Old/New Testament
20 And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain anashim of the zekenim of Yisroel came to inquire of Hashem, and sat before me.
2 Then came the Devar Hashem unto me, saying,
3 Ben adam, speak unto the zekenim of Yisroel, and say unto them, Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Are ye come to inquire of Me? As I live, saith Adonoi Hashem, I will not be inquired of by you.
4 Wilt thou judge them, ben adam, wilt thou judge them? Cause them to know the to’avot of their avot.
5 And say unto them, Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: In the day when I chose Yisroel, and lifted up Mine yad [i.e., took a shevua] unto the zera Bais Ya’akov, and made Myself known unto them in Eretz Mitzrayim, when I lifted up Mine yad unto them, saying, I am Hashem Eloheichem;
6 In the day that I lifted up Mine yad unto them, to bring them forth from Eretz Mitzrayim into a land that I had searched out for them, zavat cholov udevash, which is the most beautiful of all lands;
7 Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every ish the shikkutzim before his eynayim, and make not yourselves tameh with the gillulim (idols) of Mitzrayim; I am Hashem Eloheichem.
8 But they rebelled against Me, and would not pay heed unto Me; they did not every ish cast away the shikkutzim from before their eynayim, neither did they forsake the gillulim (idols) of Mitzrayim; then I said, I will pour out My chemah (wrath) upon them, to vent My anger against them in the midst of Eretz Mitzrayim.
9 But I acted for My Name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the eyes of the Goyim, among whom they were living. In bringing them forth out of Eretz Mitzrayim, in their sight I made Myself [publicly] known unto them.
10 Therefore I caused them to go forth out of Eretz Mitzrayim, and brought them into the midbar.
11 And I gave them My chukkot, and made known to them My mishpatim, which if ha’adam does, he shall even live in them.
12 Moreover also I gave them My Shabbatot, to be an Ot between Me and them, that they might know that I am Hashem that set them apart as kodesh.
13 But Bais Yisroel rebelled against Me in the midbar; they walked not in My chukkot, and they despised My mishpatim, which if ha’adam does, he shall even live in them; and My Shabbatot they greatly defiled; then I said, I would pour out My chemah (wrath) upon them in the midbar, to consume them.
14 But I acted for My Name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the eyes of the Goyim, in whose sight I brought them out.
15 Yet also I lifted up My Yad unto them in the midbar, that I would not bring them into ha’aretz which I had given them, zavat cholov udevash, the most beautiful of all lands;
16 Because they despised My mishpatim, and walked not in My chukkot, but profaned My Shabbatot; for their lev went after their gillulim (idols).
17 Nevertheless since Mine eye spared them from destroying them, I did not make an end of them in the midbar.
18 But I said unto their banim in the midbar, Walk ye not in the chukkot of avoteichem, neither be shomer over their mishpatim, nor make yourselves tameh with their gillulim (idols).
19 I am Hashem Eloheichem; walk in My chukkot, and be shomer over My mishpatim, and do them;
20 And be shomer shabbos over My Shabbatot, keeping them kodesh; and they shall be an Ot between Me and you, that ye may know that I am Hashem Eloheichem .
21 Notwithstanding, the banim rebelled against Me; they walked not in My chukkot, neither were shomer over My mishpatim to do them, which if ha’adam does, he shall even live in them; they profaned My Shabbatot; then I said, I would pour out My chemah (wrath) upon them, to accomplish My anger against them in the midbar.
22 Nevertheless, I withdrew Mine yad, and acted for My Name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the eyes of the Goyim, in whose sight I brought them forth.
23 I lifted up Mine yad unto them also in the midbar, that I would scatter them among the Goyim, and disperse them through the countries;
24 Because they had not executed My mishpatim, but had despised My chukkot, and had profaned My Shabbatot, and their eynayim were after the gillulim of their fathers.
25 Therefore I gave them also chukkot that were not tovim, and mishpatim whereby they could not live;
26 And I pronounced them tameh (unclean) because of their own [ritual] gifts, in that they caused to pass through the eish all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am Hashem.
27 Therefore, ben adam, speak unto Bais Yisroel, and say unto them, Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Yet in this avoteichem have made gidduf (blasphemy) against Me, in that they have been ma’al (unfaithful) to Me.
28 For when I had brought them into ha’aretz, for the which I lifted up Mine yad to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their zevakhim, and there they presented the ka’as (provocation) of their korban; there also they made their re’ach hannichoach, and poured out there their nesakhim.
29 Then I said unto them, What is the bamah whereunto ye go? And the shem whereof is called Bamah (High Place) unto this day.
30 Therefore say unto Bais Yisroel, Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Are ye ones making yourself tameh after the manner of avoteichem? And do ye commit zenut after their shikkutzim?
31 For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your banim to pass through the eish, ye make yourselves tameh with all your gillulim (idols), even unto this day; and shall I be inquired of by you, O Bais Yisroel? As I live, saith Adonoi Hashem, I will not be inquired of by you.
32 And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all—that ye say, We will be as the Goyim, as the mishpekhot of the countries, to serve wood and even (stone).
33 As I live, saith Adonoi Hashem, surely with a yad chazakah, and with an outstretched zero’a, and with chemah (fury) poured out, will I rule over you;
34 And I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a yad chazakah, and with an outstretched zero’a, and with chemah (wrath) poured out.
35 And I will bring you into the midbar of the peoples, and there will I execute judgment with you face to face.
36 Just as I judged avoteichem in the midbar of the Eretz Mitzrayim, so will I enter into judgment with you, saith Adonoi Hashem.
37 And I will cause you to pass under the shevet (rod), and I will bring you into the bond of the brit (covenant);
38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels and the posh’im against Me; I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn as gerim, and they shall not enter into Eretz Yisroel; and ye shall know that I am Hashem.
39 As for you, O Bais Yisroel, thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Go ye, serve ye every one his gillulim, and hereafter since ye will not pay heed unto Me; and do not profane Shem Kodshi anymore with your gifts, and with your gillulim.
40 For in Har Kodshi, in the mountain of the height of Yisroel, saith Adonoi Hashem, there shall all Bais Yisroel, all of them in ha’aretz, serve Me; there will I accept them, there will I require your terumot, the reshit of your offerings, with all your kodeshim.
41 I will accept you as a re’ach hannichoach, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will show Myself Kadosh among you before the eyes of the Goyim.
42 And ye shall know that I am Hashem, when I shall bring you into Admat Yisroel, into the country for which I lifted up Mine yad to give it to avoteichem.
43 And there shall ye remember your drakhim, and all your doings, wherein ye have made yourselves tameh; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.
44 And ye shall know that I am Hashem when I have dealt with you for the sake of Shmi, not according to your wicked drakhim, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye Bais Yisroel, saith Adonoi Hashem.
45 (21:1) Moreover the Devar Hashem came unto me, saying,
46 (21:2) Ben adam, set thy face toward the south, and preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land of the Negev;
47 (21:3) And say to the forest of the Negev, Hear the Devar Hashem: Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Hineni, I will kindle an eish in thee, and it shall devour every green etz (tree) in thee, and every dry etz (tree); the blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the Negev to the north shall be scorched by it.
48 (21:4) And all basar shall see that I Hashem have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.
49 (21:5) Then said I, Ah Adonoi Hashem! They say of me, Doth he not speak meshalim (parables)?
21 (21:6) And the Devar Hashem came unto me, saying,
2 (21:7) Ben adam, set thy face toward Yerushalayim, and preach against the mikdashim, and prophesy against Admat Yisroel,
3 (21:8) And say to Admat Yisroel, Thus saith Hashem: Hineni, I am against thee, will draw forth My cherev out of its sheath, will cut off from thee the tzaddik and the rasha.
4 (21:9) Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the tzaddik and the rasha, therefore shall My cherev go forth out of its sheath against kol basar from the Negev to the tzafon (north);
5 (21:10) That kol basar may know that I Hashem have drawn forth My cherev out of its sheath; it shall not return any more.
6 (21:11) Sigh therefore, thou ben adam, with a breaking heart; and with bitterness groan before their eynayim.
7 (21:12) And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Why sighest thou? That thou shalt answer, For the news; because it cometh; and every lev shall melt, and all hands shall go limp with fear, and every ruach shall faint, and all birkayim (knees) shall be weak as mayim; hinei, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith Adonoi Hashem.
8 (21:13) Again the Devar Hashem came unto me, saying,
9 (21:14) Ben adam, prophesy, and say, Thus saith Adonoi: Say, A cherev, a cherev is sharpened, and also polished;
10 (21:15) It is sharpened to make a dreadful tevo’ach; it is polished and lightening-like it flashes; should we then make mirth? The Shevet of Beni [Moshiach, Gn 49:10; 2Sm 7] despiseth kol etz (every tree).
11 (21:16) And it is given to be polished, that it may be grasped with the palm; this cherev is sharpened, and it is polished, to deliver it into the yad of the slayer.
12 (21:17) Cry and wail, ben adam; for it shall be upon My people, it shall be upon all the nasi’im of Yisroel; including terrors by reason of the cherev shall be upon My people; strike therefore upon thy thigh.
13 (21:18) Because it is a testing, and what? Even if you despise the scepter [of Moshiach], will it be no more? saith Adonoi Hashem.
14 (21:19) Thou therefore, ben adam, prophesy, and strike thine hands together, and let the cherev do double damage the third time, the cherev of the slain; it is the cherev for great slaughter—it surrounds them.
15 (21:20) I have set the point of the cherev against all their she’arim, that their lev may faint, and many may stumble. Ah! It is made for flashing, it is wrapped for slaughter.
16 (21:21) Go thee one way or the other, either on right hand, or on left, wherever thy face is appointed.
17 (21:22) I will also strike Mine palm together, and I will appease My chemah (wrath). I Hashem have said it.
18 (21:23) The Devar Hashem came unto me again, saying,
19 (21:24) Also, thou, ben adam, appoint thee two drakhim, that the cherev of Melech Bavel may come; both two shall come forth out of one land; and make a sign, put it at the rosh derech (crossroads) to the Ir.
20 (21:25) Appoint a derech, that the cherev may come to Rabbah Bnei Ammon, and to Yehudah in fortified Yerushalayim.
21 (21:26) For Melech Bavel stood at the fork in the derech, at the rosh of the two drakhim, to use divination; he shook his khitzim (arrows), he consulted with teraphim, he looked in the liver.
22 (21:27) At his right hand was the kesem (divination) for Yerushalayim, to set up battering rams, to call for a slaughter, to lift up the voice with teru’ah (shouting), to appoint battering rams against the she’arim, to heap up a siege mound, and to build a siege work.
23 (21:28) And it shall be unto them as a kesem shav (false divination) in their sight, to them that have sworn shevu’ot (oaths); but he will call to remembrance the avon, that they may be seized.
24 (21:29) Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem; Because ye have made your avon to be remembered, in that your peysha’im are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be captured with the palm.
25 (21:30) And thou, profane wicked nasi of Yisroel, whose day is come, when avon shall have an end,
26 (21:31) Thus saith Adonoi Hashem; Remove the mitznefet (turban), and take off the ateret; nothing shall be the same; exalt him that is low, and abase him that is exalted.
27 (21:32) I will make it overthrown, overthrown, overthrown: and it shall be no longer, ad bo asher lo hamishpat (until He come to whom the right it is); and I will give it him [Gn 49:10].
28 (21:33) And thou, ben adam, prophesy and say, Thus saith Adonoi Hashem concerning Bnei Ammon, and concerning their cherpah; even say thou: The cherev, the cherev is drawn; for the slaughter it is polished, to consume like lightning;
29 (21:34) While they see chazon shav (vain visions) for thee, while they divine a kazav (lie) unto thee, to bring thee upon the tzavarot (necks) of them that are slain, of the resha’im, whose day is come, when their avon shall have an end.
30 (21:35) Shall I cause it to return into its sheath? I will judge thee in the makom where thou wast created, in thine eretz moledet.
31 (21:36) And I will pour out Mine za’am (indignation) upon thee, I will blow against thee in the eish of My wrath, and deliver thee into the yad of brutal anashim, skillful in destruction.
32 (21:37) Thou shalt be for fuel to the eish; thy dahm shall be in the midst of ha’aretz; thou shalt be no more remembered; for I Hashem have spoken it.
5 Come now, you who have osher (riches), weep, howling over your miseries coming upon you. [YESHAYAH 13:6; YECHEZKEL 30:2]
2 The osher of you has rotted and your malbush has become moth-eaten. [IYOV 13:28; TEHILLIM 39:11; YESHAYAH 50:9]
3 The gold of you and the silver has been corroded and the corrosion of them will be for a solemn eidus against you, and will eat the basar of you as Eish. You stored up otzar (treasure) in the Acharit Hayamim!
4 Hinei, the wages of the po’alim (workers) who cut your fields, the wages you fraudulently withheld, those wages cry out, and the cries of the harvesting po’alim have reached the ears of Adonoi Tz’vaot. [VAYIKRA 19:13; YIRMEYAH 22:13; MALACHI 3:5; DEVARIM 24:15]
5 You lived in indulgence upon ha’aretz and lolled in a life of luxury, you fattened your levavot as in a Yom Tivchah ("Day of Slaughter.” [YIRMEYAH 12:3; 25:34; YESHAYAH 53:7]
6 You condemned, you killed the tzaddik, who does not resist you.
7 Have zitzfleisch (patience), therefore, Achim b’Moshiach, until the Bias HaMoshiach, the Coming of Moshiach Adoneinu. Hinei, the ikar (farmer) awaits the precious p’ri haAdamah (fruit of the earth), having zitzfleisch (patience) for it until it receives the Yoreh (first autumn rain) and the Malkosh (spring rain). [Dt 11:14; Jer 5:24; Joel 2:23]
8 You must also have zitzfleisch. Strengthen your levavot, because the Bias HaMoshiach, the Coming of Moshiach Adoneinu, has drawn near.
9 Do not murmur, Achim b’Moshiach, against one another, lest you be judged. Hinei, haShofet is standing before the delet! [SHEMOT 15:24; 16:2; 17:3; BAMIDBAR 14:2,29; 16:41; TEHILLIM 94:2]
10 Achim b’Moshiach, take as an example, of yissurim (suffering) and of zitzfleisch (patience) the Nevi’im who spoke b’Shem Adonoi.
11 Hinei, we call me’ashirim the ones having endured: the enduring orech ru’ach (patience) of Iyov you heard of, and the toitzaa (outcome) from Hashem you saw, that Eloheinu is full of rachamim and channun Hashem. [Job 1:21,22; 2:10; 42:10,12-17; Ex 34:6; Num 14:18; Ps 103:8]
12 But, above all, my Achim b’Moshiach, do not swear shevuot (oaths) neither by Shomayim nor by ha’aretz nor any other shevu’ah, but let your "ken" be "ken," and your "lo" be "lo," for fear that you fall under HaDin (the Judgment).
13 If anyone is suffering among you, let him daven. If anyone has simcha, let him sing niggunim. [Ps 50:15]
14 Are there any cholim (sick ones) among you? Let the choleh (sick person) summon [for Bikkur Cholim (Visiting the Sick)] the Ziknei HaKehillah (Elders of the Congregation) and let them daven tefillos over him, having applied the shemen mishchah (anointing oil), b’Shem Adoneinu. [Ps 23:5; Isa 1:6]
15 And the tefillah of emunah will deliver the choleh (sick person), and Hashem will raise him up. And if he may have been committing peysha’im, he will be given selicha (forgiveness).
16 Therefore, make vidduy (confession of sin) to one another, and daven tefillos on behalf of one another, so that you may have refuah sheleimah (complete healing). The tefillah of a tzaddik is powerful and effective.
17 Eliyahu [HaNavi] was a man of like nature to us, and with tefillah he davened for it not to rain, and it did not rain upon ha’aretz for shalosh shanim and shishah chodashim (three years and six months). [MELACHIM ALEF 17:1]
18 And again Eliyahu [HaNavi] davened, and Shomayim gave GESHEM (rain) and ha’aretz caused its p’ri to sprout. [MELACHIM ALEF 18:45]
19 My Achim b’Moshiach, if anyone among you wanders vait (astray) from HaEmes and someone turns a choteh (sinner) to become a ba’al teshuva
20 You should have da’as that the one having helped a choteh (sinner) to become a ba’al teshuva and to turn from the toyus (error) of his derech, and from setiyah HaDerech Hashem (turning aside or deviating from the Way of Hashem) will save the neshamah of him from mavet and will cover a multitude of chatta’im. [T.N. This may be the earliest writing in the Brit Chadasha. Of royal blood, Ya’akov Bar Yosef Ben Dovid, like Rav Sha’ul, was an unbeliever until he came to faith by the appearance of the Risen Moshiach (see I Cor 15:7). He died al kiddush ha-Shem 62 C.E. according to Josephus. His brother Yehuda wrote the letter on p.1118. See p848.]
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