Part II. The Traveler, and a Strangers' Tale's of Woe
And of Zion it will be said,
There I was! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night A captive, and wandering to and fro? There I was, left alone;
From the ends of the earth we have heard songs: “Glory to the righteous!
“But I said, “I am ruined, ruined! Woe to me! The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously, Indeed, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.”
‘Who has begotten these for me, Since I have lost my children and am desolate, and who has brought these up? Oh, that my head were waters, And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh, that I had in the wilderness A lodging place for travelers;
Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, Because of your precious children; Enlarge your baldness like an eagle, for they shall go from you into captivity. Fear and the pit and the snare Are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth. And has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!
Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
“Then it was so, after all your wickedness— ‘Woe, woe to you!’ says the Lord God--
Then God said to Jonah………
“Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
...And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”
But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. Folly is set in great dignity, While the rich sit in a lowly place. The paths of their way turn aside, they go nowhere and perish. They are disappointed because they were confident;
Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses, must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! The look on their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom; They do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves.
Woe to those who devise iniquity, and work out evil on their beds! At morning light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand. They set the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening burnt offerings. They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day.
They covet fields and take them by violence, also houses, and seize them. So, they oppress a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.
Because there is wrath, beware lest He take you away with one blow; For a large ransom, would not help you avoid it. A fire was kindled in their company; The flame burned up the wicked for they said, “God has come into the camp!”
By great force my garment is disfigured; So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord,And there was the angel who talked with me, going out; and another angel was coming out to meet him, And under the firmament their wings spread out straight, one toward another, who said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying: ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it.
Why, when I came, was there no man? Why, when I called, was there none to answer?
The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan, And covered the faction of Abiram. how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, their households, their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel--
Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver?
How long, Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire?
For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, After it a voice roars a jealous God. He thunders with His majestic voice, And He does not restrain them when His voice is heard. God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend. For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’; Likewise to the gentle rain and the heavy rain of His strength.
Indeed with My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; But the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy, For He will make speedy riddance of all those who dwell in the land.
Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, And your princes feast in the morning! In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken bough And an uppermost branch, Which they left because of the children of Israel; And there will be desolation
And they said, “Woe to us! For such a thing, has never happened before.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. They come there and are confused.
Why should You be like a man astonished, like a mighty one who cannot save?
And said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord, and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and travel anywhere, you shall surely die’?
And you said to me, ‘The word I have heard is good.’
Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. In the day that you stood on the other side— In the day that strangers carried captive his forces, when foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem— Even you were as one of them.
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name YHWH I was not known to them. I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, And by night with a pillar of fire, To give them light on the road Which they should travel.
Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs. Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance,” You shall also know that your descendants shall be many, And your offspring like the grass of the earth. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge;
When you were few in number, indeed very few, and strangers in it. When they went from one nation to another, and from one kingdom to another people, all the valiant men arose and traveled all night,
Have you not asked those who travel the road? And do you not know their signs?
Woe to those who join house to house; They add field to field, till there is no place Where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!
If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait to shed blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause; Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down to the Pit; We shall find all kinds of precious possessions, we shall fill our houses with spoil;
But God will rebuke them and Jerusalem shall go a remnant, And those who escape from Mount Zion. For her wounds are incurable. For it has come to Judah;It has come to the gate of My people—To Jerusalem. Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked; Then the remnant of Jacob Shall be in the midst of many peoples. Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. That say, “Let Him make speed and hasten His work, that we may see it; For they have brought evil upon themselves. The eye that mocks his father, And scorns obedience to his mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out, And the young eagles will eat it.
No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord’s people transgress.
Therefore, it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts. Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight! Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold,“Indeed, because he transgresses by wine, He is a proud man, and he does not stay at home. Because he enlarges his desire as hell, and he is like death, and cannot be satisfied, He gathers to himself all nations and heaps up for himself all peoples.“But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. Thus, the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.” Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, “Man decays like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten. His flesh wastes away from sight, and his bones stick out which once were not seen. in the day of grief and desperate sorrow. Thus, great wrath came from the Lord of hosts how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire.
He who begets a Scoffer does so to his sorrow, And the father of a fool has no joy. When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity, You make his beauty melt away like a moth; Surely every man is vapor. Selah
Vindicate me, O Lord, For I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the Lord; I shall not slip. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth. I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
They said to Him, “We are Able.”
Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may follow intoxicating drink; Who continue until night, till wine inflames them! The labor of fools wearies them, for they do not even know how to go to the city! Yet he will perish forever like his own refuse;
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
He will fly away like a dream, and not be found; Yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.”
Who says of his father and mother, ‘I have not seen them’;
I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.” “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. And in all your abominations and acts of harlotry you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, struggling in your blood.
Who can understand his errors?
They tracked our steps So that we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near; Our days were over, for our end had come.
Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. So, truth fails, Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice. And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage),whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out of the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were near the city all around. And they went by way of the plain (plane).
“Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity.
Who has woe?
Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, For the reward of his hands shall be given him. Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink, Who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away justice from the righteous man! You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, The cup of horror and desolation, The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them the waters of the River, strong and mighty—The king of Assyria and all his glory; He will go up over all his channels and go over all his banks. He will pass through Judah, He will overflow and pass over, He will reach up to the neck;And the stretching out of his wings Will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel.
“Be shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Give ear, all you from far countries. Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces; Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.
Terrors overtake him like a flood; A tempest steals him away in the night. The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;
Know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.
Your sorrow is incurable. Because of the multitude of your iniquities, because your sins have increased, I have done these things to you. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; Strangers devour your land in your presence; And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
Their mighty ones are beaten down;
They have speedily fled, and did not look back, for fear was all around,” says the Lord.
(So, I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll, or to look at it.)
Why do you cry about your affliction? He said, “Keep silence!”
(He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness. If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong; And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?)
Now the rest of the people— the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Nethinim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge and understanding— these joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law,
I clothe the heavens with blackness, And I make sackcloth their covering.” And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people And he said:
“The Lord came from Sinai, And dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, And He came with ten thousands of saints; From His right hand Came a fiery law for them.
The mountains gushed before the Lord, This Sinai, before the Lord God of Israel. “In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the highways were deserted, And the travelers walked along the byways.
“Then it was so, after all your wickedness— ‘Woe, woe to you!’ says the Lord God--
Then God said to Jonah………
“Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
...And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”
But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. Folly is set in great dignity, While the rich sit in a lowly place. The paths of their way turn aside, they go nowhere and perish. They are disappointed because they were confident;
Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses, must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! The look on their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom; They do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves.
Woe to those who devise iniquity, and work out evil on their beds! At morning light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand. They set the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening burnt offerings. They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day.
They covet fields and take them by violence, also houses, and seize them. So, they oppress a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.
Because there is wrath, beware lest He take you away with one blow; For a large ransom, would not help you avoid it. A fire was kindled in their company; The flame burned up the wicked for they said, “God has come into the camp!”
By great force my garment is disfigured; So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord,And there was the angel who talked with me, going out; and another angel was coming out to meet him, And under the firmament their wings spread out straight, one toward another, who said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying: ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it.
Why, when I came, was there no man? Why, when I called, was there none to answer?
The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan, And covered the faction of Abiram. how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, their households, their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel--
Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver?
How long, Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire?
For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, After it a voice roars a jealous God. He thunders with His majestic voice, And He does not restrain them when His voice is heard. God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend. For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’; Likewise to the gentle rain and the heavy rain of His strength.
Indeed with My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; But the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy, For He will make speedy riddance of all those who dwell in the land.
Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, And your princes feast in the morning! In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken bough And an uppermost branch, Which they left because of the children of Israel; And there will be desolation
And they said, “Woe to us! For such a thing, has never happened before.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. They come there and are confused.
Why should You be like a man astonished, like a mighty one who cannot save?
And said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord, and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and travel anywhere, you shall surely die’?
And you said to me, ‘The word I have heard is good.’
Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. In the day that you stood on the other side— In the day that strangers carried captive his forces, when foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem— Even you were as one of them.
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name YHWH I was not known to them. I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, And by night with a pillar of fire, To give them light on the road Which they should travel.
Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs. Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance,” You shall also know that your descendants shall be many, And your offspring like the grass of the earth. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge;
When you were few in number, indeed very few, and strangers in it. When they went from one nation to another, and from one kingdom to another people, all the valiant men arose and traveled all night,
Have you not asked those who travel the road? And do you not know their signs?
Woe to those who join house to house; They add field to field, till there is no place Where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!
If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait to shed blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause; Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down to the Pit; We shall find all kinds of precious possessions, we shall fill our houses with spoil;
But God will rebuke them and Jerusalem shall go a remnant, And those who escape from Mount Zion. For her wounds are incurable. For it has come to Judah;It has come to the gate of My people—To Jerusalem. Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked; Then the remnant of Jacob Shall be in the midst of many peoples. Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. That say, “Let Him make speed and hasten His work, that we may see it; For they have brought evil upon themselves. The eye that mocks his father, And scorns obedience to his mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out, And the young eagles will eat it.
No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord’s people transgress.
Therefore, it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts. Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight! Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold,“Indeed, because he transgresses by wine, He is a proud man, and he does not stay at home. Because he enlarges his desire as hell, and he is like death, and cannot be satisfied, He gathers to himself all nations and heaps up for himself all peoples.“But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. Thus, the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.” Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, “Man decays like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten. His flesh wastes away from sight, and his bones stick out which once were not seen. in the day of grief and desperate sorrow. Thus, great wrath came from the Lord of hosts how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire.
He who begets a Scoffer does so to his sorrow, And the father of a fool has no joy. When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity, You make his beauty melt away like a moth; Surely every man is vapor. Selah
Vindicate me, O Lord, For I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the Lord; I shall not slip. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth. I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
They said to Him, “We are Able.”
Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may follow intoxicating drink; Who continue until night, till wine inflames them! The labor of fools wearies them, for they do not even know how to go to the city! Yet he will perish forever like his own refuse;
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
He will fly away like a dream, and not be found; Yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.”
Who says of his father and mother, ‘I have not seen them’;
I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.” “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. And in all your abominations and acts of harlotry you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, struggling in your blood.
Who can understand his errors?
They tracked our steps So that we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near; Our days were over, for our end had come.
Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. So, truth fails, Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice. And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage),whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out of the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were near the city all around. And they went by way of the plain (plane).
“Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity.
Who has woe?
Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, For the reward of his hands shall be given him. Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink, Who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away justice from the righteous man! You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, The cup of horror and desolation, The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them the waters of the River, strong and mighty—The king of Assyria and all his glory; He will go up over all his channels and go over all his banks. He will pass through Judah, He will overflow and pass over, He will reach up to the neck;And the stretching out of his wings Will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel.
“Be shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Give ear, all you from far countries. Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces; Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.
Terrors overtake him like a flood; A tempest steals him away in the night. The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;
Know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.
Your sorrow is incurable. Because of the multitude of your iniquities, because your sins have increased, I have done these things to you. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; Strangers devour your land in your presence; And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
Their mighty ones are beaten down;
They have speedily fled, and did not look back, for fear was all around,” says the Lord.
(So, I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll, or to look at it.)
Why do you cry about your affliction? He said, “Keep silence!”
(He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness. If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong; And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?)
Now the rest of the people— the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Nethinim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge and understanding— these joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law,
I clothe the heavens with blackness, And I make sackcloth their covering.” And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people And he said:
“The Lord came from Sinai, And dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, And He came with ten thousands of saints; From His right hand Came a fiery law for them.
The mountains gushed before the Lord, This Sinai, before the Lord God of Israel. “In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the highways were deserted, And the travelers walked along the byways.
Village life ceased, it ceased in Israel, and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.
Let my accusers be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle.
Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?” And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen:
‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’
...If I called and He answered me, I would not believe that He was listening to my voice. For He crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause. He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness. My bones are pierced in me at night, and my gnawing pains take no rest. It binds me about as the collar of my coat. He has cast me into the mire, And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. And I have become like dust and ashes.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.It shall be ill with him, For the reward of his hands shall be given him
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints?Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
“Will not all these take up a proverb against him, and a taunting riddle against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases What is not his—how long?
Let my accusers be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle.
Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?” And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen:
‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’
...If I called and He answered me, I would not believe that He was listening to my voice. For He crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause. He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness. My bones are pierced in me at night, and my gnawing pains take no rest. It binds me about as the collar of my coat. He has cast me into the mire, And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. And I have become like dust and ashes.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.It shall be ill with him, For the reward of his hands shall be given him
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints?Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
“Will not all these take up a proverb against him, and a taunting riddle against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases What is not his—how long?
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” Why have I seen them dismayed and turned back?
Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?”
But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”
And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, That we may know it.”
Judgment and justice take hold of you.
Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?”
But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”
And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, That we may know it.”
Judgment and justice take hold of you.
And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. It sweeps him out of his place. It hurls against him and does not spare; He flees desperately from its power. As he was destroying, the Lord looked and relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Then David lifted his eyes and saw the Angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then the Angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side.
But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord. So, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. And David said to God, “Was it not I who commanded the people to be numbered? I am the one who has sinned and done evil indeed; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, O Lord my God, be against me and my father’s house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.”
So, the Lord commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath.
“Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, who write misfortune, which they have prescribed To rob the needy of justice, and to take what is right from the poor of My people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless.
As it is written: “For Your sake, we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, Do it for Your name’s sake; For our backslidings are many, we have sinned against You.
O the Hope of Israel, his Savior in time of trouble, why should You be like a stranger in the land, and like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
The Lord sent a Word against Jacob, And it has fallen on Israel. Yet You, O Lord, are in our midst, And we are called by Your name; Do not leave us!
What will you do in the day of punishment, and in the desolation which will come from afar?
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:
justice and mercy and faith.
These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
Then David lifted his eyes and saw the Angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then the Angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side.
But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord. So, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. And David said to God, “Was it not I who commanded the people to be numbered? I am the one who has sinned and done evil indeed; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, O Lord my God, be against me and my father’s house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.”
So, the Lord commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath.
“Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, who write misfortune, which they have prescribed To rob the needy of justice, and to take what is right from the poor of My people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless.
As it is written: “For Your sake, we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, Do it for Your name’s sake; For our backslidings are many, we have sinned against You.
O the Hope of Israel, his Savior in time of trouble, why should You be like a stranger in the land, and like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
The Lord sent a Word against Jacob, And it has fallen on Israel. Yet You, O Lord, are in our midst, And we are called by Your name; Do not leave us!
What will you do in the day of punishment, and in the desolation which will come from afar?
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:
justice and mercy and faith.
These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your glory?
Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.
And when he raised his eyes, he saw the traveler in the open square of the city; and the old man said, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?”
Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp?
“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by Justice and the Love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
For the wicked are reserved for the day of doom; They shall be brought out on the day of wrath. “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts.
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
Show mercy and compassion. For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. A garden enclosed Is my sister, my spouse, ‘Is this not laid up in store with Me, Sealed up among My treasures?
A spring shut up, A fountain sealed;
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore, you will receive greater condemnation. Everyone to his brother.
Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.’
If you will not hear, and if you will not take it to heart, to give glory to My name,” Says the Lord of hosts, “I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, because you do not take it to heart.
Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them
And where will you leave your glory?
Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.
And when he raised his eyes, he saw the traveler in the open square of the city; and the old man said, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?”
Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp?
“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by Justice and the Love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
For the wicked are reserved for the day of doom; They shall be brought out on the day of wrath. “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts.
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
Show mercy and compassion. For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. A garden enclosed Is my sister, my spouse, ‘Is this not laid up in store with Me, Sealed up among My treasures?
A spring shut up, A fountain sealed;
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore, you will receive greater condemnation. Everyone to his brother.
Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.’
If you will not hear, and if you will not take it to heart, to give glory to My name,” Says the Lord of hosts, “I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, because you do not take it to heart.
Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them
but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord— because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.
So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
He has fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass; And He has set darkness in my paths. He has stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.He breaks me down on every side, And I am gone;
My hope He has uprooted like a tree. Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes, have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”
If I am wicked, woe to me; Even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am full of disgrace; See my misery! If my head is exalted, You hunt me like a fierce lion, and again You show Yourself awesome against me If I sin, then You mark me, and will not acquit me of my iniquity.
Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink; Let me be delivered from those who hate me, And out of the deep waters. Let not the floodwater overflow me, nor let the deep swallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.
Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let my accusers be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle. ‘Execute true justice,
Woe to the multitude of many people Who make a noise like the roar of the seas, and to the rushing of nations That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
But what are we, that you complain against us?”
Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. “Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
He has fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass; And He has set darkness in my paths. He has stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.He breaks me down on every side, And I am gone;
My hope He has uprooted like a tree. Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes, have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”
If I am wicked, woe to me; Even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am full of disgrace; See my misery! If my head is exalted, You hunt me like a fierce lion, and again You show Yourself awesome against me If I sin, then You mark me, and will not acquit me of my iniquity.
Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink; Let me be delivered from those who hate me, And out of the deep waters. Let not the floodwater overflow me, nor let the deep swallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.
Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let my accusers be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle. ‘Execute true justice,
Woe to the multitude of many people Who make a noise like the roar of the seas, and to the rushing of nations That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
But what are we, that you complain against us?”
Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. “Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Lord, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah
Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother.’
“For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother.’
“For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
The Angels and the Rulers
For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.
There is an evil I have seen under the sun, as an error proceeding from the ruler: They dwell in his tent who are none of his; For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason, you also be glad and rejoice with me.
Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? In the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, Who, if he passes through, both treads down and tears in pieces, And none can deliver.
These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. They are futile, a work of errors; In the time of their punishment they shall perish Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.’
When the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it.
You observe days and months and seasons and years. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?
Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints.
He is Just; He shall surely live!”
“When I choose the proper time, I will judge uprightly. Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast… I will require it, and from the hand of man. So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
I will pour down her stones into the valley, And I will uncover her foundations. The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved; Brimstone is scattered on his dwelling. His roots are dried out below, And his branch withers above When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off;The women come and set them on fire.
If He puts no trust in His servants, If He charges His angels with error, How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before a moth?
I set up its pillars firmly. Selah
Two pillars one sea.
“I said to the boastful, ‘Do not deal boastfully,’ And to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up the horn. I will kill your roots with famine, and it will slay your remnant.
He dug it up and cleared out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it;
Wail, O gate! Cry, O city!
The plunderers have come On all the desolate heights in the wilderness, For the sword of the Lord shall devour From one end of the land to the other end of the land; in the lowland, and in the heights of Dor on the west.
All you of Philistia are dissolved; For smoke, will come from the north, And no one will be alone in his appointed times.”
“Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights and see: All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as fruit falling from a fig tree.
Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; Also they are afraid of height, and of terrors in the way;
You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post; As an error proceeding from the ruler: Their wine is the poison of serpents, And the cruel venom of cobras.
Many seek the ruler’s favor, But justice for man comes from the Lord.
Say to them: ‘Whoever of all your descendants throughout your generations, who goes near the holy things which the Children of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while he has uncleanness upon him, that person shall be cut off from My presence: I am the Lord.
Says the Lord God.
There is an evil I have seen under the sun, as an error proceeding from the ruler: They dwell in his tent who are none of his; For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason, you also be glad and rejoice with me.
Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? In the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, Who, if he passes through, both treads down and tears in pieces, And none can deliver.
These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. They are futile, a work of errors; In the time of their punishment they shall perish Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.’
When the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it.
You observe days and months and seasons and years. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?
Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints.
He is Just; He shall surely live!”
“When I choose the proper time, I will judge uprightly. Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast… I will require it, and from the hand of man. So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
I will pour down her stones into the valley, And I will uncover her foundations. The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved; Brimstone is scattered on his dwelling. His roots are dried out below, And his branch withers above When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off;The women come and set them on fire.
If He puts no trust in His servants, If He charges His angels with error, How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before a moth?
I set up its pillars firmly. Selah
Two pillars one sea.
“I said to the boastful, ‘Do not deal boastfully,’ And to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up the horn. I will kill your roots with famine, and it will slay your remnant.
He dug it up and cleared out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it;
Wail, O gate! Cry, O city!
The plunderers have come On all the desolate heights in the wilderness, For the sword of the Lord shall devour From one end of the land to the other end of the land; in the lowland, and in the heights of Dor on the west.
All you of Philistia are dissolved; For smoke, will come from the north, And no one will be alone in his appointed times.”
“Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights and see: All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as fruit falling from a fig tree.
Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; Also they are afraid of height, and of terrors in the way;
You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post; As an error proceeding from the ruler: Their wine is the poison of serpents, And the cruel venom of cobras.
Many seek the ruler’s favor, But justice for man comes from the Lord.
Say to them: ‘Whoever of all your descendants throughout your generations, who goes near the holy things which the Children of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while he has uncleanness upon him, that person shall be cut off from My presence: I am the Lord.
Says the Lord God.
The Morning flight of an Eagle.
For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
‘These things says
“I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given;xThis is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you,that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.The Lamb is its light.
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.
Grace to you and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and The Ruler over the kings of the earth, Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment,
Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end,
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of justice and might, To declare to Jacob his transgression And to Israel his sin.
I will send him against an ungodly nation, And against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, That You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’ To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ To seize the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. And in the morning, you shall see the glory of the Lord;
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation and He built His sanctuary like the heights, to order it and establish it with Judgment and Justice, Everyone has seen it; Man looks on it from afar.
“Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; Nor can the number of His years be discovered. All things were created through Him and for Him.
Remember me,
O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its services! Who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. On the Rock, it dwells and resides, On the crag of the Rock and the Stronghold be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights!
“Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights and see His going forth is established as The Morning, and Jesus who is called Justus. He will come to us like the rain, like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, that tarry for no man
Nor wait for the sons of men.
I will awaken the dawn. And in The Morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ But the path of The Just is like the shining sun,That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. if he comes to you, welcome him, For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance. The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the Tabernacle of Meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be Just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts;
Stir up Yourself, and awake to my vindication, To my cause, my God and my Lord. He will again have compassion on us, He does not retain His anger forever,
... To Him who made great lights,For His mercy endures forever--
(The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely the people are grass.)
“It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I am their inheritance. You shall give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.
I have heard a message from the Lord, And an ambassador has been sent to the nations:
“Gather together, come against her, And rise up to battle!
For by fire and by His sword The Lord will judge all flesh; And the slain of the Lord shall be many.
I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God,
“Thus, will I accomplish My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it with untempered mortar; and I will say to you, ‘The wall is no more, nor those who plastered it, that is, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,’” says the Lord God.
I cried to the Lord with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah
They cried there, ‘Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a noise. He has passed by the appointed time!’
“Hear my prayer, O Lord, And give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner, as all my fathers were.
Remember me, O my God, for good!
“Even the stork in the heavens Knows her appointed times; And the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow Observe the time of their coming. But My people do not know the judgment of the Lord.
‘I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. As often as it goes out it will take you; For morning by morning it will pass over, And by day and by night;
It will be a terror just to understand the report.”
And so it shall be: Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench; Instead of well-set hair, baldness.
“In that day,” says the Lord, “I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcast And those whom I have afflicted;
Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?
knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon!
…Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’ Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?”
Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.
x“But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen,The descendants of Abraham My friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions.
The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.
I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes:
Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?”
And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is Wonderful?”
For your Maker is your husband,The Lord of Hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called The God of the whole earth.
He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.
...And His name is called The Word of God.
‘These things says
- The Amen,
- The Faithful and True Witness,
- The Beginning of the Creation of God:
“I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given;xThis is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you,that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.The Lamb is its light.
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.
Grace to you and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and The Ruler over the kings of the earth, Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment,
Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end,
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of justice and might, To declare to Jacob his transgression And to Israel his sin.
I will send him against an ungodly nation, And against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, That You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’ To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ To seize the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. And in the morning, you shall see the glory of the Lord;
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation and He built His sanctuary like the heights, to order it and establish it with Judgment and Justice, Everyone has seen it; Man looks on it from afar.
“Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; Nor can the number of His years be discovered. All things were created through Him and for Him.
Remember me,
O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its services! Who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. On the Rock, it dwells and resides, On the crag of the Rock and the Stronghold be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights!
“Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights and see His going forth is established as The Morning, and Jesus who is called Justus. He will come to us like the rain, like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, that tarry for no man
Nor wait for the sons of men.
I will awaken the dawn. And in The Morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ But the path of The Just is like the shining sun,That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. if he comes to you, welcome him, For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance. The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the Tabernacle of Meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be Just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts;
Stir up Yourself, and awake to my vindication, To my cause, my God and my Lord. He will again have compassion on us, He does not retain His anger forever,
... To Him who made great lights,For His mercy endures forever--
(The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely the people are grass.)
“It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I am their inheritance. You shall give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.
I have heard a message from the Lord, And an ambassador has been sent to the nations:
“Gather together, come against her, And rise up to battle!
For by fire and by His sword The Lord will judge all flesh; And the slain of the Lord shall be many.
I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God,
“Thus, will I accomplish My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it with untempered mortar; and I will say to you, ‘The wall is no more, nor those who plastered it, that is, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,’” says the Lord God.
I cried to the Lord with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah
They cried there, ‘Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a noise. He has passed by the appointed time!’
“Hear my prayer, O Lord, And give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner, as all my fathers were.
Remember me, O my God, for good!
“Even the stork in the heavens Knows her appointed times; And the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow Observe the time of their coming. But My people do not know the judgment of the Lord.
‘I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. As often as it goes out it will take you; For morning by morning it will pass over, And by day and by night;
It will be a terror just to understand the report.”
And so it shall be: Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench; Instead of well-set hair, baldness.
“In that day,” says the Lord, “I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcast And those whom I have afflicted;
Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?
knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon!
…Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’ Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?”
Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.
x“But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen,The descendants of Abraham My friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions.
The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.
I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes:
Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?”
And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is Wonderful?”
For your Maker is your husband,The Lord of Hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called The God of the whole earth.
He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.
...And His name is called The Word of God.
The Two Woes
Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law.
One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.
And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice,
“Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”
Then the escorts stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, all around the king, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, by the altar and the house And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.
The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads. And under the firmament their wings spread out straight, one toward another.
Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two which covered the other side of the body. When they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings.
We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.”
Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.”
Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
….. But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”
Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil, has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
So I said, “Where are you going?”
And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”
I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. Clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars:
“I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”
Joy and gladness are taken From the plentiful field And from the land of Moab;
I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses; No one will tread with joyous shouting--
Not joyous shouting!
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”
And He who sat there was like a jasper and a Sardis stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!
Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw—like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. And the glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east.
And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to melt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. No flesh shall have peace. As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have poured out My fury on you.’” for by the works of the Law no flesh shall be justified.
...Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.
Moreover, I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, Also the Lord tells you that He will make you a house.
Therefore, let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Therefore, by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure,for if you do these things you will never stumble.
In the morning sow your seed. In the day, you will make your plant to grow, And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish. And in the evening do not withhold your hand; Therefore you will plant pleasant plants And set out foreign seedlings;
For you do not know which will prosper, Either this or that, Or whether both alike will be good. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.
…Hypocrites!
You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.
Selah!
I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
HOLINESS IS HIS NAME
(And desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, And the mourners go about the streets.)
Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses, At the openings of the gates in the city She speaks her words:
“How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.
And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice,
“Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”
Then the escorts stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, all around the king, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, by the altar and the house And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.
The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads. And under the firmament their wings spread out straight, one toward another.
Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two which covered the other side of the body. When they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings.
We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.”
Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.”
Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
….. But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”
- If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
- If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
- If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.
Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil, has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
So I said, “Where are you going?”
And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”
I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. Clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars:
“I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”
Joy and gladness are taken From the plentiful field And from the land of Moab;
I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses; No one will tread with joyous shouting--
Not joyous shouting!
- “From the cry of Heshbon
- to Elealeh and
- to Jahaz They have uttered their voice,
- From Zoar to
- Horonaim, Like a three-year-old heifer;
- For the waters of Nimrim also shall be desolate.
- “Moreover,” says the Lord, “I will cause to cease in Moab The one who offers sacrifices in the high places And burns incense to his gods.
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”
And He who sat there was like a jasper and a Sardis stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!
Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw—like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. And the glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east.
And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to melt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. No flesh shall have peace. As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have poured out My fury on you.’” for by the works of the Law no flesh shall be justified.
...Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.
Moreover, I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, Also the Lord tells you that He will make you a house.
Therefore, let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Therefore, by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure,for if you do these things you will never stumble.
In the morning sow your seed. In the day, you will make your plant to grow, And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish. And in the evening do not withhold your hand; Therefore you will plant pleasant plants And set out foreign seedlings;
For you do not know which will prosper, Either this or that, Or whether both alike will be good. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.
…Hypocrites!
You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.
Selah!
I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
HOLINESS IS HIS NAME
(And desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, And the mourners go about the streets.)
Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses, At the openings of the gates in the city She speaks her words:
“How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.
When he had come near to her, the woman said, “Are you Joab?”
He answered, “I am.”
Then she said to him, “Hear the words of your maidservant.”
And he answered, “I am listening.”
So she spoke, saying, “They used to talk in former times, saying, ‘They shall surely seek guidance at Abel,’ and so they would end disputes. I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?”
When he had come near to her, the woman said, “Are you Joab?”
He answered, “I am.”
Then she said to him, “Hear the words of your maidservant.”
And he answered, “I am listening.”
So she spoke, saying, “They used to talk in former times, saying, ‘They shall surely seek guidance at Abel,’ and so they would end disputes. I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?”
The Eagles and the Vine
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
“Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel,
and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
“A great eagle with large wings and long pinions,
Full of feathers of various colors,
Came to Lebanon
And took from the cedar the highest branch.
He cropped off its topmost young twig
And carried it to a land of trade;
He set it in a city of merchants.
Then he took some of the seed of the land
And planted it in a fertile field;
He placed it by abundant waters
And set it like a willow tree.
And it grew and became a spreading vine of low stature;
Its branches turned toward him,
But its roots were under it.
So it became a vine,
Brought forth branches,
And put forth shoots.
“But there was another great eagle with large wings and many feathers;
And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him,
And stretched its branches toward him,
From the garden terrace where it had been planted,
That he might water it.
It was planted in good soil by many waters,
To bring forth branches, bear fruit,
And become a majestic vine.”’
“Say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
“Will it thrive?
Will he not pull up its roots,
Cut off its fruit,
And leave it to wither?
All of its spring leaves will wither,
And no great power or many people
Will be needed to pluck it up by its roots.
Behold, it is planted,
Will it thrive?
Will it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it?
It will wither in the garden terrace where it grew.”’”
Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
“Say now to the rebellious house:
‘Do you not know what these things mean?’
There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Yes, four which I do not understand:
The Parable of the Growing Seed
And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself:
And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself:
- first the blade,
- then the head,
- after that the full grain in the head.
For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces. Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.
“Woe to the worthless shepherd,Who leaves the flock!
A sword shall be against his arm And against his right eye; His arm shall completely wither, And his right eye shall be totally blinded.”
“Woe to the worthless shepherd,Who leaves the flock!
A sword shall be against his arm And against his right eye; His arm shall completely wither, And his right eye shall be totally blinded.”
Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. 01/01/2017 This page may be subject to frequent updates as the the spirits moves, Peace, love and mercy. (WIP) still underconstruction wip