The Bible Part 145

30:18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a G.o.d of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.

30:19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.

30:20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

30:22 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.

30:23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.

30:24 The oxen likewise and the young a.s.ses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.

30:25 And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.

30:26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.

30:27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire: 30:28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.

30:29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.

30:30 And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.

30:31 For through the voice of the LORD shall the a.s.syrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.

30:32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pa.s.s, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.

30:33 For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.

31:1 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in hors.e.m.e.n, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD! 31:2 Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity.

31:3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not G.o.d; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.

31:4 For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a mult.i.tude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.

31:5 As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and pa.s.sing over he will preserve it.

31:6 Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.

31:7 For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.

31:8 Then shall the a.s.syrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited.

31:9 And he shall pa.s.s over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.

32:1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.

32:2 And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

32:3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.

32:4 The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.

32:5 The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.

32:6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

32:7 The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.

32:8 But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.

32:9 Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.

32:10 Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.

32:11 Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.

32:12 They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.

32:13 Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city: 32:14 Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the mult.i.tude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild a.s.ses, a pasture of flocks; 32:15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.

32:16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.

32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and a.s.surance for ever.

32:18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places; 32:19 When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.

32:20 Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the a.s.s.

33:1 Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

33:2 O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

33:3 At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.

33:4 And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.

33:5 The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.

33:6 And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.

33:7 Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the amba.s.sadors of peace shall weep bitterly.

33:8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.

33:9 The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.

33:10 Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.

33:11 Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.

33:12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.

33:13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.

33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? 33:15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; 33:16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

33:17 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.

33:18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers? 33:19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

33:20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.

33:21 But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pa.s.s thereby.

33:22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

33:23 Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

33:24 And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.

34:1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.

34:2 For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.

34:3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

34:4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

34:5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.

34:6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.

34:7 And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

34:8 For it is the day of the LORD's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

34:9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.

34:10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pa.s.s through it for ever and ever.

34:11 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.

34:12 They shall call the n.o.bles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.

34:13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.

34:14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.

34:15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.

34:16 Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.

34:17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.

35:1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

35:2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our G.o.d.

35:3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

35:4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your G.o.d will come with vengeance, even G.o.d with a recompence; he will come and save you.

35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

35:6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

35:7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be gra.s.s with reeds and rushes.

35:8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pa.s.s over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

35:9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: 35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

36:1 Now it came to pa.s.s in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of a.s.syria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.

36:2 And the king of a.s.syria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.

36:3 Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.

36:4 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of a.s.syria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? 36:5 I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? 36:6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

36:7 But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our G.o.d: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? 36:8 Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of a.s.syria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

36:9 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for hors.e.m.e.n? 36:10 And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

36:11 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

36:12 But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own p.i.s.s with you? 36:13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of a.s.syria.

36:14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you.

36:15 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of a.s.syria.

36:16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of a.s.syria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; 36:17 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

36:18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, the LORD will deliver us.

Hath any of the G.o.ds of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of a.s.syria? 36:19 Where are the G.o.ds of Hamath and Arphad? where are the G.o.ds of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 36:20 Who are they among all the G.o.ds of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? 36:21 But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

36:22 Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.