been
divided and has been given to the Medes and the Persians.
{5:29} Then, by the king’s command, Daniel was dressed
with purple, and a chain of gold was placed around his neck,
and it was proclaimed of him that he held power as the third
in the kingdom. {5:30} That same night, king Belshazzar the
Chaldean was killed. {5:31} And Darius the Mede succeeded
to the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two years.


[Daniel 6] {6:1} It pleased Darius, and so he appointed over
the kingdom one hundred twenty governors, to be placed
throughout his whole kingdom. {6:2} And over these, three
leaders, of whom Daniel was one, so that the governors
would be accountable to them and the king would have no
trouble. {6:3} And so Daniel excelled above all the leaders
and governors, because a greater spirit of God was in him.
{6:4} Furthermore, the king considered setting him over the
entire kingdom; whereupon the leaders and the governors
sought to find a complaint against Daniel and in favor of the
king. And they could find no case, or even suspicion, because
he was faithful, and no fault or suspicion was found in him.
{6:5} Therefore, these men said, “We will not find any
complaint against this Daniel, unless it is against the law of
his God.” {6:6} Then the leaders and governors took the king
aside privately and spoke to him in this way: “King Darius,
live forever. {6:7} All the leaders of your kingdom, the
magistrates and governors, the senators and judges, have
taken counsel that an imperial decree and edict should be
published, so that all who ask any petition of any god or man
for thirty days, except of you, O king, will be cast into the den
of lions. {6:8} Now, therefore, O king, confirm this judgment
and write the decree, so that what is established by the Medes
and Persians may not be altered, nor will any man be allowed
to transgress it.” {6:9} And so king Darius set forth the
decree and established it. {6:10} Now when Daniel learned
of this, namely, that the law had been established, he entered
his house, and, opening the windows in his upper room
towards Jerusalem, he knelt down three times a day, and he
adored and gave thanks before his God, as he had been
accustomed to do previously. {6:11} Therefore, these men,
inquiring diligently, discovered that Daniel was praying and
making supplication to his God. {6:12} And they approached
and spoke to the king about the edict. “O king, did you not
decree that every man who makes a request to any of the
gods or men for thirty days, except to yourself, O king, would
be cast into the den of lions?” To which the king replied,
saying, “The sentence is true, and according to the decree of
the Medes and Persians, it is not lawful to violate it.”
{6:13} Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel,
of the sons of the captivity of Judah, is not concerned about
your law, nor about the decree that you have established, but
three times a day he prays his supplication.” {6:14} Now
when the king had heard these words, he was greatly grieved,
and, on behalf of Daniel, he set his heart to free him, and he
labored even until sunset to rescue him. {6:15} But these men,
knowing the king, said to him, “You know, O king, that the
law of the Medes and Persians is that every decree which the
king has established may not be altered.” {6:16} Then the
king commanded, and they brought Daniel and cast him into
the den of lions. And the king said to Daniel, “Your God,
whom you always serve, he himself will free you.”
{6:17} And a stone was brought, and it was placed over the
mouth of the den, which the king sealed with his own ring,
and with the ring of his nobles, so that no one would act
against Daniel. {6:18} And the king departed into his house,
and he went to bed without eating, and food was not set
before him, moreover, even sleep fled from him. {6:19} Then
the king, getting himself up at first light, went quickly to the
den of lions. {6:20} And coming near to the den, he cried out
with a tearful voice to Daniel and spoke to him. “Daniel,
servant of the living God, your God, whom you serve always,
do you believe he has prevailed to free you from the lions?”
{6:21} And Daniel, answering the king, said, “O king, live
forever. {6:22} My God has sent his angel, and he has closed
the mouths of the lions, and they have not harmed me,
because before him justice has been found in me, and, even
before you, O king, I have committed no offense.”
{6:23} Then was the king exceedingly glad for him, and he
commanded that Daniel should be taken out of the den. And
Daniel was taken out of the den, and no wound was found in
him, because he believed in his God. {6:24} Moreover, by
order of the king, those men were brought who had accused
Daniel, and they were cast into the lions’ den, they, and their
sons, and their wives, and they did not reach the bottom of
the den before the lions seized them and crushed all their
bones. {6:25} Then king Darius wrote to all peoples, tribes,
and languages dwelling in all the land. “May peace be
increased with you. {6:26} It is hereby established by my
decree that, in all my empire and my kingdom, they shall
begin to tremble and fear the God of Daniel. For he is the
living and eternal God forever, and his kingdom will not be
destroyed, and his power will last forever. {6:27} He is the
liberator and the savior, performing signs and wonders in
heaven and on earth, who has freed Daniel from the lions’
den.” {6:28} Thereafter, Daniel continued through the reign
of Darius until the reign of Cyrus, the Persian.


[Daniel 7] {7:1} In the first year of Belshazzar, king of
Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and a vision in his head on his
bed. And, writing down the dream, he understood it in a
concise manner, and so, summarizing it tersely, he said:
{7:2} I saw in my vision at night, and behold, the four winds
of the heavens fought upon the great sea. {7:3} And four
great beasts, different from one another, ascended from the
sea. {7:4} The first was like a lioness and had the wings of an
eagle. I watched as its wings were plucked off, and it was
raised from the earth and stood on its feet like a man, and the
heart of a man was given to it. {7:5} And behold, another
beast, like a bear, stood to one side, and there were three
rows in its mouth and in its teeth, and they spoke to it in this
way: “Arise, devour much flesh.” {7:6} After this, I watched,
and behold, another like a leopard, and it had wings like a
bird, four upon it, and four heads were on the beast, and
power was given to it. {7:7} After this, I watched in the
vision of the night, and behold, a fourth beast, terrible yet
wondrous, and exceedingly strong; it had great iron teeth,
eating yet crushing, and trampling down the remainder with
his feet, but it was unlike the other beasts, which I had seen
before it, and it had ten horns. {7:8} I considered the horns,
and behold, another little horn rose out of the midst of them.
And three of the first horns were rooted out by its presence.
And behold, eyes like the eyes of a man were in this horn,
and a mouth speaking unnatural things. {7:9} I watched until
thrones were set up, and the ancient of days sat down. His
garment was radiant like snow, and the hair of his head like
clean wool; his throne was flames of fire, its wheels had been
set on fire. {7:10} A river of fire rushed forth from his
presence. Thousands upon thousands ministered to him, and
ten thousand times hundreds of thousands attended before
him. The trial began, and the books were opened. {7:11} I
watched because of the voice of the great words which that
horn was speaking, and I saw that the beast had been
destroyed, and its body was ruined and had been handed over
to be burnt with fire. {7:12} Likewise, the power of the other
beasts was taken away, and a limited time of life was
appointed to them, until one time and another. {7:13} I
watched, therefore, in the vision of the night, and behold,
with the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man arrived, and
he approached all the way to the ancient of days, and they
presented him before him. {7:14} And he gave him power,
and honor, and the kingdom, and all peoples, tribes, and
languages will serve him. His power is an eternal power,
which will not be taken away, and his kingdom, one which
will not be corrupted. {7:15} My spirit was terrified. I, Daniel,
was fearful at these things, and the visions of my head
disturbed me. {7:16} I approached one of the attendants and
asked the truth from him about all these things. He told me
the interpretation of the words, and he instructed me:
{7:17} “These four great beasts are four kingdoms, which will
rise from the earth. {7:18} Yet it is the saints of the Most
High God who will receive the kingdom, and they will hold
the kingdom from this generation, and forever and ever.”
{7:19} After this, I wanted to learn diligently about the fourth
beast, which was very different from all, and exceedingly
terrible; his teeth and claws were of iron; he devoured and
crushed, and the remainder he trampled with his feet;
{7:20} and about the ten horns, which he had on his head,
and about the other, which had sprung up, before which three
horns fell, and about that horn which had eyes and a mouth
speaking great things, and which was more powerful than the
rest. {7:21} I watched, and behold, that horn made war
against the holy ones and prevailed over them, {7:22} until
the Ancient of days came and gave judgment to the holy ones
of the Supreme One, and the time arrived, and the holy ones
obtained the kingdom. {7:23} And thus he said, “The fourth
beast will be the fourth kingdom on earth, which will be
greater than all the kingdoms, and will devour the whole
earth, and will trample and crush it. {7:24} Moreover, the ten
horns of the same kingdom will be ten kings, and another will
rise up after them, and he will be mightier than the ones
before him, and he will bring down three kings. {7:25} And
he will speak words against the Supreme One, and will
exhaust the holy ones of the Most High, and he will think
about what it would take to change the times and the laws,
and they will be given into his hand until a time, and times,
and half a time. {7:26} And a trial will begin, so that his
power may be taken away, and be crushed, and be undone all
the way to the end. {7:27} Yet the kingdom, and the power,
and the greatness of that kingdom, which is under all of
heaven, shall be given to the people of the holy ones of the
Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and
all kings will serve and obey him.” {7:28} And here is the end
of the message. I, Daniel, was greatly disturbed by my
thoughts, and my mood was changed in me, but I preserved
the message in my heart.


[Daniel 8] {8:1} In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar
the king, a vision appeared to me. After that which I had seen
in the beginning, I, Daniel, {8:2} saw in my vision, that I was
in the capital city of Susa, which is in the region of Elam, yet
I saw in the vision that I was over the gate of Ulai. {8:3} And
I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a single ram stood
before the marsh, having two high horns, and one was higher
than the other and growing higher still. {8:4} After this, I saw
the ram brandishing his horns against the West, and against
the North, and against the Meridian, and all the beasts could
not withstand him, nor be freed from his hand, and he did
according to his own will, and he became great. {8:5} And I
understood, and behold, a he-goat among she-goats came
from the West above the face of the entire earth, and he did
not touch the ground. Furthermore, the he-goat had a
preeminent horn between his eyes. {8:6} And he went all the
way to the ram that had the horns, which I had seen standing
before the gate, and he ran towards him in the force of his
strength. {8:7} And when he approached near to the ram, he
was enraged against him, and he struck the ram, and broke
his two horns, and the ram could not withstand him, and
when he had cast him down on the ground, he trampled him,
and no one was able to free the ram from his hand. {8:8} But
the he-goat among she-goats became exceedingly great, and
when he had prospered, the great horn was shattered, and
four horns were rising up beneath it by means of the four
winds of heaven. {8:9} But from one of them came forth one
little horn, and it became great against the Meridian, and
against the East, and against the strength. {8:10} And it was
magnified even towards the strength of heaven, and it threw
down those of the strength and of the stars, and it trampled
them. {8:11} And it was magnified, even to the leader of the
strength, and it took away from him the continual sacrifice,
and cast down the place of his sanctuary. {8:12} And the
advantage was given to him against the continual sacrifice,
because of the sins, and truth will be struck down to the
ground, and he will act, and he will prosper. {8:13} And I
heard one of the holy ones speaking, and one saint said to
another, (I know not to whom he was speaking,) “What is
the extent of the vision, and the continual sacrifice, and the
sin of the desolation, which has happened, and of the
sanctuary and the strength, which will be trampled?”
{8:14} And he said to him, “From evening until morning,
two thousand three hundred days, and so the sanctuary will
be cleansed.” {8:15} But it came to pass, when I, Daniel, saw
the vision and sought understanding that, behold, there stood
in my sight something like the appearance of a man.
{8:16} And I heard the voice of a man within Ulai, and he
called out and said, “Gabriel, make this one understand the
vision.” {8:17} And he came and stood next to where I was
standing, and when he approached, I fell on my face,
trembling, and he said to me, “Understand, son of man, for
in the time of the end the vision will be fulfilled.” {8:18} And
when he spoke to me, I fell forward onto the ground, and so
he touched me and stood me upright. {8:19} And he said to
me, “I will reveal to you what the future things are in the
earlier tribulation, for the time has its end. {8:20} The ram,
which you saw to have horns, is the king of the Medes and
Persians. {8:21} Furthermore, the he-goat among she-goats is
the king of the Greeks, and the great horn, which was
between his eyes, is the same one, the first king. {8:22} And
since, having been shattered, there grew four in its place, four
kings will rise up from his people, but not in his strength.
{8:23} And after their reign, when iniquities will be increased,
there will arise a king of shameless face and understanding
negotiations. {8:24} And his advantage will be strengthened,
but not by his kind of force, and other than what he will be
able to trust, everything will be eradicated, and he will
prosper, and he will act. And he will execute the successful
and the people of the saints, {8:25} according to his will, and
treachery will be guided by his hand. And his heart will be
inflated, and by the abundance of everything he will kill
many, and he will rise up against the Lord of lords, and he
will be knocked down without a hand. {8:26} And the vision
of the evening and the morning, which was told, is true.
Therefore, you must seal the vision, because, after many days,
it will occur.” {8:27} And I, Daniel, languished and was sick
for some days, and when I had lifted myself up, I performed
the king’s works, and I was astonished at the vision, and
there was none who could interpret it.


[Daniel 9] {9:1} In the first year of Darius, the son of
Ahasuerus, of the offspring of the Medes, who ruled over the
kingdom of the Chaldeans, {9:2} in year one of his reign, I,
Daniel, understood in the books the number of the years,
concerning the word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah,
the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would be
completed in seventy years. {9:3} And I set my face to the
Lord, my God, to ask and make supplication with fasting,
and sackcloth, and ashes. {9:4} And I prayed to the Lord, my
God, and I confessed, and I said, “I beg you, O Lord God,
great and terrible, preserving the covenant and mercy for
those who love you and keep your commandments.
{9:5} We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we acted
impiously and have withdrawn, and we have turned aside
from your commandments as well as your judgments.
{9:6} We have not obeyed your servants, the prophets, who
have spoken in your name to our kings, our leaders, our
fathers, and all the people of the land. {9:7} To you, O Lord,
is justice, but to us is confusion of face, just as it is on this day
for the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and
all Israel, for those who are near and those who are far off, in
all the lands to which you have driven them, because of their
iniquities by which they have sinned against you. {9:8} O
Lord, to us belongs confusion of face: to our kings, our
leaders, and our fathers, who have sinned. {9:9} But to you,
the Lord our God, is mercy and atonement, for we have
withdrawn from you, {9:10} and we have not listened to the
voice of the Lord, our God, so as to walk in his law, which he
established for us by his servants, the prophets. {9:11} And
all Israel has transgressed your law and has turned away, not
listening to your voice, and so the condemnation and the
curse, which is written in the book of Moses, servant of God,
has rained down upon us, because we have sinned against
him. {9:12} And he has fulfilled his words, which he has
spoken over us and over our leaders who judged us, that he
would lead over us a great evil, such as has never before
existed under all of heaven, according to what has been done
in Jerusalem. {9:13} Just as it has been written in the law of
Moses, all this evil has come upon us, and we did not entreat
your face, O Lord our God, so that we might turn back from
our iniquities and consider your truth. {9:14} And the Lord
kept watch over the evil and has led it over us; the Lord, our
God, is just in all his works, which he has accomplished, for
we have not listened to his voice. {9:15} And now, O Lord,
our God, who has led your people out of the land of Egypt
with a strong hand and has made yourself a name in
accordance with this day: we have sinned, we have done
wrong. {9:16} O Lord, for all your righteousness, turn away,
I beg you, your anger and your fury from your city,
Jerusalem, and from your holy mountain. For, because of our
sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your
people are a reproach to all who surround us. {9:17} Now,
therefore, heed, O God, the prayer of your servant and his
requests, and reveal your face over your sanctuary, which is
desolate, for your own sake. {9:18} Incline your ear, O my
God, and hear, open your eyes and see our desolation and
the city over which your name is invoked. For it is not
through our justifications that we offer requests before your
face, but through the fullness of your compassion.
{9:19} Heed, O Lord. Be pleased, O Lord. Turn and act. Do
not delay, for your own sake, O my God, because your name
is invoked over your city and over your people.” {9:20} And
while I was still speaking and praying and confessing my sins,
and the sins of my people, Israel, and offering my prayers in
the sight of my God, on behalf of the holy mountain of my
God, {9:21} as I was still speaking in prayer, behold, the man
Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning,
flying swiftly, touched me at the time of the evening sacrifice.
{9:22} And he instructed me, and he spoke to me and said,
“Now, Daniel, I have come forth to teach you and to help
you understand. {9:23} At the beginning of your prayers, the
message came forth, yet I have come to explain it to you
because you are a man who is seeking. Therefore, you must
pay close attention to the message and understand the vision.
{9:24} Seventy weeks of years are concentrated on your
people and on your holy city, so that transgression shall be
finished, and sin shall reach an end, and iniquity shall be
wiped away, and so that everlasting justice shall be brought
in, and vision and prophecy shall be fulfilled, and the Saint of
saints shall be anointed. {9:25} Therefore, know and take
heed: from the going forth of the word to build up Jerusalem
again, until the Christ leader, there will be seven weeks of
years, and sixty-two weeks of years; and the wide path will be
built again, and the walls, in a time of anguish. {9:26} And
after sixty-two weeks of years, the Christ leader will be slain.
And the people who have denied him will not be his. And the
people, when their leader arrives, will destroy the city and the
sanctuary. And its end will be devastation, and, after the end
of the war, the desolation will be set up. {9:27} But he will
confirm a covenant with many for one week of years; and for
half of the week of years, victim and sacrifice will nearly
cease; but there will be in the temple the abomination of
desolation. And the desolation will continue even to the
consummation and the end.”


[Daniel 10] {10:1} In the third year of Cyrus, king of the
Persians, a message was revealed to Daniel, called
Belteshazzar, and a true word, and great strength. And he
understood the message, for understanding is needed in a
vision. {10:2} In those days, I, Daniel, mourned for three
weeks of days. {10:3} I ate no desirable bread, and neither
meat, nor wine, entered my mouth, neither was I anointed
with ointment, until the three weeks of days were completed.
{10:4} But on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I was
next to the great river, which is the Tigris. {10:5} And I lifted
up my eyes, and I saw, and behold, one man clothed in linen,
and his waist was wrapped with the finest gold, {10:6} and
his body was like the golden stone, and his face had the
appearance of lightning, and his eyes that of a burning lamp,
and his arms and all that is downward all the way to the feet
had the appearance of glowing brass, and his speaking voice
was like the voice of a multitude. {10:7} But I, Daniel, alone
saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see it,
but an exceedingly great terror rushed over them, and they
fled into hiding. {10:8} And I, having been left alone, saw
this great vision, and there remained no strength in me,
moreover, my appearance was altered, and I languished, not
having any strength. {10:9} And I heard the voice of his
words, and when I heard, I lay down in confusion on my face,
and my face was close to the ground. {10:10} And behold, a
hand touched me, and raised me onto my knees and the
knuckles of my hands. {10:11} And he said to me, “Daniel,
man of longing, understand the words that I speak to you,
and stand yourself upright, for I am now sent to you.” And
when he had said these words to me, I stood trembling.
{10:12} And he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel,
because from the first day that you set your heart to
understand, by afflicting yourself in the sight of your God,
your words have been heeded, and I have arrived because of
your words. {10:13} But the leader of the kingdom of the
Persians resisted me for twenty-one days, and behold,
Michael, one of the primary leaders, came to help me, and I
remained there next to the king of the Persians. {10:14} But I
have come to teach you what will happen to your people in
the latter days, because the vision is for a long time from
now.” {10:15} And while he was speaking words to me in
this way, I cast my face down to the ground and was silent.
{10:16} And behold, something in the likeness of a son of
man touched my lips. Then, opening my mouth, I spoke and
said to him who stood before me, “My lord, at the sight of
you, my limbs became weak and no strength has remained in
me. {10:17} And so, how can the servant of my lord speak
with my lord? For no strength remains in me; and even my
breathing is hindered.” {10:18} Therefore, he who looked
like a man, touched me again and strengthened me.
{10:19} And he said, “Fear not, O man of longing. May
peace be with you. Take courage and be strong.” And when
he spoke to me, I recovered, and I said, “Speak, my lord, for
you have strengthened me.” {10:20} And he said, “Do you
not know why I have come to you? And next I will return, to
fight against the leader of the Persians. When I was leaving,
there appeared the leader of the Greeks arriving. {10:21} But,
in truth, I announce to you what is expressed in the scripture
of truth. And no one is my helper in all these things, except
Michael your leader.”


[Daniel 11] {11:1} “And so, from the first year of Darius the
Mede, I stood firm, so that he might be reinforced and
strengthened. {11:2} And now I will announce to you the
truth. Behold, up to a certain point, three kings will stand in
Persia, and the fourth will be exceedingly enriched in power
above them all. And when he has grown strong by his
resources, he will stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.
{11:3} But there will rise up a strong king, and he will rule
with great power, and he will do what he pleases. {11:4} And
when he has been firmly established, his kingdom will be
shattered and will be divided towards the four winds of the
heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to his power
with which he ruled. For his kingdom will be torn to pieces,
even for the outsiders who have been expelled from these.
{11:5} And the king of the South will be reinforced, yet one
of his leaders will prevail over him, and he will rule with
riches, for great is his domain. {11:6} And after the end of
years, they will form a federation, and the daughter of the
king of the South will come to the king of the North to make
friendship, but she will not obtain the strength of arms,
neither will her offspring stand firm, and she will be handed
over, along with those who brought her, her young men, and
those who comforted her in these times. {11:7} And a
transplant from the germination of her roots will stand up,
and he will come with an army, and will enter into the
province of the king of the North, and he will abuse them,
and will hold it fast. {11:8} And, in addition, he will carry
away captive into Egypt their gods, and their graven images,
and likewise their precious vessels of gold and silver. He will
prevail against the king of the North. {11:9} And the king of
the South will enter into the kingdom, and will return to his
own land. {11:10} But his sons will be challenged, and they
will assemble a multitude of very many forces. And he will
arrive rushing and overflowing. And he will be turned back,
and he will be enraged, and he will join the battle in his
redness. {11:11} And the king of the South, having being
challenged, will go forth and will fight against the king of the
North, and he will prepare an exceedingly great multitude,
and a multitude will be given into his hand. {11:12} And he
will seize a multitude, and his heart will be exalted, and he
will cast down many thousands, but he will not prevail.
{11:13} For the king of the North will change strategy and
will prepare a multitude much greater than before, and at the
end of times and years, he will rush forward with a great
army and exceedingly great resources. {11:14} And in those
times, many will rise up against the king of the South. And
likewise the sons of the deceivers among your people will
extol themselves, so as to fulfill the vision, and they will
collapse. {11:15} And the king of the North will arrive and
will transport siege works, and he will seize the most fortified
cities. And the arms of the South will not withstand him, and
his elect will rise up to resist, but the strength will not.
{11:16} And when he arrives, he will do just as he pleases,
and there will be none who stand against his face. And he
will stand in the illustrious land, and it will be consumed by
his hand. {11:17} And he will set his face to strive to hold his
entire kingdom, and he will make fair conditions with him.
And he will give him a daughter among women, so as to
overthrow it. But she will not stand, neither will she be for
him. {11:18} And he will turn his face towards the islands,
and he will seize many. And he will cause the leader of his
reproach to cease, and his reproach will be turned around for
him. {11:19} And he will turn his face to the empire of his
own land, and he will strike, and will overthrow, but he will
not succeed. {11:20} And there will stand up in his place one
who is most worthless and unworthy of kingly honor. And in
a short time, he will be worn out, but not in fury, nor in battle.
{11:21} And there will stand up in his place the despicable
one, and he will not be assigned the honor of a king. And he
will arrive in secret, and he will obtain the kingdom by
deceitfulness. {11:22} And the arms of the fighting will be
assaulted before his face and will be shattered, and, in
addition, the leader of the federation. {11:23} And, after
making friends, he will trick him, and he will go up and will
overcome with a small people. {11:24} And he will enter into
rich and resourceful cities, and he will do what his fathers
never did, nor his fathers’ fathers. He will scatter their spoils,
and their prey, and their riches, and will form a plan against
the most steadfast, and this until a time. {11:25} And his
strength and his heart will be enraged against the king of the
South with a great army. And the king of the South will be
provoked into going to war by having many allies and
exceedingly good circumstances, and yet these will not stand,
for they will form plans against him. {11:26} And those who
eat bread with him will crush him, and his army will be
suppressed, and very many will die, having been executed.
{11:27} And the heart of two kings will be similar, to do
harm, and they will speak lies at one table, but they will not
succeed, because as yet the end is for another time.
{11:28} And he will return to his land with many resources.
And his heart will be against the holy testament, and he will
act, and he will return to his own land. {11:29} At the
appointed time, he will return, and he will approach the
South, but the latter time will not be like the former.
{11:30} And the Greek warships and the Romans will come
upon him, and he will be pierced, and will retreat, and will
have scorn against the testament of the sanctuary, and he will
act. And he will return and will consult their adversaries, who
have forsaken the covenant of the sanctuary. {11:31} And
arms will take his side, and they will pollute the sanctuary of
the strength, and they will take away the continual sacrifice
and will replace it with the abomination of desolation.
{11:32} And the impious within the testament will imitate
deceitfully, but the people, knowing their God, will persevere
and will act. {11:33} And the teachers among the people will
teach many, but they will be ruined by the sword, and by fire,
and by captivity, and by assaults for many days. {11:34} And
when they have fallen, they will be supported with a little
help, but many will apply to them deceitfully. {11:35} And
some of the learned will be ruined, that they may be kindled
and chosen and purified, up to the predetermined time,
because there will be still another time. {11:36} And the king
will act according to his will, and he will be lifted up and will
be extolled against every god. And he will speak great things
against the God of gods, and he will control, until the passion
is completed. Once accomplished, the limit is reached with
certainty. {11:37} And he will give no thought to the God of
his fathers, and he will be in the desire of women, and he will
not attend to any gods, because he will rise up against all
things. {11:38} But he will do homage to the god Maozim in
his place, and, a god whom his fathers did not know, he will
worship with gold, and silver, and precious stones, and costly
things. {11:39} And he will act to reinforce Maozim with an
alien god, of whom he has become aware, and he will
increase their glory, and will give them power over many,
and he will distribute land for free. {11:40} And, at the
predetermined time, the king of the South will fight against
him, and the king of the North will come against him like a
tempest, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with a great
fleet, and he will enter into the lands, and will crush and pass
through. {11:41} And he will enter into the glorious land,
and many will fall. But only these will be saved from his hand:
Edom, and Moab, and the first part of the sons of Ammon.
{11:42} And he will cast his hand upon the lands, and the
land of Egypt will not escape. {11:43} And he will rule over
the treasure chests of gold, and silver, and all the precious
things of Egypt, and likewise he will pass through Libya and
Ethiopia. {11:44} And rumors from the East and from the
North will trouble him. And he will arrive with a great
multitude to destroy and to execute many. {11:45} And he
will fasten his tabernacle, Apadno, between the seas, upon an
illustrious and holy mountain, and he will come even to its
summit, and no one will help him.”


[Daniel 12] {12:1} “But at that time Michael will rise up, the
great leader, who stands up for the sons of your people. And
a time will come, such as has not been from the time that
nations began, even until that time. And, at that time, your
people will be saved, all who will be found written in the
book. {12:2} And many of those who sleep in the dust of the
earth will awaken: some to everlasting life, and others to a
reproach that they will always see. {12:3} But those who
have taught will shine like the brightness of the firmament,
and those who instruct many towards justice, like the stars for
unending eternity. {12:4} But you, Daniel, close the message
and seal the book, until the established time. Many will pass
through, and knowledge will be increased.” {12:5} And I,
Daniel, looked, and behold, similarly two others stood up,
one over here, on the bank of the river, and the other over
there, on the other bank of the river. {12:6} And I said to the
man, who was clothed in linen, who stood over the waters of
the river, “How long will it be until the end of these
wonders?” {12:7} And I heard the man, who was clothed in
linen, who stood over the waters of the river, when he had
lifted his right hand and his left hand up to heaven, and had
sworn by He who lives forever, that it would be for a time,
and times, and half a time. And when the dispersion of the
hand of the holy people is completed, all these things will be
completed. {12:8} And I heard and did not understand. And
I said, “My lord, what will be after these things?” {12:9} And
he said, “Go, Daniel, for the words are closed and sealed
until the predetermined time. {12:10} Many will be chosen
and purified, and, as if by fire, they will be tested, and the
impious will act impiously, and none of the impious will
understand, yet the teachers will understand. {12:11} And
from the time when the continual sacrifice will be taken away
and the abomination of desolation will be set up, there will be
one thousand two hundred ninety days. {12:12} Blessed is he
who waits and reaches until one thousand three hundred
thirty-five days. {12:13} But you, go, until the predetermined
time, and you will rest and will stand in your allotted place at
the end of days.


[Daniel 13] {13:1} And there was a man living in Babylon,
and his name was Joakim. {13:2} And he received a wife
named Susanna, the daughter of Hilkiah, who was very
beautiful and God-fearing. {13:3} For her parents, because
they were righteous, had educated their daughter according
to the law of Moses. {13:4} But Joakim was very wealthy,
and he had an orchard near his house, and the Jews flocked
to him, because he was the most honorable of them all.
{13:5} And two elder judges had been appointed among the
people that year, about whom the Lord has said, “Iniquity
has come out of Babylon, from the elder judges, who seemed
to govern the people.” {13:6} These frequented the house of
Joakim, and all came to them, who had need of judgment.
{13:7} But when the people departed at noontime, Susanna
went in and walked around in her husband’s orchard.
{13:8} And the elders saw her entering and walking around
every day, and they were inflamed with desire towards her.
{13:9} And they perverted their reason and turned away their
eyes, so that they would not look to heaven, nor call to mind
just judgments. {13:10} And so they were both wounded by
the love of her, yet they did not reveal their grief to one
another. {13:11} For they were ashamed to reveal to each
other their desire, wanting to lie with her. {13:12} And so
they watched carefully every day to see her. And one said to
the other, {13:13} “Let us go home, for it is lunch time.” And
going out, they departed one from another. {13:14} And
returning again, they came to the same place, and, each
asking the other the reason, they admitted their desire. And
then they agreed to set a time when they would be able to
find her alone. {13:15} But it happened, while they watched
for an opportune day, that she entered at a particular time,
just as yesterday and the day before, with only two maids,
and she wanted to wash in the orchard, because it was so hot.
{13:16} And there was no one there, except the two elders in
hiding, and they were studying her. {13:17} And so she said
to the maids, “Bring me oil and ointments, and shut the
doors of the orchard, so that I may wash.” {13:18} And they
did as she ordered them. And they shut the doors of the
orchard and left through a back door to fetch what she
required, and they did not know that the elders were hiding
within. {13:19} But when the maids had departed, the two
elders arose and hurried to her, and they said,
{13:20} “Behold, the doors of the orchard are closed, and no
one can see us, and we are in desire for you. Because of these
things, consent to us and lie with us. {13:21} But if you will
not, we will bear witness against you that a young man was
with you and, for this reason, you sent your maids away from
you.” {13:22} Susanna sighed and said, “I am closed in on
every side. For if I do this thing, it is death to me; yet if I do
not do it, I will not escape your hands. {13:23} But it is better
for me to fall unavoidably into your hands, than to sin in the
sight of the Lord.” {13:24} And Susanna cried out with a
loud voice, but the elders also cried out against her.
{13:25} And one of them hurried to the door of the orchard
and opened it. {13:26} And so, when the servants of the
house heard the outcry in the orchard, they rushed in by the
back door to see what was happening. {13:27} But after the
old men had spoken, the servants were greatly ashamed, for
there had never been anything of this kind said about
Susanna. And it happened on the next day, {13:28} when the
people came to Joakim her husband, that the two appointed
elders also came, full of wicked plans against Susanna, in
order to put her to death. {13:29} And they said before the
people, “Send for Susanna, daughter of Hilkiah, the wife of
Joakim.” And immediately they sent for her. {13:30} And
she arrived with her parents, and sons, and all her relatives.
{13:31} Moreover, Susanna was exceedingly delicate and
beautiful in appearance. {13:32} But those wicked ones
commanded that her face should be uncovered, (for she was
covered,) so that at least they might be satisfied with her
beauty. {13:33} Therefore, her own and all who knew her
wept. {13:34} Yet the two appointed elders, rising up in the
midst of the people, set their hands upon her head.
{13:35} And weeping, she gazed up to heaven, for her heart
had faith in the Lord. {13:36} And the appointed elders said,
“While we were talking a walk in the orchard alone, this one
came in with two maids, and she shut the doors of the
orchard, and she sent the maids away from her. {13:37} And
a young man came to her, who was in hiding, and he lay
down with her. {13:38} Furthermore, since we were in a
corner of the orchard, seeing this wickedness, we ran up to
them, and we saw them consorting together. {13:39} And,
indeed, we were unable to catch him, because he was
stronger than us, and opening the doors, he leaped out.
{13:40} But, since we had apprehended this one, we
demanded to know who the young man was, but she was
unwilling to tell us. On this matter, we are witnesses.”
{13:41} The multitude believed them, just as if they were
elders and the judges of the people, and they condemned her
to death. {13:42} But Susanna cried out with a loud voice
and said, “Eternal God, who knows what is hidden, who
knows all things before they happen, {13:43} you know that
they have borne false witness against me, and behold, I must
die, though I have done none of these things, which these
men have maliciously invented against me.” {13:44} But the
Lord heeded her voice. {13:45} And when she was led away
to death, the Lord raised up the holy spirit of a young boy,
whose name was Daniel. {13:46} And he cried out with a
loud voice, “I am clean of the blood of this one.”
{13:47} And all the people, turning back towards him, said,
“What is this word that you are saying?” {13:48} But he,
while standing in the midst of them, said, “Are you so foolish,
sons of Israel, that without judging and without knowing
what the truth is, you have condemned a daughter of Israel?
{13:49} Return to judgment, because they have spoken false
witness against her.” {13:50} Therefore, the people returned
with haste, and the old men said to him, “Come and sit down
in our midst and show us, since God has given you the honor
of old age.” {13:51} And Daniel said to them, “Separate
these at a distance from one another, and I will judge
between them.” {13:52} And so, when they were divided,
one from the other, he called one of them, and he said to him,
“You deep-rooted ancient evil, now your sins have come out,
which you have committed before, {13:53} judging unjust
judgments, oppressing the innocent, and setting free the
guilty, though the Lord declares, ‘The innocent and the just
you must not put to death.’ {13:54} Now then, if you saw her,
declare under which tree you saw them conversing together.”
He said, “Under an evergreen mastic tree.” {13:55} But
Daniel said, “Truly, you have lied against your own head.
For behold, the angel of God, having received the sentence
from him, will split you down the middle. {13:56} And,
having put him aside, he commanded the other to approach,
and he said to him, “You offspring of Canaan, and not of
Judah, beauty has deceived you, and desire has perverted
your heart. {13:57} Thus did you do to the daughters of
Israel, and they, out of fear, consorted with you, but a
daughter of Judah would not tolerate your iniquity.
{13:58} Now then, declare to me, under which tree you
caught them conversing together.” He said, “Under an
evergreen oak tree.” {13:59} And Daniel said to him, “Truly,
you also have lied against your own head. For the angel of
the Lord waits, holding a sword, to cut you down the middle
and put you to death.” {13:60} And then the entire assembly
cried out in a loud voice, and they blessed God, who saves
those who hope in him. {13:61} And they rose up against the
two appointed elders, (for Daniel had convicted them, by
their own mouth, of bearing false witness,) and they did to
them just as they had wickedly done against their neighbor,
{13:62} so as to act according to the law of Moses. And they
put them to death, and innocent blood was saved on that day.
{13:63} But Hilkiah and his wife praised God for their
daughter, Susanna, with Joakim, her husband, and all her
relatives, because there had been found in her no disgrace.
{13:64} And so Daniel became great in the sight of the
people from that day, and thereafter. {13:65} And king
Astyages was laid to rest with his fathers. And Cyrus the
Persian received his kingdom.


[Daniel 14] {14:1} And so Daniel was living with the king,
and he was honored above all his friends. {14:2} Now there
was an idol with the Babylonians named Bel. And each day
there was expended on him twelve great measures of fine
flour, and forty sheep, and six vessels of wine. {14:3} The
king likewise worshipped him and went each day to adore
him, but Daniel adored his God. And the king said to him,
“Why do you not adore Bel?” {14:4} And answering, he said
to him, “Because I do not worship idols made with hands,
but the living God, who created heaven and earth, and who
holds power over all flesh.” {14:5} And the king said to him,
“Does not Bel seem to you to be a living god? Do you not see
how much he eats and drinks every day?” {14:6} Then
Daniel said, smiling, “O king, do not make a mistake, for this
one is clay on the inside and brass on the outside, and he has
never eaten.” {14:7} And the king, being angry, called for his
priests and said to them, “If you do not tell me who it is that
has eaten these expenses, you will die. {14:8} But if you can
show that Bel has eaten these, Daniel will die, because he has
blasphemed against Bel.” And Daniel said to the king, “Let it
be according to your word.” {14:9} Now the priests of Bel
were seventy, besides their wives, and little ones, and sons.
And the king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel.
{14:10} And the priests of Bel said, “Behold, we are going
out, and you, O king, set out the meats, and mix the wine,
and close the door, and seal it with your ring. {14:11} And
when you have entered in the morning, if you have not found
that Bel has consumed all, we will suffer death, or else Daniel
will, who has lied against us.” {14:12} But they had no
concern because they had made a secret entrance under the
table, and they always went in through it and devoured those
things. {14:13} And so it happened, after they had departed,
that the king set the foods before Bel, and Daniel commanded
his servants, and they brought ashes, and he sifted them
throughout the temple in the sight of the king, and, as they
left, they shut the door, and after sealing it with the king’s
ring, they departed. {14:14} But the priests entered by night,
according to their custom, with their wives, and their sons,
and they ate and drank everything. {14:15} But the king
arose at first light, and Daniel with him. {14:16} And the
king said, “Are the seals unbroken, Daniel?” And he
answered, “They are unbroken, O king.” {14:17} And as
soon as he had opened the door, the king stared at the table,
and cried out with a loud voice, “Great are you, O Bel, and
there is not any deceit with you.” {14:18} And Daniel
laughed, and he held back the king, so that he would not
enter, and he said, “Look at the pavement, notice whose
footsteps these are.” {14:19} And the king said, “I see the
footsteps of men, and women, and children.” And the king
was angry. {14:20} Then he apprehended the priests, and
their wives, and their sons, and they showed him the secret
doors through which they entered and consumed the things
that were on the table. {14:21} Therefore, the king
slaughtered them and delivered Bel into the power of Daniel,
who overturned him and his temple. {14:22} And there was a
great dragon in that place, and the Babylonians worshipped
him. {14:23} And the king said to Daniel, “Behold, now you
cannot say that this is not a living god; therefore, adore him.”
{14:24} And Daniel said, “I adore the Lord, my God, for he
is the living God. But that one is not a living god.
{14:25} Therefore, you give me the power, O king, and I will
execute this dragon without sword or club.” And the king
said, “I give it to you.” {14:26} And so Daniel took pitch,
and fat, and hair, and cooked them together. And he made
lumps and put them into the dragon’s mouth, and the dragon
burst open. And he said, “Behold, this is what you worship.”
{14:27} When the Babylonians had heard this, they were
greatly indignant. And gathering together against the king,
they said, “The king has become a Jew. He has destroyed Bel,
he has executed the dragon, and he has slaughtered the
priests.” {14:28} And when they came to the king, they said,
“Deliver Daniel to us, otherwise we will execute you and
your house.” {14:29} Thus the king saw that they pressured
him vehemently, and so, being compelled by necessity, he
delivered Daniel to them. {14:30} And they cast him into the
den of lions, and he was there for six days.
{14:31} Furthermore, in the den there were seven lions, and
they had given to them two carcasses every day, and two
sheep, but then they were not given to them, so that they
would devour Daniel. {14:32} Now there was in Judea a
prophet called Habakkuk, and he had cooked a small meal
and had broken bread in a bowl, and he was going into the
field, to bring it to the harvesters. {14:33} And the angel of
the Lord said to Habakkuk, “Carry the meal that you have
into Babylon, to Daniel, who is in the lions’ den.”
{14:34} And Habakkuk said, “Lord, I have not seen Babylon,
and I do not know the den.” {14:35} And the angel of the
Lord seized him by the top of his head, and carried him by
the hair of his head, and set him in Babylon, over the den, by
the force of his spirit. {14:36} And Habakkuk shouted, saying,
“Daniel, servant of God, take the dinner that God has sent
you.” {14:37} And Daniel said, “You have remembered me,
O God, and you have not abandoned those who love you.”
{14:38} And Daniel arose and ate. And then the angel of the
Lord immediately returned Habakkuk to his place.
{14:39} And so, on the seventh day, the king came to morn
Daniel. And he came to the den, and gazed in, and behold,
Daniel was sitting in the midst of the lions. {14:40} And the
king cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Great are you, O
Lord, the God of Daniel.” And he pulled him out of the
lions’ den. {14:41} Furthermore, those who had been the
cause of his downfall, he hurled into the den, and they were
devoured in a moment before him. {14:42} Then the king
said, “Let all the inhabitants of the whole earth fear the God
of Daniel. For he is the Savior, working signs and miracles on
earth, who has freed Daniel from the lions’ den.”


** The Prophecy of Hosea **


[Hosea 1] {1:1} The word of the Lord that came to Hosea,
the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and
Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the
son of Joash, king of Israel. {1:2} The beginning of the Lord’s
conversation with Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea: “Go,
take to yourself a wife of fornications, and make for yourself
sons of fornications, because, by fornicating, the land will
fornicate away from the Lord.” {1:3} And he went out and
took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived and
bore him a son. {1:4} And the Lord said to him: “Call his
name Jezreel because, after a little while, I will visit the blood
of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will put the kingdom
of the house of Israel to rest. {1:5} And in that day, I will
crush the stronghold of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”
{1:6} And after a while, she conceived and bore a daughter.
And he said to him: “Call her name, Without Mercy, for I
will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will
utterly forget them. {1:7} Yet I will have mercy on the house
of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. And I
will not save them by bow and sword and battle and horses
and horsemen.” {1:8} And she weaned her, who was called
Without Mercy. And she conceived and bore a son.
{1:9} And he said: “Call his name, Not My People, for you
are not my people, and I will not be yours. {1:10} And the
number of the sons of Israel will be like the sand of the sea,
which is without measure and cannot be numbered. And in
the place where it will be said to them, ‘You are not my
people,’ this will happen: it will be said to them, ‘You are the
sons of the living God.’ {1:11} And the sons of Judah, and
the sons of Israel, will be gathered together. And they will
place over themselves one head, and they will rise up from
the earth, for great is the day of Jezreel.”


[Hosea 2] {2:1} “Say to your brothers, ‘You are my people,’
and to your sister, ‘You have obtained mercy.’ {2:2} Judge
your mother, judge: for she is not my wife, and I am not her
husband. Let her remove her fornications from before her
face and her adulteries from between her breasts.
{2:3} Otherwise, I may expose her nakedness and set her as
on the day of her birth, and I may establish her as a
wilderness and set her as an impassable land, and I may
execute her with thirst. {2:4} And I will not have mercy on
her sons, for they are the sons of fornications. {2:5} For their
mother has been fornicating; she who conceived them has
been brought to ruin. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax,
my oil and my drink.’ {2:6} Because of this, behold, I will
fence in your way with thorns, and I will surround it with a
wall, and she will not find her paths. {2:7} And she will
pursue her lovers, but she will not obtain them, and she will
seek them, but she will not find them, and she will say, ‘I will
go and return to my first husband, because it was to some
extent better for me then, than it is now.’ {2:8} And she did
not know that I gave her grain and wine and oil, and that I
increased her silver and gold, which they made into Baal.
{2:9} For this reason, I will turn back, and I will take away
my grain in its time and my wine in its time, and I will set
free my wool and my flax, which had covered her disgrace.
{2:10} And now, I will reveal her foolishness by the eyes of
her lovers, and no man will rescue her from my hand.
{2:11} And I will cause all her joy to cease: her solemnities,
her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her feast dates.
{2:12} And I will corrupt her vines and her fig trees, about
which she said, ‘These rewards, they are mine, my lovers
have given them to me.’ And I will place her in a narrow
forest, and the beasts of the field will devour her. {2:13} And
I will inflict on her the days of the Baals, for whom she
burned incense, and ornamented herself with earrings and
necklace, and went after her lovers, and forgot about me,”
says the Lord. {2:14} “Because of this, behold, I will attract
her, and I will lead her into the wilderness, and I will speak to
her heart. {2:15} And I will give to her, from the same place,
her vinedressers, and the valley of Achor as a passage of hope.
And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, and as in
the days of her ascension from the land of Egypt. {2:16} And
it will be in that day,” says the Lord, “that she will call me,
‘My Husband,’ and she will no longer call me, ‘My Baal.’
{2:17} And I will remove the names of the Baals from her
mouth, and she will no longer remember their name.
{2:18} And in that day, I will strike a deal with them, with
the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with
the creatures of the earth. And I will crush the bow and the
sword, and I will wipe away war from the earth. And I will
let them sleep securely. {2:19} And I will betroth you to me
forever, and I will betroth you to me in justice and judgment,
and in mercy and compassion. {2:20} And I will wed you to
me in faith, and you will know that I am the Lord.
{2:21} And this will happen in that day: I will listen closely,”
says the Lord. “I will hear the heavens, and they will hear the
earth. {2:22} And the land will pay attention to the grain,
and the wine, and the oil; and these will hear Jezreel.
{2:23} And I will plant her for me in the land, and I will have
mercy on her, though she had been called Without Mercy.
{2:24} And I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my
people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’ ”


[Hosea 3] {3:1} And the Lord said to me: “Go yet again, and
love a woman, beloved by a friend, yet an adulteress, for so
does the Lord love the sons of Israel, yet they look to strange
gods, and love the seeds of grapes.” {3:2} And I contracted
her to me for fifteen silver coins, and for a basket of barley,
and half a basket of barley. {3:3} And I said to her, “You will
wait for me for many days. You will not commit fornication,
and you will not be with a man. But I also will wait for you.”
{3:4} For the sons of Israel will sit for many days without a
king, and without a leader, and without sacrifice, and without
altar, and without priestly vestments, and without religious
symbols. {3:5} And after this, the sons of Israel will return,
and they will seek the Lord their God and David their king,
and they will be terrified by the Lord and by his goodness, in
the last days.


[Hosea 4] {4:1} Listen to the word of the Lord, sons of Israel,
for the Lord is judge of the inhabitants of the land. Yet there
is no truth, and there is no mercy, and there is no knowledge
of God, in the land. {4:2} Slander, and lying, and killing, and
theft, and adultery have overflowed, and bloodshed has
brought more bloodshed. {4:3} Because of this, the land will
mourn, and all who dwell in it will languish, with the beasts
of the field and the birds of the air. And the fishes of the sea
also will be gathered together. {4:4} So, truly, let each and
every one not judge, and let no man be accused, for your
people are just like those who speak against the priesthood.
{4:5} And you will be ruined on this day, and now the
prophet will be ruined with you. In the night, I have made
your mother to be silent. {4:6} My people have become silent
because they had no knowledge. Since you have rejected
knowledge, I will drive you away; you do not perform the
duties of the priesthood for me, and you have forgotten the
law of your God, and so I will forget your sons.
{4:7} According to the multitude of them, so have they
sinned against me. I will change their glory into disgrace.
{4:8} They will devour the sins of my people, and they will
lift up their souls towards their iniquity. {4:9} And, just as it
is with the people, so will it be with the priest; and I will visit
their ways upon them, and I will repay them for their
intentions. {4:10} And they will eat and not be satisfied.
They have been committing fornication, and they did not
cease. Since they have abandoned the Lord, they will not be
safeguarded. {4:11} Fornication, and wine, and drunkenness,
have taken away their heart. {4:12} My people have inquired
of their stave, and their staff has announced to them. For the
spirit of fornication has deceived them, and they have been
fornicating before their God. {4:13} They have offered
sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burnt incense on
the hills, under the oak, and the poplar, and the terebinth tree,
because its shadow was good; therefore, your daughters will
commit fornication and your spouses will be adulteresses.
{4:14} I will not send afflictions on your daughters, when
they will commit fornication, nor on your spouses, when they
will commit adultery, because you yourselves have associated
with harlots and have offered sacrifice with the effeminate,
and because the people who do not understand will be
defeated. {4:15} If you commit fornication, Israel, at least let
Judah not commit offenses; and do not be willing to enter
into Gilgal, nor to ascend to Bethaven, and neither should
you swear, “As the Lord lives.” {4:16} For Israel has gone
astray like a wanton heifer; so now the Lord will pasture
them like a young lamb in a wide expanse. {4:17} Ephraim
participates in idolatry, so send him away. {4:18} Their
feasting has been set aside; they have committed fornication
after fornication. They love to bring disgrace to their
protectors. {4:19} The wind has fastened them to its wings,
and they will be confounded because of their sacrifices.


[Hosea 5] {5:1} Hear this, priests, and pay attention, house
of Israel, and listen closely, house of the king. For there is a
judgment against you, because you have become a trap for
those you watched over, and a net stretched out over Tabor.
{5:2} And you have led astray victims into the depths,
though I am the teacher of them all. {5:3} I know Ephraim,
and Israel has not been hidden from me, yet now Ephraim
has committed fornication, and Israel has been contaminated.
{5:4} They will not set their thoughts to return to their God,
for the spirit of fornication is in the midst of them, and they
have not known the Lord. {5:5} And the arrogance of Israel
will answer to his face. And Israel and Ephraim will fall in
their iniquity, and even Judah will fall with them. {5:6} With
their flocks and their herds, they will go to seek the Lord, and
they will not find him. He has taken himself away from them.
{5:7} They have sinned against the Lord. For they have
conceived sons that are strangers. Now one month will
devour them with all their own. {5:8} Sound the bugle in
Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Shout in Bethaven, behind
your back, O Benjamin. {5:9} Ephraim will be in desolation
on the day of correction, for within the tribes of Israel, I have
revealed faith. {5:10} The leaders of Judah have become like
those who assume the end. I will pour my wrath over them
like water. {5:11} Ephraim has been enduring malicious
slander and broken judgment, because he began to go after
filth. {5:12} And I will be like a moth to Ephraim, and like
decay to the house of Judah. {5:13} And Ephraim saw his
own weakness, and Judah his chains. And Ephraim went to
Assur, and he sent to the Avenging king. But he will not be
able to heal you, nor is he able to release you from your
chains. {5:14} For I will be like a lioness to Ephraim, and like
a lion’s offspring to the house of Judah. I myself will seize
and go forth. I will take away, and there is no one who can
rescue. {5:15} I will go and return to my place, until you
shall grow faint and seek my face.


[Hosea 6] {6:1} In their tribulation, they will arise early to
me. Come, let us return to the Lord. {6:2} For he has seized
us, and he will heal us. He will strike, and he will cure us.
{6:3} He will revive us after two days; on the third day he
will raise us up, and we will live in his sight. We will
understand, and we will continue on, so that we may know
the Lord. His landing place has been prepared like the first
light of morning, and he will come to us like the early and the
late rains of the land. {6:4} What am I to do with you,
Ephraim? What am I to do with you, Judah? Your mercy is
like the morning mist, and like the dew passing away in the
morning. {6:5} Because of this, I have cut them with the
prophets, I have slain them with the words of my mouth; and
your opinions will depart like the light. {6:6} For I desired
mercy and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God more than
holocausts. {6:7} But they, like Adam, have transgressed the
covenant; in this, they have been dishonest with me.
{6:8} Gilead is a city that manufactures idols; it has been
tripped up by family relations. {6:9} And, like those who rob
with skillful words, they, by conspiring with the priests, bring
a death sentence to travelers on a pilgrimage from Shechem;
for they have been performing evil deeds. {6:10} I have seen
horrible things in the house of Israel; the fornications of
Ephraim are there. Israel has been contaminated. {6:11} But
you, Judah, set a harvest for yourself, while I reverse the
captivity of my people.


[Hosea 7] {7:1} When I was willing to heal Israel, the
iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the malice of
Samaria, for they had been manufacturing lies. And the thief
steals from inside, the robber from outside. {7:2} And, so that
they may not say in their hearts that I am the one who has
called to mind all of their wickedness: now their own
inventions have encircled them. These things have happened
in my presence. {7:3} The king has rejoiced at their
wickedness, and the leaders have rejoiced in their lies.
{7:4} They are all adulterers; like an oven heating up before
baking, the city rested a little before the leaven was mixed in,
until the whole was leavened. {7:5} On the day of our king,
the leaders began to be mad with wine; he extended his hand
with those who fabricate illusions. {7:6} For they have used
their heart like an oven, while he laid snares for them; he
slept through the night baking them, and by morning he
himself was heated like a burning fire. {7:7} They have all
become hot like an oven, and they have devoured their judges.
All their kings have fallen. There is no one who calls to me
among them. {7:8} Ephraim himself has been mingled with
the nations. Ephraim has become like bread, baked under
ashes, that has not been turned over. {7:9} Strangers have
devoured his strength, and he did not know it. And grey hairs
also have spread across him, and he is ignorant of it.
{7:10} And the pride of Israel will be brought low before his
face, for they have not returned to the Lord their God, nor
have they sought him in all of this. {7:11} And Ephraim has
become like a pigeon that has been led astray, not having a
heart; for they called upon Egypt, they went to the Assyrians.
{7:12} And when they will set out, I will spread my net over
them. I will pull them down like the birds of the sky; I will
cut them down in accordance with the reports of their
meetings. {7:13} Woe to them, for they have withdrawn from
me. They will waste away because they have been dishonest
with me. And I redeemed them, and they have spoken lies
against me. {7:14} And they have not cried out to me in their
heart, but they howled on their beds. They have obsessed
about wheat and wine; they have withdrawn from me.
{7:15} And I have educated them, and I have reinforced their
arms; and they have imagined evil against me. {7:16} They
returned so that they might be without a yoke. They have
become like a deceitful bow. Their leaders will fall by the
sword because of the madness of their words. This is their
derision in the land of Egypt.


[Hosea 8] {8:1} Let there be a trumpet in your throat, like an
eagle over the house of the Lord, on behalf of those who have
transgressed my covenant and violated my law. {8:2} They
will call on me: “O my God, we, Israel, know you.”
{8:3} Israel has thrown away goodness; the enemy will
overtake him. {8:4} They have reigned, but not by me.
Leaders have emerged, and I did not recognize them. Their
silver and their gold, they have made into idols for
themselves, so that they might cross over. {8:5} Your calf,
Samaria, has been rejected. My fury has been enraged against
them. How long will they be incapable of being cleansed?
{8:6} For it is itself also from Israel: a workman made it, and
it is not God. For the calf of Samaria will be used for the
webs of spiders. {8:7} For they will sow wind and reap a
whirlwind. It does not have a firm stalk; the bud will yield no
grain. But if it does yield, strangers will eat it. {8:8} Israel has
been devoured. Now, among the nations, it has become like
an unclean vessel. {8:9} For they have gone up to Assur, a
wild ass alone by himself. Ephraim has given presents to his
lovers. {8:10} But even when they will have brought the
nations together for the sake of money, now I will assemble
them. And they will rest for a little while from the burden of
the king and the leaders. {8:11} For Ephraim multiplied
altars to sin, and sanctuaries have become an offense for him.
{8:12} I will write to him my intricate laws, which have been
treated like strangers. {8:13} They will offer victims, they will
immolate flesh and will eat, and the Lord will not accept
them. For now he will remember their iniquity, and he will
repay their sins: they will be turned back to Egypt.
{8:14} And Israel has forgotten his Maker and has built
shrines. And Judah has increased its fortified cities. And I
will send fire upon his cities, and it will devour its structures.


[Hosea 9] {9:1} Do not choose to rejoice, Israel; do not
celebrate as the crowds do. For you have been committing
fornication against your God; you have loved a prize upon
every threshing floor of wheat. {9:2} The threshing floor and
the oil press will not feed them, and the wine will deceive
them. {9:3} They will not dwell in the land of the Lord.
Ephraim has been returned to Egypt, and he has eaten
polluted things among the Assyrians. {9:4} They will not
offer a libation of wine to the Lord, and they will not please
him. Their sacrifices will be like the bread of mourners. All
those who eat it will be defiled. For their bread is of their soul;
it will not enter into the house of the Lord. {9:5} What will
you do on the solemn day, on the day of the feast of the Lord?
{9:6} For, behold, they have been sent away by devastation.
Egypt will gather them together; Memphis will bury them.
Nettles will inherit their desired silver; the burr will be in their
tabernacles. {9:7} The days of visitation have arrived; the
days of retribution are here. Know this, Israel: that the
prophet was foolish, the spiritual man was mad, because of
the multitude of your iniquities and the great extent of your
foolishness. {9:8} The watcher of Ephraim was with my God.
The prophet has become a snare of ruin over all his ways;
insanity is in the house of his God. {9:9} They have sinned
profoundly, just as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember
their iniquity, and he will repay their sin. {9:10} I discovered
Israel like grapes in the desert. Like the first fruits of the fig
tree, I saw their fathers on the end of its branches. But they
went in to Baal-peor, and they have been estranged by
intermingling, and they have became abominable, just like
the things that they chose to love. {9:11} Ephraim has chased
away their glory like a bird: from birth, and from the womb,
and from conception. {9:12} And even if they should nurture
their sons, I will make them without children among men.
Yes, and woe to them, when I have withdrawn from them.
{9:13} Ephraim, as I see it, was a Tyre, founded by beauty.
And Ephraim will lead his sons to execution. {9:14} Give
them, O Lord. What will you give them? Give them a womb
without children, and dry breasts. {9:15} All their wickedness
is in Gilgal, for I held them there, in their hatred. Because of
the malice of their inventions, I will expel them from my
house. I will no longer say that I love them; all their leaders
have retreated. {9:16} Ephraim has been struck; their root
has been dried out: by no means will they yield fruit. And
even if they should conceive, I will execute the most beloved
of their womb. {9:17} My God will cast them aside because
they have not listened to him; and they will be wanderers
among the nations.


[Hosea 10] {10:1} Israel is a leafy vine, its fruit has been
suitable to him. According to the multitude of his fruit, he
has multiplied altars; according to the fertility of his land, he
has abounded with graven images. {10:2} His heart has been
divided, so now they will cross the divide. He will break apart
their images; he will plunder their sanctuaries. {10:3} For
now they will say, “We have no king. For we do not fear the
Lord. And what would a king do for us?” {10:4} You speak
words about a useless vision, and you will strike a deal. And
judgment will spring up like bitterness in the furrows of the
field. {10:5} The inhabitants of Samaria have worshipped the
calf of Bethaven. For the keepers of its temple, who had
exulted over it in its glory, and its people, have mourned over
it because it migrated from there. {10:6} If, indeed, it also has
been offered to Assur, as a gift for the Avenging king,
confusion will seize Ephraim, and Israel will be confounded
by his own will. {10:7} Samaria has required her king to pass
by, like foam on the face of the water. {10:8} And the heights
of the idol, the sin of Israel, will be utterly destroyed. The
burr and the thistle will rise up over their altars. And they will
say to the mountains, ‘Cover us,’ and to the hills, ‘Fall on us.’
{10:9} From the days of Gibeah, Israel has sinned; in this,
they remained firm. The battle in Gibeah against the sons of
iniquity will not take hold of them. {10:10} According to my
desire, I will correct them. And the peoples will be gathered
together over them, while they are chastised for their two
iniquities. {10:11} Ephraim is a heifer that has been taught to
love treading out the grain, but I passed over the beauty of
her neck. I will rise over Ephraim. Judah will plough; Jacob
will break up the soil for himself. {10:12} Sow for yourselves
in justice, and harvest in the mouth of mercy; renew your
fallow land. But the time when you will seek the Lord is the
time when he will arrive who will teach you justice.
{10:13} You have ploughed impiety; you have harvested
iniquity; you have eaten the fruit of lies. For you had
confidence in your ways, in the multitude of your good
fortunes. {10:14} A tumult will arise among your people.
And all your fortifications will be laid waste, just as Salman
was destroyed by the house of him that judged Baal on the
day of the battle, the mother having been crushed against her
sons. {10:15} So has Bethel done to you, before the face of
your malicious wickedness.


[Hosea 11] {11:1} Just as the morning passes, so has the king
of Israel passed by. For Israel was a child and I loved him;
and out of Egypt I called my son. {11:2} They called them,
and so they departed before their face. They offered victims
to the Baals, and they sacrificed to graven images.
{11:3} And I was like a foster father to Ephraim. I carried
them in my arms. And they did not know that I healed them.
{11:4} I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the
bands of love. And I will be to them like one who raises the
yoke over their jaws. And I will reach down to him so that he
may eat. {11:5} He will not return to the land of Egypt, but
Assur himself will be the king over him, because they were
not willing to be converted. {11:6} The sword has begun in
his cities, and it will consume his elect and devour their heads.
{11:7} And my people will long for my return. But a yoke
will be imposed on them together, which will not be taken
away. {11:8} How will I provide for you, Ephraim; how will
I protect you, Israel? How will I provide for you as for Adam;
will I set you like Zeboiim? My heart has changed within me;
together with my regret, it has been stirred up. {11:9} I will
not act on the fury of my wrath. I will not turn back to utterly
destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, the Divine in
your midst, and I will not advance upon the city.
{11:10} They will walk after the Lord; he will roar like a lion.
For he himself will roar, and the sons of the sea will dread.
{11:11} And they will fly like a bird out of Egypt, and like a
dove from the land of the Assyrians. And I will arrange them
in their own houses, says the Lord. {11:12} Ephraim has
besieged me with denials, and the house of Israel with deceit.
But Judah went down as a witness before God and the holy
ones of faith.


[Hosea 12] {12:1} Ephraim feeds on wind and follows
burning heat; all day long he multiplies lies and desolation.
And he has entered into a pact with the Assyrians, and he has
carried oil into Egypt. {12:2} Therefore, the judgment of the
Lord is with Judah and a visitation is upon Jacob. He will
repay him according to his ways and according to his
inventions. {12:3} In the womb, he supplanted his brother;
for in his good fortune, he had been guided by an angel.
{12:4} And he prevailed over an angel, for he had been
strengthened. He wept and petitioned him. He found him in
Bethel, and there he has spoken to us. {12:5} And the Lord
God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial. {12:6} And so, you
should convert to your God. Keep mercy and judgment, and
have hope in your God always. {12:7} Canaan, in his hand is
a deceitful balance, he has chosen false accusations.
{12:8} And Ephraim has said, “Nevertheless, I have become
rich; I have found an idol for myself. All of my labors will not
reveal to me the iniquity that I have committed.” {12:9} And
I, the Lord your God from the land of Egypt, nevertheless
will cause you to dwell in tabernacles, just as during the days
of the feast. {12:10} And I have spoken through the prophets,
and I have multiplied visions, and I have used parables
through the hands of the prophets. {12:11} If Gilead is an
idol, then they have been sacrificing cattle in Gilgal to no
purpose. For even their altars are like clutter on the soil of the
field. {12:12} Jacob fled into the region of Syria, and Israel
served like a wife, and was served by a wife. {12:13} Yet by a
prophet the Lord led Israel out of Egypt, and he was served
by a prophet. {12:14} Ephraim has provoked me to wrath
with his bitterness, and his blood will overcome him, and his
Lord will requite him for his shamefulness.


[Hosea 13] {13:1} While Ephraim was speaking, a horror
entered Israel, and he offended by Baal, and he died.
{13:2} And now they add that they will be sinning more.
And they have made themselves an image cast from their
silver, just like the image of idols; but the whole thing has
been made by craftsmen. These say to them, “Sacrifice men,
you who adore calves.” {13:3} For this reason, they will be
like the morning clouds, and like the morning dew that passes
away, just like the dust that is driven by a whirlwind away
from the threshing floor, and like the smoke from a chimney.
{13:4} But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt,
and you will not know God apart from me, and there is no
Savior except me. {13:5} I knew you in the desert, in the land
of solitude. {13:6} According to their pastures, they have
been filled up and have been satisfied. And they have lifted
up their heart, and they have forgotten me. {13:7} And I will
be to them like a lioness, like a leopard in the way of the
Assyrians. {13:8} I will run to meet them like a bear that has
been robbed of her young, and I will split open the middle of
their liver. And I will devour them there like a lion; the beast
of the field will tear them apart. {13:9} Perdition is yours,
Israel. Your help is only in me. {13:10} Where is your king?
Now, especially, let him save you in all your cities, and from
your judges, about whom you said, “Give me kings and
princes.” {13:11} I will give you a king in my wrath, and I
will take him away in my indignation. {13:12} The iniquity
of Ephraim has been bound; his sin has been engulfed.
{13:13} The pains of giving birth will reach him. He is an
unwise son. For now he will not remain firm during the
contrition of his sons. {13:14} I will free them from the hand
of death; from death I will redeem them. Death, I will be
your death. Hell, I will be your deadly wound. Consolation is
hidden from my eyes. {13:15} For he will make a division
among brothers. The Lord will bring a burning wind, rising
up from the desert, and it will dry up his streams, and it will
make his fountain desolate, and he will tear apart every
collection of desirable useful things.


[Hosea 14] {14:1} Let Samaria perish, because she has urged
her God towards bitterness. Let them perish by the sword, let
their little ones be thrown down, and let their pregnant
women be cut in two. {14:2} Israel, convert to the Lord your
God. For you have been ruined by your own iniquity.
{14:3} Take these words with you and return to the Lord.
And say to him, “Remove all iniquity and accept the good.
And we will repay the calves of our lips. {14:4} Assur will
not save us; we will not ride on horses. Neither will we say
any more, “The works of our hands are our gods,’ for those
that are in you will have mercy on the orphan.” {14:5} I will
heal their contrition; I will love them spontaneously. For my
wrath has been turned away from them. {14:6} I will be like
the dew; Israel will spring forth like the lily, and his root will
spread out like that of the cedars of Lebanon. {14:7} His
branches will advance, and his glory will be like the olive tree,
and his fragrance will be like that of the cedars of Lebanon.
{14:8} They will be converted, sitting in his shadow. They
will live on wheat, and they will grow like a vine. His
memorial will be like the wine of the cedars of Lebanon.
{14:9} Ephraim will say, “What are idols to me any more?” I
will listen to him, and I will set him straight like a healthy
spruce tree. Your fruit has been found by me. {14:10} Who is
wise and will understand this? Who has understanding and
will know these things? For the ways of the Lord are straight,
and the just will walk in them, but truly, the traitors will fall
in them.


** The Prophecy of Joel **


[Joel 1] {1:1} The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the
son of Pethuel. {1:2} Listen to this, elders, and pay close
attention, all inhabitants of the land. Did this ever happen in
your days or in the days of your fathers? {1:3} Talk this over
with your sons, and your sons with their sons, and their sons
with another generation. {1:4} The locust has eaten what the
caterpillar has left, and the beetle has eaten what the locust
has left, and the mildew has eaten what the beetle has left.
{1:5} Rouse yourselves, you drunkards, and weep and wail,
all you who delight in drinking wine; for it has been cut off
from your mouth. {1:6} For a nation has ascended over my
land: strong and without number. His teeth are like the teeth
of a lion, and his molars are like that of a lion’s young.
{1:7} He has put my vineyard into desolation, and he has
pulled off the bark of my fig tree. He has stripped it bare and
cast it away; its branches have become white. {1:8} Lament
like a betrothed virgin, wrapped in sackcloth at the loss of the
husband of her youth. {1:9} Sacrifice and libation have
perished from the house of the Lord; the priests who are
ministers of the Lord have mourned. {1:10} The region has
been depopulated, the soil has mourned. For the wheat has
been devastated, the wine has been disfigured, the oil has
languished. {1:11} The farmers have been confounded, the
vineyard workers have wailed over the crop and the barley,
because the harvest of the field has perished. {1:12} The
vineyard is in ruin, and the fig tree has languished. The
pomegranate tree, and the palm tree, and the fruit tree, and
all the trees of the field have withered. For joy has been
thrown into disorder before the sons of men. {1:13} Priests,
gird yourselves and lament. Ministers of the altars, wail.
Enter, ministers of my God, lie in sackcloth. For sacrifice and
libation have passed away from the house of your God.
{1:14} Sanctify a fast, call an assembly, gather the elders and
all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God.
And cry out to the Lord: {1:15} “Ah, ah, ah, the day!” For
the day of the Lord is near, and it will arrive, like a
devastation, before the powerful. {1:16} Has not your
nourishment perished from before your eyes, joy and
gladness from the house of our God? {1:17} The mules have
rotted in their own manure, the barns have been demolished,
the wine cellars have been destroyed, because the grain has
been ruined. {1:18} Why have the animals groaned, the herds
of cattle bellowed? because there is no pasture for them. Yes,
and even the flocks of sheep have been lost. {1:19} To you, O
Lord, I will cry out, because fire has devoured the beauty of
the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the
countryside. {1:20} Yes, and even the beasts of the field have
gazed up at you, like the dry ground thirsting for rain,
because the fountains of waters have dried up, and fire has
devoured the beauty of the wilderness.


[Joel 2] {2:1} Blow the trumpet in Zion, wail on my holy
mountain, let all the inhabitants of the land be stirred up. For
the day of the Lord is on its way; for it is near: {2:2} a day of
darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and whirlwinds. Like
the morning reaching over the mountains, they are a
numerous and strong people. Nothing like them has existed
since the beginning, nor will exist after them, even in the
years of generation upon generation. {2:3} Before their face is
a devouring fire, and behind them is a burning flame. The
land before them is like a lush garden, and behind them is a
desolate desert, and there is no one who can escape them.
{2:4} Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and
they will rush forward like horsemen. {2:5} Like the sound of
a four-horse chariot, they will leap over the tops of the
mountains. Like the sound of a burning flame devouring
stubble, they are as a strong people prepared for battle.
{2:6} Before their face, the people will be tortured; each one’s
appearance will retreat, as if into a jar. {2:7} They will rush
forward, as if they were strong. Like valiant warriors, they
will ascend the wall. The men will advance, each one on his
own way, and they will not turn aside from their path.
{2:8} And each one will not hem in his brother; every one
will walk in his own rough path. Moreover, they will drop
through the breach and not be harmed. {2:9} They will
advance into the city; they will rush through the wall. They
will scale the houses; they will go in through the windows,
like a thief. {2:10} Before their face, the earth has trembled,
the heavens have been moved. The sun and moon have been
obscured, and the stars have retracted their splendor.
{2:11} And the Lord has bestowed his voice before the face
of his army. For its military camps are very numerous; for
they are strong and they carry out his word. For the day of
the Lord is great and so very terrible, and who can withstand
it? {2:12} Now, therefore, the Lord says: “Be converted to
me with your whole heart, in fasting and weeping and
mourning.” {2:13} And rend your hearts, and not your
garments, and convert to the Lord your God. For he is
gracious and merciful, patient and full of compassion, and
steadfast despite ill will. {2:14} Who knows if he might
convert and forgive, and bequeath a blessing after him, a
sacrifice and a libation to the Lord your God? {2:15} Blow
the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call an assembly.
{2:16} Gather the people, sanctify the church, unite the
elders, gather together the little ones and infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom depart from his bed, and the bride from
her bridal chamber. {2:17} Between the vestibule and the
altar, the priests, the ministers of the Lord, will weep, and
they will say: “Spare, O Lord, spare your people. And do not
bequeath your inheritance into disgrace, so that the nations
would rule over them. Why should they say among the
peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ” {2:18} The Lord has been
zealous for his land, and he has spared his people.
{2:19} And the Lord responded, and he said to his people:
“Behold, I will send you grain and wine and oil, and you will
again be filled with them. And I will no longer give you
disgrace among the Gentiles. {2:20} And he who is from the
North, I will drive far from you. And I will expel him into an
impassable land, and into the desert, with his face opposite
the Eastern sea, and his furthest part towards the furthest sea.
And his stench will ascend, and his rottenness will ascend,
because he has acted arrogantly. {2:21} Earth, do not be
afraid. Exult and rejoice. For the Lord has great esteem for
what he has done. {2:22} Animals of the countryside, do not
be afraid. For the beauty of the wilderness has sprung forth.
For the tree has borne its fruit. The fig tree and the vine have
bestowed their virtue. {2:23} And you, sons of Zion, exult
and rejoice in the Lord your God. For he has given you a
teacher of justice, and he will make the early and the late
rains descend to you, just as it was in the beginning.
{2:24} And the threshing floors will be filled with grain, and
the presses will overflow with wine and oil. {2:25} And I will
repay you for the years which the locust, and the beetle, and
the mildew, and the caterpillar consumed: my great strength
which I sent upon you. {2:26} And you will eat with
enjoyment, and you will be satisfied, and you will praise the
name of the Lord your God, who has worked miracles with
you, and my people will not be confounded forever.
{2:27} And you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and I am the Lord your God, and there is no other, and my
people will not be confounded forever. {2:28} And after this,
it will happen that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and
your sons and your daughters will prophesy; your elders will
dream dreams, and your youths will see visions.
{2:29} Moreover, in those days I will pour out my spirit upon
my servants and handmaids. {2:30} And I will grant wonders
in the sky and on earth: blood and fire and the vapor of
smoke. {2:31} The sun will be turned into darkness, and the
moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord
shall arrive. {2:32} And it will happen that everyone who will
call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. For on Mount
Zion, and in Jerusalem, and in the remnant whom the Lord
will call, there will be salvation, just as the Lord has said.


[Joel 3] {3:1} For, behold, in those days and in that time,
when I will have converted the captivity of Judah and
Jerusalem, {3:2} I will gather all the Gentiles, and will lead
them into the valley of Jehoshaphat. And there I will dispute
with them over my people, and over Israel, my inheritance,
for they have scattered them among the nations and have
divided my land. {3:3} And they have cast lots over my
people; and the boy they have placed in the brothel, and the
girl they have sold for wine, so that they might drink.
{3:4} Truly, what is there between you and me, Tyre and
Sidon and all the distant places of the Philistines? How will
you take vengeance on me? And if you were to revenge
yourselves against me, I would deliver a repayment to you,
quickly and soon, upon your head. {3:5} For you have
carried away my silver and gold. And my desirable and most
beautiful, you have taken into your shrines. {3:6} And you,
sons of Judah and sons of Jerusalem, you have sold the sons
of the Greeks, so that you might drive them far from their
own territory. {3:7} Behold, I will raise them up from the
place into which you have sold them, and I will turn back
your retribution on your own head. {3:8} And I will sell your
sons and your daughters into the hands of the sons of Judah,
and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a distant nation, for
the Lord has spoken. {3:9} Proclaim this among the Gentiles:
“Sanctify a war, raise up the strong. Approach, ascend, all
men of war. {3:10} Cut your ploughs into swords and your
hoes into spears. Let the weak say, ‘For I am strong.’
{3:11} Break out and advance, all nations of the world, and
gather together. There the Lord will cause all your strong
ones to meet death.” {3:12} Let them arise and ascend to the
valley of Jehoshaphat. For there I will sit, so as to judge all
the nations of the world. {3:13} Send forth the sickles,
because the harvest has matured. Advance and descend, for
the press is full, the pressing room is overflowing. For their
malice has been increasing. {3:14} Nations, nations in the
valley of being cut to pieces: for the day of the Lord fittingly
takes place in the valley of being cut to pieces. {3:15} The sun
and the moon have been darkened, and the stars have
withdrawn their splendor. {3:16} And the Lord will roar
from Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem. And the
heavens and the earth will be moved. And the Lord will be
the hope of his people and the strength of the sons of Israel.
{3:17} And you will know that I am the Lord your God,
dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem will be
holy, and strangers will not cross through it anymore.
{3:18} And it will happen, in that day, that the mountains
will drip sweetness, and the hills will flow with milk. And the
waters will pass through all the rivers of Judah. And a
fountain will go forth from the house of the Lord, and it will
irrigate the desert of thorns. {3:19} Egypt will be in
desolation, and Edom will be a wilderness destroyed, because
of what they have unfairly done to the sons of Judah, and
because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
{3:20} And Judea will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem
for generation upon generation. {3:21} And I will cleanse
their blood, which I had not cleansed. And the Lord will
remain in Zion.


** The Prophecy of Amos **


[Amos 1] {1:1} The words of Amos, who was among the
shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw about Israel in the days of
Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of
Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
{1:2} And he said: The Lord will roar from Zion, and from
Jerusalem he will utter his voice. And the beautiful pastures
have mourned, and the top of Carmel has become dry.
{1:3} Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of
Damascus, and for four, I will not convert it, in so far as they
have threshed Gilead into iron wagons. {1:4} And I will send
fire onto the house of Hazael, and it will devour the houses of
Ben-hadad. {1:5} And I will shatter the crowbar of Damascus,
and I will destroy the inhabitants of the camp of the idol and
the holder of the scepter of the house of pleasure; and the
people of Syria will be transferred to Cyrene, says the Lord.
{1:6} Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Gaza,
and for four, I will not convert it, in so far as they have
carried out an excellent captivity, so as to enclose them in
Idumea. {1:7} And I will send a fire onto the wall of Gaza,
and it will devour its buildings. {1:8} And I will destroy the
inhabitant from Ashdod, and the holder of the scepter of
Ashkelon. And I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the
remainder of the Philistines will perish, says the Lord God.
{1:9} Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Tyre,
and for four, I will not convert it, in so far as they have
completed an excellent captivity in Idumea and have not
considered the bond among brothers. {1:10} And I will send
a fire onto the wall of Tyre, and it will devour its buildings.
{1:11} Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Edom,
and for four, I will not convert him, in so far as he has been
pursuing his brother with the sword and has outraged his
brother’s compassion, and he has gone beyond his anger and
has held onto his indignation until the end. {1:12} I will send
a fire onto Teman, and it will devour the buildings of Bozrah.
{1:13} Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of the
sons of Ammon, and for four, I will not convert him, in so far
as he has cut up the pregnant women of Gilead, so as to
expand his limits. {1:14} And I will ignite a fire on the wall
of Rabbah. And it will devour its buildings, with wailing on
the day of war, and with a whirlwind on the day of
commotion. {1:15} And Melchom will go into captivity, he
and his leaders together, says the Lord.


[Amos 2] {2:1} Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds
of Moab, and for four, I will not convert him, in so far as he
has burned the bones of the king of Idumea, all the way to
ashes. {2:2} And I will send a fire onto Moab, and it will
devour the buildings of Kerioth. And Moab will die with a
noise, with the blare of a trumpet. {2:3} And I will destroy
the judge in their midst, and I will execute all his leaders with
him, says the Lord. {2:4} Thus says the Lord: For three
wicked deeds of Judah, and for four, I will not convert him,
in so far as he has rejected the law of the Lord and has not
kept his commandments. For their idols, which their fathers
followed, have deceived them. {2:5} And I will send a fire
onto Judah, and it will devour the buildings of Jerusalem.
{2:6} Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Israel,
and for four, I will not convert him, in so far as he has sold
the just for silver and the poor for shoes. {2:7} They grind the
heads of the poor into the dust of the earth, and they divert
the way of the humble. And the son, as well as his father,
have gone to the same girl, so that they outrage my holy
name. {2:8} And they have lain on garments taken in pledge
next to every altar. And they drank the wine of the damned
in the house of their God. {2:9} Yet I exterminated the
Amorites before their face, whose height was like the height
of cedars, and whose strength was like the oak. And I crushed
his fruit from above and his roots below. {2:10} It is I who
caused you to ascend from the land of Egypt, and I led you in
the wilderness for forty years, so that you might possess the
land of the Amorite. {2:11} And I stirred up prophets from
your sons, and Nazirites from your young men. Is it not so,
sons of Israel, says the Lord? {2:12} Yet you would offer
wine to the Nazirites, and you would command the prophets,
saying: “Do not prophesy.” {2:13} Behold, I will creak under
you, just as a wagon creaks that is laden with hay.
{2:14} And flight will perish from the swift, and the strong
will not maintain his strength, and the healthy will not save
his life. {2:15} And one holding the bow will not stand firm,
and the swift of foot will not be saved, and the rider on the
horse will not save his life. {2:16} And the stout of heart
among the strong will flee away naked in that day, says the
Lord.


[Amos 3] {3:1} Listen to the word which the Lord has
spoken about you, sons of Israel, concerning the whole
family that I led out of the land of Egypt, saying: {3:2} I have
known only you in such a way, out of all the families of the
earth. For this reason, I will visit upon you all your iniquities.
{3:3} Will two walk together, unless they have agreed to do
so? {3:4} Will a lion roar in the forest, unless he has prey?
Will the lion’s young cry out from his den, unless he has
taken something? {3:5} Will a bird fall into a snare on the
ground, if there is no bird-catcher? Will a snare be taken
away from the ground, before it has caught something?
{3:6} Will the trumpet sound in a city, and the people not
become frightened? Will there be disaster in a city, which the
Lord has not done? {3:7} For the Lord God does not fulfill
his word, unless he has revealed his secret to his servants the
prophets. {3:8} The lion will roar, who will not fear? The
Lord God has spoken, who will not prophesy? {3:9} Let it be
heard in the buildings of Ashdod and in the buildings of the
land of Egypt, and say: Gather together across the mountains
of Samaria, and see the many absurdities in its midst, and
those who are suffering false accusations in its inner most
places. {3:10} And they do not know how to make it right,
says the Lord, storing up iniquity and plunder in their
buildings. {3:11} Because of these things, thus says the Lord
God: The land will be encircled and squeezed together. And
your strength will be drawn away from you, and your
buildings will be torn apart. {3:12} Thus says the Lord: Just
as if a shepherd had rescued two legs from the mouth of a
lion, or the tip of an ear, so also will the sons of Israel be
rescued, who dwell in the sick bed of Samaria, and in the cot
of Damascus. {3:13} Listen and give testimony in the house
of Jacob, says the Lord God of hosts: {3:14} that in the day,
when I will begin to visit the betrayals of Israel, I will visit
upon him and upon the altars of Bethel. And the horns of the
altars will be cut off and will fall to the ground. {3:15} And I
will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the
houses of ivory will perish, and many buildings will be torn
apart, says the Lord.


[Amos 4] {4:1} Listen to this word, you fat cows that are on
the mountain of Samaria, you who make false accusations
against the destitute and crush the poor, who say to your
nobles, “Bring, and we will drink.” {4:2} The Lord God has
sworn in his holiness: behold, the days that will overcome
you and that will impale you on poles, and that will place
what remains of you in boiling pots. {4:3} And you will go
out through the breaches, one over another, and you will be
cast out into Harmon, says the Lord. {4:4} Come to Bethel
and behave impiously, to Gilgal and increase betrayals. And
bring daybreak to your victims, your tithes in three days.
{4:5} And offer a sacrifice of praise with leaven. And call for
voluntary oblations, and announce it. For such is your will,
sons of Israel, says the Lord God. {4:6} Therefore, because of
this, I have given you dull teeth in every one of your cities,
and a lack of bread in all your places. And you have not been
turned back towards me, says the Lord. {4:7} Therefore, I
have withheld the rains from you, when there were still three
months left until the harvest. And I rained on one city, and I
did not rain on another city; one part was rained on, and the
part on which I did not rain, dried out. {4:8} And two and
three cities went to one city, in order to drink water, and they
were not satisfied. And you did not return to me, says the
Lord. {4:9} I struck you with a burning wind and with
yellowing; the caterpillar has consumed your many gardens
and your vineyards, your olive groves and your fig groves.
And you did not return to me, says the Lord. {4:10} I sent
death to you by way of Egypt; I struck your youths with the
sword, even bringing captivity to your horses. And I made
the stench of your camp ascend into your nostrils. And you
did not return to me, says the Lord. {4:11} I overturned you,
just as God overturned Sodom and Gomorrah, and you
became like an ember seized from the fire. And you did not
return to me, says the Lord. {4:12} Because of this, I will do
these things to you, Israel. But after I have done these things
to you, Israel, be prepared to meet your God. {4:13} For
behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind
and announces his speech to man, who makes the morning
mist and steps over the heights of the earth: the Lord God of
hosts is his name.


[Amos 5] {5:1} Listen to this word, which I lift over you in
lamentation. The house of Israel has fallen, and it will no
longer rise again. {5:2} The virgin of Israel has been thrown
onto her land, there is no one who can raise her up. {5:3} For
thus says the Lord God: In the city from which a thousand
departed, a hundred will remain, and in that from which a
hundred departed, ten will remain, in the house of Israel.
{5:4} For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek me
and you will live. {5:5} But do not be willing to seek Bethel,
and do not be willing to enter Gilgal, and you will not cross
into Beer-sheba. For Gilgal will be led into captivity, and
Bethel will be useless. {5:6} Seek the Lord and live.
Otherwise, the house of Joseph may be destroyed with fire,
and it will devour, and there will be no one who can
extinguish Bethel. {5:7} You turn judgment into wormwood,
and you abandon justice on earth. {5:8} The Maker of
Arcturus and Orion, who turns darkness into daybreak and
who changes day into night; who calls forth the waters of the
sea and who pours them out over the face of the earth: The
Lord is his name. {5:9} It is he who smiles destruction on the
healthy, and who brings pillaging upon the powerful.
{5:10} They held hatred for the one who corrects at the gate,
and they have abhorred the one who speaks perfectly.
{5:11} Therefore, on his behalf, because you have torn apart
the poor and stolen choice prey from him: you will build
houses with square stones and you will not dwell in them;
you will plant the most delightful vineyards, and you will not
drink wine from them. {5:12} For I know your many wicked
deeds and the strength of your sins, you enemies of the just,
accepting bribes, and depriving the poor at the gate.
{5:13} Therefore, the prudent will be silent at that time, for it
is an evil time. {5:14} Seek good and not evil, so that you
may live. And the Lord God of hosts will be with you, just as
you have asked. {5:15} Hate evil and love good, and
establish judgment at the gate. Perhaps then the Lord God of
hosts may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.
{5:16} Therefore, thus says the Lord God of hosts, the
Sovereign: In all the streets, there will be wailing. And in
every place where they are outdoors, they will say, “Woe,
woe!” And they will call the farmer to mourn, and those who
know mourning to lamentation. {5:17} And in all the
vineyards there will be wailing. For I will cross through your
midst, says the Lord. {5:18} Woe to those who desire the day
of the Lord. What is it to you? The day of the Lord is this:
darkness and not light. {5:19} It is as if a man flees from the
face of a lion, only to have a bear meet him; or, he enters a
house and leans with his hand against the wall, only to have
a snake bite him. {5:20} Will not the day of the Lord be
darkness and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?
{5:21} I hate and have rejected your feasts; and I will not
accept the odor from your gatherings. {5:22} For if you offer
me holocausts and your gifts, I will not receive them; and I
will not look upon the vows of your fatness. {5:23} Take
away from me the tumult of your songs, and I will not listen
to the canticles of your lyre. {5:24} And judgment will be
revealed like water, and justice like a mighty torrent.
{5:25} Was it you who offered victims and sacrifices to me in
the desert for forty years, house of Israel? {5:26}And you
carried a tabernacle for your Moloch and the image of your
idols: the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.
{5:27} And I will cause you to go into captivity across
Damascus, says the Lord. The God of hosts is his name.


[Amos 6] {6:1} Woe to you who have been wealthy in Zion,
and to you who have confidence in the mountain of Samaria:
aristocrats, heads of the people, who advance with a retinue
into the house of Israel. {6:2} Cross over to Calneh and see,
and go from there into Hamath the great, and descend into
Gath of the Philistines, and to the best kingdoms of these, if
their limits are wider than your limits. {6:3} You have been
set aside for the day of disaster, and you approach the throne
of iniquity. {6:4} You sleep on beds of ivory, and you are
lustful on your couches. You devour lambs from the flock
and calves from the midst of the herd. {6:5} You sing to the
sound of stringed instruments; they consider themselves to
have the musical abilities of David. {6:6} You drink wine in
bowls, and you anoint with the best ointments; and they
suffer nothing over the grief of Joseph. {6:7} Because of this,
now they will depart at the head of those who go into
captivity; and the faction of the lustful will be removed.
{6:8} The Lord God has sworn by his own soul, the Lord
God of hosts says: I detest the arrogance of Jacob, and I hate
his houses, and I will hand over the city with its inhabitants.
{6:9} For if there were ten men remaining in one house, even
they will die. {6:10} And his closest relative will steal him
away and will burn him, so that he may carry the bones out
of the house. And he will say to him that is in the inner most
rooms of the house, “Now is there any left that still belongs
to you?” {6:11} And he will answer, “It is finished.” And he
will say to him, “Be silent and do not call to mind the name
of the Lord.” {6:12} For behold, the Lord has commanded,
and he will strike the greater house with catastrophes, and the
lesser house with divisions. {6:13} Can horses gallop across
rocks, or is anyone able to plough with gazelles? For you
have turned judgment into bitterness and the fruit of justice
into wormwood. {6:14} You rejoice in emptiness. You say,
“Have we not, by our own strength, taken horns for
ourselves?” {6:15} For behold, house of Israel, I will raise up
a people over you, says the Lord God of hosts, and they will
crush you from the entrance of Hamath all the way to the
burning of the desert.


[Amos 7] {7:1} These things the Lord God has revealed to
me. And behold, the locust was formed at the beginning of
the germination during the latter rains, and behold, the latter
rains came after the thundering of the king. {7:2} And it
happened, when they had finally eaten all the grass in the
land, that I said, “Lord God, be gracious, I beg you. Who
will raise up Jacob, for he is little?” {7:3} The Lord has been
merciful about this. “It will not be,” said the Lord.
{7:4} These things the Lord God has revealed to me. And
behold, the Lord God called for judgment unto fire, and it
devoured the manifold abyss, and it consumed
simultaneously in every direction. {7:5} And I said, “Lord
God, cease, I beg you. Who will raise up Jacob, for he is
little?” {7:6} The Lord has been merciful about this. “And
even this will not be,” said the Lord God. {7:7} These things
the Lord revealed to me. And behold, the Lord was standing
near a plastered wall, and in his hand was a mason’s trowel.
{7:8} And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?”
And I said, “A mason’s trowel.” And the Lord said, “Behold,
I will place the trowel in the midst of my people Israel. I will
no longer plaster over them. {7:9} And the heights of the idol
will be demolished, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be
desolate. And I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam
with the sword.” {7:10} And Amaziah, the priest of Bethel,
sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying: “Amos has rebelled
against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not
able to withstand all his sermons. {7:11} For Amos says this:
‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will be taken
captive out of their own land.’ ” {7:12} And Amaziah said to
Amos, “You, seer, go out and flee into the land of Judah, and
eat bread there, and prophesy there. {7:13} And in Bethel, do
not prophesy any longer, because it is the king’s sanctuary,
and it is the house of the kingdom.” {7:14} And Amos
responded, and he said to Amasias, “I am not a prophet, and
I am not the son of a prophet, but I am a herdsman plucking
from wild fig trees. {7:15} And the Lord took me, when I
was following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go,
prophesy to my people Israel.’ ” {7:16} And now, hear the
word of the Lord: You say, “You will not prophesy about
Israel, and you will not rain your words upon the house of
the idol.” {7:17} Because of that, the Lord says this: “Your
wife will fornicate in the city, and your sons and your
daughters will fall by the sword, and your soil will be
measured with a string. And you will die on polluted land,
and Israel will be taken into captivity out of their land.”


[Amos 8] {8:1} These things the Lord has revealed to me.
And behold, a hook to draw down fruit. {8:2} And he said,
“What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A hook to draw
down fruit.” And the Lord said to me, “The end has come for
my people Israel. I will no longer pass through them.”
{8:3} And the hinges of the temple will creak in that day,
says the Lord God. Many will die. Silence will be thrown
away in all places. {8:4} Hear this, you who crush the poor
and who make those in need of land to do without.
{8:5} You say, “When will the first day of the month be over,
so we can sell our wares, and the sabbath, so we can open the
grain: in order that we may decrease the measure, and
increase the price, and substitute deceitful scales, {8:6} in
order that we may possess the destitute with money, and the
poor for a pair of shoes, and may sell even the refuse of the
grain?” {8:7} The Lord has sworn by the arrogance of Jacob:
I will not forget, even to the end, all their works. {8:8} Will
not the earth shudder over this, and all its inhabitants mourn,
and all rise up like a river, and be cast out, and flow away like
the river of Egypt? {8:9} And it will be in that day, says the
Lord God, that the sun will decline at midday, and I will
cause the earth to become dark on the day of light.
{8:10} And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all
your hymns into lamentation. And I will put sackcloth over
every one of your backs, and baldness on every head. And I
will begin it like the mourning for an only-begotten son, and
complete it like a bitter day. {8:11} Behold, the days pass,
says the Lord, and I will send a famine on the earth: not a
famine of bread, nor of thirst for water, but for hearing the
word of the Lord. {8:12} And they will move even from sea
to sea, and from the North all the way to the East. They will
wander around seeking the word of the Lord, and they will
not find it. {8:13} In that day, beautiful virgins, and young
men, will fail because of thirst. {8:14} They swear by the
offense of Samaria, and they say, “As your God lives, Dan,”
and “The way of Beer-sheba lives.” And they will fall, and
they will not rise up any more.


[Amos 9] {9:1} I saw the Lord standing over an altar, and he
said: “Strike the hinges, and let the lintels be shaken. For
there is avarice at the head of them all, and I will execute the
very last of them with the sword. There will be no escape for
them. They will flee, and he who flees from among them will
not be saved. {9:2} If they descend even to the underworld,
from there my hand will draw them out; and if they ascend
even to the sky, from there will I pull them down. {9:3} And
if they were hiding at the top of Carmel, when searching
there, I would steal them away, and if they conceal
themselves from my eyes in the depths of the sea, I will
command the serpent there and he will bite them. {9:4} And
if they go into captivity in the sight of their enemies, there I
will command the sword, and it will kill them. And I will set
my eyes over them for harm and not for good.” {9:5} And
the Lord God of hosts, he touches the earth and it will melt.
And all who dwell in it will mourn. And everyone will rise up
like a river, and will flow away like the river of Egypt.
{9:6} He establishes his ascension into heaven, and he has
founded his bundle on the earth. He calls the waters of the
ocean, and pours them over the face of the earth. The Lord is
his name. {9:7} Sons of Israel, are you not like the sons of the
Ethiopians to me, says the Lord? Did I not cause Israel to rise
up out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines out of
Cappadocia, and the Syrians out of Cyrene? {9:8} Behold,
the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinning kingdom, and I
will wipe it from the face of the earth. Though truly, when
destroying, I will not wipe away the house of Jacob, says the
Lord. {9:9} For behold, I will command, and I will sift the
house of Israel among all the nations, as wheat is sifted in a
sieve. And not even one small stone will fall to the ground.
{9:10} All the sinners of my people will die by the sword.
They say, “Disaster will not come near us, and it will not
overcome us.” {9:11}In that day, I will raise up the
tabernacle of David, which is fallen. And I will repair the
breaches in its walls, and I will restore that which collapsed.
And I will rebuild it, just as in the days of antiquity, {9:12} so
that they may possess the remnant of Idumea and all the
nations, for my name has been invoked over them, says the
Lord who does this. {9:13} Behold, the days pass, says the
Lord, and the plower will overtake the harvester, and the
treader of grapes will overtake the sower of seed. And the
mountains will drip sweetness, and every hill will be
cultivated. {9:14} And I will turn back the captivity of my
people Israel. And they will rebuild the deserted cities and
inhabit them. And they will plant vineyards and drink their
wine. And they will create gardens and eat their fruits.
{9:15} And I will plant them on their own soil. And I will no
longer root them out of their own land, which I have given
them, says the Lord your God.


** The Prophecy of Obadiah **


[Obadiah 1] {1:1} The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the
Lord God to Edom: We have heard a report from the Lord,
and he has sent an envoy to the nations: “Arise, and let us
together rise up in battle against him.” {1:2} Behold, I have
made you little among the nations. You are greatly
contemptible. {1:3} The arrogance of your heart has lifted
you up, living in the clefts of the rocks, exalting your throne.
You say in your heart, “Who will pull me down to the
ground?” {1:4} Though you have been lifted high like an
eagle, and though you have placed your nest among the stars,
from there I will pull you down, says the Lord. {1:5} If
thieves had approached you, if robbers by night, how would
you have remained unnoticed? Would they not have stolen
all that they wanted? If the grape-pickers had approached you,
would they not have left you at least a cluster? {1:6} In what
way have they been examining Esau? They investigated his
secrets. {1:7} They have sent you out all the way to the limit.
All the men of your alliance have deceived you. Your men of
peace have prevailed against you. Those who eat with you
will place snares under you. There is no foresight in him.
{1:8} Shall I not, in that day, says the Lord, wipe away
understanding from Idumea and foresight from the mount of
Esau? {1:9} And your strong from the Meridian will be afraid,
so that man may perish from the mount of Esau.
{1:10} Because of the execution, and because of the iniquity
against your brother Jacob, confusion will cover you, and
you will pass away into eternity. {1:11} In the day when you
stood against him, when strangers seized his army, and
foreigners entered into his gates, and they cast lots over
Jerusalem: you also were just like one of them. {1:12} But
you shall not show disdain for the day of your brother in the
day of his sojourn. And you shall not rejoice over the sons of
Judah in the day of their perdition. And you shall not
magnify your mouth in the day of anguish. {1:13} And
neither shall you enter into the gate of my people in the day
of their ruin. And neither shall you also show disdain for his
troubles in the day of his desolation. And you shall not send
out against his army in the day of his desolation.
{1:14} Neither shall you stand at the exits to execute those
who will flee. And you shall not enclose their remnant in the
day of tribulation. {1:15} For the day of the Lord is near,
over all nations. Just as you have done, so will it be done to
you. He will turn back your retribution on your own head.
{1:16} For in the manner that you drank on my holy
mountain, so shall all nations drink continually. And they
will drink, and they will absorb, and they will be as if they
were not. {1:17} And on mount Zion there will be salvation,
and it will be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess those
who had possessed them. {1:18} And the house of Jacob will
be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of
Esau stubble. And they will be set on fire among them, and
they will devour them. And there will be no remnant of the
house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken. {1:19} And those
who are towards the South, and who are in the camps of the
Philistines, will inherit the mount of Esau. And they will
possess the region of Ephraim, and the region of Samaria.
And Benjamin will possess Gilead. {1:20} And the exiles of
this army of the sons of Israel, all the places of the Canaanites
all the way to Sarepta, and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in
Bosphoro, will possess the cities of the South. {1:21} And the
saviors will ascend to mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau.
And the kingdom will be for the Lord.


** The Prophecy of Jonah **


[Jonah 1] {1:1} And the word of the Lord came to Jonah the
son of Amittai, saying: {1:2} Rise and go to Nineveh, the
great city, and preach in it. For its malice has ascended before
my eyes. {1:3} And Jonah rose in order to flee from the face
of the Lord to Tarshish. And he went down to Joppa and
found a ship bound for Tarshish. And he paid its fare, and he
went down into it, in order to go with them to Tarshish from
the face of the Lord. {1:4} But the Lord sent a great wind
into the sea. And a great tempest took place in the sea, and
the ship was in danger of being crushed. {1:5} And the
mariners were afraid, and the men cried out to their god. And
they threw the containers that were in the ship into the sea in
order to lighten it of them. And Jonah went down into the
interior of the ship, and he fell into a painful deep sleep.
{1:6} And the helmsman approached him, and he said to him,
“Why are you weighed down with sleep? Rise, call upon
your God, so perhaps God will be mindful of us and we
might not perish.” {1:7} And a man said to his shipmate,
“Come, and let us cast lots, so that we may know why this
disaster is upon us.” And they cast lots, and the lot fell upon
Jonah. {1:8} And they said to him: “Explain to us what is the
reason that this disaster is upon us. What is your work?
Which is your country? And where are you going? Or which
people are you from?” {1:9} And he said to them, “I am
Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven, who made the
sea and the dry land.” {1:10} And the men were greatly
afraid, and they said to him, “Why have you done this?” (For
the men knew that he was fleeing from the face of the Lord,
because he had told them.) {1:11} And they said to him,
“What are we to do with you, so that the sea will cease for
us?” For the sea flowed and swelled. {1:12} And he said to
them, “Take me, and cast me into the sea, and the sea will
cease for you. For I know that it is because of me that this
great tempest has come upon you.” {1:13} And the men were
rowing, so as to return to dry land, but they did not succeed.
For the sea flowed and swelled against them. {1:14} And
they cried out to the Lord, and they said, “We beseech you,
Lord, do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not
attribute to us innocent blood. For you, Lord, have done just
as it pleased you.” {1:15} And they took Jonah and cast him
into the sea. And the sea was stilled from its fury. {1:16} And
the men feared the Lord greatly, and they sacrificed victims
to the Lord, and they made vows.


[Jonah 2] {2:1} And the Lord prepared a great fish to
swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish for
three days and three nights. {2:2} And Jonah prayed to the
Lord, his God, from the belly of the fish. {2:3} And he said:
“I cried out to the Lord from my tribulation, and he heeded
me. From the belly of hell, I cried out, and you heeded my
voice. {2:4} And you have thrown me into the deep, in the
heart of the sea, and a flood has encircled me. All your
whirlpools and your waves have passed over me. {2:5} And I
said: I am expelled from the sight of your eyes. Yet, truly, I
will see your holy temple again. {2:6} The waters surrounded
me, even to the soul. The abyss has walled me in. The ocean
has covered my head. {2:7} I descended to the base of the
mountains. The bars of the earth have enclosed me forever.
And you will raise up my life from corruption, Lord, my God.
{2:8} When my soul was in anguish within me, I called to
mind the Lord, so that my prayer might come to you, to your
holy temple. {2:9} Those who in vain observe vanities,
abandon their own mercy. {2:10} But I, with a voice of praise,
will sacrifice to you. I will repay whatever I have vowed to
the Lord, because of my salvation.” {2:11} And the Lord
spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.


[Jonah 3] {3:1} And the word of the Lord came to Jonah a
second time, saying: {3:2} Rise, and go to Nineveh, the great
city. And preach in it the preaching that I say to you.
{3:3} And Jonah rose, and he went to Nineveh in accordance
with the word of the Lord. And Nineveh was a great city of
three days’ journey. {3:4} And Jonah began to enter into the
city one day’s journey. And he cried out and said, “Forty
days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed.” {3:5} And the
men of Nineveh believed in God. And they proclaimed a fast,
and they put on sackcloth, from the greatest all the way to the
least. {3:6} And word reached the king of Nineveh. And he
rose from his throne, and he threw off his robe from himself
and was clothed in sackcloth, and he sat in ashes. {3:7} And
he cried out and spoke: “In Nineveh, from the mouth of the
king and of his princes, let it be said: Men and beasts and
oxen and sheep may not taste anything. Neither shall they
feed or drink water. {3:8} And let men and beasts be covered
with sackcloth, and let them cry out to the Lord with strength,
and may man be converted from his evil way, and from the
iniquity that is in their hands. {3:9} Who knows if God may
turn and forgive, and may turn away from his furious wrath,
so that we might not perish?” {3:10} And God saw their
works, that they had been converted from their evil way. And
God took pity on them, concerning the harm that he had said
he would do to them, and he did not do it.


[Jonah 4] {4:1} And Jonah was afflicted with a great
affliction, and he was angry. {4:2} And he prayed to the Lord,
and he said, “I beg you, Lord, was this not my word, when I
was still in my own land? Because of this, I knew beforehand
to flee into Tarshish. For I know that you are a lenient and
merciful God, patient and great in compassion, and forgiving
despite ill will. {4:3} And now, Lord, I ask you to take my
life from me. For it is better for me to die than to live.”
{4:4} And the Lord said, “Do you really think you are right
to be angry?” {4:5} And Jonah went out of the city, and he
sat opposite the east of the city. And he made himself a
shelter there, and he was sitting under it in the shadow, until
he might see what would befall the city. {4:6} And the Lord
God prepared an ivy, and it ascended over the head of Jonah
so as to be a shadow over his head, and to protect him (for he
had labored hard). And Jonah rejoiced because of the ivy,
with great rejoicing. {4:7} And God prepared a worm, when
dawn approached on the next day, and it struck the ivy, and
it dried up. {4:8} And when the sun had risen, the Lord
ordered a hot and burning wind. And the sun beat down on
the head of Jonah, and he burned. And he petitioned for his
soul that he might die, and he said, “It is better for me to die
than to live.” {4:9} And the Lord said to Jonah, “Do you
really think that you are right to be angry because of the ivy?”
And he said, “I am right to be angry even unto death.”
{4:10} And the Lord said, “You grieve for the ivy, for which
you have not labored and which you did not cause to grow,
though it had been born during one night, and during one
night perished. {4:11} And shall I not spare Nineveh, the
great city, in which there are more than one hundred and
twenty thousand men, who do not know the difference
between their right and their left, and many beasts?”


** The Prophecy of Micah **


[Micah 1] {1:1} The word of the Lord that came to Micah
the Moreshethite, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah,
kings of Judah, which he saw about Samaria and Jerusalem.
{1:2} All peoples, listen. And may the earth and its fullness
pay attention. And may the Lord God be a witness to you,
the Lord from his holy temple. {1:3} For behold, the Lord
will go forth from his place. And he will descend, and he will
trample over the high places of the earth. {1:4} And the
mountains will be consumed under him, and the valleys will
be torn apart, like wax before the face of fire, and like waters
that rush swiftly downward. {1:5} All this is for the
wickedness of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the wickedness of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And
what is the loftiness of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? {1:6} And
I will place Samaria like a pile of stones in the field, when a
vineyard is planted. And I will pull down its stones into the
valley, and I will reveal her foundations. {1:7} And all her
graven images will be cut to pieces, and all her rewards will
be burned with fire, and I will place all her idols in perdition.
For they have been gathered together from the pay of a kept
woman, and even to the pay of a kept woman, they will
return. {1:8} I will lament and wail about this. I will go out
despoiled and naked. I will make a howl like the dragons,
and a mourning like the ostriches. {1:9} For her wound has
been in despair. For it has come even to Judah. It has
touched the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem. {1:10} Do
not be willing to announce it in Gath; may you not lament
with tears. In the house of Dust, besprinkle yourselves with
dust. {1:11} And cross over to your dwelling place, Beauty,
bewildered by disgrace. She did not depart, who dwells at the
place of departure. The House nearby, which remained firm
by herself, will recetve mourning from you. {1:12} For she
has been weakened in goodness, who dwells in bitterness. For
disaster has descended from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.
{1:13} A tumult of four-horse chariots has stupefied the
inhabitants of Lachish. The beginning has been sin for the
daughter of Zion, because in you have been found the evil
deeds of Israel. {1:14} Because of this, she will send
emissaries to the inheritance of Gath: the house of Lying in
order to deceive the kings of Israel. {1:15} Nevertheless, I
will lead an heir to you, who dwell in Mareshah: the glory of
Israel will reach all the way to Adullam. {1:16} Become bald
and shaved for your delicate sons. Increase your baldness like
the eagle. For they have been carried into captivity from you.


[Micah 2] {2:1} Woe to you who devise useless things and
who work evil in your beds. In the morning light, they
undertake it, because their hand is against God. {2:2} And
they have desired fields and have taken them by violence, and
they have stolen houses. And they have made false
accusations against a man and his house, a man and his
inheritance. {2:3} For this reason, thus says the Lord: Behold,
I devise an evil against this family, from which you will not
steal away your necks. And you will not walk in arrogance,
because this is a most wicked time. {2:4} In that day, a
parable will be taken up about you, and a song will be sung
with sweetness, saying: “We have been devastated by
depopulation.” The fate of my people has been altered. How
can he withdraw from me, when he might be turned back, he
who might tear apart our country? {2:5} Because of this,
there will be for you no casting of the cord of fate in the
assembly of the Lord. {2:6} Do not speak by saying, “It will
not drop on these ones; shame will not embrace them.”
{2:7} The house of Jacob says, “Has the Spirit of the Lord
been weakened, or are such things his thoughts?” Are not my
words good for him who walks uprightly? {2:8} But, to the
contrary, my people have risen up in opposition. You have
lifted the cover from the undergarment, and those who
passed by harmlessly, you have converted into war.
{2:9} You have evicted the women among my people from
their delicate houses. You have taken my praise forever from
their little ones. {2:10} Rise and depart, for there is no relief
for you here. Because of its uncleanness, it will be corrupted
with a most wicked decay. {2:11} I wish that I were not a
man who has breath, and that I rather spoke a lie. I will drop
it down to you in wine and in drunkenness. And it will be
this people on whom it will rain down. {2:12} I will gather
together in a congregation all of you, Jacob. I will lead
together as one, the remnant of Israel. I will set them together
like a flock in the fold, like a sheep in the midst of the sheep
pen. They will cause a tumult before the multitude of men.
{2:13} For he will ascend, opening the way before them.
They will separate, and they will cross the gate and enter
through it. And their king will pass by, before their very eyes,
and the Lord will be at their head.


[Micah 3] {3:1} And I said: Listen, leaders of Jacob and
chiefs of the house of Israel. Does it not belong to you to
know judgment, {3:2} you who hold hatred for good, and
love evil, who violently steal their skins from over them and
their flesh from over their bones? {3:3} They have devoured
the flesh of my people, and have stripped their skin from over
them, and they have shattered and chopped their bones, as if
for the kettle, and like flesh in the middle of the pot.
{3:4} Then they will cry out to the Lord, and he will not heed
them. And he will hide his face from them in that time, just
as they have acted wickedly with their inventions. {3:5} Thus
says the Lord about the prophets who seduce my people:
They bite with their teeth and preach peace, and if anyone
does not give something to their mouth, they sanctify a battle
against him. {3:6} Because of this, night will be yours for
vision, and darkness yours for divination, and the sun will
meet with death over the prophets, and the day will be
darkened over them. {3:7} And those who see visions will be
confounded, and the diviners will be confounded. And they
will all cover their faces, because there is no response from
God. {3:8} Nevertheless, truly I have been filled with the
strength of the Spirit of the Lord, with judgment and virtue,
in order to announce to Jacob his wickedness and to Israel
his sin. {3:9} Hear this, leaders of the house of Jacob and
judges of the house of Israel, you who abominate judgment
and who pervert all that is right. {3:10} You build up Zion
with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. {3:11} Her leaders
have judged for tributes, and her priests have taught for
payment, and her prophets divined for money. And they
leaned upon the Lord, saying: “Is not the Lord in our midst?
No disaster will overcome us.” {3:12} For this reason,
because of you, Zion will be plowed under like a field, and
Jerusalem will become like a pile of stones, and the mountain
of the temple like the high places of the forests.


[Micah 4] {4:1} And this shall be: In the last days, the
mountain of the house of the Lord will be prepared at the top
of the mountains and high above the hills. And the people
will flow to it. {4:2} And many nations will hurry, and will
say: “Come, let us ascend to the mountain of the Lord and to
the house of the God of Jacob. And he will teach us about his
ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the law will go
forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
{4:3} And he will judge among the many peoples, and he will
correct strong nations, even from afar. And they will cut up
their swords into plows, and their spears into hoes. Nation
will not take up the sword against nation, and they will no
longer learn to wage war. {4:4} And a man will sit under his
vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one to fear,
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. {4:5} For all
people will walk, each one in the name of his god. But we
will walk in the name of the Lord our God, forever and ever.
{4:6} In that day, says the Lord, I will gather together the
lame. And I will recover her whom I had rejected, and her
whom I had afflicted. {4:7} And I will place the lame within
the remnant, and she who had been in distress, within a
healthy people. And the Lord will reign over them on Mount
Zion, from the present time and even unto eternity.
{4:8} And you, cloudy tower of the flock of the daughter of
Zion, even to you it will come. And the first power will arrive,
the kingdom to the daughter of Jerusalem. {4:9} Now, why
have you come together in grief? Is there not a king in you, or
has your counselor gone away? For sorrow has overtaken
you, like the pain of giving birth. {4:10} Be grieved and
overwhelmed, daughter of Zion, like a woman giving birth.
For now you must depart from the city and dwell in the
countryside, and you will approach even to Babylon. There
you will be delivered. There the Lord will redeem you from
the hand of your adversaries. {4:11} And now many peoples
have been gathered together against you, and they say, “Let
her be stoned and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.” {4:12} But
they have not known the thoughts of the Lord, and they have
not understood his counsel. For he has gathered them
together like hay on a threshing floor. {4:13} Rise and thresh,
daughter of Zion. For I will set your horn like iron, and I will
set your hoofs like brass. And you will shatter many peoples,
and you will immolate their spoils for the Lord, and their
strength for the Lord of the whole earth.


[Micah 5] {5:1} Now you will be devastated, you daughter of
a robber. They have placed a blockade against us, with a rod
they will strike the jaw of the judge of Israel. {5:2} And you,
Bethlehem Ephrata, are a little one among the thousands of
Judah. From you will go forth he who shall be the ruler in
Israel, and his landing place has been set from the beginning,
from the days of eternity. {5:3} Because of this, he will
provide for them, even until the time in which she who bears
him gives birth. And the remnant of his brothers will be
converted to the sons of Israel. {5:4} And he will stand firm
and feed on the strength of the Lord, according to the sublime
name of the Lord his God. And they will be converted, for
now he will be magnified, even to the ends of the earth.
{5:5} And this man will be our peace, when the Assyrian will
come into our land, and when he will trample on our houses;
and we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight
principal men. {5:6} And they will graze on the land of Assur
with the sword, and the land of Nimrod with its spears; and
he will free us from Assur, when he will come into our land,
and when he will trample our borders. {5:7} And there will
be a remnant of Jacob in the midst of many peoples, like a
dew from the Lord and like drops upon the grass, which
awaits no man and does not stand before the sons of men.
{5:8} And there will be a remnant of Jacob within the
Gentiles, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the
beasts of the forests, and like a young lion among the flocks
of sheep, who, when he will pass through and trample down
and seize, there is none who can rescue. {5:9} Your hand will
be exalted over your enemies, and all your adversaries will
pass away. {5:10} And it will be in that day, says the Lord: I
will take away your horses from your midst, and I will utterly
ruin your four-horse chariots. {5:11} And I will destroy the
cities of your land, and I will pull down all your fortifications,
and I will take away evil-doing from your hand, and there
will be no divinations among you. {5:12} And I will cause
your graven images to perish, and your statues, from your
midst. And you will no longer adore the works of your hands.
{5:13} And I will root out your sacred groves from your
midst, and I will crush your cities. {5:14} And I will exact
vengeance, in fury and in indignation, among all the nations
which have not listened.


[Micah 6] {6:1} Listen to what the Lord says: Rise, contend
in judgment against the mountains, and let the hills hear your
voice. {6:2} Let the mountains listen to the judgment of the
Lord, and the strong foundations of the earth. For the
judgment of the Lord is with his people, and he will enter
into judgment with Israel. {6:3} My people, what have I done
to you, or how have I assailed you? Respond to me.
{6:4} For I led you out of the land of Egypt, and I freed you
from the house of servitude, and I sent before your face
Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam. {6:5} My people, remember,
I ask you, what Balak the king of Moab planned, and how
Balaam the son of Beor responded to him, from Shittim even
to Gilgal, so that you may know the justice of the Lord.
{6:6} What worthy thing might I offer to the Lord, as I bend
the knee before God on high? How could I offer holocausts to
him, and one year-old calves? {6:7} Would the Lord be
pleased with thousands of rams, or with many thousands of
fat he-goats? How could I give up my firstborn because of my
evil deed, the fruit of my womb because of the sin of my soul?
{6:8} I will reveal to you, O man, what is good, and what the
Lord requires from you, and how to act with judgment, and
to love mercy, and to walk carefully with your God.
{6:9} The voice of the Lord cries out to the city, “Listen, you
tribes,” and who will confirm it? And salvation will be for
those who fear your name. {6:10} Nevertheless, there is a fire
in the house of the impious, the treasury of iniquity, and a
small measure, filled with wrath. {6:11} Shall I justify
unfaithful balances, and the deceitful weighing of a small bag?
{6:12} By this, her wealthy have been filled with iniquity,
and her inhabitants have spoken lies, and their tongue was
deceitful in their mouth. {6:13} And I, therefore, began to
strike you with perdition because of your sins. {6:14} You
will consume and not be satisfied, and your humiliation will
be in your midst. And you will take hold, and not save, and
those whom you will save, I will deliver to the sword.
{6:15} You will sow, and not reap. You will tread the olives,
and not be anointed with oil, and crush the grapes, and not
drink the wine. {6:16} For you have kept the precepts of
Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab. And you have
walked according their wills, so that I should give you over to
perdition and its hissing inhabitants, and you would carry the
disgrace of my people.


[Micah 7] {7:1} Woe to me, for I have become just like one
who gleans the clusters of the vintage in autumn. There is no
cluster of grapes to consume; my soul desired figs out of
season. {7:2} The holy ones pass away from the land, and
there is no one righteous among men. All wait in ambush for
blood; a man hunts his brother to death. {7:3} The evil of
their hands, they call good. The leader is demanding, and the
judge is yielding, and the great is speaking the desire of his
soul, and they have confused it. {7:4} Whoever is best among
them is like a thorny plant, and he who is righteous is like a
thorny hedge. The day of your inspection, your visitation,
arrives. Now will be their ruination. {7:5} Do not be willing
to believe a friend. And do not be willing to confide in a
commander. From her, who sleeps in your bosom, keep the
doors of your mouth closed. {7:6} For the son acts with
contempt for the father, and the daughter rises up against her
mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a
man’s enemies are those of his own household. {7:7} But I
will look towards the Lord. I will wait for God, my Savior.
My God will hear me. {7:8} You, my enemy, should not
rejoice over me because I have fallen. I will rise up, when I sit
in darkness. The Lord is my light. {7:9} I will carry the wrath
of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he may
judge my case and execute judgment for me. He will lead me
into the light. I will behold his justice. {7:10} And my enemy
will look, and she will be covered with confusion, she who
says to me, “Where is the Lord your God?” My eyes will
look upon her. Now she will be trampled under foot like the
mud of the streets. {7:11} The day that your walls will be
rebuilt, in that day the law will be far away. {7:12} In that
day also, they will come towards you even from Assur, and
even to the fortified cities, and from the fortified cities even to
the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to
mountain. {7:13} And the land will be in desolation, because
of its inhabitants and because of the fruit of their intentions.
{7:14} With your rod, pasture your people, the flock of your
inheritance, living alone in the narrow forest, in the midst of
Carmel. They will graze in Bashan and Gilead, as in the
ancient days. {7:15} As in the days of your departure from
the land of Egypt, I will reveal miracles to him. {7:16} The
nations will look, and they will be confounded at the strength
of them all. They will place hand over mouth; their ears will
be deaf. {7:17} They will lick the dust like serpents, and, like
the creeping things of the earth, they will be disturbed in their
houses. They will dread the Lord our God, and they will fear
you. {7:18} What God is like you, who takes away iniquity
and passes over the sin of the remnant of your inheritance?
No longer will he send forth his fury, because he is willing to
be merciful. {7:19} He will turn back and have mercy on us.
He will put away our iniquities, and he will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea. {7:20} You will give the truth to
Jacob, mercy to Abraham, which you swore to our fathers
from the ancient days.


** The Prophecy of Nahum **


[Nahum 1] {1:1} The burden of Nineveh. The book of the
vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. {1:2} God is a rival, and the
Lord is avenging. The Lord is avenging, and one who applies
wrath. The Lord is avenging with his enemies, and he
becomes angry with his adversaries. {1:3} The Lord is patient
and great in strength, and those who are not clean, he makes
innocent. The Lord is in a tempest, and his way is a
whirlwind, and the clouds are dust at his feet. {1:4} He is the
one who rebukes the sea, and who dries it up, and who leads
all the rivers to the desert. Basan has been weakened, and
also Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon has languished.
{1:5} The mountains have trembled before him, and the hills
have become desolate, and the earth has quaked before his
face, both the world and all that dwells in it. {1:6} Who can
stand firm before the face of his indignation? And who can
continue against the fury of his wrath? His indignation has
broken out like a fire, and the rocks have been dissolved
before him. {1:7} The Lord is good, and a comforter in the
day of tribulation, and he knows those who hope in him.
{1:8} And in the flood that passes over, he brings to
consummation the end of his place. And darkness shall
pursue his adversaries. {1:9} What are you thinking up
against the Lord? He will accomplish the consummation.
There shall not rise up a double tribulation. {1:10} For just as
thorns entwine one another, so also, while they are feasting
and drinking together, they will be consumed like stubble that
is completely dry. {1:11} Out of you will go forth one who
thinks up evil against the Lord, dragging betrayals through
his mind. {1:12} Thus says the Lord: If they had been perfect,
and many of them so, yet still they would be pruned, and it
will cross through them. I have afflicted you, and I shall
afflict you no more. {1:13} And now I will shatter his rod
from your back, and I will break open your bonds.
{1:14} And the Lord will place a commandment over you;
nothing more from your name will be sown. From the house
of your God, I will order destroyed the graven image and the
molten image. I will prepare your grave, because you are not
honorable. {1:15} Behold, over the mountains, the feet of the
Evangelizer and the Announcer of peace. Judah, celebrate
your festivals and keep your vows. For Belial will never again
pass through you; he has completely passed away.


[Nahum 2] {2:1} He ascends, who would scatter before your
eyes, who would maintain the blockade. Contemplate the
way, fortify your back, reinforce virtue greatly. {2:2} For the
Lord has repaid the arrogance of Jacob, just like the
arrogance of Israel. For the despoilers have scattered them,
and they have corrupted their procreation. {2:3} The shield
of his strong ones is fire, the men of war are in scarlet. The
reins of the chariot are fiery in the day of his preparation, and
the drivers have been drugged. {2:4} They have become
confused on their journey. The four-horse chariots have
collided in the streets. Their appearance is like torches, like
lightning dashing around. {2:5} He will call to mind his
strong ones; they will destroy along their journey. They will
quickly ascend its walls, and a shelter will be prepared.
{2:6} The gates of the rivers have been opened, and the
temple has been pulled down to the ground. {2:7} And the
foot soldier has been led away captive, and her handmaids
were driven away, mourning like doves, murmuring in their
hearts. {2:8} And Nineveh, her waters are like a fish pond.
Yet truly, they have fled away: “Stand, stand!” But there is
no one who will turn back. {2:9} Despoil the silver, despoil
the gold. And there is no end to all the riches of desirable
equipment. {2:10} She has been scattered, and cut, and torn
apart. And the heart melts, and the knees buckle, and
weakness is in every temperament. And the faces of them all
are like a black kettle. {2:11} Where is the dwelling place of
the lions, and the feeding ground of the young lions, to which
the lion went, so as to open a way for the young lion, and so
that there would be none to make them afraid? {2:12} The
lion seized enough for his young, and killed enough for his
lionesses, and he filled his caves with prey, and his den with
spoils. {2:13} Behold, I will come to you, says the Lord of
hosts, and I will burn your chariots even to smoke, and the
sword will devour your young lions. And I will exterminate
your prey from the land, and the voice of your messengers
shall no longer be heard.


[Nahum 3] {3:1} Woe to the city of blood, filled with all
manner of lies and violence. Crime shall not depart from you:
{3:2} the voice of the whip, and the voice of the turning
wheels, and of the neighing horse, and the burning chariot,
and the horsemen who ride, {3:3} and of the flashing sword
and the shining spear, and of a multitude executed and a
grievous ruination. Neither is there an end to the dead bodies,
and they will fall down upon their dead bodies.
{3:4} Because of the multitude of fornications of the kept
woman, beautiful and pleasing and practicing evil deeds, who
sold nations by her fornications, and families by her evil
doing: {3:5} behold, I will come to you, says the Lord of
hosts, and I will reveal your shame to your face, and I will
show your nakedness to the Gentiles, and your disgrace to
kingdoms. {3:6} And I will cast abominations over you, and
I will afflict you with abuse, and I will make an example of
you. {3:7} And this shall be: everyone who sees you, will
recoil from you, and he will say: “Nineveh has been
devastated.” Who will shake his head over you? Where might
I seek consolation for you? {3:8} Are you better than the
populous Alexandria, which dwells along the rivers? Waters
encircle it: the sea, with its riches. The waters are its walls.
{3:9} Ethiopia and Egypt were its strength, and there is no
limit. Africa and Northern Africa have been your helpers.
{3:10} Nevertheless, she has been led away with the
transmigration into captivity. Her little ones have been
dashed in pieces at the top of every street, and they have cast
lots over her celebrities, and all her elite have been fastened
together in shackles. {3:11} Therefore, you also will become
inebriated, and you will be despised, and you will seek help
from the opposition. {3:12} All your fortresses will be like fig
trees with their green figs. If they are shaken violently, they
will fall into the mouth of the one who devours.
{3:13} Behold, women are at the center of your people. The
gates of your land will be opened wide for your enemies; fire
will devour your bars. {3:14} Draw in water because of the
blockade; build up your fortresses. Go into the clay and tread;
work it to make brick. {3:15} There, fire will devour you.
You will perish by the sword; it will devour you like the
beetle. Gather together like the beetle. Multiply like the locust.
{3:16} You have made more negotiations than there are stars
in the sky. The beetle has spread out and flown away.
{3:17} Your guardians are like locusts, and your little ones
are like locusts among locusts, which alight on hedges on a
cold day. The sun rose up, and they flew away, and there was
no way to know the place where they had been. {3:18} Your
shepherds have become drowsy, king Assur. Your princes
will be buried. Your people have remained hidden in the
mountains, and there is no one to gather them. {3:19} Your
destruction is not hidden; your wound is grievous. All who
have heard of your fame have clenched their hands over you,
because over whom has your wickedness not trampled
continually?


** The Prophecy of Habakkuk **


[Habakkuk 1] {1:1} The burden that Habakkuk the prophet
saw. {1:2} How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and you will
not heed? Shall I shout to you while suffering violence, and
you will not save? {1:3} Why have you revealed to me
iniquity and hardship, to see plunder and injustice opposite
me? And there has been judgment, but the opposition is more
powerful. {1:4} Because of this, the law has been torn apart,
and judgment does not persevere to its conclusion. For the
impious prevail against the just. Because of this, a perverse
judgment is issued. {1:5} Gaze among the nations, and see.
Admire, and be astounded. For a work has been done in your
days, which no one will believe when it is told. {1:6} For
behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift
people, marching across the width of the earth, to possess
tabernacles not their own. {1:7} It is dreadful and terrible.
From themselves, judgment and their burden will issue.
{1:8} Their horses are more nimble than leopards and swifter
than wolves in the evening; their horsemen will spread out.
And then their horsemen will approach from far away; they
will fly like the eagle, hurrying to devour. {1:9} They will all
approach towards the prey; their face is like a burning wind.
And they will gather captives together like sand. {1:10} And
concerning kings, he will triumph, and sovereign rulers will
be his laughingstock, and he will laugh over every fortress,
and he will transport a rampart and seize it. {1:11} Then his
spirit will be altered, and he will cross over and fall. Such is
his strength from his god. {1:12} Have you not existed from
the beginning, Lord my God, my holy one, and so we shall
not die? Lord, you have stationed him for judgment, and you
have establish that his strength will be swept away.
{1:13} Your eyes are pure, you do not behold evil, and you
cannot look towards iniquity. Why do you look upon the
agents of iniquity, and remain silent, while the impious is
devouring one who is more just than himself? {1:14} And
you will make men like the fish of the sea and like the
creeping things that have no ruler. {1:15} He lifted up
everything with his hook. He drew them in with his dragnet,
and gathered them into his netting. Over this, he will rejoice
and exult. {1:16} For this reason, he will offer victims to his
dragnet, and he will sacrifice to his netting. For through them,
his portion has been made fat, and his meals elite.
{1:17} Because of this, therefore, he expands his dragnet and
will not be lenient in continually putting to death the peoples.


[Habakkuk 2] {2:1} I will stand firm during my watch, and
fix my position over the fortification. And I will observe
carefully, to see what might be said to me and what I might
respond to my opponent. {2:2} And the Lord responded to
me and said: Write the vision and explain it on tablets, so
that he who reads it may run through it. {2:3} For as yet the
vision is far off, and it will appear in the end, and it will not
lie. If it expresses any delay, wait for it. For it is arriving and
it will arrive, and it will not be hindered. {2:4} Behold, he
who is unbelieving, his soul will not be right within himself;
but he who is just shall live in his faith. {2:5} And in the
manner that wine deceives the heavy drinker, so will the
arrogant man be deceived, and he will not be honored. He
has enlarged his life like hellfire, and himself like death, and
he is never fulfilled. And he will gather to himself all nations,
and he will amass for himself all peoples. {2:6} Shall not all
these take up a parable against him, and an enigmatic
utterance about him? And it will be said, “Woe to him who
increases what is not his own.” How long, then, will he lay
down dense clay against himself? {2:7} Shall they not
suddenly rise up, who would bite you, and be stirred up, who
would tear you, so that you will be a prey for them?
{2:8} Because you have despoiled many peoples, all those
who are left of the people shall despoil you, because of the
blood of men, and the iniquity of the earth, of the city and all
who dwell therein. {2:9} Woe to him who gathers together
an evil greed for his house, so that his nest may be exalted,
and thinking that he might free himself from the hand of evil.
{2:10} You have devised confusion for your house, you have
cut to pieces many peoples, and your soul has sinned.
{2:11} For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the wood
that is between the joints of the building will respond.
{2:12} Woe to him who builds a town with blood and
prepares a city by iniquity. {2:13} Are not these things before
the Lord of hosts? For the people will labor amid a great fire,
and the nations will labor in emptiness, and they will fail.
{2:14} For the earth shall be filled, that they might know the
glory of the Lord, like the waters spreading over the sea.
{2:15} Woe to anyone who gives a drink to a friend, releasing
a drug and inebriating, so as to look upon their nakedness.
{2:16} You are filled with disgrace in place of glory. So then,
drink and fall fast asleep, for the cup of the right hand of the
Lord will surround you, and a disgraceful vomit will cover
your glory. {2:17} For the iniquity of Lebanon will cover you,
and the devastation of animals which will deter them from
the blood of men, and the iniquity of the earth and the city,
and of all who dwell therein. {2:18} Of what benefit is the
graven image? For its maker has formed it, a molten and
imaginary deception. For its maker has hoped in a figment of
his own creation, so as to make a dumb likeness. {2:19} Woe
to him who says to wood, “Awaken,” to the silent stone,
“Arise.” Is it able to teach? Behold, it has been entirely
covered with gold and silver; and there is no spirit at all in its
inner workings. {2:20} But the Lord is in his holy temple.
May all the earth be silent before his face.


[Habakkuk 3] {3:1} A Prayer of Habakkuk the Prophet on
Behalf of Those Who Are Ignorant. {3:2} Lord, I heard what
has been said about you, and I was afraid. Lord, your work,
in the midst of years, revive it. In the midst of years, you will
make it known. When you have become angry, you will
remember mercy. {3:3} God will come from the south, and
the Holy One from mount Pharan. His glory has covered the
heavens, and the earth is full of his praise. {3:4} His
brightness shall be like the light; horns are in his hands. There,
his strength has been hidden. {3:5} Death will go forth before
his face. And the devil shall depart before his feet. {3:6} He
stood, and measured the earth. He looked, and dissolved the
Gentiles. And the mountains of ages past have been shattered.
The hills of the world became curved by the journeys of his
eternity. {3:7} I saw the tents of Ethiopia for their iniquity;
the tent-skins of the land of Midian will be thrown into
confusion. {3:8} Could you have been angry with the rivers,
Lord? Or was your fury within the rivers, or your indignation
in the sea? He will ascend upon your horses, and your four-
horse chariots are salvation. {3:9} Being stirred up, you will
take up your bow, the oaths you have spoken to the tribes.
You will split apart the Rivers of the earth. {3:10} They saw
you, and the mountains grieved. The great body of waters
crossed over. The abyss uttered its voice. The pinnacle lifted
up its hands. {3:11} The sun and the moon have stood firm
in their dwelling place; with the light of your arrows, they
shall go forth in the splendor of your flashing spear.
{3:12} With a roar, you will trample the earth. In your fury,
you will cause the nations to be stupefied. {3:13} You have
gone forth for the salvation of your people, for salvation with
your Christ. You struck the head of the house of the impious.
You have laid bare his foundation all the way to the neck.
{3:14} You have cursed his scepters, the head of his warriors,
those who approached like a whirlwind so as to scatter me.
Their exultation was like one who devours the poor in secret.
{3:15} You made a way in the sea for your horses, in the
mud of great waters. {3:16} I heard, and my stomach became
troubled. My lips trembled at the voice. Let decay enter into
my bones and gush forth from within me. Then I may rest in
the day of tribulation, so that I may ascend to our people
well-prepared. {3:17} For the fig tree will not flower, and
there will be no bud on the vines. The labor of the olive tree
will be misleading, and the farmland will produce no food.
The sheep will be cut off from the sheepfold, and there will be
no herd at the manger. {3:18} But I will rejoice in the Lord;
and I will exult in God my Jesus. {3:19} The Lord God is my
strength. And he will set my feet like those of the stag. And
he, the victor, will lead me beyond my high places while
singing psalms.


** The Prophecy of Zephaniah **

[Zephaniah 1] {1:1} The word of the Lord that came to
Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of
Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son
of Amon, king of Judah. {1:2} While gathering, I will gather
together all things from the face of the earth, says the Lord.
{1:3} I will gather man and cattle; I will gather the flying
things of the air and the fish of the sea. And the impious will
be a catastrophe. And I will disperse men before the face of
the earth, says the Lord. {1:4} And I will extend my hand
over Judah and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I
will disperse from this place the remnant of Baal, and the
names of the administrators along with the priests, {1:5} and
those who adore the military campaign over the ceiling of the
sky, both those who adore and swear by the Lord, and those
who swear by Melchom, {1:6} both those who turn aside
from following after the Lord, and those who have not sought
the Lord, nor inquired about him. {1:7} Be silent before the
face of the Lord God. For the day of the Lord is near; for the
Lord has prepared a victim, he has sanctified those he has
called. {1:8} And this shall be: in the day of the victim of the
Lord, I will visit upon the leaders, and upon the sons of the
king, and upon all who have been clothed with strange
garments. {1:9} And I will visit upon all who enter arrogantly
over the threshold in that day, those who fill the house of the
Lord their God with iniquity and deceit. {1:10} And this
shall be in that day, says the Lord: the voice of an outcry
from the fish gate, and a howling from the Second, and a
great contrition from the hills. {1:11} Howl, inhabitants of
the Pillar. All the people of Canaan have fallen silent. All
were ruined who had been wrapped in silver. {1:12} And this
shall be in that time: I will scrutinize Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will visit upon the men who have become stuck in the
dregs, who say in their hearts, “The Lord will not do good,
and he will not do evil.” {1:13} And their strength will be in
plundering, and their houses in the desert. And they will
build houses and not dwell in them, and they will plant
vineyards and not drink their wine. {1:14} The great day of
the Lord is near; it is near and exceedingly swift. The voice of
the day of the Lord is bitter; the strong will be tested there.
{1:15} That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and
anguish, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and
gloom, a day of clouds and whirlwinds, {1:16} a day of the
trumpet and the trumpet blast over fortified cities and over
exalted ramparts. {1:17} And I will trouble men, and they
will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the
Lord. And their blood will be poured out like soil, and their
bodies like manure. {1:18} Neither their silver, nor their gold,
will be able to free them in the day of the wrath of the Lord.
All the land will be devoured in the fire of his zeal, for with
all speed, he will bring to consummation every inhabitant of
the land.


[Zephaniah 2] {2:1}Assemble, be gathered together, O
people not worthy to be loved. {2:2} Until the decree settles
accounts, the day like dust is passing away, before which the
wrath of the fury of the Lord may overcome you, before
which the day of the anger of the Lord may overcome you.
{2:3} Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth; you who have
been working are his judgment. Seek the just, seek the meek.
So then, in some way, you might be hidden in the day of the
fury of the Lord. {2:4} For Gaza will be destroyed, and
Ashkelon will be in the desert; they will expel Ashdod at
midday, and Ekron will be eradicated. {2:5} Woe to you who
inhabit the coast of the sea, you people of perdition. The
word of the Lord is over you, Canaan, the land of the
Philistines, and I will disperse you, so that not one inhabitant
will be left. {2:6} And the coastline of the sea will be a resting
place for shepherds and a fence line for cattle. {2:7} And it
will be the line of him who will remain from the house of
Judah. There they will pasture. In the houses of Ashkelon,
they will rest towards evening. For the Lord their God will
visit them, and he will turn away their captivity. {2:8} I have
heard about the disgrace of Moab and the blasphemies of the
sons of Ammon, by which they have defamed my people and
have been magnified beyond their borders. {2:9} Because of
this, as I live, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab
will be like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah,
like the dryness of thorns, and piles of salt, and a desert, all
the way to eternity. The remnant of my people will despoil
them, and the residue of my nation will possess them.
{2:10} This will come upon them for their arrogance, because
they have blasphemed and have been magnified over the
people of the Lord of hosts. {2:11} The Lord will be a horror
over them, and he will reduce all the gods of the earth. And
they will adore him, each man from his own place, all the
islands of the Gentiles. {2:12} Even so, you Ethiopians, you
will be executed by my sword. {2:13} And he will extend his
hand over the North, and he will destroy Assur. And he will
set the Beautiful in the wilderness, and in an impassable place,
and like a desert. {2:14} And flocks will lie down in its midst,
all the beasts of the Gentiles. And the pelican and the
hedgehog will stay at its threshold; the voice of the singing
bird will be at the window, with the crow above its threshold,
for I will diminish her strength. {2:15} This is the glorious
city, dwelling in trust, which said in her heart, “I am and
there is no one other than me.” How has she become a lair
for beasts in the desert? All who pass through her will hiss
and wag their hand.


[Zephaniah 3] {3:1} Woe to the provocatrix and the
redeemed city, the dove. {3:2} She has not heeded the voice,
nor has she accepted discipline. She has not trusted in the
Lord; she did not draw near to her God. {3:3} Her leaders
are in her midst like roaring lions. Her judges are evening
wolves; they leave nothing for the morning. {3:4} Her
prophets are crazed; men without faith. Her priests have
polluted what is holy; they have acted unjustly against the
law. {3:5} The just Lord is in their midst; he will not do
iniquity. In the morning, in the morning, he will bring his
judgment into the light, and it will not be hidden. But the
impious one has not known shame. {3:6} I have dispersed
the nations, and their towers have been torn down. I have
made their ways deserts, until there were none who passed
through. Their cities have become desolate, with no man
remaining, nor any inhabitant. {3:7} I said: Nevertheless, you
will fear me; you will accept discipline. And her dwelling
place will not perish, despite all the things about which I have
visited her. Yet truly, they arose with the dawn and corrupted
all their thoughts. {3:8} Because of this, expect me, says the
Lord, in the day of my resurrection in the future, for my
judgment is to gather together the Gentiles, and to collect the
kingdoms, and to pour out over them my indignation, all the
fury of my anger. For by the fire of my zeal, all the earth will
be devoured. {3:9} For then I will restore to the people a
chosen lip, so that all may invoke the name of the Lord and
may serve him with one shoulder. {3:10} From beyond the
rivers of Ethiopia, my supplicants, the sons of my diaspora,
will carry a gift to me. {3:11} In that day, you will not be
ashamed over all of your inventions, by which you have
transgressed against me. For then I will take away from your
midst your arrogant boasters, and you will no longer be
exalted on my holy mountain. {3:12} And I will bequeath
into your midst a poor and needy people, and they will hope
in the name of the Lord. {3:13} The remnant of Israel will
not do iniquity, nor speak lies, and a deceitful tongue will not
be found in their mouth. For they will pasture and will recline,
and there will be no one to strike them with terror.
{3:14} Give praise, daughter of Zion. Shout joyfully, Israel.
Rejoice and exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem.
{3:15} The Lord has taken away your judgment; he has
turned aside your foes. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your
midst; you shall no longer fear evil. {3:16} In that day, it will
be said to Jerusalem, “Do not be afraid,” and to Zion, “Do
not let your hands be weakened.” {3:17} The Lord your God
is the strength in your midst; he will save. He will rejoice over
you with gladness. In his love, he will be silent. He will exult
over you with praise. {3:18} The triflers who withdrew from
the law, I will gather together, because they were from you,
so that you may no longer suffer disgrace over them.
{3:19} Behold, I will execute all who have afflicted you in
that time, and I will save those who are lame, and I will
gather together her who had been cast out. And I will place
them in praise and in renown, in all the land where they had
been put to shame, {3:20} in that time, when I will lead to
you, and in the time when I will gather for you. For I will
deliver you into renown and into praise, among all the
peoples of the earth, when I will have converted your
captivity before your very eyes, says the Lord.


** The Prophecy of Haggai **


[Haggai 1] {1:1} In the second year of king Darius, in the
sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the
Lord came, by the hand of Haggai the prophet, to Zerubbabel
the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jesus the son
of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying: {1:2} Thus says the
Lord of hosts, saying: This people claims that the time has
not yet arrived for building the house of the Lord. {1:3} But
the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet,
saying: {1:4} Is it time for you to dwell in paneled houses,
while this house is deserted? {1:5} And now, thus says the
Lord of hosts: Set your hearts upon your ways. {1:6} You
sowed much and have brought in little. You consumed and
have not been satisfied. You drank and have not been
inebriated. You covered yourselves and have not been
warmed. And whoever gathered wages, has put them in a bag
with holes. {1:7} Thus says the Lord of hosts: Set your hearts
upon your ways. {1:8} Ascend to the mountain, bring wood
and build the house, and it shall be acceptable to me, and I
shall be glorified, says the Lord. {1:9} You have looked for
more, and behold, it became less, and you brought it home,
and I blew it away. What is the cause of this, says the Lord of
hosts? It is because my house is desolate, yet you have
hurried, each one to his own house. {1:10} Because of this,
the heavens over you have been prohibited from giving dew,
and the earth has been prohibited from giving her sprouts.
{1:11} And I called a drought over the land, and over the
mountains, and over the wheat, and over the wine, and over
the oil, and whatever the soil would bring forth, and over
men, and over beasts of burden, and over all the labor of
hands. {1:12} And Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jesus
the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all the remnant of
the people heeded the voice of the Lord their God, and the
words of Haggai the prophet, just as the Lord their God sent
him to them. And the people were fearful before the face of
the Lord. {1:13} And Haggai, a messenger of the Lord
among messengers of the Lord, spoke to the people, saying:
the Lord says, “I am with you.” {1:14} And the Lord stirred
the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of
Judah, and the spirit of Jesus the son of Jehozadak, the high
priest, and the spirit of the remainder of all the people. And
they entered and performed work in the house of the Lord of
hosts their God,


[Haggai 2] {2:1} on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in
the sixth month, in the second year of king Darius. {2:2} And
in the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the
word of the Lord came, by the hand of Haggai the prophet,
saying: {2:3} Speak to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, the
governor of Judah, and to Jesus the son of Jehozadak, the
high priest, and to the remainder of the people, saying:
{2:4} Who is left among you, who saw this house in its first
glory? And how do you see it now? Is it not, in comparison to
that, as nothing in your eyes? {2:5} And now be strengthened,
Zerubbabel, says the Lord. And be strengthened, Jesus the
son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And be strengthened, all
people of the land, says the Lord of hosts. For I am with you,
says the Lord of hosts. {2:6} And act according to the word
that I planted with you when you departed from the land of
Egypt. And my Spirit will be in your midst. Do not be afraid.
{2:7} For thus says the Lord of hosts: There is yet one brief
time, and I will move heaven and earth, and the sea and the
dry land. {2:8} And I will move all nations. And the Desired
of all nations will arrive. And I will fill this house with glory,
says the Lord of hosts. {2:9} Mine is the silver, and mine is
the gold, says the Lord of hosts. {2:10} Great shall be the
glory of this house, the last more than the first, says the Lord
of hosts. And in this place, I will bestow peace, says the Lord
of hosts. {2:11} On the twenty-fourth of the ninth month, in
the second year of king Darius, the word of the Lord came to
Haggai the prophet, saying: {2:12} Thus says the Lord of
hosts: the priests question the law, saying: {2:13} If a man
will have carried sanctified flesh in the pocket of his garment,
and the top of it touches his bread, or appetizer, or wine, or
oil, or any food, shall it be sanctified? But the priests
responded by saying, “No.” {2:14} And Haggai said, “If the
polluted in soul will have touched any of all these things,
shall it be contaminated?” And the priests responded and said,
“It shall be contaminated.” {2:15} And Haggai answered and
he said: Such is this people, and such is this nation before my
face, says the Lord, and such is all the work of their hands.
And so all that they have offered there has been
contaminated. {2:16} And now, consider in your hearts,
from this day and beyond, before stone may be placed upon
stone in the temple of the Lord: {2:17} when you approached
a pile of twenty measures, and they became ten, and you
entered to the press, to press out fifty bottles, and they
became twenty, {2:18} how I struck you with a burning wind,
and a mildew, and a hailstorm, all the works of your hand,
yet there was no one among you who returned to me, says
the Lord. {2:19} Set your hearts from this day and into the
future, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from
the day that the foundations of the temple of the Lord have
been uttered, and place it upon your heart. {2:20} Has the
seed been germinated yet? And has the vine, and the fig tree,
and the pomegranate, and the olive tree still not flourished?
From this day on, I will bless you. {2:21} And the word of
the Lord came a second time to Haggai, on the twenty-fourth
of the month, saying: {2:22} Speak to Zerubbabel the
governor of Judah, saying: I will move both heaven and earth.
{2:23} And I will overturn the throne of kingdoms, and I will
crush the strength of the kingdom of the Gentiles. And I will
overturn the four-horse chariot, and its rider; and the horses
and their riders shall be brought down, a man by the sword of
his brother. {2:24} In that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will
take you, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, my servant, says
the Lord, and will set you like a seal, for I have chosen you,
says the Lord of hosts.


** The Prophecy of Zechariah **


[Zechariah 1] {1:1} In the eighth month, in the second year
of king Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the
son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying:
{1:2} The Lord has become angry over the resentful anger of
your fathers. {1:3} And you shall say to them: Thus says the
Lord of hosts: Turn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will
turn to you, says the Lord of hosts. {1:4} Do not be like your
fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, saying: Thus
says the Lord of hosts: Turn from your evil ways and from
your wicked thoughts. But they did not heed, and neither did
they pay attention to me, says the Lord. {1:5} Your fathers,
where are they? And will the prophets live unceasingly?
{1:6} Yet truly my words and my lawfulness, which I
entrusted to my servants the prophets, were indeed
comprehended by your fathers, and so they were converted,
and they said: Just as the Lord of hosts decided to do to us,
according to our ways and according to our inventions, so
has he done to us. {1:7} On the twenty-fourth day of the
eleventh month, which is called Shevat, in the second year of
Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of
Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying: {1:8} I saw
by night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he
stood among the myrtle trees, which were in the chasm. And
behind him were horses: red, speckled, and white. {1:9} And
I said, “What are these, my lord?” And the angel, who was
speaking with me, said to me, “I will reveal to you what these
are.” {1:10} And the man that stood among the myrtle trees
answered and said, “These are they, whom the Lord has sent
in order to walk through the earth.” {1:11} And those who
stood among the myrtle trees answered the angel of the Lord,
and they said, “We have walked through the earth, and
behold, all the earth is inhabited and is at rest.” {1:12} And
the angel of the Lord answered and said, “Lord of hosts, how
long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities
of Judah, with which you have been angry? This is now the
seventieth year.” {1:13} And the Lord answered the angel,
who had been speaking with me, good words, consoling
words. {1:14} And the angel, who was speaking with me,
said to me: Cry out, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I
have been zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great
zeal. {1:15} And, with a great anger, I am angry with the
wealthy nations. Though I had been angry a little, truly they
advanced further in evil. {1:16} Because of this, thus says the
Lord: I will be turned back, towards Jerusalem, with mercies;
and my house will be built upon this, says the Lord of hosts.
And the building line will be extended over Jerusalem.
{1:17} Until then, cry out saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Until then, my cities will flow with good things, and, until
then, the Lord will comfort Zion, and, until then, he will
single out Jerusalem. {1:18} And I lifted up my eyes, and I
saw. And behold: four horns. {1:19} And I said to the angel,
who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he said
to me, “These are the horns that have winnowed Judah and
Israel and Jerusalem.” {1:20} And the Lord showed me four
workmen. {1:21} And I said, “What have these come to do?”
He spoke, saying, “These are the horns that have winnowed
Judah, through every single man, and none of them lifted up
his head. And these have come to frighten them away, so as
to cast down the horns of the Gentiles, which have lifted up a
horn over the land of Judah, so as to scatter it.”


[Zechariah 2] {2:1} And I lifted up my eyes, and I saw, and
behold, a man, and in his hand was a measuring line.
{2:2} And I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me,
“To measure Jerusalem, so that I may see how great its width
and how great its length may be.” {2:3} And behold, the
angel, who had been speaking with me, departed, and
another angel went out to meet him. {2:4} And he said to
him: Hurry, speak to this young man, saying: Jerusalem will
be inhabited without walls, because of the multitude of men
and beasts of burden in its midst. {2:5} And I will be to it,
says the Lord, a wall of fire all around. And in glory, I will be
in its midst. {2:6} O, O flee from the land of the North, says
the Lord, for I have scattered you into the four winds of
heaven, says the Lord. {2:7} O Zion, flee, you who dwell
with the daughter of Babylon. {2:8} For thus says the Lord of
hosts: After the glory, he has sent me to the Gentiles, which
have despoiled you. For he who touches you, touches the
pupil of my eye. {2:9} For behold, I lift up my hand over
them, and they will be a prey to those who had served them.
And you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me.
{2:10} Sing praise and rejoice, daughter of Zion. For behold,
I approach, and I will dwell in your midst, says the Lord.
{2:11} And many nations will be joined to the Lord in that
day, and they will be my people, and I will dwell in your
midst. And you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me
to you. {2:12} And the Lord will possess his portion, Judah,
in the sanctified land, and still he will single out Jerusalem.
{2:13} Let all flesh be silent before the face of the Lord: for he
has arisen from his holy dwelling place.


[Zechariah 3] {3:1} And the Lord revealed to me: Jesus the
high priest, standing in the sight of the angel of the Lord. And
Satan stood before his right hand, so as to be his adversary.
{3:2} And the Lord said to Satan, “May the Lord rebuke you,
Satan! And may the Lord, who chose Jerusalem, rebuke you!
Are you not a firebrand plucked from the fire?” {3:3} And
Jesus was clothed with filthy garments. And he stood before
the face of an angel. {3:4} He answered and spoke to those
who stood before him, saying, “Take away the filthy
garments from him.” And he said to him, “Behold, I have
taken away from you your iniquity, and I have clothed you
with a change of clothing.” {3:5} And he said, “Place a clean
diadem on his head.” And they placed a clean diadem on his
head, and they clothed him with garments. And the angel of
the Lord remained standing. {3:6} And the angel of the Lord
contested with Jesus, saying: {3:7} Thus says the Lord of
hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, you
likewise will judge my house and will keep my courts, and I
will give you some of those who now attend here to walk
with you. {3:8} Listen, Jesus the high priest, you and your
friends, who dwell before you, who have been portending to
men. For behold, I will lead my servant to the East. {3:9} For
behold, the stone that I have bestowed before Jesus. Upon
one stone, there are seven eyes. Behold, I will carve its
engraving, says the Lord of hosts. And I will take away the
iniquity of that land in one day. {3:10} On that day, says the
Lord of hosts, every man will call his friend from under the
vine and from under the fig tree.


[Zechariah 4] {4:1} And the angel who had been speaking
with me returned, and he awakened me, like a man who is
awakened from his sleep. {4:2} And he said to me, “What do
you see?” And I said, “I looked, and behold, a candlestick
entirely in gold, and its lamp was at its top, and seven oil
lamps of it were upon it, and there were seven funnels for the
oil lamps that were at its top. {4:3} And there were two olive
trees upon it: one to the right of the lamp, and one to its left.”
{4:4} And I answered and spoke to the angel who was
speaking with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?”
{4:5} And the angel who was speaking with me answered,
and he said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I
said, “No, my lord.” {4:6} And he answered and spoke to me,
saying: This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying:
Not by an army, nor by might, but in my spirit, says the Lord
of hosts. {4:7} What are you, great mountain, in the sight of
Zerubbabel? You are among the plains. And he will lead out
the primary stone, and he will give equal grace to its grace.
{4:8} And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
{4:9} The hand of Zerubbabel has founded this house, and
his hands will complete it. And you will know that the Lord
of hosts has sent me to you. {4:10} For who has despised the
little days? And they will rejoice and will see the silver and
lead stone in the hand of Zerubbabel. These are the seven
eyes of the Lord, which roam quickly through all the earth.
{4:11} And I responded and said to him, “What are these
two olive trees to the right of the candlestick, and to its left?”
{4:12} And I responded a second time and said to him,
“What are the two olive branches, which are next to the two
golden ridges, in which are the pouring spouts of gold?”
{4:13} And he spoke to me, saying, “Do you not know what
these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” {4:14} And he said,
“These are the two sons of oil, who attend before the
Sovereign of all the earth.”


[Zechariah 5] {5:1} And I turned and lifted up my eyes. And
I saw, and behold, a book flying. {5:2} And he said to me,
“What do you see?” And I said, “I see a book flying. Its
length is twenty cubits, and its width is ten cubits.” {5:3} And
he said to me, “This is the curse that goes forth over the face
of the whole earth. For every thief will be judged, just as it
has been written there, and everyone who swears by this, will
be judged in like manner.” {5:4} I will bring it forth, says the
Lord of hosts, and it will approach to the house of the thief,
and to the house of him who swears falsely by my name, and
it will remain in the midst of his house and will consume it,
with its wood and its stones. {5:5} And the angel had
departed, who was speaking with me. And he said to me,
“Lift up your eyes, and see what this is, that goes forth.”
{5:6} And I said, “What, then, is it?” And he said, “This is a
container going forth.” And he said, “This is their eye in all
the earth.” {5:7} And behold, a talent of lead was being
carried; and behold, one woman sitting in the middle of the
container. {5:8} And he said, “This is impiety.” And he cast
her into the middle of the container, and he sent the weight of
lead into its mouth. {5:9} And I lifted up my eyes and I saw.
And behold, two women were departing, and a spirit was in
their wings, and they had wings like the wings of a kite, and
they lifted up the container between earth and heaven.
{5:10} And I said to the angel who was speaking with me,
“Where are they taking the container?” {5:11} And he said to
me, “To a house that may be built for it in the land of Shinar,
and so that it may be established and set there upon its own
base.”


[Zechariah 6] {6:1} And I turned, and I lifted up my eyes
and I saw. And behold, four four-horse chariots went out
from the middle of two mountains. And the mountains were
mountains of brass. {6:2} In the first chariot were red horses,
and in the second chariot were black horses, {6:3} and in the
third chariot were white horses, and in the fourth chariot
were speckled horses, and they were strong. {6:4} And I
responded and said to the angel who was speaking with me,
“What are these, my lord?” {6:5} And the angel answered
and said to me, “These are the four winds of heaven, which
go forth to stand in the presence of the Sovereign of all the
earth.” {6:6} The one with the black horses was departing
into the land of the North, and the white went forth after
them, and the speckled went forth towards the land of the
South. {6:7} Yet those who were the most strong, went out,
and sought to go and to roam quickly through all the earth.
And he said, “Go, walk throughout the earth.” And they
walked throughout the earth. {6:8} And he called me and
spoke with me, saying, “Behold, those who go forth to the
land of the North, have quieted my spirit in the land of the
North.” {6:9} And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
{6:10} From those of the captivity, take from Heldai, and
from Tobyah, and from Jedaiah. You will approach in that
day, and you will go into the house of Josiah, the son of
Zephaniah, who came from Babylon. {6:11} And you will
take gold and silver; and you will make crowns, and you will
set them on the head of Jesus the son of Jehozadak, the high
priest. {6:12} And you will speak to him, saying: Thus says
the Lord of hosts, saying: Behold, a man; the Rising is his
name. And under him, he will rise up, and he will build a
temple to the Lord. {6:13} And he will raise a temple to the
Lord. And he will carry the glory, and he will sit and rule
upon his throne. And he will be a priest upon his throne, and
a counsel of peace will be between the two of them.
{6:14} And the crowns will be to Heldai, and Tobijah, and
Jedaiah, as well as to Hem, the son of Zephaniah, as a
memorial in the temple of the Lord. {6:15} And those who
are far away, will approach, and will build in the temple of
the Lord. And you will know that the Lord of hosts sent me
to you. Yet this shall be only if, when hearing, you will have
heeded the voice of the Lord your God.


[Zechariah 7] {7:1} And it happened, in the fourth year of
king Darius, that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, on
the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Kislev. {7:2} And
Sharezer and Regemmelech, and the men who were with
them, sent to the house of God, to entreat the face of the
Lord, {7:3} to speak to the priests of the house of the Lord of
hosts and to the prophets, saying: “Must there be weeping
with me in the fifth month, and must I sanctify myself, as I
have now done for many years?” {7:4} And the word of the
Lord of hosts came to me, saying: {7:5} Speak to all the
people of the land, and to the priests, saying: Although you
may have fasted and mourned in the fifth and the seventh
month for these seventy years, did you indeed keep a fast
unto me? {7:6} And when you did eat and drink, did you not
eat for yourselves, and drink only for yourselves? {7:7} Are
not these the words that the Lord has spoken by the hand of
the former prophets, when Jerusalem was still inhabited, so
that it would prosper, itself and the cities around it, and those
inhabitants towards the South and in the plains? {7:8} And
the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying: {7:9} Thus
says the Lord of hosts, saying: Judge with true judgment, and
act with mercy and compassion, each and every one with his
brother. {7:10} And do not find fault with the widow, and
the orphan, and the newcomer, and the poor. And let not a
man consider evil in his heart towards his brother. {7:11} But
they were not willing to pay attention, and they turned aside
their shoulder to depart, and they pressed upon their ears, so
that they would not hear. {7:12} And they set their heart like
the hardest stone, so that they would not hear the law and the
words that the Lord of hosts has sent with his Spirit by the
hand of the former prophets. And so a great indignation
came from Lord of hosts. {7:13} And it happened, just as he
had spoken, and they did not pay attention. So then, they
shall cry out, and I will not heed, says the Lord of hosts.
{7:14} And I dispersed them throughout all the kingdoms
that they did not know. And the land was left desolate behind
them, so that no one was passing through or returning. And
they made the desirable land into a deserted place.


[Zechariah 8] {8:1} And the word of the Lord of hosts came,
saying: {8:2} Thus says the Lord of hosts: I have been
zealous for Zion with a great zeal, and with a great
indignation have I been zealous for her. {8:3} Thus says the
Lord of hosts: I have been turned back towards Zion, and I
will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And Jerusalem will be
called: “The City of Truth,” and “The Mountain of the Lord
of Hosts, the Sanctified Mountain.” {8:4} Thus says the Lord
of hosts: Then elderly men and elderly women will dwell in
the streets of Jerusalem, and every man will be with his
walking stick in his hand, because of the multitude of days.
{8:5} And the streets of the city will be filled with toddlers
and children, playing in its streets. {8:6} Thus says the Lord
of hosts: If it seems difficult in the eyes of the remnant of this
people in those days, could it indeed be difficult in my eyes,
says the Lord of hosts? {8:7} Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Behold, I will save my people from the land of the East, and
from the land of the setting of the sun. {8:8} And I will lead
them, and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they
will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in
justice. {8:9} Thus says the Lord of hosts: Let your hands be
strengthened, you who, in those days, are listening to these
words by the mouth of the prophets, in the day that the house
of the Lord of hosts has been founded, so that the temple may
be built. {8:10} Indeed, before those days, there was no pay
for men, nor was there pay for beasts of burden, and neither
was there peace for those entering, nor for those exiting,
because of the tribulation. And I had dismissed all men, each
one against his neighbor. {8:11} But now, I will not act
towards the remnant of this people according to the former
days, says the Lord of hosts. {8:12} But there will be a seed
of peace: the vine will give her fruit, and the earth will give
her seedlings, and the heavens will give their dew. And I will
cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.
{8:13} And this shall be: just as you were a curse among the
Gentiles, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save
you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid. Let your
hands be strengthened. {8:14} For thus says the Lord of hosts:
Just as I intended to afflict you, when your fathers had
provoked me to wrath, says the Lord, {8:15} and I did not
show mercy, so have I turned back, thinking in these days to
do good to the house of Judah and to Jerusalem. Do not be
afraid. {8:16} Therefore, these are the words that you shall
do: Speak the truth, each one to his neighbor. With truth and
a judgment of peace, judge at your gates. {8:17} And let not
anyone think up evil against his friend in your hearts. And do
not choose to swear falsely. For all these are things that I hate,
says the Lord. {8:18} And the word of the Lord of hosts
came to me, saying: {8:19} Thus says the Lord of hosts: The
fast of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the
seventh, and the fast of the tenth will be for the house of
Judah in joy and gladness and with bright solemnities. So
then, love truth and peace. {8:20} Thus says the Lord of
hosts, then the people may arrive and dwell in many cities,
{8:21} and the inhabitants may hurry, one saying to another:
“Let us go and entreat the face of the Lord, and let us seek
the Lord of hosts. I will go also.” {8:22} And many peoples
and strong nations will approach, seeking the Lord of hosts in
Jerusalem, and to entreat the face of the Lord. {8:23} Thus
says the Lord of hosts: In those days, then, ten men from
every language of the Gentiles will grasp and cling to the hem
of one man of Judea, saying: “We will go with you. For we
have heard that God is with you.”


[Zechariah 9] {9:1} The burden of the word of the Lord in
the land of Hadrach and its respite in Damascus. For the eye
of man and of all the tribes of Israel is of the Lord.
{9:2} Hamath also is at its limits, and Tyre and Sidon. For, of
course, they have assumed themselves to be exceedingly wise.
{9:3} And Tyre has built herself a fortress, and she has piled
together silver, as if it were soil, and gold, as if it were the
mud of the streets. {9:4} Behold, the Lord will possess her,
and he will strike her strength in the sea, and she will be
devoured by fire. {9:5} Ashkelon will see and be afraid. Both
Gaza and he will be very sorrowful, as well as Ekron,
because her hope has been confounded. And the king will
pass away from Gaza, and Ashkelon will not be inhabited.
{9:6} And the divider will sit in Ashdod, and I will scatter the
arrogance of the Philistines. {9:7} And I will take away his
blood from his mouth, and his abominations from between
his teeth, and yet he will be left for our God, and he will be
like a governor in Judah, and Ekron will be like a Jebusite.
{9:8} And I will encircle my house with those who serve me
in war, going and returning, and the exactor will no longer
pass over them. For now I have seen with my eyes.
{9:9} Rejoice well, daughter of Zion, shout for joy, daughter
of Jerusalem. Behold, your King will come to you: the Just
One, the Savior. He is poor and riding upon a donkey, and
upon a colt, the son of a donkey. {9:10} And I will scatter the
four-horse chariot out of Ephraim and the horse from
Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be destroyed. And he will
speak peace to the Gentiles, and his power will be from sea to
sea, and from the rivers even to the end of the earth.
{9:11} You, likewise, by the blood of your testimony, have
sent forth your prisoners from the pit, in which there is no
water. {9:12} Turn back to the fortress, prisoners of hope.
Today, I also announce that I will repay you double,
{9:13} because I have stretched out Judah for myself, like a
bow; I have filled Ephraim. And I will raise up your sons,
Zion, above your sons, Greece. And I will set you as the
sword of the strength. {9:14} And the Lord God will be seen
over them, and his arrow will go forth like lightning. And the
Lord God will sound the trumpet, and he will go forth into
the whirlwind of the South. {9:15} The Lord of hosts will
protect them. And they will devour and subdue with the
stones of the sling. And, when drinking, they will become
inebriated, as if with wine, and they will be filled like bowls
and like the horns of the altar. {9:16} And in that day, the
Lord their God will save them as the flock of his people. For
holy stones will be lifted up over his land. {9:17} For what is
his goodness and what is his beauty, other than grain among
the elect and wine springing forth virgins?


[Zechariah 10] {10:1} Petition before the Lord for rain in the
latter time, and the Lord will produce snows and will give
showers of rain to them, to each blade in the field. {10:2} For
the images have been speaking what is useless, and the
diviners have seen a lie, and the dreamers have been speaking
false hope: they have comforted in vain. For this reason, they
have been led away like a flock; they will be afflicted, because
they have no shepherd. {10:3} My fury has been kindled over
the shepherds, and I will visit upon the he-goats. For the Lord
of hosts has visited his flock, the house of Judah, and he has
set them like the horse of his glory in the war. {10:4} From
him will go forth the angle, from him the wooden peg, from
him the bow of battle, from him every exactor at the same
time. {10:5} And they will be like the strong, trampling the
mud of the ways in battle. And they will fight, for the Lord is
with them. And the riders of the horses will be confounded.
{10:6} And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will
save the house of Joseph, and I will convert them, because I
will have mercy on them. And they will be as they were when
I had not cast them away. For I am the Lord their God, and I
will hear them. {10:7} And they will be like the strong of
Ephraim, and their heart will rejoice as if by wine, and their
sons will see and will rejoice, and their heart will exult in the
Lord. {10:8} I will whistle for them, and I will gather them
together, because I have redeemed them. And I will multiply
them, as they had been multiplied before. {10:9} And I will
sow them among the peoples, and from far away they will
remember me. And they will live with their sons, and they
will return. {10:10} And I will lead them back from the land
of Egypt, and I will gather them from among the Assyrians,
and I will lead them to the land of Gilead and Lebanon, and
no place will be left that has not been found by them.
{10:11} And he will pass over the narrow passage of the sea,
and he will strike the waves of the sea, and all the depths of
the river will be confounded, and the arrogance of Assyria
will be brought low, and the scepter of Egypt will withdraw.
{10:12} I will strengthen them in the Lord, and they will
walk in his name, says the Lord.


[Zechariah 11] {11:1} Open your gates, Lebanon, and let fire
consume your cedars. {11:2} Howl, you fir tree, for the cedar
has fallen, because the magnificent have been devastated.
Howl, you oaks of Bashan, because the secure forest passage
has been cut down. {11:3} The voice of the howling of the
shepherds: for their magnificence has been devastated. The
voice of the roaring of the lions: because the arrogance of the
Jordan has been devastated. {11:4} Thus says the Lord my
God: Feed the flock of the slaughter, {11:5} which those who
possessed them cut down, and they did not feel sorrow, and
they sold them, saying: “Blessed be the Lord; we have
become wealthy. Even their shepherds did not spare them.”
{11:6} And so, I will no longer spare the inhabitants upon the
earth, says the Lord. Behold, I will deliver men, each one
into the hand of his neighbor and into the hand of his king.
And they will cut down the land, and I will not rescue it from
their hand. {11:7} And I will pasture the flock of the
slaughter, because of this, O poor of the flock. And I took to
myself two staffs: the one I called Handsome, and the other I
called Rope, and I pastured the flock. {11:8} And I cut down
three shepherds in one month. And my soul became
contracted concerning them, just as their soul also varied
concerning me. {11:9} And I said: I will not pasture you.
Whatever dies, let it die. And whatever is cut down, let it be
cut down. And let the rest of them devour, each one the flesh
of his neighbor. {11:10} And I took my staff, which was
called Handsome, and I tore it apart, so as to invalidate my
pact, which I had struck with all of the people. {11:11} And it
became invalid in that day. And so they understood, just like
the poor of the flock who stay close to me, that this is the
word of the Lord. {11:12} And I said to them: If it is good in
your eyes, bring me my wages. And if not, remain still. And
they weighed for my wages thirty silver coins. {11:13} And
the Lord said to me: Cast it towards the statuary, the
handsome price at which I have been valued by them. And I
took the thirty silver coins, and I cast them into the house of
the Lord, towards the statuary. {11:14} And I cut short my
second staff, which was called Rope, so that I might dissolve
the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. {11:15} And the
Lord said to me: Still they are to you the equipment of a
foolish shepherd. {11:16} For behold, I will raise up a
shepherd in the land, who will not visit what is forsaken, nor
seek what is scattered, nor heal what is broken, nor nourish
what remains standing, and he will consume the flesh of the
fatted ones and break their hoofs. {11:17} O shepherd and
idol, abandoning the flock, with a sword upon his arm and
over his right eye: his arm will be withered by drought, and
his right eye will be obscured by darkness.


[Zechariah 12] {12:1} The burden of the word of the Lord
upon Israel. The Lord, stretching forth the heavens and
founding the earth and forming the spirit of man within him,
says: {12:2} Behold, I will set Jerusalem as a lintel of the
effects of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, yet
even Judah will be in the blockade against Jerusalem.
{12:3} And this shall be: In that day, I will set Jerusalem as a
burdensome stone to every people. All who will lift it up will
be torn to pieces. And all the kingdoms of the earth will be
gathered together against her. {12:4} In that day, says the
Lord, I will strike every horse with stupor and his rider with
madness. And I will open my eyes upon the house of Judah,
and I will strike every horse of the people with blindness.
{12:5} And the governors of Judah will say in their heart,
“Let the inhabitants of Jerusalem be strengthened for me, in
the Lord of hosts, their God.” {12:6} In that day, I will set
the governors of Judah like a flaming furnace among wood,
and like a flaming torch among hay. And they will devour, to
the right and to the left, all the surrounding peoples. And
Jerusalem will be inhabited again, in her own place, in
Jerusalem. {12:7} And the Lord will save the tabernacles of
Judah, just as in the beginning, so that the house of David
and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not glorify
themselves boastfully against Judah. {12:8} In that day, the
Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and even he
who will have offended from them, in that day, will be like
David, and the house of David will be like that of God, just
like an angel of the Lord in their sight. {12:9} And this shall
be in that day: I will seek to crush all the Gentiles that come
against Jerusalem. {12:10} And I will pour out upon the
house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the
spirit of grace and of prayers. And they will look upon me,
whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one
mourns for an only son, and they will feel sorrow over him,
as one would be sorrowful at the death of a firstborn.
{12:11} In that day, there will be a great lamentation in
Jerusalem, like the lamentation of Hadadrimmon in the plain
of Megiddo. {12:12} And the earth will mourn: families and
families separately; the families of the house of David
separately, and their women separately; {12:13} the families
of the house of Nathan separately, and their women
separately; the families of the house of Levi separately, and
their women separately; the families of Shimei separately,
and their women separately; {12:14} all the rest of the
families, families and families separately, and their women
separately.


[Zechariah 13] {13:1} In that day, there will be a fountain
open to the house of David and to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, for the washing of the transgressor and of the
defiled woman. {13:2} And this shall be in that day, says the
Lord of hosts: I will disperse the names of the idols from the
earth, and they will not be remembered any longer. And I
will take away the false prophets and the unclean spirit from
the earth. {13:3} And this shall be: when any devotee will
continue to prophesy, his father and his mother, who
conceived him, will say to him, “You shall not live, because
you have been speaking a lie in the name of the Lord.” And
his father and his mother, his own parents, will pierce him,
when he will prophesy. {13:4} And this shall be: In that day,
the prophets will be confounded, each one by his own vision,
when he will prophesy. Neither will they be covered with a
garment of sackcloth in order to deceive. {13:5} But he will
say, “I am not a prophet; I am a man of agriculture. For
Adam has been my example from my youth.” {13:6} And
they will say to him, “What are these wounds in the middle
of your hands?” And he will say, “I was wounded with these
in the house of those who love me.” {13:7} Awake, O spear,
against my shepherd and against the man that clings to me,
says the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will
be scattered. And I will turn my hand to the little ones.
{13:8} And there will be in all the earth, says the Lord, two
parts in it will be scattered and will pass away, and the third
part will be left behind. {13:9} And I will lead the third part
through fire, and I will burn them just as silver is burned, and
I will test them just as gold is tested. They will call on my
name, and I will heed them. I will say, “You are my people.”
And they will say, “The Lord is my God.”


[Zechariah 14] {14:1} Behold, the days of the Lord will
arrive, and your spoils will be divided in your midst.
{14:2} And I will gather all the Gentiles in battle against
Jerusalem, and the city will be captured, and the houses will
be ravaged, and the women will be violated. And the central
part of the city will go forth into captivity, and the remainder
of the people will not be taken away from the city.
{14:3} Then the Lord will go forth, and he will fight against
those Gentiles, just as when he fought in the day of conflict.
{14:4} And his feet will stand firm, in that day, upon the
Mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem towards the
East. And the mount of Olives will be divided down its center
part, towards the East and towards the West, with a very
great rupture, and the center of the mountain will be
separated towards the North, and its center towards the
Meridian. {14:5} And you will flee to the valley of those
mountains, because the valley of the mountains will be joined
all the way to the next. And you will flee, just as you fled
from the face of the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of
Judah. And the Lord my God will arrive, and all the saints
with him. {14:6} And this shall be in that day: there will not
be light, only cold and frost. {14:7} And there will be one day,
which is known to the Lord, not day and not night. And in
the time of the evening, there will be light. {14:8} And this
shall be in that day: the living waters will go out from
Jerusalem, half of them towards the East sea, and half of
them towards the furthest sea. They will be in summer and in
winter. {14:9} And the Lord will be King over all the earth.
In that day, there will be one Lord, and his name will be one.
{14:10} And all the land will return even to the desert, from
the hill of Rimmon to the South of Jerusalem. And she will
be exalted, and she will dwell in her own place, from the gate
of Benjamin even to the place of the former gate, and even to
the gate of the corners, and from the tower of Hananel even
to the pressing room of the king. {14:11} And they will dwell
in it, and there will be no further anathema, but Jerusalem
shall sit securely. {14:12} And this will be the plague by
which the Lord will strike all the Gentiles that have fought
against Jerusalem. The flesh of each one will waste away
while they are standing on their feet, and their eyes will be
consumed in their sockets, and their tongue will be consumed
in their mouth. {14:13} In that day, there will be a great
tumult from the Lord among them. And a man will take the
hand of his neighbor, and his hand will be clasped upon the
hand of his neighbor. {14:14} And even Judah will fight
against Jerusalem. And the riches of all the Gentiles will be
gathered together around them: gold, and silver, and more
than enough garments. {14:15} And, like the ruin of the
horse, and the mule, and the camel, and the donkey, and all
the beasts of burden, which will have been in those
encampments, so will be this ruination. {14:16} And all those
who will be the remnant of all the Gentiles that came against
Jerusalem, will go up, from year to year, to adore the King,
the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the feast of tabernacles.
{14:17} And this shall be: whoever will not go up, from the
families of the earth to Jerusalem, so as to adore the King, the
Lord of hosts, there will be no showers upon them.
{14:18} But if even the family of Egypt will go not up, nor
approach, neither will it be upon them, but there will be ruin,
by which the Lord will strike all the Gentiles, who will not go
up to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. {14:19} This will be
the sin of Egypt, and this will be the sin of all the Gentiles,
who will not go up to celebrate the feast of tabernacles.
{14:20} In that day, that which is on the bridle of the horse
will be holy to the Lord. And even the cooking pots in the
house of the Lord will be like holy vessels before the altar.
{14:21} And every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will
be sanctified to the Lord of hosts. And all those who make
sacrifices will come and take from them, and will cook with
them. And the merchant will no longer be in the house of the
Lord of hosts, in that day.


** The Prophecy of Malachi **


[Malachi 1] {1:1} The burden of the word of the Lord to
Israel by the hand of Malachi. {1:2} I have loved you, says
the Lord, and you have said, “In what way have you loved
us?” Was not Esau brother to Jacob, says the Lord? And have
I not loved Jacob, {1:3} but held hatred for Esau? And I have
set his mountains in solitude, and his inheritance with the
serpents of the desert. {1:4} But if Idumea will say, “We have
been destroyed, but when we return, we will build up what
has been destroyed,” thus says the Lord of hosts: They will
build up, and I will destroy. And they will be called “The
limits of impiety,” and, “The people with whom the Lord has
been angry, even to eternity.” {1:5} And your eyes will see.
And you will say, “May the Lord be magnified beyond the
limits of Israel.” {1:6} The son honors the father, and the
servant his master. If, therefore, I am Father, where is my
honor? And if I am Master, where is my fear? says the Lord
of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. And you
have said, “In what way, have we despised your name?”
{1:7} You offer polluted bread upon my altar, and you say,
“In what way, have we polluted you?” In that you say, “The
table of the Lord has been despised.” {1:8} If you offer the
blind for sacrifice, is this not evil? And if you offer the lame
and the sick, is this not evil? Offer it to your leader, if he will
be pleased with it, or if he will accept your face, says the Lord
of hosts. {1:9} And now, beseech the face of God, so that he
may have mercy on you (for by your hand has this been done)
if, in any way, he might accept your faces, says the Lord of
hosts. {1:10} Who is there among you that would close the
doors and enflame my altar without pay? I have no favor in
you, says the Lord of hosts. And I will not accept a gift from
your hand. {1:11} For, from the rising of the sun even to its
setting, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every
place, a clean oblation is being sacrificed and offered to my
name. For my name is great among the Gentiles, says the
Lord of hosts. {1:12} And you have polluted it, in that you
say, “The table of the Lord has been contaminated; and that
which is placed upon it is contemptible, compared with the
fire that devours it.” {1:13} And you have said, “Behold our
labor,” and you have exhaled it away, says the Lord of hosts.
And you brought in by plunder the lame, and the sick, and
brought it in as a gift. How can I receive this from your hand,
says the Lord? {1:14} Cursed is the deceitful, who holds in
his flock a male, and, when making a vow, offers in sacrifice
that which is feeble to the Lord. For I am a great King, says
the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the
Gentiles.


[Malachi 2] {2:1} And now, O priests, this command is to
you. {2:2} If you will refuse to listen, and if you will refuse to
take it to heart, so as to give glory to my name, says the Lord
of hosts, I will send destitution upon you, and I will curse
your blessings; yes, I will curse them. For you have not taken
it to heart. {2:3} Behold, I will cast forth an arm to you, and I
will scatter across your face the dung of your solemnities, and
it will take you to itself. {2:4} And you will know that I sent
you this commandment, so that my covenant might be with
Levi, says the Lord of hosts. {2:5} My covenant was with
him for life and peace. And I gave him fear, and he feared me,
and he was afraid before the face of my name. {2:6} The law
of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found on his
lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned
away many from iniquity. {2:7} For the lips of the priests will
keep knowledge, and they will request the law from his
mouth, because he is an angel of the Lord of hosts. {2:8} But
you have withdrawn from the way, and you have scandalized
very many in the law. You have nullified the covenant of
Levi, says the Lord of hosts. {2:9} Because of this, I also have
made you contemptible and debased to all the people, just as
you have not served my ways, and you have accepted a face
in the law. {2:10} Is there not one Father of us all? Did not
one God create us? Why, then, does each one of us despise
his brother, violating the covenant of our fathers?
{2:11} Judah has transgressed, and abomination has been
committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has
contaminated the sanctified of the Lord, which he loved, and
has held the daughter of a strange god. {2:12} The Lord will
drive away the man who has done this, both the teacher and
the disciple, from the tabernacles of Jacob and from those
offering a gift to the Lord of hosts. {2:13} And you have done
this repeatedly: you have covered the altar of the Lord with
tears, with weeping and bellowing, to such an extent that I no
longer have respect towards the sacrifice, nor do I accept any
appeasement that is from your hands. {2:14} And you have
said, “What is the reason for this?” It is because the Lord has
been a witness between you and the wife of your youth,
whom you have despised. Yet she was your partner, and the
wife of your covenant. {2:15} Did not One make her, and is
she not the remainder of his spirit? And what does one seek,
except offspring of God? So then, preserve your spirit, and do
not despise the wife of your youth. {2:16} If you would hold
hatred, dismiss her, says the Lord, the God of Israel. But
iniquity will cover his garment, says the Lord of hosts.
Preserve your spirit, and do not be willing to despise.
{2:17} You have wearied the Lord with your speeches, and
you have said, “In what way, have we wearied him?” In that
you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the
Lord, and such as these please him,” or certainly, “Where is
the God of judgment?”


[Malachi 3] {3:1} Behold, I send my angel, and he will
prepare the way before my face. And presently the Sovereign,
whom you seek, and the angel of testimony, whom you
desire, will arrive at his temple. Behold, he approaches, says
the Lord of hosts. {3:2} And who will be able to consider the
day of his advent, and who will stand firm in order to see him?
For he is like a refining fire, and like the fuller’s herb.
{3:3} And he will sit refining and cleansing the silver, and he
will purge the sons of Levi, and he will gather them like gold
and like silver, and they will offer sacrifices to the Lord in
justice. {3:4} And the sacrifice of Judah and of Jerusalem will
please the Lord, just as in the days of past generations, and as
in the ancient years. {3:5} And I will approach you in
judgment, and I will be a swift witness against evil-doers, and
adulterers, and perjurers, and those who cheat the hired hand
in his wages, the widows and the orphans, and who oppress
the traveler, and who have not feared me, says the Lord of
hosts. {3:6} For Iam the Lord, and I do not change. And you,
the sons of Jacob, have not been consumed. {3:7} For, from
the days of your fathers, you have withdrawn from my
ordinances and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will
return to you, says the Lord of hosts. And you have said, “In
what way, shall we return?” {3:8} If a man will afflict God,
then you greatly afflict me. And you have said, “In what way,
do we afflict you?” In tithes and in first-fruits. {3:9} And you
have been cursed with privation, and you greatly afflict me,
even your entire people. {3:10} Bring all the tithes into the
storehouse, and let there be food in my house. And test me
about this, says the Lord, as to whether I will not open to you
the floodgates of heaven, and pour out to you a blessing, all
the way to abundance. {3:11} And I will rebuke for your
sakes the devourer, and he will not corrupt the fruit of your
land. Neither will the vine in the field be barren, says the
Lord of hosts. {3:12} And all nations will call you blessed.
For you will be a desirable land, says the Lord of hosts.
{3:13} Your words have gathered strength over me, says the
Lord. {3:14} And you have said, “What have we spoken
against you?” You have said, “He labors in vain who serves
God,” and, “What advantage is it that we have kept his
precepts, and that we have walked sorrowfully in the sight of
the Lord of hosts? {3:15} Therefore, we now call the arrogant
blessed, as if those who work impiety have been built up, and
as if they have tempted God and been saved.” {3:16} Then
those who fear the Lord spoke, each one with his neighbor.
And the Lord paid attention and heeded. And a book of
remembrance was written in his sight, for those who fear the
Lord and for those who consider his name. {3:17} And they
will be my special possession, says the Lord of hosts, on the
day that I act. And I will spare them, just as a man spares his
son who serves him. {3:18} And you shall be converted, and
you will see the difference between the just and the impious,
and between those who serve God and those who do not
serve him.


[Malachi 4] {4:1} For, behold, the day will arrive, kindled
like a furnace, and all the arrogant and all those who act
impiously will be stubble. And the approaching day will
inflame them, says the Lord of hosts; it will leave behind for
them neither root, nor sprout. {4:2} But unto you, who fear
my name, the Sun of justice will arise, and health will be in
his wings. And you will go forth and leap like the calves of
the herd. {4:3} And you will trample the impious, while they
will be ashes under the sole of your foot, on the day that I act,
says the Lord of hosts. {4:4} Remember the law of Moses my
servant, which I commanded him on Horeb for all Israel, the
precepts and the judgments. {4:5} Behold, I will send to you
Elijah the prophet, before the arrival of the great and terrible
day of the Lord. {4:6} And he will turn the heart of the
fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers,
lest I come and strike the earth with anathema.


** The First Book of Maccabees **


[1 Maccabees 1] {1:1} And it happened afterwards that
Alexander, the son of Philip the Macedonian, who first
reigned in Greece having come from the land of Kittim,
struck Darius the king of the Persians and the Medes.
{1:2} He appointed many battles, and he took hold of all the
fortifications, and he executed the kings of the earth.
{1:3} And he passed through even to the ends of the earth.
And he received the spoils of many nations. And the earth
was silenced in his sight. {1:4} And he gathered together
power, and an exceedingly strong army. And he was exalted,
and his heart was lifted up. {1:5} And he captured the regions
of nations and of sovereign leaders, and they became
tributaries to him. {1:6} And after these things, he fell down
on his bed, and he knew that he would die. {1:7} And he
called his servants, nobles who were raised with him from his
youth. And he divided his kingdom to them, while he was
still alive. {1:8} And Alexander reigned twelve years, and
then he died. {1:9} And his servants obtained his kingdom,
each one in his place. {1:10} And they all put diadems on
themselves after his death, and their sons after them, for
many years; and evils were multiplied on the earth.
{1:11} And there went forth from among them a sinful root,
Antiochus the illustrious, the son of king Antiochus, who had
been a hostage at Rome. And he reigned in the one hundred
and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.
{1:12} In those days, there went forth from Israel sons of
iniquity, and they persuaded many, saying: “Let us go and
negotiate a covenant with the Gentiles that are all around us.
For since we have withdrawn from them, many evils have
found us.” {1:13} And the word seemed good in their eyes.
{1:14} And some of the people determined to do this, and
they went to the king. And he gave them the power to act
according to the justice of the Gentiles. {1:15} And they built
a sports arena in Jerusalem, according to the laws of the
Nations. {1:16} And they made themselves uncircumcised,
and they withdrew from the holy covenant, and they were
joined to the nations, and they were sold into evil-doing.
{1:17} And the kingdom was ready in the sight of Antiochus,
and he began to reign over the land of Egypt, so that he might
reign over two kingdoms. {1:18} And he entered into Egypt
with an oppressive multitude, with swift chariots, and
elephants, and horsemen, and a great abundance of ships.
{1:19} And he appointed a war against Ptolemy, the king of
Egypt, and Ptolemy was filled with dread before his face, and
he fled, and many fell down wounded. {1:20} And he took
hold of the fortified cities in the land of Egypt, and he
received the spoils of the land of Egypt. {1:21} And
Antiochus turned back, after he struck Egypt, in the one
hundred and forty-third year, and he ascended against Israel.
{1:22} And he ascended to Jerusalem, with an oppressive
multitude. {1:23} And he entered into the sanctuary with
arrogance, and he took the golden altar, and the lampstand of
light, and all the vessels, and the table for the bread of the
Presence, and the vessels of libation, and the vials, and the
little mortars of gold, and the veil, and the crowns, and the
golden ornament, which was at the face of the temple. And
he crushed them all. {1:24} And he took the silver and gold,
and the precious vessels, and he took the hidden treasures,
which he found. And having taken all these things away, he
departed into his own land. {1:25} And he caused a massacre
of men, and he was speaking with great arrogance.
{1:26} And there was great wailing in Israel and in all of their
places. {1:27} And the leaders and elders mourned, and the
virgins and young men became weak, and the splendor of the
women was changed. {1:28} Every bridegroom took up
lamentation, and those who sat in the marriage bed mourned.
{1:29} And the land shook on behalf of the inhabitants in it,
and the entire house of Jacob was clothed with confusion.
{1:30} And after two years of days, the king sent the prince of
his tributes to the cities of Judah, and he came to Jerusalem
with a great crowd. {1:31} And he spoke peaceful words to
them, in deceitfulness; and they believed him. {1:32} And he
rushed upon the city suddenly, and he struck it with a great
scourging, and he destroyed many of the people of Israel.
{1:33} And he took the spoils of the city, and he burned it
with fire, and he destroyed its houses and the walls around it.
{1:34} And they led away the women as captives, and they
possessed the children and the cattle. {1:35} And they built
up the city of David with a great and strong wall, and with
strong towers, and it became a stronghold for them.
{1:36} And they set up in that place a sinful people, wicked
men, and together they grew strong in it. And they stored up
weapons and provisions. And they gathered together the
spoils of Jerusalem, {1:37} and deposited them in that place.
And they became a great snare. {1:38} And this became a
place of ambush against the sanctuary and a diabolical evil in
Israel. {1:39} And they poured out innocent blood around
the sanctuary, and they contaminated the sanctuary.
{1:40} And the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled because of them,
and the city became the dwelling place of outsiders, and she
became a stranger to her own offspring, and her own children
abandoned her. {1:41} Her sanctuary was desolate, like a
place of solitude, her feast days were turned into mourning,
her sabbaths into disgrace, her honors into nothing.
{1:42} Her shame was multiplied according to her glory, and
her loftiness was turned into lamentation. {1:43} And king
Antiochus wrote to all his kingdom, that all the people must
be one, and that each one should relinquish his own law.
{1:44} And all Gentiles consented, according to the word of
king Antiochus. {1:45} And many out of Israel consented to
his servitude, and they sacrificed to idols, and they polluted
the Sabbath. {1:46} And the king sent letters, by the hand of
messengers, to Jerusalem and to all the cities of Judah: that
they should follow the law of the Nations of the earth,
{1:47} and that they should prohibit holocausts and sacrifices
and atonements to be made in the temple of God, {1:48} and
that they should prohibit the celebration of the Sabbath and
the solemn days. {1:49} And he ordered the holy places to be
defiled, along with the holy people of Israel. {1:50} And he
ordered altars to be built, and temples, and idols, and he
ordered the immolation of the flesh of swine and of unclean
cattle, {1:51} and that they should leave their sons
uncircumcised, and defile their souls with all that is unclean,
and with abominations, so that they would forget the law and
would alter all the justifications of God, {1:52} and that
whoever would not act according to the word of king
Antiochus should be put to death. {1:53} According to all
these words, he wrote to all his kingdom. And he appointed
leaders over the people, who would compel them to do these
things. {1:54} And these ordered the cities of Judah to
sacrifice. {1:55} And many from the people, who had
abandoned the law of the Lord, were gathered together by
them. And they committed evils upon the land. {1:56} And
they drove the people of Israel into hiding and into the secret
places of fugitives. {1:57} On the fifteenth day of the month
of Kislev, in the one hundred and forty-fifth year, king
Antiochus set up the abominable idol of desolation on the
altar of God, and they built altars throughout all the
surrounding cities of Judah. {1:58} And they burned
frankincense, and they sacrificed before the doors of houses
and in the streets. {1:59} And they cut up the books of the
law of God and destroyed them with fire. {1:60} And all
those who were found with the books of the testament of the
Lord, and whoever observed the law of the Lord, they
butchered, according to the edict of the king. {1:61} By their
power, they did these things to the people of Israel, as they
were discovered in the cities, month after month. {1:62} And
on the twenty-fifth day of the month, they sacrificed on that
altar which was opposite the high altar. {1:63} And the
women who circumcised their sons were butchered,
according to the order of king Antiochus. {1:64} And they
suspended the children by their necks in all their houses, and
those who had circumcised them, they butchered.
{1:65} And many of the people of Israel decided within
themselves that they would not eat unclean things. And they
chose to die, rather than to be defiled with unclean foods.
{1:66} And they were not willing to infringe upon the holy
law of God, and they were butchered. {1:67} And there was
a very great wrath upon the people.


[1 Maccabees 2] {2:1} In those days, there rose up
Mattathias, the son of John, the son of Simeon, a priest of the
sons of Joarib from Jerusalem, and he settled on the
mountain of Modin. {2:2} And he had five sons: John, who
was surnamed Gaddi, {2:3} and Simon, who was surnamed
Thassi, {2:4} and Judas, who was called Maccabeus,
{2:5} and Eleazar, who was surnamed Avaran, and Jonathan,
who was surnamed Apphus. {2:6} These saw the evils that
were done among the people of Judah and in Jerusalem.
{2:7} And Mattathias said: “Woe to me, for why was I born
to see the grief of my people and the grief of the holy city,
and to sit there, while it is given into the hands of the enemies?
{2:8} The holy places have fallen into the hands of outsiders.
Her temple is like a man without honor. {2:9} The vessels of
her glory have been taken away captive. Her old men have
been butchered in the streets, and her young men have fallen
by the sword of the enemies. {2:10} What nation has not
inherited her kingdom and taken from her spoils? {2:11} All
her beauty has been taken away. She who was free, has
become a slave. {2:12} And behold, our sanctuary, and our
beauty, and our splendor has been desolated, and the
Gentiles have defiled them. {2:13} Therefore, what is it to us
that we still live?” {2:14} And Mattathias and his sons tore
their garments, and they covered themselves with haircloth,
and they lamented greatly. {2:15} And those who had been
sent from king Antiochus came to that place, to compel those
who fled into the city of Modin to immolate, and to burn
frankincense, and to depart from the law of God. {2:16} And
many of the people of Israel consented and came to them.
But Mattathias and his sons stood firm. {2:17} And those
who had been sent from Antiochus, responding, said to
Mattathias: “You are a ruler, and very splendid and great in
this city, and you are adorned with sons and brothers.
{2:18} Therefore, approach first, and carryout the order of
the king, as all the nations have done, and the men of Judah,
and those who remained in Jerusalem. And you and your
sons will be among the friends of the king, and enriched with
gold and silver and many gifts.” {2:19} And Mattathias
responded, and he said with a loud voice: “Even if all nations
obey king Antiochus, so that each one departs from the
service of the law of his fathers and consents to his
commandments, {2:20} I and my sons and my brothers will
obey the law of our fathers. {2:21} May God be forgiving to
us. It is not useful for us to abandon the law and the justices
of God. {2:22} We will not listen to the words of king
Antiochus, nor will we sacrifice, transgressing the
commandments of our law, so as to set out on another way.”
{2:23} And, as he ceased speaking these words, a certain Jew
approached in the sight of all to sacrifice to the idols upon the
altar in the city of Modin, according to the order of the king.
{2:24} And Mattathias saw, and he grieved, and his
temperament trembled, and his fury was enkindled according
to the judgment of the law, and leaping up, he slaughtered
him on the altar. {2:25} Moreover, the man whom king
Antiochus had sent, who compelled them to immolate, he
killed at the same time, and he destroyed the altar,
{2:26} and he was zealous for the law, just as Phinehas did to
Zimri, the son of Salomi. {2:27} And Mattathias exclaimed
with a loud voice in the city, saying, “All who hold zeal for
the law, maintaining the covenant, let them follow me.”
{2:28} And he and his sons fled to the mountains, and they
left behind whatever they had in the city. {2:29} Then many
who sought judgment and justice went down into the desert.
{2:30} And they camped there, with their sons, and their
wives, and their herds, because evils had overwhelmed them.
{2:31} And it was reported to the king’s men, and to the
army that was in Jerusalem, in the city of David, that certain
men, who had cast aside the commandment of the king, had
departed into the hidden places in the desert, and that many
had followed after them. {2:32} And immediately, they went
out to them, and they arranged a battle against them, on the
day of the Sabbath. {2:33} And they said to them: “And now,
do you still resist? Go out and act according to the word of
king Antiochus, and you will live.” {2:34} And they said,
“We will not go out, and we will not do the king’s word, so
as to profane the day of the Sabbath.” {2:35} And they
rushed against them in battle. {2:36} But they did not
respond, nor did they cast a stone at them, nor did they
barricade the hidden places, {2:37} for they said, “Let us all
die in our simplicity. And heaven and earth will testify for us,
that you destroyed us unjustly.” {2:38} So they carried out a
battle on the Sabbath. And they were put to death, with their
wives, and their sons, and their cattle, even to the number of
a thousand souls of men. {2:39} And Mattathias and his
friends heard of it, and they held a very great lamentation for
them. {2:40} And every man said to his neighbor, “If we all
do just as our brothers have done, and if we do not fight
against the Gentiles for the sake of our lives and our
justifications, then they will quickly eradicate us from the
earth.” {2:41} And they decided, on that day, saying: “Every
man, who will come against us in warfare on the day of the
Sabbath, we will fight against him. And we will not all die,
like our brothers who were put to death in the hidden
places.” {2:42} Then there was assembled before them the
synagogue of the Hasideans, strong men from Israel, each
one with a will for the law. {2:43} And all those who fled
from the evils added themselves to them, and they became a
firmament to them. {2:44} And they gathered together an
army, and they struck down the sinners in their wrath and the
wicked men in their indignation. And the others fled to the
nations, so as to escape. {2:45} And Mattathias and his
friends traveled around, and they destroyed the altars.
{2:46} And they circumcised all the uncircumcised boys,
whom they found within the limits of Israel, and they acted
with fortitude. {2:47} And they pursued the sons of
arrogance, and the work was prosperous in their hands.
{2:48} And they obtained the law from the hands of the
Gentiles, and from the hands of the kings. And they did not
surrender the horn to the sinner. {2:49} Then the days drew
near when Mattathias would die, and he said to his sons:
“Now arrogance and chastisement have been strengthened,
and it is a time of overturning and of the wrath of indignation.
{2:50} Now therefore, O sons, be imitators of the law, and
give your lives for the sake of the covenant of your fathers.
{2:51} And call to mind the works of the fathers, which they
have done in their generations. And you will receive great
glory and an eternal name. {2:52} Was not Abraham found
to be faithful in temptation, and so it was accounted to him as
justice? {2:53} Joseph, in the time of his anguish, kept the
commandment, and he was made ruler of Egypt.
{2:54} Phinehas our father, being zealous in the zeal of God,
received the covenant of an eternal priesthood. {2:55} Jesus,
since he fulfilled the word, was made a commander in Israel.
{2:56} Caleb, since he testified in the assembly, received an
inheritance. {2:57} David, in his mercy, obtained the throne
of a kingdom for all generations. {2:58} Elijah, since he was
zealous with a zeal for the law, was received into heaven.
{2:59} Hananiah and Azariah and Mishael, by believing,
were delivered from the flame. {2:60} Daniel, in his
simplicity, was delivered from the mouth of the lions.
{2:61} And so, consider that, through generation after
generation of all those who trusted in him, none have failed
in strength. {2:62} And fear not the words of a sinful man,
for his glory is dung and worms. {2:63} Today he is extolled,
and tomorrow he will not be found, because he has returned
into his earth and his thinking has perished. {2:64} Therefore,
you sons, be strengthened and act manfully in the law. For by
it, you shall become glorious. {2:65} And behold, I know
that your brother Simon is a man of counsel. Heed him
always, and he will be a father to you. {2:66} And Judas
Maccabeus, who has been strong and resourceful from his
youth, let him be the leader of your militia, and he will
manage the war of the people. {2:67} And you shall add to
yourselves all who observe the law, and you shall claim the
vindication of your people. {2:68} Render to the Gentiles
their retribution, and pay attention to the precepts of the
law.” {2:69} And he blessed them, and he was added to his
fathers. {2:70} And he passed away in the one hundred and
forty-sixth year, and he was buried by his sons in the
sepulchers of his fathers, in Modin, and all Israel mourned
for him with a great mourning.


[1 Maccabees 3] {3:1} And his son Judas, who was called
Maccabeus, rose up in his place. {3:2} And all his brothers
assisted him, along with all those who had joined themselves
to his father. And they fought the battle of Israel with
rejoicing. {3:3} And he expanded the glory of his people, and
he clothed himself with a breastplate like a giant, and he
surrounded himself his weapons of war in battles, and he
protected the camp with his sword. {3:4} In his actions, he
became like a lion, and like a young lion roaring in the hunt.
{3:5} And he pursued the wicked and tracked them down.
And those who disturbed his people, he burned with fire.
{3:6} And his enemies were repelled by the fear of him, and
all the workers of iniquity were troubled. And salvation was
well-directed in his hand. {3:7} And he provoked many kings,
and he gave joy to Jacob by his works, and his memory will
be a blessing for all generations. {3:8} And he traveled
through the cities of Judah, and he destroyed the impious out
of them, and he turned wrath away from Israel. {3:9} And he
was renowned, even to the utmost part of the earth, and he
gathered together those who were perishing. {3:10} And so
Apollonius gathered together the Gentiles, with a numerous
and great army from Samaria, to make war against Israel.
{3:11} And Judas knew about it, and he went forth to meet
him. And he struck him and killed him. And many fell down
wounded, and the rest fled away. {3:12} And he took away
their spoils. And Judas took possession of the sword of
Apollonius, and he fought with it during all his days.
{3:13} And Seron, the leader of the army of Syria, heard that
Judas had gathered together a company of the faithful and an
assembly with him. {3:14} And he said, “I will make a name
for myself, and I will be glorified in the kingdom, and I will
defeat Judas in warfare, and those who are with him, who
have spurned the word of the king.” {3:15} And he prepared
himself. And the camp of the impious went up with him,
with strong auxiliaries, so as to act with vengeance upon the
sons of Israel. {3:16} And they approached even as far as
Bethhoron. And Judas went forth to meet him, with a few
men. {3:17} But when they saw the army coming to meet
them, they said to Judas, “How will we few be able to fight
against so great and so strong a multitude, even though we
are weakened by fasting today?” {3:18} And Judas said: “It is
easy for many to be enclosed in the hands of a few, for there
is no difference in the sight of the God of heaven to liberate
by means of many, or by means of few. {3:19} For victory in
warfare is not in the multitude of the army, but in the
strength from heaven. {3:20} They come to us with a
contemptuous multitude and with arrogance, in order to
destroy us, with our wives and our sons, and to despoil us.
{3:21} In truth, we will fight on behalf of our souls and our
laws. {3:22} And the Lord himself will crush them before our
face. But as for you, do not fear them.” {3:23} And as soon
as he had ceased speaking, he attacked them suddenly. And
Seron and his army were crushed in his sight. {3:24} And he
pursued him from the descent of Bethhoron, even to the
plains. And eight hundred of their men were cut down, but
the rest fled into the land of the Philistines. {3:25} And the
fear and dread of Judas, as well as his brothers, fell upon all
the nations around them. {3:26} And his name reached even
to the king, and all the nations told stories of the battles of
Judas. {3:27} But when king Antiochus heard these accounts,
he was angry to his very soul. And he sent and gathered
together forces from his entire kingdom, a very strong army.
{3:28} And he opened his treasury, and he gave out stipends
to the army for a year. And he commanded them to make
ready for all things. {3:29} And he saw that the money from
his treasures had failed, and that the tributes of the country
were small, because of the dissension and the scourging that
he had caused on earth in order to take away the legitimate
laws, which had been since the first days. {3:30} And he
feared, lest he not have enough the second time as the first,
for expenses and gifts, which he had given before with a
liberal hand. For his excesses were more than the kings who
had been before him. {3:31} And he was alarmed to his very
soul, and he intended to go into Persia, and to take tributes
from the regions, and to gather together much money.
{3:32} And he left behind Lysias, a nobleman of royal family,
to preside over the kingdom from the river Euphrates, even to
the river of Egypt, {3:33} and to raise his son, Antiochus,
until he would return. {3:34} And he handed over to him half
of the army, and the elephants. And he commanded him
concerning all that he wanted, and concerning the inhabitants
of Judea and Jerusalem: {3:35} so that he would send an
army against them to crush and to root out the virtue of Israel
and the remnant of Jerusalem, and to take away the memory
of them from that place, {3:36} and so that he would
establish dwelling places for the sons of foreigners in all their
parts, and would distribute their land by lot. {3:37} And so,
the king took the remaining part of the army, and he went
forth from Antioch, the city of his kingdom, in the one
hundred and forty-seventh year. And he crossed over the
river Euphrates, and he traveled through the upper regions.
{3:38} Then Lysias chose Ptolemy, the son of Dorymenes,
and Nicanor and Gorgias, powerful men from among the
king’s friends. {3:39} And he sent them with forty thousand
men, and seven thousand horsemen, to enter into the land of
Judah, and to destroy it, according to the word of the king.
{3:40} And so, they proceeded with all their power, and they
arrived and took a position near Emmaus, in the land of the
plains. {3:41} And the merchants of the regions heard of their
name. And they took very much silver, and gold, and
servants, and they came into the camp to take the sons of
Israel into servitude. And armies from Syria and from the
lands of foreigners were added to them. {3:42} And Judas
and his brothers saw that evils were being multiplied, and
that armies had been positioned near their borders. And they
knew the words of the king, which ordered the people to be
put to death and to be utterly consumed. {3:43} And they
said, each one to his neighbor, “Let us relieve the dejection of
our people, and let us fight on behalf of our people and our
sacred places.” {3:44} And an assembly was gathered
together, so that they would be prepared for battle, and so
that they could pray and ask for mercy and compassion.
{3:45} Now Jerusalem was not inhabited, but was like a
desert. There was no one who entered or exited from among
her children. And the sanctuary was trampled upon, and the
sons of foreigners were in the stronghold. This place was the
habitation of the Gentiles. And delight was taken away from
Jacob, and the music of flute and harp ceased in that place.
{3:46} And they gathered together and came to Mizpah,
opposite Jerusalem. For a place of prayer was in Mizpah, in
the former Israel. {3:47} And they fasted on that day, and
they clothed themselves with haircloth, and they placed ashes
on their heads, and they tore their garments. {3:48} And they
laid open the books of the law, in which the Gentiles
searched for the likeness of their idols. {3:49} And they
brought the priestly ornaments, and the first fruits and tithes,
and they roused the Nazirites, who had fulfilled their days.
{3:50} And they cried out with a loud voice toward heaven,
saying: “What shall we do with these, and where shall we
take them? {3:51} For your holy things have been trampled
and defiled, and your priests have been in mourning and in
humiliation. {3:52} And behold, the Nations gather together
against us, to destroy us. You know what they intend against
us. {3:53} How shall we be able to stand before their face,
unless you, O God, assist us?” {3:54} Then they sounded the
trumpets with a loud call. {3:55} And after this, Judas
appointed commanders over the people: over thousands, and
over hundreds, and over fifties, and over tens. {3:56} And he
said to those who were building houses, or who had
betrothed wives, who were planting vineyards, or who were
terribly afraid, that they should return, each one to his own
house, according to the law. {3:57} So they moved the camp,
and relocated to the south of Emmaus. {3:58} And Judas
said: “Gird yourselves, and be sons of power, and be ready in
the morning, so that you may fight against these nations that
have assembled against us, so as to destroy us and our sacred
things. {3:59} For it is better for us to die in battle, than to see
evils come to our nation and to the sacred places.
{3:60} Nevertheless, as it shall be willed in heaven, so let it
be.”


[1 Maccabees 4] {4:1} Then Gorgias took five thousand men
and a thousand chosen horsemen, and they moved out of the
camp by night, {4:2} so that they might set upon the camp of
the Jews and strike them suddenly. And the sons who were
from the stronghold were their guides. {4:3} And Judas heard
of it, and he rose up, with his powerful men, to strike the
force from the king’s army that was in Emmaus. {4:4} For
the army was still dispersed from the camp. {4:5} And
Gorgias came by night, into the camp of Judas, and found no
one, and he sought them in the mountains. For he said,
“These men flee from us.” {4:6} And when it had become
day, Judas appeared in the plain with only three thousand
men, who had neither armor nor swords. {4:7} And they saw
the strength of the camp of the Gentiles, and the men in
armor, and the horsemen surrounding them, and that these
were trained to fight. {4:8} And Judas said to the men who
were with him: “Do not be afraid of their multitude, and do
not dread their attack. {4:9} Remember in what way
salvation came to our fathers in the Red Sea, when Pharaoh
pursued them with a great army. {4:10} And now, let us cry
out to heaven, and the Lord will have mercy on us, and he
will remember the covenant of our fathers, and he will crush
this army before our face this day. {4:11} And all nations
shall know that there is One who redeems and frees Israel.”
{4:12} And the foreigners lifted up their eyes, and they saw
them coming against them. {4:13} And they went out of the
camp into battle, and those who were with Judas sounded the
trumpet. {4:14} And they came together. And the Gentiles
were crushed, and they fled into the plains. {4:15} But the
last of them all fell by the sword, and they pursued them even
to Gazara, and even to the plains of Idumea, and Azotus,
and Jamnia. And there fell from them as many as three
thousand men. {4:16} And Judas returned, with his army
following him. {4:17} And he said to the people: “Do not
desire the spoils; for there is war before us. {4:18} And
Gorgias and his army are near us on the mountain. But stand
firm now against our enemies, and fight against them, and
you shall take the spoils afterwards, securely.” {4:19} And
while Judas was speaking these words, behold, a certain part
of them appeared, looking out from the mountain.
{4:20} And Gorgias saw that his men were put to flight, and
that they had set fire to the camp. For the smoke that he saw
declared what had happened. {4:21} When they had seen this,
they became very afraid, seeing at the same time both Judas
and his army in the plains prepared to do battle. {4:22} So
they all fled away into the encampment of the foreigners.
{4:23} And Judas returned to take the spoils of the camp, and
they obtained much gold and silver, and hyacinth, and purple
of the sea, and great riches. {4:24} And returning, they sang a
canticle, and they blessed God in heaven, because he is good,
because his mercy is with every generation. {4:25} And so, a
great salvation occurred in Israel in that day. {4:26} But
those among the foreigners who escaped went and reported
to Lysias all that had happened. {4:27} And when he heard
these things, he was discouraged, being alarmed to his very
soul. For things had not occurred in Israel according to his
wishes, nor as the king had commanded. {4:28} And, in the
following year, Lysias gathered together sixty thousand
chosen men and five thousand horsemen, so that he might
defeat them in warfare. {4:29} And they came into Judea,
and they positioned their camp in Bethzur, and Judas met
them with ten thousand men. {4:30} And they saw the
strength of the army, and so he prayed, and he said: “Blessed
are you, Savior of Israel, who crushed the assault of the
powerful by the hand of your servant David, and who
delivered up the camp of the foreigners into the hand of
Jonathan, the son of Saul, and his armor bearer.
{4:31} Enclose this army in the hand of your people Israel,
and let them be confounded in their soldiers and their
horsemen. {4:32} Strike them with dread, and melt away the
boldness of their strength, and let them shudder in their grief.
{4:33} Cast them down with the sword of those who love
you, and let all who know your name praise you with
hymns.” {4:34} And they went forth to battle, and there fell
from the army of Lysias five thousand men. {4:35} But
Lysias, seeing their flight and the boldness of the Jews, and
that they were prepared either to live or to die with fortitude,
went to Antioch and chose soldiers, so that they might come
back to Judea with greater numbers. {4:36} Then Judas and
his brothers said: “Behold, our enemies have been crushed.
Let us go up now to cleanse and renew the holy places.”
{4:37} And all the army gathered together, and they
ascended to Mount Zion. {4:38} And they saw the sanctuary
deserted, and the altar profaned, and the gates burned, and
weeds growing up in the courts, as in a forest or as on the
mountains, and the adjoining chambers demolished.
{4:39} And they rent their garments, and they made a great
wailing, and they placed ashes on their heads. {4:40} And
they fell to the ground on their faces, and they sounded the
trumpets of alarm, and they cried out toward heaven.
{4:41} Then Judas numbered men to fight against those who
were in the stronghold, until they had cleansed the holy
places. {4:42} And he chose priests without blemish, whose
will held to the law of God. {4:43} And they cleansed the
holy places, and they took away the stones of defilement to
an unclean place. {4:44} And he considered the altar of
holocausts, which had been profaned, as to what he should
do with it. {4:45} And a good counsel fell upon them, to
destroy it, lest it might become a reproach to them, because
the Gentiles had defiled it; so they demolished it. {4:46} And
they stored the stones in the mountain house, in a fitting
place, until there should come a prophet, who would provide
an answer about these. {4:47} Then they took whole stones,
according to the law, and they built a new altar, according to
that which was before. {4:48} And they rebuilt the holy
places and the things that were in the inner parts of the
temple, and they sanctified the temple and the courts.
{4:49} And they made new holy vessels, and they brought
the lampstand, and the altar of incense, and the table into the
temple. {4:50} And they placed incense on the altar, and they
lit the lamps, which were on the lampstand, and they gave
light in the temple. {4:51} And they placed the bread on the
table, and they hung up the veils, and they completed all the
works which they had begun. {4:52} And they arose before
the morning, on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month,
(which is the month of Kislev) in the one hundred and forty-
eighth year. {4:53} And they offered sacrifice, according to
the law, on the new altar of holocausts that they made.
{4:54} According to the time and according to the day, on
which the Gentiles had contaminated it, on the same day, it
was renewed with canticles, and lutes, and lyres, and cymbals.
{4:55} And all the people fell upon their faces, and they
adored, and they blessed, toward heaven, him that had
prospered them. {4:56} And they kept the dedication of the
altar for eight days, and they offered holocausts with joy, and
sacrifices of salvation and praise. {4:57} And they adorned
the face of the temple with crowns of gold and small shields.
And they dedicated the gates and the adjoining chambers,
and they set up doors on them. {4:58} And there was very
great rejoicing among the people, and the disgrace of the
Gentiles was averted. {4:59} And Judas, and his brothers,
and all the assembly of Israel decreed that the day of the
dedication of the altar must be kept in its time, from year to
year, for eight days, from the twenty-fifth day of the month of
Kislev, with joy and gladness. {4:60} And they built up, at
that time, Mount Zion, with high walls and strong towers all
around, lest the Gentiles should at any time come and
trample upon it, as they did before. {4:61} And he stationed a
garrison there, to keep it, and he fortified it, in order to guard
Bethzur, so that the people might have a fortification opposite
the face of Idumea.


[1 Maccabees 5] {5:1} And it happened that, when the
surrounding nations heard that the altar and the sanctuary
had been rebuilt as before, they were very angry. {5:2} And
they intended to destroy the people of Jacob that were among
them, and they began to kill some of the people, and to
persecute them. {5:3} Then Judas defeated in warfare the
sons of Esau in Idumea, and those who were in Akrabattene,
because they besieged the Israelites, and he struck them with
a great scourging. {5:4} And he remembered the malice of
the sons of Baean, who were a snare and a scandal to the
people, lying in ambush for them in the way. {5:5} And they
were trapped by him in the towers, and he took up a position
near them, and he anathematized them, and he burned their
towers with fire, along with all who were in them. {5:6} Then
he crossed over to the sons of Ammon, and he found a strong
hand, and an abundant people, and Timothy was their
commander. {5:7} And he engaged in many battles with
them, and they were crushed in their sight, and he struck
them down. {5:8} And he seized the city of Jazer, and her
sister cities, and he returned to Judea. {5:9} And the Gentiles,
who were in Gilead, gathered together against the Israelites,
who were within their borders, to take them away, and so
they fled into the fortress of Dathema. {5:10} And they sent
letters to Judas and his brothers, saying: “The Gentiles all
around have been gathering together against us to carry us
away. {5:11} And they are preparing to come and occupy the
fortress into which we have fled. And Timothy is the
commander of their army. {5:12} Now, therefore, come and
rescue us from their hands, for many of us have fallen.
{5:13} And all our brothers, who were in the places of Tob,
have been put to death. And they have led away as captives
their wives, and their children, and their spoils. And they
have slain nearly a thousand men in that place.” {5:14} And
while they were still reading these letters, behold, there
arrived from Galilee other messengers, with torn garments,
who announced according to these words: {5:15} saying that
those of Ptolemais and Tyre and Sidon have assembled
against them, “and all of Galilee has been filled with
foreigners, in order to consume us.” {5:16} So then, when
Judas and the people heard these words, a great assembly
came together, to consider what they should do for their
brothers who were in trouble and were being assailed by them.
{5:17} And Judas said to Simon his brother: “Choose men
for yourself, and go, and free your brothers in Galilee. But I
and my brother Jonathan, will go into the country of
Gilead.” {5:18} And he left behind Joseph, son of Zachariah,
and Azariah, as commanders of the people, with the
remainder of the army, in Judea, to guard it. {5:19} And he
instructed them, saying, “Take charge of this people, but do
not go to war against the Gentiles, until we return.”
{5:20} Now three thousand men were divided to Simon, to
go into Galilee, but eight thousand were divided to Judas, to
go into the land of Gilead. {5:21} And Simon went into
Galilee, and he engaged in many battles with the Gentiles,
and the Gentiles were crushed before his face, and he pursued
them even to the gates of Ptolemais. {5:22} And there fell of
the Gentiles nearly three thousand men, and he took their
spoils. {5:23} And he took with him those who were in
Galilee and in Arbatta, with their wives and children, and all
that was theirs, and he led them into Judea with great
rejoicing. {5:24} And Judas Maccabeus, and Jonathan his
brother, crossed over the Jordan, and they traveled three
days’ journey through the desert. {5:25} And the Nabateans
met them, and they accepted them peacefully, and they
described to them all that had happened to their brothers in
the land of Gilead, {5:26} and that many of them were
trapped in Bozrah, and Bosor, and Alema, and in Chaspho,
and Maked, and Carnaim. All these are large and fortified
cities. {5:27} Moreover, they were held in their grasp in the
other cities of Gilead, and they had arranged to move their
army, on the next day, to these cities, and to seize them, and
to destroy them all in one day. {5:28} Then Judas and his
army unexpectedly turned their path into the desert, to Bosor,
and they occupied the city. And he killed every male by the
edge of the sword, and took all their spoils, and burned it
with fire. {5:29} And they arose from there by night, and
they went forth all the way to the fortress. {5:30} And it
happened that, at first light, when they lifted up their eyes,
behold, there was a multitude of people, which could not be
numbered, bringing ladders and machines, in order to seize
the fortress, and to assault them. {5:31} And Judas saw that
the fight had begun, and the cry of the battle went up to
heaven like a trumpet, and a great cry went out of the city.
{5:32} And he said to his army, “Fight today on behalf of
your brothers.” {5:33} And he came, with three companies
behind them, and they sounded the trumpets, and they cried
out in prayer. {5:34} And the camp of Timothy knew that it
was Maccabeus, and they took flight before his face. And
they struck them with a great scourging. And there fell from
them in that day nearly eight thousand men. {5:35} And
Judas diverted to Mizpah, and he fought and seized it. And
he killed all of its males, and he took its spoils, and he burned
it with fire. {5:36} From there, he continued on, and he
seized Chaspho, and Maked, and Bosor, and the rest of the
cities of Gilead. {5:37} But after these events, Timothy
gathered together another army, and he positioned his camp
opposite Raphon, across the torrent. {5:38} And Judas sent
men to catch sight of the army. And they reported back to
him, saying: “All the nations that surround us have
assembled before him, with an exceedingly great army.
{5:39} And they have brought the Arabians as auxiliaries to
them, and they have set up camp across the torrent, in
preparation to come against you in battle.” And Judas went
to meet them. {5:40} And Timothy said to the leaders of his
army: “When Judas and his army approach, close to the
torrent of water, if he crosses over to us first, we will not be
able to withstand him. For he will be able to prevail against
us. {5:41} If, truly, he is afraid to cross over, and so he sets
up camp across the river, we will cross over to them, and we
will prevail against him.” {5:42} But when Judas approached,
close to the torrent of water, he stationed the scribes of the
people near the torrent, and he commanded them, saying,
“Permit no man to stay behind, but let all come into the
battle.” {5:43} And he crossed over to them first, and all the
people after him. And all the Gentiles were crushed before
their face, and they threw away their weapons, and they fled
to the temple that was in Carnaim. {5:44} And he occupied
that city, and he burned the temple with fire, along with all
the things that were in it. And Carnaim was subdued, and it
could not stand against the face of Judas. {5:45} And Judas
gathered together all the Israelites who were in the land of
Gilead, from the least even to the greatest, with their wives
and children, and a very great army, to come into the land of
Judah. {5:46} And they came as far as Ephron. And this was
a great city, positioned at the entrance, strongly fortified, and
there was no way to go around it on the right or on the left,
but the path was through the midst of it. {5:47} And those
who were in the city shut themselves in and barricaded the
gates with stones. And so Judas sent to them with words of
peace, {5:48} saying, “Let us cross through your land, to go
into our own land, and no one will harm you; we will only
cross through on foot.” But they were not willing to open to
them. {5:49} Then Judas instructed a proclamation to be
made in the camp, that they would engage them, each one
from the place where he was. {5:50} And the men of the
army drew close. And he assaulted that city all day and all
night. And the city was delivered into his hand. {5:51} And
they destroyed every male with the edge of the sword, and he
eradicated the city, and he took its spoils, and he crossed
through the entire city, over those who had been slain.
{5:52} Then they crossed over the Jordan to the great plain
that is opposite the face of Bethshan. {5:53} And Judas was
gathering the stragglers and exhorting the people, throughout
the entire way, until they came into the land of Judah.
{5:54} And they ascended to mount Zion with joy and
gladness, and they offered holocausts, because not one of
them had fallen, until they had returned in peace.
{5:55} Now in the days that Judas and Jonathan were in the
land of Gilead, and Simon his brother was in Galilee against
the face of Ptolemais: {5:56} Joseph, the son of Zachariah,
and Azariah, the leader of the army, heard good things about
the battles that were fought. {5:57} And he said, “Let us also
make a name for ourselves, and let us go to fight against the
Gentiles that are all around us.” {5:58} And he gave orders
to those who were in his army, and they went out towards
Jamnia. {5:59} And Gorgias and his men exited the city, to
meet them in the fight. {5:60} And Joseph and Azariah were
forced to flee, even to the borders of Judea. And there fell on
that day, from the people of Israel, up to two thousand men,
and it was a great defeat for the people. {5:61} For they did
not listen to Judas and his brothers, supposing that they
should act boldly. {5:62} But these were not of the offspring
of those men by whom salvation was brought to Israel.
{5:63} And the men of Judah were magnified greatly in the
sight of all Israel and of all the nations where their name was
heard. {5:64} And the people gathered to them with
favorable acclamations. {5:65} And so Judas and his brothers
went out and assailed the sons of Esau, in the land that is
toward the south, and he struck Hebron and her sister cities,
and he burned its walls and the towers all around it with fire.
{5:66} And he moved his camp to go into the land of the
foreigners, and he traveled through Samaria. {5:67} In that
day, some priests fell in battle. Since they desired to act
boldly, they went out, without counsel, into the battle.
{5:68} And Judas turned aside to Azotus, into the land of the
foreigners, and he destroyed their altars, and he burned the
statues of their gods with fire. And he seized the spoils of the
cities, and he returned to the land of Judah.


[1 Maccabees 6] {6:1} And king Antiochus was traveling
through the upper regions, and he heard that the city of
Elymais in Persia was very noble and abundant in silver and
gold, {6:2} and that the temple in it was very opulent, and
that there were, in that place, coverings of gold, and
breastplates and shields, which Alexander, the son of Philip,
king of Macedonia, who reigned first in Greece, had left
behind. {6:3} So he came and sought to seize the city and to
pillage it. And he was not able, because this plan became
known to those who were in the city. {6:4} And they rose up
in battle, and he fled away from there, and he departed with
great sadness, and he returned into Babylon. {6:5} And
someone arrived to report to him in Persia, that those who
were in the land of Judah were forced to flee the camp,
{6:6} and that Lysias went forth with a particularly strong
army, and he was forced to flee before the face of the Jews,
and that they were strengthened by the weapons, and
resources, and many spoils which they seized from the camps
they demolished, {6:7} and that they had destroyed the
abomination, which he had established on the altar that was
in Jerusalem, and that the sanctuary, just as before, had been
encircled with high walls, along with Bethzur, his city.
{6:8} And it happened that, when the king heard these words,
he was terrified and very moved. And he fell down on his bed,
and he fell into feebleness out of grief. For it had not
happened to him as he had intended. {6:9} And he was in
that place through many days. For a great grief was renewed
in him, and he concluded that he would die. {6:10} And he
called all his friends, and he said to them: “Sleep has
withdrawn from my eyes, and I am declining, and my heart
has collapsed out of anxiety. {6:11} And I said in my heart:
How much trouble has come to me, and what floods of
sorrow there are, where I am now! I used to be cheerful and
beloved in my power! {6:12} Truly, now, I remember the
evils that I did in Jerusalem, from which place I also took
away all the spoils of gold and silver that were in it, and I sent
to carry away the inhabitants of Judah without cause.
{6:13} Therefore, I know that it is because of this that these
evils have found me. And behold, I perish with great sorrow
in a foreign land.” {6:14} Then he called Philip, one of his
friends, and he placed him first over all his kingdom.
{6:15} And he gave him the diadem, and his robe, and his
ring, so that he would guide Antiochus, his son, and raise
him, and so that he would reign. {6:16} And king Antiochus
died there, in the one hundred and forty-ninth year.
{6:17} And Lysias knew that the king was dead, and he
appointed Antiochus, his son, to reign, whom he had raised
from adolescence. And he called his name Eupator.
{6:18} And those who were in the stronghold had enclosed
the Israelites by surrounding the holy places. And they
continually sought to do evil to them and to support the
Gentiles. {6:19} And Judas intended to disperse them. And
he called together all the people, in order to besiege them.
{6:20} And they came together and besieged them in the one
hundred and fiftieth year, and they made catapults and other
machines. {6:21} And certain ones of these, who were
besieged, escaped. And some of the impious out of Israel
joined themselves to them. {6:22} And they went to the king,
and they said: “How long will you not act with judgment and
vindicate our brothers? {6:23} We resolved to serve your
father, and to walk according to his precepts, and to obey his
edicts. {6:24} And because of this, the sons of our people
have alienated themselves from us, and they have put to
death as many of us as they could find, and they have torn
apart our inheritances. {6:25} And they have not extended
their hand against us only, but also against all within our
borders. {6:26} And behold, this day they have taken a
position near the stronghold of Jerusalem to occupy it, and
they have fortified the stronghold of Bethzur. {6:27} And,
unless you quickly act to prevent them, they will do greater
things than these, and you will not be able to subdue them.”
{6:28} And the king was angry when he heard this. And he
called together all his friends, and the leaders of his army,
and those who were over the horsemen. {6:29} But there
even came to him mercenary armies from other kingdoms
and from the islands of the sea. {6:30} And the number of his
army was one hundred thousand footmen, and twenty
thousand horsemen, and thirty-two elephants trained for
battle. {6:31} And they traveled through Idumea, and they
took a position near Bethzur. And they fought for many days,
and they made machines of war. But they came out and burnt
them with fire, and they fought manfully. {6:32} And Judas
departed from the stronghold, and he moved the camp to
Bethzechariah, opposite the camp of the king. {6:33} And the
king rose up, before it was light, and he forced his troops to
march toward the way of Bethzechariah. And the armies
prepared themselves for battle, and they sounded the
trumpets. {6:34} And they showed the elephants the blood of
grapes and mulberries, to provoke them to fight. {6:35} And
they divided the beasts by the legions, and there stood by
every elephant a thousand men, with shields joined together
and with brass helmets on their heads. And five hundred
well-ordered horsemen were chosen for every beast.
{6:36} These were ready beforehand, and wherever the beast
was, they were there; and whenever it moved, they moved,
and they did not depart from it. {6:37} Moreover, upon them
there were strong wooden turrets, watching over every beast,
with machines upon them, and on them were thirty-two
valiant men, who fought from above, and an Indian to rule
each beast. {6:38} And the rest of the horsemen, he stationed
here and there, in two parts, with trumpets to stir up the army
and to urge on those who were slow to move within its
legions. {6:39} And so, when the sun reflected off the shields
of gold and of brass, the mountains were resplendent from
them, and they glowed like lamps of fire. {6:40} And part of
the king’s army was divided to the high mountains, and the
other part to the low places. And they went forth with order
and caution. {6:41} And all the inhabitants of the land were
shaken at the voice of their multitude, and at the advance of
the company, and at the clash of the armor. For the army was
very great and strong. {6:42} And Judas and his army drew
near for battle. And there fell of the king’s army six hundred
men. {6:43} And Eleazar, the son of Saura, saw one of the
beasts shielded with the king’s shield, and it was higher than
the other beasts. So it seemed to him that the king must be on
it. {6:44} And he gave himself for the freedom of his people,
and to obtain for himself a name in eternity. {6:45} And he
ran up to it boldly in the midst of the legion, killing on the
right and on the left, and they fell down before him on this
side and that. {6:46} And he went between the feet of the
elephant, and put himself under it, and he killed it. And it fell
to the ground upon him, and he died there. {6:47} And,
seeing the strength of the king and the forcefulness of his
army, they turned themselves away from them. {6:48} But
the king’s camp went up against them in Jerusalem. And the
king’s camp took up a position near Judea and Mount Zion.
{6:49} And he made peace with those who were in Bethzur.
And they went out of the city, because they had no provisions
in their confinement, for it was the Sabbath of the land.
{6:50} And the king captured Bethzur, and he stationed a
garrison there to keep it. {6:51} And he turned his camp
against the place of sanctification for many days. And he
stationed there catapults and other machines: machines to
cast fire, and windlasses to cast stones and darts, and small
catapults to cast arrows and metal. {6:52} But they also made
machines against their machines, and they fought for many
days. {6:53} But there were no foods in the city, because it
was the seventh year. And those who had remained in Judea
were from the Gentiles, so they consumed all that they had
left from what had been stored up. {6:54} And there
remained in the holy places a few men, for the famine had
prevailed over them. And they were scattered, each one to his
own place. {6:55} Then Lysias heard that Philip, whom king
Antiochus had appointed, when he was still alive, to raise his
son, Antiochus, and to reign, {6:56} had returned from
Persia and Media, with the army that went with him, and
that he sought to take upon himself the affairs of the kingdom.
{6:57} He hurried to go and to say to the king and the
commanders of the army: “We are weakened everyday, and
our food is limited, and the place that we besiege is strong,
and it is incumbent upon us to put the kingdom in order.
{6:58} And so now, let us bestow a pledge to these men, and
make peace with them and with all their nation. {6:59} And
let us establish for them that they may walk according to their
own laws, just as before. For, because of their laws, which we
despised, they have become angry and have done all these
things.” {6:60} And the idea was pleasing in the sight of the
king and the leaders. And he sent to them to make peace.
And they accepted it. {6:61} And the king and the leaders
swore to them. And they went out of the stronghold.
{6:62} Then the king entered into Mount Zion, and saw the
fortifications of the place, and so he abruptly broke the oath
that he had sworn, and he commanded the surrounding wall
to be destroyed. {6:63} And he departed in haste and
returned to Antioch, where he found Philip ruling the city.
And he fought against him and occupied the city.


[1 Maccabees 7] {7:1} In the one hundred and fifty-first year,
Demetrius, the son of Seleucus, departed from the city of
Rome, and he went up with a few men to a maritime city,
and he reigned there. {7:2} And it happened that, as he
entered into the house of the kingdom of his fathers, the army
captured Antiochus and Lysias, to bring them to him.
{7:3} And the matter became known to him, and he said,
“Do not show me their face.” {7:4} And so the army killed
them. And Demetrius sat upon the throne of his kingdom.
{7:5} And there came to him iniquitous and impious men
from Israel. And Alcimus was their leader, who wanted to be
made a priest. {7:6} And they accused the people to the king,
saying: “Judas and his brothers have destroyed all your
friends, and he has scattered us from our land. {7:7} Now,
therefore, send a man, whom you trust, and let him go and
see all the destruction he has done to us and to the regions of
the king. And let him punish all his friends and their helpers.”
{7:8} And so the king chose, from among his friends,
Bacchides, who ruled across the great river in the kingdom,
and who was faithful to the king. And he sent him {7:9} to
see the destruction that Judas had done. Moreover, he
appointed the wicked Alcimus to the priesthood, and he
commanded him to take revenge on the sons of Israel.
{7:10} And they rose up and came forth with a great army
into the land of Judah. And they sent messengers, who spoke
to Judas and his brothers with words of peace, in
deceitfulness. {7:11} But they did not heed their words, for
they saw that they arrived with a great army. {7:12} Then
there assembled to Alcimus and Bacchides, a congregation of
scribes, to seek just terms. {7:13} And first, the Hasideans,
who were among the sons of Israel, also sought peace from
them. {7:14} For they said, “A man who is a priest from the
offspring of Aaron has arrived; he will not deceive us.”
{7:15} And he spoke to them peaceful words, and he swore
to them, saying, “We will not carry out any evil against you
or your friends.” {7:16} And they believed him. And he
captured sixty of their men and killed them in one day,
according to the word that is written: {7:17} The flesh of
your saints, and their blood, they have poured out all around
Jerusalem, and there was no one who would bury them.
{7:18} Then fear and trembling hovered over all the people.
For they said: “There is no truth or judgment among them.
For they have transgressed the agreement and the oath that
they swore.” {7:19} And Bacchides moved the camp from
Jerusalem, and he took up a position at Bethzaith. And he
sent and captured many of those who had fled from him, and
some of the people he killed in sacrifice, and he threw them
into a great pit. {7:20} Then he committed the country to
Alcimus, and he left behind troops with him to assist him.
And so Bacchides went away to the king. {7:21} And
Alcimus did what he pleased by means of his leadership of
the priesthood. {7:22} And all those who disturbed the
people assembled before him, and they obtained the land of
Judah, and they caused a great scourging in Israel.
{7:23} And Judas saw all the evils that Alcimus, and those
who were with him, did to the sons of Israel, even more than
the Gentiles did. {7:24} And he went out into all the parts
surrounding Judea, and he took vengeance on the men who
had rebelled, and they ceased to go forth into the region any
longer. {7:25} But Alcimus saw that Judas, and those who
were with him, prevailed. And he knew that he was not able
to withstand them. And so he returned to the king, and he
accused them of many crimes. {7:26} And the king sent
Nicanor, one of his principal noblemen, who was a cultivator
of hostility against Israel. And he commanded him to
overthrow the people. {7:27} And Nicanor came to
Jerusalem with a great army, and he sent to Judas and his
brothers words of peace, with deceitfulness, {7:28} saying:
“Let there be no fighting between me and you. I will come
with a few men, to see your faces with peace.” {7:29} And he
came to Judas, and they greeted one another in turns,
peaceably. And the enemies were prepared to abduct Judas.
{7:30} And the plan became known to Judas, that he came to
him with deceit. And so he became very afraid of him, and he
was no longer willing to see his face. {7:31} And Nicanor
knew that his plan had been exposed, and he went out to
meet Judas in battle near Capharsalama. {7:32} And there
fell of the army of Nicanor nearly five thousand men, and
they fled into the city of David. {7:33} And after these events,
Nicanor ascended to mount Zion. And some of the priests of
the people went out to greet him in peace, and to show him
the holocausts that were offered for the king. {7:34} But he
mocked and despised them, and he defiled them. And he
spoke arrogantly, {7:35} and he swore with anger, saying,
“Unless Judas and his army have been delivered into my
hands, when I return in peace, I will burn this house.” And
he went out with great anger. {7:36} And the priests went in
and stood before the face of the altar and the temple. And
weeping, they said: {7:37} “You, O Lord, have chosen this
house so that your name may be invoked in it, so that it may
be a house of prayer and supplication for your people.
{7:38} Accomplish vindication with this man and his army,
and let them fall by the sword. Remember their blasphemies,
and do not allow them to continue.” {7:39} Then Nicanor
departed from Jerusalem, and he positioned his camp near
Bethhoron, and an army of Syria met him there. {7:40} And
Judas took a position in Adasa with three thousand men.
And Judas prayed, and he said: {7:41} “O Lord, when those
who were sent by king Sennacherib blasphemed against you,
an angel went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five
thousand of them. {7:42} Just so, crush this army in our sight
today, and so let the others know that he has spoken evil
against your sanctuary. And judge him according to his
wickedness.” {7:43} And the armies were sent into battle
together on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. And the
camp of Nicanor was crushed, and he himself was among the
first slain in the battle. {7:44} So then, when his army saw
that Nicanor had fallen, they threw away their weapons and
fled. {7:45} And they pursued them for one day’s journey
from Adasa, even until one comes into Gazara, and they
sounded the trumpets after them with signals. {7:46} And
they went forth from all of the towns all around Judea. And
they herded them with the horns, and they turned back again
to them, and they were all felled with the sword, and there
was not so much as one of them left behind. {7:47} And they
took their spoils like a prey, and they cut off the head of
Nicanor, and his right hand, which he had extended
arrogantly, and they brought it, and hung it up opposite
Jerusalem. {7:48} And the people rejoiced exceedingly, and
they spent that day in great joy. {7:49} And he established
that this day should be kept every year, on the thirteenth day
of the month of Adar. {7:50} And the land of Judah was
quieted for a brief time.


[1 Maccabees 8] {8:1} And Judas heard of the fame of the
Romans, that they are powerful and strong, and that they
willingly agree to all things that are asked of them; and that,
whoever was agreeable to them, they established a friendship
with them, and so they are powerful and resourceful.
{8:2} And they heard of their battles, and the successful
works that they had accomplished in Galatia, how they had
subdued them and brought them under tribute, {8:3} and
what great things they had accomplished in the region of
Spain, and that they had driven under their power the mines
of silver and gold which are there, and that they had obtained
possession of the entire place by their counsel and patience,
{8:4} and that they had overcome places that were very far
from them, and kings, who came against them from the ends
of the earth, and had crushed them and struck them with a
great scourging, while the rest pay tribute to them every year,
{8:5} and that they had defeated in battle Philip, and Perses
the king of the Ceteans, and the others who had taken up
arms against them, and had crushed them in warfare and
subdued them, {8:6} and how Antiochus, the great king of
Asia, who brought a fight against them, having one hundred
and twenty elephants, with horsemen, and swift chariots, and
a very great army, was crushed by them, {8:7} and how they
had captured him alive and had decreed to him that both he
and those who would reign after him would pay a great
tribute, and that he should provide hostages bound to an
agreement, {8:8} and that regions from the Indians, and from
the Medes, and from the Lydians, from among their best
regions, with those whom they had taken from them, they
gave to king Eumenes. {8:9} And those who were in Greece
wanted to go out and defeat them, but they became aware of
this plan. {8:10} And so they sent one general to them, and
he fought against them, and many of them fell, and they led
into captivity their wives, and their sons, and they despoiled
them and took possession of their land, and they destroyed
their walls and drove them into servitude, even to this day.
{8:11} And the remaining kingdoms and islands, which at
any time had resisted them, they destroyed and drove under
their power. {8:12} But with their friends, and with those
who remained at peace with them, they maintained
friendship and conquered kingdoms: those that were near,
and those that were far off. For all those who heard of their
name were afraid of them. {8:13} In fact, whomever they
wanted to help become ruler, these reigned, but whomever
they wanted, they deposed from the kingdom. And they were
greatly exalted. {8:14} And of all these, none wore a diadem
or was clothed in purple, to be magnified in this. {8:15} And
also, they had made themselves a senate house, and they
consulted daily with three hundred and twenty men,
continually acting as a counsel for the multitude, so that they
would do the things that were right. {8:16} And they commit
their government to one man each year, to rule over their
entire land, and they all obey this one, and there is no envy or
jealousy among them. {8:17} And so Judas chose Eupolemus,
the son of John, the son of Jacob, and Jason, the son of
Eleazar, and he sent them to Rome to make an agreement of
friendship and an alliance with them, {8:18} and so that they
would take away from them the yoke of the Grecians, for
they saw that they oppressed the kingdom of Israel with
servitude. {8:19} And they went to Rome, a very long
journey, and they entered the senate house, and they said,
{8:20} “Judas Maccabeus, and his brothers, and the people of
the Jews, have sent us to you to establish with you an alliance
and peace, and so that we may be registered among your
associates and friends.” {8:21} And the word was pleasing in
their sight. {8:22} And this is a copy of the writing, which
they rewrote on tablets of brass and sent to Jerusalem, so that
it would be with them in that place as a memorial of the
peace and alliance: {8:23} “May all be well with the Romans
and with the nation of the Jews, at sea and on land, forever,
and may sword and enemy be far away from them.
{8:24} But if a war is instituted against the Romans first, or
against any of their allies in all their dominions, {8:25} the
nation of the Jews will bring help to them, just as the
situation shall direct, whole-heartedly. {8:26} And those who
do battle, they need not provide with supplies of wheat, or
arms, or money, or ships, just as it seems good to the Romans,
and they shall obey their orders, while taking nothing from
them. {8:27} But in like manner also, if war will have fallen
upon the nation of the Jews first, the Romans shall help them
willingly, just as the situation permits them. {8:28} And those
who give assistance will not be provided with wheat, or arms,
or money, or ships, just as it seems good to the Romans. And
they shall obey their orders without deceit. {8:29} According
to these words, the Romans have made an agreement with
the people of the Jews. {8:30} And, if after these words, one
or another would want to add anything to, or take anything
from these, they may do as they propose. And whatever they
add or take away, it shall be ratified. {8:31} Moreover,
concerning the evils that king Demetrius did to them, we
have written to him, saying, ‘Why have you made your yoke
heavy upon our friends and allies, the Jews? {8:32} If,
therefore, they come again to us against you, we will render
judgment for them, and we will make war against you by sea
and by land.’ ”


[1 Maccabees 9] {9:1} Meanwhile, when Demetrius heard
that Nicanor and his army had fallen in battle, he again
positioned Bacchides and Alcimus in Judea, and the right
horn of his army with them. {9:2} And they traveled by the
way that leads to Gilgal, and they set up camp in Mesaloth,
which is in Arbela. And they occupied it, and they destroyed
the lives of many men. {9:3} In the first month of the one
hundred and fifty-second year, they positioned the army near
Jerusalem. {9:4} And they rose up and went to Berea, with
twenty thousand men and two thousand horsemen.
{9:5 Now Judas had stationed his camp in Elasa, and three
thousand chosen men were with him. {9:6} And they saw the
multitude of the army, that they were many, and they became
very afraid. And many withdrew themselves from the camp,
and there remained of them no more than eight hundred men.
{9:7} And Judas saw that his army had slipped away and that
the battle pressed upon him, and his heart was shattered,
because he did not have time to gather them together, and he
was very discouraged. {9:8} And so, he said to those who
were remaining, “Let us rise up and go against our enemies,
perhaps we may be able to fight against them.” {9:9} But
they dissuaded him, saying: “We will not be able, but let us
try to save our lives and return to our brothers, and then we
will fight against them. For we are but few.” {9:10} And
Judas said: “Far be it from us, to do this thing, so as to flee
away from them. But if our time has drawn near, let us die
with virtue, on behalf of our brothers, and let us not inflict
guilt upon our glory.” {9:11} And the army moved from the
camp, and they stood to meet them. And the horsemen were
divided into two parts, and the stone-slingers and archers
went before the army, and the first ones were all powerful
men, experienced in combat. {9:12} Moreover, Bacchides
was with the right horn, and the legion drew near on both
sides, and they sounded the trumpets. {9:13} But those also
who were from the side of Judas, these also now cried out,
and the earth shook at the noise of the armies. And the battle
was joined from morning, even until evening. {9:14} And
Judas saw that the stronger part of the army of Bacchides was
on the right side, and all the steadfast in heart came together
with him. {9:15} And the right part was crushed by them,
and he pursued them even to Mount Azotus. {9:16} And
those who were with the left horn saw that the right horn was
crushed, and so they followed after Judas, and those who
were with him, at their back. {9:17} And the battle was hard
fought, and there fell many wounded from one side and the
other. {9:18} And Judas fell, and the others fled away.
{9:19} And Jonathan and Simon carried Judas, their brother,
and they buried him in the sepulcher of their fathers, in the
city of Modin. {9:20} And all the people of Israel wept for
him with a great wailing, and they mourned him for many
days. {9:21} And they said, “Such a powerful man has fallen,
who accomplished the salvation of the people of Israel!”
{9:22} But the rest of the words, about the wars of Judas, and
the virtuous acts that he did, and his magnitude, have not
been written. For they were very many. {9:23} And it
happened that, after the death of Judas, the iniquitous began
to emerge in all the parts of Israel, and they began to
encourage all those who worked iniquity. {9:24} In those
days, there occurred a very great famine, and the entire
region handed itself over to Bacchides. {9:25} And Bacchides
chose impious men, and he appointed them as rulers of the
region. {9:26} And they sought out and persecuted the
friends of Judas, and they led them to Bacchides, and he took
vengeance on them and abused them. {9:27} And there
occurred a great tribulation in Israel, such as had never been,
since the day that there was no prophet seen in Israel.
{9:28} And all the friends of Judas gathered together, and
they said to Jonathan: {9:29} “Since your brother Judas has
fallen away, there is not a man like him to go forth against
our enemies, against Bacchides and those who are the
enemies of our nation. {9:30} And so now, we have chosen
you in his place, on this day, to be our leader and
commander in order to wage our wars.” {9:31} And so, at
that time, Jonathan took upon himself the leadership, and he
rose up in the place of Judas, his brother. {9:32} And
Bacchides knew of it, and he sought to kill him. {9:33} And
Jonathan and his brother Simon knew of this, and so did all
who were with them. And they fled into the desert of Tekoa,
and they settled by the water of lake Asphar. {9:34} And
Bacchides knew of it, and on the day of the Sabbath, he
himself arrived, with all his army, across the Jordan.
{9:35} And Jonathan sent his brother, a commander of the
people, to ask the Nabateans, his friends, to lend them their
equipment, which was abundant. {9:36} And the sons of
Jambri went forth from Medeba, and they captured John,
and all that he had, and they went away in possession of
these. {9:37} After these events, it was reported to Jonathan
and his brother Simon that the sons of Jambri were having a
great marriage celebration, and that they would be leading
the bride, a daughter of one of the great leaders of Canaan,
out of Medeba with great fanfare. {9:38} And they
remembered the blood of John, their brother. And they went
up and hid themselves under the cover of the mountain.
{9:39} And they lifted up their eyes and saw. And behold, a
tumult and a well-prepared multitude. And the bridegroom
proceeded, with his friends and his brothers, to meet them
with timbrels, and musical instruments, and many weapons.
{9:40} And they rose up against them out of ambush, and
they killed them, and there fell many wounded, and the
remainder fled into the mountains, and they took all their
spoils. {9:41} And the marriage celebration was turned into
mourning, and the voice of their musical instruments into
lamentation. {9:42} And they took revenge for the blood of
their brother, and they returned to the bank of the Jordan.
{9:43} And Bacchides heard about this, and he came on the
day of the Sabbath all the way to the coast of the Jordan, with
a great force. {9:44} And Jonathan said to his own: “Let us
rise up and fight against our enemies. For it is not today, as it
was yesterday, or the day before. {9:45} For behold, the war
is before us, and truly, with the water of the Jordan here and
there, and the banks, and the marshes, and the woods: there
is no place for us to turn aside. {9:46} Therefore, cry out now
to heaven so that you may be freed from the hand of your
enemies.” And they joined together in warfare. {9:47} And
Jonathan extended his hand to strike Bacchides, but he
turned away from him in retreat. {9:48} And Jonathan, and
those who were with him, leaped forward into the Jordan,
and they swam across the Jordan to them. {9:49} And there
fell from the side of Bacchides on that day one thousand men.
And they returned to Jerusalem. {9:50} And they built
fortified cities in Judea: the fortification that was in Jericho,
and in Emmaus, and in Bethhoron, and in Bethel, and
Timnath, and Pharathon, and Tephon, with high walls, and
gates, and bars. {9:51} And he stationed garrisons in them, so
that those in Israel became trained in warfare. {9:52} And he
fortified the city of Bethzur, and of Gazara, and the
stronghold, and he stationed auxiliaries in them, with
supplies of rations. {9:53} And he took the sons of the leaders
of the region for hostages, and put them in the stronghold in
Jerusalem under guard. {9:54} Now in the second month of
the one hundred and fifty-third year, Alcimus instructed that
the walls of the inner court of the sanctuary be destroyed, and
that the works of the prophets be destroyed. And he began to
destroy them. {9:55} At that time, Alcimus was struck, and
his works were hindered, and his mouth was closed shut, and
he was weakened with paralysis, so that he was no longer
able speak a word, nor to give orders concerning his house.
{9:56} And Alcimus died at that time, in great torment.
{9:57} And Bacchides saw that Alcimus was dead. And he
returned to the king. And the land was quiet for two years.
{9:58} And all the iniquitous considered together, saying,
“Behold, Jonathan, and those who are with him, live in
quietude and confidence. Now, therefore, let us bring forth
Bacchides, and he will capture them all, in one night.”
{9:59} So they went and gave counsel to him. {9:60} And he
rose up, so as to advance with a great army. And he secretly
sent letters to his associates who were in Judea, to seize
Jonathan and those who were with him. But they were not
able, for their plan became known to them. {9:61} And he
apprehended, from the men of the region, those who were the
leaders of this malice, fifty men. And he killed them.
{9:62} And Jonathan, and Simon, and those who were with
him, withdrew into Bethbasi, which is in the desert. And he
repaired its breaches, and they fortified it. {9:63} And
Bacchides knew about it, and he gathered together all his
multitude. And he reported it to those who were from Judea.
{9:64} And he came and made camp above Bethbasi, and he
fought against it for many days, and he made machines of
war. {9:65} But Jonathan left behind his brother Simon in the
city, and he went out into the country, and he approached
with a number of men, {9:66} and he struck Odomera and
his brothers, and the sons of Phasiron, in their tents. And he
began to slaughter and to increase in forces. {9:67} In truth,
Simon, and those who were with him, went forth from the
city and burned the machines of war, {9:68} and they fought
against Bacchides, and he was crushed by them. And they
afflicted him greatly, because his counsel and his meetings
were in vain. {9:69} And he was angry with the men of
iniquity who had given him counsel to come into their region,
and he killed many of them. But he decided to depart with
the remainder into their country. {9:70} And Jonathan knew
of it, and he sent ambassadors to him to arrange a peace with
him, and to restore the captives to him. {9:71} And he
accepted it willingly, and he acted according to his words,
and he swore that he would do him no evil all the days of his
life. {9:72} And he restored to him the captives which he
previously had been given from the land of Judah. And he
turned back and went away into his own land, and he no
longer drew near, in order to enter into their borders.
{9:73} And so the sword ceased from Israel. And Jonathan
lived in Michmash, and, in that place, Jonathan began to
judge the people, and he destroyed the impious out of Israel.


[1 Maccabees 10] {10:1} And in the one hundred and sixtieth
year, Alexander, the son of Antiochus, who was surnamed
the illustrious, came up and occupied Ptolemais, and they
received him, and he reigned there. {10:2} And king
Demetrius heard of it, and he gathered together an
exceedingly great army, and he went forth to meet him in
battle. {10:3} And Demetrius sent a letter to Jonathan, with
peaceful words, to magnify him. {10:4} For he said, “Let us
first make a peace with him, before he makes one with
Alexander against us. {10:5} For he will remember all the
evils that we have done to him, and to his brother, and to his
nation.” {10:6} And he gave him the authority to gather
together an army, and to fabricate weapons, so that he would
be his associate. And the hostages who were in the
stronghold, he ordered to be handed over to him. {10:7} And
Jonathan came to Jerusalem, and he read the letters in the
hearing of all the people and of those who were in the
stronghold. {10:8} And they were struck with a great fear,
because they heard that the king gave him the authority to
gather together an army. {10:9} And the hostages were
handed over to Jonathan, and he restored them to their
parents. {10:10} And Jonathan lived in Jerusalem, and he
began to rebuild and repair the city. {10:11} And he told
those doing the work to build up the walls, and mount Zion,
all around, with square stones, as a fortification. And they
did so. {10:12} Then the foreigners, who were in the
fortifications that Bacchides had built, fled away.
{10:13} And each one abandoned his place and departed into
his own land. {10:14} Only in Bethzur did there remain some
others of these, who had forsaken the law and the precepts of
God. For this was a refuge for them. {10:15} And king
Alexander heard of the promises that Demetrius promised to
Jonathan. And they described the battles to him, and the
virtuous deeds that he and his brothers had done, and the
hardships that they had endured. {10:16} And he said:
“Would we ever find another such man? And so now, let us
make him our friend and our associate.” {10:17} And so, he
wrote a letter, and he sent it to him, according to these words,
saying: {10:18} “King Alexander to his brother, Jonathan:
greetings. {10:19} We have heard of you, that you are a man
of power and strength, and that you are fit to be our friend.
{10:20} And so now, on this day, we appoint that you be
high priest of your people, and that you be called the king’s
friend, (and he sent him a purple robe, and a crown of gold,)
and that you be of one mind with us in our affairs, and that
you keep friendship with us.” {10:21} Then Jonathan clothed
himself with the holy vestment, in the seventh month, in the
one hundred and sixtieth year, on the solemn day of the Feast
of Tabernacles. And he gathered together an army, and he
made an abundance of weapons. {10:22} And Demetrius
heard these words, and he was exceedingly sorrowful, and he
said: {10:23} “What have we done in this, that Alexander
has gone before us to obtain the friendship of the Jews to
strengthen himself? {10:24} I also will write to them words of
petition, and offer positions of rank and gifts, so that they
may act in assistance to me.” {10:25} And he wrote to them
in these words: “King Demetrius to the nation of the Jews:
greetings. {10:26} Since you have kept the peace with us, and
have remained in our friendship, and have not made
agreements with our enemies, we have heard of this, and we
are glad. {10:27} And so now, persevere still to remain
faithful to us, and we will reward you with good things for
what you have done for us. {10:28} And we will repay you
for your many expenses, and we will give you gifts.
{10:29} And now, I release you, and all the Jews, from
tributes, and I grant to you the payments of salt, and I send
back the crowns and the thirds of the seed. {10:30} And the
one half portion of the fruit from the trees, which is my share,
I relinquish to you from this day and hereafter, so that it shall
not be taken from the land of Judah, nor from the three cities
that have been added to it from Samaria and Galilee, from
this day and for all time. {10:31} And let Jerusalem be holy
and free within its borders, and let the tenths and tributes be
for itself. {10:32} And I even return authority over the
stronghold, which is in Jerusalem, and I give it to the high
priest, in order to appoint in it any such men as he will
choose, who will guard it. {10:33} And every soul of the
Jews who were taken captive from the land of Judah in all
my kingdom, I set at liberty without charge, so that they are
all released from tributes, even of their cattle. {10:34} And all
the days of solemnities, and the Sabbaths, and the new
moons, and the decreed days, and the three days before the
solemn day, and three days after the solemn day, shall all be
days of immunity and remission for all the Jews who are in
my kingdom. {10:35} And no one will have the authority to
do anything, or to incite any plots, against any of them, in all
cases. {10:36} And let there be enrolled from the Jews, into
the army of the king, up to thirty thousand men. And
allowances shall be given to them, just as is due to all the
king’s army. And some of them shall be appointed to be in
the fortresses of the great king. {10:37} And some of them
shall be set over the affairs of the kingdom, those who act
with faith, and let the leaders be from them, and let them
walk by their own laws, just as the king has commanded in
the land of Judah. {10:38} And the three cities that have been
added to Judea from the region of Samaria, let them be
counted with Judea, so that they may be united as one, and
so that they may obey no other authority, except the high
priest. {10:39} Ptolemais and its confines, I give as a free gift
to the holy places that are in Jerusalem, for the necessary
expenses of the holy things. {10:40} And I give, every year,
fifteen thousand shekels of silver from the allotment of the
king, from what belongs to me. {10:41} And all that has been
left over, which those who were set over the affairs in prior
years have not paid: from this time, they will give it to the
works of the house. {10:42} And beyond this, they shall
receive five thousand shekels of silver from the allotment of
the holy places each year, and this will belong to the priests
who perform the ministry. {10:43} And whoever will flee
into the temple that is in Jerusalem, or in any of its parts,
being liable before the king in any matter, let them be
released, and all that is theirs in my kingdom, let them have it
freely. {10:44} And as to the works of rebuilding and
repairing the holy places, the expenses shall be given from the
king’s revenues. {10:45} And as to the raising of the walls of
Jerusalem and the fortifications all around it, the expenses
shall be given from the king’s revenues, as also for the
building of the walls in Judea.” {10:46} So when Jonathan
and the people heard these words, they did not believe or
accept them, because they remembered the great malice that
he had done in Israel, for he had troubled them greatly.
{10:47} And so they were pleased with Alexander, because
he had been to them a leader with words of peace, and they
were of assistance to him every day. {10:48} And so king
Alexander gathered together a great army, and he moved his
camp against Demetrius. {10:49} And the two kings joined
together in battle, and the army of Demetrius fled away, and
Alexander followed after him, and he closed in on them.
{10:50} And the battle was hard fought, until the sun went
down. And Demetrius was slain on that day. {10:51} And
Alexander sent ambassadors to Ptolemy, the king of Egypt,
according to these words, saying: {10:52} “Know that I have
returned to my kingdom, and I am seated upon the throne of
my fathers, and I have obtained the leadership, and I have
crushed Demetrius, and I have taken possession of our
country, {10:53} and I have joined battle with him, and both
he and his camp have been crushed by us, and we are seated
on the throne of his kingdom. {10:54} And now, let us
establish a friendship with one with another. And give me
your daughter as a wife, and I will be your son-in-law, and I
will give gifts that are worthy of you, to both you and her.”
{10:55} And king Ptolemy responded by saying: “Happy is
the day on which you were returned to the land of your
fathers, and you sat on the throne of their kingdom.
{10:56} And now, I will do for you as you have written. But
meet with me at Ptolemais, so that we may see one another,
and so that I may espouse her to you, just as you have said.”
{10:57} And so Ptolemy departed from Egypt, both he and
his daughter Cleopatra, and he arrived at Ptolemais in the
one hundred and sixty-second year. {10:58} And king
Alexander met him, and he gave him Cleopatra, his daughter.
And he celebrated her marriage at Ptolemais with great glory,
just as befits kings. {10:59} And king Alexander wrote to
Jonathan, that he should come to meet him. {10:60} And he
went forth with glory to Ptolemais, and he met the two kings
there, and he gave them much silver, and gold, and gifts. And
he found favor in their sight. {10:61} And some of the
pestilent men of Israel, men of iniquity, came together against
him, interrupting with objections against him. And the king
did not attend to them. {10:62} And he ordered that
Jonathan’s garments be taken away from him, and that he be
clothed in purple. And they did so. And the king arranged for
him to sit with him. {10:63} And he said to his princes, “Go
out with him into the midst of the city, and make a
proclamation, so that no one may raise objections against
him in any matter, and so that no one may bother him for
any reason.” {10:64} And so it happened that, when his
accusers saw his glory being proclaimed, and him clothed in
purple, they all fled away. {10:65} And the king magnified
him, and he enrolled him among his foremost friends, and he
gave him a position as governor and as a participant in his
dominion. {10:66} And Jonathan returned to Jerusalem with
peace and joy. {10:67} In the one hundred and sixty-fifth
year, Demetrius, the son of Demetrius, came from Crete into
the land of his fathers. {10:68} And king Alexander heard of
it, and he was very sorrowful, and he returned to Antioch.
{10:69} And king Demetrius appointed Apollonius as his
general, who was in charge of Coelesyria. And he gathered
together a great army, and he drew near to Jamnia. And he
sent to Jonathan, the high priest, {10:70} saying: “You alone
resist us, and so I have been brought to derision and disgrace,
because you exercise your power against us in the mountains.
{10:71} Now, therefore, if you trust in your forces, descend
to us in the plains, and there let us contest one another. For
the power of war is with me. {10:72} Inquire, and learn who
I am, and the others, who are auxiliaries to me, who also say
that your feet cannot stand before our face, for your fathers
have twice been put to flight in their own land. {10:73} And
now, how will you be able to withstand the horsemen, and so
great an army in the plains, where there is no stone, or rock,
or place to flee?” {10:74} But when Jonathan heard the
words of Apollonius, he was moved in his soul. And he chose
ten thousand men, and he departed from Jerusalem, and
Simon, his brother, met him to help him. {10:75} And they
positioned their tents near Joppa, but they excluded him from
the city, because a garrison from Apollonius was in Joppa.
And so, he attacked it. {10:76} And those who were in the
city, being terrified, opened to him. And so Jonathan
obtained Joppa. {10:77} And Apollonius heard of it, and he
moved three thousand horsemen, and a great army.
{10:78} And he went toward Azotus, like one making a
journey, but he suddenly departed into the plains, because he
had a great number of horsemen, and he trusted in them.
And Jonathan followed after him to Azotus, and they joined
together in battle. {10:79} And Apollonius secretly left
behind them in the camp a thousand horsemen. {10:80} And
Jonathan realized that there was an ambush behind him, and
they surrounded his camp, and they cast darts at the people
from morning until evening. {10:81} But the people stood
firm, just as Jonathan had instructed them, and their horses
suffered hardships. {10:82} Then Simon drew forth his army,
and he sent them against the legion. For the horsemen were
wearied. And they were crushed by him, and they fled.
{10:83} And those who were scattered throughout the plains
fled to Azotus, and they entered into Bethdagon, so that, by
their idol in that place, they might save themselves.
{10:84} But Jonathan set fire to Azotus and to the cities that
were all around it, and he captured their spoils and the
temple of Dagon. And he burned with fire all those who had
fled into it. {10:85} And so it was that those who fell by the
sword, with those who were burned, were nearly eight
thousand men. {10:86} And Jonathan, removed his
encampment from there, and he took up a position against
Askalon. And they went out of the city to meet him with
great glory. {10:87} And Jonathan returned to Jerusalem
with his own, having many spoils. {10:88} And it happened
that, when king Alexander heard these words, he added still
more glory to Jonathan. {10:89} And he sent him a clasp of
gold, as is customary to be given to those who are of royal
lineage. And he gave him Ekron, and all its borders, as a
possession.


[1 Maccabees 11] {11:1} And the king of Egypt gathered
together an army, like the sand that is along the shore of the
sea, and many ships. And he sought to obtain the kingdom of
Alexander by deceit, and to add it to his own kingdom.
{11:2} And he departed into Syria with words of peace, and
they opened the cities to him, and they were meeting with
him. For king Alexander had commanded them to go out to
meet him, because he was his father-in-law. {11:3} But when
Ptolemy entered a city, he placed garrisons of soldiers in each
of the cities. {11:4} And when he drew near to Azotus, they
revealed to him that the temple of Dagon had been burned
with fire, and Azotus and its suburbs had been demolished,
and bodies had been abandoned, and that, for those who had
been cut to pieces in the war, they had made a tomb along
the way. {11:5} And they told the king that Jonathan had
done these things, so as to make him hated. But the king
remained silent. {11:6} And Jonathan went to meet the king
at Joppa with glory, and they greeted one another, and they
stayed there. {11:7} And Jonathan went with the king as far
as the river, which is called Eleutherus. And he returned to
Jerusalem. {11:8} But king Ptolemy obtained the dominion
of the coastal cities, as far as Seleucia, and he devised evil
plans against Alexander. {11:9} And he sent ambassadors to
Demetrius, saying: “Come, let us compose a pact between us,
and I will give you my daughter, whom Alexander had, and
you will reign in the kingdom of your father. {11:10} For I
regret that I have given him my daughter. For he has sought
to kill me.” {11:11} And he slandered him, because he
coveted his kingdom. {11:12} And he took away his daughter,
and he gave her to Demetrius, and he alienated himself from
Alexander, and his hostilities were made manifest.
{11:13} And Ptolemy entered Antioch, and he placed two
diadems upon his head, that of Egypt, and that of Asia.
{11:14} Now king Alexander was in Cilicia at that time,
because the people of those places were rebelling.
{11:15} And when Alexander heard of it, he came against
him in warfare. And king Ptolemy led forth his army, and he
met him with a strong hand, and he put him to flight.
{11:16} And Alexander fled into Arabia, so as to be protected
there. And king Ptolemy was exalted. {11:17} And Zabdiel
the Arab took off the head of Alexander, and he sent it to
Ptolemy. {11:18} And king Ptolemy died on the third day,
and those who were in the strongholds were destroyed by
those who were in the camp. {11:19} And Demetrius reigned
in the one hundred and sixty-seventh year. {11:20} In those
days, Jonathan gathered together those who were in Judea, in
order to fight against the stronghold that was in Jerusalem.
And they made many machines of war against it.
{11:21} And so, certain men of iniquity, who hated their own
people, went forth to king Demetrius, and they reported to
him that Jonathan was besieging the stronghold. {11:22} And
when he heard it, he became angry. And immediately he
came to Ptolemais, and he wrote to Jonathan that he should
not besiege the stronghold, but that he should meet with him
promptly, for a discussion. {11:23} But when Jonathan heard
this, he ordered them to besiege it. And he chose some from
the elders of Israel and from the priests, and he put himself in
danger. {11:24} And he took gold, and silver, and vestments,
and many other presents, and he went to the king at
Ptolemais, and he found favor in his sight. {11:25} And some
of the iniquitous from his nation came forward with
objections against him. {11:26} And the king treated him just
as those who were before him had treated him. And he
exalted him in the sight of all his friends. {11:27} And he
confirmed him in the high priesthood and in all the other
honors that he held before, and he made him the leader of his
friends. {11:28} And Jonathan requested of the king that he
would make Judea free from tribute, along with the three
districts, and Samaria, and its confines. And he promised him
three hundred talents. {11:29} And the king consented. And
he wrote letters to Jonathan about all these things, continuing
in this way: {11:30} “King Demetrius to his brother Jonathan,
and to the nation of the Jews: greetings. {11:31} We are
sending you a copy of the letter that we wrote to Lasthenes,
our parent, about you, so that you will know. {11:32} ‘King
Demetrius to Lasthenes, his parent: greetings. {11:33} We
have determined to do good to the people of the Jews, who
are our friends and who keep to what is just with us, because
of their good will, which they hold toward us.
{11:34} Therefore, we have assigned to them all the parts of
Judea, and the three cities, Lydda and Ramatha, which were
added to Judea from Samaria, and all their confines, to be set
apart for all those sacrificing in Jerusalem, in place of that
which the king previously received from them each year, and
in place of the fruits of the land and of the fruit trees.
{11:35} And, as for the rest of that which pertains to us from
tithes and tributes, from this time forward, we release them
from these, as well as from the drying areas of salt and the
crowns that were presented to us. {11:36} All these, we
concede to them, and nothing of these shall be revoked, from
this time forward and for all time. {11:37} Now, therefore,
take care to make a copy of these things, and let it be given to
Jonathan and set upon the holy mountain, in an honorable
place.’ ” {11:38} And king Demetrius, seeing that the land
was quieted in his sight and that nothing resisted him, sent all
his forces away, each one to his own place, except the foreign
army, which he had drawn together from the islands of the
nations. And so all the troops of his fathers were hostile to
him. {11:39} But there was a certain one, Trypho, who was
previously on Alexander’s side. And he saw that all the army
murmured against Demetrius, and so he went to Imalkue the
Arab, who raised Antiochus, the son of Alexander.
{11:40} And he persuaded him to deliver him to him, so that
he would reign in his father’s place. And he reported to him
what Demetrius had done, and that his army was hostile to
him. And he remained there for many days. {11:41} And
Jonathan sent to king Demetrius, so that he would cast out
those who were in the stronghold in Jerusalem and those
who were with the garrisons, because they fought against
Israel. {11:42} And Demetrius sent to Jonathan, saying: “I
will not only do this for you and your people, but I will
elevate your glory and your nation, when opportunity shall
serve. {11:43} Now, therefore, you will do well if you send
men as auxiliaries to me. For all my army has withdrawn
from me.” {11:44} And Jonathan sent three thousand strong
men to him at Antioch. And they came to the king, and the
king was delighted at their arrival. {11:45} And those who
were of the city gathered together, one hundred and twenty
thousand men, and they wanted to execute the king.
{11:46} And the king fled into the royal court. And those
who were of the city, occupied the passageways of the city,
and they began to fight. {11:47} And the king called the Jews
to his assistance. And they came together before him at the
same time, and then they all dispersed themselves throughout
the city. {11:48} And they killed, in that day, one hundred
thousand men, and they set fire to the city, and they seized
many spoils in that day, and they freed the king. {11:49} And
those who were of the city saw that the Jews had taken the
city, just as they wanted, and they were weakened in their
resolve, and they cried out to the king with supplication,
saying, {1:50} “Grant us a pledge, and let the Jews cease
from assailing us and the city.” {11:51} And they threw
down their arms, and they made peace. And the Jews were
glorified in the sight of the king and in the sight of all who
were in his realm. And they became renowned in the
kingdom, and they returned to Jerusalem, holding many
spoils. {11:52} And so king Demetrius sat on the throne of
his kingdom. And the land was quieted in his sight.
{11:53} And he falsified everything whatsoever that he had
said. And he alienated himself from Jonathan, and he did not
repay him according to the benefits that he had received in
tribute from him. And he vexed him greatly. {11:54} But
after this, Trypho returned, and with him was Antiochus, the
adolescent boy, and he reigned, and he put a diadem on
himself. {11:55} And there assembled before him all the
troops, which Demetrius had dispersed, and they fought
against him. And he turned his back and fled. {11:56} And
Trypho took the elephants, and he obtained Antioch.
{11:57} And young Antiochus wrote to Jonathan, saying: “I
confirm you in the priesthood, and I appoint you over the
four cities, so as to be among the king’s friends.”
{11:58} And he sent him vessels of gold for his ministry, and
he gave him the authority to drink from gold, and to be
clothed in purple, and to have a golden clasp. {11:59} And he
appointed his brother Simon as governor, from the borders of
Tyre, all the way to the borders of Egypt. {11:60} Then
Jonathan went out, and he passed through the cities across
the river. And all the armies of Syria were gathered together
in assistance to him, and he came to Askalon, and those from
the city met him honorably. {11:61} And he went from there
to Gaza. And those who were in Gaza closed themselves in.
And so he besieged it, and he burned all that was around the
city, and he plundered it. {11:62} And those of Gaza
petitioned Jonathan, and he pledged to them with his right
hand, and he accepted their sons as hostages and sent them to
Jerusalem. And he traveled through the country, as far as
Damascus. {11:63} And Jonathan heard that the leaders of
Demetrius were acting treacherously at Kadesh, which is in
Galilee, with a great army, intending to remove him from the
affairs of the kingdom. {11:64} And he went to meet them.
But he left his brother Simon behind in the countryside.
{11:65} And Simon took a position against Bethzur, and he
assailed it for many days, and he closed them in.
{11:66} And they asked him to accept a pledge, and he
granted this to them. And he cast them out of there, and he
seized the city, and he placed a garrison in it. {11:67} And
Jonathan and his camp took a position by the water of
Gennesaret, and, before first light, they were standing watch
in the plains of Hazor. {11:68} And behold, an army of
foreigners met him in the plains. And they set up an ambush
against him in the mountains. But he met them from the
opposite direction. {11:69} Yet those lying in ambush then
rose up from their places and joined them in combat.
{11:70} And all those who were from Jonathan’s side fled,
and not one of them was left, except Mattathias, the son of
Absalom, and Judas, the son of Chalphi, the leader of
military training. {11:71} And so Jonathan tore his garments,
and he placed dirt on his head, and he prayed. {11:72} And
Jonathan turned back toward them in battle, and he put them
to flight, and they fought. {11:73} And when those from his
side, who had fled, saw this, they returned to him, and with
him they all pursued them, even to Kadesh, to their camp,
and they even passed beyond there. {11:74} And there fell
from the foreigners on that day three thousand men. And
Jonathan returned to Jerusalem.


[1 Maccabees 12] {12:1} And Jonathan saw that time was on
his side, and he chose men, and he sent them to Rome, to
confirm and renew the peace agreement with them.
{12:2} And he sent letters to the Spartans, and to other places,
according to the same form. {12:3} And they went to Rome
and entered into the senate house, and they said, “Jonathan,
the high priest, and the nation of the Jews, have sent us to
renew the peace and alliance, as it was before.” {12:4} And
they gave letters to them, to those in each place, so that they
would lead them into the land of Judah with peace.
{12:5} And this is a copy of the letters that Jonathan wrote to
the Spartans: {12:6} “Jonathan, the high priest, and the
elders of the people, and the priests, and the rest of the people
of the Jews, to the Spartans, their brothers: greetings.
{12:7} Now, some time ago, letters were sent to Onias, the
high priest from Arius, who reigned then among you, so that
you would be our brothers, just as the copy that is written
below states. {12:8} And Onias received the man whom you
had sent with honor. And he received the letters, in which
was conveyed the alliance and peace treaty. {12:9} We,
though, have no need of these things, having for our solace
the sacred books, which are in our hands. {12:10} We prefer
to send to you, so as to renew the brotherhood and friendship,
lest we should, in effect, become a stranger to you, for much
time has passed since you sent to us. {12:11} Therefore, we
will remember you, at all times without ceasing, in our
solemnities and other days, when it is fitting, in the sacrifices
that we offer, and in our observances, just as it is fitting and
right to remember brothers. {12:12} And so, we rejoice at
your glory. {12:13} But many tribulations and many wars
have surrounded us, and the kings who are around us have
fought against us. {12:14} But we are not willing to trouble
you, nor the rest of our allies and friends, about these battles.
{12:15} For we have assistance from heaven, and we have
been delivered, and our enemies have been humbled.
{12:16} And so, we have chosen Numenius, the son of
Antiochus, and Antipater, the son of Jason, and we have sent
them to the Romans, to renew the former peace treaty and
alliance with them. {12:17} And so, we have commanded
them to also come to you, and to greet you, and to deliver
our letters to you, about the renewal of our brotherhood.
{12:18} And now, you would do well to respond to us about
these things.” {12:19} And this is a copy of the letters that he
sent to Onias: {12:20} “Arius, king of the Spartans, to Onias,
the great priest: greetings. {12:21} It is found in scripture,
about the Spartans and the Jews, that they are brothers, and
that they are of the family of Abraham. {12:22} And since we
know these things, you would do well to write to us about
your peace. {12:23} But we also have written back to you
that our cattle and our possessions are yours, and yours are
ours. And so, we have commanded that these things should
be announced to you.” {12:24} And Jonathan heard that the
leaders from Demetrius had returned again with a greater
army than before, so as to fight against him. {12:25} And so,
he departed from Jerusalem, and he met them in the region of
Hamath. For he did not give them time to enter into his own
region. {12:26} And he sent spies into their camp, and,
returning, they reported that they planned to come upon
them in the night. {12:27} And when the sun had set,
Jonathan instructed his men to stand watch, and to be in
arms, ready to fight, all night long, and he stationed guards
around the camp. {12:28} And the adversaries heard that
Jonathan was prepared, with his own, for warfare. And they
were struck with fear and dread in their heart. And they
kindled fires in their camp. {12:29} But Jonathan, and those
who were with him, did not know about it until morning. For
they saw the lights burning. {12:30} And Jonathan pursued
them, but did not overtake them. For they had crossed the
river Eleutherus. {12:31} And Jonathan diverted toward the
Arabians, who are called Zabadeans. And he struck them and
took their spoils. {12:32} And he regrouped and came to
Damascus, and he passed through all that region.
{12:33} But Simon went forth and came as far as Askalon,
and the nearby fortresses, but he turned aside to Joppa and
occupied it, {12:34} (for he had heard that they intended to
hand over the fortress that was on the side of Demetrius) and
he stationed a guard there to keep it. {12:35} And Jonathan
returned, and he called together the elders of the people, and
he decided with them to build fortresses in Judea,
{12:36} and to build up the walls in Jerusalem, and to raise a
great height between the stronghold and the city, in order to
separate it from the city, so that it would stand alone and
would have neither buying, nor selling there. {12:37} And
they came together to build up the city. And the wall that was
over the brook, toward the rising of the sun, was fallen. And
he repaired that which is called Chaphenatha. {12:38} And
Simon rebuilt Adida in Shephelah, and he fortified it, and he
set up gates and bars. {12:39} And so, when Trypho had
decided to reign over Asia, and to assume the diadem, and to
extend his hand against king Antiochus, {12:40} he was
afraid, lest Jonathan might not permit him, but might fight
against him. So he sought to seize him and to kill him. And
he rose up and went to Bethshan. {12:41} And Jonathan
went out to meet him with forty thousand men chosen for
battle, and he came to Bethshan. {12:42} And when Trypho
saw that Jonathan came with a great army to extend his hand
against him, he was afraid. {12:43} And so he received him
with honor, and he commended him to all his friends, and he
gave him gifts. And he instructed his troops to obey him, just
as himself. {12:44} And he said to Jonathan: “Why have you
troubled all the people, when there is no war between us?
{12:45} And now, send them back to their houses, but
choose for yourself a few men, who may remain with you,
and come with me to Ptolemais, and I will deliver it to you,
and the rest of the fortresses, and the army, and all who are in
charge of governing, and I will turn and go away. For this is
the reason that I came.” {12:46} And Jonathan believed him,
and he did as he said. And he sent away his army, and they
departed into the land of Judah. {12:47} But he retained with
him three thousand men, of whom he sent two thousand into
Galilee, and one thousand came with him. {12:48} But when
Jonathan entered into Ptolemais, those of Ptolemais closed
the gates of the city, and they captured him. And all those
who entered with him, they executed with the sword.
{12:49} And Trypho sent an army and horsemen into Galilee,
and into the great plain, to destroy all the associates of
Jonathan. {12:50} But, when they had thought that Jonathan
had been captured and slain, along with all who were with
him, they encouraged one another, and they went out
prepared for battle. {12:51} Then those who had pursued
them, seeing that they stood for their lives, were turned back.
{12:52} And so, they all came into the land of Judah with
peace. And they bewailed Jonathan, and those who had been
with him, exceedingly. And Israel mourned with great
lamentation. {12:53} Then all the nations that were all
around them sought to crush them. For they said:
{12:54} “They have no leader or helper. Now therefore, let
us fight against them and take away the memory of them
from among men.”


[1 Maccabees 13] {13:1} And Simon heard that Trypho had
gathered together an immense army to come to the land of
Judah and to lay waste to it. {13:2} Seeing that the people
were fearful and trembling, he went up to Jerusalem, and he
gathered together the people. {13:3} And exhorting them, he
said: “You know what great battles I, and my brothers, and
the house of my father, have fought for the laws and for the
holy places, and the anguish that we have seen. {13:4} As a
result these things, all my brothers have perished for the sake
of Israel, and I have been left alone. {13:5} And now, it is not
necessary for me to spare my life in any time of tribulation.
For I am not better than my brothers. {13:6} And so, I will
vindicate my people and the sanctuary, and likewise our
children and wives. For all the Gentiles have gathered
together to crush us, solely out of malice.” {13:7} And the
spirit of the people was immediately enkindled, when they
heard these words. {13:8} And they responded with a loud
voice, saying: “You are our leader in place of Judas and of
Jonathan, your brother. {13:9} Fight our battles, and we will
do whatever you tell us to do.” {13:10} And so, gathering
together all the men of war, he accelerated the completion of
all the walls of Jerusalem, and he fortified it all around.
{13:11} And he sent Jonathan, the son of Absalom, and with
him a new army, into Joppa, and he cast out those who were
in it, and he himself remained there. {13:12} And Trypho
moved from Ptolemais, with a great army, to come into the
land of Judah, and Jonathan was with him in custody.
{13:13} But Simon took up a position at Addus, opposite the
face of the plains. {13:14} And when Trypho realized that
Simon rose up in the place of his brother, Jonathan, and that
he would be joining in battle with him, he sent messengers to
him, {13:15} saying: “We have detained your brother,
Jonathan, because of the money that he owed to the king’s
account, because of the matters for which he was responsible.
{13:16} And now, send a hundred talents of silver, and two
of his sons for hostages, so that when he is dismissed, he may
not flee from us. And then we will release him.” {13:17} And
Simon knew that he was speaking deceitfully to him. Yet he
ordered the money and the boys to be given, lest he should
bring upon himself a great hostility from the people of Israel,
who might have said, {13:18} “It is because he did not send
the money and the boys that he perished.” {13:19} So he sent
the boys and one hundred talents. And he was lying and did
not dismiss Jonathan. {13:20} And after this, Trypho came
into the country, to crush it. And they circled around by the
way that leads to Adora. And Simon and his camp marched
into every place, wherever they went. {13:21} But those who
were in the stronghold sent messengers to Trypho, so that he
would hurry to come through the desert, and to send them
provisions. {13:22} And Trypho prepared all his horsemen to
arrive on that night. But there was a very great snowfall, and
he did not come into Gilead. {13:23} And when he
approached toward Baskama, he killed Jonathan and his sons
there. {13:24} And Trypho turned back and went into his
own land. {13:25} And Simon sent and took the bones of
Jonathan, his brother, and he buried them in Modin, the city
of his fathers. {13:26} And all Israel bewailed him with great
lamentation. And they mourned him for many days.
{13:27} And Simon built, over the sepulcher of his father and
of his brothers, a building, lofty to see, of polished stone,
front and back. {13:28} And he set up seven pyramids, one
against another, for his father, and his mother, and his four
brothers. {13:29} And around these he placed great columns;
and upon the columns, weapons, as a continual memorial;
and beside the weapons, carvings of ships, which might be
seen by all those who sail the sea. {13:30} This is the
sepulcher that he made in Modin, even to this day.
{13:31} But Trypho, when he was on a journey with the
young king, Antiochus, killed him by deceit. {13:32} And he
reigned in his place, and he put on the diadem of Asia, and
he caused great scourges upon the land. {13:33} And Simon
built up the strongholds of Judea, fortifying them with high
towers, and great walls, and gates and bars. And he placed
provisions in the fortresses. {13:34} And Simon chose men,
and he sent to king Demetrius, so that he would grant a
remission to the region, for all that Trypho did was to carry
out plundering. {13:35} And king Demetrius responded to
this word, and he wrote a letter in this manner:
{13:36} “King Demetrius to Simon, the high priest and friend
of kings, and to the elders, and to the people of the Jews:
greetings. {13:37} The golden crown and the bahem that you
sent, we have received. And we are prepared to make a great
peace with you, and to write to the officers of the king to
remit to you the things that we have released. {13:38} For
whatever we have established remains in force for you. The
strongholds that you have built, let them be yours.
{13:39} Likewise, any oversight or fault, even to this day, we
forgive it, along with the crown that you owed. And if
anything else was taxed in Jerusalem, now let it not be taxed.
{13:40} And if any of you is fit to be enrolled among our own,
let them be enrolled. And let there be peace between us.”
{13:41} In the one hundred and seventieth year, the yoke of
the Gentiles was taken away from Israel. {13:42} And the
people of Israel began to write in the tablets and the public
records, in the first year under Simon: high priest, great
commander, and leader of the Jews. {13:43} In those days,
Simon took up a position at Gaza, and he encamped around
it, and he made machines of war, and he applied them to the
city, and he struck one tower and captured it. {13:44} And
those who were within the machine broke forth into the city.
And a great commotion occurred in the city. {13:45} And
those who were in the city ascended upon the wall, with their
wives and children, having torn their tunics. And they cried
out with a loud voice, asking Simon to grant them a pledge.
{13:46} And they said, “Do not repay us according to our
malice, but according to your mercy.” {13:47} And weeping,
Simon did not destroy them. Yet he cast them out of the city,
and he cleansed the buildings, in which there had been idols.
And then he entered into it with hymns, blessing the Lord.
{13:48} And, having cast out of it all uncleanness, he placed
in it men who would observe the law. And he fortified it and
made it his dwelling place. {13:49} But those who were in the
stronghold of Jerusalem were prohibited from going out and
entering the region, and from buying and selling. And they
were very hungry, and many of them perished through
famine. {13:50} And they cried out to Simon, that they might
receive a pledge, and he granted it to them. And he cast them
out of there, and he cleansed the stronghold from
contaminations. {13:51} And they entered into it on the
twenty-third day of the second month, in the one hundred
and seventy-first year, with thanksgiving, and palm branches,
and lyres, and cymbals, and psalteries, and hymns, and
canticles, because a great enemy had been crushed out of
Israel. {13:52} And he established that these days should be
kept every year with rejoicing. {13:53} And he fortified the
mountain of the temple, which was near the stronghold, and
he lived there himself, along with those who were with him.
{13:54} And Simon saw that John, his son, was a valiant
man in battle. And so he appointed him as commander of all
the forces. And he lived in Gazara.


[1 Maccabees 14] {14:1} In the one hundred and seventy-
second year, king Demetrius gathered together his army, and
he went into Media to obtain auxiliaries to fight against
Trypho. {14:2} And Arsaces, the king of Persia and Media,
heard that Demetrius entered his confines, and so he sent one
of his princes to capture him alive and to bring him to him.
{14:3} And he went out and struck the camp of Demetrius.
And captured him and brought him to Arsaces, and he placed
him under guard. {14:4} And the entire land of Judah was
quiet during all the days of Simon, and he sought what was
good for his people. And his power and his glory pleased
them through all his days. {14:5} And, with all his glory, he
accepted Joppa as a port, and he made it an entrance to the
islands of the sea. {14:6} And he enlarged the boundaries of
his nation, and he controlled the countryside. {14:7} And he
gathered together many captives, and he was the ruler of
Gazara and Bethzur, and the stronghold. And he took
uncleanness away from it, and there was no one who could
withstand him. {14:8} And each one cultivated his land in
peace, and the land of Judah produced its fruits, and the trees
of the fields their fruit. {14:9} All the elders sat in the streets,
and they discussed what was good for the country, and the
youths clothed themselves in glory and in the robes of war.
{14:10} And he gave tributes of provisions to the cities, and
he decreed that they would have equipment for fortification,
so that the fame of his glory was renowned, even to the ends
of the earth. {14:11} He caused there to be peace over the
land, and Israel was rejoicing with great joy. {14:12} And
each one sat under his vine and under his fig tree. And there
was no one who would terrify them. {14:13} There was
nothing left of those who might fight against them in the land;
kings had been crushed in those days. {14:14} And he
confirmed all the humble of his people, and he sought the law,
and he took away every iniquity and evil. {14:15} He
glorified the sanctuary, and he multiplied the vessels of the
holy places. {14:16} And it was heard at Rome, and even in
Sparta, that Jonathan had passed away. And they were very
sorrowful. {14:17} But when they heard that Simon, his
brother, had been made high priest in his place, and that he
obtained the entire country and the cities in it, {14:18} they
wrote to him on tablets of brass, so as to renew the friendship
and alliance, which they had made with Judas and with
Jonathan, his brothers. {14:19} And they were read in the
sight of the assembly at Jerusalem. And this is a copy of the
letters that the Spartans sent: {14:20} “The leaders and the
cities of the Spartans, to Simon, the great priest, and to the
elders, and the priests, and the rest of the people of the Jews,
their brothers: greetings. {14:21} The ambassadors who were
sent to our people have reported to us of your glory, and
honor, and rejoicing. And we were glad at their arrival.
{14:22} And we wrote down what was said by them in the
councils of the people, as follows: ‘Numenius, the son of
Antiochus, and Antipater, the son of Jason, ambassadors of
the Jews, came to us to renew the former friendship with us.
{14:23} And it pleased the people to receive the men
gloriously, and to place a copy of their words in a section of
the public books, so as to be a memorial for the people of the
Spartans. Furthermore, we have written a copy of them to
Simon, the great priest.’ ” {14:24} But after this, Simon sent
Numenius to Rome, in possession of a great shield of gold,
weighing over a thousand pounds, to confirm the association
with them. {14:25} But when the people of Rome had heard
these words, they said: “With what deeds of thanksgiving
shall we repay Simon and his sons? {14:26} For he has
vindicated his brothers, and he has fought off the enemies of
Israel from them.” And so, they decreed him free, and they
registered it on tablets of brass and placed it in an inscription
on mount Zion. {14:27} And this is a copy of the writing:
“On the eighteenth day of the month Elul, in the one
hundred and seventy-second year, the third year under Simon,
the great priest at Asaramel, {14:28} in a great convocation
of the priests, and the people, and the leaders of the nation,
and the elders of the country, these things were noted: ‘Now
there have often been battles in our country. {14:29} And
Simon, the son of Mattathias, of the sons of Jarib, and his
brothers, have put themselves in danger, and have withstood
the enemies of their nation, so as to establish their holy places
and the law. And they have glorified their people with great
glory. {14:30} And Jonathan gathered together his nation,
and he was made their great priest, and he was laid to rest
among his people. {14:31} And their enemies wanted to
trample and lay waste to their country, and to extend their
hands against their holy places. {14:32} Then Simon resisted,
and he fought for his nation, and he requested much money,
and he armed the valiant men of his nation and gave them
wages. {14:33} And he fortified the cities of Judea and
Bethzur, which are along the borders of Judea, where the
weaponry of the enemies was before. And he placed a
garrison of Jewish men there. {14:34} And he fortified Joppa,
which is by the sea, and Gazara, which is on the border of
Azotus, where the enemies stayed before, and he placed Jews
there. And he positioned with them whatever was fitting for
their preparations. {14:35} And the people saw the acts of
Simon, and the glory that he intended to bring to his nation,
and they made him their commander and first priest, because
he had done all these things, and because of the justice and
faith that he maintained for his nation, and because he sought
to exalt his people by all means. {14:36} And in his days,
there was prosperity by his hands, so that the Gentiles were
taken away from their country, and also those who were in
the city of David, in Jerusalem, in the stronghold, from
which they went out and contaminated all the places that
were around the sanctuary, and from which they brought a
great scourging against chastity. {14:37} And he placed in it
Jewish men, as a means of protection for the region and the
city, and he raised the walls of Jerusalem. {14:38} And king
Demetrius confirmed him in the high priesthood.
{14:39} According to these things, he made him his friend,
and he glorified him with great glory. {14:40} For he heard
that the Romans had called the Jews their friends, and
associates, and brothers, and that they received the
ambassadors of Simon with glory, {14:41} and that the Jews
and their priests had consented that he should be their
governor and high priest unceasingly, until there should arise
a faithful prophet, {14:42} and that he should be the
commander over them, and that he should take care of the
sanctuary, and that he should appoint foremen over their
works, and over the country, and over the weapons, and over
the strongholds, {14:43} and that he should take care of the
holy places, and that he should be obeyed by all, and that all
the records in the country should be recorded in his name,
and that he should be clothed in purple and gold, {14:44} and
that it should not be lawful for any of the people or the priests
to make void any of these things, nor to contradict things that
are said by him, nor to call together an assembly in the
country without him, nor to be clothed in purple, nor to use a
clasp of gold. {14:45} And whoever will do otherwise, or
who will make void any of these things, shall be guilty.
{14:46} And it pleased all the people to appoint Simon, and
to act according to these words. {14:47} And Simon accepted
it, and he was pleased to perform the office of the high
priesthood, and to be the commander and leader of the
people of the Jews, and of the priests, and to be foremost over
them all. {14:48} And they asked that this writing be placed
on tablets of brass, and be placed within the precinct of the
sanctuary in a celebrated place, {14:49} and that a copy of
these be placed in the treasury, so that Simon and his sons
may have it.’ “


[1 Maccabees 15] {15:1} And king Antiochus, the son of
Demetrius, sent letters from the islands of the sea to Simon,
the priest and leader of the nation of the Jews, and to all the
people. {15:2} And these continued in this way: “King
Antiochus to Simon, the great priest, and to the people of the
Jews: greetings. {15:3} Since certain pestilent persons have
obtained the kingdom of our fathers, it is my will, then, to
vindicate the kingdom and to restore it, just as it was before.
And so, I have chosen a great army, and I have built ships of
war. {15:4} Furthermore, I intend to pass through the region,
so that I may take revenge on those who have corrupted our
country and who have desolated many cities in my kingdom.
{15:5} Now, therefore, I confirm to you all the oblations that
all the kings before me have remitted to you, and whatever
other gifts they remitted to you. {15:6} And I permit you to
make a striking of your own coins for your country.
{15:7} Moreover, let Jerusalem be holy and free. And all the
weapons that have been made, and the fortresses that you
have constructed, or that you hold, let them remain with you.
{15:8} And all that is owed to the king, and what should
belong to the king in the future, from this time and for all
time, is remitted to you. {15:9} Yet, when we have obtained
our kingdom, we will glorify you, and your nation, and the
temple with great glory, so much so that your glory shall be
made manifest in all the earth.” {15:10} In the one hundred
and seventy-fourth year, Antiochus went into the land of his
fathers, and all the armies came over to him, so that few were
left with Trypho. {15:11} And king Antiochus followed him
as he fled along the sea coast and came to Dora. {15:12} For
he knew that evils had gathered together upon him, and that
his troops had forsaken him. {15:13} And Antiochus took up
a position above Dora, with one hundred and twenty
thousand men of warfare and eight thousand horsemen.
{15:14} And he encircled the city, and the ships drew near by
sea. And they assailed the city by land and by sea, and they
permitted no one to go in or out. {15:15} But Numenius, and
those who had been with him, came from the city of Rome,
having letters written to the kings and the regions, in which
was contained these things: {15:16} “Lucius, consul of the
Romans, to king Ptolemy: greetings. {15:17} The
ambassadors of the Jews, our friends, came to us, to renew
the former friendship and alliance, having been sent from
Simon, the leader of the priests and the people of the Jews.
{15:18} And they also brought a shield of gold of over a
thousand pounds. {15:19} And so, it was pleasing to us to
write to the kings and the regions, that they should do no
harm to them, nor fight against them, and their cities, and
their regions, and that they should bear no assistance to those
fighting against them. {15:20} And it seemed good to us to
receive the shield from them. {15:21} If, therefore, those who
are pestilent have taken refuge with you from their region,
hand them over to Simon, the leader of the priests, so that he
may give a verdict to them according to their law.”
{15:22} These same things were written to king Demetrius,
and to Attalus, and to Ariarathes, and to Arsaces,
{15:23} and to all the regions, and to Lampsacus and to the
Spartans, and to Delos, and Myndos, and Sicyon, and Caria,
and Samos, and Pamphylia, and Lycia, and Halicarnassus,
and Cos, and Side, and Aradus, and Rhodes, and Phaselis,
and Gortyna, and Gnidus, and Cyprus, and Cyrene.
{15:24} Moreover, they wrote a copy of these things to
Simon, the leader of the priests and the people of the Jews.
{15:25} But king Antiochus positioned his camp near Dora a
second time, moving his hand against it continually, and
making machines of war. And he enclosed Trypho, lest he
escape. {15:26} And Simon sent two thousand chosen men
to him as auxiliaries, and silver, and gold, and an abundance
of equipment. {15:27} And he was not willing to receive
them, but he broke all of the pact that he made with him
before, and he alienated himself from him. {15:28} And he
sent to him Athenobius, one of his friends, to deal with him,
saying: “You hold Joppa and Gazara, and the stronghold
that is in Jerusalem, which are cities of my kingdom.
{15:29} You have desolated their parts, and you have caused
a great scourging in the land, and you have become ruler
throughout many places in my kingdom. {15:30} Now,
therefore, hand over the cities that you occupy, and the
tributes of the places where you have become ruler beyond
the borders of Judea. {15:31} But if not, give me for them five
hundred talents of silver, and for the destruction that you
have caused, and for the tributes of the cities, another five
hundred talents. But if not, we will come and fight against
you.” {15:32} So Athenobius, the friend of the king, came to
Jerusalem and saw the glory of Simon, and his splendor in
gold and silver, and his abundance of equipment, and he was
astonished. And he repeated the words of the king to him.
{15:33} And Simon responded to him, and he said to him:
“We have not taken foreign land, nor do we hold anything
foreign, but we hold the inheritance of our fathers, which was
for some time unjustly possessed by our enemies. {15:34} In
truth, since we have the opportunity, we claim the
inheritance of our fathers. {15:35} And as to Joppa and
Gazara, which you demand, they brought a great scourging
on the people and our country. For these, we will give one
hundred talents.” And Athenobius did not respond a word to
him. {15:36} But, returning with anger to the king, he
reported to him these words, and the glory of Simon, and all
that he had seen. And the king became angry with a great
anger. {15:37} But Trypho fled by ship to Orthosia.
{15:38} And the king appointed Cendebeus as commander of
the seacoast, and he gave him an army of foot soldiers and
horsemen. {15:39} And he commanded him to move with
his camp against the face of Judea. And he commanded him
to build up Kedron, and to barricade the gates of the city, and
to make war against the people. But the king pursued Trypho.
{15:40} And Cendebeus passed through to Jamnia, and he
began to provoke the populace, and to trample Judea, and to
take the people captive, and to execute, and to build up
Kedron. {15:41} And he stationed horsemen and an army
there, so that they could go out and travel through the ways
of Judea, as the king appointed him to do.


[1 Maccabees 16] {16:1} And so, John came up from Gazara,
and he reported to Simon, his father, what Cendebeus had
done against their people. {16:2} And Simon called his two
eldest sons, Judas and John, and he said to them: “I and my
brothers, and my father’s house, have fought against the
enemies of Israel from our youth, even to this day. And this
work has prospered in our hands, so that we have delivered
Israel several times. {16:3} And now that I am old, you must
act in place of me and my brothers, and go out to fight for our
nation. Truly, may the help of heaven be with you.”
{16:4} Then he chose from the region twenty thousand men
of warfare, and horsemen; and they started out toward
Cendebeus. And they rested in Modin. {16:5} And they rose
up in the morning and went out into the plains. And behold,
an abundant army of foot soldiers and horsemen was there to
meet them, and there was a river flowing between them.
{16:6} And he and his people moved their camp opposite
their face, and he saw the trepidation of the people to cross
over the river, and so he crossed over first. And seeing him,
the men also crossed after him. {16:7} And he divided the
people and the horsemen into the midst of the foot soldiers.
But the horsemen of the adversary were exceedingly
numerous. {16:8} And they sounded the holy trumpets. And
Cendebeus and his army were turned back. And many of
them fell wounded. But the rest fled into the fortress.
{16:9} Then Judas, the brother of John, was wounded. But
John pursued them, until he came to Kedron, which he had
built. {16:10} And they fled all the way to the towers that
were in the fields of Azotus, and he burnt them with fire. And
there fell of them two thousand men, and he returned to
Judea in peace. {16:11} Now Ptolemy, the son of Abubus,
was appointed commander over the plain of Jericho, and he
held much silver and gold. {16:12} For he was the son-in-law
of the high priest. {16:13} And his heart was exalted, and he
wanted to obtain the region, and he devised treachery against
Simon and his sons, so as to destroy them. {16:14} Now
when Simon was traveling through the cities that were in the
region of Judea, and acting with concern for them, he went
down to Jericho, he and Mattathias and Judas, his sons, in
the one hundred and seventy-seventh year, in the eleventh
month; this is the month of Shevat. {16:15} And the son of
Abubus received them, with deceitfulness, into a little fortress,
which is called Dok, that he had built. And he made them a
great feast, and he hid men there. {16:16} And when Simon
and his sons became inebriated, Ptolemy and his men rose up,
and took their weapons, and entered into the gathering. And
they killed him, and his two sons, and some of his servants.
{16:17} And he committed a great treachery in Israel, and he
repaid good with evil. {16:18} And Ptolemy wrote about
these things, and he sent to the king, so that he would send
him an army to assist him, and he could deliver to him the
region, and their cities and tributes. {16:19} And he sent
others to Gazara to destroy John. And he sent letters to the
tribunes to come to him, and he would give them silver, and
gold, and gifts. {16:20} And he sent others to occupy
Jerusalem and the mountain of the temple. {16:21} Now a
certain one, running ahead, reported to John in Gazara, that
his father and his brothers perished, and that “he sent to kill
you also.” {16:22} But when he heard it, he was very afraid,
and he apprehended the men who came to destroy him, and
he killed them. For he knew that they sought to destroy him.
{16:23} And the rest of the stories about John, and his wars,
and the virtuous deeds that he performed with fortitude, and
the building of the walls that he raised, and the things that he
did, {16:24} behold, these have been written in the book of
the days of his priesthood, from the time that he became high
priest, after his father.


** The Second Book of Maccabees **


[2 Maccabees 1] {1:1} To the brothers, the Jews, who are
throughout Egypt: the brothers, the Jews, who are in
Jerusalem and in the region of Judea, send greetings and
good peace. {1:2} May God be gracious to you, and may he
remember his covenant, which was spoken to Abraham, and
Isaac, and Jacob, his faithful servants. {1:3} And may he give
all of you the heart to worship him, and to do his will, with a
great heart and a willing soul. {1:4} May he throw open your
heart with his law and with his precepts, and may he create
peace. {1:5} May he heed your prayers and be reconciled to
you, and may he not forsake you in the evil time. {1:6} And
now, in this place, we are praying for you. {1:7} When
Demetrius reigned, in the one hundred and sixty-ninth year,
we Jews wrote to you during the tribulation and assaults
which overcame us in those years, from the time that Jason
withdrew from the holy land and from the kingdom.
{1:8} They burnt the gate, and they shed innocent blood.
And we prayed to the Lord and were heard, and we brought
forth sacrifices and fine wheat flour, and we kindled the
lamps and set forth the loaves. {1:9} And now, celebrate the
days of shelters in the month of Kislev. {1:10} In the one
hundred and eighty-eighth year, from the people who are at
Jerusalem and in Judea, and from the Senate and Judas: to
Aristobulus, the magistrate of king Ptolemy, who is of the
ancestry of anointed priests, and to those Jews who are in
Egypt: greetings and good health. {1:11} Having been freed
by God from great peril, we give thanks to him greatly, in as
much as we have been struggling against so great a king.
{1:12} For he caused those who fought against us and against
the holy city to burst forth from Persia. {1:13} For when the
commander himself was in Persia, and with him an immense
army, he fell in the temple of Nanea, having been deceived by
the counsel of the priests of Nanea. {1:14} For Antiochus
also came to the place with his friends, as if to live with her,
and so that he would receive much money in the name of a
dowry. {1:15} And when the priests of Nanea had made the
proposal, and he had entered with a few men into the
vestibule of the shrine, they closed the temple, {1:16} after
Antiochus had entered. And throwing open a hidden
entrance to the temple, they cast stones, and they struck the
leader and those who were with him. And, having severed
their limbs and cut off their heads, they threw them outside.
{1:17} Blessed be God through all things, who has delivered
up the impious. {1:18} Therefore, establishing the
purification of the temple on the twenty-fifth day of the
month of Kislev, we considered it necessary to signify this to
you, so that you, likewise, may keep the day of shelters, and
the day of the fire that was given when Nehemiah offered
sacrifice, after the temple and the altar had been built.
{1:19} For when our fathers were led into Persia, the priests,
who at that time were worshippers of God, secretly took the
fire from the altar, and they kept it hidden in a valley, where
there was a deep and dry pit, and they kept it safe in that
place, in such a way that the place would be unknown to all.
{1:20} But when many years had passed, and it pleased God
that Nehemiah should be sent by the king of Persia, he sent
some of the posterity of those priests who had hidden it to
seek the fire. And, just as they told us, they did not find fire,
but only deep water. {1:21} Then he ordered them to draw it
up and to carry it to him. And the priest, Nehemiah, ordered
the sacrifices, which had been set out, to be sprinkled with
the same water, both the wood and those things that were
placed on it. {1:22} And when this was done, and the time
came when the sun shined brightly, which before was in a
cloud, there was kindled a great fire, so much so that all were
filled with wonder. {1:23} But all the priests were reciting
prayer, while the sacrifice was being consumed, with
Jonathan beginning and the rest answering. {1:24} And the
prayer of Nehemiah was held in this way: “O Lord God,
Creator of all, terrible and strong, just and merciful, you
alone are the good King. {1:25} You alone are excellent, you
alone are just, and all-powerful, and eternal, who frees Israel
from all evil, who created the chosen fathers and sanctified
them. {1:26} Receive the sacrifice on behalf of all of your
people Israel, and preserve and sanctify your portion.
{1:27} Gather together our dispersion, free those who are in
servitude to the Gentiles, and respect those who are despised
and abhorred, so that the Gentiles may know that you are our
God. {1:28} Afflict those who, in their arrogance, are
oppressing us and treating us abusively. {1:29} Establish your
people in your holy place, just as Moses said.” {1:30} And so
the priests sang hymns until the sacrifice had been consumed.
{1:31} But when the sacrifice had been consumed, Nehemiah
ordered the remainder of the water to be poured upon the
great stones. {1:32} When this had been done, a flame was
kindled from them, but it was consumed by the light that
shined brightly from the altar. {1:33} In truth, when this
thing became known, it was reported to the king of Persia
that in the place where the fire had been hidden by those
priests who had been led away, water appeared, by which
Nehemiah, and those who were with him, purified the
sacrifices. {1:34} But the king, considering and examining the
matter diligently, made a temple for it, so that he might study
what had happened. {1:35} And when he had studied it, he
gave the priests many goods and presents, of one kind or
another, and using his own hands, he distributed these.
{1:36} And Nehemiah called this place Nephthar, which is
interpreted as Purification. But with many it is called Nephi.


[2 Maccabees 2] {2:1} Now it is found in the descriptions of
the prophet Jeremiah that he ordered those who
transmigrated to take the fire, just as it was signified and as
he ordered, into the transmigration. {2:2} And he gave them
the law, so that they would never forget the commandments
of the Lord, and so that they would not go astray in their
minds, seeing the idols of gold and silver, and their
ornaments. {2:3} And in this manner, with other sayings, he
exhorted them, lest they remove the law from their heart.
{2:4} Furthermore, it was in the same writing, how the
prophet, by divine response, ordered that the tabernacle and
the ark be made to accompany him, until he exited from the
mountain, where Moses ascended and saw the inheritance of
God. {2:5} And arriving there, Jeremiah found a place in a
cave. And he brought both the tabernacle, and the ark, and
the altar of incense into that place, and he obstructed opening.
{2:6} And certain ones of those who followed him,
approached to make note of the location, but they were not
able to find it. {2:7} But when Jeremiah knew of it, he
blamed them, saying: “The place shall be unknown, until
God shall gather together the congregation of the people, and
until he may be favorably inclined. {2:8} And then the Lord
will reveal these things, and the majesty of the Lord shall
appear, and there will be a cloud, just as it was also
manifested to Moses, and just as he manifested these when
Solomon petitioned that the place should be sanctified to the
great God. {2:9} For he also drew upon wisdom
magnificently, and so, having wisdom, he offered the
sacrifice of the dedication and the consummation of the
temple. {2:10} And, just as Moses prayed to the Lord, and
fire descended from heaven and consumed the holocaust, so
also Solomon prayed and fire descended from heaven and
consumed the holocaust. {2:11} And Moses said that it was
consumed because the sin offering was not eaten. {2:12} And
similarly, Solomon also celebrated the eight days of the
dedication. {2:13} Moreover, these same things were put into
the descriptions and commentaries of Nehemiah, including
how, when constructing a library, he gathered together from
the regions the books of the Prophets, and of David, and the
epistles of the kings, and from the holy gifts. {2:14} And,
similarly, Judas also gathered together all the things that were
destroyed by the war that befell us, and these are with us.
{2:15} Therefore, if you desire these things, send those who
may carry them to you. {2:16} And so, since we will be
celebrating the purification, we wrote to you. Therefore, you
will do well, if you keep these days. {2:17} But we hope that
God, who has freed his people and has rendered to all the
inheritance, and the kingdom, and the priesthood, and
sanctification, {2:18} just as he promised in the law, will
quickly have mercy on us and will gather us together from
under heaven into the holy place. {2:19} For he has rescued
us from great perils, and he has purged the place. {2:20} The
truth about Judas Maccabeus, and his brothers, and the
purification of the great temple, and the dedication of the
altar, {2:21} and also about the battles, which pertain to
Antiochus the illustrious, and his son, Eupator, {2:22} and
about the illuminations, which came from heaven to those
who acted on behalf of the Jews with fortitude, was such that
they, though few, vindicated the entire region and put to
flight a multitude of the barbarous, {2:23} and recovered the
most famous temple in the whole world, and freed the city,
and restored the laws that were abolished. For the Lord, with
all tranquility, was acting favorably toward them. {2:24} And
similar things as have been comprised in five books by Jason
the Cyrenean, we have attempted to abridge into one volume.
{2:25} For, considering the multitude of the books, and the
difficulty that those who are willing to undertake the
narrations of histories find, due to the multitude of events,
{2:26} we have taken care, so that, indeed, those who are
willing to read may have delights of the mind, and so that, in
truth, the studious may more easily be able to commit it to
memory, and also so that all readers may find it useful.
{2:27} And indeed, we ourselves, who have taken up the task
of abridging this work, have no easy labor. For, in truth,
more correctly, we have assumed an activity full of vigilance
and sweat. {2:28} Just as those who prepare a feast also seek
to be attentive to the will of others, for the sake of the
gratitude of many, we willingly undertake the labor.
{2:29} Indeed, leaving to the authors the truths about
particular details, we instead have been devoted to this form,
striving to be brief. {2:30} For, just as the architect of a new
house will have concern for the entire structure, and, in truth,
he who takes care to paint it will seek out what is fitting to
adorn it, so also should such things be considered by us.
{2:31} Moreover, to collect knowledge, and to order words,
and to discuss every particular point attentively, is the duty of
the author of a history. {2:32} Yet truly, to pursue brevity of
speech, and to shun the extension of matters, is conceded to
an abbreviator. {2:33} Therefore, here we will begin the
narration. Let so much be sufficient to say in preface. For it is
foolish to go on and on before the account, when the account
itself is succinct.


[2 Maccabees 3] {3:1} Therefore, when the holy city was
inhabited with all peace, and also the laws were still being
kept very well because of the piety of Onias, the high priest,
and the hatred that his soul held for evil, {3:2} it happened
that even the kings and princes themselves considered the
place worthy of the highest honor, and so they glorified the
temple with very great gifts, {3:3} so much so that Seleucus,
king of Asia, furnished from his revenues all of the expenses
for the ministry pertaining to the sacrifices. {3:4} But Simon,
from the tribe of Benjamin, having been appointed as
overseer of the temple, obstructed the chief priest, in order to
undertake some kind of iniquity in the city. {3:5} But when
he was not able to overcome Onias, he went to Apollonius,
the son of Tarsus, who at that time was governor of
Coelesyria and Phoenicia, {3:6} and he announced to him
that the treasury in Jerusalem was full of innumerable sums
of money, and that the common storehouse, which did not
pertain to the allotment for the sacrifices, was immense, and
that it would be possible for all of this to fall under the power
of the king. {3:7} And when he had presented the news that
he brought back to king Apollonius about the money, he
summoned Heliodorus, who was in charge of this matter,
and he sent him with orders, in order to transport the
aforesaid money. {3:8} And immediately Heliodorus set
forth on the way, indeed, appearing as if sojourning to the
cities of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, but in truth the reason was
to complete the proposition of the king. {3:9} But, when he
had arrived at Jerusalem and had been kindly accepted into
the city by the high priest, he explained to him the
information that had been provided concerning the money.
And he freely disclosed the cause for which he was present.
But he questioned whether these things were truly so.
{3:10} Then the high priest revealed to him that these things
had been deposited, along with provisions for the widows
and the orphans. {3:11} In truth, a certain part of that which
impious Simon had reported belonged to Hyrcanus, son of
Tobias, a very eminent man. But the entire amount was four
hundred talents of silver and two hundred of gold. {3:12} For
in truth, to deceive those who had trusted in the place and the
temple that is honored throughout the whole world for its
veneration and sanctity would be altogether impossible.
{3:13} But because of those things that he held as orders from
the king, he said that by all means the money must be
transferred to the king. {3:14} And so, on the appointed day,
Heliodorus entered to set these things in order. Yet truly,
there was no small amount of trepidation throughout the
entire city. {3:15} And so the priests threw themselves before
the altar in their priestly vestments, and they called upon him
from heaven, who had established the law about deposits,
such that those with whom they had deposited it would keep
it safe. {3:16} Now truly, whoever saw the countenance of
the high priest was wounded in mind. For his face and the
changing of its color declared the inner sorrow of the soul.
{3:17} For this one man was so immersed in grief and in
physical dread that it was clear to those who beheld him that
sorrow had affected his heart. {3:18} And now, others flowed
together in flocks from the houses, pleading and making
public supplication, on behalf of the place, which soon might
be brought into contempt. {3:19} And the women, wrapped
with haircloth around the chest, flowed together through the
streets. And even the virgins, who were cloistered, rushed
forth to Onias, and others rushed to the walls, and, truly,
certain ones looked through the windows. {3:20} But every
one of them, stretching forth their hands toward heaven,
made supplication. {3:21} For the expectation of the mixed
multitude, and of the great priest in agony, would have
endowed anyone with pity. {3:22} And indeed, these called
upon almighty God, so that the trust that had been entrusted
to them would be preserved with all integrity. {3:23} But
Heliodorus completed the same thing that had been decreed,
being himself present in the place, with his attendants, near
the treasury. {3:24} Then the Spirit of Almighty God made a
great manifestation of his presence, so much so that all who
had presumed to yield to him were turned aside by fainting
and dread, falling by the power of God. {3:25} For there
appeared to them a certain horse, having a terrible rider,
adorned with the best covering, and he rushed forth and
assailed Heliodorus with his front hooves. And he who sat
upon him seemed to have armor of gold. {3:26} Moreover,
there appeared two other youths with the appearance of
power, the glory of nobility, and the apparel of splendor.
These stood near him on each side, and they scourged him
without ceasing, striking with many scourges. {3:27} Then
Heliodorus suddenly fell to the ground, and they quickly took
him up, draped by a great darkness, and, having placed him
onto a stretcher, they rushed him away. {3:28} And so, he
who had approached the aforesaid treasury, with so many
officials and attendants, was carried away, with no one to
bring help to him, the manifest power of God being made
known. {3:29} And indeed, through divine power, he lay
mute and also was deprived of all hope of recovery.
{3:30} But they blessed the Lord, because he had magnified
his place, and because the temple, which a little while before
was filled with confusion and fear, became filled with joy and
gladness, when the all-powerful Lord appeared. {3:31} Then,
truly, certain friends of Heliodorus came forth to petition
Onias, so that he would call upon the Most High to grant life
to him who was appointed to breathe his last breath.
{3:32} But the high priest, considering that the king might
perhaps suspect that some malice against Heliodorus had
been completed by the Jews, offered a beneficial sacrifice for
the health of the man. {3:33} And when the high priest was
praying, the same youths, dressed in the same clothing, were
standing by Heliodorus, and they said: “Give thanks to Onias
the priest, for it is on his behalf that the Lord has granted life
to you. {3:34} But, having been scourged by God, you must
announce to all the great things of God and his power.” And
having said this, they disappeared. {3:35} Then Heliodorus
offered sacrifice to God and made great vows to him who
had permitted him to live. And he gave thanks to Onias. And,
gathering his troops, he returned to the king. {3:36} But he
testified to all about the works of the great God, which he
had seen with his own eyes. {3:37} And so, when the king
questioned Heliodorus as to who might be fit to be sent once
more to Jerusalem, he said: {3:38} “If you have any enemy,
or a traitor to your kingdom, send him there, and he will
return to you scourged, if he even escapes. For truly, in that
place, there is a certain power of God. {3:39} Yes, he who
has his dwelling in the heavens is the visitor and protector of
that place, and he strikes and destroys those arriving to do
evil.” {3:40} Thus, the things about Heliodorus and the
preservation of the treasury happened in this way.


[2 Maccabees 4] {4:1} But the aforementioned Simon, who
was a betrayer of the money and of his nation, spoke evil
about Onias, as if he had instigated Heliodorus to do these
things and as if he had been the inciter of evils. {4:2} And he
dared to say that he was a traitor to the kingdom, though he
provided for the city, and defended his people, and was
zealous for the law of God. {4:3} But when the hostilities had
proceeded to such an extent that even murders were
committed by certain close associates of Simon, {4:4} Onias,
considering the peril of this contention, and Apollonius to be
mad, though he was governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia,
which only augmented the malice of Simon, he brought
himself before the king, {4:5} not so as to be an accuser of a
citizen, but in view of his own consideration for the common
good of the entire multitude. {4:6} For he saw that, without
royal providence, it would be impossible to provide peace to
events, nor would Simon ever cease from his foolishness.
{4:7} But after the life of Seleucus expired, when Antiochus,
who was called the illustrious, had assumed the kingdom,
Jason, the brother of Onias, was ambitions for the high
priesthood. {4:8} He went to the king, promising him three
hundred and sixty talents of silver, and from other revenues
eighty talents, {4:9} and beyond these, he promised also one
hundred and fifty more, if he would be granted the authority
to establish a sports arena, and a school for boys, and to
enroll those who were at Jerusalem as Antiochians.
{4:10} When the king had assented, and he had obtained the
leadership, he immediately began to transfer his subjects to
the rituals of the heathens. {4:11} And taking away those
things that had been established by the kings, by reason of the
humanitarianism of the Jews, through John, the father of
Eupolemus, who formed a friendship and alliance with the
Romans, he discharged the legitimate legislations, voiding
the oaths of the citizens, and he sanctioned depraved customs.
{4:12} For he even had the audacity to set up, below the very
stronghold, a sports arena, and to place all of the best
adolescent boys in brothels. {4:13} Now this was not the
beginning, but a certain increase and progression of
heathenism and foreign practices, due to the nefarious and
unheard of wickedness of the impious non-priest Jason,
{4:14} so much so that now the priests were not devoted to
the concerns of services at the altar, but, despising the temple
and neglecting the sacrifices, they hurried to become
participants of the wrestling school, and of its prohibited
injustices, and of the training of the discus. {4:15} And, even
holding the honors of their fathers to be nothing, they
esteemed the glories of the Greeks as best. {4:16} For the
sake of these, they held a dangerous competition, and were
imitators of their practices, and so, in all things, they desired
to be similar to those who had been their enemies and
destroyers. {4:17} But acting impiously against the divine
laws does not go unpunished, as these subsequent events will
reveal. {4:18} But when the competition that was celebrated
every fifth year was at Tyre, the king being present,
{4:19} the villainous Jason sent sinful men from Jerusalem,
carrying three hundred didrachmas of silver for the sacrifice
of Hercules. But those who transported it asked that it might
not be paid out for the sacrifices, because it was not needed,
but might be used for other expenses. {4:20} So, even though
this was offered by him who sent it for the sacrifice of
Hercules, it was instead given over to the manufacture of
Greek warships, because of those presenting it. {4:21} Then
Apollonius, the son of Menestheus, was sent into Egypt
because of the nobles of king Philometor of Ptolemy. But
when Antiochus realized that he had been effectively
alienated from the affairs of the kingdom, consulting his own
interests, he started out from there and came to Joppa, and
from there to Jerusalem. {4:22} And he was received
magnificently by Jason and the city, and he entered with the
lights of little torches and with praises. And from there he
turned back with his army to Phoenicia. {4:23} And, after
three years, Jason sent Menelaus, the brother of the above
mentioned Simon, carrying money to the king, and bearing
responses about essential matters. {4:24} And he, being
recommended to the king, when he had magnified the
appearance of his power, usurped the high priesthood for
himself, outbidding Jason by three hundred talents of silver.
{4:25} And so, having received orders from the king, he
returned, holding nothing at all worthy of the priesthood, in
truth, having the soul of a cruel tyrant and the rage of a wild
beast. {4:26} And indeed, Jason, who had taken captive his
own brother, was himself deceived, and was expelled to
become a fugitive in the region of the Ammonites.
{4:27} Then Menelaus, indeed, obtained the principality, but
truly, concerning the money that he had promised to the king,
nothing was done. Although Sostratus, who was first over the
stronghold, attempted to collect it, {4:28} since the collection
of certain taxes pertained to him. For this reason, they were
both called before the king. {4:29} And Menelaus was
removed from the priesthood, being succeeded by
Lysimachus, his brother. Then Sostratus was appointed over
the Cyprians. {4:30} And while these things were occurring,
it happened that those from Tarsus and Mallus incited a
sedition, because they had been given as a gift to Antiochidi,
the concubine of the king. {4:31} And so, the king hurried to
come and calm them, leaving behind Andronicus, one of his
associates, as his deputy. {4:32} Then Menelaus, believing
that he had reached an opportune time, having stolen certain
gold vessels out of the temple, gave them to Andronicus,
along with others he had gained at Tyre and throughout the
neighboring cities. {4:33} But when Onias had realized this
with certainty, he accused him, keeping himself in a safe
place at Antioch beside Daphne. {4:34} Meanwhile,
Menelaus met with Andronicus, asking him to execute Onias.
So he then went to Onias, and he gave him his right hand
with an oath, and, even though he was suspicious of him, he
persuaded him to venture out of asylum, and he immediately
killed him, with no respect for justice. {4:35} For this reason,
not only the Jews, but also the other nations, were indignant
and bore much grief for the unjust killing of so great a man.
{4:36} But when the king returned from the places of Cilicia,
the Jews at Antioch, and similarly the Greeks, went to him,
complaining of the iniquitous killing of Onias. {4:37} And so
Antiochus was grieved in his mind because of Onias, and,
being moved to compassion, he shed tears, remembering the
sobriety and modesty of the deceased. {4:38} And, being
inflamed in soul, he ordered the purple to be torn from
Andronicus, and that he be led around, throughout the entire
city, and that, in the same place where he had committed the
impiety against Onias, the sacrilegious man should be
deprived of his life, as his fitting punishment rendered by the
Lord. {4:39} But when many sacrileges were committed by
Lysimachus in the temple through the counsel of Menelaus,
and the news was divulged, the multitude gathered together
against Lysimachus, though a great quantity of gold had been
exported already. {4:40} But when the multitude stirred up
an insurrection, and their minds were filled with anger,
Lysimachus armed about three thousand, who began to act
with hands of iniquity. A certain tyrant was their leader, a
man advanced both in age and in madness. {4:41} But when
they perceived the attempt of Lysimachus, some took hold of
stones, others strong clubs, and, in truth, certain ones threw
ashes upon Lysimachus. {4:42} And indeed, many were
wounded, and some were struck down; however, all were put
to flight. And, as for the sacrilegious man, they executed him
beside the treasury. {4:43} Therefore, about these things, a
judgment began to be stirred up against Menelaus.
{4:44} And when the king had arrived at Tyre, three men
were sent from the elders to bring the matter to him.
{4:45} But when Menelaus was overcome, he promised to
give much money to Ptolemy to persuade the king.
{4:46} And so, Ptolemy went to the king in a certain court
where he was, as if merely to refresh himself, and he
influenced him away from the sentence. {4:47} And so
Menelaus, though indeed guilty of all malice, was absolved of
the crimes. Moreover, these pitiable men, who, even if they
had pleaded their case before Scythians, would have been
judged innocent, he condemned to death. {4:48} Therefore,
those who brought the case on behalf of the city, and the
people, and the sacred vessels were quickly given an unjust
punishment. {4:49} For this reason, even the Tyrians, being
indignant, proved to be very liberal toward their burial.
{4:50} Thus, because of the greed of those who were in
power, Menelaus remained in authority, increasing in malice,
to the betrayal of the citizens.


[2 Maccabees 5] {5:1} At the same time, Antiochus prepared
for a second journey into Egypt. {5:2} But it happened,
throughout the entire city of Jerusalem, that there were seen,
for forty days, horsemen rushing through the air, having
golden robes, and armed with spears, like a cohort of soldiers,
{5:3} and horses, set in order by ranks, running, coming
together to engage in close combat, and the shaking of shields,
and a helmeted multitude stretching forth swords, and the
casting of darts, and the splendor of golden armor, and all
kinds of breastplates. {5:4} Because of this, everyone begged
that these prodigies might be turned to good. {5:5} But when
a false rumor went out, as though the life of Antiochus had
expired, Jason, taking with him no less than one thousand
men, suddenly assaulted the city. And, though the citizens
together rushed to the wall, the city at last was taken, and
Menelaus fled into the stronghold. {5:6} Truly, Jason did not
spare his citizens from the slaughter; not realizing that
success at the expense of kin is a very great evil, he
considered those over whom he was victorious to be enemies,
and not citizens. {5:7} And so, he certainly did not obtain the
leadership, but truly, in the end, received confusion for his
betrayals, and he departed again to take refuge among the
Ammonites. {5:8} In the end, to his ruin, he was enclosed by
Aretas, the sovereign of the Arabs. And then, fleeing from
city to city, hated by all as a detestable fugitive from the laws,
and as an enemy of his own nation and citizens, he was
expelled into Egypt. {5:9} And he who had expelled many
from their native land perished abroad, starting out toward
the Lacedaemonians, as if, for the sake of kinship, he should
have refuge there. {5:10} And he who cast out many,
unburied, was himself also cast out, both unlamented and
unburied, and without having use of either foreign burial or a
share of the sepulcher of his fathers. {5:11} And so, when
these things were done, the king suspected that the Jews
would desert the alliance. And because of this, departing
from Egypt with a raging soul, he indeed took the city by
force. {5:12} Moreover, he ordered the military to execute,
and not to spare, anyone they met, and to ascend through the
houses to slay. {5:13} Therefore, a massacre occurred of
youths and elders, an extermination of women and children,
a killing of virgins and little ones. {5:14} And so, over three
whole days, eighty thousand were executed, forty thousand
were imprisoned, and no small number were sold. {5:15} But,
as if this were not enough, he even presumed to enter into the
most holy temple in the entire world, with Menelaus, that
traitor to the law and to his own nation, as his guide.
{5:16} And, taking in his wicked hands the holy vessels,
which were given by other kings and cities for the adornment
and glory of the place, he unworthily handled and
contaminated them. {5:17} So Antiochus, having gone astray
in mind, did not consider that, because of the sins of the
inhabitants of the city, God had become angry for a while,
and so, for this reason, contempt had fallen upon the place.
{5:18} Otherwise, if it had not happened that they were
involved in so many sins, as with Heliodorus, who was sent
by king Seleucus to plunder the treasury, so also this one, as
soon as he had arrived, certainly would have been scourged
and driven away from his audacity. {5:19} Truly, God did
not choose the people because of the place, but the place
because of the people. {5:20} And therefore, the place itself
also became a participant in the evils of the people. But
afterwards, it shall be a companion to what is good. And she
who was abandoned to the wrath of Almighty God shall be
exalted again with the greatest glory, at the reconciliation of
the great Lord. {5:21} Therefore, when Antiochus had taken
away from the temple one thousand eight hundred talents, he
quickly returned to Antioch, thinking, in his arrogance, to
navigate the earth, even by finding a passage leading across
the open ocean: such was the elation of his mind. {5:22} Yet
he left behind rulers to afflict the people. In fact, at Jerusalem,
Philip was by birth a Phrygian, but he was in manners more
cruel than he who had appointed him. {5:23} Yet
Andronicus and Menelaus hung a heavier weight over the
citizens at Garizim than the others. {5:24} And when he had
been appointed over the Jews, he sent that hateful leader,
Apollonius, with an army of twenty-two thousand,
instructing him to execute all men in the prime of life, and to
sell the women and the youths. {5:25} When he had arrived
at Jerusalem, feigning peace, he remained quiet until the holy
day of the Sabbath. And then, when the Jews were taking rest,
he instructed his own to take up arms. {5:26} And he
slaughtered all those who were seen going out. And rushing
throughout the city with armed men, he destroyed a vast
multitude. {5:27} But Judas Maccabeus, who was the tenth,
had withdrawn himself to a deserted place, and there he lived
life among the wild beasts in the mountains, with his own.
And they remained there, consuming herbs as food, lest they
be partakers in the defilement.


[2 Maccabees 6] {6:1} But not much time later, the king sent
a certain elder of Antioch, who compelled the Jews to
transfer themselves from the laws of God and of their fathers,
{6:2} and also to contaminate the temple that was in
Jerusalem, and to name it ‘Jupiter of Olympus,’ and in
Garizim, ‘Jupiter of Hospitality,’ exactly like those who
inhabited the place. {6:3} Yet the worst and most grievous
thing of all was the onrush of evils. {6:4} For the temple was
full of the luxuries and carousings of the Gentiles, and of
consorting with promiscuous women. And the women
hurried themselves unreservedly into the sacred buildings,
bringing in things that were not lawful. {6:5} And even the
altar was filled with illicit things, which were prohibited by
the laws. {6:6} And also the sabbaths were not kept, and the
solemn days of the fathers were not observed, neither did
anyone simply confess himself to be a Jew. {6:7} And so,
they were led by bitter necessity, on the birthday of the king,
to the sacrifices. And, when the holy things of Liber were
celebrated, they were forced to go around crowned with the
ivy of Liber. {6:8} Then a decree went out to the neighboring
cities of the Gentiles, suggested by the Ptolemeans, that they
too should act in a similar manner against the Jews, to oblige
them to sacrifice, {6:9} and that those who were not willing
to conform to the institutions of the Gentiles should be
executed. Therefore, there was misery to be seen. {6:10} For
two women were denounced for having had their boys
circumcised. These, with the infants suspended at their
breasts, when they had publicly led them around the city,
they cast down from the walls. {6:11} Truly, others, meeting
together in nearby caves and celebrating the Sabbath day
secretly, when they had been discovered by Philip, were
burned with fire, because they showed reverence to the
observances of religion, deciding to help themselves by their
own hand. {6:12} So then, I beg those who will read this
Book, let them not be repelled by these adverse events, but let
them consider that these things happened, not for the
destruction, but for the correction, of our people. {6:13} For
it is also an indication of great benefits that sinners are not
permitted to continue in their ways for a long time, but are
promptly brought to punishment. {6:14} For, as it is with
other nations, (whom the Lord patiently awaits, so that,
when the day of Judgment will arrive, he may punish them
according to the plentitude of their sins,) {6:15} not so does
he also deal with us, as if to put off our sins until the end, so
as to punish us for them eventually. {6:16} Because of this,
he certainly would never take away his mercy from us. Yet
truly, chastising his people in adversity, he does not abandon
them. {6:17} But these few things have been spoken by us as
a reminder to the reader. For now we have arrived at the
narration. {6:18} And so, Eleazar, one of the chief scribes, a
man advanced in years and of stately countenance, was
compelled to open his mouth wide to consume the flesh of
swine. {6:19} Yet he, embracing a most glorious death as
greater than a detestable life, went forward voluntarily to the
torments. {6:20} And so, thinking over the manner by which
he ought to approach it, enduring patiently, he was
determined not to permit, due to a love for life, any unlawful
things. {6:21} Yet those who stood near, being moved by an
iniquitous pity because of long friendship with the man,
taking him aside privately, asked that flesh be brought which
was lawful for him to eat, so that he could pretend to have
eaten, just as the king had commanded, from the flesh of the
sacrifice. {6:22} So then, by doing this, he might be freed
from death. And it was because of their old friendship with
the man that they performed this kindness for him.
{6:23} But he began to consider the eminent dignity of his
stage of life and old age, and the natural honor of gray hair,
as well as his exemplary words and deeds from childhood.
And he responded quickly, according also to the ordinances
of the sacred law preserved by God, saying, that he would
first be sent to the underworld. {6:24} “For it is not worthy
for those of our age,” he said, “to deceive, so that many
adolescents might think that Eleazar, at ninety years, had
converted to the life of the foreigners. {6:25} And so, they,
because of my pretense and for the sake of a brief time of a
corruptible life, would be misled, and, through this stain and
desecration, I would defile my last years. {6:26} But if, in the
present time, I were rescued from the torments of men, I
would then not escape the hand of the Almighty, neither in
life, nor in death. {6:27} For this reason, by departing life
with fortitude, I will show myself to be clearly worthy of my
long life. {6:28} And so, I will bequeath an example of
fortitude to youths, if, with a ready soul and constancy, I
carry out an honest death, for the sake of the most serious
and most holy laws.” And having said this, he was
immediately dragged away to execution. {6:29} But those
who led him, and who were more mild a little before, were
turned to anger because of the words spoken by him, which
they considered to have been brought forth by way of
arrogance. {6:30} But when he was ready to perish by the
scourges, he groaned, and he said: “O Lord, who holds all
holy knowledge, you clearly understand that, although I
could be freed from death, I suffer grievous pains in body.
Truly, according to the soul, I willingly endure these things,
because of your fear.” {6:31} And the way in which this man
passed from this life, bequeathed, not only to youths, but also
to the entire people, the memory of his death as an example
of virtue and fortitude.


[2 Maccabees 7] {7:1} And it happened also that seven
brothers, united with their mother, were apprehended and
compelled by the king to eat the flesh of swine against divine
law, being tormented with scourges and whips. {7:2} But one
of them, who was first, spoke in this way: “What would you
ask, or what would you want to learn from us? We are ready
to die, rather than to betray the laws that our fathers received
from God.” {7:3} And so the king, being angry, ordered
frying pans and bronze caldrons to be heated. When these
were presently heated, {7:4} he ordered the tongue of him
who had spoken first to be cut off, and, once the skin of his
head had been pulled off, likewise his hands and feet to be cut
off at the top, while the rest of his brothers and his mother
were watching. {7:5} And when now he had been made
helpless in all parts, he commanded him to be moved to the
fire, and, while still breathing, to be fried in the frying pan. As
he was suffering long torments therein, the rest, united with
the mother, exhorted one another to die with fortitude,
{7:6} saying: “The Lord God will perceive the truth, and he
will be consoled in us, in the way that Moses declared in the
profession of the canticle: ‘And in his servants, he will be
consoled.’ ” {7:7} And so, when the first had died in this way,
they led in the next one, so as to ridicule him. And when the
skin of his head was pulled off with the hair, they asked him
if he would eat, instead of being punished throughout the
whole body in every limb. {7:8} But responding in the
language of his fathers, he said, “I will not do it.” Because of
this, he also, in the next place, received the torments of the
first. {7:9} And when he had reached his last breath, he spoke
in this way: “You, indeed, O most wicked man, are
destroying us in this present life. But the King of the world
will raise us up, in eternal life at the resurrection, for we die
on behalf of his laws.” {7:10} After this one, the third was
ridiculed, and when he was asked, he quickly offered up his
tongue, and he resolutely extended his hands. {7:11} And he
said with confidence, “I possess these from heaven, but,
because of the laws of God, I now despise them, for I hope to
receive them again from him.” {7:12} So then, the king and
those who were with him, wondered at the soul of this youth,
because he considered the torments as if they were nothing.
{7:13} And after he had died in this way, they afflicted the
fourth with similar tortures. {7:14} And when he was about
to die, he spoke in this way: “It is preferable, being put to
death by men, to wait for hope from God, so as to be revived
again by him. But the resurrection to life will not be for you.
{7:15} And when they had brought the fifth, they afflicted
him. But he, gazing at him, {7:16} said: “Having power
among men, though you are corruptible, you do what you
want, but do not think that our nation has been abandoned
by God. {7:17} And so, wait patiently for a while, and you
will see his great power, by the manner in which he will
torture you and your offspring.” {7:18} After this one, they
brought the sixth, and he, being about to die, spoke in this
way: “Do not go astray in vain. For we suffer because of
ourselves, having sinned against our God, yet things worthy
of admiration have been accomplished in us. {7:19} But do
not consider that you will be without punishment, for you
have attempted to fight against God.” {7:20} Now the
mother was wonderful beyond measure, and a worthy
memorial of the good, for she watched her seven sons perish
within the time of one day, and she bore it with a good soul,
because of the hope that she had in God. {7:21} And, with
fortitude, she exhorted every one of them, in the language of
the fathers, being filled with wisdom. And, joining masculine
courage with feminine thinking, {7:22} she said to them: “I
do not know how you were formed in my womb. For I did
not give you spirit, nor soul, nor life; neither did I construct
each of your limbs. {7:23} Nevertheless, the Creator of the
world, who formed the nativity of man, and who founded the
origins of all, will restore both spirit and life to you again,
with his mercy, just as you now despise yourselves for the
sake of his laws.” {7:24} But Antiochus, thinking himself
despised, and at the same time also despising the voice of the
reproacher, when only the youngest was still left, not only
exhorted him with words, but also assured him with an oath,
that he would make him wealthy and happy, and, if he would
convert from the laws of his fathers, he would have him as a
friend, and he would provide him with necessary things.
{7:25} But, when the youth was not swayed by these things,
the king called the mother and persuaded her to act toward
the youth to save him. {7:26} And so, when he had exhorted
her with many words, she promised that she would counsel
her son. {7:27} Then, leaning towards him and mocking the
cruel tyrant, she said in the language of the fathers: “My son,
take pity on me, for I carried you for nine months in my
womb, and I gave you milk for three years, and I nourished
you and led you through to this stage of life. {7:28} I ask you,
child, gaze upon heaven and earth, and all that is in them,
and understand that God made them, and the family of man,
out of nothing. {7:29} So shall it be that you will not fear this
executioner, but, participating worthily with your brothers,
you shall accept death, so that, by this mercy, I shall receive
you again with your brothers.” {7:30} While she was still
saying these things, the youth said: “What are you waiting
for? I will not obey the precepts of the king, but the precepts
of the law, which was given to us through Moses. {7:31} In
truth, you, who have been the inventor of all malice against
the Hebrews, will not escape the hand of God. {7:32} For we
suffer these things because of our sins. {7:33} And if, for the
sake of our chastisement and correction, the Lord our God is
angry with us for a little while, yet still he will be reconciled
again to his servants. {7:34} But as for you, O wicked and
most disgraceful of all men, do be not be extolled over
nothing, with vain hopes, while you are inflamed against his
servants. {7:35} For you have not yet escaped the judgment
of Almighty God, who examines all things. {7:36} Therefore,
my brothers, having now sustained brief sorrow, have been
brought under the covenant of eternal life. But, in truth, you,
by the judgment of God, will be released into just punishment
for your arrogance. {7:37} But I, like my brothers, deliver up
my soul and my body for the sake of the laws of the fathers,
calling upon God so as to bring forgiveness upon our nation
sooner, and so that you, with torments and lashings, may
confess that he alone is God. {7:38} Truly, in me and in my
brothers, the wrath of the Almighty, which has been led over
all our people justly, shall cease.” {7:39} Then the king,
burning with anger, raged against this one with cruelty
beyond all the rest, bearing it indignantly that he himself was
derided. {7:40} And so this one also died in purity, trusting in
the Lord through all things. {7:41} Then, last of all, after the
sons, the mother also was consumed. {7:42} Therefore, about
the sacrifices and about the exceedingly great cruelties,
enough has been said.


[2 Maccabees 8] {8:1} In truth, Judas Maccabeus, and those
who were with him, went secretly into the villages, and,
calling together their relatives and friends, and accepting
among them those who persevered in Judaism, they brought
six thousand men together. {8:2} And they called upon the
Lord: to look upon his people, who were down trodden by all;
and to take pity on the temple, which was defiled by the
impius; {8:3} and even to take pity on the city by utter
destruction, for it was willing to be immediately leveled to the
ground; and to hear the voice of the blood that was crying out
to him, {8:4} so that he would remember also the most
iniquitous deaths of the innocent little ones, and the
blasphemies brought upon his name; and to show his
indignation over these things. {8:5} And so Maccabeus,
having gathered together a multitude, could not be withstood
by the Gentiles. For the wrath of the Lord had turned into
mercy. {8:6} And so, overwhelming the towns and cities
unexpectedly, he set them on fire. And, occupying strategic
positions, he made no small slaughter of the enemies.
{8:7} Moreover, especially in the nights, he carried out
expeditions in this way. And the fame of his virtuous strength
was spread abroad everywhere. {8:8} Then Philip, seeing that
the man gained ground little by little, and that things
frequently fell out in his favor, wrote to Ptolemy, governor of
Coelesyria and Phoenicia, to send auxiliaries to carry out the
work of the king. {8:9} And so, he quickly sent Nicanor, son
of Patroclus, from his foremost friends, providing him with
no less than twenty thousand armed men from throughout
the Gentiles, to wipe out the entire race of the Jews, joining
with him Gorgias, a military man with very great experience
in the things of warfare. {8:10} Moreover, Nicanor decided
to raise a tribute for the king of two thousand talents, which
was to be given to the Romans, and which would be supplied
by means of the captivity of the Jews. {8:11} And
immediately he sent to the maritime cities, calling them to the
auction of the Jewish slaves, promising them a parcel of
ninety slaves for one talent, not reflecting on the vengeance
which would befall him subsequently from the Almighty.
{8:12} Then, when Judas learned that Nicanor was
approaching, he revealed it to those Jews who were with him.
{8:13} And certain ones among them, being afraid and not
trusting in the justice of God, turned and fled away. {8:14} In
truth, others sold all that was in excess, and together
beseeched the Lord, that he would rescue them from the
impious Nicanor, who had sold them before he even came
near them, {8:15} and if not for their sakes, then for the sake
of the covenant which was made with their fathers, and for
the sake of the invocation of his holy and magnificent name
over them. {8:16} But Maccabeus, calling together seven
thousand who were with him, asked them not to be
reconciled to the enemies, and not to fear the multitude of the
enemies who came against them unjustly, but to struggle with
fortitude, {8:17} holding before their eyes the contempt that
had been brought upon the holy place by them, and likewise
also the mockery which they held to the injury of the city,
even to the extent of overthrowing the institutions of old.
{8:18} For he said that these, indeed, trust in their weapons,
as well as in their boldness; but we trust in the Almighty Lord,
who is able to wipe out both those coming against us, and
even the whole world, with one nod. {8:19} Moreover, he
reminded them also of the assistance of God which their
parents had received; and how, under Sennacherib, one
hundred and eighty-five thousand had perished; {8:20} and
of the battle by them, which was against the Galatians in
Babylonia, how, when the event had arrived and the allies of
the Macedonians hesitated, though they were only six
thousand in all, yet they slew one hundred and twenty
thousand, because of the help provided to them from heaven;
and how, for the sake of these things, very many benefits
followed. {8:21} By these words, they were brought to
constancy and were prepared to die for the laws and their
nation. {8:22} And so, he appointed his brothers as leaders
over each division: Simon, and Joseph, and Jonathan,
subjecting one thousand and five hundred men to each of
them. {8:23} And at that point, the holy book having been
read to them by Esdras, and having given them a sign of the
assistance of God, with himself leading the first point, he
joined battle with Nicanor. {8:24} And, with the Almighty as
their helper, they slew over nine thousand men. Furthermore,
having wounded and disabled the greater part of the army of
Nicanor, they forced them to take flight. {8:25} In fact, they
took away the money from those who came to buy them, and
they pursued them everywhere. {8:26} But they turned back
at the close of the hour, for it was before the Sabbath. For this
reason, they did not continue the pursuit. {8:27} But, having
gathered together their weapons and spoils, they kept the
Sabbath, blessing the Lord who had delivered them in that
day, showering the beginning of mercy on them. {8:28} In
truth, after the Sabbath, they divided the spoils to the
disabled, and the orphans, and the widows, and the
remainder they kept for themselves and their own.
{8:29} And so, when these things were done, and
supplication was made by all in common, they asked the
merciful Lord to be reconciled to his servants unto the end.
{8:30} And, among those who were fighting against them
with Timothy and Bacchides, they slew more than twenty
thousand, and they obtained the high fortresses, and they
divided many spoils, making equal portions for the disabled,
the fatherless, and the widows, and even the aged.
{8:31} And when they had carefully collected their weapons,
they stored them all in strategic places, and, in truth, the
remainder of the spoils they carried to Jerusalem. {8:32} And
they put to death Philarches, a wicked man, who was with
Timothy, who had brought many afflictions upon the Jews.
{8:33} And when they celebrated the song of victory at
Jerusalem, they burned him who had set fire to the sacred
doors, that is, Callisthenes, when he had taken refuge in a
certain house, repaying him a worthy reward for his impieties.
{8:34} But as for that most vicious Nicanor, who had led in a
thousand merchants for the sale of the Jews, {8:35} he was
brought low with the help of the Lord, and by those whom he
considered to be worthless. Putting aside the glorious
vestments, fleeing by an inland route, he arrived alone at
Antioch, having been brought to the greatest unhappiness by
the destruction of his army. {8:36} And he who had
promised to pay a tribute to the Romans from the captives of
Jerusalem, now professed that the Jews had God as their
protector, and, for this reason, they were invulnerable,
because they followed the laws established by him.


[2 Maccabees 9] {9:1} At the same time, Antiochus returned
in dishonor from Persia. {9:2} For he had entered into the
city called Persepolis, and attempted to rob the temple, and to
oppress the city, but the multitude, rushing to arms, turned
them to flight, and so it happened that Antiochus, after
fleeing, returned in disgrace. {9:3} And when he had arrived
near Ecbatana, he realized what had happened to Nicanor
and Timothy. {9:4} And so, rising up in anger, he thought to
turn back upon the Jews the injury done by those who had
put him to flight. And, therefore, he ordered his chariot to be
driven without stopping along the way, for the judgment of
heaven was urging him on, because he had spoken so
arrogantly about how he would come to Jerusalem and make
it into a mass grave for the Jews. {9:5} But the Lord God of
Israel, who oversees all things, struck him with an incurable
and invisible plague. For, as soon as he had finished these
words, a dire pain in his abdomen seized him, with bitter
internal torments. {9:6} And, indeed, it sprung forth justly,
since he had tormented the internal organs of others with
many strange and new tortures, yet he in no way ceased from
his malice. {9:7} But, beyond this, being filled with arrogance,
breathing fire with his soul against the Jews, and instructing
the task to be accelerated, it happened that, as he was rushing
on forcefully, he fell from the chariot, and his limbs were
afflicted with a serious bruising of the body. {9:8} And he,
being filled with arrogance beyond human means, seemed to
himself to command even the waves of the sea and to weigh
even the heights of the mountains in a balance. But now,
humbled to the ground, he was carried on a stretcher, calling
himself as a witness to the manifest virtue of God. {9:9} So
then, worms swarmed from his impious body, and, as he
lived on in pain, his flesh fell away, and then his odorous
stench oppressed the army. {9:10} And him who, a little
before, thought that he could touch the stars of heaven, no
one could endure to carry, because of the intolerable stench.
{9:11} And so, from then on, being led away from his heavy
arrogance by the admonishment of a divine plague, he began
to come to an understanding of himself, with his pains
increasing through every moment. {9:12} And, when he
could not even bear his own stench, he spoke in this way: “It
is just to be subject to God, and a mortal should not consider
himself equal to God.” {9:13} Then this wicked one prayed
to the Lord, from whom, subsequently, there might be no
mercy. {9:14} And the city, to which he was going in haste to
pull it down to the ground and to make it a mass grave, he
now wanted to make free. {9:15} And the Jews, whom he
had said he certainly did not consider worthy even to be
buried, but would deliver them to be torn apart by birds and
wild beasts, and would exterminate them with their little ones,
he now promised to make equal with the Athenians.
{9:16} And even the holy temple, which before he had
plundered, he would adorn with the best gifts, and increase
the holy vessels, and pay out from his revenues the charges
pertaining to the sacrifices. {9:17} Beyond these things, he
would even become a Jew himself, and would travel through
every place on earth and declare the power of God.
{9:18} But, when his pains did not cease, (for the just
judgment of God had overwhelmed him,) in despair he wrote
to the Jews, in the manner of a supplication, a letter
composed in this way: {9:19} “To the very good citizens of
the Jews, Antiochus, king and ruler, wishes much health, and
welfare, and happiness. {9:20} If you and your sons are
faring well, and if everything is according to your will, we
give very great thanks. {9:21} And so, fixed in infirmity, yet
kindly remembering you, I am returning from the places of
Persia, and, having been seized by a serious infirmity, I
considered it necessary to have a concern for the common
good, {9:22} not despairing in myself, but having a great
hope to escape the infirmity. {9:23} Moreover, considering
that my father also, during the time that he led an army into
the upper regions, revealed who would take up the leadership
after him, {9:24} so that, if anything contrary should occur,
or any if difficulties should be reported, those who were in
the regions, knowing to whom the whole matter had been
bequeathed, would not be disturbed. {9:25} In addition to
these things, considering that whichever are the nearest
powers and neighbors lie in ambush for the right time and
await the right event, I have designated my son, Antiochus,
as king, whom I frequently commended to many of you
while traveling in the upper provinces. And I have written to
him what I have added below. {9:26} And so, I beg you and
petition you, that remembering the public and private benefits,
each one will continue to be faithful to me and to my son.
{9:27} For I trust that he will behave with moderation and
humanity, and that, following my intentions, he will be
impartial to you.” {9:28} And so the murderer and
blasphemer, having been struck very badly, just as he himself
had treated others, passed from this life in a miserable death
on a journey among the mountains. {9:29} But Philip, who
was nurtured with him, carried away his body, and, fearing
the son of Antiochus, went into Egypt to Ptolemy Philometor.


[2 Maccabees 10] {10:1} But Maccabeus and those who were
with him, the Lord protecting them, even recovered the
temple and the city. {10:2} Then he demolished the altars,
which the foreigners had constructed in the streets, and
likewise the shrines. {10:3} And, having purged the temple,
they made another altar. And, taking glowing stones from the
fire, they began to offer sacrifices again after two years, and
they set out incense, and lamps, and the bread of the Presence.
{10:4} Having done these things, they petitioned the Lord,
lying prostrate on the ground, lest they should fall once more
into such evils, but also, if they should at any time sin, that
they might be chastised by him more mildly, and not be
delivered over to barbarians and blasphemous men.
{10:5} Then, on the day that the temple had been polluted by
the foreigners, it happened on the same day that the
purification was accomplished, on the twenty-fifth day of the
month, which was Kislev. {10:6} And they celebrated for
eight days with joy, in the manner of the Feast of Tabernacles,
remembering that, a little time before, they had celebrated the
solemn days of the Feast of Tabernacles in mountains and
caves, in the manner of wild beasts. {10:7} Because of this,
they now preferred to carry boughs and green branches and
palms, for him who had prospered the cleansing of his place.
{10:8} And they decreed a common precept and decree, that
all the people of the Jews should keep those days every year.
{10:9} Now certainly Antiochus, who was called illustrious,
held himself to be so at the passing of his life. {10:10} But
next we will describe what happened with Eupator, the son of
the impious Antiochus, abridging the evils which happened
in the wars. {10:11} For when he assumed the kingdom, he
appointed, over the affairs of the kingdom, a certain Lysias,
leader of the Phoenician and Syrian military. {10:12} For
Ptolemy, who was called Macer, decided to be strict in justice
toward the Jews, especially because of the iniquity that had
been done to them, and to deal with them peacefully.
{10:13} But, for this reason, he was accused before Eupator
by his friends, and was frequently called a traitor. For he had
deserted Cyprus, which Philometor had entrusted to him.
And so, transferring to Antiochus the illustrious, he even
withdrew from him. And he ended his life by poison.
{10:14} But Gorgias, when he was the leader of the places,
taking to him new arrivals, frequently made war against the
Jews. {10:15} In truth, the Jews, who held the strategic
fortresses, took in those who were fleeing from Jerusalem,
and they attempted to make war. {10:16} In fact, those who
were with Maccabeus, petitioning the Lord through prayers
to be their helper, made a forceful attack upon the fortresses
of the Idumeans. {10:17} And, persevering with much force,
they obtained the places, killing those they met, and cutting
down in all no less than twenty thousand. {10:18} Yet certain
ones, when they had fled into two well-fortified towers, gave
all appearance of fighting back. {10:19} So Maccabeus left
behind Simon and Joseph, and likewise Zachaeus, and those
who were with them, to fight against them. And since those
who were with them were sufficient in number, he turned
back to those who attacked more forcefully. {10:20} In truth,
those who were with Simon, being led by avarice, were
persuaded by money from certain ones who were in the
towers. And accepting seventy thousand didrachmas, they
allowed certain ones to flee. {10:21} But when what was
done had been reported to Maccabeus, gathering together the
leaders of the people, he accused those who had sold their
brothers for money, having sent away their adversaries.
{10:22} Therefore, he executed these who had acted as
traitors, and he quickly captured the two towers. {10:23} And
so, having success in arms and in all things that he took in
hand, he destroyed more than twenty thousand in the two
fortresses. {10:24} And Timothy, who had been overcome by
the Jews before, calling together a multitude of foreign troops
and gathering horsemen from Asia, arrived as if he would
capture Judea with arms. {10:25} But Maccabeus, and those
who were with him, as he was approaching, beseeched the
Lord, sprinkling dirt on their heads and wrapping their waists
with haircloth. {10:26} And lying prostrate at the pedestal of
the altar, they beseeched him to be forgiving to them, but to
be an enemy to their enemies, and an adversary to their
adversaries, just as the law says. {10:27} And so, after prayer,
taking up arms, they proceeded further from the city, and,
reaching close proximity to the enemies, they settled in.
{10:28} But, as soon as the sun rose, both sides joined battle:
these ones having the guarantee of victory and success by the
strength of the Lord, yet the others having courage as their
leader in battle. {10:29} But, while they were fighting
vehemently, to the adversaries there appeared from heaven
five men on horses, which were adorned with bridles of gold,
providing leadership to the Jews. {10:30} Two of them,
having Maccabeus in the middle and surrounding him with
their weapons, kept him safe. But, at the enemy, they cast
darts and lightning, so that they fell down, being both
confused with blindness and filled with disturbances.
{10:31} Moreover, there were slain twenty thousand five
hundred, along with six hundred horsemen. {10:32} In fact,
Timothy fled away to Gazara, to a fortified stronghold,
where Chaereas was in charge. {10:33} Then Maccabeus,
and those who were with him, joyfully besieged the
stronghold for four days. {10:34} But those who were inside,
trusting to the strength of the place, spoke evil without limit
and cast out nefarious words. {10:35} But when the fifth day
began to dawn, twenty youths of those who were with
Maccabeus, inflamed in soul because of the blasphemy,
manfully approached to the wall, and, advancing with fierce
courage, ascended it. {10:36} Moreover, others also getting
up after them, went to set fire to the towers and the gates, and
to burn the blasphemers alive. {10:37} Then, having
continued throughout two days to lay waste to the fortress,
they killed Timothy, who was found hiding himself in a
certain place. And they also killed his brother Chaereas, and
Apollophanes. {10:38} When this was done, they blessed the
Lord with hymns and confessions, who had done great things
in Israel and had given them the victory.


[2 Maccabees 11] {11:1} But a short time afterwards, Lysias,
the procurator of the king and a near relative, who also was
in charge of the government, was heavily weighed upon by
what had happened. {11:2} Gathering together eight
thousand, along with all the horsemen, he came against the
Jews, thinking that the city would certainly be captured,
making it a dwelling place for the Gentiles, {11:3} in truth,
also thinking to make a profit in money from the temple, just
as from the other shrines of the Gentiles, and to put the
priesthood up for sale every year. {11:4} Never recognizing
the power of God, but inflated in mind, he trusted in the
multitude of the foot soldiers, and in the thousands of
horsemen, and in the eighty elephants. {11:5} And so, he
entered Judea, and, approaching Bethzur, which was in a
narrow place, at an interval of five stadia from Jerusalem, he
laid siege to that stronghold. {11:6} But when Maccabeus
and those who were with him realized that the strongholds
were besieged, they and all the crowd together petitioned the
Lord with weeping and tears, that he would send a good
Angel to save Israel. {11:7} And so the leader Maccabeus,
taking up arms, exhorted the others, to undergo the peril
together with him, and to bring assistance to their brothers.
{11:8} And when they together were going forth with a ready
spirit, there appeared at Jerusalem a horseman, preceding
them in radiant clothing and with weapons of gold, waving a
spear. {11:9} Then they all together blessed the merciful Lord,
and strengthened their souls, being prepared to break through
not only men, but also the most ferocious beasts and walls of
iron. {11:10} Thus, they went forth readily, having a helper
from heaven, and with the Lord taking pity on them.
{11:11} Then, rushing violently against the enemy, in the
manner of lions, they struck down from among them: eleven
thousand foot soldiers and one thousand six hundred
horsemen. {11:12} And they turned all the rest to flight. But
many of them, being wounded, escaped with nothing. And
Lysias himself also escaped, fleeing in disgrace. {11:13} And
because he was not irrational, thinking to himself about the
loss that had happened against him, and understanding the
Hebrews to be invincible because they depend upon the help
of Almighty God, he sent to them, {11:14} and he promised
that he would agree to all things that are just, and that he
would persuade the king to be their friend. {11:15} Then
Maccabeus assented to the request of Lysias, considering it
useful in every way. And whatever Maccabeus wrote to
Lysias, concerning the Jews, the king consented to it.
{11:16} For there were letters written to the Jews from Lysias,
which, indeed, were composed in this way: “Lysias, to the
people of the Jews: greetings. {11:17} John and Absalom,
who had been sent from you to deliver your writings,
requested that I would implement these things that were
signified by them. {11:18} Therefore, whatever things could
be brought before the king, I have presented them. And he
has conceded to those things that are permitted. {11:19} If,
therefore, you will keep yourselves faithful in these matters,
then, from now on, I will endeavor to be a cause of your
good. {11:20} But as for other particulars, I have given orders
by word, both to these, and to those who have been sent by
me, to confer with you. {11:21} Farewell. In the one hundred
forty-eighth year, on the twenty-fourth day of the month of
Dioscorus.” {11:22} But the letter of the king contained this:
“King Antiochus to Lysias, his brother: greetings.
{11:23} Since our father has been transferred among the gods,
we are willing that those who are in our kingdom should act
without tumult, and should attend diligently to their own
concerns. {11:24} We have heard that the Jews would not
consent to my father to convert to the rites of the Greeks, but
that they chose to keep to their own institutions, and, because
of this, that they ask of us to leave them to their own laws.
{11:25} Therefore, wanting this nation, likewise, to be at rest,
we have reached a judgment that the temple should be
restored to them, so that they may act according to the
custom of their ancestors. {11:26} You will do well, therefore,
if you send to them and grant them a pledge, so that our will
becomes known, and they may be of good courage, and may
look after their own needs.” {11:27} Truly, the letter of the
king to the Jews was such as this: “King Antiochus to the
senate of the Jews, and to the rest of the Jews: greetings.
{11:28} If you are well, such is what we desire. But we
ourselves are also well. {11:29} Menelaus came to us, saying
that you wished to come down to your own, who are among
us. {11:30} Therefore, we grant a pledge of security to those
who come and go, even until the thirtieth day of the month of
Xanthicus, {11:31} so that the Jews may make use of their
own foods and laws, just as also before, and so that none of
them should endure any kind of trouble for things which have
been done by ignorance. {11:32} And so, we have also sent
Menelaus, who will talk with you. {11:33} Farewell. In the
one hundred forty-eighth year, on the fifteenth day of the
month of Xanthicus.” {11:34} But the Romans also now sent
a letter, having this in it: “Quintus Memmius and Titus
Manilius, ambassadors of the Romans, to the people of the
Jews: greetings. {11:35} Concerning these things that Lysias,
the relative of the king, has conceded to you, we also have
conceded. {11:36} But about such things as he judged should
be referred to the king, send someone, as soon as you have
diligently conferred among yourselves, so that we may make
a decree, just as it is agreeable to you. For we are going to
Antioch. {11:37} And, therefore, make haste to write back,
so that we may know whatever your will may be.
{11:38} Farewell. In the one hundred forty-eighth year, on
the fifteenth day of the month of Xanthicus.”


[2 Maccabees 12] {12:1} After these pacts were made, Lysias
proceeded on to the king, but the Jews undertook the work of
agriculture. {12:2} However, those who had withdrawn:
Timothy, and Apollonius, the son of Gennaeus, along with
Hieronymus, and Demophon, and, in addition to these,
Nicanor, the governor of Cyprus, would not permit them to
live in peace and quiet. {12:3} Truly, those of Joppa were
also perpetrators of very shameful acts. They asked the Jews,
who lived among them, to go up into small boats, which they
had prepared, with their wives and sons, as if no underlying
hostility was between them. {12:4} And so, according to the
common decree of the city, they acquiesced to them, having
no suspicions and because there was peace. When they had
proceeded out into deep water, they drowned no less than
two hundred of them. {12:5} When Judas learned of the
cruelty done to the men of his nation, he informed the men
who were with him, and, having called upon God, the Just
Judge, {12:6} he went against the executors of his brothers,
and he even set the port on fire in the night; he burned the
boats, but those who took refuge from the fire, he destroyed
with the sword. {12:7} And when he had done these things in
this way, he departed, as if he would return again to eradicate
all those of Joppa. {12:8} But when he also realized those
who were of Jamnia wanted to act in a similar way to the
Jews living among them, {12:9} he went against those of
Jamnia also by night, and he set the port on fire, along with
the ships, so much so that the light of the fire was seen at
Jerusalem, two hundred and forty stadia away.
{12:10} When they had now gone from there nine stadia, and
were making their way toward Timothy, they met in battle
with those of Arabia: five thousand men and five hundred
horsemen. {12:11} And when a strong fight occurred, and, by
the help of God, it ceased favorably, the remainder of the
Arabians who were overcome petitioned Judas to give them a
pledge, promising to give him pastures and to assist him in
other things in the future. {12:12} Then Judas, thinking that
they truly might be useful in many ways, promised peace.
And after receiving the pledge of his right hand, they
withdrew to their tents. {12:13} Then he also assaulted a
certain strong city, surrounded with bridges and walls, which
was inhabited by a crowd from many different nations, the
name of which is Casphin. {12:14} In truth, those who were
inside, trusting in the strength of the walls and in the
preparations of rations, acted irresponsibly, and they
challenged Judas with evil words and blaspheming, as well as
by speaking what is not lawful. {12:15} But Maccabeus
rushed fiercely to the walls, calling upon the great Leader of
the world, who, without battering rams or machines of war,
had thrown down the walls of Jericho in the time of Joshua.
{12:16} And, having captured the city through the will of the
Lord, he made a slaughter without number, so much so that
an adjoining pool, two stadia in width, was seen to flow with
the blood of the slain. {12:17} From there, they withdrew
seven hundred and fifty stadia, and they came to Charax, to
those Jews who are called Tubianites. {12:18} And Timothy,
indeed, they did not find in those places, for he withdrew
before he completed any endeavor, having left behind a very
strong garrison in a certain place. {12:19} But Dositheus and
Sosipater, who were commanders with Maccabeus, destroyed
those who were left behind by Timothy in the stronghold: ten
thousand men. {12:20} And Maccabeus, having positioned
six thousand men around him and having divided them into
cohorts, went forth against Timothy, who had with him one
hundred twenty thousand foot soldiers, and two thousand
five hundred horsemen. {12:21} But when Timothy learned
of the arrival of Judas, he sent ahead the women, and the
children, and the remainder of the preparations, into a
fortress, which is called Carnion. For it was impregnable and
difficult to access because of the narrowness of the places.
{12:22} And when the first cohort of Judas had appeared, the
enemies were struck with fear by the presence of God, who
beholds all things, and they were turned to flight, one over
another, to such an extent that they were being knocked over
by one another and were being wounded with the strokes of
their own swords. {12:23} But Judas pursued them
vehemently, punishing the profane and striking down thirty
thousand of their men. {12:24} In truth, Timothy himself fell
to the group under Dositheus and Sosipater. And with much
begging, he pleaded with them to release him alive, because
he held the parents and brothers of many of the Jews, who, at
his death, might happen to be mistreated. {12:25} And when
he had given his faith that he would restore them according
to the agreement, they released him unharmed, for the sake
of their brothers’ well-being. {12:26} Then Judas departed to
Carnion, where he slew twenty-five thousand. {12:27} After
having put to flight or killed these, he moved his army to
Ephron, a fortified city, in which there lived a multitude of
diverse peoples. And hardy young men, standing upon the
walls, put up a strong fight. Moreover, in this place, there
were many machines of war, and equipment for casting darts.
{12:28} But when they had called upon the Almighty, who
with his power breaks the strength of enemies, they seized the
city. And they struck down twenty-five thousand of those
who were inside. {12:29} From there, they went to the city of
Scythia, which was six hundred stadia away from Jerusalem.
{12:30} But the Jews, those who were among the Scythians,
testified that they were treated kindly by them, and that, even
in the times of unhappiness, they had treated them mildly.
{12:31} They gave thanks to them, exhorting them to be kind
to their people, now and at other times. And they went to
Jerusalem, as the solemn days of the seven weeks were
underway. {12:32} And, after Pentecost, they marched
against Gorgias, the foremost leader over Idumea.
{12:33} And he went out with three thousand foot soldiers
and four hundred horsemen. {12:34} And when they came
together, it happened that a few of the Jews were overthrown.
{12:35} In fact, a certain Dositheus, a horseman of Bacenor,
a strong man, took hold of Gorgias. And when he would
have captured him alive, a certain horseman of the Thracians
rushed upon him and cut off his arm, and so, in this way,
Gorgias escaped to Maresa. {12:36} But when those who
were with Esdris had fought all day and were fatigued, Judas
called upon the Lord to be their helper and leader in the
battle. {12:37} Beginning in the language of the fathers, and
loudly extolling hymns, he inspired the soldiers of Gorgias to
take flight. {12:38} Then Judas, having collected his army,
went into the city Adullam. And, when the seventh day came,
they purified themselves according to the custom, and they
kept the Sabbath in the same place. {12:39} And the
following day, Judas came with his own, in order to take
away the bodies of the fallen, and to place them in the
sepulchers of their fathers with their ancestors. {12:40} But
they found, under the tunics of the slain, some of the
treasures of the idols that were near Jamnia, which were
prohibited to Jews by the law. Therefore, it became manifest
that it was for this reason that they had been overthrown.
{12:41} And so, they all blessed the just judgment of the Lord,
who had made hidden things manifest. {12:42} So then,
turning themselves to prayers, they petitioned him that the
offense which had been done would be delivered into
oblivion. And truly, the very strong Judas exhorted the
people to keep themselves without sin, since they had seen
with their own eyes what had happened because of the sins of
those who were struck down. {12:43} And, calling an
assembly, he sent twelve thousand drachmas of silver to
Jerusalem, to be offered for a sacrifice for the sins of the dead,
thinking well and religiously about the resurrection,
{12:44} (for if he had not hoped that those who had fallen
would be resurrected, it would have seemed superfluous and
vain to pray for the dead,) {12:45} and because he considered
that those who had fallen asleep with piety had great grace
stored up for them. {12:46} Therefore, it is a holy and
beneficial thought to pray on behalf of those who have passed
away, so that they may be released from sins.


[2 Maccabees 13] {13:1} In the one hundred and forty-ninth
year, Judas realized that Antiochus Eupator was coming with
a multitude against Judea. {13:2} And with him was Lysias,
the procurator, who was in charge of the government, having
with him one hundred and ten thousand foot solders, five
thousand horsemen, and twenty-two elephants, and three
hundred swift chariots with curved blades. {13:3} Menelaus
also joined himself to them, and with many lies he pleaded
with Antiochus, not for the welfare of his country, but hoping
that he would be appointed as first ruler. {13:4} But the King
of kings awakened the mind of Antiochus against the sinner.
And when Lysias was suggesting this to be the cause of all
the evils, he ordered (as is the custom with them) that he
should be apprehended and killed in the same place.
{13:5} Now there was, in the same place, a tower of fifty
cubits, having a pile of ashes on every side. This had a
lookout over a precipice. {13:6} From there, he ordered this
sacrilegious one to be thrown down into the ashes, with all
propelling him into the afterlife. {13:7} And by such a law, it
turned out that the betrayer of the law, Menelaus, died, not
having so much as a burial in the earth. {13:8} And indeed,
this satisfied justice, for just as he had committed many
offenses toward the altar of God, the fire and ashes of which
are holy, so was he condemned to die in ashes. {13:9} But
the king, with his mind being unbridled, came to reveal
himself as more wicked to the Jews than his father was.
{13:10} When Judas understood this, he instructed the
people to call upon the Lord day and night, so that, just as
always, now also he would help them. {13:11} Of course,
they were afraid to be deprived of their law and their country,
and of the holy temple, and also that he might allow the
people, who had recently taken a breath for a little while, to
be again subdued by blasphemous nations. {13:12} And so,
having together done all these things, and having sought
mercy from the Lord with weeping and fasting, lying
prostrate on the ground continually for three days, Judas
exhorted them to prepare themselves. {13:13} In truth, with
the elders he decided that, before the king could move his
army into Judea and obtain the city, they would go out and
commit the outcome of the event to the judgment of the Lord.
{13:14} And so, giving everything to God, the Creator of the
world, and having exhorted his own to contend with fortitude
and to stand up, even unto death, for the laws, the temple,
the city, their country and the citizens: he positioned his army
around Modin. {13:15} And having given his own a sign of
the victory of God, he attacked the quarters of the king by
night, with the strongest chosen young men, and he slew four
thousand men in the camp, and the greatest of the elephants,
along with those who would have been positioned on them.
{13:16} And so, having filled the camp of their enemies with
the greatest fear and disturbance, they went away with good
success. {13:17} Now this was done at the first light of day,
with the Lord assisting and protecting them. {13:18} But the
king, having received a taste of the audacity of the Jews,
attempted to take the difficult places by craftiness.
{13:19} And so, he moved his camp to Bethzur, which was a
fortified garrison of the Jews. But as he struck, he was put to
flight and reduced in number. {13:20} Then Judas sent
necessities to those who were inside. {13:21} But Rhodocus,
a certain one from the Jewish army, reported the secrets to
the enemies, so he was sought out, apprehended, and
imprisoned. {13:22} Again, the king held talks with those
who were in Bethzur. He gave his right hand as a pledge, and
accepted theirs, and he went away. {13:23} He joined battle
with Judas; he was overcome. But when he realized that
Philip, who had been left out of these events, had rebelled at
Antioch, he was in a consternation of mind, and, begging the
Jews, and being submissive to them, he swore to all things
that seemed just. And, being reconciled, he offered sacrifice,
honored the temple, and left gifts. {13:24} He embraced
Maccabeus, and he made him commander and leader from
Ptolemais all the way to the Gerrenians. {13:25} But when he
arrived at Ptolemais, the Ptolemaians considered the
conditions of the alliance burdensome, being indignant lest
perhaps they might break the pact. {13:26} Then Lysias went
up to the tribunal, and explained the reasons, and calmed the
people, and so he returned to Antioch. And this is the way
things went concerning the journey and return of the king.


[2 Maccabees 14] {14:1} But after a time of three years,
Judas and those who were with him realized that Demetrius
of Seleucus had gone up to strategic places with a very strong
multitude and a navy at the port of Tripoli, {14:2} and had
taken hold of the regions opposite Antiochus, and his
commander, Lysias. {14:3} Now a certain Alcimus, who had
been high priest, but who had willfully defiled himself in the
time of the co-mingling, considering there to be no means for
his safety, nor access to the altar, {14:4} went to king
Demetrius in the one hundred and fiftieth year, offering to
him a crown of gold, and a palm, and beyond these, some
branches that seemed to belong to the temple. And, indeed,
on that day, he was silent. {14:5} But, having met with an
opportune time for his madness, he was called to a counsel by
Demetrius and asked what things the Jews relied upon and
what were their counsels. {14:6} He responded: “Those
among the Jews who are called Hasideans, of whom Judas
Maccabeus is foremost, nourish wars, and raise seditions, and
will not permit the kingdom to be at peace. {14:7} For I also,
being cheated out of the glory of my ancestors (but I speak of
the high priesthood), have come here, {14:8} first, indeed, in
faithful service to the king’s interests, but also as an advisor of
the citizens. For our entire nation is no less afflicted by their
depravity. {14:9} But I beg you, O king, knowing each of
these things, look after both the region and our people,
according to your humanity, which is publicly known to all.
{14:10} For, as long as Judas survives, it is impossible for the
matter to be at peace.” {14:11} Then, having spoken such
things before them, the rest of the allies, who held themselves
to be enemies against Judas, further inflamed Demetrius.
{14:12} And immediately he sent Nicanor, the commander
over the elephants, into the first position against Judea,
{14:13} giving him orders to be certain to capture Judas
himself, and, truly, to scatter all those who were with him,
and to appoint Alcimus as the high priest of the great temple.
{14:14} Then the Gentiles, who had fled from Judas away
from Judea, mingled themselves in flocks with Nicanor,
thinking that the miseries and calamities of the Jews would
become the cause of their prosperity. {14:15} And so, when
the Jews heard of Nicanor’s arrival and that the nations were
assembled, they, sprinkling dirt on their heads, petitioned
him who established his people to preserve them in eternity,
and who likewise protected his portion by clear signs.
{14:16} Then, at the command of their leader, they moved
promptly from there, and together assembled at the town of
Dessau. {14:17} In truth, Simon, the brother of Judas, had
joined battle with Nicanor, but he became frightened at the
unexpected arrival of the adversaries. {14:18} Even so,
Nicanor, hearing of the virtue of the companions of Judas,
and the great courage with which they struggled on behalf of
their country, was afraid to accomplish judgment by the
sword. {14:19} For this reason, he sent ahead Posidonius,
and Theodotus, and Matthias, so as to give and receive the
pledge of right hands. {14:20} And when a council was held
all day about this, and the commander had brought it before
the multitude, they were all of one opinion to consent to an
alliance. {14:21} And so, they appointed a day, on which
they would act among themselves secretly, and seats were
brought out and placed for each of them. {14:22} But Judas
instructed armed men to be in strategic places, lest some kind
of malice might unexpectedly spring up from the enemies.
And they had an agreeable conference. {14:23} Then
Nicanor stayed in Jerusalem, and he did no iniquity; he sent
away the flocks of the crowds, which had been gathered
together. {14:24} And Judas always held him dear to the
heart, and was favorably inclined toward the man.
{14:25} And he asked him to consider a wife, and to
procreate sons. He got married; he lived quietly, and they all
lived in common. {14:26} But Alcimus seeing the love that
they had for one another, and the agreements, went to
Demetrius, and he told him that Nicanor had assented to
foreign interests, and that he had chosen Judas, a traitor to
the kingdom, as his successor. {14:27} And so the king, being
exasperated and provoked by this very wicked accusation,
wrote to Nicanor, saying that he was certainly overburdened
by the agreement of alliance, and he ordered him nevertheless
to send Maccabeus quickly to Antioch in chains.
{14:28} When this was known, Nicanor was in consternation,
and he took it grievously that he would make void the things
that were agreed, having received no injury from the man.
{14:29} But, because he was not able to oppose the king, he
watched for an opportunity to follow through with the orders.
{14:30} But Maccabeus, seeing that Nicanor acted more
formally with him, and that, when they met together as usual,
he exhibited insolence, understood this austerity not to be
from goodness. So, gathering together a few men, he hid
himself from Nicanor. {14:31} But when he realized that he
was effectively prevented by the man, he went to the greatest
and holiest temple, and he ordered the priests, offering the
usual sacrifices, to deliver the man to him. {14:32} When
these spoke oaths to him that they did not know where he
who was being sought was, he extended his hand toward the
temple, {14:33} and he swore, saying: “Unless you deliver
Judas to me in chains, I will reduce this shrine of God to the
ground, and I will dig up the altar, and I will consecrate this
temple to Liber the father.” {14:34} And having said this, he
departed. But the priests, extending their hands toward
heaven, called upon him who had always fought for his
people, saying this: {14:35} “O Lord of the universe, who
needs nothing, you willed that the temple of your dwelling
should be with us. {14:36} And now, O Lord, Holy of all
holies, preserve unpolluted, until eternity, this house, which
was recently made clean.” {14:37} Then Razias, a certain
one of the elders from Jerusalem, was brought before Nicanor;
the man was of good reputation, and was one who loved the
city. For his affection, he was called the father of the Jews.
{14:38} This one, for a long time, held on to his purpose of
continuing in Judaism, and he was content to hand over body
and life, so that he might persevere in it. {14:39} Then
Nicanor, being willing to manifest the hatred that he held for
the Jews, sent five hundred soldiers to apprehend him.
{14:40} For he thought, if he mistreated him, it would bring
great disaster upon the Jews. {14:41} Now, as the group
sought to rush into his house, and to break open the door,
and wanting even to bring in fire, as he was about to be
apprehended, he struck himself with the sword:
{14:42} choosing to prefer to die nobly rather than to become
subject to sinners, or to suffer unworthy injustices against his
birth. {14:43} But, since he had, in haste, not obtained the
certitude of a decisive wound, and the crowd was breaking in
the doors, he, running boldly to the wall, manfully threw
himself down upon the crowd. {14:44} But they quickly
provided a place for his fall, so he landed at the middle of the
neck. {14:45} And, since he was still breathing, and being
inflamed in soul, he rose up, and as his blood flowed down in
a great stream, being very gravely wounded, he ran through
the crowd. {14:46} And standing upon a certain steep rock,
and being now almost without blood, grasping his intestines
with both hands, he threw himself over the crowd, calling
upon the Ruler of life as well as spirit, to restore these to him
again. And so he passed away from this life.


[2 Maccabees 15] {15:1} But when Nicanor discovered Judas
to be in the places of Samaria, he decided to meet him in
warfare with all violence, on the Sabbath day. {15:2} In truth,
the Jews who followed him out of necessity were saying: “Do
not act so fiercely and barbarously, but give honor to the day
of sanctification and reverence to him who beholds all
things.” {15:3} That unhappy man asked, “Is there a
powerful One in heaven, who commanded the day of the
Sabbath to be kept.” {15:4} And they responded to him,
“There is the living Lord himself in heaven, the powerful One,
who ordered the seventh day to be kept.” {15:5} And so he
said: “I also am powerful upon the earth, so I command arms
to be taken up and the king’s plans to be fulfilled.”
Nevertheless, he did not succeed in accomplishing his plan.
{15:6} And Nicanor, being certainly lifted up with the
greatest arrogance, had decided to establish a public
monument of his victory over Judas. {15:7} But Maccabeus,
as always, trusted with all hope that God would be present to
help them. {15:8} And he exhorted his own not to fear the
arrival of the nations, but to keep in mind the assistance they
had received before from heaven, and now to hope for a
future victory from the Almighty. {15:9} And speaking to
them from the law and the prophets, reminding them even of
the conflicts they had fought before, he made them more
willing. {15:10} And so, having raised up their courage, at
the same time he revealed the deceitful plan of the Gentiles
and their betrayal of the oaths. {15:11} Then he armed every
one of them, not with the weapons of shield and spear, but
with the best speeches and exhortations; and he explained to
them a dream, worthy to be believed, in which he rejoiced
with them all. {15:12} Now the vision was in this manner:
Onias, who had been high priest, a good and kind man,
modest in appearance, gentle in manners, and noble in
speech, and who from boyhood was trained in the virtues,
extending his hands, prayed on behalf of all the people of the
Jews. {15:13} After this, there appeared also another man,
admirable in age and glory, and with a bearing of great
dignity about him. {15:14} In truth, Onias responded by
saying: “This one loves his brothers and the people of Israel.
This is he who prays greatly for the people and for all the
holy city: Jeremiah, the prophet of God.” {15:15} Then
Jeremiah extended his right hand, and he gave to Judas a
sword of gold, saying: {15:16} “Receive this holy sword as a
gift from God, with it you shall cast down the adversaries of
my people Israel.” {15:17} And so, having been exhorted by
the very good words of Judas, by which the readiness and
courage of the young men were able to be raised and
strengthened, they resolved to strive and to contend with
fortitude, so that virtue would judge the matter, because the
holy city and the temple were in peril. {15:18} For their
concern was less for their wives and sons, and likewise less
for their brothers and relatives; in truth, their greatest and first
fear was for the sanctity of the temple. {15:19} But those also
who were in the city had no small concern for those who had
gathered together. {15:20} And, when all now hoped that
judgment would soon occur, and when the enemies were
near, and the army was set in order, with the beasts and the
horsemen positioned in strategic places, {15:21} Maccabeus,
considering the arrival of the multitude, and the various
preparations of weapons, and the fierceness of the beasts,
extending his hands to heaven, called upon the Lord, who
works miracles, who gives victory to those who are worthy,
not according to the power of the weapons, but just as it
pleases him. {15:22} Then, calling out in this way, he said:
“You, O Lord, who sent your Angel under Hezekiah, king of
Judah, and who killed one hundred and eighty-five thousand
from the camp of Sennacherib, {15:23} now also, O Ruler of
the heavens, send your good Angel before us, who are in fear
and trembling at the greatness of your arm, {15:24} so that
those who approach against your holy people with
blasphemy may be afraid.” And in this way, indeed, he
concluded his prayer. {15:25} But Nicanor, and those who
were with him, advanced with trumpets and songs.
{15:26} In truth, Judas, and those who were with him,
calling upon God through prayers, came together against
them. {15:27} Indeed, fighting with their hands, but praying
to the Lord with their hearts, they struck down no less than
thirty-five thousand, being delighted by the presence of God.
{15:28} And when they had ceased and were returning with
gladness, they realized, by his armor, that Nicanor had been
slain. {15:29} And so, making a loud noise and inciting a
disturbance, they blessed the Almighty Lord in the language
of the fathers. {15:30} But Judas, who was prepared
throughout all his body and soul to die for his citizens,
instructed that Nicanor’s head, and his hand with the arm,
should be cut off and carried through to Jerusalem.
{15:31} When it arrived, having called together his fellow
tribesmen, and the priests to the altar, he summoned those
also who were in the stronghold. {15:32} And he displayed
the head of Nicanor, and his nefarious hand, which he had
extended against the holy house of Almighty God with
magnificent boasting. {15:33} He even ordered now that the
tongue of the impious Nicanor should be cut up and given in
pieces to the birds, but that the hand of this demented man
should be suspended opposite the temple. {15:34} Therefore,
they all blessed the Lord of heaven, saying, “Blessed is he
who has kept his own place uncontaminated.” {15:35} Then
he suspended Nicanor’s head at the top of the stronghold, so
that it would be an evident and manifest sign of the assistance
of God. {15:36} And so, they all decreed by common counsel
in no way to let this day pass without celebration, {15:37} but
to hold a celebration on the thirteenth day of the month of
Adar, which was called in the Syrian language: the day
before Mardochias’ day. {15:38} Therefore, these things were
accomplished concerning Nicanor, and from that time the
city was possessed by the Hebrews. And so, I will bring an
end to my narration here. {15:39} And, indeed, if I have
done well, so as to have made an adequate history, this also
is what I wanted. But if it is less than worthy, may it be
permitted me. {15:40} For, just as it is adverse to drink
always wine, or always water, so also it is pleasant to use
sometimes the one, and sometimes the other. So, if the words
were always exact, it would not be pleasing to the readers.
Therefore, here it shall be completed.


The Holy Bible
Catholic Public Domain Version
New Testament


** The Gospel of Matthew **


[Matthew 1] {1:1} The book of the lineage of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham. {1:2} Abraham
conceived Isaac. And Isaac conceived Jacob. And Jacob
conceived Judah and his brothers. {1:3} And Judah
conceived Perez and Zerah by Tamar. And Perez conceived
Hezron. And Hezron conceived Ram. {1:4} And Ram
conceived Amminadab. And Amminadab conceived
Nahshon. And Nahshon conceived Salmon. {1:5} And
Salmon conceived Boaz by Rahab. And Boaz conceived
Obed by Ruth. And Obed conceived Jesse. {1:6} And Jesse
conceived king David. And king David conceived Solomon,
by her who had been the wife of Uriah. {1:7} And Solomon
conceived Rehoboam. And Rehoboam conceived Abijah.
And Abijah conceived Asa. {1:8} And Asa conceived
Jehoshaphat. And Jehoshaphat conceived Joram. And Joram
conceived Uzziah. {1:9} And Uzziah conceived Jotham.
And Jotham conceived Ahaz. And Ahaz conceived Hezekiah.
{1:10} And Hezekiah conceived Manasseh. And Manasseh
conceived Amos. And Amos conceived Josiah. {1:11} And
Josiah conceived Jechoniah and his brothers in the
transmigration of Babylon. {1:12} And after the
transmigration of Babylon, Jechoniah conceived Shealtiel.
And Shealtiel conceived Zerubbabel. {1:13} And Zerubbabel
conceived Abiud. And Abiud conceived Eliakim. And
Eliakim conceived Azor. {1:14} And Azor conceived Zadok.
And Zadok conceived Achim. And Achim conceived Eliud.
{1:15} And Eliud conceived Eleazar. And Eleazar conceived
Matthan. And Matthan conceived Jacob. {1:16} And Jacob
conceived Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born
Jesus, who is called Christ. {1:17} And so, all the generations
from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from
David to the transmigration of Babylon, fourteen generations;
and from the transmigration of Babylon to the Christ,
fourteen generations. {1:18} Now the procreation of the
Christ occurred in this way. After his mother Mary had been
betrothed to Joseph, before they lived together, she was found
to have conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit.
{1:19} Then Joseph, her husband, since he was just and was
not willing to hand her over, preferred to send her away
secretly. {1:20} But while thinking over these things, behold,
an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying:
“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to accept Mary as
your wife. For what has been formed in her is of the Holy
Spirit. {1:21} And she shall give birth to a son. And you shall
call his name JESUS. For he shall accomplish the salvation
of his people from their sins.” {1:22} Now all this occurred in
order to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the
prophet, saying: {1:23} “Behold, a virgin shall conceive in
her womb, and she shall give birth to a son. And they shall
call his name Emmanuel, which means: God is with us.”
{1:24} Then Joseph, arising from sleep, did just as the Angel
of the Lord had instructed him, and he accepted her as his
wife. {1:25} And he knew her not, yet she bore her son, the
firstborn. And he called his name JESUS.


[Matthew 2] {2:1} And so, when Jesus had been born in
Bethlehem of Judah, in the days of king Herod, behold, Magi
from the east arrived in Jerusalem, {2:2} saying: “Where is
he who was born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star
in the east, and we have come to adore him.” {2:3} Now
king Herod, hearing this, was disturbed, and all Jerusalem
with him. {2:4} And gathering together all the leaders of the
priests, and the scribes of the people, he consulted with them
as to where the Christ would be born. {2:5} And they said to
him: “In Bethlehem of Judea. For so it has been written by
the prophet: {2:6} ‘And you, Bethlehem, the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the leaders of Judah. For from
you shall go forth the ruler who shall guide my people
Israel.’ ” {2:7} Then Herod, quietly calling the Magi,
diligently learned from them the time when the star appeared
to them. {2:8} And sending them into Bethlehem, he said:
“Go and diligently ask questions about the boy. And when
you have found him, report back to me, so that I, too, may
come and adore him.” {2:9} And when they had heard the
king, they went away. And behold, the star that they had
seen in the east went before them, even until, arriving, it
stood still above the place where the child was. {2:10} Then,
seeing the star, they were gladdened by a very great joy.
{2:11} And entering the home, they found the boy with his
mother Mary. And so, falling prostrate, they adored him.
And opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold,
frankincense, and myrrh. {2:12} And having received a
response in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they
went back by another way to their own region. {2:13} And
after they had gone away, behold, an Angel of the Lord
appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: “Rise up, and take the
boy and his mother, and flee into Egypt. And remain there
until I tell you. For it will happen that Herod will seek the
boy to destroy him.” {2:14} And getting up, he took the boy
and his mother by night, and withdrew into Egypt.
{2:15} And he remained there, until the death of Herod, in
order to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the
prophet, saying: “Out of Egypt, I called my son.”
{2:16} Then Herod, seeing that he had been fooled by the
Magi, was very angry. And so he sent to kill all the boys who
were in Bethlehem, and in all its borders, from two years of
age and under, according to the time that he had learned by
questioning the Magi. {2:17} Then what was spoken through
the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled, saying: {2:18} “A voice
has been heard in Ramah, great weeping and wailing: Rachel
crying for her sons. And she was not willing to be consoled,
because they were no more.” {2:19} Then, when Herod had
passed away, behold, an Angel of the Lord appeared in sleep
to Joseph in Egypt, {2:20} saying: “Rise up, and take the boy
and his mother, and go into the land of Israel. For those who
were seeking the life of the boy have passed away.”
{2:21} And rising up, he took the boy and his mother, and he
went into the land of Israel. {2:22} Then, hearing that
Archelaus reigned in Judea in place of his father Herod, he
was afraid to go there. And being warned in sleep, he
withdrew into parts of Galilee. {2:23} And arriving, he lived
in a city which is called Nazareth, in order to fulfill what was
spoken through the prophets: “For he shall be called a
Nazarene.”


[Matthew 3] {3:1} Now in those days, John the Baptist
arrived, preaching in the desert of Judea, {3:2} and saying:
“Repent. For the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.”
{3:3} For this is the one who was spoken of through the
prophet Isaiah, saying: “A voice crying out in the desert:
Prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight his paths.”
{3:4} Now the same John had a garment made from the hair
of camels, and a leather belt around his waist. And his food
was locusts and wild honey. {3:5} Then Jerusalem, and all
Judea, and the entire region around the Jordan went out to
him. {3:6} And they were baptized by him in the Jordan,
acknowledging their sins. {3:7} Then, seeing many of the
Pharisees and Sadducees arriving for his baptism, he said to
them: “Progeny of vipers, who warned to you to flee from the
approaching wrath? {3:8} Therefore, produce fruit worthy of
repentance. {3:9} And do not choose to say within yourselves,
‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God has
the power to raise up sons to Abraham from these stones.
{3:10} For even now the axe has been placed at the root of
the trees. Therefore, every tree that does not produce good
fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire. {3:11} Indeed, I
baptize you with water for repentance, but he who will come
after me is more powerful than me. I am not worthy to carry
his shoes. He will baptize you with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
{3:12} His winnowing fan is in his hand. And he will
thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. And he will gather his
wheat into the barn. But the chaff he will burn with
unquenchable fire.” {3:13} Then Jesus came from Galilee, to
John at the Jordan, in order to be baptized by him.
{3:14} But John refused him, saying, “I ought to be baptized
by you, and yet you come to me?” {3:15} And responding,
Jesus said to him: “Permit this for now. For in this way it is
fitting for us to fulfill all justice.” Then he allowed him.
{3:16} And Jesus, having been baptized, ascended from the
water immediately, and behold, the heavens were opened to
him. And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove,
and alighting on him. {3:17} And behold, there was a voice
from heaven, saying: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased.”


[Matthew 4] {4:1} Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the
desert, in order to be tempted by the devil. {4:2} And when
he had fasted for forty days and forty nights, afterwards he
was hungry. {4:3} And approaching, the tempter said to him,
“If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become
bread.” {4:4} And in response he said, “It has been written:
‘Not by bread alone shall man live, but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” {4:5} Then the devil
took him up, into the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle
of the temple, {4:6} and said to him: “If you are the Son of
God, cast yourself down. For it has been written: ‘For he has
given charge of you to his angels, and they shall take you into
their hands, lest perhaps you may hurt your foot against a
stone.’ ” {4:7} Jesus said to him, “Again, it has been written:
‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” {4:8} Again, the
devil took him up, onto a very high mountain, and showed
him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, {4:9} and
said to him, “All these things I will give to you, if you will
fall down and adore me.” {4:10} Then Jesus said to him:
“Go away, Satan. For it has been written: ‘You shall adore
the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’ ”
{4:11} Then the devil left him. And behold, Angels
approached and ministered to him. {4:12} And when Jesus
had heard that John had been handed over, he withdrew into
Galilee. {4:13} And leaving behind the city of Nazareth, he
went and lived in Capernaum, near the sea, at the borders of
Zebulun and of Naphtali, {4:14} in order to fulfill what was
said through the prophet Isaiah: {4:15} “Land of Zebulun
and land of Naphtali, the way of the sea across the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles: {4:16} A people who were sitting in
darkness have seen a great light. And unto those sitting in the
region of the shadow of death, a light has risen.”
{4:17} From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say:
“Repent. For the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.”
{4:18} And Jesus, walking near the Sea of Galilee, saw two
brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,
casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen).
{4:19} And he said to them: “Follow me, and I will make
you fishers of men.” {4:20} And at once, leaving behind their
nets, they followed him. {4:21} And continuing on from
there, he saw another two brothers, James of Zebedee, and
his brother John, in a ship with their father Zebedee,
repairing their nets. And he called them. {4:22} And
immediately, leaving their nets and their father behind, they
followed him. {4:23} And Jesus traveled throughout all of
Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the
Gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every
infirmity among the people. {4:24} And reports of him went
out to all of Syria, and they brought to him all those who had
maladies, those who were in the grasp of various sicknesses
and torments, and those who were in the hold of demons,
and the mentally ill, and paralytics. And he cured them.
{4:25} And a great crowd followed him from Galilee, and
from the Ten Cities, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea,
and from across the Jordan.


[Matthew 5] {5:1} Then, seeing the crowds, he ascended the
mountain, and when he had sat down, his disciples drew near
to him, {5:2} and opening his mouth, he taught them, saying:
{5:3} “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. {5:4} Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess
the earth. {5:5} Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall
be consoled. {5:6} Blessed are those who hunger and thirst
for justice, for they shall be satisfied. {5:7} Blessed are the
merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. {5:8} Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God. {5:9} Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
{5:10} Blessed are those who endure persecution for the sake
of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. {5:11} Blessed
are you when they have slandered you, and persecuted you,
and spoken all kinds of evil against you, falsely, for my sake:
{5:12} be glad and exult, for your reward in heaven is
plentiful. For so they persecuted the prophets who were
before you. {5:13} You are the salt of the earth. But if salt
loses its saltiness, with what will it be salted? It is no longer
useful at all, except to be cast out and trampled under by men.
{5:14} You are the light of the world. A city set on a
mountain cannot be hidden. {5:15} And they do not light a
lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, so that it
may shine to all who are in the house. {5:16} So then, let
your light shine in the sight of men, so that they may see your
good works, and may glorify your Father, who is in heaven.
{5:17} Do not think that I have come to loosen the law or the
prophets. I have not come to loosen, but to fulfill.
{5:18} Amen I say to you, certainly, until heaven and earth
pass away, not one iota, not one dot shall pass away from the
law, until all is done. {5:19} Therefore, whoever will have
loosened one of the least of these commandments, and have
taught men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of
heaven. But whoever will have done and taught these, such a
one shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
{5:20} For I say to you, that unless your justice has surpassed
that of the scribes and the Pharisees you shall not enter into
the kingdom of heaven. {5:21} You have heard that it was
said to the ancients: ‘You shall not murder; whoever will
have murdered shall be liable to judgment.’ {5:22} But I say
to you, that anyone who becomes angry with his brother shall
be liable to judgment. But whoever will have called his
brother, ‘Idiot,’ shall be liable to the council. Then, whoever
will have called him, ‘Worthless,’ shall be liable to the fires of
Hell. {5:23} Therefore, if you offer your gift at the altar, and
there you remember that your brother has something against
you, {5:24} leave your gift there, before the altar, and go first
to be reconciled to your brother, and then you may approach
and offer your gift. {5:25} Be reconciled with your adversary
quickly, while you are still on the way with him, lest perhaps
the adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge
may hand you over to the officer, and you will be thrown in
prison. {5:26} Amen I say to you, that you shall not go forth
from there, until you have repaid the last quarter. {5:27} You
have heard that it was said to the ancients: ‘You shall not
commit adultery.’ {5:28} But I say to you, that anyone who
will have looked at a woman, so as to lust after her, has
already committed adultery with her in his heart. {5:29} And
if your right eye causes you to sin, root it out and cast it away
from you. For it is better for you that one of your members
perish, than that your whole body be cast into Hell.
{5:30} And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and
cast it away from you. For it is better for you that one of your
members perish, than that your whole body go into Hell.
{5:31} And it has been said: ‘Whoever would dismiss his
wife, let him give her a bill of divorce.’ {5:32} But I say to
you, that anyone who will have dismissed his wife, except in
the case of fornication, causes her to commit adultery; and
whoever will have married her who has been dismissed
commits adultery. {5:33} Again, you have heard that it was
said to the ancients: ‘You shall not swear falsely. For you
shall repay your oaths to the Lord.’ {5:34} But I say to you,
do not swear an oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is the
throne of God, {5:35} nor by earth, for it is his footstool, nor
by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king.
{5:36} Neither shall you swear an oath by your own head,
because you are not able to cause one hair to become white
or black. {5:37} But let your word ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and ‘No’
mean ‘No.’ For anything beyond that is of evil. {5:38} You
have heard that it was said: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth
for a tooth.’ {5:39} But I say to you, do not resist one who is
evil, but if anyone will have struck you on your right cheek,
offer to him the other also. {5:40} And anyone who wishes to
contend with you in judgment, and to take away your tunic,
release to him your cloak also. {5:41} And whoever will have
compelled you for one thousand steps, go with him even for
two thousand steps. {5:42} Whoever asks of you, give to him.
And if anyone would borrow from you, do not turn away
from him. {5:43} You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall
love your neighbor, and you shall have hatred for your
enemy.’ {5:44} But I say to you: Love your enemies. Do
good to those who hate you. And pray for those who
persecute and slander you. {5:45} In this way, you shall be
sons of your Father, who is in heaven. He causes his sun to
rise upon the good and the bad, and he causes it to rain upon
the just and the unjust. {5:46} For if you love those who love
you, what reward will you have? Do not even tax collectors
behave this way? {5:47} And if you greet only your brothers,
what more have you done? Do not even the pagans behave
this way? {5:48} Therefore, be perfect, even as your heavenly
Father is perfect.”


[Matthew 6] {6:1} “Pay attention, lest you perform your
justice before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise
you shall not have a reward with your Father, who is in
heaven. {6:2} Therefore, when you give alms, do not choose
to sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the
synagogues and in the towns, so that they may be honored by
men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.
{6:3} But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing, {6:4} so that your almsgiving
may be in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will
repay you. {6:5} And when you pray, you should not be like
the hypocrites, who love standing in the synagogues and at
the corners of the streets to pray, so that they may be seen by
men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.
{6:6} But you, when you pray, enter into your room, and
having shut the door, pray to your Father in secret, and your
Father, who sees in secret, will repay you. {6:7} And when
praying, do not choose many words, as the pagans do. For
they think that by their excess of words they might be heeded.
{6:8} Therefore, do not choose to imitate them. For your
Father knows what your needs may be, even before you ask
him. {6:9} Therefore, you shall pray in this way: Our Father,
who is in heaven: May your name be kept holy. {6:10} May
your kingdom come. May your will be done, as in heaven, so
also on earth. {6:11} Give us this day our life-sustaining
bread. {6:12} And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our
debtors. {6:13} And lead us not into temptation. But free us
from evil. Amen. {6:14} For if you will forgive men their sins,
your heavenly Father also will forgive you your offenses.
{6:15} But if you will not forgive men, neither will your
Father forgive you your sins. {6:16} And when you fast, do
not choose to become gloomy, like the hypocrites. For they
alter their faces, so that their fasting may be apparent to men.
Amen I say to you, that they have received their reward.
{6:17} But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and
wash your face, {6:18} so that your fasting will not be
apparent to men, but to your Father, who is in secret. And
your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you. {6:19} Do
not choose to store up for yourselves treasures on earth:
where rust and moth consume, and where thieves break in
and steal. {6:20} Instead, store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven: where neither rust nor moth consumes, and where
thieves do not break in and steal. {6:21} For where your
treasure is, there also is your heart. {6:22} The lamp of your
body is your eye. If your eye is wholesome, your entire body
will be filled with light. {6:23} But if your eye has been
corrupted, your entire body will be darkened. If then the light
that is in you is darkness, how great will that darkness be!
{6:24} No one is able to serve two masters. For either he will
have hatred for the one, and love the other, or he will
persevere with the one, and despise the other. You cannot
serve God and wealth. {6:25} And so I say to you, do not be
anxious about your life, as to what you will eat, nor about
your body, as to what you will wear. Is not life more than
food, and the body more than clothing? {6:26} Consider the
birds of the air, how they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather
into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you
not of much greater value than they are? {6:27} And which of
you, by thinking, is able to add one cubit to his stature?
{6:28} And as for clothing, why are you anxious? Consider
the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither work nor
weave. {6:29} But I say to you, that not even Solomon, in all
his glory, was arrayed like one of these. {6:30} So if God so
clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and cast
into the oven tomorrow, how much more will he care for you,
O little in faith? {6:31} Therefore, do not choose to be
anxious, saying: ‘What shall we eat, and what shall we drink,
and with what shall we be clothed?’ {6:32} For the Gentiles
seek all these things. Yet your Father knows that you need all
these things. {6:33} Therefore, seek first the kingdom of God
and his justice, and all these things shall be added to you as
well. {6:34} Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow;
for the future day will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the
day is its evil.”


[Matthew 7] {7:1} “Do not judge, so that you may not be
judged. {7:2} For with whatever judgment you judge, so shall
you be judged; and with whatever measure you measure out,
so shall it be measured back to you. {7:3} And how can you
see the splinter in your brother’s eye, and not see the board in
your own eye? {7:4} Or how can you say to your brother,
‘Let me take the splinter from your eye,’ while, behold, a
board is in your own eye? {7:5} Hypocrite, first remove the
board from your own eye, and then you will see clearly
enough to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.
{7:6} Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not cast your
pearls before swine, lest perhaps they may trample them
under their feet, and then, turning, they may tear you apart.
{7:7} Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you shall
find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you. {7:8} For
everyone who asks, receives; and whoever seeks, finds; and
to anyone who knocks, it will be opened. {7:9} Or what man
is there among you, who, if his son were to ask him for bread,
would offer him a stone; {7:10} or if he were to ask him for a
fish, would offer him a snake? {7:11} Therefore, if you,
though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your sons,
how much more will your Father, who is in heaven, give
good things to those who ask him? {7:12} Therefore, all
things whatsoever that you wish that men would do to you,
do so also to them. For this is the law and the prophets.
{7:13} Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate,
and broad is the way, which leads to perdition, and many
there are who enter through it. {7:14} How narrow is the gate,
and how straight is the way, which leads to life, and few there
are who find it! {7:15} Beware of false prophets, who come
to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
{7:16} You shall know them by their fruits. Can grapes be
gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? {7:17} So then,
every good tree produces good fruit, and the evil tree
produces evil fruit. {7:18} A good tree is not able to produce
evil fruit, and an evil tree is not able to produce good fruit.
{7:19} Every tree which does not produce good fruit shall be
cut down and cast into the fire. {7:20} Therefore, by their
fruits you will know them. {7:21} Not all who say to me,
‘Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven. But
whoever does the will of my Father, who is in heaven, the
same shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. {7:22} Many
will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy
in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and
perform many powerful deeds in your name?’ {7:23} And
then will I disclose to them: ‘I have never known you. Depart
from me, you workers of iniquity.’ {7:24} Therefore,
everyone who hears these words of mine and does them shall
be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the
rock. {7:25} And the rains descended, and the floods rose up,
and the winds blew, and rushed upon that house, but it did
not fall, for it was founded on the rock. {7:26} And everyone
who hears these words of mine and does not do them shall be
like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand.
{7:27} And the rains descended, and the floods rose up, and
the winds blew, and rushed upon that house, and it did fall,
and great was its ruin.” {7:28} And it happened, when Jesus
had completed these words, that the crowds were astonished
at his doctrine. {7:29} For he was teaching them as one who
has authority, and not like their scribes and Pharisees.


[Matthew 8] {8:1} And when he had descended from the
mountain, great crowds followed him. {8:2} And behold, a
leper, drawing near, adored him, saying, “Lord, if you are
willing, you are able to cleanse me.” {8:3} And Jesus,
extending his hand, touched him, saying: “I am willing. Be
cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
{8:4} And Jesus said to him: “See to it that you tell no one.
But go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that
Moses instructed, as a testimony for them.” {8:5} And when
he had entered into Capernaum, a centurion approached,
petitioning him, {8:6} and saying, “Lord, my servant lies at
home paralyzed and badly tormented.” {8:7} And Jesus said
to him, “I will come and heal him.” {8:8} And responding,
the centurion said: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should
enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant
shall be healed. {8:9} For I, too, am a man placed under
authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’
and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to
my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” {8:10} And, hearing
this, Jesus wondered. And he said to those following him:
“Amen I say to you, I have not found so great a faith in Israel.
{8:11} For I say to you, that many shall come from the east
and the west, and they shall sit at table with Abraham, and
Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. {8:12} But the
sons of the kingdom shall be cast into the outer darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
{8:13} And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go, and just as you
have believed, so let it be done for you.” And the servant was
healed at that very hour. {8:14} And when Jesus had arrived
at the house of Peter, he saw his mother-in-law lying ill with
a fever. {8:15} And he touched her hand, and the fever left
her, and she rose up and ministered to them. {8:16} And
when evening arrived, they brought to him many who had
demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word. And he
healed all those having maladies, {8:17} in order to fulfill
what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah, saying, “He
took our infirmities, and he carried away our diseases.”
{8:18} Then Jesus, seeing the great crowds encircling him,
gave orders to go across the sea. {8:19} And one scribe,
approaching, said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you
wherever you will go.” {8:20} And Jesus said to him, “Foxes
have dens, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of
man has nowhere to rest his head.” {8:21} Then another of
his disciples said to him, “Lord, permit me first to go and
bury my father.” {8:22} But Jesus said to him, “Follow me,
and allow the dead to bury their dead.” {8:23} And climbing
into a boat, his disciples followed him. {8:24} And behold, a
great tempest occurred in the sea, so much so that the boat
was covered with waves; yet truly, he was sleeping.
{8:25} And his disciples drew near to him, and they
awakened him, saying: “Lord, save us, we are perishing.”
{8:26} And Jesus said to them, “Why are you afraid, O little
in faith?” Then rising up, he commanded the winds, and the
sea. And a great tranquility occurred. {8:27} Moreover, the
men wondered, saying: “What kind of man is this? For even
the winds and the sea obey him.” {8:28} And when he had
arrived across the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes, he
was met by two who had demons, who were so exceedingly
savage, as they went out from among the tombs, that no one
was able to cross by that way. {8:29} And behold, they cried
out, saying: “What are we to you, O Jesus, the Son of God?
Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
{8:30} Now there was, not far from them, a herd of many
swine feeding. {8:31} Then the demons petitioned him,
saying: “If you cast us from here, send us into the herd of
swine.” {8:32} And he said to them, “Go.” And they, going
out, went into the swine. And behold, the entire herd
suddenly rushed along a steep place into the sea. And they
died in the waters. {8:33} Then the shepherds fled, and
arriving in the city, they reported on all this, and on those
who had had the demons. {8:34} And behold, the entire city
went out to meet Jesus. And having seen him, they petitioned
him, so that he would cross from their borders.


[Matthew 9] {9:1} And climbing into a boat, he crossed the
sea, and he arrived at his own city. {9:2} And behold, they
brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing
their faith, said to the paralytic, “Be strengthened in faith, son;
your sins are forgiven you.” {9:3} And behold, some of the
scribes said within themselves, “He is blaspheming.”
{9:4} And when Jesus had perceived their thoughts, he said:
“Why do you think such evil in your hearts? {9:5} Which is
easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up
and walk?’ {9:6} But, so that you may know that the Son of
man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” he then said to
the paralytic, “Rise up, take up your bed, and go into your
house.” {9:7} And he arose and went into his house.
{9:8} Then the crowd, seeing this, was frightened, and they
glorified God, who gave such power to men. {9:9} And when
Jesus passed on from there, he saw, sitting at the tax office, a
man named Matthew. And he said to him, “Follow me.”
And rising up, he followed him. {9:10} And it happened that,
as he was sitting down to eat in the house, behold, many tax
collectors and sinners arrived, and they sat down to eat with
Jesus and his disciples. {9:11} And the Pharisees, seeing this,
said to his disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax
collectors and sinners?” {9:12} But Jesus, hearing this, said:
“It is not those who are healthy who are in need of a
physician, but those who have maladies. {9:13} So then, go
out and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not
sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the just, but sinners.”
{9:14} Then the disciples of John drew near to him, saying,
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast frequently, but your
disciples do not fast?” {9:15} And Jesus said to them: “How
can the sons of the groom mourn, while the groom is still
with them? But the days will arrive when the groom will be
taken away from them. And then they shall fast. {9:16} For
no one would sew a patch of new cloth onto an old garment.
For it pulls its fullness away from the garment, and the tear is
made worse. {9:17} Neither do they pour new wine into old
wineskins. Otherwise, the wineskins rupture, and the wine
pours out, and the wineskins are destroyed. Instead, they
pour new wine into new wineskins. And so, both are
preserved.” {9:18} As he was speaking these things to them,
behold, a certain ruler approached and adored him, saying:
“Lord, my daughter has recently passed away. But come and
impose your hand upon her, and she will live.” {9:19} And
Jesus, rising up, followed him, with his disciples. {9:20} And
behold, a woman, who had suffered from a flow of blood for
twelve years, approached from behind and touched the hem
of his garment. {9:21} For she said within herself, “If I will
touch even his garment, I shall be saved.” {9:22} But Jesus,
turning and seeing her, said: “Be strengthened in faith,
daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman
was made well from that hour. {9:23} And when Jesus had
arrived in the house of the ruler, and he had seen the
musicians and the tumultuous crowd, {9:24}he said,
“Depart. For the girl is not dead, but asleep.” And they
derided him. {9:25} And when the crowd had been sent
away, he entered. And he took her by the hand. And the girl
rose up. {9:26} And the news of this went out to that entire
land. {9:27} And as Jesus passed from there, two blind men
followed him, crying out and saying, “Take pity on us, Son of
David.” {9:28} And when he had arrived at the house, the
blind men approached him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you
trust that I am able to do this for you?” They say to him,
“Certainly, Lord.” {9:29} Then he touched their eyes, saying,
“According to your faith, so let it be done for you.”
{9:30} And their eyes were opened. And Jesus warned them,
saying, “See to it that no one knows of this.” {9:31} But
going out, they spread the news of it to all that land.
{9:32} Then, when they had departed, behold, they brought
him a man who was mute, having a demon. {9:33} And after
the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke. And the
crowds wondered, saying, “Never has anything like this been
seen in Israel.” {9:34} But the Pharisees said, “By the prince
of demons does he cast out demons.” {9:35} And Jesus
traveled throughout all of the cities and towns, teaching in
their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom,
and healing every illness and every infirmity. {9:36} Then,
seeing the multitudes, he had compassion on them, because
they were distressed and were reclining, like sheep without a
shepherd. {9:37} Then he said to his disciples: “The harvest
indeed is great, but the laborers are few. {9:38} Therefore,
petition the Lord of the harvest, so that he may sent out
laborers to his harvest.”


[Matthew 10] {10:1} And having called together his twelve
disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast
them out and to cure every sickness and every infirmity.
{10:2} Now the names of the twelve Apostles are these: the
First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother,
{10:3} James of Zebedee, and John his brother, Philip and
Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, and
James of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, {10:4} Simon the
Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
{10:5} Jesus sent these twelve, instructing them, saying: “Do
not travel by the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter into
the city of the Samaritans, {10:6} but instead go to the sheep
who have fallen away from the house of Israel. {10:7} And
going forth, preach, saying: ‘For the kingdom of heaven has
drawn near.’ {10:8} Cure the infirm, raise the dead, cleanse
lepers, cast out demons. You have received freely, so give
freely. {10:9} Do not choose to possess gold, nor silver, nor
money in your belts, {10:10} nor provisions for the journey,
nor two tunics, nor shoes, nor a staff. For the laborer deserves
his portion. {10:11} Now, into whatever city or town you
will enter, inquire as to who is worthy within it. And stay
there until you depart. {10:12} Then, when you enter into the
house, greet it, saying, ‘Peace to this house.’ {10:13} And if,
indeed, that house is worthy, your peace will rest upon it. But
if it is not worthy, your peace will return to you. {10:14} And
whoever has neither received you, nor listened to your words,
departing from that house or city, shake off the dust from
your feet. {10:15} Amen I say to you, it will be more
tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of
judgment, than for that city. {10:16} Behold, I am sending
you like sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be as
prudent as serpents and as simple as doves. {10:17} But
beware of men. For they will hand you over to councils, and
they will scourge you in their synagogues. {10:18} And you
shall be led before both rulers and kings for my sake, as a
testimony to them and to the Gentiles. {10:19} But when
they hand you over, do not choose to think about how or
what to speak. For what to speak shall be given to you in that
hour. {10:20} For it is not you who will be speaking, but the
Spirit of your Father, who will speak in you. {10:21} And
brother will hand over brother to death, and father will hand
over son. And children will rise up against parents and bring
about their deaths. {10:22} And you will be hated by all for
the sake of my name. But whoever will have persevered, even
to the end, the same shall be saved. {10:23} Now when they
persecute you in one city, flee into another. Amen I say to
you, you will not have exhausted all the cities of Israel, before
the Son of man returns. {10:24} The disciple is not above the
teacher, nor is the servant above his master. {10:25} It is
sufficient for the disciple that he be like his teacher, and the
servant, like his master. If they have called the Father of the
family, ‘Beelzebub,’ how much more those of his household?
{10:26} Therefore, do not fear them. For nothing is covered
that shall not be revealed, nor hidden that shall not be known.
{10:27} What I tell you in darkness, speak in the light. And
what you hear whispered in the ear, preach above the
rooftops. {10:28} And do not be afraid of those who kill the
body, but are not able to kill the soul. But instead fear him
who is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell.
{10:29} Are not two sparrows sold for one small coin? And
yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your
Father. {10:30} For even the hairs of your head have all been
numbered. {10:31} Therefore, do not be afraid. You are
worth more than many sparrows. {10:32} Therefore,
everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will
acknowledge before my Father, who is in heaven.
{10:33} But whoever will have denied me before men, I also
will deny before my Father, who is in heaven. {10:34} Do
not think that I came to send peace upon the earth. I came,
not to send peace, but the sword. {10:35} For I came to
divide a man against his father, and a daughter against her
mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
{10:36} And the enemies of a man will be those of his own
household. {10:37} Whoever loves father or mother more
than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or
daughter above me is not worthy of me. {10:38} And
whoever does not take up his cross, and follow me is not
worthy of me. {10:39} Whoever finds his life, will lose it.
And whoever will have lost his life because of me, shall find
it. {10:40} Whoever receives you, receives me. And whoever
receives me, receives him who sent me. {10:41} Whoever
receives a prophet, in the name of a prophet, shall receive the
reward of a prophet. And whoever receives the just in the
name of the just shall receive the reward of the just.
{10:42} And whoever shall give, even to one of the least of
these, a cup of cold water to drink, solely in the name of a
disciple: Amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”


[Matthew 11] {11:1} And it happened that, when Jesus had
completed instructing his twelve disciples, he went away
from there in order to teach and to preach in their cities.
{11:2} Now when John had heard, in prison, about the
works of Christ, sending two of his disciples, he said to him,
{11:3} “Are you he who is to come, or should we expect
another?” {11:4} And Jesus, responding, said to them: “Go
and report to John what you have heard and seen.
{11:5} The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor are evangelized.
{11:6} And blessed is he who has found no offense in me.”
{11:7} Then, after they departed, Jesus began to speak to the
crowds about John: “What did you go out to the desert to see?
A reed shaken by the wind? {11:8} So what did you go out to
see? A man in soft garments? Behold, those who are clothed
in soft garments are in the houses of kings. {11:9} Then what
did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more
than a prophet. {11:10} For this is he, of whom it is written:
‘Behold, I send my Angel before your face, who shall prepare
your way before you.’ {11:11} Amen I say to you, among
those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than
John the Baptist. Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is
greater than he. {11:12} But from the days of John the
Baptist, even until now, the kingdom of heaven has endured
violence, and the violent carry it away. {11:13} For all the
prophets and the law prophesied, even until John.
{11:14} And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah,
who is to come. {11:15} Whoever has ears to hear, let him
hear. {11:16} But to what shall I compare this generation? It
is like children sitting in the marketplace, {11:17} who,
calling out to their companions, say: ‘We played music for
you, and you did not dance. We lamented, and you did not
mourn.’ {11:18} For John came neither eating nor drinking;
and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ {11:19} The Son of man
came eating and drinking; and they say, ‘Behold, a man who
eats voraciously and who drinks wine, a friend of tax
collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is justified by her sons.”
{11:20} Then he began to rebuke the cities in which many of
his miracles were accomplished, for they still had not
repented. {11:21} “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you,
Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been
done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago
in haircloth and ashes. {11:22} Yet truly, I say to you, Tyre
and Sidon shall be forgiven more than you, on the day of
judgment. {11:23} And you, Capernaum, would you be
exalted all the way to heaven? You shall descend all the way
to Hell. For if the miracles that were done in you had been
done in Sodom, perhaps it would have remained, even to this
day. {11:24} Yet truly, I say to you, that the land of Sodom
shall be forgiven more than you, on the day of judgment.”
{11:25} At that time, Jesus responded and said: “I
acknowledge you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because
you have hidden these things from the wise and the prudent,
and have revealed them to little ones. {11:26} Yes, Father,
for this was pleasing before you. {11:27} All things have been
delivered to me by my Father. And no one knows the Son
except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except
the Son, and those to whom the Son is willing to reveal him.
{11:28} Come to me, all you who labor and have been
burdened, and I will refresh you. {11:29} Take my yoke upon
you, and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you shall find rest for your souls. {11:30} For my yoke is
sweet and my burden is light.”


[Matthew 12] {12:1} At that time, Jesus went out through
the ripe grain on the Sabbath. And his disciples, being hungry,
began to separate the grain and to eat. {12:2} Then the
Pharisees, seeing this, said to him, “Behold, your disciples
are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbaths.”
{12:3} But he said to them: “Have you not read what David
did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him:
{12:4} how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of
the Presence, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for
those who were with him, but only for the priests? {12:5} Or
have you not read in the law, that on the Sabbaths the priests
in the temple violate the Sabbath, and they are without guilt?
{12:6} But I say to you, that something greater than the
temple is here. {12:7} And if you knew what this means, ‘I
desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would never have
condemned the innocent. {12:8} For the Son of man is Lord
even of the Sabbath.” {12:9} And when he had passed from
there, he went into their synagogues. {12:10} And behold,
there was a man who had a withered hand, and they
questioned him, so that they might accuse him, saying, “Is it
lawful to cure on the Sabbaths?” {12:11} But he said to them:
“Who is there among you, having even one sheep, if it will
have fallen into a pit on the Sabbath, would not take hold of
it and lift it up? {12:12} How much better is a man than a
sheep? And so, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbaths.”
{12:13} Then he said to the man, “Extend your hand.” And
he extended it, and it was restored to health, just like the
other one. {12:14} Then the Pharisees, departing, took
council against him, as to how they might destroy him.
{12:15} But Jesus, knowing this, withdrew from there. And
many followed him, and he cured them all. {12:16} And he
instructed them, lest they make him known. {12:17} Then
what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled,
saying: {12:18} “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased. I will place my
Spirit over him, and he shall announce judgment to the
nations. {12:19} He shall not contend, nor cry out, neither
shall anyone hear his voice in the streets. {12:20} He shall
not crush the bruised reed, and he shall not extinguish the
smoking wick, until he sends forth judgment unto victory.
{12:21} And the Gentiles shall hope in his name.”
{12:22} Then one who had a demon, who was blind and
mute, was brought to him. And he cured him, so that he
spoke and saw. {12:23} And all the crowds were stupefied,
and they said, “Could this be the son of David?” {12:24} But
the Pharisees, hearing it, said, “This man does not cast out
demons, except by Beelzebub, the prince of the demons.”
{12:25} But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said to them:
“Every kingdom divided against itself will become desolate.
And every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
{12:26} So if Satan casts out Satan, then he is divided against
himself. How then will his kingdom stand? {12:27} And if I
cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your own sons
cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges.
{12:28} But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then
the kingdom of God has arrived among you. {12:29} Or how
can anyone enter into the house of a strong man, and plunder
his belongings, unless he first restrains the strong man? And
then he will plunder his house. {12:30} Whoever is not with
me, is against me. And whoever does not gather with me,
scatters. {12:31} For this reason, I say to you: Every sin and
blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the
Spirit shall not be forgiven. {12:32} And anyone who will
have spoken a word against the Son of man shall be forgiven.
But whoever will have spoken against the Holy Spirit shall
not be forgiven, neither in this age, nor in the future age.
{12:33} Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make
the tree evil and its fruit evil. For certainly a tree is known by
its fruit. {12:34} Progeny of vipers, how are you able to speak
good things while you are evil? For out of the abundance of
the heart, the mouth speaks. {12:35} A good man offers good
things from a good storehouse. And an evil man offers evil
things from an evil storehouse. {12:36} But I say to you, that
for every idle word which men will have spoken, they shall
render an account in the day of judgment. {12:37} For by
your words shall you be justified, and by your words shall
you be condemned.” {12:38} Then certain ones from the
scribes and the Pharisees responded to him, saying, “Teacher,
we want to see a sign from you.” {12:39} And answering, he
said to them: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign.
But a sign will not be given to it, except the sign of the
prophet Jonah. {12:40} For just as Jonah was in the belly of
the whale for three days and three nights, so shall the Son of
man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three
nights. {12:41} The men of Nineveh shall arise in judgment
with this generation, and they shall condemn it. For, at the
preaching of Jonah, they repented. And behold, there is a
greater than Jonah here. {12:42} The Queen of the South
shall arise in judgment with this generation, and she shall
condemn it. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear
the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, there is a greater than
Solomon here. {12:43} Now when an unclean spirit departs
from a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, and he
does not find it. {12:44} Then he says, ‘I will return to my
house, from which I departed’. And arriving, he finds it
vacant, swept clean, and decorated. {12:45} Then he goes
and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than
himself, and they enter in and live there. And in the end, the
man becomes worse than he was at first. So, too, shall it be
with this most wicked generation.” {12:46} While he was still
speaking to the crowds, behold, his mother and his brothers
were standing outside, seeking to speak with him.
{12:47} And someone said to him: “Behold, your mother
and your brothers are standing outside, seeking you.”
{12:48} But responding to the one speaking to him, he said,
“Which one is my mother, and who are my brothers?”
{12:49} And extending his hand to his disciples, he said:
“Behold: my mother and my brothers. {12:50} For anyone
who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven, the same is
my brother, and sister, and mother.”


[Matthew 13] {13:1} In that day, Jesus, departing from the
house, sat down beside the sea. {13:2} And such great
crowds were gathered to him that he climbed into a boat and
he sat down. And the entire multitude stood on the shore.
{13:3} And he spoke many things to them in parables, saying:
“Behold, a sower went out to sow seed. {13:4} And while he
was sowing, some fell beside the road, and the birds of the air
came and ate it. {13:5} Then others fell in a rocky place,
where they did not have much soil. And they sprung up
promptly, because they had no depth of soil. {13:6} But when
the sun rose up, they were scorched, and because they had no
roots, they withered. {13:7} Still others fell among thorns,
and the thorns increased and suffocated them. {13:8} Yet
some others fell upon good soil, and they produced fruit:
some one hundred fold, some sixty fold, some thirty fold.
{13:9} Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.” {13:10} And
his disciples drew near to him and said, “Why do you speak
to them in parables?” {13:11} Responding, he said to them:
“Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of heaven, but it has not been given to them.
{13:12} For whoever has, it shall be given to him, and he
shall have in abundance. But whoever has not, even what he
has shall be taken away from him. {13:13} For this reason, I
speak to them in parables: because seeing, they do not see,
and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
{13:14} And so, in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah,
who said, ‘Hearing, you shall hear, but not understand; and
seeing, you shall see, but not perceive. {13:15} For the heart
of this people has grown fat, and with their ears they hear
heavily, and they have closed their eyes, lest at any time they
might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and
understand with their heart, and be converted, and then I
would heal them.’ {13:16} But blessed are your eyes, because
they see, and your ears, because they hear. {13:17} Amen I
say to you, certainly, that many of the prophets and the just
desired to see what you see, and yet they did not see it, and to
hear what you hear, and yet they did not hear it.
{13:18} Listen, then, to the parable of the sower.
{13:19} With anyone who hears the word of the kingdom
and does not understand it, evil comes and carries away what
was sown in his heart. This is he who received the seed by the
side of the road. {13:20} Then whoever has received the seed
upon a rocky place, this is one who hears the word and
promptly accepts it with joy. {13:21} But he has no root in
himself, so it is only for a time; then, when tribulation and
persecution occur because of the word, he promptly stumbles.
{13:22} And whoever has received the seed among thorns,
this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and
the falseness of riches suffocate the word, and he is effectively
without fruit. {13:23} Yet truly, whoever has received the
seed into good soil, this is he who hears the word, and
understands it, and so he bears fruit, and he produces: some a
hundred fold, and another sixty fold, and another thirty
fold.” {13:24} He proposed another parable to them, saying:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed
in his field. {13:25} But while the men were sleeping, his
enemy came and sowed weeds amid the wheat, and then
went away. {13:26} And when the plants had grown, and
had produced fruit, then the weeds also appeared. {13:27} So
the servants of the Father of the family, approaching, said to
him: ‘Lord, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then
how is it that it has weeds?’ {13:28} And he said to them, ‘A
man who is an enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to
him, ‘Is it your will that we should go and gather them up?’
{13:29} And he said: ‘No, lest perhaps in gathering the weeds,
you might also root out the wheat together with it.
{13:30} Permit both to grow until the harvest, and at the time
of the harvest, I will say to the reapers: Gather first the weeds,
and bind them into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather into
my storehouse.’ ” {13:31} He proposed another parable to
them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of
mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field.
{13:32} It is, indeed, the least of all seeds, but when it has
grown, it is greater than all the plants, and it becomes a tree,
so much so that the birds of the air come and dwell in its
branches.” {13:33} He spoke another parable to them: “The
kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and
hid in three measures of fine wheat flour, until it was entirely
leavened.” {13:34} All these things Jesus spoke in parables to
the crowds. And he did not speak to them apart from
parables, {13:35} in order to fulfill what was spoken through
the prophet, saying: “I will open my mouth in parables. I will
proclaim what has been hidden since the foundation of the
world.” {13:36} Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into
the house. And his disciples drew near to him, saying,
“Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
{13:37} Responding, he said to them: “He who sows the
good seed is the Son of man. {13:38} Now the field is the
world. And the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom. But
the weeds are the sons of wickedness. {13:39} So the enemy
who sowed them is the devil. And truly, the harvest is the
consummation of the age; while the reapers are the Angels.
{13:40} Therefore, just as weeds are gathered up and burned
with fire, so shall it be at the consummation of the age.
{13:41} The Son of man shall send out his Angels, and they
shall gather from his kingdom all who lead astray and those
who work iniquity. {13:42} And he shall cast them into the
furnace of fire, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth. {13:43} Then the just ones shall shine like the sun, in
the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears to hear, let
him hear. {13:44} The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure
hidden in a field. When a man finds it, he hides it, and,
because of his joy, he goes and sells everything that he has,
and he buys that field. {13:45} Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like a merchant seeking good pearls. {13:46} Having found
one pearl of great value, he went away and sold all that he
had, and he bought it. {13:47} Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like a net cast into the sea, which gathers together all kinds
of fish. {13:48} When it has been filled, drawing it out and
sitting beside the shore, they selected the good into vessels,
but the bad they threw away. {13:49} So shall it be at the
consummation of the age. The Angels shall go forth and
separate the bad from the midst of the just. {13:50} And they
shall cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth. {13:51} Have you understood
all these things?” They say to him, “Yes.” {13:52} He said to
them, “Therefore, every scribe well-taught about the kingdom
of heaven, is like a man, the father of a family, who offers
from his storehouse both the new and the old.” {13:53} And
it happened that, when Jesus had completed these parables,
he went away from there. {13:54} And arriving in his own
country, he taught them in their synagogues, so much so that
they wondered and said: “How can such wisdom and power
be with this one? {13:55} Is this not the son of a workman? Is
not his mother called Mary, and his brothers, James, and
Joseph, and Simon, and Jude? {13:56} And his sisters, are
they not all with us? Therefore, from where has this one
obtained all these things?” {13:57} And they took offense at
him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor,
except in his own country and in his own house.”
{13:58} And he did not work many miracles there, because
of their unbelief.


[Matthew 14] {14:1} In that time, Herod the Tetrarch heard
the news about Jesus. {14:2} And he said to his servants:
“This is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead, and
that is why miracles are at work in him.” {14:3} For Herod
had apprehended John, and bound him, and put him in
prison, because of Herodias, the wife of his brother.
{14:4} For John was telling him, “It is not lawful for you to
have her.” {14:5} And though he wanted to kill him, he
feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet.
{14:6} Then, on Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias
danced in their midst, and it pleased Herod. {14:7} And so he
promised with an oath to give her whatever she would ask of
him. {14:8} But, having been advised by her mother, she said,
“Give me here, on a platter, the head of John the Baptist.”
{14:9} And the king was greatly saddened. But because of his
oath, and because of those who sat at table with him, he
ordered it to be given. {14:10} And he sent and beheaded
John in prison. {14:11} And his head was brought on a
platter, and it was given to the girl, and she brought it to her
mother. {14:12} And his disciples approached and took the
body, and they buried it. And arriving, they reported it to
Jesus. {14:13} When Jesus had heard it, he withdrew from
there by boat, to a deserted place by himself. And when the
crowds had heard of it, they followed him on foot from the
cities. {14:14} And going out, he saw a great multitude, and
he took pity on them, and he cured their sick. {14:15} And
when evening had arrived, his disciples approached him,
saying: “This is a deserted place, and the hour has now
passed. Dismiss the crowds, so that, by going into the towns,
they may buy food for themselves.” {14:16} But Jesus said to
them: “They have no need to go. Give them something to eat
yourselves.” {14:17} They answered him, “We have nothing
here, except five loaves and two fish.” {14:18} He said to
them, “Bring them here to me.” {14:19} And when he had
ordered the multitude to sit down upon the grass, he took the
five loaves and the two fish, and gazing up to heaven, he
blessed and broke and gave the bread to the disciples, and
then the disciples to the multitudes. {14:20} And they all ate
and were satisfied. And they took up the remnants: twelve
baskets full of fragments. {14:21} Now the number of those
who ate was five thousand men, besides women and children.
{14:22} And Jesus promptly compelled his disciples to climb
into the boat, and to precede him in crossing the sea, while he
dismissed the crowds. {14:23} And having dismissed the
multitude, he ascended alone onto a mountain to pray. And
when evening arrived, he was alone there. {14:24} But in the
midst of the sea, the boat was being tossed about by the
waves. For the wind was against them. {14:25} Then, in the
fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking upon the
sea. {14:26} And seeing him walking upon the sea, they were
disturbed, saying: “It must be an apparition.” And they cried
out, because of fear. {14:27} And immediately, Jesus spoke
to them, saying: “Have faith. It is I. Do not be afraid.”
{14:28} Then Peter responded by saying, “Lord, if it is you,
order me come to you over the waters.” {14:29} And he said,
“Come.” And Peter, descending from the boat, walked over
the water, so as to go to Jesus. {14:30} Yet truly, seeing that
the wind was strong, he was afraid. And as he began to sink,
he cried out, saying: “Lord, save me.” {14:31} And
immediately Jesus extended his hand and took hold of him.
And he said to him, “O little in faith, why did you doubt?”
{14:32} And when they had ascended into the boat, the wind
ceased. {14:33} Then those who were in the boat drew near
and adored him, saying: “Truly, you are the Son of God.”
{14:34} And having crossed the sea, they arrived in the land
of Genesaret. {14:35} And when the men of that place had
recognized him, they sent into all that region, and they
brought to him all who had maladies. {14:36} And they
petitioned him, so that they might touch even the hem of his
garment. And as many as touched it were made whole.


[Matthew 15] {15:1} Then the scribes and the Pharisees
came to him from Jerusalem, saying: {15:2} “Why do your
disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not
wash their hands when they eat bread.” {15:3} But
responding, he said to them: “And why do you transgress the
commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For
God said: {15:4} ‘Honor your father and mother, and,
‘Whoever will have cursed father or mother shall die a
death.’ {15:5} But you say: ‘If anyone will have said to father
or mother, “It is dedicated, so that whatever is from me will
benefit you,” {15:6} then he shall not honor his father or his
mother.’ So have you nullified the commandment of God, for
the sake of your tradition. {15:7} Hypocrites! How well did
Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: {15:8} ‘This people
honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
{15:9} For in vain do they worship me, teaching the
doctrines and commandments of men.’ ” {15:10} And having
called the multitudes to him, he said to them: “Listen and
understand. {15:11} A man is not defiled by what enters into
the mouth, but by what proceeds from the mouth. This is
what defiles a man.” {15:12} Then his disciples drew near
and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees, upon
hearing this word, were offended?” {15:13} But in response
he said: “Every plant which has not been planted by my
heavenly Father shall be uprooted. {15:14} Leave them alone.
They are blind, and they lead the blind. But if the blind are in
charge of the blind, both will fall into the pit.” {15:15} And
responding, Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.”
{15:16} But he said: “Are you, even now, without
understanding? {15:17} Do you not understand that
everything that enters into the mouth goes into the gut, and is
cast into the sewer? {15:18} But what proceeds from the
mouth, goes forth from the heart, and those are the things
that defile a man. {15:19} For from the heart go out evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false
testimonies, blasphemies. {15:20} These are the things that
defile a man. But to eat without washing hands does not
defile a man.” {15:21} And departing from there, Jesus
withdrew into the areas of Tyre and Sidon. {15:22} And
behold, a woman of Canaan, going out from those parts,
cried out, saying to him: “Take pity on me, Lord, Son of
David. My daughter is badly afflicted by a demon.”
{15:23} He did not say a word to her. And his disciples,
drawing near, petitioned him, saying: “Dismiss her, for she is
crying out after us.” {15:24} And responding, he said, “I was
not sent except to the sheep who have fallen away from the
house of Israel.” {15:25} But she approached and adored him,
saying, “Lord, help me.” {15:26} And responding, he said,
“It is not good to take the bread of the children and cast it to
the dogs.” {15:27} But she said, “Yes, Lord, but the young
dogs also eat from the crumbs that fall from the table of their
masters.” {15:28} Then Jesus, responding, said to her: “O
woman, great is your faith. Let it be done for you just as you
wish.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
{15:29} And when Jesus had passed from there, he arrived
beside the sea of Galilee. And ascending onto a mountain, he
sat down there. {15:30} And great multitudes came to him,
having with them the mute, the blind, the lame, the disabled,
and many others. And they cast them down at his feet, and
he cured them, {15:31} so much so that the crowds wondered,
seeing the mute speaking, the lame walking, the blind seeing.
And they magnified the God of Israel. {15:32} And Jesus,
calling together his disciples, said: “I have compassion on the
crowds, because they have persevered with me now for three
days, and they do not have anything to eat. And I am not
willing to dismiss them, fasting, lest they faint along the
way.” {15:33} And the disciples said to him: “From where,
then, in the desert, would we obtain enough bread to satisfy
so a great multitude?” {15:34} And Jesus said to them, “How
many loaves of bread do you have?” But they said, “Seven,
and a few little fish.” {15:35} And he instructed the crowds to
recline upon the ground. {15:36} And taking the seven loaves
and the fish, and giving thanks, he broke and gave to his
disciples, and the disciples gave to the people. {15:37} And
they all ate and were satisfied. And, from what was left over
of the fragments, they took up seven full baskets. {15:38} But
those who ate were four thousand men, plus children and
women. {15:39} And having dismissed the crowd, he
climbed into a boat. And he went into the coastal region of
Magadan.


[Matthew 16] {16:1} And Pharisees and Sadducees
approached him to test him, and they asked him to show
them a sign from heaven. {16:2} But he responded by saying
to them: “When evening arrives, you say, ‘It will be calm, for
the sky is red,’ {16:3} and in the morning, ‘Today there will
be a storm, for the sky is red and gloomy.’ So then, you know
how to judge the appearance of the sky, but you are unable to
know the signs of the times? {16:4} An evil and adulterous
generation seeks a sign. And a sign shall not be given to it,
except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And leaving them
behind, he went away. {16:5} And when his disciples went
across the sea, they forgot to bring bread. {16:6} And he said
to them, “Consider and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees
and the Sadducees.” {16:7} But they were thinking within
themselves, saying, “It is because we have not brought
bread.” {16:8} Then Jesus, knowing this, said: “Why do you
consider within yourselves, O little in faith, that it is because
you have no bread? {16:9} Do you not yet understand, nor
remember, the five loaves among the five thousand men, and
how many containers you took up? {16:10} Or the seven
loaves among the four thousand men, and how many baskets
you took up? {16:11} Why do you not understand that it was
not because of bread that I said to you: Beware of the leaven
of the Pharisees and the Sadducees?” {16:12} Then they
understood that he was not saying that they should beware of
the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and
the Sadducees. {16:13} Then Jesus went into parts of
Caesarea Philippi. And he questioned his disciples, saying,
“Who do men say that the Son of man is?” {16:14} And they
said, “Some say John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, still
others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” {16:15} Jesus
said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
{16:16} Simon Peter responded by saying, “You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God.” {16:17} And in response,
Jesus said to him: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For
flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father,
who is in heaven. {16:18} And I say to you, that you are
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the
gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. {16:19} And I will
give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever
you shall bind on earth shall be bound, even in heaven. And
whatever you shall release on earth shall be released, even in
heaven.” {16:20} Then he instructed his disciples that they
should tell no one that he is Jesus the Christ. {16:21} From
that time, Jesus began to reveal to his disciples that it was
necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and to suffer much
from the elders and the scribes and the leaders of the priests,
and to be killed, and to rise again on the third day.
{16:22} And Peter, taking him aside, began to rebuke him,
saying, “Lord, may it be far from you; this shall not happen
to you.” {16:23} And turning away, Jesus said to Peter: “Get
behind me, Satan; you are an obstacle to me. For you are not
behaving according to what is of God, but according to what
is of men.” {16:24} Then Jesus said to his disciples: “If
anyone is willing to come after me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross, and follow me. {16:25} For whoever would
save his life, will lose it. But whoever will have lost his life for
my sake, shall find it. {16:26} For how does it benefit a man,
if he gains the whole world, yet truly suffers damage to his
soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
{16:27} For the Son of man will arrive in the glory of his
Father, with his Angels. And then he will repay each one
according to his works. {16:28} Amen I say to you, there are
some among those standing here, who shall not taste death,
until they see the Son of man arriving in his reign.”


[Matthew 17] {17:1} And after six days, Jesus took Peter
and James and his brother John, and he led them onto a lofty
mountain separately. {17:2} And he was transfigured before
them. And his face shined brightly like the sun. And his
garments were made white like snow. {17:3} And behold,
there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, speaking with him.
{17:4} And Peter responded by saying to Jesus: “Lord, it is
good for us to be here. If you are willing, let us make three
tabernacles here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for
Elijah.” {17:5} And while he was still speaking, behold, a
shining cloud overshadowed them. And behold, there was a
voice from the cloud, saying: “This is my beloved Son, with
whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.” {17:6} And the
disciples, hearing this, fell prone on their face, and they were
very afraid. {17:7} And Jesus drew near and touched them.
And he said to them, “Rise up and do not be afraid.”
{17:8} And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except
Jesus alone. {17:9} And as they were descending from the
mountain, Jesus instructed them, saying, “Tell no one about
the vision, until the Son of man has risen from the dead.”
{17:10} And his disciples questioned him, saying, “Why then
do the scribes say that it is necessary for Elijah to arrive first?”
{17:11} But in response, he said to them: “Elijah, indeed,
shall arrive and restore all things. {17:12} But I say to you,
that Elijah has already arrived, and they did not recognize
him, but they did whatever they wanted to him. So also shall
the Son of man suffer from them.” {17:13} Then the disciples
understood that he had spoken to them about John the
Baptist. {17:14} And when he had arrived at the multitude, a
man approached him, falling to his knees before him, saying:
“Lord, take pity on my son, for he is an epileptic, and he
suffers harm. For he frequently falls into fire, and often also
into water. {17:15} And I brought him to your disciples, but
they were not able to cure him.” {17:16} Then Jesus
responded by saying: “What an unbelieving and perverse
generation! How long shall I be with you? How long shall I
endure you? Bring him here to me.” {17:17} And Jesus
rebuked him, and the demon went out of him, and the boy
was cured from that hour. {17:18} Then the disciples
approached Jesus privately and said, “Why were we unable
to cast him out?” {17:19} Jesus said to them: “Because of
your unbelief. Amen I say to you, certainly, if you will have
faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this
mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move. And
nothing will be impossible for you. {17:20} But this kind is
not cast out, except through prayer and fasting.” {17:21} And
when they were conversing together in Galilee, Jesus said to
them: “The Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of
men. {17:22} And they will kill him, but he will rise again on
the third day.” And they were extremely saddened.
{17:23} And when they had arrived at Capernaum, those
who collected the half shekel approached Peter, and they said
to him, “Doesn’t your Teacher pay the half shekel?”
{17:24} He said, “Yes.” And when he had entered into the
house, Jesus went before him, saying: “How does it seem to
you, Simon? The kings of the earth, from whom do they
receive tribute or the census tax: from their own sons or from
foreigners?” {17:25} And he said, “From foreigners.” Jesus
said to him: “Then the sons are free. {17:26} But so that we
may not become an obstacle to them: go to the sea, and cast
in a hook, and take the first fish that is brought up, and when
you have opened its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take it
and give it to them, for me and for you.”


[Matthew 18] {18:1} In that hour, the disciples drew near to
Jesus, saying, “Whom do you consider to be greater in the
kingdom of heaven?” {18:2} And Jesus, calling to himself a
little child, placed him in their midst. {18:3} And he said:
“Amen I say to you, unless you change and become like little
children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
{18:4} Therefore, whoever will have humbled himself like
this little child, such a one is greater in the kingdom of
heaven. {18:5} And whoever shall accept one such little child
in my name, accepts me. {18:6} But whoever will have led
astray one of these little ones, who trust in me, it would be
better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck,
and to be submerged in the depths of the sea. {18:7} Woe to
a world that leads people astray! Although it is necessary for
temptations to arise, nevertheless: Woe to that man through
whom temptation arises! {18:8} So if your hand or your foot
leads you to sin, cut it off and cast it away from you. It is
better for you to enter into life disabled or lame, than to be
sent into eternal fire having two hands or two feet.
{18:9} And if your eye leads you to sin, root it out and cast it
away from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one
eye, than to be sent into the fires of Hell having two eyes.
{18:10} See to it that you do not despise even one of these
little ones. For I say to you, that their Angels in heaven
continually look upon the face of my Father, who is in
heaven. {18:11} For the Son of man has come to save what
had been lost. {18:12} How does it seem to you? If someone
has one hundred sheep, and if one of them has gone astray,
should he not leave behind the ninety-nine in the mountains,
and go out to seek what has gone astray? {18:13} And if he
should happen to find it: Amen I say to you, that he has more
joy over that one, than over the ninety-nine which did not go
astray. {18:14} Even so, it is not the will before your Father,
who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should be lost.
{18:15} But if your brother has sinned against you, go and
correct him, between you and him alone. If he listens to you,
you will have regained your brother. {18:16} But if he will
not listen you, invite with you one or two more, so that every
word may stand by the mouth of two or three witnesses.
{18:17} And if he will not listen to them, tell the Church. But
if he will not listen to the Church, let him be to you like the
pagan and the tax collector. {18:18} Amen I say to you,
whatever you will have bound on earth, shall be bound also
in heaven, and whatever you will have released on earth,
shall be released also in heaven. {18:19} Again I say to you,
that if two of those among you have agreed on earth, about
anything whatsoever that they have requested, it shall be
done for them by my Father, who is in heaven. {18:20} For
wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I,
in their midst.” {18:21} Then Peter, drawing near to him,
said: “Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against me,
and I forgive him? Even seven times?” {18:22} Jesus said to
him: “I do not say to you, even seven times, but even seventy
times seven times. {18:23} Therefore, the kingdom of heaven
is compared to a man who was king, who wanted to take
account of his servants. {18:24} And when he had begun
taking account, one was brought to him who owed him ten
thousand talents. {18:25} But since he did not have any way
to repay it, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and
children, and all that he had, in order to repay it. {18:26} But
that servant, falling prostrate, begged him, saying, ‘Have
patience with me, and I will repay it all to you.’ {18:27} Then
the lord of that servant, being moved with pity, released him,
and he forgave his debt. {18:28} But when that servant
departed, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him
one hundred denarius. And taking hold of him, he choked
him, saying: ‘Repay what you owe.’ {18:29} And his fellow
servant, falling prostrate, petitioned him, saying: ‘Have
patience with me, and I will repay it all to you.’ {18:30} But
he was not willing. Instead, he went out and had him sent to
prison, until he would repay the debt. {18:31} Now his fellow
servants, seeing what was done, were greatly saddened, and
they went and reported to their lord all that was done.
{18:32} Then his lord called him, and he said to him: ‘You
wicked servant, I forgave you all your debt, because you
pleaded with me. {18:33} Therefore, should you not also
have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I also
had compassion on you?’ {18:34} And his lord, being angry,
handed him over to the torturers, until he repaid the entire
debt. {18:35} So, too, shall my heavenly Father do to you, if
each one of you will not forgive his brother from your
hearts.”


[Matthew 19] {19:1} And it happened that, when Jesus had
completed these words, he moved away from Galilee, and he
arrived within the borders of Judea, across the Jordan.
{19:2} And great crowds followed him, and he healed them
there. {19:3} And the Pharisees approached him, testing him,
and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to separate from his wife,
no matter what the cause?” {19:4} And he said to them in
response, “Have you not read that he who made man from
the beginning, made them male and female?” And he said:
{19:5} “For this reason, a man shall separate from father and
mother, and he shall cling to his wife, and these two shall
become one flesh. {19:6} And so, now they are not two, but
one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no
man separate.” {19:7} They said to him, “Then why did
Moses command him to give a bill of divorce, and to
separate?” {19:8} He said to them: “Although Moses
permitted you to separate from your wives, due to the
hardness of your heart, it was not that way from the
beginning. {19:9} And I say to you, that whoever will have
separated from his wife, except because of fornication, and
who will have married another, commits adultery, and
whoever will have married her who has been separated,
commits adultery.” {19:10} His disciples said to him, “If
such is the case for a man with a wife, then it is not expedient
to marry.” {19:11} And he said to them: “Not everyone is
able to grasp this word, but only those to whom it has been
given. {19:12} For there are chaste persons who were born so
from their mother’s womb, and there are chaste persons who
have been made so by men, and there are chaste persons who
have made themselves chaste for the sake of the kingdom of
heaven. Whoever is able to grasp this, let him grasp it.”
{19:13} Then they brought to him little children, so that he
would place his hands upon them and pray. But the disciples
rebuked them. {19:14} Yet truly, Jesus said to them: “Allow
the little children to come to me, and do not choose to
prohibit them. For the kingdom of heaven is among such as
these.” {19:15} And when he had imposed his hands upon
them, he went away from there. {19:16} And behold,
someone approached and said to him, “Good Teacher, what
good should I do, so that I may have eternal life?”
{19:17} And he said to him: “Why do you question me about
what is good? One is good: God. But if you wish to enter into
life, observe the commandments.” {19:18} He said to him,
“Which?” And Jesus said: “You shall not murder. You shall
not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give
false testimony. {19:19} Honor your father and your mother.
And, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” {19:20} The
young man said to him: “All these I have kept from my
childhood. What is still lacking for me?” {19:21} Jesus said
to him: “If you are willing to be perfect, go, sell what you
have, and give to the poor, and then you will have treasure in
heaven. And come, follow me.” {19:22} And when the
young man had heard this word, he went away sad, for he
had many possessions. {19:23} Then Jesus said to his
disciples: “Amen, I say to you, that the wealthy shall enter
with difficulty into the kingdom of heaven. {19:24} And
again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the
eye of a needle, than for the wealthy to enter into the
kingdom of heaven.” {19:25} And upon hearing this, the
disciples wondered greatly, saying: “Then who will be able to
be saved?” {19:26} But Jesus, gazing at them, said to them:
“With men, this is impossible. But with God, all things are
possible.” {19:27} Then Peter responded by saying to him:
“Behold, we have left behind all things, and we have
followed you. So then, what will be for us?” {19:28} And
Jesus said to them: “Amen I say to you, that at the
resurrection, when the Son of man shall sit on the seat of his
majesty, those of you who have followed me shall also sit on
twelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. {19:29} And
anyone who has left behind home, or brothers, or sisters, or
father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land, for the sake of
my name, shall receive one hundred times more, and shall
possess eternal life. {19:30} But many of those who are first
shall be last, and the last shall be first.”


[Matthew 20] {20:1} “The kingdom of heaven is like the
father of a family who went out in early morning to lead
workers into his vineyard. {20:2} Then, having made an
agreement with the workers for one denarius per day, he sent
them into his vineyard. {20:3} And going out about the third
hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace.
{20:4} And he said to them, ‘You may go into my vineyard,
too, and what I will give you will be just.’ {20:5} So they
went forth. But again, he went out about the sixth, and about
the ninth hour, and he acted similarly. {20:6} Yet truly,
about the eleventh hour, he went out and found others
standing, and he said to them, ‘Why have you stood here idle
all day?’ {20:7} They say to him, ‘Because no one has hired
us.’ He said to them, ‘You also may go into my vineyard.’
{20:8} And when evening had arrived, the lord of the
vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them
their wages, beginning from the last, even to the first.’
{20:9} And so, when those who had arrived about the
eleventh hour came forward, each received a single denarius.
{20:10} Then when the first ones also came forward, they
considered that they would receive more. But they, too,
received one denarius. {20:11} And upon receiving it, they
murmured against the father of the family, {20:12} saying,
‘These last have worked for one hour, and you have made
them equal to us, who worked bearing the weight and heat of
the day.’ {20:13} But responding to one of them, he said:
‘Friend, I caused you no injury. Did you not agree with me to
one denarius? {20:14} Take what is yours and go. But it is
my will to give to this last, just as to you. {20:15} And is it
not lawful for me to do what I will? Or is your eye wicked
because I am good?’ {20:16} So then, the last shall be first,
and the first shall be last. For many are called, but few are
chosen.” {20:17} And Jesus, ascending to Jerusalem, took
the twelve disciples aside in private and said to them:
{20:18} “Behold, we are ascending to Jerusalem, and the Son
of man shall be handed over to the leaders of the priests and
to the scribes. And they shall condemn him to death.
{20:19} And they shall hand him over to the Gentiles to be
mocked and scourged and crucified. And on the third day, he
shall rise again.” {20:20} Then the mother of the sons of
Zebedee approached him, with her sons, adoring him, and
petitioning something from him. {20:21} And he said to her,
“What do you want?” She said to him, “Declare that these,
my two sons, may sit, one at your right hand, and the other at
your left, in your kingdom.” {20:22} But Jesus, responding,
said: “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to
drink from the chalice, from which I will drink?” They said to
him, “We are able.” {20:23} He said to them: “From my
chalice, indeed, you shall drink. But to sit at my right or my
left is not mine to give to you, but it is for those for whom it
has been prepared by my Father.” {20:24} And the ten, upon
hearing this, became indignant with the two brothers.
{20:25} But Jesus called them to himself and said: “You
know that the first ones among the Gentiles are their rulers,
and that those who are greater exercise power among them.
{20:26} It shall not be this way among you. But whoever will
want to be greater among you, let him be your minister.
{20:27} And whoever will want to be first among you, he
shall be your servant, {20:28} even as the Son of man has not
come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a
redemption for many.” {20:29} And as they were departing
from Jericho, a great crowd followed him. {20:30} And
behold, two blind men, sitting by the way, heard that Jesus
was passing by; and they cried out, saying, “Lord, Son of
David, take pity on us.” {20:31} But the crowd rebuked them
to be quiet. But they cried out all the more, saying, “Lord,
Son of David, take pity on us.” {20:32} And Jesus stood still,
and he called them and said, “What do you want, that I
might do for you?” {20:33} They said to him, “Lord, that our
eyes be opened.” {20:34} Then Jesus, taking pity on them,
touched their eyes. And immediately they saw, and they
followed him.


[Matthew 21] {21:1} And when they had drawn near to
Jerusalem, and had arrived at Bethphage, at the Mount of
Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, {21:2} saying to them:
“Go into the town that is opposite you, and immediately you
will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Release them,
and lead them to me. {21:3} And if anyone will have said
anything to you, say that the Lord has need of them. And he
will promptly dismiss them.” {21:4} Now all this was done in
order to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet, saying,
{21:5} “Tell the daughter of Zion: Behold, your king comes
to you meekly, sitting on a donkey and on a colt, the son of
one accustomed to the yoke.” {21:6} Then the disciples,
going out, did just as Jesus instructed them. {21:7} And they
brought the donkey and the colt, and they laid their garments
on them, and they helped him sit upon them. {21:8} Then a
very numerous crowd spread their garments on the way. But
others cut branches from the trees and scattered them on the
way. {21:9} And the crowds that preceded him, and those
that followed, cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of
David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest!” {21:10} And when he had entered
into Jerusalem, the entire city was stirred up, saying, “Who is
this?” {21:11} But the people were saying, “This is Jesus, the
Prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” {21:12} And Jesus
entered into the temple of God, and he cast out all who were
selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables
of the money changers and the chairs of the vendors of doves.
{21:13} And he said to them: “It is written: ‘My house shall
be called a house of prayer. But you have made it into a den
of robbers.’ ” {21:14} And the blind and the lame drew near
to him in the temple; and he healed them. {21:15} Then the
leaders of the priests and the scribes became indignant, seeing
the miracles that he wrought, and the children crying out in
the temple, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
{21:16} And they said to him, “Do you hear what these ones
are saying?” But Jesus said to them, “Certainly. Have you
never read: For out of the mouth of babes and infants, you
have perfected praise?” {21:17} And leaving them behind, he
went out, beyond the city, into Bethania, and he lodged here.
{21:18} Then, as he was returning to the city in the morning,
he was hungry. {21:19} And seeing a certain fig tree beside
the way, he approached it. And he found nothing on it,
except only leaves. And he said to it, “May fruit never spring
forth from you, for all time.” And immediately the fig tree
was dried up. {21:20} And seeing this, the disciples
wondered, saying, “How did it dry up so quickly?”
{21:21} And Jesus responded to them by saying: “Amen I
say to you, if you have faith and do not hesitate, not only
shall you do this, concerning the fig tree, but even if you
would say to this mountain, ‘Take and cast yourself into the
sea,’ it shall be done. {21:22} And all things whatsoever that
you shall ask for in prayer: believing, you shall receive.”
{21:23} And when he had arrived at the temple, as he was
teaching, the leaders of the priests and the elders of the people
approached him, saying: “By what authority do you do these
things? And who has given this authority to you?” {21:24} In
response, Jesus said to them: “I also will question you with
one word: if you tell me this, I also will tell you by what
authority I do these things. {21:25} The baptism of John,
where was it from? Was it from heaven, or from men?” But
they thought within themselves, saying: {21:26} “If we say,
‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not
believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we have the crowd
to fear, for they all hold John to be a prophet.” {21:27} And
so, they answered Jesus by saying, “We do not know.” So he
also said to them: “Neither will I tell you by what authority I
do these things. {21:28} But how does it seem to you? A
certain man had two sons. And approaching the first, he said:
‘Son, go out today to work in my vineyard.’ {21:29} And
responding, he said, ‘I am not willing.’ But afterwards, being
moved by repentance, he went. {21:30} And approaching the
other, he spoke similarly. And answering, he said, ‘I am
going, lord.’ And he did not go. {21:31} Which of the two
did the will of the father?” They said to him, “The first.”
Jesus said to them: “Amen I say to you, that tax collectors
and prostitutes shall precede you, into the kingdom of God.
{21:32} For John came to you in the way of justice, and you
did not believe him. But the tax collectors and the prostitutes
believed him. Yet even after seeing this, you did not repent,
so as to believe him. {21:33} Listen to another parable. There
was a man, the father of a family, who planted a vineyard,
and surrounded it with a hedge, and dug a press in it, and
built a tower. And he loaned it out to farmers, and he set out
to sojourn abroad. {21:34} Then, when the time of the fruits
drew near, he sent his servants to the farmers, so that they
might receive its fruits. {21:35} And the farmers apprehended
his servants; they struck one, and killed another, and stoned
yet another. {21:36} Again, he sent other servants, more than
before; and they treated them similarly. {21:37} Then, at the
very end, he sent his son to them, saying: ‘They will revere
my son.’ {21:38} But the farmers, seeing the son, said among
themselves: ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and then
we will have his inheritance.’ {21:39} And apprehending him,
they cast him outside the vineyard, and they killed him.
{21:40} Therefore, when the lord of the vineyard arrives,
what will he do to those farmers?” {21:41} They said to him,
“He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and he will loan
out his vineyard to other farmers, who shall repay to him the
fruit in its time.” {21:42} Jesus said to them: “Have you
never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders have
rejected has become the cornerstone. By the Lord has this
been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?’
{21:43} Therefore, I say to you, that the kingdom of God will
be taken away from you, and it shall be given to a people
who shall produce its fruits. {21:44} And whoever will have
fallen on this stone shall be broken, yet truly, on whomever it
shall fall, it will crush him.” {21:45} And when the leaders of
the priests, and the Pharisees had heard his parables, they
knew that he was speaking about them. {21:46} And though
they sought to take hold of him, they feared the crowds,
because they held him to be a prophet.


[Matthew 22] {22:1} And responding, Jesus again spoke to
them in parables, saying: {22:2} “The kingdom of heaven is
like a man who was king, who celebrated a wedding for his
son. {22:3} And he sent his servants to call those who were
invited to the wedding. But they were not willing to come.
{22:4} Again, he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell the invited:
Behold, I have prepared my meal. My bulls and fatlings have
been killed, and all is ready. Come to the wedding.’
{22:5} But they ignored this and they went away: one to his
country estate, and another to his business. {22:6} Yet truly,
the rest took hold of his servants and, having treated them
with contempt, killed them. {22:7} But when the king heard
this, he was angry. And sending out his armies, he destroyed
those murderers, and he burned their city. {22:8} Then he
said to his servants: ‘The wedding, indeed, has been prepared.
But those who were invited were not worthy.
{22:9} Therefore, go out to the ways, and call whomever you
will find to the wedding.’ {22:10} And his servants, departing
into the ways, gathered all those whom they found, bad and
good, and the wedding was filled with guests. {22:11} Then
the king entered to see the guests. And he saw a man there
who was not clothed in a wedding garment. {22:12} And he
said to him, ‘Friend, how is it that you have entered here
without having a wedding garment?’ But he was dumbstruck.
{22:13} Then the king said to the ministers: ‘Bind his hands
and feet, and cast him into the outer darkness, where there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. {22:14} For many are
called, but few are chosen.’ ” {22:15} Then the Pharisees,
going out, took counsel as to how they might entrap him in
speech. {22:16} And they sent their disciples to him, with the
Herodians, saying: “Teacher, we know that you are truthful,
and that you teach the way of God in truth, and that the
influence of others is nothing to you. For you do not consider
the reputation of men. {22:17} Therefore, tell us, how does it
seem to you? Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar, or
not?” {22:18} But Jesus, knowing their wickedness, said:
“Why do you test me, you hypocrites? {22:19} Show me the
coin of the census tax.” And they offered him a denarius.
{22:20} And Jesus said to them, “Whose image is this, and
whose inscription?” {22:21} They said to him, “Caesar’s.”
Then he said to them, “Then render to Caesar what is of
Caesar; and to God what is of God.” {22:22} And hearing
this, they wondered. And having left him behind, they went
away. {22:23} In that day, the Sadducees, who say there is to
be no resurrection, approached him. And they questioned
him, {22:24} saying: “Teacher, Moses said: If anyone will
have died, having no son, his brother shall marry his wife,
and he shall raise up offspring to his brother. {22:25} Now
there were seven brothers with us. And the first, having taken
a wife, died. And having no offspring, he left his wife to his
brother: {22:26} similarly with the second, and the third,
even to the seventh. {22:27} And last of all, the woman also
passed away. {22:28} In the resurrection, then, whose wife of
the seven will she be? For they all had her.” {22:29} But
Jesus responded to them by saying: “You have gone astray by
knowing neither the Scriptures, nor the power of God.
{22:30} For in the resurrection, they shall neither marry, nor
be given in marriage. Instead, they shall be like the Angels of
God in heaven. {22:31} But concerning the resurrection of
the dead, have you not read what was spoken by God, saying
to you: {22:32} ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ He is not the God of the dead,
but of the living.” {22:33} And when the crowds heard this,
they wondered at his doctrine. {22:34} But the Pharisees,
hearing that he had caused the Sadducees to be silent, came
together as one. {22:35} And one of them, a doctor of the law,
questioned him, to test him: {22:36} “Teacher, which is the
great commandment in the law?” {22:37} Jesus said to him:
“ “You shall love the Lord your God from all your heart, and
with all your soul and with all your mind.’ {22:38} This is the
greatest and first commandment. {22:39} But the second is
similar to it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
{22:40} On these two commandments the entire law depends,
and also the prophets.” {22:41} Then, when the Pharisees
were gathered together, Jesus questioned them,
{22:42} saying: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose
son is he?” They said to him, “David’s.” {22:43} He said to
them: “Then how can David, in the Spirit, call him Lord,
saying: {22:44} ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right
hand, until I make your enemies your footstool?’ {22:45} So
then, if David calls him Lord, how can he be his son?”
{22:46} And no one was able to respond to him a word. And
neither did anyone dare, from that day forward, to question
him.


[Matthew 23] {23:1} Then Jesus spoke to the crowds, and to
his disciples, {23:2} saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees
have sat down in the chair of Moses. {23:3} Therefore, all
things whatsoever that they shall say to you, observe and do.
Yet truly, do not choose to act according to their works. For
they say, but they do not do. {23:4} For they bind up heavy
and unbearable burdens, and they impose them on men’s
shoulders. But they are not willing to move them with even a
finger of their own. {23:5} Truly, they do all their works so
that they may be seen by men. For they enlarge their
phylacteries and glorify their hems. {23:6} And they love the
first places at feasts, and the first chairs in the synagogues,
{23:7} and greetings in the marketplace, and to be called
Master by men. {23:8} But you must not be called Master.
For One is your Master, and you are all brothers. {23:9} And
do not choose to call anyone on earth your father. For One is
your Father, who is in heaven. {23:10} Neither should you
be called teachers. For One is your Teacher, the Christ.
{23:11} Whoever is greater among you shall be your minister.
{23:12} But whoever has exalted himself, shall be humbled.
And whoever has humbled himself, shall be exalted.
{23:13} So then: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you
hypocrites! For you close the kingdom of heaven before men.
For you yourselves do not enter, and those who are entering,
you would not permit to enter. {23:14} Woe to you scribes
and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you consume the houses
of widows, praying long prayers. Because of this, you shall
receive the greater judgment. {23:15} Woe to you, scribes
and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you travel around by sea
and by land, in order to make one convert. And when he has
been converted, you make him twice the son of Hell that you
are yourselves. {23:16} Woe to you, blind guides, who say:
‘Whoever will have sworn by the temple, it is nothing. But
whoever will have sworn by the gold of the temple is
obligated.’ {23:17} You are foolish and blind! For which is
greater: the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
{23:18} And you say: ‘Whoever will have sworn by the altar,
it is nothing. But whoever will have sworn by the gift that is
on the altar is obligated.’ {23:19} How blind you are! For
which is greater: the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
{23:20} Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears by it,
and by all that is on it. {23:21} And whoever will have sworn
by the temple, swears by it, and by him who dwells in it.
{23:22} And whoever swears by heaven, swears by the
throne of God, and by him who sits upon it. {23:23} Woe to
you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you collect
tithes on mint and dill and cumin, but you have abandoned
the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and faith.
These you ought to have done, while not omitting the others.
{23:24} You blind guides, straining out a gnat, while
swallowing a camel! {23:25} Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you clean what is outside the
cup and the dish, but on the inside you are full of avarice and
impurity. {23:26} You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside
of the cup and the dish, and then what is outside becomes
clean. {23:27} Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you
hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed sepulchers, which
outwardly appear brilliant to men, yet truly, inside, they are
filled with the bones of the dead and with all filth. {23:28} So
also, you certainly appear to men outwardly to be just. But
inwardly you are filled with hypocrisy and iniquity.
{23:29} Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites,
who build the sepulchers of the prophets and adorn the
monuments of the just. {23:30} And then you say, ‘If we had
been there in the days of our fathers, we would not have
joined with them in the blood of the prophets.’ {23:31} And
so you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are the sons
of those who killed the prophets. {23:32} Complete, then, the
measure of your fathers. {23:33} You serpents, you brood of
vipers! How will you escape from the judgment of Hell?
{23:34} For this reason, behold, I send to you prophets and
wisemen, and scribes. And some of these you will put to
death and crucify, and some you will scourge in your
synagogues and persecute from city to city, {23:35} so that
upon you may fall all the blood of the just, which has been
shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even to
the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you
killed between the temple and the altar. {23:36} Amen I say
to you, all these things shall fall upon this generation.
{23:37} Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and
stone those who have been sent to you. How often I have
wanted to gather your children together, in the way that a
hen gathers her young under her wings. But you were not
willing! {23:38} Behold, your house shall be abandoned to
you, having been deserted. {23:39} For I say to you, you
shall not see me again, until you say: ‘Blessed is he who
comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”


[Matthew 24] {24:1} And Jesus departed from the temple
and went away. And his disciples approached him, so as to
show him the buildings of the temple. {24:2} But he said to
them in response: “Do you see all these things? Amen I say
to you, there shall not remain here stone upon stone, which is
not torn down.” {24:3} Then, when he was seated at the
Mount of Olives, the disciples drew near to him privately,
saying: “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be
the sign of your advent and of the consummation of the age?”
{24:4} And answering, Jesus said to them: “Pay attention,
lest someone lead you astray. {24:5} For many will come in
my name saying, ‘I am the Christ.’ And they will lead many
astray. {24:6} For you will hear of battles and rumors of
battles. Take care not to be disturbed. For these things must
be, but the end is not so soon. {24:7} For nation will rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will
be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places.
{24:8} But all these things are just the beginning of the
sorrows. {24:9} Then they will hand you over to tribulation,
and they will kill you. And you will be hated by all nations
for the sake of my name. {24:10} And then many will be led
into sin, and will betray one another, and will have hatred for
one another. {24:11} And many false prophets will arise, and
they will lead many astray. {24:12} And because iniquity has
abounded, the charity of many will grow cold. {24:13} But
whoever will have persevered until the end, the same shall be
saved. {24:14} And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached throughout the entire world, as a testimony to all
nations. And then the consummation will occur.
{24:15} Therefore, when you will have seen the abomination
of desolation, which was spoken of by the prophet Daniel,
standing in the holy place, may he who reads understand,
{24:16} then those who are in Judea, let them flee to the
mountains. {24:17} And whoever is on the roof, let him not
descend to take anything from his house. {24:18} And
whoever is in the field, let him not turn back to take his tunic.
{24:19} So then, woe to those who are pregnant or nursing in
those days. {24:20} But pray that your flight may not be in
winter, or on the Sabbath. {24:21} For then there will be a
great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of
the world until the present, and such as will not be.
{24:22} And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh
would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days shall
be shortened. {24:23} Then if anyone will have said to you,
‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘he is there,’ do not be willing
to believe it. {24:24} For there will arise false Christs and
false prophets. And they will produce great signs and
wonders, so much so as to lead into error even the elect (if
this could be). {24:25} Behold, I have warned you
beforehand. {24:26} Therefore, if they will have said to you,
‘Behold, he is in the desert,’ do not choose to go out, or,
‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not be willing to believe
it. {24:27} For just as lightning goes out from the east, and
appears even in the west, so shall it be also at the advent of
the Son of man. {24:28} Wherever the body shall be, there
also will the eagles be gathered together. {24:29} And
immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will
be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the
stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will
be shaken. {24:30} And then the sign of the Son of man shall
appear in heaven. And then all tribes of the earth shall mourn.
And they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of
heaven, with great power and majesty. {24:31} And he shall
send out his Angels with a trumpet and a great voice. And
they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from
the heights of the heavens, even to their furthest limits.
{24:32} So, from the fig tree learn a parable. When its branch
has now become tender and the leaves have sprung forth, you
know that summer is near. {24:33} So also, when you will
have seen all these things, know that it is near, even at the
threshold. {24:34} Amen I say to you, that this lineage shall
not pass away, until all these things have been done.
{24:35} Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words
shall not pass away. {24:36} But concerning that day and
hour, no one knows, not even the Angels of the heavens, but
only the Father. {24:37} And just as in the days of Noah, so
also will be the advent of the Son of man. {24:38} For it will
be just as it was in the days before the flood: eating and
drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, even until
that day when Noah entered into the ark. {24:39} And they
did not realize it, until the flood came and took them all away.
So also will the advent of the Son of man be. {24:40} Then
two men will be in a field: one will be taken up, and one will
be left behind. {24:41} Two women will be grinding at a
millstone: one will be taken up, and one will be left behind.
{24:42} Therefore, be vigilant. For you do not know at what
hour your Lord will return. {24:43} But know this: if only the
father of the family knew at what hour the thief would arrive,
he would certainly keep vigil and not permit his house to be
broken into. {24:44} For this reason, you also must be
prepared, for you do not know at what hour the Son of man
will return. {24:45} Consider this: who is a faithful and
prudent servant, who has been appointed by his lord over his
family, to give them their portion in due time?
{24:46} Blessed is that servant, if, when his lord has arrived,
he shall find him doing so. {24:47} Amen I say to you, he
shall appoint him over all of his goods. {24:48} But if that
evil servant has said in his heart, ‘My lord has been delayed
in returning,’ {24:49} and so, he begins to strike his fellow
servants, and he eats and drinks with the inebriated:
{24:50} then the lord of that servant will arrive on a day that
he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know.
{24:51} And he shall separate him, and he shall place his
portion with the hypocrites, where there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.”


[Matthew 25] {25:1} “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be
like ten virgins, who, taking their lamps, went out to meet the
groom and the bride. {25:2} But five of them were foolish,
and five were prudent. {25:3} For the five foolish, having
brought their lamps, did not take oil with them. {25:4} Yet
truly, the prudent ones brought the oil, in their containers,
with the lamps. {25:5} Since the bridegroom was delayed,
they all fell asleep, and they were sleeping. {25:6} But in the
middle of the night, a cry went out: ‘Behold, the groom is
arriving. Go out to meet him.’ {25:7} Then all those virgins
rose up and trimmed their lamps. {25:8} But the foolish ones
said to the wise, ‘Give to us from your oil, for our lamps are
being extinguished.’ {25:9} The prudent responded by saying,
‘Lest perhaps there may not be enough for us and for you, it
would be better for you to go to the vendors and buy some for
yourselves.’ {25:10} But while they were going to buy it, the
groom arrived. And those who were prepared entered with
him to the wedding, and the door was closed. {25:11} Yet
truly, at the very end, the remaining virgins also arrived,
saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’ {25:12} But he responded
by saying, ‘Amen I say to you, I do not know you.’
{25:13} And so you must be vigilant, because you do not
know the day or the hour. {25:14} For it is like a man setting
out on a long journey, who called his servants and delivered
to them his goods. {25:15} And to one he gave five talents,
and to another two, yet to another he gave one, to each
according to his own ability. And promptly, he set out.
{25:16} Then he who had received five talents went out, and
he made use of these, and he gained another five.
{25:17} And similarly, he who had received two gained
another two. {25:18} But he who had received one, going out,
dug into the earth, and he hid the money of his lord.
{25:19} Yet truly, after a long time, the lord of those servants
returned and he settled accounts with them. {25:20} And
when he who had received five talents approached, he
brought another five talents, saying: ‘Lord, you delivered five
talents to me. Behold, I have increased it by another five.’
{25:21} His lord said to him: ‘Well done, good and faithful
servant. Since you have been faithful over a few things, I will
appoint you over many things. Enter into the gladness of
your lord.’ {25:22} Then he who had received two talents
also approached, and he said: ‘Lord, you delivered two
talents to me. Behold, I have gained another two.’
{25:23} His lord said to him: ‘Well done, good and faithful
servant. Since you have been faithful over a few things, I will
appoint you over many things. Enter into the gladness of
your lord.’ {25:24} Then he who had received one talent,
approaching, said: ‘Lord, I know that you are a hard man.
You reap where you have not sown, and gather where you
have not scattered. {25:25} And so, being afraid, I went out
and hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is
yours.’ {25:26} But his lord said to him in response: ‘You evil
and lazy servant! You knew that I reap where I have not
sown, and gather where I have not scattered.
{25:27} Therefore, you should have deposited my money
with the bankers, and then, at my arrival, at least I would
have received what is mine with interest. {25:28} And so,
take the talent away from him and give it the one who has ten
talents. {25:29} For to everyone who has, more shall be given,
and he shall have in abundance. But from him who has not,
even what he seems to have, shall be taken away.
{25:30} And cast that useless servant into the outer darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
{25:31} But when the Son of man will have arrived in his
majesty, and all the Angels with him, then he will sit upon
the seat of his majesty. {25:32} And all the nations shall be
gathered together before him. And he shall separate them
from one another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from
the goats. {25:33} And he shall station the sheep, indeed, on
his right, but the goats on his left. {25:34} Then the King
shall say to those who will be on his right: ‘Come, you
blessed of my Father. Possess the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. {25:35} For I was hungry,
and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to
drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; {25:36} naked,
and you covered me; sick, and you visited me; I was in prison,
and you came to me.’ {25:37} Then the just will answer him,
saying: ‘Lord, when have we see you hungry, and fed you;
thirsty, and given you drink? {25:38} And when have we
seen you a stranger, and taken you in? Or naked, and covered
you? {25:39} Or when did we see you sick, or in prison, and
visit to you?’ {25:40} And in response, the King shall say to
them, ‘Amen I say to you, whenever you did this for one of
these, the least of my brothers, you did it for me.’
{25:41} Then he shall also say, to those who will be on his
left: ‘Depart from me, you accursed ones, into the eternal fire,
which was prepared for the devil and his angels. {25:42} For
I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat; I was thirsty,
and you did not give me to drink; {25:43} I was a stranger
and you did not take me in; naked, and you did not cover me;
sick and in prison, and you did not visit me.’ {25:44} Then
they will also answer him, saying: ‘Lord, when did we see
you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in
prison, and did not minister to you?’ {25:45} Then he shall
respond to them by saying: ‘Amen I say to you, whenever
you did not do it to one of these least, neither did you do it to
me.’ {25:46} And these shall go into eternal punishment, but
the just shall go into eternal life.”


[Matthew 26] {26:1} And it happened that, when Jesus had
completed all these words, he said to his disciples,
{26:2} “You know that after two days the Passover will begin,
and the Son of man will be handed over to be crucified.”
{26:3} Then the leaders of the priests and the elders of the
people were gathered together in the court of the high priest,
who was called Caiaphas. {26:4} And they took counsel so
that by deceitfulness they might take hold of Jesus and kill
him. {26:5} But they said, “Not on the feast day, lest perhaps
there may be a tumult among the people.” {26:6} And when
Jesus was in Bethania, in the house of Simon the leper,
{26:7} a woman drew near to him, holding an alabaster box
of precious ointment, and she poured it over his head while
he was reclining at table. {26:8} But the disciples, seeing this,
were indignant, saying: “What is the purpose of this waste?
{26:9} For this could have been sold for a great deal, so as to
be given to the poor.” {26:10} But Jesus, knowing this, said
to them: “Why are you bothering this woman? For she has
done a good deed to me. {26:11} For the poor you will
always have with you. But you will not always have me.
{26:12} For in pouring this ointment on my body, she has
prepared for my burial. {26:13} Amen I say to you, wherever
this Gospel will be preached in the whole world, what she
has done also shall be told, in memory of her.” {26:14} Then
one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the
leaders of the priests, {26:15} and he said to them, “What are
you willing to give me, if I hand him over to you?” So they
appointed thirty pieces of silver for him. {26:16} And from
then on, he sought an opportunity to betray him.
{26:17} Then, on the first day of Unleavened Bread, the
disciples approached Jesus, saying, “Where do you want us
to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” {26:18} So Jesus said,
“Go into the city, to a certain one, and say to him: ‘The
Teacher said: My time is near. I am observing the Passover
with you, along with my disciples.’ ” {26:19} And the
disciples did just as Jesus appointed to them. And they
prepared the Passover. {26:20} Then, when evening arrived,
he sat at table with his twelve disciples. {26:21} And while
they were eating, he said: “Amen I say to you, that one of
you is about to betray me.” {26:22} And being greatly
saddened, each one of them began to say, “Surely, it is not I,
Lord?” {26:23} But he responded by saying: “He who dips
his hand with me into the dish, the same will betray me.
{26:24} Indeed, the Son of man goes, just as it has been
written about him. But woe to that man by whom the Son of
man will be betrayed. It would be better for that man if he
had not been born.” {26:25} Then Judas, who betrayed him,
responded by saying, “Surely, it is not I, Master?” He said to
him, “You have said it.” {26:26} Now while they were eating
the meal, Jesus took bread, and he blessed and broke and
gave it to his disciples, and he said: “Take and eat. This is my
body.” {26:27} And taking the chalice, he gave thanks. And
he gave it to them, saying: “Drink from this, all of you.
{26:28} For this is my blood of the new covenant, which
shall be shed for many as a remission of sins. {26:29} But I
say to you, I will not drink again from this fruit of the vine,
until that day when I will drink it new with you in the
kingdom of my Father.” {26:30} And after a hymn was sung,
they went out to the Mount of Olives. {26:31} Then Jesus
said to them: “You will all fall away from me in this night.
For it has been written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the
sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ {26:32} But after I have
risen again, I will go before you to Galilee.” {26:33} Then
Peter responded by saying to him, “Even if everyone else has
fallen away from you, I will never fall away.” {26:34} Jesus
said to him, “Amen I say to you, that in this night, before the
rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” {26:35} Peter
said to him, “Even if it is necessary for me to die with you, I
will not deny you.” And all the disciples spoke similarly.
{26:36} Then Jesus went with them to a garden, which is
called Gethsemani. And he said to his disciples, “Sit down
here, while I go there and pray.” {26:37} And taking with
him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be
sorrowful and saddened. {26:38} Then he said to them: “My
soul is sorrowful, even unto death. Stay here and keep vigil
with me.” {26:39} And continuing on a little further, he fell
prostrate on his face, praying and saying: “My Father, if it is
possible, let this chalice pass away from me. Yet truly, let it
not be as I will, but as you will.” {26:40} And he approached
his disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter:
“So, were you not able to keep vigil with me for one hour?
{26:41} Be vigilant and pray, so that you may not enter into
temptation. Indeed, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is
weak.” {26:42} Again, a second time, he went and prayed,
saying, “My Father, if this chalice cannot pass away, unless I
drink it, let your will be done.” {26:43} And again, he went
and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
{26:44} And leaving them behind, again he went and prayed
for the third time, saying the same words. {26:45} Then he
approached his disciples and said to them: “Sleep now and
rest. Behold, the hour has drawn near, and the Son of man
will be delivered into the hands of sinners. {26:46} Rise up;
let us go. Behold, he who will betray me draws near.”
{26:47} While he was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of
the twelve, arrived, and with him was a large crowd with
swords and clubs, sent from the leaders of the priests and the
elders of the people. {26:48} And he who betrayed him gave
them a sign, saying: “Whomever I will kiss, it is he. Take
hold of him.” {26:49} And quickly drawing close to Jesus, he
said, “Hail, Master.” And he kissed him. {26:50} And Jesus
said to him, “Friend, for what purpose have you come?”
Then they approached, and they put their hands on Jesus,
and they held him. {26:51} And behold, one of those who
were with Jesus, extending his hand, drew his sword and
struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
{26:52} Then Jesus said to him: “Put your sword back in its
place. For all who take up the sword shall perish by the
sword. {26:53} Or do you think that I cannot ask my Father,
so that he would give me, even now, more than twelve
legions of Angels? {26:54} How then would the Scriptures be
fulfilled, which say that it must be so?” {26:55} In that same
hour, Jesus said to the crowds: “You went out, as if to a
robber, with swords and clubs to seize me. Yet I sat daily
with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not take hold
of me. {26:56} But all this has happened so that the
Scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled.” Then all the
disciples fled, abandoning him. {26:57} But those who were
holding Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the
scribes and the elders had joined together. {26:58} Then
Peter followed him from a distance, as far as the court of the
high priest. And going inside, he sat down with the servants,
so that he might see the end. {26:59} Then the leaders of the
priests and the entire council sought false testimony against
Jesus, so that they might deliver him to death. {26:60} And
they did not find any, even though many false witnesses had
come forward. Then, at the very end, two false witnesses
came forward, {26:61} and they said, “This man said: ‘I am
able to destroy the temple of God, and, after three days, to
rebuild it.’ ” {26:62} And the high priest, rising up, said to
him, “Have you nothing to respond to what these ones testify
against you?” {26:63} But Jesus was silent. And the high
priest said to him, “I bind you by an oath to the living God to
tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” {26:64} Jesus
said to him: “You have said it. Yet truly I say to you,
hereafter you shall see the Son of man sitting at the right
hand of the power of God, and coming on the clouds of
heaven.” {26:65} Then the high priest tore his garments,
saying: “He has blasphemed. Why do we still need witnesses?
Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy. {26:66} How
does it seem to you?” So they responded by saying, “He is
guilty unto death.” {26:67} Then they spit in his face, and
they struck him with fists. And others struck his face with the
palms of their hands, {26:68} saying: “Prophesy for us, O
Christ. Who is the one that struck you?” {26:69} Yet truly,
Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a maidservant
approached him, saying, “You also were with Jesus the
Galilean.” {26:70} But he denied it in the sight of them all,
saying, “I do not know what you are saying.” {26:71} Then,
as he exited by the gate, another maidservant saw him. And
she said to those who were there, “This man also was with
Jesus of Nazareth.” {26:72} And again, he denied it with an
oath, “For I do not know the man.” {26:73} And after a little
while, those who were standing nearby came and said to
Peter: “Truly, you also are one of them. For even your
manner of speaking reveals you.” {26:74} Then he began to
curse and to swear that he had not known the man. And
immediately the rooster crowed. {26:75} And Peter
remembered the words of Jesus, which he had said: “Before
the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And going
outside, he wept bitterly.


[Matthew 27] {27:1} Then, when morning arrived, all the
leaders of the priests and the elders of the people took counsel
against Jesus, so that they might deliver him to death.
{27:2} And they led him, bound, and handed him over to
Pontius Pilate, the procurator. {27:3} Then Judas, who
betrayed him, seeing that he had been condemned, regretting
his conduct, brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the
leaders of the priests and the elders, {27:4} saying, “I have
sinned in betraying just blood.” But they said to him: “What
is that to us? See to it yourself.” {27:5} And throwing down
the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed. And going out,
he hanged himself with a snare. {27:6} But the leaders of the
priests, having taken up the pieces of silver, said, “It is not
lawful to put them into the temple offerings, because it is the
price of blood.” {27:7} Then, having taken counsel, they
bought the potter’s field with it, as a burying place for
sojourners. {27:8} For this reason, that field is called
Haceldama, that is, ‘The Field of Blood,’ even to this very
day. {27:9} Then what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah
was fulfilled, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver,
the price of the one being appraised, whom they appraised
before the sons of Israel, {27:10} and they gave it for the
potter’s field, just as the Lord appointed to me.”
{27:11} Now Jesus stood before the procurator, and the
procurator questioned him, saying, “You are the king of the
Jews?” Jesus said to him, “You are saying so.” {27:12} And
when he was accused by the leaders of the priests and the
elders, he responded nothing. {27:13} Then Pilate said to him,
“Do you not hear how much testimony they speak against
you?” {27:14} And he did not respond any word to him, so
that the procurator wondered greatly. {27:15} Now on the
solemn day, the procurator was accustomed to release to the
people one prisoner, whomever they wished. {27:16} And at
that time, he had a notorious prisoner, who was called
Barabbas. {27:17} Therefore, having been gathered together,
Pilate said to them, “Who is it that you want me to release to
you: Barabbas, or Jesus, who is called Christ?” {27:18} For
he knew that it was out of envy they had handed him over.
{27:19} But as he was sitting in the place for the tribunal, his
wife sent to him, saying: “It is nothing to you, and he is just.
For I have experienced many things today through a vision
for his sake.” {27:20} But the leaders of the priests and the
elders persuaded the people, so that they would ask for
Barabbas, and so that Jesus would perish. {27:21} Then, in
response, the procurator said to them, “Which of the two do
you want to be released to you?” But they said to him,
“Barabbas.” {27:22} Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I
do about Jesus, who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him
be crucified.” {27:23} The procurator said to them, “But
what evil has he done?” But they cried out all the more,
saying, “Let him be crucified.” {27:24} Then Pilate, seeing
that he was able to accomplish nothing, but that a greater
tumult was occurring, taking water, washed his hands in the
sight of the people, saying: “I am innocent of the blood of this
just man. See to it yourselves.” {27:25} And the entire people
responded by saying, “May his blood be upon us and upon
our children.” {27:26} Then he released Barabbas to them.
But Jesus, having been scourged, he handed over to them, so
that he would be crucified. {27:27} Then the soldiers of the
procurator, taking Jesus up to the praetorium, gathered the
entire cohort around him. {27:28} And stripping him, they
put a scarlet cloak around him. {27:29} And plaiting a crown
of thorns, they placed it on his head, with a reed in his right
hand. And genuflecting before him, they mocked him, saying,
“Hail, King of the Jews.” {27:30} And spitting on him, they
took the reed and struck his head. {27:31} And after they had
mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, and clothed him
with his own garments, and they led him away to crucify him.
{27:32} But as they were going out, they came upon a man of
Cyrene, named Simon, whom they compelled to take up his
cross. {27:33} And they arrived at the place which is called
Golgotha, which is the place of Calvary. {27:34} And they
gave him wine to drink, mixed with gall. And when he had
tasted it, he refused to drink it. {27:35} Then, after they had
crucified him, they divided his garments, casting lots, in order
to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying: “They
divided my garments among them, and over my vestment
they cast lots.” {27:36} And sitting down, they observed him.
{27:37} And they set his accusation above his head, written
as: THIS IS JESUS, KING OF THE JEWS. {27:38} Then
two robbers were crucified with him: one on the right and
one on the left. {27:39} But those passing by blasphemed him,
shaking their heads, {27:40} and saying: “Ah, so you would
destroy the temple of God and in three days rebuild it! Save
your own self. If you are the Son of God, descend from the
cross.” {27:41} And similarly, the leaders of the priests, with
the scribes and the elders, mocking him, said: {27:42} “He
saved others; he cannot save himself. If he is the King of
Israel, let him descend now from the cross, and we will
believe in him. {27:43} He trusted in God; so now, let God
free him, if he wills him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of
God.’ ” {27:44} Then, the robbers who were crucified with
him also reproached him with the very same thing.
{27:45} Now from the sixth hour, there was darkness over
the entire earth, even until the ninth hour. {27:46} And about
the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying: “Eli,
Eli, lamma sabacthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why
have you forsaken me?” {27:47} Then certain ones who were
standing and listening there said, “This man calls upon
Elijah.” {27:48} And one of them, running quickly, took a
sponge and filled it with vinegar, and he set it on a reed and
he gave it to him to drink. {27:49} Yet truly, the others said,
“Wait. Let us see whether Elijah will come to free him.”
{27:50} Then Jesus, crying out again with a loud voice, gave
up his life. {27:51} And behold, the veil of the temple was
torn into two parts, from top to bottom. And the earth was
shaken, and the rocks were split apart. {27:52} And the
tombs were opened. And many bodies of the saints, which
had been sleeping, arose. {27:53} And going out from the
tombs, after his resurrection, they went into the holy city, and
they appeared to many. {27:54} Now the centurion and those
who were with him, guarding Jesus, having seen the
earthquake and the things that were done, were very fearful,
saying: “Truly, this was the Son of God.” {27:55} And in
that place, there were many women, at a distance, who had
followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him.
{27:56} Among these were Mary Magdalene and Mary the
mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of
Zebedee. {27:57} Then, when evening had arrived, a certain
wealthy man from Arimathea, named Joseph, arrived, who
himself was also a disciple of Jesus. {27:58} This man
approached Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then
Pilate ordered the body to be released. {27:59} And Joseph,
taking the body, wrapped it in a clean finely-woven linen
cloth, {27:60} and he placed it in his own new tomb, which
he had hewn out of a rock. And he rolled a great stone to the
door of the tomb, and he went away. {27:61} Now Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite
the sepulcher. {27:62} Then the next day, which is after the
Preparation day, the leaders of the priests and the Pharisees
went to Pilate together, {27:63} saying: “Lord, we have
remembered that that this seducer said, while he was still
alive, ‘After three days, I will rise again.’ {27:64} Therefore,
order the sepulcher to be guarded until the third day, lest
perhaps his disciples may come and steal him, and say to the
people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ And this last error
would be worse than the first.” {27:65} Pilate said to them:
“You have a guard. Go, guard it as you know how.”
{27:66} Then, going out, they secured the sepulcher with
guards, sealing the stone.


[Matthew 28] {28:1} Now on the morning of the Sabbath,
when it began to grow light on the first Sabbath, Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulcher.
{28:2} And behold, a great earthquake occurred. For an
Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and as he
approached, he rolled back the stone and sat down on it.
{28:3} Now his appearance was like lightning, and his
vestment was like snow. {28:4} Then, out of fear of him, the
guards were terrified, and they became like dead men.
{28:5} Then the Angel responded by saying to the women:
“Do not be afraid. For I know that you are seeking Jesus,
who was crucified. {28:6} He is not here. For he has risen,
just as he said. Come and see the place where the Lord was
placed. {28:7} And then, go quickly, and tell his disciples that
he has risen. And behold, he will precede you to Galilee.
There you shall see him. Lo, I have told you beforehand.”
{28:8} And they went out of the tomb quickly, with fear and
in great joy, running to announce it to his disciples.
{28:9} And behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Hail.” But they
drew near and took hold of his feet, and they adored him.
{28:10} Then Jesus said to them: “Do not be afraid. Go,
announce it to my brothers, so that they may go to Galilee.
There they shall see me.” {28:11} And when they had
departed, behold, some of the guards went into the city, and
they reported to the leaders of the priests all that had
happened. {28:12} And gathering together with the elders,
having taken counsel, they gave an abundant sum of money
to the soldiers, {28:13} saying: “Say that his disciples arrived
at night and stole him away, while we were sleeping.
{28:14} And if the procurator hears about this, we will
persuade him, and we will protect you.” {28:15} Then,
having accepted the money, they did as they were instructed.
And this word has been spread among the Jews, even to this
day. {28:16} Now the eleven disciples went on to Galilee, to
the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. {28:17} And,
seeing him, they worshipped him, but certain ones doubted.
{28:18} And Jesus, drawing near, spoke to them, saying: “All
authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
{28:19} Therefore, go forth and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, {28:20} teaching them to observe all that I have
ever commanded you. And behold, I am with you always,
even to the consummation of the age.”


** The Gospel of Mark **


[Mark 1] {1:1} The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God. {1:2} As it has been written by the prophet
Isaiah: “Behold, I send my Angel before your face, who shall
prepare your way before you. {1:3} The voice of one crying
out in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight
his paths.” {1:4} John was in the desert, baptizing and
preaching a baptism of repentance, as a remission of sins.
{1:5} And there went out to him all the region of Judea and
all those of Jerusalem, and they were baptized by him in the
river Jordan, confessing their sins. {1:6} And John was
clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his
waist. And he ate locusts and wild honey. {1:7} And he
preached, saying: “A stronger one comes after me. I am not
worthy to reach down and loosen the laces of his shoes.
{1:8} I have baptized you with water. Yet truly, he will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” {1:9} And it happened that,
in those days, Jesus arrived from Nazareth of Galilee. And he
was baptized by John in the Jordan. {1:10} And immediately,
upon ascending from the water, he saw the heavens opened
and the Spirit, like a dove, descending, and remaining with
him. {1:11} And there was a voice from heaven: “You are
my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.” {1:12} And
immediately the Spirit prompted him into the desert.
{1:13} And he was in the desert for forty days and forty
nights. And he was tempted by Satan. And he was with the
wild animals, and the Angels ministered to him. {1:14} Then,
after John was handed over, Jesus went into Galilee,
preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God, {1:15} and
saying: “For the time has been fulfilled and the kingdom of
God has drawn near. Repent and believe in the Gospel.”
{1:16} And passing by the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw
Simon and his brother Andrew, casting nets into the sea, for
they were fishermen. {1:17} And Jesus said to them, “Come
after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” {1:18} And at
once abandoning their nets, they followed him. {1:19} And
continuing on a little ways from there, he saw James of
Zebedee and his brother John, and they were mending their
nets in a boat. {1:20} And immediately he called them. And
leaving behind their father Zebedee in the boat with his hired
hands, they followed him. {1:21} And they entered into
Capernaum. And entering into the synagogue promptly on
the Sabbaths, he taught them. {1:22} And they were
astonished over his doctrine. For he was teaching them as
one who has authority, and not like the scribes. {1:23} And
in their synagogue, there was a man with an unclean spirit;
and he cried out, {1:24} saying: “What are we to you, Jesus
of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you
are: the Holy One of God.” {1:25} And Jesus admonished
him, saying, “Be silent, and depart from the man.”
{1:26} And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out
with a loud voice, departed from him. {1:27} And they were
all so amazed that they inquired among themselves, saying:
“What is this? And what is this new doctrine? For with
authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they
obey him.” {1:28} And his fame went out quickly,
throughout the entire region of Galilee. {1:29} And soon
after departing from the synagogue, they went into the house
of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. {1:30} But the
mother-in-law of Simon lay ill with a fever. And at once they
told him about her. {1:31} And drawing near to her, he
raised her up, taking her by the hand. And immediately the
fever left her, and she ministered to them. {1:32} Then, when
evening arrived, after the sun had set, they brought to him all
who had maladies and those who had demons. {1:33} And
the entire city was gathered together at the door. {1:34} And
he healed many who were troubled with various illnesses.
And he cast out many demons, but he would not permit them
to speak, because they knew him. {1:35} And rising up very
early, departing, he went out to a deserted place, and there he
prayed. {1:36} And Simon, and those who were with him,
followed after him. {1:37} And when they had found him,
they said to him, “For everyone is seeking you.” {1:38} And
he said to them: “Let us go into the neighboring towns and
cities, so that I may preach there also. Indeed, it was for this
reason that I came.” {1:39} And he was preaching in their
synagogues and throughout all of Galilee, and casting out
demons. {1:40} And a leper came to him, begging him. And
kneeling down, he said to him, “If you are willing, you are
able to cleanse me.” {1:41} Then Jesus, taking pity on him,
reached out his hand. And touching him, he said to him: “I
am willing. Be cleansed.” {1:42} And after he had spoken,
immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was
cleansed. {1:43} And he admonished him, and he promptly
sent him away. {1:44} And he said to him: “See to it that you
tell no one. But go and show yourself to the high priest, and
offer for your cleansing that which Moses instructed, as a
testimony for them.” {1:45} But having departed, he began to
preach and to disseminate the word, so that he was no longer
able to openly enter a city, but had to remain outside, in
deserted places. And they were gathered to him from every
direction.


[Mark 2] {2:1} And after some days, he again entered into
Capernaum. {2:2} And it was heard that he was in the house.
And so many gathered that there was no room left, not even
at the door. And he spoke the word to them. {2:3} And they
came to him, bringing a paralytic, who was being carried by
four men. {2:4} And when they were not able to present him
to him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where
he was. And opening it, they lowered down the stretcher on
which the paralytic was lying. {2:5} Then, when Jesus had
seen their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are
forgiven you.” {2:6} But some of the scribes were sitting in
that place and thinking in their hearts: {2:7} “Why is this
man speaking in this way? He is blaspheming. Who can
forgive sins, but God alone?” {2:8} At once, Jesus, realizing
in his spirit that they were thinking this within themselves,
said to them: “Why are you thinking these things in your
hearts? {2:9} Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your
sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up, take up your
stretcher, and walk?’ {2:10} But so that you may know that
the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” he
said to the paralytic: {2:11} “I say to you: Rise up, take up
your stretcher, and go into your house.” {2:12} And
immediately he got up, and lifting up his stretcher, he went
away in the sight of them all, so that they all wondered. And
they honored God, by saying, “We have never seen anything
like this.” {2:13} And he departed again to the sea. And the
entire crowd came to him, and he taught them. {2:14} And
as he was passing by, he saw Levi of Alphaeus, sitting at the
customs office. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And rising
up, he followed him. {2:15} And it happened that, as he sat
at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners sat at
table together with Jesus and his disciples. For those who
followed him were many. {2:16} And the scribes and the
Pharisees, seeing that he ate with tax collectors and sinners,
said to his disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat and drink
with tax collectors and sinners?” {2:17} Jesus, having heard
this, said to them: “The healthy have no need of a doctor, but
those who have maladies do. For I came not to call the just,
but sinners.” {2:18} And the disciples of John, and the
Pharisees, were fasting. And they arrived and said to him,
“Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but
your disciples do not fast?” {2:19} And Jesus said to them:
“How can the sons of the wedding fast while the groom is
still with them? During whatever time they have the groom
with them, they are not able to fast. {2:20} But the days will
arrive when the groom will be taken away from them, and
then they shall fast, in those days. {2:21} No one sews a
patch of new cloth onto an old garment. Otherwise, the new
addition pulls away from the old, and the tear becomes worse.
{2:22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the wineskins, and the wine
will pour out, and the wineskins will be lost. Instead, new
wine must be put into new wineskins.” {2:23} And again,
while the Lord was walking through the ripe grain on the
Sabbath, his disciples, as they advanced, began to separate
the ears of grains. {2:24} But the Pharisees said to him,
“Behold, why are they doing what is not lawful on the
Sabbaths?” {2:25} And he said to them: “Have you never
read what David did, when he had need and was hungry,
both he and those who were with him? {2:26} How he went
into the house of God, under the high priest Abiathar, and
ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful to eat,
except for the priests, and how he gave it to those who were
with him?” {2:27} And he said to them: “The Sabbath was
made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. {2:28} And so,
the Son of man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.”


[Mark 3] {3:1} And again, he entered into the synagogue.
And there was a man there who had a withered hand.
{3:2} And they observed him, to see if he would cure on the
Sabbaths, so that they might accuse him. {3:3} And he said
to the man who had the withered hand, “Stand up in the
middle.” {3:4} And he said to them: “Is it lawful to do good
on the Sabbaths, or to do evil, to give health to a life, or to
destroy?” But they remained silent. {3:5} And looking
around at them with anger, being very saddened over the
blindness of their hearts, he said to the man, “Extend your
hand.” And he extended it, and his hand was restored to him.
{3:6} Then the Pharisees, going out, immediately took
counsel with the Herodians against him, as to how they
might destroy him. {3:7} But Jesus withdrew with his
disciples to the sea. And a great crowd followed him from
Galilee and Judea, {3:8} and from Jerusalem, and from
Idumea and across the Jordan. And those around Tyre and
Sidon, upon hearing what he was doing, came to him in a
great multitude. {3:9} And he told his disciples that a small
boat would be useful to him, because of the crowd, lest they
press upon him. {3:10} For he healed so many, that as many
of them as had wounds would rush toward him in order to
touch him. {3:11} And the unclean spirits, when they saw
him, fell prostrate before him. And they cried out, saying,
{3:12} “You are the Son of God.” And he strongly
admonished them, lest they make him known. {3:13} And
ascending onto a mountain, he called to himself those whom
he willed, and they came to him. {3:14} And he acted so that
the twelve would be with him, and so that he might send
them out to preach. {3:15} And he gave them authority to
cure infirmities, and to cast out demons: {3:16} and he
imposed on Simon the name Peter; {3:17} and also he
imposed on James of Zebedee, and John the brother of James,
the name ‘Boanerges,’ that is, ‘Sons of Thunder;’ {3:18} and
Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and
Thomas, and James of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus, and Simon
the Canaanite, {3:19} and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed
him. {3:20} And they went to a house, and the crowd
gathered together again, so much so that they were not even
able to eat bread. {3:21} And when his own had heard of it,
they went out to take hold of him. For they said: “Because he
has gone mad.” {3:22} And the scribes who had descended
from Jerusalem said, “Because he has Beelzebub, and
because by the prince of demons does he cast out demons.”
{3:23} And having called them together, he spoke to them in
parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? {3:24} For if a
kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom is not able to
stand. {3:25} And if a house is divided against itself, that
house is not able to stand. {3:26} And if Satan has risen up
against himself, he would be divided, and he would not be
able to stand; instead he reaches the end. {3:27} No one is
able to plunder the goods of a strong man, having entered
into the house, unless he first binds the strong man, and then
he shall plunder his house. {3:28} Amen I say to you, that all
sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and the blasphemies by
which they will have blasphemed. {3:29} But he who will
have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit shall not have
forgiveness in eternity; instead he shall be guilty of an eternal
offense.” {3:30} For they said: “He has an unclean spirit.”
{3:31} And his mother and brothers arrived. And standing
outside, they sent to him, calling him. {3:32} And the crowd
was sitting around him. And they said to him, “Behold, your
mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.”
{3:33} And responding to them, he said, “Who is my mother
and my brothers?” {3:34} And looking around at those who
were sitting all around him, he said: “Behold, my mother and
my brothers. {3:35} For whoever has done the will of God,
the same is my brother, and my sister and mother.”


[Mark 4] {4:1} And again, he began to teach by the sea. And
a great crowd was gathered to him, so much so that, climbing
into a boat, he was seated on the sea. And the entire crowd
was on the land along the sea. {4:2} And he taught them
many things in parables, and he said to them, in his doctrine:
{4:3} “Listen. Behold, the sower went out to sow. {4:4} And
while he was sowing, some fell along the way, and the birds
of the air came and ate it. {4:5} Yet truly, others fell upon
stony ground, where it did not have much soil. And it rose up
quickly, because it had no depth of soil. {4:6} And when the
sun was risen, it was scorched. And because it had no root, it
withered away. {4:7} And some fell among thorns. And the
thorns grew up and suffocated it, and it did not produce fruit.
{4:8} And some fell on good soil. And it brought forth fruit
that grew up, and increased, and yielded: some thirty, some
sixty, and some one hundred.” {4:9} And he said, “Whoever
has ears to hear, let him hear.” {4:10} And when he was
alone, the twelve, who were with him, questioned him about
the parable. {4:11} And he said to them: “To you, it has been
given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to
those who are outside, everything is presented in parables:
{4:12} ‘so that, seeing, they may see, and not perceive; and
hearing, they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time
they may be converted, and their sins would be forgiven
them.’ ” {4:13} And he said to them: “Do you not
understand this parable? And so, how will you understand all
the parables? {4:14}He who sows, sows the word.
{4:15} Now there are those who are along the way, where the
word is sown. And when they have heard it, Satan quickly
comes and takes away the word, which was sown in their
hearts. {4:16} And similarly, there are those who were sown
upon stony ground. These, when they have heard the word,
immediately accept it with gladness. {4:17} But they have no
root in themselves, and so they are for a limited time. And
when next tribulation and persecution arises because of the
word, they quickly fall away. {4:18} And there are others
who are sown among thorns. These are those who hear the
word, {4:19} but worldly tasks, and the deception of riches,
and desires about other things enter in and suffocate the word,
and it is effectively without fruit. {4:20} And there are those
who are sown upon good soil, who hear the word and accept
it; and these bear fruit: some thirty, some sixty, and some one
hundred.” {4:21} And he said to them: “Would someone
enter with a lamp in order to place it under a basket or under
a bed? Would it not be placed upon a lampstand? {4:22} For
there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. Neither was
anything done in secret, except that it may be made public.
{4:23} If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” {4:24} And
he said to them: “Consider what you hear. With whatever
measure you have measured out, it shall be measured back to
you, and more shall be added to you. {4:25} For whoever has,
to him it shall be given. And whoever has not, from him even
what he has shall be taken away.” {4:26} And he said: “The
kingdom of God is like this: it is as if a man were to cast seed
on the land. {4:27} And he sleeps and he arises, night and
day. And the seed germinates and grows, though he does not
know it. {4:28} For the earth bears fruit readily: first the plant,
then the ear, next the full grain in the ear. {4:29} And when
the fruit has been produced, immediately he sends out the
sickle, because the harvest has arrived.” {4:30} And he said:
“To what should we compare the kingdom of God? Or to
what parable should we compare it? {4:31} It is like a grain of
mustard seed which, when it has been sown in the earth, is
less than all the seeds which are in the earth. {4:32} And
when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all the
plants, and it produces great branches, so much so that the
birds of the air are able to live under its shadow.” {4:33} And
with many such parables he spoke the word to them, as much
as they were able to hear. {4:34} But he did not speak to
them without a parable. Yet separately, he explained all
things to his disciples. {4:35} And on that day, when evening
had arrived, he said to them, “Let us cross over.” {4:36} And
dismissing the crowd, they brought him, so that he was in
one boat, and other boats were with him. {4:37} And a great
wind storm occurred, and the waves broke over the boat, so
that the boat was being filled. {4:38} And he was in the stern
of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. And they woke him and
said to him, “Teacher, does it not concern you that we are
perishing?” {4:39} And rising up, he rebuked the wind, and
he said to the sea: “Silence. Be stilled.” And the wind ceased.
And a great tranquility occurred. {4:40} And he said to them:
“Why are you afraid? Do you still lack faith?” And they were
struck with a great fear. And they said to one another, “Who
do you think this is, that both wind and sea obey him?”


[Mark 5] {5:1} And they went across the strait of the sea into
the region of the Gerasenes. {5:2} And as he was departing
from the boat, he was immediately met, from among the
tombs, by a man with an unclean spirit, {5:3} who had his
dwelling place with the tombs; neither had anyone been able
to bind him, even with chains. {5:4} For having been bound
often with shackles and chains, he had broken the chains and
smashed the shackles; and no one had been able to tame him.
{5:5} And he was always, day and night, among the tombs,
or in the mountains, crying out and cutting himself with
stones. {5:6} And seeing Jesus from afar, he ran and adored
him. {5:7} And crying out with a loud voice, he said: “What
am I to you, Jesus, the Son of the Most High God? I beseech
you by God, that you not torment me.” {5:8} For he said to
him, “Depart from the man, you unclean spirit.” {5:9} And
he questioned him: “What is your name?” And he said to
him, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” {5:10} And he
entreated him greatly, so that he would not expel him from
the region. {5:11} And in that place, near the mountain, there
was a great herd of swine, feeding. {5:12} And the spirits
entreated him, saying: “Send us into the swine, so that we
may enter into them.” {5:13} And Jesus promptly gave them
permission. And the unclean spirits, departing, entered into
the swine. And the herd of about two thousand rushed down
with great force into the sea, and they were drowned in the
sea. {5:14} Then those who pastured them fled, and they
reported it in the city and in the countryside. And they all
went out to see what was happening. {5:15} And they came
to Jesus. And they saw the man who had been troubled by
the demon, sitting, clothed and with a sane mind, and they
were afraid. {5:16} And those who had seen it explained to
them how he had dealt with the man who had the demon,
and about the swine. {5:17} And they began to petition him,
so that he would withdraw from their borders. {5:18} And as
he was climbing into the boat, the man who had been
troubled by the demons began to beg him, so that he might be
with him. {5:19} And he did not permit him, but he said to
him, “Go to your own people, in your own house, and
announce to them how great are the things that Lord has
done for you, and how he has taken pity on you.”
{5:20} And he went away and began to preach in the Ten
Cities, how great were the things that Jesus had done for him.
And everyone wondered. {5:21} And when Jesus had crossed
in the boat, over the strait again, a great crowd came together
before him. And he was near the sea. {5:22} And one of the
rulers of the synagogue, named Jairus, approached. And
seeing him, he fell prostrate at his feet. {5:23} And he
beseeched him greatly, saying: “For my daughter is near the
end. Come and lay your hand on her, so that she may be
healthy and may live.” {5:24} And he went with him. And a
great crowd followed him, and they pressed upon him.
{5:25} And there was a woman who had a flow of blood for
twelve years. {5:26} And she had endured much from several
physicians, and she had spent everything she owned with no
benefit at all, but instead she became worse. {5:27} Then,
when she had heard of Jesus, she approached through the
crowd behind him, and she touched his garment. {5:28} For
she said: “Because if I touch even his garment, I will be
saved.” {5:29} And immediately, the source of her bleeding
was dried up, and she sensed in her body that she had been
healed from the wound. {5:30} And immediately Jesus,
realizing within himself that power that had gone out from
him, turning to the crowd, said, “Who touched my
garments?” {5:31} And his disciples said to him, “You see
that the crowd presses around you, and yet you say, ‘Who
touched me?’ ” {5:32} And he looked around to see the
woman who had done this. {5:33} Yet truly, the woman, in
fear and trembling, knowing what had happened within her,
went and fell prostrate before him, and she told him the
whole truth. {5:34} And he said to her: “Daughter, your faith
has saved you. Go in peace, and be healed from your
wound.” {5:35} While he was still speaking, they arrived
from the ruler of the synagogue, saying: “Your daughter is
dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” {5:36} But
Jesus, having heard the word that was spoken, said to the
ruler of the synagogue: “Do not be afraid. You need only
believe.” {5:37} And he would not permit anyone to follow
him, except Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.
{5:38} And they went to the house of the ruler of the
synagogue. And he saw a tumult, and weeping, and much
wailing. {5:39} And entering, he said to them: “Why are you
disturbed and weeping? The girl is not dead, but is asleep.”
{5:40} And they derided him. Yet truly, having put them all
out, he took the father and mother of the girl, and those who
were with him, and he entered to where the girl was lying.
{5:41} And taking the girl by the hand, he said to her,
“Talitha koumi,” which means, “Little girl, (I say to you)
arise. {5:42} And immediately the young girl rose up and
walked. Now she was twelve years old. And they were
suddenly struck with a great astonishment. {5:43} And he
instructed them sternly, so that no one would know about it.
And he told them to give her something to eat.


[Mark 6] {6:1} And departing from there, he went away to
his own country; and his disciples followed him. {6:2} And
when the Sabbath arrived, he began to teach in the synagogue.
And many, upon hearing him, were amazed at his doctrine,
saying: “Where did this one get all these things?” and, “What
is this wisdom, which has been given to him?” and, “Such
powerful deeds, which are wrought by his hands!” {6:3} “Is
this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James,
and Joseph, and Jude, and Simon? Are not his sisters also
here with us?” And they took great offense at him. {6:4} And
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except
in his own country, and in his own house, and among his
own kindred.” {6:5} And he was not able to perform any
miracles there, except that he cured a few of the infirm by
laying his hands on them. {6:6} And he wondered, because
of their unbelief, and he traveled around in the villages,
teaching. {6:7} And he called the twelve. And he began to
send them out in twos, and he gave them authority over
unclean spirits. {6:8} And he instructed them not to take
anything for the journey, except a staff: no traveling bag, no
bread, and no money belt, {6:9} but to wear sandals, and not
to wear two tunics. {6:10} And he said to them: “Whenever
you have entered into a house, stay there until you depart
from that place. {6:11} And whoever will neither receive you,
nor listen to you, as you go away from there, shake off the
dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” {6:12} And
going out, they were preaching, so that people would repent.
{6:13} And they cast out many demons, and they anointed
many of the sick with oil and healed them. {6:14} And king
Herod heard of it, (for his name had become well-known)
and he said: “John the Baptist has risen again from the dead,
and because of this, miracles are at work in him.” {6:15} But
others were saying, “Because it is Elyah.” Still others were
saying, “Because he is a prophet, like one of the prophets.”
{6:16} When Herod had heard it, he said, “John whom I
beheaded, the same has risen again from the dead.”
{6:17} For Herod himself had sent to capture John, and had
chained him in prison, because of Herodias, the wife of his
brother Philip; for he had married her. {6:18} For John was
saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your
brother’s wife.” {6:19} Now Herodias was devising treachery
against him; and she wanted to kill him, but she was unable.
{6:20} For Herod was apprehensive of John, knowing him to
be a just and holy man, and so he guarded him. And he heard
that he was accomplishing many things, and so he listened to
him willingly. {6:21} And when an opportune time had
arrived, Herod held a feast on his birthday, with the leaders,
and the tribunes, and the first rulers of Galilee. {6:22} And
when the daughter of the same Herodias had entered, and
danced, and pleased Herod, along with those who were at
table with him, the king said to the girl, “Request from me
whatever you want, and I will give it to you.” {6:23} And he
swore to her, “Anything that you request, I will give to you,
even up to half my kingdom.” {6:24} And when she had
gone out, she said to her mother, “What shall I request?” But
her mother said, “The head of John the Baptist.” {6:25} And
immediately, when she had entered with haste to the king,
she petitioned him, saying: “I want you to give me at once
the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” {6:26} And the
king was greatly saddened. But because of his oath, and
because of those who were sitting with him at table, he was
not willing to disappoint her. {6:27} So, having sent an
executioner, he instructed that his head be brought on a
platter. {6:28} And he beheaded him in prison, and he
brought his head on a platter. And he gave it to the girl, and
the girl gave it her mother. {6:29} When his disciples heard
about it, they came and took his body, and they placed it in a
tomb. {6:30} And the Apostles, returning to Jesus, reported
to him everything that they had done and taught. {6:31} And
he said to them, “Go out alone, into a deserted place, and
rest for a little while.” For there were so many who were
coming and going, that they did not even have time to eat.
{6:32} And climbing into a boat, they went away to a
deserted place alone. {6:33} And they saw them going away,
and many knew about it. And together they ran by foot from
all the cities, and they arrived before them. {6:34} And Jesus,
going out, saw a great multitude. And he took pity on them,
because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he
began to teach them many things. {6:35} And when many
hours had now passed, his disciples drew near to him, saying:
“This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late.
{6:36} Send them away, so that by going out to nearby
villages and towns, they might buy provisions for themselves
to eat.” {6:37} And responding, he said to them, “Give them
something to eat yourselves.” And they said to him, “Let us
go out and buy bread for two hundred denarii, and then we
will give them something to eat.” {6:38} And he said to them:
“How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when
they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”
{6:39} And he instructed them to make them all sit down in
groups on the green grass. {6:40} And they sat down in
divisions by hundreds and by fifties. {6:41} And having
received the five loaves and the two fish, gazing up to heaven,
he blessed and broke the bread, and he gave it to his disciples
to set before them. And the two fish he divided among them
all. {6:42} And they all ate and were satisfied. {6:43} And
they brought together the remainder: twelve baskets full of
fragments and of fish. {6:44} Now those who ate were five
thousand men. {6:45} And without delay he urged his
disciples to climb into the boat, so that they might precede
him across the sea to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the
people. {6:46} And when he had dismissed them, he went to
the mountain to pray. {6:47} And when it was late, the boat
was in the midst of the sea, and he was alone on the land.
{6:48} And seeing them struggling to row, (for the wind was
against them,) and about the fourth watch of the night, he
came to them, walking upon the sea. And he intended to pass
by them. {6:49} But when they saw him walking upon the
sea, they thought it was an apparition, and they cried out.
{6:50} For they all saw him, and they were very disturbed.
And immediately he spoke with them, and he said to them:
“Be strengthened in faith. It is I. Do not be afraid.”
{6:51} And he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind
ceased. And they became even more astonished within
themselves. {6:52} For they did not understand about the
bread. For their heart had been blinded. {6:53} And when
they had crossed over, they arrived in the land of Genesaret,
and they reached the shore. {6:54} And when they had
disembarked from the boat, the people immediately
recognized him. {6:55} And running throughout that entire
region, they began to carry on beds those who had maladies,
to where they heard that he would be. {6:56} And in
whichever place he entered, in towns or villages or cities, they
placed the infirm in the main streets, and they pleaded with
him that they might touch even the hem of his garment. And
as many as touched him were made healthy.


[Mark 7] {7:1} And the Pharisees and some of the scribes,
arriving from Jerusalem, gathered together before him.
{7:2} And when they had seen certain ones from his disciples
eating bread with common hands, that is, with unwashed
hands, they disparaged them. {7:3} For the Pharisees, and all
the Jews, do not eat without repeatedly washing their hands,
holding to the tradition of the elders. {7:4} And when
returning from the market, unless they wash, they do not eat.
And there are many other things which have been handed
down to them to observe: the washings of cups, and pitchers,
and bronze containers, and beds. {7:5} And so the Pharisees
and the scribes questioned him: “Why do your disciples not
walk according to the tradition of the elders, but they eat
bread with common hands?” {7:6} But in response, he said to
them: “So well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, just
as it has been written: ‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me. {7:7} And in vain do they
worship me, teaching the doctrines and precepts of men.’
{7:8} For abandoning the commandment of God, you hold
to the tradition of men, to the washing of pitchers and cups.
And you do many other things similar to these.” {7:9} And
he said to them: “You effectively nullify the precept of God,
so that you may observe your own tradition. {7:10} For
Moses said: ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and,
‘Whoever will have cursed father or mother, let him die a
death.’ {7:11} But you say, ‘If a man will have said to his
father or mother: Korban, (which is a gift) whatever is from
me will be to your benefit,’ {7:12} then you do not release
him to do anything for his father or mother, {7:13} rescinding
the word of God through your tradition, which you have
handed down. And you do many other similar things in this
way.” {7:14} And again, calling the crowd to him, he said to
them: “Listen to me, all of you, and understand.
{7:15} There is nothing from outside a man which, by
entering into him, is able to defile him. But the things which
procede from a man, these are what pollute a man.
{7:16} Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.” {7:17} And
when he had entered into the house, away from the crowd,
his disciples questioned him about the parable. {7:18} And he
said to them: “So, are you also without prudence? Do you
not understand that everything entering to a man from
outside is not able to pollute him? {7:19} For it does not enter
into his heart, but into the gut, and it exits into the sewer,
purging all foods.” {7:20} “But,” he said “the things which
go out from a man, these pollute a man. {7:21} For from
within, from the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, {7:22} thefts, avarice,
wickedness, deceitfulness, homosexuality, an evil eye,
blasphemy, self-exaltation, foolishness. {7:23} All these evils
procede from within and pollute a man.” {7:24} And rising
up, he went from there to the area of Tyre and Sidon. And
entering into a house, he intended no one to know about it,
but he was not able to remain hidden. {7:25} For a woman
whose daughter had an unclean spirit, as soon as she heard
about him, entered and fell prostrate at his feet. {7:26} For
the woman was a Gentile, by birth a Syro-Phoenician. And
she petitioned him, so that he would cast the demon from her
daughter. {7:27} And he said to her: “First allow the sons to
have their fill. For it is not good to take away the bread of the
sons and throw it to the dogs.” {7:28} But she responded by
saying to him: “Certainly, Lord. Yet the young dogs also eat,
under the table, from the crumbs of the children.”
{7:29} And he said to her, “Because of this saying, go; the
demon has gone out of your daughter.” {7:30} And when she
had gone to her house, she found the girl lying on the bed;
and the demon had gone away. {7:31} And again, departing
from the borders of Tyre, he went by way of Sidon to the sea
of Galilee, through the midst of the area of the Ten Cities.
{7:32} And they brought someone who was deaf and mute to
him. And they begged him, so that he would lay his hand
upon him. {7:33} And taking him away from the crowd, he
put his fingers into his ears; and spitting, he touched his
tongue. {7:34} And gazing up to heaven, he groaned and said
to him: “Ephphatha,” which is, “Be opened.” {7:35} And
immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his
tongue was released, and he spoke correctly. {7:36} And he
instructed them not to tell anyone. But as much as he
instructed them, so much more did they preach about it.
{7:37} And so much more did they wonder, saying: “He has
done all things well. He has caused both the deaf to hear and
the mute to speak.”


[Mark 8] {8:1} In those days, again, when there was a great
crowd, and they did not have anything to eat, calling together
his disciples, he said to them: {8:2} “I have compassion for
the multitude, because, behold, they have persevered with me
now for three days, and they do not have anything to eat.
{8:3} And if I were to send them away fasting to their home,
they might faint on the way.” For some of them came from
far away. {8:4} And his disciples answered him, “From
where would anyone be able to obtain enough bread for them
in the wilderness?” {8:5} And he questioned them, “How
many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.”
{8:6} And he instructed the crowd to sit down to eat on the
ground. And taking the seven loaves, giving thanks, he broke
and gave it to his disciples in order to place before them. And
they placed these before the crowd. {8:7} And they had a few
small fish. And he blessed them, and he ordered them to be
placed before them. {8:8} And they ate and were satisfied.
And they took up what had been leftover from the fragments:
seven baskets. {8:9} And those who ate were about four
thousand. And he dismissed them. {8:10} And promptly
climbing into a boat with his disciples, he went into the parts
of Dalmanutha. {8:11} And the Pharisees went out and
began to contend with him, seeking from him a sign from
heaven, testing him. {8:12} And sighing deeply in spirit, he
said: “Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to
you, if only a sign will be given to this generation!”
{8:13} And sending them away, he climbed into the boat
again, and he went away across the sea. {8:14} And they
forgot to take bread. And they did not have any with them in
the boat, except one loaf. {8:15} And he instructed them,
saying: “Consider and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees
and of the leaven of Herod.” {8:16} And they discussed this
with one another, saying, “For we have no bread.”
{8:17} And Jesus, knowing this, said to them: “Why do you
consider that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet
know or understand? Do you still have blindness in your
heart? {8:18} Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears,
do you not hear? Do you not remember, {8:19} when I broke
the five loves among the five thousand, how many baskets
full of fragments you took up?” They said to him, “Twelve.”
{8:20} “And when the seven loaves were among the four
thousand, how many baskets of fragments did you take up?”
And they said to him, “Seven.” {8:21} And he said to them,
“How is it that you do not yet understand?” {8:22} And they
went to Bethsaida. And they brought a blind man to him.
And they petitioned him, so that he would touch him.
{8:23} And taking the blind man by the hand, he led him
beyond the village. And putting spit on his eyes, laying his
hands on him, he asked him if he could see anything.
{8:24} And looking up, he said, “I see men but they are like
walking trees.” {8:25} Next he placed his hands again over
his eyes, and he began to see. And he was restored, so that he
could see everything clearly. {8:26} And he sent him to his
house, saying, “Go into your own house, and if you enter
into the town, tell no one.” {8:27} And Jesus departed with
his disciples into the towns of Caesarea Philippi. And on the
way, he questioned his disciples, saying to them, “Who do
men say that I am?” {8:28} And they answered him by
saying: “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others perhaps
one of the prophets.” {8:29} Then he said to them, “Yet truly,
who do you say that I am?” Peter responded by saying to him,
“You are the Christ.” {8:30} And he admonished them, not
to tell anyone about him. {8:31} And he began to teach them
that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected
by the elders, and by the high priests, and the scribes, and be
killed, and after three days rise again. {8:32} And he spoke
the word openly. And Peter, taking him aside, began to
correct him. {8:33} And turning away and looking at his
disciples, he admonished Peter, saying, “Get behind me,
Satan, for you do not prefer the things that are of God, but
the things that are of men.” {8:34} And calling together the
crowd with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone chooses
to follow me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and
follow me. {8:35} For whoever will have chosen to save his
life, will lose it. But whoever will have lost his life, for my
sake and for the Gospel, shall save it. {8:36} For how does it
benefit a man, if he gains the whole world, and yet causes
harm to his soul? {8:37} Or, what will a man give in
exchange for his soul? {8:38} For whoever has been ashamed
of me and of my words, among this adulterous and sinful
generation, the Son of man also will be ashamed of him,
when he will arrive in the glory of his Father, with the holy
Angels.” {8:39} And he said to them, “Amen I say to you,
that there are some among those standing here who shall not
taste death until they see the kingdom of God arriving in
power.”


[Mark 9] {9:1} And after six days, Jesus took with him Peter,
and James, and John; and he led them separately to a lofty
mountain alone; and he was transfigured before them.
{9:2} And his vestments became radiant and exceedingly
white like snow, with such a brilliance as no fuller on earth is
able to achieve. {9:3} And there appeared to them Elijah
with Moses; and they were speaking with Jesus. {9:4} And in
response, Peter said to Jesus: “Master, it is good for us to be
here. And so let us make three tabernacles, one for you, and
one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” {9:5} For he did not
know what he was saying. For they were overwhelmed by
fear. {9:6} And there was a cloud overshadowing them. And
a voice came from the cloud, saying: “This is my most
beloved Son. Listen to him.” {9:7} And immediately, looking
around, they no longer saw anyone, except Jesus alone with
them. {9:8} And as they were descending from the mountain,
he instructed them not to relate to anyone what they had seen,
until after the Son of man will have risen again from the dead.
{9:9} And they kept the word to themselves, arguing about
what “after he will have risen from the dead” might mean.
{9:10} And they questioned him, saying: “Then why do the
Pharisees and the scribes say that Elijah must arrive first?”
{9:11} And in response, he said to them: “Elijah, when he
will arrive first, shall restore all things. And in the manner
that it has been written about the Son of man, so must he
suffer many things and be condemned. {9:12} But I say to
you, that Elijah also has arrived, (and they have done to him
whatever they wanted) just as it has been written about him.”
{9:13} And approaching his disciples, he saw a great crowd
surrounding them, and the scribes were arguing with them.
{9:14} And soon all the people, seeing Jesus, were astonished
and struck with fear, and hurrying to him, they greeted him.
{9:15} And he questioned them, “What are you arguing
about among yourselves?” {9:16} And one from the crowd
responded by saying: “Teacher, I have brought to you my son,
who has a mute spirit. {9:17} And whenever it takes hold of
him, it throws him down, and he foams and gnashes with his
teeth, and he becomes unconscious. And I asked your
disciples to cast him out, and they could not.” {9:18} And
answering them, he said: “O unbelieving generation, how
long must I be with you? How long shall I endure you? Bring
him to me.” {9:19} And they brought him. And when he had
seen him, immediately the spirit disturbed him. And having
been thrown to the ground, he rolled around foaming.
{9:20} And he questioned his father, “How long has this
been happening to him?” But he said: “From infancy.
{9:21} And often it casts him into fire or into water, in order
to destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, help us
and take pity on us.” {9:22} But Jesus said to him, “If you
are able to believe: all things are possible to one who
believes.” {9:23} And immediately the father of the boy,
crying out with tears, said: “I do believe, Lord. Help my
unbelief.” {9:24} And when Jesus saw the crowd rushing
together, he admonished the unclean spirit, saying to him,
“Deaf and mute spirit, I command you, leave him; and do
not enter into him anymore.” {9:25} And crying out, and
convulsing him greatly, he departed from him. And he
became like one who is dead, so much so that many said,
“He is dead.” {9:26} But Jesus, taking him by the hand, lifted
him up. And he arose. {9:27} And when he had entered into
the house, his disciples questioned him privately, “Why were
we unable to cast him out?” {9:28} And he said to them,
“This kind is able to be expelled by nothing other than prayer
and fasting.” {9:29} And setting out from there, they passed
through Galilee. And he intended that no one know about it.
{9:30} Then he taught his disciples, and he said to them,
“For the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men,
and they will kill him, and having been killed, on the third
day he will rise again.” {9:31} But they did not understand
the word. And they were afraid to question him. {9:32} And
they went to Capernaum. And when they were in the house,
he questioned them, “What did you discuss on the way?”
{9:33} But they were silent. For indeed, on the way, they had
disputed among themselves as to which of them was greater.
{9:34} And sitting down, he called the twelve, and he said to
them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be the last of all
and the minister of all.” {9:35} And taking a child, he set him
in their midst. And when he had embraced him, he said to
them: {9:36} “Whoever receives one such child in my name,
receives me. And whoever receives me, receives not me, but
him who sent me.” {9:37} John responded to him by saying,
“Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name;
he does not follow us, and so we prohibited him.” {9:38} But
Jesus said: “Do not prohibit him. For there is no one who
can act with virtue in my name and soon speak evil about me.
{9:39} For whoever is not against you is for you. {9:40} For
whoever, in my name, will give you a cup of water to drink,
because you belong to Christ: Amen I say to you, he shall not
lose his reward. {9:41} And whoever will have scandalized
one of these little ones who believe in me: it would be better
for him if a great millstone were placed around his neck and
he were thrown into the sea. {9:42} And if your hand causes
you to sin, cut it off it is better for you to enter into life
disabled, than having two hands to go into Hell, into the
unquenchable fire, {9:43} where their worm does not die,
and the fire is not extinguished. {9:44} But if your foot causes
you to sin, chop it off: it is better for you to enter into eternal
life lame, than having two feet to be cast into the Hell of
unquenchable fire, {9:45} where their worm does not die,
and the fire is not extinguished. {9:46} But if your eye causes
you to sin, pluck it out: it is better for you to enter into the
kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be
cast into the Hell of fire, {9:47} where their worm does not
die, and the fire is not extinguished. {9:48} For all shall be
salted with fire, and every victim shall be salted with salt.
{9:49} Salt is good: but if the salt has become bland, with
what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have
peace among yourselves.”


[Mark 10] {10:1} And rising up, he went from there into the
area of Judea beyond the Jordan. And again, the crowd came
together before him. And just as he was accustomed to do,
again he taught them. {10:2} And approaching, the Pharisees
questioned him, testing him: “Is it lawful for a man to dismiss
his wife?” {10:3} But in response, he said to them, “What did
Moses instruct you?” {10:4} And they said, “Moses gave
permission to write a bill of divorce and to dismiss her.”
{10:5} But Jesus responded by saying: “It was due to the
hardness of your heart that he wrote that precept for you.
{10:6} But from the beginning of creation, God made them
male and female. {10:7} Because of this, a man shall leave
behind his father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife.
{10:8} And these two shall be one in flesh. And so, they are
now, not two, but one flesh. {10:9} Therefore, what God has
joined together, let no man separate.” {10:10} And again, in
the house, his disciples questioned him about the same thing.
{10:11} And he said to them: “Whoever dismisses his wife,
and marries another, commits adultery against her.
{10:12} And if a wife dismisses her husband, and is married
to another, she commits adultery.” {10:13} And they brought
to him the little children, so that he might touch them. But
the disciples admonished those who brought them.
{10:14} But when Jesus saw this, he took offense, and he said
to them: “Allow the little ones to come to me, and do not
prohibit them. For of such as these is the kingdom of God.
{10:15} Amen I say to you, whoever will not accept the
kingdom of God like a little child, will not enter into it.”
{10:16} And embracing them, and laying his hands upon
them, he blessed them. {10:17} And when he had departed
on the way, a certain one, running up and kneeling before
him, asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do, so that I
may secure eternal life?” {10:18} But Jesus said to him,
“Why call me good? No one is good except the one God.
{10:19} You know the precepts: “Do not commit adultery.
Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not speak false testimony. Do
not deceive. Honor your father and mother.” {10:20} But in
response, he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have observed
from my youth.” {10:21} Then Jesus, gazing at him, loved
him, and he said to him: “One thing is lacking to you. Go,
sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and then you
will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.”
{10:22} But he went away grieving, having been greatly
saddened by the word. For he had many possessions.
{10:23} And Jesus, looking around, said to his disciples,
“How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into the
kingdom of God!” {10:24} And the disciples were astonished
at his words. But Jesus, answering again, said to them: “Little
sons, how difficult it is for those who trust in money to enter
into the kingdom of God! {10:25} It is easier for a camel to
pass through the eye of a needle, than for the rich to enter
into the kingdom of God.” {10:26} And they wondered even
more, saying among themselves, “Who, then, can be saved?”
{10:27} And Jesus, gazing at them, said: “With men it is
impossible; but not with God. For with God all things are
possible.” {10:28} And Peter began to say to him, “Behold,
we have left all things and have followed you.” {10:29} In
response, Jesus said: “Amen I say to you, There is no one
who has left behind house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or
mother, or children, or land, for my sake and for the Gospel,
{10:30} who will not receive one hundred times as much,
now in this time: houses, and brothers, and sisters, and
mothers, and children, and land, with persecutions, and in
the future age eternal life. {10:31} But many of the first shall
be last, and the last shall be first.” {10:32} Now they were on
the way ascending to Jerusalem. And Jesus went ahead of
them, and they were astonished. And those following him
were afraid. And again, taking aside the twelve, he began to
tell them what was about to happen to him. {10:33} “For
behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man
will be handed over to the leaders of the priests, and to the
scribes, and the elders. And they will condemn him to death,
and they will hand him over to the Gentiles. {10:34} And
they will mock him, and spit on him, and scourge him, and
put him to death. And on the third day, he will rise again.”
{10:35} And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, drew near
to him, saying, “Teacher, we wish that whatever we will ask,
you would do for us.” {10:36} But he said to them, “What do
you want me to do for you?” {10:37} And they said, “Grant
to us that we may sit, one at your right and the other at your
left, in your glory.” {10:38} But Jesus said to them: “You do
not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink from
the chalice from which I drink, or to be baptized with the
baptism with which I am to be baptized?” {10:39} But they
said to him, “We can.” Then Jesus said to them: “Indeed,
you shall drink from the chalice, from which I drink; and you
shall be baptized with the baptism, with which I am to be
baptized. {10:40} But to sit at my right, or at my left, is not
mine to give to you, but it is for those for whom it has been
prepared.” {10:41} And the ten, upon hearing this, began to
be indignant toward James and John. {10:42} But Jesus,
calling them, said to them: “You know that those who seem
to be leaders among the Gentiles dominate them, and their
leaders exercise authority over them. {10:43} But it is not to
be this way among you. Instead, whoever would become
greater shall be your minister; {10:44} and whoever will be
first among you shall be the servant of all. {10:45} So, too,
the Son of man has not come so that they would minister to
him, but so that he would minister and would give his life as
a redemption for many.” {10:46} And they went to Jericho.
And as he was setting out from Jericho with his disciples and
a very numerous multitude, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus,
a blind man, sat begging beside the way. {10:47} And when
he had heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry
out and to say, “Jesus, Son of David, take pity on me.”
{10:48} And many admonished him to be quiet. But he cried
out all the more, “Son of David, take pity on me.”
{10:49} And Jesus, standing still, instructed him to be called.
And they called the blind man, saying to him: “Be at peace.
Arise. He is calling you.” {10:50} And casting aside his
garment, he leapt up and went to him. {10:51} And in
response, Jesus said to him, “What do you want, that I
should do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Master,
that I may see.” {10:52} Then Jesus said to him, “Go, your
faith has made you whole.” And immediately he saw, and he
followed him on the way.


[Mark 11] {11:1} And as they were approaching Jerusalem
and Bethania, toward the mount of Olives, he sent two of his
disciples, {11:2} and he said to them: “Go into the village
that is opposite you, and immediately upon entering there,
you will find a colt tied, on which no man has yet sat.
Release him and bring him. {11:3} And if anyone will say to
you: ‘What are you doing?’ Say that the Lord has need of
him. And he will immediately send him here.” {11:4} And
going out, they found the colt tied before the outer gate, at
the meeting of two ways. And they untied him. {11:5} And
some of those who were standing there said to them, “What
are you doing by releasing the colt?” {11:6} And they spoke
to them just as Jesus had instructed them. And they permitted
them. {11:7} And they led the colt to Jesus. And they placed
their garments on it; and he sat upon it. {11:8} Then many
spread their garments along the way; but others cut down
leafy branches from trees and scattered them on the way.
{11:9} And those who went ahead, and those who followed,
cried out saying: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who has arrived in
the name of the Lord. {11:10} Blessed is the advent of the
kingdom of our father David. Hosanna in the highest!”
{11:11} And he entered into Jerusalem, into the temple. And
having looked around at everything, since it was now the
evening hour, he went out to Bethania with the twelve.
{11:12} And the next day, as they were departing from
Bethania, he was hungry. {11:13} And when he had seen a
fig tree with leaves in the distance, he went to it, in case he
might find something on it. And when he had gone to it, he
found nothing but leaves. For it was not the season for figs.
{11:14} And in response, he said to it, “From now on and
forever, may no one eat fruit from you again!” And his
disciples heard this. {11:15} And they went to Jerusalem.
And when he had entered into the temple, he began to cast
out the sellers and the buyers in the temple. And he
overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the chairs of
the vendors of doves. {11:16} And he would not permit
anyone to carry goods through the temple. {11:17} And he
taught them, saying: “Is it not written: ‘For my house shall be
called the house of prayer for all nations?’ But you have made
it into a den of robbers.” {11:18} And when the leaders of the
priests, and the scribes, had heard this, they sought a means
by which they might destroy him. For they feared him,
because the entire multitude was in admiration over his
doctrine. {11:19} And when evening had arrived, he departed
from the city. {11:20} And when they passed by in the
morning, they saw that the fig tree had dried up from the
roots. {11:21} And Peter, remembering, said to him, “Master,
behold, the fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
{11:22} And in response, Jesus said to them: “Have the faith
of God. {11:23} Amen I say to you, that whoever will say to
this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and who
will not have hesitated in his heart, but will have believed:
then whatever he has said be done, it shall be done for him.
{11:24} For this reason, I say to you, all things whatsoever
that you ask for when praying: believe that you will receive
them, and they will happen for you. {11:25} And when you
stand to pray, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive
them, so that your Father, who is in heaven, may also forgive
you your sins. {11:26} But if you will not forgive, neither will
your Father, who is in heaven, forgive you your sins.”
{11:27} And they went again to Jerusalem. And when he was
walking in the temple, the leaders of the priests, and the
scribes, and the elders approached him. {11:28} And they
said to him: “By what authority do you do these things? And
who has given you this authority, so that you would do these
things?” {11:29} But in response, Jesus said to them: “I also
will ask you one word, and if you answer me, I will tell you
by what authority I do these things. {11:30} The baptism of
John: was it from heaven or from men? Answer me.”
{11:31} But they discussed it among themselves, saying: “If
we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not
believe him?’ {11:32} If we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the
people. For they all hold that John was a true prophet.”
{11:33} And answering, they said to Jesus, “We do not
know.” And in response, Jesus said to them, “Neither will I
tell you by what authority I do these things.”


[Mark 12] {12:1} And he began to speak to them in parables:
“A man dug a vineyard, and surrounded it with a hedge, and
dug a pit, and built a tower, and he loaned it out to farmers,
and he set out on a long journey. {12:2} And in time, he sent
a servant to the farmers, in order to receive some of the fruit
of the vineyard from the farmers. {12:3} But they, having
apprehended him, beat him and sent him away empty.
{12:4} And again, he sent another servant to them. And they
wounded him on the head, and they treated him with
contempt. {12:5} And again, he sent another, and him they
killed, and many others: some they beat, but others they
killed. {12:6} Therefore, having still one son, most dear to
him, he sent him also to them, at the very end, saying, ‘For
they will reverence my son.’ {12:7} But the settlers said one
to another: ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him. And then
the inheritance will be ours.’ {12:8} And apprehending him,
they killed him. And they cast him out of the vineyard.
{12:9} Therefore, what will the lord of the vineyard do?” “He
will come and destroy the settlers. And he will give the
vineyard to others.” {12:10} “And so, have you not read this
scripture?: ‘The stone which the builders have rejected, the
same has been made the head of the corner. {12:11} By the
Lord has this been done, and it is wondrous in our eyes.’ ”
{12:12} And they sought to take hold of him, but they feared
the crowd. For they knew that he had spoken this parable
about them. And leaving him behind, they went away.
{12:13} And they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians
to him, so that they might trap him with words. {12:14} And
these, arriving, said to him: “Teacher, we know that you are
truthful and that you do not favor anyone; for you do not
consider the appearance of men, but you teach the way of
God in truth. Is it lawful to give the tribute to Caesar, or
should we not give it?” {12:15} And knowing their skill in
deception, he said to them: “Why do you test me? Bring me a
denarius, so that I may see it.” {12:16} And they brought it to
him. And he said to them, “Whose image and inscription is
this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” {12:17} So in response,
Jesus said to them, “Then render to Caesar, the things that
are of Caesar; and to God, the things that are of God.” And
they wondered over him. {12:18} And the Sadducees, who
say there is no resurrection, approached him. And they
questioned him, saying: {12:19} “Teacher, Moses wrote for
us that if any man’s brother will have died and left behind a
wife, and not have left behind sons, his brother should take
his wife to himself and should raise up offspring for his
brother. {12:20} So then, there were seven brothers. And the
first took a wife, and he died without leaving behind offspring.
{12:21} And the second took her, and he died. And neither
did he leave behind offspring. And the third acted similarly.
{12:22} And in like manner, each of the seven received her
and did not leave behind offspring. Last of all, the woman
also died. {12:23} Therefore, in the resurrection, when they
will rise again, to which of them will she be a wife? For each
of the seven had her as wife.” {12:24} And Jesus responded
by saying to them: “But have you not gone astray, by
knowing neither the scriptures, nor the power of God?
{12:25} For when they will be resurrected from the dead,
they shall neither marry, nor be given in marriage, but they
are like the Angels in heaven. {12:26} But concerning the
dead who rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses,
how God spoke to him from the bush, saying: ‘I am the God
of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’
{12:27} He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
Therefore, you have gone far astray.” {12:28} And one of the
scribes, who had heard them arguing, drew near to him. And
seeing that he had answered them well, he questioned him as
to which was the first commandment of all. {12:29} And
Jesus answered him: “For the first commandment of all is
this: ‘Listen, O Israel. The Lord your God is one God.
{12:30} And you shall love the Lord your God from your
whole heart, and from your whole soul, and from your whole
mind, and from your whole strength. This is the first
commandment.’ {12:31} But the second is similar to it: ‘You
shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other
commandment greater than these.” {12:32} And the scribe
said to him: Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth
that there is one God, and there is no other beside him;
{12:33} and that he should be loved from the whole heart,
and from the whole understanding, and from the whole soul,
and from the whole strength. And to love one’s neighbor as
one’s self is greater than all holocausts and sacrifices.”
{12:34} And Jesus, seeing that he had responded wisely, said
to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And
after that, no one dared to question him. {12:35} And while
teaching in the temple, Jesus said in answer: “How is it that
the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?
{12:36} For David himself said in the Holy Spirit: ‘The Lord
said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I set your
enemies as your footstool.’ {12:37} Therefore, David himself
calls him Lord, and so how can he be his son?” And a great
multitude listened to him willingly. {12:38} And he said to
them in his doctrine: “Beware of the scribes, who prefer to
walk in long robes and to be greeted in the marketplace,
{12:39} and to sit in the first chairs in the synagogues, and to
have the first seats at feasts, {12:40} who devour the houses
of widows under the pretense of long prayers. These shall
receive the more extensive judgment.” {12:41} And Jesus,
sitting opposite the offertory box, considered the way in
which the crowd cast coins into the offertory, and that many
of the wealthy cast in a great deal. {12:42} But when one
poor widow had arrived, she put in two small coins, which is
a quarter. {12:43} And calling together his disciples, he said
to them: “Amen I say to you, that this poor widow has put in
more than all those who contributed to the offertory.
{12:44} For they all gave from their abundance, yet truly, she
gave from her scarcity, even all that she had, her entire
living.”


[Mark 13] {13:1} And as he was departing from the temple,
one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, observe these fine
stones and fine structures.” {13:2} And in response, Jesus
said to him: “Do you see all these great buildings? There shall
not be left stone upon stone, which is not torn down.”
{13:3} And as he sat at the Mount of Olives, opposite the
temple, Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew questioned
him privately. {13:4} “Tell us, when will these things be, and
what will be the sign when all these things will begin to be
fulfilled?” {13:5} And Jesus, answering, began to say to them:
“See to it that no one leads you astray. {13:6} For many will
come in my name, saying, ‘For I am he,’ and they will lead
many astray. {13:7} But when you will have heard of wars
and rumors of wars, you should not be afraid. For these
things must be, but the end is not so soon. {13:8} For nation
will rise up against nation, and kingdom over kingdom, and
there shall be earthquakes in various places, and famines.
These are but the beginning of the sorrows. {13:9} But see to
yourselves. For they will hand you over to councils, and in
the synagogues you will be beaten, and you shall stand before
governors and kings because of me, as a testimony for them.
{13:10} And the Gospel must first be preached to all nations.
{13:11} And when they have seized you and handed you
over, do not consider in advance what to say. But whatever
will be given you in that hour, say that. For you will not be
speaking, but the Holy Spirit. {13:12} Then brother will
betray brother to death, and the father, a son; and children
will rise up against their parents and will bring about their
death. {13:13} And you will be hated by all for the sake of
my name. But whoever will have persevered unto the end,
the same will be saved. {13:14} Then, when you have seen
the abomination of desolation, standing where it ought not to
be, let the reader understand: then let those who are in Judea
flee to the mountains. {13:15} And let whoever is on the
rooftop not descend to the house, nor enter so as to take
anything from the house. {13:16} And let whoever may be in
the field not return to take his garment. {13:17} But woe to
those who are pregnant or nursing in those days.
{13:18} Truly, pray that these things may not happen in
winter. {13:19} For those days shall have such tribulations as
have not been since the beginning of the creation that God
founded, even until now, and shall not be. {13:20} And
unless the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would be
saved. But, for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he
has shortened the days. {13:21} And then, if anyone will
have said to you: ‘Behold, here is the Christ. Behold, in that
place.’ Do not believe it. {13:22} For false Christs and false
prophets will rise up, and they will present signs and wonders,
so as to lead astray, if it were possible, even the elect.
{13:23} Therefore, you must take heed. Behold, I have
foretold all to you. {13:24} But in those days, after that
tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not
give her splendor. {13:25} And the stars of heaven will be
falling down, and the powers that are in heaven will be
moved. {13:26} And then they shall see the Son of man
arriving on the clouds, with great power and glory.
{13:27} And then he will send his Angels, and gather
together his elect, from the four winds, from the limits of the
earth, to the limits of heaven. {13:28} Now from the fig tree
discern a parable. When its branch becomes tender and the
foliage has been formed, you know that summer is very near.
{13:29} So also, when you will have seen these things happen,
know that it is very near, even at the doors. {13:30} Amen I
say to you, that this lineage shall not pass away, until all
these things have happened. {13:31} Heaven and earth shall
pass away, but my word shall not pass away. {13:32} But
concerning that day or hour, no one knows, neither the
Angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
{13:33} Take heed, be vigilant, and pray. For you do not
know when the time may be. {13:34} It is like a man who,
setting out on a sojourn, left behind his house, and gave his
servants authority over every work, and instructed the
doorkeeper to stand watch. {13:35} Therefore, be vigilant, for
you do not know when the lord of the house may arrive: in
the evening, or in the middle of the night, or at first light, or
in the morning. {13:36} Otherwise, when he will have
arrived unexpectedly, he may find you sleeping. {13:37} But
what I say to you, I say to all: Be vigilant.”


[Mark 14] {14:1} Now the feast of Passover and of
Unleavened Bread was two days away. And the leaders of
the priests, and the scribes, were seeking a means by which
they might deceitfully seize him and kill him. {14:2} But they
said, “Not on the feast day, lest perhaps there may be a
tumult among the people.” {14:3} And when he was in
Bethania, in the house of Simon the leper, and was reclining
to eat, a woman arrived having an alabaster container of
ointment, of precious spikenard. And breaking open the
alabaster container, she poured it over his head. {14:4} But
there were some who became indignant within themselves
and who were saying: “What is the reason for this waste of
the ointment? {14:5} For this ointment could have been sold
for more than three hundred denarii and been given to the
poor.” And they murmured against her. {14:6} But Jesus said:
“Permit her. What is the reason that you trouble her? She has
done a good deed for me. {14:7} For the poor, you have with
you always. And whenever you wish, you are able to do good
to them. But you do not have me always. {14:8} But she has
done what she could. She has arrived in advance to anoint
my body for burial. {14:9} Amen I say to you, wherever this
Gospel shall be preached throughout the entire world, the
things she has done also shall be told, in memory of her.”
{14:10} And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went away, to
the leaders of the priests, in order to betray him to them.
{14:11} And they, upon hearing it, were gladdened. And they
promised him that they would give him money. And he
sought an opportune means by which he might betray him.
{14:12} And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when
they immolate the Passover, the disciples said to him,
“Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the
Passover?” {14:13} And he sent two of his disciples, and he
said to them: “Go into the city. And you will meet a man
carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. {14:14} And
wherever he will have entered, say to the owner of the house,
‘The Teacher says: Where is my dining room, where I may
eat the Passover with my disciples?’ {14:15} And he will
show you a large cenacle, fully furnished. And there, you
shall prepare it for us.” {14:16} And his disciples departed
and went into the city. And they found it just as he had told
them. And they prepared the Passover. {14:17} Then, when
evening came, he arrived with the twelve. {14:18} And while
reclining and eating with them at table, Jesus said, “Amen I
say to you, that one of you, who eats with me, will betray
me.” {14:19} But they began to be sorrowful and to say to
him, one at a time: “Is it I?” {14:20} And he said to them: “It
is one of the twelve, who dips his hand with me in the dish.
{14:21} And indeed, the Son of man goes, just as it has been
written of him. But woe to that man by whom the Son of
man will be betrayed. It would be better for that man if he
had never been born.” {14:22} And while eating with them,
Jesus took bread. And blessing it, he broke it and gave it to
them, and he said: “Take. This is my body.” {14:23} And
having taken the chalice, giving thanks, he gave it to them.
And they all drank from it. {14:24} And he said to them:
“This is my blood of the new covenant, which shall be shed
for many. {14:25} Amen I say to you, that I will no longer
drink from this fruit of the vine, until that day when I will
drink it new in the kingdom of God.” {14:26} And having
sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
{14:27} And Jesus said to them: “You will all fall away from
me in this night. For it has been written: ‘I will strike the
shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ {14:28} But after I
have risen again, I will go before you to Galilee.”
{14:29} Then Peter said to him, “Even if all will have fallen
away from you, yet I will not.” {14:30} And Jesus said to
him, “Amen I say to you, that this day, in this night, before
the rooster has uttered its voice twice, you will deny me three
times.” {14:31} But he spoke further, “Even if I must die
along with you, I will not deny you.” And they all spoke
similarly also. {14:32} And they went to a country estate, by
the name of Gethsemani. And he said to his disciples, “Sit
here, while I pray.” {14:33} And he took Peter, and James,
and John with him. And he began to be afraid and wearied.
{14:34} And he said to them: “My soul is sorrowful, even
unto death. Remain here and be vigilant.” {14:35} And when
he had proceeded on a little ways, he fell prostrate on the
ground. And he prayed that, if it were possible, the hour
might pass away from him. {14:36} And he said: “Abba,
Father, all things are possible to you. Take this chalice from
me. But let it be, not as I will, but as you will.” {14:37} And
he went and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter:
“Simon, are you sleeping? Were you not able to be vigilant
for one hour? {14:38} Watch and pray, so that you may not
enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the
flesh is weak.” {14:39} And going away again, he prayed,
saying the same words. {14:40} And upon returning, he
found them sleeping yet again, (for their eyes were heavy)
and they did not know how to respond to him. {14:41} And
he arrived for the third time, and he said to them: “Sleep now,
and take rest. It is enough. The hour has arrived. Behold, the
Son of man will be betrayed into the hands of sinners.
{14:42} Rise up, let us go. Behold, he who will betray me is
near.” {14:43} And while he was still speaking, Judas Iscariot,
one of the twelve, arrived, and with him was a large crowd
with swords and clubs, sent from the leaders of the priests,
and the scribes, and the elders. {14:44} Now his betrayer had
given them a sign, saying: “He whom I shall kiss, it is he.
Take hold of him, and lead him away cautiously.”
{14:45} And when he had arrived, immediately drawing near
to him, he said: “Hail, Master!” And he kissed him.
{14:46} But they laid hands on him and held him.
{14:47} Then a certain one of those standing near, drawing a
sword, struck a servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.
{14:48} And in response, Jesus said to them: “Have you set
out to apprehend me, just as if to a robber, with swords and
clubs? {14:49} Daily, I was with you in the temple teaching,
and you did not take hold of me. But in this way, the
scriptures are fulfilled.” {14:50} Then his disciples, leaving
him behind, all fled away. {14:51} Now a certain young man
followed him, having nothing but a fine linen cloth over
himself. And they took hold of him. {14:52} But he, rejecting
the fine linen cloth, escaped from them naked. {14:53} And
they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the priests and the
scribes and the elders came together. {14:54} But Peter
followed him from a distance, even into the court of the high
priest. And he sat with the servants at the fire and warmed
himself. {14:55} Yet truly, the leaders of the priests and the
entire council sought testimony against Jesus, so that they
might deliver him to death, and they found none.
{14:56} For many spoke false testimony against him, but
their testimony did not agree. {14:57} And certain ones,
rising up, bore false witness against him, saying:
{14:58} “For we heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple,
made with hands, and within three days I will build another,
not made with hands.’ ” {14:59} And their testimony did not
agree. {14:60} And the high priest, rising up in their midst,
questioned Jesus, saying, “Do you have nothing to say in
answer to the things that are brought against you by these
ones?” {14:61} But he was silent and gave no answer. Again,
the high priest questioned him, and he said to him, “Are you
the Christ, the Son of the Blessed God?” {14:62} Then Jesus
said to him: “I am. And you shall see the Son of man sitting
at the right hand of the power of God and arriving with the
clouds of heaven.” {14:63} Then the high priest, rending his
garments, said: “Why do we still require witnesses?
{14:64} You have heard the blasphemy. How does it seem to
you?” And they all condemned him, as guilty unto death.
{14:65} And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face
and to strike him with fists, and to say to him, “Prophesy.”
And the servants struck him with the palms their hands.
{14:66} And while Peter was in the court below, one of the
maidservants of the high priest arrived. {14:67} And when
she had seen Peter warming himself, she stared at him, and
she said: “You also were with Jesus of Nazareth.”
{14:68} But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor
understand what you saying.” And he went outside, in front
of the court; and a rooster crowed. {14:69} Then again, when
a maidservant had seen him, she began to say to the
bystanders, “For this is one of them.” {14:70} But he denied
it again. And after a little while, again those standing near
said to Peter: “In truth, you are one of them. For you, too,
are a Galilean.” {14:71} Then he began to curse and to swear,
saying, “For I do not know this man, about whom you are
speaking.” {14:72} And immediately the rooster crowed
again. And Peter remembered the word that Jesus had said to
him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three
times.” And he began to weep.


[Mark 15] {15:1} And immediately in the morning, after the
leaders of the priests had taken counsel with the elders and
the scribes and the entire council, binding Jesus, they led him
away and delivered him to Pilate. {15:2} And Pilate
questioned him, “You are the king of the Jews?” But in
response, he said to him, “You are saying it.” {15:3} And the
leaders of the priests accused him in many things.
{15:4} Then Pilate again questioned him, saying: “Do you
not have any response? See how greatly they accuse you.”
{15:5} But Jesus continued to give no response, so that Pilate
wondered. {15:6} Now on the feast day, he was accustomed
to release to them one of the prisoners, whomever they
requested. {15:7} But there was one called Barabbas, who
had committed murder in the sedition, who was confined
with those of the sedition. {15:8} And when the crowd had
ascended, they began to petition him to do as he always did
for them. {15:9} But Pilate answered them and said, “Do you
want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” {15:10} For
he knew that it was out of envy that the leaders of the priests
had betrayed him. {15:11} Then the chief priests incited the
crowd, so that he would release Barabbas to them instead.
{15:12} But Pilate, responding again, said to them: “Then
what do you want me to do with the king of the Jews?”
{15:13} But again they cried out, “Crucify him.” {15:14} Yet
truly, Pilate said to them: “Why? What evil has he done?”
But they cried out all the more, “Crucify him.” {15:15} Then
Pilate, wishing to satisfy the people, released Barabbas to
them, and he delivered Jesus, having severely scourged him,
to be crucified. {15:16} Then the soldiers led him away to the
court of the praetortum. And they called together the entire
cohort. {15:17} And they clothed him with purple. And
platting a crown of thorns, they placed it on him.
{15:18} And they began to salute him: “Hail, king of the
Jews.” {15:19} And they struck his head with a reed, and
they spit on him. And kneeling down, they reverenced him.
{15:20} And after they had mocked him, they stripped him of
the purple, and they clothed him in his own garments. And
they led him away, so that they might crucify him.
{15:21} And they compelled a certain passerby, Simon the
Cyrenian, who was arriving from the countryside, the father
of Alexander and Rufus, to take up his cross. {15:22} And
they led him through to the place called Golgotha, which
means, ‘the Place of Calvary.’ {15:23} And they gave him
wine with myrrh to drink. But he did not accept it.
{15:24} And while crucifying him, they divided his garments,
casting lots over them, to see who would take what.
{15:25} Now it was the third hour. And they crucified him.
{15:26} And the title of his case was written as: THE KING
OF THE JEWS. {15:27} And with him they crucified two
robbers: one at his right, and the other at his left.
{15:28} And the scripture was fulfilled, which says: “And
with the iniquitous he was reputed.” {15:29} And the
passersby blasphemed him, shaking their heads and saying,
“Ah, you who would destroy the temple of God, and in three
days rebuild it, {15:30} save yourself by descending from the
cross.” {15:31} And similarly the leaders of the priests,
mocking him with the scribes, said to one another: “He saved
others. He is not able to save himself. {15:32} Let the Christ,
the king of Israel, descend now from the cross, so that we
may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him
also insulted him. {15:33} And when the sixth hour arrived,
a darkness occurred over the entire earth, until the ninth hour.
{15:34} And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud
voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lamma sabacthani?” which means,
“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
{15:35} And some of those standing near, upon hearing this,
said, “Behold, he is calling Elyah.” {15:36} Then one of
them, running and filling a sponge with vinegar, and placing
it around a reed, gave it to him to drink, saying: “Wait. Let
us see if Elijah will come to take him down.” {15:37} Then
Jesus, having emitted a loud cry, expired. {15:38} And the
veil of the temple was torn in two, from the top to the bottom.
{15:39} Then the centurion who stood opposite him, seeing
that he had expired while crying out in this way, said: “Truly,
this man was the Son of God.” {15:40} Now there were also
women watching from a distance, among whom were Mary
Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and
of Joseph, and Salome, {15:41} (and while he was in Galilee,
they followed him and ministered to him) and many other
women, who had ascended along with him to Jerusalem.
{15:42} And when evening had now arrived (because it was
the Preparation Day, which is before the Sabbath)
{15:43} there arrived Joseph of Arimathea, a noble council
member, who himself was also awaiting the kingdom of God.
And he boldly entered to Pilate and petitioned for the body of
Jesus. {15:44} But Pilate wondered if he had already died.
And summoning a centurion, he questioned him as to
whether he was already dead. {15:45} And when he had been
informed by the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
{15:46} Then Joseph, having bought a fine linen cloth, and
taking him down, wrapped him in the fine linen and laid him
in a sepulcher, which was hewn from a rock. And he rolled a
stone to the entrance of the tomb. {15:47} Now Mary
Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph observed where
he was laid.


[Mark 16] {16:1} And when the Sabbath had passed, Mary
Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome
bought aromatic spices, so that when they arrived they could
anoint Jesus. {16:2} And very early in the morning, on the
first of the Sabbaths, they went to the tomb, the sun having
now risen. {16:3} And they said to one another, “Who will
roll back the stone for us, away from the entrance of the
tomb?” {16:4} And looking, they saw that the stone was
rolled back. For certainly it was very large. {16:5} And upon
entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right
side, covered with a white robe, and they were astonished.
{16:6} And he said to them, “Do not become frightened. You
are seeking Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One. He has
risen. He is not here. Behold, the place where they laid him.
{16:7} But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going
before you into Galilee. There you shall see him, just as he
told you.” {16:8} But they, going out, fled from the tomb.
For trembling and fear had overwhelmed them. And they
said nothing to anyone. For they were afraid. {16:9} But he,
rising early on the first Sabbath, appeared first to Mary
Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.
{16:10} She went and announced it to those who had been
with him, while they were mourning and weeping.
{16:11} And they, upon hearing that he was alive and that he
had been seen by her, did not believe it. {16:12} But after
these events, he was shown in another likeness to two of
them walking, as they were going out to the countryside.
{16:13} And they, returning, reported it to the others; neither
did they believe them. {16:14} Finally, he appeared to the
eleven, as they sat at table. And he rebuked them for their
incredulity and hardness of heart, because they did not
believe those who had seen that he had risen again.
{16:15} And he said to them: “Go forth to the whole world
and preach the Gospel to every creature. {16:16} Whoever
will have believed and been baptized will be saved. Yet truly,
whoever will not have believed will be condemned.
{16:17} Now these signs will accompany those who believe.
In my name, they shall cast out demons. They will speak in
new languages. {16:18} They will take up serpents, and, if
they drink anything deadly, it will not harm them. They shall
lay their hands upon the sick, and they will be well.”
{16:19} And indeed, the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to
them, was taken up into heaven, and he sits at the right hand
of God. {16:20} Then they, setting out, preached everywhere,
with the Lord cooperating and confirming the word by the
accompanying signs.


** The Gospel of Luke **


[Luke 1] {1:1} Since, indeed, many have attempted to set in
order a narrative of the things that have been completed
among us, {1:2} just as they have been handed on to those of
us who from the beginning saw the same and were ministers
of the word, {1:3} so it seemed good to me also, having
diligently followed everything from the beginning, to write to
you, in an orderly manner, most excellent Theophilus,
{1:4} so that you might know the truthfulness of those words
by which you have been instructed. {1:5} There was, in the
days of Herod, king of Judea, a certain priest named
Zechariah, of the section of Abijah, and his wife was of the
daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. {1:6} Now
they were both just before God, progressing in all of the
commandments and the justifications of the Lord without
blame. {1:7} And they had no child, because Elizabeth was
barren, and they both had become advanced in years.
{1:8} Then it happened that, when he was exercising the
priesthood before God, in the order of his section,
{1:9} according to the custom of the priesthood, the lot fell so
that he would offer incense, entering into the temple of the
Lord. {1:10} And the entire multitude of the people was
praying outside, at the hour of incense. {1:11} Then there
appeared to him an Angel of the Lord, standing at the right of
the altar of incense. {1:12} And upon seeing him, Zechariah
was disturbed, and fear fell over him. {1:13} But the Angel
said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer
has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth shall bear a son to
you. And you shall call his name John. {1:14} And there will
be joy and exultation for you, and many will rejoice in his
nativity. {1:15} For he will be great in the sight of the Lord,
and he will not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be
filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
{1:16} And he will convert many of the sons of Israel to the
Lord their God. {1:17} And he will go before him with the
spirit and power of Elijah, so that he may turn the hearts of
the fathers to the sons, and the incredulous to the prudence of
the just, so as to prepare for the Lord a completed people.”
{1:18} And Zechariah said to the Angel: “How may I know
this? For I am elderly, and my wife is advanced in years.”
{1:19} And in response, the Angel said to him: “I am Gabriel,
who stands before God, and I have been sent to speak to you,
and to proclaim these things to you. {1:20} And behold, you
will be silent and unable to speak, until the day on which
these things shall be, because you have not believed my
words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” {1:21} And the
people were waiting for Zechariah. And they wondered why
he was being delayed in the temple. {1:22} Then, when he
came out, he was unable to speak to them. And they realized
that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he was making
signs to them, but he remained mute. {1:23} And it happened
that, after the days of his office were completed, he went
away to his house. {1:24} Then, after those days, his wife
Elizabeth conceived, and she hid herself for five months,
saying: {1:25} “For the Lord did this for me, at the time
when he decided to take away my reproach among men.”
{1:26} Then, in the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent
by God, to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, {1:27} to a
virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary.
{1:28} And upon entering, the Angel said to her: “Hail, full
of grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among
women.” {1:29} And when she had heard this, she was
disturbed by his words, and she considered what kind of
greeting this might be. {1:30} And the Angel said to her: “Do
not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God.
{1:31} Behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and you
shall bear a son, and you shall call his name: JESUS.
{1:32} He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the
Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of
David his father. And he will reign in the house of Jacob for
eternity. {1:33} And his kingdom shall have no end.”
{1:34} Then Mary said to the Angel, “How shall this be done,
since I do not know man?” {1:35} And in response, the
Angel said to her: “The Holy Spirit will pass over you, and
the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And
because of this also, the Holy One who will be born of you
shall be called the Son of God. {1:36} And behold, your
cousin Elizabeth has herself also conceived a son, in her old
age. And this is the sixth month for her who is called barren.
{1:37} For no word will be impossible with God.”
{1:38} Then Mary said: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the
Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word.” And the
Angel departed from her. {1:39} And in those days, Mary,
rising up, traveled quickly into the hill country, to a city of
Judah. {1:40} And she entered into the house of Zechariah,
and she greeted Elizabeth. {1:41} And it happened that, as
Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the infant leaped in her
womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
{1:42} And she cried out with a loud voice and said: “Blessed
are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
{1:43} And how does this concern me, so that the mother of
my Lord would come to me? {1:44} For behold, as the voice
of your greeting came to my ears, the infant in my womb
leaped for joy. {1:45} And blessed are you who believed, for
the things that were spoken to you by the Lord shall be
accomplished.” {1:46} And Mary said: “My soul magnifies
the Lord. {1:47} And my spirit leaps for joy in God my
Saviour. {1:48} For he has looked with favor on the humility
of his handmaid. For behold, from this time, all generations
shall call me blessed. {1:49} For he who is great has done
great things for me, and holy is his name. {1:50} And his
mercy is from generation to generations for those who fear
him. {1:51} He has accomplished powerful deeds with his
arm. He has scattered the arrogant in the intentions of their
heart. {1:52} He has deposed the powerful from their seat,
and he has exalted the humble. {1:53} He has filled the
hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away
empty. {1:54} He has taken up his servant Israel, mindful of
his mercy, {1:55} just as he spoke to our fathers: to Abraham
and to his offspring forever.” {1:56} Then Mary stayed with
her for about three months. And she returned to her own
house. {1:57} Now the time for Elizabeth to give birth
arrived, and she brought forth a son. {1:58} And her
neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had magnified his
mercy with her, and so they congratulated her. {1:59} And it
happened that, on the eighth day, they arrived to circumcise
the boy, and they called him by his father’s name, Zechariah.
{1:60} And in response, his mother said: “Not so. Instead, he
shall be called John.” {1:61} And they said to her, “But there
is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.”
{1:62} Then they made signs to his father, as to what he
wanted him to be called. {1:63} And requesting a writing
tablet, he wrote, saying: “His name is John.” And they all
wondered. {1:64} Then, at once, his mouth was opened, and
his tongue loosened, and he spoke, blessing God. {1:65} And
fear fell upon all of their neighbors. And all these words were
made known throughout all the hill country of Judea.
{1:66} And all those who heard it stored it up in their heart,
saying: “What do you think this boy will be?” And indeed,
the hand of the Lord was with him. {1:67} And his father
Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit. And he prophesied,
saying: {1:68} “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel. For he has
visited and has wrought the redemption of his people.
{1:69} And he has raised up a horn of salvation for us, in the
house of David his servant, {1:70} just as he spoke by the
mouth of his holy Prophets, who are from ages past:
{1:71} salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all
those who hate us, {1:72} to accomplish mercy with our
fathers, and to call to mind his holy testament, {1:73} the
oath, which he swore to Abraham, our father, that he would
grant to us, {1:74} so that, having been freed from the hand
of our enemies, we may serve him without fear, {1:75} in
holiness and in justice before him, throughout all our days.
{1:76} And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most
High. For you will go before the face of the Lord: to prepare
his ways, {1:77} to give knowledge of salvation to his people
for the remission of their sins, {1:78} through the heart of the
mercy of our God, by which, descending from on high, he
has visited us, {1:79} to illuminate those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death, and to direct our feet in the way
of peace.” {1:80} And the child grew, and he was
strengthened in spirit. And he was in the wilderness, until the
day of his manifestation to Israel.


[Luke 2] {2:1} And it happened in those days that a decree
went out from Caesar Augustus, so that the whole world
would be enrolled. {2:2} This was the first enrollment; it was
made by the ruler of Syria, Quirinius. {2:3} And all went to
be declared, each one to his own city. {2:4} Then Joseph also
ascended from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, into Judea,
to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he
was of the house and family of David, {2:5} in order to be
declared, with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child.
{2:6} Then it happened that, while they were there, the days
were completed, so that she would give birth. {2:7} And she
brought forth her firstborn son. And she wrapped him in
swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there
was no room for them at the inn. {2:8} And there were
shepherds in the same region, being vigilant and keeping
watch in the night over their flock. {2:9} And behold, an
Angel of the Lord stood near them, and the brightness of
God shone around them, and they were struck with a great
fear. {2:10} And the Angel said to them: “Do not be afraid.
For, behold, I proclaim to you a great joy, which will be for
all the people. {2:11} For today a Saviour has been born for
you in the city of David: he is Christ the Lord. {2:12} And
this will be a sign for you: you will find the infant wrapped in
swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” {2:13} And
suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the celestial
army, praising God and saying, {2:14} “Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.” {2:15} And
it happened that, when the Angels had departed from them
into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us cross
over to Bethlehem and see this word, which has happened,
which the Lord has revealed to us.” {2:16} And they went
quickly. And they found Mary and Joseph; and the infant
was lying in a manger. {2:17} Then, upon seeing this, they
understood the word that had been spoken to them about this
boy. {2:18} And all who heard it were amazed by this, and
by those things which were told to them by the shepherds.
{2:19} But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her
heart. {2:20} And the shepherds returned, glorifying and
praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen,
just as it was told to them. {2:21} And after eight days were
ended, so that the boy would be circumcised, his name was
called JESUS, just as he was called by the Angel before he
was conceived in the womb. {2:22} And after the days of her
purification were fulfilled, according to the law of Moses,
they brought him to Jerusalem, in order to present him to the
Lord, {2:23} just as it is written in the law of the Lord, “For
every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the
Lord,” {2:24} and in order to offer a sacrifice, according to
what is said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or
two young pigeons.” {2:25} And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was just
and God-fearing, awaiting the consolation of Israel. And the
Holy Spirit was with him. {2:26} And he had received an
answer from the Holy Spirit: that he would not see his own
death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. {2:27} And
he went with the Spirit to the temple. And when the child
Jesus was brought in by his parents, in order to act on his
behalf according to the custom of the law, {2:28} he also took
him up, into his arms, and he blessed God and said:
{2:29} “Now you may dismiss your servant in peace, O Lord,
according to your word. {2:30} For my eyes have seen your
salvation, {2:31} which you have prepared before the face of
all peoples: {2:32} the light of revelation to the nations and
the glory of your people Israel.” {2:33} And his father and
mother were wondering over these things, which were
spoken about him. {2:34} And Simeon blessed them, and he
said to his mother Mary: “Behold, this one has been set for
the ruin and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and as a
sign which will be contradicted. {2:35} And a sword will pass
through your own soul, so that the thoughts of many hearts
may be revealed.” {2:36} And there was a prophetess, Anna,
a daughter of Phanuel, from the tribe of Asher. She was very
advanced in years, and she had lived with her husband for
seven years from her virginity. {2:37} And then she was a
widow, even to her eighty-fourth year. And without
departing from the temple, she was a servant to fasting and
prayer, night and day. {2:38} And entering at the same hour,
she confessed to the Lord. And she spoke about him to all
who were awaiting the redemption of Israel. {2:39} And after
they had performed all things according to the law of the
Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their city, Nazareth.
{2:40} Now the child grew, and he was strengthened with the
fullness of wisdom. And the grace of God was in him.
{2:41} And his parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the
time of the solemnity of Passover. {2:42} And when he had
become twelve years old, they ascended to Jerusalem,
according to the custom of the feast day. {2:43} And having
completed the days, when they returned, the boy Jesus
remained in Jerusalem. And his parents did not realize this.
{2:44} But, supposing that he was in the company, they went
a day’s journey, seeking him among their relatives and
acquaintances. {2:45} And not finding him, they returned to
Jerusalem, seeking him. {2:46} And it happened that, after
three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst
of the doctors, listening to them and questioning them.
{2:47} But all who listened to him were astonished over his
prudence and his responses. {2:48} And upon seeing him,
they wondered. And his mother said to him: “Son, why have
you acted this way toward us? Behold, your father and I were
seeking you in sorrow.” {2:49} And he said to them: “How is
it that you were seeking me? For did you not know that it is
necessary for me to be in these things which are of my
Father?” {2:50} And they did not understand the word that
he spoke to them. {2:51} And he descended with them and
went to Nazareth. And he was subordinate to them. And his
mother kept all these words in her heart. {2:52} And Jesus
advanced in wisdom, and in age, and in grace, with God and
men.


[Luke 3] {3:1} Then, in the fifteenth year of the reign of
Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being procurator of Judea,
and Herod tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch
of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias
tetrarch of Abilene, {3:2} under the high priests Annas and
Caiaphas: the word of the Lord came to John, the son of
Zechariah, in the wilderness. {3:3} And he went into the
entire region of the Jordan, preaching a baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins, {3:4} just as it has been
written in the book of the sermons of the prophet Isaiah:
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the
way of the Lord. Make straight his paths. {3:5} Every valley
shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought
low. And what is crooked shall be made straight. And the
rough paths shall be made into level ways. {3:6} And all flesh
shall see the salvation of God.” {3:7} Therefore, he said to
the crowd that went out in order to be baptized by him: “You
progeny of vipers! Who told you to flee from the approaching
wrath? {3:8} So then, produce fruits worthy of repentance.
And do not begin to say, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’
For I tell you that God has the power to raise up sons to
Abraham from these stones. {3:9} For even now the axe has
been placed at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that
does not produce good fruit shall be cut down and cast into
the fire.” {3:10} And the crowed was questioning him, saying,
“What then should we do?” {3:11} But in response, he said
to them: “Whoever has two coats, let him give to those who
do not have. And whoever has food, let him act similarly.”
{3:12} Now the tax collectors also came to be baptized, and
they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” {3:13} But
he said to them, “You should do nothing more than what has
been appointed to you.” {3:14} Then the soldiers also
questioned him, saying, “And what should we do?” And he
said to them: “You should strike no one, and you should not
make false accusations. And be content with your pay.”
{3:15} Now all were thinking about John in their hearts, and
the people were supposing that perhaps he might be the
Christ. {3:16} John responded by saying to everyone:
“Indeed, I baptize you with water. But there will arrive one
stronger than me, the laces of whose shoes I am not worthy
to loosen. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit, and with
fire. {3:17} His winnowing fan is in his hand. And he will
purify his threshing floor. And he will gather the wheat into
the barn. But the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
{3:18} Indeed, he also proclaimed many other things,
exhorting the people. {3:19} But Herod the tetrarch, when he
was corrected by him concerning Herodias, his brother’s wife,
and concerning all the evils that Herod had done,
{3:20} added this also, above all else: that he confined John
to prison. {3:21} Now it happened that, when all the people
were being baptized, Jesus was baptized; and as he was
praying, heaven was opened. {3:22} And the Holy Spirit, in a
corporal appearance like a dove, descended upon him. And a
voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son. In you, I
am well pleased.” {3:23} And Jesus himself was beginning to
be about thirty years old, being (as it was supposed) the son
of Joseph, who was of Heli, who was of Matthat, {3:24} who
was of Levi, who was of Melchi, who was of Jannai, who
was of Joseph, {3:25} who was of Mattathias, who was of
Amos, who was of Nahum, who was of Esli, who was of
Naggai, {3:26} who was of Maath, who was of Mattathias,
who was of Semein, who was of Josech, who was of Joda,
{3:27} who was of Joanan, who was of Rhesa, who was of
Zerubbabel, who was of Shealtiel, who was of Neri,
{3:28} who was of Melchi, who was of Addi, who was of
Cosam, who was of Elmadam, who was of Er, {3:29} who
was of Joshua, who was of Eliezer, who was of Jorim, who
was of Matthat, who was of Levi, {3:30} who was of Simeon,
who was of Judah, who was of Joseph, who was of Jonam,
who was of Eliakim, {3:31} who was of Melea, who was of
Menna, who was of Mattatha, who was of Nathan, who was
of David, {3:32} who was of Jesse, who was of Obed, who
was of Boaz, who was of Salmon, who was of Nahshon,
{3:33} who was of Amminadab, who was of Aram, who was
of Hezron, who was of Perez, who was of Judah, {3:34} who
was of Jacob, who was of Isaac, who was of Abraham, who
was of Terah, who was of Nahor, {3:35} who was of Serug,
who was of Reu, who was of Peleg, who was of Eber, who
was of Shelah, {3:36} who was of Cainan, who was of
Arphaxad, who was of Shem, who was Of Noah, who was of
Lamech, {3:37} who was of Methuselah, who was of Enoch,
who was of Jared, who was of Mahalalel, who was of Cainan,
{3:38} who was of Enos, who was of Seth, who was of Adam,
who was of God.


[Luke 4] {4:1} And Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit,
returned from the Jordan. And he was urged by the Spirit
into the wilderness {4:2} for forty days, and he was tested by
the devil. And he ate nothing in those days. And when they
were completed, he was hungry. {4:3} Then the devil said to
him, “If you are the Son of God, speak to this stone, so that it
may be made into bread.” {4:4} And Jesus answered him, “It
is written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word of God.’ ” {4:5} And the devil led him onto a high
mountain, and he showed him all the kingdoms of the world
in a moment of time, {4:6} and he said to him: “To you, I
will give all this power, and its glory. For they have been
handed over to me, and I give them to whomever I wish.
{4:7} Therefore, if you will worship before me, all will be
yours.” {4:8} And in response, Jesus said to him: “It is
written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall
serve him alone.’ ” {4:9} And he brought him to Jerusalem,
and he set him on the parapet of the temple, and he said to
him: “If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from
here. {4:10} For it is written that he has given his Angels
charge over you, so that they may guard you, {4:11} and so
that they may take you into their hands, lest perhaps you may
hurt your foot against a stone.” {4:12} And in response, Jesus
said to him, “It is said: ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your
God.’ ” {4:13} And when all the temptation was completed,
the devil withdrew from him, until a time. {4:14} And Jesus
returned, in the power of the Spirit, into Galilee. And his
fame spread throughout the entire region. {4:15} And he
taught in their synagogues, and he was magnified by
everyone. {4:16} And he went to Nazareth, where he had
been raised. And he entered into the synagogue, according to
his custom, on the Sabbath day. And he rose up to read.
{4:17} And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to
him. And as he unrolled the book, he found the place where
it was written: {4:18} “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me;
because of this, he has anointed me. He has sent me to
evangelize the poor, to heal the contrite of heart, {4:19} to
preach forgiveness to captives and sight to the blind, to
release the broken into forgiveness, to preach the acceptable
year of the Lord and the day of retribution.” {4:20} And
when he had rolled up the book, he returned it to the minister,
and he sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue
were fixed on him. {4:21} Then he began to say to them, “On
this day, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
{4:22} And everyone gave testimony to him. And they
wondered at the words of grace that proceeded from his
mouth. And they said, “Is this not the son of Joseph?”
{4:23} And he said to them: “Certainly, you will recite to me
this saying, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ The many great things
that we have heard were done in Capernaum, do here also in
your own country.” {4:24} Then he said: “Amen I say to you,
that no prophet is accepted in his own country. {4:25} In
truth, I say to you, there were many widows in the days of
Elijah in Israel, when the heavens were closed for three years
and six months, when a great famine had occurred
throughout the entire land. {4:26} And to none of these was
Elijah sent, except to Zarephath of Sidon, to a woman who
was a widow. {4:27} And there were many lepers in Israel
under the prophet Elisha. And none of these was cleansed,
except Naaman the Syrian.” {4:28} And all those in the
synagogue, upon hearing these things, were filled with anger.
{4:29} And they rose up and drove him beyond the city. And
they brought him all the way to the edge of the mount, upon
which their city had been built, so that they might thrown
him down violently. {4:30} But passing through their midst,
he went away. {4:31} And he descended to Capernaum, a
city of Galilee. And there he taught them on the Sabbaths.
{4:32} And they were astonished at his doctrine, for his word
was spoken with authority. {4:33} And in the synagogue,
there was a man who had an unclean demon, and he cried
out with a loud voice, {4:34} saying: “Let us alone. What are
we to you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?
I know you who you are: the Holy One of God.” {4:35} And
Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and depart from him.”
And when the demon had thrown him into their midst, he
departed from him, and he no longer harmed him.
{4:36} And fear fell over them all. And they discussed this
among themselves, saying: “What is this word? For with
authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and
they depart.” {4:37} And his fame spread to every place in
the region. {4:38} Then Jesus, rising up from the synagogue,
entered into the house of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law
was in the grip of a severe fever. And they petitioned him on
her behalf. {4:39} And standing over her, he commanded the
fever, and it left her. And promptly rising up, she ministered
to them. {4:40} Then, when the sun had set, all those who
had anyone afflicted with various diseases brought them to
him. Then, laying his hands on each one of them, he cured
them. {4:41} Now demons departed from many of them,
crying out and saying, “You are the son of God.” And
rebuking them, he would not permit them to speak. For they
knew him to be the Christ. {4:42} Then, when it was daytime,
going out, he went to a deserted place. And the crowds
sought him, and they went all the way to him. And they
detained him, so that he would not depart from them.
{4:43} And he said to them, “I must also preach the kingdom
of God to other cities, because it was for this reason that I
was sent.” {4:44} And he was preaching in the synagogues of
Galilee.


[Luke 5] {5:1} Now it happened that, when the crowds
pressed toward him, so that they might hear the word of God,
he was standing beside the lake of Genesaret. {5:2} And he
saw two boats standing beside the lake. But the fishermen
had climbed down, and they were washing their nets.
{5:3} And so, climbing into one of the boats, which belonged
to Simon, he asked him to draw back a little from the land.
And sitting down, he taught the crowds from the boat.
{5:4} Then, when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon,
“Lead us into deep water, and release your nets for a catch.”
{5:5} And in response, Simon said to him: “Teacher,
working throughout the night, we caught nothing. But on
your word, I will release the net.” {5:6} And when they had
done this, they enclosed such a copious multitude of fish that
their net was rupturing. {5:7} And they signaled to their
associates, who were in the other boat, so that they would
come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so
that they were nearly submerged. {5:8} But when Simon
Peter had seen this, he fell down at the knees of Jesus, saying,
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” {5:9} For
astonishment had enveloped him, and all who were with him,
at the catch of fish that they had taken. {5:10} Now the same
was true of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were
associates of Simon. And Jesus said to Simon: “Do not be
afraid. From now on, you will be catching men.” {5:11} And
having led their boats to land, leaving behind everything, they
followed him. {5:12} And it happened that, while he was in a
certain city, behold, there was a man full of leprosy who,
upon seeing Jesus and falling to his face, petitioned him,
saying: “Lord, if you are willing, you are able to cleanse me.”
{5:13} And extending his hand, he touched him, saying: “I
am willing. Be cleansed.” And at once, the leprosy departed
from him. {5:14} And he instructed him that he should tell
no one, “But go, show yourself to the priest, and make the
offering for your cleansing, just as Moses has commanded, as
a testimony for them.” {5:15} Yet word of him traveled
around all the more. And great crowds came together, so that
they might listen and be cured by him from their infirmities.
{5:16} And he withdrew into the desert and prayed.
{5:17} And it happened, on a certain day, that he again sat
down, teaching. And there were Pharisees and doctors of the
law sitting nearby, who had come from every town of Galilee
and Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was
present, to heal them. {5:18} And behold, some men were
carrying in the bed of a man who was paralyzed. And they
sought a way to bring him in, and to place him before him.
{5:19} And not finding a way by which they might bring him
in, because of the crowd, they climbed up to the roof, and
they let him down through the roof tiles with his bed, into
their midst, in front of Jesus. {5:20} And when he saw his
faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” {5:21} And
the scribes and Pharisees began to think, saying: “Who is this,
who is speaking blasphemies? Who is able to forgive sins,
except God alone?” {5:22} But when Jesus realized their
thoughts, responding, he said to them: “What are you
thinking in your hearts? {5:23} Which is easier to say: ‘Your
sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk?’
{5:24} But so that you may know that the Son of man has
authority on earth to forgive sins,” he said to the paralytic, “I
say to you to: Rise up, take up your bed, and go into your
house.” {5:25} And at once, rising up in their sight, he took
up the bed on which he was lying, and he went away to his
own house, magnifying God. {5:26} And astonishment took
hold of everyone, and they were magnifying God. And they
were filled with fear, saying: “For we have seen miracles
today.” {5:27} And after these things, he went out, and he
saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the customs office.
And he said to him, “Follow me.” {5:28} And leaving behind
everything, rising up, he followed him. {5:29} And Levi
made a great feast for him in his own house. And there was a
large crowd of tax collectors and others, who were sitting at
table with them. {5:30} But the Pharisees and scribes were
murmuring, saying to his disciples, “Why do you eat and
drink with tax collectors and sinners?” {5:31} And
responding, Jesus said to them: “It is not those who are well
who need a doctor, but those who have maladies. {5:32} I
have not come to call the just, but sinners to repentance.”
{5:33} But they said to him, “Why do the disciples of John
fast frequently, and make supplications, and those of the
Pharisees act similarly, while yours eat and drink?”
{5:34} And he said to them: “How can you cause the sons of
the groom to fast, while the groom is still with them?
{5:35} But the days will come when the groom will be taken
away from them, and then they will fast, in those days.”
{5:36} Then he also made a comparison for them: “For no
one sews a patch from a new garment onto an old garment.
Otherwise, he both disrupts the new one, and the patch from
the new one does not join together with the old one.
{5:37} And no one puts new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the new wine ruptures the wineskins, and it will
be poured out, and the wineskins will be lost. {5:38} Instead,
the new wine is put into new wineskins, and both are
preserved. {5:39} And no one who is drinking the old, soon
wishes for the new. For he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”


[Luke 6] {6:1} Now it happened that, on the second first
Sabbath, as he passed through the grain field, his disciples
were separating the ears of grain and eating them, by rubbing
them in their hands. {6:2} Then certain Pharisees said to
them, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the
Sabbaths?” {6:3} And responding to them, Jesus said: “Have
you not read this, what David did when he was hungry, and
those who were with him? {6:4} How he entered into the
house of God, and took the bread of the Presence, and ate it,
and gave it to those who were with him, though it is not
lawful for anyone to eat it, except the priests alone?”
{6:5} And he said to them, “For the Son of man is Lord,
even of the Sabbath.” {6:6} And it happened that, on another
Sabbath, he entered into the synagogue, and he taught. And
there was a man there, and his right hand was withered.
{6:7} And the scribes and Pharisees observed whether he
would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might thereby find an
accusation against him. {6:8} Yet truly, he knew their
thoughts, and so he said to the man who had the withered
hand, “Rise up and stand in the middle.” And rising up, he
stood still. {6:9} Then Jesus said to them: “I ask you if it is
lawful on the Sabbaths to do good, or to do evil? To give
health to a life, or to destroy it?” {6:10} And looking around
at everyone, he said to the man, “Extend your hand.” And he
extended it. And his hand was restored. {6:11} Then they
were filled with madness, and they discussed with one
another, what, in particular, they might do about Jesus.
{6:12} And it happened that, in those days, he went out to a
mountain to pray. And he was in the prayer of God
throughout the night. {6:13} And when daylight had arrived,
he called his disciples. And he chose twelve out of them
(whom he also named Apostles): {6:14} Simon, whom he
surnamed Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John,
Philip and Bartholomew, {6:15} Matthew and Thomas,
James of Alphaeus, and Simon who is called the Zealot,
{6:16} and Jude of James, and Judas Iscariot, who was a
traitor. {6:17} And descending with them, he stood in a level
place with a multitude of his disciples, and a copious
multitude of people from all of Judea and Jerusalem and the
seacoast, and Tyre and Sidon, {6:18} who had come so that
they might listen to him and be healed of their diseases. And
those who were troubled by unclean spirits were cured.
{6:19} And the entire crowd was trying to touch him,
because power went out from him and healed all. {6:20} And
lifting up his eyes to his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you
poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. {6:21} Blessed are
you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed
are you who are weeping now, for you shall laugh.
{6:22} Blessed shall you be when men will have hated you,
and when they will have separated you and reproached you,
and thrown out your name as if evil, because of the Son of
man. {6:23} Be glad in that day and exult. For behold, your
reward is great in heaven. For these same things their fathers
did to the prophets. {6:24} Yet truly, woe to you who are
wealthy, for you have your consolation. {6:25} Woe to you
who are satisfied, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who
laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. {6:26} Woe to you
when men will have blessed you. For these same things their
fathers did to the false prophets. {6:27} But I say to you who
are listening: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate
you. {6:28} Bless those who curse you, and pray for those
who slander you. {6:29} And to him who strikes you on the
cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away
your coat, do not withhold even your tunic. {6:30} But
distribute to all who ask of you. And do not ask again of him
who takes away what is yours. {6:31} And exactly as you
would want people to treat you, treat them also the same.
{6:32} And if you love those who love you, what credit is
due to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
{6:33} And if you will do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is due to you? Indeed, even sinners behave this
way. {6:34} And if you will loan to those from whom you
hope to receive, what credit is due to you? For even sinners
lend to sinners, in order to receive the same in return.
{6:35} So truly, love your enemies. Do good, and lend,
hoping for nothing in return. And then your reward will be
great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is
kind to the ungrateful and to the wicked. {6:36} Therefore, be
merciful, just as your Father is also merciful. {6:37} Do not
judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you
will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
{6:38} Give, and it will be given to you: a good measure,
pressed down and shaken together and overflowing, they will
place upon your lap. Certainly, the same measure that you
use to measure out, will be used to measure back to you
again.” {6:39} Now he told them another comparison: “How
can the blind lead the blind? Would they not both fall into a
pit? {6:40} The disciple is not above his teacher. But each one
will be perfected, if he is like his teacher. {6:41} And why do
you see the straw that is in your brother’s eye, while the log
that is in your own eye, you do not consider? {6:42} Or how
can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, allow me to remove
the straw from your eye,’ while you yourself do not see the
log in your own eye? Hypocrite, first remove the log from
your own eye, and then will you see clearly, so that you may
lead out the straw from your brother’s eye. {6:43} For there is
no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor does an evil tree
produce good fruit. {6:44} For each and every tree is known
by its fruit. For they do not gather figs from thorns, nor do
they gather the grape from the bramble bush. {6:45} A good
man, from the good storehouse of his heart, offers what is
good. And an evil man, from the evil storehouse, offers what
is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth
speaks. {6:46} But why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not
do what I say? {6:47} Anyone who comes to me, and listens
to my words, and does them: I will reveal to you what he is
like. {6:48} He is like a man building a house, who has dug
deep and has laid the foundation upon the rock. Then, when
the floodwaters came, the river was rushing against that
house, and it was not able to move it. For it was founded
upon the rock. {6:49} But whoever hears and does not do: he
is like a man building his house upon the soil, without a
foundation. The river rushed against it, and it soon fell down,
and the ruin of that house was great.”


[Luke 7] {7:1} And when he had completed all his words in
the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. {7:2} Now
the servant of a certain centurion was dying, due to an illness.
And he was very dear to him. {7:3} And when he had heard
about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, petitioning
him, so that he would come and heal his servant. {7:4} And
when they had come to Jesus, they petitioned him anxiously,
saying to him: “He is worthy that you should provide this to
him. {7:5} For he loves our nation, and he has built a
synagogue for us.” {7:6} Then Jesus went with them. And
when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent
friends to him, saying: “Lord, do not trouble yourself. For I
am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.
{7:7} Because of this, I also did not consider myself worthy
to come to you. But say the word, and my servant shall be
healed. {7:8} For I also am a man placed under authority,
having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he
goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my
servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” {7:9} And upon hearing
this, Jesus was amazed. And turning to the multitude
following him, he said, “Amen I say to you, not even in
Israel have I found such great faith.” {7:10} And those who
had been sent, upon returning to the house, found that the
servant, who had been sick, was now healthy. {7:11} And it
happened afterwards that he went to a city, which is called
Nain. And his disciples, and an abundant crowd, went with
him. {7:12} Then, when he had drawn near to the gate of the
city, behold, a deceased person was being carried out, the
only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large
crowd from the city was with her. {7:13} And when the Lord
had seen her, being moved by mercy over her, he said to her,
“Do not weep.” {7:14} And he drew near and touched the
coffin. Then those who carried it stood still. And he said,
“Young man, I say to you, arise.” {7:15} And the dead youth
sat up and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother.
{7:16} Then fear fell over all of them. And they magnified
God, saying: “For a great prophet has risen up among us,”
and, “For God has visited his people.” {7:17} And this word
about him went out to all of Judea and to the entire
surrounding region. {7:18} And the disciples of John
reported to him concerning all these things. {7:19} And John
called two of his disciples, and he sent them to Jesus, saying,
“Are you he who is to come, or should we wait for another?”
{7:20} But when the men had come to him, they said: “John
the Baptist has sent us to you, saying: ‘Are you he who is to
come, or should we wait for another?’ ” {7:21} Now in that
same hour, he cured many of their diseases and wounds and
evil spirits; and to many of the blind, he gave sight.
{7:22} And responding, he said to them: “Go and report to
John what you have heard and seen: that the blind see, the
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead
rise again, the poor are evangelized. {7:23} And blessed is
anyone who has not taken offense at me.” {7:24} And when
the messengers of John had withdrawn, he began to speak
about John to the crowds. “What did you go out to the desert
to see? A reed shaken by the wind? {7:25} Then what did you
go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, those
who are in costly apparel and finery are in the houses of kings.
{7:26} Then what did you go out to see? A prophet?
Certainly, I tell you, and more than a prophet. {7:27} This is
he of whom it is written: “Behold, I send my Angel before
your face, who shall prepare your way before you.”
{7:28} For I say to you, among those born of women, no one
is greater than the prophet John the Baptist. But he who is
least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” {7:29} And
upon hearing this, all the people and the tax collectors
justified God, by being baptized with the baptism of John.
{7:30} But the Pharisees and the experts in the law despised
the counsel of God concerning themselves, by not being
baptized by him. {7:31} Then the Lord said: “Therefore, to
what shall I compare the men of this generation? And to
what are they similar? {7:32} They are like children sitting in
the marketplace, talking with one another, and saying: ‘We
sang to you, and you did not dance. We lamented, and you
did not weep.’ {7:33} For John the Baptist came, neither
eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a
demon.’ {7:34} The Son of man came, eating and drinking,
and you say, ‘Behold, a voracious man and a drinker of wine,
a friend of tax collectors and of sinners.’ {7:35} But wisdom
is justified by all her children.” {7:36} Then certain Pharisees
petitioned him, so that they might eat with him. And he went
into the house of the Pharisee, and he reclined at table.
{7:37} And behold, a woman who was in the city, a sinner,
found out that he was reclining at table in the house of the
Pharisee, so she brought an alabaster container of ointment.
{7:38} And standing behind him, beside his feet, she began to
wash his feet with tears, and she wiped them with the hair of
her head, and she kissed his feet, and she anointed them with
ointment. {7:39} Then the Pharisee, who had invited him,
upon seeing this, spoke within himself, saying, “This man, if
he were a prophet, would certainly know who and what kind
of woman is this, who is touching him: that she is a sinner.”
{7:40} And in response, Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have
something to say to you.” So he said, “Speak, Teacher.”
{7:41} “A certain creditor had two debtors: one owed five
hundred denarii, and the other fifty. {7:42} And since they
did not have the ability to repay him, he forgave them both.
So then, which of them loves him more?” {7:43} In response,
Simon said, “I suppose that it is he to whom he forgave the
most.” And he said to him, “You have judged correctly.”
{7:44} And turning to the woman, he said to Simon: “Do
you see this woman? I entered into your house. You gave me
no water for my feet. But she has washed my feet with tears,
and has wiped them with her hair. {7:45} You gave no kiss to
me. But she, from the time that she entered, has not ceased to
kiss my feet. {7:46} You did not anoint my head with oil. But
she has anointed my feet with ointment. {7:47} Because of
this, I tell you: many sins are forgiven her, because she has
loved much. But he who is forgiven less, loves less.”
{7:48} Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven you.”
{7:49} And those who sat at table with him began to say
within themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”
{7:50} Then he said to the woman: “Your faith has brought
you salvation. Go in peace.”


[Luke 8] {8:1} And it happened afterwards that he was
making a journey through the cities and towns, preaching
and evangelizing the kingdom of God. And the twelve were
with him, {8:2} along with certain women who had been
healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, who is called
Magdalene, from whom seven demons had departed,
{8:3} and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and
Susanna, and many other women, who were ministering to
him from their resources. {8:4} Then, when a very numerous
crowd was gathering together and hurrying from the cities to
him, he spoke using a comparison: {8:5} “The sower went
out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell beside the
way; and it was trampled and the birds of the air devoured it.
{8:6} And some fell upon rock; and having sprung up, it
withered away, because it had no moisture. {8:7} And some
fell among thorns; and the thorns, rising up with it,
suffocated it. {8:8} And some fell upon good soil; and having
sprung up, it produced fruit one hundredfold.” As he said
these things, he cried out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him
hear.” {8:9} Then his disciples questioned him as to what this
parable might mean. {8:10} And he said to them: “To you it
has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God.
But to the rest, it is in parables, so that: seeing, they may not
perceive, and hearing, they may not understand. {8:11} Now
the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. {8:12} And
those beside the way are those who hear it, but then the devil
comes and takes the word from their heart, lest by believing it
they may be saved. {8:13} Now those upon rock are those
who, when they hear it, accept the word with joy, but these
have no roots. So they believe for a time, but in a time of
testing, they fall away. {8:14} And those which fell among
thorns are those who have heard it, but as they go along, they
are suffocated by the concerns and riches and pleasures of
this life, and so they do not yield fruit. {8:15} But those
which were on good soil are those who, upon hearing the
word with a good and noble heart, retain it, and they bring
forth fruit in patience. {8:16} Now no one, lighting a candle,
covers it with a container, or sets it under a bed. Instead, he
places it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the
light. {8:17} For there is nothing secret, which will not be
made clear, nor is there anything hidden, which will not be
known and be brought into plain sight. {8:18} Therefore, take
care how you listen. For whoever has, it will be given to him;
and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will
be taken away from him.” {8:19} Then his mother and
brothers came to him; but they were not able to go to him
because of the crowd. {8:20} And it was reported to him,
“Your mother and your brothers are standing outside,
wanting to see you.” {8:21} And in response, he said to them,
“My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of
God and do it.” {8:22} Now it happened, on a certain day,
that he climbed into a little boat with his disciples. And he
said to them, “Let us make a crossing over the lake.” And
they embarked. {8:23} And as they were sailing, he slept.
And a windstorm descended over the lake. And they were
taking on water and were in danger. {8:24} Then, drawing
near, they awakened him, saying, “Teacher, we are
perishing.” But as he rose up, he rebuked the wind and the
raging water, and they ceased. And a tranquility occurred.
{8:25} Then he said to them, “Where is your faith?” And
they, being afraid, were amazed, saying to one another,
“Who do you think this is, so that he commands both wind
and sea, and they obey him?” {8:26} And they sailed to the
region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.
{8:27} And when he had gone out to the land, a certain man
met him, who had now had a demon for a long time. And he
did not wear clothes, nor did he stay in a house, but among
the sepulchers. {8:28} And when he saw Jesus, he fell down
before him. And crying out in a loud voice, he said: “What is
there between me and you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?
I beg you not to torture me.” {8:29} For he was ordering the
unclean spirit to depart from the man. For on many
occasions, it would seize him, and he was bound with chains
and held by fetters. But breaking the chains, he was driven by
the demon into deserted places. {8:30} Then Jesus
questioned him, saying, “What is your name?” And he said,
“Legion,” because many demons had entered into him.
{8:31} And they petitioned him not to order them to go into
the abyss. {8:32} And in that place, there was a herd of many
swine, pasturing on the mountain. And they petitioned him
to permit them to enter into them. And he permitted them.
{8:33} Therefore, the demons departed from the man, and
they entered into the swine. And the herd rushed violently
down a precipice into the lake, and they were drowned.
{8:34} And when those who were pasturing them had seen
this, they fled and reported it in the city and the villages.
{8:35} Then they went out to see what was happening, and
they came to Jesus. And they found the man, from whom the
demons had departed, sitting at his feet, clothed as well as in
a sane mind, and they were afraid. {8:36} Then those who
had seen this also reported to them how he had been healed
from the legion. {8:37} And the entire multitude from the
region of the Gerasenes pleaded with him to depart from
them. For they were seized by a great fear. Then, climbing
into the boat, he went back again. {8:38} And the man from
whom the demons had departed pleaded with him, so that he
might be with him. But Jesus sent him away, saying,
{8:39} “Return to your house and explain to them what great
things God has done for you.” And he traveled through the
entire city, preaching about the great things that Jesus had
done for him. {8:40} Now it happened that, when Jesus had
returned, the crowd received him. For they were all waiting
for him. {8:41} And behold, a man came, whose name was
Jairus, and he was a leader of the synagogue. And he fell
down at the feet of Jesus, asking him to enter into his house.
{8:42} For he had an only daughter, nearly twelve years old,
and she was dying. And it happened that, as he was going
there, he was hemmed in by the crowd. {8:43} And there was
a certain woman, with a flow of blood for twelve years, who
had paid out all her substance on physicians, and she was
unable to be cured by any of them. {8:44} She approached
him from behind, and she touched the hem of his garment.
And at once the flow of her blood stopped. {8:45} And Jesus
said, “Who is it that touched me?” But as everyone was
denying it, Peter, and those who were with him, said:
“Teacher, the crowd hems you in and presses upon you, and
yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” {8:46} And Jesus said:
“Someone has touched me. For I know that power has gone
out from me.” {8:47} Then the woman, upon seeing that she
was not hidden, came forward, trembling, and she fell down
before his feet. And she declared before all the people the
reason that she had touched him, and how she had been
immediately healed. {8:48} But he said to her: “Daughter,
your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” {8:49} While he was
still speaking, someone came to the ruler of the synagogue,
saying to him: “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble him.”
{8:50} Then Jesus, upon hearing this word, replied to the
father of the girl: “Do not be afraid. Only believe, and she
will be saved.” {8:51} And when he had arrived at the house,
he would not permit anyone to enter with him, except Peter
and James and John, and the father and mother of the girl.
{8:52} Now all were weeping and mourning for her. But he
said: “Do not weep. The girl is not dead, but only sleeping.”
{8:53} And they derided him, knowing that she had died.
{8:54} But he, taking her by the hand, cried out, saying,
“Little girl, arise.” {8:55} And her spirit returned, and she
immediately rose up. And he ordered them to give her
something to eat. {8:56} And her parents were stupefied.
And he instructed them not to tell anyone what had
happened.


[Luke 9] {9:1} Then calling together the twelve Apostles, he
gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure
diseases. {9:2} And he sent them to preach the kingdom of
God and to heal the infirm. {9:3} And he said to them: “You
should take nothing for the journey, neither staff, nor
traveling bag, nor bread, nor money; and you should not
have two tunics. {9:4} And into whatever house you shall
enter, lodge there, and do not move away from there.
{9:5} And whoever will not have received you, upon
departing from that city, shake off even the dust on your feet,
as a testimony against them.” {9:6} And going forth, they
traveled around, through the towns, evangelizing and curing
everywhere. {9:7} Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all
the things that were being done by him, but he doubted,
because it was said {9:8} by some, “For John has risen from
the dead,” yet truly, by others, “For Elijah has appeared,”
and by still others, “For one of the prophets from of old has
risen again.” {9:9} And Herod said: “I beheaded John. So
then, who is this, about whom I hear such things?” And he
sought to see him. {9:10} And when the Apostles returned,
they explained to him all the things that they had done. And
taking them with him, he withdrew to a deserted place apart,
which belongs to Bethsaida. {9:11} But when the crowd had
realized this, they followed him. And he received them and
spoke to them about the kingdom of God. And those who
were in need of cures, he healed. {9:12} Then the day began
to decline. And drawing near, the twelve said to him:
“Dismiss the crowds, so that, by going into the surrounding
towns and villages, they may separate and find food. For we
are here in a deserted place.” {9:13} But he said to them,
“You give them something to eat.” And they said, “There is
with us no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps
we are to go and buy food for this entire multitude.”
{9:14} Now there were about five thousand men. So he said
to his disciples, “Have them recline to eat in groups of fifty.”
{9:15} And they did so. And they caused them all to recline
to eat. {9:16} Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish,
he gazed up to heaven, and he blessed and broke and
distributed them to his disciples, in order to set them before
the crowd. {9:17} And they all ate and were satisfied. And
twelve baskets of fragments were taken up, which were left
over from them. {9:18} And it happened that, when he was
praying alone, his disciples also were with him, and he
questioned them, saying: “Who do the multitudes say that I
am?” {9:19} But they answered by saying: “John the Baptist.
But some say Elijah. Yet truly, others say that one of the
prophets from before has risen again.” {9:20} Then he said to
them, “But who do you say that I am?” In response, Simon
Peter said, “The Christ of God.” {9:21} But speaking sharply
to them, he instructed them not to tell this to anyone,
{9:22} saying, “For the Son of man must suffer many things,
and be rejected by the elders and the leaders of the priests and
the scribes, and be killed, and on the third day rise again.”
{9:23} Then he said to everyone: “If anyone is willing to
come after me: let him deny himself, and take up his cross
every day, and follow me. {9:24} For whoever will have
saved his life, will lose it. Yet whoever will have lost his life
for my sake, will save it. {9:25} For how does it benefit a
man, if he were to gain the whole world, yet lose himself, or
cause himself harm? {9:26} For whoever will be ashamed of
me and of my words: of him the Son of man will be ashamed,
when he will have arrived in his majesty and that of his
Father and of the holy Angels. {9:27} And yet, I tell you a
truth: There are some standing here who shall not taste death,
until they see the kingdom of God.” {9:28} And it happened
that, about eight days after these words, he took Peter and
James and John, and he ascended onto a mountain, so that
he might pray. {9:29} And while he was praying, the
appearance of his countenance was altered, and his vestment
became white and shining. {9:30} And behold, two men were
talking with him. And these were Moses and Elijah,
appearing in majesty. {9:31} And they spoke of his departure,
which he would accomplish at Jerusalem. {9:32} Yet truly,
Peter and those who were with him were weighed down by
sleep. And becoming alert, they saw his majesty and the two
men who were standing with him. {9:33} And it happened
that, as these were departing from him, Peter said to Jesus:
“Teacher, it is good for us to be here. And so, let us make
three tabernacles: one for you, and one for Moses, and one
for Elyah.” For he did not know what he was saying.
{9:34} Then, as he was saying these things, a cloud came
and overshadowed them. And as these were entering into the
cloud, they were afraid. {9:35} And a voice came from the
cloud, saying: “This is my beloved son. Listen to him.”
{9:36} And while the voice was being uttered, Jesus was
found to be alone. And they were silent and told no one, in
those days, any of these things, which they had seen.
{9:37} But it happened on the following day that, as they
were descending from the mountain, a great crowd met him.
{9:38} And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, saying,
“Teacher, I beg you, look kindly on my son, for he is my only
son. {9:39} And behold, a spirit takes hold of him, and he
suddenly cries out, and it throws him down and convulses
him, so that he foams. And though it tears him apart, it
leaves him only with difficulty. {9:40} And I asked your
disciples to cast him out, and they were unable.” {9:41} And
in response, Jesus said: “O unfaithful and perverse generation!
How long will I be with you and endure you? Bring your son
here.” {9:42} And as he was approaching him, the demon
threw him down and convulsed him. {9:43} And Jesus
rebuked the unclean spirit, and he healed the boy, and he
restored him to his father. {9:44} And all were astonished at
the greatness of God. And as everyone was wondering over
all that he was doing, he said to his disciples: “You must set
these words in your hearts. For it shall be that the Son of man
will be delivered into the hands of men.” {9:45} But they did
not understood this word, and it was concealed from them,
so that they did not perceive it. And they were afraid to
question him about this word. {9:46} Now an idea entered
into them, as to which of them was greater. {9:47} But Jesus,
perceiving the thoughts of their hearts, took a child and stood
him beside him. {9:48} And he said to them: “Whoever will
receive this child in my name, receives me; and whoever
receives me, receives him who sent me. For whoever is the
lesser among you all, the same is greater.” {9:49} And
responding, John said: “Teacher, we saw a certain one
casting out demons in your name. And we prohibited him,
for he does not follow with us.” {9:50} And Jesus said to him:
“Do not prohibit him. For whoever is not against you, is for
you.” {9:51} Now it happened that, while the days of his
dissipation were being completed, he steadfastly set his face
to go to Jerusalem. {9:52} And he sent messengers before his
face. And going on, they entered into a city of the Samaritans,
to prepare for him. {9:53} And they would not receive him,
because his face was going toward Jerusalem. {9:54} And
when his disciples, James and John, had seen this, they said,
“Lord, do you want us to call for fire to descend from heaven
and consume them?” {9:55} And turning, he rebuked them,
saying: “Do you not know of whose spirit you are?
{9:56} The Son of man came, not to destroy lives, but to save
them.” And they went into another town. {9:57} And it
happened that, as they were walking along the way, someone
said to him, “I will follow you, wherever you will go.”
{9:58} Jesus said to him: “Foxes have dens, and the birds of
the air have nests. But the Son of man has nowhere to lay his
head.” {9:59} Then he said to another, “Follow me.” But he
said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.”
{9:60} And Jesus said to him: “Let the dead bury their dead.
But you go and announce the kingdom of God.” {9:61} And
another said: “I will follow you, Lord. But permit me first to
explain this to those of my house.” {9:62} Jesus said to him,
“No one who puts his hand to the plow, and then looks back,
is fit for the kingdom of God.”


[Luke 10] {10:1} Then, after these things, the Lord also
designated another seventy-two. And he sent them in pairs
before his face, into every city and place where he was to
arrive. {10:2} And he said to them: “Certainly the harvest is
great, but the workers are few. Therefore, ask the Lord of the
harvest to send workers into his harvest. {10:3} Go forth.
Behold, I send you out like lambs among wolves. {10:4} Do
not choose to carry a purse, nor provisions, nor shoes; and
you shall greet no one along the way. {10:5} Into whatever
house you will have entered, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’
{10:6} And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest
upon him. But if not, it will return to you. {10:7} And remain
in the same house, eating and drinking the things that are
with them. For the worker is worthy of his pay. Do not
choose to pass from house to house. {10:8} And into
whatever city you have entered and they have received you,
eat what they set before you. {10:9} And cure the sick who
are in that place, and proclaim to them, ‘The kingdom of
God has drawn near to you.’ {10:10} But into whatever city
you have entered and they have not received you, going out
into its main streets, say: {10:11} ‘Even the dust which clings
to us from your city, we wipe away against you. Yet know
this: the kingdom of God has drawn near.’ {10:12} I say to
you, that in that day, Sodom will be forgiven more than that
city will be. {10:13} Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you,
Bethsaida! For if the miracles that have been wrought in you,
had been wrought in Tyre and Sidon, they would have
repented long ago, sitting in haircloth and ashes. {10:14} Yet
truly, Tyre and Sidon will be forgiven more in the judgment
than you will be. {10:15} And as for you, Capernaum, who
would be exalted even up to Heaven: you shall be submerged
into Hell. {10:16} Whoever hears you, hears me. And
whoever despises you, despises me. And whoever despises
me, despises him who sent me.” {10:17} Then the seventy-
two returned with gladness, saying, “Lord, even the demons
are subject to us, in your name.” {10:18} And he said to
them: “I was watching as Satan fell like lightning from
heaven. {10:19} Behold, I have given you authority to tread
upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the powers of the
enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. {10:20} Yet truly, do not
choose to rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but
rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” {10:21} In
the same hour, he exulted in the Holy Spirit, and he said: “I
confess to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you have hidden these things from the wise and the prudent,
and have revealed them to little ones. It is so, Father, because
this way was pleasing before you. {10:22} All things have
been delivered to me by my Father. And no one knows who
the Son is, except the Father, and who the Father is, except
the Son, and those to whom the Son has chosen to reveal
him.” {10:23} And turning to his disciples, he said: “Blessed
are the eyes that see what you see. {10:24} For I say to you,
that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things that
you see, and they did not see them, and to hear the things
that you hear, and they did not hear them.” {10:25} And
behold, a certain expert in the law rose up, testing him and
saying, “Teacher, what must I do to possess eternal life?”
{10:26} But he said to him: “What is written in the law? How
do you read it?” {10:27} In response, he said: “You shall love
the Lord your God from your whole heart, and from your
whole soul, and from all your strength, and from all your
mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” {10:28} And he said to
him: “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will
live.” {10:29} But since he wanted to justify himself, he said
to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” {10:30} Then Jesus,
taking this up, said: “A certain man descended from
Jerusalem to Jericho, and he happened upon robbers, who
now also plundered him. And inflicting him with wounds,
they went away, leaving him behind, half-alive. {10:31} And
it happened that a certain priest was descending along the
same way. And seeing him, he passed by. {10:32} And
similarly a Levite, when he was near the place, also saw him,
and he passed by. {10:33} But a certain Samaritan, being on
a journey, came near him. And seeing him, he was moved by
mercy. {10:34} And approaching him, he bound up his
wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. And setting him on
his pack animal, he brought him to an inn, and he took care
of him. {10:35} And the next day, he took out two denarii,
and he gave them to the proprietor, and he said: ‘Take care of
him. And whatever extra you will have spent, I will repay to
you at my return.’ {10:36} Which of these three, does it seem
to you, was a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”
{10:37} Then he said, “The one who acted with mercy
toward him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go, and act similarly.”
{10:38} Now it happened that, while they were traveling, he
entered into a certain town. And a certain woman, named
Martha, received him into her home. {10:39} And she had a
sister, named Mary, who, while sitting beside the Lord’s feet,
was listening to his word. {10:40} Now Martha was
continually busying herself with serving. And she stood still
and said: “Lord, is it not a concern to you that my sister has
left me to serve alone? Therefore, speak to her, so that she
may help me.” {10:41} And the Lord responded by saying to
her: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled over
many things. {10:42} And yet only one thing is necessary.
Mary has chosen the best portion, and it shall not be taken
away from her.”


[Luke 11] {11:1} And it happened that, while he was in a
certain place praying, when he ceased, one of his disciples
said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his
disciples.” {11:2} And he said to them: “When you are
praying, say: Father, may your name be kept holy. May your
kingdom come. {11:3} Give us this day our daily bread.
{11:4} And forgive us our sins, since we also forgive all who
are indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
{11:5} And he said to them: “Which of you will have a friend
and will go to him in the middle of the night, and will say to
him: ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, {11:6} because a friend of
mine has arrived from a journey to me, and I do not have
anything to set before him.’ {11:7} And from within, he
would answer by saying: ‘Do not disturb me. The door is
closed now, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up
and give it to you.’ {11:8} Yet if he will persevere in knocking,
I tell you that, even though he would not get up and give it to
him because he is a friend, yet due to his continued insistence,
he will get up and give him whatever he needs. {11:9} And so
I say to you: Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you
shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you. {11:10} For
everyone who asks, receives. And whoever seeks, finds. And
whoever knocks, it shall be opened to him. {11:11} So then,
who among you, if he asks his father for bread, he would give
him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he would give him a
serpent, instead of a fish? {11:12} Or if he will ask for an egg,
he would offer to him a scorpion? {11:13} Therefore, if you,
being evil, know how to give good things to your sons, how
much more will your Father give, from heaven, a spirit of
goodness to those who ask him?” {11:14} And he was casting
out a demon, and the man was mute. But when he had cast
out the demon, the mute man spoke, and so the crowds were
amazed. {11:15} But some of them said, “It is by Beelzebub,
the leader of demons, that he casts out demons.”
{11:16} And others, testing him, required a sign from heaven
of him. {11:17} But when he perceived their thoughts, he said
to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself will become
desolate, and house will fall upon house. {11:18} So then, if
Satan is also divided against himself, how will his kingdom
stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebub that I cast out
demons. {11:19} But if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by
whom do your own sons cast them out? Therefore, they shall
be your judges. {11:20} Moreover, if it is by the finger of God
that I cast out demons, then certainly the kingdom of God
has overtaken you. {11:21} When a strong armed man
guards his entrance, the things that he possesses are at peace.
{11:22} But if a stronger one, overwhelming him, has
defeated him, he will take away all his weapons, in which he
trusted, and he will distribute his spoils. {11:23} Whoever is
not with me, is against me. And whoever does not gather
with me, scatters. {11:24} When an unclean spirit has
departed from a man, he walks through waterless places,
seeking rest. And not finding any, he says: ‘I will return to
my house, from which I departed.’ {11:25} And when he has
arrived, he finds it swept clean and decorated. {11:26} Then
he goes, and he takes in seven other spirits with him, more
wicked than himself, and they enter and live there. And so,
the end of that man is made worse the beginning.”
{11:27} And it happened that, when he was saying these
things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice,
said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the
breasts that nursed you.” {11:28} Then he said, “Yes, but
moreover: blessed are those who hear the word of God and
keep it.” {11:29} Then, as the crowds were quickly gathering,
he began to say: “This generation is a wicked generation: it
seeks a sign. But no sign will be given to it, except the sign of
the prophet Jonah. {11:30} For just as Jonah was a sign to
the Ninevites, so also will the Son of man be to this
generation. {11:31} The queen of the South will rise up, at
the judgment, with the men of this generation, and she will
condemn them. For she came from the ends of the earth to
hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, more than
Solomon is here. {11:32} The men of Nineveh will rise up, at
the judgment, with this generation, and they will condemn it.
For at the preaching of Jonah, they repented. And behold,
more than Jonah is here. {11:33} No one lights a candle and
places it in hiding, nor under a bushel basket, but upon a
lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.
{11:34} Your eye is the light of your body. If your eye is
wholesome, your entire body will be filled with light. But if it
is wicked, then even your body will be darkened.
{11:35} Therefore, take care, lest the light that is within you
become darkness. {11:36} So then, if your entire body
becomes filled with light, not having any part in darkness,
then it will be entirely light, and, like a shining lamp, it will
illuminate you.” {11:37} And as he was speaking, a certain
Pharisee asked him to eat with him. And going inside, he sat
down to eat. {11:38} But the Pharisee began to say, thinking
within himself: “Why might it be that he has not washed
before eating?” {11:39} And the Lord said to him: “You
Pharisees today clean what is outside the cup and the plate,
but what is inside of you is full of plunder and iniquity.
{11:40} Fools! Did not he who made what is outside, indeed
also make what is inside? {11:41} Yet truly, give what is
above as alms, and behold, all things are clean for you.
{11:42} But woe to you, Pharisees! For you tithe mint and
rue and every herb, but you ignore judgment and the charity
of God. But these things you ought to have done, without
omitting the others. {11:43} Woe to you, Pharisees! For you
love the first seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the
marketplace. {11:44} Woe to you! For you are like graves
that are not noticeable, so that men walk over them without
realizing it.” {11:45} Then one of the experts in the law, in
response, said to him, “Teacher, in saying these things, you
bring an insult against us as well.” {11:46} So he said: “And
woe to you experts in the law! For you weigh men down with
burdens which they are not able to bear, but you yourselves
do not touch the weight with even one of your fingers.
{11:47} Woe to you, who build the tombs of the prophets,
while it is your fathers who killed them! {11:48} Clearly, you
are testifying that you consent to the actions of your fathers,
because even though they killed them, you build their
sepulchers. {11:49} Because of this also, the wisdom of God
said: I will send to them Prophets and Apostles, and some of
these they will kill or persecute, {11:50} so that the blood of
all the Prophets, which has been shed since the foundation of
the world, may be charged against this generation:
{11:51} from the blood of Abel, even to the blood of
Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.
So I say to you: it will be required of this generation!
{11:52} Woe to you, experts in the law! For you have taken
away the key of knowledge. You yourselves do not enter, and
those who were entering, you would have prohibited.”
{11:53} Then, while he was saying these things to them, the
Pharisees and the experts in the law began to insist strongly
that he restrain his mouth about many things. {11:54} And
waiting to ambush him, they sought something from his
mouth that they might seize upon, in order to accuse him.


[Luke 12] {12:1} Then, as great crowds were standing so
close that they were stepping on one another, he began to say
to his disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which
is hypocrisy. {12:2} For there is nothing covered, which will
not be revealed, nor anything hidden, which will not be
known. {12:3} For the things that you have spoken in
darkness will be declared in the light. And what you have
said in the ear in bedrooms will be proclaimed from the
housetops. {12:4} So I say to you, my friends: Do not be
fearful of those who kill the body, and afterwards have no
more that they can do. {12:5} But I will reveal to you whom
you should fear. Fear him who, after he will have killed, has
the power to cast into Hell. So I say to you: Fear him.
{12:6} Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? And
yet not one of these is forgotten in the sight of God.
{12:7} But even the very hairs of your head have all been
numbered. Therefore, do not be afraid. You are worth more
than many sparrows. {12:8} But I say to you: Everyone who
will have confessed me before men, the Son of man will also
confess him before the Angels of God. {12:9} But everyone
who will have denied me before men, he will be denied
before the Angels of God. {12:10} And everyone who speaks
a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven of him. But
of him who will have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit, it
will not be forgiven. {12:11} And when they will lead you to
the synagogues, and to magistrates and authorities, do not
choose to be worried about how or what you will answer, or
about what you might say. {12:12} For the Holy Spirit will
teach you, in the same hour, what you must say.”
{12:13} And someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher,
tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”
{12:14} But he said to him, “Man, who has appointed me as
judge or arbitrator over you?” {12:15} So he said to them:
“Be cautious and wary of all avarice. For a person’s life is not
found in the abundance of the things that he possesses.”
{12:16} Then he spoke to them using a comparison, saying:
“The fertile land of a certain wealthy man produced crops.
{12:17} And he thought within himself, saying: ‘What should
I do? For I have nowhere to gather together my crops.’
{12:18} And he said: ‘This is what I will do. I will tear down
my barns and build larger ones. And into these, I will gather
all the things that have been grown for me, as well as my
goods. {12:19} And I will say to my soul: Soul, you have
many goods, stored up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, and
be cheerful.’ {12:20} But God said to him: ‘Foolish one, this
very night they require your soul of you. To whom, then, will
those things belong, which you have prepared?’ {12:21} So it
is with him who stores up for himself, and is not wealthy
with God.” {12:22} And he said to his disciples: “And so I
say to you: Do not choose to be anxious about your life, as to
what you may eat, nor about your body, as to what you will
wear. {12:23} Life is more than food, and the body is more
than clothing. {12:24} Consider the ravens. For they neither
sow nor reap; there is no storehouse or barn for them. And
yet God pastures them. How much more are you, compared
to them? {12:25} But which of you, by thinking, is able to
add one cubit to his stature? {12:26} Therefore, if you are not
capable, in what is so little, why be anxious about the rest?
{12:27} Consider the lilies, how they grow. They neither
work nor weave. But I say to you, not even Solomon, in all
his glory, was clothed like one of these. {12:28} Therefore, if
God so clothes the grass, which is in the field today and
thrown into the furnace tomorrow, how much more you, O
little in faith? {12:29} And so, do not choose to inquire as to
what you will eat, or what you will drink. And do not choose
to be lifted up on high. {12:30} For all these things are sought
by the Gentiles of the world. And your Father knows that
you have need of these things. {12:31} Yet truly, seek first the
kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be
added to you. {12:32} Do not be afraid, little flock; for it has
pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. {12:33} Sell
what you possess, and give alms. Make for yourselves purses
that will not wear out, a treasure that will not fall short, in
heaven, where no thief approaches, and no moth corrupts.
{12:34} For where your treasure is, there will your heart be
also. {12:35} Let your waists be girded, and let lamps be
burning in your hands. {12:36} And let you yourselves be
like men awaiting their lord, when he will return from the
wedding; so that, when he arrives and knocks, they may open
to him promptly. {12:37} Blessed are those servants whom
the Lord, when he returns, will find being vigilant. Amen I
say to you, that he will gird himself and have them sit down
to eat, while he, continuing on, will minister to them.
{12:38} And if he will return in the second watch, or if in the
third watch, and if he will find them to be so: then blessed are
those servants. {12:39} But know this: that if the father of the
family knew at what hour the thief would arrive, he would
certainly stand watch, and he would not permit his house to
be broken into. {12:40} You also must be prepared. For the
Son of man will return at an hour that you will not realize.”
{12:41} Then Peter said to him, “Lord, are you telling this
parable to us, or also to everyone?” {12:42} So the Lord said:
“Who do you think is the faithful and prudent steward,
whom his Lord has appointed over his family, in order to
give them their measure of wheat in due time?
{12:43} Blessed is that servant if, when his Lord will return,
he will find him acting in this manner. {12:44} Truly I say to
you, that he will appoint him over all that he possesses.
{12:45} But if that servant will have said in his heart, ‘My
Lord has made a delay in his return,’ and if he has begun to
strike the men and women servants, and to eat and drink, and
to be inebriated, {12:46} then the Lord of that servant will
return on a day which he hoped not, and at an hour which he
knew not. And he will separate him, and he will place his
portion with that of the unfaithful. {12:47} And that servant,
who knew the will of his Lord, and who did not prepare and
did not act according to his will, will be beaten many times
over. {12:48} Yet he who did not know, and who acted in a
way that deserves a beating, will be beaten fewer times. So
then, of all to whom much has been given, much will be
required. And of those to whom much has been entrusted,
even more will be asked. {12:49} I have come to cast a fire
upon the earth. And what should I desire, except that it may
be kindled? {12:50} And I have a baptism, with which I am
to be baptized. And how I am constrained, even until it may
be accomplished! {12:51} Do you think that I have come to
give peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but division.
{12:52} For from this time on, there will be five in one house:
divided as three against two, and as two against three.
{12:53} A father will be divided against a son, and a son
against his father; a mother against a daughter and a daughter
against a mother; a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-
law, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
{12:54} And he also said to the crowds: “When you see a
cloud rising from the setting of the sun, immediately you say,
‘A rain cloud is coming.’ And so it does. {12:55} And when a
south wind is blowing, you say, ‘It will be hot.’ And so it is.
{12:56} You hypocrites! You discern the face of the heavens,
and of the earth, yet how is it that you do not discern this
time? {12:57} And why do you not, even among yourselves,
judge what is just? {12:58} So, when you are going with your
adversary to the ruler, while you are on the way, make an
effort to be freed from him, lest perhaps he may lead you to
the judge, and the judge may deliver you to the officer, and
the officer may cast you into prison. {12:59} I tell you, you
will not depart from there, until you have paid the very last
coin.”


[Luke 13] {13:1} And there were present, at that very time,
some who were reporting about the Galileans, whose blood
Pilate mixed with their sacrifices. {13:2} And responding, he
said to them: “Do you think that these Galileans must have
sinned more than all other Galileans, because they suffered so
much? {13:3} No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you will
all perish similarly. {13:4} And those eighteen upon whom
the tower of Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that
they also were greater transgressors than all the men living in
Jerusalem? {13:5} No, I tell you. But if you do not repent,
you will all perish similarly.” {13:6} And he also told this
parable: “A certain man had a fig tree, which was planted in
his vineyard. And he came seeking fruit on it, but found none.
{13:7} Then he said to the cultivator of the vineyard: ‘Behold,
for these three years I came seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I
have found none. Therefore, cut it down. For why should it
even occupy the land?’ {13:8} But in response, he said to him:
‘Lord, let it be for this year also, during which time I will dig
around it and add fertilizer. {13:9} And, indeed, it should
bear fruit. But if not, in the future, you shall cut it down.’ ”
{13:10} Now he was teaching in their synagogue on the
Sabbaths. {13:11} And behold, there was a woman who had
a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years. And she was bent over;
and she was unable to look upwards at all. {13:12} And
when Jesus saw her, he called her to himself, and he said to
her, “Woman, you are released from your infirmity.”
{13:13} And he laid his hands upon her, and immediately
she was straightened, and she glorified God. {13:14} Then,
as a result, the ruler of the synagogue became angry that
Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, and he said to the crowd:
“There are six days on which you ought to work. Therefore,
come and be cured on those, and not on the day of the
Sabbath.” {13:15} Then the Lord said to him in response:
“You hypocrites! Does not each one of you, on the Sabbath,
release his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it to water?
{13:16} So then, should not this daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for lo these eighteen years, be
released from this restraint on the day of the Sabbath?”
{13:17} And as he was saying these things, all his adversaries
were ashamed. And all the people rejoiced in everything that
was being done gloriously by him. {13:18} And so he said:
“To what is the kingdom of God similar, and to what figure
shall I compare it? {13:19} It is like a grain of mustard seed,
which a man took and cast into his garden. And it grew, and
it became a great tree, and the birds of the air rested in its
branches.” {13:20} And again, he said: “To what figure shall
I compare the kingdom of God? {13:21} It is like leaven,
which a woman took and hid in three measures of fine wheat
flour, until it was entirely leavened.” {13:22} And he was
traveling through the cities and towns, teaching and making
his way to Jerusalem. {13:23} And someone said to him,
“Lord, are they few who are saved?” But he said to them:
{13:24} “Strive to enter through the narrow gate. For many, I
tell you, will seek to enter and not be able. {13:25} Then,
when the father of the family will have entered and shut the
door, you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door,
saying, ‘Lord, open to us.’ And in response, he will say to
you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ {13:26} Then you
will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and
you taught in our streets.’ {13:27} And he will say to you: ‘I
do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you
workers of iniquity!’ {13:28} In that place, there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, and
Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God,
yet you yourselves are expelled outside. {13:29} And they
will arrive from the East, and the West, and the North, and
the South; and they will recline at table in the kingdom of
God. {13:30} And behold, those who are last will be first,
and those who are first will be last.” {13:31} On the same day,
some of the Pharisees approached, saying to him: “Depart,
and go away from here. For Herod wishes to kill you.”
{13:32} And he said to them: “Go and tell that fox: ‘Behold,
I cast out demons and accomplish healings, today and
tomorrow. And on the third day I reach the end.’ {13:33} Yet
truly, it is necessary for me to walk today and tomorrow and
the following day. For it does not fall to a prophet to perish
beyond Jerusalem. {13:34} Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill
the prophets, and you stone those who are sent to you. Daily,
I wanted to gather together your children, in the manner of a
bird with her nest under her wings, but you were not willing!
{13:35} Behold, your house will be left desolate for you. But I
say to you, that you shall not see me, until it happens that
you say: ‘Blessed is he who has arrived in the name of the
Lord.’ ”


[Luke 14] {14:1} And it happened that, when Jesus entered
the house of a certain leader of the Pharisees on the Sabbath
to eat bread, they were observing him. {14:2} And behold, a
certain man before him was afflicted with edema. {14:3} And
responding, Jesus spoke to the experts in the law and to the
Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath?”
{14:4} But they kept silent. Yet truly, taking hold of him, he
healed him and sent him away. {14:5} And responding to
them, he said, “Which of you will have a donkey or an ox fall
into a pit, and will not promptly pull him out, on the day of
the Sabbath?” {14:6} And they were unable to respond to
him about these things. {14:7} Then he also told a parable, to
those who were invited, noticing how they chose the first
seats at the table, saying to them: {14:8} “When you are
invited to a wedding, do not sit down in the first place, lest
perhaps someone more honored than yourself may have been
invited by him. {14:9} And then he who called both you and
him, approaching, may say to you, ‘Give this place to him.’
And then you would begin, with shame, to take the last place.
{14:10} But when you are invited, go, sit down in the lowest
place, so that, when he who invited you arrives, he may say
to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in
the sight of those who sit at table together with you.
{14:11} For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled,
and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”
{14:12} Then he also said to the one who had invited him:
“When you prepare a lunch or dinner, do not choose to call
your friends, or your brothers, or your relatives, or your
wealthy neighbors, lest perhaps they might then invite you in
return and repayment would made to you. {14:13} But when
you prepare a feast, call the poor, the disabled, the lame, and
the blind. {14:14} And you will be blessed because they do
not have a way to repay you. So then, your recompense will
be in the resurrection of the just.” {14:15} When someone
sitting at table with him had heard these things, he said to
him, “Blessed is he who will eat bread in the kingdom of
God.” {14:16} So he said to him: “A certain man prepared a
great feast, and he invited many. {14:17} And he sent his
servant, at the hour of the feast, to tell the invited to come; for
now everything was ready. {14:18} And at once they all
began to make excuses. The first said to him: ‘I bought a farm,
and I need to go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’
{14:19} And another said: ‘I bought five yoke of oxen, and I
am going to examine them. I ask you to excuse me.’
{14:20} And another said, ‘I have taken a wife, and therefore
I am not able to go.’ {14:21} And returning, the servant
reported these things to his lord. Then the father of the family,
becoming angry, said to his servant: ‘Go out quickly into the
streets and neighborhoods of the city. And lead here the poor,
and the disabled, and the blind, and the lame.’ {14:22} And
the servant said: ‘It has been done, just as you ordered, lord,
and there is still room.’ {14:23} And the lord said to the
servant: ‘Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel
them to enter, so that my house may be filled. {14:24} For I
tell you, that none of those men who were invited will taste of
my feast.’ ” {14:25} Now great crowds traveled with him.
And turning around, he said to them: {14:26} “If anyone
comes to me, and does not hate his father, and mother, and
wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and yes, even his
own life, he is not able to be my disciple. {14:27} And
whoever does not bear his cross and come after me, is not
able to be my disciple. {14:28} For who among you, wanting
to build a tower, would not first sit down and determine the
costs that are required, to see if he has the means to complete
it? {14:29} Otherwise, after he will have laid the foundation
and not been able to finish it, everyone who sees it may begin
to mock him, {14:30} saying: ‘This man began to build what
he was not able to finish.’ {14:31} Or, what king, advancing
to engage in war against another king, would not first sit
down and consider whether he may be able, with ten
thousand, to meet one who comes against him with twenty
thousand? {14:32} If not, then while the other is still far away,
sending a delegation, he would ask him for terms of peace.
{14:33} Therefore, everyone of you who does not renounce
all that he possesses is not able to be my disciple. {14:34} Salt
is good. But if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be
seasoned? {14:35} It is useful neither in soil, nor in manure,
so instead, it shall be thrown away. Whoever has ears to hear,
let him hear.”


[Luke 15] {15:1} Now tax collectors and sinners were
drawing near to him, so that they might listen to him.
{15:2} And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying,
“This one accepts sinners and eats with them.” {15:3} And
he told this parable to them, saying: {15:4} “What man
among you, who has one hundred sheep, and if he will have
lost one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the
desert and go after the one whom he had lost, until he finds it?
{15:5} And when he has found it, he places it on his
shoulders, rejoicing. {15:6} And returning home, he calls
together his friends and neighbors, saying to them:
‘Congratulate me! For I have found my sheep, which had
been lost.’ {15:7} I say to you, that there will be so much
more joy in heaven over one sinner repenting, than over the
ninety-nine just, who do not need to repent. {15:8} Or what
woman, having ten drachmas, if she will have lost one
drachma, would not light a candle, and sweep the house, and
diligently search until she finds it? {15:9} And when she has
found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying:
‘Rejoice with me! For I have found the drachma, which I had
lost.’ {15:10} So I say to you, there will be joy before the
Angels of God over even one sinner who is repentant.”
{15:11} And he said: “A certain man had two sons.
{15:12} And the younger of them said to the father, ‘Father,
give me the portion of your estate which would go to me.’
And he divided the estate between them. {15:13} And after
not many days, the younger son, gathering it all together, set
out on a long journey to a distant region. And there, he
dissipated his substance, living in luxury. {15:14} And after
he had consumed it all, a great famine occurred in that region,
and he began to be in need. {15:15} And he went and
attached himself to one of the citizens of that region. And he
sent him to his farm, in order to feed the swine. {15:16} And
he wanted to fill his belly with the scraps that the swine ate.
But no one would give it to him. {15:17} And returning to his
senses, he said: ‘How many hired hands in my father’s house
have abundant bread, while I perish here in famine! {15:18} I
shall rise up and go to my father, and I will say to him:
Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.
{15:19} I am not worthy to be called your son. Make me one
of your hired hands.’ {15:20} And rising up, he went to his
father. But while he was still at a distance, his father saw him,
and he was moved with compassion, and running to him, he
fell upon his neck and kissed him. {15:21} And the son said
to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.
Now I am not worthy to be called your son.’ {15:22} But the
father said to his servants: ‘Quickly! Bring out the best robe,
and clothe him with it. And put a ring on his hand and shoes
on his feet. {15:23} And bring the fatted calf here, and kill it.
And let us eat and hold a feast. {15:24} For this son of mine
was dead, and has revived; he was lost, and is found.’ And
they began to feast. {15:25} But his elder son was in the field.
And when he returned and drew near to the house, he heard
music and dancing. {15:26} And he called one of the servants,
and he questioned him as to what these things meant.
{15:27} And he said to him: ‘Your brother has returned, and
your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received
him safely.’ {15:28} Then he became indignant, and he was
unwilling to enter. Therefore, his father, going out, began to
plead with him. {15:29} And in response, he said to his father:
‘Behold, I have been serving you for so many years. And I
have never transgressed your commandment. And yet, you
have never given me even a young goat, so that I might feast
with my friends. {15:30} Yet after this son of yours returned,
who has devoured his substance with loose women, you have
killed the fatted calf for him.’ {15:31} But he said to him:
‘Son, you are with me always, and all that I have is yours.
{15:32} But it was necessary to feast and to rejoice. For this
brother of yours was dead, and has revived; he was lost, and
is found.’ ”


[Luke 16] {16:1} And he also said to his disciples: “A certain
man was wealthy, and he had a steward of his estate. And
this man was accused to him of having dissipated his goods.
{16:2} And he called him and said to him: ‘What is this that I
hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship. For
you can no longer be my steward.’ {16:3} And the steward
said within himself: ‘What shall I do? For my lord is taking
the stewardship away from me. I am not strong enough to dig.
I am too ashamed to beg. {16:4} I know what I will do so
that, when I have been removed from the stewardship, they
may receive me into their houses.’ {16:5} And so, calling
together each one of his lord’s debtors, he said to the first,
‘How much do you owe my lord?’ {16:6} So he said, ‘One
hundred jars of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your invoice,
and quickly, sit down and write fifty.” {16:7} Next, he said to
another, ‘In truth, how much do you owe?’ And he said,
‘One hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take
your record books, and write eighty.’ {16:8} And the lord
praised the iniquitous steward, in that he had acted prudently.
For the sons of this age are more prudent with their
generation than are the sons of light. {16:9} And so I say to
you, make friends for yourself using iniquitous mammon, so
that, when you will have passed away, they may receive you
into the eternal tabernacles. {16:10} Whoever is faithful in
what is least, is also faithful in what is greater. And whoever
is unjust in what is small, is also unjust in what is greater.
{16:11} So then, if you have not been faithful with iniquitous
mammon, who will trust you with what is true? {16:12} And
if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another,
who will give you what is yours? {16:13} No servant is able
to serve two lords. For either he will hate the one and love
the other, or he will cling to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.” {16:14} But the
Pharisees, who were greedy, were listening to all these things.
And they ridiculed him. {16:15} And he said to them: “You
are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of men. But
God knows your hearts. For what is lifted up by men is an
abomination in the sight of God. {16:16} The law and the
prophets were until John. Since then, the kingdom of God is
being evangelized, and everyone acts with violence toward it.
{16:17} But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away,
than for one dot of the law to fall away. {16:18} Everyone
who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery.
And whoever marries her who has been divorced by her
husband commits adultery. {16:19} A certain man was
wealthy, and he was clothed in purple and in fine linen. And
he feasted splendidly every day. {16:20} And there was a
certain beggar, named Lazarus, who lay at his gate, covered
with sores, {16:21} wanting to be filled with the crumbs
which were falling from the wealthy man’s table. But no one
gave it to him. And even the dogs came and licked his sores.
{16:22} Then it happened that the beggar died, and he was
carried by the Angels into the bosom of Abraham. Now the
wealthy man also died, and he was entombed in Hell.
{16:23} Then lifting up his eyes, while he was in torments, he
saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom.
{16:24} And crying out, he said: ‘Father Abraham, take pity
on me and send Lazarus, so that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water to refresh my tongue. For I am tortured in this
fire.’ {16:25} And Abraham said to him: ‘Son, recall that you
received good things in your life, and in comparison, Lazarus
received bad things. But now he is consoled, and truly you
are tormented. {16:26} And besides all this, between us and
you a great chaos has been established, so that those who
might want to cross from here to you are not able, nor can
someone cross from there to here.’ {16:27} And he said:
‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house, for
I have five brothers, {16:28} so that he may testify to them,
lest they also come into this place of torments.’ {16:29} And
Abraham said to him: “They have Moses and the prophets.
Let them listen to them.’ {16:30} So he said: ‘No, father
Abraham. But if someone were to go to them from the dead,
they would repent.’ {16:31} But he said to him: ‘If they will
not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe
even if someone has resurrected from the dead.’ ”


[Luke 17] {17:1} And he said to his disciples: “It is
impossible for scandals not to occur. But woe to him through
whom they come! {17:2} It would be better for him if a
millstone were placed around his neck and he were thrown
into the sea, than to lead astray one of these little ones.
{17:3} Be attentive to yourselves. If your brother has sinned
against you, correct him. And if he has repented, forgive him.
{17:4} And if he has sinned against you seven times a day,
and seven times a day has turned back to you, saying, ‘I am
sorry,’ then forgive him.” {17:5} And the Apostles said to the
Lord, “Increase our faith.” {17:6} But the Lord said: “If you
have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you may say to this
mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted, and be transplanted into the
sea.’ And it would obey you. {17:7} But which of you,
having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, would say to him,
as he was returning from the field, ‘Come in immediately; sit
down to eat,’ {17:8} and would not say to him: ‘Prepare my
dinner; gird yourself and minister to me, while I eat and drink;
and after these things, you shall eat and drink?’ {17:9} Would
he be grateful to that servant, for doing what he commanded
him to do? {17:10} I think not. So too, when you have done
all these things that have been taught to you, you should say:
‘We are useless servants. We have done what we should have
done.’ ” {17:11} And it happened that, while he was
traveling to Jerusalem, he passed through the midst of
Samaria and Galilee. {17:12} And as he was entering a
certain town, ten leprous men met him, and they stood at a
distance. {17:13} And they lifted up their voice, saying,
“Jesus, Teacher, take pity on us.” {17:14} And when he saw
them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And it
happened that, as they were going, they were cleansed.
{17:15} And one of them, when he saw that he was cleansed,
returned, magnifying God with a loud voice. {17:16} And he
fell face down before his feet, giving thanks. And this one was
a Samaritan. {17:17} And in response, Jesus said: “Were not
ten made clean? And so where are the nine? {17:18} Was no
one found who would return and give glory to God, except
this foreigner?” {17:19} And he said to him: “Rise up, go
forth. For your faith has saved you.” {17:20} Then he was
questioned by the Pharisees: “When does the kingdom of
God arrive?” And in response, he said to them: “The
kingdom of God arrives unobserved. {17:21} And so, they
will not say, ‘Behold, it is here,’ or ‘Behold, it is there.’ For
behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” {17:22} And he
said to his disciples: “The time will come when you will
desire to see one day of the Son of man, and you will not see
it. {17:23} And they will say to you, ‘Behold, he is here,’ and
‘Behold, he is there.’ Do not choose to go out, and do not
follow them. {17:24} For just as lightning flashes from under
heaven and shines to whatever is under heaven, so also will
the Son of man be in his day. {17:25} But first he must suffer
many things and be rejected by this generation. {17:26} And
just as it happened in the days of Noah, so also will it be in
the days of the Son of man. {17:27} They were eating and
drinking; they were taking wives and being given in marriage,
even until the day that Noah entered the ark. And the flood
came and destroyed them all. {17:28} It shall be similar to
what happened in the days of Lot. They were eating and
drinking; they were buying and selling; they were planting
and building. {17:29} Then, on the day that Lot departed
from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and it
destroyed them all. {17:30} According to these things, so
shall it be in the day when the Son of man will be revealed.
{17:31} In that hour, whoever will be on the rooftop, with his
goods in the house, let him not descend to take them. And
whoever will be in the field, similarly, let him not turn back.
{17:32} Remember Lot’s wife. {17:33} Whoever has sought
to save his life, will lose it; and whoever has lost it, will bring
it back to life. {17:34} I say to you, in that night, there will be
two in one bed. One will be taken up, and the other will be
left behind. {17:35} Two will be at the grindstone together.
One will be taken up, and the other will be left behind. Two
will be in the field. One will be taken up, and the other will be
left behind.” {17:36} Responding, they said to him, “Where,
Lord?” {17:37} And he said to them, “Wherever the body
will be, in that place also, the eagles shall be gathered
together.”


[Luke 18] {18:1} Now he also told them a parable, that we
should continually pray and not cease, {18:2} saying: “There
was a certain judge in a certain city, who did not fear God
and did not respect man. {18:3} But there was a certain
widow in that city, and she went to him, saying, ‘Vindicate
me from my adversary.’ {18:4} And he refused to do so for a
long time. But afterwards, he said within himself: ‘Even
though I do not fear God, nor respect man, {18:5} yet
because this widow is pestering me, I will vindicate her, lest
by returning, she may, in the end, wear me out.’ ”
{18:6} Then the Lord said: “Listen to what the unjust judge
said. {18:7} So then, will not God grant the vindication of his
elect, who cry out to him day and night? Or will he continue
to endure them? {18:8} I tell you that he will quickly bring
vindication to them. Yet truly, when the Son of man returns,
do you think that he will find faith on earth?” {18:9} Now
about certain persons who consider themselves to be just,
while disdaining others, he told also this parable:
{18:10} “Two men ascended to the temple, in order to pray.
One was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector.
{18:11} Standing, the Pharisee prayed within himself in this
way: ‘O God, I give thanks to you that I am not like the rest
of men: robbers, unjust, adulterers, even as this tax collector
chooses to be. {18:12} I fast twice between Sabbaths. I give
tithes from all that I possess.’ {18:13} And the tax collector,
standing at a distance, was not willing to even lift up his eyes
to heaven. But he struck his chest, saying: ‘O God, be
merciful to me, a sinner.’ {18:14} I say to you, this one
descended to his house justified, but not the other. For
everyone who exalts himself will be humbled; and whoever
humbles himself will be exalted.” {18:15} And they were
bringing little children to him, so that he might touch them.
And when the disciples saw this, they rebuked them.
{18:16} But Jesus, calling them together, said: “Allow the
children to come to me, and do not be an obstacle to them.
For of such is the kingdom of God. {18:17} Amen, I say to
you, whoever will not accept the kingdom of God like a child,
will not enter into it.” {18:18} And a certain leader
questioned him, saying: “Good teacher, what should I do to
possess eternal life?” {18:19} Then Jesus said to him: “Why
do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
{18:20} You know the commandments: You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall
not give false testimony. Honor your father and mother.”
{18:21} And he said, “I have kept all these things from my
youth.” {18:22} And when Jesus heard this, he said to him:
“One thing is still lacking for you. Sell all the things that you
have, and give to the poor. And then you will have treasure
in heaven. And come, follow me.” {18:23} When he heard
this, he became very sorrowful. For he was very rich.
{18:24} Then Jesus, seeing him brought to sorrow, said:
“How difficult it is for those who have money to enter into
the kingdom of God! {18:25} For it is easier for a camel to
pass through the eye of a needle, than for a wealthy man to
enter into the kingdom of God.” {18:26} And those who
were listening to this said, “Then who is able to be saved?”
{18:27} He said to them, “Things that are impossible with
men are possible with God.” {18:28} And Peter said,
“Behold, we have left everything, and we have followed
you.” {18:29} And he said to them: “Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has left behind home, or parents, or
brothers, or a wife, or children, for the sake of the kingdom of
God, {18:30} who will not receive much more in this time,
and in the age to come eternal life.” {18:31} Then Jesus took
the twelve aside, and he said to them: “Behold, we are
ascending to Jerusalem, and everything shall be completed
which was written by the prophets about the Son of man.
{18:32} For he will be handed over to the Gentiles, and he
will be mocked and scourged and spit upon. {18:33} And
after they have scourged him, they will kill him. And on the
third day, he will rise again.” {18:34} But they understood
none of these things. For this word was concealed from them,
and they did not understand the things that were said.
{18:35} Now it happened that, as he was approaching
Jericho, a certain blind man was sitting beside the way,
begging. {18:36} And when he heard the multitude passing
by, he asked what this was. {18:37} And they told him that
Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. {18:38} And he cried out,
saying, “Jesus, Son of David, take pity on me!” {18:39} And
those who were passing by rebuked him, so that he would be
silent. Yet truly, he cried out all the more, “Son of David,
take pity on me!” {18:40} Then Jesus, standing still, ordered
him to be brought to him. And when he had drawn near, he
questioned him, {18:41} saying, “What do you want, that I
might do for you?” So he said, “Lord, that I may see.”
{18:42} And Jesus said to him: “Look around. Your faith has
saved you.” {18:43} And immediately he saw. And he
followed him, magnifying God. And all the people, when
they saw this, gave praise to God.


[Luke 19] {19:1} And having entered, he walked through
Jericho. {19:2} And behold, there was a man named
Zacchaeus. And he was the leader of the tax collectors, and
he was wealthy. {19:3} And he sought to see Jesus, to see
who he was. But he was unable to do so, because of the
crowd, for he was small in stature. {19:4} And running ahead,
he climbed up a sycamore tree, so that he might see him. For
he was to pass near there. {19:5} And when he had arrived at
the place, Jesus looked up and saw him, and he said to him:
“Zacchaeus, hurry down. For today, I should lodge in your
house.” {19:6} And hurrying, he came down, and he
received him joyfully. {19:7} And when they all saw this,
they murmured, saying that he had turned aside to a sinful
man. {19:8} But Zacchaeus, standing still, said to the Lord:
“Behold, Lord, one half of my goods I give to the poor. And
if I have cheated anyone in any matter, I will repay him
fourfold.” {19:9} Jesus said to him: “Today, salvation has
come to this house; because of this, he too is a son of
Abraham. {19:10} For the Son of man has come to seek and
to save what had been lost.” {19:11} As they were listening
to these things, continuing on, he spoke a parable, because he
was nearing Jerusalem, and because they guessed that the
kingdom of God might be manifested without delay.
{19:12} Therefore, he said: “A certain man of nobility
traveled to a far away region, to receive for himself a
kingdom, and to return. {19:13} And calling his ten servants,
he gave them ten pounds, and he said to them: ‘Do business
until I return.’ {19:14} But his citizens hated him. And so
they sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this
one to reign over us.’ {19:15} And it happened that he
returned, having received the kingdom. And he ordered the
servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called so
that he would know how much each one had earned by
doing business. {19:16} Now the first approached, saying:
‘Lord, your one pound has earned ten pounds.’ {19:17} And
he said to him: ‘Well done, good servant. Since you have
been faithful in a small matter, you will hold authority over
ten cities.’ {19:18} And the second came, saying: ‘Lord, your
one pound has earned five pounds.’ {19:19} And he said to
him, ‘And so, you shall be over five cities.’ {19:20} And
another approached, saying: ‘Lord, behold your one pound,
which I kept stored in a cloth. {19:21} For I feared you,
because you are an austere man. You take up what you did
not lay down, and you reap what you did not sow.’
{19:22} He said to him: ‘By your own mouth, do I judge you,
O wicked servant. You knew that I am an austere man,
taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did
not sow. {19:23} And so, why did you not give my money to
the bank, so that, upon my return, I might have withdrawn it
with interest?’ {19:24} And he said to the bystanders, ‘Take
the pound away from him, and give it to him who has ten
pounds.’ {19:25} And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten
pounds.’ {19:26} So then, I say to you, that to all who have,
it shall be given, and he will have in abundance. And from
him who does not have, even what he has will be taken from
him. {19:27} ‘Yet truly, as for those enemies of mine, who
did not want me to reign over them, bring them here, and put
them to death before me.’ ” {19:28} And having said these
things, he went ahead, ascending to Jerusalem. {19:29} And
it happened that, when he had drawn near to Bethphage and
Bethania, to the mount which is called Olivet, he sent two of
his disciples, {19:30} saying: “Go into the town which is
opposite you. Upon entering it, you will find the colt of a
donkey, tied, on which no man has ever sat. Untie it, and
lead it here. {19:31} And if anyone will ask you, ‘Why are
you untying it?’ you shall say this to him: ‘Because the Lord
has requested its service.’ ” {19:32} And those who were sent
went out, and they found the colt standing, just as he told
them. {19:33} Then, as they were untying the colt, its owners
said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” {19:34} So
they said, “Because the Lord has need of it.” {19:35} And
they led it to Jesus. And casting their garments on the colt,
they helped Jesus onto it. {19:36} Then, as he was traveling,
they were laying down their garments along the way.
{19:37} And when he was now drawing near to the descent
of Mount Olivet, the entire crowd of his disciples began to
praise God joyfully, with a loud voice, over all the powerful
works which they had seen, {19:38} saying: “Blessed is the
king who has arrived in the name of the Lord! Peace in
heaven and glory on high!” {19:39} And certain Pharisees
within the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your
disciples.” {19:40} And he said to them, “I tell you, that if
these will keep silent, the stones themselves will cry out.”
{19:41} And when he drew near, seeing the city, he wept
over it, saying: {19:42} “If only you had known, indeed even
in this your day, which things are for your peace. But now
they are hidden from your eyes. {19:43} For the days will
overtake you. And your enemies will encircle you with a
valley. And they will surround you and hem you in on every
side. {19:44} And they will knock you down to the ground,
with your sons who are in you. And they will not leave stone
upon stone within you, because you did not recognize the
time of your visitation.” {19:45} And entering into the
temple, he began to cast out those who sold in it, and those
who bought, {19:46} saying to them: “It is written: ‘My
house is a house of prayer.’ But you have made it into a den
of robbers.” {19:47} And he was teaching in the temple daily.
And the leaders of the priests, and the scribes, and the leaders
of the people were seeking to destroy him. {19:48} But they
could not find what to do to him. For all the people were
listening to him attentively.


[Luke 20] {20:1} And it happened that, on one of the days
when he was teaching the people in the temple and preaching
the Gospel, the leaders of the priests, and the scribes,
gathered together with the elders, {20:2} and they spoke to
him, saying: “Tell us, by what authority do you do these
things? Or, who is it that has given you this authority?”
{20:3} And in response, Jesus said to them: “I will also
question you about one word. Respond to me: {20:4} The
baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?” {20:5} So
they discussed it among themselves, saying: “If we say,
‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe
him?’ {20:6} But if we say, ‘Of men,’ the whole people will
stone us. For they are certain that John was a prophet.”
{20:7} And so they responded that they did not know where
it was from. {20:8} And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I
tell you by what authority I do these things.” {20:9} Then he
began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a
vineyard, and he loaned it to settlers, and he was on a sojourn
for a long time. {20:10} And in due time, he sent a servant to
the farmers, so that they would give to him from the fruit of
the vineyard. And they beat him and drove him away, empty-
handed. {20:11} And he continued to send another servant.
But beating him and treating him with contempt, they
likewise sent him away, empty-handed. {20:12} And he
continued to send a third. And wounding him also, they
drove him away. {20:13} Then the lord of the vineyard said:
‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps when
they have seen him, they will respect him.’ {20:14} And
when the settlers had seen him, they discussed it among
themselves, saying: ‘This one is the heir. Let us kill him, so
that the inheritance will be ours.’ {20:15} And forcing him
outside of the vineyard, they killed him. What, then, will the
lord of the vineyard do to them?” {20:16} “He will come and
destroy those settlers, and he will give the vineyard to
others.” And upon hearing this, they said to him, “Let it not
be.” {20:17} Then, gazing at them, he said: “Then what does
this mean, which is written: ‘The stone which the builders
have rejected, the same has become the head of the corner?’
{20:18} Everyone who falls on that stone will be shattered.
And anyone upon whom it falls will be crushed.”
{20:19} And the leaders of the priests, and the scribes, were
seeking to lay hands on him in that same hour, but they
feared the people. For they realized that he had spoken this
parable about them. {20:20} And being attentive, they sent
traitors, who would pretend that they were just, so that they
might catch him in his words and then hand him over to the
power and authority of the procurator. {20:21} And they
questioned him, saying: “Teacher, we know that you speak
and teach correctly, and that you do not consider anyone’s
status, but you teach the way of God in truth. {20:22} Is it
lawful for us to pay the tribute to Caesar, or not?”
{20:23} But realizing their deceitfulness, he said to them:
“Why do you test me? {20:24} Show me a denarius. Whose
image and inscription does it have?” In response, they said to
him, “Caesar’s.” {20:25} And so, he said to them: “Then
repay the things that are Caesar’s, to Caesar, and the things
that are God’s, to God.” {20:26} And they were not able to
contradict his word before the people. And being amazed at
his answer, they were silent. {20:27} Now some of the
Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, approached
him. And they questioned him, {20:28} saying: “Teacher,
Moses wrote for us: If any man’s brother will have died,
having a wife, and if he does not have any children, then his
brother should take her as his wife, and he should raise up
offspring for his brother. {20:29} And so there were seven
brothers. And the first took a wife, and he died without sons.
{20:30} And the next one married her, and he also died
without a son. {20:31} And the third married her, and
similarly all seven, and none of them left behind any
offspring, and they each died. {20:32} Last of all, the woman
also died. {20:33} In the resurrection, then, whose wife will
she be? For certainly all seven had her as a wife.”
{20:34} And so, Jesus said to them: “The children of this age
marry and are given in marriage. {20:35} Yet truly, those
who shall be held worthy of that age, and of the resurrection
from the dead, will neither be married, nor take wives.
{20:36} For they can no longer die. For they are equal to the
Angels, and they are children of God, since they are children
of the resurrection. {20:37} For in truth, the dead do rise
again, as Moses also showed beside the bush, when he called
the Lord: ‘The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob.’ {20:38} And so he is not the God of the
dead, but of the living. For all are alive to him.”
{20:39} Then some of the scribes, in response, said to him,
“Teacher, you have spoken well.” {20:40} And they no
longer dared to question him about anything. {20:41} But he
said to them: “How can they say that the Christ is the son of
David? {20:42} Even David himself says, in the book of
Psalms: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand,
{20:43} until I set your enemies as your footstool.’
{20:44} Therefore, David calls him Lord. So how can he be
his son?” {20:45} Now in the hearing of all the people, he
said to his disciples: {20:46} “Be cautious of the scribes, who
choose to walk in long robes, and who love greetings in the
marketplace, and the first chairs in the synagogues, and the
first places at table during feasts, {20:47} who devour the
houses of widows, feigning long prayers. These will receive
the greater damnation.”


[Luke 21] {21:1} And looking around, he saw the wealthy
putting their donations into the offertory. {21:2} Then he also
saw a certain widow, a pauper, putting in two small brass
coins. {21:3} And he said: “Truly, I say to you, that this poor
widow has put in more than all the others. {21:4} For all
these, out of their abundance, have added to the gifts for God.
But she, out of what she needed, has put in all that she had to
live on.” {21:5} And when some of them were saying, about
the temple, that it was adorned with excellent stones and gifts,
he said, {21:6} “These things that you see, the days will
arrive when there will not be left behind stone upon stone,
which is not thrown down.” {21:7} Then they questioned
him, saying: “Teacher, when will these things be? And what
will be the sign when these things will happen?” {21:8} And
he said: “Be cautious, lest you be seduced. For many will
come in my name, saying: ‘For I am he,’ and, ‘The time has
drawn near.’ And so, do not choose to go after them.
{21:9} And when you will have heard of battles and seditions,
do not be terrified. These things must happen first. But the
end is not so soon.” {21:10} Then he said to them: “People
will rise up against people, and kingdom against kingdom.
{21:11} And there will be great earthquakes in various places,
and pestilences, and famines, and terrors from heaven; and
there will be great signs. {21:12} But before all these things,
they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, handing
you over to synagogues and into custody, dragging you
before kings and governors, because of my name.
{21:13} And this will be an opportunity for you to give
testimony. {21:14} Therefore, set this in your hearts: that you
should not consider in advance how you might respond.
{21:15} For I will give to you a mouth and wisdom, which
all your adversaries will not be able to resist or contradict.
{21:16} And you will be handed over by your parents, and
brothers, and relatives, and friends. And they will bring about
the death of some of you. {21:17} And you will be hated by
all because of my name. {21:18} And yet, not a hair of your
head will perish. {21:19} By your patience, you shall possess
your souls. {21:20} Then, when you will have seen Jerusalem
encircled by an army, know then that its desolation has
drawn near. {21:21} Then let those who are in Judea flee to
the mountains, and those who are in its midst withdraw, and
those who are in the countryside not enter into it.
{21:22} For these are the days of retribution, so that all things
may be fulfilled, which have been written. {21:23} Then woe
to those who are pregnant or nursing in those days. For there
will be great distress upon the land and great wrath upon this
people. {21:24} And they will fall by the edge of the sword.
And they will be led away as captives into all nations. And
Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles, until the times of
the nations are fulfilled. {21:25} And there will be signs in
the sun and the moon and the stars. And there will be, on
earth, distress among the Gentiles, out of confusion at the
roaring of the sea and of the waves: {21:26} men withering
away out of fear and out of apprehension over the things that
will overwhelm the whole world. For the powers of the
heavens will be moved. {21:27} And then they will see the
Son of man coming on a cloud, with great power and majesty.
{21:28} But when these things begin to happen, lift up your
heads and look around you, because your redemption draws
near.” {21:29} And he told them a comparison: “Take notice
of the fig tree and of all the trees. {21:30} When presently
they produce fruit from themselves, you know that summer is
near. {21:31} So you also, when you will have seen these
things happen, know that the kingdom of God is near.
{21:32} Amen I say to you, this lineage shall not pass away,
until all these things happen. {21:33} Heaven and earth shall
pass away. But my words shall not pass away. {21:34} But be
attentive to yourselves, lest perhaps your hearts may be
weighed down by self-indulgence and inebriation and the
cares of this life. And then that day may overwhelm you
suddenly. {21:35} For like a snare it will overwhelm all those
who sit upon the face of the entire earth. {21:36} And so, be
vigilant, praying at all times, so that you may be held worthy
to escape from all these things, which are in the future, and to
stand before the Son of man.” {21:37} Now in the daytime,
he was teaching in the temple. But truly, departing in the
evening, he lodged on the mount that is called Olivet.
{21:38} And all the people arrived in the morning to listen to
him in the temple.


[Luke 22] {22:1} Now the days of the Feast of Unleavened
Bread, which is called Passover, were approaching.
{22:2} And the leaders of the priests, and the scribes, were
seeking a way to execute Jesus. Yet truly, they were afraid of
the people. {22:3} Then Satan entered into Judas, who was
surnamed Iscariot, one of the twelve. {22:4} And he went out
and was speaking with the leaders of the priests, and the
magistrates, as to how he might hand him over to them.
{22:5} And they were glad, and so they made an agreement
to give him money. {22:6} And he made a promise. And he
was seeking an opportunity to hand him over, apart from the
crowds. {22:7} Then the day of Unleavened Bread arrived,
on which it was necessary to kill the Pascal lamb. {22:8} And
he sent Peter and John, saying, “Go out, and prepare the
Passover for us, so that we may eat.” {22:9} But they said,
“Where do you want us to prepare it?” {22:10} And he said
to them: “Behold, as you are entering into the city, a certain
man will meet you, carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him
to the house into which he enters. {22:11} And you shall say
to the father of the household: “The Teacher says to you:
Where is the guestroom, where I may eat the Passover with
my disciples?’ {22:12} And he will show you a large cenacle,
fully furnished. And so, prepare it there.” {22:13} And going
out, they found it to be just as he had told them. And they
prepared the Passover. {22:14} And when the hour had
arrived, he sat down at table, and the twelve Apostles with
him. {22:15} And he said to them: “With longing have I
desired to eat this Passover with you, before I suffer.
{22:16} For I say to you, that from this time, I will not eat it,
until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” {22:17} And
having taken the chalice, he gave thanks, and he said: “Take
this and share it among yourselves. {22:18} For I say to you,
that I will not drink from the fruit of the vine, until the
kingdom of God arrives.” {22:19} And taking bread, he gave
thanks and broke it and gave it to them, saying: “This is my
body, which is given for you. Do this as a commemoration of
me.” {22:20} Similarly also, he took the chalice, after he had
eaten the meal, saying: “This chalice is the new covenant in
my blood, which will be shed for you. {22:21} But in truth,
behold, the hand of my betrayer is with me at table.
{22:22} And indeed, the Son of man goes according to what
has been determined. And yet, woe to that man by whom he
will be betrayed.” {22:23} And they began to inquire among
themselves, as to which of them might do this. {22:24} Now
there was also a contention among them, as to which of them
seemed to be the greater. {22:25} And he said to them: “The
kings of the Gentiles dominate them; and those who hold
authority over them are called beneficent. {22:26} But it must
not be so with you. Instead, whoever is greater among you,
let him become the lesser. And whoever is the leader, let him
become the server. {22:27} For who is greater: he who sits at
table, or he who serves? Is not he who sits at table? Yet I am
in your midst as one who serves. {22:28} But you are those
who have remained with me during my trials. {22:29} And I
dispose to you, just as my Father has disposed to me, a
kingdom, {22:30} so that you may eat and drink at my table
in my kingdom, and so that you may sit upon thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” {22:31} And the Lord
said: “Simon, Simon! Behold, Satan has asked for you, so
that he may sift you like wheat. {22:32} But I have prayed for
you, so that your faith may not fail, and so that you, once
converted, may confirm your brothers.” {22:33} And he said
to him, “Lord, I am prepared to go with you, even to prison
and to death.” {22:34} And he said, “I say to you, Peter, the
rooster will not crow this day, until you have three times
denied that you know me.” And he said to them,
{22:35} “When I sent you without money or provisions or
shoes, did you lack anything?” {22:36} And they said,
“Nothing.” Then he said to them: “But now, let whoever has
money take it, and likewise with provisions. And whoever
does not have these, let him sell his coat and buy a sword.
{22:37} For I say to you, that what has been written must still
be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was esteemed with the wicked.’
Yet even these things about me have an end.” {22:38} So
they said, “Lord, behold, there are two swords here.” But he
said to them, “It is sufficient.” {22:39} And departing, he
went out, according to his custom, to the Mount of Olives.
And his disciples also followed him. {22:40} And when he
had arrived at the place, he said to them: “Pray, lest you enter
into temptation.” {22:41} And he was separated from them
by about a stone’s throw. And kneeling down, he prayed,
{22:42} saying: “Father, if you are willing, take this chalice
away from me. Yet truly, let not my will, but yours, be
done.” {22:43} Then an Angel appeared to him from heaven,
strengthening him. And being in agony, he prayed more
intensely; {22:44} and so his sweat became like drops of
blood, running down to the ground. {22:45} And when he
had risen up from prayer and had gone to his disciples, he
found them sleeping out of sorrow. {22:46} And he said to
them: “Why are you sleeping? Rise up, pray, lest you enter
into temptation.” {22:47} While he was still speaking, behold,
a crowd arrived. And he who is called Judas, one of the
twelve, went ahead of them and approached Jesus, in order
to kiss him. {22:48} And Jesus said to him, “Judas, do you
betray the Son of man with a kiss?” {22:49} Then those who
were around him, realizing what was about to happen, said
to him: “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” {22:50} And
one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off
his right ear. {22:51} But in response, Jesus said, “Permit
even this.” And when he had touched his ear, he healed him.
{22:52} Then Jesus said to the leaders of the priests, and the
magistrates of the temple, and the elders, who had come to
him: “Have you gone out, as if against a thief, with swords
and clubs? {22:53} When I was with you each day in the
temple, you did not extend your hands against me. But this is
your hour and that of the power of darkness.” {22:54} And
apprehending him, they led him to the house of the high
priest. Yet truly, Peter followed at a distance. {22:55} Now as
they were sitting around a fire, which had been kindled in the
middle of the atrium, Peter was in their midst. {22:56} And
when a certain woman servant had seen him sitting in its
light, and had looked at him intently, she said, “This one was
also with him.” {22:57} But he denied him by saying,
“Woman, I do not know him.” {22:58} And after a little
while, another one, seeing him, said, “You also are one of
them.” Yet Peter said, “O man, I am not.” {22:59} And after
the interval of about one hour had passed, someone else
affirmed it, saying: “Truly, this one also was with him. For
he is also a Galilean.” {22:60} And Peter said: “Man, I do
not know what you are saying.” And at once, while he was
still speaking, the rooster crowed. {22:61} And the Lord
turned around and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered
the word of the Lord that he had said: “For before the rooster
crows, you will deny me three times.” {22:62} And going out,
Peter wept bitterly. {22:63} And the men who were holding
him ridiculed him and beat him. {22:64} And they
blindfolded him and repeatedly struck his face. And they
questioned him, saying: “Prophesy! Who is it that struck
you?” {22:65} And blaspheming in many other ways, they
spoke against him. {22:66} And when it was daytime, the
elders of the people, and the leaders of the priests, and the
scribes convened. And they led him into their council, saying,
“If you are the Christ, tell us.” {22:67} And he said to them:
“If I tell you, you will not believe me. {22:68} And if I also
question you, you will not answer me. Neither will you
release me. {22:69} But from this time, the Son of man will
be sitting at the right hand of the power of God.”
{22:70} Then they all said, “So you are the Son of God?”
And he said. “You are saying that I am.” {22:71} And they
said: “Why do we still require testimony? For we have heard
it ourselves, from his own mouth.”


[Luke 23] {23:1} And the entire multitude of them, rising up,
led him to Pilate. {23:2} Then they began to accuse him,
saying, “We found this one subverting our nation, and
prohibiting giving tribute to Caesar, and saying that he is
Christ the king.” {23:3} And Pilate questioned him, saying:
“You are the king of the Jews?” But in response, he said:
“You are saying it.” {23:4} Then Pilate said to the leaders of
the priests and to the crowds, “I find no case against this
man.” {23:5} But they continued more intensely, saying: “He
has stirred up the people, teaching throughout all of Judea,
beginning from Galilee, even to this place.” {23:6} But Pilate,
upon hearing Galilee, asked if the man were of Galilee.
{23:7} And when he realized that he was under Herod’s
jurisdiction, he sent him away to Herod, who was himself
also at Jerusalem in those days. {23:8} Then Herod, upon
seeing Jesus, was very glad. For he had been wanting to see
him for a long time, because he had heard so many things
about him, and he was hoping to see some kind of sign
wrought by him. {23:9} Then he questioned him with many
words. But he gave him no response at all. {23:10} And the
leaders of the priests, and the scribes, stood firm in
persistently accusing him. {23:11} Then Herod, with his
soldiers, scorned him. And he ridiculed him, clothing him in
a white garment. And he sent him back to Pilate.
{23:12} And Herod and Pilate became friends on that day.
For previously they were enemies to one another.
{23:13} And Pilate, calling together the leaders of the priests,
and the magistrates, and the people, {23:14} said to them:
“You have brought before me this man, as one who disturbs
the people. And behold, having questioned him before you, I
find no case against this man, in those things about which
you accuse him. {23:15} And neither did Herod. For I sent
you all to him, and behold, nothing deserving of death was
recorded about him. {23:16} Therefore, I will chastise him
and release him.” {23:17} Now he was required to release
one person for them on the feast day. {23:18} But the entire
crowd exclaimed together, saying: “Take this one, and
release to us Barabbas!” {23:19} Now he had been cast into
prison because of a certain sedition that occurred in the city
and for murder. {23:20} Then Pilate spoke to them again,
wanting to release Jesus. {23:21} But they shouted in
response, saying: “Crucify him! Crucify him!” {23:22} Then
he said to them a third time: “Why? What evil has he done? I
find no case against him for death. Therefore, I will chastise
him and release him.” {23:23} But they persisted, with loud
voices, in demanding that he be crucified. And their voices
increased in intensity. {23:24} And so Pilate issued a
judgment granting their petition. {23:25} Then he released
for them the one who had been cast into prison for murder
and sedition, whom they were requesting. Yet truly, Jesus he
handed over to their will. {23:26} And as they were leading
him away, they apprehended a certain one, Simon of Cyrene,
as he was returning from the countryside. And they imposed
the cross on him to carry after Jesus. {23:27} Then a great
crowd of people followed him, with women who were
mourning and lamenting him. {23:28} But Jesus, turning to
them, said: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep over me.
Instead, weep over yourselves and over your children.
{23:29} For behold, the days will arrive in which they will
say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not
borne, and the breasts that have not nursed.’ {23:30} Then
they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall over us,’ and to
the hills, ‘Cover us.’ {23:31} For if they do these things with
green wood, what will be done with the dry?” {23:32} Now
they also led out two other criminals with him, in order to
execute them. {23:33} And when they arrived at the place
that is called Calvary, they crucified him there, with the
robbers, one to the right and the other to the left.
{23:34} Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them. For they
know not what they do.” And truly, dividing his garments,
they cast lots. {23:35} And people were standing near,
watching. And the leaders among them derided him, saying:
“He saved others. Let him save himself, if this one is the
Christ, the elect of God.” {23:36} And the soldiers also
ridiculed him, approaching him and offering him vinegar,
{23:37} and saying, “If you are the king of the Jews, save
yourself.” {23:38} Now there was also an inscription written
over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS
THE KING OF THE JEWS. {23:39} And one of those
robbers who were hanging blasphemed him, saying, “If you
are the Christ, save yourself and us.” {23:40} But the other
responded by rebuking him, saying: “Do you have no fear of
God, since you are under the same condemnation?
{23:41} And indeed, it is just for us. For we are receiving
what our deeds deserve. But truly, this one has done nothing
wrong.” {23:42} And he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me
when you come into your kingdom.” {23:43} And Jesus said
to him, “Amen I say to you, this day you shall be with me in
Paradise.” {23:44} Now it was nearly the sixth hour, and a
darkness occurred over the entire earth, until the ninth hour.
{23:45} And the sun was obscured. And the veil of the
temple was torn down the middle. {23:46} And Jesus, crying
out with a loud voice, said: “Father, into your hands I
commend my spirit.” And upon saying this, he expired.
{23:47} Now, the centurion, seeing what had happened,
glorified God, saying, “Truly, this man was the Just One.”
{23:48} And the entire crowd of those who came together to
see this spectacle also saw what had happened, and they
returned, striking their breasts. {23:49} Now all those who
knew him, and the women who had followed him from
Galilee, were standing at a distance, watching these things.
{23:50} And behold, there was a man named Joseph, who
was a councilman, a good and just man, {23:51} (for he had
not consented to their decision or their actions). He was from
Arimathea, a city of Judea. And he was himself also
anticipating the kingdom of God. {23:52} This man
approached Pilate and petitioned for the body of Jesus.
{23:53} And taking him down, he wrapped him in a fine
linen cloth, and he placed him in a tomb hewn from rock, in
which no one had ever been placed. {23:54} And it was the
day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was drawing near.
{23:55} Now the women who had come with him from
Galilee, by following, saw the tomb and the manner in which
his body was placed. {23:56} And upon returning, they
prepared aromatic spices and ointments. But on the Sabbath,
indeed, they rested, according to the commandment.


[Luke 24] {24:1} Then, on the first Sabbath, at very first light,
they went to the tomb, carrying the aromatic spices that they
had prepared. {24:2} And they found the stone rolled back
from the tomb. {24:3} And upon entering, they did not find
the body of the Lord Jesus. {24:4} And it happened that,
while their minds were still confused about this, behold, two
men stood beside them, in shining apparel. {24:5} Then,
since they were afraid and were turning their faces toward the
ground, these two said to them: “Why do you seek the living
with the dead? {24:6} He is not here, for he has risen. Recall
how he spoke to you, when he was still in Galilee,
{24:7} saying: ‘For the Son of man must be delivered into the
hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day
rise again.’ ” {24:8} And they called to mind his words.
{24:9} And returning from the tomb, they reported all these
things to the eleven, and to all the others. {24:10} Now it was
Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary of James, and the
other women who were with them, who told these things to
the Apostles. {24:11} But these words seemed to them a
delusion. And so they did not believe them. {24:12} But
Peter, rising up, ran to the tomb. And stooping down, he saw
the linen cloths positioned alone, and he went away
wondering to himself about what had happened.
{24:13} And behold, two of them went out, on the same day,
to a town named Emmaus, which was the distance of sixty
stadia from Jerusalem. {24:14} And they spoke to one
another about all of these things that had occurred.
{24:15} And it happened that, while they were speculating
and questioning within themselves, Jesus himself, drawing
near, traveled with them. {24:16} But their eyes were
restrained, so that they would not recognize him.
{24:17} And he said to them, “What are these words, which
you are discussing with one another, as you walk and are
sad?” {24:18} And one of them, whose name was Cleopas,
responded by saying to him, “Are you the only one visiting
Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened
there in these days?” {24:19} And he said to them, “What
things?” And they said, “About Jesus of Nazareth, who was a
noble prophet, powerful in works and in words, before God
and all the people. {24:20} And how our high priests and
leaders handed him over to be condemned to death. And they
crucified him. {24:21} But we were hoping that he would be
the Redeemer of Israel. And now, on top of all this, today is
the third day since these things have happened. {24:22} Then,
too, certain women from among us terrified us. For before
daytime, they were at the tomb, {24:23} and, having not
found his body, they returned, saying that they had even seen
a vision of Angels, who said that he is alive. {24:24} And
some of us went out to the tomb. And they found it just as
the women had said. But truly, they did not find him.”
{24:25} And he said to them: “How foolish and reluctant in
heart you are, to believe everything that has been spoken by
the Prophets! {24:26} Was not the Christ required to suffer
these things, and so enter into his glory?” {24:27} And
beginning from Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for
them, in all the Scriptures, the things that were about him.
{24:28} And they drew near to the town where they were
going. And he conducted himself so as to go on further.
{24:29} But they were insistent with him, saying, “Remain
with us, because it is toward evening and now daylight is
declining.” And so he entered with them. {24:30} And it
happened that, while he was at table with them, he took
bread, and he blessed and broke it, and he extended it to
them. {24:31} And their eyes were opened, and they
recognized him. And he vanished from their eyes.
{24:32} And they said to one another, “Was not our heart
burning within us, while he was speaking on the way, and
when he opened the Scriptures to us?” {24:33} And rising up
at that same hour, they returned to Jerusalem. And they
found the eleven gathered together, and those who were with
them, {24:34} saying: “In truth, the Lord has risen, and he
has appeared to Simon.” {24:35} And they explained the
things that were done on the way, and how they had
recognized him at the breaking of the bread. {24:36} Then,
while they were talking about these things, Jesus stood in
their midst, And he said to them: “Peace be with you. It is I.
Do not be afraid.” {24:37} Yet truly, they were very
disturbed and terrified, supposing that they saw a spirit.
{24:38} And he said to them: “Why are you disturbed, and
why do these thoughts rise up in your hearts? {24:39} See my
hands and feet, that it is I myself. Look and touch. For a
spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.”
{24:40} And when he had said this, he showed them his
hands and feet. {24:41} Then, while they were still in
disbelief and in wonder out of joy, he said, “Do you have
anything here to eat?” {24:42} And they offered him a piece
of roasted fish and a honeycomb. {24:43} And when he had
eaten these in their sight, taking up what was left, he gave it
to them. {24:44} And he said to them: “These are the words
that I spoke to you when I was still with you, because all
things must be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses,
and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms about me.”
{24:45} Then he opened their mind, so that they might
understand the Scriptures. {24:46} And he said to them: “For
so it is written, and so it was necessary, for the Christ to
suffer and to rise up from the dead on the third day,
{24:47} and, in his name, for repentance and the remission of
sins to be preached, among all the nations, beginning at
Jerusalem. {24:48} And you are witnesses of these things.
{24:49} And I am sending the Promise of my Father upon
you. But you must stay in the city, until such time as you are
clothed with power from on high.” {24:50} Then he led them
out as far as Bethania. And lifting up his hands, he blessed
them. {24:51} And it happened that, while he was blessing
them, he withdrew from them, and he was carried up into
heaven. {24:52} And worshiping, they returned to Jerusalem
with great joy. {24:53} And they were always in the temple,
praising and blessing God. Amen.


** The Gospel of John **


[John 1] {1:1} In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and God was the Word. {1:2} He was with
God in the beginning. {1:3} All things were made through
Him, and nothing that was made was made without Him.
{1:4} Life was in Him, and Life was the light of men.
{1:5} And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness
did not comprehend it. {1:6} There was a man sent by God,
whose name was John. {1:7} He arrived as a witness to offer
testimony about the Light, so that all would believe through
him. {1:8} He was not the Light, but he was to offer
testimony about the Light. {1:9} The true Light, which
illuminates every man, was coming into this world.
{1:10} He was in the world, and the world was made through
him, and the world did not recognize him. {1:11} He went to
his own, and his own did not accept him. {1:12} Yet
whoever did accept him, those who believed in his name, he
gave them the power to become the sons of God.
{1:13} These are born, not of blood, nor of the will of flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God. {1:14} And the Word
became flesh, and he lived among us, and we saw his glory,
glory like that of an only-begotten son from the Father, full of
grace and truth. {1:15} John offers testimony about him, and
he cries out, saying: “This is the one about whom I said: ‘He
who is to come after me, has been placed ahead of me,
because he existed before me.’ ” {1:16} And from his fullness,
we all have received, even grace for grace. {1:17} For the law
was given though Moses, but grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ. {1:18} No one ever saw God; the only-begotten
Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he himself has
described him. {1:19} And this is the testimony of John,
when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to him,
so that they might ask him, “Who are you?” {1:20} And he
confessed it and did not deny it; and what he confessed was:
“I am not the Christ.” {1:21} And they questioned him:
“Then what are you? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am
not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
{1:22} Therefore, they said to him: “Who are you, so that we
may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say
about yourself?” {1:23} He said, “I am a voice crying out in
the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ just as the
prophet Isaiah said.” {1:24} And some of those who had
been sent were from among the Pharisees. {1:25} And they
questioned him and said to him, “Then why do you baptize,
if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the
Prophet?” {1:26} John answered them by saying: “I baptize
with water. But in your midst stands one, whom you do not
know. {1:27} The same is he who is to come after me, who
has been placed ahead of me, the laces of whose shoes I am
not worthy to loosen.” {1:28} These things happened in
Bethania, across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
{1:29} On the next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him,
and so he said: “Behold, the Lamb of God. Behold, he who
takes away the sin of the world. {1:30} This is the one about
whom I said, ‘After me arrives a man, who has been placed
ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ {1:31} And I did
not know him. Yet it is for this reason that I come baptizing
with water: so that he may be made manifest in Israel.”
{1:32} And John offered testimony, saying: “For I saw the
Spirit descending from heaven like a dove; and he remained
upon him. {1:33} And I did not know him. But he who sent
me to baptize with water said to me: ‘He over whom you will
see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, this is the
one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ {1:34} And I saw,
and I gave testimony: that this one is the Son of God.”
{1:35} The next day again, John was standing with two of his
disciples. {1:36} And catching sight of Jesus walking, he said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God.” {1:37} And two disciples were
listening to him speaking. And they followed Jesus.
{1:38} Then Jesus, turning around and seeing them following
him, said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to
him, “Rabbi (which means in translation, Teacher), where do
you live?” {1:39} He said to them, “Come and see.” They
went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with
him that day. Now it was about the tenth hour. {1:40} And
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who
had heard about him from John and had followed him.
{1:41} First, he found his brother Simon, and he said to him,
“We have found the Messiah,” (which is translated as the
Christ). {1:42} And he led him to Jesus. And Jesus, gazing at
him, said: “You are Simon, son of Jonah. You shall be called
Cephas,” (which is translated as Peter). {1:43} On the next
day, he wanted to go into Galilee, and he found Philip. And
Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” {1:44} Now Philip was from
Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. {1:45} Philip found
Nathanael, and he said to him, “We have found the one
about whom Moses wrote in the Law and the Prophets: Jesus,
the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” {1:46} And Nathanael
said to him, “Can anything good be from Nazareth?” Philip
said to him, “Come and see.” {1:47} Jesus saw Nathanael
coming toward him, and he said about him, “Behold, an
Israelite in whom truly there is no deceit.” {1:48} Nathanael
said to him, “From where do you know me?” Jesus
responded and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when
you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” {1:49} Nathanael
answered him and said: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You
are the King of Israel.” {1:50} Jesus responded and said to
him: “Because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree,
you believe. Greater things than these, you will see.”
{1:51} And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you
will see heaven opened, and the Angels of God ascending
and descending over the Son of man.”


[John 2] {2:1} And on the third day, a wedding was held in
Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
{2:2} Now Jesus was also invited to the wedding, with his
disciples. {2:3} And when the wine was failing, the mother of
Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” {2:4} And Jesus
said to her: “What is that to me and to you, woman? My
hour has not yet arrived.” {2:5} His mother said to the
servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” {2:6} Now in that
place, there were six stone water jars, for the purification
ritual of the Jews, containing two or three measures each.
{2:7} Jesus said to them, “Fill the water jars with water.”
And they filled them to the very top. {2:8} And Jesus said to
them, “Now draw from it, and carry it to the chief steward of
the feast.” And they took it to him. {2:9} Then, when the
chief steward had tasted the water made into wine, since he
did not know where it was from, for only the servants who
had drawn the water knew, the chief steward called the
groom, {2:10} and he said to him: “Every man offers the
good wine first, and then, when they have become inebriated,
he offers what is worse. But you have kept the good wine
until now.” {2:11} This was the beginning of the signs that
Jesus accomplished in Cana of Galilee, and it manifested his
glory, and his disciples believed in him. {2:12} After this, he
descended to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers
and his disciples, but they did not remain there for many days.
{2:13} And the Passover of the Jews was near, and so Jesus
ascended to Jerusalem. {2:14} And he found, sitting in the
temple, sellers of oxen and sheep and doves, and the
moneychangers. {2:15} And when he had made something
like a whip out of little cords, he drove them all out of the
temple, including the sheep and the oxen. And he poured out
the brass coins of the moneychangers, and he overturned
their tables. {2:16} And to those who were selling doves, he
said: “Take these things out of here, and do not make my
Father’s house into a house of commerce.” {2:17} And truly,
his disciples were reminded that it is written: “Zeal for your
house consumes me.” {2:18} Then the Jews responded and
said to him, “What sign can you show to us, that you may do
these things?” {2:19} Jesus responded and said to them,
“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
{2:20} Then the Jews said, “This temple has been built up
over forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?”
{2:21} Yet he was speaking about the Temple of his body.
{2:22 Therefore, when he had resurrected from the dead, his
disciples were reminded that he had said this, and they
believed in the Scriptures and in the word that Jesus had
spoken. {2:23} Now while he was at Jerusalem during the
Passover, on the day of the feast, many trusted in his name,
seeing his signs that he was accomplishing. {2:24} But Jesus
did not trust himself to them, because he himself had
knowledge of all persons, {2:25} and because he had no need
of anyone to offer testimony about a man. For he knew what
was within a man.


[John 3] {3:1} Now there was a man among the Pharisees,
named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. {3:2} He went to
Jesus at night, and he said to him: “Rabbi, we know that you
have arrived as a teacher from God. For no one would be
able to accomplish these signs, which you accomplish, unless
God were with him.” {3:3} Jesus responded and said to him,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one has been reborn anew,
he is not able to see the kingdom of God.” {3:4} Nicodemus
said to him: “How could a man be born when he is old?
Surely, he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s
womb to be reborn?” {3:5} Jesus responded: “Amen, amen, I
say to you, unless one has been reborn by water and the Holy
Spirit, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of God.
{3:6} What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of
the Spirit is spirit. {3:7} You should not be amazed that I said
to you: You must be born anew. {3:8} The Spirit inspires
where he wills. And you hear his voice, but you do not know
where he comes from, or where he is going. So it is with all
who are born of the Spirit.” {3:9} Nicodemus responded and
said to him, “How are these things able to be accomplished?”
{3:10} Jesus responded and said to him: “You are a teacher
in Israel, and you are ignorant of these things? {3:11} Amen,
amen, I say to you, that we speak about what we know, and
we testify about what we have seen. But you do not accept
our testimony. {3:12} If I have spoken to you about earthly
things, and you have not believed, then how will you believe,
if I will speak to you about heavenly things? {3:13} And no
one has ascended to heaven, except the one who descended
from heaven: the Son of man who is in heaven. {3:14} And
just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so also must
the Son of man be lifted up, {3:15} so that whoever believes
in him may not perish, but may have eternal life. {3:16} For
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have
eternal life. {3:17} For God did not send his Son into the
world, in order to judge the world, but in order that the world
may be saved through him. {3:18} Whoever believes in him
is not judged. But whoever does not believe is already judged,
because he does not believe in the name of the only-begotten
Son of God. {3:19} And this is the judgment: that the Light
has come into the world, and men loved darkness more than
light. For their works were evil. {3:20} For everyone who
does evil hates the Light and does not go toward the Light, so
that his works may not be corrected. {3:21} But whoever acts
in truth goes toward the Light, so that his works may be
manifested, because they have been accomplished in God.”
{3:22} After these things, Jesus and his disciples went into
the land of Judea. And he was living there with them and
baptizing. {3:23} Now John was also baptizing, at Aenon
near Salim, because there was much water in that place. And
they were arriving and being baptized. {3:24} For John had
not yet been cast into prison. {3:25} Then a dispute occurred
between the disciples of John and the Jews, about
purification. {3:26} And they went to John and said to him:
“Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, about
whom you offered testimony: behold, he is baptizing and
everyone is going to him.” {3:27} John responded and said:
“A man is not able to receive anything, unless it has been
given to him from heaven. {3:28} You yourselves offer
testimony for me that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but that I
have been sent before him. {3:29} He who holds the bride is
the groom. But the friend of the groom, who stands and
listens to Him, rejoices joyfully at the voice of the groom.
And so, this, my joy, has been fulfilled. {3:30} He must
increase, while I must decrease. {3:31} He who comes from
above, is above everything. He who is from below, is of the
earth, and he speaks about the earth. He who comes from
heaven is above everything. {3:32} And what he has seen and
heard, about this he testifies. And no one accepts his
testimony. {3:33} Whoever has accepted his testimony has
certified that God is truthful. {3:34} For he whom God has
sent speaks the words of God. For God does not give the
Spirit by measure. {3:35} The Father loves the Son, and he
has given everything into his hand. {3:36} Whoever believes
in the Son has eternal life. But whoever is unbelieving toward
the Son shall not see life; instead the wrath of God remains
upon him.”


[John 4] {4:1} And so, when Jesus realized that the Pharisees
had heard that Jesus made more disciples and baptized more
than John, {4:2} (though Jesus himself was not baptizing, but
only his disciples) {4:3} he left behind Judea, and he traveled
again to Galilee. {4:4} Now he needed to cross through
Samaria. {4:5} Therefore, he went into a city of Samaria
which is called Sychar, near the estate which Jacob gave to
his son Joseph. {4:6} And Jacob’s well was there. And so
Jesus, being tired from the journey, was sitting in a certain
way on the well. It was about the sixth hour. {4:7} A woman
of Samaria arrived to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me
to drink.” {4:8} For his disciples had gone into the city in
order to buy food. {4:9} And so, that Samaritan woman said
to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, are requesting a
drink from me, though I am a Samaritan woman?” For the
Jews do not associate with the Samaritans. {4:10} Jesus
responded and said to her: “If you knew the gift of God, and
who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give me to drink,’ perhaps
you would have made a request of him, and he would have
given you living water.” {4:11} The woman said to him:
“Lord, you do not have anything with which to draw water,
and the well is deep. From where, then, do you have living
water? {4:12} Surely, you are not greater than our father
Jacob, who gave us the well and who drank from it, with his
sons and his cattle?” {4:13} Jesus responded and said to her:
“All who drink from this water will thirst again. But whoever
shall drink from the water that I will give to him will not
thirst for eternity. {4:14} Instead, the water that I will give to
him will become in him a fountain of water, springing up into
eternal life.” {4:15} The woman said to him, “Lord, give me
this water, so that I may not thirst and may not come here to
draw water.” {4:16} Jesus said to her, “Go, call your
husband, and return here.” {4:17} The woman responded
and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her: “You have
spoken well, in saying, ‘I have no husband.’ {4:18} For you
have had five husbands, but he whom you have now is not
your husband. You have spoken this in truth.” {4:19} The
woman said to him: “Lord, I see that you are a Prophet.
{4:20} Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you say
that Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
{4:21} Jesus said to her: “Woman, believe me, the hour is
coming when you shall worship the Father, neither on this
mountain, nor in Jerusalem. {4:22} You worship what you
do not know; we worship what we do know. For salvation is
from the Jews. {4:23} But the hour is coming, and it is now,
when true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and
in truth. For the Father also seeks such persons who may
worship him. {4:24} God is Spirit. And so, those who
worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” {4:25} The
woman said to him: “I know that the Messiah is coming
(who is called the Christ). And then, when he will have
arrived, he will announce everything to us.” {4:26} Jesus said
to her: “I am he, the one who is speaking with you.”
{4:27} And then his disciples arrived. And they wondered
that he was speaking with the woman. Yet no one said:
“What are you seeking?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”
{4:28} And so the woman left behind her water jar and went
into the city. And she said to the men there: {4:29} “Come
and see a man who has told me all the things that I have done.
Is he not the Christ?” {4:30} Therefore, they went out of the
city and came to him. {4:31} Meanwhile, the disciples
petitioned him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” {4:32} But he said to
them, “I have food to eat which you do not know.”
{4:33} Therefore, the disciples said to one another, “Could
someone have brought him something to eat?” {4:34} Jesus
said to them: “My food is to do the will of the One who sent
me, so that I may perfect his work. {4:35} Do you not say,
‘There are still four months, and then the harvest arrives?’
Behold, I say to you: Lift up your eyes and look at the
countryside; for it is already ripe for the harvest. {4:36} For
he who reaps, receives wages and gathers fruit unto eternal
life, so that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice
together. {4:37} For in this the word is true: that it is one
who sows, and it is another who reaps. {4:38} I have sent
you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have
labored, and you have entered into their labors.” {4:39} Now
many of the Samaritans from that city believed in him,
because of the word of the woman who was offering
testimony: “For he told me all the things that I have done.”
{4:40} Therefore, when the Samaritans had come to him,
they petitioned him to lodge there. And he lodged there for
two days. {4:41} And many more believed in him, because of
his own word. {4:42} And they said to the woman: “Now we
believe, not because of your speech, but because we ourselves
have heard him, and so we know that he is truly the Savior of
the world.” {4:43} Then, after two days, he departed from
there, and he traveled into Galilee. {4:44} For Jesus himself
offered testimony that a Prophet has no honor in his own
country. {4:45} And so, when he had arrived in Galilee, the
Galileans received him, because they had seen all that he had
done at Jerusalem, in the day of the feast. For they also went
to the feast day. {4:46} Then he went again into Cana of
Galilee, where he made water into wine. And there was a
certain ruler, whose son was sick at Capernaum. {4:47} Since
he had heard that Jesus came to Galilee from Judea, he sent
to him and begged him to come down and heal his son. For
he was beginning to die. {4:48} Therefore, Jesus said to him,
“Unless you have seen signs and wonders, you do not
believe.” {4:49} The ruler said to him, “Lord, come down
before my son dies.” {4:50} Jesus said to him, “Go, your son
lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him,
and so he went away. {4:51} Then, as he was going down,
his servants met him. And they reported to him, saying that
his son was alive. {4:52} Therefore, he asked them at which
hour he had become better. And they said to him, “Yesterday,
at the seventh hour, the fever left him.” {4:53} Then the
father realized that it was at the same hour that Jesus said to
him, “Your son lives.” And both he and his entire household
believed. {4:54} This next sign was the second that Jesus
accomplished, after he had arrived in Galilee from Judea.


[John 5] {5:1} After these things, there was a feast day of the
Jews, and so Jesus ascended to Jerusalem. {5:2} Now at
Jerusalem is the Pool of Evidence, which in Hebrew is
known as the Place of Mercy; it has five porticos.
{5:3} Along these lay a great multitude of the sick, the blind,
the lame, and the withered, waiting for the movement of the
water. {5:4} Now at times an Angel of the Lord would
descend into the pool, and so the water was moved. And
whoever descended first into the pool, after the motion of the
water, he was healed of whatever infirmity held him.
{5:5} And there was a certain man in that place, having been
in his infirmity for thirty-eight years. {5:6} Then, when Jesus
had seen him reclining, and when he realized that he had
been afflicted for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want
to be healed?” {5:7} The invalid answered him: “Lord, I do
not have any man to put me in the pool, when the water has
been stirred. For as I am going, another descends ahead of
me.” {5:8} Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your stretcher,
and walk.” {5:9} And immediately the man was healed. And
he took up his stretcher and walked. Now this day was the
Sabbath. {5:10} Therefore, the Jews said to the one who had
been healed: “It is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to take
up your stretcher.” {5:11} He answered them, “The one who
healed me, he said to me, ‘Take up your stretcher and
walk.’ ” {5:12} Therefore, they questioned him, “Who is that
man, who said to you, “Take up your bed and walk?’ ”
{5:13} But the one who had been given health did not know
who it was. For Jesus had turned aside from the crowd
gathered in that place. {5:14} Afterwards, Jesus found him in
the temple, and he said to him: “Behold, you have been
healed. Do not choose to sin further, otherwise something
worse may happen to you.” {5:15} This man went away, and
he reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had given him
health. {5:16} Because of this, the Jews were persecuting
Jesus, for he was doing these things on the Sabbath.
{5:17} But Jesus answered them, “Even now, my Father is
working, and I am working.” {5:18} And so, because of this,
the Jews were seeking to kill him even more so. For not only
did he break the Sabbath, but he even said that God was his
Father, making himself equal to God. {5:19} Then Jesus
responded and said to them: “Amen, amen, I say to you, the
Son is not able to do anything of himself, but only what he
has seen the Father doing. For whatever he does, even this
does the Son do, similarly. {5:20} For the Father loves the
Son, and he shows him all that he himself does. And greater
works than these will he show him, so much so that you shall
wonder. {5:21} For just as the Father raises the dead and
gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wills.
{5:22} For the Father does not judge anyone. But he has
given all judgment to the Son, {5:23} so that all may honor
the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not
honor the Son, does not honor the Father who sent him.
{5:24} Amen, amen, I say to you, that whoever hears my
word, and believes in him who sent me, has eternal life, and
he does not go into judgment, but instead he crosses from
death into life. {5:25} Amen, amen, I say to you, that the
hour is coming, and it is now, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God; and those who hear it shall live.
{5:26} For just as the Father has life in himself, so also has he
granted to the Son to have life in himself. {5:27} And he has
given him the authority to accomplish judgment. For he is
the Son of man. {5:28} Do not be amazed at this. For the
hour is coming in which all who are in the grave shall hear
the voice of the Son of God. {5:29} And those who have
done good shall go forth to the resurrection of life. Yet truly,
those who have done evil shall go to the resurrection of
judgment. {5:30} I am not able to do anything of myself. As I
hear, so do I judge. And my judgment is just. For I do not
seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me. {5:31} If
I offer testimony about myself, my testimony is not true.
{5:32} There is another who offers testimony about me, and I
know that the testimony which he offers about me is true.
{5:33} You sent to John, and he offered testimony to the
truth. {5:34} But I do not accept testimony from man.
Instead, I say these things, so that you may be saved.
{5:35} He was a burning and shining light. So you were
willing, at the time, to exult in his light. {5:36} But I hold a
greater testimony than that of John. For the works which the
Father has given to me, so that I may complete them, these
works themselves that I do, offer testimony about me: that
the Father has sent me. {5:37} And the Father who has sent
me has himself offered testimony about me. And you have
never heard his voice, nor have you beheld his appearance.
{5:38} And you do not have his word abiding in you. For the
one whom he sent, the same you would not believe.
{5:39} Study the Scriptures. For you think that in them you
have eternal life. And yet they also offer testimony about me.
{5:40} And you are not willing to come to me, so that you
may have life. {5:41}I do not accept glory from men.
{5:42} But I know you, that you do not have the love of God
within you. {5:43} I have come in the name of my Father,
and you do not accept me. If another will arrive in his own
name, him you will accept. {5:44} How are you able to
believe, you who accept glory from one another and yet do
not seek the glory that is from God alone? {5:45} Do not
consider that I might accuse you with the Father. There is
one who accuses you, Moses, in whom you hope. {5:46} For
if you were believing in Moses, perhaps you would believe in
me also. For he wrote about me. {5:47} But if you do not
believe by his writings, how will you believe by my words?”


[John 6] {6:1} After these things, Jesus traveled across the
sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. {6:2} And a great
multitude was following him, for they saw the signs that he
was accomplishing toward those who were infirm.
{6:3} Therefore, Jesus went onto a mountain, and he sat
down there with his disciples. {6:4} Now the Passover, the
feast day of the Jews, was near. {6:5} And so, when Jesus
had lifted up his eyes and had seen that a very great multitude
came to him, he said to Philip, “From where should we buy
bread, so that these may eat?” {6:6} But he said this to test
him. For he himself knew what he would do. {6:7} Philip
answered him, “Two hundred denarii of bread would not be
sufficient for each of them to receive even a little.” {6:8} One
of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to
him: {6:9} “There is a certain boy here, who has five barley
loaves and two fish. But what are these among so many?”
{6:10} Then Jesus said, “Have the men sit down to eat.”
Now, there was much grass in that place. And so the men, in
number about five thousand, sat down to eat.
{6:11} Therefore, Jesus took the bread, and when he had
given thanks, he distributed it to those who were sitting down
to eat; similarly also, from the fish, as much as they wanted.
{6:12} Then, when they were filled, he said to his disciples,
“Gather the fragments that are left over, lest they be lost.”
{6:13} And so they gathered, and they filled twelve baskets
with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which were left
over from those who had eaten. {6:14} Therefore, those men,
when they had seen that Jesus had accomplished a sign, they
said, “Truly, this one is the Prophet who is to come into the
world.” {6:15} And so, when he realized that they were
going to come and take him away and make him king, Jesus
fled back to the mountain, by himself alone. {6:16} Then,
when evening arrived, his disciples descended to the sea.
{6:17} And when they had climbed into a boat, they went
across the sea to Capernaum. And darkness had now arrived,
and Jesus had not returned to them. {6:18} Then the sea was
stirred up by a great wind that was blowing. {6:19} And so,
when they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they
saw Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing near to the boat,
and they were afraid. {6:20} But he said to them: “It is I. Do
not be afraid.” {6:21} Therefore, they were willing to receive
him into the boat. But immediately the boat was at the land
to which they were going. {6:22} On the next day, the crowd
which was standing across the sea saw that there were no
other small boats in that place, except one, and that Jesus had
not entered into the boat with his disciples, but that his
disciples had departed alone. {6:23} Yet truly, other boats
came over from Tiberias, next to the place where they had
eaten the bread after the Lord gave thanks. {6:24} Therefore,
when the crowd had seen that Jesus was not there, nor his
disciples, they climbed into the small boats, and they went to
Capernaum, seeking Jesus. {6:25} And when they had found
him across the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you
come here?” {6:26} Jesus answered them and said: “Amen,
amen, I say to you, you seek me, not because you have seen
signs, but because you have eaten from the bread and were
satisfied. {6:27} Do not work for food that perishes, but for
that which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will
give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”
{6:28} Therefore, they said to him, “What should we do, so
that we may labor in the works of God?” {6:29} Jesus
responded and said to them, “This is the work of God, that
you believe in him whom he sent.” {6:30} And so they said
to him: “Then what sign will you do, so that we may see it
and believe in you? What will you work? {6:31} Our fathers
ate manna in the desert, just as it has been written, ‘He gave
them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” {6:32} Therefore, Jesus
said to them: “Amen, amen, I say to you, Moses did not give
you bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true
bread from heaven. {6:33} For the bread of God is he who
descends from heaven and gives life to the world.”
{6:34} And so they said to him, “Lord, give us this bread
always.” {6:35} Then Jesus said to them: “I am the bread of
life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever
believes in me shall never thirst. {6:36} But I say to you, that
even though you have seen me, you do not believe.
{6:37} All that the Father gives to me shall come to me. And
whoever comes to me, I will not cast out. {6:38} For I
descended from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will
of him who sent me. {6:39} Yet this is the will of the Father
who sent me: that I should lose nothing out of all that he has
given to me, but that I should raise them up on the last day.
{6:40} So then, this is the will of my Father who sent me:
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have
eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
{6:41} Therefore, the Jews murmured about him, because he
had said: “I am the living bread, who descended from
heaven.” {6:42} And they said: “Is this not Jesus, the son of
Joseph, whose father and mother we know? Then how can he
say: ‘For I descended from heaven?’ ” {6:43} And so Jesus
responded and said to them: “Do not choose to murmur
among yourselves. {6:44} No one is able to come to me,
unless the Father, who has sent me, has drawn him. And I
will raise him up on the last day. {6:45} It has been written in
the Prophets: ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone
who has listened and learned from the Father comes to me.
{6:46} Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is
from God; this one has seen the Father. {6:47} Amen, amen,
I say to you, whoever believes in me has eternal life. {6:48} I
am the bread of life. {6:49} Your fathers ate manna in the
desert, and they died. {6:50} This is the bread which
descends from heaven, so that if anyone will eat from it, he
may not die. {6:51} I am the living bread, who descended
from heaven. {6:52} If anyone eats from this bread, he shall
live in eternity. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, for
the life of the world.” {6:53} Therefore, the Jews debated
among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his
flesh to eat?” {6:54} And so, Jesus said to them: “Amen,
amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man
and drink his blood, you will not have life in you.
{6:55} Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has
eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. {6:56} For
my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
{6:57} Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in
me, and I in him. {6:58} Just as the living Father has sent me
and I live because of the Father, so also whoever eats me, the
same shall live because of me. {6:59} This is the bread that
descends from heaven. It is not like the manna that your
fathers ate, for they died. Whoever eats this bread shall live
forever.” {6:60} He said these things when he was teaching
in the synagogue at Capernaum. {6:61} Therefore, many of
his disciples, upon hearing this, said: “This saying is
difficult,” and, “Who is able to listen to it?” {6:62} But Jesus,
knowing within himself that his disciples were murmuring
about this, said to them: “Does this offend you? {6:63} Then
what if you were to see the Son of man ascending to where he
was before? {6:64} It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh
does not offer anything of benefit. The words that I have
spoken to you are spirit and life. {6:65} But there are some
among you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the
beginning who were unbelieving and which one would betray
him. {6:66} And so he said, “For this reason, I said to you
that no one is able to come to me, unless it has been given to
him by my Father.” {6:67} After this, many of his disciples
went back, and they no longer walked with him.
{6:68} Therefore, Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want
to go away?” {6:69} Then Simon Peter answered him: “Lord,
to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.
{6:70} And we have believed, and we recognize that you are
the Christ, the Son of God.” {6:71} Jesus answered them:
“Have I not chosen you twelve? And yet one among you is a
devil.” {6:72} Now he was speaking about Judas Iscariot, the
son of Simon. For this one, even though he was one of the
twelve, was about to betray him.


[John 7] {7:1} Then, after these things, Jesus was walking in
Galilee. For he was not willing to walk in Judea, because the
Jews were seeking to kill him. {7:2} Now the feast day of the
Jews, the Feast of Tabernacles, was near. {7:3} And his
brothers said to him: “Move away from here and go into
Judea, so that your disciples there may also see your works
that you do. {7:4} Of course, no one does anything in secret,
but he himself seeks to be in the public view. Since you do
these things, manifest yourself to the world.” {7:5} For
neither did his brothers believe in him. {7:6} Therefore, Jesus
said to them: “My time has not yet come; but your time is
always at hand. {7:7} The world cannot hate you. But it
hates me, because I offer testimony about it, that its works are
evil. {7:8} You may go up to this feast day. But I am not
going up to this feast day, because my time has not yet been
fulfilled.” {7:9} When he had said these things, he himself
remained in Galilee. {7:10} But after his brothers went up,
then he also went up to the feast day, not openly, but as if in
secret. {7:11} Therefore, the Jews were seeking him on the
feast day, and they were saying, “Where is he?” {7:12} And
there was much murmuring in the crowd concerning him.
For certain ones were saying, “He is good.” But others were
saying, “No, for he seduces the crowds.” {7:13} Yet no one
was speaking openly about him, out of fear of the Jews.
{7:14} Then, about the middle of the feast, Jesus ascended
into the temple, and he was teaching. {7:15} And the Jews
wondered, saying: “How does this one know letters, though
he has not been taught?” {7:16} Jesus responded to them and
said: “My doctrine is not of me, but of him who sent me.
{7:17} If anyone has chosen to do his will, then he will
realize, about the doctrine, whether it is from God, or
whether I am speaking from myself. {7:18} Whoever speaks
from himself seeks his own glory. But whoever seeks the
glory of him who sent him, this one is true, and injustice is
not in him. {7:19} Did not Moses give you the law? And yet
not one among you keeps the law! {7:20} Why are you
seeking to kill me?” The crowd responded and said: “You
must have a demon. Who is seeking to kill you?”
{7:21} Jesus responded and said to them: “One work have I
done, and you all wonder. {7:22} For Moses gave you
circumcision, (not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers) and
on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. {7:23} If a man can
receive circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses
may not be broken, why are you indignant toward me,
because I have made a man whole on the Sabbath? {7:24} Do
not judge according to appearances, but instead judge a just
judgment.” {7:25} Therefore, some of those from Jerusalem
said: “Is he not the one whom they are seeking to kill?
{7:26} And behold, he is speaking openly, and they say
nothing to him. Could the leaders have decided that it is true
this one is the Christ? {7:27} But we know him and where he
is from. And when the Christ has arrived, no one will know
where he is from.” {7:28} Therefore, Jesus cried out in the
temple, teaching and saying: “You know me, and you also
know where I am from. And I have not arrived of myself, but
he who sent me is true, and him you do not know. {7:29} I
know him. For I am from him, and he has sent me.”
{7:30} Therefore, they were seeking to apprehend him, and
yet no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet
come. {7:31} But many among the crowd believed in him,
and they were saying, “When the Christ arrives, will he
perform more signs than this man does?” {7:32} The
Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about him.
And the leaders and the Pharisees sent attendants to
apprehend him. {7:33} Therefore, Jesus said to them: “For a
brief time, I am still with you, and then I am going to him
who sent me. {7:34} You shall seek me, and you will not find
me. And where I am, you are not able to go.” {7:35} And so
the Jews said among themselves: “Where is this place to
which he will go, such that we will not find him? Will he go
to those dispersed among the Gentiles and teach the Gentiles?
{7:36} What is this word that he spoke, ‘You will seek me
and you will not find me; and where I am, you are not able to
go?’ ” {7:37} Then, on the last great day of the feast, Jesus
was standing and crying out, saying: “If anyone thirsts, let
him come to me and drink: {7:38} whoever believes in me,
just as Scripture says, ‘From his chest shall flow rivers of
living water.’ ” {7:39} Now he said this about the Spirit,
which those who believe in him would soon be receiving. For
the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet
been glorified. {7:40} Therefore, some from that crowd,
when they had heard these words of his, were saying, “This
one truly is the Prophet.” {7:41} Others were saying, “He is
the Christ.” Yet certain ones were saying: “Does the Christ
come from Galilee? {7:42} Does Scripture not say that the
Christ comes from the offspring of David and from
Bethlehem, the town where David was?” {7:43} And so there
arose a dissension among the multitude because of him.
{7:44} Now certain ones among them wanted to
apprehended him, but no one laid hands upon him.
{7:45} Therefore, the attendants went to the high priests and
the Pharisees. And they said to them, “Why have you not
brought him?” {7:46} The attendants responded, “Never has
a man spoken like this man.” {7:47} And so the Pharisees
answered them: “Have you also been seduced? {7:48} Have
any of the leaders believed in him, or any of the Pharisees?
{7:49} But this crowd, which does not know the law, they are
accursed.” {7:50} Nicodemus, the one who came to him by
night and who was one of them, said to them, {7:51} “Does
our law judge a man, unless it has first heard him and has
known what he has done?” {7:52} They responded and said
to him: “Are you also a Galilean? Study the Scriptures, and
see that a prophet does not arise from Galilee.” {7:53} And
each one returned to his own house.


[John 8] {8:1} But Jesus continued on to the Mount of Olives.
{8:2} And early in the morning, he went again to the temple;
and all the people came to him. And sitting down, he taught
them. {8:3} Now the scribes and Pharisees brought forward a
woman caught in adultery, and they stood her in front of
them. {8:4} And they said to him: “Teacher, this woman was
just now caught in adultery. {8:5} And in the law, Moses
commanded us to stone such a one. Therefore, what do you
say?” {8:6} But they were saying this to test him, so that they
might be able to accuse him. Then Jesus bent down and
wrote with his finger on the earth. {8:7} And then, when they
persevered in questioning him, he stood upright and said to
them, “Let whoever is without sin among you be the first to
cast a stone at her.” {8:8} And bending down again, he wrote
on the earth. {8:9} But upon hearing this, they went away,
one by one, beginning with the eldest. And Jesus alone
remained, with the woman standing in front of him.
{8:10} Then Jesus, raising himself up, said to her: “Woman,
where are those who accused you? Has no one condemned
you?” {8:11} And she said, “No one, Lord.” Then Jesus said:
“Neither will I condemn you. Go, and now do not choose to
sin anymore.” {8:12} Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying:
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me does not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” {8:13} And
so the Pharisees said to him, “You offer testimony about
yourself; your testimony is not true.” {8:14} Jesus responded
and said to them: “Even though I offer testimony about
myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from
and where I am going. {8:15} You judge according to the
flesh. I do not judge anyone. {8:16} And when I do judge,
my judgment is true. For I am not alone, but it is I and he
who sent me: the Father. {8:17} And it is written in your law
that the testimony of two men is true. {8:18} I am one who
offers testimony about myself, and the Father who sent me
offers testimony about me.” {8:19} Therefore, they said to
him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered: “You know
neither me, nor my Father. If you did know me, perhaps you
would know my Father also.” {8:20} Jesus spoke these words
at the treasury, while teaching in the temple. And no one
apprehended him, because his hour had not yet come.
{8:21} Therefore, Jesus again spoke to them: “I am going,
and you shall seek me. And you will die in your sin. Where I
am going, you are not able to go.” {8:22} And so the Jews
said, “Is he going to kill himself, for he said: ‘Where I am
going, you are not able to go?’ ” {8:23} And he said to them:
“You are from below. I am from above. You are of this world.
I am not of this world. {8:24} Therefore, I said to you, that
you will die in your sins. For if you will not believe that I am,
you will die in your sin.” {8:25} And so they said to him,
“Who are you?” Jesus said to them: “The Beginning, who is
also speaking to you. {8:26} I have much to say about you
and to judge. But he who sent me is true. And what I have
heard from him, this I speak within the world.” {8:27} And
they did not realize that he was calling God his Father.
{8:28} And so Jesus said to them: “When you will have lifted
up the Son of man, then you shall realize that I am, and that I
do nothing of myself, but just as the Father has taught me, so
do I speak. {8:29} And he who sent me is with me, and he
has not abandoned me alone. For I always do what is
pleasing to him.” {8:30} As he was speaking these things,
many believed in him. {8:31} Therefore, Jesus said to those
Jews who believed in him: “If you will abide in my word,
you will truly be my disciples. {8:32} And you shall know the
truth, and the truth shall set you free.” {8:33} They answered
him: “We are the offspring of Abraham, and we have never
been a slave to anyone. How can you say, ‘You shall be set
free?’ ” {8:34} Jesus answered them: “Amen, amen, I say to
you, that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
{8:35} Now the slave does not abide in the house for eternity.
Yet the Son does abide in eternity. {8:36} Therefore, if the
Son has set you free, then you will truly be free. {8:37} I
know that you are sons of Abraham. But you are seeking to
kill me, because my word has not taken hold in you. {8:38} I
speak what I have seen with my Father. And you do what
you have seen with your father.” {8:39} They responded and
said to him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them: “If
you are the sons of Abraham, then do the works of Abraham.
{8:40} But now you are seeking to kill me, a man who has
spoken the truth to you, which I have heard from God. This
is not what Abraham did. {8:41} You do the works of your
father.” Therefore, they said to him: “We were not born out
of fornication. We have one father: God.” {8:42} Then Jesus
said to them: “If God were your father, certainly you would
love me. For I proceeded and came from God. For I did not
come from myself, but he sent me. {8:43} Why do you not
recognize my speech? It is because you are not able to hear
my word. {8:44} You are of your father, the devil. And you
will carry out the desires of your father. He was a murderer
from the beginning. And he did not stand in the truth,
because the truth is not in him. When he speaks a lie, he
speaks it from his own self. For he is a liar, and the father of
lies. {8:45} But if I speak the truth, you do not believe me.
{8:46} Which of you can convict me of sin? If I speak the
truth to you, why do you not believe me? {8:47} Whoever is
of God, hears the words of God. For this reason, you do not
hear them: because you are not of God.” {8:48} Therefore,
the Jews responded and said to him, “Are we not correct in
saying that you are a Samaritan, and that you have a
demon?” {8:49} Jesus responded: “I do not have a demon.
But I honor my Father, and you have dishonored me.
{8:50} But I am not seeking my own glory. There is One who
seeks and judges. {8:51} Amen, amen, I say to you, if anyone
will have kept my word, he will not see death for eternity.”
{8:52} Therefore, the Jews said: “Now we know that you
have a demon. Abraham is dead, and the Prophets; and yet
you say, ‘If anyone will have kept my word, he shall not taste
death for eternity.’ {8:53} Are you greater than our father
Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. So who
do you make yourself to be?” {8:54} Jesus responded: “If I
glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who
glorifies me. And you say about him that he is your God.
{8:55} And yet you have not known him. But I know him.
And if I were to say that I do not know him, then I would be
like you, a liar. But I know him, and I keep his word.
{8:56} Abraham, your father, rejoiced that he might see my
day; he saw it and was glad.” {8:57} And so the Jews said to
him, “You have not yet reached fifty years, and you have
seen Abraham?” {8:58} Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I
say to you, before Abraham was made, I am.”
{8:59} Therefore, they took up stones to cast at him. But
Jesus hid himself, and he departed from the temple.


[John 9] {9:1} And Jesus, while passing by, saw a man blind
from birth. {9:2} And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who
sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”
{9:3} Jesus responded: “Neither this man nor his parents
sinned, but it was so that the works of God would be made
manifest in him. {9:4} I must work the works of him who
sent me, while it is day: the night is coming, when no one is
able to work. {9:5} As long as I am in the world, I am the
light of the world.” {9:6} When he had said these things, he
spat on the ground, and he made clay from the spittle, and he
smeared the clay over his eyes. {9:7} And he said to him:
“Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated as: one
who has been sent). Therefore, he went away and washed,
and he returned, seeing. {9:8} And so the bystanders and
those who had seen him before, when he was a beggar, said,
“Ts this not the one who was sitting and begging?” Some said,
“This is he.” {9:9} But others said, “Certainly not, but he is
similar to him.” Yet truly, he himself said, “I am he.”
{9:10} Therefore, they said to him, “How were your eyes
opened?” {9:11} He responded: “That man who is called
Jesus made clay, and he anointed my eyes and said to me,
‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ And I went, and I
washed, and I see.” {9:12} And they said to him, “Where is
he?” He said, “I do not know.” {9:13} They brought the one
who had been blind to the Pharisees. {9:14} Now it was the
Sabbath, when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
{9:15} Therefore, again the Pharisees questioned him as to
how he had seen. And he said to them, “He placed clay over
my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” {9:16} And so certain
Pharisees said: “This man, who does not keep the Sabbath, is
not from God.” But others said, “How could a sinful man
accomplish these signs?” And there was a schism among
them. {9:17} Therefore, they spoke again to the blind man,
“What do you say about him who opened your eyes?” Then
he said, “He is a Prophet.” {9:18} Therefore, the Jews did
not believe, about him, that he had been blind and had seen,
until they called the parents of him who had seen.
{9:19} And they questioned them, saying: “Is this your son,
whom you say was born blind? Then how is it that he now
sees?” {9:20} His parents responded to them and said: “We
know that this is our son and that he was born blind.
{9:21} But how it is that he now sees, we do not know. And
who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him. He is old
enough. Let him speak for himself.” {9:22} His parents said
these things because they were afraid of the Jews. For the
Jews had already conspired, so that if anyone were to confess
him to be the Christ, he would be expelled from the
synagogue. {9:23} It was for this reason that his parents said:
“He is old enough. Ask him.” {9:24} Therefore, they again
called the man who had been blind, and they said to him:
“Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
{9:25} And so he said to them: “If he is a sinner, I do not
know it. One thing I do know, that although I was blind, now
I see.” {9:26} Then they said to him: “What did he do to you?
How did he open your eyes?” {9:27} He answered them: “I
have already told you, and you heard it. Why do you want to
hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”
{9:28} Therefore, they cursed him and said: “You be his
disciple. But we are disciples of Moses. {9:29} We know that
God spoke to Moses. But this man, we do not know where he
is from.” {9:30} The man responded and said to them: “Now
in this is a wonder: that you do not know where he is from,
and yet he has opened my eyes. {9:31} And we know that
God does not hear sinners. But if anyone is a worshipper of
God and does his will, then he heeds him. {9:32} From
ancient times, it has not been heard that anyone has opened
the eyes of someone born blind. {9:33} Unless this man were
of God, he would not be able to do any such thing.”
{9:34} They responded and said to him, “You were born
entirely in sins, and you would teach us?” And they cast him
out. {9:35} Jesus heard that they had cast him out. And when
he had found him, he said to him, “Do you believe in the Son
of God?” {9:36} He responded and said, “Who is he, Lord,
so that I may believe in him?” {9:37} And Jesus said to him,
“You have both seen him, and he is the one who is speaking
with you.” {9:38} And he said, “I believe, Lord.” And falling
prostrate, he worshipped him. {9:39} And Jesus said, “I
came into this world in judgment, so that those who do not
see, may see; and so that those who see, may become blind.”
{9:40} And certain Pharisees, who were with him, heard this,
and they said to him, “Are we also blind?” {9:41} Jesus said
to them: “If you were blind, you would not have sin. Yet
now you say, ‘We see.’ So your sin persists.”


[John 10] {10:1} “Amen, amen, I say to you, he who does
not enter through the door into the fold of the sheep, but
climbs up by another way, he is a thief and a robber.
{10:2} But he who enters through the door is the shepherd of
the sheep. {10:3} To him the doorkeeper opens, and the
sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name,
and he leads them out. {10:4} And when he has sent out his
sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him,
because they know his voice. {10:5} But they do not follow a
stranger; instead they flee from him, because they do not
know the voice of strangers.” {10:6} Jesus spoke this proverb
to them. But they did not understand what he was saying to
them. {10:7} Therefore, Jesus spoke to them again: “Amen,
amen, I say to you, that I am the door of the sheep.
{10:8} All others, as many as have come, are thieves and
robbers, and the sheep did not listen to them. {10:9} I am the
door. If anyone has entered through me, he will be saved.
And he shall go in and go out, and he shall find pastures.
{10:10} The thief does not come, except so that he may steal
and slaughter and destroy. I have come so that they may have
life, and have it more abundantly. {10:11} I am the good
Shepherd. The good Shepherd gives his life for his sheep.
{10:12} But the hired hand, and whoever is not a shepherd,
to whom the sheep do not belong, he sees the wolf
approaching, and he departs from the sheep and flees. And
the wolf ravages and scatters the sheep. {10:13} And the
hired hand flees, because he is a hired hand and there is no
concern for the sheep within him. {10:14} I am the good
Shepherd, and I know my own, and my own know me,
{10:15} just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father.
And I lay down my life for my sheep. {10:16} And I have
other sheep that are not of this fold, and I must lead them.
They shall hear my voice, and there shall be one sheepfold
and one shepherd. {10:17} For this reason, the Father loves
me: because I lay down my life, so that I may take it up again.
{10:18} No one takes it away from me. Instead, I lay it down
of my own accord. And I have the power to lay it down. And
I have the power to take it up again. This is the
commandment that I have received from my Father.”
{10:19} A dissension occurred again among the Jews because
of these words. {10:20} Then many of them were saying: “He
has a demon or he is insane. Why do you listen him?”
{10:21} Others were saying: “These are not the words of
someone who has a demon. How would a demon be able to
open the eyes of the blind?” {10:22} Now it was the Feast of
the Dedication at Jerusalem, and it was winter. {10:23} And
Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon.
{10:24} And so the Jews surrounded him and said to him:
“How long will you hold our souls in suspense? If you are the
Christ, tell us plainly.” {10:25} Jesus answered them: “I
speak to you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in
the name of my Father, these offer testimony about me.
{10:26} But you do not believe, because you are not of my
sheep. {10:27} My sheep hear my voice. And I know them,
and they follow me. {10:28} And I give them eternal life, and
they shall not perish, for eternity. And no one shall seize
them from my hand. {10:29} What my Father gave to me is
greater than all, and no one is able to seize from the hand of
my Father. {10:30}I and the Father are one.”
{10:31} Therefore, the Jews took up stones, in order to stone
him. {10:32} Jesus answered them: “I have shown you many
good works from my Father. For which of those works do
you stone me?” {10:33} The Jews answered him: “We do not
stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy and because,
though you are a man, you make yourself God.”
{10:34} Jesus responded to them: “Is it not written in your
law, ‘I said: you are gods?’ {10:35} If he called those to
whom the word of God was given gods, and Scripture cannot
be broken, {10:36} why do you say, about him whom the
Father has sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You have
blasphemed,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God?’
{10:37} If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe
in me. {10:38} But if I do them, even if you are not willing to
believe in me, believe the works, so that you may know and
believe that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.”
{10:39} Therefore, they sought to apprehend him, but he
escaped from their hands. {10:40} And he went again across
the Jordan, to that place where John first was baptizing. And
he lodged there. {10:41} And many went out to him. And
they were saying: “Indeed, John accomplished no signs.
{10:42} But all things whatsoever that John said about this
man were true.” And many believed in him.


[John 11] {11:1} Now there was a certain sick man, Lazarus
of Bethania, from the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
{11:2} And Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with
ointment and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother
Lazarus was sick. {11:3} Therefore, his sisters sent to him,
saying: “Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick.”
{11:4} Then, upon hearing this, Jesus said to them: “This
sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, so that
the Son of God may be glorified by it.” {11:5} Now Jesus
loved Martha, and her sister Mary, and Lazarus. {11:6} Even
so, after he heard that he was sick, he then still remained in
the same place for two days. {11:7} Then, after these things,
he said to his disciples, “Let us go into Judea again.”
{11:8} The disciples said to him: “Rabbi, the Jews are even
now seeking to stone you. And would you go there again?”
{11:9} Jesus responded: “Are there not twelve hours in the
day? If anyone walks in the daylight, he does not stumble,
because he sees the light of this world. {11:10} But if he
walks in the nighttime, he stumbles, because the light is not
in him.” {11:11} He said these things, and after this, he said
to them: “Lazarus our friend is sleeping. But I am going, so
that I may awaken him from sleep.” {11:12} And so his
disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he shall be healthy.”
{11:13} But Jesus had spoken about his death. Yet they
thought that he spoke about the repose of sleep.
{11:14} Therefore, Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus
has died. {11:15} And I am glad for your sake that I was not
there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
{11:16} And then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to
his fellow disciples, “Let us go, too, so that we may die with
him.” {11:17} And so Jesus went. And he found that he had
already been in the tomb for four days. {11:18} (Now
Bethania was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia.)
{11:19} And many of the Jews had come to Martha and
Mary, so as to console them over their brother.
{11:20} Therefore, Martha, when she heard that Jesus was
arriving, went out to meet him. But Mary was sitting at home.
{11:21} And then Martha said to Jesus: “Lord, if you had
been here, my brother would not have died. {11:22} But even
now, I know that whatever you will request from God, God
will give to you.” {11:23} Jesus said to her, “Your brother
shall rise again.” {11:24} Martha said to him, “I know that
he shall rise again, at the resurrection on the last day.”
{11:25} Jesus said to her: “I am the Resurrection and the Life.
Whoever believes in me, even though he has died, he shall
live. {11:26} And everyone who lives and believes in me shall
not die for eternity. Do you believe this?” {11:27} She said to
him: “Certainly, Lord. I have believed that you are the Christ,
the Son of the living God, who has come into this world.”
{11:28} And when she had said these things, she went and
called her sister Mary quietly, saying, “The Teacher is here,
and he is calling you.” {11:29} When she heard this, she rose
up quickly and went to him. {11:30} For Jesus had not yet
arrived in the town. But he was still at that place where
Martha had met him. {11:31} Therefore, the Jews who were
with her in the house and who were consoling her, when they
had seen that Mary rose up quickly and went out, they
followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb, so that she
may weep there.” {11:32} Therefore, when Mary had arrived
to where Jesus was, seeing him, she fell down at his feet, and
she said to him. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother
would not have died.” {11:33} And then, when Jesus saw her
weeping, and the Jews who had arrived with her weeping, he
groaned in spirit and became troubled. {11:34} And he said,
“Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come
and see.” {11:35} And Jesus wept. {11:36} Therefore, the
Jews said, “See how much he loved him!” {11:37} But some
of them said, “Would not he who opened the eyes of one
born blind have been able to cause this man not to die?”
{11:38} Therefore, Jesus, again groaning from within himself,
went to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone had been
placed over it. {11:39} Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of him who had died, said to him, “Lord,
by now it will smell, for this is the fourth day.” {11:40} Jesus
said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you
shall see the glory of God?” {11:41} Therefore, they took
away the stone. Then, lifting up his eyes, Jesus said: “Father,
I give thanks to you because you have heard me.
{11:42} And I know that you always hear me, but I have said
this for the sake of the people who are standing nearby, so
that they may believe that you have sent me.” {11:43} When
he had said these things, he cried in a loud voice, “Lazarus,
come out.” {11:44} And immediately, he who had been dead
went forth, bound at the feet and hands with winding bands.
And his face was bound with a separate cloth. Jesus said to
them, “Release him and let him go.” {11:45} Therefore,
many of the Jews, who had come to Mary and Martha, and
who had seen the things that Jesus did, believed in him.
{11:46} But certain ones among them went to the Pharisees
and told them the things that Jesus had done. {11:47} And so,
the high priests and the Pharisees gathered a council, and
they were saying: “What can we do? For this man
accomplishes many signs. {11:48} If we leave him alone, in
this way all will believe in him. And then the Romans will
come and take away our place and our nation.”
{11:49} Then one of them, named Caiaphas, since he was the
high priest that year, said to them: “You do not understand
anything. {11:50} Nor do you realize that it is expedient for
you that one man should die for the people, and that the
entire nation should not perish.” {11:51} Yet he did not say
this from himself, but since he was the high priest that year,
he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation.
{11:52} And not only for the nation, but in order to gather
together as one the children of God who have been dispersed.
{11:53} Therefore, from that day, they planned to put him to
death. {11:54} And so, Jesus no longer walked in public with
the Jews. But he went into a region near the desert, to a city
which is called Ephraim. And he lodged there with his
disciples. {11:55} Now the Passover of the Jews was near.
And many from the countryside ascended to Jerusalem
before the Passover, so that they might sanctify themselves.
{11:56} Therefore, they were seeking Jesus. And they
conferred with one another, while standing in the temple:
“What do you think? Will he come to the feast day?”
{11:57} And the high priests and Pharisees had given an
order, so that if anyone would know where he may be, he
should reveal it, so that they might apprehend him.


[John 12] {12:1} Then six days before the Passover, Jesus
went to Bethania, where Lazarus had died, whom Jesus
raised up. {12:2} And they made a dinner for him there. And
Martha was ministering. And truly, Lazarus was one of those
who were sitting at table with him. {12:3} And then Mary
took twelve ounces of pure spikenard ointment, very precious,
and she anointed the feet of Jesus, and she wiped his feet
with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of
the ointment. {12:4} Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot,
who was soon to betray him, said, {12:5} “Why was this
ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the
needy?” {12:6} Now he said this, not out of concern for the
needy, but because he was a thief and, since he held the purse,
he used to carry what was put into it. {12:7} But Jesus said:
“Permit her, so that she may keep it against the day of my
burial. {12:8} For the poor, you have with you always. But
me, you do always not have.” {12:9} Now a great multitude
of the Jews knew that he was in that place, and so they came,
not so much because of Jesus, but so that they might see
Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. {12:10} And
the leaders of the priests planned to put Lazarus to death also.
{12:11} For many of the Jews, because of him, were going
away and were believing in Jesus. {12:12} Then, on the next
day, the great crowd that had come to the feast day, when
they had heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
{12:13} took branches of palm trees, and they went ahead to
meet him. And they were crying out: “Hosanna! Blessed is he
who arrives in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel!”
{12:14} And Jesus found a small donkey, and he sat upon it,
just as it is written: {12:15} “Do not be afraid, daughter of
Zion. Behold, your king arrives, sitting on the colt of a
donkey.” {12:16} At first, his disciples did not realize these
things. But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered
that these things were written about him, and that these
things happened to him. {12:17} And so the crowd that had
been with him, when he called Lazarus from the tomb and
raised him from the dead, offered testimony. {12:18} Because
of this, too, the crowd went out to meet him. For they heard
that he had accomplished this sign. {12:19} Therefore, the
Pharisees said among themselves: “Do you see that we are
accomplishing nothing? Behold, the entire world has gone
after him.” {12:20} Now there were certain Gentiles among
those who went up so that they might worship on the feast
day. {12:21} Therefore, these approached Philip, who was
from Bethsaida of Galilee, and they petitioned him, saying:
“Sir, we want to see Jesus.” {12:22} Philip went and told
Andrew. Next, Andrew and Philip told Jesus. {12:23} But
Jesus answered them by saying: “The hour arrives when the
Son of man shall be glorified. {12:24} Amen, amen, I say to
you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
{12:25} it remains alone. But if it dies, it yields much fruit.
Whoever loves his life, will lose it. And whoever hates his life
in this world, preserves it unto eternal life. {12:26} If anyone
serves me, let him follow me. And where I am, there too my
minister shall be. If anyone has served me, my Father will
honor him. {12:27} Now my soul is troubled. And what
should I say? Father, save me from this hour? But it is for this
reason that I came to this hour. {12:28} Father, glorify your
name!” And then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified
it, and I will glorify it again.” {12:29} Therefore, the crowd,
which was standing near and had heard it, said that it was
like thunder. Others were saying, “An Angel was speaking
with him.” {12:30} Jesus responded and said: “This voice
came, not for my sake, but for your sakes. {12:31} Now is the
judgment of the world. Now will the prince of this world be
cast out. {12:32} And when I have been lifted up from the
earth, I will draw all things to myself.” {12:33} (Now he said
this, signifying what kind of death he would die.)
{12:34} The crowd answered him: “We have heard, from the
law, that the Christ remains forever. And so how can you say,
‘The Son of man must be lifted up?’ Who is this Son of
man?” {12:35} Therefore, Jesus said to them: “For a brief
time, the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light,
so that the darkness may not overtake you. But whoever
walks in darkness does not know where is he going.
{12:36} While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so
that you may be sons of the Light.” Jesus spoke these things,
and then he went away and hid himself from them.
{12:37} And although he had done such great signs in their
presence, they did not believe in him, {12:38} so that the
word of the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled, which says:
“Lord, who has believed in our hearing? And to whom has
the arm of the Lord been revealed?” {12:39} Because of this,
they were not able to believe, for Isaiah said again:
{12:40} “He has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart,
so that they may not see with their eyes, and understand with
their heart, and be converted: and then I would heal them.”
{12:41} These things Isaiah said, when he saw his glory and
was speaking about him. {12:42} Yet truly, many of the
leaders also believed in him. But because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess him, so that they would not be cast out
of the synagogue. {12:43} For they loved the glory of men
more than the glory of God. {12:44} But Jesus cried out and
said: “Whoever believes in me, does not believe in me, but in
him who sent me. {12:45} And whoever sees me, sees him
who sent me. {12:46} I have arrived as a light to the world,
so that all who believe in me might not remain in darkness.
{12:47} And if anyone has heard my words and not kept
them, I do not judge him. For I did not come so that I may
judge the world, but so that I may save the world.
{12:48} Whoever despises me and does not accept my words
has one who judges him. The word that I have spoken, the
same shall judge him on the last day. {12:49} For I am not
speaking from myself, but from the Father who sent me. He
gave a commandment to me as to what I should say and how
I should speak. {12:50} And I know that his commandment
is eternal life. Therefore, the things that I speak, just as the
Father has said to me, so also do I speak.”


[John 13] {13:1} Before the feast day of the Passover, Jesus
knew that the hour was approaching when he would pass
from this world to the Father. And since he had always loved
his own who were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
{13:2} And when the meal had taken place, when the devil
had now put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of
Simon, to betray him, {13:3} knowing that the Father had
given all things into his hands and that he came from God
and was going to God, {13:4} he rose up from the meal, and
he set aside his vestments, and when he had received a towel,
he wrapped it around himself. {13:5} Next he put water into
a shallow bowl, and he began to wash the feet of the disciples
and to wipe them with the towel with which he was wrapped.
{13:6} And then he came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to
him, “Lord, would you wash my feet?” {13:7} Jesus
responded and said to him: “What I am doing, you do not
now understand. But you shall understand it afterward.”
{13:8} Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet!”
Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you will have no
place with me.” {13:9} Simon Peter said to him, “Then Lord,
not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!”
{13:10} Jesus said to him: “He who is washed need only
wash his feet, and then he will be entirely clean. And you are
clean, but not all.” {13:11} For he knew which one would
betray him. For this reason, he said, “You are not all clean.”
{13:12} And so, after he washed their feet and received his
vestments, when he had sat down at table again, he said to
them: “Do you know what I have done for you? {13:13} You
call me Teacher and Lord, and you speak well: for so I am.
{13:14} Therefore, if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed
your feet, you also ought to wash the feet of one another.
{13:15} For I have given you an example, so that just as I
have done for you, so also should you do. {13:16} Amen,
amen, I say to you, the servant is not greater than his Lord,
and the apostle is not greater than he who sent him.
{13:17} If you understand this, you shall be blessed if you
will do it. {13:18} I am not speaking about all of you. I know
those whom I have chosen. But this is so that the Scripture
may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with me shall lift up his
heel against me.’ {13:19} And I tell you this now, before it
happens, so that when it has happened, you may believe that
I am. {13:20} Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives
anyone whom I send, receives me. And whoever receives me,
receives him who sent me.” {13:21} When Jesus had said
these things, he was troubled in spirit. And he bore witness
by saying: “Amen, amen, I say to you, that one among you
shall betray me.” {13:22} Therefore, the disciples looked
around at one another, uncertain about whom he spoke.
{13:23} And leaning against the bosom of Jesus was one of
his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved. {13:24} Therefore,
Simon Peter motioned to this one and said to him, “Who is it
that he is speaking about?” {13:25} And so, leaning against
the chest of Jesus, he said to him, “Lord, who is it?”
{13:26} Jesus responded, “It is he to whom I shall extend the
dipped bread.” And when he had dipped the bread, he gave it
to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. {13:27} And after the morsel,
Satan entered into him. And Jesus said to him, “What you
are going to do, do quickly.” {13:28} Now none of those
sitting at table knew why he had said this to him. {13:29} For
some were thinking that, because Judas held the purse, that
Jesus had told him, “Buy those things which are needed by us
for the feast day,” or that he might give something to the
needy. {13:30} Therefore, having accepted the morsel, he
went out immediately. And it was night. {13:31} Then, when
he had gone out, Jesus said: “Now the Son of man has been
glorified, and God has been glorified in him. {13:32} If God
has been glorified in him, then God will also glorify him in
himself, and he will glorify him without delay. {13:33} Little
sons, for a brief while, I am with you. You shall seek me, and
just as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you are not able
to go,’ so also I say to you now. {13:34} I give you a new
commandment: Love one another. Just as I have loved you,
so also must you love one another. {13:35} By this, all shall
recognize that you are my disciples: if you will have love for
one another.” {13:36} Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where
are you going?” Jesus responded: “Where I am going, you
are not able to follow me now. But you shall follow
afterward.” {13:37} Peter said to him: “Why am I unable to
follow you now? I will lay down my life for you!”
{13:38} Jesus answered him: “You will lay down your life for
me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the rooster will not crow,
until you deny me three times.”


[John 14] {14:1} “Do not let your heart be troubled. You
believe in God. Believe in me also. {14:2} In my Father’s
house, there are many dwelling places. If there were not, I
would have told you. For I go to prepare a place for you.
{14:3} And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will return
again, and then I will take you to myself, so that where I am,
you also may be. {14:4} And you know where I am going.
And you know the way.” {14:5} Thomas said to him, “Lord,
we do not know where you are going, so how can we know
the way?” {14:6} Jesus said to him: “I am the Way, and the
Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except
through me. {14:7} If you had known me, certainly you
would also have known my Father. And from now on, you
shall know him, and you have seen him.” {14:8} Philip said
to him, “Lord, reveal the Father to us, and it is enough for
us.” {14:9} Jesus said to him: “Have I been with you for so
long, and you have not known me? Philip, whoever sees me,
also sees the Father. How can you say, ‘Reveal the Father to
us?’ {14:10} Do you not believe that I am in the Father and
the Father is in me? The words that I am speaking to you, I
do not speak from myself. But the Father abiding in me, he
does these works. {14:11} Do you not believe that I am in the
Father and the Father is in me? {14:12} Or else, believe
because of these same works. Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me shall also do the works that I do. And
greater things than these shall he do, for I go to the Father.
{14:13} And whatever you shall ask the Father in my name,
that I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
{14:14} If you shall ask anything of me in my name, that I
will do. {14:15} If you love me, keep my commandments.
{14:16} And I will ask the Father, and he will give another
Advocate to you, so that he may abide with you for eternity:
{14:17} the Spirit of Truth, whom the world is not able to
accept, because it neither perceives him nor knows him. But
you shall know him. For he will remain with you, and he will
be in you. {14:18} I will not leave you orphans. I will return
to you. {14:19} Yet a little while and the world will not see
me any longer. But you will see me. For I live, and you shall
live. {14:20} In that day, you shall know that I am in my
Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
{14:21} Whoever holds to my commandments and keeps
them: it is he who loves me. And whoever loves me shall be
loved by my Father. And I will love him, and I will manifest
myself to him.” {14:22} Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him:
“Lord, how does it happen that you will manifest yourself to
us and not to the world?” {14:23} Jesus responded and said
to him: “If anyone loves me, he shall keep my word. And my
Father will love him, and we will come to him, and we will
make our dwelling place with him. {14:24} Whoever does
not love me, does not keep not my words. And the word that
you have heard is not of me, but it is of the Father who sent
me. {14:25} These things I have spoken to you, while abiding
with you. {14:26} But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom
the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and
will suggest to you everything whatsoever that I have said to
you. {14:27} Peace I leave for you; my Peace I give to you.
Not in the way that the world gives, do I give to you. Do not
let your heart be troubled, and let it not fear. {14:28} You
have heard that I said to you: I am going away, and I am
returning to you. If you loved me, certainly you would be
gladdened, because I am going to the Father. For the Father
is greater than I. {14:29} And now I have told you this,
before it happens, so that, when it will happen, you may
believe. {14:30} I will not now speak at length with you. For
the prince of this world is coming, but he does not have
anything in me. {14:31} Yet this is so that the world may
know that I love the Father, and that I am acting according to
the commandment that the Father has given to me. Rise up,
let us go from here.”


[John 15] {15:1} “I am the true vine, and my Father is the
vinedresser. {15:2} Every branch in me that does not bear
fruit, he will take away. And each one that does bear fruit, he
will cleanse, so that it may bring forth more fruit. {15:3} You
are clean now, because of the word that I have spoken to you.
{15:4} Abide in me, and I in you. Just as the branch is not
able to bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so also
are you unable, unless you abide in me. {15:5} I am the vine;
you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him,
bears much fruit. For without me, you are able to do nothing.
{15:6} If anyone does not abide in me, he will be cast away,
like a branch, and he will wither, and they will gather him
and cast him into the fire, and he burns. {15:7} If you abide
in me, and my words abide in you, then you may ask for
whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. {15:8} In this,
my Father is glorified: that you should bring forth very much
fruit and become my disciples. {15:9} As the Father has
loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love. {15:10} If
you keep my precepts, you shall abide in my love, just as I
also have kept my Father’s precepts and I abide in his love.
{15:11} These things I have spoken to you, so that my joy
may be in you, and your joy may be fulfilled. {15:12} This is
my precept: that you love one another, just as I have loved
you. {15:13} No one has a greater love than this: that he lay
down his life for his friends. {15:14} You are my friends, if
you do what I instruct you. {15:15} I will no longer call you
servants, for the servant does not know what his Lord is
doing. But I have called you friends, because everything
whatsoever that I have heard from my Father, I have made
known to you. {15:16} You have not chosen me, but I have
chosen you. And I have appointed you, so that you may go
forth and bear fruit, and so that your fruit may last. Then
whatever you have asked of the Father in my name, he shall
give to you. {15:17} This I command you: that you love one
another. {15:18} If the world hates you, know that it has
hated me before you. {15:19} If you had been of the world,
the world would love what is its own. Yet truly, you are not
of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world; because
of this, the world hates you. {15:20} Remember my saying
that I told you: The servant is not greater than his Lord. If
they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they
have kept my word, they will keep yours also. {15:21} But all
these things they will do to you because of my name, for they
do not know him who sent me. {15:22} If I had not come
and had not spoken to them, they would not have sin. But
now they have no excuse for their sin. {15:23} Whoever
hates me, hates my Father also. {15:24} If I had not
accomplished among them works that no other person has
accomplished, they would not have sin. But now they have
both seen me, and they have hated me and my Father.
{15:25} But this is so that the word may be fulfilled which
was written in their law: ‘For they hated me without cause.’
{15:26} But when the Advocate has arrived, whom I will
send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds
from the Father, he will offer testimony about me.
{15:27} And you shall offer testimony, because you are with
me from the beginning.”


[John 16] {16:1} “These things I have spoken to you, so that
you would not stumble. {16:2} They will put you out of the
synagogues. But the hour is coming when everyone who puts
you to death will consider that he is offering an excellent
service to God. {16:3} And they will do these things to you
because they have not known the Father, nor me. {16:4} But
these things I have spoken to you, so that, when the hour for
these things will have arrived, you may remember that I told
you. {16:5} But I did not tell you these things from the
beginning, because I was with you. And now I am going to
him who sent me. And no one among you has asked me,
‘Where are you going?’ {16:6} But because I have spoken
these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. {16:7} But I
tell you the truth: it is expedient for you that I am going. For
if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But when I
will have gone away, I will send him to you. {16:8} And
when he has arrived, he will argue against the world, about
sin and about justice and about judgment: {16:9} about sin,
indeed, because they have not believed in me; {16:10} about
justice, truly, because I am going to the Father, and you will
not see me any longer; {16:11} about judgment, then,
because the prince of this world has already been judged.
{16:12} I still have many things to say to you, but you are not
able to bear them now. {16:13} But when the Spirit of truth
has arrived, he will teach the whole truth to you. For he will
not be speaking from himself. Instead, whatever he will hear,
he will speak. And he will announce to you the things that
are to come. {16:14} He shall glorify me. For he will receive
from what is mine, and he will announce it to you.
{16:15} All things whatsoever that the Father has are mine.
For this reason, I said that he will receive from what is mine
and that he will announce it to you. {16:16} A little while,
and then you will not see me. And again a little while, and
you will see me. For I am going to the Father.” {16:17} Then
some of his disciples said to one another: “What is this, that
he is saying to us: ‘A little while, and you will not see me,’
and ‘Again a little while, and you will see me,’ and, ‘For I am
going to the Father?’ ” {16:18} And they said: “What is this,
that he is saying, ‘A little while?’ We do not understand what
he is saying.” {16:19} But Jesus realized that they wanted to
question him, and so he said to them: “Are you inquiring
among yourselves about this, that I said: ‘A little while, and
you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see
me?’ {16:20} Amen, amen, I say to you, that you shall
mourn and weep, but the world will rejoice. And you shall be
greatly saddened, yet your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
{16:21} A woman, when she is giving birth, has sorrow,
because her hour has arrived. But when she has given birth to
the child, then she no longer remembers the difficulties,
because of the joy: for a man has been born into the world.
{16:22} Therefore, you also, indeed, have sorrow now. But I
will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice. And no one
will take away your joy from you. {16:23} And, in that day,
you will not petition me for anything. Amen, amen, I say to
you, if you ask the Father for anything in my name, he will
give it to you. {16:24} Until now, you have not requested
anything in my name. Ask, and you shall receive, so that
your joy may be full. {16:25} I have spoken these things to
you in proverbs. The hour is coming when I will no longer
speak to you in proverbs; instead, I will announce to you
plainly from the Father. {16:26} In that day, you shall ask in
my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father
for you. {16:27} For the Father himself loves you, because
you have loved me, and because you have believed that I
went forth from God. {16:28} I went forth from the Father,
and I have come into the world. Next I am leaving the world,
and I am going to the Father.” {16:29} His disciples said to
him: “Behold, now you are speaking plainly and not reciting
a proverb. {16:30} Now we know that you know all things,
and that you have no need for anyone to question you. By
this, we believe that you went forth from God.” {16:31} Jesus
answered them: “Do you believe now? {16:32} Behold, the
hour is coming, and it has now arrived, when you will be
scattered, each one on his own, and you will leave me behind,
alone. And yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.
{16:33} These things I have spoken to you, so that you may
have peace in me. In the world, you will have difficulties. But
have confidence: I have overcome the world.”
[John 17] {17:1} Jesus said these things, and then, lifting up
his eyes toward heaven, he said: “Father, the hour has
arrived: glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you,
{17:2} just as you have given authority over all flesh to him,
so that he may give eternal life to all those whom you have
given to him. {17:3} And this is eternal life: that they may
know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you
have sent. {17:4} I have glorified you on earth. I have
completed the work that you gave me to accomplish.
{17:5} And now Father, glorify me within yourself, with the
glory that I had with you before the world ever was. {17:6} I
have manifested your name to the men whom you have given
to me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them
to me. And they have kept your word. {17:7} Now they
realize that all the things that you have given me are from
you. {17:8} For I have given them the words that you gave to
me. And they have accepted these words, and they have truly
understood that I went forth from you, and they have
believed that you sent me. {17:9} I pray for them. I do not
pray for the world, but for those whom you have given to me.
For they are yours. {17:10} And all that is mine is yours, and
all that is yours is mine, and I am glorified in this.
{17:11} And though I am not in the world, these are in the
world, and I am coming to you. Father most holy, preserve
them in your name, those whom you have given to me, so
that they may be one, even as we are one. {17:12} While I
was with them, I preserved them in your name. I have
guarded those whom you have given to me, and not one of
them is lost, except the son of perdition, so that the Scripture
may be fulfilled. {17:13} And now I am coming to you. But I
am speaking these things in the world, so that they may have
the fullness of my joy within themselves. {17:14} I have given
them your word, and the world has hated them. For they are
not of the world, just as I, too, am not of the world. {17:15} I
am not praying that you would take them out of the world,
but that you would preserve them from evil. {17:16} They are
not of the world, just as I also am not of the world.
{17:17} Sanctify them in truth. Your word is truth.
{17:18} Just as you have sent me into the world, I also have
sent them into the world. {17:19} And it is for them that I
sanctify myself, so that they, too, may be sanctified in truth.
{17:20} But I am not praying for them only, but also for
those who through their word shall believe in me. {17:21} So
may they all be one. Just as you, Father, are in me, and I am
in you, so also may they be one in us: so that the world may
believe that you have sent me. {17:22} And the glory that
you have given to me, I have given to them, so that they may
be one, just as we also are one. {17:23} I am in them, and
you are in me. So may they be perfected as one. And may the
world know that you have sent me and that you have loved
them, just as you have also loved me. {17:24} Father, I will
that where I am, those whom you have given to me may also
be with me, so that they may see my glory which you have
given to me. For you loved me before the founding of the
world. {17:25} Father most just, the world has not known
you. But I have known you. And these have known that you
sent me. {17:26} And I have made known your name to
them, and I will make it known, so that the love in which you
have loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in
them.”


[John 18] {18:1} When Jesus had said these things, he
departed with his disciples across the Torrent of Kidron,
where there was a garden, into which he entered with his
disciples. {18:2} But Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the
place, for Jesus had frequently met with his disciples there.
{18:3} Then Judas, when he had received a cohort from both
the high priests and the attendants of the Pharisees,
approached the place with lanterns and torches and weapons.
{18:4} And so Jesus, knowing all that was about to happen to
him, advanced and said to them, “Who are you seeking?”
{18:5} They answered him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus said
to them, “I am he.” Now Judas, who betrayed him, was also
standing with them. {18:6} Then, when he said to them, “I
am he,” they moved back and fell to the ground. {18:7} Then
again he questioned them: “Who are you seeking?” And they
said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” {18:8} Jesus responded: “I told
you that I am he. Therefore, if you are seeking me, permit
these others to go away.” {18:9} This was so that the word
might be fulfilled, which he said, “Of those whom you have
given to me, I have not lost any of them.” {18:10} Then
Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, and he struck the
servant of the high priest, and he cut off his right ear. Now
the name of the servant was Malchus. {18:11} Therefore,
Jesus said to Peter: “Set your sword into the scabbard.
Should I not drink the chalice which my Father has given to
me?” {18:12} Then the cohort, and the tribune, and the
attendants of the Jews apprehended Jesus and bound him.
{18:13} And they led him away, first to Annas, for he was
the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest that
year. {18:14} Now Caiaphas was the one who had given
counsel to the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die
for the people. {18:15} And Simon Peter was following Jesus
with another disciple. And that disciple was known to the
high priest, and so he entered with Jesus into the court of the
high priest. {18:16} But Peter was standing outside at the
entrance. Therefore, the other disciple, who was known to
the high priest, went out and spoke to the woman who was
the doorkeeper, and he led in Peter. {18:17} Therefore, the
woman servant keeping the door said to Peter, “Are you not
also among the disciples of this man?” He said, “I am not.”
{18:18} Now the servants and attendants were standing
before burning coals, for it was cold, and they were warming
themselves. And Peter was standing with them also, warming
himself. {18:19} Then the high priest questioned Jesus about
his disciples and about his doctrine. {18:20} Jesus responded
to him: “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always
taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews
meet. And I have said nothing in secret. {18:21} Why do you
question me? Question those who heard what I said to them.
Behold, they know these things that I have said.”
{18:22} Then, when he had said this, one the attendants
standing nearby struck Jesus, saying: “Is this the way you
answer the high priest?” {18:23} Jesus answered him: “If I
have spoken wrongly, offer testimony about the wrong. But if
I have spoken correctly, then why do you strike me?”
{18:24} And Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high
priest. {18:25} Now Simon Peter was standing and warming
himself. Then they said to him, “Are you not also one of his
disciples?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” {18:26} One of
the servants of the high priest (a relative of him whose ear
Peter had cut off) said to him, “Did I not see you in the
garden with him?” {18:27} Therefore, again, Peter denied it.
And immediately the rooster crowed. {18:28} Then they led
Jesus from Caiaphas into the praetorium. Now it was
morning, and so they did not enter into the praetorium, so
that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.
{18:29} Therefore, Pilate went outside to them, and he said,
“What accusation are you bringing against this man?”
{18:30} They responded and said to him, “If he were not an
evil-doer, we would not have handed him over you.”
{18:31} Therefore, Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves
and judge him according to your own law.” Then the Jews
said to him, “It is not lawful for us to execute anyone.”
{18:32} This was so that the word of Jesus would be fulfilled,
which he spoke signifying what kind of death he would die.
{18:33} Then Pilate entered the praetorium again, and he
called Jesus and said to him, “You are the king of the Jews?”
{18:34} Jesus responded, “Are you saying this of yourself, or
have others spoken to you about me?” {18:35} Pilate
responded: “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the high
priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?”
{18:36} Jesus responded: “My kingdom is not of this world.
If my kingdom were of this world, my ministers would
certainly strive so that I would not be handed over to the
Jews. But my kingdom is not now from here.” {18:37} And
so Pilate said to him, “You are a king, then?” Jesus answered,
“You are saying that I am a king. For this I was born, and for
this I came into the world: so that I may offer testimony to
the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.”
{18:38} Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” And when he
had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and he said to
them, “I find no case against him. {18:39} But you have a
custom, that I should release someone to you at the Passover.
Therefore, do you want me to release to you the king of the
Jews?” {18:40} Then they all cried out repeatedly, saying:
“Not this one, but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a robber.


[John 19] {19:1} Therefore, Pilate then took Jesus into
custody and scourged him. {19:2} And the soldiers, plaiting a
crown of thorns, imposed it on his head. And they put a
purple garment around him. {19:3} And they were
approaching him and saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And
they struck him repeatedly. {19:4} Then Pilate went outside
again, and he said to them: “Behold, I am bringing him out
to you, so that you may realize that I find no case against
him.” {19:5} (Then Jesus went out, bearing the crown of
thorns and the purple garment.) And he said to them,
“Behold the man.” {19:6} Therefore, when the high priests
and the attendants had seen him, they cried out, saying:
“Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them: “Take him
yourselves and crucify him. For I find no case against him.”
{19:7} The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and
according to the law, he ought to die, for he has made himself
the Son of God.” {19:8} Therefore, when Pilate had heard
this word, he was more fearful. {19:9} And he entered into
the praetorium again. And he said to Jesus. “Where are you
from?” But Jesus gave him no response. {19:10} Therefore,
Pilate said to him: “Will you not speak to me? Do you not
know that I have authority to crucify you, and I have
authority to release you?” {19:11} Jesus responded, “You
would not have any authority over me, unless it were given to
you from above. For this reason, he who has handed me over
to you has the greater sin.” {19:12} And from then on, Pilate
was seeking to release him. But the Jews were crying out,
saying: “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar.
For anyone who makes himself a king contradicts Caesar.”
{19:13} Now when Pilate had heard these words, he brought
Jesus outside, and he sat down in the seat of judgment, in a
place which is called the Pavement, but in Hebrew, it is called
the Elevation. {19:14} Now it was the preparation day of the
Passover, about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews,
“Behold your king.” {19:15} But they were crying out: “Take
him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them,
“Shall I crucify your king?” The high priests responded, “We
have no king except Caesar.” {19:16} Therefore, he then
handed him over to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus
and led him away. {19:17} And carrying his own cross, he
went forth to the place which is called Calvary, but in
Hebrew it is called the Place of the Skull. {19:18} There they
crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side,
with Jesus in the middle. {19:19} Then Pilate also wrote a
title, and he set it above the cross. And it was written: JESUS
THE NAZARENE, KING OF THE JEWS.
{19:20} Therefore, many of the Jews read this title, for the
place where Jesus was crucified was close to the city. And it
was written in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin. {19:21} Then
the high priests of the Jews said to Pilate: Do not write, ‘King
of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’
{19:22} Pilate responded, “What I have written, I have
written.” {19:23} Then the soldiers, when they had crucified
him, took his garments, and they made four parts, one part to
each soldier, and the tunic. But the tunic was seamless,
woven from above throughout the whole. {19:24} Then they
said to one another, “Let us not cut it, but instead let us cast
lots over it, to see whose it will be.” This was so that the
Scripture would be fulfilled, saying: “They have distributed
my garments among themselves, and for my vesture they
have cast lots.” And indeed, the soldiers did these things.
{19:25} And standing beside the cross of Jesus were his
mother, and his mother’s sister, and Mary of Cleophas, and
Mary Magdalene. {19:26} Therefore, when Jesus had seen
his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he
said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son.” {19:27} Next,
he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother.” And from that
hour, the disciple accepted her as his own. {19:28} After this,
Jesus knew that all had been accomplished, so in order that
the Scripture might be completed, he said, “I thirst.”
{19:29} And there was a container placed there, full of
vinegar. Then, placing a sponge full of vinegar around hyssop,
they brought it to his mouth. {19:30} Then Jesus, when he
had received the vinegar, said: “It is consummated.” And
bowing down his head, he surrendered his spirit.
{19:31} Then the Jews, because it was the preparation day,
so that the bodies would not remain upon the cross on the
Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a great day), they petitioned
Pilate in order that their legs might be broken, and they might
be taken away. {19:32} Therefore, the soldiers approached,
and, indeed, they broke the legs of the first one, and of the
other who was crucified with him. {19:33} But after they had
approached Jesus, when they saw that he was already dead,
they did not break his legs. {19:34} Instead, one of the
soldiers opened his side with a lance, and immediately there
went out blood and water. {19:35} And he who saw this has
offered testimony, and his testimony is true. And he knows
that he speaks the truth, so that you also may believe.
{19:36} For these things happened so that the Scripture
would be fulfilled: “You shall not break a bone of him.”
{19:37} And again, another Scripture says: “They shall look
upon him, whom they have pierced.” {19:38} Then, after
these things, Joseph from Arimathea, (because he was a
disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews)
petitioned Pilate so that he might take away the body of Jesus.
And Pilate gave permission. Therefore, he went and took
away the body of Jesus. {19:39} Now Nicodemus also
arrived, (who had gone to Jesus at first by night) bringing a
mixture of myrrh and aloe, weighing about seventy pounds.
{19:40} Therefore, they took the body of Jesus, and they
bound it with linen cloths and the aromatic spices, just as it is
the manner of the Jews to bury. {19:41} Now in the place
where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden
there was a new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid.
{19:42} Therefore, because of the preparation day of the Jews,
since the tomb was nearby, they placed Jesus there.


[John 20] {20:1} Then on the first Sabbath, Mary Magdalene
went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and she saw
that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb.
{20:2} Therefore, she ran and went to Simon Peter, and to
the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and she said to them,
“They have taken the Lord away from the tomb, and we do
not know where they have laid him.” {20:3} Therefore, Peter
departed with the other disciple, and they went to the tomb.
{20:4} Now they both ran together, but the other disciple ran
more quickly, ahead of Peter, and so he arrived at the tomb
first. {20:5} And when he bowed down, he saw the linen
cloths lying there, but he did not yet enter. {20:6} Then
Simon Peter arrived, following him, and he entered the tomb,
and he saw the linen cloths lying there, {20:7} and the
separate cloth which had been over his head, not placed with
the linen cloths, but in a separate place, wrapped up by itself.
{20:8} Then the other disciple, who had arrived first at the
tomb, also entered. And he saw and believed. {20:9} For as
yet they did not understand the Scripture, that it was
necessary for him to rise again from the dead. {20:10} Then
the disciples went away again, each by himself. {20:11} But
Mary was standing outside the tomb, weeping. Then, while
she was weeping, she bowed down and gazed into the tomb.
{20:12} And she saw two Angels in white, sitting where the
body of Jesus had been placed, one at the head, and one at
the feet. {20:13} They say to her, “Woman, why are you
weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away
my Lord, and I do not know where they have placed him.”
{20:14} When she had said this, she turned around and saw
Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
{20:15} Jesus said to her: “Woman, why are you weeping?
Who are you seeking?” Considering that it was the gardener,
she said to him, “Sir, if you have moved him, tell me where
you have placed him, and I will take him away.”
{20:16} Jesus said to her, “Mary!” And turning, she said to
him, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). {20:17} Jesus said
to her: “Do not touch me. For I have not yet ascended to my
Father. But go to my brothers and tell them: ‘I am ascending
to my Father and to your Father, to my God and to your
God.’ ” {20:18} Mary Magdalene went, announcing to the
disciples, “I have seen the Lord, and these are the things that
he said to me.” {20:19} Then, when it was late on the same
day, on the first of the Sabbaths, and the doors were closed
where the disciples were gathered, for fear of the Jews, Jesus
came and stood in their midst, and he said to them: “Peace to
you.” {20:20} And when he had said this, he showed them
his hands and side. And the disciples were gladdened when
they saw the Lord. {20:21} Therefore, he said to them again:
“Peace to you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
{20:22} When he had said this, he breathed on them. And he
said to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit. {20:23} Those whose
sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and those
whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.” {20:24} Now
Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called the Twin, was not
with them when Jesus arrived. {20:25} Therefore, the other
disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said
to them, “Unless I will see in his hands the mark of the nails
and place my finger into the place of the nails, and place my
hand into his side, I will not believe.” {20:26} And after eight
days, again his disciples were within, and Thomas was with
them. Jesus arrived, though the doors had been closed, and
he stood in their midst and said, “Peace to you.”
{20:27} Next, he said to Thomas: “Look at my hands, and
place your finger here; and bring your hand close, and place
it at my side. And do not choose to be unbelieving, but
faithful.” {20:28} Thomas responded and said to him, “My
Lord and my God.” {20:29} Jesus said to him: “You have
seen me, Thomas, so you have believed. Blessed are those
who have not seen and yet have believed.” {20:30} Jesus also
accomplished many other signs in the sight of his disciples.
These have not been written in this book. {20:31} But these
things have been written, so that you may believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and so that, in believing, you
may have life in his name.


[John 21] {21:1} After this, Jesus manifested himself again to
the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And he manifested
himself in this way. {21:2} These were together: Simon Peter
and Thomas, who is called the Twin, and Nathanael, who
was from Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two
others of his disciples. {21:3} Simon Peter said to them, “I
am going fishing.” They said to him, “And we are going with
you.” And they went and climbed into the ship. And in that
night, they caught nothing. {21:4} But when morning arrived,
Jesus stood on the shore. Yet the disciples did not realize that
it was Jesus. {21:5} Then Jesus said to them, “Children, do
you have any food?” They answered him, “No.” {21:6} He
said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the ship, and
you will find some.” Therefore, they cast it out, and then they
were not able to draw it in, because of the multitude of fish.
{21:7} Therefore, the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter,
“Tt is the Lord.” Simon Peter, when he had heard that it was
the Lord, wrapped his tunic around himself, (for he was
naked) and he cast himself into the sea. {21:8} Then the other
disciples arrived in a boat, (for they were not far from the
land, only about two hundred cubits) dragging the net with
the fish. {21:9} Then, when they climbed down to the land
they saw burning coals prepared, and fish already placed
above them, and bread. {21:10} Jesus said to them, “Bring
some of the fish that you have just now caught.”
{21:11} Simon Peter climbed up and drew in the net to land:
full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three of them. And
although there were so many, the net was not torn.
{21:12} Jesus said to them, “Approach and dine.” And not
one of them sitting down to eat dared to ask him, “Who are
you?” For they knew that it was the Lord. {21:13} And Jesus
approached, and he took bread, and he gave it to them, and
similarly with the fish. {21:14} This was now the third time
that Jesus was manifested to his disciples, after he had
resurrected from the dead. {21:15} Then, when they had
dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do
you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord,
you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my
lambs.” {21:16} He said to him again: “Simon, son of John,
do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that
I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” {21:17} He
said to him a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love
me?” Peter was very grieved that he had asked him a third
time, “Do you love me?” And so he said to him: “Lord, you
know all things. You know that I love you.” He said to him,
“Feed my sheep. {21:18} Amen, amen, I say to you, when
you were younger, you girded yourself and walked wherever
you wanted. But when you are older, you will extend your
hands, and another shall gird you and lead you where you do
not want to go.” {21:19} Now he said this to signify by what
kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said
this, he said to him, “Follow me.” {21:20} Peter, turning
around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, the
one who also had leaned on his chest at supper and said,
“Lord, who is it who shall betray you?” {21:21} Therefore,
when Peter had seen him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, but what
about this one?” {21:22} Jesus said to him: “If I want him to
remain until I return, what is that to you? You follow me.”
{21:23} Therefore, the saying went out among the brothers
that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say to him
that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain
until I return, what is that to you?” {21:24} This is the same
disciple who offers testimony about these things, and who
has written these things. And we know that his testimony is
true. {21:25} Now there are also many other things that Jesus
did, which, if each of these were written down, the world
itself, I suppose, would not be able to contain the books that
would be written.


** The Acts of the Apostles **


[Acts 1] {1:1} Certainly, O Theophilus, I composed the first
discourse about everything that Jesus began to do and to
teach, {1:2} instructing the Apostles, whom he had chosen
through the Holy Spirit, even until the day on which he was
taken up. {1:3} He also presented himself alive to them, after
his Passion, appearing to them throughout forty days and
speaking about the kingdom of God with many elucidations.
{1:4} And dining with them, he instructed them that they
should not depart from Jerusalem, but that they should wait
for the Promise of the Father, “about which you have heard,”
he said, “from my own mouth. {1:5} For John, indeed,
baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy
Spirit, not many days from now.” {1:6} Therefore, those who
had assembled together questioned him, saying, “Lord, is this
the time when you will restore the kingdom of Israel?”
{1:7} But he said to them: “It is not yours to know the times
or the moments, which the Father has set by his own
authority. {1:8} But you shall receive the power of the Holy
Spirit, passing over you, and you shall be witnesses for me in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the
ends of the earth.” {1:9} And when he had said these things,
while they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took
him from their sight. {1:10} And while they were watching
him going up to heaven, behold, two men stood near them in
white vestments. {1:11} And they said: “Men of Galilee, why
do you stand here looking up toward heaven? This Jesus,
who has been taken up from you into heaven, shall return in
just the same way that you have seen him going up to
heaven.” {1:12} Then they returned to Jerusalem from the
mountain, which is called Olivet, which is next to Jerusalem,
within a Sabbath day’s journey. {1:13} And when they had
entered into the cenacle, they ascended to the place where
Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas,
Bartholomew and Matthew, James of Alphaeus and Simon
the Zealot, and Jude of James, were staying. {1:14} All these
were persevering with one accord in prayer with the women,
and with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
{1:15} In those days, Peter, rising up in the midst of the
brothers, said (now the crowd of men altogether was about
one hundred and twenty): {1:16} “Noble brothers, the
Scripture must be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit predicted by
the mouth of David about Judas, who was the leader of those
who apprehended Jesus. {1:17} He had been numbered
among us, and he was chosen by lot for this ministry.
{1:18} And this man certainly possessed an estate from the
wages of iniquity, and so, having been hanged, he burst open
in the middle and all his internal organs poured out.
{1:19} And this became known to all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, so that this field was called in their language,
Akeldama, that is, ‘Field of Blood.’ {1:20} For it has been
written in the book of Psalms: ‘Let their dwelling place be
desolate and may there be no one who dwells within it,’ and
‘Let another take his episcopate.’ {1:21} Therefore, it is
necessary that, out of these men who have been assembling
with us throughout the entire time that the Lord Jesus went
in and out among us, {1:22} beginning from the baptism of
John, until the day when he was taken up from us, one of
these be made a witness with us of his Resurrection.”
{1:23} And they appointed two: Joseph, who was called
Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.
{1:24} And praying, they said: “May you, O Lord, who
knows the heart of everyone, reveal which one of these two
you have chosen, {1:25} to take a place in this ministry and
apostleship, from which Judas prevaricated, so that he might
go to his own place.” {1:26} And they cast lots concerning
them, and the lot fell upon Matthias. And he was numbered
with the eleven Apostles.


[Acts 2] {2:1} And when the days of Pentecost were
completed, they were all together in the same place.
{2:2} And suddenly, there came a sound from heaven, like
that of a wind approaching violently, and it filled the entire
house where they were sitting. {2:3} And there appeared to
them separate tongues, as if of fire, which settled upon each
one of them. {2:4} And they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit. And they began to speak in various languages, just as
the Holy Spirit bestowed eloquence to them. {2:5} Now there
were Jews staying in Jerusalem, pious men from every nation
that is under heaven. {2:6} And when this sound occurred,
the multitude came together and was confused in mind,
because each one was listening to them speaking in his own
language. {2:7} Then all were astonished, and they wondered,
saying: “Behold, are not all of these who are speaking
Galileans? {2:8} And how is it that we have each heard them
in our own language, into which we were born?
{2:9} Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and those who
inhabit Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and
Asia, {2:10} Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of
Libya which are around Cyrene, and new arrivals of the
Romans, {2:11} likewise Jews and new converts, Cretans and
Arabs: we have heard them speaking in our own languages
the mighty deeds of God.” {2:12} And they were all
astonished, and they wondered, saying to one another: “But
what does this mean?” {2:13} But others mockingly said,
“These men are full of new wine.” {2:14} But Peter, standing
up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and he spoke to them:
“Men of Judea, and all those who are staying in Jerusalem,
let this be known to you, and incline your ears to my words.
{2:15} For these men are not inebriated, as you suppose, for
it is the third hour of the day. {2:16} But this is what was
spoken of by the prophet Joel: {2:17} ‘And this shall be: in
the last days, says the Lord, I will pour out, from my Spirit,
upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy. And your youths shall see visions, and your elders
shall dream dreams. {2:18} And certainly, upon my men and
women servants in those days, I will pour out from my Spirit,
and they shall prophesy. {2:19} And I will bestow wonders in
heaven above, and signs on earth below: blood and fire and
the vapor of smoke. {2:20} The sun shall be turned into
darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and
manifest day of the Lord arrives. {2:21} And this shall be:
whoever shall invoke the name of the Lord will be saved.’
{2:22} Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus the Nazarene is
a man confirmed by God among you through the miracles
and wonders and signs that God accomplished through him
in your midst, just as you also know. {2:23} This man, under
the definitive plan and foreknowledge of God, was delivered
by the hands of the unjust, afflicted, and put to death.
{2:24} And he whom God has raised up has broken the
sorrows of Hell, for certainly it was impossible for him to be
held by it. {2:25} For David said about him: ‘I foresaw the
Lord always in my sight, for he is at my right hand, so that I
may not be moved. {2:26} Because of this, my heart has
rejoiced, and my tongue has exulted. Moreover, my flesh
shall also rest in hope. {2:27} For you will not abandon my
soul to Hell, nor will you allow your Holy One to see
corruption. {2:28} You have made known to me the ways of
life. You will completely fill me with happiness by your
presence.’ {2:29} Noble brothers, permit me to speak freely to
you about the Patriarch David: for he passed away and was
buried, and his sepulcher is with us, even to this very day.
{2:30} Therefore, he was a prophet, for he knew that God
had sworn an oath to him about the fruit of his loins, about
the One who would sit upon his throne. {2:31} Foreseeing
this, he was speaking about the Resurrection of the Christ.
For he was neither left behind in Hell, nor did his flesh see
corruption. {2:32} This Jesus, God raised up again, and of
this we are all witnesses. {2:33} Therefore, being exalted to
the right hand of God, and having received from the Father
the Promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured this out, just as you
now see and hear. {2:34} For David did not ascend into
heaven. But he himself said: ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit
at my right hand, {2:35} until I make your enemies your
footstool.’ {2:36} Therefore, may the entire house of Israel
know most certainly that God has made this same Jesus,
whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” {2:37} Now
when they had heard these things, they were contrite in heart,
and they said to Peter and to the other Apostles: “What
should we do, noble brothers?” {2:38} Yet truly, Peter said to
them: “Do penance; and be baptized, each one of you, in the
name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins. And you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. {2:39} For the
Promise is for you and for your sons, and for all who are far
away: for whomever the Lord our God will have called.”
{2:40} And then, with very many other words, he testified
and he exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this
depraved generation.” {2:41} Therefore, those who accepted
his discourse were baptized. And about three thousand souls
were added on that day. {2:42} Now they were persevering
in the doctrine of the Apostles, and in the communion of the
breaking of the bread, and in the prayers. {2:43} And fear
developed in every soul. Also, many miracles and signs were
accomplished by the Apostles in Jerusalem. And there was a
great awe in everyone. {2:44} And then all who believed
were together, and they held all things in common.
{2:45} They were selling their possessions and belongings,
and dividing them to all, just as any of them had need.
{2:46} Also, they continued, daily, to be of one accord in the
temple and to break bread among the houses; and they took
their meals with exultation and simplicity of heart,
{2:47} praising God greatly, and holding favor with all the
people. And every day, the Lord increased those who were
being saved among them.


[Acts 3] {3:1} Now Peter and John went up to the temple at
the ninth hour of prayer. {3:2} And a certain man, who was
lame from his mother’s womb, was being carried in. They
would lay him every day at the gate of the temple, which is
called the Beautiful, so that he might request alms from those
entering into the temple. {3:3} And this man, when he had
seen Peter and John beginning to enter the temple, was
begging, so that he might receive alms. {3:4} Then Peter and
John, gazing at him, said, “Look at us.” {3:5} And he looked
intently at them, hoping that he might receive something
from them. {3:6} But Peter said: “Silver and gold is not mine.
But what I have, I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ
the Nazarene, rise up and walk.” {3:7} And taking him by
the right hand, he lifted him up. And immediately his legs
and feet were strengthened. {3:8} And leaping up, he stood
and walked around. And he entered with them into the
temple, walking and leaping and praising God. {3:9} And all
the people saw him walking and praising God. {3:10} And
they recognized him, that he was the same one who was
sitting for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. And they
were filled with awe and amazement at what had happened
to him. {3:11} Then, as he held on to Peter and John, all the
people ran to them at the portico, which is called Solomon’s,
in astonishment. {3:12} But Peter, seeing this, responded to
the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this? Or
why do you stare at us, as if it were by our own strength or
power that we caused this man to walk? {3:13} The God of
Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the
God of our fathers, has glorified his Son Jesus, whom you,
indeed, handed over and denied before the face of Pilate,
when he was giving judgment to release him. {3:14} Then
you denied the Holy and Just One, and petitioned for a
murderous man to be given to you. {3:15} Truly, it was the
Author of Life whom you put to death, whom God raised
from the dead, to whom we are witnesses. {3:16} And by
faith in his name, this man, whom you have seen and known,
has confirmed his name. And faith through him has given
this man complete health in the sight of you all. {3:17} And
now, brothers, I know that you did this through ignorance,
just as your leaders also did. {3:18} But in this way God has
fulfilled the things that he announced beforehand through the
mouth of all the Prophets: that his Christ would suffer.
{3:19} Therefore, repent and be converted, so that your sins
may be wiped away. {3:20} And then, when the time of
consolation will have arrived from the presence of the Lord,
he will send the One who was foretold to you, Jesus Christ,
{3:21} whom heaven certainly must take up, until the time of
the restoration of all things, which God has spoken of by the
mouth of his holy prophets, from ages past. {3:22} Indeed,
Moses said: ‘For the Lord your God shall raise up a Prophet
for you from your brothers, one like me; the same shall you
listen to according to everything whatsoever that he shall
speak to you. {3:23} And this shall be: every soul who will
not listen to that Prophet shall be exterminated from the
people.’ {3:24} And all the prophets who have spoken, from
Samuel and thereafter, have announced these days.
{3:25} You are sons of the prophets and of the testament
which God has appointed for our fathers, saying to Abraham:
‘And by your offspring all the families of the earth shall be
blessed.’ {3:26} God raised up his Son and sent him first to
you, to bless you, so that each one may turn himself away
from his wickedness.”


[Acts 4] {4:1} But while they were speaking to the people,
the priests and the magistrate of the temple and the
Sadducees overwhelmed them, {4:2} being grieved that they
were teaching the people and announcing in Jesus the
resurrection from the dead. {4:3} And they laid hands on
them, and they placed them under guard until the next day.
For it was now evening. {4:4} But many of those who had
heard the word believed. And the number of men became
five thousand. {4:5} And it happened on the next day that
their leaders and elders and scribes gathered together in
Jerusalem, {4:6} including Annas, the high priest, and
Caiaphas, and John and Alexander, and as many as were of
the priestly family. {4:7} And stationing them in the middle,
they questioned them: “By what power, or in whose name,
have you done this?” {4:8} Then Peter, filled with the Holy
Spirit, said to them: “Leaders of the people and elders, listen.
{4:9} If we today are judged by a good deed done to an
infirm man, by which he has been made whole, {4:10} let it
be known to all of you and to all of the people of Israel, that
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom
you crucified, whom God has raised from the dead, by him,
this man stands before you, healthy. {4:11} He is the stone,
which was rejected by you, the builders, which has become
the head of the corner. {4:12} And there is no salvation in
any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to
men, by which it is necessary for us to be saved.”
{4:13} Then, seeing the constancy of Peter and John, having
verified that they were men without letters or learning, they
wondered. And they recognized that they had been with
Jesus. {4:14} Also, seeing the man who had been cured
standing with them, they were unable to say anything to
contradict them. {4:15} But they ordered them to withdraw
outside, away from the council, and they conferred among
themselves, {4:16} saying: “What shall we do to these men?
For certainly a public sign has been done through them,
before all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. It is manifest, and we
cannot deny it. {4:17} But lest it spread further among the
people, let us threaten them not to speak anymore in this
name to any man.” {4:18} And calling them in, they warned
them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
{4:19} Yet truly, Peter and John said in response to them:
“Judge whether it is just in the sight of God to listen to you,
rather than to God. {4:20} For we are unable to refrain from
speaking the things that we have seen and heard.” {4:21} But
they, threatening them, sent them away, having not found a
way that they might punish them because of the people. For
all were glorifying the things that had been done in these
events. {4:22} For the man in whom this sign of a cure had
been accomplished was more than forty years old.
{4:23} Then, having been released, they went to their own,
and they reported in full what the leaders of the priests and
the elders had said to them. {4:24} And when they had heard
it, with one accord, they lifted up their voice to God, and
they said: “Lord, you are the One who made heaven and
earth, the sea and all that is in them, {4:25} who, by the Holy
Spirit, through the mouth of our father David, your servant,
said: ‘Why have the Gentiles been seething, and why have
the people been pondering nonsense? {4:26} The kings of the
earth have stood up, and the leaders have joined together as
one, against the Lord and against his Christ.’ {4:27} For truly
Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of
Israel, joined together in this city against your holy servant
Jesus, whom you anointed {4:28} to do what your hand and
your counsel had decreed would be done. {4:29} And now,
O Lord, look upon their threats, and grant to your servants
that they may speak your word with all confidence, {4:30} by
extending your hand in cures and signs and miracles, to be
done through the name of your holy Son, Jesus.” {4:31} And
when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered
was moved. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
And they were speaking the Word of God with confidence.
{4:32} Then the multitude of believers were of one heart and
one soul. Neither did anyone say that any of the things that
he possessed were his own, but all things were common to
them. {4:33} And with great power, the Apostles were
rendering testimony to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ our
Lord. And great grace was in them all. {4:34} And neither
was anyone among them in need. For as many as were
owners of fields or houses, selling these, were bringing the
proceeds of the things that they were selling, {4:35} and were
placing it before the feet of the Apostles. Then it was divided
to each one, just as he had need. {4:36} Now Joseph, who
the Apostles surnamed Barnabas (which is translated as ‘son
of consolation’), who was a Levite of Cyprian descent,
{4:37} since he had land, he sold it, and he brought the
proceeds and placed these at the feet of the Apostles.


[Acts 5] {5:1} But a certain man named Ananias, with his
wife Sapphira, sold a field, {5:2} and he was deceitful about
the price of the field, with his wife’s consent. And bringing
only part of it, he placed it at the feet of the Apostles.
{5:3} But Peter said: “Ananias, why has Satan tempted your
heart, so that you would lie to the Holy Spirit and be deceitful
about the price of the land? {5:4} Did it not belong to you
while you retained it? And having sold it, was it not in your
power? Why have you set this thing in your heart? You have
not lied to men, but to God!” {5:5} Then Ananias, upon
hearing these words, fell down and expired. And a great fear
overwhelmed all who heard of it. {5:6} And the young men
rose up and removed him; and carrying him out, they buried
him. {5:7} Then about the space of three hours passed, and
his wife entered, not knowing what had happened. {5:8} And
Peter said to her, “Tell me, woman, if you sold the field for
this amount?” And she said, “Yes, for that amount.”
{5:9} And Peter said to her: “Why have you agreed together
to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who
have buried your husband are at the door, and they shall
carry you out!” {5:10} Immediately, she fell down before his
feet and expired. Then the young men entered and found her
dead. And they carried her out and buried her next to her
husband. {5:11} And a great fear came over the entire
Church and over all who heard these things. {5:12} And
through the hands of the Apostles many signs and wonders
were accomplished among the people. And they all met with
one accord at Solomon’s portico. {5:13} And among the
others, no one dared to join himself to them. But the people
magnified them. {5:14} Now the multitude of men and
women who believed in the Lord was ever increasing,
{5:15} so much so that they laid the infirm in the streets,
placing them on beds and stretchers, so that, as Peter arrived,
at least his shadow might fall upon any one of them, and they
would be freed from their infirmities. {5:16} But a multitude
also hurried to Jerusalem from the neighboring cities,
carrying the sick and those troubled by unclean spirits, who
were all healed. {5:17} Then the high priest and all those
who were with him, that is, the heretical sect of the
Sadducees, rose up and were filled with jealousy. {5:18} And
they laid hands on the Apostles, and they placed them in the
common prison. {5:19} But in the night, an Angel of the
Lord opened the doors of the prison and led them out, saying,
{5:20} “Go and stand in the temple, speaking to the people
all these words of life.” {5:21} And when they had heard this,
they entered the temple at first light, and they were teaching.
Then the high priest, and those who were with him,
approached, and they called together the council and all the
elders of the sons of Israel. And they sent to the prison to
have them brought. {5:22} But when the attendants had
arrived, and, upon opening the prison, had not found them,
they returned and reported to them, {5:23} saying: “We
found the prison certainly locked up with all diligence, and
the guards standing before the door. But upon opening it, we
found no one within.” {5:24} Then, when the magistrate of
the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were
uncertain about them, as to what should happen. {5:25} But
someone arrived and reported to them, “Behold, the men
whom you placed in prison are in the temple, standing and
teaching the people.” {5:26} Then the magistrate, with the
attendants, went and brought them without force. For they
were afraid of the people, lest they be stoned. {5:27} And
when they had brought them, they stood them before the
council. And the high priest questioned them, {5:28} and
said: “We strongly order you not to teach in this name. For
behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and
you wish to bring the blood of this man upon us.” {5:29} But
Peter and the Apostles responded by saying: “It is necessary
to obey God, more so than men. {5:30} The God of our
fathers has raised up Jesus, whom you put to death by
hanging him on a tree. {5:31} It is he whom God has exalted
at his right hand as Ruler and Savior, so as to offer
repentance and the remission of sins to Israel. {5:32} And we
are witnesses of these things, with the Holy Spirit, whom
God has given to all who are obedient to him.” {5:33} When
they had heard these things, they were deeply wounded, and
they were planning to put them to death. {5:34} But someone
in the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the
law honored by all the people, rose up and ordered the men
to be put outside briefly. {5:35} And he said to them: “Men
of Israel, you should be careful in your intentions about these
men. {5:36} For before these days, Theudas stepped forward,
asserting himself to be someone, and a number of men, about
four hundred, joined with him. But he was killed, and all who
believed in him were scattered, and they were reduced to
nothing. {5:37} After this one, Judas the Galilean stepped
forward, in the days of the enrollment, and he turned the
people toward himself. But he also perished, and all of them,
as many as had joined with him, were dispersed. {5:38} And
now therefore, I say to you, withdraw from these men and
leave them alone. For if this counsel or work is of men, it will
be broken. {5:39} Yet truly, if it is of God, you will not be
able to break it, and perhaps you might be found to have
fought against God.” And they agreed with him. {5:40} And
calling in the Apostles, having beaten them, they warned
them not to speak at all in the name of Jesus. And they
dismissed them. {5:41} And indeed, they went forth from the
presence of the council, rejoicing that they were considered
worthy to suffer insult on behalf of the name of Jesus.
{5:42} And every day, in the temple and among the houses,
they did not cease to teach and to evangelize Christ Jesus.


[Acts 6] {6:1} In those days, as the number of disciples was
increasing, there occurred a murmuring of the Greeks against
the Hebrews, because their widows were treated with disdain
in the daily ministration. {6:2} And so the twelve, calling
together the multitude of the disciples, said: “It is not fair for
us to leave behind the Word of God to serve at tables also.
{6:3} Therefore, brothers, search among yourselves for seven
men of good testimony, filled with the Holy Spirit and with
wisdom, whom we may appoint over this work. {6:4} Yet
truly, we will be continually in prayer and in the ministry of
the Word.” {6:5} And the plan pleased the entire multitude.
And they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and with the
Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and
Timon and Parmenas and Nicolas, a new arrival from
Antioch. {6:6} These they set before the sight of the Apostles,
and while praying, they imposed hands on them. {6:7} And
the Word of the Lord was increasing, and the number of
disciples in Jerusalem was multiplied exceedingly. And even
a large group of the priests were obedient to the faith.
{6:8} Then Stephen, filled with grace and fortitude, wrought
great signs and miracles among the people. {6:9} But certain
ones, from the synagogue of the so-called Libertines, and of
the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those who
were from Cilicia and Asia rose up and were disputing with
Stephen. {6:10} But they were not able to resist the wisdom
and the Spirit with which he was speaking. {6:11} Then they
suborned men who were to claim that they had heard him
speaking words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.
{6:12} And thus did they stir up the people and the elders
and the scribes. And hurrying together, they seized him and
brought him to the council. {6:13} And they set up false
witnesses, who said: “This man does not cease to speak
words against the holy place and the law. {6:14} For we have
heard him saying that this Jesus the Nazarene will destroy
this place and will change the traditions, which Moses
handed down to us.” {6:15} And all those who were sitting
in the council, gazing at him, saw his face, as if it had become
the face of an Angel.


[Acts 7] {7:1} Then the high priest said, “Are these things
so?” {7:2} And Stephen said: “Noble brothers and fathers,
listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham,
when he was in Mesopotamia, before he stayed in Haran.
{7:3} And God said to him, ‘Depart from your country and
from your kindred, and go into the land that I will show to
you.’ {7:4} Then he went away from the land of the
Chaldeans, and he lived at Haran. And later, after his father
was dead, God brought him into this land, in which you now
dwell. {7:5} And he gave him no inheritance in it, not even
the space of one step. But he promised to give it to him as a
possession, and to his offspring after him, though he did not
have a son. {7:6} Then God told him that his offspring would
be a settler in a foreign land, and that they would subjugate
them, and treat them badly, for four hundred years.
{7:7} ‘And the nation whom they will serve, I will judge,’
said the Lord. ‘And after these things, they shall depart and
shall serve me in this place.’ {7:8} And he gave him the
covenant of circumcision. And so he conceived Isaac and
circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac conceived
Jacob, and Jacob, the twelve Patriarchs. {7:9} And the
Patriarchs, being jealous, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God
was with him. {7:10} And he rescued him from all his
tribulations. And he gave him grace and wisdom in the sight
of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And he appointed him as
governor over Egypt and over all his house. {7:11} Then a
famine occurred in all of Egypt and Canaan, and a great
tribulation. And our fathers did not find food. {7:12} But
when Jacob had heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent
our fathers first. {7:13} And on the second occasion, Joseph
was recognized by his brothers, and his ancestry was made
manifest to Pharaoh. {7:14} Then Joseph sent for and
brought his father Jacob, with all his kindred, seventy-five
souls. {7:15} And Jacob descended into Egypt, and he passed
away, and so did our fathers. {7:16} And they crossed over
into Shechem, and they were placed in the sepulcher which
Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor,
the son of Shechem. {7:17} And when the time of the
Promise that God had revealed to Abraham drew near, the
people increased and were multiplied in Egypt, {7:18} even
until another king, who did not know Joseph, rose up in
Egypt. {7:19} This one, encompassing our kindred, afflicted
our fathers, so that they would expose their infants, lest they
be kept alive. {7:20} In the same time, Moses was born. And
he was in the grace of God, and he was nourished for three
months in the house of his father. {7:21} Then, having been
abandoned, the daughter of Pharaoh took him in, and she
raised him as her own son. {7:22} And Moses was instructed
in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. And he was mighty in his
words and in his deeds. {7:23} But when forty years of age
were completed in him, it rose up in his heart that he should
visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. {7:24} And when he had
seen a certain one suffering injury, he defended him. And
striking the Egyptian, he wrought a retribution for him who
was enduring the injury. {7:25} Now he supposed that his
brothers would understand that God would grant them
salvation through his hand. But they did not understand it.
{7:26} So truly, on the following day, he appeared before
those who were arguing, and he would have reconciled them
in peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. So why would you
harm one another?’ {7:27} But he who was causing the injury
to his neighbor rejected him, saying: ‘Who has appointed you
as leader and judge over us? {7:28} Could it be that you want
to kill me, in the same way that you killed the Egyptian
yesterday?’ {7:29} Then, at this word, Moses fled. And he
became a foreigner in the land of Midian, where he produced
two sons. {7:30} And when forty years were completed, there
appeared to him, in the desert of Mount Sinai, an Angel, in a
flame of fire in a bush. {7:31} And upon seeing this, Moses
was amazed at the sight. And as he drew near in order to
gaze at it, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying:
{7:32} ‘I am the God of your fathers: the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses, being
made to tremble, did not dare to look. {7:33} But the Lord
said to him: ‘Loosen the shoes from your feet. For the place
in which you stand is holy ground. {7:34} Certainly, I have
seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I have
heard their groaning. And so, I am coming down to free them.
And now, go forth and I will send you into Egypt.’
{7:35} This Moses, whom they rejected by saying, ‘Who has
appointed you as leader and judge?’ is the one God sent to be
leader and redeemer, by the hand of the Angel who appeared
to him in the bush. {7:36} This man led them out,
accomplishing signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and at
the Red Sea, and in the desert, for forty years. {7:37} This is
Moses, who said to the sons of Israel: ‘God will raise up for
you a prophet like me from your own brothers. You shall
listen to him.’ {7:38} This is he who was in the Church in the
wilderness, with the Angel who was speaking to him on
Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. It is he who received the
words of life to give to us. {7:39} It is he whom our fathers
were not willing to obey. Instead, they rejected him, and in
their hearts they turned away toward Egypt, {7:40} saying to
Aaron: ‘Make gods for us, which may go before us. For this
Moses, who led us away from the land of Egypt, we do not
know what has happened to him.’ {7:41} And so they
fashioned a calf in those days, and they offered sacrifices to
an idol, and they rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
{7:42} Then God turned, and he handed them over, to
subservience to the armies of heaven, just as it was written in
the Book of the Prophets: ‘Did you not offer victims and
sacrifices to me for forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?
{7:43} And yet you took up for yourselves the tabernacle of
Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, figures which you
yourselves formed in order to adore them. And so I will carry
you away, beyond Babylon.’ {7:44} The tabernacle of the
testimony was with our fathers in the desert, just as God
ordained for them, speaking to Moses, so that he would make
it according to the form that he had seen. {7:45} But our
fathers, receiving it, also brought it, with Joshua, into the
land of the Gentiles, whom God expelled before the face of
our fathers, even until the days of David, {7:46} who found
grace before God and who asked that he might obtain a
tabernacle for the God of Jacob. {7:47} But it was Solomon
who built a house for him. {7:48} Yet the Most High does
not live in houses built by hands, just as he said through the
prophet: {7:49} ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my
footstool. What kind of house would you build for me? says
the Lord. And which is my resting place? {7:50} Has not my
hand made all these things?’ {7:51} Stiffnecked and
uncircumcised in heart and ears, you ever resist the Holy
Spirit. Just as your fathers did, so also do you do.
{7:52} Which of the Prophets have your fathers not
persecuted? And they killed those who foretold the advent of
the Just One. And you have now become the betrayers and
murderers of him. {7:53} You received the law by the actions
of Angels, and yet you have not kept it.” {7:54} Then, upon
hearing these things, they were deeply wounded in their
hearts, and they gnashed their teeth at him. {7:55} But he,
being filled with the Holy Spirit, and gazing intently toward
heaven, saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right
hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened,
and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.”
{7:56} Then they, crying out with a loud voice, blocked their
ears and, with one accord, rushed violently toward him.
{7:57} And driving him out, beyond the city, they stoned him.
And witnesses placed their garments beside the feet of a
youth, who was called Saul. {7:58} And as they were stoning
Stephen, he called out and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit.” {7:59} Then, having been brought to his knees, he
cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Lord, do not hold this
sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep
in the Lord. And Saul was consenting to his murder.


[Acts 8] {8:1} Now in those days, there occurred a great
persecution against the Church at Jerusalem. And they were
all dispersed throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria,
except the Apostles. {8:2} But God-fearing men arranged for
Stephen’s funeral, and they made a great mourning over him.
{8:3} Then Saul was laying waste to the Church by entering
throughout the houses, and dragging away men and women,
and committing them to prison. {8:4} Therefore, those who
had been dispersed were traveling around, evangelizing the
Word of God. {8:5} Now Philip, descending to a city of
Samaria, was preaching Christ to them. {8:6} And the crowd
was listening intently and with one accord to those things
which were being said by Philip, and they were watching the
signs which he was accomplishing. {8:7} For many of them
had unclean spirits, and, crying out with a loud voice, these
departed from them. {8:8} And many of the paralytics and
the lame were cured. {8:9} Therefore, there was great
gladness in that city. Now there was a certain man named
Simon, who formerly had been a magician in that city,
seducing the people of Samaria, claiming himself to be
someone great. {8:10} And to all those who would listen,
from the least even to the greatest, he was saying: “Here is
the power of God, which is called great.” {8:11} And they
were attentive to him because, for a long time, he had
deluded them with his magic. {8:12} Yet truly, once they had
believed Philip, who was evangelizing the kingdom of God,
both men and women were baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ. {8:13} Then Simon himself also believed and, when
he had been baptized, he adhered to Philip. And now, seeing
also the greatest signs and miracles being wrought, he was
amazed and stupefied. {8:14} Now when the Apostles who
were in Jerusalem had heard that Samaria had received the
Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. {8:15} And
when they had arrived, they prayed for them, so that they
might receive the Holy Spirit. {8:16} For he had not yet come
to any among them, since they were only baptized in the
name of the Lord Jesus. {8:17} Then they laid their hands on
them, and they received the Holy Spirit. {8:18} But when
Simon had seen that, by the imposition of the hands of the
Apostles, the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,
{8:19} saying, “Give this power to me also, so that on
whomever I will lay my hands, he may receive the Holy
Spirit.” But Peter said to him: {8:20} “Let your money be
with you in perdition, for you have supposed that a gift of
God might be possessed by money. {8:21} There is no part or
place for you in this matter. For your heart is not upright in
the sight of God. {8:22} And so, repent from this, your
wickedness, and beg God, so that perhaps this plan of your
heart might be forgiven you. {8:23} For I perceive you to be
in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.”
{8:24} Then Simon responded by saying, “Pray for me to the
Lord, so that nothing of what you have said may happen to
me.” {8:25} And indeed, after testifying and speaking the
Word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, and they
evangelized the many regions of the Samaritans. {8:26} Now
an Angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Rise up and go
toward the south, to the way which descends from Jerusalem
into Gaza, where there is a desert.” {8:27} And rising up, he
went. And behold, an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, powerful
under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who was over
all her treasures, had arrived in Jerusalem to worship.
{8:28} And while returning, he was sitting upon his chariot
and reading from the prophet Isaiah. {8:29} Then the Spirit
said to Philip, “Draw near and join yourself to this chariot.”
{8:30} And Philip, hurrying, heard him reading from the
prophet Isaiah, and he said, “Do you think that you
understand what you are reading?” {8:31} And he said, “But
how can I, unless someone will have revealed it to me?” And
he asked Philip to climb up and sit with him. {8:32} Now the
place in Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep
he was led to the slaughter. And like a lamb silent before his
shearer, so he opened not his mouth. {8:33} He endured his
judgment with humility. Who of his generation shall describe
how his life was taken away from the earth?” {8:34} Then the
eunuch responded to Philip, saying: “I beg you, about whom
is the prophet saying this? About himself, or about someone
else?” {8:35} Then Philip, opening his mouth and beginning
from this Scripture, evangelized Jesus to him. {8:36} And
while they were going along the way, they arrived at a certain
water source. And the eunuch said: “There is water. What
would prevent me from being baptized?” {8:37} Then Philip
said, “If you believe from your whole heart, it is permitted.”
And he responded by saying, “I believe the Son of God to be
Jesus the Christ.” {8:38} And he ordered the chariot to stand
still. And both Philip and the eunuch descended into the
water. And he baptized him. {8:39} And when they had
ascended from the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip
away, and the eunuch did not see him anymore. Then he
went on his way, rejoicing. {8:40} Now Philip was found in
Azotus. And continuing on, he evangelized all the cities,
until he arrived in Caesarea.


[Acts 9] {9:1} Now Saul, still breathing threats and beatings
against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,
{9:2} and he petitioned him for letters to the synagogues in
Damascus, so that, if he found any men or women belonging
to this Way, he could lead them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
{9:3} And as he made the journey, it happened that he was
approaching Damascus. And suddenly, a light from heaven
shone around him. {9:4} And falling to the ground, he heard
a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting
me?” {9:5} And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he: “I
am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to
kick against the goad.” {9:6} And he, trembling and
astonished, said, “Lord, what do you want me to do?”
{9:7} And the Lord said to him, “Rise up and go into the city,
and there you will be told what you ought to do.” Now the
men who were accompanying him were standing stupefied,
hearing indeed a voice, but seeing no one. {9:8} Then Saul
rose up from the ground. And upon opening his eyes, he saw
nothing. So leading him by the hand, they brought him into
Damascus. {9:9} And in that place, he was without sight for
three days, and he neither ate nor drank. {9:10} Now there
was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias. And the
Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!” And he said, “Here
Iam, Lord.” {9:11} And the Lord said to him: “Rise up and
go into the street that is called Straight, and seek, in the house
of Judas, the one named Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he is
praying.” {9:12} (And Paul saw a man named Ananias
entering and imposing hands upon him, so that he might
receive his sight.) {9:13} But Ananias responded: “Lord, I
have heard from many about this man, how much harm he
has done to your saints in Jerusalem. {9:14} And he has
authority here from the leaders of the priests to bind all who
invoke your name.” {9:15} Then the Lord said to him: “Go,
for this one is an instrument chosen by me to convey my
name before nations and kings and the sons of Israel.
{9:16} For I will reveal to him how much he must suffer on
behalf of my name.” {9:17} And Ananias departed. And he
entered the house. And laying his hands upon him, he said:
“Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, he who appeared to you on
the way by which you arrived, sent me so that you would
receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
{9:18} And immediately, it was as if scales had fallen from
his eyes, and he received his sight. And rising up, he was
baptized. {9:19} And when he had taken a meal, he was
strengthened. Now he was with the disciples who were at
Damascus for some days. {9:20} And he was continuously
preaching Jesus in the synagogues: that he is the Son of God.
{9:21} And all who heard him were astonished, and they said,
“Is this not the one who, in Jerusalem, was fighting against
those invoking this name, and who came here for this: so that
he might lead them away to the leaders of the priests?”
{9:22} But Saul was increasing to a greater extent in ability,
and so he was confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus,
by affirming that he is the Christ. {9:23} And when many
days were completed, the Jews took counsel as one, so that
they might put him to death. {9:24} But their treachery
became known to Saul. Now they were also watching the
gates, day and night, so that they might put him to death.
{9:25} But the disciples, taking him away by night, sent him
over the wall by letting him down in a basket. {9:26} And
when he had arrived in Jerusalem, he attempted to join
himself to the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, not
believing that he was a disciple. {9:27} But Barnabas took
him aside and led him to the Apostles. And he explained to
them how he had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken to
him, and how, in Damascus, he had acted faithfully in the
name of Jesus. {9:28} And he was with them, entering and
departing Jerusalem, and acting faithfully in the name of the
Lord. {9:29} He also was speaking with the Gentiles and
disputing with the Greeks. But they were seeking to kill him.
{9:30} And when the brothers had realized this, they brought
him to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.
{9:31} Certainly, the Church had peace throughout all of
Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and it was being built up,
while walking in the fear of the Lord, and it was being filled
with the consolation of the Holy Spirit. {9:32} Then it
happened that Peter, as he traveled around everywhere, came
to the saints who were living at Lydda. {9:33} But he found
there a certain man, named Aeneas, who was a paralytic,
who had lain in bed for eight years. {9:34} And Peter said to
him: “Aeneas, the Lord Jesus Christ heals you. Rise up and
arrange your bed.” And immediately he rose up. {9:35} And
all who were living in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they
were converted to the Lord. {9:36} Now in Joppa there was a
certain disciple named Tabitha, which in translation is called
Dorcas. She was filled with the good works and almsgiving
that she was accomplishing. {9:37} And it happened that, in
those days, she became ill and died. And when they had
washed her, they laid her in an upper room. {9:38} Now
since Lydda was close to Joppa, the disciples, upon hearing
that Peter was there, sent two men to him, asking him: “Do
not be slow in coming to us.” {9:39} Then Peter, rising up,
went with them. And when he had arrived, they led him to
an upper room. And all the widows were standing around
him, weeping and showing him the tunics and garments that
Dorcas had made for them. {9:40} And when they had all
been sent outside, Peter, kneeling down, prayed. And turning
to the body, he said: “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her
eyes and, upon seeing Peter, sat up again. {9:41} And
offering her his hand, he lifted her up. And when he had
called in the saints and the widows, he presented her alive.
{9:42} Now this became known throughout all of Joppa.
And many believed in the Lord. {9:43} And it happened that
he resided for many days in Joppa, with a certain Simon, a
tanner.


[Acts 10] {10:1} Now there was a certain man in Caesarea,
named Cornelius, a centurion of the cohort which is called
Italian, {10:2} a devout man, fearing God with all his house,
giving many alms to the people, and praying to God
continually. {10:3} This man saw in a vision clearly, at about
the ninth hour of the day, the Angel of God entering to him
and saying to him: “Cornelius!” {10:4} And he, gazing at
him, was seized by fear, and he said, “What is it, lord?” And
he said to him: “Your prayers and your almsgiving have
ascended as a memorial in the sight of God. {10:5} And now,
send men to Joppa and summon a certain Simon, who is
surnamed Peter. {10:6} This man is a guest with a certain
Simon, a tanner, whose house is beside the sea. He will tell
you what you must do.” {10:7} And when the Angel who
was speaking to him had departed, he called, out of those
who were subject to him, two of his household servants and a
soldier who feared the Lord. {10:8} And when he had
explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
{10:9} Then, on the following day, while they were making
the journey and approaching the city, Peter ascended to the
upper rooms, so that he might pray, at about the sixth hour.
{10:10} And since he was hungry, he wanted to enjoy some
food. Then, as they were preparing it, an ecstasy of mind fell
over him. {10:11} And he saw heaven opened, and a certain
container descending, as if a great linen sheet were let down,
by its four corners, from heaven to earth, {10:12} on which
were all four-footed beasts, and the crawling things of the
earth and the flying things of the air. {10:13} And a voice
came to him: “Rise up, Peter! Kill and eat.” {10:14} But
Peter said: “Far be it from me, lord. For I have never eaten
anything common or unclean.” {10:15} And the voice, again
a second time to him: “What God has purified, you shall not
call common.” {10:16} Now this was done three times. And
immediately the container was taken up to heaven.
{10:17} Now while Peter was still hesitant within himself as
to what the vision, which he had seen, might mean, behold,
the men who had been sent from Cornelius stood at the gate,
inquiring about Simon’s house. {10:18} And when they had
called out, they asked if Simon, who is surnamed Peter, was a
guest in that place. {10:19} Then, as Peter was thinking about
the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men seek
you. {10:20} And so, rise up, descend, and go with them,
doubting nothing. For I have sent them.” {10:21} Then Peter,
descending to the men, said: “Behold, I am the one whom
you seek. What is the reason for which you have arrived?”
{10:22} And they said: “Cornelius, a centurion, a just and
God-fearing man, who has good testimony from the entire
nation of the Jews, received a message from a holy Angel to
summon you to his house and to listen to words from you.”
{10:23} Therefore, leading them in, he received them as
guests. Then, on following the day, rising up, he set out with
them. And some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied
him. {10:24} And on the next day, he entered Caesarea. And
truly, Cornelius was waiting for them, having called together
his family and closest friends. {10:25} And it happened that,
when Peter had entered, Cornelius went to meet him. And
falling before his feet, he reverenced. {10:26} Yet truly, Peter,
lifting him up, said: “Rise up, for I also am only a man.”
{10:27} And speaking with him, he entered, and he found
many who had gathered together. {10:28} And he said to
them: “You know how abominable it would be for a Jewish
man to be joined with, or to be added to, a foreign people.
But God has revealed to me to call no man common or
unclean. {10:29} Because of this and without doubt, I came
when summoned. Therefore, I ask you, for what reason have
you summoned me?” {10:30} And Cornelius said: “It is now
the fourth day, to this very hour, since I was praying in my
house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me
in a white vestment, and he said: {10:31} ‘Cornelius, your
prayer has been heard and your almsgiving has been
remembered in the sight of God. {10:32} Therefore, send to
Joppa and summon Simon, who is surnamed Peter. This
man is a guest in the house of Simon, a tanner, near the sea.’
{10:33} And so, I promptly sent for you. And you have done
well in coming here. Therefore, all of us are now present in
your sight to hear all the things that were taught to you by the
Lord.” {10:34} Then, Peter, opening his mouth, said: “I have
concluded in truth that God is not a respecter of persons.
{10:35} But within every nation, whoever fears him and
works justice is acceptable to him. {10:36} God sent the
Word to the sons of Israel, announcing the peace through
Jesus Christ, for he is the Lord of all. {10:37} You know that
the Word has been made known throughout all Judea. For
beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John
preached, {10:38} Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed
with the Holy Spirit and with power, traveled around doing
good and healing all those oppressed by the devil. For God
was with him. {10:39} And we are witnesses of all that he did
in the region of Judea and in Jerusalem, he whom they killed
by hanging him on a tree. {10:40} God raised him up on the
third day and permitted him to be made manifest,
{10:41} not to all the people, but to the witnesses preordained
by God, to those of us who ate and drank with him after he
rose again from the dead. {10:42} And he instructed us to
preach to the people, and to testify that he is the One who
was appointed by God to be the judge of the living and of the
dead. {10:43} To him all the Prophets offer testimony that
through his name all who believe in him receive the
remission of sins.” {10:44} While Peter was still speaking
these words, the Holy Spirit fell over all of those who were
listening to the Word. {10:45} And the faithful of the
circumcision, who had arrived with Peter, were astonished
that the grace of the Holy Spirit was also poured out upon the
Gentiles. {10:46} For they heard them speaking in tongues
and magnifying God. {10:47} Then Peter responded, “How
could anyone prohibit water, so that those who have received
the Holy Spirit would not be baptized, just as we also have
been?” {10:48} And he ordered them to be baptized in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then they begged him to
remain with them for some days.


[Acts 11] {11:1} Now the Apostles and brothers who were in
Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the Word of
God. {11:2} Then, when Peter had gone up to Jerusalem,
those who were of the circumcision argued against him,
{11:3} saying, “Why did you enter to uncircumcised men,
and why did you eat with them?” {11:4} And Peter began to
explain to them, in an orderly manner, saying: {11:5} “I was
in the city of Joppa praying, and I saw, in an ecstasy of mind,
a vision: a certain container descending, like a great linen
sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners. And it
drew near to me. {11:6} And looking into it, I considered and
saw the four-footed beasts of the earth, and the wild beasts,
and the reptiles, and the flying things of the air. {11:7} Then I
also heard a voice saying to me: ‘Rise up, Peter. Kill and eat.’
{11:8} But I said: ‘Never, lord! For what is common or
unclean has never entered into my mouth.’ {11:9} Then the
voice responded a second time from heaven, ‘What God has
cleansed, you shall not call common.’ {11:10} Now this was
done three times. And then everything was taken up again
into heaven. {11:11} And behold, immediately there were
three men standing near the house where I was, having been
sent to me from Caesarea. {11:12} Then the Spirit told me
that I should go with them, doubting nothing. And these six
brothers went with me also. And we entered into the house of
the man. {11:13} And he described for us how he had seen
an Angel in his house, standing and saying to him: ‘Send to
Joppa and summon Simon, who is surnamed Peter.
{11:14} And he shall speak to you words, by which you shall
be saved with your whole house.’ {11:15} And when I had
begun to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as upon
us also, in the beginning. {11:16} Then I remembered the
words of the Lord, just as he himself said: ‘John, indeed,
baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy
Spirit.’ {11:17} Therefore, if God gave them the same grace,
as also to us, who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was I, that I would be able to prohibit God?”
{11:18} Having heard these things, they were silent. And
they glorified God, saying: “So has God also given to the
Gentiles repentance unto life.” {11:19} And some of them,
having been dispersed by the persecution that had occurred
under Stephen, traveled around, even to Phoenicia and
Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the Word to no one, except to
Jews only. {11:20} But some of these men from Cyprus and
Cyrene, when they had entered into Antioch, were speaking
also to the Greeks, announcing the Lord Jesus. {11:21} And
the hand of the Lord was with them. And a great number
believed and were converted to the Lord. {11:22} Now the
news came to the ears of the Church at Jerusalem about these
things, and they sent Barnabas as far as Antioch.
{11:23} And when he had arrived there and had seen the
grace of God, he was gladdened. And he exhorted them all to
continue in the Lord with a resolute heart. {11:24} For he
was a good man, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit and
with faith. And a great multitude was added to the Lord.
{11:25} Then Barnabas set out for Tarsus, so that he might
seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to
Antioch. {11:26} And they were conversing there in the
Church for an entire year. And they taught such a great
multitude, that it was at Antioch that the disciples were first
known by the name of Christian. {11:27} Now in these days,
prophets from Jerusalem went over to Antioch. {11:28} And
one of them, named Agabus, rising up, signified through the
Spirit that there was going to be a great famine over the entire
world, which did happen under Claudius. {11:29} Then the
disciples declared, according to what each one possessed,
what they would offer to be sent to the brothers living in
Judea. {11:30} And so they did, sending it to the elders by
the hands of Barnabas and Saul.


[Acts 12] {12:1} Now at the same time, king Herod extended
his hand, in order to afflict some from the Church.
{12:2} Then he killed James, the brother of John, with the
sword. {12:3} And seeing that it pleased the Jews, he set out
next to apprehend Peter also. Now it was the days of
Unleavened Bread. {12:4} So when he had apprehended him,
he sent him into prison, handing him over into the custody of
four groups of four soldiers, intending to produce him to the
people after the Passover. {12:5} And so Peter was detained
in prison. But prayers were being made without ceasing, by
the Church, to God on his behalf. {12:6} And when Herod
was ready to produce him, in that same night, Peter was
sleeping between two soldiers, and was bound with two
chains. And there were guards in front of the door, guarding
the prison. {12:7} And behold, an Angel of the Lord stood
near, and a light shined forth in the cell. And tapping Peter
on the side, he awakened him, saying, “Rise up, quickly.”
And the chains fell from his hands. {12:8} Then the Angel
said to him: “Dress yourself, and put on your boots.” And he
did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your garment around
yourself and follow me.” {12:9} And going out, he followed
him. And he did not know this truth: that this was being done
by an Angel. For he thought that he was seeing a vision.
{12:10} And passing by the first and second guards, they
came to the iron gate which leads into the city; and it opened
for them by itself. And departing, they continued on along a
certain side street. And suddenly the Angel withdrew from
him. {12:11} And Peter, returning to himself, said: “Now I
know, truly, that the Lord sent his Angel, and that he rescued
me from the hand of Herod and from all that the people of
the Jews were anticipating.” {12:12} And as he was
considering this, he arrived at the house of Mary, the mother
of John, who was surnamed Mark, where many were
gathered and were praying. {12:13} Then, as he knocked at
the door of the gate, a girl went out to answer, whose name
was Rhoda. {12:14} And when she recognized the voice of
Peter, out of joy, she did not open the gate, but instead,
running in, she reported that Peter stood before the gate.
{12:15} But they said to her, “You are crazy.” But she
reaffirmed that this was so. Then they were saying, “It is his
angel.” {12:16} But Peter was persevering in knocking. And
when they had opened, they saw him and were astonished.
{12:17} But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he
explained how the Lord had led him away from prison. And
he said, “Inform James and those brothers.” And going out,
he went away to another place. {12:18} Then, when daylight
came, there was no small commotion among the soldiers, as
to what had happened concerning Peter. {12:19} And when
Herod had requested him and did not obtain him, having had
the guards interrogated, he ordered them led away. And
descending from Judea into Caesarea, he lodged there.
{12:20} Now he was angry with those of Tyre and Sidon. But
they came to him with one accord, and, having persuaded
Blastus, who was over the bedchamber of the king, they
petitioned for peace, because their regions were supplied with
food by him. {12:21} Then, on the appointed day, Herod was
clothed in kingly apparel, and he sat in the judgment seat,
and he gave a speech to them. {12:22} Then the people were
crying out, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!”
{12:23} And immediately, an Angel of the Lord struck him
down, because he had not given honor to God. And having
been consumed by worms, he expired. {12:24} But the word
of the Lord was increasing and multiplying. {12:25} Then
Barnabas and Saul, having completed the ministry, returned
from Jerusalem, bringing with them John, who was
surnamed Mark.


[Acts 13] {13:1} Now there were, in the Church at Antioch,
prophets and teachers, among whom were Barnabas, and
Simon, who was called the Black, and Lucius of Cyrene, and
Manahen, who was the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch,
and Saul. {13:2} Now as they were ministering for the Lord
and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them: “Separate Saul and
Barnabas for me, for the work for which I have selected
them.” {13:3} Then, fasting and praying and imposing their
hands upon them, they sent them away. {13:4} And having
been sent by the Holy Spirit, they went to Seleucia. And from
there they sailed to Cyprus. {13:5} And when they had
arrived at Salamis, they were preaching the Word of God in
the synagogues of the Jews. And they also had John in the
ministry. {13:6} And when they had traveled throughout the
entire island, even to Paphos, they found a certain man, a
magician, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-Jesu.
{13:7} And he was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a
prudent man. This man, summoning Barnabas and Saul,
wanted to hear the Word of God. {13:8} But Elymas the
magician (for so his name is translated) stood against them,
seeking to turn the proconsul away from the Faith.
{13:9} Then Saul, who is also called Paul, having been filled
with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him, {13:10} and he
said: “So full of every deceit and of all falsehoods, son of the
devil, enemy of all justice, you never cease to subvert the
righteous ways of the Lord! {13:11} And now, behold, the
hand of the Lord is upon you. And you will be blinded, not
seeing the sun for a length of time.” And immediately a fog
and a darkness fell over him. And wandering around, he was
seeking someone who might lead him by the hand.
{13:12} Then the proconsul, when he had seen what was
done, believed, being in wonder over the doctrine of the Lord.
{13:13} And when Paul and those who were with him had
sailed from Paphos, they arrived at Perga in Pamphylia. Then
John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem.
{13:14} Yet truly, they, traveling on from Perga, arrived at
Antioch in Pisidia. And upon entering the synagogue on the
Sabbath day, they sat down. {13:15} Then, after the reading
from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue
sent to them, saying: “Noble brothers, if there is in you any
word of exhortation to the people, speak.” {13:16} Then Paul,
rising up and motioning for silence with his hand, said: “Men
of Israel and you who fear God, listen closely. {13:17} The
God of the people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the
people, when they were settlers in the land of Egypt. And
with an exalted arm, he led them away from there.
{13:18} And throughout a time of forty years, he endured
their behavior in the desert. {13:19} And by destroying seven
nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their land among
them by lot, {13:20} after about four hundred and fifty years.
And after these things, he gave them judges, even until the
prophet Samuel. {13:21} And later on, they petitioned for a
king. And God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man from
the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. {13:22} And having
removed him, he raised up for them king David. And offering
testimony about him, he said, ‘I have found David, the son of
Jesse, to be a man according to my own heart, who will
accomplish all that I will.’ {13:23} From his offspring,
according to the Promise, God has brought Jesus the Savior
to Israel. {13:24} John was preaching, before the face of his
advent, a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
{13:25} Then, when John completed his course, he was
saying: ‘I am not the one you consider me to be. For behold,
one arrives after me, the shoes of whose feet I am not worthy
to loosen.’ {13:26} Noble brothers, sons of the stock of
Abraham, and those among you who fear God, it is to you
the Word of this salvation has been sent. {13:27} For those
who were living in Jerusalem, and its rulers, heeding neither
him, nor the voices of the Prophets that are read on every
Sabbath, fulfilled these by judging him. {13:28} And
although they found no case for death against him, they
petitioned Pilate, so that they might put him to death.
{13:29} And when they had fulfilled everything that had been
written about him, taking him down from the tree, they
placed him in a tomb. {13:30} Yet truly, God raised him up
from the dead on the third day. {13:31} And he was seen for
many days by those who went up with him from Galilee to
Jerusalem, who even now are his witnesses to the people.
{13:32} And we are announcing to you that the Promise,
which was made to our fathers, {13:33} has been fulfilled by
God for our children by raising up Jesus, just as it has been
written in the second Psalm also: ‘You are my Son. This day
I have begotten you.’ {13:34} Now, since he raised him from
the dead, so as to no longer return to corruption, he has said
this: ‘I will give to you the holy things of David, the faithful
one.’ {13:35} And also then, in another place, he says: ‘You
will not allow your Holy One to see corruption.’ {13:36} For
David, when he had ministered to his generation in
accordance with the will of God, fell asleep, and he was
placed next to his fathers, and he saw corruption. {13:37} Yet
truly, he whom God has raised from the dead has not seen
corruption. {13:38} Therefore, let it be known to you, noble
brothers, that through him is announced to you remission
from sins and from everything by which you were not able to
be justified in the law of Moses. {13:39} In him, all who
believe are justified. {13:40} Therefore, be careful, lest what
was said by the Prophets may overwhelm you: {13:41} ‘You
despisers! Look, and wonder, and be scattered! For I am
working a deed in your days, a deed which you would not
believe, even if someone were to explain it to you.’ ”
{13:42} Then, as they were departing, they asked them if, on
the following Sabbath, they might speak these words to them.
{13:43} And when the synagogue had been dismissed, many
among the Jews and the new worshipers were following Paul
and Barnabas. And they, speaking to them, persuaded them
to continue in the grace of God. {13:44} Yet truly, on the
following Sabbath, nearly the entire city came together to
hear the Word of God. {13:45} Then the Jews, seeing the
crowds, were filled with envy, and they, blaspheming,
contradicted the things that were being said by Paul.
{13:46} Then Paul and Barnabas said firmly: “It was
necessary to speak the Word of God first to you. But because
you reject it, and so judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life,
behold, we turn to the Gentiles. {13:47} For so has the Lord
instructed us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, so that
you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
{13:48} Then the Gentiles, upon hearing this, were
gladdened, and they were glorifying the Word of the Lord.
And as many as believed were preordained to eternal life.
{13:49} Now the word of the Lord was disseminated
throughout the entire region. {13:50} But the Jews incited
some devout and honest women, and the leaders of the city.
And they stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas.
And they drove them away from their parts. {13:51} But they,
shaking the dust from their feet against them, went on to
Iconium. {13:52} The disciples were likewise filled with
gladness and with the Holy Spirit.


[Acts 14] {14:1} Now it happened in Iconium that they
entered together into the synagogue of the Jews, and they
spoke in such a way that a copious multitude of both Jews
and Greeks believed. {14:2} Yet truly, the Jews who were
unbelieving had incited and enflamed the souls of the
Gentiles against the brothers. {14:3} And so, they remained
for a long time, acting faithfully in the Lord, offering
testimony to the Word of his grace, providing signs and
wonders done by their hands. {14:4} Then the multitude of
the city was divided. And certainly, some were with the Jews,
yet truly others were with the Apostles. {14:5} Now when an
assault had been planned by the Gentiles and the Jews with
their leaders, so that they might treat them with contempt
and stone them, {14:6} they, realizing this, fled together to
Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the entire
surrounding region. And they were evangelizing in that place.
{14:7} And a certain man was sitting at Lystra, disabled in
his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never
walked. {14:8} This man heard Paul speaking. And Paul,
gazing at him intently, and perceiving that he had faith, so
that he might be healed, {14:9} said with a loud voice,
“Stand upright upon your feet!” And he leaped up and
walked around. {14:10} But when the crowds had seen what
Paul had done, they lifted up their voice in the Lycaonian
language, saying, “The gods, having taken the likenesses of
men, have descended to us!” {14:11} And they called
Barnabas, ‘Jupiter,’ yet truly they called Paul, ‘Mercury,’
because he was the lead speaker. {14:12} Also, the priest of
Jupiter, who was outside the city, in front of the gate,
bringing in oxen and garlands, was willing to offer sacrifice
with the people. {14:13} And as soon as the Apostles,
Barnabas and Paul, had heard this, tearing their tunics, they
leapt into the crowd, crying out {14:14} and saying: “Men,
why would you do this? We also are mortals, men like
yourselves, preaching to you to be converted, from these vain
things, to the living God, who made heaven and earth and
the sea and all that is in them. {14:15}In previous
generations, he permitted all nations to walk in their own
ways. {14:16} But certainly, he did not leave himself without
testimony, doing good from heaven, giving rains and fruitful
seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness.”
{14:17} And by saying these things, they were barely able to
restrain the crowds from immolating to them. {14:18} Now
certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrived there. And
having persuaded the crowd, they stoned Paul and dragged
him outside of the city, thinking him to be dead. {14:19} But
as the disciples were standing around him, he got up and
entered the city. And the next day, he set out with Barnabas
for Derbe. {14:20} And when they had evangelized that city,
and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra and to
Iconium and to Antioch, {14:21} strengthening the souls of
the disciples, and exhorting them that they should remain
always in the faith, and that it is necessary for us to enter into
the kingdom of God through many tribulations. {14:22} And
when they had established priests for them in each church,
and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the
Lord, in whom they believed. {14:23} And traveling by way
of Pisidia, they arrived in Pamphylia. {14:24} And having
spoken the word of the Lord in Perga, they went down into
Attalia. {14:25} And from there, they sailed to Antioch,
where they had been commended to the grace of God for the
work which they had now accomplished. {14:26} And when
they had arrived and had gathered together the church, they
related what great things God had done with them, and how
he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. {14:27} And
they remained for no small amount of time with the disciples.


[Acts 15] {15:1} And certain ones, descending from Judea,
were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised
according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
{15:2} Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas made no small
uprising against them, they decided that Paul and Barnabas,
and some from the opposing side, should go up to the
Apostles and priests in Jerusalem concerning this question.
{15:3} Therefore, being led by the church, they traveled
through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of
the Gentiles. And they caused great joy among all the
brothers. {15:4} And when they had arrived in Jerusalem,
they were received by the church and the Apostles and the
elders, reporting what great things God had done with them.
{15:5} But some from the sect of the Pharisees, those who
were believers, rose up saying, “It is necessary for them to be
circumcised and to be instructed to keep the Law of Moses.”
{15:6} And the Apostles and elders came together to take
care of this matter. {15:7} And after a great contention had
taken place, Peter rose up and said to them: “Noble brothers,
you know that, in recent days, God has chosen from among
us, by my mouth, Gentiles to hear the word of the Gospel
and to believe. {15:8} And God, who knows hearts, offered
testimony, by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as to us.
{15:9} And he distinguished nothing between us and them,
purifying their hearts by faith. {15:10} Now therefore, why
do you tempt God to impose a yoke upon the necks of the
disciples, which neither our fathers nor we have been able to
bear? {15:11} But by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
believe in order to be saved, in the same manner also as
them.” {15:12} Then the entire multitude was silent. And
they were listening to Barnabas and Paul, describing what
great signs and wonders God had wrought among the
Gentiles through them. {15:13} And after they had been
silent, James responded by saying: “Noble brothers, listen to
me. {15:14} Simon has explained in what manner God first
visited, so as to take from the Gentiles a people to his name.
{15:15} And the words of the Prophets are in agreement with
this, just as it was written: {15:16} ‘After these things, I will
return, and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has
fallen down. And I will rebuild its ruins, and I will raise it up,
{15:17} so that the rest of men may seek the Lord, along with
all the nations over whom my name has been invoked, says
the Lord, who does these things.’ {15:18} To the Lord, his
own work has been known from eternity. {15:19} Because of
this, I judge that those who were converted to God from
among the Gentiles are not to be disturbed, {15:20} but
instead that we write to them, that they should keep
themselves from the defilement of idols, and from fornication,
and from whatever has been suffocated, and from blood.
{15:21} For Moses, from ancient times, has had in each city
those who preach him in the synagogues, where he is read on
every Sabbath.” {15:22} Then it pleased the Apostles and
elders, with the whole Church, to choose men from among
them, and to send to Antioch, with Paul and Barnabas, and
Judas, who was surnamed Barsabbas, and Silas, preeminent
men among the brothers, {15:23} what was written by their
own hands: “The Apostles and elders, brothers, to those who
are at Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, brothers from the
Gentiles, greetings. {15:24} Since we have heard that some,
going out from among us, have troubled you with words,
subverting your souls, to whom we gave no commandment,
{15:25} it pleased us, being assembled as one, to choose men
and to send them to you, with our most beloved Barnabas
and Paul: {15:26} men who have handed over their lives on
behalf of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
{15:27} Therefore, we have sent Judas and Silas, who
themselves also will, with the spoken word, reaffirm to you
the same things. {15:28} For it has seemed good to the Holy
Spirit and to us to impose no further burden upon you, other
than these necessary things: {15:29} that you abstain from
things immolated to idols, and from blood, and from what
has been suffocated, and from fornication. You will do well
to keep yourselves from these things. Farewell.” {15:30} And
so, having been dismissed, they went down to Antioch. And
gathering the multitude together, they delivered the epistle.
{15:31} And when they had read it, they were gladdened by
this consolation. {15:32} But Judas and Silas, being also
prophets themselves, consoled the brothers with many words,
and they were strengthened. {15:33} Then, after spending
some more time there, they were dismissed with peace, by
the brothers, to those who had sent them. {15:34} But it
seemed good to Silas to remain there. So Judas alone
departed to Jerusalem. {15:35} And Paul and Barnabas
remained at Antioch, with many others, teaching and
evangelizing the Word of the Lord. {15:36} Then, after some
days, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return to visit the
brothers throughout all the cities in which we have preached
the Word of the Lord, to see how they are.” {15:37} And
Barnabas wanted to take John, who was surnamed Mark,
with them also. {15:38} But Paul was saying that he ought
not to be received, since he withdrew from them at
Pamphylia, and he had not gone with them in the work.
{15:39} And there occurred a dissension, to such an extent
that they departed from one another. And Barnabas, indeed
taking Mark, sailed to Cyprus. {15:40} Yet truly, Paul,
choosing Silas, set out, being delivered by the brothers to the
grace of God. {15:41} And he traveled through Syria and
Cilicia, confirming the Churches, instructing them to keep
the precepts of the Apostles and the elders.


[Acts 16] {16:1} Then he arrived at Derbe and Lystra. And
behold, a certain disciple named Timothy was there, the son
of a faithful Jewish woman, his father a Gentile. {16:2} The
brothers who were at Lystra and Iconium rendered good
testimony to him. {16:3} Paul wanted this man to travel with
him, and taking him, he circumcised him, because of the
Jews who were in those places. For they all knew that his
father was a Gentile. {16:4} And as they were traveling
through the cities, they delivered to them the dogmas to be
kept, which were decreed by the Apostles and elders who
were at Jerusalem. {16:5} And certainly, the Churches were
being strengthened in faith and were increasing in number
every day. {16:6} Then, while crossing through Phrygia and
the region of Galatia, they were prevented by the Holy Spirit
from speaking the Word in Asia. {16:7} But when they had
arrived in Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the
Spirit of Jesus would not permit them. {16:8} Then, when
they had crossed through Mysia, they descended to Troas.
{16:9} And a vision in the night was revealed to Paul of a
certain man of Macedonia, standing and pleading with him,
and saying: “Cross into Macedonia and help us!”
{16:10} Then, after he saw the vision, immediately we sought
to set out for Macedonia, having been assured that God had
called us to evangelize to them. {16:11} And sailing from
Troas, taking a direct path, we arrived at Samothrace, and on
the following day, at Neapolis, {16:12} and from there to
Philippi, which is the preeminent city in the area of
Macedonia, a colony. Now we were in this city some days,
conferring together. {16:13} Then, on the Sabbath day, we
were walking outside the gate, beside a river, where there
seemed to be a prayer gathering. And sitting down, we were
speaking with the women who had assembled. {16:14} Anda
certain woman, named Lydia, a seller of purple in the city of
Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened. And the Lord opened
her heart to be receptive to what Paul was saying.
{16:15} And when she had been baptized, with her
household, she pleaded with us, saying: “If you have judged
me to be faithful to the Lord, enter into my house and lodge
there.” And she convinced us. {16:16} Then it happened that,
as we were going out to prayer, a certain girl, having a spirit
of divination, met with us. She was a source of great profit to
her masters, through her divining. {16:17} This girl,
following Paul and us, was crying out, saying: “These men
are servants of the Most High God! They are announcing to
you the way of salvation!” {16:18} Now she behaved in this
way for many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said
to the spirit, “I command you, in the name of Jesus Christ, to
go out from her.” And it went away in that same hour.
{16:19} But her masters, seeing that the hope of their profit
went away, apprehended Paul and Silas, and they brought
them to the rulers at the courthouse. {16:20} And presenting
them to the magistrates, they said: “These men are disturbing
our city, since they are Jews. {16:21} And they are
announcing a way which is not lawful for us to accept or to
observe, since we are Romans.” {16:22} And the people
rushed together against them. And the magistrates, tearing
their tunics, ordered them to be beaten with staffs.
{16:23} And when they had inflicted many scourges on them,
they cast them into prison, instructing the guard to watch
them diligently. {16:24} And since he had received this kind
of order, he cast them into the interior prison cell, and he
restricted their feet with stocks. {16:25} Then, in the middle
of the night, Paul and Silas were praying and praising God.
And those who were also in custody were listening to them.
{16:26} Yet truly, there was a sudden earthquake, so great
that the foundations of the prison were moved. And
immediately all the doors were opened, and the bindings of
everyone were released. {16:27} Then the prison guard,
having been jarred awake, and seeing the doors of the prison
open, drew his sword and intended to kill himself, supposing
that the prisoners had fled. {16:28} But Paul cried out with a
loud voice, saying: “Do no harm to yourself, for we are all
here!” {16:29} Then calling for a light, he entered. And
trembling, he fell before the feet of Paul and Silas.
{16:30} And bringing them outside, he said, “Sirs, what must
I do, so that I may be saved?” {16:31} So they said, “Believe
in the Lord Jesus, and then you will be saved, with your
household.” {16:32} And they spoke the Word of the Lord to
him, along with all those who were in his house.
{16:33} And he, taking them in the same hour of the night,
washed their scourges. And he was baptized, and next his
entire household. {16:34} And when he had brought them
into his own house, he set a table for them. And he was
joyous, with his entire household, believing in God.
{16:35} And when daylight had arrived, the magistrates sent
the attendants, saying, “Release those men.” {16:36} But the
prison guard reported these words to Paul: “The magistrates
have sent to have you released. Now therefore, depart. Go in
peace.” {16:37} But Paul said to them: “They have beaten us
publicly, though we were not condemned. They have cast
men who are Romans into prison. And now they would drive
us away secretly? Not so. Instead, let them come forward,
{16:38} and let us drive them away.” Then the attendants
reported these words to the magistrates. And upon hearing
that they were Romans, they were afraid. {16:39} And
arriving, they pleaded with them, and leading them out, they
begged them to depart from the city. {16:40} And they went
away from the prison and entered into the house of Lydia.
And having seen the brothers, they consoled them, and then
they set out.


[Acts 17] {17:1} Now when they had walked through
Amphipolis and Apollonia, they arrived at Thessalonica,
where there was a synagogue of the Jews. {17:2} Then Paul,
according to custom, entered to them. And for three Sabbaths
he disputed with them about the Scriptures,
{17:3} interpreting and concluding that it was necessary for
the Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead, and that
“this is the Jesus Christ, whom I am announcing to you.”
{17:4} And some of them believed and were joined to Paul
and Silas, and a great number of these were from the
worshipers and the Gentiles, and not a few were noble
women. {17:5} But the Jews, being jealous, and joining with
certain evildoers among the common men, caused a
disturbance, and they stirred up the city. And taking up a
position near the house of Jason, they sought to lead them
out to the people. {17:6} And when they had not found them,
they dragged Jason and certain brothers to the rulers of the
city, crying out: “For these are the ones who have stirred up
the city. And they came here, {17:7} and Jason has received
them. And all these men act contrary to the decrees of Caesar,
saying that there is another king, Jesus.” {17:8} And they
incited the people. And the rulers of the city, upon hearing
these things, {17:9} and having received an explanation from
Jason and the others, released them. {17:10} Yet truly, the
brothers promptly sent Paul and Silas away by night to
Beroea. And when they had arrived, they entered the
synagogue of the Jews. {17:11} But these were more noble
than those who were at Thessalonica. They received the
Word with all enthusiasm, daily examining the Scriptures to
see if these things were so. {17:12} And indeed, many
believed among them, as well as not a few among the
honorable Gentile men and women. {17:13} Then, when the
Jews of Thessalonica had realized that the Word of God was
also preached by Paul at Beroea, they went there also, stirring
up and disturbing the multitude. {17:14} And then the
brothers quickly sent Paul away, so that he might travel by
sea. But Silas and Timothy remained there. {17:15} Then
those who were leading Paul brought him as far as Athens.
And having received an order from him to Silas and Timothy,
that they should come to him quickly, they set out.
{17:16} Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit
was stirred up within him, seeing the city given over to
idolatry. {17:17} And so, he was disputing with the Jews in
the synagogue, and with the worshipers, and in public places,
throughout each day, with whomever was there.
{17:18} Now certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were
arguing with him. And some were saying, “What does this
sower of the Word want to say?” Yet others were saying, “He
seems to be an announcer for new demons.” For he was
announcing to them Jesus and the Resurrection. {17:19} And
apprehending him, they brought him to the Areopagus,
saying: “Are we able to know what this new doctrine is,
about which you speak? {17:20} For you bring certain new
ideas to our ears. And so we would like to know what these
things mean.” {17:21} (Now all the Athenians, and arriving
visitors, were occupying themselves with nothing other than
speaking or hearing various new ideas.) {17:22} But Paul,
standing in the middle of the Areopagus, said: “Men of
Athens, I perceive that in all things you are rather
superstitious. {17:23} For as I was passing by and noticing
your idols, I also found an altar, on which was written: TO
THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, what you worship in
ignorance, this is what I am preaching to you: {17:24} the
God who made the world and all that is in it, the One who is
the Lord of heaven and earth, who does not live in temples
made with hands. {17:25} Neither is he served by the hands
of men, as if in need of anything, since it is he who gives to
all things life and breath and all else. {17:26} And he has
made, out of one, every family of man: to live upon the face
of the entire earth, determining the appointed seasons and the
limits of their habitation, {17:27} so as to seek God, if
perhaps they may consider him or find him, though he is not
far from each one of us. {17:28} ‘For in him we live, and
move, and exist.’ Just as some of your own poets have said.
‘For we are also of his family.’ {17:29} Therefore, since we
are of the family of God, we must not consider gold or silver
or precious stones, or the engravings of art and of the
imagination of man, to be a representation of what is Divine.
{17:30} And indeed, God, having looked down to see the
ignorance of these times, has now announced to men that
everyone everywhere should do penance. {17:31} For he has
appointed a day on which he will judge the world in equity,
through the man whom he has appointed, offering faith to all,
by raising him from the dead.” {17:32} And when they had
heard about the Resurrection of the dead, indeed, some were
derisive, while others said, “We will listen to you about this
again.” {17:33} So Paul departed from their midst.
{17:34} Yet truly, certain men, adhering to him, did believe.
Among these were also Dionysius the Areopagite, and a
woman named Damaris, and others with them.


[Acts 18] {18:1} After these things, having departed from
Athens, he arrived at Corinth. {18:2} And upon finding a
certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently
arrived from Italy with Priscilla his wife, (because Claudius
had ordered all Jews to depart from Rome,) he met with
them. {18:3} And because he was of the same trade, he
lodged with them and was working. (Now they were
tentmakers by trade.) {18:4} And he was arguing in the
synagogue on every Sabbath, introducing the name of the
Lord Jesus. And he was persuading Jews and Greeks.
{18:5} And when Silas and Timothy had arrived from
Macedonia, Paul stood firm in the Word, testifying to the
Jews that Jesus is the Christ. {18:6} But since they were
contradicting him and blaspheming, he shook out his
garments and said to them: “Your blood is on your own
heads. I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles.”
{18:7} And moving from that place, he entered into the
house of a certain man, named Titus the Just, a worshiper of
God, whose house was adjoined to the synagogue.
{18:8} Now Crispus, a leader of the synagogue, believed in
the Lord, with his entire house. And many of the Corinthians,
upon hearing, believed and were baptized. {18:9} Then the
Lord said to Paul, through a vision in the night: “Do not be
afraid. Instead, speak out and do not be silent. {18:10} For I
am with you. And no one will take hold of you, so as to do
you harm. For many of the people in this city are with me.”
{18:11} Then he settled there for a year and six months,
teaching the Word of God among them. {18:12} But when
Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews rose up with one
accord against Paul. And they brought him to the tribunal,
{18:13} saying, “He persuades men to worship God contrary
to the law.” {18:14} Then, when Paul was beginning to open
his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews: “If this were some matter
of injustice, or a wicked deed, O noble Jews, I would support
you, as is proper. {18:15} Yet if truly these are questions
about a word and names and your law, you should see to it
yourselves. I will not be the judge of such things.”
{18:16} And he ordered them from the tribunal. {18:17} But
they, apprehending Sosthenes, a leader of the synagogue,
beat him in front of the tribunal. And Gallio showed no
concern for these things. {18:18} Yet truly, Paul, after he had
remained for many more days, having said goodbye to the
brothers, sailed into Syria, and with him were Priscilla and
Aquila. Now he had shaved his head in Cenchreae, for he
had made a vow. {18:19} And he arrived at Ephesus, and he
left them behind there. Yet truly, he himself, entering into the
synagogue, was disputing with the Jews. {18:20} Then,
although they were asking him to remain for a longer time,
he would not agree. {18:21} Instead, saying goodbye and
telling them, “I will return to you again, God willing,” he set
out from Ephesus. {18:22} And after going down to Caesarea,
he went up to Jerusalem, and he greeted the Church there,
and then he descended to Antioch. {18:23} And having spent
some length of time there, he set out, and he walked in order
through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all
the disciples. {18:24} Now a certain Jew named Apollo, born
at Alexandria, an eloquent man who was powerful with the
Scriptures, arrived at Ephesus. {18:25} He was learned in the
Way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he was speaking
and teaching the things that are of Jesus, but knowing only
the baptism of John. {18:26} And so, he began to act
faithfully in the synagogue. And when Priscilla and Aquila
had heard him, they took him aside and expounded the Way
of the Lord to him more thoroughly. {18:27} Then, since he
wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers wrote an exhortation to
the disciples, so that they might accept him. And when he
had arrived, he held many discussions with those who had
believed. {18:28} For he was vehemently and publicly
reproving the Jews, by revealing through the Scriptures that
Jesus is the Christ.


[Acts 19] {19:1} Now it happened that, while Apollo was at
Corinth, Paul, after he had journeyed through the upper
regions, arrived at Ephesus. And he met with certain disciples.
{19:2} And he said to them, “After believing, have you
received the Holy Spirit?” But they said to him, “We have
not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” {19:3} Yet truly,
he said, “Then with what have you been baptized?” And they
said, “With the baptism of John.” {19:4} Then Paul said:
“John baptized the people with the baptism of repentance,
saying that they should believe in the One who is to come
after him, that is, in Jesus.” {19:5} Upon hearing these things,
they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
{19:6} And when Paul had imposed his hands on them, the
Holy Spirit came over them. And they were speaking in
tongues and prophesying. {19:7} Now the men were about
twelve in all. {19:8} Then, upon entering the synagogue, he
was speaking faithfully for three months, disputing and
persuading them about the kingdom of God. {19:9} But
when certain ones became hardened and would not believe,
cursing the Way of the Lord in the presence of the multitude,
Paul, withdrawing from them, separated the disciples,
disputing daily in a certain school of Tyrannus. {19:10} Now
this was done throughout two years, so that all who were
living in Asia listened to the Word of the Lord, both Jews
and Gentiles. {19:11} And God was accomplishing powerful
and uncommon miracles by the hand of Paul, {19:12} so
much so that even when small cloths and wrappings were
brought from his body to the sick, the illnesses withdrew from
them and the wicked spirits departed. {19:13} Then, even
some of the traveling Jewish exorcists had attempted to
invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil
spirits, saying, “I bind you by oath through Jesus, whom Paul
preaches.” {19:14} And there were certain Jews, the seven
sons of Sceva, leaders among the priests, who were acting in
this way. {19:15} But a wicked spirit responded by saying to
them: “Jesus I know, and Paul I know. But who are you?”
{19:16} And the man, in whom there was a wicked spirit,
leaping at them and getting the better of them both, prevailed
against them, so that they fled from that house, naked and
wounded. {19:17} And so, this became known to all the Jews
and Gentiles who were living at Ephesus. And a fear fell over
them all. And the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
{19:18} And many believers were arriving, confessing, and
announcing their deeds. {19:19} Then many of those who
had followed odd sects brought together their books, and they
burned them in the sight of all. And after determining the
value of these, they found the price to be fifty thousand
denarii. {19:20} In this way, the Word of God was increasing
strongly and was being confirmed. {19:21} Then, when these
things were completed, Paul decided in the Spirit, after
crossing through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem,
saying, “Then, after I have been there, it is necessary for me
to see Rome also.” {19:22} But sending two of those who
were ministering to him, Timothy and Erastus, into
Macedonia, he himself remained for a time in Asia.
{19:23} Now at that time, there occurred no small
disturbance concerning the Way of the Lord. {19:24} For a
certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith making silver
shrines for Diana, was providing no small profit to craftsmen.
{19:25} And calling them together, with those who were
employed in the same way, he said: “Men, you know that
our income is from this craft. {19:26} And you are seeing and
hearing that this man Paul, by persuasion, has turned away a
great multitude, not only from Ephesus, but from nearly all of
Asia, saying, ‘These things are not gods which have been
made by hands.’ {19:27} Thus, not only is this, our
occupation, in danger of being brought into repudiation, but
also the temple of the great Diana will be reputed as nothing!
Then even her majesty, whom all of Asia and the world
worships, will begin to be destroyed.” {19:28} Upon hearing
this, they were filled with anger, and they cried out, saying,
“Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” {19:29} And the city was
filled with confusion. And having seized Gaius and
Aristarchus of Macedonia, companions of Paul, they rushed
violently, with one accord, into the amphitheatre.
{19:30} Then, when Paul wanted to enter to the people, the
disciples would not permit him. {19:31} And some of the
leaders from Asia, who were his friends, also sent to him,
requesting that he not present himself in the amphitheatre.
{19:32} But others were crying out various things. For the
assembly was in confusion, and most did not know the
reason they had been called together. {19:33} So they
dragged Alexander from the crowd, while the Jews were
propelling him forward. And Alexander, gesturing with his
hand for silence, wanted to give the people an explanation.
{19:34} But as soon as they realized him to be a Jew, all with
one voice, for about two hours, were crying out, “Great is
Diana of the Ephesians!” {19:35} And when the scribe had
calmed the crowds, he said: “Men of Ephesus, now what
man is there who does not know that the city of the
Ephesians is in the service of the great Diana and of the
offspring of Jupiter? {19:36} Therefore, since these things are
not able to be contradicted, it is necessary for you to be calm
and to do nothing rash. {19:37} For you have brought
forward these men, who are neither sacrilegious nor
blasphemers against your goddess. {19:38} But if Demetrius
and the craftsmen who are with him have a case against
anyone, they can convene in the courts, and there are
proconsuls. Let them accuse one another. {19:39} But if you
would inquire about other things, this can be decided in a
lawful assembly. {19:40} For now we are in peril of being
convicted of sedition over today’s events, since there is no
one guilty (against whom we are able to provide evidence) in
this gathering.” And when he had said this, he dismissed the
assembly.


[Acts 20] {20:1} Then, after the tumult ceased, Paul, calling
the disciples to himself and exhorting them, said farewell.
And he set out, so that he might go into Macedonia.
{20:2} And when he had walked through those areas and had
exhorted them with many sermons, he went into Greece.
{20:3} After he had spent three months there, treacheries
were planned against him by the Jews, just as he was about to
sail into Syria. And having been advised of this, he return
through Macedonia. {20:4} Now those accompanying him
were Sopater, the son of Pyrrhus from Beroea; and also the
Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of
Derbe, and Timothy; and also Tychicus and Trophimus from
Asia. {20:5} These, after they had gone ahead, waited for us
at Troas. {20:6} Yet truly, we sailed from Philippi, after the
days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we went to them
at Troas, where we stayed for seven days. {20:7} Then, on
the first Sabbath, when we had assembled together to break
bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to set out the
next day. But he prolonged his sermon into the middle of the
night. {20:8} Now there were plenty of lamps in the upper
room, where we were gathered. {20:9} And a certain
adolescent named Eutychus, sitting on the window sill, was
being weighed down by a heavy drowsiness (for Paul was
preaching at length). Then, as he went to sleep, he fell from
the third floor room downward. And when he was lifted up,
he was dead. {20:10} When Paul had gone down to him, he
laid himself over him and, embracing him, said, “Do not
worry, for his soul is still within him.” {20:11} And so, going
up, and breaking bread, and eating, and having spoken well
on until daylight, he then set out. {20:12} Now they had
brought the boy in alive, and they were more than a little
consoled. {20:13} Then we climbed aboard the ship and
sailed to Assos, where we were to take in Paul. For so he
himself had decided, since he was making the journey by
land. {20:14} And when he had joined us at Assos, we took
him in, and we went to Mitylene. {20:15} And sailing from
there, on the following day, we arrived opposite Chios. And
next we landed at Samos. And on the following day we went
to Miletus. {20:16} For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus,
so that he would not be delayed in Asia. For he was hurrying
so that, if it were possible for him, he might observe the day
of Pentecost at Jerusalem. {20:17} Then, sending from
Miletus to Ephesus, he called those greater by birth in the
church. {20:18} And when they had come to him and were
together, he said to them: “You know that from the first day
when I entered into Asia, I have been with you, for the entire
time, in this manner: {20:19} serving the Lord, with all
humility and despite the tears and trials which befell me from
the treacheries of the Jews, {20:20} how I held back nothing
that was of value, how well I have preached to you, and that
I have taught you publicly and throughout the houses,
{20:21} testifying both to Jews and to Gentiles about
repentance in God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
{20:22} And now, behold, being obliged in spirit, I am going
to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,
{20:23} except that the Holy Spirit, throughout every city,
has cautioned me, saying that chains and tribulations await
me at Jerusalem. {20:24} But I dread none of these things.
Neither do I consider my life to be more precious because it is
my own, provided that in some way I may complete my own
course and that of the ministry of the Word, which I received
from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of the grace of
God. {20:25} And now, behold, I know that you will no
longer see my face, all of you among whom I have traveled,
preaching the kingdom of God. {20:26} For this reason, I call
you as witnesses on this very day: that I am clean from the
blood of all. {20:27} For I have not turned aside in the least
from announcing every counsel of God to you. {20:28} Take
care of yourselves and of the entire flock, over which the
Holy Spirit has stationed you as Bishops to rule the Church
of God, which he has purchased by his own blood. {20:29} I
know that after my departure ravenous wolves will enter
among you, not sparing the flock. {20:30} And from among
yourselves, men will rise up, speaking perverse things in
order to entice disciples after them. {20:31} Because of this,
be vigilant, retaining in memory that throughout three years I
did not cease, night and day, with tears, to admonish each
and every one of you. {20:32} And now, I commend you to
God and to the Word of his grace. He has the power to build
up, and to give an inheritance to all who are sanctified.
{20:33} I have coveted neither silver and gold, nor apparel,
{20:34} as you yourselves know. For that which was needed
by me and by those who are with me, these hands have
provided. {20:35} I have revealed all things to you, because
by laboring in this way, it is necessary to support the weak
and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said,
‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” {20:36} And
when he had said these things, kneeling down, he prayed
with all of them. {20:37} Then a great weeping occurred
among them all. And, falling upon the neck of Paul, they
kissed him, {20:38} being grieved most of all over the word
which he had said, that they would never see his face again.
And they brought him to the ship.


[Acts 21] {21:1} And after these things had happened,
having reluctantly parted from them, we sailed a direct course,
arriving at Cos, and on following the day at Rhodes, and
from there to Patara. {21:2} And when we had found a ship
sailing across to Phoenicia, climbing aboard, we set sail.
{21:3} Then, after we had caught sight of Cyprus, keeping it
to the left, we sailed on to Syria, and we arrived at Tyre. For
the ship was going to unload its cargo there. {21:4} Then,
having found the disciples, we lodged there for seven days.
And they were saying to Paul, through the Spirit, that he
should not go up to Jerusalem. {21:5} And when the days
were completed, setting out, we went on; and they all
accompanied us with their wives and children, until we were
outside of the city. And we kneeled down at the shore and
prayed. {21:6} And when we had said farewell to one
another, we climbed aboard the ship. And they returned to
their own. {21:7} Yet truly, having completed our journey by
boat from Tyre, we descended to Ptolemais. And greeting the
brothers, we lodged with them for one day. {21:8} Then,
after setting out the next day, we arrived at Caesarea. And
upon entering into the house of Philip the evangelist, who
was one of the seven, we stayed with him. {21:9} Now this
man had four daughters, virgins, who were prophesying.
{21:10} And while we were delayed for some days, a certain
prophet from Judea, named Agabus, arrived. {21:11} And he,
when he had come to us, took Paul’s belt, and binding his
own feet and hands, he said: “Thus says the Holy Spirit: The
man whose belt this is, the Jews will bind in this way at
Jerusalem. And they will deliver him into the hands of the
Gentiles.” {21:12} And when we had heard this, both we and
those who were from that place begged him not to go up to
Jerusalem. {21:13} Then Paul responded by saying: “What
do you accomplish by weeping and afflicting my heart? For I
am prepared, not only to be bound, but also to die in
Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus.” {21:14} And
since we were not able to persuade him, we quieted, saying:
“May the will of the Lord be done.” {21:15} Then, after
those days, having made preparations, we ascended to
Jerusalem. {21:16} Now some of the disciples from Caesarea
also went with us, bringing with them a certain Cypriot
named Mnason, a very old disciple, whose guests we would
be. {21:17} And when we had arrived at Jerusalem, the
brothers received us willingly. {21:18} Then, on the following
day, Paul entered with us to James. And all the elders were
assembled. {21:19} And when he had greeted them, he
explained each thing that God had accomplished among the
Gentiles through his ministry. {21:20} And they, upon
hearing it, magnified God and said to him: “You understand,
brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews who
have believed, and they are all zealous for the law.
{21:21} Now they have heard about you, that you are
teaching those Jews who are among the Gentiles to withdraw
from Moses, telling them that they should not circumcise
their sons, nor act according to custom. {21:22} What is next?
The multitude ought to be convened. For they will hear that
you have arrived. {21:23} Therefore, do this thing that we
ask of you: We have four men, who are under a vow.
{21:24} Take these and sanctify yourself with them, and
require them to shave their heads. And then everyone will
know that the things that they have heard about you are false,
but that you yourself walk in keeping with the law.
{21:25} But, about those Gentiles who have believed, we
have written a judgment that they should keep themselves
from what has been immolated to idols, and from blood, and
from what has been suffocated, and from fornication.”
{21:26} Then Paul, taking the men on the next day, was
purified with them, and he entered the temple, announcing
the process of the days of purification, until an oblation
would be offered on behalf of each one of them. {21:27} But
when the seven days were reaching completion, those Jews
who were from Asia, when they had seen him in the temple,
incited all the people, and they laid hands on him, crying out:
{21:28} “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching,
everyone, everywhere, against the people and the law and
this place. Furthermore, he has even brought Gentiles into
the temple, and he has violated this holy place.” {21:29} (For
they had seen Trophimus, an Ephesian, in the city with him,
and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the
temple.) {21:30} And the entire city was stirred up. And it
happened that the people ran together. And apprehending
Paul, they dragged him outside of the temple. And
immediately the doors were closed. {21:31} Then, as they
were seeking to kill him, it was reported to the tribune of the
cohort: “All Jerusalem is in confusion.” {21:32} And so,
immediately taking soldiers and centurions, he rushed down
to them. And when they had seen the tribune and the soldiers,
they ceased to strike Paul. {21:33} Then the tribune, drawing
near, apprehended him and ordered that he be bound with
two chains. And he was asking who he was and what he had
done. {21:34} Then they were crying out various things
within the crowd. And since he could not understand
anything clearly because of the noise, he ordered him to be
brought into the fortress. {21:35} And when he had arrived at
the stairs, it happened that he was carried up by the soldiers,
because of the threat of violence from the people. {21:36} For
the multitude of the people were following and crying out,
“Take him away!” {21:37} And as Paul was beginning to be
brought into the fortress, he said to the tribune, “Is it
permissible for me to say something to you?” And he said,
“You know Greek? {21:38}So then, are you not that
Egyptian who before these days incited a rebellion and led
out into the desert four thousand murderous men?”
{21:39} But Paul said to him: “I am a man, indeed a Jew,
from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of a well-known city. So I
petition you, permit me to speak to the people.” {21:40} And
when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the
stairs, motioned with his hand to the people. And when a
great silence occurred, he spoke to them in the Hebrew
language, saying:


[Acts 22] {22:1} “Noble brothers and fathers, listen to the
explanation that I now give to you.” {22:2} And when they
heard him speaking to them in the Hebrew language, they
offered a greater silence. {22:3} And he said: “I am a Jewish
man, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but raised in this city beside
the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the truth of the law
of the fathers, zealous for the law, just as all of you also are to
this day. {22:4} I persecuted this Way, even unto death,
binding and delivering into custody both men and women,
{22:5} just as the high priest and all those greater by birth
bear witness to me. Having received letters from them to the
brothers, I journeyed to Damascus, so that I might lead them
bound from there to Jerusalem, so that they might be
punished. {22:6} But it happened that, as I was traveling and
was approaching Damascus at midday, suddenly from
heaven a great light shone around me. {22:7} And falling to
the ground, I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are
you persecuting me?’ {22:8} And I responded, ‘Who are you,
Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom
you are persecuting.’ {22:9} And those who were with me,
indeed, saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of him
who was speaking with me. {22:10} And I said, ‘What
should I do, Lord?’ Then the Lord said to me: ‘Rise up, and
go to Damascus. And there, you shall be told all that you
must do.’ {22:11} And since I could not see, because of the
brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by my
companions, and I went to Damascus. {22:12} Then a
certain Ananias, a man in accord with the law, having the
testimony of all the Jews who were living there,
{22:13} drawing near to me and standing close by, said to me,
‘Brother Saul, see!’ And in that same hour, I looked upon
him. {22:14} But he said: ‘The God of our fathers has
preordained you, so that you would come to know his will
and would see the Just One, and would hear the voice from
his mouth. {22:15} For you shall be his witness to all men
about those things which you have seen and heard.
{22:16} And now, why do you delay? Rise up, and be
baptized, and wash away your sins, by invoking his name.’
{22:17} Then it happened that, when I returned to Jerusalem
and was praying in the temple, a mental stupor came over me,
{22:18} and I saw him saying to me: ‘Hurry! Depart quickly
from Jerusalem! For they will not accept your testimony
about me.’ {22:19} And I said: ‘Lord, they know that I am
beating and enclosing in prison, throughout every synagogue,
those who have believed in you. {22:20} And when the blood
of your witness Stephen was poured out, I stood nearby and
was consenting, and I watched over the garments of those
who put him to death.’ {22:21} And he said to me, ‘Go forth.
For I am sending you to far away nations.’ ” {22:22} Now
they were listening to him, until this word, and then they
lifted up their voice, saying: “Take this kind away from the
earth! For it is not fitting for him to live!” {22:23} And while
they were shouting, and tossing aside their garments, and
casting dust into the air, {22:24} the tribune ordered him to
be brought into the fortress, and to be scourged and tortured,
in order to discover the reason that they were crying out in
this way against him. {22:25} And when they had tied him
with straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing near
him, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman
and has not been condemned?” {22:26} Upon hearing this,
the centurion went to the tribune and reported it to him,
saying: “What do you intend to do? For this man is a Roman
citizen.” {22:27} And the tribune, approaching, said to him:
“Tell me. Are you a Roman?” So he said, “Yes.”
{22:28} And the tribune responded, “I obtained this
citizenship at great cost.” And Paul said, “But I was born to
it.” {22:29} Therefore, those who were going to torture him,
immediately withdrew from him. The tribune was similarly
afraid, after he realized that he was a Roman citizen, for he
had bound him. {22:30} But on the next day, wanting to
discover more diligently what the reason was that he was
accused by the Jews, he released him, and he ordered the
priests to convene, with the entire council. And, producing
Paul, he stationed him among them.


[Acts 23] {23:1} Then Paul, gazing intently at the council,
said, “Noble brothers, I have spoken with all good conscience
before God, even to this present day.” {23:2} And the high
priest, Ananias, instructed those who were standing nearby to
strike him on the mouth. {23:3} Then Paul said to him: “God
shall strike you, you whitewashed wall! For would you sit
and judge me according to the law, when, contrary to the law,
you order me to be struck?” {23:4} And those who were
standing nearby said, “Are you speaking evil about the high
priest of God?” {23:5} And Paul said: “I did not know,
brothers, that he is the high priest. For it is written: ‘You shall
not speak evil of the leader of your people.’ ” {23:6} Now
Paul, knowing that one group were Sadducees and the other
were Pharisees, exclaimed in the council: “Noble brothers, I
am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees! It is over the hope and
resurrection of the dead that I am being judged.” {23:7} And
when he had said this, a dissension occurred between the
Pharisees and the Sadducees. And the multitude was divided.
{23:8} For the Sadducees claim that there is no resurrection,
and neither angels, nor spirits. But the Pharisees confess both
of these. {23:9} Then there occurred a great clamor. And
some of the Pharisees, rising up, were fighting, saying: “We
find nothing evil in this man. What if a spirit has spoken to
him, or an angel?” {23:10} And since a great dissension had
been made, the tribune, fearing that Paul might be torn apart
by them, ordered the soldiers to descend and to seize him
from their midst, and to bring him into the fortress.
{23:11} Then, on the following night, the Lord stood near
him and said: “Be constant. For just as you have testified
about me in Jerusalem, so also it is necessary for you to
testify at Rome.” {23:12} And when daylight arrived, some
of the Jews gathered together and bound themselves with an
oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they
had killed Paul. {23:13} Now there were more than forty
men who had taken this oath together. {23:14} And they
approached the leaders of the priests, and the elders, and they
said: “We have sworn ourselves by an oath, so that we will
taste nothing, until we have killed Paul. {23:15} Therefore,
with the council, you should now give notice to the tribune,
so that he may bring him to you, as if you intended to
determine something else about him. But before he
approaches, we have made preparations to put him to death.”
{23:16} But when Paul’s sister’s son had heard of this, about
their treachery, he went and entered into the fortress, and he
reported it to Paul. {23:17} And Paul, calling to him one of
the centurions, said: “Lead this young man to the tribune.
For he has something to tell him.” {23:18} And indeed, he
took him and led him to the tribune, and he said, “Paul, the
prisoner, asked me to lead this young man to you, since he
has something to say to you.” {23:19} Then the tribune,
taking him by the hand, withdrew with him by themselves,
and he asked him: “What is it that you have to tell me?”
{23:20} Then he said: “The Jews have met to ask you to
bring Paul tomorrow to the council, as if they intended to
question him about something else. {23:21} But truly, you
should not believe them, for they would ambush him with
more than forty men from among them, who have bound
themselves by an oath neither to eat, nor to drink, until they
have put him to death. And they are now prepared, hoping
for an affirmation from you.” {23:22} And then the tribune
dismissed the young man, instructing him not to tell anyone
that he had made known these things to him. {23:23} Then,
having called two centurions, he said to them: “Prepare two
hundred soldiers, so that they may go as far as Caesarea, and
seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen, for the third
hour of the night. {23:24} And prepare beasts of burden to
carry Paul, so that they may lead him safely to Felix, the
governor.” {23:25} For he was afraid, lest perhaps the Jews
might seize him and kill him, and that afterwards he would
be falsely accused, as if he had accepted a bribe. And so he
wrote a letter containing the following: {23:26} “Claudius
Lysias, to the most excellent governor, Felix: greetings.
{23:27} This man, having been apprehended by the Jews and
being about to be put to death by them, I rescued,
overwhelming them with soldiers, since I realized that he is a
Roman. {23:28} And wanting to know the reason that they
objected to him, I brought him into their council.
{23:29} And I discovered him to be accused about questions
of their law. Yet truly, nothing deserving of death or
imprisonment was within the accusation. {23:30} And when
I had been given news of ambushes, which they had prepared
against him, I sent him to you, notifying his accusers also, so
that they may plead their accusations before you. Farewell.”
{23:31} Therefore the soldiers, taking Paul according to their
orders, brought him by night to Antipatris. {23:32} And the
next day, sending the horsemen to go with him, they returned
to the fortress. {23:33} And when they had arrived at
Caesarea and had delivered the letter to the governor, they
also presented Paul before him. {23:34} And when he had
read it and had asked which province he was from, realizing
that he was from Cilicia, he said: {23:35} “I will hear you,
when your accusers have arrived.” And he ordered him to be
kept in the praetorium of Herod.


[Acts 24] {24:1} Then, after five days, the high priest
Ananias came down with some of the elders and a certain
Tertullus, a speaker. And they went to the governor against
Paul. {24:2} And having summoned Paul, Tertullus began to
accuse him, saying: “Most excellent Felix, since we have
much peace through you, and many things may be corrected
by your providence, {24:3} we acknowledge this, always and
everywhere, with acts of thanksgiving for everything.
{24:4} But lest I speak at too great a length, I beg you, by
your clemency, to listen to us briefly. {24:5} We have found
this man to be pestilent, to be inciting seditions among all the
Jews in the entire world, and to be the author of the sedition
of the sect of the Nazarenes. {24:6} And he has even been
attempting to violate the temple. And having apprehended
him, we wanted him to be judged according to our law.
{24:7} But Lysias, the tribune, overwhelming us with great
violence, snatched him away from our hands,
{24:8} ordering his accusers to come to you. From them, you
yourself will be able, by judging about all these things, to
understand the reason that we accuse him.” {24:9} And then
the Jews interjected, saying that these things were so.
{24:10} Then, since the governor had motioned for him to
speak, Paul responded: “Knowing that you have been the
judge over this nation for many years, I will give an
explanation of myself with an honest soul. {24:11} For, as
you may realize, it has only been twelve days since I went up
to worship in Jerusalem. {24:12} And they did not find me in
the temple arguing with anyone, nor causing a rally of the
people: neither in the synagogues, nor in the city.
{24:13} And they are not able to prove to you the things
about which they now accuse me. {24:14} But I confess this
to you, that according to that sect, which they call a heresy,
so do I serve my God and Father, believing all that is written
in the Law and the Prophets, {24:15} having a hope in God,
which these others themselves also expect, that there will be a
future resurrection of the just and the unjust. {24:16} And in
this, I myself always strive to have a conscience that is
lacking in any offence toward God and toward men.
{24:17} Then, after many years, I went to my nation,
bringing alms and offerings and vows, {24:18} through which
I obtained purification in the temple: neither with a crowd,
nor with a commotion. {24:19} But certain Jews out of Asia
are the ones who should have appeared before you to accuse
me, if they have anything against me. {24:20} Or let these
ones here say if they have found in me any iniquity, while
standing before the council. {24:21} For while standing
among them, I spoke out solely about this one matter: about
the resurrection of the dead. It is about this that I am being
judged today by you.” {24:22} Then Felix, after having
ascertained much knowledge about this Way, kept them
waiting, by saying, “When Lysias the tribune has arrived, I
will give you a hearing.” {24:23} And he ordered a centurion
to guard him, and to take rest, and not to prohibit any of his
own from ministering to him. {24:24} Then, after some days,
Felix, arriving with his wife Drusilla who was a Jew, called
for Paul and listened to him about the faith that is in Christ
Jesus. {24:25} And after he discoursed about justice and
chastity, and about the future judgment, Felix was trembling,
and he responded: “For now, go, but remain under guard.
Then, at an opportune time, I will summon you.” {24:26} He
was also hoping that money might be given to him by Paul,
and because of this, he frequently summoned him and spoke
with him. {24:27} Then, when two years had passed, Felix
was succeeded by Portius Festus. And since Felix wanted to
show particular favor to the Jews, he left Paul behind as a
prisoner.


[Acts 25] {25:1} And so, when Festus had arrived in the
province, after three days, he ascended to Jerusalem from
Caesarea. {25:2} And the leaders of the priests, and those
first among the Jews, went to him against Paul. And they
were petitioning him, {25:3} asking for favor against him, so
that he would order him to be led to Jerusalem, where they
were maintaining an ambush in order to kill him along the
way. {25:4} But Festus responded that Paul was to be kept in
Caesarea, and that he himself would soon go there.
{25:5} “Therefore,” he said, “let those among you who are
able, descend at the same time, and if there is any guilt in the
man, they may accuse him.” {25:6} Then, having stayed
among them no more than eight or ten days, he descended to
Caesarea. And on the next day, he sat in the judgment seat,
and he ordered Paul to be led in. {25:7} And when he had
been brought, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem
stood around him, throwing out many serious accusations,
none of which they were able to prove. {25:8} Paul offered
this defense: “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against
the temple, nor against Caesar, have I offended in any
matter.” {25:9} But Festus, wanting to show greater favor to
the Jews, responded to Paul by saying: “Are you willing to
ascend to Jerusalem and to be judged there about these things
before me?” {25:10} But Paul said: “I stand in Caesar’s
tribunal, which is where I ought to be judged. I have done no
harm to the Jews, as you well know. {25:11} For if I have
harmed them, or if I have done anything deserving of death, I
do not object to dying. But if there is nothing to these things
about which they accuse me, no one is able to deliver me to
them. I appeal to Caesar.” {25:12} Then Festus, having
spoken with the council, responded: “You have appealed to
Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.” {25:13} And when some
days had passed, king Agrippa and Bernice descended to
Caesarea, to greet Festus. {25:14} And since they remained
there for many days, Festus spoke to the king about Paul,
saying: “A certain man was left behind as a prisoner by Felix.
{25:15} When I was at Jerusalem, the leaders of the priests
and the elders of the Jews came to me about him, asking for
condemnation against him. {25:16} I answered them that it is
not the custom of the Romans to condemn any man, before
he who is being accused has been confronted by his accusers
and has received the opportunity to defend himself, so as to
clear himself of the charges. {25:17} Therefore, when they
had arrived here, without any delay, on the following day,
sitting in the judgment seat, I ordered the man to be brought.
{25:18} But when the accusers had stood up, they did not
present any accusation about him from which I would
suspect evil. {25:19} Instead, they brought against him
certain disputes about their own superstition and about a
certain Jesus, who had died, but whom Paul asserted to be
alive. {25:20} Therefore, being in doubt about this kind of
question, I asked him if he was willing go to Jerusalem and to
be judged there about these things. {25:21} But since Paul
was appealing to be kept for a decision before Augustus, I
ordered him to be kept, until I might send him to Caesar.”
{25:22} Then Agrippa said to Festus: “I myself also want to
hear the man.” “Tomorrow,” he said, “you shall hear him.”
{25:23} And on the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had
arrived with great ostentation and had entered into the
auditorium with the tribunes and the principal men of the city,
Paul was brought in, at the order of Festus. {25:24} And
Festus said: “King Agrippa, and all who are present together
with us, you see this man, about whom all the multitude of
the Jews disturbed me at Jerusalem, petitioning and
clamoring that he should not be allowed to live any longer.
{25:25} Truly, I have discovered nothing brought forth
against him that is worthy of death. But since he himself has
appealed to Augustus, it was my judgment to send him.
{25:26} But I have not determined what to write to the
emperor about him. Because of this, I have brought him
before you all, and especially before you, O king Agrippa, so
that, once an inquiry has occurred, I may have something to
write. {25:27} For it seems to me unreasonable to send a
prisoner and not to indicate the accusations set against him.”


[Acts 26] {26:1} Yet truly, Agrippa said to Paul, “It is
permitted for you to speak for yourself.” Then Paul,
extending his hand, began to offer his defense. {26:2} “I
consider myself blessed, O king Agrippa, that I am to give my
defense today before you, about everything of which I am
accused by the Jews, {26:3} especially since you know
everything that pertains to the Jews, both customs and
questions. Because of this, I beg you to listen to me patiently.
{26:4} And certainly, all the Jews know about my life from
my youth, which had its beginning among my own people in
Jerusalem. {26:5} They knew me well from the beginning, (if
they would be willing to offer testimony) for I lived according
to the most determined sect of our religion: as a Pharisee.
{26:6} And now, it is in the hope of the Promise which was
made by God to our fathers that I stand subject to judgment.
{26:7} It is the Promise that our twelve tribes, worshiping
night and day, hope to see. About this hope, O king, I am
accused by the Jews. {26:8} Why should it be judged so
unbelievable with you all that God might raise the dead?
{26:9} And certainly, I myself formerly considered that I
ought to act in many ways which are contrary to the name of
Jesus the Nazarene. {26:10} This is also how I acted at
Jerusalem. And so, I enclosed many holy persons in prison,
having received authority from the leaders of the priests. And
when they were to be killed, I brought the sentence.
{26:11} And in every synagogue, frequently while punishing
them, I compelled them to blaspheme. And being all the
more maddened against them, I persecuted them, even to
foreign cities. {26:12} Thereafter, as I was going to
Damascus, with authority and permission from the high
priest, {26:13} at midday, O king, I and those who were also
with me, saw along the way a light from heaven shining
around me with a splendor greater than that of the sun.
{26:14} And when we had all fallen down to the ground, I
heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew language: ‘Saul,
Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick
against the goad.’ {26:15} Then I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
{26:16} But rise up and stand on your feet. For I appeared to
you for this reason: so that I may establish you as a minister
and a witness concerning the things that you have seen, and
concerning the things that I will show to you:
{26:17} rescuing you from the people and the nations to
which I am now sending you, {26:18} in order to open their
eyes, so that they may be converted from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive
the remission of sins and a place among the saints, through
the faith that is in me.’ {26:19} From then on, O king
Agrippa, I was not unbelieving to the heavenly vision.
{26:20} But I preached, first to those who are at Damascus
and at Jerusalem, and then to the entire region of Judea, and
to the Gentiles, so that they would repent and convert to God,
doing the works that are worthy of repentance. {26:21} It was
for this reason that the Jews, having apprehended me when I
was in the temple, attempted to kill me. {26:22} But having
been aided by the help of God, even to this day, I stand
witnessing to the small and the great, saying nothing beyond
what the Prophets and Moses have said would be in the
future: {26:23} that the Christ would suffer, and that he
would be the first from the resurrection of the dead, and that
he would bring light to the people and to the nations.”
{26:24} While he was speaking these things and presenting
his defense, Festus said with a loud voice: “Paul, you are
insane! Too much studying has turned you to insanity.”
{26:25} And Paul said: “I am not insane, most excellent
Festus, but rather I am speaking words of truth and sobriety.
{26:26} For the king knows about these things. To him also, I
am speaking with constancy. For I think that none of these
things are unknown to him. And neither were these things
done in a corner. {26:27} Do you believe the Prophets, O
king Agrippa? I know that you believe.” {26:28} Then
Agrippa said to Paul, “To some extent, you persuade me to
become a Christian.” {26:29} And Paul said, “I hope to God
that, both to a small extent and to a great extent, not only you,
but also all those who hear me this day will become just as I
also am, except for these chains.” {26:30} And the king rose
up, and the governor, and Bernice, and those who were
sitting with them. {26:31} And when they had withdrawn,
they were speaking among themselves, saying, “This man has
done nothing worthy of death, nor of imprisonment.”
{26:32} Then Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have
been released, if he had not appealed to Caesar.”


[Acts 27] {27:1} Then it was decided to send him by ship to
Italy, and that Paul, with the others in custody, should be
delivered to a centurion named Julius, of the cohort of
Augusta. {27:2} After climbing aboard a ship from
Adramyttium, we set sail and began to navigate along the
ports of Asia, with Aristarchus, the Macedonian from
Thessalonica, joining us. {27:3} And on the following day,
we arrived at Sidon. And Julius, treating Paul humanely,
permitted him to go to his friends and to look after himself.
{27:4} And when we had set sail from there, we navigated
below Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. {27:5} And
navigating though the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we
arrived at Lystra, which is in Lycia. {27:6} And there the
centurion found a ship from Alexandria sailing to Italy, and
he transferred us to it. {27:7} And when we had sailed slowly
for many days and had barely arrived opposite Cnidus, for
the wind was hindering us, we sailed to Crete, near Salmone.
{27:8} And barely being able to sail past it, we arrived at a
certain place, which is called Good Shelter, next to which
was the city of Lasea. {27:9} Then, after much time had
passed, and since sailing would no longer be prudent because
the Fast Day had now passed, Paul consoled them,
{27:10} and he said to them: “Men, I perceive that the
voyage is now in danger of injury and much damage, not
only to the cargo and the ship, but also to our own lives.”
{27:11} But the centurion put more trust in the captain and
the navigator of the ship, than in the things being said by Paul.
{27:12} And since it was not a fitting port in which to winter,
the majority opinion was to sail from there, so that somehow
they might be able to arrive at Phoenicia, in order to winter
there, at a port of Crete, which looks out toward the
southwest and northwest. {27:13} And since the south wind
was blowing gently, they thought that they might reach their
goal. And after they had set out from Asson, they weighed
anchor at Crete. {27:14} But not long afterward, a violent
wind came against them, which is called the Northeast Wind.
{27:15} And once the ship had been caught in it and was not
able to strive against the wind, giving over the ship to the
winds, we were driven along. {27:16} Then, being forced
along a certain island, which is called the Tail, we were
barely able to hold on to the ship’s lifeboat. {27:17} When
this was taken up, they used it to assist in securing the ship.
For they were afraid that they might run aground. And
having lowered the sails, they were being driven along in this
way. {27:18} Then, since we were being tossed about
strongly by the tempest, on the following day, they threw the
heavy items overboard. {27:19} And on the third day, with
their own hands, they threw the equipment of the ship
overboard. {27:20} Then, when neither sun nor stars
appeared for many days, and no end to the storm was
imminent, all hope for our safety was now taken away.
{27:21} And after they had fasted for a long time, Paul,
standing in their midst, said: “Certainly, men, you should
have listened to me and not set out from Crete, so as to cause
this injury and loss. {27:22} And now, let me persuade you
to be courageous in soul. For there shall be no loss of life
among you, but only of the ship. {27:23} For an Angel of
God, who is assigned to me and whom I serve, stood beside
me this night, {27:24} saying: ‘Do not be afraid, Paul! It is
necessary for you to stand before Caesar. And behold, God
has given to you all those who are sailing with you.’
{27:25} Because of this, men, be courageous in soul. For I
trust God that this will happen in the same way that it has
been told to me. {27:26} But it is necessary for us to arrive at
a certain island.” {27:27} Then, after the fourteenth night
arrived, as we were navigating in the sea of Adria, about the
middle of the night, the sailors believed that they saw some
portion of the land. {27:28} And upon dropping a weight,
they found a depth of twenty paces. And some distance from
there, they found a depth of fifteen paces. {27:29} Then,
fearing that we might happen upon rough places, they cast
four anchors out of the stern, and they were hoping for
daylight to arrive soon. {27:30} Yet truly, the sailors were
seeking a way to flee from the ship, for they had lowered a
lifeboat into the sea, on the pretext that they were attempting
to cast anchors from the bow of the ship. {27:31} So Paul
said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men
remain in the ship, you will not be able to be saved.”
{27:32} Then the soldiers cut the ropes to the lifeboat, and
they allowed it to fall. {27:33} And when it began to be light,
Paul requested that they all take food, saying: “This is the
fourteenth day that you have been waiting and continuing to
fast, taking nothing. {27:34} For this reason, I beg you to
accept food for the sake of your health. For not a hair from
the head of any of you shall perish.” {27:35} And when he
had said these things, taking bread, he gave thanks to God in
the sight of them all. And when he had broken it, he began to
eat. {27:36} Then they all became more peaceful in soul. And
they also took food. {27:37} Truly, we were two hundred and
seventy-six souls on the ship. {27:38} And having been
nourished with food, they lightened the ship, casting the
wheat into the sea. {27:39} And when day had arrived, they
did not recognize the landscape. Yet truly, they caught sight
of a certain narrow inlet having a shore, into which they
thought it might be possible to force the ship. {27:40} And
when they had taken up the anchors, they committed
themselves to the sea, at the same time loosing the restraints
of the rudders. And so, raising the mainsail to the gusting
wind, they pressed on toward the shore. {27:41} And when
we happened upon a place open to two seas, they ran the ship
aground. And indeed, the bow, being immobilized, remained
fixed, but truly the stern was broken by the violence of the sea.
{27:42} Then the soldiers were in agreement that they should
kill the prisoners, lest anyone, after escaping by swimming,
might flee. {27:43} But the centurion, wanting to save Paul,
prohibited it from being done. And he ordered those who
were able to swim to jump in first, and to escape, and to get
to the land. {27:44} And as for the others, some they carried
on boards, and others on those things that belonged to the
ship. And so it happened that every soul escaped to the land.


[Acts 28] {28:1} And after we had escaped, we then realized
that the island was called Malta. Yet truly, the natives offered
us no small amount of humane treatment. {28:2} For they
refreshed us all by kindling a fire, because rain was imminent
and because of the cold. {28:3} But when Paul had gathered
together a bundle of twigs, and had placed them on the fire, a
viper, which had been drawn to the heat, fastened itself to his
hand. {28:4} And truly, when the natives saw the beast
hanging from his hand, they were saying to one another:
“Certainly, this man must be a murderer, for though he
escaped from the sea, vengeance will not permit him to live.”
{28:5} But shaking off the creature into the fire, he indeed
suffered no ill effects. {28:6} But they were supposing that he
would soon swell up, and then would suddenly fall down and
die. But having waited a long time, and seeing no ill effects in
him, they changed their minds and were saying that he was a
god. {28:7} Now among these places were estates owned by
the ruler of the island, named Publius. And he, taking us in,
showed us kind hospitality for three days. {28:8} Then it
happened that the father of Publius lay ill with a fever and
with dysentery. Paul entered to him, and when he had prayed
and had laid his hands on him, he saved him. {28:9} When
this had been done, all who had diseases on the island
approached and were cured. {28:10} And then they also
presented us with many honors. And when we were ready to
set sail, they gave us whatever we needed. {28:11} And so,
after three months, we sailed in a ship from Alexandria,
whose name was ‘the Castors,’ and which had wintered at
the island. {28:12} And when we had arrived at Syracuse, we
were delayed there for three days. {28:13} From there, sailing
close to the shore, we arrived at Rhegium. And after one day,
with the south wind blowing, we arrived on the second day at
Puteoli. {28:14} There, after locating the brothers, we were
asked to remain with them for seven days. And then we went
on to Rome. {28:15} And there, when the brothers had heard
of us, they went to meet us as far as the Forum of Appius and
the Three Taverns. And when Paul had seen them, giving
thanks to God, he took courage. {28:16} And when we had
arrived at Rome, Paul was given permission to stay by
himself, with a soldier to guard him. {28:17} And after the
third day, he called together the leaders of the Jews. And
when they had convened, he said to them: “Noble brothers, I
have done nothing against the people, nor against the
customs of the fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from
Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. {28:18} And after
they held a hearing about me, they would have released me,
because there was no case for death against me. {28:19} But
with the Jews speaking against me, I was constrained to
appeal to Caesar, though it was not as if I had any kind of
accusation against my own nation. {28:20} And so, because
of this, I requested to see you and to speak to you. For it is
because of the hope of Israel that I am encircled with this
chain.” {28:21} But they said to him: “We have not received
letters about you from Judea, nor have any of the other new
arrivals among the brothers reported or spoken anything evil
against you. {28:22} But we are asking to hear your opinions
from you, for concerning this sect, we know that it is being
spoken against everywhere.” {28:23} And when they had
appointed a day for him, very many persons went to him at
his guest quarters. And he discoursed, testifying to the
kingdom of God, and persuading them about Jesus, using the
law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning until evening.
{28:24} And some believed the things that he was saying, yet
others did not believe. {28:25} And when they could not
agree among themselves, they departed, while Paul was
speaking this one word: “How well did the Holy Spirit speak
to our fathers through the prophet Isaiah, {28:26} saying:
‘Go to this people and say to them: Hearing, you shall hear
and not understand, and seeing, you shall see and not
perceive. {28:27} For the heart of this people has grown dull,
and they have listened with reluctant ears, and they have
closed their eyes tightly, lest perhaps they might see with the
eyes, and hear with the ears, and understand with the heart,
and so be converted, and I would heal them.’
{28:28} Therefore, let it be known to you, that this salvation
of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they shall listen to
it.” {28:29} And when he had said these things, the Jews
went away from him, though they still had many questions
among themselves. {28:30} Then he remained for two whole
years in his own rented lodgings. And he received all who
went in to him, {28:31} preaching the kingdom of God and
teaching the things which are from the Lord Jesus Christ,
with all faithfulness, without prohibition.


** The Letter to the Romans **


[Romans 1] {1:1} Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called as an
Apostle, separated for the Gospel of God, {1:2} which he had
promised beforehand, through his Prophets, in the Holy
Scriptures, {1:3} about his Son, who was made for him from
the offspring of David according to the flesh, {1:4} the Son of
God, who was predestined in virtue according to the Spirit of
sanctification from the resurrection of the dead, our Lord
Jesus Christ, {1:5} through whom we have received grace
and Apostleship, for the sake of his name, for the obedience
of faith among all the Gentiles, {1:6} from whom you also
have been called by Jesus Christ: {1:7} To all who are at
Rome, the beloved of God, called as saints. Grace to you,
and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus
Christ. {1:8} Certainly, I give thanks to my God, through
Jesus Christ, first for all of you, because your faith is being
announced throughout the entire world. {1:9} For God is my
witness, whom I serve in my spirit by the Gospel of his Son,
that without ceasing I have kept a remembrance of you
{1:10} always in my prayers, pleading that in some way, at
some time, I may have a prosperous journey, within the will
of God, to come to you. {1:11} For I long to see you, so that
I may impart to you a certain spiritual grace to strengthen
you, {1:12} specifically, to be consoled together with you
through that which is mutual: your faith and mine.
{1:13} But I want you to know, brothers, that I have often
intended to come to you, (though I have been hindered even
to the present time) so that I might obtain some fruit among
you also, just as also among the other Gentiles. {1:14} To the
Greeks and to the uncivilized, to the wise and to the foolish, I
am in debt. {1:15} So within me there is a prompting to
evangelize to you also who are at Rome. {1:16} For I am not
ashamed of the Gospel. For it is the power of God unto
salvation for all believers, the Jew first, and the Greek.
{1:17} For the justice of God is revealed within it, by faith
unto faith, just as it was written: “For the just one lives by
faith.” {1:18} For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
over every impiety and injustice among those men who fend
off the truth of God with injustice. {1:19} For what is known
about God is manifest in them. For God has manifested it to
them. {1:20} For unseen things about him have been made
conspicuous, since the creation of the world, being
understood by the things that were made; likewise his
everlasting virtue and divinity, so much so that they have no
excuse. {1:21} For although they had known God, they did
not glorify God, nor give thanks. Instead, they became
weakened in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was
obscured. {1:22} For, while proclaiming themselves to be
wise, they became foolish. {1:23} And they exchanged the
glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of
corruptible man, and of flying things, and of four-legged
beasts, and of serpents. {1:24} For this reason, God handed
them over to the desires of their own heart for impurity, so
that they afflicted their own bodies with indignities among
themselves. {1:25} And they exchanged the truth of God for
a lie. And they worshipped and served the creature, rather
than the Creator, who is blessed for all eternity. Amen.
{1:26} Because of this, God handed them over to shameful
passions. For example, their females have exchanged the
natural use of the body for a use which is against nature.
{1:27} And similarly, the males also, abandoning the natural
use of females, have burned in their desires for one another:
males doing with males what is disgraceful, and receiving
within themselves the recompense that necessarily results
from their error. {1:28} And since they did not prove to have
God by knowledge, God handed them over to a morally
depraved way of thinking, so that they might do those things
which are not fitting: {1:29} having been completely filled
with all iniquity, malice, fornication, avarice, wickedness; full
of envy, murder, contention, deceit, spite, gossiping;
{1:30} slanderous, hateful toward God, abusive, arrogant,
self-exalting, devisers of evil, disobedient to parents,
{1:31} foolish, disorderly; without affection, without fidelity,
without mercy. {1:32} And these, though they had known
the justice of God, did not understand that those who act in
such a manner are deserving of death, and not only those
who do these things, but also those who consent to what is
done.


[Romans 2] {2:1} For this reason, O man, each one of you
who judges is inexcusable. For by that which you judge
another, you condemn yourself. For you do the same things
that you judge. {2:2} For we know that the judgment of God
is in accord with truth against those who do such things.
{2:3} But, O man, when you judge those who do such things
as you yourself also do, do you think that you will escape the
judgment of God? {2:4} Or do you despise the riches of his
goodness and patience and forbearance? Do you not know
that the kindness of God is calling you to repentance?
{2:5} But in accord with your hard and impenitent heart, you
store up wrath for yourself, unto the day of wrath and of
revelation by the just judgment of God. {2:6} For he will
render to each one according to his works: {2:7} To those
who, in accord with patient good works, seek glory and
honor and incorruption, certainly, he will render eternal life.
{2:8} But to those who are contentious and who do not
acquiesce to the truth, but instead trust in iniquity, he will
render wrath and indignation. {2:9} Tribulation and anguish
are upon every soul of man that works evil: the Jew first, and
also the Greek. {2:10} But glory and honor and peace are for
all who do what is good: the Jew first, and also the Greek.
{2:11} For there is no favoritism with God. {2:12} For
whoever had sinned without the law, will perish without the
law. And whoever had sinned in the law, will be judged by
the law. {2:13} For it is not the hearers of the law who are
just before God, but rather it is the doers of the law who shall
be justified. {2:14} For when the Gentiles, who do not have
the law, do by nature those things which are of the law, such
persons, not having the law, are a law unto themselves.
{2:15} For they reveal the work of the law written in their
hearts, while their conscience renders testimony about them,
and their thoughts within themselves also accuse or even
defend them, {2:16} unto the day when God shall judge the
hidden things of men, through Jesus Christ, according to my
Gospel. {2:17} But if you are called by name a Jew, and you
rest upon the law, and you find glory in God, {2:18} and you
have known his will, and you demonstrate the more useful
things, having been instructed by the law: {2:19} you become
confident within yourself that you are a guide to the blind, a
light to those who are in darkness, {2:20} an instructor to the
foolish, a teacher to children, because you have a type of
knowledge and truth in the law. {2:21} As a result, you teach
others, but you do not teach yourself. You preach that men
should not steal, but you yourself steal. {2:22} You speak
against adultery, but you commit adultery. You abominate
idols, but you commit sacrilege. {2:23} You would glory in
the law, but through a betrayal of the law you dishonor God.
{2:24} (For because of you the name of God is being
blasphemed among the Gentiles, just as it was written.)
{2:25} Certainly, circumcision is beneficial, if you observe
the law. But if you are a betrayer of the law, your
circumcision becomes uncircumcision. {2:26} And so, if the
uncircumcised keep the justices of the law, shall not this lack
of circumcision be counted as circumcision? {2:27} And that
which is by nature uncircumcised, if it fulfills the law, should
it not judge you, who by the letter and by circumcision are a
betrayer of the law? {2:28} For a Jew is not he who seems so
outwardly. Neither is circumcision that which seems so
outwardly, in the flesh. {2:29} But a Jew is he who is so
inwardly. And circumcision of the heart is in the spirit, not in
the letter. For its praise is not of men, but of God.


[Romans 3] {3:1} So then, what more is the Jew, or what is
the usefulness of circumcision? {3:2} Much in every way:
First of all, certainly, because the eloquence of God was
entrusted to them. {3:3} But what if some of them have not
believed? Shall their unbelief nullify the faith of God? Let it
not be so! {3:4} For God is truthful, but every man is
deceitful; just as it was written: “Therefore, you are justified
in your words, and you will prevail when you give
judgment.” {3:5} But if even our injustice points to the justice
of God, what shall we say? Could God be unfair for inflicting
wrath? {3:6} (I am speaking in human terms.) Let it not be so!
Otherwise, how would God judge this world? {3:7} For if the
truth of God has abounded, through my falseness, unto his
glory, why should I still be judged as such a sinner?
{3:8} And should we not do evil, so that good may result?
For so we have been slandered, and so some have claimed we
said; their condemnation is just. {3:9} What is next? Should
we try to excel ahead of them? By no means! For we have
accused all Jews and Greeks to be under sin, {3:10} just as it
was written: “There is no one who is just. {3:11} There is no
one who understands. There is no one who seeks God.
{3:12} All have gone astray; together they have become
useless. There is no one who does good; there is not even one.
{3:13} Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues,
they have been acting deceitfully. The venom of asps is under
their lips. {3:14} Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.
{3:15} Their feet are swift to shed blood. {3:16} Grief and
unhappiness are in their ways. {3:17} And the way of peace
they have not known. {3:18} There is no fear of God before
their eyes.” {3:19} But we know that whatever the law speaks,
it speaks to those who are in the law, so that every mouth
may be silenced and the entire world may be subject to God.
{3:20} For in his presence no flesh shall be justified by the
works of the law. For knowledge of sin is through the law.
{3:21} But now, without the law, the justice of God, to which
the law and the prophets have testified, has been made
manifest. {3:22} And the justice of God, though the faith of
Jesus Christ, is in all those and over all those who believe in
him. For there is no distinction. {3:23} For all have sinned
and all are in need of the glory of God. {3:24} We have been
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus, {3:25} whom God has offered as a propitiation,
through faith in his blood, to reveal his justice for the
remission of the former offenses, {3:26} and by the
forbearance of God, to reveal his justice in this time, so that
he himself might be both the Just One and the Justifier of
anyone who is of the faith of Jesus Christ. {3:27} So then,
where is your self-exaltation? It is excluded. Through what
law? That of works? No, but rather through the law of faith.
{3:28} For we judge a man to be justified by faith, without
the works of the law. {3:29} Is God of the Jews only and not
also of the Gentiles? On the contrary, of the Gentiles also.
{3:30} For One is the God who justifies circumcision by faith
and uncircumcision through faith. {3:31} Are we then
destroying the law through faith? Let it not be so! Instead, we
are making the law stand.


[Romans 4] {4:1} So then, what shall we say that Abraham
had achieved, who is our father according to the flesh?
{4:2} For if Abraham was justified by works, he would have
glory, but not with God. {4:3} For what does Scripture say?
“Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto
justice.” {4:4} But for he who works, wages are not
accounted according to grace, but according to debt.
{4:5} Yet truly, for he who does not work, but who believes
in him who justifies the impious, his faith is reputed unto
justice, according to the purpose of the grace of God.
{4:6} Similarly, David also declares the blessedness of a man,
to whom God brings justice without works: {4:7} “Blessed
are they whose iniquities have been forgiven and whose sins
have been covered. {4:8} Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord has not imputed sin.” {4:9} Does this blessedness, then,
remain only in the circumcised, or is it even in the
uncircumcised? For we say that faith was reputed to
Abraham unto justice. {4:10} But then how was it reputed?
In circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision,
but in uncircumcision. {4:11} For he received the sign of
circumcision as a symbol of the justice of that faith which
exists apart from circumcision, so that he might be the father
of all those who believe while uncircumcised, so that it might
also be reputed to them unto justice, {4:12} and he might be
the father of circumcision, not only for those who are of
circumcision, but even for those who follow the footsteps of
that faith which is in the uncircumcision of our father
Abraham. {4:13} For the Promise to Abraham, and to his
posterity, that he would inherit the world, was not through
the law, but through the justice of faith. {4:14} For if those
who are of the law are the heirs, then faith becomes empty
and the Promise is abolished. {4:15} For the law works unto
wrath. And where there is no law, there is no law-breaking.
{4:16} Because of this, it is from faith according to grace that
the Promise is ensured for all posterity, not only for those
who are of the law, but also for those who are of the faith of
Abraham, who is the father of us all before God, {4:17} in
whom he believed, who revives the dead and who calls those
things that do not exist into existence. For it is written: “I
have established you as the father of many nations.”
{4:18} And he believed, with a hope beyond hope, so that he
might become the father of many nations, according to what
was said to him: “Thus shall your posterity shall be.”
{4:19} And he was not weakened in faith, nor did he
consider his own body to be dead (though he was then almost
one hundred years old), nor the womb of Sarah to be dead.
{4:20} And then, in the Promise of God, he did not hesitate
out of distrust, but instead he was strengthened in faith,
giving glory to God, {4:21} knowing most fully that whatever
God has promised, he is also able to accomplish. {4:22} And
for this reason, it was reputed to him unto justice.
{4:23} Now this has been written, that it was reputed to him
unto justice, not only for his sake, {4:24} but also for our sake.
For the same shall be reputed to us, if we believe in him who
raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, {4:25} who
was handed over because of our offenses, and who rose again
for our justification.


[Romans 5] {5:1} Therefore, having been justified by faith,
let us be at peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
{5:2} For through him we also have access by faith to this
grace, in which we stand firm, and to glory, in the hope of the
glory of the sons of God. {5:3} And not only that, but we
also find glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation
exercises patience, {5:4} and patience leads to proving, yet
truly proving leads to hope, {5:5} but hope is not unfounded,
because the love of God is poured forth in our hearts through
the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. {5:6} Yet why did
Christ, while we were still infirm, at the proper time, suffer
death for the impious? {5:7} Now someone might barely be
willing to die for the sake of justice, for example, perhaps
someone might dare to die for the sake of a good man.
{5:8} But God demonstrates his love for us in that, while we
were yet sinners, at the proper time, {5:9} Christ died for us.
Therefore, having been justified now by his blood, all the
more so shall we be saved from wrath through him.
{5:10} For if we were reconciled to God through the death of
his Son, while we were still enemies, all the more so, having
been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. {5:11} And not
only that, but we also glory in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
{5:12} Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into
this world, and through sin, death; so also death was
transferred to all men, to all who have sinned. {5:13} For
even before the law, sin was in the world, but sin was not
imputed while the law did not exist. {5:14} Yet death reigned
from Adam until Moses, even in those who have not sinned,
in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a figure
of him who was to come. {5:15} But the gift is not entirely
like the offense. For though by the offense of one, many died,
yet much more so, by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, has
the grace and gift of God abounded to many. {5:16} And the
sin through one is not entirely like the gift. For certainly, the
judgment of one was unto condemnation, but the grace
toward many offenses is unto justification. {5:17} For though,
by the one offense, death reigned through one, yet so much
more so shall those who receive an abundance of grace, both
of the gift and of justice, reign in life through the one Jesus
Christ. {5:18} Therefore, just as through the offense of one,
all men fell under condemnation, so also through the justice
of one, all men fall under justification unto life. {5:19} For,
just as through the disobedience of one man, many were
established as sinners, so also through the obedience of one
man, many shall be established as just. {5:20} Now the law
entered in such a way that offenses would abound. But where
offenses were abundant, grace was superabundant. {5:21} So
then, just as sin has reigned unto death, so also may grace
reign through justice unto eternal life, through Jesus Christ
our Lord.


[Romans 6] {6:1} So what shall we say? Should we remain in
sin, so that grace may abound? {6:2} Let it not be so! For
how can we who have died to sin still live in sin? {6:3} Do
you not know that those of us who have been baptized in
Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? {6:4} For
through baptism we have been buried with him into death, so
that, in the manner that Christ rose from the dead, by the
glory of the Father, so may we also walk in the newness of
life. {6:5} For if we have been planted together, in the
likeness of his death, so shall we also be, in the likeness of his
resurrection. {6:6} For we know this: that our former selves
have been crucified together with him, so that the body which
is of sin may be destroyed, and moreover, so that we may no
longer serve sin. {6:7} For he who has died has been justified
from sin. {6:8} Now if we have died with Christ, we believe
that we shall also live together with Christ. {6:9} For we
know that Christ, in rising up from the dead, can no longer
die: death no longer has dominion over him. {6:10} For in as
much as he died for sin, he died once. But in as much as he
lives, he lives for God. {6:11} And so, you should consider
yourselves to be certainly dead to sin, and to be living for
God in Christ Jesus our Lord. {6:12} Therefore, let not sin
reign in your mortal body, such that you would obey its
desires. {6:13} Nor should you offer the parts of your body as
instruments of iniquity for sin. Instead, offer yourselves to
God, as if you were living after death, and offer the parts of
your body as instruments of justice for God. {6:14} For sin
should not have dominion over you. For you are not under
the law, but under grace. {6:15} What is next? Should we sin
because we are not under the law, but under grace? Let it not
be so! {6:16} Do you not know to whom you are offering
yourselves as servants under obedience? You are the servants
of whomever you obey: whether of sin, unto death, or of
obedience, unto justice. {6:17} But thanks be to God that,
though you used to be the servants of sin, now you have been
obedient from the heart to the very form of the doctrine into
which you have been received. {6:18} And having been freed
from sin, we have become servants of justice. {6:19} I am
speaking in human terms because of the infirmity of your
flesh. For just as you offered the parts of your body to serve
impurity and iniquity, for the sake of iniquity, so also have
you now yielded the parts of your body to serve justice, for
the sake of sanctification. {6:20} For though you were once
the servants of sin, you have become the children of justice.
{6:21} But what fruit did you hold at that time, in those
things about which you are now ashamed? For the end of
those things is death. {6:22} Yet truly, having been freed now
from sin, and having been made servants of God, you hold
your fruit in sanctification, and truly its end is eternal life.
{6:23} For the wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God
is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.


[Romans 7] {7:1} Or do you not know, brothers, (now I am
speaking to those who know the law) that the law has
dominion over a man only so long as he lives? {7:2} For
example, a woman who is subject to a husband is obligated
by the law while her husband lives. But when her husband
has died, she is released from the law of her husband.
{7:3} Therefore, while her husband lives, if she has been with
another man, she should be called an adulteress. But when
her husband has died, she is freed from the law of her
husband, such that, if she has been with another man, she is
not an adulteress.
{7:4} And so, my brothers, you also have become dead to
the law, through the body of Christ, so that you may be
another one who has risen from the dead, in order that we
may bear fruit for God. {7:5} For when we were in the flesh,
the passions of sins, which were under the law, operated
within our bodies, so as to bear fruit unto death. {7:6} But
now we have been released from the law of death, by which
we were being held, so that now we may serve with a
renewed spirit, and not in the old way, by the letter.
{7:7} What should we say next? Is the law sin? Let it not be
so! But I do not know sin, except through the law. For
example, I would not have known about coveting, unless the
law said: “You shall not covet.” {7:8} But sin, receiving an
opportunity through the commandment, wrought in me all
manner of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.
{7:9} Now I lived for some time apart from the law. But
when the commandment had arrived, sin was revived,
{7:10} and I died. And the commandment, which was unto
life, was itself found to be unto death for me. {7:11} For sin,
receiving an opportunity through the commandment,
seduced me, and, through the law, sin killed me. {7:12} And
so, the law itself is indeed holy, and the commandment is
holy and just and good. {7:13} Then was what is good made
into death for me? Let it not be so! But rather sin, in order
that it might be known as sin by what is good, wrought death
in me; so that sin, through the commandment, might become
sinful beyond measure. {7:14} For we know that the law is
spiritual. But I am carnal, having been sold under sin.
{7:15} For I do things that I do not understand. For I do not
do the good that I want to do. But the evil that I hate is what
I do. {7:16} So, when I do what I do not want to do, I am in
agreement with the law, that the law is good. {7:17} But Iam
then acting not according to the law, but according to the sin
which lives within me. {7:18} For I know that what is good
does not live within me, that is, within my flesh. For the
willingness to do good lies close to me, but the carrying out
of that good, I cannot reach. {7:19} For I do not do the good
that I want to do. But instead, I do the evil that I do not want
to do. {7:20} Now if I do what I am not willing to do, it is no
longer I who am doing it, but the sin which lives within me.
{7:21} And so, I discover the law, by wanting to do good
within myself, though evil lies close beside me. {7:22} For I
am delighted with the law of God, according to the inner
man. {7:23} But I perceive another law within my body,
fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me with
the law of sin which is in my body. {7:24} Unhappy man that
I am, who will free me from this body of death? {7:25} The
grace of God, by Jesus Christ our Lord! Therefore, I serve the
law of God with my own mind; but with the flesh, the law of
sin.


[Romans 8] {8:1} Therefore, there is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus, who are not walking
according to the flesh. {8:2} For the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and death.
{8:3} For though this was impossible under the law, because
it was weakened by the flesh, God sent his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh and because of sin, in order to
condemn sin in the flesh, {8:4} so that the justification of the
law might be fulfilled in us. For we are not walking according
to the flesh, but according to the spirit. {8:5} For those who
are in agreement with the flesh are mindful of the things of
the flesh. But those who are in agreement with the spirit are
mindful of the things of the spirit. {8:6} For the prudence of
the flesh is death. But the prudence of the spirit is life and
peace. {8:7} And the wisdom of the flesh is inimical to God.
For it is not subject to the law of God, nor can it be. {8:8} So
those who are in the flesh are not able to please God.
{8:9} And you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if it is true
that the Spirit of God lives within you. But if anyone does not
have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.
{8:10} But if Christ is within you, then the body is indeed
dead, concerning sin, but the spirit truly lives, because of
justification. {8:11} But if the Spirit of him who raised up
Jesus from the dead lives within you, then he who raised up
Jesus Christ from the dead shall also enliven your mortal
bodies, by means of his Spirit living within you.
{8:12} Therefore, brothers, we are not debtors to the flesh, so
as to live according to the flesh. {8:13} For if you live
according to the flesh, you will die. But if, by the Spirit, you
mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. {8:14} For all
those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.
{8:15} And you have not received, again, a spirit of servitude
in fear, but you have received the Spirit of the adoption of
sons, in whom we cry out: “Abba, Father!” {8:16} For the
Spirit himself renders testimony to our spirit that we are the
sons of God. {8:17} But if we are sons, then we are also heirs:
certainly heirs of God, but also co-heirs with Christ, yet in
such a way that, if we suffer with him, we shall also be
glorified with him. {8:18} For I consider that the sufferings of
this time are not worthy to be compared with that future
glory which shall be revealed in us. {8:19} For the
anticipation of the creature anticipates the revelation of the
sons of God. {8:20} For the creature was made subject to
emptiness, not willingly, but for the sake of the One who
made it subject, unto hope. {8:21} For the creature itself shall
also be delivered from the servitude of corruption, into the
liberty of the glory of the sons of God. {8:22} For we know
that every creature groans inwardly, as if giving birth, even
until now; {8:23} and not only these, but also ourselves, since
we hold the first-fruits of the Spirit. For we also groan within
ourselves, anticipating our adoption as the sons of God, and
the redemption of our body. {8:24} For we have been saved
by hope. But a hope which is seen is not hope. For when a
man sees something, why would he hope? {8:25} But since
we hope for what we do not see, we wait with patience.
{8:26} And similarly, the Spirit also helps our weakness. For
we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit
himself asks on our behalf with ineffable sighing. {8:27} And
he who examines hearts knows what the Spirit seeks, because
he asks on behalf of the saints in accordance with God.
{8:28} And we know that, for those who love God, all things
work together unto good, for those who, in accordance with
his purpose, are called to be saints. {8:29} For those whom
he foreknew, he also predestinated, in conformity with the
image of his Son, so that he might be the Firstborn among
many brothers. {8:30} And those whom he predestinated, he
also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And
those whom he justified, he also glorified. {8:31} So, what
should we say about these things? If God is for us, who is
against us? {8:32} He who did not spare even his own Son,
but handed him over for the sake of us all, how could he not
also, with him, have given us all things? {8:33} Who will
make an accusation against the elect of God? God is the One
who justifies; {8:34} who is the one who condemns? Christ
Jesus who has died, and who has indeed also risen again, is
at the right hand of God, and even now he intercedes for us.
{8:35} Then who will separate us from the love of Christ?
Tribulation? Or anguish? Or famine? Or nakedness? Or peril?
Or persecution? Or the sword? {8:36} For it is as it has been
written: “For your sake, we are being put to death all day
long. We are being treated like sheep for the slaughter.”
{8:37} But in all these things we overcome, because of him
who has loved us. {8:38} For I am certain that neither death,
nor life, nor Angels, nor Principalities, nor Powers, nor the
present things, nor the future things, nor strength, {8:39} nor
the heights, nor the depths, nor any other created thing, will
be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.


[Romans 9] {9:1} I am speaking the truth in Christ; I am not
lying. My conscience offers testimony to me in the Holy
Spirit, {9:2} because the sadness within me is great, and there
is a continuous sorrow in my heart. {9:3} For I was desiring
that I myself might be anathemized from Christ, for the sake
of my brothers, who are my kinsmen according to the flesh.
{9:4} These are the Israelites, to whom belongs adoption as
sons, and the glory and the testament, and the giving and
following of the law, and the promises. {9:5} Theirs are the
fathers, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Christ,
who is over all things, blessed God, for all eternity. Amen.
{9:6} But it is not that the Word of God has perished. For not
all those who are Israelites are of Israel. {9:7} And not all
sons are the offspring of Abraham: “For your offspring will
be invoked in Isaac.” {9:8} In other words, those who are the
sons of God are not those who are sons of the flesh, but those
who are sons of the Promise; these are considered to be the
offspring. {9:9} For the word of promise is this: “I will return
at the proper time. And there shall be a son for Sarah.”
{9:10} And she was not alone. For Rebecca also, having
conceived by Isaac our father, from one act, {9:11} when the
children had not yet been born, and had not yet done
anything good or bad (such that the purpose of God might be
based on their choice), {9:12} and not because of deeds, but
because of a calling, it was said to her: “The elder shall serve
the younger.” {9:13} So also it was written: “I have loved
Jacob, but I have hated Esau.” {9:14} What should we say
next? Is there unfairness with God? Let it not be so!
{9:15} For to Moses he says: “I will pity whomever I pity.
And I will offer mercy to whomever I will pity.”
{9:16} Therefore, it is not based on those who choose, nor on
those who excel, but on God who takes pity. {9:17} For
Scripture says to the Pharaoh: “I have raised you up for this
purpose, so that I may reveal my power by you, and so that
my name may be announced to all the earth.”
{9:18} Therefore, he takes pity on whomever he wills, and he
hardens whomever he wills. {9:19} And so, you would say to
me: “Then why does he still find fault? For who can resist his
will?” {9:20} O man, who are you to question God? How can
the thing that has been formed say to the One who formed
him: “Why have you made me this way?” {9:21} And does
not the potter have the authority over the clay to make, from
the same material, indeed, one vessel unto honor, yet truly
another unto disgrace? {9:22} What if God, wanting to reveal
his wrath and to make his power known, endured, with much
patience, vessels deserving wrath, fit to be destroyed,
{9:23} so that he might reveal the wealth of his glory, within
these vessels of mercy, which he has prepared unto glory?
{9:24} And so it is with those of us whom he has also called,
not only from among the Jews, but even from among the
Gentiles, {9:25} just as he says in Hosea: “I will call those
who were not my people, ‘my people,’ and she who was not
beloved, ‘beloved,’ and she who had not obtained mercy,
‘one who has obtained mercy.’ {9:26} And this shall be: in
the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they shall be called the sons of the living God.”
{9:27} And Isaiah cried out on behalf of Israel: “When the
number of the sons of Israel is like the sand of the sea, a
remnant shall be saved. {9:28} For he shall complete his
word, while abbreviating it out of equity. For the Lord shall
accomplish a brief word upon the earth.” {9:29} And it is just
as Isaiah predicted: “Unless the Lord of hosts had
bequeathed offspring, we would have become like Sodom,
and we would have been made similar to Gomorrah.”
{9:30} What should we say next? That the Gentiles who did
not follow justice have attained justice, even the justice that is
of faith. {9:31} Yet truly, Israel, though following the law of
justice, has not arrived at the law of justice. {9:32} Why is
this? Because they did not seek it from faith, but as if it were
from works. For they stumbled over a stumbling block,
{9:33} just as it was written: “Behold, I am placing a
stumbling block in Zion, and a rock of scandal. But whoever
believes in him shall not be confounded.”


[Romans 10] {10:1} Brothers, certainly the will of my heart,
and my prayer to God, is for them unto salvation. {10:2} For
I offer testimony to them, that they have a zeal for God, but
not according to knowledge. {10:3} For, being ignorant of
the justice of God, and seeking to establish their own justice,
they have not subjected themselves to the justice of God.
{10:4} For the end of the law, Christ, is unto justice for all
who believe. {10:5} And Moses wrote, about the justice that
is of the law, that the man who will have done justice shall
live by justice. {10:6} But the justice that is of faith speaks in
this way: Do not say in your heart: “Who shall ascend into
heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down); {10:7} “Or who
shall descend into the abyss?” (that is, to call back Christ
from the dead). {10:8} But what does Scripture say? “The
word is near, in your mouth and in your heart.” This is the
word of faith, which we are preaching. {10:9} For if you
confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and if you believe in
your heart that God has raised him up from the dead, you
shall be saved. {10:10} For with the heart, we believe unto
justice; but with the mouth, confession is unto salvation.
{10:11} For Scripture says: “All those who believe in him
shall not be confounded.” {10:12} For there is no distinction
between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is over all, richly
in all who call upon him. {10:13} For all those who have
called upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
{10:14} Then in what way will those who have not believed
in him call upon him? Or in what way will those who have
not heard of him believe in him? And in what way will they
hear of him without preaching? {10:15} And truly, in what
way will they preach, unless they have been sent, just as it has
been written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who
evangelize peace, of those who evangelize what is good!”
{10:16} But not all are obedient to the Gospel. For Isaiah
says: “Lord, who has believed our report?” {10:17} Therefore,
faith is from hearing, and hearing is through the Word of
Christ. {10:18} But I say: Have they not heard? For certainly:
“Their sound has gone forth throughout all the earth, and
their words unto the limits of the whole world.” {10:19} But I
say: Has Israel not known? First, Moses says: “I will lead you
into a rivalry with those who are not a nation; in the midst of
a foolish nation, I will send you into wrath.” {10:20} And
Isaiah dares to say: “I was discovered by those who were not
seeking me. I appeared openly to those who were not asking
about me.” {10:21} Then to Israel he says: “All day long I
have stretched out my hands to a people who do not believe
and who contradict me.”


[Romans 11] {11:1} Therefore, I say: Has God driven away
his people? Let it not be so! For I, too, am an Israelite of the
offspring of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
{11:2} God has not driven away his people, whom he
foreknew. And do you not know what Scripture says in
Elijah, how he calls upon God against Israel? {11:3} “Lord,
they have slain your Prophets. They have overturned your
altars. And I alone remain, and they are seeking my life.”
{11:4} But what is the Divine response to him? “I have
retained for myself seven thousand men, who have not bent
their knees before Baal.” {11:5} Therefore, in the same way,
again in this time, there is a remnant that has been saved in
accord with the choice of grace. {11:6} And if it is by grace,
then it is not now by works; otherwise grace is no longer free.
{11:7} What is next? What Israel was seeking, he has not
obtained. But the elect have obtained it. And truly, these
others have been blinded, {11:8} just as it was written: “God
has given them a spirit of reluctance: eyes that do not
perceive, and ears that do not hear, even until this very day.”
{11:9} And David says: “Let their table become like a snare,
and a deception, and a scandal, and a retribution for them.
{11:10} Let their eyes be obscured, so that they may not see,
and so that they may bow down their backs always.”
{11:11} Therefore, I say: Have they stumbled in such a way
that they should fall? Let it not be so! Instead, by their offense,
salvation is with the Gentiles, so that they may be a rival to
them. {11:12} Now if their offense is the riches of the world,
and if their diminution is the riches of the Gentiles, how
much more is their fullness? {11:13} For I say to you Gentiles:
Certainly, as long as I am an Apostle to the Gentiles, I will
honor my ministry, {11:14} in such a way that I might
provoke to rivalry those who are my own flesh, and so that I
may save some of them. {11:15} For if their loss is for the
reconciliation of the world, what could their return be for,
except life out of death? {11:16} For if the first-fruit has been
sanctified, so also has the whole. And if the root is holy, so
also are the branches. {11:17} And if some of the branches
are broken, and if you, being a wild olive branch, are grafted
on to them, and you become a partaker of the root and of the
fatness of the olive tree, {11:18} do not glorify yourself above
the branches. For though you glory, you do not support the
root, but the root supports you. {11:19} Therefore, you
would say: The branches were broken off, so that I might be
grafted on. {11:20} Well enough. They were broken off
because of unbelief. But you stand on faith. So do not choose
to savor what is exalted, but instead be afraid. {11:21} For if
God has not spared the natural branches, perhaps also he
might not spare you. {11:22} So then, notice the goodness
and the severity of God. Certainly, toward those who have
fallen, there is severity; but toward you, there is the goodness
of God, if you remain in goodness. Otherwise, you also will
be cut off. {11:23} Moreover, if they do not remain in
unbelief, they will be grafted on. For God is able to graft
them on again. {11:24} So if you have been cut off from the
wild olive tree, which is natural to you, and, contrary to
nature, you are grafted on to the good olive tree, how much
more shall those who are the natural branches be grafted on
to their own olive tree? {11:25} For I do not want you to be
ignorant, brothers, of this mystery (lest you seem wise only to
yourselves) that a certain blindness has occurred in Israel,
until the fullness of the Gentiles has arrived. {11:26} And in
this way, all of Israel may be saved, just as it was written:
“From Zion shall arrive he who delivers, and he shall turn
impiety away from Jacob. {11:27} And this will be my
covenant for them, when I will take away their sins.”
{11:28} Certainly, according to the Gospel, they are enemies
for your sake. But according to the election, they are most
beloved for the sake of the fathers. {11:29} For the gifts and
the call of God are without regret. {11:30} And just as you
also, in times past, did not believe in God, but now you have
obtained mercy because of their unbelief, {11:31} so also
have these now not believed, for your mercy, so that they
might obtain mercy also. {11:32} For God has enclosed
everyone in unbelief, so that he may have mercy on everyone.
{11:33} Oh, the depths of the richness of the wisdom and
knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments,
and how unsearchable are his ways! {11:34} For who has
known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?
{11:35} Or who first gave to him, so that repayment would
be owed? {11:36} For from him, and through him, and in
him are all things. To him is glory, for all eternity. Amen.


[Romans 12] {12:1} And so, I beg you, brothers, by the
mercy of God, that you offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God, with the subservience of your mind.
{12:2} And do not choose to be conformed to this age, but
instead choose to be reformed in the newness of your mind,
so that you may demonstrate what is the will of God: what is
good, and what is well-pleasing, and what is perfect.
{12:3} For I say, through the grace that has been given to me,
to all who are among you: Taste no more than it is necessary
to taste, but taste unto sobriety and just as God has
distributed a share of the faith to each one. {12:4} For just as,
within one body, we have many parts, though all the parts do
not have the same role, {12:5} so also we, being many, are
one body in Christ, and each one is a part, the one of the
other. {12:6} And we each have different gifts, according to
the grace that has been given to us: whether prophecy, in
agreement with the reasonableness of faith; {12:7} or
ministry, in ministering; or he who teaches, in doctrine;
{12:8} he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, in
simplicity; he who governs, in solicitude; he who shows
mercy, in cheerfulness. {12:9} Let love be without falseness:
hating evil, clinging to what is good, {12:10} loving one
another with fraternal charity, surpassing one another in
honor: {12:11} in solicitude, not lazy; in spirit, fervent;
serving the Lord; {12:12} in hope, rejoicing; in tribulation,
enduring; in prayer, ever-willing; {12:13} in the difficulties of
the saints, sharing; in hospitality, attentive. {12:14} Bless
those who are persecuting you: bless, and do not curse.
{12:15} Rejoice with those who are rejoicing. Weep with
those who are weeping. {12:16} Be of the same mind toward
one another: not savoring what is exalted, but consenting in
humility. Do not choose to seem wise to yourself.
{12:17} Render to no one harm for harm. Provide good
things, not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all
men. {12:18} If it is possible, in so far as you are able, be at
peace with all men. {12:19} Do not defend yourselves,
dearest ones. Instead, step aside from wrath. For it is written:
“Vengeance is mine. I shall give retribution, says the Lord.”
{12:20} So if an enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty,
give him a drink. For in doing so, you will heap burning coals
upon his head. {12:21} Do not allow evil to prevail, instead
prevail over evil by means of goodness.


[Romans 13] {13:1} Let every soul be subject to higher
authorities. For there is no authority except from God and
those who have been ordained by God. {13:2} And so,
whoever resists authority, resists what has been ordained by
God. And those who resist are acquiring damnation for
themselves. {13:3} For leaders are not a source of fear to
those who work good, but to those who work evil. And
would you prefer not to be afraid of authority? Then do what
is good, and you shall have praise from them. {13:4} For he
is a minister of God for you unto good. But if you do what is
evil, be afraid. For it is not without reason that he carries a
sword. For he is a minister of God; an avenger to execute
wrath upon whomever does evil. {13:5} For this reason, it is
necessary to be subject, not solely because of wrath, but also
because of conscience. {13:6} Therefore, you must also offer
tribute. For they are the ministers of God, serving him in this.
{13:7} Therefore, render to all whatever is owed. Taxes, to
whom taxes is due; revenue, to whom revenue is due; fear, to
whom fear is due; honor, to whom honor is due. {13:8} You
should owe nothing to anyone, except so as to love one
another. For whoever loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
{13:9} For example: You shall not commit adultery. You
shall not kill. You shall not steal. You shall not speak false
testimony. You shall not covet. And if there is any other
commandment, it is summed up in this word: You shall love
your neighbor as yourself. {13:10} The love of neighbor does
no harm. Therefore, love is the plenitude of the law.
{13:11} And we know the present time, that now is the hour
for us to rise up from sleep. For already our salvation is closer
than when we first believed. {13:12} The night has passed,
and the day draws near. Therefore, let us cast aside the works
of darkness, and be clothed with the armor of light.
{13:13} Let us walk honestly, as in the daylight, not in
carousing and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and sexual
immorality, not in contention and envy. {13:14} Instead, be
clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision
for the flesh in its desires.


[Romans 14] {14:1} But accept those who are weak in faith,
without disputing about ideas. {14:2} For one person believes
that he may eat all things, but if another is weak, let him eat
plants. {14:3} He who eats should not despise him who does
not eat. And he who does not eat should not judge him who
eats. For God has accepted him. {14:4} Who are you to
judge the servant of another? He stands or falls by his own
Lord. But he shall stand. For God is able to make him stand.
{14:5} For one person discerns one age from the next. But
another discerns unto every age. Let each one increase
according to his own mind. {14:6} He who understands the
age, understands for the Lord. And he who eats, eats for the
Lord; for he gives thanks to God. And he who does not eat,
does not eat for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God.
{14:7} For none of us lives for himself, and none of us dies
for himself. {14:8} For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if
we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die,
we belong to the Lord. {14:9} For Christ died and rose again
for this purpose: that he might be the ruler of both the dead
and the living. {14:10} So then, why do you judge your
brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For we shall
all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. {14:11} For it is
written: “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend to me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.” {14:12} And so,
each one of us shall offer an explanation of himself to God.
{14:13} Therefore, we should no longer judge one another.
Instead, judge this to a greater extent: that you should not
place an obstacle before your brother, nor lead him astray.
{14:14} I know, with confidence in the Lord Jesus, that
nothing is unclean in and of itself. But to him who considers
anything to be unclean, it is unclean to him. {14:15} For if
your brother is grieved because of your food, you are not now
walking according to love. Do not allow your food to destroy
him for whom Christ died. {14:16} Therefore, what is good
for us should not be a cause of blasphemy. {14:17} For the
kingdom of God is not food and drink, but rather justice and
peace and joy, in the Holy Spirit. {14:18} For he who serves
Christ in this, pleases God and is proven before men.
{14:19} And so, let us pursue the things that are of peace,
and let us keep to the things that are for the edification of one
another. {14:20} Do not be willing to destroy the work of
God because of food. Certainly, all things are clean. But there
is harm for a man who offends by eating. {14:21} It is good
to refrain from eating meat and from drinking wine, and from
anything by which your brother is offended, or led astray, or
weakened. {14:22} Do you have faith? It belongs to you, so
hold it before God. Blessed is he who does not judge himself
in that by which he is tested. {14:23} But he who discerns, if
he eats, is condemned, because it is not of faith. For all that is
not of faith is sin.


[Romans 15] {15:1} But we who are stronger must bear with
the feebleness of the weak, and not so as to please ourselves.
{15:2} Each one of you should please his neighbor unto good,
for edification. {15:3} For even Christ did not please himself,
but as it was written: “The reproaches of those who
reproached you fell upon me.” {15:4} For whatever was
written, was written to teach us, so that, through patience and
the consolation of the Scriptures, we might have hope.
{15:5} So may the God of patience and solace grant you to
be of one mind toward one another, in accord with Jesus
Christ, {15:6} so that, together with one mouth, you may
glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
{15:7} For this reason, accept one another, just as Christ also
has accepted you, in the honor of God. {15:8} For I declare
that Christ Jesus was the minister of circumcision because of
the truth of God, so as to confirm the promises to the fathers,
{15:9} and that the Gentiles are to honor God because of his
mercy, just as it was written: “Because of this, I will confess
you among the Gentiles, O Lord, and I will sing to your
name.” {15:10} And again, he says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles,
along with his people.” {15:11} And again: “All Gentiles,
praise the Lord; and all peoples, magnify him.” {15:12} And
again, Isaiah says: “There shall be a root of Jesse, and he
shall rise up to rule the Gentiles, and in him the Gentiles shall
hope.” {15:13} So may the God of hope fill you with every
joy and with peace in believing, so that you may abound in
hope and in the virtue of the Holy Spirit. {15:14} But I am
also certain about you, my brothers, that you also have been
filled with love, completed with all knowledge, so that you
are able to admonish one another. {15:15} But I have written
to you, brothers, more boldly than to the others, as if calling
you to mind again, because of the grace which has been given
to me from God, {15:16} so that I may be a minister of Christ
Jesus among the Gentiles, sanctifying the Gospel of God, in
order that the oblation of the Gentiles may be made
acceptable and may be sanctified in the Holy Spirit.
{15:17} Therefore, I have glory in Christ Jesus before God.
{15:18} So I dare not speak of any of those things which
Christ does not effect through me, unto the obedience of the
Gentiles, in word and deed, {15:19} with the power of signs
and wonders, by power of the Holy Spirit. For in this way,
from Jerusalem, throughout its surroundings, as far as
Illyricum, I have replenished the Gospel of Christ.
{15:20} And so I have preached this Gospel, not where
Christ was known by name, lest I build upon the foundation
of another, {15:21} but just as it was written: “Those to
whom he was not announced shall perceive, and those who
have not heard shall understand.” {15:22} Because of this
also, I was greatly hindered in coming to you, and I have
been prevented until the present time. {15:23} Yet truly now,
having no other destination in these regions, and having
already had a great desire to come to you over the past many
years, {15:24} when I begin to set out on my journey to Spain,
I hope that, as I pass by, I may see you, and I may be guided
from there by you, after first having borne some fruit among
you. {15:25} But next I will set out for Jerusalem, to minister
to the saints. {15:26} For those of Macedonia and Achaia
have decided to make a collection for those of the poor
among the saints who are at Jerusalem. {15:27} And this has
pleased them, because they are in their debt. For, since the
Gentiles have become partakers of their spiritual things, they
also ought to minister to them in worldly things.
{15:28} Therefore, when I have completed this task, and
have consigned to them this fruit, I shall set out, by way of
you, to Spain. {15:29} And I know that when I come to you I
shall arrive with an abundance of the blessings of the Gospel
of Christ. {15:30} Therefore, I beg you, brothers, through our
Lord Jesus Christ and though the love of the Holy Spirit, that
you assist me with your prayers to God on my behalf,
{15:31} so that I may be freed from the unfaithful who are in
Judea, and so that the oblation of my service may be
acceptable to the saints in Jerusalem. {15:32} So may I come
to you with joy, through the will of God, and so may I be
refreshed with you. {15:33} And may the God of peace be
with you all. Amen.


[Romans 16] {16:1} Now I commend to you our sister
Phoebe, who is in the ministry of the church, which is at
Cenchreae, {16:2} so that you may receive her in the Lord
with the worthiness of the saints, and so that you may be of
assistance to her in whatever task she will have need of you.
For she herself has also assisted many, and myself also.
{16:3} Greet Prisca and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus,
{16:4} who have risked their own necks on behalf of my life,
for whom I give thanks, not I alone, but also all the churches
of the Gentiles; {16:5} and greet the church at their house.
Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is among the first-fruits of
Asia in Christ. {16:6} Greet Mary, who has labored much
among you. {16:7} Greet Andronicus and Junias, my
kinsmen and fellow captives, who are noble among the
Apostles, and who were in Christ prior to me. {16:8} Greet
Ampliatus, most beloved to me in the Lord. {16:9} Greet
Urbanus, our helper in Christ Jesus, and Stachys, my beloved.
{16:10} Greet Apelles, who has been tested in Christ.
{16:11} Greet those who are from the household of
Aristobulus. Greet Herodian, my kinsman. Greet those who
are of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.
{16:12} Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labor in the
Lord. Greet Persis, most beloved, who has labored much in
the Lord. {16:13} Greet Rufus, elect in the Lord, and his
mother and mine. {16:14} Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon,
Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brothers who are with
them. {16:15} Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his
sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.
{16:16} Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches
of Christ greet you. {16:17} But I beg you, brothers, to take
note of those who cause dissensions and offenses contrary to
the doctrine that you have learned, and to turn away from
them. {16:18} For ones such as these do not serve Christ our
Lord, but their inner selves, and, through pleasing words and
skillful speaking, they seduce the hearts of the innocent.
{16:19} But your obedience has been made known in every
place. And so, I rejoice in you. But I want you to be wise in
what is good, and simple in what is evil. {16:20} And may
the God of peace quickly crush Satan under your feet. The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. {16:21} Timothy,
my fellow laborer, greets you, and Lucius and Jason and
Sosipater, my kinsmen. {16:22} I, Tertius, who wrote this
epistle, greet you in the Lord. {16:23} Gaius, my host, and
the entire church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city,
greets you, and Quartus, a brother. {16:24} The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. {16:25} But to him
who is able to confirm you according to my Gospel and the
preaching of Jesus Christ, in accord with the revelation of the
mystery which has been hidden from time immemorial,
{16:26} (which now has been made clear through the
Scriptures of the Prophets, in accord with the precept of the
eternal God, unto the obedience of faith) which has been
made known among all the Gentiles: {16:27} to God, who
alone is wise, through Jesus Christ, to him be honor and
glory forever and ever. Amen.


** The First Letter to the Corinthians **


[1 Corinthians 1] {1:1} Paul, called as an Apostle of Jesus
Christ by the will of God; and Sosthenes, a brother: {1:2} to
the Church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in
Christ Jesus, called to be saints with all who are invoking the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place of theirs and of
ours. {1:3} Grace and peace to you from God our Father and
from the Lord Jesus Christ. {1:4} I give thanks to my God
continuously for you because of the grace of God that has
been given to you in Christ Jesus. {1:5} By that grace, in all
things, you have become wealthy in him, in every word and
in all knowledge. {1:6} And so, the testimony of Christ has
been strengthened in you. {1:7}In this way, nothing is
lacking to you in any grace, as you await the revelation of our
Lord Jesus Christ. {1:8} And he, too, will strengthen you,
even until the end, without guilt, until the day of the advent
of our Lord Jesus Christ. {1:9} God is faithful. Through him,
you have been called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord. {1:10} And so, I beg you, brothers, by the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that every one of you speak in
the same way, and that there be no schisms among you. So
may you become perfect, with the same mind and with the
same judgment. {1:11} For it has been indicated to me, about
you, my brothers, by those who are with Chloes, that there
are contentions among you. {1:12} Now I say this because
each of you is saying: “Certainly, I am of Paul;” “But I am of
Apollo;” “Truly, I am of Cephas;” as well as: “I am of
Christ.” {1:13} Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified
for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? {1:14} I
give thanks to God that I have baptized none of you, except
Crispus and Gaius, {1:15} lest anyone say that you have been
baptized in my name. {1:16} And I also baptized the
household of Stephanus. Other than these, I do not recall if I
baptized any others. {1:17} For Christ did not send me to
baptize, but to evangelize: not through the wisdom of words,
lest the cross of Christ become empty. {1:18} For the Word
of the Cross is certainly foolishness to those who are
perishing. But to those who have been saved, that is, to us, it
is the power of God. {1:19} For it has been written: “I will
perish the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the
discernment of the prudent.” {1:20} Where are the wise?
Where are the scribes? Where are the truth-seekers of this age?
Has not God made the wisdom of this world into foolishness?
{1:21} For the world did not know God through wisdom,
and so, in the wisdom of God, it pleased God to accomplish
the salvation of believers, through the foolishness of our
preaching. {1:22} For the Jews ask for signs, and the Greeks
seek wisdom. {1:23} But we are preaching Christ crucified.
Certainly, to the Jews, this is a scandal, and to the Gentiles,
this is foolishness. {1:24} But to those who have been called,
Jews as well as Greeks, the Christ is the virtue of God and
the wisdom of God. {1:25} For what is foolishness to God is
considered wise by men, and that which is weakness to God
is considered strong by men. {1:26} So take care of your
vocation, brothers. For not many are wise according to the
flesh, not many are powerful, not many are noble. {1:27} But
God has chosen the foolish of the world, so that he may
confound the wise. And God has chosen the weak of the
world, so that he may confound the strong. {1:28} And God
has chosen the ignoble and contemptible of the world, those
who are nothing, so that he may reduce to nothing those who
are something. {1:29} So then, nothing that is of the flesh
should glory in his sight. {1:30} But you are of him in Christ
Jesus, who was made by God to be our wisdom and justice
and sanctification and redemption. {1:31} And so, in the
same way, it was written: “Whoever glories, should glory in
the Lord.”


[1 Corinthians 2] {2:1} And so, brothers, when I came to
you, announcing to you the testimony of Christ, I did not
bring exalted words or lofty wisdom. {2:2} For I did not
judge myself to know anything among you, except Jesus
Christ, and him crucified. {2:3} And I was with you in
weakness, and in fear, and with much trembling. {2:4} And
my words and preaching were not the persuasive words of
human wisdom, but were a manifestation of the Spirit and of
virtue, {2:5} so that your faith would not be based on the
wisdom of men, but on the virtue of God. {2:6} Now, we do
speak wisdom among the perfect, yet truly, this is not the
wisdom of this age, nor that of the leaders of this age, which
shall be reduced to nothing. {2:7} Instead, we speak of the
wisdom of God in a mystery which has been hidden, which
God predestined before this age for our glory,
{2:8} something that none of the leaders of this world have
known. For if they had known it, they would never have
crucified the Lord of glory. {2:9} But this is just as it has been
written: “The eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard, nor
has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has
prepared for those who love him.” {2:10} But God has
revealed these things to us through his Spirit. For the Spirit
searches all things, even the depths of God. {2:11} And who
can know the things that are of a man, except the spirit which
is within that man? So also, no one knows the things which
are of God, except the Spirit of God. {2:12} But we have not
received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is of God,
so that we may understand the things that have been given to
us by God. {2:13} And we are also speaking of these things,
not in the learned words of human wisdom, but in the
doctrine of the Spirit, bringing spiritual things together with
spiritual things. {2:14} But the animal nature of man does
not perceive these things that are of the Spirit of God. For it
is foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand it,
because it must be examined spiritually. {2:15} But the
spiritual nature of man judges all things, and he himself may
be judged by no man. {2:16} For who has known the mind of
the Lord, so that he may instruct him? But we have the mind
of Christ.


[1 Corinthians 3] {3:1} And so, brothers, I was not able to
speak to you as if to those who are spiritual, but rather as if to
those who are carnal. For you are like infants in Christ.
{3:2} I gave you milk to drink, not solid food. For you were
not yet able. And indeed, even now, you are not able; for you
are still carnal. {3:3} And since there is still envy and
contention among you, are you not carnal, and are you not
walking according to man? {3:4} For if one says, “Certainly,
I am of Paul,” while another says, “I am of Apollo,” are you
not men? But what is Apollo, and what is Paul? {3:5} We are
only the ministers of him in whom you have believed, just as
the Lord has granted to each of you. {3:6} I planted, Apollo
watered, but God provided the growth. {3:7} And so, neither
he who plants, nor he who waters, is anything, but only God,
who provides the growth. {3:8} Now he who plants, and he
who waters, are one. But each shall receive his proper reward,
according to his labors. {3:9} For we are God’s assistants.
You are God’s cultivation; you are God’s construction.
{3:10} According to the grace of God, which has been given
to me, I have laid the foundation like a wise architect. But
another builds upon it. So then, let each one be careful how
he builds upon it. {3:11} For no one is able to lay any other
foundation, in place of that which has been laid, which is
Christ Jesus. {3:12} But if anyone builds upon this
foundation, whether gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,
or stubble, {3:13} each one’s work shall be made manifest.
For the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it will be
revealed by fire. And this fire will test each one’s work, as to
what kind it is. {3:14} If anyone’s work, which he has built
upon it, remains, then he will receive a reward. {3:15} If
anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer its loss, but he
himself will still be saved, but only as through fire. {3:16} Do
you not know that you are the Temple of God, and that the
Spirit of God lives within you? {3:17} But if anyone violates
the Temple of God, God will destroy him. For the Temple of
God is holy, and you are that Temple. {3:18} Let no one
deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in
this age, let him become foolish, so that he may be truly wise.
{3:19} For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.
And so it has been written: “I will catch the wise in their own
astuteness.” {3:20} And again: “The Lord knows the
thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.” {3:21} And so, let
no one glory in men. {3:22} For all is yours: whether Paul, or
Apollo, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or the
present, or the future. Yes, all is yours. {3:23} But you are
Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.


[1 Corinthians 4] {4:1} Accordingly, let man consider us to
be ministers of Christ and attendants of the mysteries of God.
{4:2} Here and now, it is required of attendants that each one
be found to be faithful. {4:3} But as for me, it is such a small
thing to be judged by you, or by the age of mankind. And
neither do I judge myself. {4:4} For I have nothing on my
conscience. But I am not justified by this. For the Lord is the
One who judges me. {4:5} And so, do not choose to judge
before the time, until the Lord returns. He will illuminate the
hidden things of the darkness, and he will make manifest the
decisions of hearts. And then each one shall have praise from
God. {4:6} And so, brothers, I have presented these things in
myself and in Apollo, for your sakes, so that you may learn,
through us, that no one should be inflated against one person
and for another, not beyond what has been written. {4:7} For
what distinguishes you from another? And what do you have
that you have not received? But if you have received it, why
do you glory, as if you had not received it? {4:8} So, now you
have been filled, and now you have been made wealthy, as if
to reign without us? But I wish that you would reign, so that
we, too, might reign with you! {4:9} For I think that God has
presented us as the last Apostles, as those destined for death.
For we have been made into a spectacle for the world, and
for Angels, and for men. {4:10} So we are fools because of
Christ, but you are discerning in Christ? We are weak, but
you are strong? You are noble, but we are ignoble?
{4:11} Even to this very hour, we hunger and thirst, and we
are naked and repeatedly beaten, and we are unsteady.
{4:12} And we labor, working with our own hands. We are
slandered, and so we bless. We suffer and endure persecution.
{4:13} We are cursed, and so we pray. We have become like
the refuse of this world, like the reside of everything, even
until now. {4:14} I am not writing these things in order to
confound you, but in order to admonish you, as my dearest
sons. {4:15} For you might have ten thousand instructors in
Christ, but not so many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, through
the Gospel, I have begotten you. {4:16} Therefore, I beg you,
be imitators of me, just as I am of Christ. {4:17} For this
reason, I have sent you Timothy, who is my dearest son, and
who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my ways,
which are in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere, in every
church. {4:18} Certain persons have become inflated in
thinking that I would not return to you. {4:19} But I will
return to you soon, if the Lord is willing. And I will consider,
not the words of those who are inflated, but the virtue.
{4:20} For the kingdom of God is not in words, but in virtue.
{4:21} What would you prefer? Should I return to you with a
rod, or with charity and a spirit of meekness?


[1 Corinthians 5] {5:1} Above all else, it is being said that
there is fornication among you, even fornication of a such
kind that is not among the Gentiles, so that someone would
have the wife of his father. {5:2} And yet you are inflated,
and you have not instead been grieved, so that he who has
done this thing would be taken away from your midst.
{5:3} Certainly, though absent in body, I am present in spirit.
Thus, I have already judged, as if I were present, him who
has done this. {5:4} In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
you have been gathered together with my spirit, in the power
of our Lord Jesus, {5:5} to hand over such a one as this to
Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may
be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. {5:6} It is not
good for you to glory. Do you not know that a little leaven
corrupts the entire mass? {5:7} Purge the old leaven, so that
you may become the new bread, for you are unleavened. For
Christ, our Passover, has now been immolated. {5:8} And so,
let us feast, not with the old leaven, not with the leaven of
malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth. {5:9} As I have written to you in an
epistle: “Do not associate with fornicators,” {5:10} certainly
not with the fornicators of this world, nor with the greedy,
nor with robbers, nor with the servants of idolatry. Otherwise,
you ought to depart from this world. {5:11} But now I have
written to you: do not associate with anyone who is called a
brother and yet is a fornicator, or greedy, or a servant of
idolatry, or a slanderer, or inebriated, or a robber. With such
a one as this, do not even take food. {5:12} For what have I
to do with judging those who are outside? But do not even
you yourselves judge those who are inside? {5:13} For those
who are outside, God will judge. But send this evil person
away from yourselves.


[1 Corinthians 6] {6:1} How is it that anyone of you, having
a dispute against another, would dare to be judged before the
iniquitous, and not before the saints? {6:2} Or do you not
know that the saints from this age shall judge it? And if the
world is to be judged by you, are you unworthy, then, to
judge even the smallest matters? {6:3} Do you not know that
we shall judge angels? How much more the things of this age?
{6:4} Therefore, if you have matters to judge concerning this
age, why not appoint those who are most contemptible in the
Church to judge these things! {6:5} But I am speaking so as
to shame you. Is there no one among you wise enough, so
that he might be able to judge between his brothers?
{6:6} Instead, brother contends against brother in court, and
this before the unfaithful! {6:7} Now there is certainly an
offense among you, beyond everything else, when you have
court cases against one another. Should you not accept injury
instead? Should you not endure being cheated instead?
{6:8} But you are doing the injuring and the cheating, and
this toward brothers! {6:9} Do you not know that the
iniquitous will not possess the kingdom of God? Do not
choose to wander astray. For neither fornicators, nor servants
of idolatry, nor adulterers, {6:10} nor the effeminate, nor
males who sleep with males, nor thieves, nor the avaricious,
nor the inebriated, nor slanderers, nor the rapacious shall
possess the kingdom of God. {6:11} And some of you were
like this. But you have been absolved, but you have been
sanctified, but you have been justified: all in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. {6:12} All is
lawful to me, but not all is expedient. All is lawful to me, but
I will not be driven back by the authority of anyone.
{6:13} Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food.
But God shall destroy both the stomach and food. And the
body is not for fornication, but rather for the Lord; and the
Lord is for the body. {6:14} Truly, God has raised up the
Lord, and he will raise us up by his power. {6:15} Do you
not know that your bodies are a part of Christ? So then,
should I take a part of Christ and make it a part of a harlot?
Let it not be so! {6:16} And do you not know that whoever is
joined to a harlot becomes one body? “For the two,” he said,
“shall be as one flesh.” {6:17} But whoever is joined to the
Lord is one spirit. {6:18} Flee from fornication. Every sin
whatsoever that a man commits is outside of the body, but
whoever fornicates, sins against his own body. {6:19} Or do
you not know that your bodies are the Temple of the Holy
Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and that
you are not your own? {6:20} For you have been bought at a
great price. Glorify and carry God in your body.


[1 Corinthians 7] {7:1} Now concerning the things about
which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a
woman. {7:2} But, because of fornication, let each man have
his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
{7:3} A husband should fulfill his obligation to his wife, and
a wife should also act similarly toward her husband. {7:4} It
is not the wife, but the husband, who has power over her
body. But, similarly also, it is not the husband, but the wife,
who has power over his body. {7:5} So, do not fail in your
obligations to one another, except perhaps by consent, for a
limited time, so that you may empty yourselves for prayer.
And then, return together again, lest Satan tempt you by
means of your abstinence. {7:6} But I am saying this, neither
as an indulgence, nor as a commandment. {7:7} For I would
prefer it if you were all like myself. But each person has his
proper gift from God: one in this way, yet another in that
way. {7:8} But I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is
good for them, if they would remain as they are, just as I also
am. {7:9} But if they cannot restrain themselves, they should
marry. For it is better to marry, than to be burned. {7:10} But
to those who have been joined in matrimony, it is not I who
commands you, but the Lord: a wife is not to separate from
her husband. {7:11} But if she has separated from him, she
must remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband.
And a _ husband should not divorce his wife.
{7:12} Concerning the rest, I am speaking, not the Lord. If
any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she consents to live
with him, he should not divorce her. {7:13} And if any
woman has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live
with her, she should not divorce her husband. {7:14} For the
unbelieving husband has been sanctified through the
believing wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified
through the believing husband. Otherwise, your children
would be unclean, whereas instead they are holy. {7:15} But
if the unbeliever departs, let him depart. For a brother or
sister cannot be made subject to servitude in this way. For
God has called us to peace. {7:16} And how do you know,
wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you
know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
{7:17} However, let each one walk just as the Lord has
distributed to him, each one just as God has called him. And
thus do I teach in all the churches. {7:18} Has any
circumcised man been called? Let him not cover his
circumcision. Has any uncircumcised man been called? Let
him not be circumcised. {7:19} Circumcision is nothing, and
uncircumcision is nothing; there is only the observance of the
commandments of God. {7:20} Let each and every one
remain in the same calling to which he was called.
{7:21} Are you a servant who has been called? Do not be
concerned about it. But if you ever have the ability to be free,
make use of it. {7:22} For any servant who has been called in
the Lord is free in the Lord. Similarly, any free person who
has been called is a servant in Christ. {7:23} You have been
bought with a price. Do not be willing to become the servants
of men. {7:24} Brothers, let each one, in whatever state he
was called, remain in that state with God. {7:25} Now,
concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord.
But I give counsel, as one who has obtained the mercy of the
Lord, so as to be faithful. {7:26} Therefore, I consider this to
be good, because of the present necessity: that it is good for a
man to be such as I am. {7:27} Are you bound to a wife? Do
not seek to be freed. Are you free of a wife? Do not seek a
wife. {7:28} But if you take a wife, you have not sinned. And
if a virgin has married, she has not sinned. Even so, such as
these will have the tribulation of the flesh. But I would spare
you from this. {7:29} And so, this is what I say, brothers: The
time is short. What remains of it is such that: those who have
wives should be as if they had none; {7:30} and those who
weep, as though they were not weeping; and those who
rejoice, as if they were not rejoicing; and those who buy, as if
they possessed nothing; {7:31} and those who use the things
of this world, as if they were not using them. For the figure of
this world is passing away. {7:32} But I would prefer you to
be without worry. Whoever is without a wife is worried
about the things of the Lord, as to how he may please God.
{7:33} But whoever is with a wife is worried about the things
of the world, as to how he may please his wife. And so, he is
divided. {7:34} And the unmarried woman and the virgin
think about the things that are of the Lord, so that she may be
holy in body and in spirit. But she who is married thinks
about the things that are of the world, as to how she may
please her husband. {7:35} Furthermore, I am saying this for
your own benefit, not in order to cast a snare over you, but
toward whatever is honest and whatever may provide you
with the ability to be without hindrance, so as to worship the
Lord. {7:36} But if any man considers himself to seem
dishonorable, concerning a virgin who is of adult age, and so
it ought to be, he may do as he wills. If he marries her, he
does not sin. {7:37} But if he has decided firmly in his heart,
and he does not have any obligation, but only the power of
his free will, and if he has judged this in his heart, to let her
remain a virgin, he does well. {7:38} And so, he who joins
with his virgin in matrimony does well, and he who does not
join with her does better. {7:39} A woman is bound under
the law for as long as her husband lives. But if her husband
has died, she is free. She may marry whomever she wishes,
but only in the Lord. {7:40} But she will be more blessed, if
she remains in this state, in accord with my counsel. And I
think that I, too, have the Spirit of God.


[1 Corinthians 8] {8:1} Now concerning those things that are
sacrificed to idols: we know that we all have knowledge.
Knowledge puffs up, but charity builds up. {8:2} But if
anyone considers himself to know anything, he does not yet
know in the way that he ought to know. {8:3} For if anyone
loves God, he is known by him. {8:4} But as to the foods that
are immolated to idols, we know that an idol in the world is
nothing, and that no one is God, except One. {8:5} For
although there are things that are called gods, whether in
heaven or on earth, (if one even considers there to be many
gods and many lords) {8:6} yet we know that there is only
one God, the Father, from whom all things are, and in whom
we are, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things
are, and by whom we are. {8:7} But knowledge is not in
everyone. For some persons, even now, with consent to an
idol, eat what has been sacrificed to an idol. And their
conscience, being infirm, becomes polluted. {8:8} Yet food
does not commend us to God. For if we eat, we will not have
more, and if we do not eat, we will not have less. {8:9} But
be careful not to let your liberty become a cause of sin to
those who are weak. {8:10} For if anyone sees someone with
knowledge sitting down to eat in idolatry, will not his own
conscience, being infirm, be emboldened to eat what has been
sacrificed to idols? {8:11} And should an infirm brother
perish by your knowledge, even though Christ died for him?
{8:12} So when you sin in this way against the brothers, and
you harm their weakened conscience, then you sin against
Christ. {8:13} Because of this, if food leads my brother to sin,
I will never eat meat, lest I lead my brother to sin.


[1 Corinthians 9] {9:1} Am I not free? Am I not an Apostle?
Have I not seen Christ Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work
in the Lord? {9:2} And if I am not an Apostle to others, yet
still I am to you. For you are the seal of my Apostleship in
the Lord. {9:3} My defense with those who question me is
this: {9:4} Do we not have the authority to eat and to drink?
{9:5} Do we not have the authority to travel around with a
woman who is a sister, just as do the other Apostles, and the
brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? {9:6} Or is it only myself
and Barnabas who do not have the authority to act in this
way? {9:7} Who has ever served as a soldier and paid his
own stipend? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat from
its produce? Who pastures a flock and does not drink from
the milk of the flock? {9:8} Am I saying these things
according to man? Or does the law not also say these things?
{9:9} For it is written in the law of Moses: “You shall not
bind the mouth of an ox, while it is treading out the grain.” Is
God here concerned with the oxen? {9:10} Or is he saying
this, indeed, for our sake? These things were written
specifically for us, because he who plows, ought to plow in
hope, and he who threshes, too, in hope of receiving the
produce. {9:11} If we have sown spiritual things in you, is it
important if we harvest from your worldly things? {9:12} If
others are sharers in this authority over you, why are we not
more entitled? And yet we have not used this authority.
Instead, we bear all things, lest we give any hindrance to the
Gospel of Christ. {9:13} Do you not know that those who
work in the holy place eat the things that are for the holy
place, and that those who serve at the altar also share with
the altar? {9:14} So, too, has the Lord ordained that those
who announce the Gospel should live by the Gospel.
{9:15} Yet I have used none of these things. And I have not
written so that these things may be done for me. For it is
better for me to die, rather than to let anyone empty out my
glory. {9:16} For if I preach the Gospel, it is not glory for me.
For an obligation has been laid upon me. And woe to me, if I
do not preach the Gospel. {9:17} For if I do this willingly, I
have a reward. But if I do this reluctantly, a dispensation is
granted to me. {9:18} And what, then, would be my reward?
So, when preaching the Gospel, I should give the Gospel
without taking, so that I may not misuse my authority in the
Gospel. {9:19} For when I was a free man to all, I made
myself the servant of all, so that I might gain all the more.
{9:20} And so, to the Jews, I became like a Jew, so that I
might gain the Jews. {9:21} To those who are under the law,
I became as if I were under the law, (though I was not under
the law) so that I might gain those who were under the law.
To those who were without the law, I became as if I were
without the law, (though I was not without the law of God,
being in the law of Christ) so that I might gain those who
were without the law. {9:22} To the weak, I became weak, so
that I might gain the weak. To all, I became all, so that I
might save all. {9:23} And I do everything for the sake of the
Gospel, so that I may become its partner. {9:24} Do you not
know that, of those who run in a race, all of them, certainly,
are runners, but only one achieves the prize. Similarly, you
must run, so that you may achieve. {9:25} And one who
competes in a contest abstains from all things. And they do
this, of course, so that they may achieve a corruptible crown.
But we do this, so that we may achieve what is incorruptible.
{9:26} And so I run, but not with uncertainty. And so I fight,
but not by flailing in the air. {9:27} Instead, I chastise my
body, so as to redirect it into servitude. Otherwise, I might
preach to others, but become myself an outcast.


[1 Corinthians 10] {10:1} For I do not want you to be
ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud,
and they all went across the sea. {10:2} And in Moses, they
all were baptized, in the cloud and in the sea. {10:3} And
they all ate of the same spiritual food. {10:4} And they all
drank of the same spiritual drink. And so, they all were
drinking of the spiritual rock seeking to obtain them; and that
rock was Christ. {10:5} But with most of them, God was not
well-pleased. For they were struck down in the desert.
{10:6} Now these things were done as an example for us, so
that we might not desire evil things, just as they desired.
{10:7} And so, do not take part in idolatry, as some of them
did, just as it was written: “The people sat down to eat and to
drink, and then they rose up to amuse themselves.”
{10:8} And let us not commit fornication, as some of them
fornicated, and so twenty-three thousand fell on one day.
{10:9} And let us not tempt Christ, as some of them tempted,
and so they perished by serpents. {10:10} And you should
not murmur, as some of them murmured, and so they
perished by the destroyer. {10:11} Now all of these things
happened to them as an example, and so they have been
written for our correction, because the final age has fallen
upon us. {10:12} And so, whosoever considers himself to be
standing, let him be careful not to fall. {10:13} Temptation
should not take hold of you, except what is human. For God
is faithful, and he will not permit you to be tempted beyond
your ability. Instead, he will effect his Providence, even
during temptation, so that you may be able to bear it.
{10:14} Because of this, most beloved of mine, flee from the
worship of idols. {10:15} Since I am speaking to those who
are prudent, judge what I say for yourselves. {10:16} The cup
of benediction that we bless, is it not a communion in the
Blood of Christ? And the bread that we break, is it not a
participation in the Body of the Lord? {10:17} Through the
one bread, we, though many, are one body: all of us who are
partakers of the one bread. {10:18} Consider Israel,
according to the flesh. Are not those who eat from the
sacrifices partakers of the altar? {10:19} What is next? Should
I say that what is immolated to idols is anything? Or that the
idol is anything? {10:20} But the things that the Gentiles
immolate, they immolate to demons, and not to God. And I
do not want you to become partakers with demons.
{10:21} You cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of
demons. You cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord,
and partakers of the table of demons. {10:22} Or should we
provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he is? All
is lawful to me, but not all is expedient. {10:23} All is lawful
to me, but not all is edifying. {10:24} Let no one seek for
himself, but for others. {10:25}! Whatever is sold in the
market, you may eat, without asking questions for the sake of
conscience. {10:26} “The earth and all its fullness belong to
the Lord.” {10:27} If you are invited by any unbelievers, and
you are willing to go, you may eat whatever is set before you,
without asking questions for the sake of conscience.
{10:28} But if anyone says, “This has been sacrificed to
idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who told you, and
for the sake of conscience. {10:29} But I am referring to the
conscience of the other person, not to yours. For why should
my liberty be judged by the conscience of another? {10:30} If
I partake with thanksgiving, why should I be slandered over
that for which I give thanks? {10:31} Therefore, whether you
eat or drink, or whatever else you may do, do everything for
the glory of God. {10:32} Be without offense toward the Jews,
and toward the Gentiles, and toward the Church of God,
{10:33} just as I also, in all things, please everyone, not
seeking what is best for myself, but what is best for many
others, so that they may be saved.


[1 Corinthians 11] {11:1} Be imitators of me, as I also am of
Christ. {11:2} Now I praise you, brothers, because you are
mindful of me in everything, in such a way as to hold to my
precepts as I have handed them down to you. {11:3} So I
want you to know that the head of every man is Christ. But
the head of woman is man. Yet truly, the head of Christ is
God. {11:4} Every man praying or prophesying with his head
covered disgraces his head. {11:5} But every woman praying
or prophesying with her head not covered disgraces her head.
For it is the same as if her head were shaven. {11:6} So if a
woman is not veiled, let her hair be cut off. Truly then, if it is
a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off, or to have her
head shaven, then she should cover her head.
{11:7} Certainly, a man ought not to cover his head, for he is
the image and glory of God. But woman is the glory of man.
{11:8} For man is not of woman, but woman is of man.
{11:9} And indeed, man was not created for woman, but
woman was created for man. {11:10} Therefore, a woman
ought to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the
Angels. {11:11} Yet truly, man would not exist without
woman, nor would woman exist without man, in the Lord.
{11:12} For just as woman came into existence from man, so
also does man exist through woman. But all things are from
God. {11:13} Judge for yourselves. Is it proper for a woman
to pray to God unveiled? {11:14} Does not even nature
herself teach you that, indeed, if a man grows his hair long, it
is a disgrace for him? {11:15} Yet truly, if a woman grows
her hair long, it is a glory for her, because her hair has been
given to her as a covering. {11:16} But if anyone has a mind
to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor does the
Church of God. {11:17} Now I caution you, without praising,
about this: that you assemble together, and not for better, but
for worse. {11:18} First of all, indeed, I hear that when you
assemble together in the church, there are schisms among
you. And I believe this, in part. {11:19} For there must also
be heresies, so that those who have been tested may be made
manifest among you. {11:20} And so, when you assemble
together as one, it is no longer in order to eat the Lord’s
supper. {11:21} For each one first takes his own supper to eat.
And as a result, one person is hungry, while another is
inebriated. {11:22} Do you not have houses, in which to eat
and drink? Or do you have such contempt for the Church of
God that you would confound those who do not have such
contempt? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I
am not praising you in this. {11:23} For I have received from
the Lord what I have also delivered to you: that the Lord
Jesus, on the same night that he was handed over, took bread,
{11:24} and giving thanks, he broke it, and said: “Take and
eat. This is my body, which shall be given up for you. Do this
in remembrance of me.” {11:25} Similarly also, the cup, after
he had eaten supper, saying: “This cup is the new covenant in
my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance
of me.” {11:26} For whenever you eat this bread and drink
this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until he returns.
{11:27} And so, whoever eats this bread, or drinks from the
cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be liable of the body and
blood of the Lord. {11:28} But let a man examine himself,
and, in this way, let him eat from that bread, and drink from
that cup. {11:29} For whoever eats and drinks unworthily,
eats and drinks a sentence against himself, not discerning it to
be the body of the Lord. {11:30} As a result, many are weak
and sick among you, and many have fallen asleep.
{11:31} But if we ourselves were discerning, then certainly
we would not be judged. {11:32} Yet when we are judged,
we are being corrected by the Lord, so that we might not be
condemned along with this world. {11:33} And so, my
brothers, when you assemble together to eat, be attentive to
one another. {11:34} If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home,
so that you may not assemble together unto judgment. As for
the rest, I will set it in order when I arrive.



[1 Corinthians 12] {12:1} Now concerning spiritual things, I
do not want you to be ignorant, brothers. {12:2} You know
that when you were Gentiles, you approached mute idols,
doing what you were led to do. {12:3} Because of this, I
would have you know that no one speaking in the Spirit of
God utters a curse against Jesus. And no one is able to say
that Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit. {12:4} Truly,
there are diverse graces, but the same Spirit. {12:5} And there
are diverse ministries, but the same Lord. {12:6} And there
are diverse works, but the same God, who works everything
in everyone. {12:7} However, the manifestation of the Spirit
is given to each one toward what is beneficial.
{12:8} Certainly, to one, through the Spirit, is given words of
wisdom; but to another, according to the same Spirit, words
of knowledge; {12:9} to another, in the same Spirit, faith; to
another, in the one Spirit, the gift of healing; {12:10} to
another, miraculous works; to another, prophecy; to another,
the discernment of spirits; to another, different kinds of
languages; to another, the interpretation of words.
{12:11} But one and the same Spirit works all these things,
distributing to each one according to his will. {12:12} For just
as the body is one, and yet has many parts, so all the parts of
the body, though they are many, are only one body. So also
is Christ. {12:13} And indeed, in one Spirit, we were all
baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether
servant or free. And we all drank in the one Spirit.
{12:14} For the body, too, is not one part, but many.
{12:15} If the foot were to say, “Because I am not the hand, I
am not of the body,” would it then not be of the body?
{12:16} And if the ear were to say, “Because I am not the eye,
I am not of the body,” would it then not be of the body?
{12:17} If the whole body were the eye, how would it hear? If
the whole were hearing, how would it smell? {12:18} But
instead, God has placed the parts, each one of them, in the
body, just as it has pleased him. {12:19} So if they were all
one part, how would it be a body? {12:20} But instead, there
are many parts, indeed, yet one body. {12:21} And the eye
cannot say to the hand, “I have no need for your works.”
And again, the head cannot say to the feet, “You are of no
use to me.” {12:22} In fact, so much more necessary are
those parts of the body which seem to be weaker.
{12:23} And though we consider certain parts of the body to
be less noble, we surround these with more abundant dignity,
and so, those parts which are less presentable end up with
more abundant respect. {12:24} However, our presentable
parts have no such need, since God has tempered the body
together, distributing the more abundant honor to that which
has the need, {12:25} so that there might be no schism in the
body, but instead the parts themselves might take care of one
another. {12:26} And so, if one part suffers anything, all the
parts suffer with it. Or, if one part finds glory, all the parts
rejoice with it. {12:27} Now you are the body of Christ, and
parts like any part. {12:28} And indeed, God has established
a certain order in the Church: first Apostles, second Prophets,
third Teachers, next miracle-workers, and then the grace of
healing, of helping others, of governing, of different kinds of
languages, and of the interpretation of words. {12:29} Are all
Apostles? Are all Prophets? Are all Teachers? {12:30} Are all
workers of miracles? Do all have the grace of healing? Do all
speak in tongues? Do all interpret? {12:31} But be zealous for
the better charisms. And I reveal to you a yet more excellent
way.


[1 Corinthians 13] {13:1} If I were to speak in the language
of men, or of Angels, yet not have charity, I would be like a
clanging bell or a crashing cymbal. {13:2} And if I have
prophecy, and learn every mystery, and obtain all knowledge,
and possess all faith, so that I could move mountains, yet not
have charity, then I am nothing. {13:3} And if I distribute all
my goods in order to feed the poor, and if I hand over my
body to be burned, yet not have charity, it offers me nothing.
{13:4} Charity is patient, is kind. Charity does not envy, does
not act wrongly, is not inflated. {13:5} Charity is not
ambitious, does not seek for itself, is not provoked to anger,
devises no evil. {13:6} Charity does not rejoice over iniquity,
but rejoices in truth. {13:7} Charity suffers all, believes all,
hopes all, endures all. {13:8} Charity is never torn away,
even if prophecies pass away, or languages cease, or
knowledge is destroyed. {13:9} For we know only in part,
and we prophesy only in part. {13:10} But when the perfect
arrives, the imperfect passes away. {13:11} When I was a
child, I spoke like a child, I understood like a child, I thought
like a child. But when I became a man, I put aside the things
of a child. {13:12} Now we see through a glass darkly. But
then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I
shall know, even as I am known. {13:13} But for now, these
three continue: faith, hope, and charity. And the greatest of
these is charity.


[1 Corinthians 14] {14:1} Pursue charity. Be zealous for
spiritual things, but only so that you may prophesy.
{14:2} For whoever speaks in tongues, speaks not to men,
but to God. For no one understands. Yet by the Spirit, he
speaks mysteries. {14:3} But whoever prophesies speaks to
men for edification and exhortation and consolation.
{14:4 Whoever speaks in tongues edifies himself. But
whoever prophesies edifies the Church. {14:5} Now I want
you all to speak in tongues, but more so to prophesy. For he
who prophesies is greater than he who speaks in tongues,
unless perhaps he interprets, so that the Church may receive
edification. {14:6} But now, brothers, if I were to come to
you speaking in tongues, how would it benefit you, unless
instead I speak to you in revelation, or in knowledge, or in
prophecy, or in doctrine? {14:7} Even those things that are
without a soul can make sounds, whether it is a wind or a
stringed instrument. But unless they present a distinction
within the sounds, how will it be known which is from the
pipe and which is from the string? {14:8} For example, if the
trumpet made an uncertain sound, who would prepare
himself for battle? {14:9} So it is with you also, for unless you
utter with the tongue in plain speech, how will it be known
what is said? For then you would be speaking into the air.
{14:10} Consider that there are so many different kinds of
languages in this world, and yet none is without a voice.
{14:11} Therefore, if I do not understand the nature of the
voice, then I shall be like a foreigner to the one with whom I
am speaking; and he who is speaking will be like a foreigner
to me. {14:12} So it is with you also. And since you are
zealous for what is spiritual, seek the edification of the
Church, so that you may abound. {14:13} For this reason,
too, whoever speaks in tongues, let him pray for the
interpretation. {14:14} So, if I pray in tongues, my spirit
prays, but my mind is without fruit. {14:15} What is next? I
should pray with the spirit, and also pray with the mind. I
should sing psalms with the spirit, and also recite psalms with
the mind. {14:16} Otherwise, if you have blessed only with
the spirit, how can someone, in a state of ignorance, add an
“Amen” to your blessing? For he does not know what you
are saying. {14:17} In this case, certainly, you give thanks
well, but the other person is not edified. {14:18} I thank my
God that I speak in tongues for all of you. {14:19} But in the
Church, I prefer to speak five words from my mind, so that I
may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in
tongues. {14:20} Brothers, do not choose to have the minds
of children. Instead, be free of malice like infants, but be
mature in your minds. {14:21} It is written in the law: “I will
speak to this people with other tongues and other lips, and
even so, they will not heed me, says the Lord.” {14:22} And
so, tongues are a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers;
and prophecies are not for unbelievers, but for believers.
{14:23} If then, the entire Church were to gather together as
one, and if all were to speak in tongues, and then ignorant or
unbelieving persons were to enter, would they not say that
you were insane? {14:24} But if everyone prophesies, and
one who is ignorant or unbelieving enters, he may be
convinced by it all, because he understands it all. {14:25} The
secrets of his heart are then made manifest. And so, falling to
his face, he would adore God, proclaiming that God is truly
among you. {14:26} What is next, brothers? When you
gather together, each one of you may have a psalm, or a
doctrine, or a revelation, or a language, or an interpretation,
but let everything be done for edification. {14:27} If anyone
is speaking in tongues, let there be only two, or at most three,
and then in turn, and let someone interpret. {14:28} But if
there is no one to interpret, he should remain silent in the
church, then he may speak when he is alone with God.
{14:29} And let the prophets speak, two or three, and let the
others discern. {14:30} But then, if something is revealed to
another who is sitting, let the first one become silent.
{14:31} For you are all able to prophesy one at a time, so that
all may learn and all may be encouraged. {14:32} For the
spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
{14:33} And God is not of dissension, but of peace, just as I
also teach in all the churches of the saints. {14:34} Women
should be silent in the churches. For it is not permitted for
them to speak; but instead, they should be subordinate, as the
law also says. {14:35} And if they want to learn anything, let
them ask their husbands at home. For it is disgraceful for a
woman to speak in church. {14:36} So now, did the Word of
God proceed from you? Or was it sent to you alone?
{14:37} If anyone seems to be a prophet or a spiritual person,
he should understand these things which I am writing to you,
that these things are the commandments of the Lord.
{14:38} If anyone does not recognize these things, he should
not be recognized. {14:39} And so, brothers, be zealous to
prophesy, and do not prohibit speaking in tongues.
{14:40} But let everything be done respectfully and according
to proper order.


[1 Corinthians 15] {15:1} And so I make known to you,
brothers, the Gospel that I preached to you, which you also
received, and on which you stand. {15:2} By the Gospel, too,
you are being saved, if you hold to the understanding that I
preached to you, lest you believe in vain. {15:3} For I handed
on to you, first of all, what I also received: that Christ died
for our sins, according to the Scriptures; {15:4} and that he
was buried; and that he rose again on the third day,
according to the Scriptures; {15:5} and that he was seen by
Cephas, and after that by the eleven. {15:6} Next he was seen
by more than five hundred brothers at one time, many of
whom remain, even to the present time, although some have
fallen asleep. {15:7} Next, he was seen by James, then by all
the Apostles. {15:8} And last of all, he was seen also by me,
as if I were someone born at the wrong time. {15:9} For I am
the least of the Apostles. I am not worthy to be called an
Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.
{15:10} But, by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his
grace in me has not been empty, since I have labored more
abundantly than all of them. Yet it is not I, but the grace of
God within me. {15:11} For whether it is I or they: so we
preach, and so you have believed. {15:12} Now if Christ is
preached, that he rose again from the dead, how is it that
some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
{15:13} For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ
has not risen. {15:14} And if Christ has not risen, then our
preaching is useless, and your faith is also useless.
{15:15} Then, too, we would be found to be false witnesses
of God, because we would have given testimony against God,
saying that he had raised up Christ, when he had not raised
him up, if, indeed, the dead do not rise again. {15:16} For if
the dead do not rise again, then neither has Christ risen again.
{15:17} But if Christ has not risen, then your faith is vain; for
you would still be in your sins. {15:18} Then, too, those who
have fallen asleep in Christ would have perished. {15:19} If
we have hope in Christ for this life only, then we are more
miserable than all men. {15:20} But now Christ has risen
again from the dead, as the first-fruits of those who sleep.
{15:21} For certainly, death came through a man. And so,
the resurrection of the dead came through a man
{15:22} And just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will
be brought to life, {15:23} but each one in his proper order:
Christ, as the first-fruits, and next, those who are of Christ,
who have believed in his advent. {15:24} Afterwards is the
end, when he will have handed over the kingdom to God the
Father, when he will have emptied all principality, and
authority, and power. {15:25} For it is necessary for him to
reign, until he has set all his enemies under his feet.
{15:26} Lastly, the enemy called death shall be destroyed.
For he has subjected all things under his feet. And although
he says, {15:27} “All things have been subjected to him,”
without doubt he does not include the One who has subjected
all things to him. {15:28} And when all things will have been
subjected to him, then even the Son himself will be subjected
to the One who subjected all things to him, so that God may
be all in all. {15:29} Otherwise, what will those who are
being baptized for the dead do, if the dead do not rise again at
all? Why then are they being baptized for them? {15:30} Why
also do we endure trials every hour? {15:31} Daily I die, by
means of your boasting, brothers: you whom I have in Christ
Jesus our Lord. {15:32} If, according to man, I fought with
the beasts at Ephesus, how would that benefit me, if the dead
do not rise again? “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we
shall die.” {15:33} Do not be led astray. Evil communication
corrupts good morals. {15:34} Be vigilant, you just ones, and
do not be willing to sin. For certain persons have an
ignorance of God. I say this to you with respect. {15:35} But
someone may say, “How do the dead rise again?” or, “What
type of body do they return with?” {15:36} How foolish!
What you sow cannot be brought back to life, unless it first
dies. {15:37} And what you sow is not the body that will be
in the future, but a bare grain, such as of wheat, or of some
other grain. {15:38} For God gives it a body according to his
will, and according to each seed’s proper body. {15:39} Not
all flesh is the same flesh. But one is indeed of men, another
truly is of beasts, another is of birds, and another is of fish.
{15:40} Also, there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies.
But while the one, certainly, has the glory of heaven, the
other has the glory of earth. {15:41} One has the brightness
of the sun, another the brightness of the moon, and another
the brightness of the stars. For even star differs from star in
brightness. {15:42} So it is also with the resurrection of the
dead. What is sown in corruption shall rise to incorruption.
{15:43} What is sown in dishonor shall rise to glory. What is
sown in weakness shall rise to power. {15:44} What is sown
with an animal body shall rise with a spiritual body. If there
is an animal body, there is also a spiritual one. {15:45} Just
as it was written that the first man, Adam, was made with a
living soul, so shall the last Adam be made with a spirit
brought back to life. {15:46} So what is, at first, not spiritual,
but animal, next becomes spiritual. {15:47} The first man,
being earthly, was of the earth; the second man, being
heavenly, will be of heaven. {15:48} Such things as are like
the earth are earthly; and such things as are like the heavens
are heavenly. {15:49} And so, just as we have carried the
image of what is earthly, let us also carry the image of what is
heavenly. {15:50} Now I say this, brothers, because flesh and
blood is not able to possess the kingdom of God; neither will
what is corrupt possess what is incorrupt. {15:51} Behold, I
tell you a mystery. Certainly, we shall all rise again, but we
shall not all be transformed: {15:52} in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will
sound, and the dead will rise up, incorruptible. And we shall
be transformed. {15:53} Thus, it is necessary for this
corruptibility to be clothed with incorruptibility, and for this
mortality to be clothed with immortality. {15:54} And when
this mortality has been clothed with immortality, then the
word that was written shall occur: “Death is swallowed up in
victory.” {15:55} “O death, where is your victory? O death,
where is your sting?” {15:56} Now the sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law. {15:57} But thanks be to God,
who has given us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
{15:58} And so, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and
unmovable, abounding always in the work of the Lord,
knowing that your labor is not useless in the Lord.


[1 Corinthians 16] {16:1} Now concerning the collections
which are made for the saints: just as I have arranged for the
churches of Galatia, so should it also be done with you.
{16:2} On the first day of the week, the Sabbath, let each one
of you take from himself, setting aside what will be well-
pleasing to him, so that when I arrive, the collections will not
have to be made then. {16:3} And when I am present,
whomever you shall approve through letters, these I shall
send to bear your gifts to Jerusalem. {16:4} And if it is fitting
for me to go too, they shall go with me. {16:5} Now I will
visit you after I have passed through Macedonia. For I will
pass through Macedonia. {16:6} And perhaps I will stay with
you, and even spend the winter, so that you may lead me on
my way, whenever I depart. {16:7} For I am not willing to
see you now only in passing, since I hope that I may remain
with you for some length of time, if the Lord permits.
{16:8} But I must remain at Ephesus, even until Pentecost.
{16:9} For a door, great and unavoidable, has opened to me,
as well as many adversaries. {16:10} Now if Timothy arrives,
see to it that he may be among you without fear. For he is
doing the work of the Lord, just as I also do.
{16:11} Therefore, let no one despise him. Instead, lead him
on his way in peace, so that he may come to me. For I am
awaiting him with the brothers. {16:12} But concerning our
brother, Apollo, I am letting you know that I pleaded with
him greatly to go to you with the brothers, and clearly it was
not his will to go at this time. But he will arrive when there is
a space of time for him. {16:13} Be vigilant. Stand with faith.
Act manfully and be strengthened. {16:14} Let all that is
yours be immersed in charity. {16:15} And I beg you,
brothers: You know the house of Stephanus, and of
Fortunatus, and of Achaicus, that they are the first-fruits of
Achaia, and that they have dedicated themselves to the
ministry of the saints. {16:16} So you should be subject also
to persons such as this, as well as to all who are cooperating
and working with them. {16:17} Now I rejoice in the
presence of Stephanus and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because
what was lacking in you, they have supplied. {16:18} For
they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore, recognize
persons such as this. {16:19} The churches of Asia greet you.
Aquila and Priscilla greet you greatly in the Lord, with the
church of their household, where I also am a guest.
{16:20} All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a
holy kiss. {16:21} This is a greeting from my own hand, Paul.
{16:22} If anyone does not love our Lord Jesus Christ, let
him be anathema! Maran Atha. {16:23} May the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. {16:24} My charity is with
all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.


** The Second Letter to the Corinthians **


[2 Corinthians 1] {1:1} Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by
the will of God, and Timothy, a brother, to the church of
God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all of
Achaia: {1:2} Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and from the Lord Jesus Christ. {1:3} Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and
the God of all consolation. {1:4} He consoles us in all our
tribulation, so that we too may be able to console those who
are in any kind of distress, through the exhortation by which
we also are being exhorted by God. {1:5} For just as the
Passion of Christ abounds in us, so also, through Christ, does
our consolation abound. {1:6} So, if we are in tribulation, it
is for your exhortation and salvation, or if we are in
consolation, it is for your consolation, or if we are exhorted,
it is for your exhortation and salvation, which results in the
patience endurance of the same passion which we also
endure. {1:7}So may our hope for you be made firm,
knowing that, just as you are participants in the suffering, so
also shall you be participants in the consolation. {1:8} For we
do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about our
tribulation, which happened to us in Asia. For we were
weighed down beyond measure, beyond our strength, so that
we became weary, even of life itself. {1:9} But we had within
ourselves the response to death, so that we would not have
faith in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead. {1:10} He
has rescued us, and he is rescuing us, from great peril. In him,
we hope that he will continue to rescue us. {1:11} And you
are assisting, with your prayers for us, so that from many
persons, by that which is a gift in us, thanks may be given
through many persons, because of us. {1:12} For our glory is
this: the testimony of our conscience, which is found in
simplicity of heart and in sincerity toward God. And it is not
with worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God, that we have
conversed with this world, and more abundantly toward you.
{1:13} For we write nothing else to you other than what you
have read and understood. And I hope that you will continue
to understand, even unto the end. {1:14} And just as you
have acknowledged us in our role, that we are your glory, so
also you are ours, unto the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
{1:15} And with this confidence, I wanted to come to you
sooner, so that you might have a second grace, {1:16} and
through you to pass into Macedonia, and to return to you
again from Macedonia, and so be led by you on my way to
Judea. {1:17} Then, although I had intended this, did I act
lightly? Or in the things that I consider, do I consider
according to the flesh, so that there would be, with me, both
Yes and No? {1:18} But God is faithful, so our word, which
was set before you, was not, in him, both Yes and No.
{1:19} For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached
among you through us, through myself and Sylvanus and
Timothy, was not Yes, and No; but was simply Yes in him.
{1:20} For whatever promises are of God are, in him, Yes.
For this reason, too, through him: Amen to God for our glory.
{1:21} Now the One who confirms us with you in Christ, and
who has anointed us, is God. {1:22} And he has sealed us,
and he has placed the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts.
{1:23} But I call God as a witness to my soul, that I was
lenient with you, in that I did not return to Corinth:
{1:24} not because we have dominion over your faith, but
because we are assistants of your joy. For by faith you stand.


[2 Corinthians 2] {2:1} But I determined this within myself,
not to return again to you in sorrow. {2:2} For if I make you
sorrowful, then who is it that can make me glad, except the
one who is made sorrowful by me? {2:3} And so, I wrote this
same thing to you, so that I might not, when I arrive, add
sorrow to sorrow for those with whom I ought to rejoice,
having confidence in you in all things, so that my joy may be
entirely yours. {2:4} For with much tribulation and anguish
of heart, I wrote to you with many tears: not so that you
would be sorrowful, but so that you might know the charity
that I have more abundantly toward you. {2:5} But if anyone
has brought sorrow, he has not sorrowed me. Yet, for my
part, this is so that I might not burden all of you. {2:6} Let
this rebuke be sufficient for someone like this, for it has been
brought by many. {2:7} So then, to the contrary, you should
be more forgiving and consoling, lest perhaps someone like
this may be overwhelmed with excessive sorrow.
{2:8} Because of this, I beg you to confirm your charity
toward him. {2:9} It was for this reason, also, that I wrote, so
that I might know, by testing you, whether you would be
obedient in all things. {2:10} But anyone whom you have
forgiven of anything, I also forgive. And then, too, anyone I
have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, it was done in the
person of Christ for your sakes, {2:11} so that we would not
be circumvented by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his
intentions. {2:12} And when I had arrived at Troas, because
of the Gospel of Christ, and a door had opened to me in the
Lord, {2:13} I had no rest within my spirit, because I was not
able to find Titus, my brother. So, saying goodbye to them, I
set out for Macedonia. {2:14} But thanks be to God, who
always brings triumph to us in Christ Jesus, and who
manifests the fragrance of his knowledge through us in every
place. {2:15} For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ for
God, both with those who are being saved and with those
who are perishing. {2:16} To the one, certainly, the fragrance
is of death unto death. But to the other, the fragrance is of life
unto life. And concerning these things, who is so suitable?
{2:17} For we are not like many others, adulterating the
Word of God. But instead, we speak with sincerity: from
God, before God, and in Christ.


[2 Corinthians 3] {3:1} Must we begin again to commend
ourselves? Or are we in need (as some are) of epistles of
commendation for you, or from you? {3:2} You are our
Epistle, written in our hearts, which is known and read by all
men. {3:3} It has been made manifest that you are the Epistle
of Christ, ministered by us, and written down, not with ink,
but with the Spirit of the living God, and not on tablets of
stone, but on the fleshly tablets of the heart. {3:4} And we
have such faith, through Christ, toward God. {3:5} It is not
that we are adequate to think anything of ourselves, as if
anything was from us. But our adequacy is from God.
{3:6} And he has made us suitable ministers of the New
Testament, not in the letter, but in the Spirit. For the letter
kills, but the Spirit gives life. {3:7} But if the ministration of
death, engraved with letters upon stones, was in glory, (so
much so that the sons of Israel were not able to gaze intently
upon the face of Moses, because of the glory of his
countenance) even though this ministration was ineffective,
{3:8} how could the ministration of the Spirit not be in
greater glory? {3:9} For if the ministration of condemnation
is with glory, so much more is the ministration of justice
abundant in glory. {3:10} And neither was it glorified by
means of an excellent glory, though it was made illustrious in
its own way. {3:11} For if even what was temporary has its
glory, then what is lasting has an even greater glory.
{3:12} Therefore, having such a hope, we act with much
confidence, {3:13} and not as Moses did, in placing a veil
over his face, so that the sons of Israel would not gaze
intently at his face. This was ineffective, {3:14} for their
minds were obtuse. And, even until this present day, the very
same veil, in the readings from the Old Testament, remains
not taken away (though, in Christ, it is taken away).
{3:15} But even until today, when Moses is read, a veil is still
set over their hearts. {3:16} But when they will have been
converted to the Lord, then the veil shall be taken away.
{3:17} Now the Spirit is Lord. And wherever the Spirit of the
Lord is, there is liberty. {3:18} Yet truly, all of us, as we gaze
upon the unveiled glory of the face of the Lord, are
transfigured into the same image, from one glory to another.
And this is done by the Spirit of the Lord.


[2 Corinthians 4] {4:1} Therefore, since we have this
ministry, and in as much as we have obtained mercy for
ourselves, we are not inadequate. {4:2} For we renounce
dishonorable and hidden acts, not walking by craftiness, nor
by adulterating the Word of God. Instead, by the
manifestation of truth, we commend ourselves to the
conscience of each man before God. {4:3} But if our Gospel
is in some way hidden, it is hidden to those who are perishing.
{4:4} As for them, the god of this age has blinded the minds
of unbelievers, so that the light of the Gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God, would not shine in them.
{4:5} For we are not preaching about ourselves, but about
Jesus Christ our Lord. We are merely your servants through
Jesus. {4:6} For God, who told the light to shine out of
darkness, has shined a light into our hearts, to illuminate the
knowledge of the splendor of God, in the person of Christ
Jesus. {4:7} But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, so
that what is sublime may be of the power of God, and not of
us. {4:8} In all things, we endure tribulation, yet we are not
in anguish. We are constrained, yet we are not destitute.
{4:9} We suffer persecution, yet we have not been abandoned.
We are thrown down, yet we do not perish. {4:10} We ever
carry around the mortification of Jesus in our bodies, so that
the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
{4:11} For we who live are ever handed over unto death for
the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be
manifested in our mortal flesh. {4:12} Therefore, death is at
work in us, and life is at work in you. {4:13} But we have the
same Spirit of faith. And just as it is written, “I believed, and
for that reason I spoke,” so we also believe, and for that
reason, we also speak. {4:14} For we know that the One who
raised up Jesus will raise us up also with Jesus and will place
us with you. {4:15} Thus, all is for you, so that grace,
abounding through many in thanksgiving, may abound to the
glory of God. {4:16} For this reason, we are not insufficient.
But it is as though our outer man is corrupted, while our
inner man is renewed from day to day. {4:17} For though
our tribulation is, at the present time, brief and light, it
accomplishes in us the weight of a sublime eternal glory,
beyond measure. {4:18} And we are contemplating, not the
things that are seen, but the things that are unseen. For the
things that are seen are temporal, whereas the things that are
not seen are eternal.


[2 Corinthians 5] {5:1} For we know that, when our earthly
house of this habitation is dissolved, we have a building of
God, a house not made with hands, eternal in heaven.
{5:2} And for this reason also, we groan, desiring to be
clothed from above with our habitation from heaven. {5:3} If
we are so clothed, then we will not be found to be naked.
{5:4} Then too, we who are in this tabernacle groan under
the burden, because we do not want to be stripped, but rather
to be clothed from above, so that what is mortal may be
absorbed by life. {5:5} Now the One who accomplishes this
very thing in us is God, who has given us the pledge of the
Spirit. {5:6} Therefore, we are ever confident, knowing that,
while we are in the body, we are on a pilgrimage in the Lord.
{5:7} For we walk by means of faith, and not by sight.
{5:8} So we are confident, and we have the good will to be
on a pilgrimage in the body, so as to be present to the Lord.
{5:9} And thus we struggle, whether absent or present, to
please him. {5:10} For it is necessary for us to be manifested
before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may
receive the proper things of the body, according to his
behavior, whether it was good or evil. {5:11} Therefore,
having knowledge of the fear of the Lord, we appeal to men,
but we are made manifest before God. Yet I hope, too, that
we may be made manifest in your consciences. {5:12} We
are not commending ourselves again to you, but rather we
are presenting you with an opportunity to glory because of us,
when you deal with those who glory in face, and not in heart.
{5:13} For if we are excessive in mind, it is for God; but if we
are sober, it is for you. {5:14} For the charity of Christ urges
us on, in consideration of this: that if one died for all, then all
have died. {5:15} And Christ died for all, so that even those
who live might not now live for themselves, but for him who
died for them and who rose again. {5:16} And so, from now
on, we know no one according to the flesh. And though we
have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know
him in this way no longer. {5:17} So if anyone is a new
creature in Christ, what is old has passed away. Behold, all
things have been made new. {5:18} But all is of God, who
has reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has
given us the ministry of reconciliation. {5:19} For certainly
God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not
charging them with their sins. And he has placed in us the
Word of reconciliation. {5:20} Therefore, we are
ambassadors for Christ, so that God is exhorting through us.
We beseech you for Christ: be reconciled to God. {5:21} For
God made him who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that
we might become the justice of God in him.


[2 Corinthians 6] {6:1} But, as a help to you, we exhort you
not to receive the grace of God in vain. {6:2} For he says: “In
a favorable time, I heeded you; and on the day of salvation, I
helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now
is the day of salvation. {6:3} May we never give offense to
anyone, so that our ministry may not be disparaged.
{6:4} But in all things, let us exhibit ourselves as ministers of
God with great patience: through tribulation, difficulties, and
distress; {6:5} despite wounds, imprisonment, and rebellion;
with hard work, vigilance, and fasting; {6:6} by chastity,
knowledge, and longsuffering; in pleasantness, in the Holy
Spirit, and in unfeigned charity; {6:7} with the Word of truth,
with the power of God, and with the armor of justice to the
right and to the left; {6:8} through honor and dishonor,
despite good reports and bad, whether seen as deceivers or
truth-tellers, whether ignored or acknowledged; {6:9} as if
dying and yet truly alive; as if chastised and yet not subdued;
{6:10} as if sorrowful and yet always rejoicing; as if needy
and yet enriching many; as if having nothing and possessing
everything. {6:11} Our mouth is open to you, O Corinthians;
our heart is enlarged. {6:12} You are not narrowed by us, but
it is by your own inner selves that you are narrowed.
{6:13} But since we have the same recompense, (I am
speaking as if to my own sons), you, too, should be enlarged.
{6:14} Do not choose to bear the yoke with unbelievers. For
how can justice be a participant with iniquity? Or how can
the fellowship of light be a participant with darkness?
{6:15} And how can Christ join together with Belial? Or
what part do the faithful have with the unfaithful?
{6:16} And what consensus does the temple of God have
with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, just as
God says: “I will dwell with them, and I will walk among
them. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
{6:17} Because of this, you must depart from their midst and
be separate, says the Lord. And do not touch what is unclean.
{6:18} Then I will accept you. And I will be a Father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord
Almighty.”


[2 Corinthians 7] {7:1} Therefore, having these promises,
most beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of
the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear
of God. {7:2} Consider us. We have injured no one; we have
corrupted no one; we have defrauded no one. {7:3} I am not
saying this to your condemnation. For we have told you
before that you are in our hearts: to die together and to live
together. {7:4} Great is my confidence in you. Great is my
glorying over you. I have been filled with consolation. I have
a superabundant joy throughout all our tribulation.
{7:5} Then, too, when we had arrived in Macedonia, our
flesh had no rest. Instead, we suffered every tribulation:
exterior conflicts, interior fears. {7:6} But God, who consoles
the humble, consoled us by the arrival of Titus, {7:7} and not
only by his arrival, but also by the consolation with which he
was consoled among you. For he brought to us your desire,
your weeping, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced all the more.
{7:8} For though I made you sorrowful by my epistle, I do
not repent. And if I did repent, but only for a time, having
realized that the same epistle made you sorrowful, {7:9} now
I am glad: not because you were sorrowful, but because you
were sorrowful unto repentance. For you became sorrowful
for God, so that you might not suffer any harm from us.
{7:10} For the sorrow that is according to God accomplishes
a repentance which is steadfast unto salvation. But the sorrow
that is of the world accomplishes death. {7:11} So consider
this same idea, being sorrowful according to God, and what
great solicitude it accomplishes in you: including protection,
and indignation, and fear, and desire, and zeal, and
vindication. In all things, you have shown yourselves to be
uncorrupted by this sorrow. {7:12} And so, though I wrote to
you, it was not because of him who caused the injury, nor
because of him who suffered from it, but so as to manifest our
solicitude, which we have for you before God.
{7:13} Therefore, we have been consoled. But in our
consolation, we have rejoiced even more abundantly over the
joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by all of you.
{7:14} And if I have gloried in anything to him about you, I
have not been put to shame. But, just as we have spoken all
things to you in truth, so also our glorying before Titus has
been the truth. {7:15} And his feelings are now more
abundant toward you, since he remembers the obedience of
you all, and how you received him with fear and trembling.
{7:16} I rejoice that in all things I have confidence in you.


[2 Corinthians 8] {8:1} And so we are making known to you,
brothers, the grace of God that has been given in the churches
of Macedonia. {8:2} For within a great experience of
tribulation, they have had an abundance of joy, and their
profound poverty has only increased the richness of their
simplicity. {8:3} And I bear witness to them, that they were
willing to accept what was in accord with their ability, and
even what was beyond their ability. {8:4} For they were
begging us, with great exhortation, for the grace and the
communication of the ministry that is with the saints.
{8:5} And this is beyond what we had hoped, since they gave
themselves, first of all to the Lord, and then also to us,
through the will of God, {8:6} so much so that we petitioned
Titus, that in the same manner as he had begun, he would
also complete in you this same grace. {8:7} But, just as in all
things you abound in faith and in word and in knowledge
and in all solicitude, and even more so in your charity toward
us, so also may you abound in this grace. {8:8} I am speaking,
not commanding. But through the solicitude of others, I
approve of the good character of your charity. {8:9} For you
know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was
rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that through his
poverty, you might become rich. {8:10} And about this, I
give my counsel. For this is useful to those of you who, only
a year earlier, had just begun to act, or even to be willing to
act. {8:11} So, truly now, accomplish this in deed, so that, in
the same manner as your willing mind is prompted, you may
also act, out of that which you have. {8:12} For when the
will is prompted, it receives according to what that person has,
not according to what that person does not have. {8:13} And
it is not that others should be relieved, while you are troubled,
but that there should be an equality. {8:14} In this present
time, let your abundance supply their need, so that their
abundance may also supply your need, in order that there
may be an equality, just as it was written: {8:15} “He with
more did not have too much; and he with less did not have
too little.” {8:16} But thanks be to God, who has granted to
the heart of Titus, this same solicitude for you. {8:17} For
certainly, he accepted the exhortation. But since he was more
solicitous, he went to you of his own free will. {8:18} And we
have even sent with him a brother whose praise accompanies
the Gospel throughout all the churches. {8:19} And not only
that, but he was also chosen by the churches to be a
companion for our sojourn in this grace, which is ministered
by us with our determined will, to the glory of the Lord.
{8:20} So let us avoid this, lest anyone disparage us over the
abundance that is ministered by us. {8:21} For we provide for
what is good, not only in the sight of God, but also in the
sight of men. {8:22} And we have also sent with them our
brother, whom we have proven to be frequently solicitous in
many matters. But now there is a greater solicitousness,
which is greatly entrusted to you; {8:23} and whether it
concerns Titus, who is a companion to me and a helper to
you, or whether it concerns our brothers, the Apostles of the
churches, it is to the glory of Christ. {8:24} Therefore, in the
sight of the churches, show them the proof of your charity
and of our glorying about you.


[2 Corinthians 9] {9:1} Now, concerning the ministry that is
done toward the saints, it is not necessary for me to write to
you. {9:2} For I know your willing mind. I glory about you,
concerning this, to the Macedonians. For Achaia has also
been prepared, for the past year. And your example has
inspired very many others. {9:3} Now I have sent the
brothers, so that what we glory about concerning you might
be not be empty in this matter, in order that (as I have
explained) you may be prepared. {9:4} Otherwise, if the
Macedonians arrive with me and find you unprepared, we
(not to mention you) would be ashamed in this matter.
{9:5} Therefore, I considered it necessary to ask the brothers
to go to you in advance and to prepare this blessing as
promised, and in this way, you may be ready as a blessing,
not as an excess. {9:6} But I say this: Whoever sows
sparingly will also reap sparingly. And whoever sows with
blessings shall also reap from blessings: {9:7} each one giving,
just as he has determined in his heart, neither out of sadness,
nor out of obligation. For God loves a cheerful giver.
{9:8} And God is able to make every grace abound in you, so
that, always having what you need in all things, you may
abound unto every good work, {9:9} just as it was written:
“He has distributed widely, he has given to the poor; his
justice remains from age to age.” {9:10} And he who
ministers seed to the sower will offer you bread to eat, and
will multiply your seed, and will increase the growth of the
fruits of your justice. {9:11} So then, having been enriched in
all things, you may abound in all simplicity, which works
thanksgiving to God through us. {9:12} For the ministration
of this office not only supplies whatever the saints need, but
also abounds through many thanksgivings in the Lord.
{9:13} And so, through the evidence of this ministry, you
glorify God by the obedience of your confession in the
Gospel of Christ, and by the simplicity of your communion
with them and with everyone, {9:14} and they offer prayers
for you, being solicitous about you, because of the excellent
grace of God within you. {9:15} Thanks be to God for his
ineffable gift.


[2 Corinthians 10] {10:1} But I myself, Paul, am begging
you, through the meekness and modesty of Christ. I am
certainly, by appearances, lowly among you, yet I have
confidence in you, even while I am absent. {10:2} So I am
petitioning you, lest I be bold, when present, with that bold
confidence that I am considered to have by certain ones who
judge us as if we were walking according to the flesh.
{10:3} For though we walk in the flesh, we do not battle
according to the flesh. {10:4} For the weapons of our battles
are not carnal, yet still they are powerful with God, unto the
destruction of fortifications: tearing down every counsel
{10:5} and height that extols itself contrary to the wisdom of
God, and leading every intellect into the captivity of
obedience to Christ, {10:6} and standing ready to repudiate
every disobedience, when your own obedience has been
fulfilled. {10:7} Consider the things that are in accord with
appearances. If anyone trusts that by these things he belongs
to Christ, let him reconsider this within himself. For just as
he belongs to Christ, so also do we. {10:8} And if I were even
to glory somewhat more about our authority, which the Lord
has given to us for your edification, and not for your
destruction, I should not be ashamed. {10:9} But let it not be
said that I am scaring you by means of epistles. {10:10} For
they say: “His epistles, indeed, are weighty and strong. But
his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is contemptible.”
{10:11} Let someone like this realize that whatever we are in
word through epistles, while absent: we are much the same in
deed, while present. {10:12} For we would not dare to
interpose or compare ourselves with certain ones who
commend themselves. But we measure ourselves by ourselves,
and we compare ourselves with ourselves. {10:13} Thus, we
will not glory beyond our measure, but rather according to
the measure of the limit which God has measured out to us, a
measure which extends even to you. {10:14} For we are not
overextending ourselves, as if we are not able to reach as far
as you are able. For we have gone even as far as you have in
the Gospel of Christ. {10:15} We are not glorying
immeasurably over the labors of others. Instead, we hold on
to the hope of your growing faith, so as to be magnified in
you, according to our own limits, but in abundance,
{10:16} and even so as to evangelize in those places that are
beyond you, not in order to glory in the measure of others,
but rather in those things which have already been prepared.
{10:17} But whoever glories, let him glory in the Lord.
{10:18} For it is not he who commends himself who is
approved, but rather he whom God commends.


[2 Corinthians 11] {11:1} I wish that you would endure a
small amount of my foolishness, so as to bear with me.
{11:2} For I am jealous toward you, with the jealousy of God.
And I have espoused you to one husband, offering you as a
chaste virgin to Christ. {11:3} But I am afraid lest, as the
serpent led astray Eve by his cleverness, so your minds might
be corrupted and might fall away from the simplicity which is
in Christ. {11:4} For if anyone arrives preaching another
Christ, one whom we have not preached; or if you receive
another Spirit, one whom you have not received; or another
Gospel, one which you have not been given: you might
permit him to guide you. {11:5} For I consider that I have
done nothing less than the great Apostles. {11:6} For
although I may be unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in
knowledge. But, in all things, we have been made manifest to
you. {11:7} Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that
you would be exalted? For I preached the Gospel of God to
you freely. {11:8} I have taken from other churches, receiving
a stipend from them to the benefit of your ministry.
{11:9} And when I was with you and in need, I was
burdensome to no one. For the brothers who came from
Macedonia supplied whatever was lacking to me. And in all
things, I have kept myself, and I will keep myself, from being
burdensome to you. {11:10} The truth of Christ is in me, and
so this glorying shall not be broken away from me in the
regions of Achaia. {11:11} Why so? Is it because I do not
love you? God knows I do. {11:12} But what I am doing, I
will continue to do, so that I may take away an opportunity
from those who desire an opportunity by which they may
glory, so as to be considered to be like us. {11:13} For false
apostles, such as these deceitful workers, are presenting
themselves as if they were Apostles of Christ. {11:14} And no
wonder, for even Satan presents himself as if he were an
Angel of light. {11:15} Therefore, it is no great thing if his
ministers present themselves as if they were ministers of
justice, for their end shall be according to their works.
{11:16} I say again. And let no one consider me to be foolish.
Or, at least, accept me as if I were foolish, so that I also may
glory a small amount. {11:17} What I am saying is not said
according to God, but as if in foolishness, in this matter of
glorying. {11:18} Since so many glory according to the flesh,
I will glory also. {11:19} For you freely accept the foolish,
though you yourselves claim to be wise. {11:20} For you
permit it when someone guides you into servitude, even if he
devours you, even if he takes from you, even if he is extolled,
even if he strikes you repeatedly on the face. {11:21} I speak
according to disgrace, as if we had been weak in this regard.
In this matter, (I speak in foolishness) if anyone dares, I dare
also. {11:22} They are Hebrews; so am I. They are Israelites;
so am I. They are the offspring of Abraham; so am I.
{11:23} They are the ministers of Christ (I speak as if I were
less wise); more so am I: with many more labors, with
numerous imprisonments, with wounds beyond measure,
with frequent mortifications. {11:24} On five occasions, I
received forty stripes, less one, from the Jews. {11:25} Three
times, I was beaten with rods. One time, I was stoned. Three
times, I was shipwrecked. For a night and a day, I was in the
depths of the sea. {11:26} I have made frequent journeys,
through dangerous waters, in danger of robbers, in danger
from my own nation, in danger from the Gentiles, in danger
in the city, in danger in the wilderness, in danger in the sea,
in danger from false brothers, {11:27} with hardships and
difficulties, with much vigilance, in hunger and thirst, with
frequent fasts, in cold and nakedness, {11:28} and, in
addition to these things, which are external: there is my daily
earnestness and solicitude for all the churches. {11:29} Who
is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am
not being burned? {11:30} If it is necessary to glory, I will
glory of the things that concern my weaknesses. {11:31} The
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed
forever, knows that I am not lying. {11:32} At Damascus, the
governor of the nation under Aretas the king, watched over
the city of the Damascenes, so as to apprehend me.
{11:33} And, through a window, I was let down along the
wall in a basket; and so I escaped his hands.


[2 Corinthians 12] {12:1} If it is necessary (though certainly
not expedient) to glory, then I will next tell of visions and
revelations from the Lord. {12:2} I know a man in Christ,
who, more than fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I do
not know, or out of the body, I do not know: God knows),
was enraptured to the third heaven. {12:3} And I know a
certain man (whether in the body, or out of the body, I do not
know: God knows), {12:4} who was enraptured into Paradise.
And he heard words of mystery, which it is not permitted for
man to speak. {12:5} On behalf of someone like this, I will
glory. But on behalf of myself, I will not glory about anything,
except my infirmities. {12:6} For even though I am willing to
glory, I will not be foolish. But I will speak the truth. Yet I
will do so sparingly, lest anyone may consider me to be
anything more than what he sees in me, or anything more
than what he hears from me. {12:7} And lest the greatness of
the revelations should extol me, there was given to me a
prodding in my flesh: an angel of Satan, who struck me
repeatedly. {12:8} Because of this, three times I petitioned
the Lord that it might be taken away from me. {12:9} And he
said to me: “My grace is sufficient for you. For virtue is
perfected in weakness.” And so, willingly shall I glory in my
weaknesses, so that the virtue of Christ may live within me.
{12:10} Because of this, I am pleased in my infirmity: in
reproaches, in difficulties, in persecutions, in distresses, for
the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am powerful.
{12:11} I have become foolish; you have compelled me. For I
ought to have been commended by you. For I have been
nothing less than those who claim to be above the measure of
Apostles, even though I am nothing. {12:12} And the seal of
my Apostleship has been set over you, with all patience, with
signs and wonders and miracles. {12:13} For what is there
that you have had which is less than the other churches,
except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this
injury. {12:14} Behold, this is the third time I have prepared
to come to you, and yet I will not be a burden to you. For I
am seeking not the things that are yours, but you yourselves.
And neither should the children store up for the parents, but
the parents for the children. {12:15} And so, very willingly, I
will spend and exhaust myself for the sake of your souls,
loving you more, while being loved less. {12:16} And so be it.
I have not burdened you, but instead, being astute, I obtained
you by guile. {12:17} And yet, did I defraud you by means of
any of those whom I sent to you? {12:18} I asked for Titus,
and I sent a brother with him. Did Titus defraud you? Did we
not walk with the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same
steps? {12:19} Have you ever thought that we should explain
ourselves to you? We speak in the sight of God, in Christ. But
all things, most beloved, are for your edification. {12:20} Yet
I fear, lest perhaps, when I have arrived, I might not find you
such as I would want, and I might be found by you, such as
you would not want. For perhaps there may be among you:
contention, envy, animosity, dissension,  detraction,
whispering, self-exaltation, and rebellion. {12:21} If so, then,
when I have arrived, God may again humble me among you.
And so, I mourn for the many who sinned beforehand, and
did not repent, over the lust and fornication and
homosexuality, which they have committed.


[2 Corinthians 13] {13:1} Behold, this is the third time that I
am coming to you. By the mouth of two or three witnesses,
every word shall stand. {13:2} I have preached when present,
and I will preach now while absent, to those who sinned
before, and to all the others, because, when I arrive again, I
will not be lenient with you. {13:3} Do you seek evidence
that it is Christ who speaks in me, who is not weak with you,
but is powerful with you? {13:4} For although he was
crucified in weakness, yet he lives by the power of God. And
yes, we are weak in him. But we shall live with him by the
power of God among you. {13:5} Test yourselves as to
whether you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you
yourselves not know whether Christ Jesus is in you? But
perhaps you are reprobates. {13:6} But I hope you know that
we ourselves are not reprobates. {13:7} Now we pray to God
that you shall do nothing evil, not so that we may seem to be
approved, but so that you may do what is good, even if we
seem like reprobates. {13:8} For we cannot do anything
against the truth, but only for the truth. {13:9} For we rejoice
that we are weak, while you are strong. This is also what we
pray for: your perfection. {13:10} Therefore, I write these
things while absent, so that, when present, I may not have to
act more harshly, according to the authority which the Lord
has given to me, for edification and not for destruction.
{13:11} As to the rest, brothers, rejoice, be perfect, be
encouraged, have the same mind, have peace. And so the
God of peace and love will be with you. {13:12} Greet one
another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. {13:13} The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the charity of God, and
the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.


** The Letter to the Galatians **


[Galatians 1] {1:1} Paul, an Apostle, not from men and not
through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father,
who raised him from the dead, {1:2} and all the brothers who
are with me: to the churches of Galatia. {1:3} Grace and
peace to you from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus
Christ, {1:4} who gave himself on behalf of our sins, so that
he might deliver us from this present wicked age, according
to the will of God our Father. {1:5} To him is glory forever
and ever. Amen. {1:6} I wonder that you have been so
quickly transferred, from him who called you into the grace
of Christ, over to another gospel. {1:7} For there is no other,
except that there are some persons who disturb you and who
want to overturn the Gospel of Christ. {1:8} But if anyone,
even we ourselves or an Angel from Heaven, were to preach
to you a gospel other than the one that we have preached to
you, let him be anathema. {1:9} Just as we have said before,
so now I say again: If anyone has preached a gospel to you,
other than that which you have received, let him be
anathema. {1:10} For am I now persuading men, or God? Or,
am I seeking to please men? If I still were pleasing men, then
I would not be a servant of Christ. {1:11} For I would have
you understand, brothers, that the Gospel which has been
preached by me is not according to man. {1:12} And I did
not receive it from man, nor did I learn it, except through the
revelation of Jesus Christ. {1:13} For you have heard of my
former behavior within Judaism: that, beyond measure, I
persecuted the Church of God and fought against Her.
{1:14} And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my
equals among my own kind, having proven to be more
abundant in zeal toward the traditions of my fathers.
{1:15} But, when it pleased him who, from my mother’s
womb, had set me apart, and who has called me by his grace,
{1:16} to reveal his Son within me, so that I might evangelize
him among the Gentiles, I did not next seek the consent of
flesh and blood. {1:17} Neither did I go to Jerusalem, to
those who were Apostles before me. Instead, I went into
Arabia, and next I returned to Damascus. {1:18} And then,
after three years, I went to Jerusalem to see Peter; and I
stayed with him for fifteen days. {1:19} But I saw none of the
other Apostles, except James, the brother of the Lord.
{1:20} Now what I am writing to you: behold, before God, I
am not lying. {1:21} Next, I went into the regions of Syria
and Cilicia. {1:22} But I was unknown by face to the
churches of Judea, which were in Christ. {1:23} For they had
only heard that: “He, who formerly persecuted us, now
evangelizes the faith which he once fought.” {1:24} And they
glorified God in me.


[Galatians 2] {2:1} Next, after fourteen years, I went up
again to Jerusalem, taking with me Barnabas and Titus.
{2:2} And I went up according to revelation, and I debated
with them about the Gospel that I am preaching among the
Gentiles, but away from those who were pretending to be
something, lest perhaps I might run, or have run, in vain.
{2:3} But even Titus, who was with me, though he was a
Gentile, was not compelled to be circumcised, {2:4} but only
because of false brothers, who were brought in unknowingly.
They entered secretly to spy on our liberty, which we have in
Christ Jesus, so that they might reduce us to servitude.
{2:5} We did not yield to them in subjection, even for an
hour, in order that the truth of the Gospel would remain with
you, {2:6} and away from those who were pretending to be
something. (Whatever they might have been once, it means
nothing to me. God does not accept the reputation of a man.)
And those who were claiming to be something had nothing
to offer me. {2:7} But it was to the contrary, since they had
seen that the Gospel to the uncircumcised was entrusted to
me, just as the Gospel to the circumcised was entrusted to
Peter. {2:8} For he who was working the Apostleship to the
circumcised in Peter, was also working in me among the
Gentiles. {2:9} And so, when they had acknowledged the
grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John,
who seemed like pillars, gave to me and to Barnabas the right
hand of fellowship, so that we would go to the Gentiles,
while they went to the circumcised, {2:10} asking only that
we should be mindful of the poor, which was the very thing
that I also was solicitous to do. {2:11} But when Cephas had
arrived at Antioch, I stood against him to his face, because he
was blameworthy. {2:12} For before certain ones arrived
from James, he ate with the Gentiles. But when they had
arrived, he drew apart and separated himself, fearing those
who were of the circumcision. {2:13} And the other Jews
consented to his pretense, so that even Barnabas was led by
them into that falseness. {2:14} But when I had seen that
they were not walking correctly, by the truth of the Gospel, I
said to Cephas in front of everyone: “If you, while you are a
Jew, are living like the Gentiles and not the Jews, how is it
that you compel the Gentiles to keep the customs of the
Jews?” {2:15} By nature, we are Jews, and not of the
Gentiles, sinners. {2:16} And we know that man is not
justified by the works of the law, but only by the faith of Jesus
Christ. And so we believe in Christ Jesus, in order that we
may be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works
of the law. For no flesh will be justified by the works of the
law. {2:17} But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we
ourselves are also found to be sinners, would then Christ be
the minister of sin? Let it not be so! {2:18} For if I rebuild the
things that I have destroyed, I establish myself as a
prevaricator. {2:19} For through the law, I have become dead
to the law, so that I may live for God. I have been nailed to
the cross with Christ. {2:20} I live; yet now, it is not I, but
truly Christ, who lives in me. And though I live now in the
flesh, I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and
who delivered himself for me. {2:21} I do not reject the grace
of God. For if justice is through the law, then Christ died in
vain.


[Galatians 3] {3:1} O senseless Galatians, who has so
fascinated you that you would not obey the truth, even
though Jesus Christ has been presented before your eyes,
crucified among you? {3:2} I wish to know only this from
you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by
the hearing of faith? {3:3} Are you so foolish that, though
you began with the Spirit, you would now end with the flesh?
{3:4} Have you been suffering so much without a reason? If
so, then it is in vain. {3:5} Therefore, does he who distributes
the Spirit to you, and who works miracles among you, act by
the works of the law, or by the hearing of the faith? {3:6} It is
just as it was written: “Abraham believed God, and it was
reputed to him unto justice.” {3:7} Therefore, know that
those who are of faith, these are the sons of Abraham.
{3:8} Thus Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the
Gentiles by faith, foretold to Abraham: “All nations shall be
blessed in you.” {3:9} And so, those who are of faith shall be
blessed with faithful Abraham. {3:10} For as many as are of
the works of the law are under a curse. For it has been written:
“Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things
that have been written in the book of the Law, so as to do
them.” {3:11} And, since in the law no one is justified with
God, this is manifest: “For the just man lives by faith.”
{3:12} But the law is not of faith; instead, “he who does these
things shall live by them.” {3:13} Christ has redeemed us
from the curse of the law, since he became a curse for us. For
it is written: “Cursed is anyone who hangs from a tree.”
{3:14} This was so that the blessing of Abraham might reach
the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, in order that we might
receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
{3:15} Brothers (I speak according to man), if a man’s
testament has been confirmed, no one would reject it or add
to it. {3:16} The promises were made to Abraham and to his
offspring. He did not say, “and to descendents,” as if to many,
but instead, as if to one, he said, “and to your offspring,” who
is Christ. {3:17} But I say this: the testament confirmed by
God, which, after four hundred and thirty years became the
Law, does not nullify, so as to make the promise empty.
{3:18} For if the inheritance is of the law, then it is no longer
of the promise. But God bestowed it to Abraham through the
promise. {3:19} Why, then, was there a law? It was
established because of transgressions, until the offspring
would arrive, to whom he made the promise, ordained by
Angels through the hand of a mediator. {3:20} Now a
mediator is not of one, yet God is one. {3:21} So then, was
the law contrary to the promises of God? Let it not be so! For
if a law had been given, which was able to give life, truly
justice would be of the law. {3:22} But Scripture has enclosed
everything under sin, so that the promise, by the faith of Jesus
Christ, might be given to those who believe. {3:23} But
before the faith arrived, we were preserved by being enclosed
under the law, unto that faith which was to be revealed.
{3:24} And so the law was our guardian in Christ, in order
that we might be justified by faith. {3:25} But now that faith
has arrived, we are no longer under a guardian. {3:26} For
you are all sons of God, through the faith which is in Christ
Jesus. {3:27} For as many of you as have been baptized in
Christ have become clothed with Christ. {3:28} There is
neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither servant nor free; there
is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.
{3:29} And if you are Christ’s, then are you the offspring of
Abraham, heirs according to the promise.


[Galatians 4] {4:1} But I say that, during the time an heir is a
child, he is no different from a servant, even though he is the
owner of everything. {4:2} For he is under tutors and
caretakers, until the time which was predetermined by the
father. {4:3} So also we, when we were children, were
subservient to the influences of the world. {4:4} But when the
fullness of time arrived, God sent his Son, formed from a
woman, formed under the law, {4:5} so that he might redeem
those who were under the law, in order that we might receive
the adoption of sons. {4:6} Therefore, because you are sons,
God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying out:
“Abba, Father.” {4:7} And so now he is not a servant, but a
son. But if he is a son, then he is also an heir, through God.
{4:8} But then, certainly, while ignorant of God, you served
those who, by nature, are not gods. {4:9} But now, since you
have known God, or rather, since you have been known by
God: how can you turn away again, to weak and destitute
influences, which you desire to serve anew? {4:10} You serve
the days, and months, and times, and years. {4:11} I am
afraid for you, lest perhaps I may have labored in vain among
you. {4:12} Brothers, I beg you. Be as I am. For I, too, am
like you. You have not injured me at all. {4:13} But you
know that, in the weakness of the flesh, I have preached the
Gospel to you for a long time, and that your trials are in my
flesh. {4:14} You did not despise or reject me. But instead,
you accepted me like an Angel of God, even like Christ Jesus.
{4:15} Therefore, where is your happiness? For I offer to you
testimony that, if it could be done, you would have plucked
out your own eyes and would have given them to me.
{4:16} So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the
truth? {4:17} They are not imitating you well. And they are
willing to exclude you, so that you might imitate them.
{4:18} But be imitators of what is good, always in a good
way, and not only when I am present with you. {4:19} My
little sons, I am giving birth to you again, until Christ is
formed in you. {4:20} And I would willingly be present with
you, even now. But I would alter my voice: for I am ashamed
of you. {4:21} Tell me, you who desire to be under the law,
have you not read the law? {4:22} For it is written that
Abraham had two sons: one by a servant woman, and one by
a free woman. {4:23} And he who was of the servant was
born according to the flesh. But he who was of the free
woman was born by the promise. {4:24} These things are
said through an allegory. For these represent the two
testaments. Certainly the one, on Mount Sinai, gives birth
unto servitude, which is Hagar. {4:25} For Sinai is a
mountain in Arabia, which is related to the Jerusalem of the
present time, and it serves with her sons. {4:26} But that
Jerusalem which is above is free; the same is our mother.
{4:27} For it was written: “Rejoice, O barren one, though
you do not conceive. Burst forth and cry out, though you do
not give birth. For many are the children of the desolate, even
more than of her who has a husband.” {4:28} Now we,
brothers, like Isaac, are sons of the promise. {4:29} But just
as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted
him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.
{4:30} And what does Scripture say? “Cast out the woman
servant and her son. For the son of a servant women shall not
be an heir with the son of a free woman.” {4:31} And so,
brothers, we are not the sons of the servant woman, but
rather of the free woman. And this is the freedom with which
Christ has set us free.


[Galatians 5] {5:1} Stand firm, and do not be willing to be
again held by the yoke of servitude. {5:2} Behold, I, Paul, say
to you, that if you have been circumcised, Christ will be of no
benefit to you. {5:3} For I again testify, about every man
circumcising himself, that he is obligated to act according to
the entire law. {5:4} You are being emptied of Christ, you
who are being justified by the law. You have fallen from
grace. {5:5} For in spirit, by faith, we await the hope of
justice. {5:6} For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision prevails over anything, but only faith which
works through charity. {5:7} You have run well. So what has
impeded you, that you would not obey the truth? {5:8} This
kind of influence is not from him who is calling you. {5:9} A
little leaven corrupts the whole mass. {5:10}I have
confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will accept nothing
of the kind. However, he who disturbs you shall bear the
judgment, whomever he may be. {5:11} And as for me,
brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still suffering
persecution? For then the scandal of the Cross would be
made empty. {5:12} And I wish that those who disturb you
would be torn away. {5:13} For you, brothers, have been
called to liberty. Only you must not make liberty into an
occasion for the flesh, but instead, serve one another through
the charity of the Spirit. {5:14} For the entire law is fulfilled
by one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
{5:15} But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that
you are not consumed by one another! {5:16} So then, I say:
Walk in the spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the
flesh. {5:17} For the flesh desires against the spirit, and the
spirit against the flesh. And since these are against one
another, you may not do whatever you want. {5:18} But if
you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
{5:19} Now the works of the flesh are manifest; they are:
fornication, lust, homosexuality, self-indulgence, {5:20} the
serving of idols, drug use, hostility, contentiousness, jealousy,
wrath, quarrels, dissensions, divisions, {5:21} envy, murder,
inebriation, carousing, and similar things. About these things,
I continue to preach to you, as I have preached to you: that
those who act in this way shall not obtain the kingdom of
God. {5:22} But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, forbearance, {5:23} meekness,
faith, modesty, abstinence, chastity. There is no law against
such things. {5:24} For those who are Christ’s have crucified
their flesh, along with its vices and desires. {5:25} If we live
by the Spirit, we should also walk by the Spirit. {5:26} Let us
not become desirous of empty glory, provoking one another,
envying one another.


[Galatians 6] {6:1} And, brothers, if a man has been
overtaken by any offense, you who are spiritual should
instruct someone like this with a spirit of leniency,
considering that you yourselves might also be tempted.
{6:2} Carry one another’s burdens, and so shall you fulfill the
law of Christ. {6:3} For if anyone considers himself to be
something, though he may be nothing, he deceives himself.
{6:4} So let each one prove his own work. And in this way,
he shall have glory in himself only, and not in another.
{6:5} For each one shall carry his own burden. {6:6} And let
him who is being taught the Word discuss it with him who is
teaching it to him, in every good way. {6:7} Do not choose to
wander astray. God is not to be ridiculed. {6:8} For whatever
a man will have sown, that also shall he reap. For whoever
sows in his flesh, from the flesh he shall also reap corruption.
But whoever sows in the Spirit, from the Spirit he shall reap
eternal life. {6:9} And so, let us not be deficient in doing
good. For in due time, we shall reap without fail.
{6:10} Therefore, while we have time, we should do good
works toward everyone, and most of all toward those who
are of the household of the faith. {6:11} Consider what kind
of letters I have written to you with my own hand. {6:12} For
as many of you as they desire to please in the flesh, they
compel to be circumcised, but only so that they might not
suffer the persecution of the cross of Christ. {6:13} And yet,
neither do they themselves, who are circumcised, keep the
law. Instead, they want you to be circumcised, so that they
may glory in your flesh. {6:14} But far be it from me to glory,
except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom
the world is crucified to me, and I to the world. {6:15} For in
Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor wuncircumcision
prevails in any way, but instead there is a new creature.
{6:16} And whoever follows this rule: may peace and mercy
be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
{6:17} Concerning other matters, let no one trouble me. For I
carry the stigmata of the Lord Jesus in my body. {6:18} May
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit,
brothers. Amen.


** The Letter to the Ephesians **


[Ephesians 1] {1:1} Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ through
the will of God, to all the saints who are at Ephesus and to
the faithful in Christ Jesus. {1:2} Grace and peace to you
from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
{1:3} Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the
heavens, in Christ, {1:4} just as he chose us in him before the
foundation of the world, so that we would be holy and
immaculate in his sight, in charity. {1:5} He has predestined
us to adoption as sons, through Jesus Christ, in himself,
according to the purpose of his will, {1:6} for the praise of the
glory of his grace, with which he has gifted us in his beloved
Son. {1:7} In him, we have redemption through his blood:
the remission of sins in accord with the riches of his grace,
{1:8} which is superabundant in us, with all wisdom and
prudence. {1:9} So does he make known to us the mystery of
his will, which he has set forth in Christ, in a manner well-
pleasing to him, {1:10} in the dispensation of the fullness of
time, so as to renew in Christ everything that exists through
him in heaven and on earth. {1:11} In him, we too are called
to our portion, having been predestined in accord with the
plan of the One who accomplishes all things by the counsel of
his will. {1:12} So may we be, to the praise of his glory, we
who have hoped beforehand in Christ. {1:13} In him, you
also, after you heard and believed the Word of truth, which is
the Gospel of your salvation, were sealed with the Holy Spirit
of the Promise. {1:14} He is the pledge of our inheritance,
unto the acquisition of redemption, to the praise of his glory.
{1:15} Because of this, and hearing of your faith that is in the
Lord Jesus, and of your love toward all the saints, {1:16} I
have not ceased giving thanks for you, calling you to mind in
my prayers, {1:17} so that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give a spirit of wisdom and of
revelation to you, in knowledge of him. {1:18} May the eyes
of your heart be illuminated, so that you may know what is
the hope of his calling, and the wealth of the glory of his
inheritance with the saints, {1:19} and the preeminent
magnitude of his virtue toward us, toward we who believe in
accord with the work of his powerful virtue, {1:20} which he
wrought in Christ, raising him from the dead and establishing
him at his right hand in the heavens, {1:21} above every
principality and power and virtue and dominion, and above
every name that is given, not only in this age, but even in the
future age. {1:22} And he has subjected all things under his
feet, and he has made him the head over the entire Church,
{1:23} which is his body and which is the fullness of him
who accomplishes everything in everyone.


[Ephesians 2] {2:1} And you were once dead in your sins
and offenses, {2:2!in which you walked in times past,
according to the age of this world, according to the prince of
the power of this sky, the spirit who now works in the sons of
distrust. {2:3} And we too were all conversant in these things,
in times past, by the desires of our flesh, acting according to
the will of the flesh and according to our own thoughts. And
so we were, by nature, sons of wrath, even like the others.
{2:4} Yet still, God, who is rich in mercy, for the sake of his
exceedingly great charity with which he loved us, {2:5} even
when we were dead in our sins, has enlivened us together in
Christ, by whose grace you have been saved. {2:6} And he
has raised us up together, and he has caused us to sit down
together in the heavens, in Christ Jesus, {2:7} so that he may
display, in the ages soon to arrive, the abundant wealth of his
grace, by his goodness toward us in Christ Jesus. {2:8} For
by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not
of yourselves, for it is a gift of God. {2:9} And this is not of
works, so that no one may glory. {2:10} For we are his
handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works which
God has prepared and in which we should walk.
{2:11} Because of this, be mindful that, in times past, you
were Gentiles in the flesh, and that you were called
uncircumcised by those who are called circumcised in the
flesh, something done by man, {2:12} and that you were, in
that time, without Christ, being foreign to the way of life of
Israel, being visitors to the testament, having no hope of the
promise, and being without God in this world. {2:13} But
now, in Christ Jesus, you, who were in times past far away,
have been brought near by the blood of Christ. {2:14} For he
is our peace. He made the two into one, by dissolving the
intermediate wall of separation, of opposition, by his flesh,
{2:15} emptying the law of commandments by decree, so that
he might join these two, in himself, into one new man,
making peace {2:16} and reconciling both to God, in one
body, through the cross, destroying this opposition in himself.
{2:17} And upon arriving, he evangelized peace to you who
were far away, and peace to those who were near. {2:18} For
by him, we both have access, in the one Spirit, to the Father.
{2:19} Now, therefore, you are no longer visitors and new
arrivals. Instead, you are citizens among the saints in the
household of God, {2:20} having been built upon the
foundation of the Apostles and of the Prophets, with Jesus
Christ himself as the preeminent cornerstone. {2:21} In him,
all that has been built is framed together, rising up into a holy
temple in the Lord. {2:22} In him, you also have been built
together into a habitation of God in the Spirit.


[Ephesians 3] {3:1} By reason of this grace, I, Paul, am a
prisoner of Jesus Christ, for the sake of you Gentiles.
{3:2} Now certainly, you have heard of the dispensation of
the grace of God, which has been given to me among you:
{3:3} that, by means of revelation, the mystery was made
known to me, just as I have written above in a few words.
{3:4} Yet, by reading this closely, you might be able to
understand my prudence in the mystery of Christ. {3:5} In
other generations, this was unknown to the sons of men, even
as it has now been revealed to his holy Apostles and Prophets
in the Spirit, {3:6} so that the Gentiles would be co-heirs, and
of the same body, and partners together, by his promise in
Christ Jesus, through the Gospel. {3:7} Of this Gospel, I
have been made a minister, according to the gift of the grace
of God, which has been given to me by means of the
operation of his virtue. {3:8} Although I am the least of all
the saints, I have been given this grace: to evangelize among
the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, {3:9} and to
enlighten everyone concerning the dispensation of the
mystery, hidden before the ages in God who created all
things, {3:10}so that the manifold wisdom of God may
become well-known to the principalities and powers in the
heavens, through the Church, {3:11} according to that
timeless purpose, which he has formed in Christ Jesus our
Lord. {3:12}In him we trust, and so we approach with
confidence, through his faith. {3:13} Because of this, I ask
you not to be weakened by my tribulations on your behalf;
for this is your glory. {3:14} By reason of this grace, I bend
my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, {3:15} from
whom all paternity in heaven and on earth takes its name.
{3:16} And I ask him to grant to you to be strengthened in
virtue by his Spirit, in accord with the wealth of his glory, in
the inner man, {3:17} so that Christ may live in your hearts
through a faith rooted in, and founded on, charity. {3:18} So
may you be able to embrace, with all the saints, what is the
width and length and height and depth {3:19} of the charity
of Christ, and even be able to know that which surpasses all
knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of
God. {3:20} Now to him who is able to do all things, more
abundantly than we could ever ask or understand, by means
of the virtue which is at work in us: {3:21} to him be glory, in
the Church and in Christ Jesus, throughout every generation,
forever and ever. Amen.


[Ephesians 4] {4:1} And so, as a prisoner in the Lord, I beg
you to walk in a manner worthy of the vocation to which you
have been called: {4:2} with all humility and meekness, with
patience, supporting one another in charity. {4:3} Be anxious
to preserve the unity of the Spirit within the bonds of peace.
{4:4} One body and one Spirit: to this you have been called
by the one hope of your calling: {4:5} one Lord, one faith,
one baptism, {4:6} one God and Father of all, who is over all,
and through all, and in us all. {4:7} Yet to each one of us
there has been given grace according to the measure allotted
by Christ. {4:8} Because of this, he says: “Ascending on high,
he took captivity itself captive; he gave gifts to men.”
{4:9} Now that he has ascended, what is left except for him
also to descended, first to the lower parts of the earth?
{4:10} He who descended is the same one who also ascended
above all the heavens, so that he might fulfill everything.
{4:11} And the same one granted that some would be
Apostles, and some Prophets, yet truly others evangelists, and
others pastors and teachers, {4:12} for the sake of the
perfection of the saints, by the work of the ministry, in the
edification of the body of Christ, {4:13} until we all meet in
the unity of faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as
a perfect man, in the measure of the age of the fullness of
Christ. {4:14} So may we then no longer be little children,
disturbed and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the
wickedness of men, and by the craftiness which deceives unto
error. {4:15} Instead, acting according to truth in charity, we
should increase in everything, in him who is the head, Christ
himself. {4:16} For in him, the whole body is joined closely
together, by every underlying joint, through the function
allotted to each part, bringing improvement to the body,
toward its edification in charity. {4:17} And so, I say this,
and I testify in the Lord: that from now on you should walk,
not as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind,
{4:18} having their intellect obscured, being alienated from
the life of God, through the ignorance that is within them,
because of the blindness of their hearts. {4:19} Such as these,
despairing, have given themselves over to sexual immorality,
carrying out every impurity with rapacity. {4:20} But this is
not what you have learned in Christ. {4:21} For certainly,
you have listened to him, and you have been instructed in
him, according to the truth that is in Jesus: {4:22} to set aside
your earlier behavior, the former man, who was corrupted, by
means of desire, unto error, {4:23} and so be renewed in the
spirit of your mind, {4:24} and so put on the new man, who,
in accord with God, is created in justice and in the holiness of
truth. {4:25} Because of this, setting aside lying, speak the
truth, each one with his neighbor. For we are all part of one
another. {4:26} “Be angry, but do not be willing to sin.” Do
not let the sun set over your anger. {4:27} Provide no place
for the devil. {4:28} Whoever was stealing, let him now not
steal, but rather let him labor, working with his hands, doing
what is good, so that he may have something to distribute to
those who suffer need. {4:29} Let no evil words proceed from
your mouth, but only what is good, toward the edification of
faith, so as to bestow grace upon those who listen.
{4:30} And do not be willing to grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
in whom you have been sealed, unto the day of redemption.
{4:31} Let all bitterness and anger and indignation and
outcry and blasphemy be taken away from you, along with
all malice. {4:32} And be kind and merciful to one another,
forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven you in Christ.


[Ephesians 5] {5:1} Therefore, as most beloved sons, be
imitators of God. {5:2} And walk in love, just as Christ also
loved us and delivered himself for us, as an oblation and a
sacrifice to God, with a fragrance of sweetness. {5:3} But let
not any kind of fornication, or impurity, or rapacity so much
as be named among you, just as is worthy of the saints,
{5:4} nor any indecent, or foolish, or abusive talk, for this is
without purpose; but instead, give thanks. {5:5} For know
and understand this: no one who is a fornicator, or lustful, or
rapacious (for these are a kind of service to idols) holds an
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. {5:6} Let
no one seduce you with empty words. For because of these
things, the wrath of God was sent upon the sons of unbelief.
{5:7} Therefore, do not choose to become participants with
them. {5:8} For you were darkness, in times past, but now
you are light, in the Lord. So then, walk as sons of the light.
{5:9} For the fruit of the light is in all goodness and justice
and truth, {5:10} affirming what is well-pleasing to God.
{5:11} And so, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works
of darkness, but instead, refute them. {5:12} For the things
that are done by them in secret are shameful, even to mention.
{5:13} But all things that are disputed are made manifest by
the light. For all that is made manifest is light.
{5:14} Because of this, it is said: “You who are sleeping:
awaken, and rise up from the dead, and so shall the Christ
enlighten you.” {5:15} And so, brothers, see to it that you
walk cautiously, not like the foolish, {5:16} but like the wise:
atoning for this age, because this is an evil time. {5:17} For
this reason, do not choose to be imprudent. Instead,
understand what is the will of God. {5:18} And do not
choose to be inebriated by wine, for this is self-indulgence.
Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, {5:19} speaking among
yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual canticles,
singing and reciting psalms to the Lord in your hearts,
{5:20} giving thanks always for everything, in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, to God the Father. {5:21} Be subject
to one another in the fear of Christ. {5:22} Wives should be
submissive to their husbands, as to the Lord. {5:23} For the
husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of
the Church. He is the Savior of his body. {5:24} Therefore,
just as the Church is subject to Christ, so also should wives be
subject to their husbands in all things. {5:25} Husbands, love
your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and handed
himself over for her, {5:26} so that he might sanctify her,
washing her clean by water and the Word of life, {5:27} so
that he might offer her to himself as a glorious Church, not
having any spot or wrinkle or any such thing, so that she
would be holy and immaculate. {5:28} So, too, husbands
should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his
wife loves himself. {5:29} For no man has ever hated his own
flesh, but instead he nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ also
does to the Church. {5:30} For we are a part of his body, of
his flesh and of his bones. {5:31} “For this reason, a man
shall leave behind his father and mother, and he shall cling to
his wife; and the two shall be as one flesh.” {5:32} This is a
great Sacrament. And I am speaking in Christ and in the
Church. {5:33} Yet truly, each and every one of you should
love his wife as himself. And a wife should fear her husband.


[Ephesians 6] {6:1} Children, obey your parents in the Lord,
for this is just. {6:2} Honor your father and your mother.
This is the first commandment with a promise: {6:3} so that
it may be well with you, and so that you may have a long life
upon the earth. {6:4} And you, fathers, do not provoke your
children to anger, but educate them with the discipline and
correction of the Lord. {6:5} Servants, be obedient to your
lords according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the
simplicity of your heart, as to Christ. {6:6} Do not serve only
when seen, as if to please men, but act as servants of Christ,
doing the will of God from the heart. {6:7} Serve with good
will, as to the Lord, and not to men. {6:8} For you know that
whatever good each one will do, the same will he receive
from the Lord, whether he is servant or free. {6:9} And you,
lords, act similarly toward them, setting aside threats,
knowing that the Lord of both you and them is in heaven.
For with him there is no favoritism toward anyone.
{6:10} Concerning the rest, brothers, be strengthened in the
Lord, by the power of his virtue. {6:11} Be clothed in the
armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the
treachery of the devil. {6:12} For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against
the directors of this world of darkness, against the spirits of
wickedness in high places. {6:13} Because of this, take up the
armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand the evil
day and remain perfect in all things. {6:14} Therefore, stand
firm, having been girded about your waist with truth, and
having been clothed with the breastplate of justice,
{6:15} and having feet which have been shod by the
preparation of the Gospel of peace. {6:16} In all things, take
up the shield of faith, with which you may be able to
extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one.
{6:17} And take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of
the Spirit (which is the Word of God). {6:18} Through every
kind of prayer and supplication, pray at all times in spirit, and
so be vigilant with every kind of earnest supplication, for all
the saints, {6:19} and also for me, so that words may be
given to me, as I open my mouth with faith to make known
the mystery of the Gospel, {6:20} in such a manner that I
may dare to speak exactly as I ought to speak. For I act as an
ambassador in chains for the Gospel. {6:21} Now, so that
you also may know the things that concern me and what I
am doing, Tychicus, a most beloved brother and a faithful
minister in the Lord, will make known everything to you.
{6:22} I have sent him to you for this very reason, so that you
may know the things that concern us, and so that he may
console your hearts. {6:23} Peace to the brothers, and charity
with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
{6:24} May grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus
Christ, unto incorruption. Amen.


** The Letter to the Philippians **


[Philippians 1] {1:1} Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus
Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi,
with the bishops and deacons. {1:2} Grace and peace to you,
from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. {1:3} I
give thanks to my God, with every remembrance of you,
{1:4} always, in all my prayers, making supplication for all of
you with joy, {1:5} because of your communion in the
Gospel of Christ, from the first day even until now. {1:6} I
am confident of this very thing: that he who has begun this
good work in you will perfect it, unto the day of Christ Jesus.
{1:7} So then, it is right for me to feel this way about all of
you, because I hold you in my heart, and because, in my
chains and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel,
you all are partakers of my joy. {1:8} For God is my witness
how, within the heart of Jesus Christ, I long for all of you.
{1:9} And this I pray: that your charity may abound more
and more, with knowledge and with all understanding,
{1:10} so that you may be confirmed in what is better, in
order that you may be sincere and without offense on the day
of Christ: {1:11} filled with the fruit of justice, through Jesus
Christ, in the glory and praise of God. {1:12} Now, brothers,
I want you to know that the things concerning me happened
for the advancement of the Gospel, {1:13} in such a way that
my chains have become manifest in Christ in every place of
judgment and in all other such places. {1:14} And many from
among the brothers in the Lord, becoming confident through
my chains, are now much bolder in speaking the Word of
God without fear. {1:15} Certainly, some do so even because
of envy and contention; and others, too, do so because of a
good will to preach Christ. {1:16} Some act out of charity,
knowing that I have been appointed for the defense of the
Gospel. {1:17} But others, out of contention, announce
Christ insincerely, claiming that their difficulties lift them up
to my chains. {1:18} But what does it matter? As long as, by
every means, whether under pretext or in truthfulness, Christ
is announced. And about this, I rejoice, and moreover, I will
continue to rejoice. {1:19} For I know that this will bring me
to salvation, through your prayers and under the ministration
of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, {1:20} by means of my own
expectation and hope. For in nothing shall I be confounded.
Instead, with all confidence, now just as always, Christ shall
be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.
{1:21} For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
{1:22} And while I live in the flesh, for me, there is the fruit
of works. But I do not know which I would choose.
{1:23} For I am constrained between the two: having a desire
to be dissolved and to be with Christ, which is the far better
thing, {1:24} but then to remain in the flesh is necessary for
your sake. {1:25} And having this confidence, I know that I
shall remain and that I shall continue to remain with all of
you, for your advancement and for your joy in the faith,
{1:26} so that your rejoicing may abound in Christ Jesus for
me, through my return to you again. {1:27} Only let your
behavior be worthy of the Gospel of Christ, so that, whether I
return and see you, or whether, being absent, I hear about
you, still you may stand firm with one spirit, with one mind,
laboring together for the faith of the Gospel. {1:28} And in
nothing be terrified by the adversaries. For what is to them is
an occasion of perdition, is to you an occasion of salvation,
and this is from God. {1:29} For this has been given to you
on behalf of Christ, not only so that you may believe in him,
but even so that you may suffer with him, {1:30} engaging in
the same struggle, of a kind which you also have seen in me,
and which you now have heard from me.


[Philippians 2] {2:1} Therefore, if there is any consolation in
Christ, any solace of charity, any fellowship of the Spirit, any
feelings of commiseration: {2:2} complete my joy by having
the same understanding, holding to the same charity, being of
one mind, with the same sentiment. {2:3} Let nothing be
done by contention, nor in vain glory. Instead, in humility,
let each of you esteem others to be better than himself.
{2:4} Let each of you not consider anything to be your own,
but rather to belong to others. {2:5} For this understanding in
you was also in Christ Jesus: {2:6} who, though he was in the
form of God, did not consider equality with God something
to be seized. {2:7} Instead, he emptied himself, taking the
form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and
accepting the state of a man. {2:8} He humbled himself,
becoming obedient even unto death, even the death of the
Cross. {2:9} Because of this, God has also exalted him and
has given him a name which is above every name, {2:10} so
that, at the name of Jesus, every knee would bend, of those in
heaven, of those on earth, and of those in hell, {2:11} and so
that every tongue would confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is
in the glory of God the Father. {2:12} And so, my most
beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my
presence, but even more so now in my absence: work toward
your salvation with fear and trembling. {2:13} For it is God
who works in you, both so as to choose, and so as to act, in
accord with his good will. {2:14} And do everything without
murmuring or hesitation. {2:15} So may you be without
blame, simple sons of God, without reproof, in the midst of a
depraved and perverse nation, among whom you shine like
lights in the world, {2:16} holding to the Word of Life, until
my glory in the day of Christ. For I have not run in vain, nor
have I labored in vain. {2:17} Moreover, if I am to be
immolated because of the sacrifice and service of your faith, I
rejoice and give thanks with all of you. {2:18} And over this
same thing, you also should rejoice and give thanks, together
with me. {2:19} Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send
Timothy to you soon, in order that I may be encouraged,
when I know the things concerning you. {2:20} For I have no
one else with such an agreeable mind, who, with sincere
affection, is solicitous for you. {2:21} For they all seek the
things that are of themselves, not the things that are of Jesus
Christ. {2:22} So know this evidence of him: that like a son
with a father, so has he served with me in the Gospel.
{2:23} Therefore, I hope to send him to you immediately, as
soon as I see what will happen concerning me. {2:24} But I
trust in the Lord that I myself will also return to you soon.
{2:25} Now I have considered it necessary to send to you
Epaphroditus, my brother, and co-worker, and fellow soldier,
and an attendant to my needs, but your Apostle. {2:26} For
certainly, he has desired all of you, and he was saddened
because you had heard that he was sick. {2:27} For he was
sick, even unto death, but God took pity on him, and not
only on him, but truly on myself also, so that I would not
have sorrow upon sorrow. {2:28} Therefore, I sent him more
readily, in order that, by seeing him again, you may rejoice,
and I may be without sorrow. {2:29} And so, receive him
with every joy in the Lord, and treat all those like him with
honor. {2:30} For he was brought close even to death, for the
sake of the work of Christ, handing over his own life, so that
he might fulfill what was lacking from you concerning my
service.


[Philippians 3] {3:1} Concerning other things, my brothers,
rejoice in the Lord. It is certainly not tiresome for me to write
the same things to you, but for you, it is not necessary.
{3:2} Beware of dogs; beware of those who work evil; beware
of those who are divisive. {3:3} For we are the circumcised,
we who serve God in the Spirit and who glory in Christ Jesus,
having no confidence in the flesh. {3:4} Nevertheless, I might
have confidence also in the flesh, for if anyone else seems to
have confidence in the flesh, more so do I. {3:5} For I was
circumcised on the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, from the
tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew among Hebrews. According to
the law, I was a Pharisee; {3:6} according to zeal, I
persecuted the Church of God; according to the justice that is
in the law, I lived without blame. {3:7} But the things which
had been to my gain, the same have I considered a loss, for
the sake of Christ. {3:8} Yet truly, I consider everything to be
a loss, because of the preeminent knowledge of Jesus Christ,
my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of
everything, considering it all to be like dung, so that I may
gain Christ, {3:9} and so that you may be found in him, not
having my justice, which is of the law, but that which is of
the faith of Christ Jesus, the justice within faith, which is of
God. {3:10} So shall I know him, and the power of his
resurrection, and the fellowship of his Passion, having been
fashioned according to his death, {3:11} if, by some means, I
might attain to the resurrection which is from the dead.
{3:12} It is not as though I have already received this, or
were already perfect. But rather I pursue, so that by some
means I might attain, that in which I have already been
attained by Christ Jesus. {3:13} Brothers, I do not consider
that I have already attained this. Instead, I do one thing:
forgetting those things that are behind, and extending myself
toward those things that are ahead, {3:14} I pursue the
destination, the prize of the heavenly calling of God in Christ
Jesus. {3:15} Therefore, as many of us as are being perfected,
let us agree about this. And if in anything you disagree, God
will reveal this to you also. {3:16} Yet truly, whatever point
we reach, let us be of the same mind, and let us remain in the
same rule. {3:17} Be imitators of me, brothers, and observe
those who are walking similarly, just as you have seen by our
example. {3:18} For many persons, about whom I have often
told you (and now tell you, weeping,) are walking as enemies
of the cross of Christ. {3:19} Their end is destruction; their
god is their belly; and their glory is in their shame: for they
are immersed in earthly things. {3:20} But our way of life is
in heaven. And from heaven, too, we await the Savior, our
Lord Jesus Christ, {3:21} who will transform the body of our
lowliness, according to the form of the body of his glory, by
means of that power by which he is even able to subject all
things to himself.


[Philippians 4] {4:1} And so, my most beloved and most
desired brothers, my joy and my crown: stand firm in this
way, in the Lord, most beloved. {4:2} I ask Euodia, and I beg
Syntyche, to have the same understanding in the Lord.
{4:3} And I also ask you, as my genuine companion, to assist
those women who have labored with me in the Gospel, with
Clement and the rest of my assistants, whose names are in
the Book of Life. {4:4} Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I
say, rejoice. {4:5} Let your modesty be known to all men.
The Lord is near. {4:6} Be anxious about nothing. But in all
things, with prayer and supplication, with acts of
thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God.
{4:7} And so shall the peace of God, which exceeds all
understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
{4:8} Concerning the rest, brothers, whatever is true,
whatever is chaste, whatever is just, whatever is holy,
whatever is worthy to be loved, whatever is of good repute, if
there is any virtue, if there is any praiseworthy discipline:
meditate on these. {4:9} All the things that you have learned
and accepted and heard and seen in me, do these. And so
shall the God of peace be with you. {4:10} Now I rejoice in
the Lord exceedingly, because finally, after some time, your
feelings for me have flourished again, just as you formerly felt.
For you had been preoccupied. {4:11} I am not saying this as
if out of need. For I have learned that, in whatever state I am,
it is sufficient. {4:12} I know how to be humbled, and I know
how to abound. I am prepared for anything, anywhere: either
to be full or to be hungry, either to have abundance or to
endure scarcity. {4:13} Everything is possible in him who has
strengthened me. {4:14} Yet truly, you have done well by
sharing in my tribulation. {4:15} But you also know, O
Philippians, that at the beginning of the Gospel, when I set
out from Macedonia, not a single church shared with me in
the plan of giving and receiving, except you alone. {4:16} For
you even sent to Thessalonica, once, and then a second time,
for what was useful to me. {4:17} It is not that I am seeking a
gift. Instead, I seek the fruit that abounds to your benefit.
{4:18} But I have everything in abundance. I have been filled
up, having received from Epaphroditus the things that you
sent; this is an odor of sweetness, an acceptable sacrifice,
pleasing to God. {4:19} And may my God fulfill all your
desires, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
{4:20} And to God our Father be glory forever and ever.
Amen. {4:21} Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. {4:22} The
brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you,
but especially those who are of Caesar’s household.
{4:23} May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your
spirit. Amen.


++ The Letter to the Colossians **


[Colossians 1] {1:1} Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the
will of God, and Timothy, a brother, {1:2} to the saints and
faithful brothers in Christ Jesus who are at Colossae.
{1:3} Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and
from the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God, the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying for you always.
{1:4} For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of
the love that you have toward all the saints, {1:5} because of
the hope that has been stored up for you in heaven, which
you have heard through the Word of Truth in the Gospel.
{1:6} This has reached you, just as it is present in the whole
world, where it grows and bears fruit, as it has also done in
you, since the day when you first heard and knew the grace
of God in truth, {1:7} just as you learned it from Epaphras,
our most beloved fellow servant, who is for you a faithful
minister of Christ Jesus. {1:8} And he has also manifested to
us your love in the Spirit. {1:9} Then, too, from the day when
we first heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and
requesting that you be filled with the knowledge of his will,
with all wisdom and spiritual understanding, {1:10} so that
you may walk in a manner worthy of God, being pleasing in
all things, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in
the knowledge of God, {1:11} being strengthened in every
virtue, in accord with the power of his glory, with all patience
and longsuffering, with joy, {1:12} giving thanks to God the
Father, who has made us worthy to have a share in the
portion of the saints, in the light. {1:13} For he has rescued
us from the power of darkness, and he has transferred us into
the kingdom of the Son of his love, {1:14} in whom we have
redemption through his blood, the remission of sins.
{1:15} He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of
every creature. {1:16} For in him was created everything in
heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones,
or dominations, or principalities, or powers. All things were
created through him and in him. {1:17} And he is before all,
and in him all things continue. {1:18} And he is the head of
his body, the Church. He is the beginning, the first-born from
the dead, so that in all things he may hold primacy.
{1:19} For the Father is well-pleased that all fullness reside in
him, {1:20} and that, through him, all things be reconciled to
himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, for the
things that are on earth, as well as the things that are in
heaven. {1:21} And you, though you had been, in times past,
understood to be foreigners and enemies, with works of evil,
{1:22} yet now he has reconciled you, by his body of flesh,
through death, so as to offer you, holy and immaculate and
blameless, before him. {1:23} So then, continue in the faith:
well-founded and steadfast and immovable, by the hope of
the Gospel that you have heard, which has been preached
throughout all creation under heaven, the Gospel of which I,
Paul, have become a minister. {1:24} For now I rejoice in my
passion on your behalf, and I complete in my flesh the things
that are lacking in the Passion of Christ, for the sake of his
body, which is the Church. {1:25} For I have become a
minister of the Church, according to the dispensation of God
that has been given to me among you, so that I may fulfill the
Word of God, {1:26} the mystery which had remained
hidden to past ages and generations, but which now is
manifested to his saints. {1:27} To them, God willed to made
known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles, which is Christ and the hope of his glory within you.
{1:28} We are announcing him, correcting every man and
teaching every man, with all wisdom, so that we may offer
every man perfect in Christ Jesus. {1:29} In him, too, I labor,
striving according to his action within me, which he works in
virtue.


[Colossians 2] {2:1} For I want you to know the kind of
solicitude that I have for you, and for those who are at
Laodicea, as well as for those who have not seen my face in
the flesh. {2:2} May their hearts be consoled and instructed
in charity, with all the riches of a plenitude of understanding,
with knowledge of the mystery of God the Father and of
Christ Jesus. {2:3} For in him are hidden all treasures of
wisdom and knowledge. {2:4} Now I say this, so that no one
may deceive you with grandiose words. {2:5} For though I
may be absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit. And I
rejoice as I gaze upon your order and its foundation, which is
in Christ, your faith. {2:6} Therefore, just as you have
received the Lord Jesus Christ, walk in him. {2:7} Be rooted
and continually built up in Christ. And be confirmed in the
faith, just as you have also learned it, increasing in him with
acts of thanksgiving. {2:8} See to it that no one deceives you
through philosophy and empty falsehoods, as found in the
traditions of men, in accord with the influences of the world,
and not in accord with Christ. {2:9} For in him, all the
fullness of the Divine Nature dwells bodily. {2:10} And in
him, you have been filled; for he is the head of all principality
and power. {2:11} In him also, you have been circumcised
with a circumcision not made by hand, not by the despoiling
of the body of flesh, but by the circumcision of Christ.
{2:12} You have been buried with him in baptism. In him
also, you have risen again through faith, by the work of God,
who raised him up from the dead. {2:13} And when you
were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision
of your flesh, he enlivened you, together with him, forgiving
you of all transgressions, {2:14} and wiping away the
handwriting of the decree which was against us, which was
contrary to us. And he has taken this away from your midst,
affixing it to the Cross. {2:15} And so, despoiling
principalities and powers, he has led them away confidently
and openly, triumphing over them in himself.
{2:16} Therefore, let no one judge you as concerns food or
drink, or a particular feast day, or feast days of new moons,
or of Sabbaths. {2:17} For these are a shadow of the future,
but the body is of Christ. {2:18} Let no one seduce you,
preferring base things and a religion of Angels, walking
according to what he has not seen, being vainly inflated by
the sensations of his flesh, {2:19} and not holding up the
head, with which the whole body, by its underlying joints and
ligaments, is joined together and grows with an increase that
is of God. {2:20} So then, if you have died with Christ to the
influences of this world, why do you still make decisions as if
you were living in the world? {2:21} Do not touch, do not
taste, do not handle these things, {2:22} which all lead to
destruction by their very use, in accord with the precepts and
doctrines of men. {2:23} Such ideas have at least an intention
to attain to wisdom, but through superstition and debasement,
not sparing the body, and they are without any honor in
satiating the flesh.


[Colossians 3] {3:1} Therefore, if you have risen together
with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is
seated at the right hand of God. {3:2} Consider the things
that are above, not the things that are upon the earth.
{3:3} For you have died, and so your life is hidden with
Christ in God. {3:4} When Christ, your life, appears, then
you also will appear with him in glory. {3:5} Therefore,
mortify your body, while it is upon the earth. For because of
fornication, impurity, lust, evil desires, and avarice, which
are a kind of service to idols, {3:6} the wrath of God has
overwhelmed the sons of unbelief. {3:7} You, too, walked in
these things, in times past, when you were living among them.
{3:8} But now you must set aside all these things: anger,
indignation, malice, blasphemy, and indecent speech from
your mouth. {3:9} Do not lie to one another. Strip yourselves
of the old man, with his deeds, {3:10} and clothe yourself
with the new man, who has been renewed by knowledge, in
accord with the image of the One who created him,
{3:11} where there is neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcision
nor uncircumcision, Barbarian nor Scythian, servant nor free.
Instead, Christ is everything, in everyone. {3:12} Therefore,
clothe yourselves like the elect of God: holy and beloved,
with hearts of mercy, kindness, humility, modesty, and
patience. {3:13} Support one another, and, if anyone has a
complaint against another, forgive one another. For just as
the Lord has forgiven you, so also must you do. {3:14} And
above all these things have charity, which is the bond of
perfection. {3:15} And let the peace of Christ lift up your
hearts. For in this peace, you have been called, as one body.
And be thankful. {3:16} Let the word of Christ live in you in
abundance, with all wisdom, teaching and correcting one
another, with psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing
to God with the grace in your hearts. {3:17} Let everything
whatsoever that you do, whether in word or in deed, be done
all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God
the Father through him. {3:18} Wives, be submissive to your
husbands, as is proper in the Lord. {3:19} Husbands, love
your wives, and do not be bitter toward them.
{3:20} Children, obey your parents in all things. For this is
well-pleasing to the Lord. {3:21} Fathers, do not provoke
your children to indignation, lest they lose heart.
{3:22} Servants, obey, in all things, your lords according to
the flesh, not serving only when seen, as if to please men, but
serving in simplicity of heart, fearing God. {3:23} Whatever
you do, do it from the heart, as for the Lord, and not for men.
{3:24} For you know that you will receive from the Lord the
repayment of an inheritance. Serve Christ the Lord.
{3:25} For whoever causes injury shall be repaid for what he
has wrongfully done. And there no favoritism with God.


[Colossians 4] {4:1} You masters, supply your servants with
what is just and equitable, knowing that you, too, have a
Master in heaven. {4:2} Pursue prayer. Be watchful in prayer
with acts of thanksgiving. {4:3} Pray together, for us also, so
that God may open a door of speech to us, so as to speak the
mystery of Christ, (because of which, even now, I am in
chains) {4:4} so that I may manifest it in the manner that I
ought to speak. {4:5} Walk in wisdom toward those who are
outside, redeeming this age. {4:6} Let your speech be ever
graceful, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you
ought to respond to each person. {4:7} As for the things that
concern me, Tychicus, a most beloved brother and faithful
minister and fellow servant in the Lord, will make everything
known to you. {4:8} I have sent him to you for this very
purpose, so that he may know the things that concern you,
and may console your hearts, {4:9} with Onesimus, a most
beloved and faithful brother, who is from among you. They
shall make known to you everything that is happening here.
{4:10} Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, as does
Mark, the near cousin of Barnabas, about whom you have
received instructions, (if he comes to you, receive him)
{4:11} and Jesus, who is called Justus, and those who are of
the circumcision. These alone are my assistants, unto the
kingdom of God; they have been a consolation to me.
{4:12} Epaphras greets you, who is from among you, a
servant of Christ Jesus, ever solicitous for you in prayer, so
that you may stand, perfect and complete, in the entire will of
God. {4:13} For I offer testimony to him, that he has labored
greatly for you, and for those who are at Laodicea, and for
those at Hierapolis. {4:14} Luke, a most beloved physician,
greets you, as does Demas. {4:15} Greet the brothers who are
at Laodicea, and Nymphas, and those who are at his house, a
church. {4:16} And when this epistle has been read among
you, cause it to be read also in the church of the Laodiceans,
and you should read that which is from the Laodiceans.
{4:17} And tell Archippus: “See to the ministry that you have
received in the Lord, in order to fulfill it.” {4:18} The
greeting of Paul by my own hand. Remember my chains.
May grace be with you. Amen.


** The First Letter to the Thessalonians **


[1 Thessalonians 1] {1:1} Paul and Sylvanus and Timothy,
to the church of the Thessalonians, in God the Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ. {1:2} Grace and peace to you. We give
thanks to God always for all of you, keeping the memory of
you in our prayers without ceasing, {1:3} remembering your
work of faith, and hardship, and charity, and enduring hope,
in our Lord Jesus Christ, before God our Father. {1:4} For
we know, brothers, beloved of God, of your election.
{1:5} For our Gospel has not been among you in word alone,
but also in virtue, and in the Holy Spirit, and with a great
fullness, in the same manner as you know we have acted
among you for your sake. {1:6} And so, you became
imitators of us and of the Lord, accepting the Word in the
midst of great tribulation, but with the joy of the Holy Spirit.
{1:7} So have you become a pattern for all who believe in
Macedonia and in Achaia. {1:8} For from you, the Word of
the Lord was spread, not only in Macedonia and in Achaia,
but also in every place. Your faith, which is toward God, has
advanced so much so that we do not need to speak to you
about anything. {1:9} For others are reporting among us of
the kind of acceptance we had among you, and how you
were converted from idols to God, to the service of the living
and true God, {1:10} and to the expectation of his Son from
heaven (whom he raised up from the dead), Jesus, who has
rescued us from the approaching wrath.


[1 Thessalonians 2] {2:1} For you yourselves know, brothers,
that our acceptance among you was not empty. {2:2} Instead,
having previously suffered and been treated shamefully, as
you know, at Philippi, we had confidence in our God, so as
to speak the Gospel of God to you with much solicitude.
{2:3} For our exhortation was not in error, nor from impurity,
nor with deception. {2:4} But, just as we have been tested by
God, so that the Gospel would be entrusted to us, so also did
we speak, not so as to please men, but rather to please God,
who tests our hearts. {2:5} And neither did we, at any time,
become flattering in speech, as you know, nor did we seek an
opportunity for avarice, as God is witness. {2:6} Nor did we
seek the glory of men, neither from you, nor from others.
{2:7} And although we could have been a burden to you, as
Apostles of Christ, instead we became like little ones in your
midst, like a nurse cherishing her children. {2:8} So desirous
were we for you that we were willing to hand over to you,
not only the Gospel of God, but even our own souls. For you
have become most beloved to us. {2:9} For you remember,
brothers, our hardship and weariness. We preached the
Gospel of God among you, working night and day, so that
we would not be burdensome to any of you. {2:10} You are
witnesses, as is God, of how holy and just and blameless we
were with you who have believed. {2:11} And you know the
manner, with each one of you, like a father with his sons,
{2:12} in which we were pleading with you and consoling
you, bearing witness, so that you would walk in a manner
worthy of God, who has called you into his kingdom and
glory. {2:13} For this reason also, we give thanks to God
without ceasing: because, when you had accepted from us the
Word of the hearing of God, you accepted it not as the word
of men, but (as it truly is) as the Word of God, who is
working in you who have believed. {2:14} For you, brothers,
have become imitators of the churches of God which are at
Judea, in Christ Jesus. For you, too, have suffered the same
things from your fellow countrymen as they have suffered
from the Jews, {2:15} who also killed both the Lord Jesus,
and the Prophets, and who have persecuted us. But they do
not please God, and so they are adversaries to all men.
{2:16} They prohibit us to speak to the Gentiles, so that they
may be saved, and thus do they continually add to their own
sins. But the wrath of God will overtake them in the very end.
{2:17} And we, brothers, having been deprived of you for a
short time, in sight, but not in heart, have hurried all the
more to see your face, with a great desire. {2:18} For we
wanted to come to you, (indeed, I, Paul, attempted to do so
once, and then again,) but Satan impeded us. {2:19} For
what is our hope, and our joy, and our crown of glory? Is it
not you, before our Lord Jesus Christ at his return?
{2:20} For you are our glory and our joy.


[1 Thessalonians 3] {3:1} Because of this, willing to wait no
longer, it was pleasing to us to remain at Athens, alone.
{3:2} And we sent Timothy, our brother and a minister of
God in the Gospel of Christ, to confirm you and to exhort
you, on behalf of your faith, {3:3} so that no one would be
disturbed during these tribulations. For you yourselves know
that we have been appointed to this. {3:4} For even while we
were with you, we predicted to you that we would suffer
tribulations, even as it has happened, and as you know.
{3:5} For this reason also, I was not willing to wait any
longer, and I sent to find out about your faith, lest perhaps he
who tempts may have tempted you, and our labor might have
been in vain. {3:6} But then, when Timothy arrived to us
from you, he reported to us your faith and charity, and that
you keep a good remembrance of us always, desiring to see
us, just as we likewise desire to see you. {3:7} As a result, we
were consoled in you, brothers, in the midst of all our
difficulties and tribulations, through your faith. {3:8} For we
now live so that you may stand firm in the Lord. {3:9} For
what thanks would we be able to repay to God because of
you, for all the joy with which we rejoice over you before our
God? {3:10} For night and day, ever more abundantly, we
are praying that we may see your face, and that we may
complete those things that are lacking in your faith.
{3:11} But may God our Father himself, and our Lord Jesus
Christ, direct our way to you. {3:12} And may the Lord
multiply you, and make you abound in your charity toward
one another and toward all, just as we also do toward you,
{3:13} in order to confirm your hearts without blame, in
sanctity, before God our Father, unto the return of our Lord
Jesus Christ, with all his saints. Amen.


[1 Thessalonians 4] {4:1} Therefore, concerning other things,
brothers, we ask and beg you, in the Lord Jesus, that, just as
you have received from us the way in which you ought to
walk and to please God, so also may you walk, in order that
you may abound all the more. {4:2} For you know what
precepts I have given to you through the Lord Jesus.
{4:3} For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you
should abstain from fornication, {4:4} that each one of you
should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and
honor, {4:5} not in passions of lust, like the Gentiles who do
not know God, {4:6} and that no one should overwhelm or
circumvent his brother in business. For the Lord is the
vindicator of all these things, just as we have preached and
testified to you. {4:7} For God has not called us to impurity,
but to sanctification. {4:8} And so, whoever despises these
teachings, does not despise man, but God, who has even
provided his Holy Spirit within us. {4:9} But concerning the
charity of brotherhood, we have no need to write to you. For
you yourselves have learned from God that you should love
one another. {4:10} For indeed, you act in this way with all
the brothers in all of Macedonia. But we petition you,
brothers, so that you may abound all the more, {4:11} to
choose work that allows you to be tranquil, and to carry out
your business and to do your work with your own hands, just
as we have instructed you, {4:12} and to walk honestly with
those who are outside, and to desire nothing belonging to
another. {4:13} And we do not want you to be ignorant,
brothers, concerning those who are sleeping, so as not to be
sorrowful, like these others who do not have hope.
{4:14} For if we believe that Jesus has died and risen again,
so also will God bring back with Jesus those who sleep in
him. {4:15} For we say this to you, in the Word of the Lord:
that we who are alive, who remain until the return of the
Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
{4:16} For the Lord himself, with a command and with the
voice of an Archangel and with a trumpet of God, shall
descend from heaven. And the dead, who are in Christ, shall
rise up first. {4:17} Next, we who are alive, who are
remaining, shall be taken up quickly together with them into
the clouds to meet Christ in the air. And in this way, we shall
be with the Lord always. {4:18} Therefore, console one
another with these words.


[1 Thessalonians 5] {5:1} But concerning dates and times,
brothers, you do not need us to write to you. {5:2} For you
yourselves thoroughly understand that the day of the Lord
shall arrive much like a thief in the night. {5:3} For when
they will say, “Peace and security!” then destruction will
suddenly overwhelm them, like the labor pains of a woman
with child, and they will not escape. {5:4} But you, brothers,
are not in darkness, so that you would be overtaken by that
day as by a thief. {5:5} For all of you are sons of light and
sons of daytime; we are not of nighttime, nor of darkness.
{5:6} Therefore, let us not sleep, as the rest do. Instead, we
should be vigilant and sober. {5:7} For those who sleep, sleep
in the night; and those who are inebriated, are inebriated in
the night. {5:8} But we, who are of the daylight, should be
sober, being clothed with the breastplate of faith and of
charity and having, as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
{5:9} For God has not appointed us for wrath, but for the
acquisition of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
{5:10} who died for us, so that, whether we watch, or
whether we sleep, we may live in union with him.
{5:11} Because of this, console one another and build up one
another, just as you are doing. {5:12} And we ask you,
brothers, to recognize those who labor among you, and who
preside over you in the Lord, and who admonish you,
{5:13} so that you may consider them with an abundance of
charity, for the sake of their work. Be at peace with them.
{5:14} And we ask you, brothers: correct the disruptive,
console the weak-minded, support the sick, be patient with
everyone. {5:15} See to it that no one repays evil for evil to
anyone. Instead, always pursue whatever is good, with one
another and with all. {5:16} Rejoice always. {5:17} Pray
without ceasing. {5:18} Give thanks in everything. For this is
the will of God in Christ Jesus for all of you. {5:19} Do not
choose to extinguish the Spirit. {5:20} Do not spurn
prophecies. {5:21} But test all things. Hold on to whatever is
good. {5:22} Abstain from every kind of evil. {5:23} And
may the God of peace himself sanctify you through all things,
so that your whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved
without blame unto the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
{5:24} He who has called you is faithful. He shall act even
now. {5:25} Brothers, pray for us. {5:26} Greet all the
brothers with a holy kiss. {5:27} I bind you, through the Lord,
that this epistle is to be read to all the holy brothers.
{5:28} May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Amen.


** The Second Letter to the Thessalonians **


[2 Thessalonians 1] {1:1} Paul and Sylvanus and Timothy,
to the church of the Thessalonians, in God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ. {1:2} Grace and peace to you, from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. {1:3} We
ought to give thanks always to God for you, brothers, in a
fitting manner, because your faith is increasing greatly, and
because the charity of each of you toward one another is
abundant, {1:4} so much so that we ourselves even glory in
you among the churches of God, because of your patience
and faith in all of your persecutions and tribulations that you
endure, {1:5} which are a sign of the just judgment of God,
so that you may be held worthy of the kingdom of God, for
which you also suffer. {1:6} For certainly, it is just for God to
repay trouble to those who trouble you, {1:7} and to repay
you, who are being troubled, with a repose with us, when the
Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with the Angels of his
virtue, {1:8} granting vindication, by a flame of fire, against
those who do not know God and who are not obedient to the
Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. {1:9} These shall be given
the eternal punishment of destruction, apart from the face of
the Lord and apart from the glory of his virtue, {1:10} when
he arrives to be glorified in his saints, and to become a
wonder in all those who have believed, in that day, because
our testimony has been believed by you. {1:11} Because of
this, too, we pray always for you, so that our God may make
you worthy of his calling and may complete every act of his
goodness, as well as his work of faith in virtue, {1:12} in
order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,
and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and of
the Lord Jesus Christ.


[2 Thessalonians 2] {2:1} But we ask you, brothers,
concerning the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ and of our
gathering to him, {2:2} that you not be readily disturbed or
terrified in your minds, by any spirit, or word, or epistle,
supposedly sent from us, claiming that the day of the Lord is
close by. {2:3} Let no one deceive you in any way. For this
cannot be, unless the apostasy will have arrived first, and the
man of sin will have been revealed, the son of perdition,
{2:4} who is an adversary to, and who is lifted up above, all
that is called God or that is worshipped, so much so that he
sits in the temple of God, presenting himself as if he were
God. {2:5} Do you not recall that, when I was still with you,
I told you these things? {2:6} And now you know what it is
that holds him back, so that he may be revealed in his own
time. {2:7} For the mystery of iniquity is already at work.
And only one now holds back, and will continue to hold back,
until he is taken from our midst. {2:8} And then that
iniquitous one shall be revealed, the one whom the Lord
Jesus shall bring to ruin with the spirit of his mouth, and shall
destroy at the brightness of his return: {2:9} him whose
advent is accompanied by the works of Satan, with every
kind of power and signs and false miracles, {2:10} and with
every seduction of iniquity, toward those who are perishing
because they have not accepted the love of truth, so that they
may be saved. For this reason, God will send to them works
of deception, so that they may believe in lies, {2:11} in order
that all those who have not believed in the truth, but who
have consented to iniquity, may be judged. {2:12} Yet we
must always give thanks to God for you, brothers, beloved of
God, because God has chosen you as first-fruits for salvation,
by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth.
{2:13} He has also called you into truth through our Gospel,
unto the acquisition of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
{2:14} And so, brothers, stand firm, and hold to the
traditions that you have learned, whether by word or by our
epistle. {2:15} So may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and
God our Father, who has loved us and who has given us an
everlasting consolation and good hope in grace,
{2:16} exhort your hearts and confirm you in every good
word and deed.


[2 Thessalonians 3] {3:1} Concerning other things, brothers,
pray for us, so that the Word of God may advance and be
glorified, just as it is among you, {3:2} and so that we may be
freed from pertinacious and evil men. For not everyone is
faithful. {3:3} But God is faithful. He will strengthen you,
and he will guard you from evil. {3:4} And we have
confidence about you in the Lord, that you are doing, and
will continue to do, just as we have instructed. {3:5} And
may the Lord direct your hearts, in the charity of God and
with the patience of Christ. {3:6} But we strongly caution
you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to draw
yourselves away from every brother who is walking in
disorder and not according to the tradition that they received
from us. {3:7} For you yourselves know the manner in which
you ought to imitate us. For we were not disorderly among
you. {3:8} Nor did we eat bread from anyone for free, but
rather, we worked night and day, in hardship and weariness,
so as not to be burdensome to you. {3:9} It was not as if we
had no authority, but this was so that we might present
ourselves as an example to you, in order to imitate us.
{3:10} Then, too, while we were with you, we insisted on this
to you: that if anyone was not willing to work, neither should
he eat. {3:11} For we have heard that there are some among
you who act disruptively, not working at all, but eagerly
meddling. {3:12} Now we charge those who act in this way,
and we beg them in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they work in
silence and eat their own bread. {3:13} And you, brothers, do
not grow weak in doing good. {3:14} But if anyone does not
obey our word by this epistle, take note of him and do not
keep company with him, so that he may be ashamed.
{3:15} But do not be willing to consider him as an enemy;
instead, correct him as a brother. {3:16} Then may the Lord
of peace himself give you an everlasting peace, in every place.
May the Lord be with all of you. {3:17} The greeting of Paul
with my own hand, which is the seal in every epistle. So do I
write. {3:18} May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
you all. Amen.


** The First Letter to Timothy **


[1 Timothy 1] {1:1} Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the
authority of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope,
{1:2} to Timothy, beloved son in the faith. Grace, mercy, and
peace, from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.
{1:3} Now I asked you to remain at Ephesus, while I went
into Macedonia, so that you would speak strongly against
certain ones who have been teaching a different way,
{1:4} against those who have been paying attention to fables
and endless genealogies. These things present questions as if
they were greater than the edification that is of God, which is
in faith. {1:5} Now the goal of instruction is charity from a
pure heart, and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith.
{1:6} Certain persons, wandering away from these things,
have been turned aside to empty babbling, {1:7} desiring to
be teachers of the law, but understanding neither the things
that they themselves are saying, nor what they are affirming
about these things. {1:8} But we know that the law is good, if
one makes use of it properly. {1:9} Knowing this, that the
law was not set in place for the just, but for the unjust and the
insubordinate, for the impious and sinners, for the wicked
and the defiled, for those who commit patricide, matricide, or
homicide, {1:10} for fornicators, for males who sleep with
males, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and whatever
else is contrary to sound doctrine, {1:11} which is in accord
with the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God, the Gospel
which has been entrusted to me. {1:12} I give thanks to him
who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he
has considered me faithful, placing me in the ministry,
{1:13} though previously I was a blasphemer, and a
persecutor, and contemptuous. But then I obtained the mercy
of God. For I had been acting ignorantly, in unbelief.
{1:14} And so the grace of our Lord has abounded greatly,
with the faith and love that is in Christ Jesus. {1:15} It is a
faithful saying, and worthy of acceptance by everyone, that
Christ Jesus came into this world to bring salvation to sinners,
among whom I am first. {1:16} But it was for this reason that
I obtained mercy, so that in me as first, Christ Jesus would
display all patience, for the instruction of those who would
believe in him unto eternal life. {1:17} So then, to the King of
ages, to the immortal, invisible, solitary God, be honor and
glory forever and ever. Amen. {1:18} This precept I
commend to you, my son Timothy, in accord with the
prophets who preceded you: that you serve among them like
a soldier in a good war, {1:19} holding to faith and good
conscience, against those who, by rejecting these things, have
made a shipwreck of the faith. {1:20} Among these are
Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to
Satan, so that they may learn not to blaspheme.


[1 Timothy 2] {2:1} And so I beg you, first of all, to make
supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings for all
men, {2:2} for kings, and for all who are in high places, so
that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all piety and
chastity. {2:3} For this is good and acceptable in the sight of
God our Savior, {2:4} who wants all men to be saved and to
arrive at an acknowledgment of the truth. {2:5} For there is
one God, and one mediator of God and of men, the man
Christ Jesus, {2:6} who gave himself as a redemption for all,
as a testimony in its proper time. {2:7} Of this testimony, I
have been appointed a preacher and an Apostle, (I speak the
truth, I do not lie) as a teacher of the Gentiles, in faith and in
truth. {2:8} Therefore, I want men to pray in every place,
lifting up pure hands, without anger or dissension.
{2:9} Similarly also, women should be dressed fittingly,
adorning themselves with compunction and restraint, and not
with plaited hair, nor gold, nor pearls, nor costly attire,
{2:10} but in a manner proper for women who are professing
piety by means of good works. {2:11} Let a woman learn in
silence with all subjection. {2:12} For I do not permit a
woman to teach, nor to be in authority over a man, but to be
in silence. {2:13} For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
{2:14} And Adam was not seduced, but the woman, having
been seduced, was in transgression. {2:15} Yet she will be
saved by bearing children, if she has continued in faith and
love, and in sanctification accompanied by self-restraint.


[1 Timothy 3] {3:1} It is a faithful saying: if a man desires the
episcopate, he desires a good work. {3:2} Therefore, it is
necessary for a bishop to be beyond reproach, the husband of
one wife, sober, prudent, gracious, chaste, hospitable, a
teacher, {3:3} not a drunkard, not combative but restrained,
not quarrelsome, not covetous; {3:4} but a man who leads his
own house well, having children who are subordinate with all
chastity. {3:5} For if a man does not know how to lead his
own house, how will he take care of the Church of God?
{3:6} He must not be a new convert, lest, being elated by
pride, he may fall under the sentence of the devil. {3:7} And
it is necessary for him also to have good testimony from those
who are outside, so that he may not fall into disrepute and
the snare of the devil. {3:8} Similarly, deacons must be chaste,
not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not pursuing
tainted profit, {3:9} holding to the mystery of the faith with a
pure conscience. {3:10} And these things should be proven
first, and then they may minister, being without offense.
{3:11} Similarly, the women must be chaste, not slanderers,
sober, faithful in all things. {3:12} Deacons should be the
husband of one wife, men who lead their own children and
their own houses well. {3:13} For those who have ministered
well will acquire for themselves a good position, and much
confidence in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. {3:14} I am
writing these things to you, with the hope that I will come to
you soon. {3:15} But, if I am delayed, you should know the
manner in which it is necessary to conduct yourself in the
house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the
pillar and the foundation of truth. {3:16} And it is clearly
great, this mystery of piety, which was manifested in the flesh,
which was justified in the Spirit, which has appeared to
Angels, which has been preached to the Gentiles, which is
believed in the world, which has been taken up in glory.


[1 Timothy 4] {4:1} Now the Spirit has clearly said that, in
the end times, some persons will depart from the faith, paying
attention to spirits of error and the doctrines of devils,
{4:2} speaking lies in hypocrisy, and having their consciences
seared, {4:3} prohibiting marriage, abstaining from foods,
which God has created to be accepted with thanksgiving by
the faithful and by those who have understood the truth.
{4:4} For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be
rejected which is received with thanksgiving; {4:5} for it has
been sanctified by the Word of God and by prayer. {4:6} By
proposing these things to the brothers, you will be a good
minister of Christ Jesus, nourished by words of faith, and by
the good doctrine that you have secured. {4:7} But avoid the
silly fables of old women. And exercise yourself so as to
advance in piety. {4:8} For the exercise of the body is
somewhat useful. But piety is useful in all things, holding the
promise of life, in the present and in the future. {4:9} This is
a faithful saying and worthy of full acceptance. {4:10} For
this reason we labor and are maligned: because we hope in
the living God, who is the Savior of all men, most especially
of the faithful. {4:11} Instruct and teach these things.
{4:12} Let no one despise your youth, but be an example
among the faithful in word, in behavior, in charity, in faith,
in chastity. {4:13} Until I arrive, attend to reading, to
exhortation, and to doctrine. {4:14} Do not be willing to
neglect the grace that is within you, which was given to you
through prophecy, with the imposition of the hands of the
priesthood. {4:15} Meditate on these things, so that your
progress may be manifest to all. {4:16} Pay attention to
yourself and to doctrine. Pursue these things. For in doing so,
you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.


[1 Timothy 5] {5:1} You should not rebuke an old man, but
rather plead with him, as if he were your father; with young
men, like brothers; {5:2} with old women, like mothers; with
young women, in all chastity, like sisters. {5:3} Honor those
widows who are true widows. {5:4} But if any widow has
children or grandchildren, let her first learn to manage her
own household, and to fulfill, in turn, her own obligation to
her parents; for this is acceptable before God. {5:5} But she
who is truly a widow and is destitute, let her hope in God,
and let her be urgent in supplications and prayers, night and
day. {5:6} For she who is living in pleasures is dead, while
living. {5:7} And give instruction in this, so that they may be
beyond reproach. {5:8} But if anyone has no concern for his
own, and especially for those of his own household, he has
denied the faith, and he is worse than an unbeliever.
{5:9} Let a widow be chosen who is no less than sixty years
of age, who was the wife of one husband, {5:10} who has
testimony of her good works: whether she has educated
children, or has provided hospitality, or has washed the feet
of the saints, or has ministered to those suffering tribulation,
or has pursued any kind of good work. {5:11} But avoid the
younger widows. For once they have flourished in Christ,
they will want to marry, {5:12} resulting in damnation,
because they have disregarded the primacy of faith.
{5:13} And being at the same time also idle, they learn to go
from house to house, being not only idle, but also talkative
and curious, speaking of things which do not concern them.
{5:14} Therefore, I want the younger women to marry, to
procreate children, to be mothers of families, to provide no
ready opportunity for the adversary to speak evil. {5:15} For
certain ones have already been turned back to Satan.
{5:16} If any among the faithful have widows, let him
minister to them and not burden the Church, so that there
may be enough for those who are true widows. {5:17} Let
priests who lead well be held worthy of twice the honor,
especially those who labor in the Word and in doctrine.
{5:18} For Scripture says: “You shall not muzzle an ox as it
is treading out the grain,” and, “The worker is worthy of his
pay.” {5:19} Do not be willing to accept an accusation
against a priest, except under two or three witnesses.
{5:20} Reprove sinners in the sight of everyone, so that the
others may have fear. {5:21} I testify before God and Christ
Jesus and the elect Angels, that you should observe these
things without prejudgment, doing nothing which shows
favoritism to either side. {5:22} You should not be quick to
impose hands on anyone, nor should you take part in the sins
of outsiders. Keep yourself chaste. {5:23} Do not continue to
drink only water, but make use of a little wine, for the sake of
your stomach and your frequent infirmities. {5:24} The sins
of some men have been made manifest, preceding them to
judgment, but those of others are manifested later.
{5:25} Similarly, too, good deeds have been made manifest,
but even when they are not, they cannot remain hidden.


[1 Timothy 6] {6:1} Whoever are servants under the yoke, let
them consider their masters to be worthy of every honor, lest
the name and doctrine of the Lord be blasphemed. {6:2} But
those who have believing masters, let them not despise them
because they are brothers, but rather serve them all the more
because they are believing and beloved, participants of the
same service. Teach and exhort these things. {6:3} If anyone
teaches otherwise, and does not consent to the sound words
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to that doctrine which is in
accord with piety, {6:4} then he is arrogant, knowing nothing,
yet languishing amid the questions and quarrels of words.
From these arise envy, contention, blasphemy, evil suspicions:
{6:5} the conflicts of men who have been corrupted in mind
and deprived of truth, who consider profit to be piety.
{6:6} But piety with sufficiency is great gain. {6:7} For we
brought nothing into this world, and there is no doubt that we
can take nothing away. {6:8} But, having nourishment and
some kind of covering, we should be content with these.
{6:9} For those who want to become rich fall into temptation
and into the snare of the devil and into many useless and
harmful desires, which submerge men in destruction and in
perdition. {6:10} For desire is the root of all evils. Some
persons, hungering in this way, have strayed from the faith
and have entangled themselves in many sorrows. {6:11} But
you, O man of God, flee from these things, and truly pursue
justice, piety, faith, charity, patience, meekness. {6:12} Fight
the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which
you have been called, and make a good profession of faith in
the sight of many witnesses. {6:13} I charge you, in the sight
of God, who enlivens all things, and in the sight of Christ
Jesus, who gave the testimony of a good profession under
Pontius Pilate, {6:14} to observe the commandment,
immaculately, irreproachably, unto the return of our Lord
Jesus Christ. {6:15} For at the proper time, he shall reveal the
blessed and only Power, the King of kings and the Lord of
lords, {6:16} who alone holds immortality, and who inhabits
the inaccessible light, whom no man has seen, nor even is
able to see, to whom is honor and everlasting dominion.
Amen. {6:17} Instruct the wealthy of this age not to have a
superior attitude, nor to hope in the uncertainty of riches, but
in the living God, who offers us everything in abundance to
enjoy, {6:18} and to do good, to become rich in good works,
to donate readily, to share, {6:19} to gather for themselves
the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they
may obtain true life. {6:20} O Timothy, guard what has been
deposited with you, avoiding the voice of profane novelties
and of opposing ideas, which are falsely called knowledge.
{6:21} Certain persons, promising these things, have perished
from the faith. May grace be with you. Amen.


** The Second Letter to Timothy **


[2 Timothy 1] {1:1} Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ through
the will of God, in accord with the promise of the life which
is in Christ Jesus, {1:2} to Timothy, most beloved son. Grace,
mercy, peace, from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our
Lord. {1:3} I give thanks to God, whom I serve, as my
forefathers did, with a pure conscience. For without ceasing I
hold the remembrance of you in my prayers, night and day,
{1:4} desiring to see you, recalling your tears so as to be filled
with joy, {1:5} calling to mind the same faith, which is in you
unfeigned, which also first dwelt in your grandmother, Lois,
and in your mother, Eunice, and also, I am certain, in you.
{1:6} Because of this, I admonish you to revive the grace of
God, which is in you by the imposition of my hands.
{1:7} For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of virtue,
and of love, and of self-restraint. {1:8} And so, do not be
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his
prisoner. Instead, collaborate with the Gospel in accord with
the virtue of God, {1:9} who has freed us and has called us to
his holy vocation, not according to our works, but according
to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in
Christ Jesus, before the ages of time. {1:10} And this has now
been made manifest by the illumination of our Savior Jesus
Christ, who certainly has destroyed death, and who has also
illuminated life and incorruption through the Gospel.
{1:11} Of this Gospel, I have been appointed a preacher, and
an Apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. {1:12} For this
reason, I also suffer these things. But I am not confounded.
For I know in whom I have believed, and I am certain that he
has the power to preserve what was entrusted to me, unto
that day. {1:13} Hold to the kind of sound words that you
have heard from me in the faith and love which is in Christ
Jesus. {1:14} Guard the good entrusted to you through the
Holy Spirit, who lives within us. {1:15} Know this: that all
those who are in Asia have turned away from me, among
whom are Phigellus and Hermogenes. {1:16} May the Lord
have mercy on the house of Onesiphorus, because he has
often refreshed me, and he has not been ashamed of my
chains. {1:17} Instead, when he had arrived in Rome, he
anxiously sought me and found me. {1:18} May the Lord
grant to him to obtain mercy from the Lord in that day. And
you know well in how many ways he has ministered to me at
Ephesus.


[2 Timothy 2] {2:1} And as for you, my son, be strengthened
by the grace which is in Christ Jesus, {2:2} and by the things
which you have heard from me through many witnesses.
These things encourage faithful men, who shall then be
suitable to teach others also. {2:3} Labor like a good soldier
of Christ Jesus. {2:4} No man, acting as a soldier for God,
entangles himself in worldly matters, so that he may be
pleasing to him for whom he has proven himself. {2:5} Then,
too, whoever strives in a competition is not crowned, unless
he has competed lawfully. {2:6} The farmer who labors
ought to be the first to share in the produce.
{2:7} Understand what I am saying. For the Lord will give
you understanding in all things. {2:8} Be mindful that the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is the offspring of David, has risen
again from the dead, according to my Gospel. {2:9} I labor in
this Gospel, even while chained like an evildoer. But the
Word of God is not bound. {2:10} I endure all things for this
reason: for the sake of the elect, so that they, too, may obtain
the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with heavenly glory.
{2:11} It is a faithful saying: that if we have died with him,
we will also live with him. {2:12} If we suffer, we will also
reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us.
{2:13} If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful: he is not able
to deny himself. {2:14} Insist on these things, testifying
before the Lord. Do not be contentious about words, for this
is useful for nothing but the subversion of listeners. {2:15} Be
solicitous in the task of presenting yourself before God as a
proven and unashamed worker who has handled the Word of
Truth correctly. {2:16} But avoid profane or empty talk. For
these things advance one greatly in impiety. {2:17} And their
word spreads like a cancer: among these are Hymenaeus and
Philetus, {2:18} who have fallen away from the truth by
saying that the resurrection is already complete. And so they
have subverted the faith of certain persons. {2:19} But the
firm foundation of God remains standing, having this seal:
the Lord knows those who are his own, and all who know
the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. {2:20} But, in a
large house, there are not only vessels of gold and of silver,
but also those of wood and of clay; and certainly some are
held in honor, but others in dishonor. {2:21} If anyone, then,
will have cleansed himself from these things, he shall be a
vessel held in honor, sanctified and useful to the Lord,
prepared for every good work. {2:22} So then, flee from the
desires of your youth, yet truly, pursue justice, faith, hope,
charity, and peace, along with those who call upon the Lord
from a pure heart. {2:23} But avoid foolish and undisciplined
questions, for you know that these produce strife. {2:24} For
the servant of the Lord must not be contentious, but instead
he must be meek toward everyone, teachable, patient,
{2:25} correcting with self-restraint those who resist the truth.
For at any time God may give them repentance, so as to
recognize the truth, {2:26} and then they may recover from
the snares of the devil, by whom they are held captive at his
will.


[2 Timothy 3] {3:1} And know this: that in the last days
perilous times will press near. {3:2} Men will be lovers of
themselves, greedy, self-exalting, arrogant, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, ungrateful, wicked, {3:3} without
affection, without peace, false accusers, unchaste, cruel,
without kindness, {3:4} traitorous, reckless, self-important,
loving pleasure more than God, {3:5} even having the
appearance of piety while rejecting its virtue. And so, avoid
them. {3:6} For among these are ones who penetrate houses
and lead away, like captives, foolish women burdened with
sins, who are led away by means of various desires,
{3:7} always learning, yet never achieving knowledge of the
truth. {3:8} And in the same manner that Jannes and
Jambres resisted Moses, so also will these resist the truth,
men corrupted in mind, reprobates from the faith. {3:9} But
they will not advance beyond a certain point. For the folly of
the latter shall be made manifest to all, just as that of the
former. {3:10} But you have fully comprehended my doctrine,
instruction, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, patience,
{3:11} persecutions, afflictions; such things as happened to
me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra; how I endured
persecutions, and how the Lord rescued me from everything.
{3:12} And all those who willingly live the piety in Christ
Jesus will suffer persecution. {3:13} But evil men and
deceivers will advance in evil, erring and sending into error.
{3:14} Yet truly, you should remain in those things which
you have learned and which have been entrusted to you. For
you know from whom you have learned them. {3:15} And,
from your infancy, you have known the Sacred Scriptures,
which are able to instruct you toward salvation, through the
faith which is in Christ Jesus. {3:16} All Scripture, having
been divinely inspired, is useful for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, and for instruction in justice, {3:17} so that the
man of God may be perfect, having been trained for every
good work.


[2 Timothy 4] {4:1} I testify before God, and before Jesus
Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead through his
return and his kingdom: {4:2} that you should preach the
word urgently, in season and out of season: reprove, entreat,
rebuke, with all patience and doctrine. {4:3} For there shall
be a time when they will not endure sound doctrine, but
instead, according to their own desires, they will gather to
themselves teachers, with itching ears, {4:4} and certainly,
they will turn their hearing away from the truth, and they will
be turned toward fables. {4:5} But as for you, truly, be
vigilant, laboring in all things. Do the work of an Evangelist,
fulfilling your ministry. Show self-restraint. {4:6} For I am
already being worn away, and the time of my dissolution
presses close. {4:7} I have fought the good fight. I have
completed the course. I have preserved the faith. {4:8} As for
the remainder, a crown of justice has been reserved for me,
one which the Lord, the just judge, will render to me in that
day, and not only to me, but also to those who look forward
to his return. Hurry to return to me soon. {4:9} For Demas
has abandoned me, out of love for this age, and he has
departed for Thessalonica. {4:10} Crescens has gone to
Galatia; Titus to Dalmatia. {4:11} Luke alone is with me.
Take Mark and bring him with you; for he is useful to me in
the ministry. {4:12} But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.
{4:13} When you return, bring with you the supplies that I
left with Carpus at Troas, and the books, but especially the
parchments. {4:14} Alexander the coppersmith has shown
me much evil; the Lord will repay him according to his works.
{4:15} And you should also avoid him; for he has strongly
resisted our words. {4:16} At my first defense, no one stood
by me, but everyone abandoned me. May it not be counted
against them! {4:17} But the Lord stood with me and
strengthened me, so that through me the preaching would be
accomplished, and so that all the Gentiles would hear. And I
was freed from the mouth of the lion. {4:18} The Lord has
freed me from every evil work, and he will accomplish
salvation by his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever
and ever. Amen. {4:19} Greet Prisca, and Aquila, and the
household of Onesiphorus. {4:20} Erastus remained at
Corinth. And Trophimus I left sick at Miletus. {4:21} Hurry
to arrive before winter. Eubulus, and Pudens, and Linus, and
Claudia, and all the brothers greet you. {4:22} May the Lord
Jesus Christ be with your spirit. May grace be with you.
Amen.


** The Letter to Titus **


[Titus 1] {1:1} Paul, a servant of God and an Apostle of
Jesus Christ, in accord with the faith of God’s elect and in
acknowledgment of the truth which is accompanied by piety,
{1:2} in the hope of the eternal life that God, who does not
lie, promised before the ages of time, {1:3} which, at the
proper time, he has manifested by his Word, in the preaching
that has been entrusted to me by the command of God our
Savior; {1:4} to Titus, beloved son according to the common
faith. Grace and peace, from God the Father and from Christ
Jesus our Savior. {1:5} For this reason, I left you behind in
Crete: so that those things which are lacking, you would
correct, and so that you would ordain, throughout the
communities, priests, Gust as I also ordained you) {1:6} if
such a man is without offense, the husband of one wife,
having faithful children, not accused of self-indulgence, nor
of insubordination. {1:7} And a bishop, as a steward of God,
must be without offense: not arrogant, not short-tempered,
not a drunkard, not violent, not desiring tainted profit,
{1:8} but instead: hospitable, kind, sober, just, holy, chaste,
{1:9} embracing faithful speech which is in agreement with
doctrine, so that he may be able to exhort in sound doctrine
and to argue against those who contradict. {1:10} For there
are, indeed, many who are disobedient, who speak empty
words, and who deceive, especially those who are of the
circumcision. {1:11} These must be reproved, for they
subvert entire houses, teaching things which should not be
taught, for the favor of shameful gain. {1:12} A certain one of
these, a prophet of their own kind, said: “The Cretans are
ever liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” {1:13} This testimony is
true. Because of this, rebuke them sharply, so that they may
be sound in the faith, {1:14} not paying attention to Jewish
fables, nor to the rules of men who have turned themselves
away from the truth. {1:15} All things are clean to those who
are clean. But to those who are defiled, and to unbelievers,
nothing is clean; for both their mind and their conscience
have been polluted. {1:16} They claim that they know God.
But, by their own works, they deny him, since they are
abominable, and unbelieving, and reprobate, toward every
good work.


[Titus 2] {2:1} But you are to speak the things that befit
sound doctrine. {2:2} Old men should be sober, chaste,
prudent, sound in faith, in love, in patience. {2:3} Old
women, similarly, should be in holy attire, not false accusers,
not given to much wine, teaching well, {2:4} so that they
may teach prudence to the young women, so that they may
love their husbands, love their children, {2:5} be sensible,
chaste, restrained, have concern for the household, be kind,
be subordinate to their husbands: so that the Word of God
may be not blasphemed. {2:6} Exhort young men similarly,
so that they may show self-restraint. {2:7} In all things,
present yourself as an example of good works: in doctrine,
with integrity, with seriousness, {2:8} with sound words,
irreproachably, so that he who is an opponent may dread that
he has nothing evil to say about us. {2:9} Exhort servants to
be submissive to their masters, in all things pleasing, not
contradicting, {2:10} not cheating, but in all things showing
good fidelity, so that they may adorn the doctrine of God our
Savior in all things. {2:11} For the grace of God our Savior
has appeared to all men, {2:12} instructing us to reject
impiety and worldly desires, so that we may live soberly and
justly and piously in this age, {2:13} looking forward to the
blessed hope and the advent of the glory of the great God and
of our Savior Jesus Christ. {2:14} He gave himself for our
sake, so that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and might
cleanse for himself an acceptable people, pursuers of good
works. {2:15} Speak and exhort and argue these things with
all authority. Let no one despise you.


[Titus 3] {3:1} Admonish them to be subordinate to the
rulers and authorities, to obey their dictates, to be prepared
for every good work, {3:2} to speak evil of no one, not to be
litigious, but to be reserved, displaying all meekness toward
all men. {3:3} For, in times past, we ourselves were also
unwise, unbelieving, erring, servants of various desires and
pleasures, acting with malice and envy, being hateful and
hating one another. {3:4} But then the kindness and
humanity of God our Savior appeared. {3:5} And he saved
us, not by works of justice that we had done, but, in accord
with his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and by the
renovation of the Holy Spirit, {3:6} whom he has poured out
upon us in abundance, through Jesus Christ our Savior,
{3:7} so that, having been justified by his grace, we may
become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. {3:8} This
is a faithful saying. And I want you to confirm these things,
so that those who believe in God may take care to excel in
good works. These things are good and useful to men.
{3:9} But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and
contentions, as well as arguments against the law. For these
are useless and empty. {3:10} Avoid a man who is a heretic,
after the first and second correction, {3:11} knowing that one
who is like this has been subverted, and that he offends; for
he has been condemned by his own judgment. {3:12} When I
send Artemas or Tychicus to you, hurry to return to me at
Nicopolis. For I have decided to winter there. {3:13} Send
Zenas the lawyer and Apollo ahead with care, and let nothing
be lacking to them. {3:14} But let our men also learn to excel
in good works pertaining to the necessities of life, so that they
may not be unfruitful. {3:15} All those who are with me greet
you. Greet those who love us in the faith. May the grace of
God be with you all. Amen.


** The Letter to Philemon **


[Philemon 1] {1:1} Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and
Timothy, a brother, to Philemon, our beloved fellow laborer,
{1:2} and to Apphia, most beloved sister, and to Archippus,
our fellow soldier, and to the church which is in your house.
{1:3} Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and
from the Lord Jesus Christ. {1:4} I give thanks to my God,
always keeping remembrance of you in my prayers, {1:5} (for
I am hearing of your charity and faith, which you have in the
Lord Jesus and with all the saints) {1:6}so that the
participation of your faith may become evident by the
recognition of every good work which is in you in Christ
Jesus. {1:7} For I have found great joy and consolation in
your charity, because the hearts of the saints have been
refreshed by you, brother. {1:8} Because of this, I have
enough confidence in Christ Jesus to command you
concerning certain things, {1:9} but I beg you instead, for the
sake of charity, since you are so much like Paul: an old man
and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. {1:10} I beg you, on
behalf of my son, whom I have begotten in my chains,
Onesimus. {1:11} In times past, he was useless to you, but
now he is useful both to me and to you. {1:12} So I have sent
him back to you. And may you receive him like my own
heart. {1:13} I myself wanted to retain him with me, so that
he might minister to me, on your behalf, while I am in the
chains of the Gospel. {1:14} But I was willing to do nothing
without your counsel, so as not to make use of your good
deed as if out of necessity, but only willingly. {1:15} So
perhaps, then, he departed from you for a time, so that you
might receive him again for eternity, {1:16} no longer as a
servant, but, in place of a servant, a most beloved brother,
especially to me: but how much so more to you, both in the
flesh and in the Lord! {1:17} Therefore, if you hold me to be
a companion, receive him as you would me. {1:18} But if he
has harmed you in any way, or if he is in your debt, charge it
to me. {1:19} I, Paul, have written this with my own hand: I
will repay. And I need not tell you, that you are also in debt
yourself, to me. {1:20} So it is, brother. May I delight with
you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. {1:21} I have
written to you, trusting in your obedience, knowing, too, that
you will do even more than what I say. {1:22} But also, at
once, prepare a lodging for me. For I am hoping, through
your prayers, to present myself to you. {1:23} Greet
Epaphras, my fellow captive in Christ Jesus, {1:24} and
Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my helpers.
{1:25} May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your
spirit. Amen.


** The Letter to the Hebrews **


[Hebrews 1] {1:1} In many places and in many ways, in past
times, God spoke to the fathers through the Prophets;
{1:2} lastly, in these days, he has spoken to us through the
Son, whom he appointed as the heir of all things, and
through whom he made the world. {1:3} And since the Son
is the brightness of his glory, and the figure of his substance,
and is carrying all things by the Word of his virtue, thereby
accomplishing a purging of sins, he sits at the right hand of
Majesty on high. {1:4} And having been made so much
better than the Angels, he has inherited a name so much
greater than theirs. {1:5} For to which of the Angels has he
ever said: “You are my Son; today have I begotten you?” Or
again: “I will be a Father to him, and he shall be a Son to
me?” {1:6} And again, when he brings the only-begotten Son
into the world, he says: “And let all the Angels of God adore
him.” {1:7} And about the Angels, certainly, he says: “He
makes his Angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.”
{1:8} But about the Son: “Your throne, O God, is forever
and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of equity.
{1:9} You have loved justice, and you have hated iniquity.
Because of this, God, your God, has anointed you with the
oil of exultation, above your companions.” {1:10} And: “In
the beginning, O Lord, you founded the earth. And the
heavens are the work of your hands. {1:11} These shall pass
away, but you will remain. And all will grow old like a
garment. {1:12} And you will change them like a cloak, and
they shall be changed. Yet you are ever the same, and your
years will not diminish.” {1:13} But to which of the Angels
has he ever said: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your
enemies your footstool?” {1:14} Are they not all spirits of
ministration, sent to minister for the sake of those who shall
receive the inheritance of salvation?


[Hebrews 2] {2:1} For this reason, it is necessary for us to
observe more thoroughly the things that we have heard, lest
we let them slip away. {2:2} For if a word that was spoken
through the Angels has been made firm, and every
transgression and disobedience has received the recompense
of a just retribution, {2:3} in what way might we escape, if
we neglect such a great salvation? For though initially it had
begun to be described by the Lord, it was confirmed among
us by those who heard him, {2:4} with God testifying to it by
signs and wonders, and by various miracles, and by the
pouring out of the Holy Spirit, in accord with his own will.
{2:5} For God did not subject the future world, about which
we are speaking, to the Angels. {2:6} But someone, in a
certain place, has testified, saying: “What is man, that you
are mindful of him, or the Son of man, that you visit him?
{2:7} You have reduced him to a little less than the Angels.
You have crowned him with glory and honor, and you have
set him over the works of your hands. {2:8} You have
subjected all things under his feet.” For in as much as he has
subjected all things to him, he has left nothing not subject to
him. But in the present time, we do not yet perceive that all
things have been made subject to him. {2:9} Yet we
understand that Jesus, who was reduced to a little less than
the Angels, was crowned with glory and honor because of his
Passion and death, in order that, by the grace of God, he
might taste death for all. {2:10} For it was fitting for him,
because of whom and through whom all things exist, who
had led many children into glory, to complete the authorship
of their salvation through his Passion. {2:11} For he who
sanctifies, and those who are sanctified, are all from One. For
this reason, he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying:
{2:12} “I will announce your name to my brothers. In the
midst of the Church, I will praise you.” {2:13} And again: “I
will be faithful in him.” And again: “Behold, I and my
children, whom God has given to me.” {2:14} Therefore,
because children have a common flesh and blood, he himself
also, in like manner, has shared in the same, so that through
death, he might destroy him who held the dominion of death,
that is, the devil, {2:15} and so that he might free those who,
through the fear of death, had been condemned to servitude
throughout their entire life. {2:16} For at no time did he take
hold of the Angels, but instead he took hold of the offspring
of Abraham. {2:17} Therefore, it is fitting for him to be made
similar to his brothers in all things, so that he might become a
merciful and faithful High Priest before God, in order that he
might bring forgiveness to the offenses of the people.
{2:18} For in as much as he himself has suffered and has
been tempted, he also is able to assist those who are tempted.


[Hebrews 3] {3:1} Therefore, holy brothers, sharers in the
heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our
confession: Jesus. {3:2} He is faithful to the One who made
him, just as Moses also was, with his entire house. {3:3} For
this Jesus was considered worthy of greater glory than Moses,
so much so that the house which he has built holds a greater
honor than the former one. {3:4} For every house is built by
someone, but God is the One who has created all things.
{3:5} And certainly Moses was faithful, with his entire house,
like any servant, as a testimony to those things that would
soon be said. {3:6} Yet truly, Christ is like a Son in his own
house. We are that house, if we firmly retain the faithfulness
and the glory of hope, even unto the end. {3:7} Because of
this, it is just as the Holy Spirit says: “If today you hear his
voice, {3:8} harden not your hearts, as in the provocation,
the very day of temptation, in the desert, {3:9} where your
fathers tested me, even though they had seen and examined
my works for forty years. {3:10} For this reason, I was
enraged against this generation, and I said: They always
wander astray in heart. For they have not known my ways.
{3:11} So it is as I swore in my wrath: They shall not enter
into my rest!” {3:12} Be cautious, brothers, lest perhaps there
may be, in any of you, an evil heart of unbelief, turning aside
from the living God. {3:13} Instead, exhort one another
every day, while it is still called ‘today,’ so that none of you
may become hardened through the falseness of sin.
{3:14} For we have been made participants in Christ. This is
only so, if we firmly retain the beginning of his substance,
even unto the end. {3:15} For it has been said: “If today you
hear his voice, harden not your hearts, in the same manner as
in the former provocation.” {3:16} For some of those
listening did provoke him. But not all of these had set forth
from Egypt through Moses. {3:17} So against whom was he
angry for forty years? Was it not those who had sinned,
whose dead bodies lay prostrate in the desert? {3:18} But to
whom did he swear that they would not enter into his rest,
except to those who were incredulous? {3:19} And so, we
perceive that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.


[Hebrews 4] {4:1} Therefore, we should be afraid, lest the
promise of entering into his rest may be relinquished, and
some of you may be judged to be lacking. {4:2} For this was
announced to us in a similar manner as to them. But the mere
hearing of the word did not benefit them, since it was not
joined together with a faith in those things that they heard.
{4:3} For we who have believed shall enter into rest, in the
same manner as he said: “So it is as I have sworn in my
wrath: They shall not enter into my rest!” And certainly, this
is when the works from the foundation of the world have
been finished. {4:4} For, in a certain place, he spoke about
the seventh day in this manner: “And God rested on the
seventh day from all his works.” {4:5} And in this place
again: “They shall not enter into my rest!” {4:6} Therefore,
this is because certain ones remain who are to enter into it,
and those to whom it was announced first did not enter into it,
because of unbelief. {4:7} Again, he defines a certain day,
after so much time, saying in David, “Today,” just as it was
stated above, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your
hearts.” {4:8} For if Jesus had offered them rest, he would
never have spoken, afterward, about another day. {4:9} And
so, there remains a Sabbath of rest for the people of God.
{4:10} For whoever has entered into his rest, the same has
also rested from his works, just as God did from his.
{4:11} Therefore, let us hasten to enter into that rest, so that
no one may fall into the same example of unbelief.
{4:12} For the Word of God is living and effective: more
piercing than any two-edged sword, reaching to the division
even between the soul and the spirit, even between the joints
and the marrow, and so it discerns the thoughts and
intentions of the heart. {4:13} And there is no created thing
that is invisible to his sight. For all things are naked and open
to the eyes of him, about whom we are speaking.
{4:14} Therefore, since we have a great High Priest, who has
pierced the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, we should hold to
our confession. {4:15} For we do not have a high priest who
is unable to have compassion on our infirmities, but rather
one who was tempted in all things, just as we are, yet without
sin. {4:16} Therefore, let us go forth with confidence toward
the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy, and find
grace, in a helpful time.


[Hebrews 5] {5:1} For every high priest, having been taken
from among men, is appointed on behalf of men toward the
things which pertain to God, so that he may offer gifts and
sacrifices on behalf of sins; {5:2} he is able to commiserate
with those who are ignorant and who wander astray, because
he himself is also encompassed by infirmity. {5:3} And
because of this, he also must make such offerings for sins
even for himself, in the same manner as for the people.
{5:4} Neither does anyone take up this honor himself, but
rather he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.
{5:5} Thus, even Christ did not glorify himself, so as to
become High Priest, but instead, it was God who said to him:
“You are my Son. Today I have begotten you.” {5:6} And
similarly, he says in another place: “You are a priest forever,
according to the order of Melchizedek.” {5:7} It is Christ
who, in the days of his flesh, with a strong cry and tears,
offered prayers and supplications to the One who was able to
save him from death, and who was heard because of his
reverence. {5:8} And although, certainly, he is the Son of
God, he learned obedience by the things that he suffered.
{5:9} And having reached his consummation, he was made,
for all who are obedient to him, the cause of eternal salvation,
{5:10} having been called by God to be the High Priest,
according to the order of Melchizedek. {5:11} Our message
about him is great, and difficult to explain when speaking,
because you have been made feeble when listening.
{5:12} For even though it is the time when you ought to be
teachers, you are still lacking, so that you must be taught the
things that are the basic elements of the Word of God, and so
you have been made like those who are in need of milk, and
not of solid food. {5:13} For anyone who is still feeding on
milk is still unskillful in the Word of Justice; for he is like an
infant. {5:14} But solid food is for those who are mature, for
those who, by practice, have sharpened their mind, so as to
discern good from evil.


[Hebrews 6] {6:1} Therefore, interrupting an explanation of
the basics of Christ, let us consider what is more advanced,
not presenting again the fundamentals of repentance from
dead works, and of faith toward God, {6:2} of the doctrine of
baptism, and also of the imposition of hands, and of the
resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. {6:3} And
we shall do this, if indeed God permits it. {6:4} For it is
impossible for those who were once illuminated, and have
even tasted of the heavenly gift, and have become sharers in
the Holy Spirit, {6:5} who, despite having tasted the good
Word of God and the virtues of the future age, have yet fallen
away, {6:6} to be renewed again to penance, since they are
crucifying again in themselves the Son of God and are still
maintaining pretenses. {6:7} For the earth accepts a blessing
from God, by drinking in the rain that often falls upon it, and
by producing plants that are useful to those by whom it is
cultivated. {6:8} But whatever brings forth thorns and briers
is rejected, and is closest to what is accursed; their
consummation is in combustion. {6:9} But from you, most
beloved, we are confident that there will be things better and
closer to salvation; even though we speak in this way.
{6:10} For God is not unjust, such that he would forget your
work and the love that you have shown in his name. For you
have ministered, and you continue to minister, to the saints.
{6:11} Yet we desire that each one of you display the same
solicitude toward the fulfillment of hope, even unto the end,
{6:12} so that you may not be slow to act, but instead may be
imitators of those who, through faith and patience, shall
inherit the promises. {6:13} For God, in making promises to
Abraham, swore by himself, (because he had no one greater
by whom he might swear), {6:14} saying: “Blessing, I shall
bless you, and multiplying, I shall multiply you.” {6:15} And
in this way, by enduring patiently, he secured the promise.
{6:16} For men swear by what is greater than themselves,
and an oath as confirmation is the end of all their controversy.
{6:17} In this matter, God, wanting to reveal more
thoroughly the immutability of his counsel to the heirs of the
promise, interposed an oath, {6:18} so that by two immutable
things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have
the strongest solace: we who have fled together so as to hold
fast to the hope set before us. {6:19} This we have as an
anchor of the soul, safe and sound, which advances even to
the interior of the veil, {6:20}to the place where the
forerunner Jesus has entered on our behalf, so as to become
the High Priest for eternity, according to the order of
Melchizedek.


[Hebrews 7] {7:1} For this Melchizedek, king of Salem,
priest of the Most High God, met Abraham, as he was
returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him.
{7:2} And Abraham divided to him a tenth part of everything.
And in translation his name is first, indeed, king of justice,
and next also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.
{7:3} Without father, without mother, without genealogy,
having neither beginning of days, nor end of life, he is thereby
likened to the Son of God, who remains a priest continuously.
{7:4} Next, consider how great this man is, since the
Patriarch Abraham even gave tithes to him from the principal
things. {7:5} And indeed, those who are from the sons of
Levi, having received the priesthood, hold a commandment
to take tithes from the people in accord with the law, that is,
from their brothers, even though they also went forth from
the loins of Abraham. {7:6} But this man, whose lineage is
not enumerated with them, received tithes from Abraham,
and he blessed even the one who held the promises. {7:7} Yet
this is without any contradiction, for what is less should be
blessed by what is better. {7:8} And certainly, here, men who
receive tithes still die; but there, he bears witness that he lives.
{7:9} And so it may be said that even Levi, who received
tithes, was himself a tithe through Abraham. {7:10} For he
was still in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met him.
{7:11} Therefore, if consummation had occurred through the
Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law),
then what further need would there be for another Priest to
rise up according to the order of Melchizedek, one who was
not called according to the order of Aaron? {7:12} For since
the priesthood has been transferred, it is necessary that the
law also be transferred. {7:13} For he about whom these
things have been spoken is from another tribe, in which no
one attends before the altar. {7:14} For it is evident that our
Lord arose out of Judah, a tribe about which Moses said
nothing concerning priests. {7:15} And yet it is far more
evident that, according to the likeness of Melchizedek, there
rises up another priest, {7:16} who was made, not according
to the law of a carnal commandment, but according to the
virtue of an indissoluble life. {7:17} For he testifies: “You are
a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
{7:18} Certainly, there is a setting aside of the former
commandment, because of its weakness and lack of
usefulness. {7:19} For the law led no one to perfection, yet
truly it introduced a better hope, through which we draw near
to God. {7:20} Moreover, it is not without an oath. For
certainly, the others were made priests without an oath.
{7:21} But this man was made a priest with an oath, by the
One who said to him: “The Lord has sworn and he will not
repent. You are a priest forever.” {7:22} By so much, Jesus
has been made the sponsor of a better testament. {7:23} And
certainly, so many of the others became priests because, due
to death, they were prohibited from continuing. {7:24} But
this man, because he continues forever, has an everlasting
priesthood. {7:25} And for this reason, he is able,
continuously, to save those who approach God through him,
since he is ever alive to make intercession on our behalf.
{7:26} For it was fitting that we should have such a High
Priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and
exalted higher than the heavens. {7:27} And he has no need,
daily, in the manner of other priests, to offer sacrifices, first
for his own sins, and then for those of the people. For he has
done this once, by offering himself. {7:28} For the law
appoints men as priests, though they have infirmities. But, by
the word of the oath that is after the law, the Son has been
perfected for eternity.


[Hebrews 8] {8:1} Now the main point in the things that
have been stated is this: that we have so great a High Priest,
who is seated at the right hand of the throne of Majesty in the
heavens, {8:2} who is the minister of holy things, and of the
true tabernacle, which was established by the Lord, not by
man. {8:3} For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts
and sacrifices. Therefore, it is necessary for him also to have
something to offer. {8:4} And so, if he were upon the earth,
he would not be a priest, since there would be others to offer
gifts according to the law, {8:5} gifts which serve as mere
examples and shadows of the heavenly things. And so it was
answered to Moses, when he was about to complete the
tabernacle: “See to it,” he said, “that you make everything
according to the example which was revealed to you on the
mountain.” {8:6} But now he has been granted a better
ministry, so much so that he is also the Mediator of a better
testament, which has been confirmed by better promises.
{8:7} For if the former one had been entirely without fault,
then a place certainly would not have been sought for a
subsequent one. {8:8} For, finding fault with them, he says:
“Behold, the days shall arrive, says the Lord, when I will
consummate a New Testament over the house of Israel and
the house of Judah, {8:9} not according to the testament
which I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them
by the hand, so that I might lead them away from the land of
Egypt. For they did not remain in my testament, and so I
disregarded them, says the Lord. {8:10} For this is the
testament which I will set before the house of Israel, after
those days, says the Lord. I will instill my laws in their minds,
and I will inscribe my laws on their hearts. And so, I will be
their God, and they shall be my people. {8:11} And they will
not teach, each one his neighbor, and each one his brother,
saying: ‘Know the Lord.’ For all shall know me, from the
least, even to the greatest of them. {8:12} For I will forgive
their iniquities, and I will no longer remember their sins.”
{8:13} Now in saying something new, he has made the
former old. But that which decays and grows old is close to
passing away.


[Hebrews 9] {9:1} Certainly, the former also had the
justifications of worship and a holy place for that age.
{9:2} For a tabernacle was made at first, in which were the
lampstand, and the table, and the bread of the Presence,
which is called Holy. {9:3} Then, beyond the second veil,
was the tabernacle, which is called the Holy of Holies,
{9:4 having a golden censer, and the ark of the testament,
covered all around and on every part with gold, in which was
a golden urn containing manna, and the rod of Aaron which
had blossomed, and the tablets of the testament. {9:5} And
over the ark were the Cherubim of glory, overshadowing the
propitiatory. There is not enough time to speak about each of
these things. {9:6} Yet truly, once such things were placed
together, in the first part of the tabernacle, the priests were,
indeed, continually entering, so as to carry out the duties of
the sacrifices. {9:7} But into the second part, once a year, the
high priest alone entered, not without blood, which he
offered on behalf of the neglectful offenses of himself and of
the people. {9:8} In this way, the Holy Spirit is signifying that
the way to what is most holy was not yet made manifest, not
while the first tabernacle was still standing. {9:9} And this is
a parable for the present time. Accordingly, those gifts and
sacrifices that are offered are not able, as concerns the
conscience, to make perfect those things that serve only as
food and drink, {9:10} as well as the various washings and
justices of the flesh, which were imposed upon them until the
time of correction. {9:11} But Christ, standing as the High
Priest of future good things, through a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, one not made by hand, that is, not of this
creation, {9:12} entered once into the Holy of Holies, having
obtained eternal redemption, neither by the blood of goats,
nor of calves, but by his own blood. {9:13} For if the blood of
goats and oxen, and the ashes of a calf, when these are
sprinkled, sanctify those who have been defiled, in order to
cleanse the flesh, {9:14} how much more will the blood of
Christ, who through the Holy Spirit has offered himself,
immaculate, to God, cleanse our conscience from dead works,
in order to serve the living God? {9:15} And thus he is the
Mediator of the new testament, so that, by his death, he
intercedes for the redemption of those transgressions which
were under the former testament, so that those who have
been called may receive the promise of an eternal inheritance.
{9:16} For where there is a testament, it is necessary for the
death of the one who testifies to intervene. {9:17} For a
testament is confirmed by death. Otherwise, it as yet has no
force, as long as the one who testifies lives. {9:18} Therefore,
indeed, the first was not dedicated without blood. {9:19} For
when every commandment of the law had been read by
Moses to the entire people, he took up the blood of calves
and goats, with water and with scarlet wool and hyssop, and
he sprinkled both the book itself and the entire people,
{9:20} saying: “This is the blood of the testament which God
has commanded for you.” {9:21} And even the tabernacle,
and all the vessels for the ministry, he similarly sprinkled with
blood. {9:22} And nearly everything, according to the law, is
to be cleansed with blood. And without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. {9:23} Therefore, it is necessary for the
examples of heavenly things to be cleansed, just as, indeed,
these things were. Yet the heavenly things are themselves
better sacrifices than these. {9:24} For Jesus did not enter by
means of holy things made with hands, mere examples of the
true things, but he entered into Heaven itself, so that he may
appear now before the face of God for us. {9:25} And he did
not enter so as to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest
enters into the Holy of Holies each year, with the blood of
another. {9:26} Otherwise, he would need to have suffered
repeatedly since the beginning of the world. But now, one
time, at the consummation of the ages, he has appeared in
order to destroy sin though his own sacrifice. {9:27} And in
the same manner as it has been appointed for men to die one
time, and after this, to be judged, {9:28} so also Christ was
offered, one time, in order to empty the sins of so many. He
shall appear a second time without sin, for those who await
him, unto salvation.


[Hebrews 10] {10:1} For the law contains the shadow of
future good things, not the very image of these things. So, by
the very same sacrifices which they offer ceaselessly each year,
they can never cause these to approach perfection.
{10:2} Otherwise, they would have ceased to be offered,
because the worshipers, once cleansed, would no longer be
conscious of any sin. {10:3} Instead, in these things, a
commemoration of sins is made every year. {10:4} For it is
impossible for sins to be taken away by the blood of oxen and
goats. {10:5} For this reason, as Christ enters into the world,
he says: “Sacrifice and oblation, you did not want. But you
have fashioned a body for me. {10:6} Holocausts for sin were
not pleasing to you. {10:7} Then I said, ‘Behold, I draw
near.’ At the head of the book, it has been written of me that
I should do your will, O God.” {10:8} In the above, by
saying, “Sacrifices, and oblations, and holocausts for sin, you
did not want, nor are those things pleasing to you, which are
offered according to the law; {10:9} then I said, ‘Behold, I
have come to do your will, O God,’ ” he takes away the first,
so that he may establish what follows. {10:10} For by this
will, we have been sanctified, through the one time oblation
of the body of Jesus Christ. {10:11} And certainly, every
priest stands by, ministering daily, and frequently offering the
same sacrifices, which are never able to take away sins.
{10:12} But this man, offering one sacrifice for sins, sits at the
right hand of God forever, {10:13} awaiting that time when
his enemies will be made his footstool. {10:14} For, by one
oblation, he has brought to fulfillment, for all time, those who
are sanctified. {10:15} Now the Holy Spirit also testifies for
us about this. For afterward, he said: {10:16} “And this is the
testament which I will commit to them after those days, says
the Lord. I will instill my laws in their hearts, and I will
inscribe my laws on their minds. {10:17} And I will no
longer remember their sins and iniquities.” {10:18} Now,
when there is a remission of these things, there is no longer
an oblation for sin. {10:19} And so, brothers, have faith in
the entrance into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Christ,
{10:20} and in the new and living Way, which he has
initiated for us by the veil, that is, by his flesh, {10:21} and in
the Great Priest over the house of God. {10:22} So, let us
draw near with a true heart, in the fullness of faith, having
hearts cleansed from an evil conscience, and bodies absolved
with clean water. {10:23} Let us hold fast to the confession of
our hope, without wavering, for he who has promised is
faithful. {10:24} And let us be considerate of one another, so
as to prompt ourselves to charity and to good works,
{10:25} not deserting our assembly, as some are accustomed
to do, but consoling one another, and even more so as you
see that the day is approaching. {10:26} For if we sin
willingly, after receiving knowledge of the truth, there is no
sacrifice remaining for sins, {10:27} but instead, a certain
terrible expectation of judgment, and the rage of a fire that
shall consume its adversaries. {10:28} If someone dies for
acting against the law of Moses, and is shown no compassion
because of two or three witnesses, {10:29} how much more,
do you think, someone would deserve worse punishments, if
he has tread upon the Son of God, and has treated the blood
of the testament, by which he was sanctified, as unclean, and
has acted with disgrace toward the Spirit of grace?
{10:30} For we know that he has said: “Vengeance is mine,
and I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his
people.” {10:31} It is dreadful to fall into the hands of the
living God. {10:32} But call to mind the former days, in
which, after being enlightened, you endured a great struggle
of afflictions. {10:33} And certainly, in one way, by insults
and tribulations, you were made a spectacle, but in another
way, you became the companions of those who were the
object of such behavior. {10:34} For you even had
compassion on those who were imprisoned, and you
accepted with gladness being deprived of your goods,
knowing that you have a better and more lasting substance.
{10:35} And so, do not lose your confidence, which has a
great reward. {10:36} For it is necessary for you to be patient,
so that, by doing the will of God, you may receive the
promise. {10:37} “For, in a little while, and somewhat longer,
he who is to come will return, and he will not delay.
{10:38} For my just man lives by faith. But if he were to draw
himself back, he would not please my soul.” {10:39} So then,
we are not sons who are drawn away to perdition, but we are
sons of faith toward the securing of the soul.


[Hebrews 11] {11:1} Now, faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not apparent. {11:2} For
this reason, the ancients were given testimony. {11:3} By
faith, we understand the world to be fashioned by the Word
of God, so that the visible might be made by the invisible.
{11:4} By faith, Abel offered to God a much better sacrifice
than that of Cain, through which he obtained testimony that
he was just, in that God offered testimony to his gifts. And
through that sacrifice, he still speaks to us, though he is dead.
{11:5} By faith, Enoch was transferred, so that he would not
see death, and he was not found because God had transferred
him. For before he was transferred, he had testimony that he
pleased God. {11:6} But without faith, it is impossible to
please God. For whoever approaches God must believe that
he exists, and that he rewards those who seek him. {11:7} By
faith, Noah, having accepted an answer about those things
which were not yet seen, being afraid, fashioned an ark for
the salvation of his house. Through the ark, he condemned
the world, and was established as the heir of the justice that
occurs through faith. {11:8} By faith, the one called Abraham
obeyed, going out to the place that he was to receive as an
inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was
going. {11:9} By faith, he stayed in the Land of the Promise
as if in a foreign land, dwelling in cottages, with Isaac and
Jacob, co-heirs of the same promise. {11:10} For he was
awaiting a city having firm foundations, whose designer and
builder is God. {11:11} By faith also, Sarah herself, being
barren, received the ability to conceive offspring, even though
she was past that age in life. For she believed him to be
faithful, who had promised. {11:12} Because of this, there
were also born, from one who himself was as if dead, a
mulititude like the stars of heaven, who are, like the sand of
the seashore, innumerable. {11:13} All of these passed away,
adhering to faith, not having received the promises, yet
beholding them from afar and saluting them, and confessing
themselves to be sojourners and guests upon the earth.
{11:14} For those who speak in this way are themselves
indicating that they seek a homeland. {11:15} And if, indeed,
they had been mindful of the very place from which they
departed, they certainly would have returned in time.
{11:16} But now they hunger for a better place, that is,
Heaven. For this reason, God is not ashamed to be called
their God. For he has prepared a city for them. {11:17} By
faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered Isaac, so that he
who had received the promises was offering up his only son.
{11:18} To him, it was said, “Through Isaac, shall your
offspring be summoned,” {11:19} indicating that God is even
able to raise up from the dead. And thus, he also established
him as a parable. {11:20} By faith, also, Isaac blessed Jacob
and Esau, concerning future events. {11:21} By faith, Jacob,
as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph; and he
reverenced the summit of his rod. {11:22} By faith, Joseph,
as he was dying, recalled the departure of the sons of Israel,
and gave a commandment concerning his bones. {11:23} By
faith, Moses, after being born, was hidden for three months
by his parents, because they had seen that he was a graceful
infant, and they did not fear the king’s edict. {11:24} By faith,
Moses, after growing up, denied himself a place as the son of
Pharaoh’s daughter, {11:25} choosing to be afflicted with the
people of God, rather than to have the pleasantness of sin for
a time, {11:26} valuing the reproach of Christ to be a greater
wealth than the treasures of the Egyptians. For he looked
forward to his reward. {11:27} By faith, he abandoned Egypt,
not dreading the animosity of the king. For he pressed on, as
if seeing him who is unseen. {11:28} By faith, he celebrated
the Passover and the shedding of the blood, so that he who
destroyed the firstborn might not touch them. {11:29} By
faith, they crossed the Red Sea, as if on dry land, yet when
the Egyptians attempted it, they were swallowed up.
{11:30} By faith, the walls of Jericho collapsed, after being
encircled for seven days. {11:31} By faith, Rahab, the harlot,
did not perish with the unbelievers, after receiving the spies
with peace. {11:32} And what should I say next? For time is
not sufficient for me to give an account of Gideon, Barak,
Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the Prophets:
{11:33} those who, by faith, conquered kingdoms,
accomplished justice, obtained promises, closed the mouths
of lions, {11:34} extinguished the violence of fire, escaped the
edge of the sword, recovered from infirmities, showed
strength in battle, turned back the armies of foreigners.
{11:35} Women received their dead by means of resurrection.
But others suffered severe punishment, not yet receiving
redemption, so that they would find a better resurrection.
{11:36} Truly, others were tested by mocking and lashes, and
moreover by chains and imprisonment. {11:37} They were
stoned; they were cut; they were tempted. With the slaughter
of the sword, they were killed. They wandered about in
sheepskin and in goatskin, in dire need, in anguish afflicted.
{11:38} Of them, the world was not worthy, wandering in
solitude on mountains, in the caves and caverns of the earth.
{11:39} And all these, having been proven by the testimony
of faith, did not receive the Promise. {11:40} God’s
Providence holds something better for us, so that not without
us would they be perfected.


[Hebrews 12] {12:1} Furthermore, since we also have so
great a cloud of witnesses over us, let us set aside every
burden and sin which may surround us, and advance,
through patience, to the struggle offered to us. {12:2} Let us
gaze upon Jesus, as the Author and the completion of our
faith, who, having joy laid out before him, endured the cross,
disregarding the shame, and who now sits at the right hand of
the throne of God. {12:3} So then, meditate upon him who
endured such adversity from sinners against himself, so that
you may not become weary, failing in your souls. {12:4} For
you have not yet resisted unto blood, while striving against
sin. {12:5} And you have forgotten the consolation which
speaks to you like sons, saying: “My son, do not be willing to
neglect the discipline of the Lord. Neither should you become
weary, while being rebuked by him.” {12:6} For whomever
the Lord loves, he chastises. And every son whom he accepts,
he scourges. {12:7} Persevere in discipline. God presents you
to himself as sons. But what son is there, whom his father
does not correct? {12:8} But if you are without that discipline
in which all have become sharers, then you are of adultery,
and you are not sons. {12:9} Then, too, we have certainly
had the fathers of our flesh as instructors, and we reverenced
them. Should we not obey the Father of spirits all the more,
and so live? {12:10} And indeed, for a few days and
according to their own wishes, they instructed us. But he does
so to our benefit, so that we may receive his sanctification.
{12:11} Now every discipline, in the present time, does not
seem a gladness, of course, but a grief. But afterwards, it will
repay a most peaceful fruit of justice to those who become
trained in it. {12:12} Because of this, lift up your lazy hands
and your lax knees, {12:13} and straighten the path of your
feet, so that no one, being lame, may wander astray, but
instead may be healed. {12:14} Pursue peace with everyone.
Pursue sanctity, without which no one shall see God.
{12:15} Be contemplative, lest anyone lack the grace of God,
lest any root of bitterness spring up and impede you, and by it,
many might be defiled, {12:16} lest any fornicator or worldly
person be like Esau, who, for the sake of one meal, sold his
birthright. {12:17} For you know that afterwards, when he
desired to inherit the benediction, he was rejected. For he
found no place for repentance, even though he had sought it
with tears. {12:18} But you have not drawn near to a tangible
mountain, or a burning fire, or a whirlwind, or a mist, or a
storm, {12:19} or the sound of a trumpet, or a voice of words.
Those who had experienced these things excused themselves,
lest the Word be spoken to them. {12:20} For they could not
bear what was said, and so, if even a beast would have
touched the mountain, it would have been stoned.
{12:21} And what was seen was so terrible that even Moses
said: “I am terrified, and so, I tremble.” {12:22} But you
have drawn near to mount Zion, and to the city of the living
God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of
many thousands of Angels, {12:23} and to the Church of the
first-born, those who have been inscribed in the heavens, and
to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the just made
perfect, {12:24} and to Jesus, the Mediator of the New
Testament, and to a sprinkling of blood, which speaks better
than the blood of Abel. {12:25} Be careful not to reject the
One who is speaking. For if those who rejected him who was
speaking upon the earth were not able to escape, so much
more we who might turn away from the One who is speaking
to us from heaven. {12:26} Then, his voice moved the earth.
But now, he makes a promise, saying: “There is still one
more time, and then I will move, not only the earth, but also
heaven itself.” {12:27} And so, in saying, “There is still one
more time,” he declares the transfer of the moveable things of
creation, so that those things which are immoveable may
remain. {12:28} Thus, in receiving an immoveable kingdom,
we have grace. So, through grace, let us be of service, by
pleasing God with fear and reverence. {12:29} For our God
is a consuming fire.


[Hebrews 13] {13:1} May fraternal charity remain in you.
{13:2} And do not be willing to forget hospitality. For by it,
certain persons, without realizing it, have received Angels as
guests. {13:3} Remember those who are prisoners, just as if
you were imprisoned with them, and those who endure
hardships, just as if you were in their place. {13:4} May
marriage be honorable in every way, and may the marriage
bed be immaculate. For God will judge fornicators and
adulterers. {13:5} Let your behavior be without avarice; be
content with what you are offered. For he himself has said, “I
will not abandon you, and I will not neglect you.” {13:6} So
then, we may confidently say, “The Lord is my helper. I will
not fear what man can do to me.” {13:7} Remember your
leaders, who have spoken the Word of God to you, whose
faith you imitate, by observing the goal of their way of life:
{13:8} Jesus Christ, yesterday and today; Jesus Christ forever.
{13:9} Do not be led away by changing or strange doctrines.
And it is best for the heart to be sustained by grace, not by
foods. For the latter have not been as useful to those who
walked by them. {13:10} We have an altar: those who serve
in the tabernacle have no authority to eat from it. {13:11} For
the bodies of those animals whose blood is carried into the
Holy of holies by the high priest, on behalf of sin, are burned
outside the camp. {13:12} Because of this, Jesus, too, in
order to sanctify the people by his own blood, suffered
outside the gate. {13:13} And so, let us go forth to him,
outside the camp, bearing his reproach. {13:14} For in this
place, we have no everlasting city; instead, we seek one in the
future. {13:15} Therefore, through him, let us offer the
sacrifice of continual praise to God, which is the fruit of lips
confessing his name. {13:16} But do not be willing to forget
good works and fellowship. For God is deserving of such
sacrifices. {13:17} Obey your leaders and be subject to them.
For they watch over you, as if to render an account of your
souls. So then, may they do this with joy, and not with grief.
Otherwise, it would not be as helpful to you. {13:18} Pray for
us. For we trust that we have a good conscience, being
willing to conduct ourselves well in all things. {13:19} And I
beg you, all the more, to do this, so that I may be quickly
returned to you. {13:20} Then may the God of peace, who
led back from the dead that great Pastor of sheep, our Lord
Jesus Christ, with the blood of the eternal testament,
{13:21} equip you with all goodness, so that you may do his
will. May he accomplish in you whatever is pleasing in his
sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom is glory forever and ever.
Amen. {13:22} And I beg you, brothers, that you may permit
this word of consolation, especially since I have written to
you with few words. {13:23} Know that our brother Timothy
has been set free. If he arrives soon, then I will see you with
him. {13:24} Greet all your leaders and all the saints. The
brothers from Italy greet you. {13:25} Grace be with you all.
Amen.


** The Letter of James **


[James 1] {1:1} James, servant of God and of our Lord Jesus
Christ, to the twelve tribes of the dispersion, greetings.
{1:2} My brothers, when you have fallen into various trials,
consider everything a joy, {1:3} knowing that the proving of
your faith exercises patience, {1:4} and patience brings a
work to perfection, so that you may be perfect and whole,
deficient in nothing. {1:5} But if anyone among you is in
need of wisdom, let him petition God, who gives abundantly
to all without reproach, and it shall be given to him.
{1:6} But he should ask with faith, doubting nothing. For he
who doubts is like a wave on the ocean, which is moved
about by the wind and carried away; {1:7} then a man should
not consider that he would receive anything from the Lord.
{1:8} For a man who is of two minds is inconstant in all his
ways. {1:9} Now a humble brother should glory in his
exaltation, {1:10} and a rich one, in his humiliation, for he
will pass away like the flower of the grass. {1:11} For the sun
has risen with a scorching heat, and has dried the grass, and
its flower has fallen off, and the appearance of its beauty has
perished. So also will the rich one wither away, according to
his paths. {1:12} Blessed is the man who suffers temptation.
For when he has been proven, he shall receive the crown of
life which God has promised to those who love him.
{1:13} No one should say, when he is tempted, that he was
tempted by God. For God does not entice toward evils, and
he himself tempts no one. {1:14} Yet truly, each one is
tempted by his own desires, having been enticed and drawn
away. {1:15} Thereafter, when desire has conceived, it gives
birth to sin. Yet truly sin, when it has been consummated,
produces death. {1:16} And so, do not choose to go astray,
my most beloved brothers. {1:17} Every excellent gift and
every perfect gift is from above, descending from the Father
of lights, with whom there is no change, nor any shadow of
alteration. {1:18} For by his own will he produced us through
the Word of truth, so that we might be a kind of beginning
among his creatures. {1:19} You know this, my most beloved
brothers. So let every man be quick to listen, but slow to
speak and slow to anger. {1:20} For the anger of man does
not accomplish the justice of God. {1:21} Because of this,
having cast away all uncleanness and an abundance of malice,
receive with meekness the newly-grafted Word, which is able
to save your souls. {1:22} So be doers of the Word, and not
listeners only, deceiving yourselves. {1:23} For if anyone is a
listener of the Word, but not also a doer, he is comparable to
a man gazing into a mirror upon the face that he was born
with; {1:24} and after considering himself, he went away and
promptly forgot what he had seen. {1:25} But he who gazes
upon the perfect law of liberty, and who remains in it, is not a
forgetful hearer, but instead a doer of the work. He shall be
blessed in what he does. {1:26} But if anyone considers
himself to be religious, but he does not restrain his tongue,
but instead seduces his own heart: such a one’s religion is
vanity. {1:27} This is religion, clean and undefiled before
God the Father: to visit orphans and widows in their
tribulations, and to keep yourself immaculate, apart from this
age.


[James 2] {2:1} My brothers, within the glorious faith of our
Lord Jesus Christ, do not choose to show favoritism toward
persons. {2:2} For if a man has entered your assembly having
a gold ring and splendid apparel, and if a poor man has also
entered, in dirty clothing, {2:3} and if you are then attentive
to the one who is clothed in excellent apparel, so that you say
to him, “You may sit in this good place,” but you say to the
poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit below my
footstool,” {2:4} are you not judging within yourselves, and
have you not become judges with unjust thoughts? {2:5} My
most beloved brothers, listen. Has not God chosen the poor
in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that
God has promised to those who love him? {2:6} But you
have dishonored the poor. Are not the rich the ones who
oppress you through power? And are not they the ones who
drag you to judgment? {2:7} Are not they the ones who
blaspheme the good name which has been invoked over you?
{2:8} So if you perfect the regal law, according to the
Scriptures, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” then
you do well. {2:9} But if you show favoritism to persons,
then you commit a sin, having been convicted again by the
law as transgressors. {2:10} Now whoever has observed the
whole law, yet who offends in one matter, has become guilty
of all. {2:11} For he who said, “You shall not commit
adultery,” also said, “You shall not kill.” So if you do not
commit adultery, but you kill, you have become a
transgressor of the law. {2:12} So speak and act just as you
are beginning to be judged, by the law of liberty. {2:13} For
judgment is without mercy toward him who has not shown
mercy. But mercy exalts itself above judgment. {2:14} My
brothers, what benefit is there if someone claims to have faith,
but he does not have works? How would faith be able to save
him? {2:15} So if a brother or sister is naked and daily in
need of food, {2:16} and if anyone of you were to say to
them: “Go in peace, keep warm and nourished,” and yet not
give them the things that are necessary for the body, of what
benefit is this? {2:17} Thus even faith, if it does not have
works, is dead, in and of itself. {2:18} Now someone may say:
“You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith
without works! But I will show you my faith by means of
works. {2:19} You believe that there is one God. You do well.
But the demons also believe, and they tremble greatly.
{2:20} So then, are you willing to understand, O foolish man,
that faith without works is dead? {2:21} Was not our father
Abraham justified by means of works, by offering his son
Isaac upon the altar? {2:22} Do you see that faith was
cooperating with his works, and that by means of works faith
was brought to fulfillment? {2:23} And so the Scripture was
fulfilled which says: “Abraham believed God, and it was
reputed to him unto justice.” And so he was called the friend
of God. {2:24} Do you see that a man is justified by means of
works, and not by faith alone? {2:25} Similarly also, Rahab,
the harlot, was she not justified by works, by receiving the
messengers and sending them out through another way?
{2:26} For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also
faith without works is dead.


[James 3] {3:1} My brothers, not many of you should choose
to become teachers, knowing that you shall receive a stricter
judgment. {3:2} For we all offend in many ways. If anyone
does not offend in word, he is a perfect man. And he is then
able, as if with a bridle, to lead the whole body around.
{3:3} For so we put bridles into the mouths of horses, in
order to submit them to our will, and so we turn their whole
body around. {3:4} Consider also the ships, which, though
they are great and may be driven by strong winds, yet they
are turned around with a small rudder, to be directed to
wherever the strength of the pilot might will. {3:5} So also
the tongue certainly is a small part, but it moves great things.
Consider that a small fire can set ablaze a great forest.
{3:6} And so the tongue is like a fire, comprising all iniquity.
The tongue, stationed in the midst of our body, can defile the
entire body and inflame the wheel of our nativity, setting a
fire from Hell. {3:7} For the nature of all beasts and birds and
serpents and others is ruled over, and has been ruled over, by
human nature. {3:8} But no man is able to rule over the
tongue, a restless evil, full of deadly poison. {3:9} By it we
bless God the Father, and by it we speak evil of men, who
have been made in the likeness of God. {3:10} From the
same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brothers,
these things ought not to be so! {3:11} Does a fountain emit,
out of the same opening, both sweet and bitter water?
{3:12} My brothers, can the fig tree yield grapes? Or the vine,
figs? Then neither is salt water able to produce fresh water.
{3:13} Who is wise and well-taught among you? Let him
show, by means of good conversation, his work in the
meekness of wisdom. {3:14} But if you hold a bitter zeal, and
if there is contention in your hearts, then do not boast and do
not be liars against the truth. {3:15} For this is not wisdom,
descending from above, but rather it is earthly, beastly, and
diabolical. {3:16} For wherever envy and contention is, there
too is inconstancy and every depraved work. {3:17} But
within the wisdom that is from above, certainly, chastity is
first, and next peacefulness, meekness, openness, consenting
to what is good, a plenitude of mercy and good fruits, not
judging, without falseness. {3:18} And so the fruit of justice
is sown in peace by those who make peace.


[James 4] {4:1} Where do wars and contentions among you
come from? Is it not from this: from your own desires, which
battle within your members? {4:2} You desire, and you do
not have. You envy and you kill, and you are unable to
obtain. You argue and you fight, and you do not have,
because you do not ask. {4:3} You ask and you do not
receive, because you ask badly, so that you may use it toward
your own desires. {4:4} You adulterers! Do you not know
that the friendship of this world is hostile to God? Therefore,
whoever has chosen to be a friend of this world has been
made into an enemy of God. {4:5} Or do you think that
Scripture says in vain: “The spirit which lives within you
desires unto envy?” {4:6} But he gives a greater grace.
Therefore he says: “God resists the arrogant, but he gives
grace to the humble.” {4:7} Therefore, be subject to God. But
resist the devil, and he will flee from you. {4:8} Draw near to
God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you
sinners! And purify your hearts, you duplicitous souls!
{4:9} Be afflicted: mourn and weep. Let your laughter be
turned into mourning, and your gladness into sorrow.
{4:10} Be humbled in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt
you. {4:11} Brothers, do not choose to slander one another.
Whoever slanders his brother, or whoever judges his brother,
slanders the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law,
you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. {4:12} There is
one lawgiver and one judge. He is able to destroy, and he is
able to set free. {4:13} But who are you to judge your
neighbor? Consider this, you who say, “Today or tomorrow
we will go into that city, and certainly we will spend a year
there, and we will do business, and we will make our profit,”
{4:14} consider that you do not know what will be tomorrow.
{4:15} For what is your life? It is a mist that appears for a
brief time, and afterwards will vanish away. So what you
ought to say is: “If the Lord wills,” or, “If we live,” we will
do this or that. {4:16} But now you exult in your arrogance.
All such exultation is wicked. {4:17} Therefore, he who
knows that he ought to do a good thing, and does not do it,
for him it is a sin.


[James 5] {5:1} Act now, you who are wealthy! Weep and
wail in your miseries, which will soon come upon you!
{5:2} Your riches have been corrupted, and your garments
have been eaten by moths. {5:3} Your gold and silver have
rusted, and their rust will be a testimony against you, and it
will eat away at your flesh like fire. You have stored up wrath
for yourselves unto the last days. {5:4} Consider the pay of
the workers who reaped your fields: it has been
misappropriated by you; it cries out. And their cry has
entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts. {5:5} You have
feasted upon the earth, and you have nourished your hearts
with luxuries, unto the day of slaughter. {5:6} You led away
and killed the Just One, and he did not resist you.
{5:7} Therefore, be patient, brothers, until the advent of the
Lord. Consider that the farmer anticipates the precious fruit
of the earth, waiting patiently, until he receives the early and
the late rains. {5:8} Therefore, you too should be patient and
should strengthen your hearts. For the advent of the Lord
draws near. {5:9} Brothers, do not complain against one
another, so that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge
stands before the door. {5:10} My brothers, consider the
Prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example
of departing from evil, of labor, and of patience.
{5:11} Consider that we beatify those who have endured.
You have heard of the patient suffering of Job. And you have
seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is merciful and
compassionate. {5:12} But before all things, my brothers, do
not choose to swear, neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor
in any other oath. But let your word ‘Yes’ be yes, and your
word ‘No’ be no, so that you may not fall under judgment.
{5:13} Is any of you sad? Let him pray. Is he even-tempered?
Let him sing psalms. {5:14} Is anyone ill among you? Let
him bring in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over
him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
{5:15} And a prayer of faith will save the infirm, and the
Lord will alleviate him. And if he has sins, these will be
forgiven him. {5:16} Therefore, confess your sins to one
another, and pray for one another, so that you may be saved.
For the unremitting prayer of a just person prevails over
many things. {5:17} Elijah was a mortal man like us, and in
prayer he prayed that it would not rain upon the earth. And it
did not rain for three years and six months. {5:18} And he
prayed again. And the heavens gave rain, and the earth
brought forth her fruit. {5:19} My brothers, if anyone of you
strays from the truth, and if someone converts him, {5:20} he
ought to know that whoever causes a sinner to be converted
from the error of his ways will save his soul from death and
will cover a multitude of sins.


++ The First Letter of Peter **


[1 Peter 1] {1:1} Peter, Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the newly-
arrived elect of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, {1:2} in accord with the foreknowledge
of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, with the
obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:
May grace and peace be multiplied for you. {1:3} Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according
to his great mercy has regenerated us into a living hope,
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead:
{1:4} unto an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading
inheritance, which is reserved for you in heaven. {1:5} By the
power of God, you are guarded through faith for a salvation
which is ready to be revealed in the end time. {1:6} In this,
you should exult, if now, for a brief time, it is necessary to be
made sorrowful by various trials, {1:7} so that the testing of
your faith, which is much more precious than gold tested by
fire, may be found in praise and glory and honor at the
revelation of Jesus Christ. {1:8} For though you have not
seen him, you love him. In him also, though you do not see
him, you now believe. And in believing, you shall exult with
an inexpressible and glorious joy, {1:9} returning with the
goal of your faith, the salvation of souls. {1:10} About this
salvation, the prophets inquired and diligently searched,
those who prophesied about the future grace in you,
{1:11} inquiring as to what type of condition was signified to
them by the Spirit of Christ, when foretelling those sufferings
that are in Christ, as well as the subsequent glories. {1:12} To
them, it was revealed that they were ministering, not for
themselves, but for you those things which have now been
announced to you through those who have preached the
Gospel to you, through the Holy Spirit, who was sent down
from heaven to the One upon whom the Angels desire to
gaze. {1:13} For this reason, gird the waist of your mind, be
sober, and hope perfectly in the grace that is offered to you in
the revelation of Jesus Christ. {1:14} Be like sons of
obedience, not conforming to the desires of your former
ignorance, {1:15} but in accord with him who has called you:
the Holy One. And in every behavior, you yourself must be
holy, {1:16} for it is written: “You shall be holy, for I am
Holy.” {1:17} And if you invoke as Father him who, without
showing favoritism to persons, judges according to each one’s
work, then act in fear during the time of your sojourning here.
{1:18} For you know that it was not with corruptible gold or
silver that you were redeemed away from your useless
behavior in the traditions of your fathers, {1:19} but it was
with the precious blood of Christ, an immaculate and
undefiled lamb, {1:20} foreknown, certainly, before the
foundation of the world, and made manifest in these latter
times for your sake. {1:21} Through him, you have been
faithful to God, who raised him up from the dead and gave
him glory, so that your faith and hope would be in God.
{1:22} So chastise your souls with the obedience of charity,
in fraternal love, and love one another from a simple heart,
attentively. {1:23} For you have been born again, not from
corruptible seed, but from what is incorruptible, from the
Word of God, living and remaining for all eternity.
{1:24} For all flesh is like the grass and all its glory is like the
flower of the grass. The grass withers and its flower falls away.
{1:25} But the Word of the Lord endures for eternity. And
this is the Word that has been evangelized to you.


[1 Peter 2] {2:1} Therefore, set aside all malice and all
deceitfulness, as well as falseness and envy and every
detraction. {2:2} Like newborn infants, desire the milk of
reasonableness without guile, so that by this you may
increase unto salvation, {2:3} if it is true that you have tasted
that the Lord is sweet. {2:4} And approaching him as if he
were a living stone, rejected by men, certainly, but elect and
honored by God, {2:5} be also yourselves like living stones,
built upon him, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, so as to
offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ. {2:6} Because of this, Scripture asserts: “Behold, I am
setting in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious. And
whoever will have believed in him will not be confounded.”
{2:7} Therefore, to you who believe, he is honor. But to those
who do not believe, the stone which the builders have
rejected, the same has been made into the head of the corner,
{2:8} and a stone of offense, and a rock of scandal, to those
who are offended by the Word; neither do they believe,
though they also have been built upon him. {2:9} But you are
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, an
acquired people, so that you may announce the virtues of him
who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
{2:10} Though in past times you were not a people, yet now
you are the people of God. Though you had not obtained
mercy, yet now you have obtained mercy. {2:11} Most
beloved, I beg you, as new arrivals and sojourners, to abstain
from carnal desires, which battle against the soul.
{2:12} Keep your behavior among the Gentiles to what is
good, so that, when they slander you as if you were evildoers,
they may, by the good works that are seen in you, glorify
God on the day of visitation. {2:13} Therefore, be subject to
every human creature because of God, whether it is to the
king as preeminent, {2:14} or to leaders as having been sent
from him for vindication over evildoers, it is truly for the
praise of what is good. {2:15} For such is the will of God,
that by doing good you may bring about the silence of
imprudent and ignorant men, {2:16} in an open manner, and
not as if cloaking malice with liberty, but like servants of God.
{2:17} Honor everyone. Love brotherhood. Fear God. Honor
the king. {2:18} Servants, be subject to your masters with all
fear, not only to the good and meek, but also to the unruly.
{2:19} For this is grace: when, because of God, a man
willingly endures sorrows, suffering injustice. {2:20} For
what glory is there, if you sin and then suffer a beating? But if
you do well and suffer patiently, this is grace with God.
{2:21} For you have been called to this because Christ also
suffered for us, leaving you an example, so that you would
follow in his footsteps. {2:22} He committed no sin, neither
was deceit found in his mouth. {2:23} And when evil was
spoken against him, he did not speak evil. When he suffered,
he did not threaten. Then he handed himself over to him who
judged him unjustly. {2:24} He himself bore our sins in his
body upon the tree, so that we, having died to sin, would live
for justice. By his wounds, you have been healed. {2:25} For
you were like wandering sheep. But now you have been
turned back toward the Pastor and the Bishop of your souls.


[1 Peter 3] {3:1} Similarly also, wives should be subject to
their husbands, so that, even if some do not believe the Word,
they may benefit without the Word, through the behavior of
these wives, {3:2} as they consider with fear your chaste
behavior. {3:3} For you, there should be no unnecessary
adornment of the hair, or surrounding with gold, or the
wearing of ornate clothing. {3:4} Instead, you should be a
hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptibility of a quiet
and a meek spirit, rich in the sight of God. {3:5} For in this
way, in past times also, holy women adorned themselves,
hoping in God, being subject to their own husbands.
{3:6} For so Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You
are her daughters, well-behaved and unafraid of any
disturbance. {3:7} Similarly, you husbands should live with
them in accord with knowledge, bestowing honor on the
female as the weaker vessel and as co-heirs of the life of grace,
so that your prayers may not be hindered. {3:8} And finally,
may you all be of one mind: compassionate, loving
brotherhood, merciful, meek, humble, {3:9} not repaying evil
with evil, nor slander with slander, but, to the contrary,
repaying with blessings. For to this you have been called, so
that you may possess the inheritance of a blessing. {3:10} For
whoever wants to love life and to see good days should
restrain his tongue from evil, and his lips, so that they utter
no deceit. {3:11} Let him turn away from evil, and do good.
Let him seek peace, and pursue it. {3:12} For the eyes of the
Lord are upon the just, and his ears are with their prayers, but
the countenance of the Lord is upon those who do evil.
{3:13} And who is it who can harm you, if you are zealous in
what is good? {3:14} And yet, even when you suffer
something for the sake of justice, you are blessed. So then, do
not be afraid with their fear, and do not be disturbed.
{3:15} But sanctify Christ the Lord in your hearts, being
always ready to give an explanation to all who ask you the
reason for that hope which is in you. {3:16} But do so with
meekness and fear, having a good conscience, so that, in
whatever matter they may slander you, they shall be
confounded, since they falsely accuse your good behavior in
Christ. {3:17} For it is better to suffer for doing good, if it is
the will of God, than for doing evil. {3:18} For Christ also
died once for our sins, the Just One on behalf of the unjust, so
that he might offer us to God, having died, certainly, in the
flesh, but having been enlivened by the Spirit. {3:19} And in
the Spirit, he preached to those who were in prison, going to
those souls {3:20} who had been unbelieving in past times,
while they waited for the patience of God, as in the days of
Noah, when the ark was being built. In that ark, a few, that is,
eight souls, were saved by water. {3:21} And now you also
are saved, in a similar manner, by baptism, not by the
testimony of sordid flesh, but by the examination of a good
conscience in God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
{3:22} He is at the right hand of God, devouring death, so
that we may be made heirs to eternal life. And since he has
journeyed to heaven, the Angels and powers and virtues are
subject to him.


[1 Peter 4] {4:1} Since Christ has suffered in the flesh, you
also should be armed with the same intention. For he who
suffers in the flesh desists from sin, {4:2} so that now he may
live, for the remainder of his time in the flesh, not by the
desires of men, but by the will of God. {4:3} For the time that
has passed is sufficient to have fulfilled the will of the
Gentiles, those who have walked in luxuries, lusts,
intoxication, feasting, drinking, and the illicit worship of idols.
{4:4} About this, they wonder why you do not rush with
them into the same confusion of indulgences, blaspheming.
{4:5} But they must render an account to him who is
prepared to judge the living and the dead. {4:6} For because
of this, the Gospel was also preached to the dead, so that they
might be judged, certainly, just like men in the flesh, yet also,
so that they might live according to God, in the Spirit.
{4:7} But the end of everything draws near. And so, be
prudent, and be vigilant in your prayers. {4:8} But, before all
things, have a constant mutual charity among yourselves. For
love covers a multitude of sins. {4:9} Show hospitality to one
another without complaining. {4:10} Just as each of you has
received grace, minister in the same way to one another, as
good stewards of the manifold grace of God. {4:11} When
anyone speaks, it should be like words of God. When anyone
ministers, it should be from the virtue that God provides, so
that in all things God may be honored through Jesus Christ.
To him is glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
{4:12} Most beloved, do not choose to sojourn in the passion
which is a temptation to you, as if something new might
happen to you. {4:13} But instead, commune in the Passion
of Christ, and be glad that, when his glory will be revealed,
you too may rejoice with exultation. {4:14} If you are
reproached for the name of Christ, you will be blessed,
because that which is of the honor, glory, and power of God,
and that which is of his Spirit, rests upon you. {4:15} But let
none of you suffer for being a murderer, or a thief, or a
slanderer, or one who covets what belongs to another.
{4:16} But if one of you suffers for being a Christian, he
should not be ashamed. Instead, he should glorify God in
that name. {4:17} For it is time that judgment begin at the
house of God. And if it is first from us, what shall be the end
of those who do not believe the Gospel of God? {4:18} And if
the just man will scarcely be saved, where will the impious
and the sinner appear? {4:19} Therefore, too, let those who
suffer according to the will of God commend their souls by
good deeds to the faithful Creator.


[1 Peter 5] {5:1} Therefore, I beg the elders who are among
you, as one who is also an elder and a witness of the Passion
of Christ, who also shares in that glory which is to be
revealed in the future: {5:2} pasture the flock of God that is
among you, providing for it, not as a requirement, but
willingly, in accord with God, and not for the sake of tainted
profit, but freely, {5:3} not so as to dominate by means of the
clerical state, but so as to be formed into a flock from the
heart. {5:4} And when the Leader of pastors will have
appeared, you shall secure an unfading crown of glory.
{5:5} Similarly, young persons, be subject to the elders. And
infuse all humility among one another, for God resists the
arrogant, but to the humble he gives grace. {5:6} And so, be
humbled under the powerful hand of God, so that he may
exalt you in the time of visitation. {5:7} Cast all your cares
upon him, for he takes care of you. {5:8} Be sober and
vigilant. For your adversary, the devil, is like a roaring lion,
traveling around and seeking those whom he might devour.
{5:9} Resist him by being strong in faith, being aware that the
same passions afflict those who are your brothers in the world.
{5:10} But the God of all grace, who has called us to his
eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself perfect, confirm,
and establish us, after a brief time of suffering. {5:11} To him
be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. {5:12} I have
written briefly, through Sylvanus, whom I consider to be a
faithful brother to you, begging and testifying that this is the
true grace of God, in which you have been established.
{5:13} The Church which is in Babylon, elect together with
you, greets you, as does my son, Mark. {5:14} Greet one
another with a holy kiss. Grace be to all of you who are in
Christ Jesus. Amen.


** The Second Letter of Peter **


[2 Peter 1] {1:1} Simon Peter, servant and Apostle of Jesus
Christ, to those who have been allotted an equal faith with us
in the justice of our God and in our Savior Jesus Christ.
{1:2} Grace to you. And may peace be fulfilled according to
the plan of God and of Christ Jesus our Lord, {1:3} in the
same manner that all things which are for life and piety have
been given to us by his Divine virtue, through the plan of him
who has called us to our own glory and virtue. {1:4} Through
Christ, he has given us the greatest and most precious
promises, so that by these things you may become sharers in
the Divine Nature, fleeing from the corruption of that desire
which is in the world. {1:5} But as for you, taking up every
concern, minister virtue in your faith; and in virtue,
knowledge; {1:6} and in knowledge, moderation; and in
moderation, patience; and in patience, piety; {1:7} and in
piety, love of brotherhood; and in love of brotherhood,
charity. {1:8} For if these things are with you, and if they
abound, they will cause you to be neither empty, nor without
fruit, within the plan of our Lord Jesus Christ. {1:9} For he
who does not have these things at hand is blind and groping,
being forgetful of his purification from his former offenses.
{1:10} Because of this, brothers, be all the more diligent, so
that by good works you may make certain your calling and
election. For in doing these things, you do not sin at any time.
{1:11} For in this way, you shall be provided abundantly
with an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. {1:12} For this reason, I will always
begin to admonish you about these things, even though,
certainly, you know them and are confirmed in the present
truth. {1:13} But I consider it just, as long as I am in this
tabernacle, to stir you up with admonishments. {1:14} For it
is certain that the laying to rest of this, my tabernacle, is
approaching swiftly, just as our Lord Jesus Christ has also
indicated to me. {1:15} Therefore, I will present a work for
you to have, so that, frequently after my passing, you may
call to mind these things. {1:16} For it was not by following
fanciful doctrines that we made known to you the power and
presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were made
eyewitnesses of his greatness. {1:17} For he received honor
and glory from God the Father, whose voice descended to
him from the magnificent glory: “This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.” {1:18} We also
heard this voice conveyed from heaven, when we were with
him on the holy mountain. {1:19} And so, we have an even
firmer prophetic word, to which you would do well to listen,
as to a light shining within a dark place, until the day dawns,
and the daystar rises, in your hearts. {1:20} Understand this
first: that every prophecy of Scripture does not result from
one’s own interpretation. {1:21} For prophecy was not
conveyed by human will at any time. Instead, holy men were
speaking about God while inspired by the Holy Spirit.


[2 Peter 2] {2:1} But there were also false prophets among
the people, just as there will be among you lying teachers,
who will introduce divisions of perdition, and they will deny
him who bought them, the Lord, bringing upon themselves
swift destruction. {2:2} And many persons will follow their
indulgences; through such persons, the way of truth will be
blasphemed. {2:3} And in avarice, they will negotiate about
you with false words. Their judgment, in the near future, is
not delayed, and their perdition does not sleep. {2:4} For
God did not spare those Angels who sinned, but instead
delivered them, as if dragged down by infernal ropes, into the
torments of the underworld, to be reserved unto judgment.
{2:5} And he did not spare the original world, but he
preserved the eighth one, Noah, the herald of justice, bringing
the flood upon the world of the impious. {2:6} And he
reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes,
condemning them to be overthrown, setting them as an
example to anyone who might act impiously. {2:7} And he
rescued a just man, Lot, who was oppressed by the unjust
and lewd behavior of the wicked. {2:8} For in seeing and in
hearing, he was just, though he lived with those who, from
day to day, crucified the just soul with works of iniquity.
{2:9} Thus, the Lord knows how to rescue the pious from
trials, and how to reserve the iniquitous for torments on the
day of judgment; {2:10} even more so, those who walk after
the flesh in unclean desires, and who despise proper authority.
Boldly pleasing themselves, they do not dread to introduce
divisions by blaspheming; {2:11} whereas the Angels, who
are greater in strength and virtue, did not bring against
themselves such a deplorable judgment. {2:12} Yet truly,
these others, like irrational beasts, naturally fall into traps and
into ruin by blaspheming whatever they do not understand,
and so they shall perish in their corruption, {2:13} receiving
the reward of injustice, the fruition of valuing the delights of
the day: defilements and stains, overflowing with self-
indulgences, taking pleasure in their feasts with you,
{2:14} having eyes full of adultery and of incessant offenses,
luring unstable souls, having a heart well-trained in avarice,
sons of curses! {2:15} Abandoning the straight path, they
wandered astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son
of Beor, who loved the wages of iniquity. {2:16} Yet truly, he
had a correction of his madness: the mute animal under the
yoke, which, by speaking with a human voice, forbid the folly
of the prophet. {2:17} These ones are like fountains without
water, and like clouds stirred up by whirlwinds. For them,
the mist of darkness is reserved. {2:18} For, speaking with
the arrogance of vanity, they lure, by the desires of fleshly
pleasures, those who are fleeing to some extent, who are
being turned from error, {2:19} promising them freedoms,
while they themselves are the servants of corruption. For by
whatever a man is overcome, of this also is he the servant.
{2:20} For if, after taking refuge from the defilements of the
world in the understanding of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ, they again become entangled and overcome by these
things, then the latter state becomes worse than the former.
{2:21} For it would have been better for them not to have
known the way of justice than, after acknowledging it, to turn
away from that holy commandment which was handed on to
them. {2:22} For the truth of the proverb has happened to
them: The dog has returned to his own vomit, and the
washed sow has returned to her wallowing in the mud.


[2 Peter 3] {3:1} Consider, most beloved, this second epistle
which I am writing to you, in which I stir up, by admonition,
your sincere mind, {3:2} so that you may be mindful of those
words that I preached to you from the holy prophets, and of
the precepts of the Apostles of your Lord and Savior.
{3:3} Know this first: that in the last days there will arrive
deceitful mockers, walking according to their own desires,
{3:4} saying: “Where is his promise or his advent? For from
the time that the fathers have slept, all things have continued
just as they were from the beginning of creation.” {3:5} But
they willfully ignore this: that the heavens existed first, and
that the earth, from water and through water, was established
by the Word of God. {3:6} By water, the former world then,
having been inundated with water, perished. {3:7} But the
heavens and the earth that exist now were restored by the
same Word, being reserved unto fire on the day of judgment,
and unto the perdition of impious men. {3:8} Yet truly, let
this one thing not escape notice, most beloved, that with the
Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years
is like one day. {3:9} The Lord is not delaying his promise, as
some imagine, but he does act patiently for your sake, not
wanting anyone to perish, but wanting all to be turned back
to penance. {3:10} Then the day of the Lord shall arrive like
a thief. On that day, the heavens shall pass away with great
violence, and truly the elements shall be dissolved with heat;
then the earth, and the works that are within it, shall be
completely burned up. {3:11} Therefore, since all these things
will be dissolved, what kind of people ought you to be? In
behavior and in piety, be holy, {3:12} waiting for, and
hurrying toward, the advent of the day of the Lord, by which
the burning heavens shall be dissolved, and the elements shall
melt from the heat of the fire. {3:13} Yet truly, in accord with
his promises, we are looking forward to the new heavens and
the new earth, in which justice lives. {3:14} Therefore, most
beloved, while awaiting these things, be diligent, so that you
may be found to be immaculate and unassailable before him,
in peace. {3:15} And let the longsuffering of our Lord be
considered salvation, as also our most beloved brother Paul,
according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
{3:16} just as he also spoke in all of his epistles about these
things. In these, there are certain things which are difficult to
understand, which the unlearned and the unsteady distort, as
they also do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
{3:17} But since you, brothers, know these things beforehand,
be cautious, lest by being drawn into the error of the foolish,
you may fall away from your own steadfastness. {3:18} Yet
truly, increase in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory, both now and in the
day of eternity. Amen.


** The First Letter of John **


[1 John 1] {1:1} He who was from the beginning, whom we
have heard, whom we have seen with our eyes, upon whom
we have gazed, and whom our hands have certainly touched:
He is the Word of Life. {1:2} And that Life has been made
manifest. And we have seen, and we testify, and we
announce to you: the Eternal Life, who was with the Father,
and who appeared to us. {1:3} He whom we have seen and
heard, we announce to you, so that you, too, may have
fellowship with us, and so that our fellowship may be with
the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. {1:4} And this we
write to you, so that you may rejoice, and so that your joy
may be full. {1:5} And this is the announcement which we
have heard from him, and which we announce to you: that
God is light, and in him there is no darkness. {1:6} If we
claim that we have fellowship with him, and yet we walk in
darkness, then we are lying and not telling the truth.
{1:7} But if we walk in the light, just as he also is in the light,
then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of
Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. {1:8} If we
claim that we have no sin, then we are deceiving ourselves
and the truth is not in us. {1:9} If we confess our sins, then he
is faithful and just, so as to forgive us our sins and to cleanse
us from all iniquity. {1:10} If we claim that we have not
sinned, then we make him a liar, and his Word is not in us.


[1 John 2] {2:1} My little sons, this I write to you, so that
you may not sin. But if anyone has sinned, we have an
Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Just One.
{2:2} And he is the propitiation for our sins. And not only for
our sins, but also for those of the whole world. {2:3} And we
can be sure that we have known him by this: if we observe his
commandments. {2:4} Whoever claims that he knows him,
and yet does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the
truth is not in him. {2:5} But whoever keeps his word, truly
in him the charity of God is perfected. And by this we know
that we are in him. {2:6} Whoever declares himself to remain
in him, ought to walk just as he himself walked. {2:7} Most
beloved, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but
the old commandment, which you had from the beginning.
The old commandment is the Word, which you have heard.
{2:8} Then too, I am writing to you a new commandment,
which is the Truth in him and in you. For the darkness has
passed away, and the true Light is now shining.
{2:9} Whoever declares himself to be in the light, and yet
hates his brother, is in the darkness even now.
{2:10} Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and
there is no cause of offense in him. {2:11} But whoever hates
his brother is in the darkness, and in darkness he walks, and
he does not know where he is going. For the darkness has
blinded his eyes. {2:12} I am writing to you, little sons,
because your sins are forgiven for the sake of his name.
{2:13} I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known
him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you,
adolescents, because you have overcome the evil one.
{2:14} I am writing to you, little children, because you have
known the Father. I am writing to you, young men, because
you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you
have overcome the evil one. {2:15} Do not choose to love the
world, nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves
the world, the charity of the Father is not in him. {2:16} For
all that is in the world is the desire of the flesh, and the desire
of the eyes, and the arrogance of a life which is not of the
Father, but is of the world. {2:17} And the world is passing
away, with its desire. But whoever does the will of God
abides unto eternity. {2:18} Little sons, it is the last hour.
And, as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, so now
many antichrists have arrived. By this, we know that it is the
last hour. {2:19} They went out from among us, but they
were not of us. For, if they had been of us, certainly they
would have remained with us. But in this way, it is made
manifest that none of them are of us. {2:20} Yet you have the
anointing of the Holy One, and you know everything.
{2:21} I have not written to you as to ones who are ignorant
of the truth, but as to ones who know the truth. For no lie is
of the truth. {2:22} Who is a liar, other than he who denies
that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the Antichrist, who denies
the Father and the Son. {2:23} No one who denies the Son
also has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son, also has the
Father. {2:24} As for you, let what you have heard from the
beginning remain in you. If what you have heard from the
beginning remains in you, then you, too, shall abide in the
Son and in the Father. {2:25} And this is the Promise, which
he himself has promised to us: Eternal Life. {2:26} I have
written these things to you, because of those who would
seduce you. {2:27} But as for you, let the Anointing that you
have received from him abide in you. And so, you have no
need of anyone to teach you. For his Anointing teaches you
about everything, and it is the truth, and it is not a lie. And
just as his Anointing has taught you, abide in him.
{2:28} And now, little sons, abide in him, so that when he
appears, we may have faith, and we may not be confounded
by him at his advent. {2:29} If you know that he is just, then
know, too, that all who do what is just are born of him.


[1 John 3] {3:1} See what kind of love the Father has given
to us, that we would be called, and would become, the sons
of God. Because of this, the world does not know us, for it
did not know him. {3:2} Most beloved, we are now the sons
of God. But what we shall be then has not yet appeared. We
know that when he does appear, we shall be like him, for we
shall see him as he is. {3:3} And everyone who holds this
hope in him, keeps himself holy, just as he also is holy.
{3:4} Everyone who commits a sin, also commits iniquity.
For sin is iniquity. {3:5} And you know that he appeared in
order that he might take away our sins. For in him there is no
sin. {3:6} Everyone who abides in him does not sin. For
whoever sins has not seen him, and has not known him.
{3:7} Little sons, let no one deceive you. Whoever does
justice is just, even as he also is just. {3:8} Whoever commits
sin is of the devil. For the devil sins from the beginning. For
this reason, the Son of God appeared, so that he might
eradicate the works of the devil. {3:9} All those who have
been born of God do not commit sin. For the offspring of
God abides in them, and he is not able to sin, because he was
born of God. {3:10} In this way, the sons of God are made
manifest, and also the sons of the devil. Everyone who is not
just, is not of God, as also anyone who does not love his
brother. {3:11} For this is the announcement that you heard
from the beginning: that you should love one another.
{3:12} Do not be like Cain, who was of the evil one, and who
killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because his own
works were wicked, but his brother’s works were just.
{3:13} If the world hates you, brothers, do not be surprised.
{3:14} We know that we have passed from death to life. For
we love as brothers. Whoever does not love, abides in death.
{3:15} Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. And
you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding within
him. {3:16} We know the love of God in this way: because
he laid down his life for us. And so, we must lay down our
lives for our brothers. {3:17} Whoever possesses the goods of
this world, and sees his brother to be in need, and yet closes
his heart to him: in what way does the love of God abide in
him? {3:18} My little sons, let us not love in words only, but
in works and in truth. {3:19} In this way, we will know that
we are of the truth, and we will commend our hearts in his
sight. {3:20} For even if our heart reproaches us, God is
greater than our heart, and he knows all things. {3:21} Most
beloved, if our heart does not reproach us, we can have
confidence toward God; {3:22} and whatever we shall
request of him, we shall receive from him. For we keep his
commandments, and we do the things that are pleasing in his
sight. {3:23} And this is his commandment: that we should
believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one
another, just as he has commanded us. {3:24} And those who
keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. And
we know that he abides in us by this: by the Spirit, whom he
has given to us.


[1 John 4] {4:1} Most beloved, do not be willing to believe
every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are of God. For
many false prophets have gone out into the world. {4:2} The
Spirit of God may be known in this way. Every spirit who
confesses that Jesus Christ has arrived in the flesh is of God;
{4:3} and every spirit who contradicts Jesus is not of God.
And this one is the Antichrist, the one that you have heard is
coming, and even now he is in the world. {4:4} Little sons,
you are of God, and so you have overcome him. For he who
is in you is greater than he who is in the world. {4:5} They
are of the world. Therefore, they speak about the world, and
the world listens to them. {4:6} We are of God. Whoever
knows God, listens to us. Whoever is not of God, does not
listen to us. In this way, we know the Spirit of truth from the
spirit of error. {4:7} Most beloved, let us love one another.
For love is of God. And everyone who loves is born of God
and knows God. {4:8} Whoever does not love, does not
know God. For God is love. {4:9} The love of God was
made apparent to us in this way: that God sent his only-
begotten Son into the world, so that we might live through
him. {4:10} In this is love: not as if we had loved God, but
that he first loved us, and so he sent his Son as a propitiation
for our sins. {4:11} Most beloved, if God has so loved us, we
also ought to love one another. {4:12} No one has ever seen
God. But if we love one another, God abides in us, and his
love is perfected in us. {4:13} In this way, we know that we
abide in him, and he in us: because he has given to us from
his Spirit. {4:14} And we have seen, and we testify, that the
Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
{4:15} Whoever has confessed that Jesus is the Son of God,
God abides in him, and he in God. {4:16} And we have
known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love.
And he who abides in love, abides in God, and God in him.
{4:17} In this way, the love of God is perfected with us, so
that we may have confidence on the day of judgment. For as
he is, so also are we, in this world. {4:18} Fear is not in love.
Instead, perfect love casts out fear, for fear pertains to
punishment. And whoever fears is not perfected in love.
{4:19} Therefore, let us love God, for God first loved us.
{4:20} If anyone says that he loves God, but hates his brother,
then he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother, whom
he does see, in what way can he love God, whom he does not
see? {4:21} And this is the commandment that we have from
God, that he who loves God must also love his brother.


[1 John 5] {5:1} Everyone who believes that Jesus is the
Christ, is born of God. And everyone who loves God, who
provides that birth, also loves him who has been born of God.
{5:2} In this way, we know that we love those born of God:
when we love God and do his commandments. {5:3} For this
is the love of God: that we keep his commandments. And his
commandments are not heavy. {5:4} For all that is born of
God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that
overcomes the world: our faith. {5:5} Who is it that
overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the
Son of God! {5:6} This is the One who came by water and
blood: Jesus Christ. Not by water only, but by water and
blood. And the Spirit is the One who testifies that the Christ
is the Truth. {5:7} For there are Three who give testimony in
heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. And these
Three are One. {5:8} And there are three who give testimony
on earth: the Spirit, and the water, and the blood. And these
three are one. {5:9} If we accept the testimony of men, then
the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony of
God, which is greater: that he has testified about his Son.
{5:10} Whoever believes in the Son of God, holds the
testimony of God within himself. Whoever does not believe
in the Son, makes him a liar, because he does not believe in
the testimony which God has testified about his Son.
{5:11} And this is the testimony which God has given to us:
Eternal Life. And this Life is in his Son. {5:12} Whoever has
the Son, has Life. Whoever does not have the Son, does not
have Life. {5:13} I am writing this to you, so that you may
know that you have Eternal Life: you who believe in the
name of the Son of God. {5:14} And this is the confidence
which we have toward God: that no matter what we shall
request, in accord with his will, he hears us. {5:15} And we
know that he hears us, no matter what we request; so we
know that we can obtain the things that we request of him.
{5:16} Anyone who realizes that his brother has sinned, with
a sin that is not unto death, let him pray, and life shall be
given to him who has sinned not unto death. There is a sin
which is unto death. I am not saying that anyone should ask
on behalf of that sin. {5:17} All that is iniquity is sin. But
there is a sin unto death. {5:18} We know that everyone who
is born of God does not sin. Instead, rebirth in God preserves
him, and the evil one cannot touch him. {5:19} We know
that we are of God, and that the entire world is established in
wickedness. {5:20} And we know that the Son of God has
arrived, and that he has given us understanding, so that we
may know the true God, and so that we may remain in his
true Son. This is the true God, and this is Eternal Life.
{5:21} Little sons, keep yourselves from false worship. Amen.


+*+ The Second Letter of John **


[2 John 1] {1:1} The Elder to the Elect Lady, and those born
of her, whom I love in the truth: and not I alone, but also all
those who have known the truth, {1:2} because the truth
which dwells in us shall be with us for eternity. {1:3} May
grace, mercy, and peace be with you from God the Father,
and from Christ Jesus, the Son of the Father, in truth and in
love. {1:4} I was very glad because I discovered some of your
sons walking in the truth, just as we received the
commandment from the Father. {1:5} And now I petition
you, Lady, not as if writing a new commandment to you, but
instead that commandment which we have had from the
beginning: that we love one another. {1:6} And this is love:
that we walk according to his commandments. For this is the
commandment that you have heard in the same way from the
beginning, and in which you should walk. {1:7} For many
deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not
confess that Jesus Christ has arrived in the flesh. Such a one
as this is a deceiver and an antichrist. {1:8} Be cautious for
yourselves, lest you lose what you have accomplished, and so
that, instead, you may receive a full reward. {1:9} Everyone
who withdraws and does not remain in the doctrine of Christ,
does not have God. Whoever remains in the doctrine, such a
one as this has both the Father and the Son. {1:10} If anyone
comes to you, and does not bring this doctrine, do not be
willing to receive him into the house, and do not speak a
greeting to him. {1:11} For whoever speaks a greeting to him,
is speaking with his evil works. {1:12} I have much more to
write to you, but I am not willing to do so through paper and
ink. For I hope that I may be with you in the future, and that
I may speak face to face, so that your joy may be full.
{1:13} The sons of your Elect Sister greet you.


** The Third Letter of John **


[3 John 1] {1:1} The Elder, to Gaius, most beloved, whom I
love in the truth. {1:2} Most beloved, concerning everything,
I make it my prayer that you may benefit by advancing and
succeeding in whatever may be to the benefit of your soul.
{1:3} I was very glad when the brothers arrived, and when
they offered testimony to the truth in you, that you are
walking in the truth. {1:4} I have no greater grace than this,
when I hear that my sons are walking in the truth. {1:5} Most
beloved, you should act faithfully in whatever you do for the
brothers, and those who are sojourners; {1:6} they have given
testimony to your charity in the sight of the Church. You
would to well to lead these ones worthily to God. {1:7} For
they set out, on behalf of his name, accepting nothing from
the unbelievers. {1:8} Therefore, we must accept such as
these, in order that we may cooperate with the truth.
{1:9} As it happens, I had written to the church. But
Diotrephes, who loves to bear the highest rank among them,
would not accept us. {1:10} Because of this, when I come, I
will admonish his works which he does, babbling against us
with malicious words. And as if this were not sufficient for
him, he himself does not receive the brothers. And those who
do receive them, he hinders, and he ejects them from the
church. {1:11} Most beloved, do not be willing to imitate
what is evil; instead imitate what is good. Whoever does
good is of God. Whoever does evil has not seen God.
{1:12} Testimony is being given for Demetrius by everyone,
and by the truth itself. And we also offer testimony. And you
know that our testimony is true. {1:13} I had many things to
write to you, but I am not willing, through ink and pen, to
write to you. {1:14} Yet I hope to see you soon, and then we
will speak face to face. Peace to you. The friends greet you.
Greet the friends by name.


** The Letter of Jude **


[Jude 1] {1:1} Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of
James, to those who are beloved in God the Father, and who
are guarded and called in Jesus Christ: {1:2} May mercy, and
peace, and love be fulfilled in you. {1:3} Most beloved,
taking all care to write to you about your common salvation,
I found it necessary to write to you in order to beg you to
contend earnestly for the faith that was handed down once to
the saints. {1:4} For certain men entered unnoticed, who
were written of beforehand unto this judgment: impious
persons who are transforming the grace of our God into self-
indulgence, and who are denying both the sole Ruler and our
Lord Jesus Christ. {1:5} So I want to caution you. Those
who once knew everything that Jesus did, in saving the
people from the land of Egypt, afterwards perished because
they did not believe. {1:6} And truly, the Angels, who did
not keep to their first place, but instead abandoned their own
domiciles, he has reserved with perpetual chains under
darkness, unto the great day of judgment. {1:7} And also
Sodom and Gomorrah, and the adjoining cities, in similar
ways, having given themselves over to fornication and to the
pursuing of other flesh, were made an example, suffering the
punishment of eternal fire. {1:8} Similarly also, these ones
certainly defile the flesh, and they despise proper authority,
and they blaspheme against majesty. {1:9} When Michael
the Archangel, disputing with the devil, contended about the
body of Moses, he did not dare to bring against him a
judgment of blasphemy, so instead he said: “The Lord
commands you.” {1:10} But these men certainly blaspheme
against whatever they do not understand. And yet, whatever
they, like mute animals, know from nature, in these things
they are corrupted. {1:11} Woe to them! For they have gone
after the way of Cain, and they have poured out the error of
Balaam for profit, and they have perished in the sedition of
Korah. {1:12} These ones are defiled within their banquets,
enjoying themselves and feeding themselves without fear;
waterless clouds, which are tossed about by winds; autumn
trees, unfruitful, twice dead, uprooted; {1:13} raging waves
of the sea, foaming from their own confusion; wandering
stars, for whom the whirlwind of darkness has been reserved
forever! {1:14} And about these, Enoch, the seventh from
Adam, also prophesied, saying: “Behold, the Lord is arriving
with thousands of his saints, {1:15} to execute judgment
against everyone, and to reprove all the impious concerning
all the works of their impiety, by which they have acted
impiously, and concerning all the harsh things that impious
sinners have spoken against God.” {1:16} These ones are
complaining murmurers, walking according to their own
desires. And their mouth is speaking arrogance, admiring
persons for the sake of gain. {1:17} But as for you, most
beloved, be mindful of the words which have been foretold by
the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, {1:18} who declared to
you that, in the end time, there would arrive mockers,
walking according to their own desires, in impieties.
{1:19} These are the ones who segregate themselves; they are
animals, not having the Spirit. {1:20} But you, most beloved,
are building yourselves up by your most holy faith, praying in
the Holy Spirit, {1:21} keeping yourselves in the love of God,
and anticipating the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto
eternal life. {1:22} So certainly, reprove them, after they have
been judged. {1:23} Yet truly, save them, seizing them from
the fire. And have mercy on others: in fear, hating even that
which is of the flesh, the defiled garment. {1:24} Then, to
him who has the power to keep you free from sin and to
present you, immaculate, with exultation, before the presence
of his glory at the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, {1:25} to
the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord: to
him be glory and magnificence, dominion and power, before
all ages, and now, and in every age, forever. Amen.


** The Revelation of Jesus Christ **


[Revelation 1] {1:1} The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which
God gave to him, in order to make known to his servants the
things that must soon occur, and which he signified by
sending his Angel to his servant John; {1:2} he has offered
testimony to the Word of God, and whatever he saw is the
testimony of Jesus Christ. {1:3} Blessed is he who reads or
hears the words of this Prophecy, and who keeps the things
that have been written in it. For the time is near. {1:4} John,
to the seven Churches, which are in Asia. Grace and peace to
you, from him who is, and who was, and who is to come,
and from the seven spirits who are in the sight of his throne,
{1:5} and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the
first-born of the dead, and the leader over the kings of the
earth, who has loved us and has washed us from our sins
with his blood, {1:6} and who has made us into a kingdom
and into priests for God and for his Father. To him be glory
and dominion forever and ever. Amen. {1:7} Behold, he
arrives with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, even
those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth shall
lament for themselves over him. Even so. Amen. {1:8} “I am
the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says
the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the
Almighty. {1:9} I, John, your brother, and a sharer in the
tribulation and in the kingdom and in patient endurance for
Christ Jesus, was on the island which is called Patmos,
because of the Word of God and the testimony to Jesus.
{1:10} I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard
behind me a great voice, like that of a trumpet, {1:11} saying,
“What you see, write in a book, and send it to the seven
Churches, which are in Asia: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and
to Pergamus, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to
Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” {1:12} And I turned around,
so as to see the voice which was speaking with me. And
having turned around, I saw seven golden lampstands.
{1:13} And in the midst of the seven golden lampstands was
one resembling the Son of man, clothed to the feet with a
vestment, and wrapped to the breast with a wide belt of gold.
{1:14} But his head and hair were bright, like white wool, or
like snow; and his eyes were like a flame of fire; {1:15} and
his feet resembled shining brass, just as in a burning furnace;
and his voice was like the voice of many waters. {1:16} And
in his right hand, he held the seven stars; and from his mouth
went out a sharp two-edged sword; and his face was like the
sun, shining with all its might. {1:17} And when I had seen
him, I fell at his feet, like one who is dead. And he laid his
right hand upon me, saying: “Do not be afraid. I am the First
and the Last. {1:18} And I am alive, though I was dead. And,
behold, I live forever and ever. And I hold the keys of death
and of Hell. {1:19} Therefore, write the things which you
have seen, and which are, and which must occur afterward:
{1:20} the mystery of the seven stars, which you have seen in
my right hand, and of the seven golden lampstands. The
seven stars are the Angels of the seven Churches, and the
seven lampstands are the seven Churches.”


[Revelation 2] {2:1} “And to the Angel of the Church of
Ephesus write: Thus says the One who holds the seven stars
in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden
lampstands: {2:2} I know your works, and your hardship and
patient endurance, and that you cannot stand those who are
evil. And so, you have tested those who declare themselves to
be Apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars.
{2:3} And you have patient endurance for the sake of my
name, and you have not fallen away. {2:4} But I have this
against you: that you have relinquished your first charity.
{2:5} And so, call to mind the place from which you have
fallen, and do penance, and do the first works. Otherwise, I
will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place,
unless you repent. {2:6} But this you have, that you hate the
deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. {2:7} Whoever
has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.
To him who prevails, I will give to eat from the Tree of Life,
which is in the Paradise of my God. {2:8} And to the Angel
of the Church of Smyrna write: Thus says the First and the
Last, he who was dead and now lives: {2:9} I know your
tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich, and that you
are blasphemed by those who declare themselves to be Jews
and are not, but who are a synagogue of Satan. {2:10} You
should fear nothing amid those things which you will suffer.
Behold, the devil will cast some of you into prison, so that
you may be tested. And you will have tribulation for ten days.
Be faithful even unto death, and I will give to you the crown
of life. {2:11} Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the Churches. Whoever will prevail, he shall
not be harmed by the second death. {2:12} And to the Angel
of the Church of Pergamus write: Thus says he who holds the
sharp two-edged spear: {2:13} I know where you dwell,
where the seat of Satan is, and that you hold to my name and
have not denied my faith, even in those days when Antipas
was my faithful witness, who was slain among you, where
Satan dwells. {2:14} But I have a few things against you. For
you have, in that place, those who hold to the doctrine of
Balaam, who instructed Balak to cast a stumbling block
before the sons of Israel, to eat and to commit fornication.
{2:15} And you also have those who hold to the doctrine of
the Nicolaitans. {2:16} So do penance to the same extent. If
you do less, I will come to you quickly and I will fight against
these ones with the sword of my mouth. {2:17} Whoever has
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. To
him who prevails, I will give the hidden manna. And I will
give to him a white emblem, and on the emblem, a new name
has been written, which no one knows, except the one who
receives it. {2:18} And to the Angel of the Church of
Thyatira write: Thus says the Son of God, who has eyes like
a flame of fire, and his feet are like shining brass. {2:19} I
know your works, and your faith and charity, and your
ministry and patient endurance, and that your more recent
works are greater than the earlier ones. {2:20} But I have a
few things against you. For you permit the woman Jezabel,
who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my
servants, to commit fornication and to eat the food of idolatry.
{2:21} And I gave her a time, so that she might do penance,
but she is not willing to repent from her fornication.
{2:22} Behold, I will cast her onto a bed, and those who
commit adultery with her shall be in a very great tribulation,
unless they repent from their works. {2:23} And I will put her
sons to death, and all the Churches shall know that I am the
one who examines temperaments and hearts. And I will give
to each one of you according to your works. But I say to you,
{2:24} and to the others who are at Thyatira: Whoever does
not hold to this doctrine, and who has not ‘known the depths
of Satan,’ as they say, I will not set any other weight upon
you. {2:25} Even so, that which you have, hold on to it until
I return. {2:26} And whoever will prevail and will observe
my works even unto the end, I will give to him authority over
the nations. {2:27} And he shall rule them with an iron rod,
and they shall be broken like the earthenware of a potter.
{2:28} The same I also have received from my Father. And I
will give to him the morning star. {2:29} Whoever has an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.”


[Revelation 3] {3:1} “And to the Angel of the Church of
Sardis write: Thus says he who has the seven spirits of God
and the seven stars: I know your works, that you have a
name which is alive, but you are dead. {3:2} Be vigilant, and
confirm the things that remain, lest they soon die out. For I
do not find your works to be full in the sight of my God.
{3:3} Therefore, keep in mind the way that you have received
and heard, and then observe it and repent. But if you will not
be vigilant, I will come to you like a thief, and you will not
know at what hour I will come to you. {3:4} But you have a
few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments.
And these shall walk with me in white, because they are
worthy. {3:5} Whoever prevails, so shall he be clothed in
white vestments. And I will not delete his name from the
Book of Life. And I will confess his name in the presence of
my Father and in the presence of his Angels. {3:6} Whoever


has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.
{3:7} And to the Angel of the Church of Philadelphia write:
Thus says the Holy One, the True One, he who holds the key
of David. He opens and no one closes. He closes and no one
opens. {3:8} I know your works. Behold, I have set an open
door before you, which no one is able to close. For you have
little power, and you have observed my word, and you have
not denied my name. {3:9} Behold, I will take from the
synagogue of Satan those who declare themselves to be Jews
and are not, for they are lying. Behold, I will cause them to
approach and to reverence before your feet. And they shall
know that I have loved you. {3:10} Since you have kept the
word of my patient endurance, I also will keep you from the
hour of temptation, which shall overcome the whole world in
order to test those living upon the earth. {3:11} Behold, I am
approaching quickly. Hold on to what you have, so that no
one may take your crown. {3:12} Whoever prevails, I will set
him as a column in the temple of my God, and he shall not
depart from it anymore. And I will write upon him the name
of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new
Jerusalem that descends out of heaven from my God, and my
new name. {3:13} Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the Churches. {3:14} And to the Angel of the
Church of Laodicea write: Thus says the Amen, the faithful
and true Witness, who is the Beginning of the creation of
God: {3:15} I know your works: that you are neither cold,
nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. {3:16} But
because you are lukewarm and are neither cold nor hot, I will
begin to vomit you out of my mouth. {3:17} For you declare,
‘I am wealthy, and I have been enriched further, and I have
need of nothing.’ And you do not know that you are
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.
{3:18} I urge you to buy from me gold, tested by fire, so that
you may be enriched and may be clothed in white vestments,
and so that the shame of your nakedness may disappear. And
anoint your eyes with an eye salve, so that you may see.
{3:19} Those whom I love, I rebuke and chastise. Therefore,
be zealous and do penance. {3:20} Behold, I stand at the
door and knock. If anyone will hear my voice and will open
the door to me, I will enter to him, and I will dine with him,
and he with me. {3:21} Whoever prevails, I will grant to him
to sit with me on my throne, just as I also have overcome and
have sat down with my Father on his throne.
{3:22} Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says
to the Churches.”


[Revelation 4] {4:1} After these things, I saw, and behold, a
door was opened in heaven, and the voice that I heard
speaking with me first was like a trumpet, saying: “Ascend to
here, and I will reveal to you what must occur after these
things.” {4:2} And immediately I was in the Spirit. And
behold, a throne had been placed in heaven, and there was
One sitting upon the throne. {4:3} And the One who was
sitting there was similar in appearance to a stone of jasper
and sardius. And there was an iridescence surrounding the
throne, in aspect similar to an emerald. {4:4} And
surrounding the throne were twenty-four smaller thrones.
And upon the thrones, twenty-four elders were sitting,
clothed entirely in white vestments, and on their heads were
gold crowns. {4:5} And from the throne, lightnings and
voices and thunders went forth. And there were seven
burning lamps before the throne, which are the seven spirits
of God. {4:6} And in view of the throne, there was
something that seemed like a sea of glass, similar to crystal.
And in the middle of the throne, and all around the throne,
there were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and in
back. {4:7} And the first living creature resembled a lion, and
the second living creature resembled a calf, and the third
living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living
creature resembled a flying eagle. {4:8} And each of the four
living creatures had upon them six wings, and all around and
within they are full of eyes. And they took no rest, day or
night, from saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God
Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.”
{4:9} And while those living creatures were giving glory and
honor and blessings to the One sitting upon the throne, who
lives forever and ever, {4:10} the twenty-four elders fell
prostrate before the One sitting upon the throne, and they
adored him who lives forever and ever, and they cast their
crowns before the throne, saying: {4:11} “You are worthy, O
Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For
you have created all things, and they became and were
created because of your will.”


[Revelation 5] {5:1} And in the right hand of the One sitting
upon the throne, I saw a book, written inside and out, sealed
with seven seals. {5:2} And I saw a strong Angel,
proclaiming with a great voice, “Who is worthy to open the
book and to break its seals?” {5:3} And no one was able,
neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth, to open
the book, nor to gaze upon it. {5:4} And I wept greatly
because no one was found worthy to open the book, nor to
see it. {5:5} And one of the elders said to me: “Weep not.
Behold, the lion from the tribe of Judah, the root of David,
has prevailed to open the book and to break its seven seals.”
{5:6} And I saw, and behold, in the midst of the throne and
the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a
Lamb was standing, as if it were slain, having seven horns
and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent forth
to all the earth. {5:7} And he approached and received the
book from the right hand of the One sitting upon the throne.
{5:8} And when he had opened the book, the four living
creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the
Lamb, each having stringed instruments, as well as golden
bowls full of fragrances, which are the prayers of the saints.
{5:9} And they were singing a new canticle, saying: “O Lord,
you are worthy to receive the book and to open its seals,
because you were slain and have redeemed us for God, by
your blood, from every tribe and language and people and
nation. {5:10} And you have made us into a kingdom and
into priests for our God, and we shall reign over the earth.”
{5:11} And I saw, and I heard the voice of many Angels
surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders,
(and their number was thousands of thousands) {5:12} saying
with a great voice: “The Lamb who was slain is worthy to
receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and
honor, and glory, and blessing.” {5:13} And every creature
that is in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and all
that is within the sea: I heard them all saying: “To the One
sitting upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing, and
honor, and glory, and authority, forever and ever.”
{5:14} And the four living creatures were saying, “Amen.”
And the twenty-four elders fell down on their faces, and they
adored the One who lives forever and ever.


[Revelation 6] {6:1} And I saw that the Lamb had opened
one of the seven seals. And I heard one of the four living
creatures saying, in a voice like thunder: “Draw near and
see.” {6:2} And I saw, and behold, a white horse. And he
who was sitting upon it was holding a bow, and a crown was
given to him, and he went forth conquering, so that he might
prevail. {6:3} And when he had opened the second seal, I
heard the second living creature saying: “Draw near and
see.” {6:4} And another horse went forth, which was red.
And it was granted to him who was sitting upon it that he
would take peace from the earth, and that they would kill one
another. And a great sword was given to him. {6:5} And
when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third living
creature saying: “Draw near and see.” And behold, a black
horse. And he who was sitting upon it was holding a balance
in his hand. {6:6} And I heard something like a voice in the
midst of the four living creatures saying, “A double measure
of wheat for a denarius, and three double measures of barley
for a denarius, but do no harm to wine and oil.” {6:7} And
when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the
fourth living creature saying: “Draw near and see.”
{6:8} And behold, a pale horse. And he who was sitting upon
it, his name was Death, and Hell was following him. And
authority was given to him over the four parts of the earth, to
destroy by the sword, by famine, and by death, and by the
creatures of the earth. {6:9} And when he had opened the
fifth seal, I saw, under the altar, the souls of those who had
been slain because of the Word of God and because of the
testimony that they held. {6:10} And they were crying out
with a loud voice, saying: “How long, O Holy and True Lord,
will you not judge and not vindicate our blood against those
who dwell upon the earth?” {6:11} And white robes were
given to each of them. And they were told that they should
rest for a brief time, until their fellow servants and their
brothers, who were to be slain even as they were slain, would
be completed. {6:12} And when he had opened the sixth seal,
I saw, and behold, a great earthquake occurred. And the sun
became black, like a haircloth sack, and the entire moon
became like blood. {6:13} And the stars from heaven fell
upon the earth, just as when a fig tree, shaken by a great wind,
drops its immature figs. {6:14} And heaven receded, like a
scroll being rolled up. And every mountain, and the islands,
were moved from their places. {6:15} And the kings of the
earth, and the rulers, and the military leaders, and the
wealthy, and the strong, and everyone, servant and free, hid
themselves in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
{6:16} And they said to the mountains and the rocks: “Fall
over us and hide us from the face of the One sitting upon the
throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. {6:17} For the great
day of their wrath has arrived. And who will be able to
stand?”


[Revelation 7] {7:1} After these things, I saw four Angels
standing above the four corners of the earth, holding the four
winds of the earth, so that they would not blow upon the
earth, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree. {7:2} And I saw
another Angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having
the Seal of the living God. And he cried out, in a great voice,
to the four Angels to whom it was given to harm the earth
and the sea, {7:3} saying: “Do no harm to the earth, nor to
the sea, nor to the trees, until we seal the servants of our God
on their foreheads.” {7:4} And I heard the number of those
who were sealed: one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed,
out of every tribe of the sons of Israel. {7:5} From the tribe of
Judah, twelve thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Ruben,
twelve thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Gad, twelve
thousand were sealed. {7:6} From the tribe of Asher, twelve
thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Naphtali, twelve
thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Manasseh, twelve
thousand were sealed. {7:7} From the tribe of Simeon, twelve
thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Levi, twelve
thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Issachar, twelve
thousand were sealed. {7:8} From the tribe of Zebulun,
twelve thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Joseph,
twelve thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Benjamin,
twelve thousand were sealed. {7:9} After these things, I saw a
great crowd, which no one could number, from all the
nations and tribes and peoples and languages, standing before
the throne and in sight of the Lamb, clothed in white robes,
with palm branches in their hands. {7:10} And they cried out,
with a great voice, saying: “Salvation is from our God, who
sits upon the throne, and from the Lamb.” {7:11} And all the
Angels were standing around the throne, with the elders and
the four living creatures. And they fell upon their faces in
view of the throne, and they worshipped God, {7:12} saying:
“Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving,
honor and power and strength to our God, forever and ever.
Amen.” {7:13} And one of the elders responded and said to
me: “These ones who are clothed in white robes, who are
they? And where did they come from?” {7:14} And I said to
him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me: “These are
the ones who have come out of the great tribulation, and they
have washed their robes and have made them white by the
blood of the Lamb. {7:15} Therefore, they are before the
throne of God, and they serve him, day and night, in his
temple. And the One who sits upon the throne shall dwell
over them. {7:16} They shall not hunger, nor shall they thirst,
anymore. Neither shall the sun beat down upon them, nor
any heat. {7:17} For the Lamb, who is in the midst of the
throne, will rule over them, and he will lead them to the
fountains of the waters of life. And God will wipe away every
tear from their eyes.”


[Revelation 8] {8:1} And when he had opened the seventh
seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
{8:2} And I saw seven Angels standing in the sight of God.
And seven trumpets were given to them. {8:3} And another
Angel approached, and he stood before the altar, holding a
golden censer. And much incense was given to him, so that
he might offer upon the golden altar, which is before the
throne of God, the prayers of all the saints. {8:4} And the
smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended, in
the presence of God, from the hand of the Angel. {8:5} And
the Angel received the golden censer, and he filled it from the
fire of the altar, and he cast it down upon the earth, and there
were thunders and voices and lightnings and a great
earthquake. {8:6} And the seven Angels who hold the seven
trumpets prepared themselves, in order to sound the trumpet.
{8:7} And the first Angel sounded the trumpet. And there
came hail and fire, mixed with blood; and it was cast down
upon the earth. And a third part of the earth was burned, and
a third part of the trees was entirely burned up, and all the
green plants were burned. {8:8} And the second Angel
sounded the trumpet. And something like a great mountain,
burning with fire, was cast down into the sea. And a third
part of the sea became like blood. {8:9} And a third part of
the creatures that were living in the sea died. And a third part
of the ships were destroyed. {8:10} And the third Angel
sounded the trumpet. And a great star fell from heaven,
burning like a torch. And it fell upon a third part of the rivers
and upon the sources of water. {8:11} And the name of the
star is called Wormwood. And a third part of the waters were
turned into wormwood. And many men died from the waters,
because they were made bitter. {8:12} And the fourth Angel
sounded the trumpet. And a third part of the sun, and a third
part of the moon, and a third part of the stars were struck, in
such a way that a third part of them was obscured. And a
third part of the day did not shine, and similarly the night.
{8:13} And I saw, and I heard the voice of a lone eagle flying
through the midst of heaven, calling with a great voice: “Woe,
Woe, Woe, to the inhabitants of the earth, from the
remaining voices of the three Angels, who will soon sound
the trumpet!”


[Revelation 9] {9:1} And the fifth Angel sounded the
trumpet. And I saw upon the earth, a star that had fallen
from heaven, and the key to the well of the abyss was given
to him. {9:2} And he opened the well of the abyss. And the
smoke of the well ascended, like the smoke of a great furnace.
And the sun and the air were obscured by the smoke of the
well. {9:3} And locusts went forth from the smoke of the well
into the earth. And power was given to them, like the power
that the scorpions of the earth have. {9:4} And it was
commanded of them that they must not harm the plants of
the earth, nor anything green, nor any tree, but only those
men who do not have the Seal of God upon their foreheads.
{9:5} And it was given to them that they would not kill them,
but that they would torture them for five months. And their
torture was like the torture of a scorpion, when he strikes a
man. {9:6} And in those days, men will seek death and they
will not find it. And they will desire to die, and death will flee
from them. {9:7} And the likenesses of the locusts resembled
horses prepared for battle. And upon their heads were
something like crowns similar to gold. And their faces were
like the faces of men. {9:8} And they had hair like the hair of
women. And their teeth were like the teeth of lions.
{9:9} And they had breastplates like iron breastplates. And
the noise of their wings was like the noise of many running
horses, rushing to battle. {9:10} And they had tails similar to
scorpions. And there were stingers in their tails, and these
had the power to harm men for five months. {9:11} And they
had over them a king, the Angel of the abyss, whose name in
Hebrew is Doom; in Greek, Destroyer; in Latin,
Exterminator. {9:12} One woe has gone out, but behold,
there are still two woes approaching afterward. {9:13} And
the sixth Angel sounded the trumpet. And I heard a lone
voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before
the eyes of God, {9:14} saying to the sixth Angel who had
the trumpet: “Release the four Angels who were bound at the
great river Euphrates.” {9:15} And the four Angels were
released, who had been prepared for that hour, and day, and
month, and year, in order to kill one third part of men.
{9:16} And the number of the army of horsemen was two
hundred million. For I heard their number. {9:17} And I also
saw the horses in the vision. And those who were sitting
upon them had breastplates of fire and hyacinth and sulphur.
And the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions. And
from their mouths proceeded fire and smoke and sulphur.
{9:18} And one third part of men were slain by these three
afflictions: by the fire and by the smoke and by the sulphur,
which proceeded from their mouths. {9:19} For the power of
these horses is in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails
resemble serpents, having heads; and it is with these that they
cause harm. {9:20} And the rest of men, who were not slain
by these afflictions, did not repent from the works of their
hands, so that they would not worship demons, or idols of
gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which can
neither see, nor hear, nor walk. {9:21} And they did not
repent from their murders, nor from their drugs, nor from
their fornication, nor from their thefts.


[Revelation 10] {10:1} And I saw another strong Angel,
descending from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a
rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun,
and his feet were like columns of fire. {10:2} And he held in
his hand a small open book. And he stationed his right foot
upon the sea, and his left foot upon the land. {10:3} And he
cried out with a great voice, in the manner of a lion roaring.
And when he had cried out, seven thunders uttered their
voices. {10:4} And when the seven thunders had uttered their
voices, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven,
saying to me: “Seal the things that the seven thunders have
spoken, and do not write them.” {10:5} And the Angel,
whom I saw standing upon the sea and upon the land, lifted
up his hand toward heaven. {10:6} And he swore by the One
who lives forever and ever, who created heaven, and the
things that are in it; and the earth, and the things that are in it;
and the sea, and the things that are in it: that the time will not
be any longer, {10:7} but in the days of the voice of the
seventh Angel, when he shall begin to sound the trumpet, the
mystery of God will be completed, just as he has proclaimed
in the Gospel, through his servants the Prophets. {10:8} And
again, I heard a voice from heaven speaking with me and
saying: “Go and receive the open book from the hand of the
Angel who stands upon the sea and upon the land.”
{10:9} And I went to the Angel, saying to him that he should
give the book to me. And he said to me: “Receive the book
and consume it. And it shall cause bitterness in your stomach,
but in your mouth it shall be sweet like honey.” {10:10} And
I received the book from the hand of the Angel, and I
consumed it. And it was sweet like honey in my mouth. And
when I had consumed it, my stomach was made bitter.
{10:11} And he said to me, “It is necessary for you to
prophesy again about many nations and peoples and
languages and kings.”


[Revelation 11] {11:1} And a reed, similar to a staff, was
given to me. And it was said to me: “Rise up and measure the
temple of God, and those who are worshiping in it, and the
altar. {11:2} But the atrium, which is outside of the temple,
set it aside and do not measure it, because it has been given
over to the Gentiles. And they shall trample upon the Holy
City for forty-two months. {11:3} And I will present my two
witnesses, and they shall prophesy for one thousand two
hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. {11:4} These
are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, standing in
the sight of the lord of the earth. {11:5} And if anyone will
want to harm them, fire shall go forth from their mouths, and
it shall devour their enemies. And if anyone will want to
wound them, so must he be slain. {11:6} These have the
power to close up the heavens, so that it may not rain during
the days of their prophesying. And they have power over the
waters, to convert them into blood, and to strike the earth
with every kind of affliction as often as they will. {11:7} And
when they will have finished their testimony, the beast that
ascended from the abyss will make war against them, and
will overcome them, and will kill them. {11:8} And their
bodies shall lie in the streets of the Great City, which is
figuratively called ‘Sodom’ and ‘Egypt,’ the place where their
Lord also was crucified. {11:9} And those from the tribes and
peoples and languages and nations shall be watching their
bodies for three and one half days. And they shall not permit
their bodies to be placed in tombs. {11:10} And the
inhabitants of the earth will rejoice over them, and they will
celebrate, and they will send gifts to one another, because
these two prophets tortured those who were living upon the
earth. {11:11} And after three and one half days, the spirit of
life from God entered into them. And they stood upright on
their feet. And a great fear fell over those who saw them.
{11:12} And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to
them, “Ascend to here!” And they ascended into heaven on a
cloud. And their enemies saw them. {11:13} And at that hour,
a great earthquake occurred. And one tenth part of the City
fell. And the names of the men slain in the earthquake were
seven thousand. And the remainder were thrown into fear,
and they gave glory to the God of heaven. {11:14} The
second woe has gone out, but behold, the third woe
approaches quickly. {11:15} And the seventh Angel sounded
the trumpet. And there were great voices in heaven, saying:
“The kingdom of this world has become our Lord’s and his
Christ’s, and he shall reign forever and ever. Amen.”
{11:16} And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones
in the sight of God, fell upon their faces, and they adored
God, saying: {11:17} “We give thanks to you, Lord God
Almighty, who is, and who was, and who is to come. For
you have taken your great power, and you have reigned.
{11:18} And the nations became angry, but your wrath
arrived, and the time for the dead to be judged, and to render
a reward to your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and
to those who fear your name, small and great, and to
exterminate those who have corrupted the earth.”
{11:19} And the temple of God was opened in heaven. And
the Ark of his Testament was seen in his temple. And there
were lightnings and voices and thunders, and an earthquake,
and great hail.


[Revelation 12] {12:1} And a great sign appeared in heaven:
a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her
feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars.
{12:2} And being with child, she cried out while giving birth,
and she was suffering in order to give birth. {12:3} And
another sign was seen in heaven. And behold, a great red
dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads
were seven diadems. {12:4} And his tail drew down a third
part of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the
dragon stood before the woman, who was about to give birth,
so that, when she had brought forth, he might devour her son.
{12:5} And she brought forth a male child, who was soon to
rule all the nations with an iron rod. And her son was taken
up to God and to his throne. {12:6} And the woman fled into
solitude, where a place was being held ready by God, so that
they might pasture her in that place for one thousand two
hundred and sixty days. {12:7} And there was a great battle
in heaven. Michael and his Angels were battling with the
dragon, and the dragon was fighting, and so were his angels.
{12:8} But they did not prevail, and a place for them was no
longer found in heaven. {12:9} And he was thrown out, that
great dragon, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and
Satan, who seduces the whole world. And he was thrown
down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.
{12:10} And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying: “Now
have arrived salvation and virtue and the kingdom of our
God and the power of his Christ. For the accuser of our
brothers has been cast down, he who accused them before
our God day and night. {12:11} And they overcame him by
the blood of the Lamb and by the word of his testimony. And
they loved not their own lives, even unto death.
{12:12} Because of this, rejoice, O heavens, and all who
dwell within it. Woe to the earth and to the sea! For the devil
has descended to you, holding great anger, knowing that he
has little time.” {12:13} And after the dragon saw that he had
been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who
brought forth the male child. {12:14} And the two wings of a
great eagle were given to the woman, so that she might fly
away, into the desert, to her place, where she is being
nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the
face of the serpent. {12:15} And the serpent sent out from his
mouth, after the woman, water like a river, so that he might
cause her to be carried away by the river. {12:16} But the
earth assisted the woman. And the earth opened her mouth
and absorbed the river, which the dragon sent out from his
mouth. {12:17} And the dragon was angry at the woman.
And so he went away to do battle with the remainder of her
offspring, those who keep the commandments of God and
who hold to the testimony of Jesus Christ. {12:18} And he
stood upon the sand of the sea.


[Revelation 13] {13:1} And I saw a beast ascending from the
sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon its horns
were ten diadems, and upon its heads were names of
blasphemy. {13:2} And the beast that I saw was similar to a
leopard, and its feet were like the feet of a bear, and its mouth
was like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave his own
power and great authority to it. {13:3} And I saw that one of
its heads seemed to be slain unto death, but his deadly wound
was healed. And the entire world was in wonder following
the beast. {13:4} And they worshiped the dragon, who gave
authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying:
“Who is like the beast? And who would be able to fight with
it?” {13:5} And there was given to it a mouth, speaking great
things and blasphemies. And authority was given to him to
act for forty-two months. {13:6} And he opened his mouth in
blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name and his
tabernacle and those who dwell in heaven. {13:7} And it was
given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome
them. And authority was given to him over every tribe and
people and language and nation. {13:8} And all who inhabit
the earth worshiped the beast, those whose names have not
been written, from the origin of the world, in the Book of Life
of the Lamb who was slain. {13:9} If anyone has an ear, let
him hear. {13:10} Whoever will be led into captivity, into
captivity he goes. Whoever will kill with the sword, with the
sword he must be killed. Here is the patient endurance and
faith of the Saints. {13:11} And I saw another beast
ascending from the land. And she had two horns like the
Lamb, but she was speaking like the dragon. {13:12} And she
acted with all the authority of the first beast in his sight. And
she caused the earth, and those dwelling in it, to worship the
first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. {13:13} And she
accomplished great signs, even so that she would cause fire to
descend from the sky to the earth in the sight of men.
{13:14} And she seduced those living on the earth, by means
of the signs that were given to her to perform in the sight of
the beast, saying to those dwelling on the earth that they
should make an image of the beast who had a wound of the
sword and yet lived. {13:15} And it was given to her to give a
spirit to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast
would speak. And she acted so that whoever would not
worship the image of the beast would be slain. {13:16} And
she will cause everyone, small and great, wealthy and poor,
free and servant, to have a character on their right hand or on
their foreheads, {13:17} so that no one may buy or sell,
unless he has the character, or the name of the beast, or the
number of his name. {13:18} Here is wisdom. Whoever has
intelligence, let him determine the number of the beast. For it
is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred and
sixty-six.


[Revelation 14] {14:1} And I saw, and behold, the Lamb
was standing above mount Zion, and with him were one
hundred and forty-four thousand, having his name and the
name of his Father written on their foreheads. {14:2} And I
heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters,
and like the voice of a great thunder. And the voice that I
heard was like that of singers, while playing on their stringed
instruments. {14:3} And they were singing what seemed like
a new canticle before the throne and before the four living
creatures and the elders. And no one was able to recite the
canticle, except those one hundred and forty-four thousand,
who were redeemed from the earth. {14:4} These are the
ones who were not defiled with women, for they are Virgins.
These follow the Lamb wherever he will go. These were
redeemed from men as the first-fruits for God and for the
Lamb. {14:5} And in their mouth, no lie was found, for they
are without flaw before the throne of God. {14:6} And I saw
another Angel, flying through the midst of heaven, holding
the eternal Gospel, so as to evangelize those sitting upon the
earth and those of every nation and tribe and language and
people, {14:7} saying with a loud voice: “Fear the Lord, and
give honor to him, for the hour of his judgment has arrived.
And worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and
the sources of water.” {14:8} And another Angel followed,
saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who inebriated all
nations with the wine of her wrath and of fornication.”
{14:9} And the third Angel followed them, saying with a
great voice: “If anyone has worshiped the beast, or his image,
or has received his character on his forehead or on his hand,
{14:10} he shall drink also from the wine of the wrath of God,
which has been mixed with strong wine in the cup of his
wrath, and he shall be tortured with fire and sulphur in the
sight of the holy Angels and before the sight of the Lamb.
{14:11} And the smoke of their torments shall ascend forever
and ever. And they shall have no rest, day or night, those
who have worshiped the beast or his image, or who have
received the character of his name.” {14:12} Here is the
patient endurance of the Saints, those who keep the
commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. {14:13} And I
heard a voice from heaven, saying to me: “Write: Blessed are
the dead, who die in the Lord, now and hereafter, says the
Spirit, so that they may find rest from their labors. For their
works follow them.” {14:14} And I saw, and behold, a white
cloud. And upon the cloud was one sitting, resembling a son
of man, having a crown of gold on his head, and a sharp
sickle in his hand. {14:15} And another Angel went forth
from the temple, crying out in a great voice to the one sitting
upon the cloud: “Send out your sickle and reap! For the hour
of reaping has arrived, because the harvest of the earth has
ripened.” {14:16} And the one who was sitting upon the
cloud sent out his sickle to the earth, and the earth was
reaped. {14:17} And another Angel went forth from the
temple that is in heaven; he also had a sharp sickle.
{14:18} And another Angel went forth from the altar, who
held power over fire. And he cried out in a great voice to him
who held the sharp sickle, saying: “Send out your sharp sickle,
and harvest the clusters of grapes from the vineyard of the
earth, because its grapes have matured.” {14:19} And the
Angel sent out his sharp sickle to the earth, and he harvested
the vineyard of the earth, and he cast it into the great basin of
the wrath of God. {14:20} And the basin was trodden beyond
the city, and blood went forth from the basin, even as high as
the harnesses of horses, out to one thousand six hundred
stadia.


[Revelation 15] {15:1} And I saw another sign in heaven,
great and wondrous: seven Angels, holding the seven last
afflictions. For with them, the wrath of God is completed.
{15:2} And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with
fire. And those who had overcome the beast and his image
and the number of his name, were standing upon the sea of
glass, holding the harps of God, {15:3} and singing the
canticle of Moses, the servant of God, and the canticle of the
Lamb, saying: “Great and wondrous are your works, Lord
God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of all ages.
{15:4} Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and magnify your
name? For you alone are blessed. For all nations shall
approach and adore in your sight, because your judgments
are manifest.” {15:5} And after these things, I saw, and
behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in
heaven was opened. {15:6} And the seven Angels went forth
from the temple, holding the seven afflictions, clothed with
clean white linen, and girded around the chest with wide
golden belts. {15:7} And one of the four living creatures gave
to the seven Angels seven golden bowls, filled with the wrath
of God, of the One who lives forever and ever. {15:8} And
the temple was filled with smoke from the majesty of God
and from his power. And no one was able to enter into the
temple, until the seven afflictions of the seven Angels were
completed.


[Revelation 16] {16:1} And I heard a great voice from the
temple, saying to the seven Angels: “Go forth and pour out
the seven bowls of the wrath of God upon the earth.”
{16:2} And the first Angel went forth and poured out his
bowl upon the earth. And a severe and most grievous wound
occurred upon the men who had the character of the beast,
and upon those who adored the beast or its image.
{16:3} And the second Angel poured out his bowl upon the
sea. And it became like the blood of the dead, and every
living creature in the sea died. {16:4} And the third Angel
poured out his bowl upon the rivers and the sources of water,
and these became blood. {16:5} And I heard the Angel of the
waters saying: “You are just, O Lord, who is and who was:
the Holy One who has judged these things. {16:6} For they
have shed the blood of the Saints and the Prophets, and so
you have given them blood to drink. For they deserve this.”
{16:7} And from the altar, I heard another one, saying,
“Even now, O Lord God Almighty, your judgments are true
and just.” {16:8} And the fourth Angel poured out his bowl
upon the sun. And it was given to him to afflict men with
heat and fire. {16:9} And men were scorched by the great
heat, and they blasphemed the name of God, who holds
power over these afflictions, but they did not repent, so as to
give him glory. {16:10} And the fifth Angel poured out his
bowl upon the throne of the beast. And his kingdom became
darkened, and they gnawed at their tongues out of anguish.
{16:11} And they blasphemed the God of heaven, because of
their anguish and wounds, but they did not repent from their
works. {16:12} And the sixth Angel poured out his bowl
upon that great river Euphrates. And its water dried up, so
that a way might be prepared for the kings from the rising of
the sun. {16:13} And I saw, from the mouth of the dragon,
and from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the
false prophetess, three unclean spirits go out in the manner of
frogs. {16:14} For these are the spirits of the demons that
were causing the signs. And they advance to the kings of the
entire earth, to gather them for battle on the great day of
Almighty God. {16:15} “Behold, I arrive like a thief. Blessed
is he who is vigilant and who preserves his vestment, lest he
walk naked and they see his disgrace.” {16:16} And he shall
gather them together at a place which is called, in Hebrew,
Armageddon. {16:17} And the seventh Angel poured out his
bowl upon the air. And a great voice went out of the temple
from the throne, saying: “It is done.” {16:18} And there were
lightnings and voices and thunders. And a great earthquake
occurred, of a kind such as has never happened since men
have been upon the earth, so great was this kind of
earthquake. {16:19} And the Great City became divided into
three parts. And the cities of the Gentiles fell. And Babylon
the great came to mind before God, to give her the cup of the
wine of the indignation of his wrath. {16:20} And every
island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
{16:21} And hail as heavy as a talent descended from the sky
upon men. And men blasphemed God, because of the
affliction of the hail, for it was exceedingly great.


[Revelation 17] {17:1} And one of the seven Angels, those
who hold the seven bowls, approached and spoke with me,
saying: “Come, I will show you the condemnation of the
great harlot, who sits upon many waters. {17:2} With her,
the kings of the earth have fornicated. And those who inhabit
the earth have been inebriated by the wine of her
prostitution.” {17:3} And he carried me away in spirit to the
desert. And I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast, filled
with names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
{17:4} And the woman was clothed all around with purple
and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and
pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand, filled with the
abomination and with the filth of her fornication. {17:5} And
a name was written upon her forehead: Mystery, Babylon the
great, the mother of the fornications and the abominations of
the earth. {17:6} And I saw that the woman was inebriated
from the blood of the saints and from the blood of the
martyrs of Jesus. And I was amazed, when I had seen her,
with a great wonder. {17:7} And the Angel said to me: “Why
do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and
of the beast that carries her, which has seven heads and ten
horns. {17:8} The beast that you saw, was, and is not, and is
soon to ascend from the abyss. And he goes forth unto
destruction. And the inhabitants upon the earth (those whose
names have not been written in the Book of Life from the
foundation of the world) shall be amazed upon seeing the
beast who was and is not. {17:9} And this is for one who
understands, who has wisdom: the seven heads are seven
mountains, upon which the woman sits, and they are seven
kings. {17:10} Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not
yet arrived. And when he arrives, he must remain for a brief
time. {17:11} And the beast who was, and is not, the same is
also the eighth, and he is of the seven, and he goes forth unto
destruction. {17:12} And the ten horns that you saw are ten
kings; these have not yet received a kingdom, but they shall
receive authority, as if they were kings, for one hour, after the
beast. {17:13} These hold to one plan, and they shall hand
over their power and authority to the beast. {17:14} These
shall fight against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall conquer
them. For he is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. And
those who are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”
{17:15} And he said to me: “The waters that you saw, where
the harlot sits, are peoples and nations and languages.
{17:16} And the ten horns that you saw on the beast, these
shall hate the woman who fornicates, and they shall make
her desolate and naked, and they shall chew her flesh, and
they shall burn her completely with fire. {17:17} For God has
granted to their hearts that they may do to her whatever is
pleasing, so that they may give their kingdom to the beast,
until the words of God may be completed. {17:18} And the
woman that you saw is the great City, which holds a
kingdom above that of the kings of the earth.”


[Revelation 18] {18:1} And after these things, I saw another
Angel, descending from heaven, having great authority. And
the earth was illuminated by his glory. {18:2} And he cried
out with strength, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.
And she has become the habitation of demons, and the
keepsake of every unclean spirit, and the possession of every
unclean and hateful flying thing. {18:3} For all the nations
have imbibed the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And
the kings of the earth have fornicated with her. And the
merchants of the earth have become wealthy by the power of
her pleasures.” {18:4} And I heard another voice from
heaven, saying: “Go away from her, my people, so that you
may not be participants in her pleasures, and so that you may
not be recipients of her afflictions. {18:5} For her sins have
pierced through even to heaven, and the Lord has
remembered her iniquities. {18:6} Render to her, as she has
also rendered to you. And repay her doubly, according to her
works. Mix for her a double portion, in the cup with which
she mixed. {18:7} As much as she has glorified herself and
lived in pleasure, so much so give to her torment and grief.
For in her heart, she has said: ‘I am enthroned as queen,’ and,
‘Tam not a widow,’ and, ‘I shall not see sorrow.’ {18:8} For
this reason, her afflictions shall arrive in one day: death and
grief and famine. And she shall be burned with fire. For God,
who will judge her, is strong. {18:9} And the kings of the
earth, who have fornicated with her and lived in luxury, shall
weep and mourn for themselves over her, when they see the
smoke of her conflagration, {18:10} standing far away, out of
fear of her torments, saying: ‘Woe! Woe! to Babylon, that
great city, that strong city. For in one hour, your judgment
has arrived.’ {18:11} And the businessmen of the earth shall
weep and mourn over her, because no one will buy their
merchandise anymore: {18:12} merchandise of gold and
silver and precious stones and pearls, and of fine linen and
purple and silk and scarlet, and of every citrus tree wood, and
of every tool of ivory, and of every tool from precious stone
and brass and iron and marble, {18:13} and of cinnamon and
black cardamom, and of fragrances and ointments and
incense, and of wine and oil and fine flour and wheat, and of
beasts of burden and sheep and horses and four-wheeled
wagons, and of slaves and the souls of men. {18:14} And the
fruits of the desires of your soul have gone away from you.
And all things fat and splendid have perished from you. And
they shall never find these things again. {18:15} The
merchants of these things, who were made wealthy, shall
stand far away from her, out of fear of her torments, weeping
and mourning, {18:16} and saying: ‘Woe! Woe! to that great
city, which was clothed with fine linen and purple and scarlet,
and which was adorned with gold and precious stones and
pearls.’ {18:17} For such great wealth was brought to
destitution in one hour. And every shipmaster, and all who
navigate on lakes, and mariners, and those who work at sea,
stood far away. {18:18} And they cried out, seeing the place
of her conflagration, saying: ‘What city resembles this great
city?’ {18:19} And they cast dust upon their heads. And they
cried out, weeping and mourning, saying: ‘Woe! Woe! to that
great city, by which all who had ships at sea were made rich
from her treasures. For she has been made desolate in one
hour. {18:20} Exult over her, O heaven, O holy Apostles and
Prophets. For God has judged your judgment upon her.’ ”
{18:21} And a certain strong Angel took up a stone, similar
to a great millstone, and he cast it into the sea, saying: “With
this force shall Babylon, that great city, be cast down. And
she shall never be found again. {18:22} And the sound of
singers, and musicians, and flute and trumpet players shall
not be heard in you again. And every artisan of every art shall
not be found in you again. And the sound of the mill shall
not be heard in you again. {18:23} And the light of the lamp
shall not shine in you again. And the voice of the groom and
of the bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your
merchants were the leaders of the earth. For all the nations
were led astray by your drugs. {18:24} And in her was found
the blood of the Prophets and of the Saints, and of all who
were slain upon the earth.”


[Revelation 19] {19:1} After these things, I heard something
like the voice of many multitudes in heaven, saying: “Alleluia!
Praise and glory and power is for our God. {19:2} For true
and just are his judgments, he who has judged the great
harlot that corrupted the earth by her prostitution. And he
has vindicated the blood of his servants from her hands.”
{19:3} And again, they said: “Alleluia! For her smoke
ascends forever and ever.” {19:4} And the twenty-four elders
and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God,
sitting upon the throne, saying: “Amen! Alleluia!”
{19:5} And a voice went out from the throne, saying:
“Express praise to our God, all you his servants, and you
who fear him, small and great.” {19:6} And I heard
something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the
voice of many waters, and like the voice of great thunders,
saying: “Alleluia! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, has
reigned. {19:7} Let us be glad and exult. And let us give glory
to him. For the marriage feast of the Lamb has arrived, and
his wife has prepared herself.” {19:8} And it was granted to
her that she should cover herself with fine linen, splendid and
white. For the fine linen is the justifications of the Saints.
{19:9} And he said to me: “Write: Blessed are those who
have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he
said to me, “These words of God are true.” {19:10} And I fell
down before his feet, to adore him. And he said to me: “Be
careful not to do so. I am your fellow servant, and I am
among your brothers, who hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Adore God. For the testimony of Jesus is a spirit of
prophecy.” {19:11} And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a
white horse. And he who was sitting upon it was called
Faithful and True. And with justice does he judge and fight.
{19:12} And his eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head
are many diadems, having a name written, which no one
knows except himself. {19:13} And he was clothed with a
vestment sprinkled with blood. And his name is called: THE
WORD OF GOD. {19:14} And the armies that are in heaven
were following him on white horses, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean. {19:15} And from his mouth proceeded a
sharp two-edged sword, so that with it he may strike the
nations. And he shall rule them with an iron rod. And he
treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.
{19:16} And he has on his garment and on his thigh written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. {19:17} And I
saw a certain Angel, standing in the sun. And he cried out
with a great voice, saying to all the birds that were flying
through the midst of the sky, “Come and gather together for
the great supper of God, {19:18} so that you may eat the
flesh of kings, and the flesh of tribunes, and the flesh of the
strong, and the flesh of horses and those sitting on them, and
the flesh of all: free and servant, small and great.”
{19:19} And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and
their armies, having been gathered together to do battle
against him who was sitting upon the horse, and against his
army. {19:20} And the beast was apprehended, and with him
the false prophetess, who in his presence caused the signs, by
which she seduced those who accepted the character of the
beast and who worshiped his image. These two were cast
alive into the pool of fire burning with sulphur. {19:21} And
the others were slain by the sword that proceeds from the
mouth of him who was sitting upon the horse. And all the
birds were sated with their flesh.


[Revelation 20] {20:1} And I saw an Angel, descending from
heaven, holding in his hand the key of the abyss and a great
chain. {20:2} And he apprehended the dragon, the ancient
serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and he bound him for a
thousand years. {20:3} And he cast him into the abyss, and
he closed and sealed it, so that he would no longer seduce the
nations, until the thousand years are completed. And after
these things, he must be released for a brief time. {20:4} And
I saw thrones. And they sat upon them. And judgment was
given to them. And the souls of those beheaded because of
the testimony of Jesus and because of the Word of God, and
who did not adore the beast, nor his image, nor accept his
character on their foreheads or on their hands: they lived and
they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. {20:5} The rest
of the dead did not live, until the thousand years are
completed. This is the First Resurrection. {20:6} Blessed and
holy is he who takes part in the First Resurrection. Over these
the second death has no power. But they shall be priests of
God and of Christ, and they shall reign with him for a
thousand years. {20:7} And when the thousand years will
have been completed, Satan shall be released from his prison,
and he will go out and seduce the nations which are upon the
four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog. And he will
gather them together for battle, those whose number is like
the sand of the sea. {20:8} And they climbed across the
breadth of the earth, and they encompassed the camp of the
Saints and the Beloved City. {20:9} And fire from God
descended from heaven and devoured them. And the devil,
who seduced them, was cast into the pool of fire and sulphur,
{20:10} where both the beast and the false prophetess shall be
tortured, day and night, forever and ever. {20:11} And I saw
a great white throne, and One sitting upon it, from whose
sight earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them.
{20:12} And I saw the dead, great and small, standing in
view of the throne. And books were opened. And another
Book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead
were judged by those things that had been written in the
books, according to their works. {20:13} And the sea gave up
the dead who were in it. And death and Hell gave up their
dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one
according to his works. {20:14} And Hell and death were
cast into the pool of fire. This is the second death.
{20:15} And whoever was not found written in the Book of
Life was cast into the pool of fire.


[Revelation 21] {21:1} I saw the new heaven and the new
earth. For the first heaven and the first earth passed away,
and the sea is no more. {21:2} And I, John, saw the Holy
City, the New Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from
God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
{21:3} And I heard a great voice from the throne, saying:
“Behold the tabernacle of God with men. And he will dwell
with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will
be their God with them. {21:4} And God will wipe away
every tear from their eyes. And death shall be no more. And
neither mourning, nor crying out, nor grief shall be anymore.
For the first things have passed away.” {21:5} And the One
who was sitting upon the throne, said, “Behold, I make all
things new.” And he said to me, “Write, for these words are
entirely faithful and true.” {21:6} And he said to me: “It is
done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the
End. To those who thirst, I will give freely from the fountain
of the water of life. {21:7} Whoever prevails shall possess
these things. And I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
{21:8} But the fearful, and the unbelieving, and the
abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and drug users,
and idolaters, and all liars, these shall be a part of the pool
burning with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.”
{21:9} And one of the seven Angels, those holding the bowls
filled with the seven last afflictions, approached and spoke
with me, saying: “Come, and I will show you the bride, the
wife of the Lamb.” {21:10} And he took me up in spirit to a
great and high mountain. And he showed me the Holy City
Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
{21:11} having the glory of God. And its light was like that of
a precious stone, even like that of the jasper stone or like
crystal. {21:12} And it had a wall, great and high, having
twelve gates. And at the gates were twelve Angels. And
names were written upon them, which are the names of the
twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. {21:13} On the East were
three gates, and on the North were three gates, and on the
South were three gates, and on the West were three gates.
{21:14} And the wall of the City had twelve foundations.
And upon them were the twelve names of the twelve
Apostles of the Lamb. {21:15} And he who was speaking
with me was holding a golden measuring reed, in order to
measure the City, and its gates and wall. {21:16} And the city
is laid out as a square, and so its length is as great as the
width. And he measured the city with the golden reed for
twelve thousand stadia, and its length and height and breadth
were equal. {21:17} And he measured its wall as one
hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, which
is of an Angel. {21:18} And the structure of its wall was of
jasper stone. Yet truly, the city itself was of pure gold, similar
to pure glass. {21:19} And the foundations of the wall of the
city were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first
foundation was of jasper, the second was of sapphire, the
third was of chalcedony, the fourth was of emerald,
{21:20} the fifth was of sardonyx, the sixth was of sardius,
the seventh was of chrysolite, the eighth was of beryl, the
ninth was of topaz, the tenth was of chrysoprasus, the
eleventh was of jacinth, the twelfth was of amethyst.
{21:21} And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, one for each,
so that each gate was made from a single pearl. And the main
street of the city was of pure gold, similar to transparent glass.
{21:22} And I saw no temple in it. For the Lord God
Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb. {21:23} And the city
has no need of sun or moon to shine in it. For the glory of
God has illuminated it, and the Lamb is its lamp.
{21:24} And the nations shall walk by its light. And the kings
of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it.
{21:25} And its gates shall not be closed throughout the day,
for there shall be no night in that place. {21:26} And they
shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
{21:27} There shall not enter into it anything defiled, nor
anything causing an abomination, nor anything false, but
only those who have been written in the Book of Life of the
Lamb.


[Revelation 22] {22:1} And he showed me the river of the
water of life, shining like crystal, proceeding from the throne
of God and of the Lamb. {22:2} In the midst of its main
street, and on both sides of the river, was the Tree of Life,
bearing twelve fruits, offering one fruit for each month, and
the leaves of the tree are for the health of the nations.
{22:3} And every curse shall be no more. But the throne of
God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants shall serve
him. {22:4} And they shall see his face. And his name shall
be on their foreheads. {22:5} And night shall be no more.
And they will not need the light of a lamp, nor the light of the
sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them. And they
shall reign forever and ever. {22:6} And he said to me:
“These words are entirely faithful and true.” And the Lord,
the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his Angel to reveal
to his servant what must occur soon: {22:7} “For behold, I
am approaching quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words
of the prophecy of this book.” {22:8} And I, John, heard and
saw these things. And, after I had heard and seen, I fell down,
so as to adore before the feet of the Angel, who was revealing
these things to me. {22:9} And he said to me: “Be careful not
to do so. For I am your fellow servant, and I am among your
brothers the prophets, and among those who keep the words
of the prophecy of this book. Adore God.” {22:10} And he
said to me: “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this
book. For the time is near. {22:11} Whoever does harm, he
might still do harm. And whoever is filthy, he might still be
filthy. And whoever is just, he may still be just. And one who
is holy, he may still be holy.” {22:12} “Behold, I am
approaching quickly! And my repayment is with me, to
render to each one according to his works. {22:13} I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning
and the End.” {22:14} Blessed are those who wash their
robes in the blood of the Lamb. So may they have a right to
the tree of life; so may they enter through the gates into the
City. {22:15} Outside are dogs, and drug users, and
homosexuals, and murderers, and those who serve idols, and
all who love and do what is false. {22:16} “I, Jesus, have sent
my Angel, to testify to these things for you among the
Churches. I am the Root and the Origin of David, the bright
morning Star.” {22:17} And the Spirit and the Bride say:
“Draw near.” And whoever hears, let him say: “Draw near.”
And whoever thirsts, let him draw near. And whoever is
willing, let him accept the water of life, freely. {22:18} For I
call as witnesses all listeners of the words of the prophecy of
this book. If anyone will have added to these, God will add
upon him the afflictions written in this book. {22:19} And if
anyone will have taken away from the words of the book of
this prophecy, God will take away his portion from the Book
of Life, and from the Holy City, and from these things which
have been written in this book. {22:20} He who offers
testimony to these things, says: “Even now, I am
approaching quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
{22:21} The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Amen.