Psalm 100
New King James Version
A Song of Praise for the Lord’s Faithfulness to His People
(A)A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
100 Make (B)a joyful shout to the Lord, [a]all you lands!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord, He is God;
(C)It is He who has made us, and [b]not we ourselves;
(D)We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 (E)Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
(F)His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.
Footnotes
- Psalm 100:1 Lit. all the earth
- Psalm 100:3 So with Kt., LXX, Vg.; Qr., many Heb. mss., Tg. we are His
Psalm 102
New King James Version
The Lord’s Eternal Love
A Prayer of the afflicted, (A)when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the Lord.
102 Hear my prayer, O Lord,
And let my cry come to You.
2 (B)Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble;
Incline Your ear to me;
In the day that I call, answer me speedily.
3 For my days [a]are (C)consumed like smoke,
And my bones are burned like a hearth.
4 My heart is stricken and withered like grass,
So that I forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of the sound of my groaning
My bones cling to my [b]skin.
6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness;
I am like an owl of the desert.
7 I lie awake,
And am like a sparrow alone on the housetop.
8 My enemies reproach me all day long;
Those who deride me swear an oath against me.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread,
And mingled my drink with weeping,
10 Because of Your indignation and Your wrath;
For You have lifted me up and cast me away.
11 My days are like a shadow that lengthens,
And I wither away like grass.
12 But You, O Lord, shall endure forever,
And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.
13 You will arise and have mercy on Zion;
For the time to favor her,
Yes, the set time, has come.
14 For Your servants take pleasure in her stones,
And show favor to her dust.
15 So the [c]nations shall (D)fear the name of the Lord,
And all the kings of the earth Your glory.
16 For the Lord shall build up Zion;
(E)He shall appear in His glory.
17 (F)He shall regard the prayer of the destitute,
And shall not despise their prayer.
18 This will be (G)written for the generation to come,
That (H)a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.
19 For He (I)looked down from the height of His sanctuary;
From heaven the Lord viewed the earth,
20 (J)To hear the groaning of the prisoner,
To release those appointed to death,
21 To (K)declare the name of the Lord in Zion,
And His praise in Jerusalem,
22 (L)When the peoples are gathered together,
And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.
23 He weakened my strength in the way;
He (M)shortened my days.
24 (N)I said, “O my God,
Do not take me away in the midst of my days;
(O)Your years are throughout all generations.
25 (P)Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
26 (Q)They will perish, but You will [d]endure;
Yes, they will all grow old like a garment;
Like a cloak You will change them,
And they will be changed.
27 But (R)You are the same,
And Your years will have no end.
28 (S)The children of Your servants will continue,
And their descendants will be established before You.”
Footnotes
- Psalm 102:3 Lit. end in
- Psalm 102:5 flesh
- Psalm 102:15 Gentiles
- Psalm 102:26 continue
Isaiah 8-21
New King James Version
Assyria Will Invade the Land
8 Moreover the Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll, and (A)write on it with a man’s pen concerning [a]Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 2 And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record, (B)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”
3 Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz; 4 (C)for before the child [b]shall have knowledge to cry ‘My father’ and ‘My mother,’ (D)the riches of Damascus and the [c]spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria.”
5 The Lord also spoke to me again, saying:
6 “Inasmuch as these people refused
The waters of (E)Shiloah that flow softly,
And rejoice (F)in Rezin and in Remaliah’s son;
7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them
The waters of [d]the River, strong and mighty—
The king of Assyria and all his glory;
He will [e]go up over all his channels
And go over all his banks.
8 He will pass through Judah,
He will overflow and pass over,
(G)He will reach up to the neck;
And the stretching out of his wings
Will [f]fill the breadth of Your land, O (H)Immanuel.[g]
9 “Be(I) shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces!
Give ear, all you from far countries.
Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces;
Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.
10 (J)Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
Speak the word, (K)but it will not stand,
(L)For [h]God is with us.”
Fear God, Heed His Word
11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with [i]a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:
12 “Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’
Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy,
Nor be afraid of their [j]threats, nor be [k]troubled.
13 The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow;
Let Him be your fear,
And let Him be your dread.
14 (M)He will be as a [l]sanctuary,
But (N)a stone of stumbling and a rock of [m]offense
To both the houses of Israel,
As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And many among them shall (O)stumble;
They shall fall and be broken,
Be snared and [n]taken.”
16 Bind up the testimony,
Seal the law among my disciples.
17 And I will wait on the Lord,
Who (P)hides His face from the house of Jacob;
And I (Q)will hope in Him.
18 (R)Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me!
We (S)are for signs and wonders in Israel
From the Lord of hosts,
Who dwells in Mount Zion.
19 And when they say to you, (T)“Seek those who are mediums and wizards, (U)who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they (V)seek the dead on behalf of the living? 20 (W)To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because (X)there[o] is no light in them.
21 They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and (Y)curse [p]their king and their God, and look upward. 22 Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.
The Government of the Promised Son(Z)
9 Nevertheless (AA)the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at (AB)first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And (AC)afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
2 (AD)The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation
And [q]increased its joy;
They rejoice before You
According to the joy of harvest,
As men rejoice (AE)when they divide the spoil.
4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden
And the staff of his shoulder,
The rod of his oppressor,
As in the day of (AF)Midian.
5 For every warrior’s [r]sandal from the noisy battle,
And garments rolled in blood,
(AG)Will be used for burning and fuel [s]of fire.
6 (AH)For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a (AI)Son is given;
And (AJ)the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
(AK)Wonderful, Counselor, (AL)Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, (AM)Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
(AN)There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The (AO)zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
The Punishment of Samaria
8 The Lord sent a word against (AP)Jacob,
And it has fallen on Israel.
9 All the people will know—
Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria—
Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen down,
But we will rebuild with hewn stones;
The sycamores are cut down,
But we will replace them with cedars.”
11 Therefore the Lord shall set up
The adversaries of Rezin against him,
And spur his enemies on,
12 The Syrians before and the Philistines behind;
And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is [t]stretched out still.
13 For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them,
Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts.
14 Therefore the Lord will cut off head and tail from Israel,
Palm branch and bulrush (AQ)in one day.
15 The elder and honorable, he is the head;
The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.
16 For (AR)the leaders of this people cause them to err,
And those who are led by them are destroyed.
17 Therefore the Lord (AS)will have no joy in their young men,
Nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows;
For everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer,
And every mouth speaks [u]folly.
(AT)For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
18 For wickedness (AU)burns as the fire;
It shall devour the briers and thorns,
And kindle in the thickets of the forest;
They shall mount up like rising smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
(AV)The land is burned up,
And the people shall be as fuel for the fire;
(AW)No man shall spare his brother.
20 And he shall [v]snatch on the right hand
And be hungry;
He shall devour on the left hand
(AX)And not be satisfied;
(AY)Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.
21 Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh;
Together they shall be (AZ)against Judah.
(BA)For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
Assyria Shall Be Broken
10 “Woe to those who (BB)decree unrighteous decrees,
Who write misfortune,
Which they have prescribed
2 To rob the needy of justice,
And to take what is right from the poor of My people,
That widows may be their prey,
And that they may rob the fatherless.
3 (BC)What will you do in (BD)the day of punishment,
And in the desolation which will come from (BE)afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your glory?
4 Without Me they shall bow down among the (BF)prisoners,
And they shall fall [w]among the slain.”
(BG)For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
Arrogant Assyria Also Judged
5 “Woe to Assyria, (BH)the rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hand is My indignation.
6 I will send him against (BI)an ungodly nation,
And against the people of My wrath
I will (BJ)give him charge,
To seize the spoil, to take the prey,
And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 (BK)Yet he does not mean so,
Nor does his heart think so;
But it is in his heart to destroy,
And cut off not a few nations.
8 (BL)For he says,
‘Are not my princes altogether kings?
9 Is not (BM)Calno (BN)like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria (BO)like Damascus?
10 As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols,
Whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 As I have done to Samaria and her idols,
Shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?’ ”
12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has [x]performed all His work (BP)on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, (BQ)“I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.”
13 (BR)For he says:
“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
And by my wisdom, for I am prudent;
Also I have removed the boundaries of the people,
And have robbed their treasuries;
So I have put down the inhabitants like a [y]valiant man.
14 (BS)My hand has found like a nest the riches of the people,
And as one gathers eggs that are left,
I have gathered all the earth;
And there was no one who moved his wing,
Nor opened his mouth with even a peep.”
15 Shall (BT)the ax boast itself against him who chops with it?
Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it?
As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up,
Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!
16 Therefore the Lord, the [z]Lord of hosts,
Will send leanness among his fat ones;
And under his glory
He will kindle a burning
Like the burning of a fire.
17 So the Light of Israel will be for a fire,
And his Holy One for a flame;
(BU)It will burn and devour
His thorns and his briers in one day.
18 And it will consume the glory of his forest and of (BV)his fruitful field,
Both soul and body;
And they will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 Then the rest of the trees of his forest
Will be so few in number
That a child may write them.
The Returning Remnant of Israel
20 And it shall come to pass in that day
That the remnant of Israel,
And such as have escaped of the house of Jacob,
(BW)Will never again depend on him who [aa]defeated them,
But will depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,
To the (BX)Mighty God.
22 (BY)For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea,
(BZ)A remnant of them will return;
The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
23 (CA)For the Lord God of hosts
Will make a determined end
In the midst of all the land.
24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O My people, who dwell in Zion, (CB)do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of (CC)Egypt. 25 For yet a very little while (CD)and the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction.” 26 And the Lord of hosts will [ab]stir up (CE)a scourge for him like the slaughter of (CF)Midian at the rock of Oreb; (CG)as His rod was on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt.
27 It shall come to pass in that day
That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder,
And his yoke from your neck,
And the yoke will be destroyed because of (CH)the anointing oil.
28 He has come to Aiath,
He has passed Migron;
At Michmash he has attended to his equipment.
29 They have gone [ac]along (CI)the ridge,
They have taken up lodging at Geba.
Ramah is afraid,
(CJ)Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 [ad]Lift up your voice,
O daughter (CK)of Gallim!
Cause it to be heard as far as (CL)Laish—
[ae]O poor Anathoth!
31 (CM)Madmenah has fled,
The inhabitants of Gebim seek refuge.
32 As yet he will remain (CN)at Nob that day;
He will (CO)shake his fist at the mount of (CP)the daughter of Zion,
The hill of Jerusalem.
33 Behold, the Lord,
The Lord of hosts,
Will lop off the bough with terror;
(CQ)Those of high stature will be hewn down,
And the haughty will be humbled.
34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron,
And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.
The Reign of Jesse’s Offspring(CR)
11 There (CS)shall come forth a [af]Rod from the [ag]stem of (CT)Jesse,
And (CU)a Branch shall [ah]grow out of his roots.
2 (CV)The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
4 But (CW)with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall (CX)strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,
And faithfulness the belt of His waist.
6 “The(CY) wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
Their young ones shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
9 (CZ)They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For (DA)the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.
10 “And(DB) in that day (DC)there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a (DD)banner to the people;
For the (DE)Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.”
11 It shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time
To recover the remnant of His people who are left,
(DF)From Assyria and Egypt,
From Pathros and Cush,
From Elam and Shinar,
From Hamath and the [ai]islands of the sea.
12 He will set up a banner for the nations,
And will [aj]assemble the outcasts of Israel,
And gather together (DG)the dispersed of Judah
From the four [ak]corners of the earth.
13 Also (DH)the envy of Ephraim shall depart,
And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west;
Together they shall plunder the [al]people of the East;
(DI)They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab;
And the people of Ammon shall obey them.
15 The Lord (DJ)will utterly [am]destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt;
With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over [an]the River,
And strike it in the seven streams,
And make men cross over [ao]dry-shod.
16 (DK)There will be a highway for the remnant of His people
Who will be left from Assyria,
(DL)As it was for Israel
In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.
A Hymn of Praise
12 And (DM)in that day you will say:
“O Lord, I will praise You;
Though You were angry with me,
Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.
2 Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
(DN)‘For (DO)Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.’ ”
3 Therefore with joy you will draw (DP)water
From the wells of salvation.
4 And in that day you will say:
(DQ)“Praise the Lord, call upon His name;
(DR)Declare His deeds among the peoples,
Make mention that His (DS)name is exalted.
5 (DT)Sing to the Lord,
For He has done excellent things;
This is known in all the earth.
6 (DU)Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great is (DV)the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”
Proclamation Against Babylon
13 The (DW)burden[ap] against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
2 “Lift(DX) up a banner (DY)on the high mountain,
Raise your voice to them;
(DZ)Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded My [aq]sanctified ones;
I have also called (EA)My mighty ones for My anger—
Those who (EB)rejoice in My exaltation.”
4 The (EC)noise of a multitude in the mountains,
Like that of many people!
A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together!
The Lord of hosts musters
The army for battle.
5 They come from a far country,
From the end of heaven—
The (ED)Lord and His [ar]weapons of indignation,
To destroy the whole (EE)land.
6 Wail, (EF)for the day of the Lord is at hand!
(EG)It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore all hands will be limp,
Every man’s heart will melt,
8 And they will be afraid.
(EH)Pangs[as] and sorrows will take hold of them;
They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth;
They will be amazed at one another;
Their faces will be like flames.
9 Behold, (EI)the day of the Lord comes,
Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger,
To lay the land desolate;
And He will destroy (EJ)its sinners from it.
10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not give their light;
The sun will be (EK)darkened in its going forth,
And the moon will not cause its light to shine.
11 “I will (EL)punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
(EM)I will halt the arrogance of the proud,
And will lay low the haughtiness of the [at]terrible.
12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold,
A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 (EN)Therefore I will shake the heavens,
And the earth will move out of her place,
In the wrath of the Lord of hosts
And in (EO)the day of His fierce anger.
14 It shall be as the hunted gazelle,
And as a sheep that no man [au]takes up;
(EP)Every man will turn to his own people,
And everyone will flee to his own land.
15 Everyone who is found will be thrust through,
And everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
16 Their children also will be (EQ)dashed to pieces before their eyes;
Their houses will be plundered
And their wives (ER)ravished.
17 “Behold,(ES) I will stir up the Medes against them,
Who will not [av]regard silver;
And as for gold, they will not delight in it.
18 Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces,
And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb;
Their eye will not spare children.
19 (ET)And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
The beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God overthrew (EU)Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 (EV)It will never be inhabited,
Nor will it be settled from generation to generation;
Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there,
Nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.
21 (EW)But wild beasts of the desert will lie there,
And their houses will be full of [aw]owls;
Ostriches will dwell there,
And wild goats will caper there.
22 The hyenas will howl in their citadels,
And jackals in their pleasant palaces.
(EX)Her time is near to come,
And her days will not be prolonged.”
Mercy on Jacob
14 For the Lord (EY)will have mercy on Jacob, and (EZ)will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. (FA)The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob. 2 Then people will take them (FB)and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the Lord; they will take them captive whose captives they were, (FC)and rule over their oppressors.
Fall of the King of Babylon
3 It shall come to pass in the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, 4 that you (FD)will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say:
“How the oppressor has ceased,
The (FE)golden[ax] city ceased!
5 The Lord has broken (FF)the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of the rulers;
6 He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke,
He who ruled the nations in anger,
Is persecuted and no one hinders.
7 The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
They break forth into singing.
8 (FG)Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you,
And the cedars of Lebanon,
Saying, ‘Since you [ay]were cut down,
No woodsman has come up against us.’
9 “Hell(FH)[az] from beneath is excited about you,
To meet you at your coming;
It stirs up the dead for you,
All the chief ones of the earth;
It has raised up from their thrones
All the kings of the nations.
10 They all shall (FI)speak and say to you:
‘Have you also become as weak as we?
Have you become like us?
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
And the sound of your stringed instruments;
The maggot is spread under you,
And worms cover you.’
The Fall of Lucifer
12 “How(FJ) you are fallen from heaven,
O [ba]Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
(FK)‘I will ascend into heaven,
(FL)I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the (FM)mount of the congregation
(FN)On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
(FO)I will be like the Most High.’
15 Yet you (FP)shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the [bb]lowest depths of the Pit.
16 “Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
17 Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities,
Who [bc]did not open the house of his prisoners?’
18 “All the kings of the nations,
All of them, sleep in glory,
Everyone in his own house;
19 But you are cast out of your grave
Like an [bd]abominable branch,
Like the garment of those who are slain,
[be]Thrust through with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit,
Like a corpse trodden underfoot.
20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land
And slain your people.
(FQ)The brood of evildoers shall never be named.
21 Prepare slaughter for his children
(FR)Because of the iniquity of their fathers,
Lest they rise up and possess the land,
And fill the face of the world with cities.”
Babylon Destroyed
22 “For I will rise up against them,” says the Lord of hosts,
“And cut off from Babylon (FS)the name and (FT)remnant,
(FU)And offspring and posterity,” says the Lord.
23 “I will also make it a possession for the (FV)porcupine,
And marshes of muddy water;
I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says the Lord of hosts.
Assyria Destroyed
24 The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying,
“Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,
And as I have purposed, so it shall (FW)stand:
25 That I will break the (FX)Assyrian in My land,
And on My mountains tread him underfoot.
Then (FY)his yoke shall be removed from them,
And his burden removed from their shoulders.
26 This is the (FZ)purpose that is purposed against the whole earth,
And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
27 For the Lord of hosts has (GA)purposed,
And who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
And who will turn it back?”
Philistia Destroyed
28 This is the [bf]burden which came in the year that (GB)King Ahaz died.
29 “Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia,
(GC)Because the rod that struck you is broken;
For out of the serpent’s roots will come forth a viper,
(GD)And its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent.
30 The firstborn of the poor will feed,
And the needy will lie down in safety;
I will kill your roots with famine,
And it will slay your remnant.
31 Wail, O gate! Cry, O city!
All you of Philistia are dissolved;
For smoke will come from the north,
And no one will be alone in his [bg]appointed times.”
32 What will they answer the messengers of the nation?
That (GE)the Lord has founded Zion,
And (GF)the poor of His people shall take refuge in it.
Proclamation Against Moab
15 The (GG)burden[bh] against Moab.
Because in the night (GH)Ar of (GI)Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
Because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
2 He has gone up to the [bi]temple and Dibon,
To the high places to weep.
Moab will wail over Nebo and over Medeba;
(GJ)On all their heads will be baldness,
And every beard cut off.
3 In their streets they will clothe themselves with sackcloth;
On the tops of their houses
And in their streets
Everyone will wail, (GK)weeping bitterly.
4 Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out,
Their voice shall be heard as far as (GL)Jahaz;
Therefore the [bj]armed soldiers of Moab will cry out;
His life will be burdensome to him.
5 “My(GM) heart will cry out for Moab;
His fugitives shall flee to Zoar,
Like [bk]a three-year-old heifer.
For (GN)by the Ascent of Luhith
They will go up with weeping;
For in the way of Horonaim
They will raise up a cry of destruction,
6 For the waters (GO)of Nimrim will be desolate,
For the green grass has withered away;
The grass fails, there is nothing green.
7 Therefore the abundance they have gained,
And what they have laid up,
They will carry away to the Brook of the Willows.
8 For the cry has gone all around the borders of Moab,
Its wailing to Eglaim
And its wailing to Beer Elim.
9 For the waters of [bl]Dimon will be full of blood;
Because I will bring more upon Dimon,
(GP)Lions upon him who escapes from Moab,
And on the remnant of the land.”
Moab Destroyed
16 Send (GQ)the lamb to the ruler of the land,
(GR)From [bm]Sela to the wilderness,
To the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2 For it shall be as a (GS)wandering bird thrown out of the nest;
So shall be the daughters of Moab at the fords of the (GT)Arnon.
3 “Take counsel, execute judgment;
Make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day;
Hide the outcasts,
Do not betray him who escapes.
4 Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab;
Be a shelter to them from the face of the [bn]spoiler.
For the extortioner is at an end,
Devastation ceases,
The oppressors are consumed out of the land.
5 In mercy (GU)the throne will be established;
And One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David,
(GV)Judging and seeking justice and hastening (GW)righteousness.”
6 We have heard of the (GX)pride of Moab—
He is very proud—
Of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath;
(GY)But his [bo]lies shall not be so.
7 Therefore Moab shall (GZ)wail for Moab;
Everyone shall wail.
For the foundations (HA)of Kir Hareseth you shall mourn;
Surely they are stricken.
8 For (HB)the fields of Heshbon languish,
And (HC)the vine of Sibmah;
The lords of the nations have broken down its choice plants,
Which have reached to Jazer
And wandered through the wilderness.
Her branches are stretched out,
They are gone over the (HD)sea.
9 Therefore I will bewail the vine of Sibmah,
With the weeping of Jazer;
I will drench you with my tears,
(HE)O Heshbon and Elealeh;
For [bp]battle cries have fallen
Over your summer fruits and your harvest.
10 (HF)Gladness is taken away,
And joy from the plentiful field;
In the vineyards there will be no singing,
Nor will there be shouting;
No treaders will tread out wine in the presses;
I have made their shouting cease.
11 Therefore (HG)my [bq]heart shall resound like a harp for Moab,
And my inner being for [br]Kir Heres.
12 And it shall come to pass,
When it is seen that Moab is weary on (HH)the high place,
That he will come to his sanctuary to pray;
But he will not prevail.
13 This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning Moab since that time. 14 But now the Lord has spoken, saying, “Within three years, (HI)as the years of a hired man, the glory of Moab will be despised with all that great multitude, and the remnant will be very small and feeble.”
Proclamation Against Syria and Israel
17 The (HJ)burden[bs] against Damascus.
“Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city,
And it will be a ruinous heap.
2 [bt]The cities of (HK)Aroer are forsaken;
They will be for flocks
Which lie down, and (HL)no one will make them afraid.
3 (HM)The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
The kingdom from Damascus,
And the remnant of Syria;
They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
4 “In that day it shall come to pass
That the glory of Jacob will [bu]wane,
And (HN)the fatness of his flesh grow lean.
5 (HO)It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain,
And reaps the heads with his arm;
It shall be as he who gathers heads of grain
In the Valley of Rephaim.
6 (HP)Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it,
Like the shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough,
Four or five in its most fruitful branches,”
Says the Lord God of Israel.
7 In that day a man will (HQ)look to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
8 He will not look to the altars,
The work of his hands;
He will not respect what his (HR)fingers have made,
Nor the [bv]wooden images nor the incense altars.
9 In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken [bw]bough
And [bx]an uppermost branch,
Which they left because of the children of Israel;
And there will be desolation.
10 Because you have forgotten (HS)the God of your salvation,
And have not been mindful of the Rock of your [by]stronghold,
Therefore you will plant pleasant plants
And set out foreign seedlings;
11 In the day you will make your plant to grow,
And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish;
But the harvest will be a heap of ruins
In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people
Who make a noise (HT)like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
But God will (HU)rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And (HV)be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 Then behold, at eventide, trouble!
And before the morning, he is no more.
This is the portion of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who rob us.
Proclamation Against Ethiopia
18 Woe (HW)to the land shadowed with buzzing wings,
Which is beyond the rivers of [bz]Ethiopia,
2 Which sends ambassadors by sea,
Even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying,
“Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin,
To a people terrible from their beginning onward,
A nation powerful and treading down,
Whose land the rivers divide.”
3 All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth:
(HX)When he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it;
And when he blows a trumpet, you hear it.
4 For so the Lord said to me,
“I will take My rest,
And I will [ca]look from My dwelling place
Like clear heat in sunshine,
Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect
And the sour grape is ripening in the flower,
He will both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks
And take away and cut down the branches.
6 They will be left together for the mountain birds of prey
And for the beasts of the earth;
The birds of prey will summer on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.
7 In that time (HY)a present will be brought to the Lord of hosts
[cb]From a people tall and smooth of skin,
And from a people terrible from their beginning onward,
A nation powerful and treading down,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the place of the name of the Lord of hosts,
To Mount Zion.
Proclamation Against Egypt
19 The (HZ)burden[cc] against Egypt.
Behold, the Lord (IA)rides on a swift cloud,
And will come into Egypt;
(IB)The idols of Egypt will [cd]totter at His presence,
And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst.
2 “I will (IC)set Egyptians against Egyptians;
Everyone will fight against his brother,
And everyone against his neighbor,
City against city, kingdom against kingdom.
3 The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst;
I will destroy their counsel,
And they will (ID)consult the idols and the charmers,
The mediums and the sorcerers.
4 And the Egyptians I will give
(IE)Into the hand of a cruel master,
And a fierce king will rule over them,”
Says the Lord, the Lord of hosts.
5 (IF)The waters will fail from the sea,
And the river will be wasted and dried up.
6 The rivers will turn foul;
The brooks (IG)of defense will be emptied and dried up;
The reeds and rushes will wither.
7 The papyrus reeds by [ce]the River, by the mouth of the River,
And everything sown by the River,
Will wither, be driven away, and be no more.
8 The fishermen also will mourn;
All those will lament who cast hooks into the River,
And they will languish who spread nets on the waters.
9 Moreover those who work in (IH)fine flax
And those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed;
10 And its foundations will be broken.
All who make wages will be troubled of soul.
11 Surely the princes of (II)Zoan are fools;
Pharaoh’s wise counselors give foolish counsel.
(IJ)How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise,
The son of ancient kings?”
12 (IK)Where are they?
Where are your wise men?
Let them tell you now,
And let them know what the Lord of hosts has (IL)purposed against Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan have become fools;
(IM)The princes of [cf]Noph are deceived;
They have also [cg]deluded Egypt,
Those who are the [ch]mainstay of its tribes.
14 The Lord has mingled (IN)a perverse spirit in her midst;
And they have caused Egypt to err in all her work,
As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
15 Neither will there be any work for Egypt,
Which (IO)the head or tail,
Palm branch or bulrush, may do.
16 In that day Egypt will (IP)be like women, and will be afraid and fear because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, (IQ)which He waves over it. 17 And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt; everyone who makes mention of it will be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts which He has (IR)determined against it.
Egypt, Assyria, and Israel Blessed
18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will (IS)speak the language of Canaan and (IT)swear by the Lord of hosts; one will be called the City of [ci]Destruction.
19 In that day (IU)there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the (IV)Lord at its border. 20 And (IW)it will be for a sign and for a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of the oppressors, and He will send them a (IX)Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them. 21 Then the Lord will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will (IY)know the Lord in that day, and (IZ)will make sacrifice and offering; yes, they will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. 22 And the Lord will strike Egypt, He will strike and (JA)heal it; they will return to the Lord, and He will be entreated by them and heal them.
23 In that day (JB)there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will (JC)serve with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land, 25 whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria (JD)the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”
The Sign Against Egypt and Ethiopia
20 In the year that (JE)Tartan[cj] came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it, 2 at the same time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and remove (JF)the sackcloth from your [ck]body, and take your sandals off your feet.” And he did so, (JG)walking naked and barefoot.
3 Then the Lord said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years (JH)for a sign and a wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia, 4 so shall the (JI)king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians as prisoners and the Ethiopians as captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, (JJ)with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. 5 (JK)Then they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation and Egypt their glory. 6 And the inhabitant of this territory will say in that day, ‘Surely such is our expectation, wherever we flee for (JL)help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and how shall we escape?’ ”
The Fall of Babylon Proclaimed
21 The [cl]burden against the Wilderness of the Sea.
As (JM)whirlwinds in the South pass through,
So it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.
2 A distressing vision is declared to me;
(JN)The treacherous dealer deals treacherously,
And the plunderer plunders.
(JO)Go up, O Elam!
Besiege, O Media!
All its sighing I have made to cease.
3 Therefore (JP)my loins are filled with pain;
(JQ)Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor.
I was [cm]distressed when I heard it;
I was dismayed when I saw it.
4 My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me;
(JR)The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.
5 (JS)Prepare the table,
Set a watchman in the tower,
Eat and drink.
Arise, you princes,
Anoint the shield!
6 For thus has the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman,
Let him declare what he sees.”
7 And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen,
A chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of camels,
And he listened earnestly with great care.
8 [cn]Then he cried, “A lion, my Lord!
I stand continually on the (JT)watchtower in the daytime;
I have sat at my post every night.
9 And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!”
Then he answered and said,
(JU)“Babylon is fallen, is fallen!
And (JV)all the carved images of her gods
He has broken to the ground.”
10 (JW)Oh, my threshing and the grain of my floor!
That which I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel,
I have declared to you.
Proclamation Against Edom
11 (JX)The [co]burden against Dumah.
He calls to me out of (JY)Seir,
“Watchman, what of the night?
Watchman, what of the night?”
12 The watchman said,
“The morning comes, and also the night.
If you will inquire, inquire;
Return! Come back!”
Proclamation Against Arabia
13 (JZ)The [cp]burden against Arabia.
In the forest in Arabia you will lodge,
O you traveling companies (KA)of Dedanites.
14 O inhabitants of the land of Tema,
Bring water to him who is thirsty;
With their bread they met him who fled.
15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword,
From the bent bow, and from the distress of war.
16 For thus the Lord has said to me: “Within a year, (KB)according to the year of a hired man, all the glory of (KC)Kedar will fail; 17 and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the people of Kedar, will be diminished; for the Lord God of Israel has spoken it.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 8:1 Lit. Speed the Spoil, Hasten the Booty
- Isaiah 8:4 knows how
- Isaiah 8:4 plunder
- Isaiah 8:7 The Euphrates
- Isaiah 8:7 Overflow
- Isaiah 8:8 Lit. be the fullness of
- Isaiah 8:8 Lit. God-With-Us
- Isaiah 8:10 Heb. Immanuel
- Isaiah 8:11 Mighty power
- Isaiah 8:12 Lit. fear or terror
- Isaiah 8:12 Lit. in dread
- Isaiah 8:14 holy abode
- Isaiah 8:14 stumbling over
- Isaiah 8:15 captured
- Isaiah 8:20 Or they have no dawn
- Isaiah 8:21 Or by their king and by their God
- Isaiah 9:3 So with Qr., Tg.; Kt., Vg. not increased joy; LXX Most of the people You brought down in Your joy
- Isaiah 9:5 boot
- Isaiah 9:5 for the fire
- Isaiah 9:12 In judgment
- Isaiah 9:17 foolishness
- Isaiah 9:20 slice off or tear
- Isaiah 10:4 Lit. under
- Isaiah 10:12 completed
- Isaiah 10:13 mighty
- Isaiah 10:16 So with Bg.; MT, DSS YHWH (the Lord)
- Isaiah 10:20 Lit. struck
- Isaiah 10:26 arouse
- Isaiah 10:29 Or over the pass
- Isaiah 10:30 Or Cry shrilly
- Isaiah 10:30 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Syr. Listen to her, O Anathoth
- Isaiah 11:1 Shoot
- Isaiah 11:1 stock or trunk
- Isaiah 11:1 be fruitful
- Isaiah 11:11 Or coastlands
- Isaiah 11:12 gather
- Isaiah 11:12 Lit. wings
- Isaiah 11:14 Lit. sons
- Isaiah 11:15 So with MT, Vg.; LXX, Syr., Tg. dry up
- Isaiah 11:15 The Euphrates
- Isaiah 11:15 Lit. in sandals
- Isaiah 13:1 oracle, prophecy
- Isaiah 13:3 consecrated or set apart
- Isaiah 13:5 Or instruments
- Isaiah 13:8 Sharp pains
- Isaiah 13:11 Or tyrants
- Isaiah 13:14 gathers
- Isaiah 13:17 esteem
- Isaiah 13:21 Or howling creatures
- Isaiah 14:4 Or insolent
- Isaiah 14:8 have lain down
- Isaiah 14:9 Or Sheol
- Isaiah 14:12 Lit. Day Star
- Isaiah 14:15 Lit. recesses
- Isaiah 14:17 Would not release
- Isaiah 14:19 despised
- Isaiah 14:19 Pierced
- Isaiah 14:28 oracle, prophecy
- Isaiah 14:31 Or ranks
- Isaiah 15:1 oracle, prophecy
- Isaiah 15:2 Heb. bayith, lit. house
- Isaiah 15:4 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Syr. loins
- Isaiah 15:5 Or The Third Eglath, an unknown city, Jer. 48:34
- Isaiah 15:9 So with MT, Tg.; DSS, Vg. Dibon; LXX Rimon
- Isaiah 16:1 Lit. Rock
- Isaiah 16:4 devastator
- Isaiah 16:6 Lit. vain talk
- Isaiah 16:9 Or shouting has
- Isaiah 16:11 Lit. belly
- Isaiah 16:11 Kir Hareseth, v. 7
- Isaiah 17:1 oracle, prophecy
- Isaiah 17:2 So with MT, Vg.; LXX It shall be forsaken forever; Tg. Its cities shall be forsaken and desolate
- Isaiah 17:4 fade
- Isaiah 17:8 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
- Isaiah 17:9 LXX Hivites; Tg. laid waste; Vg. as the plows
- Isaiah 17:9 LXX Amorites; Tg. in ruins; Vg. corn
- Isaiah 17:10 refuge
- Isaiah 18:1 Heb. Cush
- Isaiah 18:4 watch
- Isaiah 18:7 So with DSS, LXX, Vg.; MT omits From; Tg. To
- Isaiah 19:1 oracle, prophecy
- Isaiah 19:1 Lit. shake
- Isaiah 19:7 The Nile
- Isaiah 19:13 Ancient Memphis
- Isaiah 19:13 Lit. caused to stagger
- Isaiah 19:13 cornerstone
- Isaiah 19:18 Some Heb. mss., Arab., DSS, Tg., Vg. Sun; LXX Asedek, lit. Righteousness
- Isaiah 20:1 Or the Commander in Chief
- Isaiah 20:2 Lit. loins
- Isaiah 21:1 oracle, prophecy
- Isaiah 21:3 Lit. bowed
- Isaiah 21:8 DSS Then the observer cried, “My Lord!
- Isaiah 21:11 oracle, prophecy
- Isaiah 21:13 oracle, prophecy
Hosea 13-14
New King James Version
Relentless Judgment on Israel
13 When Ephraim spoke, trembling,
He exalted himself in Israel;
But when he offended through Baal worship, he died.
2 Now they sin more and more,
And have made for themselves molded images,
Idols of their silver, according to their skill;
All of it is the work of craftsmen.
They say of them,
“Let [a]the men who sacrifice [b]kiss the calves!”
3 Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud
And like the early dew that passes away,
(A)Like chaff blown off from a threshing floor
And like smoke from a chimney.
4 “Yet (B)I am the Lord your God
Ever since the land of Egypt,
And you shall know no God but Me;
For (C)there is no savior besides Me.
5 (D)I [c]knew you in the wilderness,
(E)In the land of [d]great drought.
6 (F)When they had pasture, they were filled;
They were filled and their heart was exalted;
Therefore they forgot Me.
7 “So (G)I will be to them like a lion;
Like (H)a leopard by the road I will lurk;
8 I will meet them (I)like a bear deprived of her cubs;
I will tear open their rib cage,
And there I will devour them like a lion.
The [e]wild beast shall tear them.
9 “O Israel, [f]you are destroyed,
But [g]your help is from Me.
10 [h]I will be your King;
(J)Where is any other,
That he may save you in all your cities?
And your judges to whom (K)you said,
‘Give me a king and princes’?
11 (L)I gave you a king in My anger,
And took him away in My wrath.
12 “The(M) iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
His sin is stored up.
13 (N)The sorrows of a woman in childbirth shall come upon him.
He is an unwise son,
For he should not stay long where children are born.
14 “I will ransom them from the [i]power of [j]the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
(O)O Death, [k]I will be your plagues!
O [l]Grave, [m]I will be your destruction!
(P)Pity is hidden from My eyes.”
15 Though he is fruitful among his brethren,
(Q)An east wind shall come;
The wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness.
Then his spring shall become dry,
And his fountain shall be dried up.
He shall plunder the treasury of every desirable prize.
16 Samaria [n]is held guilty,
For she has (R)rebelled against her God.
They shall fall by the sword,
Their infants shall be dashed in pieces,
And their women with child (S)ripped open.
Israel Restored at Last
14 O Israel, (T)return to the Lord your God,
For you have stumbled because of your iniquity;
2 Take words with you,
And return to the Lord.
Say to Him,
“Take away all iniquity;
Receive us graciously,
For we will offer the (U)sacrifices[o] of our lips.
3 Assyria shall (V)not save us,
(W)We will not ride on horses,
Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’
(X)For in You the fatherless finds mercy.”
4 “I will heal their (Y)backsliding,
I will (Z)love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from him.
5 I will be like the (AA)dew to Israel;
He shall [p]grow like the lily,
And [q]lengthen his roots like Lebanon.
6 His branches shall [r]spread;
(AB)His beauty shall be like an olive tree,
And (AC)his fragrance like Lebanon.
7 (AD)Those who dwell under his shadow shall return;
They shall be revived like grain,
And [s]grow like a vine.
Their [t]scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 “Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do anymore with idols?’
I have heard and observed him.
I am like a green cypress tree;
(AE)Your fruit is found in Me.”
9 Who is wise?
Let him understand these things.
Who is prudent?
Let him know them.
For (AF)the ways of the Lord are right;
The righteous walk in them,
But transgressors stumble in them.
Footnotes
- Hosea 13:2 Or those who offer human sacrifice
- Hosea 13:2 Worship with kisses
- Hosea 13:5 Cared for you
- Hosea 13:5 Lit. droughts
- Hosea 13:8 Lit. beast of the field
- Hosea 13:9 Lit. it or he destroyed you
- Hosea 13:9 Lit. in your help
- Hosea 13:10 LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. Where is your king?
- Hosea 13:14 Lit. hand
- Hosea 13:14 Or Sheol
- Hosea 13:14 LXX where is your punishment?
- Hosea 13:14 Or Sheol
- Hosea 13:14 LXX where is your sting?
- Hosea 13:16 LXX shall be disfigured
- Hosea 14:2 Lit. bull calves; LXX fruit
- Hosea 14:5 Lit. bud or sprout
- Hosea 14:5 Lit. strike
- Hosea 14:6 Lit. go
- Hosea 14:7 Lit. bud or sprout
- Hosea 14:7 Lit. remembrance
Micah 1-7
New King James Version
Judgment on Israel and Judah
1 The word of the Lord that came to (A)Micah of Moresheth in the days of (B)Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
The Coming Judgment on Israel
2 Hear, all you peoples!
Listen, O earth, and all that is in it!
Let the Lord God be a witness against you,
The Lord from (C)His holy temple.
3 For behold, the Lord is coming out of His place;
He will come down
And tread on the high places of the earth.
4 (D)The mountains will melt under Him,
And the valleys will split
Like wax before the fire,
Like waters poured down a steep place.
5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob
And for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob?
Is it not Samaria?
And what are the (E)high places of Judah?
Are they not Jerusalem?
6 “Therefore I will make Samaria (F)a heap of ruins in the field,
Places for planting a vineyard;
I will pour down her stones into the valley,
And I will (G)uncover her foundations.
7 All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,
And all her (H)pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire;
All her idols I will lay desolate,
For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot,
And they shall return to the (I)pay of a harlot.”
Mourning for Israel and Judah
8 Therefore I will wail and howl,
I will go stripped and naked;
(J)I will make a wailing like the jackals
And a mourning like the ostriches,
9 For her wounds are incurable.
For (K)it has come to Judah;
It has come to the gate of My people—
To Jerusalem.
10 (L)Tell it not in Gath,
Weep not at all;
In [a]Beth Aphrah
Roll yourself in the dust.
11 Pass by in naked shame, you inhabitant of [b]Shaphir;
The inhabitant of [c]Zaanan does not go out.
Beth Ezel mourns;
Its place to stand is taken away from you.
12 For the inhabitant of [d]Maroth [e]pined for good,
But (M)disaster came down from the Lord
To the gate of Jerusalem.
13 O inhabitant of (N)Lachish,
Harness the chariot to the swift steeds
(She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion),
For the transgressions of Israel were (O)found in you.
14 Therefore you shall (P)give presents to [f]Moresheth Gath;
The houses of (Q)Achzib[g] shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.
15 I will yet bring an heir to you, O inhabitant of (R)Mareshah;[h]
The glory of Israel shall come to (S)Adullam.[i]
16 Make yourself (T)bald and cut off your hair,
Because of your (U)precious children;
Enlarge your baldness like an eagle,
For they shall go from you into (V)captivity.
Woe to Evildoers
2 Woe to those who devise iniquity,
And [j]work out evil on their beds!
At (W)morning light they practice it,
Because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They (X)covet fields and take them by violence,
Also houses, and seize them.
So they oppress a man and his house,
A man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“Behold, against this (Y)family I am devising (Z)disaster,
From which you cannot remove your necks;
Nor shall you walk haughtily,
For this is an evil time.
4 In that day one shall take up a proverb against you,
And (AA)lament with a bitter lamentation, saying:
‘We are utterly destroyed!
He has changed the [k]heritage of my people;
How He has removed it from me!
To [l]a turncoat He has divided our fields.’ ”
5 Therefore you will have no [m]one to determine boundaries by lot
In the assembly of the Lord.
Lying Prophets
6 “Do not prattle,” you say to those who [n]prophesy.
So they shall not prophesy [o]to you;
[p]They shall not return insult for insult.
7 You who are named the house of Jacob:
“Is the Spirit of the Lord restricted?
Are these His doings?
Do not My words do good
To him who walks uprightly?
8 “Lately My people have risen up as an enemy—
You pull off the robe with the garment
From those who trust you, as they pass by,
Like men returned from war.
9 The women of My people you cast out
From their pleasant houses;
From their children
You have taken away My glory forever.
10 “Arise and depart,
For this is not your (AB)rest;
Because it is (AC)defiled, it shall destroy,
Yes, with utter destruction.
11 If a man should walk in a false spirit
And speak a lie, saying,
‘I will [q]prophesy to you [r]of wine and drink,’
Even he would be the (AD)prattler of this people.
Israel Restored
12 “I(AE) will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob,
I will surely gather the remnant of Israel;
I will put them together (AF)like sheep of [s]the fold,
Like a flock in the midst of their pasture;
(AG)They shall make a loud noise because of so many people.
13 The one who breaks open will come up before them;
They will break out,
Pass through the gate,
And go out by it;
(AH)Their king will pass before them,
(AI)With the Lord at their head.”
Wicked Rulers and Prophets
3 And I said:
“Hear now, O heads of Jacob,
And you (AJ)rulers of the house of Israel:
(AK)Is it not for you to know justice?
2 You who hate good and love evil;
Who strip the skin from [t]My people,
And the flesh from their bones;
3 Who also (AL)eat the flesh of My people,
Flay their skin from them,
Break their bones,
And chop them in pieces
Like meat for the pot,
(AM)Like flesh in the caldron.”
4 Then (AN)they will cry to the Lord,
But He will not hear them;
He will even hide His face from them at that time,
Because they have been evil in their deeds.
5 Thus says the Lord (AO)concerning the prophets
Who make my people stray;
Who chant [u]“Peace”
[v]While they (AP)chew with their teeth,
But who prepare war against him
(AQ)Who puts nothing into their mouths:
6 “Therefore(AR) you shall have night without [w]vision,
And you shall have darkness without divination;
The sun shall go down on the prophets,
And the day shall be dark for (AS)them.
7 So the seers shall be ashamed,
And the diviners abashed;
Indeed they shall all cover their lips;
(AT)For there is no answer from God.”
8 But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord,
And of justice and might,
(AU)To declare to Jacob his transgression
And to Israel his sin.
9 Now hear this,
You heads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who abhor justice
And [x]pervert all equity,
10 (AV)Who build up Zion with (AW)bloodshed
And Jerusalem with iniquity:
11 (AX)Her heads judge for a bribe,
(AY)Her priests teach for pay,
And her prophets divine for [y]money.
(AZ)Yet they lean on the Lord, and say,
“Is not the Lord among us?
No harm can come upon us.”
12 Therefore because of you
Zion shall be (BA)plowed like a field,
(BB)Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins,
And (BC)the mountain of the [z]temple
Like the bare hills of the forest.
The Lord’s Reign in Zion(BD)
4 Now (BE)it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And peoples shall flow to it.
2 Many nations shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion the law shall go forth,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many peoples,
And rebuke strong nations afar off;
They shall beat their swords into (BF)plowshares,
And their spears into [aa]pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
(BG)Neither shall they learn war anymore.
4 (BH)But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree,
And no one shall make them afraid;
For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
5 For all people walk each in the name of his god,
But (BI)we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
Forever and ever.
Zion’s Future Triumph
6 “In that day,” says the Lord,
(BJ)“I will assemble the lame,
(BK)I will gather the outcast
And those whom I have afflicted;
7 I will make the lame (BL)a remnant,
And the outcast a strong nation;
So the Lord (BM)will reign over them in Mount Zion
From now on, even forever.
8 And you, O tower of the flock,
The stronghold of the daughter of Zion,
To you shall it come,
Even the former dominion shall come,
The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”
9 Now why do you cry aloud?
(BN)Is there no king in your midst?
Has your counselor perished?
For (BO)pangs have seized you like a woman in [ab]labor.
10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth,
O daughter of Zion,
Like a woman in birth pangs.
For now you shall go forth from the city,
You shall dwell in the field,
And to (BP)Babylon you shall go.
There you shall be delivered;
There the (BQ)Lord will (BR)redeem you
From the hand of your enemies.
11 (BS)Now also many nations have gathered against you,
Who say, “Let her be defiled,
And let our eye (BT)look upon Zion.”
12 But they do not know (BU)the thoughts of the Lord,
Nor do they understand His counsel;
For He will gather them (BV)like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 “Arise(BW) and (BX)thresh, O daughter of Zion;
For I will make your horn iron,
And I will make your hooves bronze;
You shall (BY)beat in pieces many peoples;
(BZ)I will consecrate their gain to the Lord,
And their substance to (CA)the Lord of the whole earth.”
The Messiah Will Be Born at Bethlehem
5 Now gather yourself in troops,
O daughter of troops;
He has laid siege against us;
They will (CB)strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.
The Coming Messiah
2 “But you, (CC)Bethlehem (CD)Ephrathah,
Though you are little (CE)among the (CF)thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be (CG)Ruler in Israel,
(CH)Whose goings forth are from of old,
From [ac]everlasting.”
3 Therefore He shall give them up,
Until the time that (CI)she who is in labor has given birth;
Then (CJ)the remnant of His brethren
Shall return to the children of Israel.
4 And He shall stand and (CK)feed[ad] His flock
In the strength of the Lord,
In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God;
And they shall abide,
For now He (CL)shall be great
To the ends of the earth;
5 And this One (CM)shall be peace.
Judgment on Israel’s Enemies
When the Assyrian comes into our land,
And when he treads in our palaces,
Then we will raise against him
Seven shepherds and eight princely men.
6 They shall [ae]waste with the sword the land of Assyria,
And the land of (CN)Nimrod at its entrances;
Thus He shall (CO)deliver us from the Assyrian,
When he comes into our land
And when he treads within our borders.
7 Then (CP)the remnant of Jacob
Shall be in the midst of many peoples,
(CQ)Like dew from the Lord,
Like showers on the grass,
That [af]tarry for no man
Nor [ag]wait for the sons of men.
8 And the remnant of Jacob
Shall be among the Gentiles,
In the midst of many peoples,
Like a (CR)lion among the beasts of the forest,
Like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
Who, if he passes through,
Both treads down and tears in pieces,
And none can deliver.
9 Your hand shall be lifted against your adversaries,
And all your enemies shall be [ah]cut off.
10 “And it shall be in that day,” says the Lord,
“That I will (CS)cut[ai] off your (CT)horses from your midst
And destroy your (CU)chariots.
11 I will cut off the cities of your land
And throw down all your strongholds.
12 I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
And you shall have no (CV)soothsayers.
13 (CW)Your carved images I will also cut off,
And your sacred pillars from your midst;
You shall (CX)no more worship the work of your hands;
14 I will pluck your [aj]wooden images from your midst;
Thus I will destroy your cities.
15 And I will (CY)execute vengeance in anger and fury
On the nations that have not [ak]heard.”
God Pleads with Israel
6 Hear now what the Lord says:
“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
And let the hills hear your voice.
2 (CZ)Hear, O you mountains, (DA)the Lord’s complaint,
And you strong foundations of the earth;
For (DB)the Lord has a complaint against His people,
And He will [al]contend with Israel.
3 “O My people, what (DC)have I done to you?
And how have I (DD)wearied you?
Testify against Me.
4 (DE)For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
I redeemed you from the house of bondage;
And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O My people, remember now
What (DF)Balak king of Moab counseled,
And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
From [am]Acacia Grove to Gilgal,
That you may know (DG)the righteousness of the Lord.”
6 With what shall I come before the Lord,
And bow myself before the High God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With calves a year old?
7 (DH)Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
Ten thousand (DI)rivers of oil?
(DJ)Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
[an]The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has (DK)shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But (DL)to do justly,
To love [ao]mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
Punishment of Israel’s Injustice
9 The Lord’s voice cries to the city—
Wisdom shall see Your name:
“Hear the rod!
Who has appointed it?
10 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness
In the house of the wicked,
And the short measure that is an abomination?
11 Shall I count pure those with (DM)the wicked scales,
And with the bag of deceitful weights?
12 For her rich men are full of (DN)violence,
Her inhabitants have spoken lies,
And (DO)their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 “Therefore I will also (DP)make you sick by striking you,
By making you desolate because of your sins.
14 (DQ)You shall eat, but not be satisfied;
[ap]Hunger shall be in your midst.
You may carry some away,[aq] but shall not save them;
And what you do rescue I will give over to the sword.
15 “You shall (DR)sow, but not reap;
You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.
16 For the statutes of (DS)Omri are (DT)kept;
All the works of Ahab’s house are done;
And you walk in their counsels,
That I may make you a [ar]desolation,
And your inhabitants a hissing.
Therefore you shall bear the (DU)reproach of [as]My people.”
Sorrow for Israel’s Sins
7 Woe is me!
For I am like those who gather summer fruits,
Like those who (DV)glean vintage grapes;
There is no cluster to eat
Of the first-ripe fruit which (DW)my soul desires.
2 The (DX)faithful[at] man has perished from the earth,
And there is no one upright among men.
They all lie in wait for blood;
(DY)Every man hunts his brother with a net.
3 That they may successfully do evil with both hands—
The prince asks for gifts,
The judge seeks a (DZ)bribe,
And the great man utters his evil desire;
So they scheme together.
4 The best of them is (EA)like a brier;
The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge;
The day of your watchman and your punishment comes;
Now shall be their perplexity.
5 (EB)Do not trust in a friend;
Do not put your confidence in a companion;
Guard the doors of your mouth
From her who lies in your (EC)bosom.
6 For (ED)son dishonors father,
Daughter rises against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.
7 Therefore I will look to the Lord;
I will (EE)wait for the God of my salvation;
My God will hear me.
Israel’s Confession and Comfort
8 (EF)Do not rejoice over me, my enemy;
(EG)When I fall, I will arise;
When I sit in darkness,
The Lord will be a light to me.
9 (EH)I will bear the indignation of the Lord,
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my (EI)case
And executes justice for me.
He will bring me forth to the light;
I will see His righteousness.
10 Then she who is my enemy will see,
And (EJ)shame will cover her who said to me,
(EK)“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will see her;
Now she will be trampled down
Like mud in the streets.
11 In the day when your (EL)walls are to be built,
In that day [au]the decree shall go far and wide.
12 In that day (EM)they[av] shall come to you
From Assyria and the [aw]fortified cities,
From the [ax]fortress to [ay]the River,
From sea to sea,
And mountain to mountain.
13 Yet the land shall be desolate
Because of those who dwell in it,
And (EN)for the fruit of their deeds.
God Will Forgive Israel
14 Shepherd Your people with Your staff,
The flock of Your heritage,
Who dwell [az]solitarily in a (EO)woodland,
In the midst of Carmel;
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
As in days of old.
16 The nations (ER)shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
(ES)They shall put their hand over their mouth;
Their ears shall be deaf.
17 They shall lick the (ET)dust like a serpent;
(EU)They shall crawl from their holes like [bb]snakes of the earth.
(EV)They shall be afraid of the Lord our God,
And shall fear because of You.
18 (EW)Who is a God like You,
(EX)Pardoning iniquity
And passing over the transgression of (EY)the remnant of His heritage?
(EZ)He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in (FA)mercy.[bc]
19 He will again have compassion on us,
And will subdue our iniquities.
You will cast all [bd]our sins
Into the depths of the sea.
20 (FB)You will give truth to Jacob
And [be]mercy to Abraham,
(FC)Which You have sworn to our fathers
From days of old.
Footnotes
- Micah 1:10 Lit. House of Dust
- Micah 1:11 Lit. Beautiful
- Micah 1:11 Lit. Going Out
- Micah 1:12 Lit. Bitterness
- Micah 1:12 Lit. was sick
- Micah 1:14 Lit. Possession of Gath
- Micah 1:14 Lit. Lie
- Micah 1:15 Lit. Inheritance
- Micah 1:15 Lit. Refuge
- Micah 2:1 Plan
- Micah 2:4 Lit. portion
- Micah 2:4 Lit. one turning back, an apostate
- Micah 2:5 Lit. one casting a surveyor’s line
- Micah 2:6 Or preach, lit. drip words
- Micah 2:6 Lit. to these
- Micah 2:6 Vg. He shall not take shame
- Micah 2:11 Or preach, lit. drip
- Micah 2:11 concerning
- Micah 2:12 Heb. Bozrah
- Micah 3:2 Lit. them
- Micah 3:5 All is well
- Micah 3:5 For those who feed them
- Micah 3:6 Prophetic revelation
- Micah 3:9 Lit. twist
- Micah 3:11 Lit. silver
- Micah 3:12 Lit. house
- Micah 4:3 pruning knives
- Micah 4:9 childbirth
- Micah 5:2 Lit. the days of eternity
- Micah 5:4 shepherd
- Micah 5:6 devastate
- Micah 5:7 wait
- Micah 5:7 delay
- Micah 5:9 destroyed
- Micah 5:10 destroy
- Micah 5:14 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
- Micah 5:15 obeyed
- Micah 6:2 bring charges against
- Micah 6:5 Heb. Shittim, Num. 25:1; Josh. 2:1; 3:1
- Micah 6:7 My own child
- Micah 6:8 Or lovingkindness
- Micah 6:14 Or Emptiness or Humiliation
- Micah 6:14 Tg., Vg. You shall take hold
- Micah 6:16 Or object of horror
- Micah 6:16 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX nations
- Micah 7:2 Or loyal
- Micah 7:11 Or the boundary shall be extended
- Micah 7:12 Lit. he, collective of the captives
- Micah 7:12 Heb. arey mazor, possibly cities of Egypt
- Micah 7:12 Heb. mazor, possibly Egypt
- Micah 7:12 The Euphrates
- Micah 7:14 Alone
- Micah 7:15 Lit. him, collective for the captives
- Micah 7:17 Lit. crawlers
- Micah 7:18 Or lovingkindness
- Micah 7:19 Lit. their
- Micah 7:20 Or lovingkindness
Hebrews 5-11
New King James Version
Qualifications for High Priesthood
5 For every high priest taken from among men (A)is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can [a]have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to (B)weakness. 3 Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for (C)himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. 4 And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as (D)Aaron was.
A Priest Forever
5 (E)So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him:
(F)“You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.”
6 As He also says in another place:
(G)“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek”;
7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had (H)offered up prayers and supplications, (I)with vehement cries and tears to Him (J)who was able to save Him from death, and was heard (K)because of His godly fear, 8 though He was a Son, yet He learned (L)obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And (M)having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, 10 called by God as High Priest (N)“according to the order of Melchizedek,” 11 of whom (O)we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become (P)dull of hearing.
Spiritual Immaturity
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the [b]oracles of God; and you have come to need (Q)milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is (R)a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are [c]of full age, that is, those who by reason of [d]use have their senses exercised (S)to discern both good and evil.
The Peril of Not Progressing
6 Therefore, (T)leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to [e]perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from (U)dead works and of faith toward God, 2 (V)of the doctrine of baptisms, (W)of laying on of hands, (X)of resurrection of the dead, (Y)and of eternal judgment. 3 And this [f]we will do if God permits.
4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted (Z)the heavenly gift, and (AA)have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 [g]if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, (AB)since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, (AC)receives blessing from God; 8 (AD)but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
A Better Estimate
9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. 10 For (AE)God is not unjust to forget (AF)your work and [h]labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have (AG)ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence (AH)to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become [i]sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience (AI)inherit the promises.
God’s Infallible Purpose in Christ
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, (AJ)He swore by Himself, 14 saying, (AK)“Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the (AL)promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and (AM)an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to (AN)the heirs of promise (AO)the [j]immutability of His counsel, [k]confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two [l]immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to (AP)lie, we [m]might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope (AQ)set before us.
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, (AR)and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 (AS)where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, (AT)having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
The King of Righteousness(AU)
7 For this (AV)Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the [n]spoils. 5 And indeed (AW)those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; 6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham (AX)and blessed (AY)him who had the promises. 7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. 8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, (AZ)of whom it is witnessed that he lives. 9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
Need for a New Priesthood(BA)
11 (BB)Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? 12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. 13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has [o]officiated at the altar.
14 For it is evident that (BC)our Lord arose from (BD)Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning [p]priesthood. 15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest 16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. 17 For [q]He testifies:
(BE)“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of (BF)its weakness and unprofitableness, 19 for (BG)the law made nothing [r]perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of (BH)a better hope, through which (BI)we draw near to God.
Greatness of the New Priest
20 And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath 21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:
(BJ)“The Lord has sworn
And will not relent,
‘You are a priest [s]forever
According to the order of Melchizedek’ ”),
22 by so much more Jesus has become a [t]surety of a (BK)better covenant.
23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. 24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also (BL)able to save [u]to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives (BM)to make intercession for them.
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, (BN)who is holy, [v]harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, (BO)and has become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His (BP)own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
The New Priestly Service
8 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, (BQ)who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a Minister of (BR)the [w]sanctuary and of (BS)the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.
3 For (BT)every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore (BU)it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. 4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 5 who serve (BV)the copy and (BW)shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, (BX)“See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” 6 But now (BY)He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a (BZ)better covenant, which was established on better promises.
A New Covenant(CA)
7 For if that (CB)first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: (CC)“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the (CD)Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and (CE)I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 (CF)None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the (CG)Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, (CH)and their sins [x]and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
13 (CI)In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
The Earthly Sanctuary(CJ)
9 Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and (CK)the earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the [y]sanctuary; 3 (CL)and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, 4 which had the (CM)golden censer and (CN)the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were (CO)the golden pot that had the manna, (CP)Aaron’s rod that budded, and (CQ)the tablets of the covenant; 5 and (CR)above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
Limitations of the Earthly Service
6 Now when these things had been thus prepared, (CS)the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. 7 But into the second part the high priest went alone (CT)once a year, not without blood, which he offered for (CU)himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; 8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that (CV)the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. 9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered (CW)which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— 10 concerned only with (CX)foods and drinks, (CY)various [z]washings, (CZ)and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
The Heavenly Sanctuary
11 But Christ came as High Priest of (DA)the good things [aa]to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not (DB)with the blood of goats and calves, but (DC)with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place (DD)once for all, (DE)having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if (DF)the blood of bulls and goats and (DG)the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, [ab]sanctifies for the [ac]purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without [ad]spot to God, (DH)cleanse your conscience from (DI)dead works (DJ)to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason (DK)He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that (DL)those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
The Mediator’s Death Necessary
16 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For (DM)a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. 18 (DN)Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. 19 For when Moses had spoken every [ae]precept to all the people according to the law, (DO)he took the blood of calves and goats, (DP)with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, (DQ)“This is the (DR)blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” 21 Then likewise (DS)he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And according to the law almost all things are [af]purified with blood, and (DT)without shedding of blood there is no [ag]remission.
Greatness of Christ’s Sacrifice
23 Therefore it was necessary that (DU)the copies of the things in the heavens should be [ah]purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For (DV)Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are [ai]copies of (DW)the true, but into heaven itself, now (DX)to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as (DY)the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 (DZ)And as it is appointed for men to die once, (EA)but after this the judgment, 28 so (EB)Christ was (EC)offered once to bear the sins (ED)of many. To those who (EE)eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
Animal Sacrifices Insufficient
10 For the law, having a (EF)shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, (EG)can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once [aj]purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For (EH)it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
Christ’s Death Fulfills God’s Will(EI)
5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
(EJ)“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
To do Your will, O God.’ ”
8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, [ak]O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. 10 (EK)By that will we have been [al]sanctified (EL)through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Christ’s Death Perfects the Sanctified
11 And every priest stands (EM)ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 (EN)But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down (EO)at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting (EP)till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being [am]sanctified.
15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
16 (EQ)“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, (ER)“Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 18 Now where there is [an]remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
Hold Fast Your Confession
19 Therefore, brethren, having (ES)boldness[ao] to enter (ET)the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and (EU)living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us (EV)draw near with a true heart (EW)in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for (EX)He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 (EY)not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and (EZ)so much the more as you see (FA)the Day approaching.
The Just Live by Faith
26 For (FB)if we sin willfully (FC)after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there (FD)no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and (FE)fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three (FF)witnesses. 29 (FG)Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, (FH)counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, (FI)and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, (FJ)“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” [ap]says the Lord. And again, (FK)“The Lord will judge His people.” 31 (FL)It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 But (FM)recall the former days in which, after you were [aq]illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: 33 partly while you were made (FN)a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while (FO)you became companions of those who were so treated; 34 for you had compassion on [ar]me (FP)in my chains, and (FQ)joyfully accepted the plundering of your [as]goods, knowing that (FR)you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves [at]in heaven. 35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, (FS)which has great reward. 36 (FT)For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, (FU)you may receive the promise:
37 “For (FV)yet a little while,
And (FW)He[au] who is coming will come and will not [av]tarry.
38 Now (FX)the[aw] just shall live by faith;
But if anyone draws back,
My soul has no pleasure in him.”
39 But we are not of those (FY)who draw back to [ax]perdition, but of those who (FZ)believe to the saving of the soul.
By Faith We Understand
11 Now faith is the [ay]substance of things hoped for, the [az]evidence (GA)of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
3 By faith we understand that (GB)the [ba]worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Faith at the Dawn of History(GC)
4 By faith (GD)Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still (GE)speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, (GF)“and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
7 By faith (GG)Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, (GH)prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of (GI)the righteousness which is according to faith.
Faithful Abraham(GJ)
8 By faith (GK)Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, (GL)dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, (GM)the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for (GN)the city which has foundations, (GO)whose builder and maker is God.
11 By faith (GP)Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and (GQ)she[bb] bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him (GR)faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as (GS)dead, were born as many as the (GT)stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
The Heavenly Hope
13 These all died in faith, (GU)not having received the (GV)promises, but (GW)having seen them afar off [bc]were assured of them, embraced them and (GX)confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things (GY)declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind (GZ)that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed (HA)to be called their God, for He has (HB)prepared a city for them.
The Faith of the Patriarchs(HC)
17 By faith Abraham, (HD)when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 [bd]of whom it was said, (HE)“In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God (HF)was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
20 By faith (HG)Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, (HH)blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
22 By faith (HI)Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.
The Faith of Moses(HJ)
23 By faith (HK)Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s (HL)command.
24 By faith (HM)Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the [be]passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming (HN)the [bf]reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures [bg]in Egypt; for he looked to the (HO)reward.
27 By faith (HP)he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. 28 By faith (HQ)he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
29 By faith (HR)they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.
By Faith They Overcame
30 By faith (HS)the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. 31 By faith (HT)the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who [bh]did not believe, when (HU)she had received the spies with peace.
32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of (HV)Gideon and (HW)Barak and (HX)Samson and (HY)Jephthah, also of (HZ)David and (IA)Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, (IB)stopped the mouths of lions, 34 (IC)quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 (ID)Women received their dead raised to life again.
Others were (IE)tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and (IF)of chains and imprisonment. 37 (IG)They were stoned, they were sawn in two, [bi]were tempted, were slain with the sword. (IH)They wandered about (II)in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, (IJ)in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And all these, (IK)having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be (IL)made perfect apart from us.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 5:2 deal gently with
- Hebrews 5:12 sayings, Scriptures
- Hebrews 5:14 mature
- Hebrews 5:14 practice
- Hebrews 6:1 maturity
- Hebrews 6:3 M let us do
- Hebrews 6:6 Or and have fallen away
- Hebrews 6:10 NU omits labor of
- Hebrews 6:12 lazy
- Hebrews 6:17 unchangeableness of His purpose
- Hebrews 6:17 guaranteed
- Hebrews 6:18 unchangeable
- Hebrews 6:18 M omits might
- Hebrews 7:4 plunder
- Hebrews 7:13 served
- Hebrews 7:14 NU priests
- Hebrews 7:17 NU it is testified
- Hebrews 7:19 complete
- Hebrews 7:21 NU ends the quotation after forever.
- Hebrews 7:22 guarantee
- Hebrews 7:25 completely or forever
- Hebrews 7:26 innocent
- Hebrews 8:2 Lit. holies
- Hebrews 8:12 NU omits and their lawless deeds
- Hebrews 9:2 holy place, lit. holies
- Hebrews 9:10 Lit. baptisms
- Hebrews 9:11 NU that have come
- Hebrews 9:13 sets apart
- Hebrews 9:13 cleansing
- Hebrews 9:14 blemish
- Hebrews 9:19 command
- Hebrews 9:22 cleansed
- Hebrews 9:22 forgiveness
- Hebrews 9:23 cleansed
- Hebrews 9:24 representations
- Hebrews 10:2 cleansed
- Hebrews 10:9 NU, M omit O God
- Hebrews 10:10 set apart
- Hebrews 10:14 set apart
- Hebrews 10:18 forgiveness
- Hebrews 10:19 confidence
- Hebrews 10:30 NU omits says the Lord
- Hebrews 10:32 enlightened
- Hebrews 10:34 NU the prisoners instead of me in my chains
- Hebrews 10:34 possessions
- Hebrews 10:34 NU omits in heaven
- Hebrews 10:37 Or that which
- Hebrews 10:37 delay
- Hebrews 10:38 NU My just one
- Hebrews 10:39 destruction
- Hebrews 11:1 realization
- Hebrews 11:1 Or confidence
- Hebrews 11:3 Or ages, Gr. aiones, aeons
- Hebrews 11:11 NU omits she bore a child
- Hebrews 11:13 NU, M omit were assured of them
- Hebrews 11:18 to
- Hebrews 11:25 temporary
- Hebrews 11:26 reviling because of
- Hebrews 11:26 NU, M of
- Hebrews 11:31 were disobedient
- Hebrews 11:37 NU omits were tempted
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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