And he said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s house;

Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”

This is what the Lord says: “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, I am going to strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood.

Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going to leave you, and I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow; only do not let Pharaoh deal deceitfully again in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

behold, the hand of the Lord will come with a very severe plague on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks.

Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail; and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also trust in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.

It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there.

The Covenant Renewed

Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.

and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with oil; for today the Lord will appear to you.’”

Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and branches of trees with thick branches and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.

And when you go to war in your land against the enemy who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you will be thought of by the Lord your God, and be saved from your enemies.

So it will be, if you go with us, that whatever good the Lord does for us, we will do for you.”

For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there to confront you, and you will fall by the sword, since you have turned back from following the Lord. And the Lord will not be with you.”

But if the Lord brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them with everything that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have been disrespectful to the Lord.”

So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and against you; intercede with the Lord, that He will remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.

Promises of God

“Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep His covenant with you and His faithfulness which He swore to your forefathers.

The carved images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be trapped by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord your God.

But you shall eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God will choose, you and your son and daughter, and your male and female slaves, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all your undertakings.

“It shall not seem difficult for you when you set him free, because he has given you six years with double the service of a hired worker; so the Lord your God will bless you in whatever you do.

“The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, the festering rash, and with scabies, from which you cannot be healed.

The Lord will strike you on the knees and thighs with severe boils from which you cannot be healed, and strike you from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.

Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or in dread of them, for the Lord your God is the One who is going with you. He will not desert you or abandon you.”

Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you will give it to them as an inheritance.

And the Lord is the one who is going ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not desert you or abandon you. Do not fear and do not be dismayed.”

The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the prostitute with the foreign gods of the land into the midst of which they are going, and they will abandon Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.

For I know that after my death you will behave very corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will confront you in the latter days, because you will do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands.”

Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you; only may the Lord your God be with you as He was with Moses.

Now the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they will know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you.

Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed before the Lord is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he will lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he will set up its gates.”

Then it will be when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do it in accordance with the word of the Lord. See, I have commanded you.”

Joshua then said to them, “Do not fear or be dismayed! Be strong and courageous, for the Lord will do this to all your enemies with whom you fight.”

Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out just as the Lord has spoken.”

that you must turn away this day from following the Lord? If you rebel against the Lord today, He will be angry with the entire congregation of Israel tomorrow.

rather, it shall be a witness between us and you and between our generations after us, that we are to perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings, so that your sons will not say to our sons in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.”’

know with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

“We Will Serve the Lord”

“Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and do away with the gods which your fathers served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

She said, “I will certainly go with you; however, the fame shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Yet the Lord said to him, “I will certainly be with you, and you will defeat Midian as one man.”

Then the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. So it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be changed into a different man.

Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and His anointed. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I exploited? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to close my eyes with it? I will return it to you.”

But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

Samuel Goes to Bethlehem

Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, because I have chosen a king for Myself among his sons.”

May our lord now command your servants who are before you. Have them search for a man who is a skillful musician on the harp; and it shall come about whenever the evil spirit from God is upon you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will become well.”

And David said, “The Lord who saved me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, He will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”

Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord had handed you over to me today in the cave, and someone said to kill you, but I spared you; and I said, ‘I will not reach out with my hand against my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’

Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; but the lives of your enemies He will sling out as from the hollow of a sling.

this will not become an obstacle to you, or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord’s having avenged himself. When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember your slave.”

Furthermore, the Lord will also hand Israel along with you over to the Philistines; so tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Indeed, the Lord will hand the army of Israel over to the Philistines!”

But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Make the man go back, so that he will return to his place where you have assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle with us, or in the battle he may become an adversary to us. For how could this man find favor with his lord? Would it not be with the heads of these men?

This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.

Now therefore arise, go out and speak kindly to your servants, for I swear by the Lord, if you do not go out, no man will stay the night with you, and this will be worse for you than all the misfortune that has happened to you from your youth until now!”

So he said, “My lord the king, my servant betrayed me; for your servant said, ‘I will saddle the donkey for myself so that I may ride on it and go with the king,’ since your servant cannot walk.

And behold, you have with you Shimei the son of Gera the Benjaminite, of Bahurim; now it was he who cursed me with a painful curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’

Then to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth to your own field, for you deserve to die; but I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and because you were afflicted in everything with which my father was afflicted.”

For the Lord says this: ‘You will not see wind, nor will you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you will drink, you, your livestock, and your other animals.

The royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning responded to the man of God and said, “Even if the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could this thing happen?” Then he said, “Behold, you are going to see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it.”

At that time the royal officer had responded to the man of God and said, “Now even if the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could such a thing as this happen?” And he had said, “Behold, you are going to see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it.”

And Hazael said, “Why is my lord weeping?” And he answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: you will set their fortified cities on fire, you will kill their young men with the sword, their little ones you will smash to pieces, and you will rip up their pregnant women.”

Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished.

Now behold, God is with us at our head, and His priests with the signal trumpets to sound the war cry against you. Sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”

and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you abandon Him, He will abandon you.

Behold, Amariah the chief priest will be over you in every matter that pertains to the Lord, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all that pertains to the king. Also the Levites shall be officers before you. Act resolutely, and may the Lord be with the upright.”

Lord God of armies, How long will You be angry with the prayer of Your people?

Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.

A Psalm of David.

I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing Your praises before the gods.

From the Lord of armies you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

This is what the Lord says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush And the Sabeans, men of stature, Will come over to you and will be yours; They will walk behind you, they will come over in chains And will bow down to you; They will plead with you: ‘God certainly is with you, and there is no one else, No other God.’”

Israel has been saved by the Lord With an everlasting salvation; You will not be put to shame or humiliated To all eternity.

Kings will be your guardians, And their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the ground And lick the dust from your feet; And you will know that I am the Lord; Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.

Indeed, this is what the Lord says: “Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away, And the prey of a tyrant will be rescued; For I will contend with the one who contends with you, And I will save your sons.

I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh, And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine; And humanity will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

For this is what the Lord says: “You were sold for nothing, and you will be redeemed without money.”

Certainly the coastlands will wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, To bring your sons from afar, Their silver and their gold with them, For the name of the Lord your God, And for the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you.

The Defiled Land

God says, “If a husband divorces his wife And she leaves him And becomes another man’s wife, Will he return to her again? Would that land not be completely defiled? But you are a prostitute with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me,” declares the Lord.

Circumcise yourselves to the Lord And remove the foreskins of your hearts, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will spread like fire And burn with no one to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds.”

For this is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to make you a horror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will hand all Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will take them away as exiles to Babylon and will kill them with the sword.

‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you are making war against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall; and I will gather them into the middle of this city.

Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh and this city will be in ruins, without inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered to Jeremiah at the house of the Lord.

And do not fear, Jacob My servant,’ declares the Lord, ‘And do not be dismayed, Israel; For behold, I am going to save you from far away, And your descendants from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return and be at peace, without anxiety, And no one will make him afraid.

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Yet again there will be heard in this place, of which you say, “It is a waste, without man and without animal,” that is, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,

So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘If you will indeed surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will survive.

Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I am going to pray to the Lord your God in accordance with your words; and I will tell you the whole message which the Lord gives you as an answer. I will not withhold a word from you.”

Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which the Lord your God will send you to us.

This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, “We will certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” By all means fulfill your vows, and be sure to perform your vows!’

Ah, sword of the Lord, How long will you not be quiet? Withdraw into your sheath; Rest and stay still.

Behold, I am going to bring terror upon you,” Declares the Lord God of armies, “From all directions around you; And you will be driven away one after another, With no one to gather the fugitives together.

Therefore as I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘Because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominations, I definitely will also withdraw and My eye will have no pity, and I also will not spare.

Now it came about, as I prophesied, that Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice, and said, “Oh, Lord God! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete destruction?”

And when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. So shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live,” declares the Lord God, “I certainly will not be inquired of by you.

God Will Restore Israel to Her Land

“As I live,” declares the Lord God, “with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I assuredly shall be king over you.

Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have dealt with you in behalf of My name, not according to your evil ways or according to your corrupt deeds, house of Israel,” declares the Lord God.’”

And when they say to you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news, for it is coming; and every heart will melt, all hands will go limp, every spirit will be disheartened, and all knees will drip with water. Behold, it is coming and it will happen,’ declares the Lord God.”

Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong for the days that I will deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken and will act.

therefore, behold, I have reached out with My hand against you and I will give you as plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and eliminate you from the lands. I will exterminate you. So you will know that I am the Lord.”

“To which among the trees of Eden are you so alike in glory and greatness? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath; you will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with those who were killed by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his hordes!”’ declares the Lord God.”

and say to it, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, And I will reach out with My hand against you And make you a desolation and a waste.

therefore as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will deal with you according to your anger and according to your envy which you displayed because of your hatred for them; so I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.

The Lord will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine, and oil, And you will be satisfied in full with them; And I will never again make you a disgrace among the nations.

You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied, And you will praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; Then My people will never be put to shame.