Old/New Testament
28 Hoy (woe, doom) to the ateret ge’ut (crown of pride), to the shikkorei Ephrayim (drunkards of Ephrayim), whose glorious beauty is a fading tzitz (flower), which are on the rosh of the verdant gey (valley) of them that are overcome with yayin!
2 Hinei, Adonoi hath one, chazak and strong, which as a tempest of barad (hail) and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty mayim overflowing, shall cast them down to ha’aretz with the yad.
3 The ateret ge’ut (crown of pride), the shikkorei Ephrayim, shall be trodden under foot;
4 And the glorious beauty, which is at the rosh of the verdant gey, shall be a fading tzitz, and as the bikkurah (first ripe fruit) before kayitz (summer); which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his palm he eateth it up.
5 In that day shall Hashem Tzva’os be for an ateret of glory, and for a wreath tiferet, unto the remnant of His people,
6 And for a ruach mishpat to him that sitteth in mishpat, and for gevurah to them that turn back the milchamah at the gate.
7 But they also have gone astray through yayin, and through strong drink are out of the way; the kohen and the navi have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up with yayin, they are out of the way through strong drink; they go astray from the vision, they stumble in rendering decisions.
8 For all shulchanot are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no makom (place) clean.
9 Whom shall He teach da’as? And whom shall He make to understand doctrine? Them that are just weaned from cholov, and just drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; sham (here) a little, and sham (there) a little;
11 For with stammering safah (lips) and with lashon acheret (another tongue, different tongue) will He speak to HaAm Hazeh.
12 To whom He said, This is the menuchah (rest) wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing; yet they would not hear.
13 But the Devar Hashem was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; sham a little, and sham a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken [captive].
14 Therefore hear the Devar Hashem, ye scoffing anashim, that rule HaAm Hazeh which is in Yerushalayim.
15 Because ye have said, We have cut a brit with mavet, and with Sheol are we in agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made kazav our refuge, and under sheker have we hid ourselves;
16 Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem, Hineni, I lay in Tziyon for a foundation an even (stone), an even bochan (a tried stone), a pinnat yikrat (precious cornerstone), a sure foundation; the ma’amin (believer) shall not panic.
17 Mishpat also will I make as the measuring line, and tzedakah to be the plumbline; and the barad shall sweep away the refuge of kazav, and the mayim shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your brit (covenant) with mavet shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 As often as it goeth forth it shall seize you; for boker by boker shall it pass over, by day and by night; and it shall be a terror just to understand the message.
20 For the matztza (bed, mattress) is shorter than one can stretch himself on it; and the blanket narrower than that he can wrap himself in.
21 For Hashem shall rise up as in Har Peratzim, He shall be in wrath as in the valley of Giveon, that He may do His ma’aseh, His zar ma’aseh (strange work, foreign work); and bring to pass His avodah, His nochriyah avodah.
22 Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your chains be made chazak; for I have heard from Adonoi Hashem Tzva’os a destruction, even determined upon kol ha’aretz (the whole earth).
23 Give ye ozen, and hear my voice; pay heed, and hear my speech.
24 Doth the plowman plow kol hayom to sow? Doth he keep turning and breaking the clods of his adamah?
25 When he hath made level the surface thereof, doth he not sow the dill, and scatter the cumin, and plant in rows the chittah (wheat) and the se’orah (barley) in the appointed place, and the spelt in their place?
26 For Elohav doth instruct him, and doth teach him properly.
27 For the dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, neither is an ofan agalah (cart wheel) rolled about upon the cumin; but the dill is beaten out with a rod, and the cumin with a club.
28 Grain for lechem must be ground; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the gilgal (wheel) of his agalah (cart, wagon), nor grind it with his parash.
29 This also cometh forth from Hashem Tzva’os, Who is wonderful in etzah, and excellent in wisdom.
29 Hoy (woe, doom) to Ariel [i.e., Yerushalayim], to Ariel, the city where Dovid dwelt! Add ye shanah to shanah; let chaggim (feasts) cycle around.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow; and it shall be unto me as ariel (altar hearth) [see Ezekiel 43:15]).
3 And I will besiege thee all around, and will lay siege against thee with towers, and I will raise metzurot (siegeworks) against thee.
4 And thou shalt be brought low, and shalt speak me’eretz (out of the ground), and thy speech shall whisper out of the aphar, and thy voice shall be, like an ov (medium’s that has a familiar spirit), out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the aphar.
5 Moreover the multitude of thy foes shall be like fine dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as motz (chaff) that in passing bloweth away; indeed, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
6 Thou shalt be visited [in punishment] by Hashem Tzva’os with ra’am (thunder), and with earthquake, and a kol gadol, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring eish.
7 And the multitude of kol HaGoyim that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her metzadah, and that besiege her, shall be as a chalom (dream) of a chazon lailah (night vision).
8 It shall even be as when a hungry man hath a chalom, and, hinei, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his nefesh is empty; or as when a thirsty man hath a chalom, and, hinei, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, hinei, he is faint, and his nefesh still thirsts; so shall the multitude of kol HaGoyim be, that fight against Har Tziyon.
9 Pause, and wonder? Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunken, but not with yayin; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For Hashem hath poured out upon you the ruach tardemah (spirit of deep sleep), and hath closed your eynayim; namely, that of the nevi’im and your heads, you seers, hath He covered.
11 And the whole vision is become unto you as the devarim of a sefer that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, now; and he saith, I am not able; for it is sealed;
12 And the sefer is delivered to him that with the sefer has no da’as, saying, Read this, now; and he saith, I cannot read this. With sefer I have no da’as.
13 Therefore Adonoi says, Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their peh, and with their sfatayim do honor Me, but have removed their lev far from Me, and their fear toward Me is mitzvat anashim melummadah (human commandments taught by rote);
14 Therefore, hineni, I will again do an astonishing work among this people, even a marvellous work and a peleh (wonder); for the chochmah of their chachamim shall perish, and the binah (understanding) of their sages shall vanish.
15 Hoy (woe, doom) unto them that go to great depths to hide their etzah (plan) from Hashem, and their ma’asim are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? And who knoweth us?
16 Surely you have things turned around. Shall the Yotzer be esteemed as equal with the khomer (clay); for shall the ma’aseh say of him that made it, He made me not? Or shall the thing formed say of Him that formed it, He had no understanding?
17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Levanon shall be turned into a carmel, and the carmel shall be esteemed as a ya’ar (forest)?
18 And in that day shall the chereshim (deaf persons) hear the devarim of the sefer, and the eynayim of the ivrim shall see out of obscurity, and out of choshech.
19 The anaviyim also shall increase their simchah in Hashem, and the evyonei adam (needy of humankind) shall rejoice in the Kadosh Yisroel.
20 For the terrifying one is brought to naught, and the scoffer is consumed, and all that strive for avon are cut off;
21 That make an adam an offender with a devar, and lay a snare for the mokhiach (reprover, defender) in the sha’ar (gate, court), and turn aside the tzaddik from justice.
22 Therefore thus saith Hashem, who redeemed Avraham, concerning Bais Ya’akov, Ya’akov shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now grow fearfully pale.
23 But when he seeth his banim, the ma’aseh of Mine hands, in his midst, they shall set apart as kodesh Shmi (My Name), and set apart as kodesh the Kadosh Ya’akov, and shall fear the Elohei Yisroel.
24 They also that erred in ruach shall know binah (understanding), and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
3 As to the rest, Achim b’Moshiach of mine, have simcha in Adoneinu [1:25; 2:18,28,29; 4:4]. To keep writing the zelba thing [l:4,18; 1:25; 2:2,17,18, 28,29] to you is not an irksome bother to me, but for you it is a te’udat bitachon (safeguard).
2 Be shomer and on your guard and watch out for those [unclean, prowling] kelevim (dogs Ps 22:17(16),20; Rv 22:15), watch out for the evil po’alim (workers), watch out for the “circummutilators” (Ga 6:12).
3 For we are the Bnei HaMilah [Ro 2:29; Co 2:11-12], the ones whose avodas kodesh is by the Ruach Hakodesh [Yn 4:23; Ro 8:4] and whose kavod is in Moshiach Yehoshua and who take no bitachon in the basar,
4 Even though I could be having bitachon also in the basar. If any other person thinks he has grounds to have bitachon in the basar, I have more (2C 11:18-12:10):
5 Bris milah on the eighth day [Lk 1:59; 2:21]; from Bnei Yisroel by birth; of the tribe of Benjamin; a speaker of Lashon HaKodesh, Ivrit of Ivrit-speaking horim, a Hebrew of Hebrews (2C 11:22); with regard to the Torah, from the kat haPerushim (Ac 23:6; 26:5);
6 With regard to kin’a (zealousness), persecuting the Adat HaMoshiach (Ac 8:3; 22:4; 26:9 11); with regard to tzidkat HaTorah, [3:9; Ro 2:27-29, as opposed to the tzidkat Hashem], I was medakdekim bmitzvot unreproachable [i.e., hairsplittingly and rigorously observant, glatt kosher, frumkait, and shomer mitzvot].
7 But what things were revach (gain, profit) to me, these things I considered loss, on account of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach (Mt 13:44-46; Lk 14:33).
8 But even more so, I consider all to be loss on account of the excellency of the da’as of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua Adoneinu [3:10; YIRMEYAH 9:23-24], on account of whom I suffered the loss of all things and I consider them as nothing, in comparison, that I may gain Moshiach [TEHILLIM 73:25],
9 And be found in him, not having my own Tzedek (selfachieved righteousness, by definition a self-righteousness) based on chumra (legalism [legalism itself a "merit" misinterpretation of the Torah]), but the Tzedek [YIRMEYAH 33:16] through emunah [Ro 3:21-22] in Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, the Tzidkat Hashem based upon emunah [BERESHIS 15:6; Ro 9:30].
10 I want to have da’as of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, and of the gevurah (power) of the Techiyas HaMoshiach and the deveykus (attachment to G-d) of Moshiach’s yissurim (sufferings 1:29; Ro 8:17; Ga 6:17), being formed into the mode of being of Moshiach’s death [death to the sinful Olam Hazeh and the unregenerate basar Ro 6:3-5],
11 If somehow I may attain to the Techiyas HaMesim.
12 Not that already I obtained or already have been made shleimut, but I pursue this tachlis (final end, aim) that I may lay hold of [1Ti 6:12,19 cf. Pp 2:6] that for which I was laid hold of by Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua [Ac 9:5-6].
13 Achim b’Moshiach, I do not consider myself to have laid hold (3:12); but one zach (thing) I do, forgetting the things behind, and stretching forward to the things ahead,
14 According to the tachlis I pursue the prize of the Shomayim Aliyah ascent of Hashem, the upward k’riah (call) of HaShem b’Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua (2K 1:10; 2:12).
15 Therefore, as many as would be shleimut, let us think like this (2:5-8): and if in anything your machshavot (thoughts) are different [Mt 5:48; 2C 2:6], even this Hashem will reveal to you.
16 Fort (nevertheless), let us march in line with what we have attained, let us hold to the same [Ga 6:16].
17 Achim b’Moshiach, together be imitators of me [1C 4:16; 11:1]. Take note of the ones walking as you have a mofet in us [2:5-30; 1Th 1:7; 1K 5:3].
18 For many, of whom I was often telling you, and now also I say with weeping, walk as oyvim (enemies) of Moshiach’s Etz [DEVARIM 21:23; 27:26; Ga 3:13; 1C 1:23; Ga 6:12 cf Pp 2:8].
19 Their destined end [TEHILLIM 73:17] is churban (destruction, Gehinnom). Their g-d is their appetite [Ro 16:18], and their kavod, what they glory in, is their bushah (shame). Their machshavot are set on the Olam Hazeh [Ro 8:5-6].
20 But the torat haEzrakhut (citizenship-see 1:27) we conduct exists in Shomayim [Ep 2:6; MJ 12:22; Ga 4:26; 6:16], from where also we eagerly await a Moshi’a (Savior), a Go’el, Adoneinu Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua,
21 Who will transfigure the basar of our humiliation into the demut of the mode of being of the guf kavod of Moshiach, according to the pe’ulah (action, work—1:6; 2:13) of his ko’ach (power) [Ro 8:29;1C 15:43 53], even to the subjecting of all things to himself [1C 15:28]. T.N. The joyous tone of this letter is miraculous, given the fact that Rav Sha’ul is, as he is writing it, in danger of capital punishment by decapitation at anytime and without warning. But Sha’ul selflessly thinks about two quarreling women and the danger their quarrel poses to the kehillah in Philippi. He seems to have been leading up to this statement in 4:2: “I appeal to Euodias and I appeal to Syntyche, think the same thing in Adoneinu.” ]
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