# verse

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a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her passion. When she's in heat, who can turn her away? None of the males who pursue her need to tire themselves out, for in her month they'll find her."


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"Don't run until your feet are bare and your throat is dry. But you say, 'It's hopeless! Because I love foreign gods, I'll go after them!'"


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"As a thief is disgraced when he's caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced-they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets,


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who say to a tree, 'You are my father,' and to a stone, 'You gave birth to me.' They have turned their back to me, but not their faces. In the time of their trouble, they'll say, 'Rise up! Deliver us!'"


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"But where are your gods that you made for yourselves? Let them rise up, if they can deliver you in the time of your trouble. You have as many gods as you have towns, Judah.


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"I've punished your children with no results, they have accepted no discipline. Your sword has devoured your prophets like a destroying lion."


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"You, generation, pay attention to this message from the LORD! Am I the desert to Israel, or a land of gloom? Why do my people say, 'We're free to roam? We won't come to you anymore.'


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Will a young woman forget her wedding ornaments, or a bride her attire? But my people have forgotten me days without number.


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How well you perfect your techniques for seeking love. Therefore you can teach even the most immoral women your techniques.


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On your skirts is found the lifeblood of the innocent poor, even though you didn't catch them breaking in. Yet despite all these things,


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you say, 'I'm innocent. Surely his anger has turned away from me.'" "I'm about to bring charges against you because you say, 'I haven't sinned.'


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Why do you go about changing your mind so much? You will also be disappointed by Egypt, just as you were disappointed by Assyria.


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You will also go out from this place with your hands over your heads. For the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust, and you won't prosper through them."


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"When a man divorces his wife, she leaves him and becomes another man's wife, will the first husband return to her again? The land would be deeply polluted, would it not? Since you have committed fornication with many lovers, would you now return to me?" declares the LORD.


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"Look up to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been ravished? You have sat beside the road, waiting for them like a nomad in the desert. And you have polluted the land with your fornication and your wickedness.


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This is why the rain has been withheld and there are no spring showers. Yet you have a harlot's look and you refused to be ashamed.


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will he hold on to his anger forever, will he persist in his wrath to the end?' Look, you have spoken and done evil things, and you have succeeded in it."


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In the time of King Josiah the LORD told me, "Have you seen what unfaithful Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she committed fornication there.


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I thought, 'After she has done all these things, she will return to me.' But she didn't return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw this.


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I saw that even though I had sent unfaithful Israel away for all her adulteries and had given her a divorce decree, her treacherous sister Judah didn't fear, and she, too, committed adultery.


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She took her fornication so lightly that she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.


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Yet in all this her treacherous sister Judah didn't return to me with her whole heart, but rather deceptively," declares the LORD.


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Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say, 'Return, unfaithful Israel,' declares the LORD. 'I won't look on you in anger, for I am gracious,' declares the LORD. 'I won't remain angry forever.


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'Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have rebelled against the LORD your God, and have scattered your favors to strangers under every green tree. But you haven't obeyed me,' declares the LORD.


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"Return, unfaithful people," declares the LORD, "for I am your husband. I'll take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I'll bring you to Zion.


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I'll give you shepherds after my own heart, and they'll shepherd you with knowledge and good sense."


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"And in those days when you increase in numbers and multiply in the land," declares the LORD, "people will no longer say, 'The Ark of the Covenant of the LORD,' and it won't come to mind, and they won't remember it or miss it, nor will it be made again.


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At that time people will call Jerusalem "The Throne of the LORD," and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. They'll no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires.


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In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and together they'll come to the land that I gave your ancestors as an inheritance."


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"I said, 'How I wanted to treat you like children, and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of the nations.' I said, 'You will call me, my father, and won't turn back from following me.'


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Instead, like an unfaithful wife leaves her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, house of Israel," declares the LORD.


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"A voice is heard on the barren heights, the weeping and pleading of the children of Israel because they have perverted their way. They have forgotten the LORD their God."


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Truly the hills are a deception, and the mountains are confusion. Truly, in the LORD our God is Israel's salvation."


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Since our youth the false gods have consumed the products of our ancestors' hard work, their sheep and their cattle, their sons and their daughters.


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"Let us lie down in our shame, and let our humiliation cover us, because both we and our ancestors have sinned against the LORD our God from our youth until this present time. We haven't obeyed the LORD our God."


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"Israel, if you return to me," declares the LORD, "Return to me, remove your detestable idols from my presence, and don't waver.


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If you swear, 'as surely as the LORD lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations will be blessed by him, and in him they will boast."


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For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, "Break up your unplowed ground, and don't sow among thorns.


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Circumcise yourselves to the LORD and remove the foreskin of your heart, you men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem, or else my wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to put it out, because of your evil deeds."


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Declare in Judah, make known in Jerusalem, by saying, "Blow the trumpet in the land, cry out, and say, 'Gather together and let's go to the fortified cities!'


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Raise a standard in the direction of Zion. Flee! Don't stand around! For I'm bringing calamity from the north, along with great destruction.


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A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to make your land a waste. Your cities will be ruined, and without inhabitants.


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So, put on sackcloth, mourn and wail, because the burning anger of the LORD has not turned away from us."


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"On that day," declares the LORD, "the courage of the king and the leaders will fail. The priests will be appalled and the prophets astounded."


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Then I replied, "Ah, Lord GOD, you have completely deceived this people and Jerusalem when you said, 'You will have peace,' while the sword is at their throat!"


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At that time, it will be told this people and to Jerusalem, "A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert is coming toward my people, and it's not for winnowing or cleansing.


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Look, he comes up like clouds, and his chariots are like a whirlwind. His horses are as swift as eagles. Woe to us-we're destroyed!


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Jerusalem, wash your evil from your heart so that you may be delivered. How long will you harbor evil schemes within you?


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"Tell the nations, 'Here they come!' Proclaim to Jerusalem, 'The besieging forces are coming from a distant land. They cry out against the cities of Judah.


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They have surrounded her like those guarding a field because they have rebelled against me,'" declares the LORD.


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"Your lifestyles and your actions have brought these things on you. This is your calamity-it is indeed bitter, for it has reached your heart!"


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"My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the aching of my heart! My heart pounds within me; I cannot keep silent. For I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm for war.


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Disaster upon disaster is proclaimed, for the entire land is devastated. Suddenly my tent is destroyed, in a moment my curtains.


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"For my people are foolish, they don't know me. They're stupid children, they have no understanding. They're skilled at doing evil, but how to do good, they don't know."


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I looked, and the fruitful land had become a desert. All its towns were broken down because of the LORD, because of his burning anger.


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For this is what the LORD says: "The entire land will be devastated, but I won't completely destroy it.


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Because of this, the land will mourn, and the heavens above will be dark. Because I have spoken and decided, I won't turn back from doing it."


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At the sound of the horseman and the archer the entire city flees. Its residents go into the thickets and climb among the rocks. Every city is abandoned, and no one lives in them.


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You are ruined! What are you doing dressing in scarlet, putting on golden ornaments, and highlighting your eyes with makeup? You are making yourself beautiful in vain. Your lovers reject you-they're out to kill you.


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I heard a cry like that of a woman in labor, anguish like one giving birth to her first born, the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for air, stretching out her hand: "Woe is me! I'm about to faint in front of killers!"


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Wander through the streets of Jerusalem. Look and investigate; search through her squares and see whether you find anyone-even one person there-doing justice and seeking truth. Then I'll forgive them.


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LORD, don't your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they didn't flinch. You brought them to an end, but they refused to receive discipline. They made their faces harder than stone, and they refused to repent.


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Then I said, "These are only the poor, they're foolish, for they don't know the LORD's way, the requirement of their God.


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Let me go to the leaders and speak to them. For they know the LORD's way, the requirement of their God."


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Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them, a wolf from the desert will devastate them. A leopard is watching their towns, and everyone who goes out of them will be torn to pieces. For their transgressions are many, and their apostasies numerous.


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Why should I forgive you? Your sons have forsaken me, and you have sworn by those who aren't gods. When I gave them enough food to satisfy them, they committed adultery and marched to the prostitute's house.


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"Should I not punish them for these things?" asks the LORD, "And on a nation like this, should I not seek retribution?"


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"Go through her rows of vines and destroy them, but don't completely destroy them. Strip away her branches, because they aren't the LORD's.


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For both the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me," declares the LORD.


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They have lied about the LORD by saying, 'He wouldn't do that! Disaster won't come on us. We won't see sword and famine.


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Therefore, this is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies says: "Because you people have said this, my words in your mouth will become a fire and these people the wood. The fire will destroy them.


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People of Israel, I'm now bringing a nation from far away to attack you," declares the LORD. "It is an enduring nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you don't know. And you won't understand what they say.


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"They'll devour your harvest and your food. They'll devour your sons and your daughters. They'll devour your vines and your fig trees. With their swords they'll batter down your fortified cities in which you trust.


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When the people ask, 'Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?' you are to say to them, 'Just as you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'"


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'Hear this, you foolish and stupid people: They have eyes, but don't see; they have ears, but don't hear.


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'You don't fear me, do you?' declares the LORD. 'You don't tremble before me, do you? I'm the one who put the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot cross. Though the waves toss, they cannot prevail against it, though they roar, they cannot cross it.


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They don't say to themselves, "Let's fear the LORD our God, who gives rain in its season, both the autumn and the spring rain. He sets aside for us the weeks appointed for the harvest."


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"Evil men are found among my people. They lie in wait like someone who traps birds. They set a trap, but they do so to catch people.


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'Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are filled with treachery. This is how they have become prominent and rich,


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and have grown fat and sleek. There is no limit to their evil deeds. They don't argue the case of the orphan to secure justice. They don't defend the rights of the poor.


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'Should I not punish them for this?,' asks the LORD, 'Should I not avenge myself on a nation like this?'


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"The prophets prophesy falsely, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?


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"Flee to safety, you people of Benjamin, leave Jerusalem. Sound the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise a signal over Beth-haccerem! For calamity and terrible destruction are turning toward you from the north.


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"Shepherds and their flocks will come against her. They'll pitch their tents all around her, and every one will tend his flock in his own place.


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Prepare for war against her. Get ready, let's attack at noon! How terrible for us that the day is coming to an end, and that the evening shadows are lengthening.


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For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Cut down trees and set up siege works against Jerusalem. It is the city to be judged, and there is oppression throughout the entire city.


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As a well keeps its waters fresh, so the city keeps her wickedness fresh. Violence and destruction are heard in her, sickness and wounds are always before me.


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"Be warned, Jerusalem, or I'll be alienated from you. I'll make you desolate, a land not inhabited."


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This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Let them glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as they would the vine. Pass your hand over them like grape gatherers over the branches.


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To whom will I speak and give a warning so they'll listen? Look, their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. Look, this message from the LORD is contemptible to them; they don't delight in it.


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I'm full of the wrath of the LORD, and I'm tired of holding it back. Pour it out on the children in the street and on the groups of young men gathered together. Indeed, both husband and wife will be caught in it, the old and the very old.


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"Their houses will be turned over to others-their fields and wives together-when I stretch out my hand against those who live in the land," declares the LORD.


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Indeed, from the least important to the most important, they're all greedy for dishonest gain. From prophet to priest, they all act deceitfully.


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Were they ashamed because they did what was repugnant to God? They were not ashamed at all-they don't even know how to blush! Therefore they'll fall with those who fall. When I punish them, they'll be brought down," says the LORD.


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This is what the LORD says: "Stand beside the roads and watch. Ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is. Walk in it and find rest for yourselves. But they said, 'We won't walk in it!'


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I appointed watchmen over you. Listen for the sound of the trumpet. But they said, 'We won't listen!'


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Listen, earth! I'm about to bring calamity on this people, on the fruit of their plans, because they didn't listen to my words and they rejected my instruction.


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What good is frankincense that comes from Sheba to me, or sweet cane from a distant country? Your burnt offerings aren't acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me."


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Therefore, this is what the LORD says: "I'm about to put stumbling blocks in front of this people, and fathers and sons will stumble over them together. The neighbor and his friends will perish."


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This is what the LORD says: "Look, people are coming from a northern country. A great nation is stirring from the ends of the earth.


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They grab bow and spear; they're cruel and show no mercy. Their sound roars like the sea as they ride on horses, deployed like men ready for battle against you, daughter of Zion."


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We have heard the news about it, and our hands are limp. Distress has seized us like a woman in labor.


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Don't go out into the field, and don't travel on the road, because the enemy has a sword, and terror is on every side.


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Daughter of my people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as one mourns at the death of an only son. For the destroyer will come on us suddenly.


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All of them are very rebellious, going around as slanderers. They're bronze and iron, and all of them are corrupt.


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The bellows blow fiercely to consume the lead with the fire. The assayer keeps on refining, but the impurities aren't separated out.


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"Stand at the gate of the LORD's Temple and proclaim this message there. Say, 'Listen to this message from the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD.'"


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This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Change your ways and your deeds, and I'll let you live in this place.


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Don't trust deceptive words like these, and say, 'The Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD,'


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but rather, truly change your ways and your deeds. If you truly practice justice between each person and his neighbor,


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and if you don't oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, and don't shed an innocent person's blood in this place, and if you don't follow other gods to your own harm,


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Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear by false gods, burn incense to Baal, follow other gods that you don't know,


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and then come to stand before me in this house that is called by my name and say, 'We're delivered' so we can continue to do all these things that are repugnant to God?


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Has this house that is called by my name become a hideout for bandits in your eyes? Look, I'm watching," declares the LORD.


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"Go to my place that was in Shiloh, where I first caused my name to dwell. See what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel.


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Now, because you have done all these things," declares the LORD, "I spoke to you over and over again, but you didn't listen. I called to you, but you didn't answer.


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Just as I did to Shiloh, I'll do to the house in which you trust and which is called by my name, the place that I gave to you and your ancestors.


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I'll cast you out of my sight, just as I cast out all your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.


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"As for you, don't pray on behalf of this people, don't cry or offer a petition for them, and don't plead with me, for I won't listen to you.


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The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven, and they pour out liquid offerings to other gods in order to provoke me.


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Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: "I'm about to pour out my anger and my wrath on this place, on people and animals, on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground. It will burn, and it won't be put out."


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This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the meat.


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Indeed, when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I didn't speak or command them about burnt offering and sacrifice,


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but I did give them this command: Obey me and I'll be your God, and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you so it will go well for you.


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But they didn't listen, nor did they pay attention. They pursued their own plans, stubbornly following their own evil desires. They went backward and not forward.


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From the day your ancestors left the land of Egypt to this present time, I've sent all my servants, the prophets, to you, again and again.


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But they didn't listen to me, and they didn't pay attention. They stiffened their necks, and they did more evil than their ancestors.


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"You will tell them all these things, but they won't listen to you. You will call out to them, but they won't answer you.


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You will say to them, 'This is the nation that wouldn't listen to the voice of the LORD its God and wouldn't accept correction. Truth has perished; it has been eliminated from their discussions.


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"Cut off your hair and throw it away; let your lamentations rise on the barren heights, because the LORD has rejected and abandoned the generation that is subject to his wrath.


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"For the people of Judah have done evil in my eyes," declares the LORD. "They have put their detestable idols in the house that is called by my name in order to defile it.


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They have built high places at Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire. I didn't command this, and it never entered my mind!


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"Therefore, the time is near," declares the LORD, "when it will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. They'll bury in Topheth because there is no other place to do it.


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The dead bodies of these people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the land, and no one will disturb them.


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In the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem I'll bring an end to the sound of gladness and rejoicing, to the sounds of the bridegroom and bride, for the land will become a wasteland."


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"At that time," declares the LORD, "the bones of the king of Judah, the bones of his officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the residents of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves.


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They'll be spread out to the sun, the moon, and all the stars of the heavens, which they loved and served, and which they followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones won't be collected, nor will they be buried. They'll be like dung on the surface of the ground.


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"In all the places where the people remain, where I've banished them, death will be chosen over life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.


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"You are to say to them, 'This is what the LORD says: Will a person fall down and then not get up? Will someone turn away and then not turn back again?


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Why has this people turned away? Why does Jerusalem continue in apostasy? They hold on to deceit and refuse to repent.


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I've listened and I've heard, and what they say is not right. No one repents of his evil and says, 'What have I done?' They all turn to their own course like a horse racing into battle.


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Even the stork in the sky knows its seasons, and the dove, the swallow, and the crane observe the time for migration. But my people don't know the requirements of the LORD.


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How can you say, 'We're wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,' when, in fact, the deceitful pen of the scribe has made it into something that deceives.


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The wise men will be put to shame. They'll be dismayed and taken captive. Look, they have rejected the message from the LORD! So what kind of wisdom do they have?


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Therefore, I'll give their wives to others, and their fields to new owners. Indeed, from the least important to the most important, they're all greedy for dishonest gain. From prophet to priest, they all act deceitfully.


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They have treated my people's wound superficially, telling them, 'Peace, peace, when there is no peace.'


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Are they ashamed because they have done what is repugnant to God? They weren't ashamed at all; they don't even know how to blush! Therefore they'll fall with those who fall. When I punish them, they'll be brought down," says the LORD.


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"I would have gathered them," declares the LORD, "but there were no grapes on the vine, and no figs on the fig tree, and their leaves were withered. What I've given them has been taken away."'"


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Why are we sitting here? Join together! Let's go to the fortified cities and perish there! For the LORD our God has condemned us to perish and given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against him.


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"The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan. At the neighing of their stallions, the whole earth quakes. They're coming to devour the land and all it contains, the city and all who live in it.


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Listen, my people's cry from a distant land. 'Is the LORD no longer in Zion? Is her king no longer there?'


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"Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, for then I would cry day and night for those of my people who have been killed.


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Oh, that I had a lodging place for travelers in the desert, so that I could leave my people and go away from them. For all of them are adulterers, a band of traitors.


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They use their tongues like a bow. Lies rather than truth fly throughout the land. They progress from one evil to another, and they don't know me," declares the LORD.


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"Beware of your neighbors, and don't trust any of your relatives. For all of your relatives act deceitfully, and every friend goes around as a slanderer.


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People deceive their friends, and they don't tell the truth. They have taught their tongues to tell lies. They exhaust themselves practicing evil.


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You yourself live in the midst of deception, and because they are deceived they do not know me," declares the LORD.


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Therefore, this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Look, I'm about to refine and test them. Because they're my people, what else can I do?


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Their tongue is a deadly arrow that speaks deceit. With his mouth a person says, 'Peace,' to his friend, but inwardly he sets a trap for him.


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Should I not punish them for these things?," asks the LORD, "and should I not avenge myself on a nation like this?"


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I'll weep and mourn for the mountains, and lament for the desert pastures, because they are desolate and no one passes through them. They don't hear the lowing of the cattle. Both the birds of the sky and the animals have fled. They're gone!


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"I'll make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a refuge for jackals. I'll make the towns of Judah desolate, without inhabitants."


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Who is the wise person who understands this, and to whom has the LORD spoken so that he may declare it? Why is the land destroyed, ruined like the desert, without anyone passing through it?


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The LORD said, "It is because they have forsaken my Law that I gave them. They didn't obey me and didn't live according to it.


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Therefore, this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Look, I'll make these people eat wormwood and drink poisoned water.


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I'll scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I'll pursue them with the sword until I've finished them off."


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This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Think about what I'm saying! Indeed, call out the professional mourners! Send for the best of them to come.


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Let them hurry and lament for us. Let tears run down from our eyes, and let our eyelids flow with water.


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For a sound of mourning is heard from Zion: 'How we're ruined! Our shame is very great, because we have left the land, because our houses are torn down.'"


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"Now, you women, hear the message from the LORD; listen to what he has to say! Teach your daughters how to mourn, let every woman teach her friend how to lament.


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For death comes up through our windows; it has come into our palaces to eliminate children from the streets and young men from the town squares.


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Speak! 'This is what the LORD says: "The corpses of people will fall like dung on the surface of the field, and like a row of cut grain behind the harvester when there is no one to gather it."'"


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This is what the LORD says: "The wise man is not to boast in his wisdom; the strong man is not to boast in his strength; and the rich man is not to boast in his riches.


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Rather, let the one who boasts, boast in this: that he understands and knows me, for I am the LORD who acts with gracious love, justice, and righteousness in the land. I delight in these things," declares the LORD.


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"Look, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I'll punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh:


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Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, all those who live in the desert and shave the corners of their beard; indeed all the other nations that are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel that is uncircumcised of heart."


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This is what the LORD says: "Don't learn the way of the nations, and don't be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified of them.


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For the practices of the people are worthless. Indeed, a tree is cut down from the forest; it's the work of the hands of a craftsman with an ax.


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Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field. They can't speak! They must always be carried because they can't walk! Don't be afraid of them because they can do no harm, nor can they do any good."


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Who wouldn't fear you, king of the nations? This is what you deserve! Indeed, among all the wise men of the nations, and throughout all their kingdoms, there is no one like you!


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Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. The idols are the work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothing is violet and purple. The idols are all the work of skilled craftsmen.


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The LORD is the true God; he's the living God and the everlasting king. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.


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Tell this to them: "The gods who didn't make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from these heavens."


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The LORD is the one who made the world by his power, who established the earth by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.


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When his voice sounds there is thunder from the waters of heaven, and he makes clouds rise up from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings wind out of his storehouses.


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Everyone is stupid and without knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false. There is no life in them.


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The Portion of Jacob is not like these. He made everything, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. The LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name.


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For this is what the LORD says: "I'm going to throw out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I'll bring distress on them so they'll experience it."


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Woe is me because of my injury. My wound is severe. I said, "Truly this is my sickness, and I must bear it.


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My tent is destroyed, and all my tent cords are broken. My sons have gone away from me, they no longer live. There is no one to pitch my tent again and set up my curtains.


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Because the shepherds are stupid and don't seek the LORD, therefore, they don't prosper, and their flock is scattered.


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The sound of a report, it's coming now! There is a great commotion from a land in the north to make the towns of Judah desolate, a refuge for jackals."


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LORD, I know that a person's life is not his to control, nor does a person establish his way in life.


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Pour out your anger on the nations that don't acknowledge you, and on the families that don't call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured and consumed him; they have devastated his habitation.


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"Listen to the words of this covenant, and convey them to the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem.


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You are to say to them, 'This is what the LORD God of Israel says: "Cursed is the person who does not listen to the words of this covenant


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which I commanded to your ancestors on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace. I said, 'Obey me and do everything that I commanded you. Then you will be my people and I'll be your God.'


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As a result, I'll fulfill the oath that I made with your ancestors to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, just as is the case today."'" Then I answered, "So be it, LORD."


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The LORD told me, "Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. You are to say, 'Listen to the words of this covenant and do them.


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For I've diligently warned your ancestors from the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt until now, regularly warning them, saying, "Obey me!"


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But they would not listen or turn their ear, and each of them stubbornly followed his own evil desires. So I brought on them all the consequences of this covenant that I commanded them to fulfill, but they did not.'"


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The LORD told me, "Conspiracy has been found among the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem.


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They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors of old who refused to listen to my words. They followed other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah broke my covenant which I made with their ancestors."


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Therefore, this is what the LORD says: "I'm about to bring disaster on them from which they won't be able to escape. They'll cry out to me, but I won't listen to them.


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The towns of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they'll be no help at all to them in the time of their disaster.


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Judah, you have as many gods as you have towns, and you have set up as many altars to the shameful idols as there are streets in Jerusalem. You burn incense to Baal on these altars.


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"Jeremiah, don't pray for this people and don't cry or pray for them. I won't listen when they cry out to me because of their disaster.


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"What right does my beloved have in my house, when she has carried out many evil schemes? Can sacrificial flesh turn disaster away from you, so you can rejoice?"


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The LORD once called you a green olive tree, with beautiful shape and fruit. With a great roaring sound, he has set fire to it and its branches will be destroyed.


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The LORD of the Heavenly Armies who planted you has called for disaster on you because of the evil of the house of Israel and the house of Judah, has provoked me by burning incense to Baal."


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I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I didn't know that they had devised schemes against me. They told themselves, "Let's destroy the tree with its fruit. Let's eliminate him from the land of the living, so his name won't be remembered again."


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LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the righteous judge, the one who tests feelings and the heart, let me see your vengeance on them, for I've committed my cause to you.


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Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the men of Anathoth who seek to kill you, all the while threatening you, "Don't prophesy in the name of the LORD so you won't die by our hand!"


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Therefore, this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "I'm about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword. Their sons and daughters will die by famine.


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You are righteous, LORD, even when I bring a complaint to you. But I want to discuss justice with you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper, while all who are treacherous are at ease?


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You plant them and they take root, they grow and bear fruit. "You are near to us," they say with their mouths, but the truth is that you're far from their hearts.


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You know me, LORD. You see me and test my thoughts toward you. Pull the wicked out like sheep for slaughter; set them apart for the day of butchering.


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How long will the land mourn and the vegetation of every field dry up? Because of the wickedness of those who live in it, animals and birds are swept away. For they say, "He does not see our future."


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Indeed, if you run with others on foot, and they tire you out, how can you compete with horses? You are secure in a land at peace, but how will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?


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Indeed, even your brothers and your father's family conspire against you. Even they cry out after you loudly. Don't believe them, even though they speak friendly words to you.


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I'll forsake my house, I'll abandon my inheritance. I'll give the beloved of my heart into the hand of her enemies.


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Is my inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to me? Are the other birds of prey all around her coming against her? Go, gather all the wild animals and bring them to devour it.


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Many shepherds will destroy my vineyard. They'll trample down my portion. They'll turn my pleasant portion into a desolate desert.


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They'll make it into a desolate place, and, desolate, it will cry out in mourning to me. The whole land will be desolate because no one takes it to heart.


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On all the barren heights in the desert destroyers will come. Indeed, a sword of the LORD will devour from one end of the land to the other. There will be no peace for any person.


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They have sown wheat, but they have harvested thorns. They have tired themselves out, but they don't show a profit. Now be disappointed about your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.


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This is what the LORD says about all the wicked neighbors who strike out against the land I've given to my people Israel as their inheritance. "I'm about to uproot them from their land, and I'll uproot the house of Judah from among them.


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After I've uprooted them I'll again have compassion on them. I'll return each one of them to his inheritance, and each one to his own land.


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If they have learned the ways of my people well, to swear by my name: 'As surely as the LORD lives,' just as they once taught my people to swear by Baal, then they'll be built up among my people.


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But if they don't listen, then I'll completely uproot that nation and destroy it," declares the LORD.


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This is what the LORD told me: "Go and buy a linen belt for yourself, and put it around your waist. But don't let it get wet."


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Take the belt that you bought and that is around your waist. Get up and go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a crevice in the rock."


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After a long time, the LORD told me, "Arise, go to the Euphrates, and get the belt that I commanded you to hide there."


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I went to the Euphrates and dug it up. I got the belt from the place where I had hidden it. The belt was ruined! It was not good for anything.


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"This is what the LORD says: 'In the same way I'll ruin the pride of Judah and the pride of Jerusalem.


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This evil people that refuses to listen to my words, that stubbornly pursues their own desires, and that follows other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt that is not good for anything.


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For just as the belt clings tightly to a person's waist, so I've made all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah cling tightly to me,' declares the LORD. 'I did this so that they would be my people, name, praise, and glory. But they wouldn't listen.'


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"This is what you're to tell them: 'This is what the LORD God of Israel says: "Every wineskin is to be filled with wine."' When they say to you, 'Don't we know very well that every wineskin is to be filled with wine?',


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then say to them, 'This is what the LORD says: "I'm about to make all the inhabitants of this land drunk-the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the residents of Jerusalem.


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I'll smash them against each other, even fathers against their sons," declares the LORD. "I'll have no pity, mercy, or compassion when I destroy them."'"


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Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the mountains at twilight. You hope for light, but he turns it into deep darkness. He changes it into heavy gloom.


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If you don't listen, I'll cry secretly because of your pride. My eyes will cry bitterly, flowing tears, because the LORD's flock has been taken captive.


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Say to the king and the queen mother, "Come take a lowly seat, because your beautiful crowns have fallen off your heads."


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The towns in the Negev will be closed up, and there will be no one to open them. All Judah will be taken into exile and be completely exiled.


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"Look up and see those who are coming from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you-your beautiful sheep?


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What will you say when the LORD appoints over you as your head those whom you taught to be your allies? Pain will seize you like that seizing a woman about to give birth, will it not?


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When you say to yourselves, 'Why have all these things happened to me?' It's because of the extent of your iniquity that your skirt has been lifted up, and your heels have suffered violence.


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Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard his spots? Then you who are trained to do evil will also be able to do good.


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"This is your fate, the portion I've measured out for you," declares the LORD, "because you have forgotten me and have trusted in false gods.


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I've seen your detestable behavior: your adulteries, your passionate neighing, your lewd immorality on the hills in the field. How terrible it will be for you, Jerusalem! You are unclean. How much longer will this go on?"


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"Judah mourns, and her gates languish. The people mourn for the land, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.


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Their nobles send their young people for water. They go to the cisterns, but they find no water. They return with their vessels empty. They're disappointed and dismayed, and they cover their heads in shame.


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The ground is cracked, because there has been no rain in the land. The farmers are disappointed, and they cover their heads in shame.


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Wild donkeys stand on the barren hills. They pant for air like jackals. Their eyesight fails because there is no vegetation."


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LORD, even though our iniquities testify against us, do something for the sake of your name. Indeed, our apostasies are many, and we have sinned against you.


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Hope of Israel, its deliverer in time of trouble, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who sets up his tent for a night?


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Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a strong man who can't deliver? You are among us, LORD, and your name is the one by which we're called. Don't abandon us!


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This is what the LORD says to these people: "Yes, they do love to wander, and they haven't restrained their feet. So the LORD won't accept them now. He will remember their iniquity and punish their sin."


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Although they fast, I won't listen to their cry, and although they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won't accept them. Instead, I'll put an end to them with the sword, with famine, and with a plague."


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Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD, look! The prophets are saying to them, 'You won't see the sword and you won't experience famine. Rather, I'll give you lasting peace in this place.'"


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Then the LORD told me, "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I didn't send them, I didn't command them, and I didn't speak to them. They're proclaiming to you false visions, worthless predictions, and the delusions of their own minds.


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Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the false prophets who prophesy in my name, 'There will be no sword and famine in this land' (though I haven't sent them): 'By the sword and by famine these prophets will be finished off!


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The people to whom they have prophesied will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters. I'll pour out on them the judgment they deserve.'"


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"And deliver this message to them: 'Let tears run down my face, night and day, and don't let them stop, because my virgin daughter-my people-will be broken with a powerful blow, with a severe wound.


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If I go out into the field, I see those slain by the sword! If I go into the city, I see the ravages of the famine! Indeed, both prophet and priest ply their trade in the land, but they don't know anything.'"


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Have you completely rejected Judah? Do you despise Zion? Why have you struck us, so that there is no healing for us? We hoped for peace, but no good came, for a time of healing, but there was only terror.


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We acknowledge, LORD, our wickedness, the guilt of our ancestors. Indeed, we have sinned against you.


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For the sake of your name don't despise us. Don't dishonor your glorious throne. Remember, don't break your covenant with us!


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Can any of the worthless gods of the nations make it rain? Can the heavens themselves bring forth showers? Aren't you the one who does this, LORD our God? So we hope in you, for you are the one who does all these things.


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Then the LORD told me, "Even if Moses and Samuel were standing before me, I wouldn't be favorably disposed toward this people. Send them out of my presence! Let them go!


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"When they say to you, 'Where can we go?', say to them, 'This is what the LORD says: "Those destined for death, to death will go; those destined for the sword, to the sword will go; and those destined for captivity, to captivity will go.


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"I'll appoint four kinds of judgment for them," declares the LORD: "the sword to kill, the dogs to drag off, the birds of the sky to devour, and the animals of the land to destroy.


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I'll make them a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Hezekiah's son Manasseh, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.


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"Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem, and who will grieve for you? Who will go out of his way to ask about your welfare?


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You have deserted me," declares the LORD. "You keep going backward. I'll reach out my hand and destroy you. I'm tired of showing compassion.


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I'll winnow them with a winnowing fork in the gates of the land. I'll make them childless. I'll destroy my people, for they didn't change their ways.


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I'll make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea. At noontime I'll send a destroyer against the mother of a young man. I'll cause terror and anguish to come to her unexpectedly.


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"The woman who gave birth to seven will grow faint, her life will expire. Her sun will set while it's still day. She will be disgraced and humiliated. I'll kill the rest of them with swords in the presence of their enemies," declares the LORD.


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How terrible for me, my mother, that you gave birth to me, a man of strife and contention for the whole land! I've neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.


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The LORD said, "Have I not set you free for a good purpose? Have I not intervened for you with your enemies in times of trouble and times of distress?


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"I'll give away your wealth and your treasures as plunder, for free, because of all your sins throughout your territory.


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I'll make you serve your enemies in a land you don't know, for my anger has started a fire that will burn against you."


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You are aware-LORD, remember me, pay attention to me, and vindicate me in front of those who pursue me. You are patient-don't take me away. Know that I suffer insult because of you!


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Your words were found, and I consumed them. Your words were joy and my hearts delight, because I bear your name, LORD God of the Heavenly Armies.


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I didn't sit in the company of those who have fun, and I didn't rejoice. Because of your hand on me, I sat alone, for you filled me with indignation.


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Therefore, this is what the LORD says: "If you repent, I'll take you back and you will stand before me. If you speak what is worthwhile, instead of what is worthless, then you will be my spokesman. People will turn to you, but you aren't to turn to them.


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I'll make you a fortified wall of bronze to this people. They'll fight against you, but they won't prevail against you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you,"


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For this is what the LORD says about the sons and daughters who are born in this place, about their mothers who give birth to them, and about their fathers who father them in this land:


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"They'll die of deadly diseases. People won't mourn for them, nor will they be buried. They'll be dung on the surface of the ground, and they'll come to an end with the sword and with famine. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the land."


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For this is what the LORD says: "Don't go to a house where there is mourning, don't go to lament, nor to express sorrow to them. For I've taken my peace away from this people," declares the LORD, "as well as gracious love and compassion.


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Both the most and the least important people will die in this land, and they won't be buried. People won't mourn for them. They won't cut themselves, nor will they shave their heads for them.


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They won't break bread for the mourner to be consoled for the dead. They won't give anyone the cup of consolation to drink for his father or mother.


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For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "In this place I'm about to bring an end to the sounds of happiness and rejoicing, the sounds of the bridegroom and the bride. I'll do it in front of your eyes and in your time.


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"When you speak all these words to this people, they'll say to you, 'Why has the LORD pronounced all this disaster against us? What is our iniquity, and what is the sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?'


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Then say to them, 'It is because your ancestors abandoned me,' declares the LORD. 'They followed other gods, served them, worshipped them, abandoned me, and didn't keep my Law.


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You have done even more evil than your ancestors, and each one of you is stubbornly following his own evil desires, refusing to listen to me.


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I'll throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known. There you will serve other gods day and night, and I'll show you no favor.'


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"Therefore, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when it will no longer be said, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought up the Israelis from the land of Egypt.'


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Rather it will be said, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelis up from the land of the north and from all the lands to which the LORD had banished them.' I'll bring them back to their land, which I gave to their ancestors.


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"I'm about to send many fishermen, declares the LORD, and they'll catch them. Afterwards, I'll send for many hunters and they'll hunt for them on every mountain and hill and in the crevices of the rocks.


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For I am watching all their ways; they are not hidden from my sight. Their iniquity is not concealed from my eyes.


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First I'll repay them double for their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the dead bodies of their detestable images, and they have filled my inheritance with their abominations."


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LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in a time of difficulty, to you the nations will come, and from the ends of the earth they'll say, "Surely our ancestors inherited deception, things that are worthless, and in which there is no profit."


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Therefore, I'm about to make them understand; this time I'll make them understand my power and strength, so they'll understand that my name is the LORD.


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The sin of Judah is engraved with an iron stylus. It is inscribed with a diamond point on the tablet of their heart and on the horns of their altars.


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When their sons remember, they remember their altars and their Asherah poles beside green trees on the high hills.


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My mountain in the field, your wealth and your treasures I'll give as spoil; along with your high places as the price of your sin throughout your territory.


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You will let go of your inheritance which I gave you, and I'll make you serve your enemies in a land that you don't know. For with my anger you have started a fire that will burn forever.


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This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the person who trusts in mankind, who makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the LORD.


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He will be like a bush in the desert, and he won't see when good comes. He will dwell in parched places in the wilderness, a land of salt, without inhabitants.


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He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by a stream. He won't fear when the heat comes, and his leaves will be green. In a year of drought he won't be concerned, nor will he stop producing fruit."


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I am the LORD who searches the heart, who tests the inner depths to give to each person according to what he deserves, according to the fruit of his deeds.


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As a partridge gathers together eggs that it didn't lay, so is a person who amasses wealth unjustly. In the middle of his life it will leave him, and in the end he will prove to be a fool.


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LORD, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn aside from you will be written in the dust, because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water.


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I haven't run away from being your shepherd, and I haven't longed for the day of sickness. You know what comes out from my lips, it's open before you.


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Let those who pursue me be put to shame, but don't put me to shame. Let them be terrified, but don't let me be terrified. Bring the day of judgment on them, and destroy them with double destruction!


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The LORD told me, "Go, stand in the gate of the people, where the kings of Judah come in and go out, and in the other gates of Jerusalem as well.


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Say to them, 'Kings of Judah, all Judah, and all the residents of Jerusalem entering these gates, hear this message from the LORD.


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This is what the LORD says: "Be careful! On the Sabbath day, don't carry any load or bring anything through the gates of Jerusalem.


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Don't bring any load out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor are you to do any work. You are to consecrate the Sabbath day, just as I commanded your ancestors.


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But they didn't listen, nor did they pay attention. They were determined not to listen and not to accept instruction.


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If you listen to me carefully," declares the LORD, "and don't bring a load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and you consecrate the Sabbath day and don't do any work on it,


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then kings and princes, sitting on the throne of David will come through the gates of this city. They, their princes, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem will come riding in chariots and on horses, and this city will be inhabited forever.


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They'll come from the cities of Judah, from the places around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, and incense, and bringing thanksgiving offerings to the LORD's Temple.


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But if you don't listen to me, to consecrate the Sabbath day and not carry any load as you enter the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I'll start a fire in its gates. It will consume the palaces of Jerusalem and won't be extinguished."'"


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But the vessel he was working on with the clay was ruined in the potter's hand. So he remade it into another vessel that seemed appropriate to him.


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"Israel, can't I deal with you like this potter?" declares the LORD. "Look, Israel, like clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand.


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But if that nation about which I spoke turns from its evil way, I'll change my mind about the disaster that I had planned for it.


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But if that nation does evil in my eyes by not obeying me, I'll change my mind about the good that I said I would bring on it.


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"Now say to the people of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem, 'This is what the LORD says: "Look, I'm designing a disaster just for you, and I'm making plans against you. Each one of you must repent from his evil way. Make your ways and deeds right."'


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But they'll say, 'It's useless! We will follow our plans and each of us will pursue his own evil desires.'


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"Therefore, this is what the LORD says: 'Ask the nations. Who has ever heard of anything like this? You have done a most horrible thing, virgin Israel.


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Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes? Or does the cold water from a foreign land ever cease to flow?


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Yet my people have forgotten me, and they burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their journey on the ancient paths. They walk on trails, on a way that is not built up.


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They make their land into a desolate place, an object of lasting scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads.


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'Like the east wind, I'll scatter them before the enemy. I'll show them my back and not my face, on the day of their downfall.'"


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Then they said, "Come, let's make up a plot against Jeremiah. After all, the priest's instruction, the wise man's counsel, and the prophet's message won't be destroyed. So let's verbally attack him. Pay no attention to anything he says!"


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Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit to take my life. Remember! I stood before you and spoke good on their behalf in order to turn your wrath away from them.


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Therefore, make their children undergo famine, and deliver them over to death in time of war. May their women be childless widows! May their men be slaughtered! May their young men be slain by the sword in battle!


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Let a cry be heard from their houses because you have brought a raiding party against them suddenly. For they have dug a pit to capture me and have set traps for my feet.


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But you, LORD, know all their plots to kill me. Don't forgive their iniquity, and don't erase their sin from your sight. Let them stumble before you. When it's time for you to be angry, act against them!


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This is what the LORD says: "Go and buy a potter's clay jug. Take along some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests.


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Go out to the Valley of Hinnom at the entrance to the Potsherd Gate, and there proclaim the words that I'm telling you.


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"You are to say, 'Hear this message from the LORD, you kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem! "'This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "I'm about to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of all who hear about it tingle.


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For they have forsaken me and have treated this place as foreign. In it they have burned incense to other gods that neither they, their ancestors, nor the kings of Judah knew. They have also filled this place with the blood of innocent people.


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They built the high places for Baal to burn their children in the fire as a burnt offering to Baal-something I didn't command, didn't say, nor did it ever enter my mind!


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"'"Therefore, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when this place will no longer be called Topheth, or the Valley of Hinnom, but rather the Valley of Slaughter.


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I'll shatter the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I'll make them fall by the sword before their enemies and at the hands of those seeking their lives. I'll give their dead bodies as food to the birds of the sky and to the animals of the land.


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I'll make this city into a desolate place and an object of scorn. All who pass by it will be astonished and will scoff because of all its wounds.


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I'll cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and people will eat the flesh of their neighbors in the siege and in the distress to which their enemies and those seeking their lives will subject them."'"


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and say to them, 'This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "In this same way I'll break this people and this city, just as someone breaks a potter's vessel which he then cannot put back together again. They'll bury corpses in Topheth until there is no more room to bury anyone.


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This is what I'll do to this place and its residents," declares the LORD, "making this city like Topheth.


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The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be polluted like Topheth, as will be all the houses on whose roofs people burned incense to all the host of heaven and poured out liquid offerings to other gods."'"


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Then Jeremiah went from Topheth where the LORD had sent him to prophesy. He stood in the courtyard of the LORD's Temple, saying to all the people,


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"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'I'm about to bring on this city and all its towns all the disaster that I declared against it because they were determined not to obey my message.'"


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When the priest Pashhur, Immer's son, who was the officer in charge of the LORD's Temple heard Jeremiah prophesying these words,


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Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate of the Temple.


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The next day Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, and Jeremiah told him, "The LORD has not named you Pashhur, but rather Magor-missabib.


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For this is what the LORD says: 'Look, I'm going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your loved ones. They'll fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes will see it. I'll give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He will take them into exile to Babylon, and he will execute them with swords.


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I'll turn over all the wealth of this city, all its possessions, all its valuables, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah right into the hands of their enemies, and they'll plunder them, capture them, and take them to Babylon.


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You, Pashhur, and all those living in your house will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon and there you will die. There you and all your loved ones to whom you have falsely prophesied will be buried.'"


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You deceived me, LORD, and I've been deceived. You overpowered me, and you prevailed. I've become a laughing stock all day long, and everyone mocks me.


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Indeed, as often as I speak, I cry out, and shout, "Violence and destruction!" For this message from the LORD has caused me constant reproach and derision.


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When I say, "I won't remember the LORD, nor will I speak in his name anymore, then there is this burning fire in my heart. It is bound up in my bones, I grow weary of trying to hold it in, and I cannot do it!


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Indeed, I hear many people whispering, "Terror on every side. Denounce him, let's denounce him!" All my close friends watch my steps and say, "Perhaps he will be deceived, and we can prevail against him and take vengeance on him."


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But the LORD is with me like a fearsome warrior. Therefore, those who pursue me will stumble and won't prevail. They'll be put to great shame, when they don't succeed. Their everlasting disgrace won't be forgotten.


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LORD of the Heavenly Armies, who tests the righteous, who sees the inner motives and the heart, let me see you take vengeance on them, for I've committed my case to you.


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Sing to the LORD, give praise to the LORD! For he saves the life of the poor from the hand of the wicked.


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Let the day on which I was born be cursed. Don't let the day on which my mother gave birth to me be blessed.


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Cursed is the person who brought the good news to my father, "A baby boy has been born to you," making him very happy.


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May that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without compassion. Let him hear a cry in the morning, and a battle cry at noon,


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because he didn't kill me in the womb, so that my mother would have been my grave and her womb forever pregnant.


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Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow, and to finish my life living in shame?


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The message that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Malchijah's son Pashhur and Maaseiah's son Zephaniah the priest:


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Please inquire of the LORD on our behalf, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is fighting against us. Perhaps the LORD will do some of his miraculous acts for us, and Nebuchadnezzar will depart from us."


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'This is what the LORD God of Israel says: "I'm about to turn against you the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. I'll gather them into the center of this city.


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Because of my anger, wrath, and great fury, I'll fight against you myself with an outstretched hand and a strong arm.


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I'll strike down the residents of this city, both people and animals, and they'll die from a terrible plague.


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Afterwards," declares the LORD, "I'll give King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the people-those who are left in this city from the plague, the sword, and the famine-into the control of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, right into the hand of their enemies and the hand of those who want to kill them. He'll execute them with swords and won't pity them. He won't spare them, nor will he have compassion on them."'


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"You are to say to this people, 'This is what the LORD says: "I'm about to set before you the way of life and the way of death.


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Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by the plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live. He will save his life as a spoil of war.


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Indeed, I'm firmly decided-I'm sending calamity to this city, not good," declares the LORD. "It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will set it on fire."'


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This is what the LORD says, house of David: "Judge appropriately every morning, and deliver those who have been robbed from the oppressor, so my anger does not break out like fire and burn with no one to put it out because of your evil deeds.


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"Look, I'm against you, city dwelling in the valley, rock of the plain," declares the LORD, "those of you who say, 'Who can come down against us and who can enter our habitations?'


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But I'll punish you according to what you have done," declares the LORD. "I'll start a fire in her forest, and it will consume everything around her."'"


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'Listen to this message from the LORD, king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David-you, your officials, and your people who enter these gates.


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This is what the LORD says: "Uphold justice and righteousness. Deliver from their oppressor those who have been robbed. Don't mistreat or do violence to the alien, the orphan, or the widow, or shed the blood of innocent people in this place.


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Rather, carefully obey this message, and then kings sitting for David on his throne and riding in chariots and on horses will enter the gates of this house. The king will enter along with his officials and his people.


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But if you don't listen to these words, I swear," declares the LORD, "that this house will become a ruin."'"


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For this is what the LORD says about the house of the king of Judah, "You are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebanon. Yet I'll surely make you a desert, towns where no one lives.


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I'll appoint people to destroy you, men with their weapons. They'll cut down some of your choice cedars and throw them into the fire.


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"Many nations will pass by this city and say to one another, 'Why did the LORD do this to this great city?'


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Then people will respond, 'It is because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have bowed down to other gods and served them.'


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"Don't cry for the dead or grieve for them. Weep bitterly for the one going away, because he won't return again nor see the land of his birth.


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"For this is what the LORD says about Josiah's son Shallum, king of Judah, who reigned in place of his father Josiah: 'He went out from this place and won't return to it again.


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"How terrible for him who builds his house without righteousness, and its upper rooms without justice, who makes his neighbor work for nothing, and does not pay him his wage.


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"How terrible for him who says, 'I'll build a large house for myself with spacious upper rooms, who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar and painting it red.'


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"Are you a king because you try to outdo everyone with cedar? Your father ate and drank and upheld justice and righteousness, did he not? And then it went well for him.


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He judged the case of the poor and needy. And then it went well for him. Isn't this what it means to know me?


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But your eyes and heart are on nothing but your dishonest gain, shedding the blood of innocent people, and practicing oppression and extortion.


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Therefore, this is what the LORD says about Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, "They won't lament for him with these words: 'How terrible, my brother, How terrible, my sister!' They won't lament for him with these words: 'How terrible, lord, How terrible, your majesty!'


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Go up to Lebanon and cry out, to Bashan and lift up your voice. Cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers have been crushed.


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I spoke to you when you were secure, but you said, "I won't listen!" This has been your way since your youth, for you haven't obeyed me.


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The wind will shepherd all your shepherds, and your lovers will go into exile. Indeed, you will then be ashamed and humiliated because of all your wickedness.


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You who live in Lebanon, who build your nest in the cedars, how you will groan when pains come upon you, pain like that of a woman giving birth.


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"As certainly as I'm alive and living," declares the LORD, "even if Jehoiakim's son King Jehoiachin of Judah were a signet ring on my right hand, I would pull you off


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and give you to those who are trying to kill you, whom you fear-that is, to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Chaldeans.


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I'll hurl you and the mother who gave birth to you into another land where you were not born, and there you will die.


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"Is this man Jehoiachin a despised and shattered jar, a vessel no one wants? Why were he and his descendants hurled away, thrown into a land that they didn't know?


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This is what the LORD says: 'Write this man off as childless, a man who does not prosper in his lifetime. None of his descendants will succeed in sitting on the throne of David, or ever ruling in Judah again.'"


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"How terrible for the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!" declares the LORD.


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Therefore, this is what the LORD God of Israel says about the shepherds who are shepherding my people, "You have scattered my flock and driven them away. You haven't taken care of them, and now I'm about to take care of you because of your evil deeds," declares the LORD.


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"I'll gather the remnant of my flock from all the countries where I've driven them, and bring them back to their pasture where they'll be fruitful and increase in numbers.


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I'll raise up shepherds over them, and they'll shepherd them. My flock will no longer be afraid or terrified, and none will be missing," declares the LORD.


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"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I'll raise up a righteous branch for David. He will be a king who rules wisely, and he will administer justice and righteousness in the land.


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In his time Judah will be delivered and Israel will dwell in safety. This is the name by which he will be known: 'The LORD Our Righteousness.'


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"Therefore, the time is coming," declares the LORD, "when people will no longer say, 'As surely as the LORD lives who brought up the Israelis from the land of Egypt,'


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but they'll say, 'As surely as the LORD lives who brought the descendants of the Israelis from the land of the north and from all the lands where I had driven them and brought them into the land.' Then they'll live in their own land."


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Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones shake. I'm like a drunk man, like a person overcome with wine, because of the LORD, and because of his holy words.


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Indeed, the land is full of adulterers. Indeed, the land mourns because of the curse; the pastures of the wilderness have dried up. The adulterers' lifestyles are evil, and they use their strength for what is not right.


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Therefore their way will be slippery. They'll be driven out into the darkness, where they'll fall. For I'll bring disaster on them, the year of their judgment," declares the LORD.


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"Among the prophets of Samaria I saw a disgusting thing, for they prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray.


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Among the prophets of Jerusalem I saw a horrible thing, for they commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of those who do evil, so that no one repents of his evil. All of them are like Sodom to me, and her residents like Gomorrah."


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Therefore, this is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies says about the prophets, "I'm about to make them eat wormwood and drink poisoned water, because godlessness has spread from the prophets of Jerusalem throughout the land."


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This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Don't listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you; they're giving you false hopes. They declare visions from their own minds-they don't come from the LORD!


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They keep on saying to those who despise me, 'The LORD has said, "You will have peace."' To all who stubbornly follow their own desires they say, 'Disaster won't come upon you.'


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But who has stood in the LORD's council to see and hear his message? Who has paid attention to his message and obeyed it?


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Look, the storm of the LORD's wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest, and it will swirl down around the head of the wicked.


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The LORD's anger won't turn back until he has accomplished what he intended to do. In the future you will clearly understand it.


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If they had stood in my council and had delivered my words to my people, then they would have turned them back from their evil way, from their evil deeds."


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If a person hides himself in secret places, will I not see him?" declares the LORD. "I fill the heavens and the earth, do I not?" declares the LORD.


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"I've heard what the prophets who prophesy lies in my name have said: 'I had a dream; I had a dream.'


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How long will this go on? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy from the deceit that is in their hearts?


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With their dreams that they relate to one another, they plan to make my people forget my name just as their ancestors forgot my name by embracing Baal.


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Let the prophet who has a dream relate the dream, but let whoever receives my message speak my message truthfully. What does straw have in common with wheat?" declares the LORD.


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"Therefore, look, I'm against the prophets," declares the LORD, "who steal my words from each other.


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Look, I'm against those who prophesy based on false dreams," declares the LORD, "and relate them and lead my people astray with their lies and their recklessness. I didn't send them; I didn't command them, and they provide no benefit at all to these people," declares the LORD.


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"Jeremiah, when these people, the prophet, or a priest ask you, 'What is the oracle of the LORD?' say to them, 'You are the burden, and I'll cast you out,'" declares the LORD.


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"As for the prophet, the priest, or the people who say, 'I have an oracle of the LORD,' I'll judge that person and his household.


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This is what you should say to one another and among yourselves, 'What has the LORD answered?' or 'What has the LORD said?'


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But you are to no longer mention the oracle of the LORD, because the oracle is only for the person to whom the LORD gives his message, and you have overturned the words of the living God, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, our God.


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This is what you should say to the prophet, 'What has the LORD answered?' or 'What has the LORD said?'


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Since you're saying, 'We have an oracle of the LORD,' therefore this is what the LORD says: He will answer your message with this message, 'Burden of the LORD,' and I'll send you away with these words: 'Don't say, "Oracle of the LORD."'


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Therefore I'll surely forget you and cast you and the city I gave you and your ancestors out of my presence.


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After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken Jehoiakim's son Jeconiah, king of Judah, along with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the smiths from Jerusalem into exile, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed right in front of the Temple of the LORD.


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One basket contained very good figs like the first figs that ripen on the tree. The other basket contained very bad figs that were too bad to be eaten.


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The LORD told me, "What do you see?" I replied, "Figs. The good figs are very good, and the bad figs are very bad. They're too bad to be eaten."


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"This is what the LORD God of Israel says: 'Like these good figs, so I'll regard as good the exiles of Judah whom I sent from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.


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I'll look at them with good intentions, and I'll bring them back to this land. I'll build them up. I won't tear them down; I'll plant them and not rip them up.


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I'll give them the ability to know me, for I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God when they return to me with all their heart.


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'Like the bad figs that are too bad to be eaten-for this is what the LORD says-so I'll give up on Zedekiah king of Judah, along with his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem that is left in this land, and those living in the land of Egypt.


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I'll make them into a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms of the earth; into a cause for contempt, into a byword, into a taunt, and into a curse in all the places to which I drive them.


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I'll send the sword, famine, and plague against them until they're completely destroyed from the land which I gave them and their ancestors.'"


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This message from the LORD came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah. (This was also the first year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.)


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"From the thirteenth year of the reign of Ammon's son Josiah, the king of Judah, until the present time, for 23 years this message from the LORD has come to me, and I've spoken to you again and again, but you haven't listened.


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Again and again, the LORD sent all his servants, the prophets, to you, but you wouldn't listen or even turn your ears in my direction to hear.


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They said, 'Turn, each one of you, from your evil habits and evil deeds, and live in the land that the LORD gave to you and your ancestors forever and ever.


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Don't follow other gods to serve and worship them. Don't provoke me with the idols you make with your hands, and I won't bring disaster on you.'


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But you didn't listen to me," declares the LORD, "so as to provoke me with the idols you make with your hands to your own harm.


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"Therefore, this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: 'Because you haven't listened to my message,


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I'm now sending for all the tribes from the north, declares the LORD, and for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I'll bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I'll utterly destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting desolation.


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I'll destroy the sounds of gladness and rejoicing from them, the sounds of the bridegroom and the bride, the sound of the hand mill and also the light of the lamp.


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This entire land will be a desolation and a waste, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.


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'Then when the seventy years have passed, I'll judge the king of Babylon and that nation, declares the LORD, I'll judge the land of the Chaldeans for their iniquity and I'll make it a desolation forever.


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I'll bring on that land all the things I spoke against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied about the nations.


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Indeed many nations and great kings will make slaves even of them, and I'll repay them according to their deeds, according to what they have done.'"


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For this is what the LORD God of Israel says to me, "Take this cup of the wine of burning anger from my hand and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.


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So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, and I made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it:


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Jerusalem, the cities of Judah, its kings and officials to make them into a ruin, an object of horror and scorn, and a curse, as it is this day;


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all the various people; all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod;


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all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and all the kings of the coast lands that are beyond the sea;


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all the kings of the north near and far, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. The king of Sheshak will drink after all the others.


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"You are to say to them, 'This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Drink, get drunk, and vomit! Fall down and don't get up because of the sword I'm sending among you."'


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And if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink it, say to them, 'This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "You will surely drink it!


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Look, I'm beginning to bring disaster on the city that is called by my name, and do you actually think you will avoid punishment? You won't avoid punishment because I'm summoning the sword against all those who live in the land," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.'


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You are to prophesy all these things against them, and you are to say to them, 'The LORD roars from his high place, from his holy dwelling he lifts his voice. He roars loudly against his flock, and against all who live on the earth; he shouts like those treading grapes.


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A tumult reaches to the ends of the earth because the LORD is bringing an indictment against the nations. He judges all flesh. He has given the wicked over to the sword,' declares the LORD."


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This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Look, disaster is going from nation to nation, a great storm is being stirred up from the most distant parts of the earth."


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Those slain by the LORD on that day will extend from one end of the earth to the other. They won't be mourned for or gathered up or buried. They'll be like dung on the surface of the ground.


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"Scream, you shepherds! Cry out! Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock! Indeed, the time for your slaughter and your dispersion has arrived, and you will break like a choice vessel.


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A sound-it's the cry of the shepherds and the scream of the leaders of the flock-because the LORD is destroying their pastures.


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Like a lion, he has left his den. Indeed, their land has become a waste because of the anger of the oppressor and because of the LORD's fierce anger."


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In the beginning of the reign of Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, this message came from the LORD:


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"This is what the LORD says: 'Stand in the courtyard of the LORD's Temple and tell those from all the cities of Judah who are coming to worship at the LORD's Temple everything that I've commanded you to say to them. Don't leave out a word!


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Perhaps they'll listen, and each of them will repent from his evil way. Then I'll change my mind about the disaster I'm planning to bring on them because of their evil deeds.


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Say to them, "This is what the LORD says: 'If you don't listen to me to follow my Law which I've set before you,


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and listen to the words of my servants, the prophets, whom I've sent to you over and over-but you wouldn't listen-


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then I'll make this house like Shiloh and make this city into a curse to all the nations of the earth.'"'"


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The priests, the prophets, and all the people listened as Jeremiah spoke these words at the LORD's Temple.


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As soon as Jeremiah finished saying everything that the LORD had commanded him to say to all the people, the priests, the prophets, and all the people seized him, telling him as they did: "You must certainly die!


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Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD that this house will be like Shiloh, and this city will be without an inhabitant?" Then all the people gathered around Jeremiah at the LORD's Temple.


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When the Judean officials heard all these things, they came up from the king's house to the LORD's Temple and sat in the doorway of the New Gate of the LORD's Temple.


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The priests and prophets told the officials and to all the people, "A death sentence for this man, because he prophesied against this city, as you heard with your own ears!"


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Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people: "The LORD has sent me to prophesy all the things you heard against this house and against this city.


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Now, change your habits and your deeds and obey the LORD your God, and the LORD will change his mind about the disaster that he told you about.


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But know for certain that if you kill me, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and its residents because the LORD really did send me to you to say all these things for you to hear."


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The officials and all the people told the priests and the prophets, "No death sentence for this man because he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God."


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"Micah of Moresheth prophesied during the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah to all the people of Judah, 'This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Zion will be a plowed field, and Jerusalem a ruin. The Temple Mount will be a wooded hill.'"


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"Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone in Judah kill him? Didn't he fear the LORD and seek the LORD's favor, and so the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he had spoken to them about. We're bringing great disaster on ourselves.


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There was also a man named Uriah, Shemaiah's son from Kiriath-jearim, who prophesied in the LORD's name. He prophesied about this city and this land in words similar to those of Jeremiah.


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King Jehoiakim, all his troops, and all the officials heard his words, and the king sought to kill him. Uriah heard about this and was afraid, so he fled and went to Egypt.


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King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt. He sent Achbor's son Elnathan, along with a contingent of men into Egypt.


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They brought Uriah out of Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim, who killed him with a sword. Then they threw his body into a common grave."


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Yet because Shaphan's son Ahikam supported Jeremiah, he was not handed over to the people for them to kill.


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At the beginning of the reign of Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, this message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:


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this is what the LORD says to me: "Make restraints and yokes for yourself and put them on your neck.


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Then send messengers to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon through the envoys who come to Jerusalem to king Zedekiah of Judah.


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Give them this order for their masters: 'This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says, and this is what you are to say to your masters,


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By my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth, mankind, and the animals that are on the face of the earth, and I give it to whomever I see fit.


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Now I've given all these lands to my servant, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I've even given him the wild animals to serve him.


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All the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until his country's time also comes, and then many nations and great kings will use him as a slave.


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If a nation and kingdom does not serve him-King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon-and does not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I'll judge that nation with the sword, with famine, and with plague," declares the LORD, "until I've completely destroyed it by his hand.


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You aren't to listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, and your sorcerers who say to you, 'Don't serve the king of Babylon.'


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They're prophesying a lie to you in order to remove you far away from your land. I'll drive you out and you will perish.


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But I'll let the nation that brings its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him remain in its own land," declares the LORD, "and they'll work it and remain in it."


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I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah using words like these: "Bring your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people, and you will live!


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Why should you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by plague as the LORD has decreed about the nation that does not serve the king of Babylon?


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Don't listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, 'You won't serve the king of Babylon. Indeed, they're prophesying a lie to you.


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For I didn't send them," declares the LORD, "and they're falsely prophesying in my name, so I will drive both you and the prophets who prophesy to you out of the land."


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Then I spoke to the priests and all this people: "This is what the LORD says: 'Don't listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you: "The vessels from the Temple are about to be returned from Babylon very soon now." Indeed, they're prophesying a lie to you.


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Don't listen to them! Serve the king of Babylon and you'll live. Why should this city become a ruin?


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If they're prophets, and if they have a message from the LORD, let them plead with the LORD of the Heavenly Armies so that the utensils that remain in the LORD's Temple, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem might not be taken to Babylon.


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For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says about the pillars, the bronze sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that remain in this city


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that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon didn't take when he took Jehoiakim's son Jeconiah, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem from Jerusalem into exile to Babylon-


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For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says about the vessels that remain in the LORD's Temple, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem,


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"They'll go into Babylon and there they'll remain until the time I take note of them," declares the LORD. "Then I'll bring them up and return them to this place."'"


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In that same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year and the fifth month, Azzur's son Hananiah, the prophet from Gibeon, told me at the LORD's Temple in front of the priests and all the people,


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"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'I've broken the yoke of the king of Babylon,


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and within two years I'll bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD's Temple that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took from this place and carried to Babylon.


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I'll bring back Jehoiakim's son Jeconiah, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon to this place,' declares the LORD, 'for I'll break the yoke of the king of Babylon.'"


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The prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in front of the priests and all the people who were standing in the LORD's Temple.


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The prophet Jeremiah said, "May the LORD truly do this thing! May the LORD fulfill the words that you prophesied to bring back the vessels of the LORD's Temple and all the exiles from Babylon to this place.


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The prophets who came before us from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and plague against many lands and great kingdoms.


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When a prophet prophesies peace, and what the prophet speaks comes about, he will be known as the prophet whom the LORD has truly sent."


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Hananiah, in front of all the people, said, "This is what the LORD says: 'In the same way, within two years, I'll break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.'" Then Jeremiah the prophet went on his way.


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This message from the LORD came to Jeremiah after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet:


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"Go and say to Hananiah, 'This is what the LORD says: "You have broken wooden yokes, but you have made iron yokes in their place."


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For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "I've put an iron yoke on the necks of all these nations to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They'll serve him, and I've even given the wild animals to him."'"


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The prophet Jeremiah told the prophet Hananiah, "Listen, Hananiah! The LORD didn't send you, and you are causing these people to trust in a lie.


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Therefore, this is what the LORD says: 'I'm about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you will die because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.'"


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These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,


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after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the palace officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths left Jerusalem.


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The letter was sent by Shaphan's son Elasah and by Hilkiah's son Gemariah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah sent to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in Babylon, and it said,


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"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles who were taken from Jerusalem into exile to Babylon,


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Take wives and father sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so they may have sons and daughters. Increase in numbers there, don't decrease.


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Seek the welfare of the city to which I've exiled you and pray to the LORD for it, for your welfare depends on its welfare.'


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"For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'Don't let the prophets and diviners who are among you deceive you, and don't listen to them when they tell you their dreams.


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"For this is what the LORD says: 'When Babylon's seventy years are completed, I'll take note of you and will fulfill my good promises to you by bringing you back to this place.


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For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for well-being, and not for calamity, in order to give you a future and a hope.


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I'll be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I'll restore your security and gather you from all the nations and all the places to which I've driven you,' declares the LORD. 'I'll bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.'


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"But this is what the LORD says about the king who sits on David's throne, and about the people who live in this city-your brothers who didn't go with you into exile:


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This is what the LORD says: 'I'm about to send the sword, famine, and plague on them, and I'll make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten because they're so bad.


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I'll pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with plague, and I'll make them a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms of the earth. I'll make them a curse, an object of horror, and scorn, and a desolation in all the nations to which I've driven them,


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because they didn't listen to my words,' declares the LORD. 'When I sent my servants, the prophets, to you again and again, you didn't listen,' declares the LORD.


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This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says about Kolaiah's son Ahab and Maaseiah's son Zedekiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my name, 'I'm about to give them into the domination of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your eyes.


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What happens to them will be the basis for a curse for all the Judean exiles who are in Babylon. People will say, "May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the LORD roasted in the fire,


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because they did something stupid in Israel. They committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and in my name they spoke lies that I didn't command them. I'm the one who knows, and I'm a witness," declares the LORD.'"


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"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'Because you sent letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, to Maaseiah's son Zephaniah the priest and to all the priests:


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"The LORD made you a priest instead of Jehoiada the priest to serve in the LORD's Temple as an official against every crazy prophet, and to put him in stocks and restraints.


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So he sent a message to us in Babylon: 'The exile will be long, so build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce.'"'"


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"Send a message to all the exiles: 'This is what the LORD says about Shemaiah from Nehelam, "Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I didn't send him, and has made you trust a lie,"


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therefore, this is what the LORD says: "I'm about to judge Shemaiah from Nehelam along with his descendants. He won't have anyone related to him living among these people. Nor will he see the good that I'll do for my people, declares the LORD, "because he advocated rebellion against the LORD."'


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Indeed, the time will come,' declares the LORD, 'when I'll restore the security of my people Israel and Judah,' says the LORD. 'I'll bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors, and they'll possess it.'"


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"Indeed, this is what the LORD says: 'We have heard a sound of terror and of fear, and there is no peace.


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Ask about this and think about it-Can a man give birth to a child? Why then do I see every strong man with his hands on his thighs like a woman giving birth, and all their faces have turned pale?


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Oh how terrible! That time will be worse than any like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be rescued from it.


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'On that day,' declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, 'I'll break the yoke from your neck and will tear off your restraints. Foreigners will no longer make you serve them.


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'My servant Jacob, don't be afraid,' declares the LORD, 'and Israel, don't be dismayed. For I'll deliver you from a distant place and your descendants from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return. He will be undisturbed and secure, and no one will cause him to fear.


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For I'll be with you to save you,' declares the LORD. For I'll put an end to all the nations where I scattered you; but I won't make an end of you. I'll discipline you justly, but I certainly won't leave you unpunished.'


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All your lovers have forgotten you; they don't seek you. Indeed, I've struck you down with the blow of an enemy, with the punishment of a cruel foe because your wickedness is great, and your sins are numerous.


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Why do you cry out because of your injury? Your wound won't heal. Because your wickedness is severe, and your sins are numerous I've done all these things to you.


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In addition, all who devour you will be devoured, and all your oppressors-all of them-will go into captivity. Those who plunder you will become plunder, and all who spoil you will become spoil.


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Indeed, I'll bring you healing, and I'll heal you of your wounds,' declares the LORD, because they have called you an outcast and have said, "It is Zion, no one cares for her!"'"


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"This is what the LORD says: 'I'm going to restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwellings. A city will be rebuilt on its ruins and a palace will sit on its rightful place.


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Thanksgiving and the sounds of laughter will come out of them. I'll cause them to increase in numbers and not decrease. I'll honor them and not make them insignificant.


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Their children will be as they were before, and their congregation will be established before me. I'll punish all who oppress them.


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Their leader will be one of their own, and their ruler will come from among them. I'll bring him near, and he will approach me, for who would otherwise dare to approach me?' declares the LORD.


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Look, the storm of the LORD! His wrath has gone forth, a twisting storm. It will swirl around the head of the wicked.


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The fierce anger of the LORD won't turn back until he has accomplished and established the plan of his heart. In the days to come, you will understand this.


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"At that time," declares the LORD, "I'll be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people."


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This is what the LORD says: "The people who survived the sword, found favor in the desert while Israel was seeking rest.


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The LORD appeared to Israel from far away and said, "I've loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I've drawn you with gracious love.


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I'll again build you, and you will be rebuilt, Virgin Israel! You will again take up your tambourines and go out to dance with those who are filled with joy.


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You will again plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria where planters had planted and defiled the fruit.


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For there will be a day when the watchmen will call out on the hills of Ephraim, 'Arise, let's go up to Zion to the LORD our God.'"


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For this is what the LORD says: "Cry out with joy for Jacob and shout for the chief among the nations. Announce, give praise, and say, 'Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.'


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Look, I'm bringing them from the northern region, and I'll gather them from the farthest parts of the earth. among them will be the blind and the lame, together with the pregnant woman and the woman in labor. A large group will return here.


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They'll come crying, and I'll lead them as they pray for mercy. I'll make them walk by streams of water, along a straight path on which they won't stumble. For I am Israel's father, and Ephraim is my firstborn."


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Nations, listen to this message from the LORD, and declare it in the distant coastlands. Say, "The one who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock."


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They'll come and cry out with joy on the heights of Zion. They'll be radiant over the LORD's goodness, over the grain, the new wine, the fresh oil, and over the young of the flocks and herds. Their lives will be like a well-watered garden. They'll never again grow faint.


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The virgins will rejoice with dancing together with young men and old men. For I'll turn their mourning into joy, and I'll comfort them and give them gladness instead of sorrow.


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I'll give the priests abundant provisions, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness," declares the LORD.


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This is what the LORD says: "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter crying. Rachel is crying, and she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no longer alive."


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This is what the LORD says: "Restrain your voice from crying, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work," declares the LORD. "They'll return from the enemy's land.


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There is hope for your future," declares the LORD. "Your children will return to their own territory."


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"I've certainly heard Ephraim shuddering with grief as they said, 'You have disciplined me, and I'm disciplined like an untrained calf. Restore me, and let me return, for you are the LORD my God.


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Indeed, after I turned away, then I repented. And after I came to understand, I slapped my forehead. I was both ashamed and humiliated because I bear the disgrace of my youth.'"


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"Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? Indeed, as often as I've spoken about him, I surely still remember him. Therefore I deeply yearn for him. I'll surely have great compassion on him," declares the LORD.


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Set up markers for yourselves. Erect signposts for yourselves. Pay attention to the highway, to the road you traveled. Return, virgin Israel, return to these cities of yours.


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How long will you go this way and that, rebellious daughter? Indeed, the LORD will create a new thing on the earth; a woman will protect a man.


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This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "They'll again speak this message in the land of Judah and its towns when I restore their fortunes: 'The LORD bless you, righteous dwelling, holy mountain.'


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Judah and all its towns will live together in the land, along with farmers and those who follow the flock.


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"Look, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I'll sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah using people and animals as seed.


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Just as I've watched over them to pull up, tear down, overthrow, destroy, and bring disaster, so I'll watch over them to build and to plant," declares the LORD.


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"In those days people will no longer say, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, but the children's teeth have been set on edge.'


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Instead, each person will die for his own iniquity. Everyone who eats sour grapes will have his own teeth set on edge."


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"Look, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I'll make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.


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It won't be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. They broke my covenant, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.


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Rather, this is the covenant that I'll make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD. "I'll put my Law within them and will write it on their hearts. I'll be their God and they will be my people.


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No longer will a person teach his neighbor or his relative: 'Know the LORD.' Instead, they'll all know me, from the least to the greatest of them," declares the LORD. "Indeed, I'll forgive their iniquity, and I'll remember their sin no more."


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This is what the LORD says, who gives the sun for light by day, the laws that govern the moon and stars for light by night, and who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. The LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name:


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"If these laws cease to function in my presence," declares the LORD, "then the descendants of Israel will cease to be a nation in my presence for all time!"


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This is what the LORD says: "If the heavens could be measured above, or the foundations of the earth be searched out below, then I also would reject all the descendants of Israel because of everything they have done," declares the LORD.


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"Look, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when the city of the LORD will be rebuilt from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.


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A measuring line will go straight out from there to the hill of Gareb, and then it will turn to Goah.


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The whole valley of dead bodies and ashes and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east will be holy to the LORD. It won't be uprooted or overthrown again, forever."


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This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. It was the eighteenth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.


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The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard at the palace of the king of Judah


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where Zedekiah had confined him. Zedekiah had said, "Why did you prophesy and say these things? You said, 'This is what the LORD says: "I'm about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.


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Zedekiah king of Judah won't escape from the Chaldeans, for he has surely been given over to the king of Babylon. He will speak to him face to face and look at him eye to eye.


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The king of Babylon will take Zedekiah to Babylon and there he will stay until I judge him," declares the LORD. If you fight against the Chaldeans, you won't succeed."'"


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'Look, Hanamel, your cousin, is coming to you and will say, "Buy my field in Anathoth for yourself, because the right of redemption to buy it belongs to you."'


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Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard just as the LORD had said, and he told me, 'Please buy my field in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin because you have the right to possess it, and the right to redeem it belongs to you. Buy it for yourself.' So I knew that this was a message from the LORD.


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"Then I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out the silver for him-seventeen shekels of silver.


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Then I took the deed of purchase-both the sealed one with the terms and conditions and the open one-


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and I gave the deed of purchase to Neriah's son Baruch, the grandson of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans sitting in the courtyard of the guard.


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'This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Take these deeds-both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed-and put them in a clay pot so they'll last for a long time."


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For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land."'


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'LORD! Look, you made the heavens and the earth with your great power and your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you!


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You, the great God, the mighty one, show gracious love to thousands and repay the parents' iniquity to their children after them. The LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name.


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You are great in regards to your purposes and mighty in regards to your works. Your eyes are open to everything that people do, and will reward each one according to their ways and just as their actions deserve.


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You are the one who performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and continue to do so until this day, both in Israel and among the rest of humanity. You made a reputation for yourself that continues to this day.


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By your strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror, you brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders.


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And you gave them this land which you had promised their ancestors that you would give them-a land flowing with milk and honey.


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They came and took possession of it, but they didn't obey you or walk according to your Law. They didn't do what you commanded them to do, so you caused all this calamity to happen to them.


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Look, the siege ramps have reached the city to take it. Because of the sword, famine, and plague, the city has been given over to the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you said has happened, and you are watching it occur!


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Lord, you have told me, "Buy the field for yourself with money and call in witnesses," even though the city is being given over to the Chaldeans.'"


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Therefore, this is what the LORD says: "I'm about to give this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he will capture it.


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The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come, set this city on fire, and burn it along with the houses on whose roofs incense was burned to Baal and liquid offerings were poured out to other gods in order to provoke me.


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Indeed, the Israelis and Judeans have been doing only evil in my presence since their youth. Indeed, the Israelis have done nothing but provoke me by what they have made with their hands," declares the LORD.


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"Indeed, this city has provoked me to anger and wrath from the day they built it until now, and so I'll remove it from my sight


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because of all the evil that the Israelis and Judeans have done to provoke me. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, their prophets, the people of Judah, and those living in Jerusalem have done these things.


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They have turned their backs to me rather than their faces. Even though I taught them, teaching them again and again, they didn't listen to accept correction.


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They built the high places of Baal that are in the Hinnom Valley in order to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech-something that I didn't command, nor did it ever enter my mind for them to require this utterly repugnant thing-and lead Judah into sin."


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"Now therefore, says the LORD God of Israel concerning this city about which you are saying, 'It is being given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, famine, and plague.'


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I'm about to gather my people from all the lands where I've driven them in my anger, wrath, and great indignation. I'll bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.


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I'll give them one heart and one lifestyle so they'll fear me always for their own good and for the good of their descendants after them.


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I'll make an everlasting covenant with them that I won't turn away from doing good for them. I'll put the fear of me in their hearts so they won't turn away from me.


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I'll rejoice over them to do good for them, and I'll faithfully plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.


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"Indeed, this is what the LORD says: 'Just as I'm bringing all this great disaster on this people, so I'll bring on them all the good things that I'm promising concerning them.


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Fields will be bought in this land about which you will say, "It is a desolate place without people or animals. It is given into the hands of the Chaldeans."


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People will buy fields for money, sign deeds, seal them, and call witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the areas around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah, the towns of the hill country, the towns of the Shephelah, and the towns of the Negev, for I'll restore their fortunes,' declares the LORD."


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This message from the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guard:


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"This is what the LORD says who made the earth, the LORD who formed it in order to establish it-whose name is the LORD-


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'Call to me and I'll answer you, and will tell you about great and hidden things that you don't know.'


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For this is what the LORD God of Israel says about the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to defend against the siege ramps and the sword,


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'The Chaldeans are coming to fight and to fill those houses with the dead bodies of the people that I've struck down in my anger and wrath, for I've hidden my face from this city because of all their wickedness.


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'Look, I'll bring restoration and healing to it, and I'll heal them. I'll reveal to them an abundance of peace and faithfulness.


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I'll cleanse them from all their sin that they have committed against me, and I'll forgive all their sins that they committed against me and by which they rebelled against me.


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Jerusalem will be for me a name of joy, praise, and glory to all the nations of the earth that hear about all the good that I'm doing for them. They'll fear and tremble because of all the good and because of all the peace that I'm bringing to Jerusalem.'


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"This is what the LORD says: 'You are saying about this place, "It is a ruin without people and without animals." Yet in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem which are desolate places without inhabitants and without animals, there will again be heard


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the sounds of rejoicing and gladness, the sounds of the bridegroom and the bride, and the sounds of those saying, 'Give thanks to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, for the LORD is good, and his gracious love lasts forever,' as they bring thanksgiving offerings to the LORD's Temple. For I'll restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first," declares the LORD.


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"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: 'In this place that is now a ruin without people or animals, and in all its towns there will again be pasture for shepherds resting their flocks.


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In the towns of the hill country, in the towns of the Shephelah, in the towns of the Negev, in the territory of Benjamin, in the areas around Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them,' says the LORD."


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"'Look, the time is coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I'll fulfill the good promise that I spoke concerning the house of Israel and Judah.


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In those days and at that time I'll cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he will uphold justice and righteousness in the land.


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At that time Judah will be delivered and Jerusalem will dwell in safety. And this is the name people will call it, "The LORD is Our Righteousness."'


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For this is what the LORD says: 'David will never be without a man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel,


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nor will the Levitical priests be without a man offering up burnt offerings, bringing in grain offerings, and offering sacrifices continually before me.'"


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"This is what the LORD says: 'If you could break my covenant with the day and night so that day and night wouldn't occur at the proper time,


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then my covenant with my servant David might also be broken so that he wouldn't have a son sitting on his throne, and so also with my servants the Levitical priests.


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As the heavenly bodies cannot be counted, and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I'll multiply the descendants of my servant David and the descendants of Levi who serve me.'"


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"Haven't you noticed what these people have been saying?-'The LORD rejected the two families that he had chosen!' They have contempt for my people and no longer consider them a nation.


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This is what the LORD says: 'If I had not established my covenant for day and night and the laws that govern the heavens and earth,


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then I might reject the descendants of Jacob and my servant David by not taking some of his descendants as rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Indeed, I'll restore their fortunes, and I'll have compassion on them.'"


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This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the LORD while Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, all his army, all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his authority, along with all the people were fighting against Jerusalem and all its towns:


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This is what the LORD God of Israel says: 'Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah. Say to him, "This is what the LORD says: 'Look, I'm giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will set it on fire.


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You won't escape from him. You will certainly be captured and given into his control. You will see the king of Babylon eye to eye, he will speak to you face to face, and you will go to Babylon.'"'


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Yet, hear this message from the LORD, Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the LORD says to you, 'You won't die by the sword.


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You will die peacefully, and as they burned fires for your ancestors, the former kings who were before you, so they'll burn fires for you, wailing, "Oh how terrible, your majesty!"' For I've spoken the message," declares the LORD.


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while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah that were left, namely Lachish and Azekah. (They were the only fortified cities that remained among the cities of Judah.)


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This is this message from the LORD that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem proclaiming release for them.


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Each person was to set free his male and female slaves who were Hebrews, so that no Jewish person would enslave his brother.


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All the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant agreed that each would set his male and female slaves free so that they would not enslave them any longer. They obeyed and they released them.


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But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves that they had set free, and they forced them to become male and female slaves.


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"This is what the LORD God of Israel says: 'I made a covenant with your ancestors on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. I told them:


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"At the end of seven years, each of you is to set free your fellow Hebrew who has sold himself to you and has served you for six years. You are to send him out from you with no further obligation." But your ancestors didn't obey me or pay attention.


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You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes by proclaiming release for one another, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name.


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But then you turned around and profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves whom you had set free according to their desire, and you forced them to become male and female slaves."'


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"Therefore, this is what the LORD says: 'You haven't obeyed me by each of you proclaiming a release for your brothers and neighbors. Now I'm going to proclaim a release for you,' declares the LORD, 'a release to the sword, to plague, and to famine, and I'll make you a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms of the earth.


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I'll give over the men who transgressed my covenant, who haven't fulfilled the terms of the covenant that they made before me when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts-


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the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf.


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I'll give them to their enemies who are seeking to kill them, and their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the land.


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I'll give Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his officials into the domination of their enemies, to those who are seeking to kill them, and to the army of the king of Babylon that is coming against them.


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Look, I'm in command of them, declares the LORD, and I'll bring them back to this city. They'll capture it and burn it with fire, and I'll turn the towns of Judah into desolate places without inhabitants.'"


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This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the LORD during the reign of Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah:


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"Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them. Bring them into the LORD's Temple, to one of the offices, and offer them wine to drink.


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So I took Jeremiah's son Jaazaniah (a descendant of Habazziniah), his brothers, all his sons, and the whole family of the Rechabites.


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I brought them to the LORD's Temple to the office of the descendants of Igdaliah's son Hanan, the man of God, which was next to the office of the officials, and which was above the office of Shallum's son Maaseiah, the keeper of the threshold.


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I put containers full of wine and cups in front of the members of the Rechabite clan and told them, "Drink the wine!"


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But they said, "We won't drink wine, because our ancestor, Rechab's son Jonadab commanded us: 'You and your descendants are never to drink wine!


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You aren't to build houses, you aren't to sow seeds, and you aren't to plant vineyards, or own them. Instead, you are to live in tents all your lives, so you will enjoy a long life in the land where you reside.'


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We have obeyed everything that our ancestor, Rechab's son Jonadab, commanded us. So we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters have drunk no wine all our lives,


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We have lived in tents. We have obeyed and have done everything that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us.


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Now when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, 'Come on! Let's go to Jerusalem because of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of Aram. And now we're living in Jerusalem.'"


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"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says: 'Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "Will you not accept correction by listening to what I say?" declares the LORD.


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"But what Rechab's son Jonadab commanded his sons about not drinking wine is observed, and they haven't drunk wine until this day. Indeed, they obey the commands of their ancestor. But I've spoken to you again and again, and you haven't obeyed me.


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I've sent you all my servants, the prophets, sending them again and again. I've said, 'Each of you turn from his evil behavior and make your deeds right. Don't follow other gods to serve them. Then you will remain in the land that I gave to you and to your ancestors. But you haven't paid attention and you haven't obeyed me.


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Indeed the descendants of Rechab's son Jonadab have carried out the command of their ancestor that he gave them, but this people has not obeyed me.


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Therefore, this is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says: 'Look, I'm bringing on Judah and all the residents of Jerusalem all the disaster that I pronounced against them, because I spoke to them, but they didn't listen, and I called out to them, but they didn't answer.'"


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Then Jeremiah told the house of the Rechabites, "This is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says: 'Because you obeyed the commandment of your ancestor Jonadab, have observed all his commandments, and have done everything that he commanded you,'


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therefore, this is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says: 'Rechab's son Jonadab won't lack a descendant who serves me always."'"


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In the fourth year of the reign of Josiah's son King Jehoiakim of Judah, this message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:


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"Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I've spoken to you about Israel, about Judah, and about all the nations, since I first spoke to you in the time of Josiah until the present time.


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Perhaps the house of Judah will hear about all the calamity that I'm planning to bring on them, and so each of them will turn from his wicked way and I'll forgive their iniquities and sins."


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Jeremiah summoned Neriah's son Baruch and at Jeremiah's dictation, Baruch wrote on the scroll all the words of the LORD that he had spoken to him.


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You go and read the words of the LORD that you wrote at my dictation from the scroll. Read them to the people at the LORD's Temple on the fast day. Also read them to all the people of Judah who are coming from their towns.


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Perhaps their pleas for help will come to the LORD's attention, and each of them will turn from his evil lifestyle in light of the great anger and wrath that the LORD has declared against this people."


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So Neriah's son Baruch did just as Jeremiah the prophet instructed him, reading the words of the LORD from the scroll at the LORD's Temple.


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In the ninth month of the fifth year of the reign of Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, a fast was proclaimed in the LORD's presence in Jerusalem for all the people of Jerusalem, as well as all the people who were coming from the towns of Judah.


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Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll to all the people at the LORD's Temple. He did this from the office of Shaphan's son Gemariah the scribe, in the upper court at the entrance of the New Gate of the LORD's Temple.


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When Gemariah's son Micaiah, the grandson of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll,


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he went down to the palace, to the scribe's office, where all the officials were sitting. Elishama the scribe, Shemaiah's son Delaiah, Achbor's son Elnathan, Shaphan's son Gemariah, Hananiah's son Zedekiah, and all the other officials were there.


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Then all the officials sent Nethaniah's son Jehudi, (who was also the grandson of Shelemiah and Cushi's great-grandson), to Baruch, who said, "Take the scroll that you read to the people and come." Neriah's son Baruch took the scroll with him and went to them.


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When they heard all the words, they turned to one another in fear, saying to Baruch, "We must report all these things to the king."


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Then they asked Baruch, "Please tell us how you wrote all the words. Did Jeremiah dictate them all?"


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Baruch answered them, "Yes, Jeremiah dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in the scroll with ink."


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Then the officials told Baruch, "Go, hide yourself, both you and Jeremiah, and don't let anyone know where you are."


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The officials went to the king in the courtyard, but they deposited the scroll in the office of Elishama the scribe. Then they reported everything written on the scroll to the king.


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The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the office of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi read it to the king and to all the officials who were standing beside the king.


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The king was sitting in the winter palace in the ninth month and a stove was burning in front of him.


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As Jehudi would read three or four columns, the king would cut it with a scribe's knife and throw it into the fire which was in the stove, until all the scroll was burned in the fire in the stove.


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The king and all his officials who were listening to these words were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments.


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Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.


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The king ordered his son Jerahmeel, Azriel's son Seraiah, and Abdeel's son Shelemiah to get Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD had hidden them.


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This message from the LORD came to Jeremiah after the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah's dictation:


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"Go back, take another scroll and write on it all the original words which were on the scroll that Jehoiakim, king of Judah, burned.


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Concerning Jehoiakim, king of Judah, you are to say, 'This is what the LORD says: "You burned this scroll, all the while saying, 'Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon will definitely come, destroy this land, and eliminate both people and animals from it?'"


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Therefore, this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, 'He will have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his corpse will be thrown out to rot during the heat of the day and the frost of the night.


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I'll punish him, his descendants, and his officials for their iniquity. I'll bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the calamity about which I've warned them, but they would not listen.'"


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Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Neriah's son Baruch the scribe. He wrote on it, at Jeremiah's dictation, all the words of the book that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned in the fire. He also added to them many similar words.


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Josiah's son King Zedekiah reigned in place of Jehoiakim's son Coniah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made king of the land of Judah.


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But neither he nor his officials nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD that were spoken by Jeremiah the prophet.


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King Zedekiah sent Shelemiah's son Jehucal and Maaseiah's son Zephaniah the priest to Jeremiah the prophet, asking him, "Please pray to the LORD our God for us."


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Pharaoh's army had come out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.


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"This is what the LORD God of Israel says: 'This is what you are to say to the king of Judah who sent you to me to inquire of me, "Look, Pharaoh's army that has come to help will go back to its own land of Egypt,


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and then the Chaldeans will come back to fight against this city, to capture it, and burn it with fire."'


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This is what the LORD says: "Don't deceive yourselves by saying, 'The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,' for they won't go.


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Indeed, even if you defeated the entire Chaldean army that is fighting against you, and they had only wounded men left in their tents, they would get up and burn this city with fire."'"


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Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin to take possession of his property there among the people.


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He was in the Gate of Benjamin, and chief officer Irijah, Shelemiah's son and the grandson of Hananiah, was there. He arrested Jeremiah the prophet, accusing him: "You are going over to the Chaldeans!"


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Jeremiah said, "It's a lie! I'm not going over to the Chaldeans." But Irijah would not listen to him, and he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials.


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The officials were angry with Jeremiah and beat him. They put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe because they had made it into a prison.


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Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him. The king questioned him secretly in his house: "Is there a message from the LORD?" Jeremiah said, "There is," and then he said, "You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon."


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Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, "What offense have I committed against you, your officials, or these people that you have put me in prison?


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Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, telling you: 'The king of Babylon won't come against you or against this land'?


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Now, please listen, your majesty, and pay attention to what I'm asking you. Don't make me go back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, so I don't die there."


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So King Zedekiah gave the order, and they assigned Jeremiah to the courtyard of the guard. Each day they gave him a loaf of bread from the bakers' street until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.


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Mattan's son Shephatiah, Pashhur's son Gedaliah, Shelemiah's son Jucal, and Malchijah's son Pashhur heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people:


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"This is what the LORD says: 'Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by the plague, but the one who goes over to the Chaldeans will live. His life will be spared, and he will live.'


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"This is what the LORD says: 'This city will surely be given to the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.'"


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Then the officials told the king, "Let this man be put to death because he's undermining the efforts of the soldiers who remain in this city and that of all the people by speaking words like these to them. Indeed, this man is not seeking the well-being of this people, but rather their harm."


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So they threw Jeremiah into a cistern that belonged to the king's son Malchijah and was located in the courtyard of the guard. When they let Jeremiah down with ropes, because there was no water in the cistern-only mud-Jeremiah sank into the mud.


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Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch in the king's house, heard that Jeremiah had been put in the cistern. The king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,


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"Your majesty, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah by throwing him into the cistern. He will die where he is because of the famine since there is no more bread in the city."


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Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Ethiopian: "Thirty men are at your disposal. Take them with you and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies."


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So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the palace, underneath the storeroom. He took worn out rags and worn out clothes from there, and using ropes he lowered them down to Jeremiah in the cistern.


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Ebed-melech the Ethiopian told Jeremiah, "Put the worn out rags and clothes under your armpits under the ropes," and Jeremiah did as he said.


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They pulled Jeremiah with the ropes and brought him up from the cistern, but Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.


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King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to him at the third entrance to the LORD's Temple. The king told Jeremiah, "I'm going to ask you something, and don't hide anything from me."


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Jeremiah told Zedekiah, "When I tell you, you will surely put me to death, won't you? And when I give you advice, you don't listen to me."


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Then King Zedekiah, in secret, swore an oath to Jeremiah: "As surely as the LORD lives, who gave us this life to live, I won't have you put to death, nor will I hand you over to these men who are seeking to kill you."


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So Jeremiah told Zedekiah, "This is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'If you will immediately surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, and this city won't be burned with fire. Both you and your family will live.


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But if you don't surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given to the Chaldeans, and they'll burn it with fire. You won't escape from their hands.'"


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Then King Zedekiah told Jeremiah, "I'm afraid of the Judeans who have gone over to the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans may turn me over to them, and they may treat me harshly."


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Jeremiah said, "They won't turn you over. Obey the LORD in what I'm telling you, and it will go well for you and you will live.


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Look, all the women who are left in the house of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon, and will say, 'These friends of yours have mislead you and overcome you. Your feet have sunk down into the mire, but they have turned away.'


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"They'll bring all your women and children out to the Chaldeans, and you won't escape from their hand. Indeed, you will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned with fire."


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If the officials hear that I've spoken with you, and they come to you and say, 'Tell us what you told the king, and what the king told you; don't hide it from us, and we won't put you to death,'


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then you are to say to them, 'I was presenting my request to the king that I not be taken back to the house of Jonathan to die there.'"


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When all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, he replied to them exactly as the king had ordered him. So they stopped speaking with him because the conversation had not been overheard.


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This is how Jerusalem was captured: In the tenth month of the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it.


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On the ninth day of the fourth month, in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, the wall of the city was breached.


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All the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the Middle Gate, including Nergal-sarri-usur, governor of Sinmagir, Nabu-sarrussu-ukin the high official, Nergal-sarri-user, the chief official, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.


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When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled and went out of the city at night through the king's garden through the gate between the two walls. Then he went out on the road toward the Arabah.


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The Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah on the plains of Jericho. When they seized him they brought him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed judgment on him.


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At Riblah, the king of Babylon executed Zedekiah's sons right before his eyes. He also executed all the nobles of Judah.


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The Chaldeans burned the palace and the houses of the people with fire, and they broke down the walls of Jerusalem.


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Nebuzaradan, the captain of the Babylonian guard, took into exile in Babylon the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to Nebuchadnezzar, and the rest of the people who remained.


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Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who did not have anything, and he gave them vineyards and fields on that day.


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Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard:


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"Take him, look after him, and don't do anything to harm him. Rather, do for him whatever he tells you."


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So Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, Nebushazban, the high official, Nergal-sar-ezer, the chief official, and all the officials of the king of Babylon sent for Jeremiah.


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They sent for Jeremiah and took him from the courtyard of the guard. They handed him over to Ahikam's son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, to take him home. So he remained among the people.


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"Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian: 'This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Look, I'm going to fulfill my promise against this city for disaster rather than for good, and on that day it will happen before your eyes.


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But I'll deliver you on that day," declares the LORD. "You won't be given into the hands of the men you fear.


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For I'll surely deliver you, and you won't fall by the sword. Your life will be spared because you trusted me," declares the LORD.'"


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This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had released him from Ramah, when he was bound in chains, along with all the exiles from Jerusalem and Judah who were being taken into exile in Babylon.


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The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and told him, "The LORD your God has predicted this disaster on this place.


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And now the LORD has brought it about and has done just as he said. Because you people sinned against the LORD and didn't obey him, this has happened to you.


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Now, look, I've freed you today from the chains that were on your hands. If you want to come with me to Babylon, come, and I'll look after you. But if you don't want to come with me to Babylon, don't. Look, the whole land lies before you, so go wherever it seems good and right for you to go."


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When he still did not respond, Nebuzaradan said, "Return to Ahikam's son Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and remain with him among the people-or go wherever it seems right for you to go." Then the captain of the guard gave him an allowance of food and a gift and sent him off.


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Jeremiah came to Ahikam's son Gedaliah at Mizpah, and he remained with him among the people who were left in the land.


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All the leaders of the forces who were in the field along with their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Ahikam's son Gedaliah over the men, women, children, and the poor of the land who had not been taken into exile in Babylon.


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Those who came to Gedaliah at Mizpah included Nethaniah's son Ishmael, Jonathan, Kareah's son Jonathan, Tanhumeth's son Seraiah, Ephai's sons from Netophah; and Jezaniah, the son of a man from Maacah. They came along with their men.


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Ahikam's son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men: "Don't be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Remain in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and things will go well for you.


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As for me, I'll remain at Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, gather wine, summer fruit, and oil. Put it in your containers and live in your cities that you have taken over."


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All the Judeans who were in Moab, those with the people in Ammon, those in Edom, and those in all the other countries also heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant for Judah and that he had appointed Ahikam's son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, over them.


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So all the Judeans returned from all the countries where they had been scattered. They came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and they gathered wine and summer fruit in great abundance.


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Kareah's son Jonathan and all leaders of the forces who were in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah.


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They told him, "Are you aware that Baalis, the king of the people of Ammon, has sent Nethaniah's son Ishmael to take your life?" But Ahikam's son Gedaliah did not believe them.


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Then Kareah's son Jonathan spoke privately to Gedaliah at Mizpah: "Let me go kill Nethaniah's son Ishmael, and no one will know. Why should he take your life? Otherwise all the Judeans who have gathered around you will be scattered, and the remnant of Judah will perish."


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Ahikam's son Gedaliah replied to Kareah's son Jonathan, "Don't do this! You're lying about Ishmael!"


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In the seventh month, Nethaniah's son Ishmael, the grandson of Elishama, a member of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, came to Ahikam's son Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with ten men. While they were dining together there at Mizpah,


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Nethaniah's son Ishmael and the ten men with him got up and killed Ahikam's son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, with swords and killed the man whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.


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Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with him (that is, with Gedaliah) at Mizpah, along with the Chaldean soldiers who were found there.


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eighty men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria came with their beards shaved, their clothes torn, and their bodies slashed. They had grain offerings and incense with them to present at the LORD's Temple.


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Nethaniah's son Ishmael went out from Mizpah to meet them, crying as he went. As he met them he told them, "Come meet with Ahikam's son Gedaliah."


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When they reached the middle of the city, Nethaniah's son Ishmael and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.


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Ten men who were among them told Ishmael, "Don't kill us because we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field. So Ishmael stopped and did not kill them or their companions.


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Ishmael threw the bodies of the men he killed on account of Gedaliah into the cistern that King Asa had made for protection against King Baasha of Israel. That is the same one Nethaniah's son Ishmael filled with those he killed.


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Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, including the king's daughters and all the rest of the people in Mizpah over whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had appointed Ahikam's son Gedaliah. Nethaniah's son Ishmael took them captive and then set out to cross over to the Ammonites.


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Kareah's son Jonathan and all the military leaders who were with him heard about all the terrible things that Nethaniah's son Ishmael had done.


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So they took all the men and went to fight Nethaniah's son Ishmael, and they found him at the large pool that is at Gibeon.


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When all the people who were with Ishmael saw Kareah's son Jonathan and all the military leaders who were with him, they were glad.


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All the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and went back to Kareah's son Jonathan.


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Kareah's son Jonathan and all the military leaders who were with him took all the rest of the people from Mizpah whom he had rescued from Nethaniah's son Ishmael after he had killed Ahikam's son Gedaliah, including the young men, the soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs whom he had rescued from Gibeon.


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because of the Chaldeans. They were afraid of the Chaldeans because Nethaniah's son Ishmael had killed Ahikam's son Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.


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Then all the military leaders, Kareah's son Jonathan, Hoshaiah's son Jezaniah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached Jeremiah.


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They told Jeremiah the prophet, "Please listen to what we have to ask of you. Pray to the LORD your God for us and for all these survivors. Indeed, only a few of us remain out of many, as you can see.


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Jeremiah the prophet told them, "I've heard, and I'm going to pray to the LORD your God just as you have requested. Whatever the LORD answers, I'll tell you. I won't withhold anything from you."


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Then they told Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we don't do everything that the LORD your God tells us through you.


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Whether it seems good or bad, we will obey the LORD our God to whom we send you, so it may go well for us. Indeed, we will obey the LORD our God."


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So he called Kareah's son Jonathan, all the military leaders who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.


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'If you will just remain in this land, I'll build you up and not pull you down. I'll plant you and not uproot you, for I'm sorry about the disaster I've brought on you.


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Don't be afraid of the king of Babylon as you have been. Don't fear him,' declares the LORD, 'because I am with you to save you and deliver you from his control.


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and you also say, "No, but we will go to the land of Egypt where we won't see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or hunger for bread, and there we will stay,"


text:
then hear this message from the LORD, remnant of Judah. This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "If you are really determined to go into Egypt, and you go there to settle,


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the sword that you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt. The famine that you dread will pursue you into Egypt, and there you will die.


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All the people who are determined to go into Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, by famine, and by the plague. No one will survive the disaster that I'll bring on them."


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For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'Just as my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will be a curse and an object of horror, ridicule, and scorn, and you will never again see this place.'


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The LORD has told you, remnant of Judah, 'Don't go to Egypt!' So be fully aware that I've warned you, today,


text:
that you have deceived yourselves. Indeed, you yourselves sent me to the LORD your God, saying 'Pray to the LORD your God for us, and whatever the LORD our God tells us we will do.'


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Now, be fully aware that you will die by the sword, by famine, and by plague in the place where you want to settle."


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When Jeremiah had finished telling all the people all the words that the LORD their God had sent him to tell them-that is, all these words-


text:
Hoshaiah's son Azariah, Kareah's son Johanan, and all the arrogant men told Jeremiah, "You're lying! The LORD our God didn't send you to say, 'Don't go to Egypt to settle there.'


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Indeed, Neriah's son Baruch is inciting you against us in order to give us into the hands of the Chaldeans, to kill us, or to take us into exile to Babylon.


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So Kareah's son Johanan, all the military leaders, and all the people did not obey the instructions given by the LORD to remain in the land of Judah.


text:
Kareah's son Johanan and all the military leaders took the entire remnant of Judah that had returned from all the nations where they had been scattered to settle in the land of Judah-


text:
the young men, the women, the children, the daughters of the king, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Ahikam's son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, along with Jeremiah the prophet and Neriah's son Baruch.


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So they went into the land of Egypt, because they did not obey the LORD, and they travelled as far as Tahpanhes.


text:
"Take large stones in your hands, and, in the sight of the men of Judah, bury them in the mortar of the brickwork at the entrance of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes.


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Then say to them, 'This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "I'm going to send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I'll take him and set his throne over these stones that I've buried, and he will spread his canopy over them.


text:
He will come and attack the land of Egypt-those meant for death will be put to death, those meant for captivity will be taken captive, and those meant for the sword will be put to the sword.


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He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt. He will burn their idols and take them captive. He will wrap himself with the land of Egypt like a shepherd wraps himself with a garment, and then he will leave from there in peace.


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He will shatter the pillars of Heliopolis in the land of Egypt and will burn the temples of the gods of Egypt with fire."'"


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This is the message that came to Jeremiah for all the Judeans who were living in the land of Egypt, who were living in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, saying,


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"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'You have seen the disaster that I brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah. Look, they're in ruins today, with no one living in them,


text:
because of the wickedness that they did, provoking me to anger by continuing to offer sacrifices and worship other gods that neither they nor you nor your ancestors had known.


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Yet I sent all my servants the prophets to you again and again, saying, "Don't do this repulsive thing that I hate."


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But they didn't listen or pay attention by turning from their wickedness and not offering sacrifices to other gods.


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My wrath and my anger were poured out, and they burned in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem so that they have become a ruin and a desolate place, as is the case today.


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'Now, this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Why are you doing great harm to yourselves so as to cut off from Judah, man and woman, child and infant from you, leaving yourselves without a remnant?


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And why have you provoked me to anger by the works of your hands, by offering sacrifices to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to settle so that you cut yourselves off and become an object of ridicule and scorn among all the nations of the earth?


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Have you forgotten the evil deeds of your ancestors, the evil deeds of the kings of Judah, the evil deeds of their wives, your evil deeds, and the evil deeds of your wives, that they did in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem?


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To this day they haven't humbled themselves, they haven't shown reverence for the LORD, and they haven't lived according to my Law and my statutes that I set before them and before their ancestors."'


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Therefore, this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Look, I've determined to bring disaster on you and to cut off all Judah.


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I'll take the remnant of Judah that determined to go to the land of Egypt to settle there, and all of them will come to an end in the land of Egypt. They'll fall by the sword, and they'll come to an end by famine. They'll become a curse, an object of horror, ridicule, and scorn.


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I'll punish those who live in the land of Egypt just as I punished Jerusalem-with the sword, with famine, and with plague.


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Of the remnant of Judah that came into the land of Egypt to settle there, no one will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah where they long to return and live. Indeed, they won't return, except for some refugees.


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Then all the men who knew that their wives were offering sacrifices to other gods and all the women who were standing by-a large group, including all the people who were living in the land of Egypt in Pathros-answered Jeremiah:


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Rather, we will keep doing everything that we said we would by offering sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and by pouring out liquid offerings to her just as we, our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders did in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. Then we had plenty of bread, things went well for us, and we didn't experience disaster.


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From the time we stopped offering sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out liquid offerings to her, we have lacked everything, and we have been consumed by the sword and famine.


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Indeed, we are going to continue offering sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out liquid offerings to her. And do you think we have made cakes to represent her or poured out liquid offerings for her without our husbands' approval?"


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Then Jeremiah spoke a message to all the people, to the young men, to the women, and to all the people who were answering him:


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"As for the sacrifices that you, your ancestors, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land offered in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, the LORD remembered them, did he not? And they came to his attention, did they not?


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The LORD could no longer bear it because of your evil deeds and the repulsive things that you did. So your land has become a ruin and an object of horror and ridicule without an inhabitant, as is the case today.


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Because you offered sacrifices and sinned against the LORD, you didn't obey the LORD and didn't live according to his Law, his statutes, or his testimonies; therefore, this disaster has happened to you, as is the case today."


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Then Jeremiah told all the people and all the women, "All you people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt, listen to this message from the LORD!


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This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'You and your wives have spoken with your mouths and acted with your hands: "We will certainly carry through on the vows that we vowed to offer sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and pour out liquid offerings to her!" Go ahead, carry through on your vows, and diligently do what you vowed!'


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But listen to this message from the LORD, all you people of Judah who are living in the land of Egypt. 'Look, I've sworn by my great name', says the LORD, 'my name will no longer be invoked by the mouth of any person in the entire land of Egypt, as he says, "As surely as the Lord GOD lives..."


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'Look, I'm watching over them to bring disaster rather than good. Every person of Judah in the land of Egypt will be brought to an end by the sword and by famine until they're completely gone.


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The ones who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have come into the land of Egypt to settle will know whose message will stand, mine or theirs.


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This will be a sign to you,' declares the LORD, 'that I'll punish you in this place so that you may know that my words concerning disaster against you will surely stand.'


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This is what the LORD says: 'Look, I'm going to give Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hands of his enemies and into the hands of those seeking his life, just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who was seeking his life.


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This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Neriah's son Baruch, when in the fourth year of the reign of Josiah's son King Jehoiakim of Judah had, at Jeremiah's dictation, written these words in a scroll:


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'You have said, "How terrible for me, for the LORD has added sorrow to my pain. I'm weary with my groaning, and I haven't found rest."'


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Say this to him: 'This is what the LORD says: "Look! What I've built I'm about to tear down, and what I've planted I'm about to pull up-and this will involve the entire land."


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Are you seeking great things for yourself? Don't seek them. Indeed, I'm about to bring disaster on all flesh,' declares the LORD, 'but your life will be spared wherever you go.'"


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To Egypt: Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the Euphrates River at Carchemish and which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of the reign of Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah.


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Harness the horses! Riders, mount up! Take your positions with your helmets! Polish lances, and put on armor!


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Why am I seeing this? They're terrified, they have turned back. Their warriors are crushed, and they take flight. They don't look back. Terror is on every side," declares the LORD.


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"The swift cannot flee, nor can the strong escape. In the north, beside the Euphrates River, they stumble and fall.


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Egypt is rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge. He says, 'I'll rise and cover the land. I'll destroy city and its inhabitants.'


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Horses, get up! Chariots, drive furiously! Let the warriors go forward, Ethiopia and Put who carry shields, and the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.


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That day belongs to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. It is a day of vengeance to take vengeance on his foes. The sword will devour and be satisfied, and will drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies will hold a sacrifice in the land of the north, by the Euphrates river.


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Go up to Gilead and get balm, virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you multiply remedies, but there is no healing for you.


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The nations have heard of your disgrace, and your cry of distress fills the earth. Indeed, one warrior stumbles over another, and both of them fall down together."


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This is the message that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to conquer the land of Egypt.


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"Announce in Egypt, proclaim in Migdol. Proclaim also in Memphis and Tahpanhes. Say, 'Take your positions and be ready, for the sword will devour all around you.'


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They repeatedly stumble and fall. They say to each other, 'Get up! Let's go back to our people and to the land of our birth, away from the oppressor's sword.'


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There they'll cry out, ' Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is just a big noise. He has let the appointed time pass by.'


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As certainly as I'm alive and living," declares the King, whose name is the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. Indeed, one will come like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.


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Prepare your baggage for exile, daughter living in Egypt, for Memphis will become a desolate place. It will become a ruin without inhabitant.


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Even the mercenary troops in her ranks are like a fattened calf. They too will turn around, and will flee together. They won't stand, for the day of their disaster is coming on them, the time of their punishment.


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Her cry will be like that of a fleeing serpent when they come in strength. They're coming to her with axes like woodcutters.


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They'll cut down her forest, though it's impenetrable," declares the LORD, "for they're more numerous than locusts, and there are too many of them to count.


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The daughter of Egypt will be put to shame, she will be given into the hands of the people from the north."


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The LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says, "Look, I'm going to punish Amon of Thebes, Pharaoh, Egypt, its gods and its kings, Pharaoh, and those who trust in him.


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I'll give them to those who are seeking their lives and to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his officers. Then afterwards, Egypt will be inhabited as in times past," declares the LORD.


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"As for you, my servant Jacob, don't be afraid, and Israel, don't be dismayed. For I'll deliver you from a distant place, and your descendants from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return. He will be undisturbed and secure, and no one will cause him to fear.


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"As for you, my servant Jacob, don't be afraid, and Israel, don't be dismayed," declares the LORD, "for I am with you. Indeed, I'll make an end of all the nations where I scattered you; but I won't make an end of you! I'll discipline you justly, but I'll certainly not leave you unpunished."


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This is this message from the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh conquered Gaza.


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This is what the LORD says: "Look, waters are rising from the north, and they'll become an overflowing river. They'll overflow the land and all that fills it-the city and those that live in it. People will cry out, and all those living in the land will wail.


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At the sound of the galloping hooves of his horses, at the rumbling of his chariots, the clatter of his wheels, fathers won't turn back for their children because their hands are weak,


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for the day is coming to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains. For the LORD is destroying the Philistines, the remnant of the coastlands of Caphtor.


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Baldness is coming to Gaza. Ashkelon is silenced. Remnant of their valley, how long will you gash yourself?


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Ah, sword of the LORD, how long before you are quiet? Put yourself into your scabbard, be at rest, be silent!


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How can it be quiet, when the LORD has ordered disaster to come to Ashkelon and the seashore? That's where he has assigned it."


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To Moab: This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "How terrible for Nebo, for it's laid waste. Kiriathaim is put to shame, it's captured. The fortress is put to shame, it's shattered.


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The pride of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they plotted evil against her: 'Come and let's eliminate her as a nation.' Madmen will also be silenced, and the sword will pursue you.


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Indeed, at the ascent of Luhith people will go up with bitter weeping. At the descent of Horonaim the anguished cries over the destruction will be heard.


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But, because you trust in your deeds and your riches, you will also be captured. Chemosh will go out into exile, along with his priests and officials.


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A destroyer will come to every town and no town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed." This is what the LORD has said!


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Put salt on Moab for she will surely fall. Her towns will become desolate places, without any inhabitants in them.


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Cursed is the one who is slack in doing the Lord's work. Cursed is the one who holds back his sword from shedding blood.


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Moab has been at ease from his youth. He has been undisturbed like wine on its dregs and not poured from vessel to vessel. He has not gone into exile. Therefore, his flavor has remained, and his aroma has not changed.


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"Therefore, look, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I'll send those who tip over vessels to him, and they'll tip him over. They'll empty his vessels and shatter his jars.


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Moab will be ashamed because of Chemosh just as the house of Israel was ashamed because of Bethel, their confidence.


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Moab will be destroyed, and the enemy will come up against her cities. Her finest young men will go down to slaughter," declares the King, whose name is the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.


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Mourn for him, all who live around him, and all who know his name. Say, 'Oh how the mighty rod is broken, the glorious staff.


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Come down from glory, and sit on parched ground, O woman who lives in Dibon, for the destroyer of Moab will come up against you to destroy you. He will destroy your strongholds.


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Stand by the road and keep watch, O woman who lives in Aroer. Ask the man who flees and the woman who escapes. Say, 'What happened'?


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Moab will be put to shame, for it will be destroyed. Wail and cry out. Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.


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Make him drunk for he has exalted himself against the LORD. Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he will be the object of mocking.


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Wasn't Israel an object of mocking for you? Wasn't he treated like a thief, so that whenever you spoke about him you shook your head in contempt?


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Abandon the cities, and live on the cliffs, you inhabitants of Moab. Be like a dove that builds a nest by the mouth of a cave.


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We have heard about Moab's pride-he's very proud-his haughtiness, his arrogance, his insolence, and his conceit.


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Therefore, I'll wail for Moab, and for the whole of Moab I'll cry out, for the men of Kir-heres I'll moan.


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More than the weeping for Jazer, I'll weep for you, vine of Sibmah. Your branches spread out to the sea, and reached as far as the Sea of Jazer. On your summer fruit and grapes the destroyer will fall.


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Gladness and rejoicing will be taken away from the fruitful land. From the land of Moab I'll cause the wine in the wine presses to stop flowing. The workers won't tread the grapes with a loud shout. There will be no shout!


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"From the cry of Heshbon, to Elealeh, to Jahaz they have lifted up their voice. From Zoar to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah, even the waters of Nimrim will become a desolate place.


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In Moab," declares the LORD, "I'll put an end to the one who offers a burnt offering on the high place and to the one who burns incense to his gods.


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Therefore my heart wails for Moab like flutes and my heart wails for the men of Kir-heres like flutes. Therefore they'll lose the abundance they produced.


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Indeed every head will be bald and every beard cut short. There will be gashes on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins.


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On all the housetops of Moab and in the streets there will be nothing but mourning, for I'll break Moab like a vessel that no one wants," declares the LORD.


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"How it will be shattered! How they'll wail! How Moab will turn his back in shame! Moab will be an object of ridicule and terror to all those around him."


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For this is what the LORD says: "Look, like an eagle one will fly swiftly and spread his wings against Moab.


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The towns will be captured and the strongholds seized. On that day the hearts of the warriors of Moab will be like the heart of a woman in labor.


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"The one who flees from the terror will fall into a pit. And the one who comes up out of the pit will be caught in a trap. For I'll bring upon her, that is upon Moab, the time of her punishment," declares the LORD.


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"The fugitives will stand without strength in the shadow of Heshbon, for fire will go out from Heshbon and a flame from the middle of Sihon. It will devour the forehead of Moab and the heads of the rebellious people.


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How terrible for you, Moab! The people of Chemosh will perish. Indeed, your sons will be taken into captivity, and your daughters as well.


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But I'll restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days," declares the LORD. This concludes the judgment on Moab.


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To the people of Ammon: This is what the LORD says: "Does Israel have no sons? Does he have no heir? Why then has Milcom taken possession of Gad, and his people settled in its towns?


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Therefore, look, the time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I'll cause a battle cry to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a desolate mound, and its towns will be burned with fire. Israel will take possession of those who possessed him," says the LORD.


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"Wail, Heshbon, because Ai is destroyed. Cry out, daughters of Rabbah, put on sackcloth and lament. Run back and forth inside the walls, for Milcom is going into exile along with his priests and his princes.


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Why do you boast in your valleys? Your valley is flowing away, faithless daughter, who trusted in her treasures, saying, 'Who will come against me?'


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Look, I'm bringing terror on you from all around you," declares the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies. "You will be driven out, fleeing recklessly, and there will be no one to gather the fugitives.


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To Edom: This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished among the prudent? Is their wisdom gone?


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Flee, turn around! Go to a remote place to stay, residents of Dedan! For I'll bring Esau's disaster on him at the time when I punish him.


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If the grape harvesters came to you, would they not leave gleanings? If thieves came at night, they would destroy only until they had enough.


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But I'll strip Esau bare. I'll uncover his hiding places so he cannot conceal himself. His offspring, his relatives, and his neighbors will be destroyed, and he will no longer exist.


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For this is what the LORD says: "Look, those who don't deserve to drink the cup will surely drink it, and will you actually go unpunished? You won't go unpunished! You will certainly drink it!


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Indeed, I've sworn by myself," declares the LORD, "that Bozrah will become an object of horror and scorn, a waste, and an object of ridicule. All her towns will become perpetual ruins."


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I've heard a message from the LORD, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: "Gather together and come up against her, and rise up to fight.


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The terror you cause and the pride of your heart have deceived you. You who live in hidden places in the rocks, who hold on to the heights of the hill, although you make your nest high like the eagle, I'll bring you down from there," declares the LORD.


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"Edom will become an object of horror. Everyone who passes by her will be horrified and will scoff because of all her wounds.


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Just like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors," says the LORD, "no one will live there. No human being will reside in it.


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Look, like a lion comes up from the thicket of the Jordan to a pasture that grows year round, so I'll drive them away from her in an instant, and I'll appoint whomever is chosen over her. Indeed, who is like me? Who gives me counsel? Who is the shepherd who will stand against me?"


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Therefore, hear the plan that the LORD has made against Edom, and the strategy that he devised against the inhabitants of Teman. Surely he will drag the little ones of the flock away. Surely their pasture will be desolate because of them.


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Look, he will rise up and fly swiftly like an eagle. He will spread his wings against Bozrah, and on that day the hearts of the warriors of Edom will be like the heart of a woman in labor.


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To Damascus: "Hamath and Arpad will be humiliated. Their courage melts because they have heard bad news. There is anxiety like the sea that cannot be calmed.


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Damascus will become weak. She will turn to flee, but panic will seize her. Distress and anguish will take hold of her like that of a woman giving birth.


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Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, and all her soldiers will be silenced on that day, declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.


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To Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon destroyed: This is what the LORD says: "Arise, go against Kedar! Plunder the people of the east!


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Take their tents and their flocks, their tent curtains and all their goods. Take their camels away from them. Cry out against them, 'Terror is all around!'


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Flee! Run away quickly! Go to a remote place to stay, residents of Hazor," declares the LORD. For King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has formed a plan and devised a strategy against them."


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"Arise, go up against a nation at ease, living securely," declares the LORD, "without gates or bars, living alone.


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Their camels will become booty, their many herds will become spoil. I'll scatter to the winds those who shave the corners of their beards, and I'll bring disaster on them from every side," declares the LORD.


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"Hazor will become a dwelling place for jackals, a perpetual wasteland. No one will live there; no human being will reside in it.


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This is what came as a message from the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah:


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This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Look, I'm going to break the bow of Elam, the finest of their troops.


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I'll bring the four winds against Elam from the four corners of the heavens, and I'll scatter them to all these winds. There will be no nation to which the exiles from Elam won't go.


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I'll terrify Elam before their enemies and before those who seek to kill them. I'll bring on them disaster and become fiercely angry at them," declares the LORD. I'll send the sword after them, until I've made an end of them.


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This is the message that the LORD spoke through the prophet Jeremiah about Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans.


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"Declare and proclaim among the nations. Lift up a banner and proclaim. Don't conceal anything. Say, 'Babylon will be captured. Bel will be disgraced, and Marduk will be destroyed. Her idols will be disgraced, and her filthy images will be destroyed.'


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For a nation from the north will go up against her. It will make her land into an object of horror, and no one will live in it. Both people and animals will wander off, and they'll leave.


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In those days, and at that time," declares the LORD, "the people of Israel will come together with the people of Judah. They'll be weeping as they travel along, and they'll be seeking the LORD their God.


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They'll ask the way to Zion, turning their faces in that direction. They'll come and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that won't be forgotten.


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My people have become lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them toward the mountains. They go from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place.


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All who find them devour them, but their enemies say, 'We're not guilty, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of righteousness, the LORD, the hope of their ancestors.'


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Move away from the middle of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans. Be like male goats at the head of the flock.


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Indeed, I'm going to stir up and bring against Babylon a great company of nations from the land of the north. They'll deploy for battle against her, and from there she will be captured. Their arrows will be like a skilled warrior; they won't miss their targets.


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The Chaldeans will become plunder, and all who plunder them will get more than enough," declares the LORD.


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"Though you rejoice, though you exult, you plunderers of my inheritance, though you skip around like a heifer in the grass and neigh like stallions,


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Your mother will be greatly devastated, she who gave birth to you will be ashamed. She will become the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.


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Because of the anger of the LORD she won't be inhabited, but will be utterly devastated. Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified and will scoff because of all her wounds.


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Deploy the troops all around Babylon. All who bend the bow, shoot at her and spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the LORD.


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Raise a battle cry against her on every side. She has surrendered, her pillars have fallen, her walls are thrown down. For this is the vengeance of the LORD. Take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her.


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Eliminate from Babylon the one who plants seeds and the one who uses the sickle at harvest time. Because of the oppressor's sword, let each one turn toward his own people and flee to his own land.


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"Israel is a scattered flock, driven out by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria, and then afterward King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gnawed his bones.


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Therefore this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'Look, I'm about to judge the king of Babylon and his land, just as I've judged the king of Assyria.


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I'll bring Israel back to his pasture. He will graze on Carmel, on Bashan, on Mt. Ephraim, and on Gilead-his hunger will be satisfied.


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In those days and at that time,' declares the LORD, 'the iniquity of Israel will be searched for, but there will be none; and the sin of Judah, but none will be found, because I'll pardon those I leave as a remnant.'"


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"Go up against the land of Merathaim and the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill them with swords, and completely destroy them," declares the LORD, "and do everything that I've commanded you.


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How the hammer of all the earth is cut off and broken! How Babylon has become a horror among the nations!


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I'll set a trap for you, and you will be caught, Babylon, but you don't realize it. You will be found and also seized, because you challenged the LORD!"


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The LORD will open his armory, and bring out the weapons of his anger. Indeed, a work of the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies will be in the land of the Chaldeans.


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"Come to her from afar. Open up her barns. Pile her up like heaps of grain, and completely destroy her. Don't leave any survivors.


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"Put all her bulls to the sword, let them go down to the slaughter. How terrible for them because their day has come, the time of their judgment.


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"The sound of fugitives and refugees will come from the land of Babylon to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, vengeance for his Temple.


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"Summon many to Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Camp all around her, let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds. Do to her just as she has done. For she has behaved arrogantly against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.


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Therefore, her warriors will fall in her streets, and all her soldiers will be silenced on that day," declares the LORD.


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Look, I'm against you, arrogant one," declares the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies. "Indeed your day is coming, the time of your judgment.


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The arrogant one will stumble and fall, and there will be no one to lift him up. I'll set fire to his cities, and it will devour everything around him."


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This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "The people of Israel are oppressed, along with the people of Judah. All their captors have held on to them and refused to let them go.


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Their Redeemer is strong, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name. He will vigorously plead their case in order to bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.


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A sword against the Chaldeans," declares the LORD, "and against the inhabitants of Babylon, against her officials and her wise men.


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A sword against the diviners. They'll be made fools. A sword against her warriors. They'll be shattered.


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A sword against her horses, against her chariots, and against all the foreign troops in her midst. They'll become women. A sword against her treasures. They'll be plundered.


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A drought against her waters. They'll dry up. For it's a land of idols, and they go mad over their terrifying images.


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Therefore the desert creatures along with hyenas will live there. They'll live in it with ostriches, but people won't live in it again. They won't inhabit it from generation to generation.


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Just as when God overthrew Sodom, Gomorrah, and their neighbors," declares the LORD, "so also no one will live there. No human being will reside in it."


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"Look, people are coming from the north. A great nation and many kings will be stirred up from the ends of the earth.


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They grab bow and spear. They're cruel and show no mercy. Their sound roars like the sea, as they ride on horses deployed like men ready for battle against you, daughter of Babylon.


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The king of Babylon has heard the news about them, and his hands hang limp. Distress has seized him, like a woman in labor.


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"Look, like a lion comes up from the thicket of the Jordan to a pasture that grows year round, so I'll drive them away from her in an instant, and I'll appoint whomever is chosen over her. Indeed, who is like me? Who gives me counsel? Who is the shepherd who will stand against me?"


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Therefore, hear the plan that the LORD has made against Babylon, and the strategy that he devised against the land of the Chaldeans. Surely they'll drag the little ones of the flock away. Surely their pasture will be desolate because of them.


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At the shout that Babylon has been seized, the earth will be shaken, and the cry will be heard among the nations.


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This is what the LORD says: "Look, I'm going to stir up a destroying wind against Babylon and the inhabitants of Leb-kamai.


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I'll send foreigners to Babylon, and they'll winnow her, and devastate her land. They'll come against her from every side on the day of her disaster.


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Don't let the archer bend the bow; don't let him rise up in his armor. Don't spare her young men. Completely destroy her entire army.


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Indeed, Israel and Judah haven't been abandoned by their God, by the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, although their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel."


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Flee from Babylon, and each of you, escape with your life! Don't be destroyed because of her guilt, for it's time for the LORD's vengeance. He is paying back what is due to her.


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Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD's hand, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine, therefore the nations have gone mad.


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Suddenly Babylon fell down and was shattered. Wail for her! Bring balm for her wound, perhaps she will be healed.


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We tried to heal Babylon, but she wouldn't be healed. Leave her, and let each of us go to his own country. For her judgment has reached to the heavens, and is lifted up to the sky.


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Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes-he has decided to destroy Babylon. Indeed, it's the LORD's vengeance, vengeance for his Temple.


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Lift up the battle standard against Babylon's walls. Strengthen the guard; post watchmen. Set men in position for an ambush. For the LORD will both plan and carry out what he has declared against the inhabitants of Babylon.


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The LORD of the Heavenly Armies has sworn by himself: "I'll surely fill you with soldiers like a swarm of locusts, and they'll sing songs of victory over you."


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He made the earth by his power. He established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding he spread out the heavens.


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When his voice sounds, there is thunder from the waters of heaven, and he makes clouds rise up from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings wind out of his storehouses.


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Everyone is stupid and without knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his own idols, for his images are false, and there is no life in them.


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The Portion of Jacob is not like these. He made everything, including the tribe of his inheritance. The LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name.


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I'll smash man and woman with you. I'll smash old man and young boy with you. I'll smash young man and young woman with you.


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I'll smash the shepherd and his flock with you. I'll smash the farmer and his team of oxen with you. I'll smash governors and officials with you.


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"Before your eyes I'll repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all the evil that they did in Zion," declares the LORD.


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"Look, I'm against you, destroying mountain, who destroys the whole earth," declares the LORD. "I'll stretch out my hand against you and roll you down from the crags. And I'll make you a burned-out mountain.


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They won't get a cornerstone or a foundation stone from you, because you will be a wasteland forever," declares the LORD.


text:
Lift up a battle standard in the land. Blow a trumpet among the nations. Consecrate the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz against her. Appoint a commander against her, bring up horses like bristling locusts.


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Consecrate the nations against her, the kings of the Medes, their governors, their prefects, and every land under their domination.


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The land quakes and writhes because the LORD's purposes against Babylon stand firm, to make the land of Babylon a waste without inhabitants.


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The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting. They stay in their strongholds; their strength is dried up; they have become like women. Her buildings are set on fire; the bars of her gates are broken.


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One runner runs to meet another runner, and one messenger to meet another messenger, to tell the king of Babylon that his city has been seized from one end to the other.


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For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it's pounded down. In just a little while, the time of her harvest will come."


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"King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured me and crushed me. He set me down like an empty vessel. He swallowed me like a monster, and filled his belly with my delicacies. Then he washed me away.


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May the violence done to me and my flesh be on Babylon," says the inhabitant of Zion. "May my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea," says Jerusalem.


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Therefore this is what the LORD says: "Look, I'm going to argue your case and take vengeance for you. I'll dry up her sea and make her fountain dry.


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When they're excited I'll serve them their banquet, and make them drunk until they're merry. They'll sleep forever and won't wake up," declares the LORD.


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"How Sheshak will be captured, and the prince of all the earth seized. How Babylon will become an object of horror among the nations!


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Her cities will become an object of horror, a dry land and a desert, a land in which no one lives, and through which no human being passes.


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I'll punish Bel in Babylon, and I'll make what he has swallowed come out of his mouth. The nations will no longer stream to him. Even the wall of Babylon will fall.


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And now, so your heart does not grow faint, and so you don't become frightened because of the rumors that are heard in the land-a rumor comes one year and then after it another rumor comes the next year about violence in the land and one ruler against another ruler.


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Therefore, look, days are coming when I'll punish the idols of Babylon. Her entire land will be put to shame, and all her slain will fall in her midst.


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Then the heavens and the earth and all that are in them will shout for joy about Babylon because the destroyers will come out of the north against her," declares the LORD.


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"So Babylon will fall because of the slain of Israel, even as the slain of all the earth have fallen because of Babylon.


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Go, you who escaped the sword! Don't stand around! Remember the LORD from far away, and let Jerusalem come to your mind.


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We have been put to shame because we have heard insults. Disgrace has covered our faces because foreigners have come into the Holy Places of the LORD's house.


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"Therefore, look, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I'll punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan.


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"Though Babylon should reach up to the heavens and fortify her high fortresses, from me destroyers will come to her," declares the LORD.


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For the LORD is destroying Babylon, and he will make the loud sounds from her disappear. Their waves will roar like many waters, the noise of their voices will sound forth.


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Indeed, the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon. Her warriors are captured, and her bows are broken. For the LORD is a God of recompense, and he will repay in full.


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I'll make their leaders, their wise men, their governors, their deputies, and their warriors drunk so that they sleep forever and don't wake up," declares the King whose name is the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.


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This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "The broad wall of Babylon will be completely leveled, and its high gate set on fire. and so the peoples toil for nothing, and the nations weary themselves only for fire."


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This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet delivered to Neriah's son Seraiah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with King Zedekiah of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster.


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Jeremiah wrote on a single scroll all the disasters that would come on Babylon, all these things that were written about Babylon.


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and say, 'LORD, you have declared about this place that you would destroy it so that there wouldn't be an inhabitant in it, neither human nor animal, because it will be a wasteland forever.'


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When you finish reading this scroll, tie a rock around it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates.


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Then say, 'Babylon will sink like this and won't rise from the disaster that I'm bringing on her. Her people will be exhausted.'" This concludes the writings of Jeremiah.


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Zedekiah was 21 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.


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Because Jerusalem and Judah had angered the Lord, he cast them out of his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon,


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and in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with all his army. He encamped near it and set up siege works all around it.


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By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine became so severe that there was no food for the people of the land.


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The wall of the city was broken through, and all the soldiers fled, leaving the city at night through the gate between the two walls next to the king's garden, even though the Chaldeans were all around the city. They went in the direction of the Arabah.


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The Chaldean army went after the king, overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his troops were scattered from him.


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They captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where the king of Babylon passed judgment on him.


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The king of Babylon killed Zedekiah's sons before his eyes, and he also killed all the Judean officials at Riblah.


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He blinded Zedekiah and bound him in bronze shackles. Then the king of Babylon took him to Babylon and put him in prison until he died.


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In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month-it was the nineteenth year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon-Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard who served the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.


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He burned the LORD's Temple, the king's house, and all the houses in Jerusalem. He also burned every public building with fire.


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All the Chaldean troops who were with the captain of the bodyguard tore down all the walls around Jerusalem.


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Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard carried into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people left in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen.


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But Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard left some of the poorest people of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.


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The Chaldeans broke in pieces the bronze pillars that were in the LORD's Temple and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the LORD's Temple, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.


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They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the pans, and all the bronze utensils that were used in the temple service.


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The captain of the bodyguard took away the bowls, the fire pans, the basins, the pots, the lamp stands, the pans, and the bowls for libations, both those made of gold and those made of silver.


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There was too much bronze to weigh in the two pillars, the one sea, the twelve bronze oxen that were under the sea, and the stands which king Solomon had made for the LORD's Temple.


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Each of the pillars was eighteen feet high and its circumference eighteen feet. It was hollow and about three inches thick.


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On each pillar was a capital of bronze. And the height of each capital was seven and a half feet. Latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar was like this, including the pomegranates.


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There were 96 pomegranates open to view. In all, there were 100 pomegranates all around the latticework.


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The captain of the bodyguard arrested Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the next ranking priest, and the three guards of the gate.


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From the city he arrested one of the officers who had been in charge of the troops, seven men from the king's personal advisors who were found in the city, the secretary of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and 60 men of the people of the land who were found inside the city.


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Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard arrested them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.


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The king of Babylon struck them down and killed them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from the land.


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in Nebuchadnezzar's twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard took 745 people from Judah into exile. All the people taken into exile numbered 4,600.


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In the first year of his reign, King Evil-merodach of Babylon, showed favor to King Jehoiachin of Judah by releasing him from prison on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah.


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He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the other kings who were in Babylon with him.


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As for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him daily by the king of Babylon as long as he lived, until the day of his death.


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How lonely she lies, the city that thronged with people! Like a widow she has become, this great one among nations! The princess among provinces has become a vassal.


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Bitterly she cries in the night, as tears stream down her cheeks. No one consoles her of all her friends. All her neighbors have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.


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Judah has gone into exile to escape affliction and servitude. She that sat among the nations, has found no rest. All her pursuers overtook her amid narrow passes.


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The roads that lead to Zion are in mourning, because no one travels to the festivals. All her gates are desolate; her priests are moaning. Her young women are grieving, and she is bitter.


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Her adversaries dominate her, her enemies prosper. For the LORD has made her suffer because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away, taken captivity before the enemy.


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Fled from cherished Zion are all that were her splendor. Her princes have become like deer that cannot find their feeding grounds. They flee with strength exhausted from their pursuers.


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Jerusalem remembers her time of affliction and misery; all her valued belongings of days gone by, when her people fell into enemy hands, with no one to help her, and her enemies stared at her, mocking her downfall.


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Jerusalem sinned greatly, and she became unclean. All who honored her now despise her, because they saw her naked. She herself groans and turns her face away.


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Uncleanness has soiled her skirts, and she gave no thought to what would follow. She fell in such a startling way, with no one to comfort her. Look, LORD, upon my affliction, because my enemy is boasting.


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The adversary seized in his hands everything she valued. She watched the nations enter her sanctuary; those you forbade to enter your place of meeting.


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All her people groaned as they searched for food. They traded their valuables in order to eat, to keep themselves alive. Look, LORD, and see how I have become dishonored.


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May it not befall you, all who pass along the road! Look and see: Is there any grief like my grief dealt out to me, by which the LORD afflicted me in the time of his fierce wrath?


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He sent fire from on high, making it penetrate my bones. He stretched out a net at my feet, forcing me to turn back. He made me desolate; I'm fainting all day long.


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The yoke of my sins was bound on, fastened together by his hand. They settled on my neck; he caused my strength to fail. The LORD placed me in the power of those I cannot resist.


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He rejected all the valiant men-the LORD, in my midst. He set a time to meet with me to crush my young warriors. The LORD has trampled, as in a winepress, the fair virgin that is Judah.


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Because of all this, I weep; my eyes stream with tears because far from me is the comforter of my soul. My children are sorrowful, because the enemy has won.


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Zion spreads out her hands; no one is there to comfort her. The LORD has issued an order against Jacob, that all who are around him are to be his enemies; Jerusalem has become unclean among them.


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The LORD is in the right, but I rebelled against his commands. Listen, please, all you people, and look at my pain-my young men and women have gone into captivity.


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I called out to my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and my elders have died within the city while looking for something to eat to keep themselves alive.


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Look, LORD, how distressed I am; all my insides are churning. My heart is troubled within me, because I vigorously rebelled. Outside the sword brings loss of life, while at home death rules.


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People heard how I groan, with no one to comfort me. All my adversaries have heard about my troubles; they rejoice that you have caused them. Bring on the day you have promised, so my adversaries will become like me.


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May all of their wickedness come to your attention, and deal with them as you have done with me because of all my transgressions. For I am constantly groaning, and my heart is faint.


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How the Lord in his wrath shamed cherished Zion! He cast down from heaven to earth the glory of Israel, He did not remember his footstool in the time of his anger.


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The Lord swallowed up without pity all of Jacob's habitations. In his wrath he tore down the strongholds of fair Judah. He cast to the ground in dishonor both her kingdom and its rulers.


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In his fierce wrath he cut off all the strength of Israel. He withdrew his protection as the enemy approached. He burned Jacob like a blazing fire consumes everything around it.


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He bent his bow against us as would an enemy, his right hand cocked as would an adversary. He has killed everyone in whom we took pride; in the tent of cherished Zion he poured out his anger like fire.


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The Lord has become like an enemy-he has devoured Israel. He has devoured all of her palaces, destroying her fortresses. He filled cherished Judah with mourning and lament.


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He plowed under his Temple like a garden, spoiling his tent. The LORD abolished in Zion both festivals and Sabbaths. In his fierce wrath he despised both king and priest.


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The Lord rejected his altar, disavowing his sanctuary. He gave up her palace walls to the control of the enemy. They shouted in the LORD's Temple, as though they were attending a day of celebration.


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The LORD planned to destroy the walls of cherished Zion. He measured them with his line. He did not withhold his hand from destruction. He made both ramparts and defensive walls mourn; they languish together.


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Jerusalem's gates collapsed to the ground; he destroyed and broke the bars of her gates. Both king and prince have gone into captivity. There is no instruction, and the prophets receive no vision from the LORD.


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The leaders of cherished Zion sit silently on the ground; they throw dust on their heads and dress in mourning clothes. The young women of Jerusalem bow their heads in sorrow.


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My eyes are worn out from crying, my insides are churning, My emotions pour out in grief because my people are destroyed-Children and infants faint in the streets of the city.


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They ask their mothers "Is there anything to eat or drink?" They faint in the streets of the city like wounded men. Their life ebbs away while they lie on their mother's bosom.


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What can be said about you? To what should you be compared, fair Jerusalem? To what may I liken you, so I may comfort you, fair one of Zion? Indeed, your wound is as deep as the sea-who can heal you?


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Your prophets look on your behalf; they see false and deceptive visions. They did not expose your sins in order to restore what had been captured. Instead, they crafted oracles for you that are false and misleading.


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Everyone who passes by on the road shake their fists at you. They hiss and shake their heads at cherished Jerusalem: "Is this the city men used to call 'The Perfection of Beauty,' and 'The Joy of the Entire Earth'"?


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All of your enemies insult you with gaping mouths. They hiss and grind their teeth while saying, "We have devoured her completely. Yes, this is the day that we anticipated! We found it at last; we have seen it!"


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The LORD did what he planned. He carried out his threat. Just as he commanded long ago, he has torn down without pity; He let the enemy boast about you and has exalted the power of your enemies.


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Cry out from your heart to the Lord, wall of fair Zion! Let your tears run down like a river day and night. Allow yourself no rest, and don't stop crying.


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Get up and cry aloud in the night, at the beginning of every hour. Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord! Lift up your hands toward him for the lives of your children, who are fainting away at every street corner.


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Look, LORD, and take note: To whom have you done this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have cuddled? Should priests and prophets be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?


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Young men and the aged lie on the ground in the streets; my young women and young men have fallen by the sword. You killed them in your anger, slaughtering them without pity.


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You have invited those who terrorize me to come around, as if today were a festival. No one has escaped or survived the time of the LORD's anger. My enemy has finished off those whom I cuddled and raised.


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How tarnished the gold has become, the finest gold debased! Sacred stones have been scattered at every street corner.


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Though the precious people of Zion were like fine gold, how they are valued like clay vessels, the handiwork of a potter!


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Even wild animals nurse, suckling their young; but the women of my people are cruel, like ostriches in the wilderness.


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The nursing child's tongue cleaves to its palate from thirst. Young children beg for bread, but no one gives them any.


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Those who enjoyed delicacies lie desolate in the streets. Those who were reared wearing purple scavenge in piles of trash.


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The guilt of my cherished people surpasses the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, without a hand to help her.


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Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk. Their bodies were more ruddy than rubies, their beards like the color of precious stones.


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Now their faces are blacker than coal; they are unrecognized in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones; it has become dry like a stick.


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Those who die by the sword are better off than those who die from starvation, who slowly waste away like those pierced through for lack of food from the fields.


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With their own hands, compassionate women boil their own children-they become their food-when my beloved people were destroyed.


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The LORD has exhausted his wrath, pouring out his fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion, consuming its foundations.


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None of the kings of the earth would have believed, nor the world's inhabitants, that the adversary and the enemy could have breached the gates of Jerusalem.


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Due to the sins committed by her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests who shed in her midst, the blood of the righteous,


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people stagger around in the streets like the blind, defiled by blood unclean so that no one is able to touch their clothing.


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"Go away! Unclean!" they shouted at them. "Go away! Go away! Don't touch!" When they fled away and wandered, those among the nations decreed, "They cannot live here!"


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The LORD himself separated them; he will do nothing more for them. They did not respect their own priests; they did not honor their elders.


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Our eyes failed, searching in vain for hope; we kept watching and looking for a nation that would not help.


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Our steps were closely stalked, so we couldn't travel on our own streets. Our end is near, our days are over; indeed, our end has come.


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Our pursuers were swifter than soaring eagles; they pursued us over the mountains, lying in wait for us in the wilderness.


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The LORD's anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits. About him we had said, "Under his protection we will survive among the nations."


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Celebrate and rejoice, you women of Edom, who live in the land of Uz. But to you the cup also will pass-you will become drunk and stripped naked.


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The punishment for your sin is complete, you women of Zion, and God will no longer exile you. He will punish your iniquity, you women of Edom, and he will expose your sins.


text:
On the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year of the exile to Babylon, while I was among the captives on the bank of the Chebar River, heaven opened up and I saw visions from God.


text:
a message from the LORD came directly to Buzi's son Ezekiel, the priest, by the Chebar River in the land of the Chaldeans. The hand of the LORD rested upon him there.


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I was amazed to see a wind storm blow in from the north, consisting of a massive cloud and fire that was flashing back and forth, surrounded by bright light. From deep within the cloud something was shining that appeared to have a color like bronze that had been placed in fire until it glowed.


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Deep inside it, the likenesses of four living beings were visible. Their appearances were similar to human forms,


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From under their wings there were human hands on their four sides. Now as to their four faces and four pairs of wings,


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their pairs of wings overlapped each other. They moved in straight directions without turning their faces around as they moved.


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The form of their faces was human, but each of the four also had the face of a lion to the right, the face of an ox to the left, and the face of an eagle behind them.


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That's what their faces were like. Their wings spread out above and around them, one pair overlapping another, with one pair covering themselves.


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Each moved in straight directions. Wherever they decided to go, they went without turning themselves.


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Now, in the midst of the living beings there was something that appeared to glow like coals kindled by a fire, like torches that moved back and forth between the living beings. The fire was dazzling, and lightning flashed from the fire.


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As I observed the living beings, I noticed one wheel on the earth beside each being-that is, for the four of them.


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Their wheels and their construction details looked like gold-colored beryl. Each wheel was identical in form to the others, and they appeared to have been constructed and designed as if one wheel were within another.


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Their wheel rims were ornate and terrifying. They were full of eyes that surrounded the four of them.


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Whenever the living beings moved, the wheels moved, too. Whenever the living beings rose from the earth, the wheels rose also.


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Whatever direction these spirits went, the wheels would be lifted up along with them, because the wheels were alive.


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They moved around whenever they wanted to move around, and they stood still whenever they wanted to stand still; and whenever they rose from the earth, the wheels remained close beside them, because the wheels were also alive.


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There was spread out over the heads of the living beings what looked like a canopy, in outward appearance resembling ice,


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and underneath the canopy, their wings spread out straight over their heads toward each other. They each also had two wings with which they covered themselves, one wing covering its body on one side and one wing covering itself on the other side.


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I also heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of roaring water, like the voice of the Almighty, or like a boisterous crowd within an army camp. Whenever they stopped flying, they lowered their wings.


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A sound came from above the canopy that was spread out over their heads. Whenever they stood still, they lowered their wings.


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From above the canopy, that was spread out over their heads there appeared to be something resembling a throne, resembling sapphire in form.


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I noticed that from what appeared to look like his waist upward there was something that looked like metal that glowed as if it were immersed in fire. Below this there was something resembling fire, with a radiant light surrounding him.


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The appearance of the radiant light resembled that of a rainbow shining in a cloud on a rainy day. This was what the appearance of the form of the glory of the LORD resembled. When I saw all of this, I fell flat on my face. Then I heard a voice speaking.


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Even while he was speaking to me, the Spirit entered me, set me on my feet, and I listened to the voice that had been speaking to me.


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" Son of Man, I'm sending you to that rebellious people, the Israelis, who have rebelled against me the same way their ancestors did. And they're still rebels to this very day!


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Whether this rebellious group listens to you or not, at least they'll realize that a prophet had appeared in their midst!


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"Now as for you, Son of Man, never be afraid of them or of anything they have to say, because being with them will be like settling down to live among briers, thorn bushes, and scorpions! Don't be afraid of anything they have to say, and don't be awed by their appearance, since they are a rebellious group.


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You are to tell hem whatever I have to say to them, whether they listen or not, since they are rebellious."


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"Son of Man, you are to listen to what I tell you. You are never to be rebellious like they are: a rebellious group. "Now, open your mouth and eat what I'm giving you..."


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As I watched, all of a sudden there was a hand being stretched out in my direction! And there was a scroll


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being unrolled right in front of me! Written on both sides were lamentations, mourning, and cries of grief.


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Then he told me, "Son of Man, eat! Eat what you see-this scroll-and then go talk to the house of Israel."


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Then he told me, "Son of Man, fill your stomach and digest this scroll that I'm giving you." So I ate it, and it was like sweet honey in my mouth.


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because you're not going to a people whose speech you cannot understand or whose language is difficult to speak. Instead, you're going to the house of Israel.


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This isn't a large group of people whose speech is unintelligible to you or whose language is difficult for you to comprehend. Frankly, if I had sent you to that kind of people, they would certainly have listened to you!


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But the house of Israel won't listen to you, since they weren't willing to listen to me. That's because the entire house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.


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I'm making you harder than flint-like diamond! So you are not to fear them or be intimidated by how they look at you, since they're a rebellious group."


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then go immediately to the exiles; that is, to your people's descendants, and tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says...' whether they listen or not."


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Then the Spirit lifted me up and I heard a great earthquake behind me and the glory of the LORD arose from his place,


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accompanied by the sound of the wings of the living creatures gently touching each other and with the sound of the wheels emanating from the front, accompanied by a great earthquake.


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Then the Spirit lifted me up and carried me away. I went bitterly with an angry attitude as the hand of the LORD rested on me.


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I came to the exiles at Tel-abib by the Chebar River and sat down among them for seven days, appalled.


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"Son of Man," he said, "I've appointed you to be a watchman over the house of Israel. Therefore when you hear a message that comes from me, you are to warn them for me.


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"So when I say to a wicked person, 'You're about to die,' if you don't warn or instruct that wicked person that his behavior is wicked so he can live, that wicked person will die in his sin, but I'll hold you responsible for his death.


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If you warn the wicked person, and he doesn't repent of his wickedness or of his wicked behavior, he'll die in his sin, but you will have saved your own life."


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"When a righteous man abandons his righteousness to practice unrighteousness, I'll set a stumbling block before him. He'll die. If you don't warn him, he'll die in his sin and the righteous deeds that he had practiced won't be remembered, but you'll be held responsible for his death.


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If you warn the righteous person, so that he doesn't commit sin, then he'll live, since he had been warned. And you will have saved your life."


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The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he told me, "Get up, and go to the valley and, I'll speak with you there."


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So I got up, went to the valley, and there was the glory of the LORD, standing there just like I had seen at the Kebar River. So I fell on my face.


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The Spirit entered me, rested on me, caused me to stand on my feet, and then he spoke to me. This is what he had to say: "Go barricade yourself in your house.


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Now pay attention! They're going to bind you with ropes, tying you up right in their midst, so you won't be able to circulate freely among them.


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Meanwhile, I'll make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you'll be mute and unable to reprove them, since they're a rebellious group.


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But when I speak with you, I'll open your mouth so you can say to them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "As for those who will listen, 'Let them listen,' but as for those who refuse, 'Let them refuse,' since they're a rebellious group."'"


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"And now Son of Man, you are to take a brick, set it in front of you, and inscribe on it the outline of the city-that is, Jerusalem.


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You are to lay siege against it, build a rampart around it, set a bulwark against it, encircle it with a berm, set up camps against it, and place battering rams around it.


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Then you are to take a flat, iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. "Next, you are to turn toward it, oppose it, and place it under siege, because you are to lay siege to it. All of this will serve as a sign to the house of Israel.


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"Now as for you, you are to sleep on your left side, symbolically bearing the punishment of the house of Israel while you're counting the days you'll be sleeping on your left side to bear symbolically the punishment for their sin.


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I've assigned you to sleep this way for 390 days, representing the years they've been sinning, as you bear symbolically the punishment of the house of Israel.


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When you have completed this, you are to sleep on your right side, symbolically bearing the iniquity of Judah for 40 days. Each day that I've assigned to you represents one year.


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After this, you are to turn toward the rampart of Jerusalem and oppose it with your bare arms, because I'm going to prophesy about it.


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Look! I'll tie you up so that you're unable to turn from one side to the other until you've completed your siege."


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"Furthermore, you are to take some wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and mix them together in one container. Then you are to make bread from these grains sufficient to supply you through the time during which you'll be sleeping on your side. You are to eat it for 390 days.


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The food that you'll be eating is to consist of eight ounce portions for each day, consumed at regular intervals.


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You are to eat it as barley cakes and bake it right in front of them, using dried human dung for cooking fuel."


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Then the LORD said, "This is how the Israelis will be eating unclean food among the nations, where I'll be sending them."


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"Now, Lord GOD," I replied, "I've never been defiled, ever since I was young until now. I haven't eaten an animal that died on its own or was torn by beasts, and no unclean meat has ever entered my mouth!"


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"Okay," he responded. "I'll allow you to substitute cow's dung for human dung. Cook your food over that."


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He also told me, "Son of Man, look! I'm about to disrupt the source of bread in Jerusalem. As a result, they'll ration bread by weight while their terror continues to grow and they'll ration drinking water while their horror continues to mount!


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Indeed, they'll need bread and water, but everyone will be panic-stricken as they waste away in their iniquity."


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"Now as for you, Son of Man, you are to go find a sharp sword and use it like a barber's razor. You are to cut your hair and beard. Then you are to take a weighing scale and divide your shaved hair into three parts.


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You are to burn a third of it in the middle of the city when you've finished your siege. Next, you are to take another third of it and beat it with your sword. Last, you are to scatter the remaining third to the wind, after which I'll unsheathe my sword and pursue them.


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Then you are to take a few strands, throw them in the fire, and incinerate them. A fire will proceed to the house of Israel from there."


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"This is what the Lord GOD says, 'This is Jerusalem. I placed her in the center of nations, with many nations surrounding her.


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But she rebelled against my ordinances and my statutes. She practiced more evil than all the nations and territories around her. They rejected my ordinances and didn't live by my statutes.'


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"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Because you're more disrespectful than the nations that surround you, you didn't follow my statutes or follow my ordinances. You didn't even follow the ordinances of the surrounding nations!'


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"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Watch out! I-that's right, even I-am against you. I'll carry out my sentence among you right in front of the nations.


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In fact, I'm going to do what I've never done before and what I'll never again do, because of all of your loathsome behavior:


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Fathers will eat their children in your midst. After this, your sons will eat their fathers as I carry out my sentence against you and scatter your survivors to the winds!'


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"Therefore, as sure as I live," declares the Lord GOD, "because you've defiled my sanctuary with every loathsome thing and every abomination, I'll restrain myself, and I'll show neither pity nor compassion.


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A third of you will die by pestilence, starving because of the famine in your midst. Another third will die violently by the violence of war around you. The final third I'll scatter to the wind as I unsheathe my sword to pursue them.


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"Only then will I stop being angry-my burning in anger. Then they'll know that I've spoken out in my arduous anger. Only then will my burning anger against them be exhausted.


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I'm also going to turn you into a waste and an object of insult among the nations that surround you and in front of every person who passes by.


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As a result, Jerusalem will become an insult, an object of taunt, an example of chastisement, and a useless waste to all the nations that surround you when I carry out my sentence against you in my anger, my burning rage, and my burning rebukes. I, the LORD, have spoken it.


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I'll send arrows of severe famine in their direction, meant for destruction, which I'll shoot, intending to destroy them. I'll make you have more and more famines that will attack you, and I'll disrupt your source of food.


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"I'll send famine and wild beasts against you that will rob you of your children. Pestilence and bloodshed will devastate you when I'll declare war on you. I, the LORD, have spoken."


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Tell the mountains of Israel to listen as the Lord GOD speaks. This is what the Lord GOD has to say to the mountains, hills, streams, and the valleys: 'Look! I'm about to bring my sword against you. I'm going to destroy your high places.


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Your altars will become desolate and your sun pillars will be shattered. I'll throw your slain down right in front of your idols.


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I'll place the corpses of the Israelis in front of their idols. I'll scatter your bones around your altar.


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In all the places where you live, the cities will be desolate. The high places will also be desolate so that your altars will be laid waste, bearing the punishment appropriate to them. Your idols will be shattered, your sun pillars will be hewn down, and your works will be obliterated.


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I'll leave a remnant among you-those who will escape the sword when I'll have scattered you throughout the earth.


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Your survivors will remember me among the nations where they'll be taken captives. I've been crushed by their unfaithful hearts that have turned against me.


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Then they'll know that I am the LORD. I didn't declare this evil that's intended for them without a reason.'"


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This is what the Lord GOD says: "Clap your hands and stamp your feet! Say, 'Oh, no!' Because of all the detestable evil that has come from Israel's house, they'll fall by the sword, famine, and pestilence.


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The one who lives far away will die by pestilence and the one who is near will die violently. The survivors and their surveillance details will die by famine as I exhaust my rage against them.


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You'll learn that I am the LORD, when the fatally wounded will be among their idols, around their altars, on every hill, on top of the mountains, under every luxuriant tree, and under all the full-grown foliage-every place where they've offered fragrant aromas to all their idols.


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I'll stretch out my hands to strike them and send devastation to the land, from the wilderness of Diblah, throughout all their dwelling places. Then they'll know that I am the LORD.


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"Son of Man, this is what Lord GOD says to the land of Israel: "It's over! All four corners of the land are out of time!


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"Your time is up! I'm sending my anger against you to judge you according to how you live your lives; and I'm going to pay you back with the consequences of all your detestable practices.


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I won't be showing pity on you and I won't be showing compassion. I'm going to turn your own lifestyles against you while your detestable practices remain among you. Then you'll learn that I am the LORD."


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"Your doom has come to you, you who live in the land. The time has arrived, and the day of confusion is near. There will be no shouts of joy on the mountains.


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"Very soon now, I'll pour out my burning anger on you. I'll complete expressing my anger at you, judge you according to your behavior, and repay you for all your detestable practices.


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I won't be showing pity or compassion. I'll repay you according to your behavior while your detestable practices remain among you. And you'll know that I, the LORD, have been attacking you.


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"Violence has matured into a branch that is wicked. No one will survive from that vast crowd, from their wealthy people, or from the famous among them.


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"The time has come! "The day has arrived. Don't let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller lament, because wrath is coming to attack the entire multitude.


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The seller won't regain what he has sold while the crowd remains alive, because the vision concerning the entire multitude won't be annulled. No person will be able to survive because of the sin in his life.


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"They've sounded the alarm, and everyone is prepared, but no one is marching for battle, since I'm angry at the entire multitude.


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The sword lurks outside, but pestilence and famine are on the prowl inside the house. Whoever is in the field will die by violence, while famine and pestilence will devour those in the city.


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Fugitives will escape to the mountains like doves fleeing through the valleys, all of them moaning because of their own iniquity.


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"They'll clothe themselves with sackcloth, terror will overcome them, shame will cover their faces, and baldness will spread over their entire heads.


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They'll fling their silver into the streets, and their gold will be cast away as impure. Their silver and gold won't be able to deliver them during the time of the LORD's wrath. They won't be able to satisfy their appetites or fill their stomachs, because their iniquity has tripped them up.


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"As for his beautiful ornament, he set it up in majesty, but they made detestable images and loathsome idols. Therefore I'll give them something loathsome-


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I'll give it as plunder into the control of strangers and as the spoils of war to the wicked who will invade the land to profane it.


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I'll turn my face away from them so that they'll defile my treasured place. Robbers will enter and profane it!


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Therefore I'm bringing the worst of the nations, who will take possession of their houses. I'll cause the pride of the mighty to cease, and their sanctuaries will be profaned.


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Disaster upon disaster will come, followed by rumor after rumor. They'll seek an oracle from the prophet, but the Law will be gone from the priests, and counsel from the elders.


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"The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I'll deal with them according to their behavior and I will judge them by how they've judged. Then they'll learn that I am the LORD."


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In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I had just sat down in my house, with the elders of Judah seated in front of me. All of a sudden, the hand of the Lord GOD touched me


text:
and I saw a likeness comparable to the appearance of a man. From his thighs downward there was the appearance of fire, and from his waist upward, there was the appearance of brightness that looked like brass.


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The form of a hand reached out and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and sky, brought me toward Jerusalem, and in visions that came from God took me through the doors of the inner gate that faced north, where an image that provoked God's jealous anger had been erected.


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All of a sudden, the glory of the God of Israel was there! It looked like what I had seen back in the valley.


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Then he told me, "Son of Man, look up toward the north." So I looked off toward the north. Suddenly, off toward the north, facing the gate that led to the altar, the image that provoked God's jealousy was standing near the entrance.


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Then the Spirit told me, "Son of Man, don't you see what they're doing? The house of Israel practices awful, detestable things here, so I'm going far away from my sanctuary. But you're about to see things even more detestable than these."


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Then the Spirit brought me to the entrance of the court. As I watched, all of a sudden, there was a hole in the wall!


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Then he told me, "Son of Man, dig through the wall!" So I dug into the wall. That's when I uncovered an entrance!


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Then he told me, "Go on through that entrance, so you may see the wicked, detestable things that they're committing here."


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So I entered, looked around, and there was every form of crawling thing, loathsome animals, and all kinds of idols from the house of Israel carved all around the wall.


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I saw 70 men from the elders of the house of Israel standing among them, including Shaphan's son Jaazaniah. Each man held a censer in his hand. As the scent of the cloud of incense ascended,


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the Spirit asked me, "Do you see, Son of Man, what the elders of Israel's house are doing in secret, each in the chamber of his own carved idol? They keep saying, 'God doesn't see us. The LORD has abandoned the land.'"


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Then he brought me to the entrance of the gate to the LORD's Temple, which faced the north. That's where I saw women seated, weeping for Tammuz.


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Then he asked me, "Do you see this, Son of Man? You're about to see even more detestable practices than these. "


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Then he brought me to the inner court of the LORD's Temple. There, at the entrance to the LORD's Temple, between the porch and the altar, were 25 men, with their backs toward the LORD's Temple and facing the east, prostrating themselves to the sun.


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"Do you see this, Son of Man?" he asked me. "Is it an insignificant thing for Judah's house to commit the detestable things that they're doing here? They've filled the land with violence and turned away from me, causing me to become angry again. Look how they're sniffing with their noses!


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I'm going to deal with them in rage and anger. I'll show neither pity nor compassion. They'll cry loudly directly in my ears, but I won't listen to them."


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Then the Spirit shouted right in my ears with a loud voice! "Come forward," he said, "you executioners of the city, and bring your weapon of destruction in your hand!"


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All of a sudden, I noticed six men approaching from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north. Each of them held a destructive weapon in his hand. Among them there was one man, clothed in linen, who was equipped with a writing set at his side. They went in and presented themselves beside the bronze altar.


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Then the glory that is Israel's God arose from the cherubim on which he had been seated and settled on the threshold of the Temple. He called out to the man dressed in linen who wore the writing case at his side.


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The LORD told him, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of everyone who sighs and moans over all of the loathsome things that are happening in it."


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As I continued to listen, he also told the others, "Follow him through the city and start killing. Don't spare anyone you see, and don't show pity of any kind.


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You are to execute old men, young men, young women, little children, and women. But don't touch anyone who has been marked. Begin at my Holy Place!" And so they started with the elders who were in standing in front of the Temple.


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"Desecrate my Temple," he told them, "and fill its courtyard with the dead!" So they went out and began striking down people throughout the city.


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While they were out carrying out the executions, I was left alone. So I fell on my face and cried out, "O Lord GOD, are you going to destroy all of the survivors of Israel when you pour out your anger on Jerusalem?"


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"The house of Israel and Judah is guilty-and theirs is a stubborn guilt, at that!" he replied to me. "The land is filled with blood, and the city overflows with injustice, because they keep saying, 'The LORD has abandoned the land,' and 'The LORD isn't watching.'


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"So as for me, I'm not going to show pity, and I won't look in their direction with mercy. I'm repaying them for what they have done."


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Then I noticed the man dressed in linen who wore the writing case by his side as he brought back this message: "I've done as you have commanded me."


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As I continued to watch, there on the expanse above the heads of the cherubim was a massive sapphire stone that resembled a throne in form and appearance.


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The LORD spoke to the man who was clothed in white linen, telling him, "Go between the whirling wheels, under the cherubim, and fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim. Then scatter them over the city." So he entered as I watched.


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Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the entrance to the Temple, when the man entered and a cloud filled the inner court.


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The glory of the LORD rose above the cherub and moved to the threshold of the Temple. A cloud filled the Temple and the court was filled with the brilliance of the LORD's glory.


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The sound of the wings of the cherubim, reminiscent of the voice of the Sovereign God when he speaks, could be heard as far as the outer court.


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He issued this order to the man who was clothed in white linen. "Take fire from within the whirling wheels, among the cherubim." So he went and stood beside the wheels.


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Then a cherub stretched out his hand to the fire, which was among the cherubim, took some of the fire, and placed it in the hands of the one clothed in white linen, who took it and left.


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As I continued to watch, I observed four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub. The wheels resembled beryl stone.


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Whenever they moved, they proceeded without turning around as they moved, but they followed in the direction where their head was facing, without looking around as they moved.


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Their entire bodies, backs, hands, and wings were filled with eyes around, including each of their four wheels


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Each had four faces. The first one was the face of cherub, the second the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.


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When the cherubim moved, the wheels went alongside them. But when the cherubim started to ascend, beating their wings to rise above the earth, the wheels beside them didn't turn.


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When they stood still, the wheels stood still. When they rose up, the wheels rose up, too, because they were alive.


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The cherubim lifted their wings and rose above the earth while I watched. They went out, along with their wheels, and stood at the entrance to the east gate of the LORD's Temple as the glory of Israel's God remained above, covering them.


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These were the living beings that I had seen under the God of Israel on the bank of the Kebar River. I knew that they were cherubim.


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Each one had four faces. Each one had four wings, and the form of human hands could be seen under their wings.


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As to the likeness of their faces, they were like what I had seen on the bank of the Kebar River. They each moved straight ahead.


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The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east facing gate of the LORD's Temple. At the entrance of the gate I saw 25 men. Included among them were Azzur's son Jaazaniah and Benaiah's son Pelatiah, who were princes of the people.


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Then he told me, "Son of Man, these men are plotting evil and are giving wicked advice in this city.


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They keep saying, 'The right time to build families hasn't yet arrived. The city is the pot and we are the meat."


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Just then the Spirit of the LORD took control of me and told me, "You are to say, 'This is what the LORD says: "You've said, O house of Israel, that I know what goes through your mind.


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You've increased the number of fatally wounded in this city and you've filled your streets with the dead."


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"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says, 'The corpses that you've laid out in your midst are the meat, and this city is the cooking pot. But you'll be taken out from the middle of it.


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I'm bringing you out from the middle of it and I'm going to deliver you into the hands of strangers, because I'm going to carry out my sentence against you.


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You're going to die violently, and I'll judge you as far as the borders of Israel. Then you'll learn that I am the LORD.


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"'This city won't be your cooking pot and neither will you be the meat in it, because I'm going to judge you as far as the borders of Israel.


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Then you'll learn that I am the LORD, because you didn't live by my statues or obey my ordinances. Instead, you obeyed the ordinances of the nations around you.'"


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While I was prophesying, Benaiah's son Pelatiah died, so I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice. "Ah, Lord GOD," I said, "are you going to put an end to the survivors within Israel?"


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"Son of Man, your brothers, your other relatives, your fellow exiles, and the entire house of Israel are the people to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, 'They've abandoned the LORD. This land was given to us for an inheritance.'


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"Therefore you are to say, 'This is what the Lord GOD says, 'Although I've removed them far away to live among the nations, and although I've scattered them throughout the earth, yet I've continued to be their sanctuary, even for the short time that they will be living in the lands to which they've gone.'


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"Therefore you are to say, 'This is what the Lord GOD says, "I'm going to gather you from among the nations, assembling you from the lands among which you have been dispersed. I'll give you the land of Israel.


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then I'll give them a united heart, placing a new spirit within them. I'll remove their stubborn heart and give them a heart that's sensitive to me.


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When they live by my statutes and keep my ordinances by observing them, then they'll be my people and I will be their God.


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But to those whose hearts delight in loathsome things and detestable practices, I'll bring the consequences of their behavior crashing down on their own heads," declares the Lord GOD.'"


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Then the cherubim arose, with their wheels alongside, and the glory of Israel's God remained above and over them.


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The glory of the LORD went up from the middle of the city and stood on the mountain, east of the city.


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Then in a vision from the Spirit of God, the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Chaldea. At that point, the vision that I had been observing ended.


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"Son of Man, you live in a rebellious house that has eyes to see, but they can't see, and ears to hear, but they can't hear, since they're a rebellious house.


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"So now, Son of Man, you are to prepare your luggage for a trip into exile, and then you are to leave during the daytime so they see you leaving. Leave from your place to another while they're watching. Then perhaps they'll realize that they're a rebellious house.


text:
"Bring out your luggage, like you're packing to go into exile, and do this during the daytime while they're watching you. Later that evening, leave while they're watching you like someone heading into exile.


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"While they're watching, carry your luggage on your shoulder and go out in total darkness. Cover your face so that you won't see the land, because I'm using you as a sign to Israel's house."


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I did just as I was commanded. I brought out the luggage as if it were luggage for exile. I did this during the day. Then in the evening I dug a hole in the wall with my hand and brought the luggage out in total darkness and carried it out on my shoulder while they were watching.


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Answer them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says, "This oracle concerns the prince of Jerusalem and the whole of Israel's house that is in their midst.


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Tell them, 'I'm a sign for you. Just as I enacted it, it's going to happen to them. They'll go into exile and captivity.


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Then the prince, who will be one of them, will carry his luggage on his shoulder in the dark and will go out. They'll dig a hole in the wall for him to go through. His face will be covered so that he won't be able to see the land with his eyes.


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But I'll throw my net over him. As a result, he'll be captured with my net, and with it I'll bring him to Babel, the land of the Chaldeans. He won't see it, though he'll die there.


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I'll scatter every attendant who surrounds him, along with his entire army, to every wind. When I unsheathe my sword to pursue them,


text:
they'll learn that I am the LORD, when I've dispersed them among the nations and scattered them throughout the earth."


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But I'll preserve a few people out of the violent death, famine, and pestilence, so they can recount their detestable practices among the nations when they'll go there. Then they'll know that I am the LORD.


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Then tell the people of the land, 'This is what the LORD says to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to Israel's land: They'll eat their food in anxiety and drink their water in trepidation, because their land will be desolate in its entirety due to all the violence committed by all who live in it.


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The towns that are inhabited will lie in ruins, because the land will be devastated. Then they'll learn that I am the LORD.'"


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"Son of Man, what's this proverb you have concerning Israel's land that says, 'The days pass slowly and every vision ends in nothing.'?


text:
Therefore you are to tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says, "I'm about to put an end to use of this proverb in Israel. It will never be used again as a proverb in Israel. Instead, tell them that the days are drawing near when every vision will be fulfilled.


text:
There will no longer be worthless visions and flattering divinations in the midst of Israel's house.


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Because I am the LORD, I'll speak and the message that I communicate will be accomplished without delay. While you continue to be a rebellious house, I'll speak the message and then fulfill it," declares the Lord GOD.


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"Son of Man, pay attention! The house of Israel keeps on saying, 'The vision that he's talking about concerns the distant future. He's prophesying concerning times that are far in the future!'


text:
Therefore tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says, "None of my messages will be delayed any longer. Any message that I speak will be fulfilled," declares the Lord GOD.'"


text:
"Son of Man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who even now are prophesying, and tell those prophets that keep on prophesying according to what they wish would happen, 'Listen to what the LORD says.'"


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"This is what the Lord GOD says, 'How terrible it will be for the false prophets who walk according to their own wrong inclinations and see nothing.


text:
You didn't go up to repair the breaches in the walls and you didn't build the walls so Israel's house would be able to endure battle on the Day of the LORD.


text:
Instead, they crafted false prophecies and divination. "They say, '...declares the LORD,' even though the LORD didn't send them. And they hope for the fulfillment of their message.


text:
You've crafted a false prophesy and spoken deceptive divination, haven't you? But then you say, '...declares the LORD,' although I haven't spoken a single word.


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"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says, 'Because you've spoken falsehood and deceptions, I am therefore opposing you,' declares the Lord GOD.


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My hand will oppose the prophets who see false visions and speak deceptive divinations. They won't be included with the council of my people, nor will they be entered into the registry of Israel's house or enter Israel's land. Then you'll know that I am the Lord GOD,


text:
Tell those who coat it with whitewash that it will fall. It will be washed off by the rain. Great hailstones will fall and a stormy wind will strip it off.


text:
Look! When the wall collapses, won't it be said of you, 'Where's the coat of paint that you spread all over the wall?'


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"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says, 'In my burning anger, I'll rip it open with a windstorm. In my anger, I'll rinse it off with rain, and put an end to it with a hailstorm in my destructive rage.


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I'll tear down the wall that you've smeared with whitewash, level it to the ground, and tear out its foundation. Then it will collapse-and you'll perish with it! Then you'll know that I am the LORD.


text:
"'That's how I'll vent my anger on the wall and on the ones who coated it with whitewash. And I'll say to you, "The wall is gone and so are those who coated it."


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The prophets of Israel prophesied about Jerusalem and saw visions of peace concerning her, yet there's no peace,'" declares the Lord GOD.


text:
"And now, Son of Man, turn toward and oppose the women of your people who prophesy according to their own wrong inclinations and prophesy against them.


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Tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says, "How terrible it will be for those women who sew magical bracelets on all their wrists and make one-size-fits all headbands, in order to entrap their souls. Will you hunt for the souls of my people and remain alive?


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You've profaned me among my people for a handful of barley and a morsel of bread. You're causing people to die who shouldn't have to die, and you're causing people to live who shouldn't survive, when you deceive my people who tend to listen to lies."'"


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"Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says, 'Watch out! I'm opposing your amulets with which you hunt souls as one would swat at a flying insect. I'll tear them off your arms and then deliver those people, whom you've hunted like birds.


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I'll also tear off your headbands and deliver my people from your grip so that they won't be under your control anymore. Then you'll know that I am the LORD.'


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"Because you've dismayed the heart of the righteous-whom I never intended to dismay-with lies, and because you've encouraged the wicked so that he wouldn't abandon his evil behavior and by doing so live,


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you'll no longer see false visions or again practice divination, because I'm going to deliver my people from your power. Then you'll know that I am the LORD."


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"Son of Man, these men have taken idols into their hearts. They've placed the stumbling block that is their own iniquity right in front of their faces. Should I be consulted by them at all?


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Therefore, speak up and tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says, "Every person from Israel's house who follows his idols and sets the stumbling block that is his own sin in front of his face, and then consults a prophet, I the LORD will answer him according to how many idols he embraces.


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I'll do this in order to capture the hearts of Israel's house who have become alienated from me due to all of their idols."'"


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"Therefore you are to tell Israel's house, 'This is what the Lord GOD says, "Turn away! Turn away from your idols, and abandon your detestable practices!


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For when a native Israeli or a resident alien abandons me to set up idols in his heart behind my back, and then places the stumbling block of his iniquity right in front of his own face, then approaches a prophet to inquire of me on behalf of his own self-interest, I, the LORD will answer him myself.


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I'm determined to oppose that person and make him an example. Proverbs will be written about him when I eliminate him from my people. Then you'll know that I am the LORD.


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"Now as to the prophet, if through deceit he delivers a message, I the LORD have deceived that prophet! I'll reach out in opposition to him and exterminate him from among my people Israel.


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They'll bear the consequences of their guilt, and the prophet will be just as guilty as the one who seeks that prophet's guidance.


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Then Israel's house won't wander away from me again, nor will they defile themselves again with all their transgressions. They'll become my people and I'll be their God," declares the Lord GOD.


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"Son of Man, when a nation sins against me by a treacherous act, I'll reach out to oppose it, destroying its source of food, by sending famine against it, and by destroying both people and beast within it.


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Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job lived in that land, they would only save their own lives on account of their righteousness," declares the Lord GOD.


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"If I were to make wild animals pass throughout the land, so that they kill its residents and it were to become desolate because no one will travel through it due to those wild animals,


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then even though these three men were in it, as I live," says the Lord GOD, "they wouldn't be able to deliver even their sons or daughters. They would only save themselves, but the land would become desolate.


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"Or if I were to bring war to that land and say, 'Hey, sword! Pass throughout the land so I can destroy both man and beasts in it,'


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though these three men lived there, as I live," declares the Lord GOD, "they couldn't deliver their own sons and daughters. They would only save themselves.


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"Or if I were to send a pestilence against that land and pour out my anger in it with bloodshed, destroying both man and beast in it,


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even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were among them, as I live" says the Lord GOD, "they couldn't save their own sons or daughters. They would only save their own souls due to their own righteousness."


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"This is what the Lord GOD says, 'I'm sending four of my most destructive judgments-military invasion, famine, wild animals, and pestilence-into Jerusalem to destroy both human beings and livestock in it.


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But look! There will be a remnant who escapes, a few sons and daughters to be brought out. Look! They'll come out to you and you'll see how they've lived and what they've done, and you'll be comforted concerning the catastrophe that I brought on Jerusalem, including everything that I brought against her.


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They'll comfort you when you see how they've lived and what they've done, because you'll know for certain that I haven't done anything that I've done against them without any reason,'" declares the Lord GOD.


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"Son of Man, how does wood from a vine compare to a branch taken from any of the trees in the forest?


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Is wood ever taken from it to make anything practical? Can it even be made into a peg to hang something on?


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After all, it's useful only for kindling a fire, isn't it? And once you've burnt up the ends and charred through the middle of it, is it useful for anything else?


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If it was useless before it was burned, now that it's been burned and charred through, it's even more useless!


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"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Just as the wood from a grape vine is removed from the forest and used for kindling fires, I'm giving the inhabitants of Jerusalem over


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to punishment. They may have escaped one fire, but the coming fire will burn them up completely, and they will know that I am the LORD, when I set myself in opposition to them


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You are to declare, 'This is what the Lord GOD says to Jerusalem: "Your birth place was the territory that belonged to the Canaanites. Your father was an Ammonite and your mother was a Hittite.


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Now as to your birth, on the day you were born your umbilical cord wasn't cut. You weren't washed with water to clean you, and nobody rubbed you with salt. And it's certain that you weren't wrapped in strips of cloth.


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Nobody pitied you to do any of these things for you, and nobody showed you any compassion. You were tossed outside on the ground, because you were detested from the day you were born.


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"'"When I passed by you, I saw you kicking around, covered in your own blood. That's when I told you, 'Live!'-while you were wallowing in your blood. I commanded you to live, even as you lay there in your own blood.


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I made you increase like sprouting grain in the field. As a result, you multiplied greatly. Eventually, you reached the age when young women start wearing jewelry. Your breasts were formed, your hair had grown, but you were still bare and naked."'"


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"When I passed by you again, I looked at you, and noticed that it was your proper time for love. I spread my cloak over you to cover your nakedness. I made a solemn promise to you and entered into a covenant with you," declares the Lord GOD. "You belong to me.


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Then I covered you with embroidered clothing, clothed your feet with leather sandals, wrapped you with fine linen, and dressed you in silk.


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You were adorned with gold, silver, clothing of fine linen, silk, and embroidery. You ate food made from finest flour, honey, and olive oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, attaining royal status.


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Your fame spread throughout the nations because of your beauty. You were perfectly beautiful due to my splendor with which I endowed you," declares the Lord GOD.


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"But you trusted in your beauty. You did what whores do, as a result of your fame. You passed out your sexual favors to anyone who passed by, giving yourself to anyone.


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You took some of your clothes and made gaily-colored high places and prostituted yourself all around them-something which had never happened before nor will ever happen again.


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"You also took your fine jewelry-including my gold and my silver that I had given you. Then you made for yourself male images and had sex with them!


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You took your embroidered gowns and made clothes to cover them. Then you offered my olive oil and incense to them.


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"Not only that, you took the food I gave you-my fine flour, olive oil, and honey with which I fed you, and you offered them to those gods in order to appease them. That's exactly what happened," says the Lord GOD.


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"Then you took your sons and daughters whom you bore for me and sacrificed them for your idols to eat. As though your prostitutions were an insignificant thing,


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Throughout all of your detestable practices and immorality, you never did remember your earlier life when you were bare, naked, and wallowing in your own blood."


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At every street corner you made your beauty abhorrent when you made yourself available for sex to anyone who was passing by. By doing this, you kept on committing more and more immorality.


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Then you committed immorality with your neighbors, the Egyptians, with perverted lust, and by doing so you fornicated even more, provoking me to anger.


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"Therefore, look out! I've reached out to oppose you. I withdrew your rations and delivered you to those Philistine women who hate you. Even they were embarrassed at your wicked ways!


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You committed immorality with the Assyrians, because you still weren't satisfied. You committed immorality with them, but you still weren't satisfied.


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You committed even more immorality with that land of the merchants, the Chaldeans. But you weren't satisfied even with these!


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"How weak is your heart," declares the Lord GOD, "when you committed all of these deeds, the acts of an imperious whore!


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When you built your mound on every street corner and constructed your high place at every plaza, you weren't like a common prostitute, in that you've insulted the wages of a prostitute


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"All prostitutes receive gifts, but you give your gifts to all your lovers, then you bribe them to come to you from everywhere to get your sexual favors!


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You're different from other women when you commit immorality-no one can match you in that! After all, you pay fees, but no fee is given to you. You're certainly different!"


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This is what the Lord GOD says: 'Because your lust has been poured out and your nakedness has been uncovered by your acts of fornication with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols and the blood of your sons, whom you offered to them,


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therefore, watch out! I'm about to gather all your lovers from whom you've received your pleasure, everyone whom you've loved, and those whom you've hated. I'll gather them together to oppose you from every side, and they'll uncover your nakedness in their presence. Then they'll see you completely naked.


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I'll judge you with the same standards by which I issue verdicts against a woman who commits adultery and murder. I'll avenge the blood you've shed with impassioned wrath.


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"I'll also deliver you into their control, and they'll break down your mounds, tear down your high places, strip off your clothes, remove your fine jewels, and then they'll leave you stark naked!


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Then they'll burn your houses and carry out my sentence against you in the sight of many women. "That's how I'll make you stop your prostitution so you won't pay any prostitute's fees anymore.


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I'll stop being angry with you, and I'll cease being jealous. I'll be calm and not be indignant anymore.


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Because you didn't remember the time when you were young, but instead you provoked me to anger because of all these things, watch out! I'm going to bring your behavior back to haunt you!" declares the Lord GOD. "Didn't you do this wicked thing, in addition to all your other detestable practices?"


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You're the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and children. You're the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and children. "Your mother was a Hittite and your father was an Amorite.


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Your elder sister was Samaria. She and her daughters lived in the north, while your younger sister who lived in the south with her daughters was Sodom.


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It wasn't just that you lived like they did and committed their detestable practices, but in just a little while your behavior led you to become more corrupt than they were!"


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"As I live," declares the Lord GOD, "your sister Sodom and her daughters didn't do what you and your daughters have done.


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Look! This was the sin of your sister Sodom and her daughters: Pride, too much food, undisturbed peace, and failure to help the poor and needy.


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In their arrogance, they committed detestable practices in my presence, so when I saw it, I removed them.


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Samaria didn't commit half of your sins-you practiced more detestable deeds than they did! You've caused your sister to be more righteous than you, because of the detestable practices that you've committed.


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So now, bear your own shame as you mediate for your sisters. The sins that you've committed are more detestable than theirs. That makes them more righteous than you. Indeed, be ashamed and bear your reproach, because you've made your sisters to be more righteous than you."


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"I'll bring them back from their captivity-that is, from the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, along with the captivity of Samaria and her daughters and the captivity of your captives among them.


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But you'll continue to bear your own reproach and be humiliated for everything that you've done. You'll be a comfort to them.


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Your sister Sodom and her daughters will be restored to their former status. Samaria and her daughters will be restored to their former status. Then you and your daughters will be restored to your former status.


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before your wickedness was revealed. Now you've become an object of derision to the inhabitants of Aram and its neighbors, including the Philistines-all those around you who despise you.


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"since the Lord GOD says, 'I'll deal with you according to what you've done, when you despised your oath by breaking the covenant.


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"'Meanwhile, as for me, I'll remember my covenant with you from when you were young, because I'll establish an eternal covenant with you.


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Then you'll remember your behavior and be ashamed when you greet your sisters-your elder sister and your younger sister. I'll give them to you as daughters, but not on account of my covenant with you.


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Then you will remember, be ashamed, and you won't open your mouth anymore due to humiliation when I will have made atonement for you for everything that you've done,' declares the Lord GOD."


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Tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says, "A massive eagle with gigantic wings, long pinions, and full, multi-colored plumage came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar.


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He plucked off the top of its shoot, brought it to a land of merchants, and set it down in a city full of traders.


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Then the eagle took a seed from the land and planted it in fertile ground. He planted it like a willow tree next to abundant waters.


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It flourished and became a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned toward him, and its roots spread under him to become a vine that put out shoots and spread out its branches.


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"All of a sudden, there was another eagle with gigantic wings and thick plumage. The vine stretched its roots hungrily toward him and spread its branches out to him in order to be watered on the terraces where it was planted.


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It was transplanted into good soil near abundant water, and it produced branches and bore fruit, becoming a magnificent vine."


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"Tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says, "Will it prosper? Won't he pull up its roots, and strip it bare so all its fresh foliage dries up? It won't be by great strength or by a great army that it will be uprooted.


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Look! Because it's a transplanted vine, won't it wither when the east wind hits it? It will surely wither in the terraces where it had started to sprout."'"


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"Tell my rebellious house, 'Don't you know what these things mean? Look! The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, captured her king and princes, and took them with him to Babylon.


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Then he took one of the royal descendants, made a covenant with him, and put him under an oath of loyalty, taking the leaders of the land captive


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in order to humiliate the kingdom so it wouldn't be able to return to power, but would still be able to continue as long as he keeps his covenant.


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But he rebelled against the king of Babylon by sending his messengers to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Or will the one who did this escape? Will he break the covenant, but still be delivered?'"


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"As long as I live," declares the Lord GOD, "in Babylon, that place where the king has enthroned him, whose oath he despised so as to break his covenant, he'll die with him.


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Pharaoh, with his massive army and large battalions won't protect him when mounds and siege walls are built to destroy many people.


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He despised the oath he had made and broke the covenant. Look! Because he willingly submitted, yet he has done all these things, he won't escape.


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"Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says, 'As long as I live, because he despised my oath and broke my covenant, he's going to suffer the consequences.


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I'll spread my net over him so that he'll be caught in my snare. I'll bring him to Babylon and carry out my sentence there because of his treachery toward me.


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The fugitives of his troops will die by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the four winds. Then you'll know that I, the LORD, have spoken.'"


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"This is what the Lord GOD says, 'I'm also going to take a shoot from the top of a cedar and plant it. I'll pluck off its delicate twigs and transplant it on a high and lofty mountain.


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I'll transplant it on Israel's land, and it will grow branches, bear fruit, and become a majestic cedar. All sorts of birds will rest under it, and they'll settle down in the shade of its branches.


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Then all the trees of the fields will know that I, the LORD, bring down the lofty tree and exalt the lowly tree. I dry up the green tree and cause the dry tree to bud. I the LORD have spoken this, and I will fulfill it.'"


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"Why do you cite this proverb when you talk about Israel's land: 'The fathers eat sour grapes but it's their children's teeth that have become numb.'


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Look! Every living soul belongs to me-the father's as well as the son's. So pay attention! The person who keeps on sinning is going to die."


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if he doesn't eat at mountain shrines, and doesn't look to the idols that have been erected in Israel's house, if he doesn't defile his neighbor's wife or approach a woman during her time of menstrual separation,


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if he doesn't oppress anyone, but instead returns the debtor's security for his debt, if he doesn't rob anyone, but instead shares his food with the hungry and gives clothes to those who are naked,


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if he doesn't lend with usury or exact interest, but instead refuses to participate in what is unjust, if he administers true justice between people,


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if he lives his life consistent with my statutes and keeps my ordinances by practicing what's true, then he's righteous and will certainly live," declares the Lord GOD.


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"Now suppose that person produces a son who's violent, a murderer, and practices any of these things,


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even though the father hasn't done any of these things. The son who eats at mountain shrines, defiles his neighbor's wife,


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oppresses the afflicted and the poor, robs others, doesn't return security for a debt, looks to idols, does detestable things,


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loans with usury, and exacts interest, will he live? He certainly will not! He has done all these detestable practices. He will certainly die, and his guilt will be his own fault."


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"Now suppose that he produced a son who practiced all of his father's sins, but then that son began to fear me and stopped doing all of these things.


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That is, suppose he doesn't eat at the mountain shrines, doesn't look to the idols of Israel's house, doesn't defile his neighbor's wife,


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doesn't oppress anyone, doesn't take possession of a debtor's pledge, or doesn't steal, but instead shares his food with the hungry, gives clothes to those who are naked,


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doesn't refuse to help the afflicted, or refuses to loan with usury or exact interest, but instead follows my ordinances and lives his life consistent with my statutes. He won't die because of his father's sin, will he? No! He'll certainly live.


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As for his father, watch out! If he wrongfully oppressed or robbed his brother and did what wasn't good among his people, he'll die because of his own sin."


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"Yet you keep asking, 'Why wouldn't the son bear the punishment of his father's sin?' Because the son has done what was lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes and obeyed them, he's certainly going to live.


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The soul who sins dies. The son won't bear the punishment of his father's sin and the father won't bear the punishment of his son's sin. The righteous deeds of that righteous person will be attributed to him, while the wicked deeds of the wicked person will be charged against him.


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But if the wicked person turns from all his sins, which he did and keeps my statutes, then he'll live. He won't die.


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None of the transgressions that he had committed will be held against him. Because of the righteous deeds that he had done, he'll live.


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"I don't take delight in the death of the wicked, do I?" asks the Lord GOD. "Shouldn't I rather delight when he turns from his wicked ways and lives?


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But when the righteous person abandons his righteous deeds and commits evil, detestable practices, as wicked people do, he won't live, will he? None of the righteous acts that he had done will be remembered. He'll die in his treacherous unfaithfulness and sins that he had committed."


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"Yet you keep saying, 'The LORD isn't being consistent with his standards.' Pay attention, you house of Israel: Is my behavior really inconsistent with my standards? Isn't it your behavior that isn't just?


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"When a righteous person turns from his righteous deeds and does evil, he'll die because of that evil. He'll die because of his unrighteous acts that he committed.


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When a wicked person quits his wicked behavior and does what's just and right, he'll be enabled to live.


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Because he reconsidered his transgression and turned away from everything that he had been doing, he'll certainly live and not die.


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Yet Israel's house keeps saying, 'The LORD isn't being consistent with his standards.' Is it my behavior that's inconsistent with my standards? Is it not your behavior that's inconsistent with my standards?"


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"Therefore, Israel, I'm going to judge you according to the behavior of each and every one of you," declares the Lord GOD. "So repent and turn from all your sins so that sin won't keep on being a stumbling block for you.


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Stop your transgressing-the deeds by which you've rebelled-and then make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, you house of Israel?


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I don't take pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the LORD. "So repent, so you may live!"


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Tell them: 'What a lioness your mother was among lions! She reared her cubs in the midst of fierce young males.


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She raised one cub in particular, teaching that fierce lion to become a hunter-prowler-to eat human beings.


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The nations heard about him. He had become caught in their trap. They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.


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When she learned that her plans had been frustrated and that her hopes were dashed, she took another of her cubs and turned him into a fierce lion.


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He prowled around among the lions, became a strong, young lion, and learned to become a hunter-prowler-to eat human beings.


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He raped the women, devastating their towns. The land was made desolate, and all the while the land was filled with the sound of his roaring.


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They imprisoned him in a cage with hooks and brought him to the king of Babel. Then they placed him in their dungeon where his voice would no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel.


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'Your mother was like a vine entwining a pomegranate, planted by water, full of fruit, and full of branches because it had been watered generously.


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Strong were its boughs, suitable for use in the scepter of a ruler. It reached to the clouds, noticeable because of its height and its abundant branches.


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Yet in anger it was uprooted and cast down to the earth. An east wind desiccated its fruit; its strong branches broke off and withered, and a fire consumed them.


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Fire had burned through its branches, consuming its shoots and fruits. No strong branches remain in it, and there is no scepter to rule!' "This is a lamentation, and it is to be used in mourning."


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On the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, men came from the elders of Israel to seek the LORD. They sat down in front of me.


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"Tell the elders of Israel, 'This is what the Lord GOD asks, "Did you come to inquire of me? As long as I live, I won't let myself be sought by you," declares the Lord GOD.'


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"Will you judge them? Son of Man, will you indeed judge them? Teach them about the detestable things that their ancestors did.


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Tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says, "The day I chose Israel, when I made my commitment to the descendants of Jacob's house, I revealed myself to them in the land of Egypt and I made my promise to them with the words 'I am the LORD your God.'


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That day I promised to bring them out of the land of Egypt to the land that I had explored for them-a land flowing with milk and honey. It's the most beautiful of all lands.


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Then I told them, 'Each of you are to abandon your detestable practices. You are not to defile yourselves with Egypt's idols. I am the LORD your God.'"


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"But they rebelled against me and weren't willing to obey me. None of them abandoned their detestable practices or their Egyptian idols. So I said, 'I'll pour out my anger on them, extending my fury in the middle of the land of Egypt.'


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I did this so my reputation might not be tarnished among the nations where they were living, among whom I made myself known in their presence when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.


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where I gave them my statutes and revealed my ordinances to them, which if a person observes, he'll live by them.


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Also, I instituted my Sabbath for them as a sign between me and them, so they would know that I am the LORD, who has set them apart."


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"But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They didn't live by my statutes. They despised my ordinances, which if a person observes, he'll live by them. They greatly profaned my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my anger on them and bring them to an end in the wilderness.


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I did this so my reputation wouldn't be tarnished among the nations in whose presence I had brought them out.


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"Moreover, I solemnly swore to them in the wilderness that I wouldn't bring them to the land that I had given them-a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands-


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because they kept on rejecting my ordinances. They didn't live life consistent with my statutes, they profaned my Sabbaths, and their hearts followed their idols.


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I told their children in the wilderness, 'You are not to follow the statutes of your ancestors, observe their ordinances, or be defiled by their idols.


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You are to make my Sabbaths holy, and you are to let them serve as a sign between you and me, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God."


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"But they rebelled against me. They didn't live according to my statutes, observe my ordinances, or practice them, by which a person will live. They also kept profaning my Sabbaths. So I said that I was going to pour out my anger on them and in my anger I'm going to bring about a complete end to them in the wilderness.


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But I withdrew my decision so my reputation wouldn't be tarnished among the nations before whose eyes I brought them out.


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"Futhermore, I solemnly swore in the wilderness to disperse them among the nations and scatter them to other lands


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because they didn't observe my ordinances. Instead, they rejected my statutes, profaned my Sabbaths, and worshipped their ancestors' idols.


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I made them unclean because of their offerings, so they made all their firstborn to pass through the fire, so that I could make them astonished. Then they'll know that I am the LORD."


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"Therefore, Son of Man, you are to speak to the children of Israel and tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says: 'Your ancestors also blasphemed me in their treacherous behavior against me.


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I brought them to the land that I had promised to give them. But whenever they saw any high hill and or any leafy tree, they slaughtered their sacrifices there and presented their offerings that provoked my anger. There they presented their pleasing aromas and poured out their drink offering.


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So I asked them, "What is the high place to which you're going?" That's why the name of the place has been called Bamah to this day.'"


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"Therefore you are to say to Israel's house, "This is what the Lord GOD says: 'Will you defile yourselves like your ancestors did by acting as a prostitute, consistent with their horrible deeds?


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When you present your gifts and make your sons pass through the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with your idols to this day. Should I be inquired of by you, you house of Israel? As I live,' declares the LORD, 'I certainly won't be inquired of by you.'


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The thing that you're imagining is never going to happen, since you're thinking, 'We'll be like the nations, like the clans of other lands who serve gods made from wood and stone.'"


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"As I live," declares the Lord GOD, "with my powerful hand and outstretched arm, along with my wrath poured out, I'll reign as king over you.


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I'll bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you were scattered. With a powerful hand, with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out


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Just as I judged your ancestors in the wilderness in the land of Egypt, so I'll judge you," declares the LORD.


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I'll eliminate the rebels among you, along with those who are transgressing against me. I'll bring them out of the land where you've lived, but they won't be able to enter the land of Israel. Then you'll know that I am the LORD."


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"And now, you house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says, 'Go ahead and serve your idols, both now and later, but later you'll listen to me, and you won't profane my sacred name again by your offerings and idols.


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For on my holy mountain, on Israel's high mountains," declares the Lord GOD, "the whole of Israel's house-all of it-will serve me there in the land. I'll accept them there. And there I'll demand your offerings, the first fruits of your portions of all your sacred things.


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"When I will have brought you from among the people and have gathered you from the lands where you were scattered, I'll accept you as a pleasing aroma. I'll reveal my holiness among you, and the entire world will see it.


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Then you'll know that I, the LORD, brought you to the land of Israel, to the land that I promised to give to your ancestors.


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You'll remember all your practices and evil actions by which you've become defiled. You'll loathe yourselves because of all the evil things you've done.


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Then you'll know that I am the LORD, when I will have dealt with you for the benefit of my own reputation and not according to your evil attitudes or corrupt practices, you house of Israel," declares the Lord GOD."


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Prophesy against the forest of the Negev, 'Listen to this message from the LORD. This is what the Lord GOD says: 'Look out! I'm about to ignite a fire and set it against you. It will devour every tree-whether green or dry-that lives in you. This powerful flame will not be extinguishable, and the entire surface from south to north will be scorched by it.


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"Son of Man, look toward Jerusalem, preach against its sanctuaries, and prophesy against Israel's land.


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Declare to Israel, 'This is what the LORD says: "Watch out! I'm against you! I'm going to unsheathe my sword to kill both the righteous and the wicked among you.


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Since I'm going to kill both the righteous and the wicked among you, I'll be unsheathing my sword against everyone from south to north.


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Then everyone will know that I am the LORD, who unsheathed my sword, and who won't have to unsheathe it again."'


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"And now, Son of Man, you are to start groaning until you're sick to your stomach. You are to groan bitterly right in front of them.


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When they'll ask you, 'Why are you groaning?' you are to say, 'Because of the news that just arrived. Every heart will melt with fear, every hand will grow limp, every spirit will grow faint, and every knee will glisten with sweat.' Look! It has come and it will be fulfilled," declares the Lord GOD.


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"Son of Man, prophesy and say, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: 'A sword! A sword is being sharpened. It's also being polished.


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It's being sharpened for slaughter, and being polished to gleam like lightning.' "We shouldn't be rejoicing, should we, while my Son's scepter, the sword, is despising every tree?


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"It's intended to be polished so it can be grasped in the hand. The sword is sharpened. It's polished for placement into the hand of the executioner.


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"Cry and wail, you Son of Man! It's headed against my people. It's also against all the princes of Israel, who have been tossed to the sword, along with my people. So it's time to grieve like you mean it,


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because testing is sure to come. "In putting the sword to the test along with the scepter, it won't keep on rejecting, will it?" declares the Lord God."


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"Now, Son of Man, prophesy as you strike your hands together. Let the sword that fatally wounds be doubled and tripled. That great, slaughtering sword closes in on them. I've set in place a slaughtering sword at the entrance to all their gates,


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so that their hearts melt and the number of those who stumble increase. I've set in place a slaughtering sword at the entrance to all their gates. Oh, no! It's made like lightning. It's drawn to slaughter.


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"Now, Son of Man, demarcate two pathways by which the sword of Babylon's king will arrive in the land. Both pathways will lead from a single land. "Make a sign, carving it out and installing it at the junction on the way to the city.


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Set it to point one way for bringing the sword against Rabbah, the descendants of Ammon, and the other way against Judah and fortified Jerusalem.


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"Meanwhile, Babylon's king is standing at the fork of the road, where he can head in either of two directions, and that's where he is practicing divination. Shaking his arrows, he's asking questions of his teraphim while he examines livers.


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On his right hand he is divining against Jerusalem, preparing to set up battering rams, preparing for the slaughter, getting ready to sound the alarm for battle, setting the battering rams in place at the gates, building siege mounds, and erecting a siege wall.


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In their view, it will seem to be a false prophecy, but because they swore allegiance, he'll make them remember their guilt as he takes them captive."


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"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Because you remembered your sins when your transgressions were uncovered, your sins are visibly evident in everything you've done. And since you've remembered them, you'll be taken captive.'


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"So now, you dishonored and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come in this time of final punishment,


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This is what the Lord GOD says: 'Remove your turban! Take off your crown! Things aren't going to remain as they used to be. What is lowly will be exalted, and what is lofty will be brought low.


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A ruin! A ruin! I'm bringing about ruin!' But this also will not happen until he who has authority over it arrives, because I'll give it to him."


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And now Son of Man, prophesy to the Ammonites that this is what the Lord GOD says to the Ammonites about their approaching humiliation: "A sword! A sword is being drawn for slaughter. It's polished to flash like lightning.


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When they see empty visions about you while they're divining lies for you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked, who are fatally wounded, whose days have come, their time for punishment.


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Return it to its scabbard. "At the place where you were formed, in the land of your origin, there is where I'll judge you.


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I'm going to pour out my indignation all over you. I'll blow my fierce wrath against you and deliver you into the control of brutal men who are skilled at destruction.


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You'll be fuel for the conflagration. Your blood will be spilled throughout the land. You won't be remembered anymore, now that I, the LORD, have spoken."


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"Now, Son of Man, will you truly judge that blood-stained city? Then make her aware of all of her detestable practices.


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"You are to say, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "The city keeps on shedding blood within her, hastening her time to be judged. She crafts idols that defile her.


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"You're guilty because of the blood that you've shed. You were defiled by the idols that you've made. You've caused your judgment day to draw near and have even come to the end of your life. Therefore, I've made you an object of derision among the nations and to other lands.


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Those who are both near and far away from you will scoff at you, because your reputation will be infamous and full of turmoil.


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They've treated mothers and fathers among you with contempt. They've oppressed the foreigner among you. They've maltreated the orphan and the widow among you.


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Slanderous men live among you, intent on shedding blood. They've eaten at the top of mountain shrines. They've crafted plans to do evil things among you.


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They've revealed the nakedness of their father in your midst. They've humiliated those among you who were unclean due to their impurity.


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One of you commits detestable practices with his neighbor's wife. Another sexually defiles his daughter-in-law. Another humiliates his sister, his own father's daughter.


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They take bribes among you to shed blood. You've taken usury and exacted interest. You've gained control over your neighbor through extortion. And you've forgotten me," declares the Lord GOD.


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"Watch out! I'm vehemently angry about the unjust gains that you've earned, and about the blood that has been shed among you.


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Can your heart stand up to this? Can your hands remain strong when I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken and will fulfill this.


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I'm going to disperse you among the nations and scatter you to other lands. I'm going to put an end to your uncleanness.


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"Son of Man, Israel has become like dross to me. All of them are like remnants of bronze, tin, iron, and lead in a furnace-the dross left over from smelting silver.


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Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says, 'Because all of you have become dross, watch out! I'm going to gather all of you at the center of Jerusalem,


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just like a smelter gathers all the silver, bronze, lead, and tin to the center of a furnace and injects fire in order to melt it, I'm going to gather you in my anger and rage, make you settle down-and then I'm going to melt you down.


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Indeed, I'm going to gather you together and exhale the fire of my fury, and then you'll be melted from the inside out


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like melting silver at the center of a furnace. When you've been melted from the center out, then you'll know that I am the LORD. I'll pour out my anger on you.'"


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"Son of Man, tell her, 'You're a land that hasn't been purified, one that hasn't been rained on in the day of indignation.


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There's a conspiracy of prophets within her, and like a roaring lion tearing its prey, they've devoured people, and confiscated treasures, and taken precious things. They've added to the population of widows within her.


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Her priests have violated my Law and profaned my sacred things. They didn't differentiate between what's sacred and what's common. They didn't instruct others to discern clean from unclean things. They refused to keep my Sabbaths. "'I'm constantly being profaned among them.


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Her princes within her are like wolves tearing their prey apart. They shed blood, destroying souls, and make unjust gain.


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"'Her prophets whitewashed all of these things through false visions and lying divinations. They kept on saying, "This is what the Lord GOD says...", when the LORD has not spoken.


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The people of the land were vigorously oppressive and took possession of plunder by violence. They've afflicted the poor and the needy and unjustly treated the foreigner.


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I sought for a man among them to build the wall and stand in the breach in my presence on behalf of the land so that it won't be destroyed, but I found no one,


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so I poured my indignation over them. With my fierce anger, I've consumed them. I brought the consequences of their behavior upon them,' declares the Lord GOD."


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They committed sexual immorality in Egypt. They did this in their youth. There, their breasts were caressed. Their virgin breasts were fondled.


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The older one was named Oholah and her sister was named Oholibah. They belonged to me and gave birth to sons and daughters. Now as to their real identities, Oholah refers to Samaria and Oholibah to Jerusalem."


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who were clothed in blue-including governors and commanders. All of them were desirable young men-horsemen mounted on horses.


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She bestowed her sexual favors on them-all of them, the best of the Assyrians-and with whomever she lusted for. "She defiled herself with all their idols.


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She never abandoned the immorality that she practiced in Egypt during her youth, where they laid down with her and fondled her virgin breasts, lavishing her with all kinds of favors.


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Therefore, I turned her over to the control of her lovers, that is, into the control of the Assyrians for whom she lusted.


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They stripped her naked, took away her sons and daughters, and executed her with a sword. She became an object of ridicule among other nations when they punished her."


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"Her sister Oholibah saw this, but she was more corrupt in her lust and sexual immorality than her sister had been in her own sexual immorality.


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She lusted after the Assyrians-governors, commanders, warriors clothed in gorgeous attire, cavalry mounted on their horses-all of them desirable young men.


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"She became even more sexually immoral when she saw the images of the Chaldean men who had been carved in red on their walls.


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Girded with waistbands around their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looked like chariot officers, similar to the Babylonians from Chaldea, where they had been born.


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The Babylonians came to her love nest and defiled her with their sexual immorality. As a result, she was defiled by them. Even so, she turned away from them in disgust.


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She displayed her immorality publicly and stripped herself naked, so I turned away in disgust from her, just as I had turned away in disgust from her sister.


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"Nevertheless, she became even more sexually immoral, even reminiscing about when she was young, when she kept on practicing sexual immorality in the land of Egypt.


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She lusted after her paramours, whose genitals are like those of donkeys, and whose emissions are like those of horses.


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Think about the wickedness that you practiced when you were young, when the Egyptians fondled your breasts, the breasts of your youth."


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"Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Look! I'm about to stir up your lovers against you, the ones from whom you've turned away in disgust. I'm going to bring them against you from every direction-


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the Babylonians, all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, Koa, and all of the Assyrians with them. They're all desirable young men, governors, commanders, chariot officers, and famous men, all of them mounted on horses.


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"'They'll invade you with weapons, chariots, wagons, and a vast army. They'll set themselves in place to attack you from every direction with large shields, small shields, and helmet. I'll turn over judgment to them, and they'll punish you according to their own standards.


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I'll expend my jealousy on you so they'll deal with you in anger. They'll cut off your noses and your ears. Your survivors will die violently. They'll take your sons and daughters away from you, but your survivors will be incinerated.


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That's how I'll put an end to your obscene conduct and sexual immorality that you kept on practicing since the day you left the land of Egypt so that you won't look in Egypt's direction or even remember it anymore.'


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"This is what the Lord GOD says, 'I'm about to turn you over to the control of those you hate, to the control of those from whom you turned away in disgust.


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They'll deal with you with hatred. They'll take away your productivity, leaving you naked and defenseless, so that the nakedness of your sexual immorality will be uncovered-your licentious sexual immorality.


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These things will happen to you because of your sexual immorality that was patterned after what the nations do. You've been defiled by their idols.


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"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'You'll drink from your sister's cup, which is both large and deep. You'll become a laughing stock and an object of derision, since the cup is so full!


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You'll be filled with drunkenness and grief. The cup that belongs to your sister Samaria is filled with horror and devastation,


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but you'll drink from it and drain it completely. As for the vessel, you'll break it to pieces and you'll tear at your breasts, for I've spoken,' declares the Lord GOD."


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"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Because you abandoned me and threw me behind your back, you will bear the consequences of your obscene conduct and sexual immorality."


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Then the LORD spoke to me. "Son of Man, speak out in judgment of both Oholah and Oholibah. Make their detestable practices widely known,


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because they've committed adultery, and blood covers their hands. They've also committed adultery with their idols, making their sons born to me to pass through the fire as an offering to them.


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"They've also done this to me: They defiled my sanctuary and profaned my Sabbaths, all at the same time!


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When they killed their sons as offerings to their idols, they brought them to my sanctuary and defiled it. Look what they've done with my Temple!


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"In addition, they sent messengers for men to come from afar. When they arrived, you bathed yourself for them, painted your eyes, adorned yourself with jewelry,


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then sat down on an elegant bed. A table was arranged in front of it, on which you set out my incense and oil.


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The sound of a carefree multitude accompanied her. Men from a multitude of peoples were coming-including Sabeans from the wilderness, adorned with bracelets on their hands and beautiful crowns on their heads.


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"After she had worn herself out by her adulterous behavior, I asked her, 'Will they continue with their sexual immorality and with their prostitution?'


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They've gone to her, like men do, to have sex with a prostitute. They had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, those licentious women.


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Righteous men will judge them with punishments fit for adulterers and for those who shed blood, because they're adulterers with blood on their hands."


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This is what the Lord GOD says: "Bring an army against them and deliver them over to terror and plunder.


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Then the army will stone them with stones and cut them to pieces with their swords. They'll kill their sons and daughters and incinerate their houses.


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I'll cause obscene conduct to stop throughout the land, because all the women will be admonished not to practice their obscene conduct.


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You'll receive the consequences for your obscene conduct and bear the punishment for your sins of idolatry. Then you'll know that I am the Lord GOD."


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In the ninth year, in the tenth month, and on the tenth day of the month, this message came to me from the LORD:


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"Son of Man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem on this very day.


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So compose a parable for the rebellious house. Tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Prepare your pot for boiling! Set it in place. Fill it up with water, too.


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Gather together the best pieces of meat on it-including the thighs and the shoulders-and fill it with the choicest bones.


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Take the best bones from the flock, pile wood under the pot for the bones, bring it to a boil, and then cook the bones in it."'"


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"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'How terrible it is for that blood-filled city, to the pot whose rust remains in it, whose rust won't come off. Empty it one piece at a time. Don't let a lot fall on it.


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Her blood was in it. She poured it out onto bare rock. She didn't pour it out on the ground, intending to cover it with dirt.


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In order to stir up my anger and in order to take vengeance, I set the blood on a bare rock so that it cannot be covered.'


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Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'How terrible it is for that blood-filled city-I'm also going to add to my pile of kindling.


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Pile up the wood! Make the fire burn hot. Boil the meat! Mix the seasonings. Burn those bones to a crisp!


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Make the pot stand empty on the coals until its bronze glows red, its rust can be scoured off, and its dross completely removed.


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There is wickedness in your obscene conduct. Even though I've cleansed you, you uncleanness cannot be washed away. You cannot be cleansed again until my rage against you has subsided.'


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I, the LORD have spoken. It will happen, because I'm going to do it. I won't hold back, have compassion, or change my mind. They'll judge you according to your ways and deeds,' declares the Lord GOD."


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"Son of Man, pay attention! I'm about to take away your most precious treasure with a single, fatal stroke, but you are not to mourn, weep, nor even let tears well up in your eyes.


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You are to weep in silence, but you are not to mourn the dead. You're to keep your turban on your head and your sandals on your feet. You are not to cover your mouth or eat what your comforters bring to you."


text:
So I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died that evening. The next morning, I did as I had been commanded.


text:
'Tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: "Look! I'm about to profane my sanctuary, the source of your proud strength, the desire of your eyes, and the object of your affection. Your sons and daughters, whom you've left behind, will die by the sword.


text:
That's why you will soon be doing what I've just done. You are not to cover your mouth or eat what your comforters bring to you.


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Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals will be on your feet. You won't mourn or weep. Instead, you'll waste away in your sins. Every one of you will groan to his relative.


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That's how Ezekiel will be an example for you. You'll be doing exactly what he has done. When it happens, then you'll know that I am the Lord GOD."'


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"And now, Son of Man, on the day that I take their strength, joy, and glory from them, those whom they love to watch, the focus of their affection-their sons and daughters-


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Your mouth will freely speak to the fugitive. You won't be silent any longer. You'll be a sign to them. Then they'll know that I am the LORD."


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Tell the Ammonites: 'Listen to a message from the Lord GOD! This is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have said, "Aha!" about my sanctuary when it was desecrated, about the land of Israel when it became desolate, and about the households of Judah when they went into exile,


text:
therefore you'd better look out! I'm going to turn you over to men from the East, who will dominate you. You will become their property. They will set up military encampments and permanent places in which to live among you, and then they'll eat your fruit and drink your milk.


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I will turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels, and Ammon will become a resting place for flocks of sheep. That's how they'll learn that I am the LORD.'"


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"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'Because you've applauded, stamped your feet, and rejoiced with all sorts of malice in your heart against the land of Israel,


text:
therefore you'd better watch out! I'm raising a clenched fist in your direction! I'm about to feed you to the surrounding nations as war plunder. I'm going to eliminate you as a nation and kill off those of you who survive to live in other countries. I'm going to destroy you, and that's how you'll learn that I am the LORD.'"


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"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'Because Moab and Seir are claiming, "Judah's citizens are just like every other nation,'


text:
therefore you'd better watch out! I'm going to tear open Moab's flanks, starting with its frontier cities-the very glory of the nation!-including Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim.


text:
I'm going to turn these cities over to men from the East, who will dominate you. You will become their property. As a result, Ammon will be forgotten as a nation.


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"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'Because Edom has made it their practice to seek extraordinary vengeance against Judah's citizens, and by doing so has incurred extraordinary guilt by taking revenge against them,'


text:
therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'I'm going to raise my clenched fist in Edom's direction and eliminate every single human being and animal from Edom! I'm going to turn everything into a wasteland, starting with Teman, and Dedan will fall by violence!


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'I'm going to inundate Edom with my retribution, using my people Israel to carry it out! They'll deliver my anger, acting as an agent of my fury. Edom will come to know my vengeance,' declares the Lord GOD."


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"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'Because Philistia has made it their practice to carry out retribution, accompanied by extraordinary malice in their personal vendettas-vendettas that spring from their everlasting hostility-


text:
this is what the Lord GOD says: "Look out! I'm raising my clenched fist in Philistia's direction. I'm going to execute the Cherethites and destroy what's left of the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.


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I'll take vengeance on them, punishing them severely in my anger. They'll know that I am the LORD when I take my vengeance on them."'"


text:
During the eleventh year, on the first day of the month of our captivity, this message came to me from the LORD:


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"Son of Man, because Tyre has been saying about Jerusalem, "The international gateway is broken down, but it's wide open to me! I will be replenished, now that it lies in ruins!


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"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Watch out! I'm coming to get you, Tyre! I'm about to bring many nations to attack you. They'll come in wave after wave, like the advancing tide,


text:
and will destroy the city walls of Tyre. After they break down her fortified towers, I'll scrape away the city's debris, right down to the bare bedrock,


text:
and it will become a place where nets will be spread out right in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Because I have declared this to happen,' declares the Lord GOD, 'Tyre will be treated as the spoils of war by the invading nations.


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Furthermore, her citizens who live on the mainland will be executed with swords. That's how they'll learn that I am the LORD.'"


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" This is what the Lord GOD says: 'Watch out! I'm about to bring from the north King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, that king of kings. He'll come with horses, chariots, cavalry, and a vast army.


text:
He'll execute your citizens who live on the mainland with swords. He'll build siege engines to attack you. Then he'll construct siege ramps against you and build huge shields to protect themselves against you.


text:
'He'll direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and will breach your fortified towers with axes.


text:
There will be so many horses that the dust raised by them will cover you completely. The walls of your city will tremble from the noise of Nebuchadnezzar's cavalry, wagons, and chariots when they enter through the gates of your city, as men enter a city that has been breached.


text:
'Their horses will trample all the public places as he executes your inhabitants with swords. The most fortified of your pillars will be torn to the ground.


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They will plunder your riches and loot your businesses. They'll tear down your walls and demolish your luxurious homes. They'll grab the stones, wood, and rubble from the destruction and dump it all into the Mediterranean Sea.


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I'll turn you into bare rock, and your city will become a place to spread nets. You will never be built again, because I the LORD have decreed this,' declares the Lord GOD."


text:
"This is what the Lord GOD says to Tyre: 'When your wounded citizens groan while the slaughter takes place among you, the people who live in the coastlands will tremble in terror as they hear about your fall, will they not?


text:
That's when all the kings of the seafaring nations will abandon their thrones, strip off their fancy clothes, and collapse trembling on the ground. They'll be so frightened as they observe what has happened to you that they'll be unable to stop trembling. They will be utterly appalled at you!


text:
They'll sing this mourning song for you: "How lost you are, you inhabited city, that was built in the middle of the sea! How famous you were! How strong on the sea! She and her inhabitants inflicted terror to everyone who lived within her."'


text:
'Now the coastland inhabitants will tremble on the day that you fall. The coastland inhabitants, who make their living from the sea, will be terrified when you pass away!'"


text:
"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'When I turn your city into a ghost town, when I flood you with deep water that covers you completely,


text:
I'll make sure that you go straight to the Pit, into the lowest part of the earth, where you'll be with people who lived in ancient times. You'll keep company there with the dead, who have gone into the Pit. As a result, your city won't be inhabited. Meanwhile, I will display my glory in the land of the living.


text:
I'm going to send terrifying calamity in your direction, and you won't exist any longer. You might be sought after, but you'll never be found again,' declares the Lord GOD."


text:
Tell Tyre, who lives at the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea, who serves as the international merchant to many coastal districts: 'This is what the Lord GOD says: 'Tyre, you've been claiming, "I am beauty perfected."


text:
'You've set your national boundary in international waters. Your builders made you downright beautiful!'"


text:
"'They brought in a ship made with pine planking from Senir, configured with a mast carved from a cedar from Lebanon,


text:
equipped with oars made from oaks from Bashan, with ivory-inlaid cypress wood decking imported from the coastlands of Cypress,


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with sails made with embroidered Egyptian linen, festooned with blue banners, and with your sun shades made with purple cloth from Cypress.


text:
The wise men and elders from Gebal accompanied you, serving as ship's carpenters. All the maritime navies and their seaman also accompanied you to assist you in doing business internationally.'"


text:
"'Soldiers from Persia, Lud, and Libya, served in your army. They were your mighty soldiers. Their helmets and shields adorned your barracks walls, and they won battle decorations for you.


text:
Mercenaries from Arvad and Helech stood guard duty on your walls, while brave men manned your towers. They hung their shields all around your walls-just the right touch to perfect your interior decorating!'"


text:
"'Tarshish was your business partner because of your phenomenal wealth. They traded silver, iron, tin, and lead for your merchandise.


text:
Men from the low country south of Edom and many of the coastlands were your markets for ivory tusks and ebony that they brought to trade with you.


text:
'Aram was one of your customers because you had so much merchandise. They paid by trading turquoise, purple yarn, embroidered goods, Egyptian linen, coral, and rubies.


text:
The territories of Judah and Israel were your clients, too. They traded wheat from their distribution centers, baked goods, honey, oil, and ointments for your merchandise.


text:
'Because you have so much to sell and are so rich, Damascus has been your trading partner, exchanging wine from Helbon, unbleached wool,


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Traders from Sheba and Raamah paid for the best of what you had to offer with all types of spices, precious stones, and gold.


text:
trading garments made into the finest blue and embroidered mantels, and also multi-colored carpets, ropes, and other merchandise.


text:
But your rowers have brought you into dangerous waters. The east wind has broken you in the heart of the ocean!


text:
Your wealth, your products, your merchandise your sailors, your pilots, your tailors, your salesmen, all your mercenaries with you-your entire company with you-will fall into the midst of the sea on the day when you're overthrown!


text:
and they will cry so loud you won't be able to make yourself heard! How bitterly they'll cry! They'll throw dust on their heads and wallow in ashes.


text:
They'll shave their heads bald because of you. They'll dress themselves in sackcloth and weep for you with deep bitterness of heart, with the most pitiful of mourning.


text:
In the depth of their despair they'll compose a lament for you. This is what they'll say: 'Who is like Tyre? Who is so silent in the midst of the sea?


text:
Your merchandise went out over the oceans to satisfy many nations; with the abundance of your wealth you enriched the kings of the earth.'


text:
But now it's your time to be wrecked at the bottom of the sea! Your products and your workers have sunk, and so have you!


text:
Everyone who lives by the sea is appalled at your destruction. Their leaders are terrified-their faces reflect their fears!


text:
Traders circulate among the people, hissing at you. What a horror you've become! Now you will cease to exist forever and ever!


text:
"Son of Man, tell Tyre's Commander-in-Chief, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Because your heart is arrogant, and because you keep saying, 'I have taken my seat, I am a god, seated in God's seat right in the middle of the sea,' "and because you're a man, and not a god, even though you pretend that you have a god-like heart...


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Your wisdom and understanding brought you phenomenal wealth. You've brought gold and silver into your treasuries.


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By your great wisdom, by your skills in trading you have amassed wealth for yourself and your heart has become arrogant because of your wealth."'"


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Therefore, look! I'm bringing foreigners in your direction, the most terrifying of nations! They will direct their violence against the grandeur that you've created by your wisdom.


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Is that when you'll say "I'm God" to the face of those who will be killing you? After all, you're a man, and have never been a god, especially when you're under the control of those who will defile you!


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You will die a death fit for the uncircumcised at the hand of foreigners." 'for I have said it will be so,' declares the LORD."


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" Son of Man, start singing this lamentation for the king of Tyre. Tell him, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "You served as my model, my example of complete wisdom and perfect beauty.


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You used to be in Eden-God's paradise! You wore precious stones for clothing: ruby, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and carbuncle. Your settings were crafted in gold, along with your engravings. On the day of your creation they had been prepared!


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"You were the anointed cherub; having been set in place on the holy mountain of God, you walked in the midst of fiery stones.


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You were blameless in your behavior from the day you were created until wickedness was discovered in you.


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Since your vast business dealings filled you with violent intent from top to bottom, you sinned, so I cast you away as defiled from the mountain of God. I destroyed you, you guardian cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones.


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Your heart grew arrogant because of your beauty; you annihilated your own wisdom because of your splendor. Then I threw you to the ground in the presence of kings, giving them a good look at you!


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By all of your iniquity and unrighteous businesses you defiled your sanctuaries, so I'm going to bring out fire from within you and burn you to ashes on the earth before the whole watching world!


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Everyone who knows you throughout all the nations will be appalled at your calamity and you will no longer exist forever."'"


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Tell her: 'Pay attention to me, Sidon! I'm against you, and I'm going to glorify myself right in your midst.' They'll learn that I am the LORD when I carry out these punishments and manifest my holiness in her midst.


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I'm going to send disease into that city and blood into her streets. People will drop dead in her midst from the violence done to her from every side. Then they'll learn that I am the Lord GOD.'"


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" The house of Israel will never again suffer from painful briers and sharp thorn bushes that surround them on every side, and they will learn that I am the LORD.


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This is what the Lord GOD says: 'When I gather the house of Israel from the nations to which I've scattered them, I will show them my holiness before the watching world, and they will live on the land that I gave to my servant Jacob.


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They will live in safety in the land, building houses and planting vineyards. They'll live in safety while I judge everyone who maligns them among those who surround them. At that time they'll learn that I am the LORD their God.'"


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In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, a message came to me from the LORD, who had this to say:


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" Son of Man, turn your attention to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and the entire nation of Egypt.


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Tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Watch out! I'm coming to get you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt! You big monster! You lay in wait in the middle of your waterways and say "My waterways belong to me! I made them for myself!"


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'So I'm going to plant a hook in your jaw and make the fish in your waterways grab hold of your scales. I'll bring you up out of the middle of your waterways, along with all of the fish from your waterways that cling to your scales,


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Then I'll fling you out into the desert, you and all those fish in your waterways. You'll fall out in the open fields; you'll never be reunited. I'm giving you to the wild beasts of the earth and to the birds of the sky, and they will dine on you!


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'Then everyone living in Egypt will know that I am the LORD, because they have been an unreliable ally to the house of Israel.


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When they reached out to you for support, you tore their hands and dislocated all of their shoulders. When they tried to lean on you, they couldn't control their own bowels.'


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'Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "Look out! I'm bringing violent death in your direction! I'm going to kill every person and animal,


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and the land of Egypt will be turned into a desolate ruin. Then you will know that I am the LORD. "Because Egypt said, 'The Nile is mine. I made it!'


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therefore watch out! I'm coming to get you! I'm going to attack your waterways, and then I'm going to make the land of Egypt a total wasteland from the Aswan fortress to the border of Ethiopia!


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I'll see to it that Egypt becomes a devastated land in the midst of devastated lands. Her cities deep inside her territories will be laid waste and desolate for 40 years. I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them throughout the land.


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" Because this is what the LORD says: 'At the end of 40 years I'll gather the Egyptians from the people among whom they have been scattered.


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I'll restore the economy of Egypt and return them to the land of Pathros, from which they originated, and there they will remain an insignificant kingdom,


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the least significant of kingdoms. It will never again dominate other nations. I will make them so small that they will never again rule any nation.


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Egypt will never again be a source of confidence to the nation of Israel. Instead, Egypt will serve as a reminder of when they sinned by turning to Egypt for help. Then they'll know that I am the Lord GOD.'"


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On the first day of the first month of the twenty-seventh year of our captivity, a message from the LORD came to me. It had this to say:


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"Son of Man, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made his army work very hard to attack Tyre. They tore their hair out and rubbed their shoulders raw! Despite all of that work trying to capture Tyre, neither he nor his army got paid from Tyre for all that!


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Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'I'm going to give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He's going to carry off her wealth, confiscate her war implements, and use it all to pay wages for his army!


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" When that day comes about, I'll strengthen Israel's military might, and I will give you an audience in their midst. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'"


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"Son of Man, here's what you are to prophesy and announce, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Wail out loud! Oh no! The day!


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"For comes now the day-comes now the Day of the LORD, the day of clouds! The time of the gentiles is fulfilled!


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War will come to Egypt, and Ethiopia will be in anguish when the slain fall in Egypt, when her wealth is carried off, and her foundations are demolished."


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"Ethiopia, Libya, descendants of Lud, all those who have mixed themselves, and Libya-along with everyone in the land of Israel who is in league with them-will die violently.


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"This is what the LORD says: 'Those who are supporting Egypt will fall; her majestic strength that she brought from the Aswan fortress will collapse by the sword that invades her,' declares the Lord GOD.


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"They'll remain desolate among desolate lands, their cities will be named among those that are ruined.


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"When that happens, couriers will go out in ships to terrify Ethiopia in its complacency. Anguish will visit them as it will visit Egypt. Watch out! It's coming!


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"This is what the LORD says: 'I'm putting an end to that gang from Egypt, and I'm going to use Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to do it!


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He and his ruthless army with him will be brought to destroy the land. They'll draw their swords and attack Egypt, filling the land with the dead!


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I'll dry up their waterways, and evil men will sell off the land. I'm going to make that land desolate, along with everything that's in it, and I'm going to use foreigners to do it. I, the LORD have spoken!'


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"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images that come from Memphis. There will no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt, and I will terrify the land of Egypt.


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I'll set fire to Egypt, and Aswan will writhe in agony. Thebes will be demolished, and Memphis will face daily distress.


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It will be a dark day for Tahpanhes when I break the yokes of Egypt. That's when her arrogant power will come to an end. She'll be covered by a cloud, and her citizens will go into captivity.


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On the seventh day of the first month of the eleventh year of our captivity, a message came to me from the LORD. It had this to say:


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"Son of Man, I've broken the arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Look! It hasn't been set in a splint for healing or wrapped with a bandage so it could be strong enough to hold a sword!


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Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'I'm coming to attack Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and I'm going to break both of his arms, the strong one and the wounded one. That will make him drop his sword.


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I'm going to scatter Egypt throughout the surrounding nations and disperse them throughout the world.


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'I'm going to strengthen the military might of the king of Babylon, put my own sword in his hand, and break Pharaoh's strength. Then Pharaoh will groan like a dying man right in front of the king of Babylon.


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'When I strengthen the military might of Babylon, the military might of Pharaoh will fail, and then they will learn that I am the LORD when I place my own sword in the hand of the king of Babylon. He will attack the land of Egypt.


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When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the world, they will learn that I am the LORD.'"


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On the first day of the third month of the eleventh year of our captivity, this message came to me from the LORD:


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"Son of Man, tell this to Pharaoh, king of Egypt and his gangs: 'Who do you think you are? What makes you so great?


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Think about Assyria, that cedar of Lebanon, beautiful with its branches, like a shady forest, with an awesome height, its summit touches the clouds.


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Abundant water made it great, Subterranean rivers made it grow. Rivers surrounded the area where it had been planted, and water channels nourished all the trees in the fields.


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That's why it grew taller than any of the trees in the fields. Its boughs flourished. Its branches grew luxurious because all the water made it spread out well.


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The birds in the sky made nests in its boughs; all the beasts of the field gave birth under its branches. All the great nations rested in its shade.


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The cedars in God's garden could not compare to it; Fir trees could not match its boughs. The plane tree never grew branches like it, and no tree in God's garden compares to its beauty.


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I made it beautiful, including all of its branches; all the trees in God's garden of Eden envied it!'"


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"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Because of its towering height, with its summit reaching into the clouds, and because it was haughty in its position,


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I turned it over to the leader of those nations, who dealt with it thoroughly. I have driven it away because of its wickedness.


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'Foreign dictators have trimmed it down to size and abandoned it. Its branches have fallen off on mountains and in all the valleys. Its boughs have broken off in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth have moved out of its shade and abandoned it.


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All the birds in the sky will live among its ruins, and the wild animals will forage among its branches.


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'As a result, none of its watered trees will grow tall, their tops will never reach to the clouds, and they'll never grow so high again, because all of them have been appointed to death in the world beneath where human beings go, that is, down to the Pit.'"


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"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'On the day that it descended into Sheol, I shut down its water supplies, covered over its deep water, and shut down its rivers. As a result its abundant water sources dried up, and I caused Lebanon to mourn for it. All the trees of the field wilted because of it.


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I made the nations tremble when they heard that Assyria was falling, descending into Sheol to join those who go down into the Pit. Then all of the trees of Eden in the world below were comforted, including the choicest and best of Lebanon, all of whom were well-watered.


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They also went down with it into Sheol, to those who had been killed violently and to those who had trusted in its strength by living in its shadow among the nations.'


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'So tell me now, which of the trees of Eden compares to you in glory or greatness? Nevertheless, you'll be brought down, along with those trees of Eden, to the earth below. You'll lie in the middle of the uncircumcised, with those who have been killed in war. Pharaoh and all his gang will be just like this!'" declares the Lord GOD.


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On the first day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year of our captivity, a message came to me from the LORD that had this to say:


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"Son of Man, start singing this lamentation about Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Tell him, 'You may have called yourself a lion among nations, but you're a monster at sea. You thrash about in your rivers, muddy the water with your feet, and relieve yourself in the rivers.'


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"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'I'm coming fishing for you! Right in the sight of many nations they'll haul you up in my dragnet.


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I'll fling you up onto the land; I'll haul you into the field, I'll make every carrion-eating bird come to dine on you, and I'll make all the scavenging animals gorge themselves on you.


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I'll drench the land with your blood, right up to the mountains, and the ravines will overflow with blood that comes from you!


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When I extinguish your lights, I'll cover the heavens and darken their stars. I'll cover the sun with a cloud and the moon won't reflect its light.


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I'll darken the bright lights in the sky above you and bring darkness to your territory,' declares the Lord GOD."


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"I'll bring distress to the hearts of many nations when I destroy you among nations whose territories you have not known.


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I'll make many nations be appalled at you, and their kings will be terrified because of you when I brandish my sword right in their face. They will all tremble from fear for their own safety on the day that you fall!


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I'm going to make your gangs die using the weapons of valiant warriors, all of whom are ruthless people. 'They will devastate the majesty of Egypt, destroying all of its hordes.


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I'm going to destroy all of its livestock along its many riverbanks. Human feet won't muddy the rivers anymore, nor will the hooves of livestock stir up the water.


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That's when I'll make their waterways flow smoothly, and their rivers flow like olive oil,' declares the Lord GOD."


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'When I turn the land of Egypt into a desolation, and the land is emptied of everything that used to fill it, when I strike everyone who lives there, they will learn that I am the LORD.'"


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"This has been a lamentation. They will chant it, and the citizens of the nations will chant it, too. They'll chant it about Egypt and about all of its hordes."


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On the fifteen day of the first month of the twelfth year of our captivity, a message from the LORD came to me, and this is what it said:


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"Son of Man, mourn about the hordes of Egypt. Bring them down-that is, her and the citizens of those majestic nations-whose destiny is the deep part of the Pit.


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"They'll die along with others who are killed violently. Egypt has been given over to violence, which will carry off both it and its hordes."


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"Mighty leaders will address them and those who assist them right out of the middle of Sheol: 'They've come down and will lie still, these uncircumcised people who have died violently.'


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"Assyria will be there, along with all of those who keep company with her, all of them killed violently.


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Her grave will be set in the remotest part of the Pit, surrounded by those who accompanied her. All of them will have been killed, executed violently, who spread terror throughout the land of the living.


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"Elam will be there. Its hordes will surround Elam's grave. All of them have been killed. They died violently, and they have descended uncircumcised into the world below after having spread terror throughout the land of the living. They will bear the shame of those who descend to the Pit.


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"They have prepared a bed for her and for her hordes that surround her graves. All of them are uncircumcised, having been killed violently, because they had spread terror throughout the land of the living. They will bear the shame of those who descend to the Pit and will take their place among the dead.


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"Meshech and Tubal will be there, along with all of the hordes that surround her grave. Every one of them is uncircumcised, killed violently, because they spread terror throughout the land of the living.


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"They won't be buried with dead warriors from ancient times, who went straight to Sheol, buried with their war weapons, with their swords placed under their heads and their shields laid on top of their bones, since they spread terror throughout the land of the living.


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"Edom will be there, along with its kings and princes who despite all their power have been killed violently. They, too, are lying dead, along with the uncircumcised; that is, with those who descend into the Pit.


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" All of the princes from the North are there, along with the Sidonians, who have gone down in shame to join those who have been killed because of all the terror they caused by their military might. They lie dead, uncircumcised, with those who have been killed violently. They will bear their shame, along with those who descend into the Pit.


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" When Pharaoh sees them, he will take comfort in his hordes. Pharaoh and all his army will die violently," says the Lord GOD,


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"because he spread terror throughout the land of the living. Therefore he'll be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, who have been killed violently; that is, Pharaoh and all of his hordes," declares the Lord GOD.


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"Son of Man, speak to your nation's children and tell them: "'If I bring war to a land, and the people of that land appoint one of their conscripted men to serve as a sentinel,


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then if anyone who hears the sound of the alarm does not heed the warning, when the sword arrives and destroys him, his shed blood will remain his own responsibility.


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After all, he heard the alarm sounding, but did not heed the warning, so his shed blood will remain his own responsibility. If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved himself.


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If that sentinel notices that violence is approaching, but does not sound an alarm, then because the nation does not take warning and the sword arrives and destroys their lives because of their guilt, I'll seek retribution for their shed blood from the one who was acting as sentinel.'"


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"'Now as for you, Son of Man, I've established you as a sentinel for the house of Israel. So whenever you hear a message from me, you are to warn the people from me.


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If I should say to a certain wicked person, "You wicked man, you're certainly about to die," but you don't warn him to turn from his wicked behavior, he'll die in his guilt, but I'll seek retribution for his bloodshed from you.


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However, if you warn the wicked to turn from his behavior and he does not do so, he will die in his guilt, and you will have saved yourself.'"


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"'Now, Son of Man, tell this to the house of Israel: "'You keep saying, "Our crimes and sins burden us so much that we're rotting away, so how can we keep on living?"


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"'Tell them, "As certainly as I'm alive and living," declares the Lord GOD, "I receive no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Instead, my pleasure is that the wicked repent from their behavior and live. Turn back! Turn back, all of you, from your wicked behavior! Why do you have to die, you house of Israel?


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"'And now, Son of Man, say this to your people: "The righteousness of the righteous won't save them when they keep on committing crimes against me, the wickedness of the wicked won't keep them from remaining away when they're turning from their wickedness, and no righteous person will keep on living by their righteousness when they sin.


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"If I tell the righteous person that he will certainly live, if he trusts in his own righteousness and commits evil, none of his righteousness will be remembered, and he will die because of the wrong that he commits.


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"If I tell the wicked person that he will certainly die, if he turns from his sin and acts with justice and righteousness,


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returning what has been placed as collateral for a loan, paying back what he has taken, following the regulations that promote life, and committing no iniquity, he will certainly live, and not die.


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None of the sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. Since he did what is just and right, he will certainly live.


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"Nevertheless, your people's children keep saying, 'Living life the Lord's way isn't right,' when all the while it is their way of living that isn't right.


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When a righteous man forsakes his own righteousness and commits evil acts, he will die because of those acts,


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and when the wicked turn away from their wickedness and do what is just and right, he will certainly live because of that.


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"And yet you keep saying, 'Living life the Lord's way isn't right,' But I will judge every one of you according to the way you live, you house of Israel!"'"


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On the fifth day of the tenth month of the twelfth year of our captivity, a fugitive who had escaped from Jerusalem came and informed me, "The city has been destroyed."


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Now the hand of the LORD had been touching me the evening before that fugitive arrived, so the LORD had given me something to say by the time the messenger arrived the next morning. He opened my mouth and I no longer had nothing to say to him.


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"Son of Man, those who are living among these ruins of the land of Israel keep saying, 'Abraham was only one man, but he was able to possess the land! As for us, we're a multitude, and the land has been given to us as an inheritance.'


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"So tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "You keep eating flesh along with its blood, you keep looking to your idols, and you keep shedding blood, and you're going to take possession of the land?


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You keep trusting in your weapons, you continue to commit loathsome deeds, men keep defiling their neighbors' wives, and you're going to take possession of the land?


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"Tell them this: 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "As certainly as I'm alive and living, those who live in the wastelands are certain to die violently, I'll give those who die in the open fields to the wild animals for food, and whoever takes refuge in caves and fortified places will die of diseases.


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Then I'll turn the land into a desolate ruin and her arrogant strength will come to an abrupt end. The mountains of Israel will become so desolate that no one will be able to travel over them.


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Then they'll learn that I am the LORD, when I've turned their land into a desolate wasteland because of all of the loathsome deeds that they've committed."'


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"Now as for you, Son of Man, your nation's children keep gathering together to talk about you beside the walls and at the doorway to their houses. Everyone tells one another, 'Please come! Let's go hear what the LORD has to say!'


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Then they come to you as a group, sit down right in front of you as if they were my people, hear your words-and then they don't do what you say-because they're seeking only their own desires, they pursue ill-gotten profits, and they keep following their own self-interests.


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As far as they are concerned, you sing romantic songs with a beautiful voice and play a musical instrument well. They'll listen to what you have to say, but they won't put it into practice!


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When all of this comes about-and you can be sure that it will!-they'll learn that a prophet has been in their midst."


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"Son of Man, prophesy against Israel's shepherds. Tell those shepherds, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Woe to you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves and not the sheep. Shouldn't shepherds feed the sheep?


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You're eating the best parts, clothing yourselves with the wool, and slaughtering the home-grown sheep without having fed the sheep!


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You haven't strengthened the weak, treated the sick, set broken bones, regathered the scattered, or looked for the lost. Instead, you've dominated them with brutal force and ruthlessness.


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"Since they have no shepherd, they have been scattered around and have become prey for all sorts of wild animals. How scattered they are!


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My sheep have gone wandering on all of the mountains, on all of the hills, and throughout every high place in the whole world, with no one to look for them or go out in search of them.


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'As certainly as I'm alive and living, my sheep have truly become victims, food for all of the wild animals because there are no shepherds. My shepherds did not go searching for my flock. Instead, the shepherds fed themselves, and my flock they would not feed!'


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'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Watch out, I'm coming after you shepherds! I'm going to demand my sheep back from them and fire them as shepherds. The shepherds won't be shepherds anymore when I snatch my flock right out their mouths so they can't be eaten by them anymore."'"


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"This is what the LORD says: 'Watch me! I'm going to search for my flock. I'll watch over them myself.


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Just as a shepherd looks after his flock during the day time while he is with them, so also I'm going to watch over my sheep, delivering them from every place where they've been scattered during the times of gloom and doom.


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I'm going to bring them out from foreign nations and from foreign lands. Then I'll bring them to their own land and feed them in Israel-on the mountains, in their valleys, and in all of their settlements throughout the land.


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"'I'll feed them in excellent pastures, and even the very heights of Israel's mountains will serve as verdant pastures for them in which they'll rest and feed-yes, even on the fertile mountains of Israel!


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"'I'm going to seek both the lost as well as the scattered, and bring them both back so their broken bones can be set and the sick can be healed. But in righteousness I'll exterminate the fat and the stiff-necked.


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"Now as for you, my flock, this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Watch out! I'm going to judge between one sheep and another, and between the rams and the goats.


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Is it such an insignificant thing to you that you're feeding in good pastures but trampling down the other pastures with your feet? Or that as you're drinking from the clear streams you're muddying the rest with your feet?


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My flock is grazing on what you've been treading down with your feet and they're drinking what you've been making muddy with your feet!'


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"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says to them: 'Watch me! I'm going to judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep,


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since you've been bumping aside all the weaker sheep with your backsides and shoulders, butting them with your horns until they're scattered around outside.


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That's how I'll save my sheep so they won't be plundered any longer. I'm going to judge between one sheep and another.'"


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"'Then I'll install one shepherd for them-my servant David-and he will feed them, will be there for them, and will serve as their shepherd.


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I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will rule among them as Prince.' I, the LORD, have spoken this.


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"I'm going to enter into a covenant with them, one of peace, and I'll eliminate wild beasts from the land so they can live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forests.


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I'm going to make them and everything that surrounds my hill a blessing. I'll send down the rain! At the appropriate time there will be a rainstorm of blessing!


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"I'll bring fruit to the trees in the orchards, the land will yield its produce, they will live securely on their land, and they will learn that I am the LORD when I break the bar that has been their yoke and deliver them from the control of those who have enslaved them.


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They will no longer be plundered by the nations, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will settle down confidently, with nothing to frighten them.


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I'm going to prepare for them the best of gardening spots. They will no longer live as victims in a land of starvation, nor will they have to bear the insults of the international community.


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That's when they'll learn that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people,' declares the Lord GOD.


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"And as for you, my sheep, the flock that I'm pasturing, you are mankind, and I am your God," declares the Lord GOD.


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Tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Watch out! I'm coming to get you, Mount Seir! I'm stretching out my hand to strike you, and I'm going to turn you into a desolate wasteland.


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I'm going to turn your cities into ghost towns, and you will become a ruin. Then you will learn that I am the LORD.


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Because of your undying hatred, you kept on making the Israelis experience abuse during the time of their calamity, even when they were in their final stages of punishment,


text:
therefore as I'm alive and living," declares the Lord GOD, I'm turning you over to bloodshed, and bloodshed will certainly overtake you, since you never have hated shedding blood. That's why bloodshed will certainly pursue you.


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"I'm turning Mount Seir over to ruin and desolation. I'm going to eliminate everyone who comes and goes,


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and I'll fill that mountain with the dead. Those who die by violence will cover your hills, and fill your valleys and all your ravines!


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I will turn you into an everlasting wasteland, and your cities will never be inhabited. Then you'll learn that I am the LORD!


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"Because you have claimed, 'These two nations and these two lands are going to belong to me, and we will take possession of them, even though the LORD is there,'


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therefore as I'm alive and living" declares the Lord GOD, "I'm going to deal with you as your anger deserves. When I judge you, I'll treat you like you did the Israelis-that is, with the same kind of envy that motivated your constant hatred of them.


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"That's how you'll know that I, the LORD, have heard every loathsome, reviling thing that you've had to say against the mountains of Israel, such as 'They're desolate, and we'll eat them for dinner!'


text:
"So this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Just as the earth rejoices, I'm going to turn you into a desolate wasteland.


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Just as you rejoiced when Israel's inheritance became desolate, I'm going to do the same thing to you. Mount Seir, you and Edom-all of you-will become a desolate wasteland.' Then they will learn that I am the LORD."'"


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"And now as for you, Son of Man, prophesy to Israel's mountains and tell them, 'Listen to this message from the LORD, you mountains of Israel:


text:
"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'The enemy has been saying about you, "Good! The ancient heights are back in our possession!"


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Therefore this is what you are to prophesy: "Here's what the Lord GOD says, 'You've been turned into a desolate wasteland and crushed by everyone who surrounds you for a very, very good reason. You've become the property of all the other nations and you've become the object of gossip and whispering campaigns of the nations.


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"Therefore listen to what the Lord GOD has to say, you mountains of Israel: This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains, to the hills, to the waterways, to the valleys, to the desolate wastelands, and to the abandoned cities that have become an object of derision to the mountains that surround you:


text:
"'Because this is what the Lord GOD says: "Motivated by my burning zealousness, I have spoken against the rest of the surrounding nations, including Edom, who confiscated my land, taking possession of it with joyful enthusiasm and with animal-like malice, in order to plunder Israel's pastures.


text:
"Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and speak to its mountains, hills, ravines, and valleys. Tell them 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Pay attention! In my zealous anger I'm speaking because you've had to endure the mockery of the world's nations."


text:
'Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "I hereby raise my hand to swear this oath: the nations that surround you will have their own mockery to endure!


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But you mountains of Israel are going to sprout branches and bear fruit for my people Israel, because they'll be coming soon.


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"Watch me! I'm on your side! I'll be turning in your direction, and you mountains will be plowed and planted.


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I'm going to make the entire house of Israel grow-every single member-and their cities will be inhabited with all the ruins rebuilt.


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I'll make both the population and the livestock increase throughout your territories. They'll increase and be fruitful. I'll make your territories to be settled like you were in the past, and you will be treated better than you ever were before. At that time you will know that I am the LORD.


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"I'll lead my people, my nation of Israel, across you mountains, and they will take possession of you again, and you'll be their inheritance once more. Never again will you leave them robbed of children.


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"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'Because some have been saying to you, "You mountains have been devouring human beings and leaving people childless,"


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'therefore you will no longer devour human beings or leave their nation childless,' declares the Lord GOD.


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'I won't let you hear other people mock you, and no nation will ever make you childless again,' declares the Lord GOD.


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"Son of Man, when the house of Israel was living on their own land, they defiled it with their lifestyles and behavior; they were as disqualified to be with me as a menstruating woman is to you.


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So I poured out my anger on them because of all the bloodshed throughout the land and because they had defiled it with their idolatry.


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Then I scattered them among the nations, dispersing them to other lands, just as their lifestyles and behavior deserved. That's how I judged them.


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Nevertheless, when they arrived in those nations, they continued to profane my holy name. It was said about them, 'These are the LORD's people, even though they've left his land.'


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I've been concerned about my holy reputation, which the house of Israel has been defiling throughout all of the nations where they've gone.


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"Therefore tell the house of Israel, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "I'm not about to act for your sake, you house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy reputation, which you have been defiling throughout all of the nations where you've gone.


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I'm going to affirm my great reputation that has been defiled among the nations (that is, that you have defiled in their midst), and those people will learn that I am the LORD," declares the Lord GOD, 'when I affirm my holiness in front of their very eyes.


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I'm going to remove you from the nations, gather you from all of the territories, and bring you all back to your own land.


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I'll sprinkle pure water on you all, and you'll be cleansed from your impurity and from all of your idols.


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"I'm going to give you a new heart, and I'm going to give you a new spirit within all of your deepest parts. I'll remove that rock-hard heart of yours and replace it with one that's sensitive to me.


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I'll place my spirit within you, empowering you to live according to my regulations and to keep my just decrees.


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In addition, I'll deliver you from everything that makes you unclean. I'll call out to the grain you plant, ordering it to produce abundant yields, and I will never bring famine in your direction.


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I'll increase the yields of your fruit trees and crops so that you'll never again experience the disgrace of famine that occurs in other nations.


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"Then you'll remember your lifestyles and practices that were not good. You'll hate yourselves as you look at your own iniquities and loathsome practices.


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I won't be doing any of this for your sake," declares the Lord GOD, "so keep that in mind. Be ashamed and frustrated because of your behavior, you house of Israel!"


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'This is what the Lord GOD says: "At the same time that I cleanse you from all of your guilt, I'll make your cities become inhabited again and the desolate wastelands will be rebuilt.


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The desolate fields will be cultivated, replacing the former wasteland that everyone who passed by in times past had noticed.


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They will say, 'This wasteland has become like the garden of Eden, and what used to be desolate ruins are now fortified and inhabited.


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"Then the surviving people that live around you will learn that I, the LORD, have rebuilt these ruins and have cultivated these pastures that used to be desolate wastelands. I, the LORD, have spoken this, and I'm going to bring it about!"


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"This is what the Lord GOD has to say: 'I'm going to allow the house of Israel to ask anything they want from me, including this: I'm going to increase their population as a shepherd increases his flock.


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The desolate cities will be filled with flocks of human beings, just like Jerusalem used to be filled with flocks of sheep during the times of the appointed feasts. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'"


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The LORD laid his hand on me and brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD to the middle of a valley that was filled with bones.


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He led me here and there throughout the valley, and I was amazed to see that the surface of the entire valley was covered with myriads of very dry bones!


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The LORD asked me, "Son of Man, will these bones ever live?" "Lord GOD," I replied, "you know the answer to that!"


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Then the LORD told me, "Prophesy to these bones. Tell them: 'You dry bones, listen to the message from the LORD: "


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This is what the Lord GOD says to you dry bones! 'Pay attention! I'm bringing my Spirit into you right now, and you're going to live!


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I'm going to grow tendons on you, regenerate your flesh, cover you with skin, and make you breathe again so that you can come back to life and learn that I am the LORD.'"


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So I prophesied, just as I had been ordered to do so. Immediately there was a noise and a rattling-and then all of a sudden the bones came together by themselves! Each bone came together, all of them attached together!


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As I continued to watch, I saw tendons growing on the bones, and muscles growing and covering them, and then skin covered the flesh from above. But the bodies weren't breathing.


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Then he ordered me, "Prophesy to the Spirit, Son of Man. Tell the Spirit, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Come from the four winds, you Spirit, and breathe into these people who have been killed, so they will live."'"


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So I prophesied as I had been ordered, breath entered them, and they began to live. They stood on their own feet as a vast, united army.


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"These bones represent the entire house of Israel," the LORD explained to me. "Look how they keep saying, 'Our bones are dried up, and our future is lost. We've been completely eliminated!'


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"Therefore prophesy to them, and tell them, 'Watch me! I'm going to open your graves, lift you out of those graves, and bring my people back into the land of Israel.


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Then you'll learn that I am the LORD, when I've opened your graves and caused you to come up out of them, my people.


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I'm going to place my Spirit in you all, and you will live. I'll place you all into your land, and you'll learn that I, the LORD, have been speaking and doing this,' declares the LORD."


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"Now as for you, Son of Man, grab a stick of wood for yourself and write on it these words: FOR JUDAH AND THE ISRAELIS, HIS COMPANIONS Then grab another stick and write on it: FOR JOSEPH, THE STICK OF EPHRAIM, AND ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, HIS COMPANIONS


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"When the descendants of your people ask you, 'Would you please explain to us what you mean by this?'


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you are to tell them, 'This is what the LORD says: "Watch me! I'm taking the baton that represents Joseph, which Ephraim is holding in his hand, along with his companions the tribes of Israel, and I'm going to join them with the baton that represents Judah. I'm making them a single baton, that is, a complete baton in my hand."'


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Then tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Watch me take the Israelis out of the nations where they've gone and return them from every direction. I'm going to bring them back into their own land.


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I'm going to make them a united people in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and I'll set a single king to rule over them. They'll never again be two separate people. They'll never again be divided into two kingdoms.


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"'"They will never again defile themselves with their idols, with other loathsome things, or with any of their sins. Instead, I will deliver them from all of the places where they have sinned, and then I'll cleanse them. They will be my people and I will be their God."'"


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"'"My servant King David will be there for them, and one shepherd will be appointed for them. They will live according to my decrees, keep my regulations, and practice them.


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They will live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob and on which your ancestors lived. They will live in that land, along with their children and grandchildren, forever. David my servant will be their everlasting leader.


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I'll make a secure covenant with them, one that will last forever. I will establish them, make them increase in population, and will place my sanctuary in their midst forever.


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and the nations will know that I, the LORD, am the sanctifier of Israel when I place my sanctuary in their midst forever."'"


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"Son of Man, turn your attention toward Gog, from the land of Magog, the chief noble of Meshech, and Tubal. Prophesy this against him:


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'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Watch out! I'm coming after you, Gog, chief ruler of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.


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I'm going to turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and bring you out-you and your whole army-along with your horses and cavalry riders, all of them richly attired, a magnificent company replete with buckler and shield, and all of them wielding battle swords.


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Gomer with all its troops, and the household of Togarmah from the remotest parts of the north with all its troops-many people will accompany you.


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Be prepared. Yes, prepare yourself-you and all of your many battalions that have gathered together around you to protect you.


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"Many days from now-in the latter years-you will be summoned to a land that has been restored from violence. You will be gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which formerly had been a continual waste, but which will be populated with people who have been brought back from the nations. All of them will be living there securely.


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You'll arise suddenly, like a tornado, coming like a windstorm to cover the land, you and all your soldiers with you, along with many nations.


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"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'This is what's going to happen on the very day that you begin your invasion: You'll be thinking, making evil plans,


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and boasting, "I'm going to invade a land comprised of open country that is at rest, its people living confidently, all of whose inhabitants will be living securely, with neither fortification nor bars on their doors.


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I'm going to confiscate anything I can put my hands on. I'll attack the restored ruins and the people who have been gathered together from the nations, who are acquiring livestock and other goods, and who live at the center of the world's attention.


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Businessmen based in Sheba, Dedan, Tarshish, and all of its growling lions will ask you, "Are you coming for war spoils? Have you assembled your armies to carry off silver and gold, and to gather lots of war booty?"'


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"Therefore, Son of Man, prophesy to Gog and tell him, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "When the day comes when my people are living securely, won't you be aware of it?


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You'll come in from your home in the remotest parts of the north. You'll come with many nations, all of them riding along on horses. You'll be a huge, combined army.


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You'll come up to invade my people Israel like a storm cloud to cover the land. In the last days, Gog, I'll bring you up to invade my land so that the world will learn to know me when I show them how holy I am before their very eyes."'"


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"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'Surely you're the one about whom I spoke years ago in the writings of my servants, Israel's prophets, aren't you? They predicted back then that I would bring you up after many years, didn't they?


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So it will be that on that day, when Gog invades the land of Israel,' declares the Lord GOD, 'my zeal will ignite my anger.


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Because of my zeal and burning anger, at that time there will be a massive earthquake throughout the land of Israel.


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I'm going to shake the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the wild beasts, all the creatures that crawl on the earth, and every single human being who lives on the surface of the earth. Mountains will collapse, as will their mountain passages, and every wall will fall to the ground.


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Then I'll call for war against Gog on top of every mountain,' declares the Lord GOD, 'and every weapon of war will be turned against their fellow soldier.


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I'll judge them with disease and bloodshed. I'll shower him, his soldiers, and the vast army that accompanies him with a torrential flood, hailstones, fire, and sulfur.


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I will exalt myself and demonstrate my holiness, making myself known to many people, who will learn that I am the LORD.'"


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"Now as for you, Son of Man, prophesy against Gog and tell him, '"This is what the Lord GOD has to say: 'Watch out, Gog, you leader of the head of Meshech and Tubal!


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I'm going to turn you around, drag you along to your destruction, and bring you up from the farthest parts of the north, and carry you to the mountains of Israel.


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There I will strike your bow from your left hand and your arrows from your right, causing your fall.


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You will collapse on the mountains of Israel, along with all of your soldiers and the nations that have accompanied you. There the raptors, vultures, and wild animals will feed on you.


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You will fall dead in the open fields, because I have ordered this to happen,' declares the Lord GOD.


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'I'm also going to set fire to Magog, along with those who are settled down and at home in the islands. That's when they'll learn that I am the LORD.


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I'll make my holiness and reputation known in the midst of my people Israel, and I won't let my holiness be profaned anymore. The nations will learn that I, the LORD, am holy in the midst of Israel.


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Pay attention! It's coming and will certainly happen,' declares the Lord GOD. 'This will be the day about which I've spoken!'"'"


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"After all this happens, the people who live in the cities of Israel will be kindling fires for seven years, using small shields, large shields, bows, arrows, clubs, personal weapons, and spears to do so.


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They won't need to cut down trees from the fields nor gather firewood from the forests, because they will light fires with the weapons as they plunder the plunderers and loot the looters!" declares the Lord GOD.


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"When all of this happens, I'm going to set aside a grave site for Gog in Israel's Traveler's Valley, near the approach to the Dead Sea. She will block off everyone who tries to bypass it. There they will bury Gog, and rename the area "Valley of Gog's Gang".


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Everyone in the land will be involved in the burials, and this will serve as a reminder for them that I have glorified myself," declares the Lord GOD.


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"Men will be assigned to travel continuously throughout the land, exploring for seven full months as they go about burying the bodies that remain from the battle on the surface of the ground, so that the land may be sterilized.


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As scouts go searching throughout the land, whenever they see someone's bones, they will place a sign beside the remains until the remains have been buried in the Valley of Gog's Gang.


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"Now as for you, Son of Man, this is what the Lord GOD has to say: 'Tell all of the birds and wild beasts to come and gather together and participate in the sacrifice that I'm going to make for you. This great sacrifice will take place on the mountains of Israel, where you'll be eating flesh and drinking blood.


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You'll eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the world's princes, drinking the blood of these rams, lambs, goats, bulls, all of them fattened as if they're from Bashan, fit for slaughter.


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You'll eat until you're fat and satiated. You'll drink blood until you're drunk from the sacrifice that I'm going to make for all of you.


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You'll be fully satiated at my table, dining on horse flesh, horsemen, elite soldiers, and every kind of warrior," declares the Lord GOD.


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"I'm going to display my glory among the people, and every nation will see the judgment that I administer by my own hand among them.


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The nations will also learn that because of Israel's sin the house of Israel went into captivity, since they were unfaithful in their behavior toward me. As a result, I hid my presence from them, turned them over to the control of their enemies, and they died by violence.


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It was because of their defilement and transgression that I treated them this way by hiding my presence from them."


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"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD has to say: 'I'm going to restore the resources of Jacob and show mercy to the entire house of Israel. I'll be zealous for my own reputation and for my holiness.


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They'll forget their shame and all of their unfaithfulness by which they behaved so unfaithfully toward me. They will live on their land in confidence, not in fear.


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When I bring them back from the nations and gather them together from the lands that belong to their enemies, I will demonstrate my holiness through them right in front of the eyes of the world,


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and they will learn that I am the LORD their God, who sent them into exile and who gathered them back to their land. I will not leave any of them remaining in exile.


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I'll no longer hide my presence from them again when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel," declares the Lord GOD.


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At the beginning of year 25 of our captivity, on the tenth day of the fourteenth year after the destruction of Jerusalem-on that very day-the LORD grabbed me by his hand and took me there.


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God brought me in a series of visions to the land of Israel and placed me on top of a very high mountain, where to the south there was something that looked like the outline of a city.


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That's where he took me. All of a sudden, there was a man whose appearance resembled glowing bronze. He had a measuring rod and line in his hand as he stood in the city gate.


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This is what the man told me: "Son of Man, watch carefully, listen closely, and remember everything I'm going to be showing you, because you've been brought here to be shown what you're about to see. Be sure that you tell the house of Israel everything that you observe."


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All of a sudden, we were at the exterior wall that completely surrounded the Temple. The man whom I had observed held a measuring rod that was ten and a half feet long as measured in cubits that were a cubit and a handbreadth long. As he measured the thickness of the wall, he measured out one rod. Its height was also one rod.


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Then he went over to the gate that faced toward the east, ascended its steps, and measured its thresholds. One threshold measured one rod and the other one measured one rod.


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Each guardhouse measured one rod long and one rod wide, and the distance between each guardhouse was five cubits. The threshold of the gate near the vestibule facing away from the Temple entrance measured one rod.


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He measured the vestibule of the gate inside at eight cubits and the doorjambs at two cubits. (The vestibule at the gate faced away from the Temple.)


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Gate guardhouses stood facing east, numbering three on each side, each of them of equal size to the door jamb; that is, having the same measurement on each side.


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The retaining wall in front of the guardhouses measured one cubit wide. It stood one cubit from the wall to the guardhouses, which were six cubits square.


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He measured the gate from the roof of the guardhouses to the roof of another at 25 cubits from doorway to opposite doorway.


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Then he measured the open air porch at 60 cubits from the doorjamb of the courtyard that encompassed the gate.


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Latticed windows faced the guardhouses, their side pillars within the gate all around, and also for the porches. Windows were placed all around inside, and the side pillars were engraved with palm trees.


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Next, he brought me into the outer court, where chambers and a paved area had been constructed all around the courtyard, with 30 chambers facing the pavement.


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He also measured the width from the front lower gate to the front of the exterior inner court at 100 cubits to the east and to the north.


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It was equipped with three guardhouses on each side. Its side pillars and porches had measurements identical to the first gate: 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide.


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Its windows, porches, and palm tree ornaments had measurements identical to the east-facing gate. Reached by seven ascending steps, its porch lay to the front of the steps.


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From a gate that stood opposite the northern gate he measured 100 cubits, as well as from the eastern gate.


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Then he led me toward the south, where there was a gate with side pillar and porch measurements identical to the others.


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The gate and its porches contained windows all around, identical to the other windows. The length of the porch was 50 cubits and its width was 25 cubits.


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Seven steps led up to it, with a porch in front of them. Palm tree ornaments were engraved on its side pillars, one on each side.


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The inner court contained a south-facing gate measuring 100 cubits from gate to gate toward the south.


text:
Next, he brought me to the inner courtyard by way of the south-facing gate. He measured the south-facing gate as having measurements identical to the others.


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The measurements of its guardhouses, its side pillars, and its porches were identical to the others. The gate and its porches contained windows all around. The length of the porch was 50 cubits and its width was 25 cubits.


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leading to the outer courtyard. Palm tree ornaments were engraved on its side pillars. The stairway leading to it contained eight steps.


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Then he brought me into the inner east-facing courtyard, where he measured the gate, identical to the others.


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The measurement of its guardhouses, side pillars, and porches was identical to the others. The gate and its porches contained windows all around. The length of the porch was 50 cubits and its width was 25 cubits,


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There was a chamber with a doorway by the side pillars next to the gate where they prepare the burnt offerings.


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In the porch leading in front of the gate there were two tables on either side for slaughtering burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings,


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and on the outer side, approaching the northern gateway, there were two tables, as well as two tables on the opposite side of the porch in front of the gate.


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In that way, there were four tables on each side in front of the gate, for a total of eight tables for use in slaughtering the offerings.


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There were four tables carved from stone for the burnt offering, each one and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one cubit high, on which the instruments are laid for slaughtering burnt offerings and sacrifices.


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Double hooks, a single handbreadth in length, were installed all around in this portion of the temple area.


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From outside leading into the inner gate there were chambers for the choir. One was beside the north gate facing the south, and another was at the south gate facing the north.


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and the north-facing chamber is for the priests who maintain the altar. These are Zadok's descendants, who, as descendants of Levi approach the LORD to minister directly to him."


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He measured the court in the form of a square at 100 cubits long and 100 cubits wide. The altar stood in front of the Temple.


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Next, he brought me to the Temple porch and measured the side pillars at five cubits on each side. The width of the gate measured three cubits on each side.


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The porch was 20 cubits long and eleven cubits wide. The stairway by which it was ascended was equipped with columns attached to its side pillars, one on each side.


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Next he brought me to the Temple and measured its door jambs at six cubits wide on each side of the structure.


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The entrance was ten cubits wide and its door jambs were five cubits wide on each side. He measured the length of the nave at 40 cubits and its width at 20 cubits.


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Then he went inside and measured the door jambs at two cubits wide and the doorway at six cubits high. The doorway was seven cubits wide.


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He measured its length at 20 cubits, its width at 20 cubits in front of the structure, and then he told me, "This is the most holy area."


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Next, he measured the Temple walls at six cubits high and the width of the side chambers at four cubits around all four sides of the Temple.


text:
The side chambers consisted of three stories, each above the other, with 30 chambers in each story. The side chambers extended out from the wall that faced the inside of the chambers where the chambers were fastened together, but the chamber walls were not fastened directly into the Temple walls themselves.


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The side chambers surrounding the Temple were wider at each successive story, because the surrounding structure ascended by proportional increments as it rose, ascending to the highest story by going up successively from the lowest.


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I observed a raised platform that surrounded the Temple, and the foundations of the side chambers were a full six cubits deep.


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The outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits thick, and there was an empty space between the Temple's side chambers


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The side chamber doorway facing the free space contained a single north-facing doorway and a second south-facing doorway. The width of the free space was five cubits all around the perimeter.


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The building that faced the west side of the courtyard was 70 cubits wide, and the building's wall was five cubits thick all around. It was 90 cubits long.


text:
Then he measured the Temple. It was 100 cubits long, and the courtyard, its building, and its walls were 100 cubits long.


text:
Next, he measured 100 cubits as the length of the structure toward the front of the courtyard that stood behind it, where it housed a gallery on each side of it. Then he measured the Temple and the inner porticos of the courtyard,


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the thresholds, the shielded windows, and the surrounding three-storied galleries that stood opposite.


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including up to the doorway, up to the Temple (both within and without) and all around both sides of the inner wall, according to his measurement.


text:
There were carved cherubim and palm trees, alternating with a palm tree between a cherub, and each cherub had two faces,


text:
with a human face looking toward the palm tree on one side and a young lion's face looking toward the palm tree on the other side. These carvings extended all the way around the Temple,


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The door posts of the main sanctuary were square. Each door post was identical in appearance to the others.


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The altar was made of wood, three cubits high and two cubits long. Its corners, base, and sides were of wood. He told me, "This table stands in the LORD's presence."


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Each door had two sections mounted on hinges, for a total of two sections for one door and two sections for the other.


text:
The doors of the nave had carvings engraved on them, consisting of cherubim and palm trees identical to those on the walls. The front of the exterior porch was equipped with a wooden threshold.


text:
Shielded windows and palm trees were visible on both sides; that is, on the sides of the porch, the side chambers of the Temple, and on its thresholds.


text:
Then he brought me to the outer, north-facing courtyard into the chamber that stood opposite the structure that was facing north.


text:
Opposite the 20 cubits wide inner court, and opposite the paved area that comprised the outer court, there were three stories of galleries that faced each other.


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In front of the chambers there was an inner walkway ten cubits wide and 100 cubits wide, the openings to which were on the north.


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The upper chambers were narrower, since the galleries required more space than did the lower and middle portions of the building.


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The three part structure had no columns, unlike the courts, which is why the upper chambers were offset from the ground upward, more so than the lower and middle chambers.


text:
The outer wall by the side of the chambers toward the outer court and facing the chambers was 50 cubits long.


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While the chambers in the outer court were 50 cubits in length, the chambers facing the Temple were 100 cubits long.


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There were chambers built into the thick part of the wall of the court facing the east; that is, facing the separate area toward the front of the building,


text:
with a passageway in front of them, similar in appearance to the chambers that were on the north, proportional to their length and width, with all of their exits according to their arrangements and doorways.


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Corresponding to the chamber doorways facing the south was an opening at the beginning of the passage; that is, the passage in front of the corresponding part of the wall facing east as one might enter.


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Then he told me, "The north and south chamber, which are opposite the courtyard are consecrated areas where the priests who approach the LORD will eat consecrated offerings and lay the consecrated grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings, because the area is holy.


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When the priest enters, they will not enter the outer court from the sanctuary without having removed their garments worn during their time of ministry, because they are holy. They will put on different clothes, and then they will approach the area reserved for the people."


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After he had finished measuring the inner temple, he brought me out through the east-facing gate and measured it all around.


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He measured a wall that encompassed all four sides, 500 hundred long and 500 wide, dividing between the sacred and common areas.


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and the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. His voice sounded like roaring water, and the land shimmered from his glory.


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His appearance in the vision that I was having was similar to what I observed in the vision where he had come to destroy the city, and also like the visions that I saw by the Chebar River. I fell flat on my face


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Just then, the Spirit lifted me up and carried me into the inner courtyard, where the glory of the LORD was filling the Temple!


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"Son of Man," the Lord GOD told me, "This is where my throne is, where I place the soles of my feet, and where I will live among the Israelis forever. The house of Israel will no longer defile my holy name-neither they nor their kings-by their unfaithfulness, by the lifeless idols of their kings on their funeral mounds,


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by their setting up their threshold too close to my threshold and their door post too close to my door post, with a wall between me and them. After all, they have defiled my holy name by the loathsome things that they did, so I devoured them in my anger.


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But now let them send their unfaithfulness-that is, the lifeless idols of their kings-far away from me, and I will live among them forever."


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"And now, Son of Man, describe the Temple to the house of Israel. They will be ashamed because of their sin. They will measure its pattern.


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If they are ashamed of everything that they've done, you are to reveal to them the design of the Temple, its structure, its exits and entrances, its plans, its ordinances, and all of its regulations. Write it down where they can see it and remember all of its designs and regulations, so they will implement them.


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This is to be the regulation for the Temple: the entire area on top of the mountain is to be considered wholly consecrated. This is to be the law of the Temple."


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"Here are the measurements of the altar in cubits that were a cubit and a handbreadth long: its base is a cubit long and a cubit wide, and its border around the edge at one handbreadth is to be the height of the altar.


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From the base on the ground to its lower edge is to be two cubits, with its width to be one cubit. From the lesser ledge to the larger edge is to be four cubits. Its width is to be one cubit.


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"The hearth is to be twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide; that is, it will be a four-sided square.


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It is to have a ledge fourteen cubits long by fourteen cubits wide around the four sides. Its border is to be half a cubit and its base is to be a cubit all around, with its steps facing east."


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Then he told me, "This is what the Lord GOD says: 'These are the regulations for the altar, starting the day that it is constructed for presenting burnt offerings and sprinkling blood.


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You are to present to the Levitical priests, Zadok's descendants, who will approach me to serve me, a young bull for a sin offering,' declares the Lord GOD.


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'You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of its ledge, and on the border that surrounds it, thus cleansing it and making an atonement for it.


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You are also to present a bull for a sin offering, incinerating it in the appointed place at the Temple, outside the sanctuary.


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"The second day following commencement of offerings, you are to offer a male goat without defect for a sin offering to cleanse the altar the same way they cleansed it with the bull.


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After you've finished the cleansing, you are to present a young bull without defect and a ram from the flock without defect.


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You are to present them in the LORD's presence, and the priests are to throw salt on them and then present them as a burnt offering to the LORD.


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"Every day for a week, you are to prepare a goat for a sin offering, a young bull, and a ram from the flock, each without defect.


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When they will have completed this period, starting the next day, the priests are to offer your burnt offerings on the altar, along with your peace offerings, and I will accept you,' declares the Lord GOD."


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Then the Lord GOD brought me back through the east-facing outer gate of the sanctuary. But it was shut.


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The LORD told me, "This gate is to remain shut. It will not be opened. No man is to enter through it, because the LORD God of Israel entered through it, so it is to remain shut.


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The Regent Prince will be seated there, as Regent Prince, and will dine in the LORD's presence, entering through the portico of the gate and exiting through it also."


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Then he brought me through the north-facing gate to the front of the Temple. As I looked, the glory of the LORD filled the LORD's Temple, and I fell flat on my face!


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Then the LORD told me, "Son of Man, watch carefully, listen closely, and remember everything I'm going to be telling you about all the statutes pertaining to the LORD's Temple and all of its laws. Pay careful attention to the entrance to the Temple, along with all of the exits to the sanctuary."


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"You are to tell the Resistance-that is, the house of Israel, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "I've had enough of all of your loathsome behavior, you house of Israel!


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You kept on bringing in foreigners, those who were uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to profane my sanctuary by being inside my Temple, and by doing so you've emptied my covenant, all the while offering my food-the fat and the blood-in addition to all of the other loathsome things you've done.


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Furthermore, you haven't paid attention to the requirements for my holy things. Instead, you placed foreigners in charge of my sanctuary."'


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"This is what the Lord GOD says, 'No foreigner who is both uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the Israelis is to enter my sanctuary.


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But the descendants of Levi, who went far away from me when Israel abandoned me, who left me to follow their idols, are to bear the punishment of their iniquity.


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Nevertheless, they are to serve in my sanctuary, overseeing the gates of the Temple, taking care of the Temple, slaughtering the burnt offerings and the sacrifices presented for the people, standing in the presence of the people, and ministering to them.


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Because they kept serving them in the presence of their idols, becoming a sin-filled stumbling block to the house of Israel,'" declares the Lord GOD. "'I have sworn to them that they are to bear the consequences of their iniquity.


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They are not to come near me to serve me as a priest, nor approach any of my holy things, including the most holy things. Instead, they are to bear the shame of the loathsome things that they have done.


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Nevertheless, I will appoint them to take care of my Temple, including all of its service and everything that is to be done inside of it.'"


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"The descendants of Zadok, Levitical priests who took care of my sanctuary when the Israelis wandered away from me, are to come near me to minister to me. They are to stand before me to offer the fat and the blood to me," declares the Lord GOD.


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"They are to enter my sanctuary, approach my table to minister to me, and carry out my requirements.


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Whenever they enter at the gates of the inner court, they are to be clothed with linen garments. They are not to wear wool when they are ministering within the gates of the inner courtyard or in the Temple.


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Linen turbans are to be on their heads, and they are to wear linen undergarments. Also, they are not to clothe themselves with anything that makes them perspire.


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"When they enter the outer courtyard, that is, the outer courtyard where the people are, they are to take off their garments in which they were ministering, lay them in the consecrated chambers, and put on different garments so they will not transfer holiness to the people through their garments.


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Also, they are not to shave their heads nor let their hair grow long. Instead, they are certainly to trim the hair on their heads.


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"They are not to marry a widow or a divorced woman. Instead, they are to marry virgins from the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest."


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"They are to teach my people how to discern what is holy in contrast to what is common, showing them how to discern between what is unclean and clean.


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When disputes arise, they are to serve as a judge, adjudicating matters according to my ordinances. They are to enforce my laws, my statutes, all of my appointed feasts, and they are to sanctify my Sabbaths.


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"They are not to come in contact with a dead body, so they don't defile themselves, except in the case of their father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or for an unmarried sister, on whose behalf they may defile themselves.


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On the day that he returns to the sanctuary's inner court to minister, he is to offer his own sin offering," declares the Lord GOD.


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"Now with respect to the priests' inheritances, I am to be their inheritance, and you are to give them no possession in Israel, since I am their possession.


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They are to eat the grain offerings, sin offering, and guilt offering. Everything consecrated in Israel is to belong to them.


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The first portion of all the first fruits of every kind and every offering of any kind is to be for the priests. You are to give the priest the first portion of your grain. As a result a blessing will rest on your household.


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However, the priests are not to eat any bird or animal that has died a natural death or that has been torn apart."


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"When you divide the land for an inheritance, you are to present a Terumah to the LORD, a consecrated portion of the land 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits long. Everything within this area is to be treated as holy."


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"A Holy Place is to be dedicated from this area in the form of a square measuring 500 by 500 cubits, with a 50 cubit buffer zone surrounding it.


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From this area a measure is to be made 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide, which is to contain the sanctuary, the holiest of holy objects.


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It is to be a holy portion of the land, set aside for the priests who serve the sanctuary, who approach the LORD to serve him. It is to be a place for their houses, as well as the Holy Place of the sanctuary.


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"An area 25,000 cubits long by 10,000 cubits wide is to be set aside for use by the Levite servants of the Temple, 20 parcels for their residential properties.


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"The land allocation for the city is to be set at 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, adjacent to the sanctuary district, reserved for the entire house of Israel."


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"The Regent Prince is to have a portion on both sides of the consecrated allotment for the sanctuary and the city's land allotment, adjacent to both on the west and the east sides, comparable in length to one of the portions from the west border to the east border.


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This property in Israel is to belong to the Regent Prince, so my regent princes will no longer mistreat my nation. The remaining portion of the land is to be allotted to the house of Israel, that is, to its tribes."


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"This is what the Lord GOD says, 'Enough of you, you regent princes of Israel! Abandon your violence and destruction. Practice what is just and right instead! Stop confiscating property from my people!' declares the Lord GOD.


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"The ephah and the bath are to be of equal volume; that is, the bath is to contain one tenth of a homer and the ephah one tenth of a homer. The homer is to be the standard on which their volume measurement is to be based.


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"The shekel is to weigh 20 gerahs. The mina is to be comprised of three coins weighing 20, 25, and fifteen shekels, respectively."


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"Here are the standards for presenting offerings: a sixth of an ephah that is based on the standard homer of wheat, and a sixth of an ephah based on the standard homer of barley.


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The olive oil quota is to be based on the bath, measured at ten baths to each homer, which is equal to one kor.


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The sheep quota is to be one from each flock of 200 taken from the pastures of Israel. From all of these you are to present grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them," declares the Lord GOD.


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The Regent Prince is to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings at the feasts, on the New Moons and Sabbaths, and at all of the prescribed feasts of the house of Israel. He is to provide the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings in order to make atonement for the house of Israel."


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"This is what the Lord GOD says, 'On the first day of the first month, you are to present a young bull without defect in order to cleanse the sanctuary.


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The priest is to place some of the blood from the sin offering on the door posts of the Temple, on the four corners of the ledge around the altar, and on the posts of the gate leading to the inner court.


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You are also to do this on the seventh day of the month, to make atonement for any person who wanders away or who sins through ignorance in order to make atonement for the Temple.


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"'On the fourteenth day of the first month, you are to observe the Passover as a feast for seven days. Unleavened bread is to be eaten.


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On that day, the Regent Prince is to provide, both for himself and for all the people who live in the land, a bull for a sin offering.


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Each day during the seven days of the feast, he is to provide a burnt offering to the LORD, consisting of seven bulls and seven rams without defect, offered each day throughout the seven days, along with a male goat offered each day as a sin offering.


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"'The Regent Prince is also to present a grain offering consisting of an ephah with each bull and an ephah with each ram, along with a hin of olive oil mixed with an ephah of grain.


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"'On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, during a seven day feast, the Regent Prince is to present these as daily sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings mixed with oil.


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"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'The inner, east-facing courtyard will remain shut during the six working days of the week, but on the Sabbath day it will be opened, as well as on the day of the New Moon.


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"'The Regent Prince will enter through the portico of the gate from outside and will stand at the doorframe of the gate where the priests will present the Regent Prince's burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the Regent Prince will worship at the threshold of the gate and go out. The gate will not be closed until evening.


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"'The people who live in the land will worship at the doorway of the gate on the Sabbaths and New Moons in the LORD's presence.


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"'The burnt offering that the Regent Prince will present to the LORD on the Sabbath day will consist of six lambs without defect, a ram without defect,


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a grain offering with the ram consisting of an ephah, a grain offering with the lambs consisting of whatever amount he brings with him, and a hin of oil with each ephah of grain.


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"'Furthermore, each New Moon there is to be a young bull presented without defect, six male lambs, and a ram without defect.


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The Regent Prince will present an ephah of grain along with the bull, an ephah of grain along with the ram, a grain offering-consisting of as much as he is able to give-and a hin of olive oil with each ephah of grain.


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"'The Regent Prince will enter through the portico of the gate and will leave the same way he came in.


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When the people who live in the land come into the LORD's presence during the feasts, whoever enters through the northern gate will leave through the southern gate, and whoever enters through the southern gate will leave through the northern gate. No one will leave by the same route that he enters, but instead will go straight out.


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"'The grain offering for the festivals and appointed feasts will include an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram, and as much grain with the lambs as the Regent Prince brings with him, along with a hin of oil with each ephah.


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"'Whenever the Regent Prince presents a voluntary offering, burnt offering, or peace offering, he will present it voluntarily to the LORD, and the east-facing gate is to be opened for him. He is to provide his burnt offering and peace offering as he does on the Sabbath. When he leaves, the gate is to be shut behind him.


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"'He is to present a one year old lamb without defect for a burnt offering to the LORD in the morning every day.


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In addition, he is to present a grain offering with it every morning, consisting of a sixth of an ephah mixed with one third of a hin of oil. This grain offering is to be offered to the LORD as a permanent ordinance.


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"'They are to present the lamb offering, the grain offering, and the oil every morning as an ongoing burnt offering.'"


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"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'If the Regent Prince gives a gift to someone, it is to remain with the man's descendants as their own inheritance.


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But if he gives a gift to any of his servants, it is to belong to the servant until the Year of Release, at which time it is to be returned to the Regent Prince. His inheritance is to belong only to his sons.


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The Regent Prince is not to appropriate the nation's inheritance nor take advantage of them by taking their property from them. Instead, he is to provide an inheritance for his sons from his own possessions so that my people will not be separated from their possessions.'"


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Then the angel brought me in through an entrance beside the gate into the north-facing chambers dedicated to the priests. As I looked toward the rear of the far western end, I saw a place


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about which he said, "This is where the priests will be boiling the guilt and sin offerings and baking the grain offerings so they don't bring them through the outer courtyard, thus diminishing the people's holiness."


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Then he brought me out to the exterior courtyard and led me across to each of the four corners of the courtyard. There in each corner was an enclosed area set aside,


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He told me, "This is where the ministers of the Temple will be preparing the sacrifices that will be presented by the people.


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After this, he brought me back to the doorway to the Temple. To my amazement, there was water flowing out toward the east from beneath the threshold of the Temple. (The Temple faced eastward.) The water flowed down from beneath the right side of the Temple, that is, from the south-facing side where the altar was located.


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Then he brought me out through the north gateway and around to the one outside that faces toward the east. To my amazement, water was trickling out from that part of the south side, too!


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As the man went out toward the east, he carried a measuring line in his hand. He measured out 1,500 feet as he led me through water that was ankle-deep.


