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Word Against Damascus
23 Concerning (A)Damascus.
“(B)Hamath and (C)Arpad are put to shame,
For they have heard a bad report;
They are (D)melting away.
There is anxiety by the sea,
It (E)cannot be quieted.
24 Damascus has become limp in their hands;
She has turned away to flee,
And panic has taken hold of her;
(F)Distress and pangs have seized her
Like a woman in childbirth.
25 How [a]the (G)city of praise has not been forsaken,
The town of My joy!
26 Therefore, her (H)young men will fall in her open squares,
And all the men of war will be [b]silenced in that day,” declares Yahweh of hosts.
27 “I will (I)set fire to the wall of Damascus,
And it will devour the [c]fortified towers of (J)Ben-hadad.”
Word Against Kedar and Hazor
28 Concerning (K)Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down. Thus says Yahweh,
“Arise, go up to Kedar
And destroy the [d](L)men of the east.
29 They will take away their tents and their flocks;
They will carry off for themselves
Their tent (M)curtains, all their goods, and their (N)camels,
And they will call out to one another, ‘(O)Terror on every side!’
30 Run away, flee earnestly! Inhabit the depths,
O inhabitants of Hazor,” declares Yahweh;
“For (P)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you
And purposed a purpose against you.
31 Arise, go up against a nation which is (Q)at ease,
Which inhabits its land securely,” declares Yahweh.
“It has (R)no gates or bars;
They (S)dwell alone.
32 Their camels will become plunder,
And their many cattle for spoil,
And I will (T)scatter to all the winds those who (U)cut the corners of their hair;
And I will bring their [e]disaster from every side,” declares Yahweh.
33 “Hazor will become a (V)haunt of jackals,
A desolation forever;
No one will inhabit there,
Nor will a son of man sojourn in it.”
Word Against Elam
34 That which came as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah the prophet concerning (W)Elam, (X)in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:
35 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
‘Behold, I am going to (Y)break the bow of Elam,
The [f]finest of their might.
36 I will bring upon Elam the (Z)four winds
From the four ends of heaven,
And I will (AA)scatter them to all these winds;
And there will be no nation
To which the banished ones of Elam will not go.
37 So I will [g]shatter Elam before their enemies
And before those who seek their lives;
And I will (AB)bring calamity upon them,
Even My (AC)burning anger,’ declares Yahweh,
‘And I will (AD)send out the sword after them
Until I have consumed them.
38 Then I will set My throne in Elam
And cause king and princes from there to perish,’
Declares Yahweh.
39 ‘But it will be in the last days
That I will [h](AE)return the [i]fortunes of Elam,’”
Declares Yahweh.
Word Against Babylon
50 The word which Yahweh spoke concerning (AF)Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet:
2 “(AG)Declare and make it heard among the nations.
Make it heard and (AH)lift up a standard.
Do not conceal it but say,
‘(AI)Babylon has been captured;
(AJ)Bel has been put to shame; [j]Marduk has been [k]shattered;
Her (AK)images have been put to shame; her idols have been shattered.’
3 For a nation has come up against her out of the (AL)north; it will make her land (AM)an object of horror, and there will be (AN)no inhabitant in it. Both man and beast have wandered off; they have gone away!
4 “In those days and at that time,” declares Yahweh, “the sons of Israel will come, both they and the sons of Judah (AO)as well; they will go along (AP)weeping as they go, and it will be (AQ)Yahweh their God they will seek. 5 They will (AR)ask for the way to Zion—turning their faces [l]in its direction and saying, ‘[m]Come!’—in order that they may join themselves to Yahweh in an (AS)everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.
6 “My people have become (AT)lost sheep;
(AU)Their shepherds have led them astray.
They have made them turn away on the (AV)mountains;
They have gone along from mountain to hill
And have forgotten their (AW)resting place.
7 All who came out against them have devoured them;
And their adversaries have said, ‘(AX)We are not guilty,
Inasmuch as they have sinned against Yahweh, who is the (AY)abode of righteousness,
Even Yahweh, the (AZ)hope of their fathers.’
8 “Wander away from the (BA)midst of Babylon
And [n]go forth from the land of the Chaldeans;
Be also like male goats [o]at the head of the flock.
9 For behold, I am going to (BB)arouse and bring up against Babylon
An assembly of great nations from the land of the north,
And they will arrange their battle lines against her;
From there she will be taken captive.
Their arrows will be like [p]a warrior who makes one childless
Who does not return empty-handed.
10 [q](BC)Chaldea will become spoil;
All who take her spoil will have enough,” declares Yahweh.
11 “Because you are glad, because you exult,
O you who (BD)plunder My inheritance,
Because you skip about [r]like a threshing (BE)heifer
And neigh like [s]valiant steeds,
12 Your (BF)mother [t]will be greatly ashamed;
She who gave you birth [u]will be humiliated.
Behold, she will be the least of the nations,
A (BG)wilderness, a parched land, and a desert.
13 Because of the wrath of Yahweh she will (BH)not be inhabited,
But she will be (BI)completely desolate;
Everyone who passes by Babylon (BJ)will be in desolation
And will hiss because of all her wounds.
14 Arrange your battle lines against Babylon on every side,
All you who [v]bend the bow;
Shoot at her, do not be sparing with your arrows,
For she has (BK)sinned against Yahweh.
15 Raise a loud shout against her on every side!
She has (BL)given [w]herself up, her pillars have fallen,
Her (BM)walls have been pulled down.
For this is the (BN)vengeance of Yahweh:
Take vengeance on her;
(BO)As she has done to others, so do to her.
16 Cut off the (BP)sower from Babylon
And the one who seizes the sickle at the time of harvest;
From before [x]the (BQ)sword of the oppressor
(BR)They will each turn back to his own people,
And they will each flee to his own land.
17 “Israel is a (BS)scattered [y]flock; the (BT)lions have banished them away. The first one who devoured him was the (BU)king of Assyria, and this last one who has broken his bones is (BV)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 18 Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I (BW)punished the king of Assyria. 19 And I will [z](BX)return Israel back to his pasture, and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his [aa]desire will be satisfied in the (BY)hill country of Ephraim and Gilead. 20 In those days and at that time,’ declares Yahweh, ‘search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but (BZ)there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon those (CA)whom I leave as a remnant.’
21 “Against the land of [ab]Merathaim, go up against it,
And against the inhabitants of [ac](CB)Pekod.
Put them to the sword and [ad]devote them to destruction,” declares Yahweh,
“And do according to all that I have commanded you.
22 The (CC)noise of battle is in the land,
And great destruction.
23 How the (CD)hammer of the whole earth
Has been cut in pieces and broken!
How Babylon has become
An object of horror among the nations!
24 I (CE)set a snare for you, and you were also (CF)caught, O Babylon,
But you yourself did not know;
You have been found and also seized
Because you have engaged in (CG)conflict with Yahweh.”
25 Yahweh has opened His armory
And has brought forth the (CH)weapons of His indignation,
For it is a (CI)work of Lord Yahweh of hosts
In the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come to her from the [ae]farthest border;
(CJ)Open up her barns;
Pile her up like heaps,
And [af](CK)devote her to destruction;
Let nothing of her remain.
27 (CL)Put all her young bulls to the sword;
Let them (CM)go down to the slaughter!
Woe be upon them, for their (CN)day has come,
The time of their punishment.
28 There is a (CO)sound of those who flee and escape from the land of Babylon,
To declare in Zion the (CP)vengeance of Yahweh our God,
Vengeance for His (CQ)temple.
29 “Summon [ag]many against Babylon,
All those who [ah]bend the bow:
Encamp against her on every side,
Let there be no escape[ai].
Repay her according to her work;
(CR)According to all that she has done, so do to her;
For she has become (CS)arrogant against Yahweh,
Against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore her (CT)young men will fall in her open squares,
And all her men of war will be [aj](CU)silenced in that day,” declares Yahweh.
31 “Behold, (CV)I am against you, O [ak]arrogant one,”
Declares Lord Yahweh of hosts,
“For your day has come,
The time [al]when I will punish you.
32 The [am](CW)arrogant one will stumble and fall
With no one to raise him up;
And I will (CX)set fire to his cities,
And it will devour him on every side.”
33 Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“The sons of Israel are oppressed,
And the sons of Judah as well;
And (CY)all who took them captive have held them fast;
They have refused to let them go.
34 Their (CZ)Redeemer is strong, (DA)Yahweh of hosts is His name;
He will vigorously (DB)plead their case
So that He may (DC)bring relief to [an]the earth,
But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A (DD)sword against the Chaldeans,” declares Yahweh,
“And against the inhabitants of Babylon
And against her (DE)officials and her (DF)wise men!
36 A sword against the (DG)oracle priests, and they will become fools!
A sword against her (DH)mighty men, and they will be [ao](DI)shattered!
37 A sword against [ap]their (DJ)horses and against [aq]their chariots
And against all the [ar](DK)foreigners who are in the midst of her,
And they will become (DL)women!
A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered!
38 A [as](DM)drought on her waters, and they will be dried up!
For it is a land of (DN)graven images,
And they are mad over terrifying idols.
39 “Therefore the (DO)desert creatures will live there along with the jackals;
The ostriches also will live in it,
And it will (DP)never again be lived in
Or dwelt in from generation to generation.
40 As when God overthrew (DQ)Sodom
And Gomorrah with its neighbors,” declares Yahweh,
“No man will live there,
Nor will any son of man sojourn in it.
41 “Behold, a people is coming (DR)from the north,
And a great nation and many kings
Will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.
42 They (DS)seize their bow and [at]javelin;
They are (DT)cruel and have no compassion.
Their (DU)voice roars like the sea;
And they ride on (DV)horses,
(DW)Arranged like a man for the battle
Against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The (DX)king of Babylon has heard the report about them,
And his hands hang limp;
(DY)Distress has taken hold of him,
Agony like a woman in childbirth.
44 “(DZ)Behold, one will come up like a lion from the [au]thicket of the Jordan to an enduring pasture; for in an instant I will make them run away from it, and whoever is (EA)chosen I will appoint over it. For who is (EB)like Me, and who will [av]summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can (EC)stand before Me?” 45 Therefore hear the (ED)counsel of Yahweh which He has counseled against Babylon, and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: (EE)surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their [aw]pasture desolate because of them. 46 At the sound, “Babylon has been seized!” the (EF)earth is shaken, and an (EG)outcry is heard among the nations.
Greetings and Grace
1 Paul, (A)a slave of God and an (B)apostle of Jesus Christ, [a]for the faith of God’s (C)elect and (D)the full knowledge of the truth which is (E)according to godliness, 2 in (F)the hope of eternal life, which the God (G)who cannot lie (H)promised [b](I)from all eternity, 3 but (J)at the proper time manifested His word in (K)preaching, (L)with which I was entrusted (M)according to the commandment of (N)God our Savior,
4 To (O)Titus, (P)my genuine child according to our (Q)common faith: (R)Grace and peace from God the Father and (S)Christ Jesus our Savior.
Qualifications of Elders
5 For this reason I left you in (T)Crete, that you would set in order what remains and (U)appoint (V)elders in every city as I directed you, 6 namely, (W)if any man is beyond reproach, the (X)husband of one wife, having faithful children, who are not accused of (Y)dissipation, or (Z)rebellious. 7 For the [c](AA)overseer must be beyond reproach as (AB)God’s steward, not (AC)self-willed, not quick-tempered, not (AD)addicted to wine, not pugnacious, (AE)not fond of dishonest gain, 8 but (AF)hospitable, (AG)loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, 9 (AH)holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in (AI)sound doctrine and to reprove those who contradict.
10 (AJ)For there are many (AK)rebellious men, (AL)empty talkers and deceivers, especially (AM)those of the circumcision, 11 who must be silenced because they are upsetting (AN)whole families, teaching (AO)things they should not teach (AP)for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “(AQ)Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. For this reason (AR)reprove them (AS)severely so that they may be (AT)sound in the faith, 14 not paying attention to Jewish (AU)myths and (AV)commandments of men who (AW)turn away from the truth. 15 (AX)To the pure, all things are pure, but (AY)to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their (AZ)mind and their conscience are defiled. 16 (BA)They profess to know God, but by their works they (BB)deny Him, being (BC)detestable and (BD)disobedient and (BE)unfit (BF)for any good work.
Remember His Holy Name
97 (A)Yahweh [a]reigns, let the (B)earth rejoice;
Let the many (C)coastlands be glad.
2 (D)Clouds and thick darkness are all around Him;
(E)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
3 (F)Fire goes before Him
And (G)burns up His adversaries all around.
4 His (H)lightnings light up the world;
The earth sees and (I)trembles.
5 The mountains (J)melt like wax at the presence of Yahweh,
At the presence of the (K)Lord of all the earth.
6 The (L)heavens declare His righteousness,
And (M)all the peoples see His glory.
7 Let all those be ashamed who serve (N)graven images,
Who boast of (O)idols;
[b](P)Worship Him, all you [c]gods!
8 Zion [d]heard this and (Q)was glad,
And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced
Because of Your judgments, O Yahweh.
9 For You are Yahweh (R)Most High over all the earth;
You are exalted far (S)above all [e]gods.
10 (T)Hate evil, you who love Yahweh,
Who (U)keeps the souls of His holy ones;
He (V)delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 (W)Light is sown for the righteous
And (X)gladness for the upright in heart.
12 Be (Y)glad in Yahweh, you righteous ones,
And (Z)give thanks for the remembrance of [f]His holy name.
Sing to Yahweh a New Song
A Psalm.
98 Sing to Yahweh a (AA)new song,
For He has done (AB)wondrous deeds,
His (AC)right hand and His (AD)holy arm have [g]worked out His salvation.
2 (AE)Yahweh has made known His salvation;
He has (AF)revealed His righteousness in the eyes of the nations.
3 He has (AG)remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
(AH)All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4 (AI)Make a loud shout to Yahweh, all the earth;
(AJ)Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.
5 Sing praises to Yahweh with the (AK)lyre,
With the lyre and the (AL)sound of singing.
6 With (AM)trumpets and the sound of the horn
(AN)Make a loud shout before (AO)King Yahweh.
7 Let the (AP)sea roar, as well as its fullness,
The (AQ)world and those who dwell in it.
8 Let the (AR)rivers clap their hands,
Let the (AS)mountains sing together for joy
9 Before Yahweh, for He is coming to (AT)judge the earth;
He will judge the world with righteousness
And (AU)the peoples with [h]equity.
13 The (A)sluggard says, “There is a fierce lion in the road!
A lion is [a]among the streets!”
14 As the door turns on its hinges,
So does the (B)sluggard on his bed.
15 The (C)sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
He is too weary to return it to his mouth.
16 The sluggard is (D)wiser in his own eyes
Than seven men who can respond with a discreet answer.
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