# t_bbe

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On that day there was a reading from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and they saw that it said in the book that no Ammonite or Moabite might ever come into the meeting of God;


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Because they did not give the children of Israel bread and water when they came to them, but got Balaam to put a curse on them: though the curse was turned into a blessing by our God.


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Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who had been placed over the rooms of the house of our God, being a friend of Tobiah,


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Had made ready for him a great room, where at one time they kept the meal offerings, the perfume, and the vessels and the tenths of the grain and wine and oil which were given by order to the Levites and the music-makers and the door-keepers, and the lifted offerings for the priests.


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But all this time I was not at Jerusalem: for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I went to the king; and after some days, I got the king to let me go,


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And I came to Jerusalem; and it was clear to me what evil Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in making ready for him a room in the buildings of the house of God.


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Then I gave orders, and they made the rooms clean: and I put back in them the vessels of the house of God, with the meal offerings and the perfume.


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And I saw that the Levites had not been given what was needed for their support; so that the Levites and the music-makers, who did the work, had gone away, everyone to his field.


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Then I made protests to the chiefs, and said, Why has the house of God been given up? And I got them together and put them in their places.


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Then all Judah came with the tenth part of the grain and wine and oil and put it into the store-houses.


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And I made controllers over the store-houses, Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and with them was Hanan, the son of Zaccur the son of Mattaniah: they were taken to be true men and their business was the distribution of these things to their brothers.


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Keep me in mind, O my God, in connection with this, and do not let the good which I have done for the house of my God and its worship go from your memory completely.


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In those days, I saw in Judah some who were crushing grapes on the Sabbath, and getting in grain and putting it on asses; as well as wine and grapes and figs and all sorts of goods which they took into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day: and I gave witness against them on the day when they were marketing food.


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And there were men of Tyre there, who came with fish and all sorts of goods, trading with the children of Judah and in Jerusalem on the Sabbath.


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Then I made protests to the chiefs of Judah, and said to them, What is this evil which you are doing, not keeping the Sabbath day holy?


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Did not your fathers do the same, and did not our God send all this evil on us and on this town? but you are causing more wrath to come on Israel by not keeping the Sabbath holy.


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And so, when the streets of Jerusalem were getting dark before the Sabbath, I gave orders for the doors to be shut and not to be open again till after the Sabbath: and I put some of my servants by the door so that nothing might be taken in on the Sabbath day.


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Then I gave witness against them and said, Why are you waiting all night by the wall? if you do so again I will have you taken prisoners. From that time they did not come again on the Sabbath.


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And I gave the Levites orders to make themselves clean and come and keep the doors and make the Sabbath holy. Keep this in mind to my credit, O my God, and have mercy on me, for great is your mercy.


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And their children were talking half in the language of Ashdod; they had no knowledge of the Jews' language, but made use of the language of the two peoples.


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And I took up the cause against them, cursing them and giving blows to some of them and pulling out their hair; and I made them take an oath by God, saying, You are not to give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.


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Was it not in these things that Solomon, king of Israel, did wrong? among a number of nations there was no king like him, and he was dear to his God, and God made him king over all Israel: but even he was made to do evil by strange women.


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Are we then without protest to let you do all this great evil, sinning against our God by taking strange women for your wives?


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And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the chief priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite: so I sent him away from me.


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Keep them in mind, O my God, because they have put shame on the priests' name and on the agreement of the priests and the Levites.


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So I made them clean from all strange people, and had regular watches fixed for the priests and for the Levites, everyone in his work;


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And for the wood offering, at fixed times, and for the first fruits. Keep me in mind, O my God, for good.


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Now it came about in the days of Ahasuerus, (that Ahasuerus who was ruler of a hundred and twenty-seven divisions of the kingdom, from India as far as Ethiopia:)


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In the third year of his rule he gave a feast to all his captains and his servants; and the captains of the army of Persia and Media, the great men and the rulers of the divisions of his kingdom, were present before him;


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And for a long time, even a hundred and eighty days, he let them see all the wealth and the glory of his kingdom and the great power and honour which were his.


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And at the end of that time, the king gave a feast for all the people who were present in Shushan, the king's town, small as well as great, for seven days, in the outer square of the garden of the king's house.


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There were fair hangings of white and green and blue, fixed with cords of purple and the best linen to silver rings and pillars of polished stone: the seats were of gold and silver on a floor of red and white and yellow and black stone.


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And they gave them drink in gold vessels, every vessel being different, and wine of the kingdom, freely given by the king.


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And the drinking was in keeping with the law; no one was forced: for the king had given orders to all the chief servants of his house to do as was pleasing to every man.


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On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was glad with wine, he gave orders to Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven unsexed servants who were waiting before Ahasuerus the king,


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That Vashti the queen was to come before him, crowned with her crown, and let the people and the captains see her: for she was very beautiful.


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But when the servants gave her the king's order, Vashti the queen said she would not come: then the king was very angry, and his heart was burning with wrath.


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And the king said to the wise men, who had knowledge of the times, (for this was the king's way with all who were expert in law and in the giving of decisions:


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And second only to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven rulers of Persia and Media, who were friends of the king, and had the first places in the kingdom:)


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What is to be done by law to Vashti the queen, because she has not done what King Ahasuerus, by his servants, gave her orders to do?


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And before the king and the captains, Memucan gave his answer: Vashti the queen has done wrong, not only to the king, but to all the captains and to all the peoples in all the divisions of the kingdom of King Ahasuerus;


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For news of what the queen has done will come to the ears of all women, and they will no longer give respect to their husbands when it is said to them, King Ahasuerus gave orders for Vashti the queen to come before him and she came not.


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And the wives of the captains of Persia and Media, hearing what the queen has done, will say the same to all the king's captains. So there will be much shame and wrath.


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If it is pleasing to the king, let an order go out from him, and let it be recorded among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it may never be changed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her place to another who is better than she.


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And when this order, given by the king, is made public through all his kingdom (for it is great), all the wives will give honour to their husbands, great as well as small.


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And sent letters to all the divisions of the kingdom, to every division in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in the language which was theirs, saying that every man was to be the ruler in his house, and that this order was to be given out in the language of his people.


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After these things, when the king's feelings were calmer, the thought of Vashti and what she had done and the order he had made against her, came back to his mind.


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Then the servants who were waiting on the king said to him, Let search be made for some fair young virgins for the king:


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Let the king give authority to certain men in all the divisions of his kingdom, to get together all the fair young virgins and send them to Shushan, the king's town, to the women's house, under the care of Hegai, the king's servant, the keeper of the women: and let the things needed for making them clean be given to them;


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And let the girl who is pleasing to the king be queen in place of Vashti. And the king was pleased with this suggestion; and he did so.


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Now there was a certain Jew in Shushan named Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;


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Who had been taken away from Jerusalem among those who had been made prisoner with Jeconiah, king of Judah, when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken him away.


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And he had been a father to Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his father's brother: for she had no father or mother, and she was very beautiful; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his daughter.


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So when the order made by the king was publicly given out, and a number of girls had been placed in the care of Hegai in the king's house in Shushan, Esther was taken into the king's house and put in the care of Hegai, the keeper of the women.


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And he was pleased with the girl and was kind to her; and he quickly gave her what was needed for making her clean, and the things which were hers by right, and seven servant-girls who were to be hers from the king's house: and he had her and her servant-girls moved to the best place in the women's part of the house.


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Esther had not said what family or people she came from, for Mordecai had given her orders not to do so.


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And every day Mordecai took his walk before the square of the women's house, to see how Esther was and what would be done to her.


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Now every girl, when her turn came, had to go in to King Ahasuerus, after undergoing, for a space of twelve months, what was ordered by the law for the women (for this was the time necessary for making them clean, that is, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with sweet perfumes and such things as are needed for making women clean):


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And in this way the girl went in to the king; whatever she had a desire for was given to her to take with her from the women's house into the house of the king.


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In the evening she went, and on the day after she came back to the second house of the women, into the keeping of Shaashgaz, one of the king's unsexed servants who had the care of the king's wives: only if the king had delight in her and sent for her by name did she go in to him again.


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Now when the time came for Esther, the daughter of Abihail, his father's brother, whom Mordecai had taken as his daughter, to go in to the king, she made request for nothing but what Hegai, the king's servant and keeper of the women, had given her. And Esther was looked on kindly by all who saw her.


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So Esther was taken in to King Ahasuerus in his house in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his rule.


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And Esther was more pleasing to the king than all the women, and to his eyes she was fairer and more full of grace than all the other virgins: so he put his crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.


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Then the king gave a great feast for all his captains and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he gave orders through all the divisions of his kingdom for a day of rest from work, and gave wealth from his store.


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And when the virgins came together in the second house of the women, Mordecai took his seat in the doorway of the king's house.


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Esther had still said nothing of her family or her people, as Mordecai had given her orders; for Esther did what Mordecai said, as when she was living with him.


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In those days, while Mordecai was seated at the king's doorway, two of the king's servants, Bigthan and Teresh, keepers of the door, being angry, were looking for a chance to make an attack on King Ahasuerus.


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And Mordecai, having knowledge of their purpose, sent word of it to Esther the queen; and Esther gave the news to the king in Mordecai's name.


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And when the thing had been looked into, it was seen to be true, and the two of them were put to death by hanging on a tree: and it was put down in the records before the king.


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After these things, by the order of the king, Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, was lifted up and given a position of honour and a higher place than all the other captains who were with him.


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And all the king's servants who were in the king's house went down to the earth before Haman and gave him honour: for so the king had given orders. But Mordecai did not go down before him or give him honour.


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Then the king's servants who were in the king's house said to Mordecai, Why do you go against the king's order?


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Now when they had said this to him day after day and he gave no attention, they let Haman have news of it, to see if Mordecai's behaviour would be overlooked: for he had said to them that he was a Jew.


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And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not go down before him and give him honour, Haman was full of wrath.


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But it was not enough for him to make an attack on Mordecai only; for they had made clear to him who Mordecai's people were; so Haman made it his purpose to put an end to all the Jews, even Mordecai's people, through all the kingdom of Ahasuerus.


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In the first month, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, from day to day and from month to month they went on looking for a sign given by Pur (that is chance) before Haman, till the sign came out for the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar.


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And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a certain nation living here and there in small groups among the people in all the divisions of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of any other nation, and they do not keep the king's laws: for this reason it is not right for the king to let them be.


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If it is the king's pleasure, let a statement ordering their destruction be put in writing: and I will give to those responsible for the king's business, ten thousand talents of silver for the king's store-house.


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And the king took his ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the hater of the Jews.


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And the king said to Haman, The money is yours, and the people, to do with them whatever seems right to you.


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Then on the thirteenth day of the first month, the king's scribes were sent for, and they put in writing Haman's orders to all the king's captains and the rulers of every division of his kingdom and the chiefs of every people: for every division of the kingdom in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in the language which was theirs; it was signed in the name of King Ahasuerus and stamped with the king's ring.


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And letters were sent by the runners into every division of the kingdom ordering the death and destruction of all Jews, young and old, little children and women, on the same day, even the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar, and the taking of all their goods by force.


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A copy of the writing, to be made public in every part of the kingdom, was sent out to all the peoples, so that they might be ready when that day came.


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The runners went out quickly by the king's order, and a public statement was made in Shushan: and the king and Haman took wine together: but the town of Shushan was troubled.


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Now when Mordecai saw what was done, pulling off his robe, he put on haircloth, with dust on his head, and went out into the middle of the town, crying out with a loud and bitter cry.


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And he came even before the king's doorway; for no one might come inside the king's door clothed in haircloth.


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And in every part of the kingdom, wherever the king's word and his order came, there was great sorrow among the Jews, and weeping and crying and going without food; and numbers of them were stretched on the earth covered with dust and haircloth.


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And Esther's women and her servants came and gave her word of it. Then great was the grief of the queen: and she sent robes for Mordecai, so that his clothing of haircloth might be taken off; but he would not have them.


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Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king's unsexed servants whom he had given her for waiting on her, and she gave him orders to go to Mordecai and see what this was and why it was.


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And Mordecai gave him an account of what had taken place, and of the amount of money which Haman had said he would put into the king's store for the destruction of the Jews.


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And he gave him the copy of the order which had been given out in Shushan for their destruction, ordering him to let Esther see it, and to make it clear to her; and to say to her that she was to go in to the king, requesting his mercy, and making prayer for her people.


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It is common knowledge among all the king's servants and the people of every part of the kingdom, that if anyone, man or woman, comes to the king in his inner room without being sent for, there is only one law for him, that he is to be put to death; only those to whom the king's rod of gold is stretched out may keep their lives: but I have not been sent for to come before the king these thirty days.


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Then Mordecai sent this answer back to Esther: Do not have the idea that you in the king's house will be safe from the fate of all the Jews.


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If at this time you say nothing, then help and salvation will come to the Jews from some other place, but you and your father's family will come to destruction: and who is to say that you have not come to the kingdom even for such a time as this?


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Go, get together all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and go without food for me, taking no food or drink night or day for three days: and I and my women will do the same; and so I will go in to the king, which is against the law: and if death is to be my fate, then let it come.


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Now on the third day, Esther put on her queen's robes, and took her place in the inner room of the king's house, facing the king's house: and the king was seated on his high seat in the king's house, facing the doorway of the house.


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And when the king saw Esther the queen waiting in the inner room, looking kindly on her he put out the rod of gold in his hand to her. So Esther came near and put her fingers on the top of the rod.


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Then the king said, What is your desire, Queen Esther, and what is your request? I will give it to you, even to the half of my kingdom.


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And Esther in answer said, If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the feast which I have made ready for him.


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Then the king said, Let Haman come quickly, so that what Esther has said may be done. So the king and Haman came to the feast which Esther had made ready.


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And while they were drinking wine the king said to Esther, What is your prayer? for it will be given to you and what is your request? for it will be done, even to the half of my kingdom.


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If I have the king's approval, and if it is the king's pleasure to give me my prayer and do my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast which I will make ready for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.


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Then on that day Haman went out full of joy and glad in heart; but when he saw Mordecai in the king's doorway, and he did not get to his feet or give any sign of fear before him, Haman was full of wrath against Mordecai.


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And he gave them an account of the glories of his wealth, and the number of children he had, and the ways in which he had been honoured by the king, and how he had put him over the captains and servants of the king.


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And Haman said further, Truly, Esther the queen let no man but myself come in to the feast which she had made ready for the king; and tomorrow again I am to be her guest with the king.


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Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, Let a pillar, fifty cubits high, be made ready for hanging him, and in the morning get the king to give orders for the hanging of Mordecai: then you will be able to go to the feast with the king with a glad heart. And Haman was pleased with the suggestion, and he had the pillar made.


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That night the king was unable to get any sleep; and he sent for the books of the records; and while some one was reading them to the king,


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It came out that it was recorded in the book how Mordecai had given word of the designs of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's servants, keepers of the door, by whom an attack on the king had been designed.


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And the king said, What honour and reward have been given to Mordecai for this? Then the servants who were waiting on the king said, Nothing has been done for him.


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Then the king said, Who is in the outer room? Now Haman had come into the outer room to get the king's authority for the hanging of Mordecai on the pillar which he had made ready for him.


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And the king's servants said to him, See, Haman is waiting in the outer room. And the king said, Let him come in.


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So Haman came in. And the king said to him, What is to be done to the man whom the king has delight in honouring? Then the thought came into Haman's mind, Whom, more than myself, would the king have pleasure in honouring?


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Let them take the robes which the king generally puts on, and the horse on which the king goes, and the crown which is on his head:


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And let the robes and the horse be given to one of the king's most noble captains, so that they may put them on the man whom the king has delight in honouring, and let him go on horseback through the streets of the town, with men crying out before him, So let it be done to the man whom the king has delight in honouring.


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Then the king said to Haman, Go quickly, and take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, who is seated at the king's doorway: see that you do everything as you have said.


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Then Haman took the robes and the horse, and dressing Mordecai in the robes, he made him go on horseback through the streets of the town, crying out before him, So let it be done to the man whom the king has delight in honouring.


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And Mordecai came back to the king's doorway. But Haman went quickly back to his house, sad and with his head covered.


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And Haman gave his wife Zeresh and all his friends an account of what had taken place. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, If Mordecai, who is starting to get the better of you, is of the seed of the Jews, you will not be able to do anything against him, but you will certainly go down before him.


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While they were still talking, the king's servants came to take Haman to the feast which Esther had made ready.


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And the king said to Esther again on the second day, while they were drinking, What is your prayer, Queen Esther? for it will be given to you; and what is your request? for it will be done, even to the half of my kingdom.


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Then Esther the queen, answering, said, If I have your approval, O king, and if it is the king's pleasure, let my life be given to me in answer to my prayer, and my people at my request:


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For we are given up, I and my people, to destruction and death and to be cut off. If we had been taken as men-servants and women-servants for a price, I would have said nothing, for our trouble is little in comparison with the king's loss.


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Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, Who is he and where is he who has had this evil thought in his heart?


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And Esther said, Our hater and attacker is this evil Haman. Then Haman was full of fear before the king and the queen.


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And the king in his wrath got up from the feast and went into the garden: and Haman got to his feet to make a prayer for his life to Esther the queen: for he saw that the king's purpose was evil against him.


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Then the king came back from the garden into the room where they had been drinking; and Haman was stretched out on the seat where Esther was. Then the king said, Is he taking the queen by force before my eyes in my house? And while the words were on the king's lips, they put a cloth over Haman's face.


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Then Harbonah, one of the unsexed servants waiting before the king, said, See, the pillar fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who said a good word for the king, is still in its place in Haman's house. Then the king said, Put him to death by hanging him on it.


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So Haman was put to death by hanging him on the pillar he had made for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath became less.


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That day the king gave all the family of Haman, the hater of the Jews, to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had made clear what he was to her.


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And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther put Mordecai over the family of Haman.


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Then Esther again came before the king, falling down at his feet, and made request to him with weeping, that he would put a stop to the evil purposes of Haman the Agagite and the designs which he had made against the Jews.


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And she said, If it is the king's pleasure and if I have his approval and this thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing to him, then let letters be sent giving orders against those which Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, sent out for the destruction of the Jews in all divisions of the kingdom:


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For how is it possible for me to see the evil which is to overtake my nation? how may I see the destruction of my people?


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Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, See now, I have given Esther the family of Haman, and he has come to his death by hanging, because he made an attack on the Jews.


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So now send a letter about the Jews, writing whatever seems good to you, in the king's name, and stamping it with the king's ring: for a writing signed in the king's name and stamped with the king's ring may not be changed.


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Then at that time, on the twenty-third day of the third month, which is the month Sivan, the king's scribes were sent for; and everything ordered by Mordecai was put in writing and sent to the Jews and the captains and the rulers and the chiefs of all the divisions of the kingdom from India to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven divisions, to every division in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in their language, and to the Jews in their writing and their language.


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The letters were sent in the name of King Ahasuerus and stamped with his ring, and they were taken by men on horseback, going on the quick-running horses used for the king's business, the offspring of his best horses:


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In these letters the king gave authority to the Jews in every town to come together and make a fight for their lives, and to send death and destruction on the power of any people in any part of the kingdom attacking them or their children or their women, and to take their goods from them by force,


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On one day in every division of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, that is, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar.


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A copy of the writing, to be made public as an order in every division of the kingdom, was given out to all the peoples, so that the Jews might be ready when that day came to give punishment to their haters.


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So the men went out on the quick-running horses used on the king's business, wasting no time and forced on by the king's order; and the order was given out in Shushan, the king's town.


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And Mordecai went out from before the king, dressed in king-like robes of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold and clothing of purple and the best linen: and all the town of Shushan gave loud cries of joy.


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And in every part of the kingdom and in every town, wherever the king's letter and his order came, the Jews were glad with great joy, and had a feast and a good day. And a great number of the people of the land became Jews: for the fear of the Jews had come on them.


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Now on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, when the time came for the king's order to be put into effect, on the very day when the haters of the Jews had been hoping to have rule over them; though the opposite had come about, and the Jews had rule over their haters;


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On that day, the Jews came together in their towns through all the divisions of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, for the purpose of attacking all those who were attempting evil against them: and everyone had to give way before them, for the fear of them had come on all the peoples.


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And all the chiefs and the captains and the rulers and those who did the king's business gave support to the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai had come on them.


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For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and word of him went out through every part of the kingdom: for the man Mordecai became greater and greater.


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So the Jews overcame all their attackers with the sword and with death and destruction, and did to their haters whatever they had a desire to do.


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The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the hater of the Jews; but they put not a hand on any of their goods.


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On that day the number of those who had been put to death in the town of Shushan was given to the king.


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And the king said to Esther the queen, The Jews have put five hundred men to death in Shushan, as well as the ten sons of Haman: what then have they done in the rest of the kingdom! Now what is your prayer? for it will be given to you; what other request have you? and it will be done.


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Then Esther said, If it is the king's pleasure, let authority be given to the Jews in Shushan to do tomorrow as has been done today, and let orders be given for the hanging of Haman's ten sons.


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And the king said that this was to be done, and the order was given out in Shushan, and the hanging of Haman's ten sons was effected.


t:
For the Jews who were in Shushan came together again on the fourteenth day of the month Adar and put to death three hundred men in Shushan; but they put not a hand on their goods.


t:
And the other Jews in every division of the kingdom came together, fighting for their lives, and got salvation from their haters and put seventy-five thousand of them to death; but they did not put a hand on their goods.


t:
This they did on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same month they took their rest, and made it a day of feasting and joy.


t:
But the Jews in Shushan came together on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth day of the month; and on the fifteenth day they took their rest, and made it a day of feasting and joy.


t:
So the Jews of the country places living in unwalled towns make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of feasting and joy and a good day, a day for sending offerings one to another.


t:
And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in every division of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, near and far,


t:
Ordering them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and the fifteenth day of the same month, every year,


t:
As days on which the Jews had rest from their haters, and the month which for them was turned from sorrow to joy, and from weeping to a good day: and that they were to keep them as days of feasting and joy, of sending offerings to one another and good things to the poor.


t:
And the Jews gave their word to go on as they had been doing and as Mordecai had given them orders in writing;


t:
Because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the hater of all the Jews, had made designs for their destruction, attempting to get a decision by Pur (that is, chance) with a view to putting an end to them and cutting them off;


t:
But when the business was put before the king, he gave orders by letters that the evil design which he had made against the Jews was to be turned against himself; and that he and his sons were to be put to death by hanging.


t:
So these days were named Purim, after the name of Pur. And so, because of the words of this letter, and of what they had seen in connection with this business, and what had come to them,


t:
The Jews made a rule and gave an undertaking, causing their seed and all those who were joined to them to do the same, so that it might be in force for ever, that they would keep those two days, as ordered in the letter, at the fixed time every year;


t:
And that those days were to be kept in memory through every generation and every family, in every division of the kingdom and every town, that there might never be a time when these days of Purim would not be kept among the Jews, or when the memory of them would go from the minds of their seed.


t:
Then Esther the queen, daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, sent a second letter giving the force of their authority to the order about the Purim.


t:
And he sent letters to all the Jews in the hundred and twenty-seven divisions of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with true words of peace,


t:
Giving the force of law to these days of Purim at their fixed times, as they had been ordered by Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen, and in keeping with the rules they had made for themselves and their seed, in connection with their time of going without food and their cry for help.


t:
The order given by Esther gave the force of law to the rules about the Purim; and it was recorded in the book.


t:
And all his acts of power and his great strength and the full story of the high place which the king gave Mordecai, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Media and Persia?


t:
For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and respected by the body of his countrymen; working for the good of his people, and saying words of peace to all his seed.


t:
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. He was without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil.


t:
And of cattle he had seven thousand sheep and goats, and three thousand camels, and a thousand oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great number of servants. And the man was greater than any of the sons of the east.


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His sons regularly went to one another's houses, and every one on his day gave a feast: and at these times they sent for their three sisters to take part in their feasts with them.


t:
And at the end of their days of feasting, Job sent and made them clean, getting up early in the morning and offering burned offerings for them all. For, Job said, It may be that my sons have done wrong and said evil of God in their hearts. And Job did this whenever the feasts came round.


t:
And there was a day when the sons of the gods came together before the Lord, and the Satan came with them.


t:
And the Lord said to the Satan, Where do you come from? And the Satan said in answer, From wandering this way and that on the earth, and walking about on it.


t:
And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil?


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Have you yourself not put a wall round him and his house and all he has on every side, blessing the work of his hands, and increasing his cattle in the land?


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And the Lord said to the Satan, See, I give all he has into your hands, only do not put a finger on the man himself. And the Satan went out from before the Lord.


t:
And a man came to Job, and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses were taking their food by their side:


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And the men of Sheba came against them and took them away, putting the young men to the sword, and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.


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And this one was still talking when another came, and said, The fire of God came down from heaven, burning up the sheep and the goats and the young men completely, and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.


t:
And this one was still talking when another came, and said, The Chaldaeans made themselves into three bands, and came down on the camels and took them away, putting the young men to the sword, and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.


t:
And this one was still talking when another came, and said, Your sons and your daughters were feasting together in their oldest brother's house,


t:
When a great wind came rushing from the waste land against the four sides of the house, and it came down on the young men, and they are dead; and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.


t:
Then Job got up, and after parting his clothing and cutting off his hair, he went down on his face to the earth, and gave worship, and said,


t:
With nothing I came out of my mother's body, and with nothing I will go back there; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; let the Lord's name be praised.


t:
And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil? and he still keeps his righteousness, though you have been moving me to send destruction on him without cause.


t:
But now, if you only put your hand on his bone and his flesh, he will certainly be cursing you to your face.


t:
And the Satan went out from before the Lord, and sent on Job an evil disease covering his skin from his feet to the top of his head.


t:
And he took a broken bit of a pot, and, seated in the dust, was rubbing himself with the sharp edge of it.


t:
And his wife said to him, Are you still keeping your righteousness? Say a curse against God, and put an end to yourself.


t:
And he said to her, You are talking like one of the foolish women. If we take the good God sends us, are we not to take the evil when it comes? In all this Job kept his lips from sin.


t:
And Job's three friends had word of all this evil which had come on him. And they came every one from his place, Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. So they came together to a meeting-place, in order that they might go and make clear to Job their grief for him, and give him comfort.


t:
And lifting up their eyes when they were still far off, it did not seem that the man they saw was Job because of the change in him. And they gave way to bitter weeping, with signs of grief, and put dust on their heads.


t:
And they took their seats on the earth by his side for seven days and seven nights: but no one said a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.


t:
Let destruction take the day of my birth, and the night on which it was said, A man child has come into the world.


t:
That day--let it be dark; let not God take note of it from on high, and let not the light be shining on it;


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Let the dark and the black night take it for themselves; let it be covered with a cloud; let the dark shades of day send fear on it.


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That night--let the thick dark take it; let it not have joy among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.


t:
Let its morning stars be dark; let it be looking for light, but may it not have any; let it not see the eyes of the dawn.


t:
Because it did not keep the doors of my mother's body shut, so that trouble might be veiled from my eyes.


t:
Why did death not take me when I came out of my mother's body, why did I not, when I came out, give up my last breath?


t:
Or as a child dead at birth I might never have come into existence; like young children who have not seen the light.


t:
To those whose desire is for death, but it comes not; who are searching for it more than for secret wealth;


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If one says a word, will it be a weariness to you? but who is able to keep from saying what is in his mind?


t:
He who was near to falling has been lifted up by your words, and you have given strength to bent knees.


t:
But now it has come on you and it is a weariness to you; you are touched by it and your mind is troubled.


t:
What I have seen is that those by whom trouble has been ploughed, and evil planted, get the same for themselves.


t:
Though the noise of the lion and the sounding of his voice, may be loud, the teeth of the young lions are broken.


t:
The old lion comes to his end for need of food, and the young of the she-lion go wandering in all directions.


t:
Something was present before me, but I was not able to see it clearly; there was a form before my eyes: a quiet voice came to my ears, saying:


t:
How much more those living in houses of earth, whose bases are in the dust! They are crushed more quickly than an insect;


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Between morning and evening they are completely broken; they come to an end for ever, and no one takes note.


t:
Give now a cry for help; is there anyone who will give you an answer? and to which of the holy ones will you make your prayer?


t:
For wrath is the cause of death to the foolish, and he who has no wisdom comes to his end through passion.


t:
Now his children have no safe place, and they are crushed before the judges, for no one takes up their cause.


t:
Their produce is taken by him who has no food, and their grain goes to the poor, and he who is in need of water gets it from their spring.


t:
Who makes the designs of the wise go wrong, so that they are unable to give effect to their purposes.


t:
In the daytime it becomes dark for them, and in the sunlight they go feeling about as if it was night.


t:
But he keeps safe from their sword those who have no father, and the poor from the power of the strong.


t:
Truly, that man is happy who has training from the hand of God: so do not let your heart be shut to the teaching of the Ruler of all.


t:
For you will be in agreement with the stones of the earth, and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.


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And you will be certain that your tent is at peace, and after looking over your property you will see that nothing is gone.


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You will come to your last resting-place in full strength, as the grain is taken up to the crushing-floor in its time.


t:
See, we have made search with care, and it is so; it has come to our ears; see that you take note of it for yourself.


t:
For then its weight would be more than the sand of the seas: because of this my words have been uncontrolled.


t:
For the arrows of the Ruler of all are present with me, and their poison goes deep into my spirit: his army of fears is put in order against me.


t:
Does the ass of the fields give out his voice when he has grass? or does the ox make sounds over his food?


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Will a man take food which has no taste without salt? or is there any taste in the soft substance of purslain?


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If only he would be pleased to put an end to me; and would let loose his hand, so that I might be cut off!


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So I would still have comfort, and I would have joy in the pains of death, for I have not been false to the words of the Holy One.


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Or, Get me out of the power of my hater? or, Give money so that I may be free from the power of the cruel ones?


t:
Truly, you are such as would give up the child of a dead man to his creditors, and would make a profit out of your friend.


t:
Let your minds be changed, and do not have an evil opinion of me; yes, be changed, for my righteousness is still in me.


t:
Has not man his ordered time of trouble on the earth? and are not his days like the days of a servant working for payment?


t:
When I go to my bed, I say, When will it be time to get up? but the night is long, and I am turning from side to side till morning light.


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The eye of him who sees me will see me no longer: your eyes will be looking for me, but I will be gone.


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So I will not keep my mouth shut; I will let the words come from it in the pain of my spirit, my soul will make a bitter outcry.


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I have no desire for life, I would not be living for ever! Keep away from me, for my days are as a breath.


t:
How long will it be before your eyes are turned away from me, so that I may have a minute's breathing-space?


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If I have done wrong, what have I done to you, O keeper of men? why have you made me a mark for your blows, so that I am a weariness to myself?


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And why do you not take away my sin, and let my wrongdoing be ended? for now I go down to the dust, and you will be searching for me with care, but I will be gone.


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How long will you say these things, and how long will the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?


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If you are clean and upright; then he will certainly be moved to take up your cause, and will make clear your righteousness by building up your house again.


t:
Put the question now to the past generations, and give attention to what has been searched out by their fathers:


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(For we are but of yesterday, and have no knowledge, because our days on earth are gone like a shade:)


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He is looking to his family for support, but it is not there; he puts his hope in it, but it comes to nothing.


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The time will come when your mouth will be full of laughing, and cries of joy will come from your lips.


t:
If a man was desiring to go to law with him, he would not be able to give him an answer to one out of a thousand questions.


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He is wise in heart and great in strength: who ever made his face hard against him, and any good came of it?


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If he puts out his hand to take, by whom may it be turned back? who may say to him, What are you doing?


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Even if my cause was good, I would not be able to give an answer; I would make request for grace from him who was against me.


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If I had sent for him to be present, and he had come, I would have no faith that he would give ear to my voice.


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If it is a question of strength, he says, Here I am! and if it is a question of a cause at law, he says, Who will give me a fixed day?


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Though I was in the right, he would say that I was in the wrong; I have done no evil; but he says that I am a sinner.


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It is all the same to me; so I say, He puts an end to the sinner and to him who has done no wrong together.


t:
If death comes suddenly through disease, he makes sport of the fate of those who have done no wrong.


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The land is given into the power of the evil-doer; the faces of its judges are covered; if not by him, then who has done it?


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If I say, I will put my grief out of mind, I will let my face be sad no longer and I will be bright;


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For he is not a man as I am, that I might give him an answer, that we might come together before a judge.


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My soul is tired of life; I will let my sad thoughts go free in words; my soul will make a bitter outcry.


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What profit is it to you to be cruel, to give up the work of your hands, looking kindly on the design of evil-doers?


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Though you see that I am not an evil-doer; and there is no one who is able to take a man out of your hands?


t:
Your hands made me, and I was formed by you, but then, changing your purpose, you gave me up to destruction.


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That, if I was an evil-doer, the curse would come on me; and if I was upright, my head would not be lifted up, being full of shame and overcome with trouble.


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And that if there was cause for pride, you would go after me like a lion; and again put out your wonders against me:


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That you would send new witnesses against me, increasing your wrath against me, and letting loose new armies on me.


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Why then did you make me come out of my mother's body? It would have been better for me to have taken my last breath, and for no eye to have seen me,


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And for me to have been as if I had not been; to have been taken from my mother's body straight to my last resting-place.


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Are not the days of my life small in number? Let your eyes be turned away from me, so that I may have a little pleasure,


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Are your words of pride to make men keep quiet? and are you to make sport, with no one to put you to shame?


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They are higher than heaven; what is there for you to do? deeper than the underworld, and outside your knowledge;


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If he goes on his way, shutting a man up and putting him to death, who may make him go back from his purpose?


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Then truly your face will be lifted up, with no mark of sin, and you will be fixed in your place without fear:


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But the eyes of the evil-doers will be wasting away; their way of flight is gone, and their only hope is the taking of their last breath.


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But I have a mind as well as you; I am equal to you: yes, who has not knowledge of such things as these?


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It seems that I am to be as one who is a cause of laughing to his neighbour, one who makes his prayer to God and is answered! the upright man who has done no wrong is to be made sport of!


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In the thought of him who is in comfort there is no respect for one who is in trouble; such is the fate of those whose feet are slipping.


t:
There is wealth in the tents of those who make destruction, and those by whom God is moved to wrath are safe; even those whose god is their strength.


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But put now a question to the beasts, and get teaching from them; or to the birds of the heaven, and they will make it clear to you;


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Or to the things which go flat on the earth, and they will give you wisdom; and the fishes of the sea will give you news of it.


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Truly, there is no building up of what is pulled down by him; when a man is shut up by him, no one may let him loose.


t:
With him are strength and wise designs; he who is guided into error, together with his guide, are in his hands;


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Increasing nations, and sending destruction on them; making wide the lands of peoples, and then giving them up.


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He takes away the wisdom of the rulers of the earth, and sends them wandering in a waste where there is no way.


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They go feeling about in the dark without light, wandering without help like those overcome with wine.


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Will it be good for you to be searched out by him, or have you the thought that he may be guided into error like a man?


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Is any one able to take up the argument against me? If so, I would keep quiet and give up my breath.


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Then at the sound of your voice I will give answer; or let me put forward my cause for you to give me an answer.


t:
Will you be hard on a leaf in flight before the wind? will you make a dry stem go more quickly on its way?


t:
For you put bitter things on record against me, and send punishment on me for the sins of my early years;


t:
Though a man comes to nothing like a bit of dead wood, or like a robe which has become food for the worm.


t:
He comes out like a flower, and is cut down: he goes in flight like a shade, and is never seen again.


t:
If his days are ordered, and you have knowledge of the number of his months, having given him a fixed limit past which he may not go;


t:
Let your eyes be turned away from him, and take your hand from him, so that he may have pleasure at the end of his day, like a servant working for payment.


t:
For there is hope of a tree; if it is cut down, it will come to life again, and its branches will not come to an end.


t:
So man goes down to his last resting-place and comes not again: till the heavens come to an end, they will not be awake or come out of their sleep.


t:
If only you would keep me safe in the underworld, putting me in a secret place till your wrath is past, giving me a fixed time when I might come to your memory again!


t:
If death takes a man, will he come to life again? All the days of my trouble I would be waiting, till the time came for me to be free.


t:
At the sound of your voice I would give an answer, and you would have a desire for the work of your hands.


t:
The stones are crushed small by the force of the waters; the dust of the earth is washed away by their overflowing: and so you put an end to the hope of man.


t:
His sons come to honour, and he has no knowledge of it; they are made low, but he is not conscious of it.


t:
Truly, you make the fear of God without effect, so that the time of quiet worship before God is made less by your outcry.


t:
It is by your mouth, even yours, that you are judged to be in the wrong, and not by me; and your lips give witness against you.


t:
He is wandering about in search of bread, saying, Where is it? and he is certain that the day of trouble is ready for him:


t:
Running against him like a man of war, covered by his thick breastplate; even like a king ready for the fight,


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And he has made his resting-place in the towns which have been pulled down, in houses where no man had a right to be, whose fate was to become masses of broken walls.


t:
He does not get wealth for himself, and is unable to keep what he has got; the heads of his grain are not bent down to the earth.


t:
He does not come out of the dark; his branches are burned by the flame, and the wind takes away his bud.


t:
Let him not put his hope in what is false, falling into error: for he will get deceit as his reward.


t:
For the band of the evil-doers gives no fruit, and the tents of those who give wrong decisions for reward are burned with fire.


t:
Evil has made them with child, and they give birth to trouble; and the fruit of their body is shame for themselves.


t:
It would not be hard for me to say such things if your souls were in my soul's place; joining words together against you, and shaking my head at you:


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If I say what is in my mind, my pain becomes no less: and if I keep quiet, how much of it goes from me?


t:
I am broken by his wrath, and his hate has gone after me; he has made his teeth sharp against me: my haters are looking on me with cruel eyes;


t:
Their mouths are open wide against me; the blows of his bitter words are falling on my face; all of them come together in a mass against me.


t:
I was in comfort, but I have been broken up by his hands; he has taken me by the neck, shaking me to bits; he has put me up as a mark for his arrows.


t:
His bowmen come round about me; their arrows go through my body without mercy; my life is drained out on the earth.


t:
So that he may give decision for a man in his cause with God, and between a son of man and his neighbour.


t:
Truly, those who make sport of me are round about me, and my eyes become dark because of their bitter laughing.


t:
Be pleased, now, to be responsible for me to yourself; for there is no other who will put his hand in mine.


t:
As for him who is false to his friend for a reward, light will be cut off from the eyes of his children.


t:
The upright are surprised at this, and he who has done no wrong is troubled because of the evil-doers.


t:
How long will it be before you have done talking? Get wisdom, and then we will say what is in our minds.


t:
But come back, now, come: you who are wounding yourself in your passion, will the earth be given up because of you, or a rock be moved out of its place?


t:
He has no offspring or family among his people, and in his living-place there is no one of his name.


t:
Truly, these are the houses of the sinner, and this is the place of him who has no knowledge of God.


t:
Truly, I make an outcry against the violent man, but there is no answer: I give a cry for help, but no one takes up my cause.


t:
His armies come on together, they make their road high against me, and put up their tents round mine.


t:
My relations and my near friends have given me up, and those living in my house have put me out of their minds.


t:
But I am certain that he who will take up my cause is living, and that in time to come he will take his place on the dust;


t:
Be in fear of the sword, for the sword is the punishment for such things, so that you may be certain that there is a judge.


t:
I have to give ear to arguments which put me to shame, and your answers to me are wind without wisdom.


t:
He is forced to give back the fruit of his work, and may not take it for food; he has no joy in the profit of his trading.


t:
Because he has been cruel to the poor, turning away from them in their trouble; because he has taken a house by force which he did not put up;


t:
There is no peace for him in his wealth, and no salvation for him in those things in which he took delight.


t:
Even when his wealth is great, he is full of care, for the hand of everyone who is in trouble is turned against him.


t:
God gives him his desire, and sends the heat of his wrath on him, making it come down on him like rain.


t:
He is pulling it out, and it comes out of his back; and its shining point comes out of his side; he is overcome by fears.


t:
All his wealth is stored up for the dark: a fire not made by man sends destruction on him, and on everything in his tent.


t:
The produce of his house is taken away into another country, like things given into the hands of others in the day of wrath.


t:
What is the Ruler of all, that we may give him worship? and what profit is it to us to make prayer to him?


t:
How frequently is the light of the evil-doers put out, or does trouble come on them? how frequently does his wrath take them with cords?


t:
You say, God keeps punishment stored up for his children. Let him send it on the man himself, so that he may have the punishment of it!


t:
Who will make his way clear to his face? and if he has done a thing, who gives him punishment for it?


t:
The earth of the valley covering his bones is sweet to him, and all men come after him, as there were unnumbered before him.


t:
Why then do you give me comfort with words in which there is no profit, when you see that there is nothing in your answers but deceit?


t:
Is it possible for a man to be of profit to God? No, for a man's wisdom is only of profit to himself.


t:
Is it of any interest to the Ruler of all that you are upright? or is it of use to him that your ways are without sin?


t:
For you have taken your brother's goods when he was not in your debt, and have taken away the clothing of those who have need of it.


t:
For it was the man with power who had the land, and the man with an honoured name who was living in it.


t:
You have sent widows away without hearing their cause, and you have taken away the support of the child who has no father.


t:
Thick clouds are covering him, so that he is unable to see; and he is walking on the arch of heaven.


t:
Put yourself now in a right relation with him and be at peace: so will you do well in your undertakings.


t:
If you come back to the Ruler of all, making yourself low before him; if you put evil far away from your tents;


t:
I am looking for him on the left hand, but there is no sign of him; and turning to the right, I am not able to see him.


t:
My feet have gone in his steps; I have kept in his way, without turning to one side or to the other.


t:
I have never gone against the orders of his lips; the words of his mouth have been stored up in my heart.


t:
But his purpose is fixed and there is no changing it; and he gives effect to the desire of his soul.


t:
For what has been ordered for me by him will be gone through to the end: and his mind is full of such designs.


t:
Why are times not stored up by the Ruler of all, and why do those who have knowledge of him not see his days?


t:
The landmarks are changed by evil men, they violently take away flocks, together with their keepers.


t:
Like asses in the waste land they go out to their work, looking for food with care; from the waste land they get bread for their children.


t:
They get mixed grain from the field, and they take away the late fruit from the vines of those who have wealth.


t:
The child without a father is forced from its mother's breast, and they take the young children of the poor for debt.


t:
Others go about without clothing, and though they have no food, they get in the grain from the fields.


t:
Between the lines of olive-trees they make oil; though they have no drink, they are crushing out the grapes.


t:
From the town come sounds of pain from those who are near death, and the soul of the wounded is crying out for help; but God does not take note of their prayer.


t:
Then there are those who are haters of the light, who have no knowledge of its ways, and do not go in them.


t:
He who is purposing death gets up before day, so that he may put to death the poor and those in need.


t:
And the man whose desire is for the wife of another is waiting for the evening, saying, No eye will see me; and he puts a cover on his face. And in the night the thief goes about;


t:
In the dark he makes holes in the walls of houses: in the daytime they are shutting themselves up, they have no knowledge of the light.


t:
They go quickly on the face of the waters; their heritage is cursed in the earth; the steps of the crusher of grapes are not turned to their vine-garden.


t:
The public place of his town has no more knowledge of him, and his name has gone from the memory of men: he is rooted up like a dead tree.


t:
But God by his power gives long life to the strong; he gets up again, though he has no hope of life.


t:
For a short time they are lifted up; then they are gone; they are made low, they are pulled off like fruit, and like the heads of grain they are cut off.


t:
And if it is not so, now, who will make it clear that my words are false, and that what I say is of no value?


t:
How then is it possible for man to be upright before God? or how may he be clean who is a son of woman?


t:
How have you given help to him who has no power! how have you been the salvation of the arm which has no strength!


t:
See, these are only the outskirts of his ways; and how small is that which comes to our ears about him! But the thunder of his acts of power is outside all knowledge.


t:
By the life of God, who has taken away my right; and of the Ruler of all, who has made my soul bitter;


t:
Let it be far from me! I will certainly not say that you are right! I will come to death before I give up my righteousness.


t:
I will keep it safe, and will not let it go: my heart has nothing to say against any part of my life.


t:
I will give you teaching about the hand of God; I will not keep secret from you what is in the mind of the Ruler of all.


t:
This is the punishment of the evil-doer from God, and the heritage given to the cruel by the Ruler of all.


t:
When those of his house who are still living come to their end by disease, they are not put into the earth, and their widows are not weeping for them.


t:
He may get them ready, but the upright will put them on, and he who is free from sin will take the silver for a heritage.


t:
He goes to rest full of wealth, but does so for the last time: on opening his eyes, he sees it there no longer.


t:
Man puts an end to the dark, searching out to the farthest limit the stones of the deep places of the dark.


t:
He makes a deep mine far away from those living in the light of day; when they go about on the earth, they have no knowledge of those who are under them, who are hanging far from men, twisting from side to side on a cord.


t:
Gold and glass are not equal to it in price, and it may not be exchanged for jewels of the best gold.


t:
There is no need to say anything about coral or crystal; and the value of wisdom is greater than that of pearls.


t:
And he said to man, Truly the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to keep from evil is the way to knowledge.


t:
If only I might again be as I was in the months which are past, in the days when God was watching over me!


t:
For when it came to their ears, men said that I was truly happy; and when their eyes saw, they gave witness to me;


t:
For I was a saviour to the poor when he was crying for help, to the child with no father, and to him who had no supporter.


t:
The blessing of him who was near to destruction came on me, and I put a song of joy into the widow's heart.


t:
I put on righteousness as my clothing, and was full of it; right decisions were to me a robe and a head-dress.


t:
By me the great teeth of the evil-doer were broken, and I made him give up what he had violently taken away.


t:
Then I said, I will come to my end with my children round me, my days will be as the sand in number;


t:
I was laughing at them when they had no hope, and the light of my face was never clouded by their fear.


t:
But now those who are younger than I make sport of me; those whose fathers I would not have put with the dogs of my flocks.


t:
They are wasted for need of food, biting the dry earth; their only hope of life is in the waste land.


t:
For he has made loose the cord of my bow, and put me to shame; he has sent down my flag to the earth before me.


t:
The lines of his men of war put themselves in order, and make high their ways of destruction against me:


t:
As through a wide broken place in the wall they come on, I am overturned by the shock of their attack.


t:
For I am certain that you will send me back to death, and to the meeting-place ordered for all living.


t:
Has not my hand been stretched out in help to the poor? have I not been a saviour to him in his trouble?


t:
If my steps have been turned out of the way, or if my heart went after my eyes, or if the property of another is in my hands;


t:
For that would be a crime; it would be an act for which punishment would be measured out by the judges:


t:
(For I was cared for by God as by a father from my earliest days; he was my guide from the body of my mother;)


t:
If my hand had been lifted up against him who had done no wrong, when I saw that I was supported by the judges;


t:
That would have been another sin to be rewarded with punishment by the judges; for I would have been false to God on high.


t:
The traveller did not take his night's rest in the street, and my doors were open to anyone on a journey;


t:
For fear of the great body of people, or for fear that families might make sport of me, so that I kept quiet, and did not go out of my door;


t:
If only God would give ear to me, and the Ruler of all would give me an answer! or if what he has against me had been put in writing!


t:
I would make clear the number of my steps, I would put it before him like a prince! The words of Job are ended.


t:
And Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was angry, burning with wrath against Job, because he seemed to himself more right than God;


t:
And he was angry with his three friends, because they had been unable to give him an answer, and had not made Job's sin clear.


t:
And Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, made answer and said, I am young, and you are very old, so I was in fear, and kept myself from putting my knowledge before you.


t:
I said to myself, It is right for the old to say what is in their minds, and for those who are far on in years to give out wisdom.


t:
It is not the old who are wise, and those who are full of years have not the knowledge of what is right.


t:
I was waiting for your words, I was giving ear to your wise sayings; while you were searching out what to say,


t:
I was taking note; and truly not one of you was able to make clear Job's error, or to give an answer to his words.


t:
And am I to go on waiting while they have nothing to say? while they keep quiet and give no more answers?


t:
My stomach is like wine which is unable to get out; like skins full of new wine, it is almost burst.


t:
For I am not able to give names of honour to any man; and if I did, my Maker would quickly take me away.


t:
In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep comes on men, while they take their rest on their beds;


t:
Pain is sent on him as a punishment, while he is on his bed; there is no end to the trouble in his bones;


t:
If now there may be an angel sent to him, one of the thousands which there are to be between him and God, and to make clear to man what is right for him;


t:
And if he has mercy on him, and says, Let him not go down to the underworld, I have given the price for his life:


t:
He makes his prayer to God, and he has mercy on him; he sees God's face with cries of joy; he gives news of his righteousness to men;


t:
He makes a song, saying, I did wrong, turning from the straight way, but he did not give me the reward of my sin.


t:
If you have anything to say, give me an answer; for it is my desire that you may be judged free from sin.


t:
Let us make the decision for ourselves as to what is right; let us have the knowledge among ourselves of what is good.


t:
Now then, you wise, take note; you men of knowledge, give ear to me. Let it be far from God to do evil, and from the Ruler of all to do wrong.


t:
Who has no respect for rulers, and who gives no more attention to those who have wealth than to the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.


t:
Suddenly they come to an end, even in the middle of the night: the blow comes on the men of wealth, and they are gone, and the strong are taken away without the hand of man.


t:
He sends the strong to destruction without searching out their cause, and puts others in their place.


t:
The evil-doers are broken by his wrath, he puts his hand on them with force before the eyes of all onlookers.


t:
For in addition to his sin, he is uncontrolled in heart; before our eyes he makes sport of God, increasing his words against him.


t:
If you have done wrong, is he any the worse for it? and if your sins are great in number, what is it to him?


t:
Because the hand of the cruel is hard on them, men are making sounds of grief; they are crying out for help because of the arm of the strong.


t:
Who gives us more knowledge than the beasts of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of the heaven?


t:
How much less when you say that you do not see him; that the cause is before him, and you are waiting for him.


t:
Give me a little more time, and I will make it clear to you; for I have still something to say for God.


t:
Then he makes clear to them what they have done, even their evil works in which they have taken pride.


t:
Their ear is open to his teaching, and he gives them orders so that their hearts may be turned from evil.


t:
If they give ear to his voice, and do his word, then he gives them long life, and years full of pleasure.


t:
Those who have no fear of God keep wrath stored up in their hearts; they give no cry for help when they are made prisoners.


t:
They come to their end while they are still young, their life is short like that of those who are used for sex purposes in the worship of their gods.


t:
He makes the wrong done to the poor the way of their salvation, opening their ears by their trouble.


t:
Truly, God is great, greater than all our knowledge; the number of his years may not be searched out.


t:
After it a voice is sounding, thundering out the word of his power; he does not keep back his thunder-flames; from his mouth his voice is sounding.


t:
And it goes this way and that, round about, turning itself by his guiding, to do whatever he gives orders to be done, on the face of his world of men,


t:
Make clear to me what we are to say to him; we are unable to put our cause before him, because of the dark.


t:
How may he have knowledge of my desire for talk with him? or did any man ever say, May destruction come on me?


t:
And now the light is not seen, for it is dark because of the clouds; but a wind comes, clearing them away.


t:
There is no searching out of the Ruler of all: his strength and his judging are great; he is full of righteousness, doing no wrong.


t:
Get your strength together like a man of war; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.


t:
By whom were its measures fixed? Say, if you have wisdom; or by whom was the line stretched out over it?


t:
Have you, from your earliest days, given orders to the morning, or made the dawn conscious of its place;


t:
No doubt you have knowledge of it, for then you had come to birth, and the number of your days is great.


t:
Which is the way to the place where the wind is measured out, and the east wind sent out over the earth?


t:
To give water to the land where there is waste and destruction, and to make the dry land green with young grass?


t:
Who gives in the evening the meat he is searching for, when his young ones are crying to God; when the young lions with loud noise go wandering after their food?


t:
Will you put your faith in him, because his strength is great? will you give the fruit of your work into his care?


t:
She is cruel to her young ones, as if they were not hers; her work is to no purpose; she has no fear.


t:
When she is shaking her wings on high, she makes sport of the horse and of him who is seated on him.


t:
Shaking with passion, he is biting the earth; he is not able to keep quiet at the sound of the horn;


t:
When it comes to his ears he says, Aha! He is smelling the fight from far off, and hearing the thunder of the captains, and the war-cries.


t:
Will he who is protesting give teaching to the Ruler of all? Let him who has arguments to put forward against God give an answer.


t:
Get your strength together like a man of war: I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.


t:
Will you even make my right of no value? will you say that I am wrong in order to make clear that you are right?


t:
Let them be covered together in the dust; let their faces be dark in the secret place of the underworld.


t:
He takes his rest under the trees of the river, and in the pool, under the shade of the water-plants.


t:
Truly, if the river is overflowing, it gives him no cause for fear; he has no sense of danger, even if Jordan is rushing against his mouth.


t:
Is it possible for Leviathan to be pulled out with a fish-hook, or for a hook to be put through the bone of his mouth?


t:
He is so cruel that no one is ready to go against him. Who then is able to keep his place before me?


t:
I will not keep quiet about the parts of his body, or about his power, and the strength of his frame.


t:
The sword may come near him but is not able to go through him; the spear, or the arrow, or the sharp-pointed iron.


t:
Under him are sharp edges of broken pots: as if he was pulling a grain-crushing instrument over the wet earth.


t:
Who is this who makes dark the purpose of God by words without knowledge? For I have been talking without knowledge about wonders not to be searched out.


t:
Give ear to me, and I will say what is in my mind; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.


t:
And it came about, after he had said these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, I am very angry with you and your two friends, because you have not said what is right about me, as my servant Job has.


t:
And now, take seven oxen and seven sheep, and go to my servant Job, and give a burned offering for yourselves, and my servant Job will make prayer for you, that I may not send punishment on you; because you have not said what is right about me, as my servant Job has.


t:
And Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, went and did as the Lord had said. And the Lord gave ear to Job.


t:
And the Lord made up to Job for all his losses, after he had made prayer for his friends: and all Job had before was increased by the Lord twice as much.


t:
And all his brothers and sisters, and his friends of earlier days, came and took food with him in his house; and made clear their grief for him, and gave him comfort for all the evil which the Lord had sent on him; and they all gave him a bit of money and a gold ring.


t:
And the Lord's blessing was greater on the end of Job's life than on its start: and so he came to have fourteen thousand sheep and goats, and six thousand camels, and two thousand oxen, and a thousand she-asses.


t:
And there were no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job in all the earth: and their father gave them a heritage among their brothers.


t:
And after this Job had a hundred and forty years of life, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations.


t:
Happy is the man who does not go in the company of sinners, or take his place in the way of evil-doers, or in the seat of those who do not give honour to the Lord.


t:
He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which gives its fruit at the right time, whose leaves will ever be green; and he will do well in all his undertakings.


t:
For this cause there will be no mercy for sinners when they are judged, and the evil-doers will have no place among the upright,


t:
The kings of the earth have taken their place, and the rulers are fixed in their purpose, against the Lord, and against the king of his selection, saying,


t:
I will make clear the Lord's decision: he has said to me, You are my son, this day have I given you being.


t:
Make your request to me, and I will give you the nations for your heritage, and the farthest limits of the earth will be under your hand.


t:
For fear that he may be angry, causing destruction to come on you, because he is quickly moved to wrath. Happy are all those who put their faith in him.


t:
&lt;A Psalm. Of David. When he went in flight from Absalom his son.&gt; Lord, how greatly are they increased who make attacks on me! in great numbers they come against me.


t:
Come to me, Lord; keep me safe, O my God; for you have given all my haters blows on their face-bones; the teeth of the evil-doers have been broken by you.


t:
&lt;To the chief music-maker on corded instruments. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; Give answer to my cry, O God of my righteousness; make me free from my troubles; have mercy on me, and give ear to my prayer.


t:
O you sons of men, how long will you go on turning my glory into shame? how long will you give your love to foolish things, going after what is false? (Selah.)


t:
Let there be fear in your hearts, and do no sin; have bitter feelings on your bed, but make no sound. (Selah.)


t:
Lord, you have put joy in my heart, more than they have when their grain and their wine are increased.


t:
&lt;To the chief music-maker on wind instruments. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; Give ear to my words, O Lord; give thought to my heart-searchings.


t:
My voice will come to you in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I send my prayer to you, and keep watch.


t:
You will send destruction on those whose words are false; the cruel man and the man of deceit are hated by the Lord.


t:
But as for me, I will come into your house, in the full measure of your mercy; and in your fear I will give worship, turning my eyes to your holy Temple.


t:
Be my guide, O Lord, in the ways of your righteousness, because of those who are against me; make your way straight before my face.


t:
For no faith may be put in their words; their inner part is nothing but evil; their throat is like an open place for the dead; smooth are the words of their tongues.


t:
Send them to destruction, O Lord; let their evil designs be the cause of their fall; let them be forced out by all their sins; because they have gone against your authority.


t:
But let all those who put their faith in you be glad with cries of joy at all times, and let all the lovers of your name be glad in you.


t:
For you, Lord, will send a blessing on the upright man; your grace will be round him, and you will be his strength.


t:
&lt;To the chief music-maker on corded instruments, on the Sheminith. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; O Lord, do not be bitter with me in your wrath; do not send punishment on me in the heat of your passion.


t:
The voice of my sorrow is a weariness to me; all the night I make my bed wet with weeping; it is watered by the drops flowing from my eyes.


t:
My eyes are wasting away with trouble; they are becoming old because of all those who are against me.


t:
Let all those who are against me be shamed and deeply troubled; let them be turned back and suddenly put to shame.


t:
&lt;Shiggaion of David; a song which he made to the Lord, about the words of Cush the Benjamite.&gt; O Lord my God, I put my faith in you; take me out of the hands of him who is cruel to me, and make me free;


t:
So that he may not come rushing on my soul like a lion, wounding it, while there is no one to be my saviour.


t:
If I have given back evil to him who did evil to me, or have taken anything from him who was against me without cause;


t:
Let my hater go after my soul and take it; let my life be crushed to the earth, and my honour into the dust. (Selah.)


t:
Come up, Lord, in your wrath; be lifted up against my haters; be awake, my God, give orders for the judging.


t:
The Lord will be judge of the peoples; give a decision for me, O Lord, because of my righteousness, and let my virtue have its reward.


t:
O let the evil of the evil-doer come to an end, but give strength to the upright: for men's minds and hearts are tested by the God of righteousness.


t:
I will give praise to the Lord for his righteousness; I will make a song to the name of the Lord Most High.


t:
&lt;To the chief music-maker on the Gittith. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; O Lord, our Lord, whose glory is higher than the heavens, how noble is your name in all the earth!


t:
You have made clear your strength even out of the mouths of babies at the breast, because of those who are against you; so that you may put to shame the cruel and violent man.


t:
When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have put in their places;


t:
The birds of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatever goes through the deep waters of the seas.


t:
&lt;To the chief music-maker on Muthlabben. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; I will give you praise, O Lord, with all my heart; I will make clear all the wonder of your works.


t:
For you gave approval to my right and my cause; you were seated in your high place judging in righteousness.


t:
You have said sharp words to the nations, you have sent destruction on the sinners, you have put an end to their name for ever and ever.


t:
You have given their towns to destruction; the memory of them has gone; they have become waste for ever.


t:
And those who have knowledge of your name will put their faith in you; because you, Lord, have ever given your help to those who were waiting for you.


t:
When he makes search for blood, he has them in his memory: he is not without thought for the cry of the poor.


t:
Have mercy on me, O Lord, and see how I am troubled by my haters; let me be lifted up from the doors of death;


t:
So that I may make clear all your praise in the house of the daughter of Zion: I will be glad because of your salvation.


t:
The Lord has given knowledge of himself through his judging: the evil-doer is taken in the net which his hands had made. (Higgaion. Selah.)


t:
For the evil-doer is lifted up because of the purpose of his heart, and he whose mind is fixed on wealth is turned away from the Lord, saying evil against him.


t:
His ways are ever fixed; your decisions are higher than he may see: as for his haters, they are as nothing to him.


t:
His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and false words: under his tongue are evil purposes and dark thoughts.


t:
He is waiting in the dark places of the towns: in the secret places he puts to death those who have done no wrong: his eyes are secretly turned against the poor.


t:
He keeps himself in a secret place like a lion in his hole, waiting to put his hands on the poor man, and pulling him into his net.


t:
You have seen it; for your eyes are on sorrow and grief, to take it into your hand: the poor man puts his faith in you; you have been the helper of the child who has no father.


t:
Let the arm of the sinner and the evil-doer be broken; go on searching for his sin till there is no more.


t:
Lord, you have given ear to the prayer of the poor: you will make strong their hearts, you will give them a hearing:


t:
To give decision for the child without a father and for the broken-hearted, so that the man of the earth may no longer be feared.


t:
&lt;For the chief music-maker. Of David.&gt; In the Lord put I my faith; how will you say to my soul, Go in flight like a bird to the mountain?


t:
See, the bows of the evil-doers are bent, they make ready their arrows on the cord, so that they may send them secretly against the upright in heart.


t:
The Lord is in his holy Temple, the Lord's seat is in heaven; his eyes are watching and testing the children of men.


t:
The Lord puts the upright and the sinner to the test, but he has hate in his soul for the lover of violent acts.


t:
On the evil-doer he will send down fire and flames, and a burning wind; with these will their cup be full.


t:
&lt;For the chief music-maker on the Sheminith. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; Send help, Lord, for mercy has come to an end; there is no more faith among the children of men.


t:
Everyone says false words to his neighbour: their tongues are smooth in their talk, and their hearts are full of deceit.


t:
Because of the crushing of the poor and the weeping of those in need, now will I come to his help, says the Lord; I will give him the salvation which he is desiring.


t:
&lt;To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; Will you for ever put me out of your memory, O Lord? will your face for ever be turned away from me?


t:
How long is my soul to be in doubt, with sorrow in my heart all the day? how long will he who is against me be given power over me?


t:
Let my voice come before you, and give me an answer, O Lord my God; let your light be shining on me, so that the sleep of death may not overtake me;


t:
And he who is against me may not say, I have overcome him; and those who are troubling me may not be glad when I am moved.


t:
&lt;To the chief music-maker. Of David.&gt; The foolish man has said in his heart, God will not do anything. They are unclean, they have done evil works; there is not one who does good.


t:
The Lord was looking down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who had wisdom, searching after God.


t:
They have all gone out of the way together; they are unclean, there is not one who does good, no, not one.


t:
Have all the workers of evil no knowledge? they take my people for food as they would take bread; they make no prayer to the Lord.


t:
May the salvation of Israel come out of Zion! when the fate of his people is changed by the Lord, Jacob will have joy and Israel will be glad.


t:
&lt;A Psalm. Of David.&gt; Lord, who may have a resting-place in your tent, a living-place on your holy hill?


t:
Whose tongue is not false, who does no evil to his friend, and does not take away the good name of his neighbour;


t:
Who gives honour to those who have the fear of the Lord, turning away from him who has not the Lord's approval. He who takes an oath against himself, and makes no change.


t:
He who does not put out his money at interest, or for payment give false decisions against men who have done no wrong. He who does these things will never be moved.


t:
Their sorrows will be increased who go after another god: I will not take drink offerings from their hands, or take their names on my lips.


t:
I will give praise to the Lord who has been my guide; knowledge comes to me from my thoughts in the night.


t:
Because of this my heart is glad, and my glory is full of joy: while my flesh takes its rest in hope.


t:
For you will not let my soul be prisoned in the underworld; you will not let your loved one see the place of death.


t:
You will make clear to me the way of life; where you are joy is complete; in your right hand there are pleasures for ever and ever.


t:
&lt;A Prayer. Of David.&gt; Let my cause come to your ears, O Lord, give attention to my cry; give ear to my prayer which goes not out from false lips.


t:
You have put my heart to the test, searching me in the night; you have put me to the test and seen no evil purpose in me; I will keep my mouth from sin.


t:
My cry has gone up to you, for you will give me an answer, O God: let your ear be turned to me, and give attention to my words.


t:
Make clear the wonder of your mercy, O saviour of those who put their faith in your right hand, from those who come out against them.


t:
With your hand, O Lord, from men, even men of the world, whose heritage is in this life, and whom you make full with your secret wealth: they are full of children; after their death their offspring take the rest of their goods.


t:
As for me, I will see your face in righteousness: when I am awake it will be joy enough for me to see your form.


t:
&lt;To the chief music-maker. Of the servant of the Lord, of David, who said the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord made him free from the hand of all his haters, and from the hand of Saul; and he said,&gt; I will give you my love, O Lord, my strength.


t:
The Lord is my Rock, my walled town, and my saviour; my God, my Rock, in him will I put my faith; my breastplate, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.


t:
In my trouble my voice went up to the Lord, and my cry to my God: my voice came to his hearing in his holy Temple, and my prayer came before him, even into his ears.


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Then trouble and shock came on the earth; and the bases of the mountains were moved and shaking, because he was angry.


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There went up a smoke from his nose, and a fire of destruction from his mouth: flames were lighted by it.


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And he went in flight through the air, seated on a storm-cloud: going quickly on the wings of the wind.


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He made the dark his secret place; his tent round him was the dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.


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The Lord made thunder in the heavens, and the voice of the Highest was sounding out: a rain of ice and fire.


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Then the deep beds of the waters were seen, and the bases of the world were uncovered, because of your words of wrath, O Lord, because of the breath from your mouth.


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He made me free from my strong hater, and from those who were against me, because they were stronger than I.


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By your help I have made a way through the wall which was shutting me in; by the help of my God I have gone over a wall.


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As for God, his way is completely good; the word of the Lord is tested; he is a breastplate for all those who put their faith in him.


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You have given me the breastplate of your salvation: your right hand has been my support, and your mercy has made me great.


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For I have been armed by you with strength for the fight: you have made low under me those who come out against me.


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Then they were crushed as small as dust before the wind; they were drained out like the waste of the streets.


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You have made me free from the fightings of the people; you have made me the head of the nations: a people of whom I had no knowledge will be my servants.


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From the time when my name comes to their ears they will be ruled by me: men of other countries will, with false hearts, put themselves under my authority.


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He makes me free from my haters; I am lifted up over those who come up against me: you have made me free from the violent man.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; The heavens are sounding the glory of God; the arch of the sky makes clear the work of his hands.


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Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them has he put a tent for the sun,


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Who is like a newly married man coming from his bride-tent, and is glad like a strong runner starting on his way.


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His going out is from the end of the heaven, and his circle to the ends of it; there is nothing which is not open to his heat.


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The law of the Lord is good, giving new life to the soul: the witness of the Lord is certain, giving wisdom to the foolish.


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The orders of the Lord are right, making glad the heart: the rule of the Lord is holy, giving light to the eyes.


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The fear of the Lord is clean, and has no end; the decisions of the Lord are true and full of righteousness.


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More to be desired are they than gold, even than much shining gold; sweeter than the dropping honey.


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Keep your servant back from sins of pride; let them not have rule over me: then will I be upright and free from great sin.


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Let the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing in your eyes, O Lord, my strength and my salvation.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; May the Lord give ear to you in the day of trouble; may you be placed on high by the name of the God of Jacob;


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May he keep all your offerings in mind, and be pleased with the fat of your burned offerings; (Selah.)


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We will be glad in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will put up our flags: may the Lord give you all your requests.


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Now am I certain that the Lord gives salvation to his king; he will give him an answer from his holy heaven with the strength of salvation in his right hand.


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Some put their faith in carriages and some in horses; but we will be strong in the name of the Lord our God.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; The king will be glad in your strength, O Lord; how great will be his delight in your salvation!


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Your hand will make a search for all your haters; your right hand will be hard on all those who are against you.


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You will make them like a flaming oven before you; the Lord in his wrath will put an end to them, and they will be burned up in the fire.


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For their thoughts were bitter against you: they had an evil design in their minds, which they were not able to put into effect.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker on Aijeleth-hash-shahar. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; My God, my God, why are you turned away from me? why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my crying?


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They sent up their cry to you and were made free: they put their faith in you and were not put to shame.


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He put his faith in the Lord; let the Lord be his saviour now: let the Lord be his saviour, because he had delight in him.


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But it was you who took care of me from the day of my birth: you gave me faith even from my mother's breasts.


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I was in your hands even before my birth; you are my God from the time when I was in my mother's body.


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I am flowing away like water, and all my bones are out of place: my heart is like wax, it has become soft in my body.


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My throat is dry like a broken vessel; my tongue is fixed to the roof of my mouth, and the dust of death is on my lips.


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Dogs have come round me: I am shut in by the band of evil-doers; they made wounds in my hands and feet.


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You who have fear of the Lord, give him praise; all you seed of Jacob, give him glory; go in fear of him, all you seed of Israel.


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For he has not been unmoved by the pain of him who is troubled; or kept his face covered from him; but he has given an answer to his cry.


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The poor will have a feast of good things: those who make search for the Lord will give him praise: your heart will have life for ever.


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All the ends of the earth will keep it in mind and be turned to the Lord: all the families of the nations will give him worship.


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All the fat ones of the earth will give him worship; all those who go down to the dust will make themselves low before him, even he who has not enough for the life of his soul.


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A seed will be his servant; the doings of the Lord will be made clear to the generation which comes after.


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&lt;A Psalm. Of David.&gt; The Lord takes care of me as his sheep; I will not be without any good thing.


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Yes, though I go through the valley of deep shade, I will have no fear of evil; for you are with me, your rod and your support are my comfort.


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Truly, blessing and mercy will be with me all the days of my life; and I will have a place in the house of the Lord all my days.


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&lt;A Psalm. Of David.&gt; The earth is the Lord's, with all its wealth; the world and all the people living in it.


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He who has clean hands and a true heart; whose desire has not gone out to foolish things, who has not taken a false oath.


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This is the generation of those whose hearts are turned to you, even to your face, O God of Jacob. (Selah.)


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Let your heads be lifted up, O doors; be lifted up, O you eternal doors: that the King of glory may come in.


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Let your heads be lifted up, O doors; let them be lifted up, O you eternal doors: that the King of glory may come in.


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Be my guide and teacher in the true way; for you are the God of my salvation; I am waiting for your word all the day.


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Do not keep in mind my sins when I was young, or my wrongdoing: let your memory of me be full of mercy, O Lord, because of your righteousness.


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The secret of the Lord is with those in whose hearts is the fear of him; he will make his agreement clear to them.


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&lt;Of David.&gt; O Lord, be my judge, for my behaviour has been upright: I have put my faith in the Lord, I am not in danger of slipping.


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Put me in the scales, O Lord, so that I may be tested; let the fire make clean my thoughts and my heart.


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I have a safe resting-place for my feet; I will give praise to the Lord in the meetings of the people.


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&lt;Of David.&gt; The Lord is my light and my salvation; who is then a cause of fear to me? the Lord is the strength of my life; who is a danger to me?


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Even if an army came against me with its tents, my heart would have no fear: if war was made on me, my faith would not be moved.


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One prayer have I made to the Lord, and this is my heart's desire; that I may have a place in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, looking on his glory, and getting wisdom in his Temple.


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For in the time of trouble he will keep me safe in his tent: in the secret place of his tent he will keep me from men's eyes; high on a rock he will put me.


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And now my head will be lifted up higher than my haters who are round me: because of this I will make offerings of joy in his tent; I will make a song, truly I will make a song of praise to the Lord.


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Let not your face be covered from me; do not put away your servant in wrath; you have been my help: do not give me up or take your support from me, O God of my salvation.


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Do not give me into their hands, because false witnesses have come out against me, and men breathing destruction.


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&lt;Of David.&gt; My cry goes up to you, O Lord, my Rock; do not keep back your answer from me, so that I may not become like those who go down into the underworld.


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Give ear to the voice of my prayer, when I am crying to you, when my hands are lifted up to your holy place.


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Do not take me away with the sinners and the workers of evil, who say words of peace to their neighbours, but evil is in their hearts.


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Give them the right reward of their acts, and of their evil doings: give them punishment for the works of their hands, let them have their full reward.


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Because they have no respect for the works of the Lord, or for the things which his hands have made, they will be broken down and not lifted up by him.


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The Lord is my strength and my breastplate, my heart had faith in him and I am helped; for this cause my heart is full of rapture, and I will give him praise in my song.


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Be a saviour to your people, and send a blessing on your heritage: be their guide, and let them be lifted up for ever.


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&lt;A Psalm. Of David.&gt; Give to the Lord, you sons of the gods, give to the Lord glory and strength.


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The voice of the Lord is on the waters: the God of glory is thundering, the Lord is on the great waters.


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By the voice of the Lord are the cedar-trees broken, even the cedars of Lebanon are broken by the Lord.


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At the voice of the Lord there is a shaking in the waste land, even a shaking in the waste land of Kadesh.


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At the voice of the Lord the roes give birth, the leaves are taken from the trees: in his Temple everything says, Glory.


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The Lord had his seat as king when the waters came on the earth; the Lord is seated as king for ever.


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&lt;A Psalm. A Song at the blessing of the House. Of David.&gt; I will give you praise and honour, O Lord, because through you I have been lifted up; you have not given my haters cause to be glad over me.


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O Lord, you have made my soul come again from the underworld: you have given me life and kept me from going down among the dead.


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For his wrath is only for a minute; in his grace there is life; weeping may be for a night, but joy comes in the morning.


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Lord, by your grace you have kept my mountain strong: when your face was turned from me I was troubled.


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What profit is there in my blood if I go down into the underworld? will the dust give you praise, or be a witness to your help?


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By you my sorrow is turned into dancing; you have taken away my clothing of grief, and given me robes of joy;


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So that my glory may make songs of praise to you and not be quiet. O Lord my God, I will give you praise for ever.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; In you, O Lord, have I put my hope; let me never be shamed; keep me safe in your righteousness.


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Let your ear be turned to me; take me quickly out of danger; be my strong Rock, my place of strength where I may be safe.


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I will be glad and have delight in your mercy; because you have seen my trouble; you have had pity on my soul in its sorrows;


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Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eyes are wasted with grief, I am wasted in soul and body.


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My life goes on in sorrow, and my years in weeping; my strength is almost gone because of my sin, and my bones are wasted away.


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Because of all those who are against me, I have become a word of shame to my neighbours; a cause of shaking the head and a fear to my friends: those who saw me in the street went in flight from me.


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False statements against me have come to my ears; fear was on every side: they were talking together against me, designing to take away my life.


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The chances of my life are in your hand; take me out of the hands of my haters, and of those who go after me.


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Let me not be shamed, O Lord, for I have made my prayer to you; let the sinners be shamed, and let their mouths be shut in the underworld.


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O how great is your grace, which you have put in store for your worshippers, and which you have made clear to those who had faith in you, before the sons of men!


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You will keep them safe in your house from the designs of man; in the secret of your tent will you keep them from angry tongues.


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And as for me, I said in my fear, I am cut off from before your eyes; but you gave ear to the voice of my prayer, when my cry went up to you.


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O have love for the Lord, all you his saints; for the Lord keeps safe from danger all those who are true to him, and gives the workers of pride their right reward.


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&lt;Of David. Maschil.&gt; Happy is he who has forgiveness for his wrongdoing, and whose sin is covered.


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For the weight of your hand was on me day and night; my body became dry like the earth in summer. (Selah.)


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I made my wrongdoing clear to you, and did not keep back my sin. I said, I will put it all before the Lord; and you took away my wrongdoing and my sin. (Selah.)


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For this cause let every saint make his prayer to you at a time when you are near: then the overflowing of the great waters will not overtake him.


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You are my safe and secret place; you will keep me from trouble; you will put songs of salvation on the lips of those who are round me. (Selah.)


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By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the army of heaven by the breath of his mouth.


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Let the earth be full of the fear of the Lord; let all the people of the world be in holy fear of him.


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A king's salvation is not in the power of his army; a strong man does not get free by his great strength.


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See, the eye of the Lord is on those in whose hearts is the fear of him, on those whose hope is in his mercy;


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&lt;Of David. When he made a change in his behaviour before Abimelech, who sent him away, and he went.&gt; I will be blessing the Lord at all times; his praise will be ever in my mouth.


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My soul will say great things of the Lord: the poor in spirit will have knowledge of it and be glad.


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Keep yourselves in the fear of the Lord, all you his saints; for those who do so will have no need of anything.


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The young lions are in need and have no food; but those who are looking to the Lord will have every good thing.


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Evil will put an end to the sinner, and those who are haters of righteousness will come to destruction.


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The Lord will be the saviour of the souls of his servants, and no one who has faith in him will be put to shame.


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&lt;Of David.&gt; O Lord, be on my side against those who are judging me; be at war with those who make war against me.


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Let them be overcome and put to shame who make attempts to take my soul; let those who would do me damage be turned back and made foolish.


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Let them be like dust from the grain before the wind; let the angel of the Lord send them in flight.


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Let destruction come on them without their knowledge; let them be taken themselves in their secret nets, falling into the same destruction.


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All my bones will say, Lord, who is like you? The saviour of the poor man from the hands of the strong, of him who is poor and in need from him who takes his goods.


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But as for me, when they were ill I put on the clothing of sorrow: I went without food and was sad, and my prayer came back again to my heart.


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My behaviour was as if it had been my friend or my brother: I was bent low in grief like one whose mother is dead.


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But they took pleasure in my trouble, and came together, yes, low persons came together against me without my knowledge; they never came to an end of wounding me.


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Do not let my haters be glad over me falsely; let not those who are against me without cause make sport of me.


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For they do not say words of peace; in their deceit they are designing evil things against the quiet ones in the land.


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Let all those who take pleasure in my troubles be shamed and come to nothing: let those who are lifted up against me be covered with shame and have no honour.


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Let those who are on my side give cries of joy; let them ever say, The Lord be praised, for he has pleasure in the peace of his servant.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. Of the servant of the Lord. Of David.&gt; The sin of the evil-doer says in his heart, There is no fear of the Lord before his eyes.


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Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judging is like the great deep; O Lord, you give life to man and beast.


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The delights of your house will be showered on them; you will give them drink from the river of your pleasures.


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O let there be no end to your loving mercy to those who have knowledge of you, or of your righteousness to the upright in heart.


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And he will make your righteousness be seen like the light, and your cause like the shining of the sun.


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Take your rest in the Lord, waiting quietly for him; do not be angry because of the man who does well in his evil ways, and gives effect to his bad designs.


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Put an end to your wrath and be no longer bitter; do not give way to angry feeling which is a cause of sin.


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For the evil-doers will be cut off: but those who have faith in the Lord will have the earth for their heritage.


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For in a short time the evil-doer will be gone: you will go searching for his place, and it will not be there.


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But the gentle will have the earth for their heritage; they will take their delight in peace without measure.


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The evil-doers have taken out their swords, their bows are bent; for crushing the poor, and to put to death those who are upright in their ways.


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They will not be shamed in the evil time, and in the days when all are in need of food they will have enough.


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But the wrongdoers will come to destruction, and the haters of the Lord will be like the fat of lambs, they will be burned up; they will go up in smoke, and never again be seen.


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The sinner takes money and does not give it back; but the upright man has mercy, and gives to others.


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Those who have his blessing will have the earth for their heritage; but those who are cursed by him will be cut off.


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I have been young, and now am old, but I have not seen the good man without help, or his children looking for bread.


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For the Lord is a lover of righteousness, and takes care of his saints; they will be kept safe for ever; but the seed of the evil-doers will be cut off.


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Be waiting for the Lord, and keep his way; and you will be lifted up, and have the land for your heritage: when the evil-doers are cut off, you will see it.


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And the Lord will be their help, and keep them safe: he will take them out of the hands of the evil-doers, and be their saviour, because they had faith in him.


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&lt;A Psalm. Of David. To keep in memory.&gt; O Lord, be not bitter with me in your wrath; let not your hand be on me in the heat of your passion.


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My heart goes out in pain, my strength is wasting away; as for the light of my eyes, it is gone from me.


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Those who have a desire to take my life put nets for me; those who are designing my destruction say evil things against me, all the day their minds are full of deceit.


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But I kept my ears shut like a man without hearing; like a man without a voice, never opening his mouth.


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I said, Let them not be glad over me; when my foot is moved, let them not be lifted up with pride against me.


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But they are strong who have hate for me without cause: those who are against me falsely are increased in numbers.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. Of Jeduthun. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; I said, I will give attention to my ways, so that my tongue may do no wrong; I will keep my mouth under control, while the sinner is before me.


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My heart was burning in my breast; while I was deep in thought the fire was lighted; then I said with my tongue,


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Lord, give me knowledge of my end, and of the measure of my days, so that I may see how feeble I am.


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You have made my days no longer than a hand's measure; and my years are nothing in your eyes; truly, every man is but a breath. (Selah.)


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Truly, every man goes on his way like an image; he is troubled for no purpose: he makes a great store of wealth, and has no knowledge of who will get it.


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By the weight of your wrath against man's sin, the glory of his form is wasted away; truly every man is but a breath. (Selah.)


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Let my prayer come to your ears, O Lord, and give attention to my cry, make an answer to my weeping: for my time here is short before you, and in a little time I will be gone, like all my fathers.


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Let your wrath be turned away from me, so that I may be comforted, before I go away from here, and become nothing.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. Of David. A Psalm.&gt; When I was waiting quietly for the Lord, his heart was turned to me, and he gave ear to my cry.


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He took me up out of a deep waste place, out of the soft and sticky earth; he put my feet on a rock, and made my steps certain.


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And he put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God; numbers have seen it with fear, and put their faith in the Lord.


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Happy is the man who has faith in the Lord, and does not give honour to the men of pride or to those who are turned away to deceit.


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O Lord my God, great are the wonders which you have done in your thought for us; it is not possible to put them out in order before you; when I would give an account of them, their number is greater than I may say.


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You had no desire for offerings of beasts or fruits of the earth; ears you made for me: for burned offerings and sin offerings you made no request.


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I have given news of righteousness in the great meeting; O Lord, you have knowledge that I have not kept back my words.


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Your righteousness has not been folded away in my heart; I have made clear your true word and your salvation; I have not kept secret your mercy or your faith from the great meeting.


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Take not away your gentle mercies from me, O Lord; let your mercy and your faith keep me safe for ever.


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For unnumbered evils are round about me; my sins have overtaken me, so that I am bent down with their weight; they are more than the hairs of my head, my strength is gone because of them.


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Let those who go after my soul for its destruction have shame and trouble together; let them be turned back and made foolish who take pleasure in my trouble.


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Let all those who are looking for you be glad and have joy in you; let the lovers of your salvation ever say, May the Lord be great.


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Though I am poor and in need, the Lord has me in mind; you are my help and my saviour; let there be no waiting, O my God.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; Happy is the man who gives thought to the poor; the Lord will be his saviour in the time of trouble.


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The Lord will keep him safe, and give him life; the Lord will let him be a blessing on the earth, and will not give him into the hand of his haters.


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If one comes to see me, deceit is in his heart; he keeps a store of evil, which he makes public in every place.


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They say, He has an evil disease, which will not let him go: and now that he is down he will not get up again.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. Maschil. Of the sons of Korah.&gt; Like the desire of the roe for the water-streams, so is my soul's desire for you, O God.


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Let my soul be overflowing with grief when these things come back to my mind, how I went in company to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with the song of those who were keeping the feast.


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Why are you crushed down, O my soul? and why are you troubled in me? put your hope in God; for I will again give him praise who is my help and my God.


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My soul is crushed down in me, so I will keep you in mind; from the land of Jordan and of the Hermons, from the hill Mizar.


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But the Lord will send his mercy in the daytime, and in the night his song will be with me, a prayer to the God of my life.


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I will say to God my Rock, Why have you let me go from your memory? why do I go in sorrow because of the attacks of my haters?


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The cruel words of my haters are like a crushing of my bones; when they say to me every day, Where is your God?


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Be my judge, O God, supporting my cause against a nation without religion; O keep me from the false and evil man.


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You are the God of my strength; why have you put me from you? why do I go in sorrow because of the attacks of my haters?


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O send out your light and your true word; let them be my guide: let them take me to your holy hill, and to your tents.


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Then I will go up to the altar of God, to the God of my joy; I will be glad and give praise to you on an instrument of music, O God, my God.


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Why are you crushed down, O my soul? and why are you troubled in me? put your hope in God, for I will again give him praise who is my help and my God.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. Of the sons of Korah Maschil.&gt; It has come to our ears, O God, our fathers have given us the story, of the works which you did in their days, in the old times,


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Uprooting the nations with your hand, and planting our fathers in their place; cutting down the nations, but increasing the growth of your people.


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For they did not make the land theirs by their swords, and it was not their arms which kept them safe; but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your face, because you had pleasure in them.


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Through you will we overcome our haters; by your name will they be crushed under our feet who are violent against us.


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But it is you who have been our saviour from those who were against us, and have put to shame those who had hate for us.


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Because of this we are turned back by the attacker: those who have hate for us take our goods for themselves.


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You have made us to be looked down on by our neighbours, we are laughed at and shamed by those who are round about us.


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Because of the voice of him who says sharp and bitter words; because of the hater and him who is the instrument of punishment.


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All this has come on us, but still we have kept you in our memory; and we have not been false to your word.


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Though you have let us be crushed in the place of jackals, though we are covered with darkest shade.


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If the name of our God has gone out of our minds, or if our hands have been stretched out to a strange god,


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&lt;To the chief music-maker; put to Shoshannim. Of the sons of Korah. Maschil. A Song of loves.&gt; My heart is flowing over with good things; my words are of that which I have made for a king; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.


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You are fairer than the children of men; grace is flowing through your lips; for this cause the blessing of God is with you for ever.


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And go nobly on in your power, because you are good and true and without pride; and your right hand will be teaching you things of fear.


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Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's haters; because of them the peoples are falling under you.


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You have been a lover of righteousness and a hater of evil: and so God, your God, has put the oil of joy on your head, lifting you high over all other kings.


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Your robes are full of the smell of all sorts of perfumes and spices; music from the king's ivory houses has made you glad.


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O daughter, give thought and attention, and let your ear be open; no longer keep in mind your people, and your father's house;


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So will the king have a great desire for you, seeing how beautiful you are; because he is your lord, give him honour.


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And the daughters of Tyre will be there with an offering; those who have wealth among the people will be looking for your approval.


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She will come before the king in robes of needlework; the virgins in her train will come before you.


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Your children will take the place of your fathers; so that you may make them rulers over all the earth.


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I will keep the memory of your name living through all generations; and because of this the people will give you praise for ever.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. Of the sons of Korah; put to Alamoth. A Song.&gt; God is our harbour and our strength, a very present help in trouble.


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For this cause we will have no fear, even though the earth is changed, and though the mountains are moved in the heart of the sea;


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Though its waters are sounding and troubled, and though the mountains are shaking with their violent motion. (Selah.)


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There is a river whose streams make glad the resting-place of God, the holy place of the tents of the Most High.


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God has taken his place in her; she will not be moved: he will come to her help at the dawn of morning.


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The nations were angry, the kingdoms were moved; at the sound of his voice the earth became like wax.


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He puts an end to wars over all the earth; by him the bow is broken, and the spear cut in two, and the carriage burned in the fire.


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Be at peace in the knowledge that I am God: I will be lifted up among the nations, I will be honoured through all the earth.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of the sons of Korah.&gt; O make a glad noise with your hands, all you peoples; letting your voices go up to God with joy.


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The rulers of the peoples have come together, with the people of the God of Abraham; because the powers of the earth are God's: he is lifted up on high.


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&lt;A Song. A Psalm. Of the sons of Korah.&gt; Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, in the town of our God, in his holy mountain.


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Beautiful in its high position, the joy of all the earth, is the mountain of Zion, the mountain of God, the town of the great King.


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As it came to our ears so have we seen it, in the town of the Lord of armies, in the town of our God; God will keep it fixed for ever. (Selah.)


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As your name is, O God, so is your praise to the ends of the earth; your right hand is full of righteousness.


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Let there be joy in the mountain of Zion, and let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of your wise decisions.


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Take note of its strong walls, looking well at its fair buildings; so that you may give word of it to the generation which comes after.


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&lt;Alamoth. To the chief music-maker. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm.&gt; Give attention to this, all you peoples; let your ears be open, all you who are living in the world.


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What cause have I for fear in the days of evil, when the evil-doing of those who are working for my downfall is round about me?


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Even of those whose faith is in their wealth, and whose hearts are lifted up because of their stores.


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For he sees that wise men come to their end, and foolish persons of low behaviour come to destruction together, letting their wealth go to others.


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The place of the dead is their house for ever, and their resting-place through all generations; those who come after them give their names to their lands.


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This is the way of the foolish; their silver is for those who come after them, and their children get the pleasure of their gold. (Selah.)


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Death will give them their food like sheep; the underworld is their fate and they will go down into it; their flesh is food for worms; their form is wasted away; the underworld is their resting-place for ever.


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Though he might have pride in his soul in his life-time, and men will give you praise if you do well for yourself,


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&lt;A Psalm. Of Asaph.&gt; The God of gods, even the Lord, has sent out his voice, and the earth is full of fear; from the coming up of the sun to its going down.


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Our God will come, and will not keep quiet; with fire burning before him, and storm-winds round him.


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Give ear, O my people, to my words; O Israel, I will be a witness against you; I am God, even your God.


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I will not take up a cause against you because of your offerings, or because of your burned offerings, which are ever before me.


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Let your voice come up to me in the day of trouble; I will be your saviour, so that you may give glory to me.


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But to the sinner, God says, What are you doing, talking of my laws, or taking the words of my agreement in your mouth?


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When you saw a thief, you were in agreement with him, and you were joined with those who took other men's wives.


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These things have you done, and I said nothing; it seemed to you that I was such a one as yourself; but I will make a protest against you, and put them in order before your eyes.


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Now keep this in mind, you who have no memory of God, for fear that you may be crushed under my hand, with no one to give you help:


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Whoever makes an offering of praise gives glory to me; and to him who is upright in his ways I will make clear the salvation of God.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba.&gt; Have pity on me, O God, in your mercy; out of a full heart, take away my sin.


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Against you, you only, have I done wrong, working that which is evil in your eyes; so that your words may be seen to be right, and you may be clear when you are judging.


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Your desire is for what is true in the inner parts: in the secrets of my soul you will give me knowledge of wisdom.


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Be my saviour from violent death, O God, the God of my salvation; and my tongue will give praise to your righteousness.


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The offerings of God are a broken spirit; a broken and sorrowing heart, O God, you will not put from you.


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Then you will have delight in the offerings of righteousness, in burned offerings and offerings of beasts; then they will make offerings of oxen on your altar.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. Maschil. Of David. When Doeg the Edomite came to Saul saying, David has come to the house of Ahimelech.&gt; Why do you take pride in wrongdoing, lifting yourself up against the upright man all the day?


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But God will put an end to you for ever; driving you out from your tent, uprooting you from the land of the living. (Selah.)


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See, this is the man who did not make God his strength, but had faith in his goods and his property, and made himself strong in his wealth.


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But I am like a branching olive-tree in the house of God; I have put my faith in his mercy for ever and ever.


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I will give you praise without end for what you have done; I will give honour to your name before your saints, for it is good.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker; put to Mahalath. Maschil. Of David.&gt; The foolish man has said in his heart, God will not do anything. They are unclean, they have done evil works; there is not one who does good.


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God was looking down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who had wisdom, searching after God.


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Have the workers of evil no knowledge? they take my people for food, as they would take bread; they make no prayer to God.


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They were in great fear, where there was no cause for fear: for the bones of those who make war on you have been broken by God; you have put them to shame, because God has no desire for them.


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May the salvation of Israel come out of Zion! When the fate of his people is changed by God, Jacob will have joy, and Israel will be glad.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker; on Neginoth. Maschil. Of David. When the Ziphites came and said to Saul, Is not David keeping himself secret among us?&gt; Let your name be my salvation, O God; let my cause be judged by your strength.


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For men who are going after me have come out against me, violent men are purposing to take my soul; they have not put God before their eyes. (Selah.)


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Because it has been my saviour from all my trouble; and my eyes have seen the punishment of my haters.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker, on Neginoth. Maschil. Of David.&gt; Give hearing to my prayer, O God; and let not your ear be shut against my request.


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I am troubled because of the voice of the cruel ones, because of the loud cry of the evil-doers; for they put a weight of evil on me, and they are cruel in their hate for me.


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And I said, If only I had wings like a dove! for then I would go in flight from here and be at rest.


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Send destruction on them, O Lord, make a division of tongues among them: for I have seen fighting and violent acts in the town.


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For it was not my hater who said evil of me; that would have been no grief to me; it was not one outside the number of my friends who made himself strong against me, or I would have kept myself from him in a secret place;


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Let the hand of death come on them suddenly, and let them go down living into the underworld; because evil is in their houses and in their hearts.


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In the evening and in the morning and in the middle of the day I will make my prayer with sounds of grief; and my voice will come to his ears.


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He has taken my soul away from the attack which was made against me, and given it peace; for great numbers were against me.


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God will give thought to me; he who from early times is strong will send pain and trouble on them. (Selah.) Because they are unchanged, they have no fear of God.


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The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, but they were sharp swords.


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But you, O God, will send them down into the underworld; the cruel and the false will be cut off before half their days are ended; but I will have faith in you.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker; put to Jonath elem rehokim. Of David. Michtam. When the Philistines took him in Gath.&gt; Have mercy on me, O God, for man is attempting my destruction; every day he makes cruel attacks against me.


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In God will I give praise to his word; in God have I put my hope; I will have no fear of what flesh may do to me.


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They come together, they are waiting in secret places, they take note of my steps, they are waiting for my soul.


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You have seen my wanderings; put the drops from my eyes into your bottle; are they not in your record?


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When I send up my cry to you, my haters will be turned back; I am certain of this, for God is with me.


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Because you have taken my soul from the power of death; and kept my feet from falling, so that I may be walking before God in the light of life.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker; put to Al-tashheth. Michtam. Of David. When he went in flight from Saul, in the hole of the rock.&gt; Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me; for the hope of my soul is in you: I will keep myself safely under the shade of your wings, till these troubles are past.


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He will send from heaven, and take me from the power of him whose desire is for my destruction. God will send out his mercy and his good faith.


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My soul is among lions; I am stretched out among those who are on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and whose tongue is a sharp sword.


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They have made ready a net for my steps; my soul is bent down; they have made a great hole before me, and have gone down into it themselves. (Selah.)


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For your mercy is great, stretching up to the heavens, and your righteousness goes up to the clouds.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker; put to Al-tashheth. Michtam. Of David.&gt; Is there righteousness in your mouths, O you gods? are you upright judges, O you sons of men?


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The evil-doers are strange from the first; from the hour of their birth they go out of the true way, saying false words.


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O God, let their teeth be broken in their mouths; let the great teeth of the young lions be pulled out, O Lord.


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Let them be turned to liquid like the ever-flowing waters; let them be cut off like the grass by the way.


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Let them be like an after-birth which is turned to water and comes to an end; like the fruit of a woman who gives birth before her time, let them not see the sun.


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Before they are conscious of it, let them be cut down like thorns; let a strong wind take them away like waste growth.


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The upright man will be glad when he sees their punishment; his feet will be washed in the blood of the evil-doer.


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So that men will say, Truly there is a reward for righteousness; truly there is a God who is judge on the earth.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker; put to At-tashheth. Michtam. Of David. When Saul sent, and they were watching the house, to put him to death.&gt; Take me out of the hands of the cruel ones, O my God; keep me safe from those who come up against me.


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For see, they are watching in secret for my soul; the strong have come together against me? but not because of my sin, or my evil-doing, O Lord.


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You, O Lord God of armies, are the God of Israel; come now and give punishment to the nations; have no mercy on any workers of deceit. (Selah.)


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See, hate is dropping from their lips; curses are on their tongues: they say, Who gives attention to it?


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Put them not to death, for so my people will keep the memory of them: let them be sent in all directions by your power; make them low, O Lord our saviour.


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Because of the sin of their mouths and the word of their lips, let them even be taken in their pride; and for their curses and their deceit,


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Put an end to them in your wrath, put an end to them, so that they may not be seen again; let them see that God is ruling in Jacob and to the ends of the earth. (Selah.)


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Let them go wandering up and down in search of food, and be there all night if they have not enough.


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But I will make songs of your power; yes, I will give cries of joy for your mercy in the morning; because you have been my strength and my high tower in the day of my trouble.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker; put to Shushan-eduth. Michtam. Of David. For teaching. When he was fighting against Aram-naharaim and Aramzobah, when Joab came back, and put twelve thousand of the Edomites to death, in the Valley of Salt.&gt; God, you have put us away from you, you have sent us in all directions, you have been angry; O be turned to us again.


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Give a safe place to those who have fear of you, where they may go in flight from before the bow. (Selah.)


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So that your loved ones may be made safe, let your right hand be my salvation, and give me an answer.


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God has said in his holy place, I will be glad: I will make a division of Shechem, and the valley of Succoth will be measured out.


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Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; and Ephraim is the strength of my head; Judah is my law-giver;


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. On a corded instrument. Of David.&gt; Let my cry come to you, O God; let your ears be open to my prayer.


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From the end of the earth will I send up my cry to you, when my heart is overcome: take me to the rock which is over-high for me.


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I will make your tent my resting-place for ever: I will keep myself under the cover of your wings. (Selah.)


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For you, O God, have made answer to my prayers; you have given me the heritage of those who give honour to your name.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. After Jeduthun. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; My soul, put all your faith in God; for from him comes my salvation.


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How long will you go on designing evil against a man? running against him as against a broken wall, which is on the point of falling?


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Their only thought is to put him down from his place of honour; their delight is in deceit: blessing is in their mouths but cursing in their hearts. (Selah.)


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Have faith in him at all times, you people; let your hearts go flowing out before him: God is our safe place. (Selah.)


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Truly men of low birth are nothing, and men of high position are not what they seem; if they are put in the scales together they are less than a breath.


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Have no faith in the rewards of evil-doing, or in profits wrongly made: if your wealth is increased, do not put your hopes on it.


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&lt;A Psalm. Of David. When he was in the waste land of Judah.&gt; O God, you are my God; early will I make my search for you: my soul is dry for need of you, my flesh is wasted with desire for you, as a dry and burning land where no water is;


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But the king will have joy in God; everyone who takes an oath by him will have cause for pride; but the false mouth will be stopped.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; O God, let the voice of my grief come to your ear: keep my life from the fear of those who are against me.


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They make themselves strong in an evil purpose; they make holes for secret nets; they say, Who will see it,


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Or make discovery of our secret purpose? The design is framed with care; and the inner thought of a man, and his heart, is deep.


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The evil of their tongues is the cause of their fall; all those who see them are shaking their heads at them.


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The upright will be glad in the Lord and have hope in him; and all the lovers of righteousness will give him glory.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David. A Song.&gt; It is right for you, O God, to have praise in Zion: to you let the offering be made.


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Happy is the man of your selection, to whom you give a resting-place in your house; we will be full of the good things out of your holy place.


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You will give us an answer in righteousness by great acts of power, O God of our salvation; you who are the hope of all the ends of the earth, and of the far-off lands of the sea;


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Those in the farthest parts of the earth have fear when they see your signs: the outgoings of the morning and evening are glad because of you.


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You have given your blessing to the earth, watering it and making it fertile; the river of God is full of water: and having made it ready, you give men grain.


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You make the ploughed lands full of water; you make smooth the slopes: you make the earth soft with showers, sending your blessing on its growth.


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The grass-land is thick with flocks; the valleys are full of grain; they give glad cries and songs of joy.


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Say to God, How greatly to be feared are your works! because of your great power your haters are forced to put themselves under your feet.


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Let all the earth give you worship, and make songs to you; let them make songs to your name. (Selah.)


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The sea was turned into dry land: they went through the river on foot: there did we have joy in him.


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He is ruling in power for ever; his eyes are watching the nations: may his haters have no strength against him. (Selah.)


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You let men go driving over our heads; we went through fire and through water; but you took us out into a wide place.


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I will give you burned offerings of fat beasts, and the smoke of sheep; I will make offerings of oxen and goats. (Selah.)


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Come, give ear to me, all you God-fearing men, so that I may make clear to you what he has done for my soul.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. With corded instruments. A Psalm. A Song.&gt; May God give us mercy and blessing, and let the light of his face be shining on us; (Selah.)


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O let the nations be glad, and make song of joy; for you will be the judge of the peoples in righteousness, guiding the nations of the earth. (Selah.)


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. Of David. A Psalm. A Song.&gt; Let God be seen, and let his haters be put to flight; let those who are against him be turned back before him.


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Let them be like smoke before the driving wind; as wax turning soft before the fire, so let them come to an end before the power of God.


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Make songs to God, make songs of praise to his name; make a way for him who comes through the waste lands; his name is Jah; be glad before him.


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Those who are without friends, God puts in families; he makes free those who are in chains; but those who are turned away from him are given a dry land.


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The earth was shaking and the heavens were streaming, because God was present; even Sinai itself was moved before God, the God of Israel.


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Will you take your rest among the flocks? like the wings of a dove covered with silver, and its feathers with yellow gold.


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Why are you looking with envy, you high hills, on the hill desired by God as his resting-place? truly, God will make it his house for ever.


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The war-carriage of God is among Israel's thousands; the Lord has come from Sinai to the holy place.


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You have gone up on high, taking your prisoners with you; you have taken offerings from men; the Lord God has taken his place on the seat of his power.


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The heads of the haters of God will be crushed; even the head of him who still goes on in his evil ways.


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The makers of songs go before, the players of music come after, among the young girls playing on brass instruments.


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There is little Benjamin ruling them, the chiefs of Judah and their army, the rulers of Zebulun and the rulers of Naphtali.


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Say sharp words to the beast among the water-plants, the band of strong ones, with the lords of the peoples, put an end to the people whose delight is in war.


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Kings will give you offerings, they will come out of Egypt; from Pathros will come offerings of silver; Ethiopia will be stretching out her hands to God.


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To him who goes or the clouds of heaven, the heaven which was from earliest times; he sends out his voice of power.


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O God, you are to be feared in your holy place: the God of Israel gives strength and power to his people. Praise be to God.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker; put to Shoshannim. Of David.&gt; Be my saviour, O God; because the waters have come in, even to my neck.


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My feet are deep in the soft earth, where there is no support; I have come into deep waters, the waves are flowing over me.


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Those who have hate for me without cause are greater in number than the hairs of my head; those who are against me, falsely desiring my destruction, are very strong; I gave back what I had not taken away.


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Let not those who have hope in you be put to shame because of me, O Lord God of armies: let not those who are waiting for you be made low because of me, O God of Israel.


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I am on fire with passion for your house; and the hard things which are said about you have come on me.


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But as for me, let my prayer be made to you, O Lord, at a time when you are pleased; O God, give me an answer in your great mercy, for your salvation is certain.


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Take me from the grip of the sticky earth, so that I may not go down into it; let me be lifted up from the deep waters.


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Let me not be covered by the flowing waters; let not the deep waters go over my head, and let me not be shut up in the underworld.


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Give an answer to my words, O Lord; for your mercy is good: be turned to me, because of your great pity.


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My heart is broken by bitter words, I am full of grief; I made a search for some to have pity on me, but there was no one; I had no comforter.


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Because they are cruel to him against whom your hand is turned; they make bitter the grief of him who is wounded by you.


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For God will be the saviour of Zion, and the builder of the towns of Judah; so that it may be their resting-place and heritage.


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The seed of his servants will have their part in it, and there the lovers of his name will have rest.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. Of David. To keep in memory.&gt; Let your salvation come quickly, O God; come quickly to my help, O Lord.


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Let those who go after my soul have shame and trouble; let those who have evil designs against me be turned back and made foolish.


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Let all those who are looking for you be glad and have joy in you; let the lovers of your salvation ever say, May God be great.


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But I am poor and in need; come to me quickly, O God; you are my help and my saviour; let there be no waiting, O Lord.


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You have been my support from the day of my birth; you took me out of my mother's body; my praise will be ever of you.


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For my haters are waiting secretly for me; and those who are watching for my soul are banded together in their evil designs,


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Let those who say evil against my soul be overcome and put to shame; let my haters be made low and have no honour.


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My mouth will make clear your righteousness and your salvation all the day; for they are more than may be measured.


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I will give news of the great acts of the Lord God; my words will be of your righteousness, and of yours only.


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O God, you have been my teacher from the time when I was young; and I have been talking of your works of wonder even till now.


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Now when I am old and grey-headed, O God, give me not up; till I have made clear your strength to this generation, and your power to all those to come.


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You, who have sent great and bitter troubles on me, will give me life again, lifting me up from the deep waters of the underworld.


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I will give praise to you with instruments of music, O my God, for you are true; I will make songs to you with music, O Holy One of Israel.


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Joy will be on my lips when I make melody to you; and in my soul, to which you have given salvation.


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My tongue will be talking of your righteousness all the day; for those whose purpose is to do me evil have been crushed and put to shame.


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May he be a judge of the poor among the people, may he give salvation to the children of those who are in need; by him let the violent be crushed.


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Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands come back with offerings; let the kings of Sheba and Seba give of their stores.


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For he will be a saviour to the poor in answer to his cry; and to him who is in need, without a helper.


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He will keep their souls free from evil designs and violent attacks; and their blood will be of value in his eyes.


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May he have long life, and may gold from Sheba be given to him: may prayers be made for him at all times; may blessings be on him every day.


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May there be wide-stretching fields of grain in the land, shaking on the top of the mountains, full of fruit like Lebanon: may its stems be unnumbered like the grass of the earth.


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May his name go on for ever, as long as the sun: may men be blessing themselves by him; may all nations be blessing his name.


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Praise to the glory of his noble name for ever; let all the earth be full of his glory. So be it, So be it.


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For this reason pride is round them like a chain; they are clothed with violent behaviour as with a robe.


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If I would make clear what it is like, I would say, You are false to the generation of your children.


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As a dream when one is awake, they are ended; they are like an image gone out of mind when sleep is over.


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For those who are far away from you will come to destruction: you will put an end to all those who have not kept faith with you.


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But it is good for me to come near to God: I have put my faith in the Lord God, so that I may make clear all his works.


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&lt;Maschil. Of Asaph.&gt; Of God, why have you put us away from you for ever? why is the fire of your wrath smoking against the sheep who are your care?


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Keep in mind your band of worshippers, for whom you gave payment in the days which are past, whom you took for yourself as the people of your heritage; even this mountain of Zion, which has been your resting-place.


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Sending out their voices like lions among your worshippers; they have put up their signs to be seen.


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They have put on fire your holy place; they have made the place of your name unclean, pulling it down to the earth.


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They have said in their hearts, Let us put an end to them all together; they have given over to the fire all God's places of worship in the land.


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O God, how long will those who are against us say cruel things? will the hater go on looking down on your name for ever?


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Keep this in mind, O Lord, that your haters have said cruel things, and that your name has been looked down on by a people of evil behaviour.


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O give not the soul of your dove to the hawk; let not the life of the poor go out of your memory for ever.


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O let not the crushed be turned back in shame; let the low man and the poor give praise to your name.


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Up! O God, be the judge of your cause; keep in mind the bitter things which the man of evil behaviour says against you every day.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker; put to Al-tashheth. A Psalm. Of Asaph. A Song.&gt; To you, O God, we give praise, to you we give praise: and those who give honour to your name make clear your works of power.


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I say to the men of pride, Let your pride be gone: and to the sinners, Let not your horn be lifted up.


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For in the hand of the Lord is a cup, and the wine is red; it is well mixed, overflowing from his hand: he will make all the sinners of the earth take of it, even to the last drop.


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By him will all the horns of the sinners be cut off; but the horns of the upright will be lifted up.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker; put to Neginoth. A Psalm. Of Asaph. A Song.&gt; In Judah is the knowledge of God; his name is great in Israel,


t:
There were the arrows of the bow broken, there he put an end to body-cover, sword, and fight. (Selah.)


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Gone is the wealth of the strong, their last sleep has overcome them; the men of war have become feeble.


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Give to the Lord your God what is his by right; let all who are round him give offerings to him who is to be feared.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. After Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A Psalm.&gt; I was crying to God with my voice; even to God with my voice, and he gave ear to me.


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In the day of my trouble, my heart was turned to the Lord: my hand was stretched out in the night without resting; my soul would not be comforted.


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I will keep God in memory, with sounds of grief; my thoughts are troubled, and my spirit is overcome. (Selah.)


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The memory of my song comes back to me in the night; my thoughts are moving in my heart; my spirit is searching with care.


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And I said, It is a weight on my spirit; but I will keep in mind the years of the right hand of the Most High.


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The voice of your thunder went rolling on; the world was flaming with the light of the storm; the earth was shaking.


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Your way was in the sea, and your road in the great waters; there was no knowledge of your footsteps.


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&lt;Maschil. Of Asaph.&gt; Give ear, O my people, to my law; let your ears be bent down to the words of my mouth.


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We will not keep them secret from our children; we will make clear to the coming generation the praises of the Lord and his strength, and the great works of wonder which he has done.


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He put up a witness in Jacob, and made a law in Israel; which he gave to our fathers so that they might give knowledge of them to their children;


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So that the generation to come might have knowledge of them, even the children of the future, who would give word of them to their children;


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So that they might put their hope in God, and not let God's works go out of their minds, but keep his laws;


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And not be like their fathers, a stiff-necked and uncontrolled generation; a generation whose heart was hard, whose spirit was not true to God.


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The sea was cut in two so that they might go through; the waters were massed together on this side and on that.


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The rocks of the waste land were broken by his power, and he gave them drink as out of the deep waters.


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See, the rock was cut open by his power, so that the water came rushing out, and overflowing streams; is he able to give us bread? is he able to get meat for his people?


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So these things came to the Lord's ears, and he was angry; and a fire was lighted against Jacob, and wrath came up against Israel;


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The wrath of God came on them, and put to death the fattest of them, and put an end to the young men of Israel.


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When he sent death on them, then they made search for him; turning to him and looking for him with care;


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But he, being full of pity, has forgiveness for sin, and does not put an end to man: frequently turning back his wrath, and not being violently angry.


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So he kept in mind that they were only flesh; a breath which is quickly gone, and will not come again.


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How frequently did they go against him in the waste land, and give him cause for grief in the dry places!


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They did not keep in mind the work of his hand, or the day when he took them from the power of their haters;


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He sent different sorts of flies among them, poisoning their flesh; and frogs for their destruction.


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He let his wrath have its way; he did not keep back their soul from death, but gave their life to disease.


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He gave to destruction all the first sons of Egypt; the first-fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham;


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Driving out nations before them, marking out the line of their heritage, and giving the people of Israel their tents for a resting-place.


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Their hearts were turned back and untrue like their fathers; they were turned to one side like a twisted bow.


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From looking after the sheep which were giving milk, he took him to give food to Jacob his people, and to Israel his heritage.


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&lt;A Psalm. Of Asaph.&gt; O God, the nations have come into your heritage; they have made your holy Temple unclean; they have made Jerusalem a mass of broken walls.


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They have given the bodies of your servants as food to the birds of the air, and the flesh of your saints to the beasts of the earth.


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Their blood has been flowing like water round about Jerusalem; there was no one to put them in their last resting-place.


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We are looked down on by our neighbours, we are laughed at and made sport of by those who are round us.


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Let your wrath be on the nations who have no knowledge of you, and on the kingdoms who have not made prayer to your name.


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Do not keep in mind against us the sins of our fathers; let your mercy come to us quickly, for we have been made very low.


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Give us help, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; take us out of danger and give us forgiveness for our sins, because of your name.


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Why may the nations say, Where is their God? Let payment for the blood of your servants be made openly among the nations before our eyes.


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And give punishment seven times over into the breast of our neighbours for the bitter words which they have said against you, O Lord.


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So we your people, and the sheep of your flock, will give you glory for ever: we will go on praising you through all generations.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker; put to Shoshannim-eduth. Of Asaph. A Psalm.&gt; Give ear, O Keeper of Israel, guiding Joseph like a flock; you who have your seat on the winged ones, let your glory be seen.


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Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, let your strength be awake from sleep, and come as our salvation.


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You have given them the bread of weeping for food; for their drink you have given them sorrow in great measure.


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You made ready a place for it, so that it might take deep root, and it sent out its branches over all the land.


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Come back, O God of armies: from heaven let your eyes be turned to this vine, and give your mind to it,


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Even to the tree which was planted by your right hand, and to the branch which you made strong for yourself.


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Let your hand be on the man of your right hand, on the son of man whom you made strong for yourself.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker; put to the Gittith. Of Asaph.&gt; Make a song to God our strength: make a glad cry to the God of Jacob.


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He gave it to Joseph as a witness, when he went out over the land of Egypt; then the words of a strange tongue were sounding in my ears.


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You gave a cry in your trouble, and I made you free; I gave you an answer in the secret place of the thunder; I put you to the test at the waters of Meribah. (Selah.)


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I am the Lord your God, who took you up from the land of Egypt: let your mouth be open wide, so that I may give you food.


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Give ear to the cause of the poor and the children without fathers; let those who are troubled and in need have their rights.


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&lt;A Song. A Psalm. Of Asaph.&gt; O God, do not keep quiet: let your lips be open and take no rest, O God.


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They have made wise designs against your people, talking together against those whom you keep in a secret place.


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They have said, Come, let us put an end to them as a nation; so that the name of Israel may go out of man's memory.


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Do to them what you did to the Midianites; what you did to Sisera and Jabin, at the stream of Kishon:


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&lt;To the chief music-maker; put to the Gittith A Psalm. Of the sons of Korah.&gt; How dear are your tents, O Lord of armies!


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The passion of my soul's desire is for the house of the Lord; my heart and my flesh are crying out for the living God.


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The little birds have places for themselves, where they may put their young, even your altars, O Lord of armies, my King and my God.


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Going through the valley of balsam-trees, they make it a place of springs; it is clothed with blessings by the early rain.


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For a day in your house is better than a thousand. It is better to be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to be living in the tents of sin.


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The Lord God is our sun and our strength: the Lord will give grace and glory: he will not keep back any good thing from those whose ways are upright.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of the sons of Korah.&gt; Lord, you were good to your land: changing the fate of Jacob.


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Will you go on being angry with us for ever? will you keep your wrath against us through all the long generations?


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I will give ear to the voice of the Lord; for he will say words of peace to his people and to his saints; but let them not go back to their foolish ways.


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&lt;A Prayer. Of David.&gt; Let your ears be open to my voice, O Lord, and give me an answer; for I am poor and in need.


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You are good, O Lord, and full of forgiveness; your mercy is great to all who make their cry to you.


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Let all the nations whom you have made come and give worship to you, O Lord, giving glory to your name.


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Make your way clear to me, O Lord; I will go on my way in your faith: let my heart be glad in the fear of your name.


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O God, men of pride have come up against me, and the army of violent men would take my life; they have not put you before them.


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But you, O Lord, are a God full of pity and forgiveness, slow to get angry, great in mercy and wisdom.


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O be turned to me and have mercy on me: give your strength to your servant, and your salvation to the son of her who is your servant.


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Give me a sign for good; so that my haters may see it and be shamed; because you, Lord, have been my help and comfort.


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Rahab and Babylon will be named among those who have knowledge of me; see, Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man had his birth there.


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And of Zion it will be said, This or that man had his birth there; and the Most High will make her strong.


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The Lord will keep in mind, when he is writing the records of the people, that this man had his birth there. (Selah.)


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&lt;A Song. A Psalm. Of the sons of Korah. To the chief music-maker; put to Mahalath Leannoth. Maschil. Of Heman the Ezrahite.&gt; O Lord, God of my salvation, I have been crying to you for help by day and by night:


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I am numbered among those who go down into the earth; I have become like a man for whom there is no help:


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My soul is among the dead, like those in the underworld, to whom you give no more thought; for they are cut off from your care.


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You have sent my friends far away from me; you have made me a disgusting thing in their eyes: I am shut up, and not able to come out.


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My eyes are wasting away because of my trouble: Lord, my cry has gone up to you every day, my hands are stretched out to you.


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Will the story of your mercy be given in the house of the dead? will news of your faith come to the place of destruction?


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I have been troubled and in fear of death from the time when I was young; your wrath is hard on me, and I have no strength.


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You have sent my friends and lovers far from me; I am gone from the memory of those who are dear to me.


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&lt;Maschil. Of Ethan the Ezrahite.&gt; My song will be of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make his faith clear to all generations.


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In heaven let them give praise for your wonders, O Lord; and your unchanging faith among the saints.


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For who is there in the heavens in comparison with the Lord? who is like the Lord among the sons of the gods?


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Rahab was crushed by you like one wounded to death; with your strong arm you put to flight all your haters.


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Yours are the heavens, and the earth is yours; you have made the world, and everything which is in it.


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The seat of your kingdom is resting on righteousness and right judging: mercy and good faith come before your face.


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Happy are the people who have knowledge of the holy cry: the light of your face, O Lord, will be shining on their way.


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Then your voice came to your holy one in a vision, saying, I have put the crown on a strong one, lifting up one taken from among the people.


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The deceit of those who are against him will not overcome him; he will not be troubled by the sons of evil.


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I will have those who are against him broken before his face, and his haters will be crushed under my blows.


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You have made your agreement with your servant of no effect: you have had no respect for his crown, it has come down even to the earth.


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You have given power to the right hand of his haters; you have made glad all those who are against him.


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How long, O Lord, will you Keep yourself for ever from our eyes? how long will your wrath be burning like fire?


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What man now living will not see death? will he be able to keep back his soul from the underworld? (Selah.)


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Lord, where are your earlier mercies? where is the oath which you made to David in unchanging faith?


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Keep in mind, O Lord, the shame of your servants, and how the bitter words of all the people have come into my heart;


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&lt;A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.&gt; Lord, you have been our resting-place in all generations.


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Before the mountains were made, before you had given birth to the earth and the world, before time was, and for ever, you are God.


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For to you a thousand years are no more than yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night.


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The measure of our life is seventy years; and if through strength it may be eighty years, its pride is only trouble and sorrow, for it comes to an end and we are quickly gone.


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In the morning give us your mercy in full measure; so that we may have joy and delight all our days.


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Happy is he whose resting-place is in the secret of the Lord, and under the shade of the wings of the Most High;


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Who says of the Lord, He is my safe place and my tower of strength: he is my God, in whom is my hope.


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You will be covered by his feathers; under his wings you will be safe: his good faith will be your salvation.


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Or of the disease which takes men in the dark, or of the destruction which makes waste when the sun is high.


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You will see a thousand falling by your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you.


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You will put your foot on the lion and the snake; the young lion and the great snake will be crushed under your feet.


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Because he has given me his love, I will take him out of danger: I will put him in a place of honour, because he has kept my name in his heart.


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When his cry comes up to me, I will give him an answer: I will be with him in trouble; I will make him free from danger and give him honour.


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&lt;A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.&gt; It is a good thing to give praise to the Lord, and to make melody to your name, O Most High;


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When the sinners come up like the grass, and all the workers of evil do well for themselves, it is so that their end may be eternal destruction.


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My eyes have seen trouble come on my haters; my ears have news of the fate of the evil-doers who have come up against me.


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The good man will be like a tall tree in his strength; his growth will be as the wide-stretching trees of Lebanon.


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The Lord is King; he is clothed with glory; the Lord is clothed with strength; power is the cord of his robe; the world is fixed, so that it may not be moved.


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The Lord in heaven is stronger than the noise of great waters, yes, he is stronger than the great waves of the sea.


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Give your mind to my words, you who are without wisdom among the people; you foolish men, when will you be wise?


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He who is the judge of the nations, will he not give men the reward of their acts, even he who gives knowledge to man?


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So that you may give him rest from the days of evil, till a hole is made ready for the destruction of the sinners.


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But decisions will again be made in righteousness; and they will be kept by all whose hearts are true.


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They are banded together against the soul of the upright, to give decisions against those who have done no wrong.


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And he has made their evil designs come back on themselves, cutting them off in their sin; the Lord our God will put an end to them.


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For he is our God; and we are the people to whom he gives food, and the sheep of his flock. Today, if you would only give ear to his voice!


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For forty years I was angry with this generation, and said, They are a people whose hearts are turned away from me, for they have no knowledge of my ways;


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Say among the nations, The Lord is King; yes, the world is ordered so that it may not be moved; he will be an upright judge of the peoples.


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Let the field be glad, and everything which is in it; yes, let all the trees of the wood be sounding with joy,


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Before the Lord, for he is come; he is come to be the judge of the earth; the earth will be judged in righteousness, and the peoples with unchanging faith.


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The mountains became like wax at the coming of the Lord, at the coming of the Lord of all the earth.


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Shamed be all those who give worship to images, and take pride in false gods; give him worship, all you gods.


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Zion gave ear and was glad; and the daughters of Judah were full of joy, because of your decisions, O Lord.


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You who are lovers of the Lord, be haters of evil; he keeps the souls of his saints; he takes them out of the hand of sinners.


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&lt;A Psalm.&gt; O make a new song to the Lord, because he has done works of wonder; with his right hand, and with his holy arm, he has overcome.


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The Lord has given to all the knowledge of his salvation; he has made clear his righteousness in the eyes of the nations.


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He has kept in mind his mercy and his unchanging faith to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.


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Let all the earth send out a glad cry to the Lord; sounding with a loud voice, and praising him with songs of joy.


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Before the Lord, for he has come as judge of the earth; judging the world in righteousness, and giving true decisions for the peoples.


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The Lord is King; let the peoples be in fear: his seat is on the winged ones; let the earth be moved.


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The king's power is used for righteousness; you give true decisions, judging rightly in the land of Jacob.


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Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who gave honour to his name; they made prayers to the Lord, and he gave answers to them.


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His voice came to them from the pillar of cloud; they kept his witness, and the law which he gave them.


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You gave them an answer, O Lord our God; you took away their sin, though you gave them punishment for their wrongdoing.


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Give high honour to the Lord our God, worshipping with your faces turned to his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy.


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Be certain that the Lord is God; it is he who has made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep to whom he gives food.


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For the Lord is good, and his mercy is never-ending; his faith is unchanging through all generations.


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&lt;A Psalm. Of David.&gt; I will make a song of mercy and righteousness; to you, O Lord, will I make melody.


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I will do wisely in the way of righteousness: O when will you come to me? I will be walking in my house with a true heart.


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I will not put any evil thing before my eyes; I am against all turning to one side; I will not have it near me.


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I will put to death anyone who says evil of his neighbour secretly; the man with a high look and a heart of pride is disgusting to me.


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My eyes will be on those of good faith in the land, so that they may be living in my house; he who is walking in the right way will be my servant.


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Morning by morning will I put to death all the sinners in the land, so that all evil-doers may be cut off from Jerusalem.


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&lt;A Prayer of the man who is in trouble, when he is overcome, and puts his grief before the Lord.&gt; Give ear to my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come to you.


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Let not your face be veiled from me in the day of my trouble; give ear to me, and let my cry be answered quickly.


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So the nations will give honour to the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will be in fear of his glory:


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This will be put in writing for the coming generation, and the people of the future will give praise to the Lord.


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They will come to an end, but you will still go on; they all will become old like a coat, and like a robe they will be changed:


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The children of your servants will have a safe resting-place, and their seed will be ever before you.


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&lt;Of David.&gt; Give praise to the Lord, O my soul; let everything in me give praise to his holy name.


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But the mercy of the Lord is eternal for his worshippers, and their children's children will see his righteousness;


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Give praise to the Lord, you his angels, who are great in strength, doing his orders, and waiting for his voice.


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Give praise to the Lord, all his works, in all places under his rule: give praise to the Lord, O my soul.


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Give praise to the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great; you are robed with honour and power.


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The arch of your house is based on the waters; you make the clouds your carriage; you go on the wings of the wind:


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You made a limit over which they might not go, so that the earth would never again be covered by them.


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He makes the grass come up for the cattle, and plants for the use of man; so that bread may come out of the earth;


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And wine to make glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face shining, and bread giving strength to his heart.


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He made the moon for a sign of the divisions of the year; teaching the sun the time of its going down.


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When you make it dark, it is night, when all the beasts of the woods come quietly out of their secret places.


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O Lord, how great is the number of your works! in wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of the things you have made.


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There is the great, wide sea, where there are living things, great and small, more than may be numbered.


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If your face is veiled, they are troubled; when you take away their breath, they come to an end, and go back to the dust.


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Let sinners be cut off from the earth, and let all evil-doers come to an end. Give praise to the Lord, O my soul. Give praise to the Lord.


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Let your voice be sounding in songs and melody; let all your thoughts be of the wonder of his works.


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He gave their vines and their fig-trees to destruction, and the trees of their land were broken down.


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His hand made the rock open, and the waters came streaming out; they went down through the dry places like a river.


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Let the Lord be praised. O give praise to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy is unchanging for ever.


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So that I may see the well-being of the people of your selection, and have a part in the joy of your nation, and take pride in your heritage.


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Our fathers did not give thought to your wonders in Egypt; they did not keep in memory the great number of your mercies, but gave you cause for wrath at the sea, even at the Red Sea.


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By his word the Red Sea was made dry: and he took them through the deep waters as through the waste land.


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And he took them safely out of the hands of their haters, and kept them from the attacks of those who were against them.


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And he was purposing to put an end to them if Moses, his special servant, had not gone up before him, between him and his people, turning back his wrath, to keep them from destruction.


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And gave the blood of their sons and their daughters who had done no wrong, offering them to the images of Canaan; and the land was made unclean with blood.


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Again and again he made them free; but their hearts were turned against his purpose, and they were overcome by their sins.


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Be our saviour, O Lord our God, and let us come back together from among the nations, so that we may give honour to your holy name, and have glory in your praise.


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Praise be to the Lord God of Israel for ever and for ever; and let all the people say, So be it. Give praise to the Lord.


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Let those whose cause the Lord has taken up say so, his people whom he has taken out of the hands of their haters;


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Making them come together out of all the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.


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Then they sent up their cry to the Lord in their sorrow, and he gave them salvation out of all their troubles;


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Let men give praise to the Lord for his mercy, and for the wonders which he does for the children of men!


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Then they sent up their cry to the Lord in their sorrow, and he gave them salvation out of all their troubles.


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Then they send up their cry to the Lord in their sorrow, and he gives them salvation out of all their troubles.


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The sailors go up to heaven, and down into the deep; their souls are wasted because of their trouble.


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They are turned here and there, rolling like a man who is full of wine; and all their wisdom comes to nothing.


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He puts an end to the pride of kings, and sends them wandering in the waste lands where there is no way.


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&lt;A Song. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; O God, my heart is fixed; I will make songs and melody, even with my glory.


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Let your right hand be stretched out for salvation, and give me an answer, so that your loved ones may be safe from danger.


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This is the word of the holy God: I will be glad; I will make Shechem a heritage, measuring out the valley of Succoth.


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Moab is my washpot; on Edom is the resting-place of my shoe; over Philistia will I send out a glad cry.


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For the mouth of the sinner is open against me in deceit: his tongue has said false things against me.


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Let his children be wanderers, looking to others for their food; let them be sent away from the company of their friends.


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Let the Lord keep in mind the wrongdoing of his fathers; and may the sin of his mother have no forgiveness.


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Let them be ever before the eyes of the Lord, so that the memory of them may be cut off from the earth.


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Because he had no mercy, but was cruel to the low and the poor, designing the death of the broken-hearted.


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As he took pleasure in cursing, so let it come on him; and as he had no delight in blessing, let it be far from him.


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He put on cursing like a robe, and it has come into his body like water, and into his bones like oil.


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But, O Lord God, give me your help, because of your name; take me out of danger, because your mercy is good.


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They may give curses but you give blessing; when they come up against me, put them to shame; but let your servant be glad.


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I will give the Lord great praise with my mouth; yes, I will give praise to him among all the people.


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For he is ever at the right hand of the poor, to take him out of the hands of those who go after his soul.


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&lt;A Psalm. Of David.&gt; The Lord said to my lord, Be seated at my right hand, till I put all those who are against you under your feet.


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Your people give themselves gladly in the day of your power; like the dew of the morning on the holy mountains is the army of your young men.


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The Lord has made an oath, and will not take it back. You are a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek.


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He will be judge among the nations, the valleys will be full of dead bodies; the head over a great country will be wounded by him.


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Let the Lord be praised. I will give praise to the Lord with all my heart, among the upright, and in the meeting of the people.


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He has sent salvation to his people; he has given his word for ever: holy is his name and greatly to be feared.


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The fear of the Lord is the best part of wisdom: all those who keep his laws are wise: his praise is eternal.


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Let the Lord be praised. Happy is the man who gives honour to the Lord, and has great delight in his laws.


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All is well for the man who is kind and gives freely to others; he will make good his cause when he is judged.


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He has given with open hands to the poor; his righteousness is for ever; his horn will be lifted up with honour.


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The sinner will see it with grief; he will be wasted away with envy; the desire of the evil-doers will come to nothing.


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He gives the unfertile woman a family, making her a happy mother of children. Give praise to the Lord.


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When Israel came out of Egypt, the children of Jacob from a people whose language was strange to them;


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Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name let glory be given, because of your mercy and your unchanging faith.


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They have hands without feeling, and feet without power of walking; and no sound comes from their throat.


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The Lord has kept us in mind and will give us his blessing; he will send blessings on the house of Israel and on the house of Aaron.


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The nets of death were round me, and the pains of the underworld had me in their grip; I was full of trouble and sorrow.


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You have taken my soul from the power of death, keeping my eyes from weeping, and my feet from falling.


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O Lord, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of her who is your servant; by you have my cords been broken.


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I made my prayer to the Lord in my trouble: and the Lord gave me an answer, and put me in a wide place.


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They are round me, yes, they are all about me; but in the name of the Lord I will have them cut down.


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They are round me like bees; but they are put out like a fire among thorns; for in the name of the Lord I will have them cut down.


t:
The sound of joy and salvation is in the tents of the upright; the right hand of the Lord does works of power.


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A blessing be on him who comes in the name of the Lord; we give you blessing from the house of the Lord.


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The Lord is God, and he has given us light; let the holy dance be ordered with branches, even up to the horns of the altar.


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I put the record of my ways before you, and you gave me an answer: O give me knowledge of your rules.


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It is good for me to have been through trouble; so that I might come to the knowledge of your rules.


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&lt;JOD&gt; Your hands have made me, and given me form: give me wisdom, so that I may have knowledge of your teaching.


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I have seen, O Lord, that your decisions are right, and that in unchanging faith you have sent trouble on me.


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Let the men of pride be shamed; because they have falsely given decision against me; but I will give thought to your orders.


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How short is the life of your servant! when will you give your decision against those who are attacking me?


t:
Your faith is unchanging from generation to generation: you have put the earth in its place, and it is not moved.


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The sinners have been waiting for me to give me up to destruction; but I will give all my mind to your unchanging ward.


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All the sinners of the earth are like waste metal in your eyes; and for this cause I give my love to your unchanging word.


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&lt;AIN&gt; I have done what is good and right: you will not give me into the hands of those who are working against me.


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Let your eyes be turned to me, and have mercy on me, as it is right for you to do to those who are lovers of your name.


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&lt;KOPH&gt; I have made my prayer with all my heart; give answer to me, O Lord: I will keep your rules.


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Great is the number of those who are against me; but I have not been turned away from your unchanging word.


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&lt;SHIN&gt; Rulers have been cruel to me without cause; but I have the fear of your word in my heart.


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I have gone out of the way like a wandering sheep; make search for your servant; for I keep your teachings ever in mind.


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&lt;A Song of the going up. Of David.&gt; I was glad because they said to me, We will go into the house of the Lord.


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To which the tribes went up, even the tribes of the Lord, for a witness to Israel, to give praise to the name of the Lord.


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&lt;A Song of the going up.&gt; To you my eyes are lifted up, even to you whose seat is in the heavens.


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See! as the eyes of servants are turned to the hands of their masters, and the eyes of a servant-girl to her owner, so our eyes are waiting for the Lord our God, till he has mercy on us.


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&lt;A Song of the going up. Of David.&gt; If it had not been the Lord who was on our side (let Israel now say);


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Our soul has gone free like a bird out of the net of those who would take her: the net is broken, and we are free.


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&lt;A Song of the going up.&gt; Those whose hope is in the Lord are like the mountain of Zion, which may not be moved, but keeps its place for ever.


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As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people, from this time and for ever.


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For the rod of sinners will not be resting on the heritage of the upright; so that the upright may not put out their hands to evil.


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But as for such as are turned out of the straight way, the Lord will take them away with the workers of evil. Let peace be on Israel.


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&lt;A Song of the going up.&gt; When the Lord made a change in Zion's fate, we were like men in a dream.


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Then our mouths were full of laughing, and our tongues gave a glad cry; they said among the nations, The Lord has done great things for them.


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Though a man may go out weeping, taking his vessel of seed with him; he will come again in joy, with the corded stems of grain in his arms.


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&lt;A Song of the going up. Of Solomon.&gt; If the Lord is not helping the builders, then the building of a house is to no purpose: if the Lord does not keep the town, the watchman keeps his watch for nothing.


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It is of no use for you to get up early, and to go late to your rest, with the bread of sorrow for your food; for the Lord gives to his loved ones in sleep.


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Happy is the man who has a good store of them; he will not be put to shame, but his cause will be supported by them against his haters.


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Your wife will be like a fertile vine in the inmost parts of your house: your children will be like olive plants round your table.


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May the Lord send you blessing out of Zion: may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life.


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&lt;A Song of the going up.&gt; Great have been my troubles from the time when I was young (let Israel now say);


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And those who go by do not say, The blessing of the Lord be on you; we give you blessing in the name of the Lord.


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My soul is watching for the Lord more than those who are watching for the morning; yes, more than the watchers for the morning.


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&lt;A Song of the going up. Of David.&gt; Lord, there is no pride in my heart and my eyes are not lifted up; and I have not taken part in great undertakings, or in things over-hard for me.


t:
See, I have made my soul calm and quiet, like a child on its mother's breast; my soul is like a child on its mother's breast.


t:
The Lord gave a true oath to David, which he will not take back, saying, I will give your kingdom to the fruit of your body.


t:
If your children keep my word, and the teachings which I will give them, their children will be rulers of your kingdom for ever.


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&lt;A Song of the going up. Of David.&gt; See how good and how pleasing it is for brothers to be living together in harmony!


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It is like oil of great price on the head, flowing down over the face, even Aaron's face: coming down to the edge of his robe;


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Like the dew of Hermon, which comes down on the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord gave orders for the blessing, even life for ever.


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&lt;A Song of the going up.&gt; Give praise to the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who take your places in the house of the Lord by night.


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The Lord has done whatever was pleasing to him, in heaven, and on the earth, in the seas and in all the deep waters.


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He makes the mists go up from the ends of the earth; he makes thunder-flames for the rain; he sends out the winds from his store-houses.


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Praise be to the Lord out of Zion, even to the Lord whose house is in Jerusalem, Let the Lord be praised.


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For there those who had taken us prisoners made request for a song; and those who had taken away all we had gave us orders to be glad, saying, Give us one of the songs of Zion.


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If I let you go out of my thoughts, and if I do not put Jerusalem before my greatest joy, let my tongue be fixed to the roof of my mouth.


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O Lord, keep in mind against the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem; how they said, Let it be uncovered, uncovered even to its base.


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O daughter of Babylon, whose fate is destruction; happy is the man who does to you what you have done to us.


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&lt;Of David.&gt; I will give you praise with all my heart: I will make melody to you before the gods.


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I will give worship before your holy Temple, praising your name for your mercy and for your unchanging faith: for you have made your word greater than all your name.


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All the kings of the earth will give you praise, O Lord, when the words of your mouth come to their ears.


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Though the Lord is high, he sees those who are low; and he has knowledge from far off of those who are lifted up.


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Even when trouble is round me, you will give me life; your hand will be stretched out against the wrath of my haters, and your right hand will be my salvation.


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The Lord will make all things complete for me: O Lord, your mercy is eternal; do not give up the works of your hands.


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; O Lord, you have knowledge of me, searching out all my secrets.


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Even the dark is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day: for dark and light are the same to you.


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I will give you praise, for I am strangely and delicately formed; your works are great wonders, and of this my soul is fully conscious.


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My frame was not unseen by you when I was made secretly, and strangely formed in the lowest parts of the earth.


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Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book all my days were recorded, even those which were purposed before they had come into being.


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If I made up their number, it would be more than the grains of sand; when I am awake, I am still with you.


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Are not your haters hated by me, O Lord? are not those who are lifted up against you a cause of grief to me?


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&lt;To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David.&gt; O Lord, take me out of the power of the evil man; keep me safe from the violent man:


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Their tongues are sharp like the tongue of a snake; the poison of snakes is under their lips. (Selah.)


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O Lord, take me out of the hands of sinners; keep me safe from the violent man: for they are designing my downfall.


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The men of pride have put secret cords for my feet; stretching nets in my way, so that they may take me with their tricks. (Selah.)


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O Lord God, the strength of my salvation, you have been a cover over my head in the day of the fight.


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O Lord, give not the wrongdoer his desire; give him no help in his evil designs, or he may be uplifted in pride. (Selah.)


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Let burning flames come down on them: let them be put into the fire, and into deep waters, so that they may not get up again.


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Let not a man of evil tongue be safe on earth: let destruction overtake the violent man with blow on blow.


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I am certain that the Lord will take care of the cause of the poor, and of the rights of those who are troubled.


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&lt;A Psalm. Of David.&gt; Lord, I have made my cry to you; come to me quickly; give ear to my voice, when it goes up to you.


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Let my prayer be ordered before you like a sweet smell; and let the lifting up of my hands be like the evening offering.


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Keep my heart from desiring any evil thing, or from taking part in the sins of the evil-doers with men who do wrong: and let me have no part in their good things.


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Let the upright give me punishment; and let the god-fearing man put me in the right way; but I will not let the oil of sinners come on my head: when they do evil I will give myself to prayer.


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When destruction comes to their judges by the side of the rock, they will give ear to my words, for they are sweet.


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&lt;Maschil. Of David. A prayer when he was in the hole of the rock.&gt; The sound of my cry went up to the Lord; with my voice I made my prayer for grace to the Lord.


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When my spirit is overcome, your eyes are on my goings; nets have been secretly placed in the way in which I go.


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Looking to my right side, I saw no man who was my friend: I had no safe place; no one had any care for my soul.


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I have made my cry to you, O Lord; I have said, You are my safe place, and my heritage in the land of the living.


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Give ear to my cry, for I am made very low: take me out of the hands of my haters, for they are stronger than I.


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Take my soul out of prison, so that I may give praise to your name: the upright will give praise because of me; for you have given me a full reward.


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&lt;A Psalm. Of David.&gt; Let my prayer come to you, O Lord; give ear to my requests for your grace; keep faith with me, and give me an answer in your righteousness;


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The evil man has gone after my soul; my life is crushed down to the earth: he has put me in the dark, like those who have long been dead.


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I keep in mind the early days of the past, giving thought to all your acts, even to the work of your hands.


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Be quick in answering me, O Lord, for the strength of my spirit is gone: let me see your face, so that I may not be like those who go down into the underworld.


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Let the story of your mercy come to me in the morning, for my hope is in you: give me knowledge of the way in which I am to go; for my soul is lifted up to you.


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Give me teaching so that I may do your pleasure; for you are my God: let your good Spirit be my guide into the land of righteousness.


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And in your mercy put an end to my haters, and send destruction on all those who are against my soul; for I am your servant.


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&lt;A Psalm. Of David.&gt; Praise be to the God of my strength, teaching my hands the use of the sword, and my fingers the art of fighting:


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He is my strength, and my Rock; my high tower, and my saviour; my keeper and my hope: he gives me authority over my people.


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Put out your hand from on high; make me free, take me safely out of the great waters, and out of the hands of strange men;


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Make me free, and take me out of the hands of strange men, in whose mouths are false words, and whose right hand is a right hand of deceit.


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Our store-houses are full of all good things; and our sheep give birth to thousands and ten thousands in our fields.


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Our oxen are well weighted down; our cows give birth safely; there is no going out, and there is no cry of sorrow in our open places.


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&lt;A Song of praise. Of David.&gt; Let me give glory to you, O God, my King; and blessing to your name for ever and ever.


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One generation after another will give praise to your great acts, and make clear the operation of your strength.


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Their sayings will be full of the memory of all your mercy, and they will make songs of your righteousness.


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So that the sons of men may have knowledge of his acts of power, and of the great glory of his kingdom.


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The Lord is near all those who give honour to his name; even to all who give honour to him with true hearts.


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To his worshippers, he will give their desire; their cry comes to his ears, and he gives them salvation.


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While I have breath I will give praise to the Lord: I will make melody to my God while I have my being.


t:
Man's breath goes out, he is turned back again to dust; in that day all his purposes come to an end.


t:
Who gives their rights to those who are crushed down; and gives food to those who are in need of it: the Lord makes the prisoners free;


t:
The Lord makes open the eyes of the blind; the Lord is the lifter up of those who are bent down; the Lord is a lover of the upright;


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The Lord takes care of those who are in a strange land; he gives help to the widow and to the child who has no father; but he sends destruction on the way of sinners.


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The Lord will be King for ever; your God, O Zion, will be King through all generations. Praise be to the Lord.


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Give praise to the Lord; for it is good to make melody to our God; praise is pleasing and beautiful.


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By his hand the heaven is covered with clouds and rain is stored up for the earth; he makes the grass tall on the mountains.


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He has made strong the iron bands of your doors; he has sent blessings on your children inside your walls.


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At the outgoing of his word, the ice is turned to water; when he sends out his wind, there is a flowing of waters.


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He has not done these things for any other nation: and as for his laws, they have no knowledge of them. Let the Lord be praised.


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Let them give glory to the name of the Lord: for his name only is to be praised: his kingdom is over the earth and the heaven.


t:
He has put on high the horn of his people, for the praise of all his saints; even the children of Israel, a people which is near to him. Let the Lord be praised.


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Let the Lord be praised. Make a new song to the Lord, let his praise be in the meeting of his saints.


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Let them give praise to his name in the dance: let them make melody to him with instruments of brass and corded instruments of music.


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To give them the punishment which is in the holy writings: this honour is given to all his saints. Praise be to the Lord.


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Let the Lord be praised. Give praise to God in his holy place: give him praise in the heaven of his power.


t:
Give him praise with instruments of brass and in the dance: give him praise with horns and corded instruments.


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(The wise man, hearing, will get greater learning, and the acts of the man of good sense will be wisely guided:)


t:
The fear of the Lord is the start of knowledge: but the foolish have no use for wisdom and teaching.


t:
If they say, Come with us; let us make designs against the good, waiting secretly for the upright, without cause;


t:
Let us overcome them living, like the underworld, and in their strength, as those who go down to death;


t:
How long, you simple ones, will foolish things be dear to you? and pride a delight to the haters of authority? how long will the foolish go on hating knowledge?


t:
Be turned again by my sharp words: see, I will send the flow of my spirit on you, and make my words clear to you.


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When your fear comes on you like a storm, and your trouble like a rushing wind; when pain and sorrow come on you.


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So the fruit of their way will be their food, and with the designs of their hearts they will be made full.


t:
For the turning back of the simple from teaching will be the cause of their death, and the peace of the foolish will be their destruction.


t:
Then you will have knowledge of righteousness and right acting, and upright behaviour, even of every good way.


t:
Let not mercy and good faith go from you; let them be hanging round your neck, recorded on your heart;


t:
Put no high value on your wisdom: let the fear of the Lord be before you, and keep yourself from evil:


t:
My son, do not make your heart hard against the Lord's teaching; do not be made angry by his training:


t:
For to those who are dear to him the Lord says sharp words, and makes the son in whom he has delight undergo pain.


t:
She is of more value than jewels, and nothing for which you may have a desire is fair in comparison with her.


t:
The Lord by wisdom put in position the bases of the earth; by reason he put the heavens in their place.


t:
Do not keep back good from those who have a right to it, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.


t:
Say not to your neighbour, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when you have it by you at the time.


t:
The curse of the Lord is on the house of the evil-doer, but his blessing is on the tent of the upright.


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And he gave me teaching, saying to me, Keep my words in your heart; keep my rules so that you may have life:


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Get wisdom, get true knowledge; keep it in memory, do not be turned away from the words of my mouth.


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Put her in a high place, and you will be lifted up by her; she will give you honour, when you give her your love.


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For they take no rest till they have done evil; their sleep is taken away if they have not been the cause of someone's fall.


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But the way of the upright is like the light of early morning, getting brighter and brighter till the full day.


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I did not give attention to the voice of my teachers, my ear was not turned to those who were guiding me!


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Let water from your store and not that of others be your drink, and running water from your fountain.


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As a loving hind and a gentle doe, let her breasts ever give you rapture; let your passion at all times be moved by her love.


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Why let yourself, my son, go out of the way with a strange woman, and take another woman in your arms?


t:
He will come to his end for need of teaching; he is so foolish that he will go wandering from the right way.


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Do this, my son, and make yourself free, because you have come into the power of your neighbour; go without waiting, and make a strong request to your neighbour.


t:
Make yourself free, like the roe from the hand of the archer, and the bird from him who puts a net for her.


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For this cause his downfall will be sudden; quickly he will be broken, and there will be no help for him.


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In your walking, it will be your guide; when you are sleeping, it will keep watch over you; when you are awake, it will have talk with you.


t:
For the rule is a light, and the teaching a shining light; and the guiding words of training are the way of life.


t:
For a loose woman is looking for a cake of bread, but another man's wife goes after one's very life.


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So it is with him who goes in to his neighbour's wife; he who has anything to do with her will not go free from punishment.


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But if he is taken in the act he will have to give back seven times as much, giving up all his property which is in his house.


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He who takes another man's wife is without all sense: he who does it is the cause of destruction to his soul.


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He will not take any payment; and he will not make peace with you though your money offerings are increased.


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Like a bird falling into a net; with no thought that his life is in danger, till an arrow goes into his side.


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For those wounded and made low by her are great in number; and all those who have come to their death through her are a great army.


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For wisdom is better than jewels, and all things which may be desired are nothing in comparison with her.


t:
I, wisdom, have made wise behaviour my near relation; I am seen to be the special friend of wise purposes.


t:
The fear of the Lord is seen in hating evil: pride, a high opinion of oneself, the evil way, and the false tongue, are unpleasing to me.


t:
Those who have given me their love are loved by me, and those who make search for me with care will get me.


t:
My fruit is better than gold, even than the best gold; and my increase is more to be desired than silver.


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When he put a limit to the sea, so that the waters might not go against his word: when he put in position the bases of the earth:


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Then I was by his side, as a master workman: and I was his delight from day to day, playing before him at all times;


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Happy is the man who gives ear to me, watching at my doors day by day, keeping his place by the pillars of my house.


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He who gives teaching to a man of pride gets shame for himself; he who says sharp words to a sinner gets a bad name.


t:
Do not say sharp words to a man of pride, or he will have hate for you; make them clear to a wise man, and you will be dear to him.


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Give teaching to a wise man, and he will become wiser; give training to an upright man, and his learning will be increased.


t:
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if your heart is full of pride, you only will have the pain of it.


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But he does not see that the dead are there, that her guests are in the deep places of the underworld.


t:
The Lord will not let the upright be in need of food, but he puts far from him the desire of the evil-doers.


t:
He who in summer gets together his store is a son who does wisely; but he who takes his rest when the grain is being cut is a son causing shame.


t:
He who makes signs with his eyes is a cause of trouble, but he who makes a man see his errors is a cause of peace.


t:
In the lips of him who has knowledge wisdom is seen; but a rod is ready for the back of him who is without sense.


t:
Knowledge is stored up by the wise, but the mouth of the foolish man is a destruction which is near.


t:
Hate is covered up by the lips of the upright man, but he who lets out evil about another is foolish.


t:
Like acid drink to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is the hater of work to those who send him.


t:
The hope of the upright man will give joy, but the waiting of the evil-doer will have its end in sorrow.


t:
The lips of the upright man have knowledge of what is pleasing, but twisted are the mouths of evil-doers.


t:
The righteousness of the upright will be their guide, but the twisted ways of the false will be their destruction.


t:
The righteousness of the good man will make his way straight, but the sin of the evil-doer will be the cause of his fall.


t:
The righteousness of the upright will be their salvation, but the false will themselves be taken in their evil designs.


t:
At the death of an upright man his hope does not come to an end, but the hope of the evil-doer comes to destruction.


t:
With his mouth the evil man sends destruction on his neighbour; but through knowledge the upright are taken out of trouble.


t:
When things go well for the upright man, all the town is glad; at the death of sinners, there are cries of joy.


t:
By the blessing of the upright man the town is made great, but it is overturned by the mouth of the evil-doer.


t:
He who goes about talking of others makes secrets public, but the true-hearted man keeps things covered.


t:
When there is no helping suggestion the people will have a fall, but with a number of wise guides they will be safe.


t:
He who makes himself responsible for a strange man will undergo much loss; but the hater of such undertakings will be safe.


t:
A woman who is full of grace is honoured, but a woman hating righteousness is a seat of shame: those hating work will undergo loss, but the strong keep their wealth.


t:
The sinner gets the payment of deceit; but his reward is certain who puts in the seed of righteousness.


t:
Certainly the evil-doer will not go free from punishment, but the seed of the upright man will be safe.


t:
A man may give freely, and still his wealth will be increased; and another may keep back more than is right, but only comes to be in need.


t:
He who keeps back grain will be cursed by the people; but a blessing will be on the head of him who lets them have it for a price.


t:
He who, with all his heart, goes after what is good is searching for grace; but he who is looking for trouble will get it.


t:
He who puts his faith in wealth will come to nothing; but the upright man will be full of growth like the green leaf.


t:
The troubler of his house will have the wind for his heritage, and the foolish will be servant to the wise-hearted.


t:
A woman of virtue is a crown to her husband; but she whose behaviour is a cause of shame is like a wasting disease in his bones.


t:
The words of sinners are destruction for the upright; but the mouth of upright men is their salvation.


t:
He who is of low position and has a servant, is better than one who has a high opinion of himself and is in need of bread.


t:
He who does work on his land will not be short of bread; but he who goes after foolish men is without sense.


t:
In the sin of the lips is a net which takes the sinner, but the upright man will come out of trouble.


t:
From the fruit of his mouth will a man have good food in full measure, and the work of a man's hands will be rewarded.


t:
The breathing out of true words gives knowledge of righteousness; but a false witness gives out deceit.


t:
There are some whose uncontrolled talk is like the wounds of a sword, but the tongue of the wise makes one well again.


t:
A sharp man keeps back his knowledge; but the heart of foolish men makes clear their foolish thoughts.


t:
The hand of the ready worker will have authority, but he who is slow in his work will be put to forced work.


t:
He who keeps a watch on his mouth keeps his life; but he whose lips are open wide will have destruction.


t:
A man may be acting as if he had wealth, but have nothing; another may seem poor, but have great wealth.


t:
Wealth quickly got will become less; but he who gets a store by the work of his hands will have it increased.


t:
He who makes sport of the word will come to destruction, but the respecter of the law will be rewarded.


t:
Need and shame will be the fate of him who is uncontrolled by training; but he who takes note of teaching will be honoured.


t:
The heritage of the good man is handed down to his children's children; and the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the upright man.


t:
The upright man has food to the full measure of his desire, but there will be no food for the stomach of evil-doers.


t:
He who goes on his way in righteousness has before him the fear of the Lord; but he whose ways are twisted gives him no honour.


t:
In the mouth of the foolish man is a rod for his back, but the lips of the wise will keep them safe.


t:
Where there are no oxen, their food-place is clean; but much increase comes through the strength of the ox.


t:
The hater of authority, searching for wisdom, does not get it; but knowledge comes readily to the open-minded man.


t:
The wisdom of the man of good sense makes his way clear; but the unwise behaviour of the foolish is deceit.


t:
In the tents of those hating authority there is error, but in the house of the upright man there is grace.


t:
He whose heart is turned away will have the reward of his ways in full measure; but a good man will have the reward of his doings.


t:
The wise man, fearing, keeps himself from evil; but the foolish man goes on in his pride, with no thought of danger.


t:
The knees of the evil are bent before the good; and sinners go down in the dust at the doors of the upright.


t:
Will not the designers of evil come into error? But mercy and good faith are for the designers of good.


t:
For him in whose heart is the fear of the Lord there is strong hope: and his children will have a safe place.


t:
A king's glory is in the number of his people: and for need of people a ruler may come to destruction.


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He who is slow to be angry has great good sense; but he whose spirit is over-quick gives support to what is foolish.


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He who is hard on the poor puts shame on his Maker; but he who has mercy on those who are in need gives him honour.


t:
The king has pleasure in a servant who does wisely, but his wrath is against him who is a cause of shame.


t:
Knowledge is dropping from the tongue of the wise; but from the mouth of the foolish comes a stream of foolish words.


t:
A foolish man puts no value on his father's training; but he who has respect for teaching has good sense.


t:
In the house of the upright man there is a great store of wealth; but in the profits of the sinner there is trouble.


t:
The offering of the evil-doer is disgusting to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright man is his delight.


t:
The way of the evil-doer is disgusting to the Lord, but he who goes after righteousness is dear to him.


t:
There is bitter punishment for him who is turned from the way; and death will be the fate of the hater of teaching.


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Before the Lord are the underworld and destruction: how much more, then, the hearts of the children of men!


t:
The heart of the man of good sense goes in search of knowledge, but foolish things are the food of the unwise.


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Where there are no wise suggestions, purposes come to nothing; but by a number of wise guides they are made certain.


t:
The house of the man of pride will be uprooted by the Lord, but he will make safe the heritage of the widow.


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He whose desires are fixed on profit is a cause of trouble to his family; but he who has no desire for offerings will have life.


t:
The heart of the upright gives thought to his answer; but from the mouth of the evil-doer comes a stream of evil things.


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He who will not be controlled by training has no respect for his soul, but he who gives ear to teaching will get wisdom.


t:
Everyone who has pride in his heart is disgusting to the Lord: he will certainly not go free from punishment.


t:
By mercy and good faith evil-doing is taken away: and by the fear of the Lord men are turned away from evil.


t:
The wrath of the king is like those who give news of death, but a wise man will put peace in place of it.


t:
How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! and to get knowledge is more to be desired than silver.


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The highway of the upright is to be turned away from evil: he who takes care of his way will keep his soul.


t:
Better it is to have a gentle spirit with the poor, than to take part in the rewards of war with men of pride.


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He who gives attention to the law of right will get good; and whoever puts his faith in the Lord is happy.


t:
Wisdom is a fountain of life to him who has it; but the punishment of the foolish is their foolish behaviour.


t:
A man of twisted purposes is a cause of fighting everywhere: and he who says evil secretly makes trouble between friends.


t:
A violent man puts desire of evil into his neighbour's mind, and makes him go in a way which is not good.


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He whose eyes are shut is a man of twisted purposes, and he who keeps his lips shut tight makes evil come about.


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He who is slow to be angry is better than a man of war, and he who has control over his spirit than he who takes a town.


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A servant who does wisely will have rule over a son causing shame, and will have his part in the heritage among brothers.


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Whoever makes sport of the poor puts shame on his Maker; and he who is glad because of trouble will not go free from punishment.


t:
An offering of money is like a stone of great price in the eyes of him who has it: wherever he goes, he does well.


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He who keeps a sin covered is looking for love; but he who keeps on talking of a thing makes division between friends.


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It is better to come face to face with a bear whose young ones have been taken away than with a foolish man acting foolishly.


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He who gives a decision for the evil-doer and he who gives a decision against the upright, are equally disgusting to the Lord.


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A man without sense gives his hand in an agreement, and makes himself responsible before his neighbour.


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Nothing good comes to him whose heart is fixed on evil purposes: and he who has an evil tongue will come to trouble.


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Wisdom is before the face of him who has sense; but the eyes of the foolish are on the ends of the earth.


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To give punishment to the upright is not good, or to give blows to the noble for their righteousness.


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Even the foolish man, when he keeps quiet, is taken to be wise: when his lips are shut he is credited with good sense.


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To have respect for the person of the evil-doer is not good, or to give a wrong decision against the upright.


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The words of one who says evil of his neighbour secretly are like sweet food, and go down into the inner parts of the stomach.


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The property of a man of wealth is his strong town, and it is as a high wall in the thoughts of his heart.


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The man who first puts his cause before the judge seems to be in the right; but then his neighbour comes and puts his cause in its true light.


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With the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach will be full; the produce of his lips will be his in full measure.


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Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and those to whom it is dear will have its fruit for their food.


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There are friends who may be a man's destruction, but there is a lover who keeps nearer than a brother.


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Further, without knowledge desire is not good; and he who is over-quick in acting goes out of the right way.


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By his foolish behaviour a man's ways are turned upside down, and his heart is bitter against the Lord.


t:
Great numbers will make attempts to get the approval of a ruler: and every man is the special friend of him who has something to give.


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A foolish son is the destruction of his father; and the bitter arguments of a wife are like drops of rain falling without end.


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He who keeps the law keeps his soul; but death will be the fate of him who takes no note of the word.


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A man of great wrath will have to take his punishment: for if you get him out of trouble you will have to do it again.


t:
The fear of the Lord gives life: and he who has it will have need of nothing; no evil will come his way.


t:
When blows overtake the man of pride, the simple will get sense; say sharp words to the wise, and knowledge will be made clear to him.


t:
A good-for-nothing witness makes sport of the judge's decision: and the mouth of evil-doers sends out evil like a stream.


t:
Wine makes men foolish, and strong drink makes men come to blows; and whoever comes into error through these is not wise.


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The wrath of a king is like the loud cry of a lion: he who makes him angry does wrong against himself.


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The hater of work will not do his ploughing because of the winter; so at the time of grain-cutting he will be requesting food and will get nothing.


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Do not be a lover of sleep, or you will become poor: keep your eyes open, and you will have bread enough.


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A poor thing, a poor thing, says he who is giving money for goods: but when he has gone on his way, then he makes clear his pride in what he has got.


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Take a man's clothing if he makes himself responsible for a strange man, and get an undertaking from him who gives his word for strange men.


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He who goes about talking of the business of others gives away secrets: so have nothing to do with him whose lips are open wide.


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If anyone puts a curse on his father or his mother, his light will be put out in the blackest night.


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Do not say, I will give punishment for evil: go on waiting for the Lord, and he will be your saviour.


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It is a danger to a man to say without thought, It is holy, and, after taking his oaths, to be questioning if it is necessary to keep them.


t:
The king's heart in the hands of the Lord is like the water streams, and by him it is turned in any direction at his pleasure.


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The purposes of the man of industry have their outcome only in wealth; but one who is over-quick in acting will only come to be in need.


t:
He who gets stores of wealth by a false tongue, is going after what is only breath, and searching for death.


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By their violent acts the evil-doers will be pulled away, because they have no desire to do what is right.


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Twisted is the way of him who is full of crime; but as for him whose heart is clean, his work is upright.


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It is better to be living in an angle of the house-top, than with a bitter-tongued woman in a wide house.


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When the man of pride undergoes punishment, the simple man gets wisdom; and by watching the wise he gets knowledge.


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The Upright One, looking on the house of the evil-doer, lets sinners be overturned to their destruction.


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By a secret offering wrath is turned away, and the heat of angry feelings by money in the folds of the robe.


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The evil-doer will be given as a price for the life of the good man, and the worker of deceit in the place of the upright.


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A wise man goes up into the town of the strong ones, and overcomes its strength in which they put their faith.


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All the day the sinner goes after his desire: but the upright man gives freely, keeping nothing back.


t:
A good name is more to be desired than great wealth, and to be respected is better than silver and gold.


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Thorns and nets are in the way of the twisted: he who keeps watch over his soul will be far from them.


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By planting the seed of evil a man will get in the grain of sorrow, and the rod of his wrath will be broken.


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Foolish ways are deep-seated in the heart of a child, but the rod of punishment will send them far from him.


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He who is cruel to the poor for the purpose of increasing his profit, and he who gives to the man of wealth, will only come to be in need.


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To make you see how certain are true words, so that you may give a true answer to those who put questions to you?


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Do not take away the property of the poor man because he is poor, or be cruel to the crushed ones when they come before the judge:


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Be not one of those who give their hands in an agreement, or of those who make themselves responsible for debts:


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Have you seen a man who is expert in his business? he will take his place before kings; his place will not be among low persons.


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Are your eyes lifted up to it? it is gone: for wealth takes to itself wings, like an eagle in flight up to heaven.


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For as the thoughts of his heart are, so is he: Take food and drink, he says to you; but his heart is not with you.


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Do not let the landmark of the widow be moved, and do not go into the fields of those who have no father;


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Do not keep back training from the child: for even if you give him blows with the rod, it will not be death to him.


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Do not be among those who give themselves to wine-drinking, or among those who make themselves full with meat:


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For those who take delight in drink and feasting will come to be in need; and through love of sleep a man will be poorly clothed.


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Give ear to your father whose child you are, and do not keep honour from your mother when she is old.


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Get for yourself that which is true, and do not let it go for money; get wisdom and teaching and good sense.


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The father of the upright man will be glad, and he who has a wise child will have joy because of him.


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Who says, Oh! who says, Ah! who has violent arguments, who has grief, who has wounds without cause, whose eyes are dark?


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Keep your eyes from looking on the wine when it is red, when its colour is bright in the cup, when it goes smoothly down:


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They have overcome me, you will say, and I have no pain; they gave me blows without my feeling them: when will I be awake from my wine? I will go after it again.


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Be the saviour of those who are given up to death, and do not keep back help from those who are slipping to destruction.


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If you say, See, we had no knowledge of this: does not the tester of hearts give thought to it? and he who keeps your soul, has he no knowledge of it? and will he not give to every man the reward of his work?


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So let your desire be for wisdom: if you have it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off.


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Do not keep a secret watch, O evil-doer, against the fields of the upright man, or send destruction on his resting-place:


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For an upright man, after falling seven times, will get up again: but trouble is the downfall of the evil.


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For fear that the Lord may see it, and it may be evil in his eyes, and his wrath may be turned away from him.


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My son, go in fear of the Lord and the king: have nothing to do with those who are in high positions:


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For their downfall will come suddenly; and who has knowledge of the destruction of those in high positions?


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These are more sayings of the wise: To have respect for a person's position when judging is not good.


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Put your work in order outside, and make it ready in the field; and after that, see to the building of your house.


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Take away evil-doers from before the king, and the seat of his power will be made strong in righteousness.


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For it is better to have it said to you, Come up here; than for you to be put down in a lower place before the ruler.


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Do not be quick to go to law about what you have seen, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbour has put you to shame?


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Have a talk with your neighbour himself about your cause, but do not give away the secret of another:


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Like a nose-ring of gold and an ornament of the best gold, is a wise man who says sharp words to an ear ready to give attention.


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As the cold of snow in the time of grain-cutting, so is a true servant to those who send him; for he gives new life to the soul of his master.


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A judge is moved by one who for a long time undergoes wrongs without protest, and by a soft tongue even bone is broken.


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If you have honey, take only as much as is enough for you; for fear that, being full of it, you may not be able to keep it down.


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Let not your foot be frequently in your neighbour's house, or he may get tired of you, and his feeling be turned to hate.


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Like one who takes off clothing in cold weather and like acid on a wound, is he who makes melody to a sad heart.


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Like a troubled fountain and a dirty spring, is an upright man who has to give way before evil-doers.


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As the sparrow in her wandering and the swallow in her flight, so the curse does not come without a cause.


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The legs of one who has no power of walking are hanging loose; so is a wise saying in the mouth of the foolish.


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Like a thorn which goes up into the hand of a man overcome by drink, so is a wise saying in the mouth of a foolish man.


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Like a dog going back to the food which he has not been able to keep down, is the foolish man doing his foolish acts over again.


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Have you seen a man who seems to himself to be wise? There is more hope for the foolish than for him.


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The hater of work puts his hand deep into the basin: lifting it again to his mouth is a weariness to him.


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The hater of work seems to himself wiser than seven men who are able to give an answer with good sense.


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He who gets mixed up in a fight which is not his business, is like one who takes a dog by the ears while it is going by.


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The words of one who says evil of his neighbour secretly are like sweet food, they go down into the inner parts of the stomach.


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Though his hate is covered with deceit, his sin will be seen openly before the meeting of the people.


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He who makes a hole in the earth will himself go falling into it: and on him by whom a stone is rolled the stone will come back again.


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A stone has great weight, and sand is crushing; but the wrath of the foolish is of greater weight than these.


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Do not give up your friend and your father's friend; and do not go into your brother's house in the day of your trouble: better is a neighbour who is near than a brother far off.


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My son, be wise and make my heart glad, so that I may give back an answer to him who puts me to shame.


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He who gives a blessing to his friend with a loud voice, getting up early in the morning, will have it put to his account as a curse.


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Whoever keeps a fig-tree will have its fruit; and the servant waiting on his master will be honoured.


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The heating-pot is for silver and the oven-fire for gold, and a man is measured by what he is praised for.


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Even if a foolish man is crushed with a hammer in a vessel among crushed grain, still his foolish ways will not go from him.


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The evil man goes running away when no man is after him, but the upright are without fear, like the lion.


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Because of the sin of the land, its troubles are increased; but by a man of wisdom and knowledge they will be put out like a fire.


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Those who have no respect for the law give praise to the evil-doer; but such as keep the law are against him.


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Evil men have no knowledge of what is right; but those who go after the Lord have knowledge of all things.


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He who keeps the law is a wise son, but he who keeps company with feasters puts shame on his father.


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He who makes his wealth greater by taking interest, only gets it together for him who has pity on the poor.


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Anyone causing the upright to go wandering in an evil way, will himself go down into the hole he has made; but the upright will have good things for their heritage.


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The man of wealth seems to himself to be wise, but the poor man who has sense has a low opinion of him.


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When the upright do well, there is great glory; but when evil-doers are lifted up, men do not let themselves be seen.


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He who keeps his sins secret will not do well; but one who is open about them, and gives them up, will get mercy.


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Happy is the man in whom is the fear of the Lord at all times; but he whose heart is hard will come into trouble.


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The prince who has no sense is a cruel ruler; but he who has no desire to get profit for himself will have long life.


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One who has been the cause of a man's death will go in flight to the underworld: let no man give him help.


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By ploughing his land a man will have bread in full measure; but he who goes after good-for-nothing persons will be poor enough.


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A man of good faith will have great blessing, but one attempting to get wealth quickly will not go free from punishment.


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He who is ever desiring wealth goes running after money, and does not see that need will come on him.


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He who says words of protest to a man will later have more approval than one who says smooth words with his tongue.


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He who takes from his father or his mother what is theirs by right, and says, It is no sin; is the same as a taker of life.


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He who is ever desiring profit is a cause of fighting; but he who puts his faith in the Lord will be made fat.


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He who gives to the poor will never be in need, but great curses will be on him who gives no attention to them.


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When evil-doers are lifted up, men take cover; but when destruction overtakes them, the upright are increased.


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A man hating sharp words and making his heart hard, will suddenly be broken and will not be made well again.


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When the upright have power, the people are glad; when an evil man is ruler, grief comes on the people.


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A man who is a lover of wisdom is a joy to his father: but he who goes in the company of loose women is a waster of wealth.


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In the steps of an evil man there is a net for him, but the upright man gets away quickly and is glad.


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If a wise man goes to law with a foolish man, he may be angry or laughing, but there will be no rest.


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The king who is a true judge in the cause of the poor, will be safe for ever on the seat of his power.


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The rod and sharp words give wisdom: but a child who is not guided is a cause of shame to his mother.


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When evil men are in power, wrongdoing is increased; but the upright will have pleasure when they see their downfall.


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A servant will not be trained by words; for though the sense of the words is clear to him, he will not give attention.


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Have you seen a man who is quick with his tongue? There is more hope for a foolish man than for him.


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The fear of man is a cause of danger: but whoever puts his faith in the Lord will have a safe place on high.


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The approval of a ruler is desired by great numbers: but the decision in a man's cause comes from the Lord.


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The words of Agur, the son of Jakeh, from Massa. The man says: I am full of weariness, O God, I am full of weariness; O God, I have come to an end:


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Who has gone up to heaven and come down? who has taken the winds in his hands, prisoning the waters in his robe? by whom have all the ends of the earth been fixed? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if you are able to say?


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Put far from me all false and foolish things: do not give me great wealth or let me be in need, but give me only enough food:


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For fear that if I am full, I may be false to you and say, Who is the Lord? or if I am poor, I may become a thief, using the name of my God wrongly.


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Do not say evil of a servant to his master, or he will put a curse on you, and you will get into trouble.


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There is a generation who seem to themselves to be free from sin, but are not washed from their unclean ways.


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There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, their strong teeth like knives, for the destruction of the poor from the earth, and of those who are in need from among men.


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The night-spirit has two daughters, Give, give. There are three things which are never full, even four which never say, Enough:


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The underworld, and the woman without a child; the earth which never has enough water, and the fire which never says, Enough.


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The eye which makes sport of a father, and sees no value in a mother when she is old will be rooted out by the ravens of the valley, and be food for the young eagles.


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The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a snake on a rock; the way of a ship in the heart of the sea; and the way of a man with a girl.


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This is the way of a false wife; she takes food, and, cleaning her mouth, says, I have done no wrong.


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If you have done foolishly in lifting yourself up, or if you have had evil designs, put your hand over your mouth.


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The shaking of milk makes butter, and the twisting of the nose makes blood come: so the forcing of wrath is a cause of fighting.


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What am I to say to you, O Lemuel, my oldest son? and what, O son of my body? and what, O son of my oaths?


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It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to take wine, or for rulers to say, Where is strong drink?


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For fear that through drinking they may come to have no respect for the law, wrongly judging the cause of those who are in trouble.


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Let your mouth be open, judging rightly, and give right decisions in the cause of the poor and those in need.


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She gets up while it is still night, and gives meat to her family, and their food to her servant-girls.


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After looking at a field with care, she gets it for a price, planting a vine-garden with the profit of her work.


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Her husband is a man of note in the public place, when he takes his seat among the responsible men of the land.


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Fair looks are a deceit, and a beautiful form is of no value; but a woman who has the fear of the Lord is to be praised.


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All the rivers go down to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers go, there they go again.


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All things are full of weariness; man may not give their story: the eye has never enough of its seeing, or the ear of its hearing.


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That which has been, is that which is to be, and that which has been done, is that which will be done, and there is no new thing under the sun.


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Is there anything of which men say, See, this is new? It has been in the old time which was before us.


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There is no memory of those who have gone before, and of those who come after there will be no memory for those who are still to come after them.


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And I gave my heart to searching out in wisdom all things which are done under heaven: it is a hard thing which God has put on the sons of men to do.


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I said to my heart, See, I have become great and am increased in wisdom more than any who were before me in Jerusalem--yes, my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.


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And I gave my heart to getting knowledge of wisdom, and of the ways of the foolish. And I saw that this again was desire for wind.


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I said in my heart, I will give you joy for a test; so take your pleasure--but it was to no purpose.


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I made a search with my heart to give pleasure to my flesh with wine, still guiding my heart with wisdom, and to go after foolish things, so that I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under the heavens all the days of their life.


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I got men-servants and women-servants, and they gave birth to sons and daughters in my house. I had great wealth of herds and flocks, more than all who were in Jerusalem before me.


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I got together silver and gold and the wealth of kings and of countries. I got makers of song, male and female; and the delights of the sons of men--girls of all sorts to be my brides.


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And I became great; increasing more than all who had been before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom was still with me.


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And nothing which was desired by my eyes did I keep from them; I did not keep any joy from my heart, because my heart took pleasure in all my work, and this was my reward.


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Then I saw all the works which my hands had made, and everything I had been working to do; and I saw that all was to no purpose and desire for wind, and there was no profit under the sun.


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And I went again in search of wisdom and of foolish ways. What may the man do who comes after the king? The thing which he has done before.


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The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the foolish man goes walking in the dark; but still I saw that the same event comes to them all.


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Then said I in my heart: As it comes to the foolish man, so will it come to me; so why have I been wise overmuch? Then I said in my heart: This again is to no purpose.


t:
Of the wise man, as of the foolish man, there is no memory for ever, seeing that those who now are will have gone from memory in the days to come. See how death comes to the wise as to the foolish!


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So I was hating life, because everything under the sun was evil to me: all is to no purpose and desire for wind.


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Hate had I for all my work which I had done, because the man who comes after me will have its fruits.


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And who is to say if that man will be wise or foolish? But he will have power over all my work which I have done and in which I have been wise under the sun. This again is to no purpose.


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Because there is a man whose work has been done with wisdom, with knowledge, and with an expert hand; but one who has done nothing for it will have it for his heritage. This again is to no purpose and a great evil.


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What does a man get for all his work, and for the weight of care with which he has done his work under the sun?


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All his days are sorrow, and his work is full of grief. Even in the night his heart has no rest. This again is to no purpose.


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There is nothing better for a man than taking meat and drink, and having delight in his work. This again I saw was from the hand of God.


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To the man with whom he is pleased, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of getting goods together and storing up wealth, to give to him in whom God has pleasure. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.


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A time to take stones away and a time to get stones together; a time for kissing and a time to keep from kissing;


t:
He has made everything right in its time; but he has made their hearts without knowledge, so that man is unable to see the works of God, from the first to the last.


t:
I am certain that there is nothing better for a man than to be glad, and to do good while life is in him.


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I am certain that whatever God does will be for ever. No addition may be made to it, nothing may be taken from it; and God has done it so that man may be in fear before him.


t:
Whatever is has been before, and what is to be is now; because God makes search for the things which are past.


t:
And again, I saw under the sun, in the place of the judges, that evil was there; and in the place of righteousness, that evil was there.


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I said in my heart, God will be judge of the good and of the bad; because a time for every purpose and for every work has been fixed by him.


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I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, so that God may put them to the test and that they may see themselves as beasts.


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Because the fate of the sons of men and the fate of the beasts is the same. As is the death of one so is the death of the other, and all have one spirit. Man is not higher than the beasts; because all is to no purpose.


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Who is certain that the spirit of the sons of men goes up to heaven, or that the spirit of the beasts goes down to the earth?


t:
So I saw that there is nothing better than for a man to have joy in his work--because that is his reward. Who will make him see what will come after him?


t:
And again I saw all the cruel things which are done under the sun; there was the weeping of those who have evil done to them, and they had no comforter: and from the hands of the evil-doers there went out power, but they had no comforter.


t:
So my praise was for the dead who have gone to their death, more than for the living who still have life.


t:
Yes, happier than the dead or the living seemed he who has not ever been, who has not seen the evil which is done under the sun.


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And I saw that the cause of all the work and of everything which is done well was man's envy of his neighbour. This again is to no purpose and a desire for wind.


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It is one who is by himself, without a second, and without son or brother; but there is no end to all his work, and he has never enough of wealth. For whom, then, am I working and keeping myself from pleasure? This again is to no purpose, and a bitter work.


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And if one has a fall, the other will give him a hand; but unhappy is the man who is by himself, because he has no helper.


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A young man who is poor and wise is better than a king who is old and foolish and will not be guided by the wisdom of others.


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Because out of a prison the young man comes to be king, though by birth he was only a poor man in the kingdom.


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There was no end of all the people, of all those whose head he was, but they who come later will have no delight in him. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.


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Put your feet down with care when you go to the house of God, for it is better to give ear than to make the burned offerings of the foolish, whose knowledge is only of doing evil.


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Be not unwise with your mouth, and let not your heart be quick to say anything before God, because God is in heaven and you are on the earth--so let not the number of your words be great.


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As a dream comes from much business, so the voice of a foolish man comes with words in great number.


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When you take an oath before God, put it quickly into effect, because he has no pleasure in the foolish; keep the oath you have taken.


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Let not your mouth make your flesh do evil. And say not before the angel, It was an error. So that God may not be angry with your words and put an end to the work of your hands.


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If you see the poor under a cruel yoke, and law and right being violently overturned in a country, be not surprised, because one authority is keeping watch on another and there are higher than they.


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He who has a love for silver never has enough silver, or he who has love for wealth, enough profit. This again is to no purpose.


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When goods are increased, the number of those who take of them is increased; and what profit has the owner but to see them?


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The sleep of a working man is sweet, if he has little food or much; but to him who is full, sleep will not come.


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And I saw the destruction of his wealth by an evil chance; and when he became the father of a son he had nothing in his hand.


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As he came from his mother at birth, so does he go again; he gets from his work no reward which he may take away in his hand.


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And this again is a great evil, that in all points as he came so will he go; and what profit has he in working for the wind?


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This is what I have seen: it is good and fair for a man to take meat and drink and to have joy in all his work under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; that is his reward.


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Every man to whom God has given money and wealth and the power to have pleasure in it and to do his part and have joy in his work: this is given by God.


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He will not give much thought to the days of his life; because God lets him be taken up with the joy of his heart.


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A man to whom God gives money, wealth, and honour so that he has all his desires but God does not give him the power to have joy of it, and a strange man takes it. This is to no purpose and an evil disease.


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If a man has a hundred children, and his life is long so that the days of his years are great in number, but his soul takes no pleasure in good, and he is not honoured at his death; I say that a birth before its time is better than he.


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And though he goes on living a thousand years twice over and does not see good, are not the two going to the same place?


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What have the wise more than the foolish? and what has the poor man by walking wisely before the living?


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What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.


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That which is, has been named before, and of what man is there is knowledge. He has no power against one stronger than he.


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There are words without number for increasing what is to no purpose, but what is man profited by them?


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Who is able to say what is good for man in life all the days of his foolish life which he goes through like a shade? who will say what is to be after him under the sun?


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It is better to go to the house of weeping, than to go to the house of feasting; because that is the end of every man, and the living will take it to their hearts.


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The hearts of the wise are in the house of weeping; but the hearts of the foolish are in the house of joy.


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It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a man to give ear to the song of the foolish.


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Like the cracking of thorns under a pot, so is the laugh of a foolish man; and this again is to no purpose.


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The wise are troubled by the ways of the cruel, and the giving of money is the destruction of the heart.


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Say not, Why were the days which have gone by better than these? Such a question comes not from wisdom.


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Wisdom keeps a man from danger even as money does; but the value of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to its owner.


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In the day of wealth have joy, but in the day of evil take thought: God has put the one against the other, so that man may not be certain what will be after him.


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These two have I seen in my life which is to no purpose: a good man coming to his end in his righteousness, and an evil man whose days are long in his evil-doing.


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It is good to take this in your hand and not to keep your hand from that; he who has the fear of God will be free of the two.


t:
I gave my mind to knowledge and to searching for wisdom and the reason of things, and to the discovery that sin is foolish, and that to be foolish is to be without one's senses.


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And I saw a thing more bitter than death, even the woman whose heart is full of tricks and nets, and whose hands are as bands. He with whom God is pleased will get free from her, but the sinner will be taken by her.


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For which my soul is still searching, but I have it not; one man among a thousand have I seen; but a woman among all these I have not seen.


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This only have I seen, that God made men upright, but they have been searching out all sorts of inventions.


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Who is like the wise man? and to whom is the sense of anything clear? A man's wisdom makes his face shining, and his hard face will be changed.


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Be not quick to go from before him. Be not fixed in an evil design, because he does whatever is pleasing to him.


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Whoever keeps the law will come to no evil: and a wise man's heart has knowledge of time and of decision.


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No man has authority over the wind, to keep the wind; or is ruler over the day of his death. In war no man's time is free, and evil will not keep the sinner safe.


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All this have I seen, and have given my heart to all the work which is done under the sun: there is a time when man has power over man for his destruction.


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And then I saw evil men put to rest, taken even from the holy place; and they went about and were praised in the town because of what they had done. This again is to no purpose.


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Because punishment for an evil work comes not quickly, the minds of the sons of men are fully given to doing evil.


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Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his life is long, I am certain that it will be well for those who go in fear of God and are in fear before him.


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But it will not be well for the evil-doer; he will not make his days long like a shade, because he has no fear before God.


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There is a thing which is to no purpose done on the earth: that there are good men to whom is given the same punishment as those who are evil, and there are evil men who get the reward of the good. I say that this again is to no purpose.


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So I gave praise to joy, because there is nothing better for a man to do under the sun than to take meat and drink and be happy; for that will be with him in his work all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.


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When I gave my mind to the knowledge of wisdom and to seeing the business which is done on the earth (and there are those whose eyes see not sleep by day or by night),


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Then I saw all the work of God, and that man may not get knowledge of the work which is done under the sun; because, if a man gives hard work to the search he will not get knowledge, and even if the wise man seems to be coming to the end of his search, still he will be without knowledge.


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All this I took to heart, and my heart saw it all: that the upright and the wise and their works are in the hand of God; and men may not be certain if it will be love or hate; all is to no purpose before them.


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Because to all there is one event, to the upright man and to the evil, to the clean and to the unclean, to him who makes an offering and to him who makes no offering; as is the good so is the sinner; he who takes an oath is as he who has fear of it.


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This is evil in all things which are done under the sun: that there is one fate for all, and the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; while they have life their hearts are foolish, and after that--to the dead.


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The living are conscious that death will come to them, but the dead are not conscious of anything, and they no longer have a reward, because there is no memory of them.


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Their love and their hate and their envy are now ended; and they have no longer a part for ever in anything which is done under the sun.


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Come, take your bread with joy, and your wine with a glad heart. God has taken pleasure in your works.


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Have joy with the woman of your love all the days of your foolish life which he gives you under the sun. Because that is your part in life and in your work which you do under the sun.


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Whatever comes to your hand to do with all your power, do it because there is no work, or thought, or knowledge, or wisdom in the place of the dead to which you are going.


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And again I saw under the sun that the reward goes not to him who is quick, or the fruits of war to the strong; and there is no bread for the wise, or wealth for men of learning, or respect for those who have knowledge; but time and chance come to all.


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Even man has no knowledge of his time; like fishes taken in an evil net, or like birds taken by deceit, are the sons of men taken in an evil time when it comes suddenly on them.


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There was a little town and the number of its men was small, and there came a great king against it and made an attack on it, building works of war round about it.


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Now there was in the town a poor, wise man, and he, by his wisdom, kept the town safe. But no one had any memory of that same poor man.


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Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength, but the poor man's wisdom is not respected, and his words are not given a hearing.


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The words of the wise which come quietly to the ear are noted more than the cry of a ruler among the foolish.


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Dead flies make the oil of the perfumer give out an evil smell; more valued is a little wisdom than the great glory of the foolish.


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And when the foolish man is walking in the way, he has no sense and lets everyone see that he is foolish.


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If the wrath of the ruler is against you, keep in your place; in him who keeps quiet even great sins may be overlooked.


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He who makes a hole for others will himself go into it, and for him who makes a hole through a wall the bite of a snake will be a punishment.


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He who gets out stones from the earth will be damaged by them, and in the cutting of wood there is danger.


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If the iron has no edge, and he does not make it sharp, then he has to put out more strength; but wisdom makes things go well.


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If a snake gives a bite before the word of power is said, then there is no longer any use in the word of power.


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The words of a wise man's mouth are sweet to all, but the lips of a foolish man are his destruction.


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The foolish are full of words; man has no knowledge of what will be; and who is able to say what will be after him?


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The work of the foolish will be a weariness to him, because he has no knowledge of the way to the town.


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Happy is the land whose ruler is of noble birth, and whose chiefs take food at the right time, for strength and not for feasting.


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A feast is for laughing, and wine makes glad the heart; but by the one and the other money is wasted.


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Say not a curse against the king, even in your thoughts; and even secretly say not a curse against the man of wealth; because a bird of the air will take the voice, and that which has wings will give news of it.


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Give a part to seven or even to eight, because you have no knowledge of the evil which will be on the earth.


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If the clouds are full of rain, they send it down on the earth; and if a tree comes down to the south, or the north, in whatever place it comes down, there it will be.


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He who is watching the wind will not get the seed planted, and he who is looking at the clouds will not get in the grain.


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As you have no knowledge of the way of the wind, or of the growth of the bones in the body of her who is with child, even so you have no knowledge of the works of God who has made all.


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In the morning put your seed into the earth, and till the evening let not your hand be at rest; because you are not certain which will do well, this or that--or if the two will be equally good.


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But even if a man's life is long and he has joy in all his years, let him keep in mind the dark days, because they will be great in number. Whatever may come is to no purpose.


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Have joy, O young man, while you are young; and let your heart be glad in the days of your strength, and go in the ways of your heart, and in the desire of your eyes; but be certain that for all these things God will be your judge.


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So put away trouble from your heart, and sorrow from your flesh; because the early years and the best years are to no purpose.


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Let your mind be turned to your Maker in the days of your strength, while the evil days come not, and the years are far away when you will say, I have no pleasure in them;


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While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, are not dark, and the clouds come not back after the rain;


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In the day when the keepers of the house are shaking for fear, and the strong men are bent down, and the women who were crushing the grain are at rest because their number is small, and those looking out of the windows are unable to see;


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When the doors are shut in the street, and the sound of the crushing is low, and the voice of the bird is soft, and the daughters of music will be made low;


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And he is in fear of that which is high, and danger is in the road, and the tree is white with flower, and the least thing is a weight, and desire is at an end, because man goes to his last resting-place, and those who are sorrowing are in the streets;


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Before ever the silver cord is cut, or the vessel of gold is broken, or the pot is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the water-hole;


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And because the Preacher was wise he still gave the people knowledge; searching out, testing, and putting in order a great number of wise sayings.


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The Preacher made search for words which were pleasing, but his writing was in words upright and true.


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The words of the wise are pointed, and sayings grouped together are like nails fixed with a hammer; they are given by one guide.


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And further, my son, take note of this: of the making of books there is no end, and much learning is a weariness to the flesh.


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This is the last word. All has been said. Have fear of God and keep his laws; because this is right for every man.


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Sweet is the smell of your perfumes; your name is as perfume running out; so the young girls give you their love.


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Take me to you, and we will go after you: the king has taken me into his house. We will be glad and full of joy in you, we will give more thought to your love than to wine: rightly are they your lovers.


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I am dark, but fair of form, O daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.


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Let not your eyes be turned on me, because I am dark, because I was looked on by the sun; my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vine-gardens; but my vine-garden I have not kept.


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Say, O love of my soul, where you give food to your flock, and where you make them take their rest in the heat of the day; why have I to be as one wandering by the flocks of your friends?


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If you have not knowledge, O most beautiful among women, go on your way in the footsteps of the flock, and give your young goats food by the tents of the keepers.


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As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my loved one among the sons. I took my rest under his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.


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I say to you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes of the field, do not let love be moved till it is ready.


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My loved one is like a roe; see, he is on the other side of our wall, he is looking in at the windows, letting himself be seen through the spaces.


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The flowers are come on the earth; the time of cutting the vines is come, and the voice of the dove is sounding in our land;


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The fig-tree puts out her green fruit and the vines with their young fruit give a good smell. Get up from your bed, my beautiful one, and come away.


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O my dove, you are in the holes of the mountain sides, in the cracks of the high hills; let me see your face, let your voice come to my ears; for sweet is your voice, and your face is fair.


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Till the evening comes, and the sky slowly becomes dark, come, my loved one, and be like a roe on the mountains of Bether.


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By night on my bed I was looking for him who is the love of my soul: I was looking for him, but I did not see him.


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I will get up now and go about the town, in the streets and in the wide ways I will go after him who is the love of my soul: I went after him, but I did not see him.


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The watchmen who go about the town came by me; to them I said, Have you seen him who is my heart's desire?


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I was but a little way from them, when I came face to face with him who is the love of my soul. I took him by the hands, and did not let him go, till I had taken him into my mother's house, and into the room of her who gave me birth.


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I say to you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes of the field, let not love be moved till it is ready.


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Who is this coming out of the waste places like pillars of smoke, perfumed with sweet spices, with all the spices of the trader?


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All of them armed with swords, trained in war; every man has his sword at his side, because of fear in the night.


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Go out, O daughters of Jerusalem, and see King Solomon, with the crown which his mother put on his head on the day when he was married, and on the day of the joy of his heart.


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See, you are fair, my love, you are fair; you have the eyes of a dove; your hair is as a flock of goats, which take their rest on the side of Gilead.


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Your teeth are like a flock of sheep whose wool is newly cut, which come up from the washing; every one has two lambs, and there is not one without young.


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Your red lips are like a bright thread, and your mouth is fair of form; the sides of your head are like pomegranate fruit under your veil.


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Your neck is like the tower of David made for a store-house of arms, in which a thousand breastplates are hanging, breastplates for fighting-men.


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Till the evening comes, and the sky slowly becomes dark, I will go to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.


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Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from Lebanon; see from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the places of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards.


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You have taken away my heart, my sister, my bride; you have taken away my heart, with one look you have taken it, with one chain of your neck!


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How fair is your love, my sister! How much better is your love than wine, and the smell of your oils than any perfume!


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Your lips are dropping honey; honey and milk are under your tongue; and the smell of your clothing is like the smell of Lebanon.


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Spikenard and safron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.


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Be awake, O north wind; and come, O south, blowing on my garden, so that its spices may come out. Let my loved one come into his garden, and take of his good fruits.


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I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; to take my myrrh with my spice; my wax with my honey; my wine with my milk. Take meat, O friends; take wine, yes, be overcome with love.


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I am sleeping, but my heart is awake; it is the sound of my loved one at the door, saying, Be open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my very beautiful one; my head is wet with dew, and my hair with the drops of the night.


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I got up to let my loved one in; and my hands were dropping with myrrh, and my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the lock of the door.


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I made the door open to my loved one; but my loved one had taken himself away, and was gone, my soul was feeble when his back was turned on me; I went after him, but I did not come near him; I said his name, but he gave me no answer.


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The keepers who go about the town overtook me; they gave me blows and wounds; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.


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I say to you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you see my loved one, what will you say to him? That I am overcome with love.


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What is your loved one more than another, O fairest among women? What is your loved one more than another, that you say this to us?


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His face is as beds of spices, giving out perfumes of every sort; his lips like lilies, dropping liquid myrrh.


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His hands are as rings of gold ornamented with beryl-stones; his body is as a smooth plate of ivory covered with sapphires.


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His legs are as pillars of stone on a base of delicate gold; his looks are as Lebanon, beautiful as the cedar-tree.


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His mouth is most sweet; yes, he is all beautiful. This is my loved one, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.


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Where is your loved one gone, O most fair among women? Where is your loved one turned away, that we may go looking for him with you?


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My loved one is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to take food in the gardens, and to get lilies.


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You are beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, as fair as Jerusalem; you are to be feared like an army with flags.


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Let your eyes be turned away from me; see, they have overcome me; your hair is as a flock of goats which take their rest on the side of Gilead.


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Your teeth are like a flock of sheep which come up from the washing; every one has two lambs, and there is not one without young.


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My dove, my very beautiful one, is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the dearest one of her who gave her birth. The daughters saw her, and gave her a blessing; yes, the queens and the servant-wives, and they gave her praises.


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Who is she, looking down as the morning light, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, who is to be feared like an army with flags?


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I went down into the garden of nuts to see the green plants of the valley, and to see if the vine was in bud, and the pomegranate-trees were in flower.


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Come back, come back, O Shulammite; come back, come back, so that our eyes may see you. What will you see in the Shulammite? A sword-dance.


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How beautiful are your feet in their shoes, O king's daughter! The curves of your legs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a good workman:


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Your neck is as a tower of ivory; your eyes like the waters in Heshbon, by the doorway of Bath-rabbim; your nose is as the tower on Lebanon looking over Damascus:


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Your head is like Carmel, and the hair of your head is like purple, in whose net the king is prisoner.


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I said, Let me go up the palm-tree, and let me take its branches in my hands: your breasts will be as the fruit of the vine, and the smell of your breath like apples;


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And the roof of your mouth like good wine flowing down smoothly for my loved one, moving gently over my lips and my teeth.


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Let us go out early to the vine-gardens; let us see if the vine is in bud, if it has put out its young fruit, and the pomegranate is in flower. There I will give you my love.


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The mandrakes give out a sweet smell, and at our doors are all sorts of good fruits, new and old, which I have kept for my loved one.


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Oh that you were my brother, who took milk from my mother's breasts! When I came to you in the street, I would give you kisses; yes, I would not be looked down on.


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I would take you by the hand into my mother's house, and she would be my teacher. I would give you drink of spiced wine, drink of the pomegranate.


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Who is this, who comes up from the waste places, resting on her loved one? It was I who made you awake under the apple-tree, where your mother gave you birth; there she was in pain at your birth.


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Put me as a sign on your heart, as a sign on your arm; love is strong as death, and wrath bitter as the underworld: its coals are coals of fire; violent are its flames.


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Much water may not put out love, or the deep waters overcome it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would be judged a price not great enough.


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We have a young sister, and she has no breasts; what are we to do for our sister in the day when she is given to a man?


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If she is a wall, we will make on her a strong base of silver; and if she is a door, we will let her be shut up with cedar-wood.


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I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers; then was I in his eyes as one to whom good chance had come.


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Solomon had a vine-garden at Baal-hamon; he let out the vine-garden to keepers; every one had to give a thousand bits of silver for its fruit.


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My vine-garden, which is mine, is before me: you, O Solomon, will have the thousand, and those who keep the fruit of them two hundred.


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You who have your resting-place in the gardens, the friends give ear to your voice; make me give ear to it.


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The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw about Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.


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Give ear, O heavens, and you, O earth, to the word which the Lord has said: I have taken care of my children till they became men, but their hearts have been turned away from me.


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Even the ox has knowledge of its owner, and the ass of the place where its master puts its food: but Israel has no knowledge, my people give no thought to me.


t:
O nation full of sin, a people weighted down with crime, a generation of evil-doers, false-hearted children: they have gone away from the Lord, they have no respect for the Holy One of Israel, their hearts are turned back from him.


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Why will you have more and more punishment? why keep on in your evil ways? Every head is tired and every heart is feeble.


t:
The body, from head to foot, is all diseased; it is a mass of open wounds, marks of blows, and broken flesh: the flow of blood has not been stopped, and no oil has been put on the wounds.


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Your country has become waste; your towns are burned with fire; as for your land, it is overturned before your eyes, made waste and overcome by men from strange lands.


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And the daughter of Zion has become like a tent in a vine-garden, like a watchman's house in a field of fruit, like a town shut in by armies.


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If the Lord of armies had not kept some at least of us safe, we would have been like Sodom, and the fate of Gomorrah would have been ours.


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Give ear to the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; let your hearts be turned to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah.


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What use to me is the number of the offerings which you give me? says the Lord; your burned offerings of sheep, and the best parts of fat cattle, are a weariness to me; I take no pleasure in the blood of oxen, or of lambs, or of he-goats.


t:
Give me no more false offerings; the smoke of burning flesh is disgusting to me, so are your new moons and Sabbaths and your holy meetings.


t:
Your new moons and your regular feasts are a grief to my soul: they are a weight in my spirit; I am crushed under them.


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And when your hands are stretched out to me, my eyes will be turned away from you: even though you go on making prayers, I will not give ear: your hands are full of blood.


t:
Be washed, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; let there be an end of sinning;


t:
Take pleasure in well-doing; let your ways be upright, keep down the cruel, give a right decision for the child who has no father, see to the cause of the widow.


t:
Come now, and let us have an argument together, says the Lord: how may your sins which are red like blood be white as snow? how may their dark purple seem like wool?


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But if your hearts are turned against me, I will send destruction on you by the sword; so the Lord has said.


t:
The upright town has become untrue; there was a time when her judges gave right decisions, when righteousness had a resting-place in her, but now she is full of those who take men's lives.


t:
Your chiefs have gone against the Lord, they have become friends of thieves; every one of them is looking for profit and going after rewards; they do not give right decisions for the child who has no father, and they do not let the cause of the widow come before them.


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For this reason the Lord, the Lord of armies, the Strong One of Israel, has said, I will put an end to my haters, and send punishment on those who are against me;


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And my hand will again be on you, washing away what is unclean as with soap, and taking away all your false metal;


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And I will give you judges again as at the first, and wise guides as in the past; then you will be named, The Town of Righteousness, the true town.


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Upright acts will be the price of Zion's forgiveness, and by righteousness will men be living there.


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But a common destruction will overtake sinners and evil-doers together, and those who have gone away from the Lord will be cut off.


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For you will be put to shame because of the trees of your desire, and because of the gardens of your pleasure.


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And the strong will be as food for the fire, and his work as a flame; and they will be burned together, with no one to put out the fire.


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And it will come about in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord will be placed on the top of the mountains, and be lifted up over the hills; and all nations will come to it.


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And the peoples will say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will give us knowledge of his ways, and we will be guided by his word; for out of Zion the law will go out, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.


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And he will be the judge between the nations, and the peoples will be ruled by his decisions: and their swords will be turned into plough-blades, and their spears into vine-knives: no longer will the nations be turning their swords against one another, and the knowledge of war will be gone for ever.


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For you, O Lord, have given up your people, the family of Jacob, because they are full of the evil ways of the east, and make use of secret arts like the Philistines, and are friends with the children of strange countries.


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And their land is full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their stores; their land is full of horses, and there is no end to their carriages.


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Their land is full of images; they give worship to the work of their hands, even to that which their fingers have made.


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And the poor man's head is bent, and the great man goes down on his face: for this cause there will be no forgiveness for their sin.


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Go into a hole in the rock, covering yourselves with dust, in fear of the Lord, before the glory of his power.


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The high looks of man will be put to shame, and the pride of men will be made low, and only the Lord will be lifted up in that day.


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For the day of the Lord of armies is coming on all the pride of men, and on all who are high and lifted up;


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And the high looks of man will be put to shame, and the pride of men will be made low: and only the Lord will be lifted up in that day.


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And men will go into cracks of the rocks, and into holes of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and before the glory of his power, when he comes out of his place, shaking the earth with his strength.


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In that day men will put their images of silver and of gold, which they made for worship, in the keeping of the beasts of the dark places;


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To take cover in the cracks of the rocks, and in the holes of the hills, for fear of the Lord, and before the glory of his power, when he comes out of his place, shaking the earth with his strength.


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For the Lord, the Lord of armies, is about to take away from Jerusalem and from Judah all their support; their store of bread and of water;


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The strong man and the man of war; the judge and the prophet; the man who has knowledge of secret arts, and the man who is wise because of his years;


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The captain of fifty, and the man of high position, and the wise guide, and the wonder-worker, and he who makes use of secret powers.


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And the people will be crushed, every one by his neighbour; the young will be full of pride against the old, and those of low position will be lifted up against the noble.


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When one man puts his hand on another in his father's house, and says, You have clothing, be our ruler and be responsible for us in our sad condition:


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Then he will say with an oath, I will not be a helper, for in my house there is no bread or clothing: I will not let you make me a ruler of the people.


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For Jerusalem has become feeble, and destruction has come on Judah, because their words and their acts are against the Lord, moving the eyes of his glory to wrath.


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Their respect for a man's position is a witness against them; and their sin is open to the view of all; like that of Sodom, it is not covered. A curse on their soul! for the measure of their sin is full.


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As for my people, their ruler is acting like a child, and those who have authority over them are women. O my people, your guides are the cause of your wandering, turning your footsteps out of the right way.


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The Lord is ready to take up his cause against his people, and is about to come forward as their judge.


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The Lord comes to be the judge of their responsible men and of their rulers: it is you who have made waste the vine-garden, and in your houses is the property of the poor which you have taken by force.


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By what right are you crushing my people, and putting a bitter yoke on the necks of the poor? This is the word of the Lord, the Lord of armies.


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Again, the Lord has said, Because the daughters of Zion are full of pride, and go with outstretched necks and wandering eyes, with their foot-chains sounding when they go:


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The Lord will send disease on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will let their secret parts be seen.


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In that day the Lord will take away the glory of their foot-rings, and their sun-jewels, and their moon-ornaments,


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The head-bands, and the arm-chains, and the worked bands, and the perfume-boxes, and the jewels with secret powers,


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And in the place of sweet spices will be an evil smell, and for a fair band a thick cord; for a well-dressed head there will be the cutting-off of the hair, and for a beautiful robe there will be the clothing of sorrow; the mark of the prisoner in place of the ornaments of the free.


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And in the public places of her towns will be sorrow and weeping; and she will be seated on the earth, waste and uncovered.


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And in that day seven women will put their hands on one man, saying, There will be no need for you to give us food or clothing, only let us go under your name, so that our shame may be taken away.


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In that day will the young growth of the Lord be beautiful in glory, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride of those who are still living in Israel.


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And it will come about that the rest of the living in Zion, and of those who have been kept from destruction in Jerusalem, will be named holy, even everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem:


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When Zion has been washed from her sin by the Lord, and Jerusalem made clean from her blood by a judging and a burning wind.


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And over every living-place on Mount Zion, all over all her meetings, the Lord will make a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night, for over all, the glory of the Lord will be a cover and a tent;


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Let me make a song about my loved one, a song of love for his vine-garden. My loved one had a vine-garden on a fertile hill:


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And after working the earth of it with a spade, he took away its stones, and put in it a very special vine; and he put up a watchtower in the middle of it, hollowing out in the rock a place for the grape-crushing; and he was hoping that it would give the best grapes, but it gave common grapes.


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Is there anything which might have been done for my vine-garden which I have not done? why then, when I was hoping for the best grapes did it give me common grapes?


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And now, this is what I will do to my vine-garden: I will take away the circle of thorns round it, and it will be burned up; its wall will be broken down and the beasts of the field will go through it;


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And I will make it waste; its branches will not be touched with the knife, or the earth worked with the spade; but blackberries and thorns will come up in it: and I will give orders to the clouds not to send rain on it.


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For the vine-garden of the Lord of armies is the people of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of his delight: and he was looking for upright judging, and there was blood; for righteousness, and there was a cry for help.


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Cursed are those who are joining house to house, and putting field to field, till there is no more living-space for any but themselves in all the land!


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The Lord of armies has said to me secretly, Truly, numbers of great and fair houses will be waste, with no one living in them.


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For ten fields of vines will only give one measure of wine, and a great amount of seed will only give a small measure of grain.


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Cursed are those who get up early in the morning to give themselves up to strong drink; who keep on drinking far into the night till they are heated with wine!


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And corded instruments and wind-instruments and wine are in their feasts: but they give no thought to the work of the Lord, and they are not interested in what his hands are doing.


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For this cause my people are taken away as prisoners into strange countries for need of knowledge: and their rulers are wasted for need of food, and their loud-voiced feasters are dry for need of water.


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For this cause the underworld has made wide its throat, opening its mouth without limit: and her glory, and the noise of her masses, and her loud-voiced feasters, will go down into it.


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And the poor man's head is bent, and the great man goes down on his face, and the eyes of pride are put to shame:


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Then the lambs will get food as in their grass-lands, and the fat cattle will be feasting in the waste places.


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Cursed are those who make use of ox-cords for pulling the evil thing, and the bands of a young ox for their sin!


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Who say, Let him do his work quickly, let him make it sudden, so that we may see it: let the design of the Holy One of Israel come near, so that it may be clear to us.


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Cursed are those who give the name of good to evil, and of evil to what is good: who make light dark, and dark light: who make bitter sweet, and sweet bitter!


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Who for a reward give support to the cause of the sinner, and who take away the righteousness of the upright from him.


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For this cause, as the waste of the grain is burned up by tongues of fire, and as the dry grass goes down before the flame, so their root will be like the dry stems of grain, and their flower will go up in dust: because they have gone against the law of the Lord of armies, and have given no honour to the word of the Holy One of Israel.


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For this reason the wrath of the Lord has been burning against his people, and his hand has been stretched out against them in punishment, and the hills were shaking, and their dead bodies were like waste in the open places of the town.


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And he will let a flag be lifted up as a sign to a far-off nation, whistling to them from the ends of the earth: and they will come quickly and suddenly.


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There is no weariness among them, and no man is feeble-footed: they come without resting or sleeping, and the cord of their shoes is not broken.


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Their arrows are sharp, and every bow is bent: the feet of their horses are like rock, and their wheels are like a rushing storm.


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The sound of their armies will be like the voice of a lion, and their war-cry like the noise of young lions: with loud cries they will come down on their food and will take it away safely, and there will be no one to take it out of their hands.


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And his voice will be loud over him in that day like the sounding of the sea: and if a man's eyes are turned to the earth, it is all dark and full of trouble; and the light is made dark by thick clouds.


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In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord seated in his place, high and lifted up, and the Temple was full of the wide skirts of his robe.


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Over him were the winged ones: every one had six wings; two for covering his face, two for covering his feed, and two for flight.


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And one said in a loud voice to another, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of armies: all the earth is full of his glory.


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And the bases of the door-pillars were shaking at the sound of his cry, and the house was full of smoke.


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Then I said, The curse is on me, and my fate is destruction; for I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of armies.


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Then a winged one came to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from off the altar with the fire-spoon.


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And after touching my mouth with it, he said, See, your lips have been touched with this; and your evil is taken away, and you are made clean from sin.


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And the voice of the Lord came to my ears, saying, Whom am I to send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I, send me.


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And he said, Go, and say to this people, You will go on hearing, but learning nothing; you will go on seeing, but without getting wiser.


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Make the hearts of this people fat, and let their ears be stopped, and their eyes shut; for fear that they may see with their eyes, and be hearing with their ears, and their heart may become wise, and they may be turned to me and made well.


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Then I said, Lord, how long? And he said in answer, Till the towns are waste and unpeopled, and the houses have no men, and the land becomes completely waste,


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And even if there is still a tenth part in it, it will again be burned, like a tree of the woods whose broken end is still in the earth after the tree has been cut down (the holy seed is the broken end).


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Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin, the king of Aram, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but were not able to overcome it.


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And word came to the family of David that Aram had put up its tents in Ephraim. And the king's heart, and the hearts of his people, were moved, like the trees of the wood shaking in the wind.


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Then the Lord said to Isaiah, Go out now, you and Shear-jashub, your son, and you will come across Ahaz at the end of the stream flowing from the higher pool, in the highway of the washerman's field;


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And say to him, Take care and be quiet; have no fear, and do not let your heart be feeble, because of these two ends of smoking fire-wood, because of the bitter wrath of Rezin and Aram, and of the son of Remaliah.


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Let us go up against Judah, troubling her, and forcing our way into her, and let us put up a king in her, even the son of Tabeel:


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For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin (and in sixty-five years from now Ephraim will be broken, and will no longer be a people):


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And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not have faith, your kingdom will be broken.


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Make a request to the Lord your God for a sign, a sign in the deep places of the underworld, or in the high heavens.


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And he said, Give ear now, O family of David: is it not enough that you are driving men to disgust? will you do the same to my God?


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For this cause the Lord himself will give you a sign; a young woman is now with child, and she will give birth to a son, and she will give him the name Immanuel.


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For before the child is old enough to make a decision between evil and good, the land whose two kings you are now fearing will have become waste.


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The Lord is about to send on you, and on your people, and on your father's house, such a time of trouble as there has not been from the days of the separating of Ephraim from Judah; even the coming of the king of Assyria.


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And it will be in that day that the Lord will make a piping sound for the fly which is in the end of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee which is in the land of Assyria.


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And they will come, covering all the waste valleys, and the holes of the rocks, and the thorns, and all the watering-places.


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In that day will the Lord take away the hair of the head and of the feet, as well as the hair of the face, with a blade got for a price from the other side of the River; even with the king of Assyria.


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And they will give so much milk that he will be able to have butter for his food: for butter and honey will be the food of all who are still living in the land.


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And it will be in that day that in every place where before there were a thousand vines valued at a thousand shekels of silver, there will be nothing but blackberries and thorns.


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Men will come there with bows and arrows, because all the land will be full of blackberries and thorns.


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And they will send out the oxen and the sheep on all the hills which before were worked with the spade, ... fear of blackberries and thorns.


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And the Lord said to me, Take a great writing-board, and on it put down in common letters, Maher-shalal-hash-baz;


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And I went in to my wife, and she became with child, and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, Give him the name Maher-shalal-hash-baz,


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For before the child is able to say, Father, or, Mother, the wealth of Damascus and the goods of Samaria will be taken away by the king of Assyria.


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Because this people will have nothing to do with the softly-flowing waters of Shiloah, and have fear of Rezin and Remaliah's son;


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For this cause the Lord is sending on them the waters of the River, deep and strong, even the king of Assyria and all his glory: and it will come up through all its streams, overflowing all its edges:


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And it will come on into Judah; rushing on and overflowing, till the waters are up to the neck; *** and his outstretched wings will be covering the land from side to side: for God is with us.


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Let your designs be formed, and they will come to nothing; give your orders, and they will not be effected: for God is with us.


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For the Lord, controlling me with a strong hand, gave me orders not to go in the way of this people, saying,


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Do not say, It is holy, about everything of which this people says, It is holy; and do not be in fear of what they go in fear of.


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And he will be for a holy place: but for a stone of falling and a rock of trouble to the two houses of Israel, and to the men of Jerusalem, for a net in which they may be taken.


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And I will be waiting for the Lord, whose face is veiled from the house of Jacob, and I will be looking for him.


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See, I and the children whom the Lord has given me, are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of armies, whose resting-place is in Mount Zion.


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And when they say to you, Make request for us to those who have control of spirits, and to those wise in secret arts, who make hollow bird-like sounds; is it not right for a people to make request to their gods, to make request for the living to the dead?


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Then say to them, Put your faith in the teaching and the witness. ... If they do not say such things. ... For him there is no dawn. ...


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And he will go through the land in bitter trouble and in need of food; and when he is unable to get food, he will become angry, cursing his king and his God, and his eyes will be turned to heaven on high;


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And he will be looking down on the earth, and there will be trouble and dark clouds, black night where there is no seeing.


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In earlier times he made the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali of small value, but after that he gave it glory, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the nations.


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The people who went in the dark have seen a great light, and for those who were living in the land of the deepest night, the light is shining.


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You have made them very glad, increasing their joy. They are glad before you as men are glad in the time of getting in the grain, or when they make division of the goods taken in war.


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For by your hand the yoke on his neck and the rod on his back, even the rod of his cruel master, have been broken, as in the day of Midian.


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For every boot of the man of war with his sounding step, and the clothing rolled in blood, will be for burning, food for the fire.


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For to us a child has come, to us a son is given; and the government has been placed in his hands; and he has been named Wise Guide, Strong God, Father for ever, Prince of Peace.


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Of the increase of his rule and of peace there will be no end, on the seat of David, and in his kingdom; to make it strong, supporting it with wise decision and righteousness, now and for ever. By the fixed purpose of the Lord of armies this will be done.


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And all the people will have experience of it, even Ephraim and the men of Samaria, who say in the pride of their uplifted hearts,


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The bricks have come down, but we will put up buildings of cut stone in their place: the sycamores are cut down, but they will be changed to cedars.


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For this cause the Lord has made strong the haters of Israel, driving them on to make war against him;


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Aram on the east, and the Philistines on the west, who have come against Israel with open mouths. For all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.


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But the heart of the people was not turned to him who sent punishment on them, and they made no prayer to the Lord of armies.


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The man who is honoured and responsible is the head, and the prophet who gives false teaching is the tail.


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For the guides of this people are the cause of their wandering from the right way, and those who are guided by them come to destruction.


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For this cause the Lord will have no pleasure in their young men, and no pity on their widows and the children without fathers: for they are all haters of God and evil-doers, and foolish words come from every mouth. For all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.


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For evil was burning like a fire; the blackberries and thorns were burned up; the thick woods took fire, rolling up in dark clouds of smoke.


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The land was dark with the wrath of the Lord of armies: the people were like those who take men's flesh for food.


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On the right a man was cutting off bits and was still in need; on the left a man took a meal but had not enough; no man had pity on his brother; every man was making a meal of the flesh of his neighbour.


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Manasseh was making a meal of Ephraim, and Ephraim of Manasseh; and together they were attacking Judah. For all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.


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Who do wrong to the poor in their cause, and take away the right of the crushed among my people, so that they may have the property of widows, and get under their power those who have no father.


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And what will you do in the day of punishment, and in the destruction which is coming from far? to whom will you go for help, and what will become of your glory?


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I will send him against a nation of wrongdoers, and against the people of my wrath I will give him orders, to take their wealth in war, crushing them down like the dust in the streets.


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But this is not what is in his mind, and this is not his design; but his purpose is destruction, and the cutting off of more and more nations.


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Will not the fate of Calno be like that of Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?


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As my hand has come on the kingdoms of the images, whose pictured images were more in number than those of Jerusalem and Samaria;


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For this cause it will be that, when the purpose of the Lord against Mount Zion and Jerusalem is complete, I will send punishment on the pride of the heart of the king of Assyria, and on the glory of his uplifted eyes.


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For he has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my knowledge, for I am wise: and I have taken away the limits of the peoples' lands, and the stores of their wealth have become mine; and I have made towns low in the dust, sending destruction on those living in them;


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And I have put my hands on the wealth of the peoples, as on the place where a bird has put her eggs; and as a man may take the eggs from which a bird has gone, so I have taken all the earth for myself: and not a wing was moved, and not a mouth gave out a sound.


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Will the axe say high-sounding words against him who is using it, or the blade be full of pride against him who is cutting with it? As if a rod had the power of shaking him who is using it, or as if a stick might take up him who is not wood.


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For this cause the Lord, the Lord of armies, will make his fat become wasted; and in his inner parts a fire will be lighted like a burning flame.


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And the light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: wasting and burning up his thorns in one day.


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And he will put an end to the glory of his woods and of his planted fields, soul and body together; and it will be as when a man is wasted by disease.


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And the rest of the trees of his wood will be small in number, so that a child may put them down in writing.


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And it will be in that day that the rest of Israel, and those of Jacob who have come safely through these troubles, will no longer go for help to him whose rod was on their back, but their faith will be in the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.


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For though your people, O Israel, are as the sand of the sea, only a small number will come back: for the destruction is fixed, overflowing in righteousness.


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For this cause the Lord, the Lord of armies, says, O my people living in Zion, have no fear of the Assyrian, even if his rod comes on your back, and his stick is lifted up as in Egypt.


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And the Lord of armies will be shaking a whip against him, as when he overcame Midian at the rock of Oreb: and his rod will be lifted up against them as it was against the Egyptians.


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And in that day the weight which he put on your back will be taken away, and his yoke broken from off your neck.


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He has gone up from Pene-Rimmon, he has come to Aiath; he has gone past Migron, at Michmash he puts his forces in order.


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They have gone across the mountain; Geba will be our resting-place tonight, they say: Ramah is shaking with fear; Gibeah of Saul has gone in flight.


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This very day he is stopping at Nob; he is shaking his hand against the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.


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See, the Lord, the Lord of armies, is cutting off his branches with a great noise, and his strong ones are falling and his high ones are coming down.


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And he is cutting down the thick places of the wood with an axe, and Lebanon with its tall trees is coming down.


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And there will come a rod out of the broken tree of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will give fruit.


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And the spirit of the Lord will be resting on him, the spirit of wisdom and good sense, the spirit of wise guiding and strength, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;


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And he will not be guided in his judging by what he sees, or give decisions by the hearing of his ears:


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But he will do right in the cause of the poor, and give wise decisions for those in the land who are in need; and the rod of his mouth will come down on the cruel, and with the breath of his lips he will put an end to the evil-doer.


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And the wolf will be living with the lamb, and the leopard will take his rest with the young goat; and the lion will take grass for food like the ox; and the young lion will go with the young ones of the herd; and a little child will be their guide.


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And the child at the breast will be playing by the hole of the snake, and the older child will put his hand on the bright eye of the poison-snake.


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There will be no cause of pain or destruction in all my holy mountain: for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the sea is covered by the waters.


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And in that day, the eyes of the nations will be turned to the root of Jesse which will be lifted up as the flag of the peoples; and his resting-place will be glory.


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And in that day the hand of the Lord will be stretched out the second time to get back the rest of his people, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the sea-lands.


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And he will put up a flag as a sign to the nations, and he will get together those of Israel who had been sent away, and the wandering ones of Judah, from the four ends of the earth.


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And the envy of Ephraim will be gone, and those who make trouble for Judah will come to an end: Ephraim will have no more envy of Judah, and there will be an end of Judah's hate for Ephraim.


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And they will be united in attacking the Philistines on the west, and together they will take the goods of the children of the east: their hand will be on Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon will be under their rule.


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And the Lord will make the tongue of the Egyptian sea completely dry; and with his burning wind his hand will be stretched out over the River, and it will be parted into seven streams, so that men may go over it with dry feet.


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And there will be a highway for the rest of his people from Assyria; as there was for Israel in the day when he came up out of the land of Egypt.


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And in that day you will say I will give praise to you, O Lord; for though you were angry with me, your wrath is turned away, and I am comforted.


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See, God is my salvation; I will have faith in the Lord, without fear: for the Lord Jah is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation.


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And in that day you will say, Give praise to the Lord, let his name be honoured, give word of his doings among the peoples, say that his name is lifted up.


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Let your voice be sounding in a cry of joy, O daughter of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.


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Put up a flag on a clear mountain-top, make a loud outcry to them, give directions with the hand, so that they may go into the doors of the great ones.


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I have given orders to my holy ones, I have sent out my men of war, those of mine who take pride in their power, to give effect to my wrath.


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The noise of great numbers in the mountains, like the noise of a strong people! The noise of the kingdoms of the nations meeting together! The Lord of armies is numbering his forces for war.


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They come from a far country, from the farthest part of heaven, even the Lord and the instruments of his wrath, with destruction for all the land.


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Send out a cry of grief; for the day of the Lord is near; it comes as destruction from the Most High.


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Their hearts will be full of fear; pains and sorrows will overcome them; they will be in pain like a woman in childbirth; they will be shocked at one another; their faces will be like flames.


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See, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with wrath and burning passion: to make the land a waste, driving the sinners in it to destruction.


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For the stars of heaven and its bright armies will not give their light: the sun will be made dark in his journey through the heaven, and the moon will keep back her light.


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And I will send punishment on the world for its evil, and on the sinners for their wrongdoing; and I will put an end to all pride, and will make low the power of the cruel.


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I will make men so small in number, that a man will be harder to get than gold, even the best gold of Ophir.


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For this cause the heavens will be shaking, and the earth will be moved out of its place, in the wrath of the Lord of armies, and in the day of his burning passion.


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And it will be that, like a roe in flight, and like wandering sheep, they will go every man to his people and to his land.


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Everyone who is overtaken will have a spear put through him, and everyone who goes in flight will be put to the sword.


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Their young children will be broken up before their eyes; their goods will be taken away, and their wives made the property of others.


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In their hands are bows and spears; they are cruel, violently putting the young men to death, and crushing the young women; they have no pity for children, and no mercy for the fruit of the body.


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And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beautiful town which is the pride of the Chaldaeans, will be like God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.


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People will never be living in it again, and it will have no more men from generation to generation: the Arab will not put up his tent there; and those who keep sheep will not make it a resting-place for their flocks.


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But the beasts of the waste land will have their holes there; and the houses will be full of crying jackals, and ostriches will have their place there, and evil spirits will be dancing there.


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And wolves will be answering one another in their towers, and jackals in their houses of pleasure: her time is near, and her days of power will quickly be ended.


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For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will again make Israel his special people, and will put them in their land; and the man from a strange country will take his place among them and be joined to the family of Jacob.


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And the people will take them with them to their place: and the children of Israel will give them a heritage in the Lord's land as men-servants and women-servants, making them prisoners whose prisoners they were; and they will be rulers over their masters.


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And it will be, in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your trouble, and from the hard yoke which they had put on you,


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That you will take up this bitter song against the king of Babylon, and say, How has the cruel overseer come to an end! He who was lifted up in pride is cut off;


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He whose rod was on the peoples with an unending wrath, ruling the nations in passion, with an uncontrolled rule.


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Even the trees of the wood are glad over you, the trees of Lebanon, saying, From the time of your fall no wood-cutter has come up against us with an axe.


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The underworld is moved at your coming: the shades of the dead are awake before you, even the strong ones of the earth; all the kings of the world have got up from their seats.


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They all make answer and say to you, Have you become feeble like us? have you been made even as we are?


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Your pride has gone down into the underworld, and the noise of your instruments of music; the worms are under you, and your body is covered with them.


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How great is your fall from heaven, O shining one, son of the morning! How are you cut down to the earth, low among the dead bodies!


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For you said in your heart, I will go up to heaven, I will make my seat higher than the stars of God; I will take my place on the mountain of the meeting-place of the gods, in the inmost parts of the north.


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Those who see you will be looking on you with care, they will be in deep thought, saying, Is this the troubler of the earth, the shaker of kingdoms?


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Who made the world a waste, overturning its towns; who did not let his prisoners loose from the prison-house.


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But you, like a birth before its time, are stretched out with no resting-place in the earth; clothed with the bodies of the dead who have been put to the sword, who go down to the lowest parts of the underworld; a dead body, crushed under foot.


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As for your fathers, you will not be united with them in their resting-place, because you have been the cause of destruction to your land, and of death to your people; the seed of the evil-doer will have no place in the memory of man.


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Make ready a place of death for his children, because of the evil-doing of their father; so that they may not come up and take the earth for their heritage, covering the face of the world with waste places.


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For I will come up against them, says the Lord of armies, cutting off from Babylon name and offspring, son and son's son, says the Lord.


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And I will make you a heritage for the hedgehog, and pools of water: and I will go through it with the brush of destruction, says the Lord of armies.


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The Lord has taken an oath, saying, My design will certainly come about, and my purpose will be effected:


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To let the Assyrian be broken in my land, and crushed under foot on my mountains: there will his yoke be taken away from them, and his rule over them come to an end.


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For it is the purpose of the Lord of armies, and who will make it of no effect? when his hand is stretched out, by whom may it be turned back?


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Be not glad, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod which was on you is broken: for out of the snake's root will come a poison-snake, and its fruit will be a winged poison-snake.


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And the poorest of the land will have food, and those in need will be given a safe resting-place: but your seed will come to an end for need of food, and the rest of you will be put to the sword.


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Send out a cry, O door! Make sounds of sorrow, O town! All your land has come to nothing, O Philistia; for there comes a smoke out of the north, and everyone keeps his place in the line.


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What answer, then, will my people give to the representatives of the nation? That the Lord is the builder of Zion, and she will be a safe place for the poor of his people.


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The word about Moab. For in a night Ar of Moab has become waste, and is seen no longer; for in a night Kir of Moab has become waste, and is seen no longer.


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The daughter of Dibon has gone up to the high places, weeping: Moab is sounding her cry of sorrow over Nebo, and over Medeba: everywhere the hair of the head and of the face is cut off.


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In their streets they are covering themselves with haircloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their public places, there is crying and bitter weeping.


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Heshbon is crying out, and Elealeh; their voice is sounding even to Jahaz: for this cause the heart of Moab is shaking; his soul is shaking with fear.


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My heart is crying out for Moab; her people go in flight to Zoar, and to Eglath-shelishiyah: for they go up with weeping by the slope of Luhith; on the way to Horonaim they send up a cry of destruction.


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The waters of Nimrim will become dry: for the grass is burned up, the young grass is coming to an end, every green thing is dead.


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For this cause they will take away their wealth, and the stores they have got together, over the stream of the water-plants.


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For the waters of Dimon are full of blood: and I'm sending even more on Moab, a lion on those of Moab who go in flight, and on the rest of the land.


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For the daughters of Moab will be like wandering birds, like a place from which the young birds have gone in flight, at the ways across the Arnon.


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Give wise directions, make a decision; let your shade be as night in full day: keep safe those who are in flight; do not give up the wandering ones.


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Let those who have been forced out of Moab have a resting-place with you; be a cover to them from him who is making waste their land: till the cruel ones are cut off, and wasting has come to an end, and those who take pleasure in crushing the poor are gone from the land.


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Then a king's seat will be based on mercy, and one will be seated on it in the tent of David for ever; judging uprightly, and quick to do righteousness.


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We have had word of the pride of Moab, how great it is; how he is lifted up in pride and passion: his high words about himself are false.


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For this cause everyone in Moab will give cries of grief for Moab: crushed to the earth, they will be weeping for the men of Kir-hareseth.


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For the fields of Heshbon are waste, the vine of Sibmah is dead; the lords of nations were overcome by the produce of her vines; her vine-plants went as far as Jazer, and came even to the waste land; her branches were stretched out to the sea.


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For this cause my sorrow for the vine of Sibmah will be like the weeping for Jazer: my eyes are dropping water on you, O Heshbon and Elealeh! For they are sounding the war-cry over your summer fruits and the getting in of your grain;


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And all joy is gone; no longer are they glad for the fertile field; and in the vine-gardens there are no songs or sounds of joy: the crushing of grapes has come to an end, and its glad cry has been stopped.


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And when Moab goes up to the high place, and makes prayer in the house of his god, it will have no effect.


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But now the Lord has said, In three years, the years of a servant working for payment, the glory of Moab, all that great people, will be turned to shame, and the rest of Moab will be very small and without honour.


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The word about Damascus. See, they have made Damascus a town no longer; it has become a waste place.


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The strong tower has gone from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus: the rest of Aram will come to destruction, and be made like the glory of the children of Israel, says the Lord of armies.


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And it will be in that day that the glory of Jacob will be made small, and the strength of his body will become feeble.


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And it will be like a man cutting the growth of his grain, pulling together the heads of the grain with his arm; even as when they get in the grain in the valley of Rephaim.


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But it will be like a man shaking an olive-tree, something will still be there, two or three berries on the top of the highest branch, four or five on the outside branches of a fertile tree, says the Lord, the God of Israel.


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He will not be looking to the altars, the work of his hands, or to the wood pillars or to the sun-images which his fingers have made.


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In that day your towns will be like the waste places of the Hivites and the Amorites which the children of Israel took for a heritage, and they will come to destruction.


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For you have not given honour to the God of your salvation, and have not kept in mind the Rock of your strength; for this cause you made a garden of Adonis, and put in it the vine-cuttings of a strange god;


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In the day of your planting you were watching its growth, and in the morning your seed was flowering: but its fruit is wasted away in the day of grief and bitter sorrow.


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Ah! the voice of peoples, like the loud sounding of the seas, and the thundering of great nations rushing on like the bursting out of waters!


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But he will put a stop to them, and make them go in flight far away, driving them like the waste of the grain on the tops of the mountains before the wind, and like the circling dust before the storm.


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In the evening there is fear, and in the morning they are gone. This is the fate of those who take our goods, and the reward of those who violently take our property for themselves.


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Which sends its representatives by the sea, even in ships of papyrus on the waters. Go back quickly, O representatives, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people causing fear through all their history; a strong nation, crushing down its haters, whose land is cut through by rivers.


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All you peoples of the world, and you who are living on the earth, when a flag is lifted up on the mountains, give attention; and when the horn is sounded, give ear.


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For this is what the Lord has said to me: I will be quiet, watching from my place; like the clear heat when the sun is shining, like a mist of dew in the heat of summer.


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For before the time of getting in the grapes, after the opening of the bud, when the flower has become a grape ready for crushing, he will take away the small branches with knives, cutting down and taking away the wide-stretching branches.


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They will be for the birds of the mountains, and for the beasts of the earth: the birds will come down on them in the summer, and the beasts of the earth in the winter.


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In that time an offering will be made to the Lord of armies from a people tall and smooth, causing fear through all their history; a strong nation, crushing down its haters, whose land is cut through by rivers, an offering taken to the place of the name of the Lord of armies, even Mount Zion.


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The word about Egypt. See, the Lord is seated on a quick-moving cloud, and is coming to Egypt: and the false gods of Egypt will be troubled at his coming, and the heart of Egypt will be turned to water.


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And I will send the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they will be fighting every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; town against town, and kingdom against kingdom.


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And the spirit of Egypt will be troubled in her, and I will make her decisions without effect: and they will be turning to the false gods, and to those who make hollow sounds, and to those who have control of spirits, and to those who are wise in secret arts.


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And I will give the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord; and a hard king will be their ruler, says the Lord, the Lord of armies.


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And the rivers will have an evil smell; the stream of Egypt will become small and dry: all the water-plants will come to nothing.


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The grass-lands by the Nile, and everything planted by the Nile, will become dry, or taken away by the wind, and will come to an end.


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The fishermen will be sad, and all those who put fishing-lines into the Nile will be full of grief, and those whose nets are stretched out on the waters will have sorrow in their hearts.


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The chiefs of Zoan are completely foolish; the wisest guides of Pharaoh have become like beasts: how do you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the offspring of early kings?


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Where, then, are your wise men? let them make clear to you, let them give you knowledge of the purpose of the Lord of armies for Egypt.


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The chiefs of Zoan have become foolish, the chiefs of Noph are tricked, the heads of her tribes are the cause of Egypt's wandering out of the way.


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The Lord has sent among them a spirit of error: and by them Egypt is turned out of the right way in all her doings, as a man overcome by wine is uncertain in his steps.


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In that day the Egyptians will be like women: and the land will be shaking with fear because of the waving of the Lord's hand stretched out over it.


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And the land of Judah will become a cause of great fear to Egypt; whenever its name comes to mind, Egypt will be in fear before the Lord of armies because of his purpose against it.


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In that day there will be five towns in the land of Egypt using the language of Canaan, and making oaths to the Lord of armies; and one of them will be named, The Town of the Sun.


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In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at the edge of the land.


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And it will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of armies in the land of Egypt: when they are crying out to the Lord because of their cruel masters, then he will send them a saviour and a strong one to make them free.


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And the Lord will give the knowledge of himself to Egypt, and the Egyptians will give honour to the Lord in that day; they will give him worship with offerings and meal offerings, and will take an oath to the Lord and give effect to it.


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And the Lord will send punishment on Egypt, and will make them well again; and when they come back to the Lord he will give ear to their prayer and take away their disease.


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In that day there will be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt will come into Assyria; and the Egyptians will give worship to the Lord together with the Assyrians.


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Because of the blessing of the Lord of armies which he has given them, saying, A blessing on Egypt my people, and on Assyria the work of my hands, and on Israel my heritage.


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In the year when the Tartan came to Ashdod, sent by Sargon, king of Assyria, and made war against it and took it;


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At that time the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and take off your robe, and your shoes from your feet; and he did so, walking unclothed and without shoes on his feet.


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And the Lord said, As my servant Isaiah has gone unclothed and without shoes for three years as a sign and a wonder to Egypt and Ethiopia,


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So will the king of Assyria take away the prisoners of Egypt and those forced out of Ethiopia, young and old, unclothed and without shoes, and with backs uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.


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And they will be full of fear, and will no longer have faith in Ethiopia which was their hope, or in Egypt which was their glory.


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And those living by the sea will say in that day, See the fate of our hope to whom we went for help and salvation from the king of Assyria: what hope have we then of salvation?


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The word about the waste land. As storm-winds in the South go rushing through, it comes from the waste land, from the land greatly to be feared.


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A vision of fear comes before my eyes; the worker of deceit goes on in his false way, and the waster goes on making waste. Up! Elam; to the attack! Media; I have put an end to her sorrow.


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For this cause I am full of bitter grief; pains like the pains of a woman in childbirth have come on me: I am bent down with sorrow at what comes to my ears; I am shocked by what I see.


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My mind is wandering, fear has overcome me: the evening of my desire has been turned into shaking for me.


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They make ready the table, they put down the covers, they take food and drink. Up! you captains; put oil on your breastplates.


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And when he sees war-carriages, horsemen by twos, war-carriages with asses, war-carriages with camels, let him give special attention.


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And the watchman gave a loud cry, O my lord, I am on the watchtower all day, and am placed in my watch every night:


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See, here come war-carriages with men, horsemen by twos: and in answer he said, Babylon is made low, is made low, and all her images are broken on the earth.


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O my crushed ones, the grain of my floor! I have given you the word which came to me from the Lord of armies, the God of Israel.


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The word about Edom. A voice comes to me from Seir, Watchman, how far gone is the night? how far gone is the night?


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The watchman says, The morning has come, but night is still to come: if you have questions to put, put them, and come back again.


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The word about Arabia. In the thick woods of Arabia will be your night's resting-place, O travelling bands of Dedanites!


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Give water to him who is in need of water; give bread, O men of the land of Tema, to those in flight.


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For so has the Lord said to me, In a year, by the years of a servant working for payment, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end:


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And the rest of the bowmen, the men of war of the children of Kedar, will be small in number: for the Lord, the God of Israel, has said it.


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You, who are full of loud voices, a town of outcries, given up to joy; your dead men have not been put to the sword, or come to their death in war.


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For this cause I have said, Let your eyes be turned away from me in my bitter weeping; I will not be comforted for the wasting of the daughter of my people.


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For it is a day of trouble and of crushing down and of destruction from the Lord, the Lord of armies, in the valley of vision; ...


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And Elam was armed with arrows, and Aram came on horseback; and the breastplate of Kir was uncovered.


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And your most fertile valleys were full of war-carriages, and the horsemen took up their positions in front of the town.


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He took away the cover of Judah; and in that day you were looking with care at the store of arms in the house of the woods.


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And you saw all the broken places in the wall of the town of David: and you got together the waters of the lower pool.


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And you made a place between the two walls for storing the waters of the old pool: but you gave no thought to him who had done this, and were not looking to him by whom it had been purposed long before.


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And in that day the Lord, the Lord of armies, was looking for weeping, and cries of sorrow, cutting off of the hair, and putting on the clothing of grief:


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But in place of these there was joy and delight, oxen and sheep were being made ready for food, there was feasting and drinking: men said, Now is the time for food and wine, for tomorrow death comes.


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And the Lord of armies said to me secretly, Truly, this sin will not be taken from you till your death, says the Lord, the Lord of armies.


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The Lord, the Lord of armies, says, Go to this person in authority, this Shebna, who is over the house; who has made himself a resting-place on high, cutting out a place for himself in the rock, and say,


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Twisting you round and round like a ball he will send you out into a wide country: there you will come to your end, and there will be the carriages of your pride, O shame of your lord's house!


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And I will put your robe on him, and put your band about him, and I will give your authority into his hand: and he will be a father to the men of Jerusalem, and to the family of Judah.


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And I will give the key of the family of David into his care; and what he keeps open will be shut by no one, and what he keeps shut no one will make open.


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And I will put him like a nail in a safe place; and he will be for a seat of glory to his father's family.


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And all the glory of his father's family will be hanging on him, all their offspring, every small vessel, even the cups and the basins.


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In that day, says the Lord of armies, will the nail fixed in a safe place give way; and it will be cut down, and in its fall the weight hanging on it will be cut off, for the Lord has said it.


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The word about Tyre. Let a cry of sorrow go up, O ships of Tarshish, because your strong place is made waste; on the way back from the land of Kittim the news is given to them.


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Send out a cry of grief, you men of the sea-land, traders of Zidon, who go over the sea, whose representatives are on great waters;


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Be shamed, O Zidon: for the sea, the strong place of the sea has said, I have not been with child, or given birth; I have not taken care of young men, or kept watch over the growth of virgins.


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Is this the town which was full of joy, whose start goes back to times long past, whose wanderings took her into far-off countries?


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By whom was this purposed against Tyre, the crowning town, whose traders are chiefs, whose business men are honoured in the land?


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It was the purpose of the Lord of armies to put pride to shame, to make sport of the glory of those who are honoured in the earth.


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His hand is stretched out over the sea, the kingdoms are shaking: the Lord has given orders about Canaan, to make waste its strong places.


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And he said, There is no more joy for you, O crushed virgin daughter of Zidon: up! go over to Kittim; even there you will have no rest.


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And it will be in that day that Tyre will go out of mind for seventy years, that is, the days of one king: after the end of seventy years it will be for Tyre as in the song of the loose woman.


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Take an instrument of music, go about the town, O loose woman who has gone out from the memory of man; make sweet melody with songs, so that you may come back to men's minds.


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And it will be after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will have mercy on Tyre, and she will go back to her trade, acting as a loose woman with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.


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And her goods and her trade will be holy to the Lord: they will not be kept back or stored up; for her produce will be for those living in the Lord's land, to give them food for their needs, and fair clothing.


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See, the Lord is making the earth waste and unpeopled, he is turning it upside down, and sending the people in all directions.


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And it will be the same for the people as for the priest; for the servant as for his master; and for the woman-servant as for her owner; the same for the one offering goods for a price as for him who takes them; the same for him who gives money at interest and for him who takes it; the same for him who lets others have the use of his property as for those who make use of it.


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The earth is sorrowing and wasting away, the world is full of grief and wasting away, the high ones of the earth come to nothing.


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The earth has been made unclean by those living in it; because the laws have not been kept by them, the orders have been changed, and the eternal agreement has been broken.


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For this cause the earth is given up to the curse, and those in it are judged as sinners: for this cause those living on the earth are burned up, and the rest are small in number.


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The pleasing sound of all instruments of music has come to an end, and the voices of those who are glad.


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There is a crying in the streets because of the wine; there is an end of all delight, the joy of the land is gone.


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For it will be in the heart of the earth among the peoples, like the shaking of an olive-tree, as the last of the grapes after the getting-in is done.


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But those will be making sounds of joy; they will be crying loudly from the sea for the glory of the Lord.


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From the farthest part of the earth comes the sound of songs, glory to the upright. But I said, I am wasting away, wasting away, the curse is on me! The false ones go on in their false way, yes, they go on acting falsely.


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And it will be that he who goes in flight from the sound of fear will be overtaken by death; and he who gets free from death will be taken in the net: for the windows on high are open, and the bases of the earth are shaking.


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The earth will be moving uncertainly, like a man overcome by drink; it will be shaking like a tent; and the weight of its sin will be on it, crushing it down so that it will not get up again.


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And in that day the Lord will send punishment on the army of the high ones on high, and on the kings of the earth on the earth.


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And they will be got together, like prisoners in the prison-house; and after a long time they will have their punishment.


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Then the moon will be veiled, and the sun put to shame; for the Lord of armies will be ruling in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his judges he will let his glory be seen.


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O Lord, you are my God; I will give praise to you, I will give honour to your name; for you have done great acts of power; your purposes in the past have been made true and certain in effect.


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For you have made a town a waste place: a strong town a mass of broken walls; the tower of the men of pride has come to an end; it will never be put up again.


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For this cause will the strong people give glory to you, the town of the cruel ones will be in fear of you.


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For you have been a strong place for the poor and the crushed in their trouble, a safe place from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the wrath of the cruel ones is like a winter storm.


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As heat by the shade of a cloud, the noise of the men of pride has been made quiet by you; as heat by the shade of a cloud, the song of the cruel ones has been stopped.


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And in this mountain will the Lord of armies make for all peoples a feast of good things, a feast of wines long stored, of good things sweet to the taste, of wines long kept and tested.


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And in this mountain he will put an end to the shade covering the face of all peoples, and the veil which is stretched over all nations.


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He has put an end to death for ever; and the Lord God will take away all weeping; and he will put an end to the shame of his people in all the earth: for the Lord has said it.


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And in that day it will be said, See, this is our God; we have been waiting for him, and he will be our saviour: this is the Lord in whom is our hope; we will be glad and have delight in his salvation.


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For in this mountain will the hand of the Lord come to rest, and Moab will be crushed down in his place, even as the dry stems of the grain are crushed under foot in the waste place.


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And if he puts out his hands, like a man stretching out his hands in swimming, the Lord will make low his pride, however expert his designs.


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In that day will this song be made in the land of Judah: We have a strong town; he will make salvation our walls and towers.


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For he has made low those who are lifted up, all the people of the town of pride: he makes it low, crushing it down to the earth; he makes it low in the dust.


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In the night the desire of my soul has been for you; early will my spirit be searching for you; for when your punishments come on the earth, the people of the world will get the knowledge of righteousness.


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Even if you are kind to the evil-doer, he will not go after righteousness; even in the land of the upright he will still go on in his wrongdoing, and will not see the glory of the Lord.


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Lord, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see: let them see ... yes, your haters will be burned up in the fire.


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O Lord, our God, other lords than you have had rule over us; but in you only is our salvation, and no other name will we take on our lips.


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The dead will not come back to life: their spirits will not come back to earth; for this cause you have sent destruction on them, so that the memory of them is dead.


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You have made the nation great, O Lord, you have made it great; glory is yours: you have made wide the limits of the land.


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Lord, in trouble our eyes have been turned to you, we sent up a prayer when your punishment was on us.


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As a woman with child, whose time is near, is troubled, crying out in her pain; so have we been before you, O Lord.


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We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have given birth to wind; no salvation has come to the earth through us, and no children have come into the world.


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Your dead will come back; their dead bodies will come to life again. Those in the dust, awaking from their sleep, will send out a song; for your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the shades.


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Come, my people, into your secret places, and let your doors be shut: keep yourself safe for a short time, till his wrath is over.


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For the Lord is coming out of his place to send punishment on the people of the earth for their evil-doing: the earth will let the blood drained out on her be seen, and will keep her dead covered no longer.


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In that day the Lord, with his great and strong and cruel sword, will send punishment on Leviathan, the quick-moving snake, and on Leviathan, the twisted snake; and he will put to death the dragon which is in the sea.


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I, the Lord, am watching it; I will give it water at all times: I will keep it night and day, for fear that any damage comes to it.


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My passion is over: if the thorns were fighting against me, I would make an attack on them, and they would be burned up together.


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In days to come Jacob will take root: Israel will put out buds and flowers; and the face of the world will be full of fruit.


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Is his punishment like the punishment of those who overcame him? or are his dead as great in number as those he put to the sword?


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Your anger against her has been made clear by driving her away; he has taken her away with his storm-wind in the day of his east wind.


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So by this will the sin of Jacob be covered, and this is all the fruit of taking away his punishment; when all the stones of the altar are crushed together, so that the wood pillars and the sun-images will not be put up again.


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For the strong town is without men, an unpeopled living-place; and she has become a waste land: there the young ox will take his rest, and its branches will be food for him.


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When its branches are dry they will be broken off; the women will come and put fire to them: for it is a foolish people; for this cause he who made them will have no mercy on them, and he whose work they are will not have pity on them.


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And it will be in that day that the Lord will get together his grain, from the River to the stream of Egypt, and you will be got together with care, O children of Israel.


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And it will be in that day that a great horn will be sounded; and those who were wandering in the land of Assyria, and those who had been sent away into the land of Egypt, will come; and they will give worship to the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.


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Ho! crown of pride of those who are given up to wine in Ephraim, and the dead flower of his glory which is on the head of those who are overcome by strong drink!


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See, the Lord has a strong and cruel one; like a rain of ice, a storm of destruction, like the overflowing of a strong river, he will violently overcome them.


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And the dead flower of his glory, which is on the head of the fertile valley, will be like the first early fruit before the summer; which a man takes and puts in his mouth the minute he sees it.


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In that day will the Lord of armies be a crown of glory, and a fair ornament, to the rest of his people;


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And a spirit of wisdom to the judge, and strength to those who keep back the attackers at the door of the town.


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And further, these are uncertain through wine, and have gone out of the right way through strong drink: the priest and the prophet are uncertain through strong drink, they are overcome by wine, they have gone out of the way through strong drink; their vision is false, they go wrong in their decisions.


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To whom will he give knowledge? and to whom will he make clear the word? Will it be to those who have newly given up milk, and who have only now been taken from the breast?


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To whom he said, This is the rest, give rest to him who is tired; and by this you may get new strength; but they would not give ear.


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For this cause the word of the Lord will be to them rule after rule, line after line, here a little, there a little; so that they may go on their way, and falling back may be broken, and taken in the net.


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Because you have said, We have made death our friend, and with the underworld we have made an agreement; when the overflowing waters come through they will not come near us; for we are looking to false words for help, taking cover in what is untrue:


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For this cause says the Lord God, See, I am placing in Zion as a base, a stone, a tested stone, an angle-stone which is certain and of great value: and he who has faith will not give way.


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And I will make right decision the measuring-line, and righteousness the weight: and the ice-storm will take away the safe place of false words, and the secret place will be covered by the flowing waters.


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And the help you were looking for from death will come to nothing, and your agreement with the underworld will be broken; when the overflowing waters come through, then you will be overcome by them.


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Whenever they come through they will overtake you; for they will come through morning after morning, by day and by night: and the news will be nothing but fear.


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For the bed is not long enough for a man to be stretched out on: and the cover is not wide enough for him to be covered with.


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For the Lord will come up as on Mount Perazim, he will be moved to wrath as in the valley of Gibeon; so that he may do his work--strange is his work; and give effect to his act--unnatural is his act.


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And now, take care that you do not make sport of him, or your bands will be made strong; for I have had word from the Lord, the Lord of armies, of an end, of a complete end, which is to come on all the land.


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When the face of the earth has been levelled, does he not put in the different sorts of seed, and the grain in lines, and the barley in its place, and the spelt at the edge?


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For the fitches are not crushed with a sharp instrument, and a cart-wheel is not rolled over the cummin; but the grain of the fitches is hammered out with a stick, and of the cummin with a rod.


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Is the grain for bread crushed? He does not go on crushing it for ever, but he lets his cart-wheels and his horses go over it without crushing it.


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Ho! Ariel, Ariel, the town against which David made war; put year to year, let the feasts come round:


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And I will send trouble on Ariel, and there will be weeping and cries of grief; and she will be to me as Ariel.


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And I will make war on you like David, and you will be shut in by earthworks, and I will make towers round you.


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And you will be made low, and your voice will come out of the earth, and your words will be low out of the dust; and your voice will come out of the earth like that of a spirit, making bird-like noises out of the dust.


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And the army of your attackers will be like small dust, and all the cruel ones like dry stems gone before the wind; suddenly it will come about.


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The Lord of armies will come in with thunder and earth-shaking and great noise, with rushing wind and storm, and the flame of burning fire.


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And all the nations making war on Ariel, and all those who are fighting against her and shutting her in with their towers, will be like a dream, like a vision of the night.


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And it will be like a man desiring food, and dreaming that he is feasting; but when he is awake there is nothing in his mouth: or like a man in need of water, dreaming that he is drinking; but when he is awake he is feeble and his soul is full of desire: so will all the nations be which make war on Mount Zion.


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Be surprised and full of wonder; let your eyes be covered and be blind: be overcome, but not with wine; go with uncertain steps, but not because of strong drink.


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For the Lord has sent on you a spirit of deep sleep; and by him your eyes, the prophets, are shut, and your heads, the seers, are covered.


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And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book which is shut, which men give to one who has knowledge of writing, saying, Make clear to us what is in the book: and he says, I am not able to, for the book is shut:


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And they give it to one without learning, saying, Make clear to us what is in the book: and he says, I have no knowledge of writing.


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And the Lord said, because this people come near to me with their mouths, and give honour to me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and their fear of me is false, a rule given them by the teaching of men;


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For this cause I will again do a strange thing among this people, a thing to be wondered at: and the wisdom of their wise men will come to nothing, and the sense of their guides will no longer be seen.


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Cursed are those who go deep to keep their designs secret from the Lord, and whose works are in the dark, and who say, Who sees us? and who has knowledge of our acts?


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You are turning things upside down! Is the wet earth the same to you as the one who is forming it? will the thing made say of him who made it, He made me not: or the thing formed say of him who gave it form, He has no knowledge?


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In a very short time Lebanon will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will seem like a wood.


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And in that day those whose ears are stopped will be hearing the words of the book; and the eyes of the blind will see through the mist and the dark.


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And the poor will have their joy in the Lord increased, and those in need will be glad in the Holy One of Israel.


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For the cruel one has come to nothing; and those who make sport of the Lord are gone; and those who are watching to do evil are cut off:


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Who give help to a man in a wrong cause, and who put a net for the feet of him who gives decisions in the public place, taking away a man's right without cause.


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For this reason the Lord, the saviour of Abraham, says about the family of Jacob, Jacob will not now be put to shame, or his face be clouded with fear.


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But when they, the children of Jacob, see the work of my hands among them, they will give honour to my name; yes, they will give honour to the Holy One of Jacob, and go in fear of the God of Israel.


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Those whose hearts were turned away from him will get knowledge, and those who made an outcry against him will give attention to his teaching.


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Ho! uncontrolled children, says the Lord, who give effect to a purpose which is not mine, and who make an agreement, but not by my spirit, increasing their sin:


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Who make a move to go down into Egypt, without authority from me; who are looking to the strength of Pharaoh for help, and whose hope is in the shade of Egypt.


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And the strength of Pharaoh will be your shame, and your hope in the shade of Egypt will come to nothing.


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For they have all come with offerings to a people of no use to them, in whom is no help or profit, but only shame and a bad name.


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The word about the Beasts of the South. Through the land of trouble and grief, the land of the she-lion and the voice of the lion, of the snake and the burning winged snake, they take their wealth on the backs of young asses, and their stores on camels, to a people in whom is no profit.


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For there is no use or purpose in the help of Egypt: so I have said about her, She is Rahab, who has come to an end.


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Now go, put it in writing before them on a board, and make a record of it in a book, so that it may be for the future, a witness for all time to come.


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For they are an uncontrolled people, false-hearted, who will not give ear to the teaching of the Lord:


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Who say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Do not give us word of what is true, but say false things to give us pleasure:


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Get out of the good way, turning from the right road; do not keep the Holy One of Israel before our minds.


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For this cause the Holy One of Israel says, Because you will not give ear to this word, and are looking for help in ways of deceit and evil, and are putting your hope in them:


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And he will let it be broken as a potter's vessel is broken: it will be smashed to bits without mercy; so that there will not be a bit in which one may take fire from the fireplace, or water from the spring.


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For the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, said, In quiet and rest is your salvation: peace and hope are your strength: but you would not have it so.


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Saying, No, for we will go in flight on horses; so you will certainly go in flight: and, We will go on the backs of quick-running beasts; so those who go after you will be quick-footed.


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A thousand will go in fear before one; even before five you will go in flight: till you are like a pillar by itself on the top of a mountain, and like a flag on a hill.


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For this cause the Lord will be waiting, so that he may be kind to you; and he will be lifted up, so that he may have mercy on you; for the Lord is a God of righteousness: there is a blessing on all whose hope is in him.


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O people, living in Zion, at Jerusalem, your weeping will be ended; he will certainly have mercy on you at the sound of your cry; when it comes to his ear, he will give you an answer.


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And though the Lord will give you the bread of trouble and the water of grief, you will no longer put your teacher on one side, but you will see your teacher:


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And at your back, when you are turning to the right hand or to the left, a voice will be sounding in your ears, saying, This is the way in which you are to go.


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And you will make unclean what is covering your pictured images of silver, and the plating of your images of gold: you will send them away as an unclean thing, saying, Be gone!


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And he will give rain for your seed, so that you may put it in the earth; and you will have bread from the produce of the earth, good and more than enough for your needs: in that day the cattle will get their food in wide grass-lands.


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And the oxen and the young asses which are used for ploughing, will have salted grain which has been made free from the waste with fork and basket.


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And there will be rivers and streams of water on every tall mountain and on every high hill, in the day when great numbers are put to the sword, when the towers come down.


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And the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times greater, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord puts oil on the wounds of his people, and makes them well from the blows they have undergone.


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See, the name of the Lord is coming from far, burning with his wrath, with thick smoke going up: his lips are full of passion, and his tongue is like a burning fire:


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And his breath is as an overflowing stream, coming up even to the neck, shaking the nations for their destruction, like the shaking of grain in a basket: and he will put a cord in the mouths of the people, turning them out of their way.


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You will have a song, as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and you will be glad in heart, as when they go with music of the pipe to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock of Israel.


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And the Lord will send out the sound of his great voice, and they will see his arm stretched out, with the heat of his wrath, and the flame of a burning fire; with a cloud-burst, and storm, and a rain of ice.


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For through the voice of the Lord the Assyrian will be broken, and the Lord's rod will be lifted up against him.


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And every blow of the rod of his punishment, which the Lord will send on him, will be with the sound of music: and with the waving of his sword the Lord will make war against him.


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For a place of fire has long been ready; yes, it has been made ready for the king; he has made it deep and wide: it is massed with fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of fire, puts a light to it.


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Cursed are those who go down to Egypt for help, and who put their faith in horses; looking to war-carriages for salvation, because of their numbers; and to horsemen, because they are very strong; but they are not looking to the Holy One of Israel, or turning their hearts to the Lord;


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Though he is wise, and able to send evil, and his purpose will not be changed; but he will go against the house of the evil-doers, and against those to whom they are looking for help.


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For the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses are flesh, and not spirit: and when the Lord's hand is stretched out, the helper and he who is helped will come down together.


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For the Lord has said to me, As a lion, or a young lion, makes an angry noise over his food, and if a band of herdsmen come out against him, he will not be in fear of their voices, or give up his food for their noise: so the Lord of armies will come down to make war against Mount Zion and its hill.


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Like birds with outstretched wings, so will the Lord of armies be a cover to Jerusalem; he will be a cover and salvation for it, going over it he will keep it from danger.


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For in that day they will all give up their images of silver and of gold, the sin which they made for themselves.


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Then the Assyrian will come down by the sword, but not of man; the sword, not of men, will be the cause of his destruction: and he will go in flight from the sword, and his young men will be put to forced work.


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And his rock will come to nothing because of fear, and his chiefs will go in flight from the flag, says the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and his altar in Jerusalem.


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And a man will be as a safe place from the wind, and a cover from the storm; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shade of a great rock in a waste land.


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And the eyes of those who see will not be shut, and those who have hearing will give ear to the word.


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The man of sudden impulses will become wise in heart, and he whose tongue is slow will get the power of talking clearly.


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The foolish man will no longer be named noble, and they will not say of the false man that he is a man of honour.


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For the foolish man will say foolish things, having evil thoughts in his heart, working what is unclean, and talking falsely about the Lord, to keep food from him who is in need of it, and water from him whose soul is desiring it.


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The designs of the false are evil, purposing the destruction of the poor man by false words, even when he is in the right.


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Give ear to my voice, you women who are living in comfort; give attention to my words, you daughters who have no fear of danger.


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In not much more than a year, you, who are not looking for evil, will be troubled: for the produce of the vine-gardens will be cut off, and there will be no getting in of the grapes.


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Be shaking with fear, you women who are living in comfort; be troubled, you who have no fear of danger: take off your robes and put on clothing of grief.


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And for the land of my people, where thorns will come up; even for all the houses of joy in the glad town.


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For the fair houses will have no man living in them; the town which was full of noise will become a waste; the hill and the watchtower will be unpeopled for ever, a joy for the asses of the woods, a place of food for the flocks;


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Till the spirit comes on us from on high, and the waste land becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field is changed into a wood.


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Then in the waste land there will be an upright rule, and righteousness will have its place in the fertile field.


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And the work of righteousness will be peace; and the effect of an upright rule will be to take away fear for ever.


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And my people will be living in peace, in houses where there is no fear, and in quiet resting-places.


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Ho! you who make waste those who did not make you waste; acting falsely to those who were not false to you. When you have come to an end of wasting, you will be made waste, and after your false acts, they will do the same to you.


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O Lord, have mercy on us; for we have been waiting for your help: be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of trouble.


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At the loud noise the peoples have gone in flight; at your coming up the nations have gone in all directions.


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And the goods taken in war will be got together like the massing of young locusts; men will be rushing on them like the rushing of locusts.


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The Lord is lifted up; his place is on high: he has made Zion full of righteousness and true religion.


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And she will have no more fear of change, being full of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is her wealth.


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See, the men of war are sorrowing outside the town: those who came looking for peace are weeping bitterly.


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The highways are waste, no man is journeying there: the agreement is broken, he has made sport of the towns, he has no thought for man.


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The earth is sorrowing and wasting away; Lebanon is put to shame and has become waste; Sharon is like the Arabah; and in Bashan and Carmel the leaves are falling.


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Your designs will be without profit, and their effect will be nothing: you will be burned up by the fire of my breath.


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And the peoples will be like the burning of chalk: as thorns cut down, which are burned in the fire.


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The sinners in Zion are full of fear; the haters of God are shaking with wonder. Who among us may keep his place before the burning fire? who among us may see the eternal burnings?


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He whose ways are true, and whose words are upright; he who gives no thought to the profits of false acts, whose hands have not taken rewards, who will have no part in putting men to death, and whose eyes are shut against evil;


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He will have a place on high: he will be safely shut in by the high rocks: his bread will be given to him; his waters will be certain.


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Your heart will give thought to the cause of your fear: where is the scribe, where is he who made a record of the payments, where is he by whom the towers were numbered?


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Never again will you see the cruel people, a people whose tongue has no sense for you; whose language is strange to you.


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Let your eyes be resting on Zion, the town of our holy feasts: you will see Jerusalem, a quiet resting-place, a tent which will not be moved, whose tent-pins will never be pulled up, and whose cords will never be broken.


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But there the Lord will be with us in his glory, ... wide rivers and streams; where no boat will go with blades, and no fair ship will be sailing.


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Your cords have become loose; they were not able to make strong the support of their sails, the sail was not stretched out: then the blind will take much property, the feeble-footed will make division of the goods of war.


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Come near, you nations, and give ear; take note, you peoples: let the earth and everything in it give ear; the world and all those living in it.


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For the Lord is angry with all the nations, and his wrath is burning against all their armies: he has put them to the curse, he has given them to destruction.


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Their dead bodies will be thick on the face of the earth, and their smell will come up, and the mountains will be flowing with their blood, and all the hills will come to nothing.


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And the heavens will be rolled together like the roll of a book: and all their army will be gone, like a dead leaf from the vine, or a dry fruit from the fig-tree.


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For my sword in heaven is full of wrath: see, it is coming down on Edom, in punishment on the people of my curse.


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The sword of the Lord is full of blood, it is fat with the best of the meat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the best parts of the sheep: for the Lord has a feast in Bozrah, and much cattle will be put to death in the land of Edom.


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And its streams will be turned into boiling oil, and its dust into burning stone, and all the land will be on fire.


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It will not be put out day or night; its smoke will go up for ever: it will be waste from generation to generation; no one will go through it for ever.


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But the birds of the waste land will have their place there; it will be a heritage for the bittern and the raven: and it will be measured out with line and weight as a waste land.


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The jackals will be there, and her great ones will be gone; they will say, There is no longer a kingdom there, and all her chiefs will have come to an end.


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And thorns will come up in her fair houses, and waste plants in her strong towers: and foxes will make their holes there, and it will be a meeting-place for ostriches.


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And the beasts of the waste places will come together with the jackals, and the evil spirits will be crying to one another, even the night-spirit will come and make her resting-place there.


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The arrowsnake will make her hole and put her eggs there, and get her young together under her shade: there the hawks will come together by twos.


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See what is recorded in the book of the Lord: all these will be there, not one without the other: the mouth of the Lord has given the order, and his spirit has made them come together.


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And he has given them their heritage, and by his hand it has been measured out to them: it will be theirs for ever, their resting-place from generation to generation.


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It will be flowering like the rose; it will be full of delight and songs; the glory of Lebanon will be given to it; the pride of Carmel and Sharon: they will see the glory of the Lord, the power of our God.


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Say to those who are full of fear, Be strong and take heart: see, your God will give punishment; the reward of God will come; he himself will come to be your saviour.


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Then will the feeble-footed be jumping like a roe, and the voice which was stopped will be loud in song: for in the waste land streams will be bursting out, and waters in the dry places.


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And the burning sand will become a pool, and the dry earth springs of waters: the fields where the sheep take their food will become wet land, and water-plants will take the place of grass.


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And a highway will be there; its name will be, The Holy Way; the unclean and the sinner may not go over it, and those who go on it will not be turned out of the way by the foolish.


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No lion will be there, or any cruel beast; they will not be seen there; but those for whom the Lord has given a price,


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Even those whom he has made free, will come back again; they will come with songs to Zion; on their heads will be eternal joy; delight and joy will be theirs, and sorrow and sounds of grief will be gone for ever.


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And it came about in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the walled towns of Judah and took them.


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And the king of Assyria sent the Rab-shakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a strong force, and he took up his position by the stream of the higher pool, by the highway of the washerman's


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And there came out to him Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder.


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You say you have a design and strength for war, but these are only words: now to whom are you looking for support, that you have gone against my authority?


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See, you are basing your hope on that broken rod of Egypt, which will go into a man's hand if he makes use of it for a support; for so is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all who put their faith in him.


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And if you say to me, Our hope is in the Lord our God; is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away, saying to Judah and Jerusalem that worship may only be given before this altar?


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And have I now come to send destruction on this land without the Lord's authority? It was the Lord himself who said to me, Go up against this land and make it waste.


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Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the Rab-shakeh, Please make use of the Aramaean language in talking to your servants, for we are used to it, and do not make use of the Jews' language in the hearing of the people on the wall.


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But the Rab-shakeh said, Is it to your master or to you that my master has sent me to say these words? has he not sent me to the men seated on the wall? for they are the people who will be short of food with you when the town is shut in.


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Then the Rab-shakeh got up and said with a loud voice in the Jews' language, Give ear to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria:


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Do not give ear to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says, Make peace with me, and come out to me; and everyone will be free to take the fruit of his vine and of his fig-tree, and the water of his spring;


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Till I come and take you away to a land like yours, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vine-gardens.


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Give no attention to Hezekiah when he says to you, The Lord will keep us safe. Has any one of the gods of the nations kept his land from falling into the hands of the king of Assyria?


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Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? where are the gods of Samaria? and have they kept Samaria out of my hand?


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Who among all the gods of these countries have kept their country from falling into my hand, to give cause for the thought that the Lord will keep Jerusalem from falling into my hand?


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Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothing parted as a sign of grief, and gave him an account of what the Rab-shakeh had said.


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And on hearing it Hezekiah took off his robe and put on haircloth and went into the house of the Lord.


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And they said to him, Hezekiah says, This day is a day of trouble and punishment and shame: for the children are ready to come to birth, but there is no strength to give birth to them.


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It may be that the Lord your God will give ear to the words of the Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, has sent to say evil things against the living God, and will make his words come to nothing: so make your prayer for the rest of the people.


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See, I will put a spirit into him, and bad news will come to his ears, and he will go back to his land; and there I will have him put to death.


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So the Rab-shakeh went back, and when he got there the king of Assyria was making war against Libnah: for it had come to his ears that the king of Assyria had gone away from Lachish.


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And when news came to him that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, had made an attack on him, ... And he sent representatives to Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying,


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No doubt the story has come to your ears of what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, putting them to the curse: and will you be kept safe from their fate?


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Did the gods of the nations keep safe those on whom my fathers sent destruction, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar?


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Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the town of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivva?


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And Hezekiah took the letter from the hands of those who had come with it; and after reading it, Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, opening the letter there before the Lord,


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O Lord of armies, the God of Israel, seated between the winged ones, you only are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.


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Let your ear be turned to us, O Lord; let your eyes be open, O Lord, and see: take note of all the words of Sennacherib who has sent men to say evil against the living God.


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And have given their gods to the fire: for they were no gods, but wood and stone, the work of men's hands; so they have given them to destruction.


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But now, O Lord our God, give us salvation from his hand, so that it may be clear to all the kingdoms of the earth that you, and you only, are the Lord.


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Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying, The Lord, the God of Israel, says, The prayer you have made to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, has come to my ears.


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Against whom have you said evil and bitter things? and against whom has your voice been loud and your eyes lifted up? even against the Holy One of Israel.


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You have sent your servants with evil words against the Lord, and have said, With all my war-carriages I have come up to the top of the mountains, to the inmost parts of Lebanon; and its tall cedars will be cut down, and the best trees of its woods: I will come up into his highest places, into his thick woods.


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This is why their townsmen had no power, they were broken and put to shame; they were like the grass of the field, or a green plant; like the grass on the house-tops, which a cold wind makes waste.


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Because your wrath against me and your pride have come to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my cord in your lips, and I will make you go back by the way you came.


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And this will be the sign to you: you will get your food this year from what comes up of itself, and in the second year from the produce of the same; and in the third year you will put in your seed, and get in the grain, and make vine-gardens, and take of their fruit.


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For this cause the Lord says about the king of Assyria, He will not come into this town, or send an arrow against it; he will not come before it with arms, or put up an earthwork against it.


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And the angel of the Lord went out and put to death in the army of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand men: and when the people got up early in the morning, there was nothing to be seen but dead bodies.


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And it came about, when he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to death with the sword, and they went in flight into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon, his son, became king in his place.


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In those days Hezekiah was ill and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said to him, The Lord says, Put your house in order; for your death is near.


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Go to Hezekiah, and say, The Lord, the God of David, your father, says, Your prayer has come to my ears, and I have seen your weeping: see, I will give you fifteen more years of life.


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And I will keep you and this town safe from the hands of the king of Assyria: and I will keep watch over this town.


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See, I will make the shade which has gone down on the steps of Ahaz with the sun, go back ten steps. So the shade went back the ten steps by which it had gone down.


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I said, In the quiet of my days I am going down into the underworld: the rest of my years are being taken away from me.


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I said, I will not see the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living: I will not see man again or those living in the world.


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My resting-place is pulled up and taken away from me like a herdsman's tent: my life is rolled up like a linen-worker's thread; I am cut off from the cloth on the frame: from day even to night you give me up to pain.


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I make cries like a bird; I give out sounds of grief like a dove: my eyes are looking up with desire; O Lord, I am crushed, take up my cause.


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What am I to say? seeing that it is he who has done it: all my time of sleeping I am turning from side to side without rest.


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O Lord, for this cause I am waiting for you, give rest to my spirit: make me well again, and let me come back to life.


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See, in place of peace my soul had bitter sorrow. but you have kept back my soul from the underworld; for you have put all my sins out of your memory.


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For the underworld is not able to give you praise, death gives you no honour: for those who go down into the underworld there is no hope in your mercy.


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The living, the living man, he will give you praise, as I do this day: the father will give the story of your mercy to his children.


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O Lord, quickly be my saviour; so we will make my songs to corded instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the Lord.


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And Isaiah said, Let them take a cake of figs, and put it on the diseased place, and he will get well.


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At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters with an offering to Hezekiah, because he had news that Hezekiah had been ill, and was well again.


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And Hezekiah was glad at their coming, and let them see all his store of wealth, the silver and the gold and the spices and the oil, and all the house of his arms, and everything there was in his stores: there was nothing in all his house or his kingdom which he did not let them see.


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Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, What did these men say, and where did they come from? And Hezekiah said, They came from a far country, even from Babylon.


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Truly, the days are coming when everything in your house, and whatever your fathers have put in store till this day, will be taken away to Babylon: all will be gone.


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And your sons, even your offspring, will they take away to be unsexed servants in the house of the king of Babylon.


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Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which you have said. And he said in his heart, There will be peace and quiet in my days.


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Say kind words to the heart of Jerusalem, crying out to her that her time of trouble is ended, that her punishment is complete; that she has been rewarded by the Lord's hand twice over for all her sins.


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A voice of one crying, Make ready in the waste land the way of the Lord, make level in the lowland a highway for our God.


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Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, and let the rough places become level, and the hilltops become a valley,


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And the glory of the Lord will be made clear, and all flesh will see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has said it.


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A voice of one saying, Give a cry! And I said, What is my cry to be? All flesh is grass, and all its strength like the flower of the field.


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The grass becomes dry, the flower is dead; because the breath of the Lord goes over it: truly the people is grass.


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You who give good news to Zion, get up into the high mountain; you who give good news to Jerusalem, let your voice be strong; let it be sounding without fear; say to the towns of Judah, See, your God!


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See, the Lord God will come as a strong one, ruling in power: see, those made free by him are with him, and those whom he has made safe go before him.


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He will give food to his flock like a keeper of sheep; with his arm he will get it together, and will take up the lambs on his breast, gently guiding those which are with young.


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In the hollow of whose hand have the waters been measured? and who is able to take the heavens in his stretched-out fingers? who has got together the dust of the earth in a measure? who has taken the weight of the mountains, or put the hills into the scales?


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Who gave him suggestions, and made clear to him the right way? who gave him knowledge, guiding him in the way of wisdom?


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See, the nations are to him like a drop hanging from a bucket, and like the small dust in the scales: he takes up the islands like small dust.


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The workman makes an image, and the gold-worker puts gold plates over it, and makes silver bands for it.


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The wise workman makes selection of the mulberry-tree of the offering, a wood which will not become soft; so that the image may be fixed to it and not be moved.


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Have you no knowledge of it? has it not come to your ears? has not news of it been given to you from the first? has it not been clear to you from the time when the earth was placed on its base?


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It is he who is seated over the arch of the earth, and the people in it are as small as locusts; by him the heavens are stretched out like an arch, and made ready like a tent for a living-place.


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They have only now been planted, and their seed put into the earth, and they have only now taken root, when he sends out his breath over them and they become dry, and the storm-wind takes them away like dry grass.


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Let your eyes be lifted up on high, and see: who has made these? He who sends out their numbered army: who has knowledge of all their names: by whose great strength, because he is strong in power, all of them are in their places.


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Why do you say, O Jacob, such words as these, O Israel, The Lord's eyes are not on my way, and my God gives no attention to my cause?


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Have you no knowledge of it? has it not come to your ears? The eternal God, the Lord, the Maker of the ends of the earth, is never feeble or tired; there is no searching out of his wisdom.


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Even the young men will become feeble and tired, and the best of them will come to the end of his strength;


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But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness.


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Come quietly before me, O sea-lands, and let the peoples get together their strength: let them come near; then let them say what they have to say: let us put forward our cause against one another.


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Who sent out from the east one who is right wherever he goes? he gives the nations into his hands, and makes him ruler over kings; he gives them as the dust to his sword, as dry stems before the wind to his bow.


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Whose purpose and work was it? His who sent out the generations from the start. I the Lord, the first, and with the last, I am he.


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So the metal-worker put heart into the gold-worker, and he who was hammering the metal smooth said kind words to the iron-worker, saying of the plate, It is ready: and he put it together with nails, so that there might be no slipping.


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But as for you, Israel, my servant, and you, Jacob, whom I have taken for myself, the seed of Abraham my friend:


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You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and sent for from its farthest parts, saying to you, You are my servant, whom I have taken for myself, and whom I have not given up:


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Have no fear, for I am with you; do not be looking about in trouble, for I am your God; I will give you strength, yes, I will be your helper; yes, my true right hand will be your support.


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Truly, all those who are angry with you will be made low and put to shame: those desiring to do you wrong will come to nothing and never again be seen.


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You will make search for your haters but they will not be there; those who make war against you will be as nothing and will come to destruction.


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For I, the Lord your God, have taken your right hand in mine, saying to you, Have no fear; I will be your helper.


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Have no fear, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel; I will be your helper, says the Lord, even he who takes up your cause, the Holy One of Israel.


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See, I will make you like a new grain-crushing instrument with teeth, crushing the mountains small, and making the hills like dry stems.


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You will send the wind over them, and it will take them away; they will go in all directions before the storm-wind: you will have joy in the Lord, and be glad in the Holy One of Israel.


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The poor and crushed are looking for water where no water is, and their tongue is dry for need of it: I the Lord will give ear to their prayer, I the God of Israel will not give them up.


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I will make rivers on the dry mountain-tops, and fountains in the valleys: I will make the waste land a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.


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I will put in the waste land the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive-tree; and in the lowland will be planted the fir-tree, the plane, and the cypress together:


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So that they may see and be wise and give their mind to it, and that it may be clear to them all that the hand of the Lord has done this, and that the Holy One of Israel has made it.


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Let the future be made clear to us: give us news of the past things, so that we may give thought to them; or of the things to come, so that we may see if they are true.


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Give us word of what will be after this, so that we may be certain that you are gods: yes, do good or do evil, so that we may all see it and be surprised.


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I have sent for one from the north, and from the dawn he has come; in my name he will get rulers together and go against them; they will be like dust, even as the wet earth is stamped on by the feet of the potter.


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Who has given knowledge of it from the first, so that we may be certain of it? and from the start, so that we may say, His word is true? There is no one who gives news, or says anything, or who gives ear to your words.


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And I saw that there was no man, even no wise man among them, who might give an answer to my questions.


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Truly they are all nothing, their works are nothing and of no value: their metal images are of no more use than wind.


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See my servant, whom I am supporting, my loved one, in whom I take delight: I have put my spirit on him; he will give the knowledge of the true God to the nations.


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He will make no cry, his voice will not be loud: his words will not come to men's ears in the streets.


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He will not let a crushed stem be quite broken, and he will not let a feebly burning light be put out: he will go on sending out the true word to the peoples.


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His light will not be put out, and he will not be crushed, till he has given the knowledge of the true God to the earth, and the sea-lands will be waiting for his teaching.


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God the Lord, even he who made the heavens, measuring them out on high; stretching out the earth, and giving its produce; he who gives breath to the people on it, and life to those who go about on it, says:


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I the Lord have made you the vessel of my purpose, I have taken you by the hand, and kept you safe, and I have given you to be an agreement to the people, and a light to the nations:


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To give eyes to the blind, to make free the prisoners from the prison, to let out those who are shut up in the dark.


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I am the Lord; that is my name: I will not give my glory to another, or my praise to pictured images.


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See, the things said before have come about, and now I give word of new things: before they come I give you news of them.


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Make a new song to the Lord, and let his praise be sounded from the end of the earth; you who go down to the sea, and everything in it, the sea-lands and their people.


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Let the waste land and its flocks be glad, the tent-circles of Kedar; let the people of the rock give a glad cry, from the top of the mountains let them make a sound of joy.


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The Lord will go out as a man of war, he will be moved to wrath like a fighting-man: his voice will be strong, he will give a loud cry; he will go against his attackers like a man of war.


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I have long been quiet, I have kept myself in and done nothing: now I will make sounds of pain like a woman in childbirth, breathing hard and quickly.


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I will make waste mountains and hills, drying up all their plants; and I will make rivers dry, and pools dry land.


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And I will take the blind by a way of which they had no knowledge, guiding them by roads strange to them: I will make the dark places light before them, and the rough places level. These things will I do and will not give them up.


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They will be turned back and be greatly shamed who put their hope in pictured images, who say to metal images, You are our gods.


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Who is blind, but my servant? who has his ears stopped, but he whom I send? who is blind as my true one, or who has his ears shut like the Lord's servant?


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It was the Lord's pleasure, because of his righteousness, to make the teaching great and give it honour.


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But this is a people whose property has been taken away from them by force; they are all taken in holes, and shut up in prisons: they are made prisoners, and no one makes them free; they are taken by force and no one says, Give them back.


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Who is there among you who will give ear to this? who will give attention to it for the time to come?


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Who gave up Jacob to those who took away his goods, and Israel to his attackers? Did not the Lord? he against whom they did wrong, and in whose ways they would not go, turning away from his teaching.


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For this reason he let loose on him the heat of his wrath, and his strength was like a flame; and it put fire round about him, but he did not see it; he was burned, but did not take it to heart.


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But now, says the Lord your Maker, O Jacob, and your life-giver, O Israel: have no fear, for I have taken up your cause; naming you by your name, I have made you mine.


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When you go through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not go over you: when you go through the fire, you will not be burned; and the flame will have no power over you.


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For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your saviour; I have given Egypt as a price for you, Ethiopia and Seba for you.


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Because of your value in my eyes, you have been honoured, and loved by me; so I will give men for you, and peoples for your life.


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Have no fear, for I am with you: I will take your seed from the east, and get you together from the west;


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I will say to the north, Give them up; and to the south, Do not keep them back; send back my sons from far, and my daughters from the end of the earth;


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Every one who is named by my name, and whom I have made for my glory, who has been formed and designed by me.


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Let all the nations come together, and let the peoples be present: who among them is able to make this clear, and give us word of earlier things? let their witnesses come forward, so that they may be seen to be true, and that they may give ear, and say, It is true.


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You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have taken for myself: so that you may see and have faith in me, and that it may be clear to you that I am he; before me there was no God formed, and there will not be after me.


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I gave the word, and made it clear, and there was no strange god among you: for this reason you are my witnesses, says the Lord.


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From time long past I am God, and from this day I am he: there is no one who is able to take you out of my hand: when I undertake a thing, by whom will my purpose be changed?


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The Lord, who has taken up your cause, the Holy One of Israel, says, Because of you I have sent to Babylon, and made all their seers come south, and the Chaldaeans whose cry is in the ships.


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Who sends out the war-carriages and the horses, the army with all its force; they have come down, they will not get up again; like a feebly burning light they are put out.


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See, I am doing a new thing; now it is starting; will you not take note of it? I will even make a way in the waste land, and rivers in the dry country.


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The beasts of the field will give me honour, the jackals and the ostriches: because I send out waters in the waste land, and rivers in the dry country, to give drink to the people whom I have taken for myself:


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You have not made me burned offerings of sheep, or given me honour with your offerings of beasts; I did not make you servants to give me an offering, and I did not make you tired with requests for perfumes.


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You have not got me sweet-smelling plants with your money, or given me pleasure with the fat of your offerings: but you have made me a servant to your sins, and you have made me tired with your evil doings.


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Put me in mind of this; let us take up the cause between us: put forward your cause, so that you may be seen to be in the right.


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Your chiefs have made my holy place unclean, so I have made Jacob a curse, and Israel a thing of shame.


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The Lord who made you, forming you in your mother's body, the Lord, your helper, says, Have no fear, O Jacob my servant, and you, Jeshurun, whom I have taken for myself.


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For I will send water on the land needing it, and streams on the dry earth: I will let my spirit come down on your seed, and my blessing on your offspring.


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One will say, I am the Lord's; and another will give himself the name, Jacob; another will put a mark on his hand, I am the Lord's, and another will take the name of Israel for himself.


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The Lord, the King of Israel, even the Lord of armies who has taken up his cause, says, I am the first and the last, and there is no God but me.


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If there is one like me, let him come forward and say it, let him make it clear and put it in order before me: who has made clear in the past the things to come? let him make clear the future to me.


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Have no fear, be strong in heart; have I not made it clear to you in the past, and let you see it? and you are my witnesses. Is there any God but me, or a Rock of whom I have no knowledge?


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Those who make a pictured image are all of them as nothing, and the things of their desire will be of no profit to them: and their servants see not, and have no knowledge; so they will be put to shame.


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Truly, all those who make use of secret arts will be put to shame, and their words of power are only words of men: let them all come forward together; they will all be in fear and be put to shame.


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The iron-worker is heating the metal in the fire, giving it form with his hammers, and working on it with his strong arm: then for need of food his strength gives way, and for need of water he becomes feeble.


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The woodworker is measuring out the wood with his line, marking it out with his pencil: after smoothing it with his plane, and making circles on it with his instrument, he gives it the form and glory of a man, so that it may be placed in the house.


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He has cedars cut down for himself, he takes an oak and lets it get strong among the trees of the wood; he has an ash-tree planted, and the rain gives it growth.


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Then it will be used to make a fire, so that a man may get warm; he has the oven heated with it and makes bread: he makes a god with it, to which he gives worship: he makes a pictured image out of it, and goes down on his face before it.


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With part of it he makes a fire, and on the fire he gets meat cooked and takes a full meal: he makes himself warm, and says, Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire:


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And the rest of it he makes into a god, even his pictured image: he goes down on his face before it, giving worship to it, and making prayer to it, saying, Be my saviour; for you are my god.


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They have no knowledge or wisdom; for he has put a veil over their eyes, so that they may not see; and on their hearts, so that they may not give attention.


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And no one takes note, no one has enough knowledge or wisdom to say, I have put part of it in the fire, and made bread on it; I have had a meal of the flesh cooked with it: and am I now to make the rest of it into a false god? am I to go down on my face before a bit of wood?


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As for him whose food is the dust of a dead fire, he has been turned from the way by a twisted mind, so that he is unable to keep himself safe by saying, What I have here in my hand is false.


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Keep these things in mind, O Jacob; and you Israel, for you are my servant: I have made you; you are my servant; O Israel, I will not let you go out of my memory.


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I have put your evil doings out of my mind like a thick cloud, and your sins like a mist: come back to me; for I have taken up your cause.


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Make a song, O heavens, for the Lord has done it: give a loud cry, you deep parts of the earth: let your voices be loud in song, you mountains, and you woods with all your trees: for the Lord has taken up the cause of Jacob, and will let his glory be seen in Israel.


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The Lord, who has taken up your cause, and who gave you life in your mother's body, says, I am the Lord who makes all things; stretching out the heavens by myself, and giving the earth its limits; who was with me?


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Who makes the signs of those who give word of the future come to nothing, so that those who have knowledge of secret arts go off their heads; turning the wise men back, and making their knowledge foolish:


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Who makes the word of his servants certain, and gives effect to the purposes of his representatives; who says of Jerusalem, Her people will come back to her; and of the towns of Judah, I will give orders for their building, and will make her waste places fertile again:


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Who says of Cyrus, He will take care of my sheep, and will do all my pleasure: who says of Jerusalem, I will give the word for your building; and of the Temple, Your bases will be put in place.


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The Lord says to the man of his selection, to Cyrus, whom I have taken by the right hand, putting down nations before him, and taking away the arms of kings; making the doors open before him, so that the ways into the towns may not be shut;


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I will go before you, and make the rough places level: the doors of brass will be broken, and the iron rods cut in two:


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And I will give you the stores of the dark, and the wealth of secret places, so that you may be certain that I am the Lord, who gave you your name, even the God of Israel.


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Because of Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have taken for myself, I have sent for you by name, giving you a name of honour, though you had no knowledge of me.


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I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God but me: I will make you ready for war, though you had no knowledge of me:


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So that they may see from the east and from the west that there is no God but me: I am the Lord, and there is no other.


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I am the giver of light and the maker of the dark; causing blessing, and sending troubles; I am the Lord, who does all these things.


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Let righteousness come down, O heavens, from on high, and let the sky send it down like rain: let the earth be open to give the fruit of salvation, causing righteousness to come up with it; I the Lord have made it come about.


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Cursed is he who has an argument with his Maker, the pot which has an argument with the Potter! Will the wet earth say to him who is working with it, What are you doing, that your work has nothing by which it may be gripped?


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Cursed is he who says to a father, To what are you giving life? or to a woman, What are you in birth-pains with?


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The Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, says, Will you put a question to me about the things which are to come, or will you give me orders about my sons, and the work of my hands?


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I have made the earth, forming man on it: by my hands the heavens have been stretched out, and all the stars put in their ordered places.


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I have sent him out to overcome the nations, and I will make all his ways straight: I will give him the work of building my town, and he will let my prisoners go free, without price or reward, says the Lord of armies.


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The Lord says, The workmen of Egypt, and the traders of Ethiopia, and the tall Sabaeans, will come over the sea to you, and they will be yours; they will go after you; in chains they will come over: and they will go down on their faces before you, and will make prayer to you, saying, Truly, God is among you; and there is no other God.


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But the Lord will make Israel free with an eternal salvation: you will not be put to shame or made low for ever and ever.


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For this is the word of the Lord who made the heavens; he is God; the maker and designer of the earth; who made it not to be a waste, but as a living-place for man: I am the Lord, and there is no other.


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I have not given my word in secret, in a place in the underworld; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, Go into a waste land to make request of me: I the Lord say what is true, my word is righteousness.


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Come together, even come near, you nations who are still living: they have no knowledge who take up their image of wood, and make prayer to a god in whom is no salvation.


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Give the word, put forward your cause, let us have a discussion together: who has given news of this in the past? who made it clear in early times? did not I, the Lord? and there is no God but me; a true God and a saviour; there is no other.


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Let your hearts be turned to me, so that you may have salvation, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is no other.


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By myself have I taken an oath, a true word has gone from my mouth, and will not be changed, that to me every knee will be bent, and every tongue will give honour.


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Only in the Lord will Jacob overcome and be strong: together all those who were angry with him will be put to shame and come to destruction.


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Bel is bent down, Nebo is falling; their images are on the beasts and on the cattle: the things which you took about have become a weight to the tired beast.


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They are bent down, they are falling together: they were not able to keep their images safe, but they themselves have been taken prisoner.


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Give ear to me, O family of Jacob, and all the rest of the people of Israel, who have been supported by me from their birth, and have been my care from their earliest days:


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Even when you are old I will be the same, and when you are grey-haired I will take care of you: I will still be responsible for what I made; yes, I will take you and keep you safe.


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As for those who take gold out of a bag, and put silver in the scales, they give payment to a gold-worker, to make it into a god; they go down on their faces and give it worship.


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They put him on their backs, and take him up, and put him in his fixed place, from which he may not be moved; if a man gives a cry for help to him, he is unable to give an answer, or get him out of his trouble.


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Let the things which are past come to your memory: for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like me;


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Making clear from the first what is to come, and from past times the things which have not so far come about; saying, My purpose is fixed, and I will do all my pleasure;


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Sending for a bird of strong flight from the east, the man of my purpose from a far country; I have said it, and I will give effect to it; the thing designed by me will certainly be done.


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My righteousness is near, it is not far off; salvation will come quickly; and I will make Zion free, and give Israel my glory.


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Come and take your seat in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; come down from your seat of power, and take your place on the earth, O daughter of the Chaldaeans: for you will never again seem soft and delicate.


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Take the crushing-stones and get the meal crushed: take off your veil, put away your robe, let your legs be uncovered, go through the rivers.


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Be seated in the dark without a word, O daughter of the Chaldaeans: for you will no longer be named, The Queen of Kingdoms.


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I was angry with my people, I put shame on my heritage, and gave them into your hands: you had no mercy on them; you put a cruel yoke on those who were old;


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And you said, I will be a queen for ever: you did not give attention to these things, and did not keep in mind what would come after.


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So now take note of this, you who are given up to pleasure, living without fear of evil, saying in your heart, I am, and there is no one like me; I will never be a widow, or have my children taken from me.


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But these two things will come on you suddenly in one day, the loss of children and of husband: in full measure they will come on you, for all your secret arts, and all your wonders.


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For you had faith in your evil-doing; you said, No one sees me; by your wisdom and knowledge you have been turned out of the way: and you have said in your heart, I am, and there is no other.


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Because of this evil will come on you, which may not be turned away for any price: and trouble will overtake you, from which no money will give salvation: destruction will come on you suddenly, without your knowledge.


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Go on now with your secret arts, and all your wonder-working, to which you have given yourself up from your earliest days; it may be that they will be of profit to you, or by them you may put fear into your attackers.


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But your mind is troubled by the number of your guides: let them now come forward for your salvation: the measurers of the heavens, the watchers of the stars, and those who are able to say from month to month what things are coming on you.


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Truly, they have become like dry stems, they have been burned in the fire; they are not able to keep themselves safe from the power of the flame: it is not a coal for warming them, or a fire by which a man may be seated.


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Small profit have you had from those who, from your earliest days, got great profit out of you; they have gone in flight, every one straight before him, and you have no saviour.


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Give ear to this, O family of Jacob, you who are named by the name of Israel, and have come out of the body of Judah; who take oaths by the name of the Lord, and make use of the name of the God of Israel, but not truly and not in good faith.


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For they say that they are of the holy town, and put their faith in the God of Israel: the Lord of armies is his name.


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I gave word in the past of the things which came about; they came from my mouth, and I made them clear: suddenly I did them, and they came about.


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For this reason I made it clear to you in the past, before it came I gave you word of it: for fear that you might say, My god did these things, and my pictured and metal images made them come about.


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All this has come to your ears and you have seen it; will you not give witness to it? I am now making clear new things, even secret things, of which you had no knowledge.


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They have only now been effected, and not in the past: and before this day they had not come to your ears; for fear that you might say, I had knowledge of them.


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Truly you had no word of them, no knowledge of them; no news of them in the past had come to your ears; because I saw how false was your behaviour, and that your heart was turned against me from your earliest days.


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Because of my name I will put away my wrath, and for my praise I will keep myself from cutting you off.


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For myself, even because of my name, I will do it; for I will not let my name be shamed; and my glory I will not give to another.


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Yes, by my hand was the earth placed on its base, and by my right hand the heavens were stretched out; at my word they take up their places.


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Come together, all of you, and give ear; who among you has given news of these things? the Lord's loved one will do his pleasure with Babylon, and with the seed of the Chaldaeans.


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I, even I, have given the word; I have sent for him: I have made him come, and have given effect to his undertakings.


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Come near to me, and give ear to this; from the start I did not keep it secret; from the time of its coming into existence I was there: and now the Lord God has sent me, and given me his spirit.


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The Lord who takes up your cause, the Holy One of Israel, says, I am the Lord your God, who is teaching you for your profit, guiding you by the way in which you are to go.


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If only you had given ear to my orders, then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea:


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Your seed would have been like the sand, and your offspring like the dust: your name would not be cut off or come to an end before me.


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Go out of Babylon, go in flight from the Chaldaeans; with the sound of song make it clear, give the news, let the word go out even to the end of the earth: say, The Lord has taken up the cause of his servant Jacob.


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They had no need of water when he was guiding them through the waste lands: he made water come out of the rock for them: the rock was parted and the waters came flowing out.


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Give ear, O sea-lands, to me; and take note, you peoples from far: I have been marked out by the Lord from the first; when I was still in my mother's body, he had my name in mind:


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And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shade of his hand he has kept me; and he has made me like a polished arrow, keeping me in his secret place;


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And I said, I have undergone weariness for nothing, I have given my strength for no purpose or profit: but still the Lord will take up my cause, and my God will give me my reward.


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And now, says the Lord, who made me his servant when I was still in my mother's body, so that I might make Jacob come back to him, and so that Israel might come together to him: and I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord, and my God became my strength.


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It is not enough for one who is my servant to put the tribes of Jacob again in their place, and to get back those of Israel who have been sent away: my purpose is to give you as a light to the nations, so that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.


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The Lord who takes up Israel's cause, even his Holy One, says to him whom men make sport of, who is hated by the nations, a servant of rulers: Kings will see and get up from their places, and chiefs will give worship: because of the Lord who keeps faith; even the Holy One of Israel who has taken you for himself.


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This is the word of the Lord: I have given ear to you at a good time, and I have been your helper in a day of salvation: and I will keep you safe, and will make you a glory for the people, putting the land in order, and giving them the heritages which now are waste;


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Saying to those who are in chains, Go free; to those who are in the dark, Come out into the light. They will get food by the way wherever they go, and have grass-lands on all the dry mountain-tops.


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They will not be in need of food or drink, or be troubled by the heat or the sun: for he who has mercy on them will be their guide, taking them by the springs of water.


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See, these are coming from far; and these from the north and the west; and these from the land of Sinim.


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Let your voice be loud in song, O heavens; and be glad, O earth; make sounds of joy, O mountains, for the Lord has given comfort to his people, and will have mercy on his crushed ones.


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Will a woman give up the child at her breast, will she be without pity for the fruit of her body? yes, these may, but I will not let you go out of my memory.


