2 Kings 23-24

New King James Version

Josiah Restores True Worship^(A)

23 Now ^(B)the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. ²The king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah, and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he ^(C)read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant ^(D)which had been found in the house of the Lord.

³Then the king ^(E)stood by a pillar and made a ^(F)covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant. ⁴And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the ^(G)priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring ^(H)out of the temple of the Lord all the articles that were made for Baal, for ^[a]Asherah, and for all ^[b]the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the ^[c]constellations, and to ^(I)all the host of heaven. ⁶And he brought out the ^(J)wooden^[d] image from the house of the Lord, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ^(K)ashes, and threw its ashes on ^(L)the graves of the common people. ⁷Then he tore down the ritual ^[e]booths ^(M)of the ^[f]perverted persons that were in the house of the Lord, ^(N)where the ^(O)women wove hangings for the wooden image. ⁸And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from ^(P)Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate. ⁹^(Q)Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, ^(R)but they ate unleavened bread among their brethren.

¹⁰And he defiled ^(S)Topheth, which is in ^(T)the Valley of the ^[g]Son of Hinnom, ^(U)that no man might make his son or his daughter ^(V)pass through the fire to Molech. ¹¹Then he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had ^[h]dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the officer who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. ¹²The altars that were ^(W)on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which ^(X)Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke down and pulverized there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron. ¹³Then the king defiled the ^[i]high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the ^[j]south of ^[k]the Mount of Corruption, which ^(Y)Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon. ¹⁴And he ^(Z)broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men.

¹⁵Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the ^[l]high place ^(AA)which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and burned the wooden image. ¹⁶As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs that were there on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the ^(AB)word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. ¹⁷Then he said, “What gravestone is this that I see?”

So the men of the city told him, “It is ^(AC)the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.”

¹⁸And he said, “Let him alone; let no one move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of ^(AD)the prophet who came from Samaria.

¹⁹Now Josiah also took away all the ^[m]shrines of the ^[n]high places that were ^(AE)in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke ^[o]the Lord to anger; and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done in Bethel. ²⁰^(AF)He ^(AG)executed all the priests of the ^[p]high places who were there, on the altars, and ^(AH)burned men’s bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem.

²¹Then the king commanded all the people, saying, ^(AI)“Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, ^(AJ)as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ²²^(AK)Such a Passover surely had never been held since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. ²³But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was held before the Lord in Jerusalem. ²⁴Moreover Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the words of ^(AL)the law which were written in the book ^(AM)that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. ²⁵^(AN)Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.

Impending Judgment on Judah

²⁶Nevertheless the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, ^(AO)because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. ²⁷And the Lord said, “I will also remove Judah from My sight, as ^(AP)I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, ^(AQ)‘My name shall be there.’ ”

Josiah Dies in Battle^(AR)

²⁸Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁹^(AS)In his days Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went ^[q]to the aid of the king of Assyria, to the River Euphrates; and King Josiah went against him. And Pharaoh Necho killed him at ^(AT)Megiddo when he ^(AU)confronted him. ³⁰^(AV)Then his servants moved his body in a chariot from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. And ^(AW)the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in his father’s place.

The Reign and Captivity of Jehoahaz^(AX)

³¹^(AY)Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^(AZ)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³²And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. ³³Now Pharaoh Necho put him in prison ^(BA)at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. ³⁴Then ^(BB)Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and ^(BC)changed his name to ^(BD)Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh took Jehoahaz ^(BE)and went to Egypt, and ^[r]he died there.

Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah^(BF)

³⁵So Jehoiakim gave ^(BG)the silver and gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give money according to the command of Pharaoh; he exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, from every one according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Necho. ³⁶^(BH)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.

Judah Overrun by Enemies

24 In ^(BI)his days Nebuchadnezzar king of ^(BJ)Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. ²^(BK)And the Lord sent against him raiding ^[s]bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it, ^(BL)according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servants the prophets. ³Surely at the commandment of the Lord this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight ^(BM)because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, ⁴^(BN)and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon.

⁵Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ⁶^(BO)So Jehoiakim rested with his fathers. Then Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.

⁷And ^(BP)the king of Egypt did not come out of his land anymore, for ^(BQ)the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the River Euphrates.

The Reign and Captivity of Jehoiachin^(BR)

⁸^(BS)Jehoiachin^[t] was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. ⁹And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done.

¹⁰^(BT)At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city ^[u]was besieged. ¹¹And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, as his servants were besieging it. ¹²^(BU)Then Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers went out to the king of Babylon; and the king of Babylon, ^(BV)in the eighth year of his reign, took him prisoner.

The Captivity of Jerusalem

¹³^(BW)And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house, and he ^(BX)cut in pieces all the articles of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, ^(BY)as the Lord had said. ¹⁴Also ^(BZ)he carried into captivity all Jerusalem: all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ^(CA)ten thousand captives, and ^(CB)all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained except ^(CC)the poorest people of the land. ¹⁵And ^(CD)he carried Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the mighty of the land he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶^(CE)All the valiant men, seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths, one thousand, all who were strong and fit for war, these the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

Zedekiah Reigns in Judah^(CF)

¹⁷Then ^(CG)the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, ^(CH)Jehoiachin’s^[v] uncle, king in his place, and ^(CI)changed his name to Zedekiah.

¹⁸^(CJ)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^(CK)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ¹⁹^(CL)He also did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰For because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, that He finally cast them out from His presence. ^(CM)Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Footnotes

2 Kings 23:4 A Canaanite goddess
2 Kings 23:4 The gods of the Assyrians
2 Kings 23:5 Of the Zodiac
2 Kings 23:6 Heb. Asherah, a Canaanite goddess
2 Kings 23:7 Lit. houses
2 Kings 23:7 Heb. qedeshim, those practicing sodomy and prostitution in religious rituals
2 Kings 23:10 Kt. Sons
2 Kings 23:11 given
2 Kings 23:13 Places for pagan worship
2 Kings 23:13 Lit. right of
2 Kings 23:13 The Mount of Olives
2 Kings 23:15 A place for pagan worship
2 Kings 23:19 Lit. houses
2 Kings 23:19 Places for pagan worship
2 Kings 23:19 So with LXX, Syr., Vg.; MT, Tg. omit the Lord
2 Kings 23:20 Places for pagan worship
2 Kings 23:29 Or to attack, Heb. al can mean together with or against
2 Kings 23:34 Jehoahaz
2 Kings 24:2 troops
2 Kings 24:8 Jeconiah, 1 Chr. 3:16; Jer. 24:1; or Coniah, Jer. 22:24, 28
2 Kings 24:10 Lit. came into siege
2 Kings 24:17 Lit. his

Nahum 1-3

New King James Version

God’s Mercy and Judgment

1 The ^[a]burden ^(A)against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

God’s Wrath on His Enemies

²God is ^(B)jealous, and the Lord avenges;
The Lord avenges and is furious.
The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies;
³The Lord is ^(C)slow to anger and ^(D)great in power,
And will not at all acquit the wicked.

^(E)The Lord has His way
In the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of His feet.
⁴^(F)He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
And dries up all the rivers.
^(G)Bashan and Carmel wither,
And the flower of Lebanon wilts.
⁵The mountains quake before Him,
The hills melt,
And the earth ^[b]heaves at His presence,
Yes, the world and all who dwell in it.

⁶Who can stand before His indignation?
And ^(H)who can endure the fierceness of His anger?
His fury is poured out like fire,
And the rocks are thrown down by Him.

⁷^(I)The Lord is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble;
And ^(J)He knows those who trust in Him.
⁸But with an overflowing flood
He will make an utter end of its place,
And darkness will pursue His enemies.

⁹^(K)What do you ^[c]conspire against the Lord?
^(L)He will make an utter end of it.
Affliction will not rise up a second time.
¹⁰For while tangled ^(M)like thorns,
^(N)And while drunken like drunkards,
^(O)They shall be devoured like stubble fully dried.
¹¹From you comes forth one
Who plots evil against the Lord,
A ^[d]wicked counselor.

¹²Thus says the Lord:

“Though they are ^[e]safe, and likewise many,
Yet in this manner they will be ^(P)cut down
When he passes through.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more;
¹³For now I will break off his yoke from you,
And burst your bonds apart.”

¹⁴The Lord has given a command concerning you:
^[f]“Your name shall be perpetuated no longer.
Out of the house of your gods
I will cut off the carved image and the molded image.
I will dig your ^(Q)grave,
For you are ^(R)vile.”^[g]

¹⁵Behold, on the mountains
The ^(S)feet of him who brings good tidings,
Who proclaims peace!
O Judah, keep your appointed feasts,
Perform your vows.
For the ^[h]wicked one shall no more pass through you;
He is ^(T)utterly cut off.

The Destruction of Nineveh

2 He^[i] who scatters has come up before your face.
Man the fort!
Watch the road!
Strengthen your flanks!
Fortify your power mightily.

²For the Lord will restore the excellence of Jacob
Like the excellence of Israel,
For the emptiers have emptied them out
And ruined their vine branches.

³The shields of his mighty men are made red,
The valiant men are in scarlet.
The chariots come with flaming torches
In the day of his preparation,
And ^[j]the spears are brandished.
⁴The chariots rage in the streets,
They jostle one another in the broad roads;
They seem like torches,
They run like lightning.

⁵He remembers his nobles;
They stumble in their walk;
They make haste to her walls,
And the defense is prepared.
⁶The gates of the rivers are opened,
And the palace is dissolved.
⁷^[k]It is decreed:
She shall be led away captive,
She shall be brought up;
And her maidservants shall lead her as with the voice of doves,
Beating their breasts.

⁸Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water,
Now they flee away.
^[l]“Halt! Halt!” they cry;
But no one turns back.
⁹^[m]Take spoil of silver!
Take spoil of ^(U)gold!
There is no end of treasure,
Or wealth of every desirable prize.
¹⁰She is empty, desolate, and waste!
The heart melts, and the knees shake;
Much pain is in every side,
And all their faces ^[n]are drained of color.

¹¹Where is the dwelling of the ^(V)lions,
And the feeding place of the young lions,
Where the lion walked, the lioness and lion’s cub,
And no one made them afraid?
¹²The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs,
^[o]Killed for his lionesses,
^(W)Filled his caves with prey,
And his dens with ^[p]flesh.

¹³“Behold, ^(X)I am against you,” says the Lord of hosts, “I will burn ^[q]your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your ^(Y)messengers shall be heard no more.”

The Woe of Nineveh

3 Woe to the ^(Z)bloody city!
It is all full of lies and robbery.
Its ^[r]victim never departs.
²The noise of a whip
And the noise of rattling wheels,
Of galloping horses,
Of ^[s]clattering chariots!
³Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear.
There is a multitude of slain,
A great number of bodies,
Countless corpses—
They stumble over the corpses—
⁴Because of the multitude of ^[t]harlotries of the ^[u]seductive harlot,
^(AA)The mistress of sorceries,
Who sells nations through her harlotries,
And families through her sorceries.

⁵“Behold, I am ^(AB)against you,” says the Lord of hosts;
^(AC)“I will lift your skirts over your face,
I will show the nations your nakedness,
And the kingdoms your shame.
⁶I will cast abominable filth upon you,
Make you ^(AD)vile,^[v]
And make you ^(AE)a spectacle.
⁷It shall come to pass that all who look upon you
^(AF)Will flee from you, and say,
^(AG)‘Nineveh is laid waste!
^(AH)Who will bemoan her?’
Where shall I seek comforters for you?”

⁸^(AI)Are you better than ^(AJ)No^[w] Amon
That was situated by the ^[x]River,
That had the waters around her,
Whose rampart was the sea,
Whose wall was the sea?
⁹Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength,
And it was boundless;
^(AK)Put and Lubim were ^[y]your helpers.
¹⁰Yet she was carried away,
She went into captivity;
^(AL)Her young children also were dashed to pieces
^(AM)At the head of every street;
They ^(AN)cast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound in chains.
¹¹You also will be ^(AO)drunk;
You will be hidden;
You also will seek refuge from the enemy.

¹²All your strongholds are ^(AP)fig trees with ripened figs:
If they are shaken,
They fall into the mouth of the eater.
¹³Surely, ^(AQ)your people in your midst are women!
The gates of your land are wide open for your enemies;
Fire shall devour the ^(AR)bars of your gates.

¹⁴Draw your water for the siege!
^(AS)Fortify your strongholds!
Go into the clay and tread the mortar!
Make strong the brick kiln!
¹⁵There the fire will devour you,
The sword will cut you off;
It will eat you up like a ^(AT)locust.

Make yourself many—like the locust!
Make yourself many—like the swarming locusts!
¹⁶You have multiplied your ^(AU)merchants more than the stars of heaven.
The locust plunders and flies away.
¹⁷^(AV)Your commanders are like swarming locusts,
And your generals like great grasshoppers,
Which camp in the hedges on a cold day;
When the sun rises they flee away,
And the place where they are is not known.

¹⁸^(AW)Your shepherds slumber, O ^(AX)king of Assyria;
Your nobles rest in the dust.
Your people are ^(AY)scattered on the mountains,
And no one gathers them.
¹⁹Your injury has no healing,
^(AZ)Your wound is severe.
^(BA)All who hear news of you
Will clap their hands over you,
For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?

Footnotes

Nahum 1:1 oracle, prophecy
Nahum 1:5 Tg. burns
Nahum 1:9 Or devise
Nahum 1:11 Lit. counselor of Belial
Nahum 1:12 Or at peace or complete
Nahum 1:14 Lit. No more of your name shall be fruitful
Nahum 1:14 Or contemptible
Nahum 1:15 Lit. one of Belial
Nahum 2:1 Vg. He who destroys
Nahum 2:3 Lit. the cypresses are shaken; LXX, Syr. the horses rush about; Vg. the drivers are stupefied
Nahum 2:7 Heb. Huzzab
Nahum 2:8 Lit. Stand
Nahum 2:9 Plunder
Nahum 2:10 LXX, Tg., Vg. gather blackness; Joel 2:6
Nahum 2:12 Lit. Strangled
Nahum 2:12 Torn flesh
Nahum 2:13 Lit. her
Nahum 3:1 Lit. prey
Nahum 3:2 bounding or jolting
Nahum 3:4 Spiritual unfaithfulness
Nahum 3:4 Lit. goodly charm, in a bad sense
Nahum 3:6 despicable
Nahum 3:8 Ancient Thebes; Tg., Vg. populous Alexandria
Nahum 3:8 Lit. rivers, the Nile and the surrounding canals
Nahum 3:9 LXX her

Zephaniah 1-3

New King James Version

The Great Day of the Lord^(A)

1 The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of ^(B)Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

The Great Day of the Lord

²“I will ^[a]utterly consume everything
From the face of the land,”
Says the Lord;
³“I^(C) will consume man and beast;
I will consume the birds of the heavens,
The fish of the sea,
And the ^[b]stumbling blocks along with the wicked.
I will cut off man from the face of the ^[c]land,”
Says the Lord.

⁴“I will stretch out My hand against Judah,
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
^[d]I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place,
The names of the ^(D)idolatrous^[e] priests with the pagan priests—
⁵Those ^(E)who worship the host of heaven on the housetops;
Those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord,
But who also swear ^(F)by ^[f]Milcom;
⁶^(G)Those who have turned back from following the Lord,
And ^(H)have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him.”

⁷^(I)Be silent in the presence of the Lord God;
^(J)For the day of the Lord is at hand,
For ^(K)the Lord has prepared a sacrifice;
He has ^[g]invited His guests.

⁸“And it shall be,
In the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,
That I will punish ^(L)the princes and the king’s children,
And all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.
⁹In the same day I will punish
All those who ^(M)leap over the threshold,
Who fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.

¹⁰“And there shall be on that day,” says the Lord,
“The sound of a mournful cry from ^(N)the Fish Gate,
A wailing from the Second Quarter,
And a loud crashing from the hills.
¹¹^(O)Wail, you inhabitants of ^[h]Maktesh!
For all the merchant people are cut down;
All those who handle money are cut off.

¹²“And it shall come to pass at that time
That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
And punish the men
Who are ^(P)settled^[i] in complacency,
^(Q)Who say in their heart,
‘The Lord will not do good,
Nor will He do evil.’
¹³Therefore their goods shall become booty,
And their houses a desolation;
They shall build houses, but not inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards, but ^(R)not drink their wine.”

¹⁴^(S)The great day of the Lord is near;
It is near and hastens quickly.
The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter;
There the mighty men shall cry out.
¹⁵^(T)That day is a day of wrath,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of devastation and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
¹⁶A day of ^(U)trumpet and alarm
Against the fortified cities
And against the high towers.

¹⁷“I will bring distress upon men,
And they shall ^(V)walk like blind men,
Because they have sinned against the Lord;
Their blood shall be poured out like dust,
And their flesh like refuse.”

¹⁸^(W)Neither their silver nor their gold
Shall be able to deliver them
In the day of the Lord’s wrath;
But the whole land shall be devoured
By the fire of His jealousy,
For He will make speedy riddance
Of all those who dwell in the land.

A Call to Repentance

2 Gather^(X) yourselves together, yes, gather together,
O ^[j]undesirable nation,
²Before the decree is issued,
Or the day passes like chaff,
Before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you,
Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you!
³^(Y)Seek the Lord, ^(Z)all you meek of the earth,
Who have upheld His justice.
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
^(AA)It may be that you will be hidden
In the day of the Lord’s anger.

Judgment on Nations

⁴For ^(AB)Gaza shall be forsaken,
And Ashkelon desolate;
They shall drive out Ashdod ^(AC)at noonday,
And Ekron shall be uprooted.
⁵Woe to the inhabitants of ^(AD)the seacoast,
The nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the Lord is against you,
O ^(AE)Canaan, land of the Philistines:
“I will destroy you;
So there shall be no inhabitant.”

⁶The seacoast shall be pastures,
With ^[k]shelters for shepherds ^(AF)and folds for flocks.
⁷The coast shall be for ^(AG)the remnant of the house of Judah;
They shall feed their flocks there;
In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God will ^(AH)intervene^[l] for them,
And ^(AI)return their captives.

⁸“I^(AJ) have heard the reproach of Moab,
And ^(AK)the insults of the people of Ammon,
With which they have reproached My people,
And ^(AL)made arrogant threats against their borders.
⁹Therefore, as I live,”
Says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
“Surely ^(AM)Moab shall be like Sodom,
And ^(AN)the people of Ammon like Gomorrah—
^(AO)Overrun^[m] with weeds and saltpits,
And a ^[n]perpetual desolation.
The residue of My people shall plunder them,
And the remnant of My people shall possess them.”

¹⁰This they shall have ^(AP)for their pride,
Because they have reproached and made arrogant threats
Against the people of the Lord of hosts.
¹¹The Lord will be awesome to them,
For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth;
^(AQ)People shall worship Him,
Each one from his place,
Indeed all ^(AR)the shores of the nations.

¹²“You^(AS) Ethiopians also,
You shall be slain by ^(AT)My sword.”

¹³And He will stretch out His hand against the north,
^(AU)Destroy Assyria,
And make Nineveh a desolation,
As dry as the wilderness.
¹⁴The herds shall lie down in her midst,
^(AV)Every beast of the nation.
Both the ^(AW)pelican and the bittern
Shall lodge on the capitals of her pillars;
Their voice shall sing in the windows;
Desolation shall be at the threshold;
For He will lay bare the ^(AX)cedar work.
¹⁵This is the rejoicing city
^(AY)That dwelt securely,
^(AZ)That said in her heart,
“I am it, and there is none besides me.”
How has she become a desolation,
A place for beasts to lie down!
Everyone who passes by her
^(BA)Shall hiss and ^(BB)shake his fist.

The Wickedness of Jerusalem

3 Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted,
To the oppressing city!
²She has not obeyed His voice,
She has not received correction;
She has not trusted in the Lord,
She has not drawn near to her God.

³^(BC)Her princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are ^(BD)evening wolves
That leave not a bone till morning.
⁴Her ^(BE)prophets are insolent, treacherous people;
Her priests have ^[o]polluted the sanctuary,
They have done ^(BF)violence to the law.
⁵The Lord is righteous in her midst,
He will do no unrighteousness.
^[p]Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He never fails,
But ^(BG)the unjust knows no shame.

⁶“I have cut off nations,
Their fortresses are devastated;
I have made their streets desolate,
With none passing by.
Their cities are destroyed;
There is no one, no inhabitant.
⁷^(BH)I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me,
You will receive instruction’—
So that her dwelling would not be cut off,
Despite everything for which I punished her.
But ^[q]they rose early and ^(BI)corrupted all their deeds.

A Faithful Remnant^(BJ)

⁸“Therefore ^(BK)wait for Me,” says the Lord,
“Until the day I rise up ^[r]for plunder;
My determination is to ^(BL)gather the nations
To My assembly of kingdoms,
To pour on them My indignation,
All My fierce anger;
All the earth ^(BM)shall be devoured
With the fire of My jealousy.

⁹“For then I will restore to the peoples ^(BN)a pure ^[s]language,
That they all may call on the name of the Lord,
To serve Him with one accord.
¹⁰^(BO)From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
My worshipers,
The daughter of My dispersed ones,
Shall bring My offering.
¹¹In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds
In which you transgress against Me;
For then I will take away from your midst
Those who ^(BP)rejoice in your pride,
And you shall no longer be haughty
In My holy mountain.
¹²I will leave in your midst
^(BQ)A meek and humble people,
And they shall trust in the name of the Lord.
¹³^(BR)The remnant of Israel ^(BS)shall do no unrighteousness
^(BT)And speak no lies,
Nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth;
For ^(BU)they shall feed their flocks and lie down,
And no one shall make them afraid.”

Joy in God’s Faithfulness

¹⁴^(BV)Sing, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
¹⁵The Lord has taken away your judgments,
He has cast out your enemy.
^(BW)The King of Israel, the Lord, ^(BX)is in your midst;
You shall ^[t]see disaster no more.

¹⁶In that day ^(BY)it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear;
Zion, ^(BZ)let not your hands be weak.
¹⁷The Lord your God ^(CA)in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
^(CB)He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”

¹⁸“I will gather those who ^(CC)sorrow over the appointed assembly,
Who are among you,
To whom its reproach is a burden.
¹⁹Behold, at that time
I will deal with all who afflict you;
I will save the ^(CD)lame,
And gather those who were driven out;
I will appoint them for praise and fame
In every land where they were put to shame.
²⁰At that time ^(CE)I will bring you back,
Even at the time I gather you;
For I will give you ^[u]fame and praise
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I return your captives before your eyes,”
Says the Lord.

Footnotes

Zephaniah 1:2 Lit. make a complete end of, Jer. 8:13
Zephaniah 1:3 Idols
Zephaniah 1:3 ground
Zephaniah 1:4 Fulfilled in 2 Kin. 23:4, 5
Zephaniah 1:4 Heb. chemarim
Zephaniah 1:5 Or Malcam, an Ammonite god, 1 Kin. 11:5; Jer. 49:1; Molech, Lev. 18:21
Zephaniah 1:7 Lit. set apart, consecrated
Zephaniah 1:11 A market district of Jerusalem, lit. Mortar
Zephaniah 1:12 Lit. on their lees; like the dregs of wine
Zephaniah 2:1 Or shameless
Zephaniah 2:6 Underground huts or cisterns, lit. excavations
Zephaniah 2:7 Lit. visit them
Zephaniah 2:9 Lit. Possessed by nettles
Zephaniah 2:9 Or permanent ruin
Zephaniah 3:4 Or profaned
Zephaniah 3:5 Lit. Morning by morning
Zephaniah 3:7 They were eager
Zephaniah 3:8 LXX, Syr. for witness; Tg. for the day of My revelation for judgment; Vg. for the day of My resurrection that is to come
Zephaniah 3:9 Lit. lip
Zephaniah 3:15 So with Heb. mss., LXX, Bg.; MT, Vg. fear
Zephaniah 3:20 Lit. a name

Daniel 1

New King James Version

Daniel and His Friends Obey God^(A)

1 In the third year of the reign of ^(B)Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ²And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with ^(C)some of the articles of ^[a]the house of God, which he carried ^(D)into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; ^(E)and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.

³Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring ^(F)some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, ⁴young men ^(G)in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and ^(H)whom they might teach the language and ^[b]literature of the Chaldeans. ⁵And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might ^(I)serve before the king. ⁶Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ⁷^(J)To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: ^(K)he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.

⁸But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself ^(L)with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. ⁹Now ^(M)God had brought Daniel into the favor and ^[c]goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. ¹⁰And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king.”

¹¹So Daniel said to ^[d]the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹²“Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.” ¹⁴So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days.

¹⁵And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies. ¹⁶Thus ^[e]the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.

¹⁷As for these four young men, ^(N)God gave them ^(O)knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had ^(P)understanding in all visions and dreams.

¹⁸Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹Then the king ^[f]interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore ^(Q)they served before the king. ²⁰^(R)And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm. ²¹^(S)Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus.

Footnotes

Daniel 1:2 The temple
Daniel 1:4 Lit. writing or book
Daniel 1:9 kindness
Daniel 1:11 Or Melzar
Daniel 1:16 Or Melzar
Daniel 1:19 Lit. talked with them

Habakkuk 1

New King James Version

The Prophet Questions God’s Judgments

1 The ^[a]burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.

The Prophet’s Question

²O Lord, how long shall I cry,
^(A)And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, ^(B)“Violence!”
And You will ^(C)not save.
³Why do You show me iniquity,
And cause me to see ^[b]trouble?
For plundering and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention arises.
⁴Therefore the law is powerless,
And justice never goes forth.
For the ^(D)wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.

The Lord’s Reply

⁵“Look^(E) among the nations and watch—
Be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in your days
Which you would not believe, though it were told you.
⁶For indeed I am ^(F)raising up the Chaldeans,
A bitter and hasty ^(G)nation
Which marches through the breadth of the earth,
To possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
⁷They are terrible and dreadful;
Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.
⁸Their horses also are ^(H)swifter than leopards,
And more fierce than evening wolves.
Their ^[c]chargers ^[d]charge ahead;
Their cavalry comes from afar;
They fly as the ^(I)eagle that hastens to eat.

⁹“They all come for violence;
Their faces are set like the east wind.
They gather captives like sand.
¹⁰They scoff at kings,
And princes are scorned by them.
They deride every stronghold,
For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it.
¹¹Then his ^[e]mind changes, and he transgresses;
He commits offense,
^(J)Ascribing this power to his god.”

The Prophet’s Second Question

¹²Are You not ^(K)from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O Lord, ^(L)You have appointed them for judgment;
O Rock, You have marked them for ^(M)correction.
¹³You are of purer eyes than to behold evil,
And cannot look on wickedness.
Why do You look on those who deal treacherously,
And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours
A person more righteous than he?
¹⁴Why do You make men like fish of the sea,
Like creeping things that have no ruler over them?

¹⁵They take up all of them with a hook,
They catch them in their net,
And gather them in their dragnet.
Therefore they rejoice and are glad.
¹⁶Therefore ^(N)they sacrifice to their net,
And burn incense to their dragnet;
Because by them their share is ^[f]sumptuous
And their food plentiful.
¹⁷Shall they therefore empty their net,
And continue to slay nations without pity?