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Now Absalom had fled. And the young man who was the watchman raised his eyes and looked, and behold, many people were coming from the road behind him by the side of the mountain.
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Now David was sitting between the two gates; and the watchman went to the roof of the gate by the wall, and raised his eyes and looked; and behold, a man was running by himself.
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So the watchman called out and told the king. And the king said, “If he is by himself there is good news in his mouth.” And he came nearer and nearer.
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Then the watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called to the gatekeeper and said, “Behold, another man is running by himself.” And the king said, “This one also is bringing good news.”
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The watchman said, “I think the running form of the first one is like the running form of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” And the king said, “This is a good man, and he is coming with good news.”
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Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and he saw the company of Jehu as he came, and he said, “I see a company.” And Joram said, “Take a horseman and send him to meet them and have him ask, ‘Is your intention peace?’”
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So a horseman went to meet him and said, “This is what the king says: ‘Is your intention peace?’” But Jehu said, “How is peace any business of yours? Turn and follow me.” And the watchman reported, “The messenger came to them, but he did not return.”
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And the watchman reported, “He came up to them, but he did not return; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.”
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He has built his house like the spider’s web, Or a hut which the watchman has made.
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Prosperity Comes from the Lord.
A Song of Ascents, of Solomon.
Unless the Lord builds a house, They who build it labor in vain; Unless the Lord guards a city, The watchman stays awake in vain.
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The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, Like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a city under watch.
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Pronouncements about Edom and Arabia
The pronouncement concerning Edom: One keeps calling to me from Seir, “Watchman, how far gone is the night? Watchman, how far gone is the night?”
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The watchman says, “Morning comes but also night. If you would inquire, inquire; Come back again.”
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“Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me.
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The Watchman’s Duty
Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
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“Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman,
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But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the horn and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away for his wrongdoing; but I will require his blood from the watchman’s hand.’
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“Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them a warning from Me.
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Ephraim was a watchman with my God, a prophet; Yet the snare of a bird catcher is in all his ways, And there is only hostility in the house of his God.
