Old/New Testament
Adonai Pleads His Case
6 Hear what Adonai is saying:
“Arise! Contend with the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear, Adonai’s dispute, O mountains—
the enduring foundations of the earth.
For Adonai has a dispute with His people
and He will argue His case with Israel.
3 O My people, what have I done to you?
Or how have I wearied you? Answer Me!
4 When I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and redeemed you from the house of bondage,
I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O My people, remember, please:
What did Balak, king of Moab, propose?
What did Balaam son of Beor answer him?
From Shittim as far as Gilgal,
so that you might acknowledge
the righteous acts of Adonai.”
What Is Adonai Seeking From You?
6 With what shall I come before Adonai?
With what shall I bow myself before God on high?
Shall I present Him with burnt offerings,
with year-old calves?
7 Will Adonai be pleased with thousands of rams,
with hordes of rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my belly for the sin of my soul?
8 He has told you, humanity, what is good,
and what Adonai is seeking from you:
Only to practice justice, to love mercy,[a]
and to walk humbly with your God.
9 The voice of Adonai calls to the city—
it is wisdom to fear[b] Your Name—
“Pay attention to the rod and to the One who appointed it.”
10 Does the house of the wicked
still have treasures of wickedness?
Or is an undersized ephah denounced?
11 Can I be pure with wicked balances?
Or with a bag of deceptive weights?
12 For the rich of the city are full of violence
and its inhabitants speak lies.
Their tongue in their mouth is deceit.
13 So also I will strike you severely,
desolating you because of your sins.
14 You will eat but not be satisfied,
and emptiness will be within you.
You will try to escape,
but you will not reach safety.
Whatever you make safe,
I will give to the sword.
15 You will sow but not reap;
You will tread olives but not anoint yourself with oil,
and grapes but not drink wine.
16 Now, you observe the statutes of Omri
and every practice of the house of Ahab,
and you walk in their counsels.
Therefore I will make you a horror,
and her inhabitants a hissing,
so you will bear the scorn of My people.
None Upright Among Mankind
7 Woe is me! For I am like gatherings of produce in summer,
like gleanings of a vineyard.
There is no cluster to eat,
no first-ripe fig that I crave.
2 The pious have perished from the land,
there is none upright among mankind.
All of them lie in wait for blood.
A man hunts his brother with a net.
3 Both hands are diligent at doing evil.
The official and the judge ask for a bribe.
The distinguished man utters a desire of his soul.
Thus they weave it together.
4 The best of them is like a prickly bush,
the most upright like a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchmen—of your visitation—is coming.
Then their confusion will occur.
5 Do not trust in a friend.
Do not trust in a close companion.
Guard the openings of your mouth
from her who lies on your breast.
6 For son treats father with contempt;
daughter rises up against mother;
daughter-in-law against mother-in-law:
a man’s enemies are the people of his own house.[c]
Zion’s Vindication
7 But I—I will watch for Adonai.
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
8 Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.
Though I have fallen—I will arise.
Though I sit in darkness, Adonai is my light.
9 I will bear the indignation of Adonai,
because I have sinned against Him,
until He pleads my cause,
and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light,
and I will behold His righteousness.
10 Then my enemy will see it,
and shame will cover her—
she who said to me:
“Where is Adonai, your God?”
My eyes will gaze at her—
now she will be trampled
like mud in streets.
11 A day to rebuild your walls—
a day the boundary will be far off,
12 a day when they will come to you
from Assyria to the cities of Egypt,
from Egypt to the River,
from sea to sea,
and from mountain to mountain.
13 Yet the land will become a wasteland because of her inhabitants,
because of the fruit of their misdeeds.
14 Tend Your people with Your staff,
the flock of Your inheritance,
dwelling alone, in a forest
in the midst of a fertile garden.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
as in the days of old.
15 As in the days of your coming out from the land of Egypt
I will show him wonders.
16 Nations will see and be put to shame
despite all their might.
They will put a hand on their mouth,
their ears will be deaf.
17 They will lick dust like a snake.
Like crawling things of the land,
they will come trembling out of their hiding places.
To Adonai Eloheinu they will submit in awe—
in awe of You.
He Will Again Have Compassion
18 Who is a God like You
pardoning iniquity, overlooking transgression,
for the remnant of His heritage?
He will not retain His anger forever,
because He delights in mercy.
19 He will again have compassion on us.
He will subdue our iniquities,
and You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
20 You will extend truth to Jacob,
mercy to Abraham,
that You swore to our ancestors
from the days of old.
Two Beasts
13 Then I saw a beast rising out of the sea,[a] that had ten horns and seven heads. On his horns were ten royal crowns, and upon his heads were slanderous names. 2 Now the beast that I saw was like a leopard, his feet like a bear’s, and his mouth like a lion’s. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of his heads seemed to have been slain, but the fatal wound was healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, because he had given authority to the beast. They also worshiped the beast, chanting, “Who is like the beast, and who can make war against him?”[b]
5 The beast was given a mouth uttering great boasts and blasphemies. It was given authority to act for forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth with blasphemies against God, to slander His name and His tabernacle—that is, those dwelling in heaven. 7 He was also permitted to make war against the kedoshim and overcome them, and he was given authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth shall worship him—everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who was slain.
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
10 If anyone is meant for captivity,
to captivity he goes.
If anyone is to be killed by the sword,
by the sword he must be killed.[c]
Here is the perseverance and faith of the kedoshim.
11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. He had two horns[d] like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. 12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast before him, and he makes the earth and all those who dwell in it worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven in the sight of men. [e] 14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth through the signs he is permitted to perform, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image in honor of the beast who has the sword wound yet lived. 15 The second beast was permitted to give life to the image of the first beast, so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause all who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 He also causes all—the small and the great, the rich and the poor, the free and the slave—to receive a mark on their right hand or upon their forehead. 17 And so no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark—either the name of the beast or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is a number of a man, and his number is 666.[f]
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.