Week 146

• Torah (T): Devarim (Deuteronomy) 28:1 – 29:29
• Prophets (P): Isaiah 55:6 – 58:8; Micah 7:18-20
• Apostolic (A): Romans 10:1-21
• Additional (ADD): Baruch 3:9-37

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Genesis 17:7-10 (T)
• Judges 2:1-7 (T)
• Acts 8:18-24 (T)
• Hebrews 12:14-17 (T)
• Daniel 9:1-14 (T)
• Exodus 32:30-35; Deuteronomy 9:11-14 (T)
• Isaiah 43:25; Jeremiah 18:23; Psalms 51:9-10 (T)
• Psalms 56:8; Psalms 139:16 (T)
• Psalms 69:27-28; Daniel 12:1-3; Luke 10:17-20; Philippians 4:1-3 (T)
• Revelation 3:1-6; Revelation 13:1-9; Revelation 20:1-1; Revelation 21:22-27 (T)
• Genesis 19:24-25; Luke 17:28-29; 2 Peter 2:6; Jude 1:6-8 (T)
• Jeremiah 22:6-9; 1 Kings 9:6-9 (T)
• Nehemiah 1:1-11 (T)
• Jeremiah 31:15-20 (T)
• Psalms 106:43-47 (T)
• Jeremiah 12:7-17 (T)
• Jeremiah 32:36-44 (T)
• Micah 4:1-13 (T)
• Ezekiel 11:1-21 (T) 11:7 I will
• Ezekiel 36:16-38 (T)
• Psalms 147:19-20; Isaiah 45:19 (T)
• Romans 16:25-27 (T)
• Colossians 1:1-29 (T)
• Deuteronomy 4:25-31 (T)
• Proverbs 3:1-2 (T)

RELATED ADDITIONAL REA.D.INGS

• Charter of a Jewish Sectarian Association 1QS (T)
• Enoch 47:1-4; Enoch 81:1-4, Enoch 98:6-8; Enoch 108:1-3 (T)
• Jubilees 1:1-15 (T)
• Jubilees 30:13-22 (T)
• Jubilees 36:1-11 (T)
• 2 Esdras 7:132-140 (T)
• A Sectarian Manifesto 4QMMT (T)
• Redemption and Resurrection 4Q521 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 28:1 – 29:29

28:1 It will happen, if you will listen diligently to YHWH your Elohim’s voice, to guard to do all his commandments which I command you today, that YHWH your Elohim will set you high above all the nations of the land. 2 All these blessings will come upon you, and overtake you, if you listen to YHWH your Elohim’s voice. 3 You will be blessed in the city, and you will be blessed in the field. 4 You will be blessed in the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock. 5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. 6 You will be blessed when you come in, and you will be blessed when you go out. 7 YHWH will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways. 8 YHWH will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to. He will bless you in the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you. 9 YHWH will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you will guard the commandments of YHWH your Elohim, and walk in his ways. 10 All the peoples of the land will see that you are called by YHWH’s name, and they will be afraid of you. 11 YHWH will grant you abundant prosperity in the fruit of your womb, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which YHWH swore to your fathers to give you. 12 YHWH will open to you his good treasure in the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow. 13 YHWH will make you the head, and not the tail. You will be above only, and you will not be beneath, if you listen to the commandments of YHWH your Elohim which I command you today, to guard and to do, 14 and will not turn away from any of the words which I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other elohim to serve them. 15 But it will come to pass, if you will not listen to YHWH your Elohim’s voice, to guard to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come on you and overtake you. 16 You will be cursed in the city, and you will be cursed in the field. 17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. 18 The fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock will be cursed. [19 You will be cursed when you come in, and you will be cursed when you go out.]^{(DSS)(mss)(LXX)} 20 YHWH will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me. 21 YHWH will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land where you go in to possess it. 22 YHWH will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with fiery heat, with the sword, with blight, and with mildew. They will pursue you until you perish. 23 Your heavens that is over your head will be bronze, and the land that is under you will be iron. 24 YHWH will make the rain of your land powder and dust. It will come down on you from the heavens, until you are destroyed. 25 YHWH will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You will be tossed back and forth among all the reigns of the land. 26 Your dead bodies will be food to all birds of the heavens, and to the animals of the land; and there will be no one to frighten them away. 27 YHWH will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with the tumors, with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed. 28 YHWH will strike you with madness, with blindness, and with astonishment of heart. 29 You will grope at noontime, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you will not prosper in your ways. You will only be oppressed and robbed away always, and there will be no one to save you. 30 You will betroth a woman, and another man will lie with her. You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard, and not use its fruit. 31 Your ox will be slain before your eyes, and you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be robbed away from before your face, and will not be restored to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you. 32 Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people. Your eyes will look and fail with longing for them all day long. There will be no power in your hand. 33 A nation which you don’t know will eat the fruit of your ground and all of your work. You will only be oppressed and crushed always, 34 so that the sights that you see with your eyes will drive you mad. 35 YHWH will strike you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil, of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. 36 YHWH will bring you, and your king whom you will set over yourselves, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers. There you will serve other elohim of wood and stone. 37 You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where YHWH will lead you away. 38 You will carry much seed out into the field, and will gather little in, for the locust will consume it. 39 You will plant vineyards and dress them, but you will neither drink of the wine, nor harvest, because worms will eat them. 40 You will have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you won’t anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off. 41 You will father sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity. 42 Locusts will consume all of your trees and the fruit of your ground. 43 The sojourner who is among you will mount up above you higher and higher, and you will come down lower and lower. 44 He will lend to you, and you won’t lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail. 45 All these curses will come on you, and will pursue you and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you didn’t listen to YHWH your Elohim’s voice, to guard his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you. 46 They will be for a sign and for a wonder to you and to your seed forever. 47 Because you didn’t serve YHWH your Elohim with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; 48 therefore you will serve your enemies whom YHWH sends against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you. 49 YHWH will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the land, as the eagle flies: a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a nation, strong of face, that doesn’t respect the bearded, nor show favor to the young. 51 They will eat the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. They also won’t leave you grain, new wine, oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. 52 They will besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout all your land. They will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land which YHWH your Elohim has given you. 53 You will eat the fruit of your own womb, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom YHWH your Elohim has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will distress you. 54 The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye will be evil toward his brother, toward the woman whom he loves, and toward the remnant of his sons whom he has remaining, 55 so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his sons whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in all your gates. 56 The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband that she loves, toward her son, toward her daughter, 57 toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her son whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of all things in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in your gates. 58 If you will not guard to do all the words of this Torah that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YHWH your Elohim, 59 then YHWH will make your smitings and the smitings of your seed fearful, even great smitings, and of long duration, and severe sicknesses, and of long duration. 60 He will bring on you again all the sicknesses of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they will cling to you. 61 Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this Torah, YHWH will bring them on you until you are destroyed. 62 You will be left few in number, even though you were as the stars of the heavens for multitude, because you didn’t listen to YHWH your Elohim’s voice. 63 It will happen that as YHWH skip with joy over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so YHWH will skip with joy over you to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be plucked from the land that you are going in to possess. 64 YHWH will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the land to the other end of the land. There you will serve other elohim which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. 65 Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but YHWH will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul. 66 Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be afraid night and day, and will have no assurance of your life. 67 In the morning you will say, “I wish it were evening!” and at evening you will say, “I wish it were morning!” for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will see. 68 YHWH will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I told to you that you would never see it again. There you will offer yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you.

29:1 These are the words of the covenant which YHWH commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. 2 Moses called to all Israel, and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that YHWH did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land; 3 the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. 4 But YHWH has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day. 5 I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not grown old on you, and your sandals have not grown old on your feet. 6 You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am YHWH your Elohim. 7 When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and we struck them. 8 We took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the ones of Reuben, and to the ones of Gad, and to the half-tribe of the ones of Manasseh. 9 Therefore guard the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. 10 All of you stand today in the face of YHWH your Elohim: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones, your wives, and the sojourners who are in the middle of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water, 12 that you may enter into the covenant of YHWH your Elohim, and into his oath, which YHWH your Elohim makes with you today, 13 that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your Elohim, as he spoke to you and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 14 Neither do I make this covenant and this oath with you only, 15 but with those who stand here with us today before YHWH our Elohim, and also with those who are not here with us today, 16 for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the middle of the nations through which you passed; 17 and you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them; 18 lest there should be among you man, woman, family, or tribe whose heart turns away today from YHWH our Elohim, to go to serve the elohim of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that produces bitterness or wormwood; 19 and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, “I will have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart,” to destroy the moist with the dry. 20 [Elohim]^(LXX) will not consent to forgive him, but then the anger of YHWH and his zeal will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book will fall on him, and YHWH will blot out his name from under the heavens. 21 YHWH will separate him for evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the Torah. 22 The generation to come—your sons who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who will come from a far land—will say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which YHWH has made it sick, 23 that all of its land is sulfur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, doesn’t produce, nor does any grass grow in it, like the overthrow of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which YHWH overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath. 24 Even all the nations will say, “Why has YHWH done this to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?” 25 Then men will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of YHWH, the Elohim of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other elohim and did bow down to them, elohim that they didn’t know and that he had not given to them. 27 Therefore the anger of YHWH burned against this land, to bring on it all the curses that are written in this book. 28 YHWH rooted them out of their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and thrust them into another land, as it is today.” 29 The secret things belong to YHWH our Elohim; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may do all the words of this Torah.

Prophets Portion (P)

Isaiah 55:6 – 57:12; Micah 7:18-20

Isaiah 55:6 Seek YHWH while he may be found. Call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to YHWH, and he will have mercy on him, to our Elohim, for he will freely pardon. 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says YHWH. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the land, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain comes down and the snow from the heavens, and doesn’t return there, but waters the land, and makes it grow and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater; 11 so is my word that goes out of my mouth: it will not return to me void, but it will accomplish that which I please, and it will prosper in the thing I sent it to do. 12 For you will go out with joy, and be led out with peace. The mountains and the hills will break out before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields will clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn the cypress tree will come up; and instead of the brier the myrtle tree will come up. It will make a name for YHWH, for an everlasting sign that will not be cut off.” 56:1 YHWH says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is near and my righteousness will soon be revealed. 2 Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast; who guards the Sabbath without profaning it and guards his hand from doing any evil.” 3 Let no foreigner who has joined himself to YHWH speak, saying, “YHWH will surely separate me from his people.” Do not let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” 4 For YHWH says, “To the eunuchs who guard my Sabbaths, choose the things that please me, and hold fast to my covenant, 5 I will give them in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off. 6 Also the foreigners who join themselves to YHWH to serve him, and to love YHWH’s name, to be his servants, everyone who guards the Sabbath from profaning it, and holds fast my covenant, 7 I will bring these to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their slaughters will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” 8 The Lord YHWH, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “I will yet gather others to him, in addition to his own who are gathered.” 9 All you animals of the field, come to devour, all you animals in the forest. 10 His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all mute dogs. They can’t bark— dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. 11 Yes, the dogs are greedy. They can never have enough. They are shepherds who can’t understand. They have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter. 12 “Come,” they say, “I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be as today, great beyond measure.”

Micah 7:18 Who is an Elohim like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, because he delights in loving kindness. 19 He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. 20 You will give truth to Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.

Apostolic Portion (A)

Romans 10:1-21

10:1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to Elohim is for [them],^(mss) that they may be saved. 2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for Elohim, but not according to knowledge. 3 For being ignorant of Elohim’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn’t subject themselves to the righteousness of Elohim. 4 For Messiah is the goal of the Torah for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness of the Torah, “The one who does them will live by them.” (cf. Leviticus 18:5) 6 But the righteousness which is of faith says this, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into the heavens?’ (cf. Deuteronomy 30:12) That is, to bring Messiah down; 7 or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (cf. Deuteronomy 30:13) That is, to bring Messiah up from the dead.” 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart;” (cf. Deuteronomy 30:14) that is, the word of faith which we proclaim: 9 that if you will confess with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord and believe in your heart that Elohim raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.” (cf. Isaiah 28:16) 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him. 13 For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (cf. Joel 2:32) 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a proclaimer? 15 And how will they proclaim unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” (cf. Isaiah 52:7) 16 But they didn’t all listen to the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” (cf. Isaiah 53:1) 17 So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of [Messiah].^(mss) 18 But I say, didn’t they hear? Yes, most certainly, “Their sound went out into all the land, their words to the ends of the world.” (cf. Psalms 19:4) 19 But I ask, didn’t Israel know? First Moses says, “I will provoke you to zeal with that which is no nation. I will make you angry with a nation void of understanding.” (cf. Deuteronomy 32:21) 20 Isaiah is very bold and says, “I was found by those who didn’t seek me. I was revealed to those who didn’t ask for me.” (cf. Isaiah 65:1) 21 But about Israel he says, “All day long I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” (cf. Isaiah 65:2)

Additional Portion (ADD)

Baruch 3:9-37

3:9 Hear, Israel, the commandments of life: give ear to understand wisdom. 10 How is it, Israel, that you are in your enemies’ land, that you have become old in a strange country, that you are defiled with the dead, 11 that you are counted with those who go down into Hades? 12 You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom. 13 For if you had walked in the way of Elohim, you should have dwelled in peace forever. 14 Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is understanding; that you may know also where is length of days, and life, where is the light of the eyes, and peace. 15 Who has found out her place? and who has come into her treasuries? 16 Where are the princes of the heathen, and such as ruled the beasts that are upon the land; 17 those who had their pastime with the fowls of the air, and those who hoarded up silver and gold, wherein men trust; and of whose getting there is no end? 18 For those who diligently sought after silver, and were so careful, and whose works are past finding out, 19 they are vanished and gone down to Hades, and others are come up in their steads. 20 Younger men have seen the light, and lived upon the land: but the way of knowledge have they not known, 21 neither understood they the paths thereof: neither have their sons embraced it: they are far off from the way thereof. 22 It has not been heard of in Canaan, neither has it been seen in Teman. 23 The sons also of Agar that seek understanding, which are in the land, the merchants of Merran and Teman, and the authors of fables, and the searchers out of understanding; none of these have known the way of wisdom, or remembered her paths. 24 Israel, how great is the house of Elohim! and how large is the place of his possession! 25 great, and has none end; high, and unmeasurable. 26 There were the giants born that were famous of old, great of stature, and expert in war. 27 Elohim didn’t choose these, nor did he give the way of knowledge to them; 28 so they perished, because they had no wisdom, they perished through their own foolishness. 29 Who has gone up into the heavens, taken her, and brought her down from the clouds? 30 Who has gone over the sea, found her, and will bring her for choice gold? 31 There is no one who knows her way, nor any who comprehend her path. 32 But he that knows all things knows her, he found her out with his understanding. He who prepared the land for all time has filled it with four-footed beasts. 33 It is he who sends forth the light, and it goes. He called it, and it obeyed him with fear. 34 The stars shone in their watches, and were glad. When he called them, they said, “Here we are.” They shone with gladness to him who made them. 35 This is our Elohim. No other can be compared to him. 36 He has found out all the way of knowledge, and has given it to Jacob his servant and to Israel who is loved by him. 37 Afterward she appeared upon the land, and lived with men.

Related Scriptures

Genesis 17:7-10 (T)

17:7 I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be an Elohim to you and to your seed after you. 8 I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their Elohim.” 9 Elohim said to Abraham, “As for you, you will guard my covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you will guard, between me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you will be circumcised.

Judges 2:1-7 (T)

2:1 the angel of YHWH came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, “I brought you out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to give your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you. 2 You will make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You will break down their altars.’ But you have not listened to my voice. Why have you done this? 3 Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out from before you; but they will be in your sides, and their elohim will be a snare to you.’ ” 4 When the angel of YHWH spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voice and wept. 5 They called the name of that place Bochim, and they slaughtered there to YHWH. 6 Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the sons of Israel each went to his inheritance to possess the land. 7 The people served YHWH all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of YHWH that he had worked for Israel.

Acts 8:18-24 (T)

8:18 Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the emissaries’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me also this power, that whomever I lay my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of Elohim with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart isn’t right before Elohim. 22 Repent therefore of this, your wickedness, and ask Elohim if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the poison of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” 24 Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that none of the things which you have spoken happen to me.”

Hebrews 12:14-17 (T)

12:14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord, 15 looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of Elohim, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and many be defiled by it, 16 lest there be any sexually immoral person or profane person, like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal. 17 For you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for a change of mind though he sought it diligently with tears.

Daniel 9:1-14 (T)

9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Kasdim— 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years about which the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah the prophet for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years. 3 I set my face to the Lord Elohim, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to YHWH my Elohim, and made confession, and said, “Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful Elohim, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and guard his commandments, 5 we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your judgments. 6 We haven’t listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 “Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face, as it is today; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near and who are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you. 8 Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our Elohim belong mercies and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him. 10 We haven’t obeyed YHWH our Elohim’s voice, to walk in his Torot, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 Yes, all Israel have transgressed your Torah, turning aside, that they should not obey your voice. “Therefore the curse and the oath written in the Torah of Moses the servant of Elohim has been poured out on us, for we have sinned against him. 12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing on us a great evil; for under the heavens, such has not been done as has been done to Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the Torah of Moses, all this evil has come on us. Yet we have not entreated the favor of YHWH our Elohim, that we should turn from our iniquities and have discernment in your truth. 14 Therefore YHWH has watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for YHWH our Elohim is righteous in all his works which he does, and we have not obeyed his voice.

Exodus 32:30-35; Deuteronomy 9:11-14 (T)

Exodus 32:30 On the next day, Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to YHWH. Perhaps I will make atonement for your sin.” 31 Moses returned to YHWH, and said, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves elohim of gold. 32 Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.” 33 YHWH said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel will go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” 35 YHWH struck the people, because of what they did with the calf, which Aaron made.

Deuteronomy 9:11 It came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights that YHWH gave me the two stone tablets, even the tablets of the covenant. 12 YHWH said to me, “Arise, get down quickly from here; for your people whom you have brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned away from the way which I commanded them. They have made a molten image for themselves!” 13 Furthermore YHWH spoke to me, saying, “I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. 14 Leave me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the heavens; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.”

Isaiah 43:25 I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.

Jeremiah 18:23 Yet, YHWH, you know all their counsel against me to kill me. Don’t forgive their iniquity. Don’t blot out their sin from your sight, Let them be overthrown before you. Deal with them in the time of your anger.

Psalms 51:9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim. Renew a right spirit within me.

Psalms 56:8 You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your container. Aren’t they in your book?

Psalms 139:16 Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them.

Psalms 69:27 Charge them with crime upon crime. Don’t let them come into your righteousness. 28 Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and not be written with the righteous.

Daniel 12:1 At that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who stands for the sons of your people; and there will be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time. At that time your people will be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the land will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine as the brightness of the expanse. Those who turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars forever and ever.

Luke 10:17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 He said to them, “I saw Satan having fallen like lightning from the heavens. 19 Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will in any way hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, don’t rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in the heavens.”

Philippians 4:1 Therefore, my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved. 2 I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to think the same way in the Lord. 3 Yes, I beg you also, true partner, help these women, for they labored with me in the Good News with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Revelation 3:1 “And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: “He who has the seven Spirits of Elohim and the seven stars says these things: “I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up and strengthen the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my Elohim. 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If therefore you won’t watch, I will come as a thief, and you won’t know what hour I will come upon you. 4 Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that didn’t defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.

Revelation 13:1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads. On his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads, blasphemous names. 2 The beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 3 One of his heads looked like it had been wounded fatally. His fatal wound was healed, and the whole land marveled at the beast. 4 They worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” 5 A mouth speaking great things and blasphemy was given to him. Authority to make war for forty-two new moons was given to him. 6 He opened his mouth for blasphemy against Elohim, to blaspheme his name, his dwelling, and those who dwell in the heavens. 7 It was given to him to make war with the holy ones and to overcome them. Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation was given to him. 8 All who dwell on the land will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been killed. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear.

Revelation 20:1 I saw an angel coming down out of the heavens, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 He seized the dragon, the old serpent, who is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited land, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and cast him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time. 4 I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the witness of Yeshua and for the word of Elohim, and such as didn’t worship the beast nor his image, and didn’t receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead didn’t live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of Elohim and of Messiah, and will reign with him one thousand years. 7 And after the thousand years, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the land, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up over the width of the land and surrounded the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city. Fire came down out of the heavens from Elohim and devoured them. 10 The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the land and the heavens fled away. There was found no place for them. 12 I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Sheol gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Death and Sheol were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord Elohim the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city has no need for the sun or moon to shine, for the very glory of Elohim illuminated it and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the land bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. 25 Its gates will in no way be shut by day, for there will be no night there, 26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it so that they may enter. 27 There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Genesis 19:24-25; Luke 17:28-29; 2 Peter 2:6; Jude 1:6-8 (T)

Genesis 19:24 Then YHWH rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from YHWH out of the heavens. 25 He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground.

Luke 17:28 Likewise, even as it was in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from the heavens and destroyed them all.

2 Peter 2:6; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live in an impious way

Jude 1:6 Angels who didn’t guard their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, having in the same way as these given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are shown as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire. 8 Yet in the same way, these also in their dreaming defile the flesh, despise authority, and slander celestial beings.

Jeremiah 22:6-9; 1 Kings 9:6-9 (T)

Jeremiah 22:6 For YHWH says concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are Gilead to me, the head of Lebanon. Yet surely I will make you a wilderness, cities which are not inhabited. 7 I will prepare destroyers against you, everyone with his weapons, and they will cut down your choice cedars, and cast them into the fire. 8 “Many nations will pass by this city, and they will each ask his neighbor, ‘Why has YHWH done this to this great city?’ 9 Then they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of YHWH their Elohim, worshiped other elohim, and served them.’ ”

1 Kings 9:6 But if you turn away from following me, you or your sons, and not guard my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other elohim and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and I will cast this house, which I have made holy for my name, out of my sight; and Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 Though this house is so high, yet everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss; and they will say, ‘Why has YHWH done this to this land and to this house?’ 9 and they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned YHWH their Elohim, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other elohim, and did bow down to them, and served them. Therefore YHWH has brought all this evil on them.’ ”

Nehemiah 1:1-11 (T)

11:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now in the new moon Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the palace, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped, who were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “The remnant who are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.” 4 When I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and mourned several days; and I fasted and prayed before the Elohim of the heavens, 5 and said, “I beg you, YHWH, the Elohim of the heavens, the great and awesome Elohim who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and guard his commandments, 6 let your ear now be attentive and your eyes open, that you may listen to the prayer of your servant which I pray before you at this time, day and night, for the sons of Israel your servants, while I confess the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against you. Yes, I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have dealt very corruptly against you, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which you commanded your servant Moses. 8 “Remember, I beg you, the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you trespass, I will scatter you among the peoples; 9 but if you return to me, and guard my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and will bring them to the place that I have chosen, to cause my name to dwell there.’ 10 “Now these are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11 Lord, I beg you, let your ear be attentive now to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name; and please prosper your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.

Jeremiah 31:15-20 (T)

31:15 YHWH says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her sons. She refuses to be comforted for her sons, because they are no more.” 16 YHWH says: “Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” says YHWH. “They will come again from the land of the enemy. 17 There is hope for your latter end,” says YHWH. “Your sons will come again to their own territory. 18 “I have surely heard Ephraim grieving thus, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf. Turn me, and I will be turned, for you are YHWH my Elohim. 19 Surely after that I was turned. I repented. After that I was instructed. I struck my thigh. I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.’ 20 Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I still earnestly remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him. I will surely have mercy on him,” says YHWH.

Psalms 106:43-47 (T)

106:43 He rescued them many times, but they were rebellious in their counsel, and were brought low in their iniquity. 44 Nevertheless he regarded their distress, when he heard their cry. 45 He remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses. 46 He made them also to be pitied by all those who carried them captive. 47 Save us, YHWH, our Elohim, gather us from among the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, to triumph in your praise!

Jeremiah 12:7-17 (T)

12:7 “I have forsaken my house. I have cast off my heritage. I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. 8 My heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest. She has uttered her voice against me. Therefore I have hated her. 9 Is my heritage to me as a speckled bird of prey? Are the birds of prey against her all around? Go, assemble all the animals of the field. Bring them to devour. 10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard. They have trodden my portion under foot. They have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11 They have made it a desolation. It mourns to me, being desolate. The whole land is made desolate, because no one cares. 12 Destroyers have come on all the bare heights in the wilderness; for the sword of YHWH devours from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land. No flesh has peace. 13 They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns. They have exhausted themselves, and profit nothing. You will be ashamed of your fruits, because of YHWH’s fierce anger.” 14 YHWH says, “Concerning all my evil neighbors, who touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit: Behold, I will pluck them up from off their land, and will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. 15 It will happen that after I have robbed them up, I will return and have compassion on them. I will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. 16 It will happen, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As YHWH lives;’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the middle of my people. 17 But if they will not hear, then I will pluck up that nation, robbery up and destroying it,” says YHWH.

Jeremiah 32:36-44 (T)

32:36 Now therefore YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, says concerning this city, about which you say, “It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:” 37 “Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries where I have driven them in my anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them again to this place. I will cause them to dwell safely. 38 Then they will be my people, and I will be their Elohim. 39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their good and the good of their sons after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good. I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me. 41 Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.” 42 For YHWH says: “Just as I have brought all this great evil on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them. 43 Fields will be bought in this land, about which you say, ‘It is desolate, without man or animal. It is given into the hand of the Kasdim.’ 44 Men will buy fields for money, sign the deeds, seal them, and call witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captivity to be reversed,” says YHWH.

Micah 4:1-13 (T)

4:1 But in the latter days, it will happen that the mountain of the temple of YHWH will be established on the top of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills; and peoples will stream to it. 2 Many nations will go and say, “Come! Let’s go up to the mountain of YHWH, and to the house of the Elohim of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the Torah will go out of Zion, and the word of YHWH from Jerusalem; 3 and he will judge between many peoples, and will decide concerning strong nations afar off. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war any more. 4 But every man will sit under his vine and under his fig tree. No one will make them afraid, for the mouth of YHWH of Armies has spoken. 5 Indeed all the nations may walk in the name of their elohim, but we will walk in the name of YHWH our Elohim forever and ever. 6 “In that day,” says YHWH, “I will assemble that which is lame, and I will gather that which is driven away, and that which I have afflicted; 7 and I will make that which was lame a remnant, and that which was cast far off a strong nation: and YHWH will reign over them on Mount Zion from then on, even forever.” 8 You, tower of the flock, the hill of the daughter of Zion, to you it will come. Yes, the former dominion will come, the reign of the daughter of Jerusalem. 9 Now why do you cry out aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished, that pains have taken hold of you as of a woman in travail? 10 Be in pain, and labor to give birth, daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now you will go out of the city, and will dwell in the field, and will come even to Babylon. There you will be rescued. There YHWH will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. 11 Now many nations have assembled against you, that say, “Let her be defiled, and let our eye gloat over Zion.” 12 But they don’t know the thoughts of YHWH, neither do they understand his counsel; for he has gathered them like the sheaves to the threshing floor. 13 Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze. You will beat in pieces many peoples. I will devote their gain to YHWH, and their substance to the Lord of the whole land.

Ezekiel 11:1-21 (T)

11:1 Moreover the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of YHWH, which looks eastward. Behold, twenty-five men were at the door of the gate; and I saw among them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. 2 He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity, and who give wicked counsel in this city; 3 who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. This is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’ 4 Therefore prophesy against them. Prophesy, son of man.” 5 The spirit of YHWH fell on me, and he said to me, “Speak, ‘YHWH says: “Thus you have said, house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind. 6 You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain.” 7 “ ‘Therefore the Lord YHWH says: “Your slain whom you have laid in the middle of it, they are the meat, and this is the cauldron; but [I will]^(mss)(LXX) bring you out of the middle of it. 8 You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword on you,” says the Lord YHWH. 9 “I will bring you out of the middle of it, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. 10 You will fall by the sword. I will judge you in the border of Israel. Then you will know that I am YHWH. 11 This will not be your cauldron, neither will you be the meat in the middle of it. I will judge you in the border of Israel. 12 You will know that I am YHWH, for you have not walked in my statutes. You have not executed my judgments, but have done after the judgments of the nations that are around you.” ‘ ” 13 When I prophesied, Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah Lord YHWH! Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?” 14 the word of YHWH came to me, saying, 15 “Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, the men of your relatives, and all the house of Israel, all of them, are the ones to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far away from YHWH. This land has been given to us for a possession.’ 16 “Therefore say, ‘The Lord YHWH says: “Whereas I have removed them far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, yet I will be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they have come.” ‘ 17 “Therefore say, ‘The Lord YHWH says: “I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” 18 “ ‘They will come there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. 19 I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them. I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in my statutes, and guard my judgments, and do them. They will be my people, and I will be their Elohim. 21 But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way on their own heads,’ says the Lord YHWH.”

Ezekiel 36:16-38 (T)

36:16 Moreover the word of YHWH came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and by their deeds. Their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her seperation. 18 Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. I judged them according to their way and according to their deeds. 20 When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name, in that men said of them, ‘These are the people of YHWH, and have left his land.’ 21 But I had respect for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went. 22 “Therefore tell the house of Israel, ‘The Lord YHWH says: “I don’t do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. 23 I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am YHWH,” says the Lord YHWH, “when I am proven holy in you before their eyes. 24 “ ‘ “For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will guard my judgments and do them. 28 You will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. You will be my people, and I will be your Elohim. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you. 30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations. 31 “ ‘ “Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. 32 I don’t do this for your sake,” says the Lord YHWH. “Let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel.” 33 “ ‘The Lord YHWH says: “In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited and the waste places will be built. 34 The land that was desolate will be tilled instead of being a desolation in the sight of all who passed by. 35 They will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The waste, desolate, and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ 36 Then the nations that are left around you will know that I, YHWH, have built the ruined places and planted that which was desolate. I, YHWH, have spoken it, and I will do it.” 37 “ ‘The Lord YHWH says: “For this, moreover, I will be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock. 38 As the flock for slaughter, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so the waste cities will be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am YHWH.’ ”

Psalms 147:19-20; Isaiah 45:19 (T)

Psalms 147:19 He shows his word to Jacob, his statutes and his judgments to Israel. 20 He has not done this for just any nation. They don’t know his judgments. Halleluyah!

Isaiah 45:19 I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I didn’t say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, YHWH, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.

Romans 16:25-27 (Romans 14:24-26 in some Bibles) (T)

16:24 Now to him who is able to establish you according to my Good News and the proclaiming of Yeshua the Messiah, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret through long ages, 25 but now is revealed, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal Elohim, is made known for obedience of faith to all the nations; 26 to the only wise Elohim, through Yeshua the Messiah, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.

Colossians 1:1-29 (T)

1:1 Paul, an emissary of Messiah Yeshua through the will of Elohim, and Timothy our brother, 2 to the holy ones and faithful brothers in Messiah at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from Elohim our Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. 3 We give thanks to Elohim the Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, praying always for you, 4 having heard of your faith in Messiah Yeshua and of the love which you have toward all the holy ones, 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Good News 6 which has come to you, even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of Elohim in truth, 7 even as you learned from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Messiah on our behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. 9 For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of Elohim, 11 strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who made you fit in the portion of the lot of the holy ones in light, 13 who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Reign of the Son of his love, 14 in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible Elohim, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the land, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. 18 He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19 For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on the land or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross. 21 You, being in past times separated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds, 22 yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him, 23 if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under the heavens, of which I, Paul, was made a servant. 24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Messiah in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly, 25 of which I was made a servant according to the stewardship of Elohim which was given me toward you to fulfill the word of Elohim, 26 the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his holy ones, 27 to whom Elohim was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Nations, which is Messiah in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Messiah Yeshua; 29 for which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.

Deuteronomy 4:25-31 (T)

4:25 When you father sons and sons’ sons, and you have been long in the land, and then corrupt yourselves, and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in YHWH your Elohim’s sight to provoke him to anger, 26 I call the heavens and the land to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be destroyed. 27 YHWH will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where YHWH will lead you away. 28 There you will serve [other]^(LXX) elohim, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 But from there you will seek YHWH your Elohim, and you will find him when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you will return to YHWH your Elohim and listen to his voice. 31 For YHWH your Elohim is a merciful Elohim. He will not fail you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.

Proverbs 3:1-2 (T)

3:1 My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart guard my commandments, 2 for they will add to you length of days, years of life, and peace.

Related Additional Readings​

Charter of a Jewish Sectarian Association 1QS (T)

Then the priests and Levites will go on to declare, “Damned be anyone initiated with unrepentant heart, who enters this Covenant, then sets up the stumbling block of his sin, so turning apostate. It will come to pass, 13 when he hears the words of this Covenant, that he will bless himself in his heart, saying ‘Peace be with me, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart’ (Deut. 29:18-19). Surrounded by abundant water, his spirit will nevertheless expire thirsty, without “forgiveness. Elohim’s anger and zeal for His commandments will burn against him for eternal destruction. All the curses of this Covenant will cleave to him, and Elohim will separate him out for a fate befitting his wickedness. He will be cut off from all the Sons of Light because of his apostasy “from Elohim, brought about by unrepentance and the stumbling block of sin. He will cast his lot with those damned for all time.” The initiates are all to respond in turn, “Amen, amen.”

The Book of Enoch (also known as 1 Enoch) was written during the second century B.C. The older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) of the text are estimated to date from about 300–200 B.C., and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably to 100 B.C. Various Aramaic fragments found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as Koine Greek and Latin fragments, were proof that The Book of Enoch was known by early Jews and Christians. 

You will note some abbreviations, brackets, and symbols specially used in the translation of 1 Enoch:

• ⌈ ⌉. The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are found in the Greek Version preserved In Syncellus but not in the Ethiopic Version.
• ⌈⌈ ⌉⌉. The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are found in E the Ethiopic Version but not in the Greek Version preserved In Syncellus or the Greek Version discovered at Akhmîm.
• 〉. The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are restored.
• [ ] The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are interpolations.
• ( ). The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are supplied by the editor.
• The use of thick type denotes that the words so printed are emended.
• † † corruption in the text.
• . . . = some words which have been lost.

Enoch 47:1 And in those days will have ascended the prayer of the righteous, And the blood of the righteous from the land before the Lord of Spirits. 2. In those days the holy ones who dwell above in the heavens Will unite with one voice And supplicate and pray [and praise, And give thanks and bless the name of the Lord of Spirits] On behalf of the blood of the righteous which has been shed, And that the prayer of the righteous may not be in vain before the Lord of Spirits, That judgement may be done unto them, And that they may not have to suffer for ever. 3. In those days I saw the Head of Days when He seated himself upon the throne of His glory, And the books of the living were opened before Him: And all His host which is in the heavens above and His counselors stood before Him, 4. And the hearts of the holy were filled with joy; Because the number of the righteous had been offered, And the prayer of the righteous had been heard, And the blood of the righteous been required before the Lord of Spirits.

Enoch 81:1 And he said unto me: ‘Observe, Enoch, these the heavenly tablets, And read what is written thereon, And mark every individual fact.’ 2 And I observed the heavenly tablets, and read everything which was written (thereon) and understood everything, and read the book of all the deeds of mankind, and of all the children of flesh that will be upon the land to the remotest generations. 3. And forthwith I blessed the great Lord the King of glory for ever, in that He has made all the works of the world, And I extolled the Lord because of His patience, And blessed Him because of the children of men. 4. And after that I said: ‘Blessed is the man who dies in righteousness and goodness, Concerning whom there is no book of unrighteousness written, And against whom no day of judgement will be found.’

Enoch 98:6 I have sworn unto you, ye sinners, by the Holy Great One, That all your evil deeds are revealed in the heavens, And that none of your deeds of oppression are covered and hidden. 7. And do not think in your spirit nor say in your heart that ye do not know and that ye do not see that every sin is every day recorded in the heavens in the face of the Most High. 8. From henceforth ye know that all your oppression wherewith ye oppress is written down every day till the day of your judgement.

Enoch 108:1 Another book which Enoch wrote for his son Methuselah and for those who will come after him, and guard the law in the last days. 2. Ye who have done good will wait for those days till an end is made of those who work evil; and an end of the might of the transgressors. 3. And wait ye indeed till sin has passed away, for their names will be blotted out of the book of life and out of the holy books, and their seed will be destroyed for ever, and their spirits will be slain, and they will cry and make lamentation in a place that is a chaotic wilderness, and in the fire will they burn; for there is no land there.

Jubilees 1:1-15 (T)

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

1:1 And it came to pass in the first year of the exodus of the sons of Israel out of Egypt, in the third new moon, on the sixteenth day of the new moon [2450 A.M.], that Elohim spake to Moses, saying: “Come up to Me on the Mount, and I will give thee two tables of stone of the law and of the commandment, which I have written, that thou mayst teach them.” 2. And Moses went up into the mount of Elohim, and the glory of YHWH abode on Mount Sinai, and a cloud overshadowed it six days. 3. And He called to Moses on the seventh day out of the midst of the cloud, and the appearance of the glory of YHWH was like a flaming fire on the top of the Mount. 4. And Moses was on the Mount forty days and forty nights, and Elohim taught him the earlier and the later history of the division of all the days of the law and of the witness. 5. And He said: “Incline thine heart to every word which I will speak to thee on this Mount, and write them in a book in order that their generations may see how I have not forsaken them for all the evil which they have wrought in transgressing the covenant which I establish between Me and thee for their generations this day on Mount Sinai. 6. And thus it will come to pass when all these things come upon them, that they will recognize that I am more righteous than they in all their judgments and in all their actions, and they will recognize that I have been truly with them. 7. And do thou write for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee this day, for I know their rebellion and their stiff neck, before I bring them into the land of which I sware to their fathers, to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, saying: “Unto your seed will I give a land flowing with milk and honey. 8. And they will eat and be satisfied, and they will turn to strange elohim, to (elohim) which cannot deliver them from aught of their tribulation: “and this witness will be heard for a witness against them. 9. For they will forget all My commandments, (even) all that I command them, and they will walk after the Nations, and after their uncleanness, and after their shame, and will serve their elohim, and these will prove unto them an offence and a tribulation and an affliction and a snare. 10. And many will perish and they will be taken captive, and will fall into the hands of the enemy, because they have forsaken My judgments and My commandments, and the festivals of My covenant, and My sabbaths, and My holy place which I have hallowed for Myself in their midst, and My tabernacle, and My sanctuary, which I have hallowed for Myself in the midst of the land, that I should set My name upon it, and that it should dwell (there). 11. And they will make to themselves high places and groves and graven images, and they will worship, each his own (graven image), so as to go astray, and they will slaughter their children to demons, and to all the works of the error of their hearts. 12. And I will send witnesses unto them, that I may witness against them, but they will not hear, and will slay the witnesses also, and they will persecute those who seek the law, and they will abrogate and change everything so as to work evil before My eyes. 13. And I will hide My face from them, and I will deliver them into the hand of the Nations for captivity, and for a prey, and for devouring, and I will remove them from the midst of the land, and I will scatter them amongst the Nations. 14. And they will forget all My law and all My commandments and all My judgments, and will go astray as to new moons, and sabbaths, and festivals, and jubilees, and ordinances. 15. And after this they will turn to Me from amongst the Nations with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their strength, and I will gather them from amongst all the Nations, and they will seek Me, so that I will be found of them, when they seek Me with all their heart and with all their soul.

30:13 And it is a reproach to Israel, to those who live, and to those that take the daughters of the Nations; for this is unclean and abominable to Israel. 14. And Israel will not be free from this uncleanness if it has a woman of the daughters of the Nations, or has given any of its daughters to a man who is of any of the Nations. 15. For there will be plague upon plague, and curse upon curse, and every judgment and plague and curse will come upon him: if he do this thing, or hide his eyes from those who commit uncleanness, or those who defile the sanctuary of the Lord, or those who profane His holy name, (then) will the whole nation together be judged for all the uncleanness and profanation of this man. 16. And there will be no respect of persons [and no consideration of persons] and no receiving at his hands of fruits and offerings and burnt offerings and fat, nor the fragrance of sweet savour, so as to accept it: and so fare every man or woman in Israel who defiles the sanctuary. 17. For this reason I have commanded thee, saying: ‘Testify this witness to Israel: see how the Shechemites fared and their sons: how they were delivered into the hands of two sons of Jacob, and they slew them under tortures, and it was (reckoned) unto them for righteousness, and it is written down to them for righteousness. 18. And the seed of Levi was chosen for the priesthood, and to be Levites, that they might minister before the Lord, as we, continually, and that Levi and his sons may be blessed for ever; for he was zealous to execute righteousness and judgment and vengeance on all those who arose against Israel. 19. And so they inscribe as a witness in his favour on the heavenly tablets blessing and righteousness before the Elohim of all: 20. And we remember the righteousness which the man fulfilled during his life, at all periods of the year; until a thousand generations they will record it, and it will come to him and to his descendants after him, and he has been recorded on the heavenly tablets as a friend and a righteous man. 21. All this account I have written for thee, and have commanded thee to say to the sons of Israel, that they should not commit sin nor transgress the ordinances nor break the covenant which has been ordained for them, (but) that they should fulfil it and be recorded as friends. 22. But if they transgress and work uncleanness in every way, they will be recorded on the heavenly tablets as adversaries, and they will be destroyed out of the book of life, and they will be recorded in the book of those who will be destroyed and with those who will be rooted out of the land.

36:1 And in the sixth year of this week [2162 A.M.] Isaac called his two sons Esau and Jacob, and they came to him, and he said unto them: ‘My sons, I am going the way of my fathers, to the eternal house where my fathers are. 2. Wherefore bury me near Abraham my father, in the double cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, where Abraham purchased a sepulchre to bury in; in the sepulchre which I dug for myself, there bury me. 3. And this I command you, my sons, that ye practice righteousness and uprightness on the land, so that the Lord may bring upon you all that the Lord said that he would do to Abraham and to his seed. 4. And love one another, my sons, your brothers as a man who loves his own soul, and let each seek in what he may benefit his brother, and act together on the land; and let them love each other as their own souls. 5. And concerning the question of idols, I command and admonish you to reject them and hate them, and love them not, for they are full of deception for those that worship them and for those that bow down to them. 6. Remember ye, my sons, the Lord Elohim of Abraham your father, and how I too worshiped Him and served Him in righteousness and in joy, that He might multiply you and increase your seed as the stars of the heavens in multitude, and establish you on the land as the plant of righteousness which will not be rooted out unto all the generations for ever. 7. And now I will make you swear a great oath -for there is no oath which is greater than it by the name glorious and honoured and great and splendid and wonderful and mighty, which created the heavens and the land and all things together- that ye will fear Him and worship Him. 8. And that each will love his brother with affection and righteousness, and that neither will desire evil against his brother from henceforth for ever all the days of your life so that ye may prosper in all your deeds and not be destroyed. 9. And if either of you devises evil against his brother, know that from henceforth everyone that devises evil against his brother will fall into his hand, and will be rooted out of the land of the living, and his seed will be destroyed from under the heavens. 10. But on the day of turbulence and execration and indignation and anger, with flaming devouring fire as He burnt Sodom, so likewise will He burn his land and his city and all that is his, and he will be blotted out of the book of the discipline of the children of men, and not be recorded in the book of life, but in that which is appointed to destruction, and he will depart into eternal execration; so that their condemnation may be always renewed in hate and in execration and in wrath and in torment and in indignation and in plagues and in disease for ever. 11. I say and testify to you, my sons, according to the judgment which will come upon the man who wishes to injure his brother.

2 Esdras, consisting of chapters 3-14, (also called 4 Esdras, Latin Esdras, or Latin Ezra) is the name of a book in many English versions of the Bible. Its authorship is ascribed to Ezra, a scribe and priest of the 5th century B.C., although modern scholarship places its composition between 70 and 218 A.D.. It is reckoned among the apocrypha by Roman Catholics, Protestants, and most Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Ethiopian Church considers 4 Ezra to be canonical, written during the Babylonian captivity, and calls it “Izra Sutuel” (ዕዝራ ሱቱኤል). It was also often cited by the Fathers of the Church. In the Eastern Armenian tradition it is called 3 Ezra.

7:132 Then I answered, “I know, Lord, that the Most High is now called merciful, in that he has mercy upon those who have not yet come into the world; 133 and compassionate, in that he has compassion upon those who turn to his law; 134 and patient, in that he is patient with those who have sinned, since they are his creatures; 135 and bountiful, in that he is ready to give rather than to take away; 136 and very merciful, in that he multiplies more and more mercies to those who are present, and who are past, and also to those who are to come— 137 for if he wasn’t merciful, the world wouldn’t continue with those who dwell in it— 138 and one who forgives, for if he didn’t forgive out of his goodness, that those who have committed iniquities might be relieved of them, not even one ten thousandth part of mankind would remain living; 139 and a judge, for if he didn’t pardon those who were created by his word, and blot out the multitude of sins, 140 there would perhaps be very few left of an innumerable multitude.”

A Sectarian Manifesto 4QMMT (T)

[Indeed,] we [have written] to you so that you might understand the book of Moses, the book[s of the Pr]ophets, and Davi08 [… all] the generations. In the book of Moses it is written […] not [to] you and days of old […] It is also written that you [“will turn] from the pa®h and evil will befall you” (Deut. 31:29). And it is writ[ten]  that when [al]l these thing[s happ]en to you in the Last Days, the blessing [and] the curse, [that you call them] to m[ind] and return to Him with all your heart and with [al]] [your] soul” (Deut. 30:1-2), […] at the end of [the age,] then [you] will l[ive …]

Redemption and Resurrection 4Q521 (T)

Frag. 7 + Frag. 5 Col. 2 […] see all t[hat the Lord has made,] [the eart]h and all that is on it, the seas [and all] [that is in them] and every reservoir of water and the streams. […] those who do good before the Lor08 [will bless … and no]t as these who curse. They will b[e] destined to die, [when] the One who revives [rai]ses the dead of His people. Then we will [giv]e thanks and relate to you the righ[teous acts] of the Lord that […] thos[e destined to d]ie. And He will open [graves …] and […] and […] so commit (?) [your] w[orks…] and a bridge of […] the accursed will be little esteemed (?) […] and the heavens will meet […] [and a]ll the angels […]

Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 4.8.1-5; 4.8.12-13; 4.8.44-46;

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

4.8.1. When forty years were completed, within thirty days, Moses gathered the congregation together near Jordan, where the city Abila now stands, a place full of palm-trees; and all the people being come together, he spake thus to them: –

4.8.2. “O you Israelites and fellow soldiers, who have been partners with me in this long and uneasy journey; since it is now the will of Elohim, and the course of old age, at a hundred and twenty, requires it that I should depart out of this life; and since Elohim has forbidden me to be a patron or an assistant to you in what remains to be done beyond Jordan; I thought it reasonable not to leave off my endeavors even now for your happiness, but to do my utmost to procure for you the eternal enjoyment of good things, and a memorial for myself, when you will be in the fruition of great plenty and prosperity. Come, therefore, let me suggest to you by what means you may he happy, and may leave an eternal prosperous possession thereof to your children after you, and then let me thus go out of the world; and I cannot but deserve to be believed by you, both on account of the great things I have already done for you, and because, when souls are about to leave the body, they speak with the sincerest freedom. O sons of Israel! there is but one source of happiness for all mankind, the favor of Elohim for he alone is able to give good things to those that deserve them, and to deprive those of them that sin against him; towards whom, if you behave yourselves according to his will, and according to what I, who well understand his mind, do exhort you to, you will both be esteemed blessed, and will be admired by all men; and will never come into misfortunes, nor cease to be happy: you will then preserve the possession of the good things you already have, and will quickly obtain those that you are at present in want of, – only do you be obedient to those whom Elohim would have you to follow. Nor do you prefer any other constitution of government before the laws now given you; neither do you disregard that way of Divine worship which you now have, nor change it for any other form: and if you do this, you will be the most courageous of all men, in undergoing the fatigues of war, and will not be easily conquered by any of your enemies; for while Elohim is present with you to assist you, it is to be expected that you will be able to despise the opposition of all mankind; and great rewards of virtue are proposed for you, if you preserve that virtue through your whole lives. Virtue itself is indeed the principal and the first reward, and after that it bestows abundance of others; so that your exercise of virtue towards other men will make your own lives happy, and render you more glorious than foreigners can be, and procure you an undisputed reputation with posterity. These blessings you will be able to obtain, in case you hearken to and observe those laws which, by Divine revelation, I have ordained for you; that is, in case you withal meditate upon the wisdom that is in them. I am going from you myself, rejoicing in the good things you enjoy; and I recommend you to the wise conduct of your law, to the becoming order of your polity, and to the virtues of your commanders, who will take care of what is for your advantage. And that Elohim, who has been till now your Leader, and by whose goodwill I have myself been useful to you, will not put a period now to his providence over you, but as long as you desire to have him your Protector in your pursuits after virtue, so long will you enjoy his care over you. Your high priest also Eleazar, as well as Joshua, with the senate, and chief of your tribes, will go before you, and suggest the best advices to you; by following which advices you will continue to be happy: to whom do you give ear without reluctance, as sensible that all such as know well how to be governed, will also know how to govern, if they be promoted to that authority themselves. And do not you esteem liberty to consist in opposing such directions as your governors think fit to give you for your practice, – as at present indeed you place your liberty in nothing else but abusing your benefactors; which error if you can avoid for the time to come, your affairs will be in a better condition than they have hitherto been. Nor do you ever indulge such a degree of passion in these matters, as you have oftentimes done when you have been very angry at me; for you know that I have been oftener in danger of death from you than from our enemies. What I now put you in mind of, is not done in order to reproach you; for I do not think it proper, now I am going out of the world, to bring this to your remembrance, in order to leave you offended at me, since, at the time when I underwent those hardships from you, I was not angry at you; but I do it in order to make you wiser hereafter, and to teach you that this will be for your security; I mean, that you never be injurious to those that preside over you, even when you are become rich, as you will he to a great degree when you have passed over Jordan, and are in possession of the land of Canaan. Since, when you will have once proceeded so far by your wealth, as to a contempt and disregard of virtue, you will also forfeit the favor of Elohim; and when you have made him your enemy, you will be beaten in war, and will have the land which you possess taken away again from you by your enemies, and this with great reproaches upon your conduct. You will be scattered over the whole world, and will, as slaves, entirely fill both sea and land; and when once you have had the experience of what I now say, you will repent, and remember the laws you have broken, when it is too late. Whence I would advise you, if you intend to preserve these laws, to leave none of your enemies alive when you have conquered them, but to look upon it as for your advantage to destroy them all, lest, if you permit them to live, you taste of their manners, and thereby corrupt your own proper institutions. I also do further exhort you, to overthrow their altars, and their groves, and whatsoever temples they have among them, and to burn all such, their nation, and their very memory with fire; for by this means alone the safety of your own happy constitution can be firmly secured to you. And in order to prevent your ignorance of virtue, and the degeneracy of your nature into vice, I have also ordained you laws, by Divine suggestion, and a form of government, which are so good, that if you regularly observe them, you will be esteemed of all men the most happy.”

4.8.3. When he had spoken thus, he gave them the laws and the constitution of government written in a book. Upon which the people fell into tears, and appeared already touched with the sense that they should have a great want of their conductor, because they remembered what a number of dangers he had passed through, and what care he had taken of their preservation: they desponded about what would come upon them after he was dead, and thought they should never have another governor like him; and feared that Elohim would then take less care of them when Moses was gone, who used to intercede for them. They also repented of what they had said to him in the wilderness when they were angry, and were in grief on those accounts, insomuch that the whole body of the people fell into tears with such bitterness, that it was past the power of words to comfort them in their affliction. However, Moses gave them some consolation; and by calling them off the thought how worthy he was of their weeping for him, he exhorted them to keep to that form of government he had given them; and then the congregation was dissolved at that time.

4.8.4. Accordingly, I will now first describe this form of government which was agreeable to the dignity and virtue of Moses; and will thereby inform those that read these Antiquities, what our original settlements were, and will then proceed to the remaining histories. Now those settlements are all still in writing, as he left them; and we will add nothing by way of ornament, nor any thing besides what Moses left us; only we will so far innovate, as to digest the several kinds of laws into a regular system; for they were by him left in writing as they were accidentally scattered in their delivery, and as he upon inquiry had learned them of Elohim. On which account I have thought it necessary to premise this observation beforehand, lest any of my own countrymen should blame me, as having been guilty of an offense herein. Now part of our constitution will include the laws that belong to our political state. As for those laws which Moses left concerning our common conversation and intercourse one with another, I have reserved that for a discourse concerning our manner of life, and the occasions of those laws; which I propose to myself, with Elohim’s assistance, to write, after I have finished the work I am now upon.

4.8.5. When you have possessed yourselves of the land of Canaan, and have leisure to enjoy the good things of it, and when you have afterward determined to build cities, if you will do what is pleasing to Elohim, you will have a secure state of happiness. Let there be then one city of the land of Canaan, and this situate in the most agreeable place for its goodness, and very eminent in itself, and let it be that which Elohim will choose for himself by prophetic revelation. Let there also be one temple therein, and one altar, not reared of hewn stones, but of such as you gather together at random; which stones, when they are whited over with mortar, will have a handsome appearance, and be beautiful to the sight. Let the ascent to it be not by steps but by an acclivity of raised land. And let there be neither an altar nor a temple in any other city; for Elohim is but one, and the nation of the Hebrews is but one.

4.8.12. When the multitude are assembled together unto the holy city for slaughtering every seventh year, at the feast of tabernacles, let the high priest stand upon a high desk, whence he may be heard, and let him read the laws to all the people; and let neither the women nor the children be hindered from hearing, no, nor the servants neither; for it is a good thing that those laws should be engraven in their souls, and preserved in their memories, that so it may not be possible to blot them out; for by this means they will not be guilty of sin, when they cannot plead ignorance of what the laws have enjoined them. The laws also will have a greater authority among them, as foretelling what they will suffer if they break them; and imprinting in their souls by this hearing what they command them to do, that so there may always be within their minds that intention of the laws which they have despised and broken, and have thereby been the causes of their own mischief. Let the children also learn the laws, as the first thing they are taught, which will be the best thing they can be taught, and will be the cause of their future felicity.

4.8.13. Let every one commemorate before Elohim the benefits which he bestowed upon them at their deliverance out of the land of Egypt, and this twice every day, both when the day begins and when the hour of sleep comes on, gratitude being in its own nature a just thing, and serving not only by way of return for past, but also by way of invitation of future favors. They are also to inscribe the principal blessings they have received from Elohim upon their doors, and show the same remembrance of them upon their arms; as also they are to bear on their forehead and their arm those wonders which declare the power of Elohim, and his good-will towards them, that Elohim’s readiness to bless them may appear every where conspicuous about them.

4.8.44. This was the form of political government which was left us by Moses. Moreover, he had already delivered laws in writing in the fortieth year [after they came out of Egypt], concerning which we will discourse in another book. But now on the following days (for he called them to assemble continually) he delivered blessings to them, and curses upon those that should not live according to the laws, but should transgress the duties that were determined for them to observe. After this, he read to them a poetic song, which was composed in hexameter verse, and left it to them in the holy book: it contained a prediction of what was to come to pass afterward; agreeably whereto all things have happened all along, and do still happen to us; and wherein he has not at all deviated from the truth. Accordingly, he delivered these books to the priest, with the ark; into which he also put the ten commandments, written on two tables. He delivered to them the tabernacle also, and exhorted the people, that when they had conquered the land, and were settled in it, they should not forget the injuries of the Amalekites, but make war against them, and inflict punishment upon them for what mischief they did them when they were in the wilderness; and that when they had got possession of the land of the Canaanites, and when they had destroyed the whole multitude of its inhabitants, as they ought to do, they should erect an altar that should face the rising sun, not far from the city of Shechem, between the two mountains, that of Gerizzim, situate on the right hand, and that called Ebal, on the left; and that the army should be so divided, that six tribes should stand upon each of the two mountains, and with them the Levites and the priests. And that first, those that were upon Mount Gerizzim should pray for the best blessings upon those who were diligent about the worship of Elohim, and the observation of his laws, and who did not reject what Moses had said to them; while the other wished them all manner of happiness also; and when these last put up the like prayers, the former praised them. After this, curses were denounced upon those that should transgress those laws, they, answering one another alternately, by way of confirmation of what had been said. Moses also wrote their blessings and their curses, that they might learn them so thoroughly, that they might never be forgotten by length of time. And when he was ready to die, he wrote these blessings and curses upon the altar, on each side of it; where he says also the people stood, and then slaughtered and offered burnt offerings, though after that day they never offered upon it any other slaughter, for it was not lawful so to do. These are the constitutions of Moses; and the Hebrew nation still live according to them.

4.8.45. On the next day, Moses called the people together, with the women and children, to a congregation, so as the very slaves were present also, that they might engage themselves to the observation of these laws by oath; and that, duly considering the meaning of Elohim in them, they might not, either for favor of their kindred, or out of fear of any one, or indeed for any motive whatsoever, think any thing ought to be preferred to these laws, and so might transgress them. That in case any one of their own blood, or any city, should attry to confound or dissolve their constitution of government, they should take vengeance upon them, both all in general, and each person in particular; and when they had conquered them, should overturn their city to the very foundations, and, if possible, should not leave the least footsteps of such madness: but that if they were not able to take such vengeance, they should still demonstrate that what was done was contrary to their wills. So the multitude bound themselves by oath so to do.

4.8.46. Moses taught them also by what means their slaughters might be the most acceptable to Elohim; and how they should go forth to war, making use of the stones (in the high priest’s breastplate) for their direction, as I have before signified. Joshua also prophesied while Moses was present. And when Moses had recapitulated whatsoever he had done for the preservation of the people, both in their wars and in peace, and had composed them a body of laws, and procured them an excellent form of government, he foretold, as Elohim had declared to him “That if they transgressed that institution for the worship of Elohim, they should experience the following miseries: – Their land should be full of weapons of war from their enemies, and their cities should be overthrown, and their temple should be burnt that they should be sold for slaves, to such men as would have no pity on them in their afflictions; that they would then repent, when that repentance would no way profit them under their sufferings. “Yet,” said he, “will that Elohim who founded your nation, restore your cities to your citizens, with their temple also; and you will lose these advantages not once only, but often.”