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14 Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve,
    sending you a blessing instead of this curse.
Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine
    to the Lord your God as before.

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14 Who knows? He may turn(A) and relent(B)
    and leave behind a blessing(C)
grain offerings and drink offerings(D)
    for the Lord your God.

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Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”

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Who knows?(A) God may yet relent(B) and with compassion turn(C) from his fierce anger(D) so that we will not perish.”

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19 I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn.[a] You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from this day onward I will bless you.”

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Footnotes

  1. 2:19 Hebrew Is the seed yet in the barn?

19 Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate(A) and the olive tree have not borne fruit.(B)

“‘From this day on I will bless(C) you.’”

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13 Dress yourselves in burlap and weep, you priests!
    Wail, you who serve before the altar!
Come, spend the night in burlap,
    you ministers of my God.
For there is no grain or wine
    to offer at the Temple of your God.

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A Call to Lamentation

13 Put on sackcloth,(A) you priests, and mourn;
    wail, you who minister(B) before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
    you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings(C)
    are withheld from the house of your God.

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Seek the Lord, all who are humble,
    and follow his commands.
Seek to do what is right
    and to live humbly.
Perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you—
    protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.

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Seek(A) the Lord, all you humble of the land,
    you who do what he commands.
Seek righteousness,(B) seek humility;(C)
    perhaps you will be sheltered(D)
    on the day of the Lord’s anger.

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So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”

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The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call(A) on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”(B)

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15 Hate evil and love what is good;
    turn your courts into true halls of justice.
Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies
    will have mercy on the remnant of his people.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 5:15 Hebrew the remnant of Joseph.

15 Hate evil,(A) love good;(B)
    maintain justice in the courts.(C)
Perhaps(D) the Lord God Almighty will have mercy(E)
    on the remnant(F) of Joseph.

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For there is no grain or wine
    to offer at the Temple of the Lord.
So the priests are in mourning.
    The ministers of the Lord are weeping.

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Grain offerings and drink offerings(A)
    are cut off from the house of the Lord.
The priests are in mourning,(B)
    those who minister before the Lord.

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But perhaps the Lord your God has heard the Assyrian chief of staff,[a] sent by the king to defy the living God, and will punish him for his words. Oh, pray for those of us who are left!”

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Footnotes

  1. 19:4 Or the rabshakeh; also in 19:8.

It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule(A) the living God, and that he will rebuke(B) him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant(C) that still survives.”

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22 David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’

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22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows?(A) The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’(B)

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Moses Intercedes for Israel

30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a terrible sin, but I will go back up to the Lord on the mountain. Perhaps I will be able to obtain forgiveness[a] for your sin.”

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Footnotes

  1. 32:30 Or to make atonement.

30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin.(A) But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement(B) for your sin.”

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25 Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth.

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25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,(A)

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So I thought I should send these brothers ahead of me to make sure the gift you promised is ready. But I want it to be a willing gift, not one given grudgingly.

Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”[a] And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say,

“They share freely and give generously to the poor.
    Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”[b]

10 For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity[c] in you.

11 Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:7 See footnote on Prov 22:8.
  2. 9:9 Ps 112:9.
  3. 9:10 Greek righteousness.

So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers(A) to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift,(B) not as one grudgingly given.(C)

Generosity Encouraged

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.(D) Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give,(E) not reluctantly or under compulsion,(F) for God loves a cheerful giver.(G) And God is able(H) to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need,(I) you will abound in every good work. As it is written:

“They have freely scattered their gifts(J) to the poor;
    their righteousness endures forever.”[a](K)

10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food(L) will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.(M) 11 You will be enriched(N) in every way so that you can be generous(O) on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.(P)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 9:9 Psalm 112:9