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Weekly Scripture Reading
Torah: DEUTERONOMY 17-21
Prophets: NAHUM 1-3
Historical Writings: 1 SAMUEL 24-25
New Testament: EPHESIANS 3-4
Wisdom Writings: JOB 38
Non-Canonical: 2 BARUK 49-53
The following translation is from The Scriptures | ISR98
DEUTERONOMY 17-21
17 | 1 “Do not slaughter to יהוה your Elohim a bull or sheep which has any blemish, any evil matter, for that is an abomination to יהוה your Elohim.
2 “When there is found in your midst, in any of your cities which יהוה your Elohim is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the eyes of יהוה your Elohim, in transgressing His covenant,
3 and has gone and served other mighty ones and bowed down to them, or to the sun or to the moon or to any of the host of the heavens, which I have not commanded,
4 and it has been made known to you and you have heard, and has searched diligently. Then see, if true: the matter is confirmed that such an abomination has been done in Yisra’ĕl,
5 then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil matter, and you shall stone to death that man or woman with stones.
6 “At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall he that is to die be put to death. He is not put to death by the mouth of one witness.
7 “The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and the hand of all the people last. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
8 “When any matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, or between stroke and stroke – matters of strife within your gates – then you shall rise and go up to the place which יהוה your Elohim chooses,
9 and shall come to the priests, the Lĕwites, and to the judge who is in those days, and shall inquire. And they shall declare to you the word of right-ruling,
10 and you shall do according to the word which they declare to you from that place which יהוה chooses. And you shall guard to do according to all that they instruct you.
11 “Do according to the Torah in which they teach you, according to the right-ruling which they say to you. You do not turn to the right or to the left from the word which they declare to you.
12 “And the man who acts arrogantly, so as not to listen to the priest who stands to serve there before יהוה your Elohim, or to the judge, that man shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Yisra’ĕl.
13 “And let all the people hear and fear, and no longer do arrogantly.
14 “When you come to the land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you, and shall possess it and shall dwell in it, and you shall say, ‘Let me set a sovereign over me like all the gentiles that are around me,’
15 you shall certainly set a sovereign over you whom יהוה your Elohim shall choose. Set a sovereign over you from among your brothers, you are not allowed to set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.
16 “Only, he is not to increase horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Mitsrayim to increase horses, for יהוה has said to you, ‘Do not return that way again.’
17 “And he is not to increase wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor is he to greatly increase silver and gold for himself.
18 “And it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his reign, that he shall write for himself a copy of this Torah in a book, from the one before the priests, the Lĕwites.
19 “And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he learns to fear יהוה his Elohim and guard all the Words of this Torah and these laws, to do them,
20 so that his heart is not lifted up above his brothers, and so as not to turn aside from the command, right or left, so that he prolongs his days in his reign, he and his children, in the midst of Yisra’ĕl.
18 | 1 “The priests, the Lĕwites, all the tribe of Lĕwi, have no part nor inheritance with Yisra’ĕl. They are to eat the offerings of יהוה made by fire, and His inheritance.
2 “But among his brothers Lĕwi has no inheritance. יהוה is his inheritance, as He has spoken to him.
3 “And this is the priest’s right from the people, from those who bring an offering, whether it is bull or sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the stomach;
4 the first-fruits of your grain and your new wine and your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you give to him.
5 “For יהוה your Elohim has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to serve in the Name of יהוה, him and his sons forever.
6 “And when the Lĕwite comes from one of your gates, from where he has sojourned among all Yisra’ĕl, and shall come with all the desire of his being to the place which יהוה chooses,
7 then he shall serve in the Name of יהוה his Elohim, like all his brothers the Lĕwites, who are standing there before יהוה.
8 “They are to have portion for portion to eat, besides what comes from the sale of his inheritance.
9 “When you come into the land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you, do not learn to do according to the abominations of those gentiles.
10 “Let no one be found among you who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practises divination, or a user of magic, or one who interprets omens or a sorcerer,
11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
12 “For whoever does these are an abomination to יהוה, and because of these abominations יהוה your Elohim drives them out from before you.
13 “Be perfect before יהוה your Elohim,
14 for these nations whom you are possessing do listen to those using magic and to diviners. But as for you, יהוה your Elohim has not appointed such for you.
15 “יהוה your Elohim shall raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brothers. Listen to Him,
16 according to all you asked of יהוה your Elohim in Ḥorĕḇ in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of יהוה my Elohim, nor let me see this great fire any more, lest I die.’
17 “And יהוה said to me, ‘What they have spoken is good.
18 ‘I shall raise up for them a Prophet like you out of the midst of their brothers. And I shall put My Words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.
19 ‘And it shall be, the man who does not listen to My Words which He speaks in My Name, I require it of him.
20 ‘But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My Name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other mighty ones, even that prophet shall die.’
21 “And when you say in your heart, ‘How do we know the word which יהוה has not spoken?’ –
22 when the prophet speaks in the Name of יהוה and the word is not, or comes not, that is the word which יהוה has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
19 | 1 “When יהוה your Elohim cuts off the nations whose land יהוה your Elohim is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses,
2 separate three cities for yourself in the midst of your land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you to possess.
3 “Prepare a way for yourself, and divide into three parts the border of your land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you to inherit, that anyone who killed someone shall flee there.
4 “And this is the matter of the one who killed someone who flees there and live: He who smites his neighbour unintentionally, not having hated him in time past,
5 even he who goes to the forest with his neighbour to cut timber, and his hand swings a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbour so that he dies – let him flee to one of these cities and live,
6 lest the revenger of blood, while his displeasure is hot, pursue the one who killed someone and overtake him, because the way is long, and shall smite him, though he was not worthy of death, since he had not hated him before.
7 “Therefore I am commanding you, saying, ‘Separate three cities for yourself.’
8 “And if יהוה your Elohim enlarges your border, as He swore to your fathers, and has given you the land which He promised to give to your fathers –
9 when you guard all this command to do it, which I am commanding you today, to love יהוה your Elohim and to walk in His ways all the days – then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three,
10 so that innocent blood is not shed in the midst of your land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you as an inheritance, or blood-guilt shall be upon you.
11 “But when anyone hates his neighbour, and shall lie in wait for him and rise against him and smite the life from him so that he dies, then he shall flee to one of these cities,
12 and the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and give him into the hand of the revenger of blood, and he shall die.
13 “Your eye shall not pardon him, but you shall purge the blood of innocent blood from Yisra’ĕl, so that it might be well with you.
14 “Do not remove your neighbour’s boundary, which those in the past have set, in your inheritance which you inherit in the land that יהוה your Elohim is giving you to possess.
15 “One witness does not rise up against a man concerning any crookedness or any sin that he commits. At the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses a matter is established.
16 “When a malicious witness rises up against any man to accuse him of turning aside,
17 then both men who have the dispute shall stand before יהוה, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days.
18 “And the judges shall diligently search and see if the witness is a false witness, who has falsely accused his brother,
19 then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from your midst.
20 “And let the rest hear and fear, and never again do this evil matter in your midst.
21 “And let your eye not pardon, life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
20 | 1 “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and shall see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them, for יהוה your Elohim, who brought you up from the land of Mitsrayim, is with you.
2 “And it shall be, when you draw near to the battle, that the priest shall come and speak to the people,
3 and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Yisra’ĕl: You are drawing near today to battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not fear, or tremble, or be afraid before them,
4 for יהוה your Elohim is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’
5 “And the officers shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Who is the man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it.
6 ‘And who is the man who has planted a vineyard and has not begun to use it? Let him also go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man should begin to use it.
7 ‘And who is the man who is engaged to a woman and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.’
8 “And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘Who is the man who is afraid and tender of heart? Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of his brothers faint like his heart.’
9 “And it shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they shall appoint commanders of the divisions to lead the people.
10 “When you draw near to a city to fight against it, then you shall make a call for peace to it.
11 “And it shall be that if it accepts your call for peace, and shall open to you, then all the people found in it are to be your compulsory labour, and serve you.
12 “But if it does not make peace with you, and shall fight against you, then you shall besiege it,
13 and יהוה your Elohim shall give it into your hands, and you shall smite every male in it with the edge of the sword.
14 “Only the women, and the little ones, and the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you take as plunder for yourself. And you shall eat the enemies’ plunder which יהוה your Elohim gives you.
15 “Do so to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations.
16 “Only, of the cities of these peoples which יהוה your Elohim gives you as an inheritance, you do not keep alive any that breathe,
17 but you shall certainly put them under the ban: the Ḥittite and the Amorite and the Kena‛anite and the Perizzite and the Ḥiwwite and the Yeḇusite, as יהוה your Elohim has commanded you,
18 lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their mighty ones, and you sin against יהוה your Elohim.
19 “When you besiege a city for a long time by fighting against it to take it, you do not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. If you do eat of them, do not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man to be besieged by you?
20 “Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you do destroy and cut down, to build siege-works against the city that is fighting against you, until it falls.
21 | 1 “When anyone is found slain, lying in the field in the land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you to possess, and it is not known who smote him,
2 then your elders and your judges shall go out, and they shall measure the distance from the slain man to the cities round about.
3 “And it shall be that the elders of the city nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer which has not been worked and which has not pulled with a yoke,
4 and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a wadi with flowing water, which is neither ploughed nor sown, and they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the wadi.
5 “And the priests, the sons of Lĕwi, shall come near, for יהוה your Elohim has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the Name of יהוה, and by their mouth every strife and every stroke is tried.
6 “And let all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the wadi.
7 “And they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it.
8 ‘O יהוה, forgive Your people Yisra’ĕl, whom You have redeemed, and do not allow innocent blood in the midst of Your people Yisra’ĕl.’ And the blood-guilt shall be pardoned to them.
9 “Thus you purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst when you do what is right in the eyes of יהוה.
10 “When you go out to fight against your enemies, and יהוה your Elohim shall give them into your hand, and you shall take them captive,
11 and shall see among the captives a woman fair of form, and shall delight in her and take her for your wife,
12 then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails,
13 and put aside the mantle of her captivity, and shall dwell in your house, and mourn her father and her mother a month of days. And after that you shall go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.
14 “And it shall be, if you are not pleased with her, then you shall let her go at her desire, but you do not sell her at all for silver. Do not treat her harshly, since you have humbled her.
15 “When a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved, and the first-born son is of her who is unloved,
16 then it shall be, on the day he makes his sons to inherit his possessions, he is not allowed to treat the son of the beloved wife as first-born in the face of the son of the unloved, who is truly the first-born.
17 “But he is to acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the first-born by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength – the right of the first-born is his.
18 “When a man has a wayward and rebellious son who is not listening to the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have disciplined him, does not listen to them,
19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city,
20 and shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is wayward and rebellious. He is not listening to our voice, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’
21 “Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones. Thus you shall purge the evil from your midst. And let all Yisra’ĕl hear, and fear.
22 “And when a man has committed a sin worthy of death, then he shall be put to death and you shall hang him on a tree.
23 “Let his body not remain overnight on the tree, for you shall certainly bury him the same day – for he who is hanged is accursed of Elohim – so that you do not defile the land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you as an inheritance.
NAHUM 1-3
1 | 1 The message concerning Ninewĕh. The book of the vision of Naḥum the Elqoshite.
2 יהוה is a jealous and revenging Ěl, יהוה is a revenger and a possessor of wrath. יהוה takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He watches for His enemies.
3 יהוה is patient and great in power, but by no means leaves unpunished. יהוה has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.
4 He is rebuking the sea and dries it up. And all the floods He has made dry, Bashan and Karmel are withering, and the flower of Leḇanon is languishing.
5 Mountains have shaken before Him, and the hills have melted. And the earth is lifted up at His presence, and the world and all who dwell in it.
6 Who does stand before His rage? And who rises up in the heat of His displeasure? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks have been broken by Him.
7 יהוה is good, as a stronghold in the day of distress. And He knows those who take refuge in Him.
8 But with an overwhelming flood He makes a complete end of the place of Ninewĕh, and darkness does pursue His enemies.
9 What do you plot against יהוה? He makes a complete end of it. Distress does not rise up a second time.
10 Though they are as entangled thorns, and as drunkards with their drink, they shall be consumed like stubble thoroughly dried.
11 From you came forth one who plots evil against יהוה, a counsellor of Beliya‛al.
12 Thus said יהוה, “Though they are strong and many, even so, they shall be cut off and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I afflict you no more.
13 “So now I break his yoke from you, and tear off your shackles.”
14 And יהוה has commanded concerning you, “Your name shall no longer be sown. From the house of your mighty ones I shall cut off the carved image and the moulded image. I shall appoint your grave, for you have been of no account.”
15 See, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace! O Yehuḏah, observe your festivals, perform your vows. For Beliya‛al shall no more pass through you. He has been cut off completely.
2 | 1 He who breaks in pieces has come up before your face. Guard the ramparts! Watch the way! Strengthen your loins! Strengthen your power greatly.
2 For יהוה shall turn back the splendour of Ya‛aqoḇ like the splendour of Yisra’ĕl, for the emptiers have emptied them out and ruined their vine branches.
3 The shields of his mighty men have become red, the men of battle are in scarlet. The chariots are like flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the cypresses shall be shaken.
4 The chariots dash about in the streets, they rush one another in the broad ways. They look like flaming torches, they run like lightning.
5 He remembers his noble ones, they stumble in their walk, they hurry to her walls, and the defence is prepared.
6 The river gates have been opened, and the palace is melted.
7 And it is established: she shall be exiled, she shall be led away. And her female servants are moaning as with the voice of doves, beating on their breasts.
8 And Ninewĕh of old was like a pool of water, now they flee away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.
9 Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! There is no limit to the treasure – a wealth of all precious objects.
10 She is empty, even emptiness and waste! And the heart has melted, and the knees have knocked together, and much pain is in all loins, and all their faces have become flushed.
11 Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion, the lioness and the lion’s cub walked, with no one to disturb them?
12 The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey, and his dens with torn prey.
13 “See, I am against you,” declares יהוה of hosts, “and I shall burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword devour your young lions. And I shall cut off your prey from the earth, and no longer is the voice of your messengers heard.”
3 | 1 Woe to the city of blood! All of it is a lie, filled with plunder, the prey is not lacking.
2 The sound of a whip and the sound of rattling wheels, of galloping horses, of jolting chariots,
3 mounted horsemen with bright sword and glittering spear, and many wounded, and a mass of dead bodies, and no end of corpses, they stumble over the corpses –
4 because of the many whorings of the well-favoured whore, the mistress of sorceries, who sells nations by her whorings, and clans by her sorceries.
5 “See, I am against you,” declares יהוה of hosts, “and shall lift up your skirts over your face, and shall show nations your nakedness, and reigns your shame.
6 “And I shall cast abominations upon you, and treat you as foolish, and make a spectacle of you.
7 “And it shall be that all who see you flee from you, and say, ‘Ninewĕh is laid waste! Who does mourn for her?’ Where do I seek comforters for you?”
8 Are you better than No Amon, who dwelt by the Nile-streams, with waters around her, whose rampart was like the sea, whose wall was like the sea?
9 Kush and Mitsrayim were her strength, even unlimited. Put and Luḇim were your helpers.
10 Yet she was exiled, she went into captivity. At the head of every street her young children were dashed to pieces. Lots were cast for her esteemed men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 You too are to become drunk, you are to go into hiding. You too are to seek refuge from the enemy.
12 All your strongholds are fig trees with ripened figs, when shaken they shall fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 See, your people in your midst are women! The gates of your land shall be opened wide to your enemies. Fire shall consume your gate bars.
14 Draw for yourself water for the siege! Strengthen your defences! Go into the clay and tread the mortar, lay hold of the brick mould!
15 There a fire shall consume you, a sword cut you off, eat you up like a locust. Make yourself many like the locust, make yourself many like the swarming locust!
16 You have increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens. The locust shall strip off and fly away.
17 Your officials are like the locusts, and your marshals are like the great grasshoppers, which settle in the hedges on a cold day – when the sun rises they flee away, and the place where they are is unknown.
18 Your shepherds have slumbered, O sovereign of Ashshur, your nobles lie down to rest. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and no one gathers them.
19 Your injury has no healing, your wound is grievous. All who hear news of you shall clap their hands over you. For over whom did your evil not pass continually?
1 Samuel 24-25
24 | 1 And it came to be, when Sha’ul had returned from pursuing the Philistines, that it was reported to him, saying, “See, Dawiḏ is in the Wilderness of Ěn Geḏi.”
2 So Sha’ul took three thousand chosen men from all Yisra’ĕl, and went to seek Dawiḏ and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats.
3 And he came to the sheepfolds, on the way, and there was a cave. And Sha’ul went in to relieve himself. Now Dawiḏ and his men were sitting in the sides of the cave.
4 And the men of Dawiḏ said to him, “See, the day of which יהוה said to you, ‘See, I am giving your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you!’ ” And Dawiḏ arose and gently cut off a corner of Sha’ul’s robe.
5 And it came to be afterward that the heart of Dawiḏ smote him because he had cut the robe of Sha’ul.
6 So he said to his men, “Far be it from me, by יהוה, that I should do this matter to my master, anointed of יהוה, to stretch out my hand against him, for he is the anointed of יהוה.”
7 And Dawiḏ dispersed his servants with words, and did not allow them to rise against Sha’ul. And Sha’ul rose up from the cave and went on his way.
8 And afterward Dawiḏ arose and went out of the cave, and called out to Sha’ul, saying, “My master the sovereign!” And when Sha’ul looked behind him, Dawiḏ bowed with his face to the earth, and did obeisance.
9 And Dawiḏ said to Sha’ul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘See, Dawiḏ seeks to do you evil’?
10 “See, this day your eyes have seen that יהוה gave you today into my hand in the cave, and one said to slay you. But my eye pardoned you, and I said, ‘I do not stretch out my hand against my master, for he is the anointed of יהוה.’
11 “And my father, see! Yea, see the corner of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your robe, and did not slay you, know and see that there is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you, while you are hunting my life to take it.
12 “Let יהוה judge between you and me, and let יהוה revenge me on you, but my hand is not against you.
13 “As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Wrong comes from the wrongdoer.’ But my hand is not against you.
14 “After whom has the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea?
15 “And יהוה shall be judge, and rightly rule between you and me, and see and plead my case, and rightly rule me out of your hand.”
16 And it came to be, when Dawiḏ had ended speaking these words to Sha’ul, that Sha’ul said, “Is this your voice, my son Dawiḏ?” So Sha’ul lifted up his voice and wept.
17 And he said to Dawiḏ, “You are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil.
18 “And you have shown today how you have done good to me, for when יהוה surrendered me into your hand you did not slay me.
19 “For if a man finds his enemy, shall he let him get away safely? And let יהוה reward you with good for what you have done to me today.
20 “And now look, I know that you shall certainly reign, and that the reign of Yisra’ĕl shall be established in your hand.
21 “And now, swear to me by יהוה that you do not cut off my seed after me, nor destroy my name from my father’s house.”
22 And Dawiḏ swore to Sha’ul. Then Sha’ul went home, and Dawiḏ and his men went up to the stronghold.
25 | 1 And Shemu’ĕl died, and all Yisra’ĕl gathered and mourned for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah. And Dawiḏ arose and went down into the Wilderness of Paran.
2 Now there was a man in Ma‛on and his work was in Karmel, and the man was very great. And he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he came to be shearing his sheep in Karmel.
3 And the name of the man was Naḇal, and the name of his wife Aḇig̅ayil. And she was a woman of good understanding and good-looking. But the man was hard and evil in his doings. And he was of Kalĕḇ.
4 And Dawiḏ heard in the wilderness that Naḇal was shearing his sheep.
5 And Dawiḏ sent ten young men, and Dawiḏ said to the young men, “Go up to Karmel, and you shall come to Naḇal, and greet him in my name,
6 and say this, ‘Long life and peace to you! And peace to your house, and peace to all that you have!
7 ‘And now, I have heard that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us. We did not put them to shame, and not a speck of theirs was missing all the days they were in Karmel.
8 ‘Ask your young men, and let them inform you. So let my young men find favour in your eyes, for we come on a good day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son Dawiḏ.’ ”
9 And the young men of Dawiḏ came and spoke to Naḇal according to all these words in the name of Dawiḏ, and waited.
10 But Naḇal answered the servants of Dawiḏ and said, “Who is Dawiḏ, and who is the son of Yishai? The servants who are running away from their masters, have become many nowadays.
11 “And shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?”
12 And the young men of Dawiḏ turned around on their way and went back, and came and reported to him all these words.
13 And Dawiḏ said to his men, “Each one gird on his sword.” So they each girded on his sword, and Dawiḏ also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went with Dawiḏ, and two hundred remained with the baggage.
14 And one of the young men informed Aḇig̅ayil, the wife of Naḇal, saying, “See, Dawiḏ have sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he scoffed at them.
15 “But the men were very good to us, and did not put us to shame, nor did we miss any item all the days we accompanied them, when we were in the fields.
16 “They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the days we were with them tending the sheep.
17 “And now, know and see what you should do, for evil has been resolved against our master, and against all his household, and he is too much of a son of Beliya‛al to speak to.”
18 Then Aḇig̅ayil made haste and took two hundred loaves, and two skins of wine, and five sheep made ready, five measures of roasted grain, and one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys.
19 And she said to her servants, “Pass over before me. See, I am coming after you.” But she did not inform her husband Naḇal.
20 And it came to be, as she rode on the donkey, that she went down under cover of the hill, and there were Dawiḏ and his men, coming down toward her, and she met them.
21 And Dawiḏ had said, “Only in vain have I protected all that this one has in the wilderness, so that not a speck was missing of all that belongs to him. And he has repaid me evil for good.
22 “Let Elohim do so, and more also, to the enemies of Dawiḏ, if I leave one male of all who belong to him by morning light.”
23 And Aḇig̅ayil saw Dawiḏ, and she hastened to come down from the donkey, and fell on her face before Dawiḏ, and bowed down to the ground,
24 and fell at his feet and said, “On me, my master, let this crookedness be on me! And please let your female servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your female servant.
25 “Please, let not my master regard this man of Beliya‛al, Naḇal. For as his name is, so is he: Naḇal is his name, and folly is with him. But I, your female servant, did not see the young men of my master whom you sent.
26 “And now my master, as יהוה lives and as your being lives, since יהוה has withheld you from coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now then, let your enemies be as Naḇal, even those seeking evil against my master.
27 “And now this present which your female servant has brought to my master, let it be given to the young men who follow my master.
28 “Please forgive the transgression of your female servant. For יהוה is certainly making a steadfast house for my master, because my master fights the battles of יהוה, and evil is not found in you in all your days.
29 “And if a man rises to pursue you and seek your life, and the life of my master has been bound in the bundle of the living with יהוה your Elohim, then the lives of your enemies He shall sling out, as from the pocket of a sling.
30 “And it shall be, when יהוה has done for my master according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over Yisra’ĕl,
31 do not let this be a staggering and stumbling of heart to my master, that you have shed blood without cause, or that my master has saved himself. And when יהוה has done good to my master, then remember your female servant.”
32 And Dawiḏ said to Aḇig̅ayil, “Blessed be יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, who sent you to meet me today!
33 “And blessed is your good taste, and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand.
34 “Nevertheless, as יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl lives, who has kept me back from doing evil to you, if you had not hurried and come to meet me, not a male would have been left to Naḇal by break of day, for certain.”
35 And Dawiḏ received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have listened to your voice and have accepted your face.”
36 And Aḇig̅ayil went to Naḇal, and see, he was at a feast in his house, like the feast of a sovereign. And Naḇal’s heart was glad within him, and he was exceedingly drunk. So she told him not a word, little or much, until morning light.
37 And it came to be, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Naḇal, and his wife had told him these matters, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone.
38 And it came to be in about ten days, that יהוה smote Naḇal, and he died.
39 And Dawiḏ heard that Naḇal was dead, and he said, “Blessed be יהוה, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Naḇal, and has kept His servant from evil! For יהוה has returned the evil of Naḇal on his own head.” And Dawiḏ sent and spoke to Aḇig̅ayil, to take her as his wife.
40 And when the servants of Dawiḏ had come to Aḇig̅ayil at Karmel, they spoke to her saying, “Dawiḏ sent us to you, to ask you to become his wife.”
41 And she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, “Here is your female servant, a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my master.”
42 And Aḇig̅ayil hurried and rose, and rode on a donkey, with five of her female attendants. And she followed the messengers of Dawiḏ, and became his wife.
43 Dawiḏ had also taken Aḥino‛am of Yizre‛ĕl, and so both of them were his wives.
44 But Sha’ul had given Miḵal his daughter, Dawiḏ’s wife, to Palti son of Layish, who was from Galliym.
EPHESIANS 3-4
3 | 1 Because of this I, Sha’ul, am the prisoner of יהושע Messiah on behalf of you gentiles –
2 if indeed you have heard of the administration of the favour of Elohim that was given to me for you,
3 that by revelation was made known to me the secret, as I wrote before briefly.
4 In reading this, then, you are able to understand my insight into the secret of Messiah,
5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His set-apart emissaries and prophets:
6 The gentiles to be co-heirs, united in the same body, and partakers togethera in the promise in Messiah through the Good News,
7 of which I became a servant according to the gift of the favour of Elohim given to me, according to the working of His power.
8 To me, the very least of all the set-apart ones, this favour was given, to bring the Good News of the unsearchable riches of Messiah among the gentiles,
9 and to make all see how this secret is administered, which for ages past has been hidden in Elohim who created all through יהושע Messiah,a
10 so that now, through the assembly, the many-sided wisdom of Elohim might be known to the principalities and authorities in the heavenlies,
11 according to the everlasting purpose which He made in Messiah יהושע our Master,
12 in whom we have boldness and access, with reliance, through belief in Him.
13 I pray therefore, that you do not lose heart at my pressures on your behalf, which is your esteem.
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Master יהושע Messiah,
15 from whom all fatherhooda in the heavens and earth is named,
16 in order that He might give you, according to the riches of His esteem by power, to be strengthened in the inner man, through His Spirit,
17 that the Messiah might dwell in your heartsa through belief – having become rooted and grounded in love,
18 in order that you might be strengthened to firmly grasp, with all the set-apart ones, what is the width and length and depth and height,
19 to know the love of Messiah which surpasses knowledge, in order that you might be filled to all the completeness of Elohim.
20 And to Him who is able to do exceedingly above what we ask or think, according to the power that is working in us,
21 to Him be esteem in the assembly by Messiah יהושע unto all generations, for ever and ever. Amĕn.
4 | 1 I call upon you therefore, I the prisoner of the Master, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all humility and meekness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
3 being eager to guard the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace –
4 one body and one Spirit, as you also were called in one expectation of your calling,
5 one Master, one belief, one immersion,
6 one Elohim and Father of all,a who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
7 But to each one of us favour was given according to the measure of the gift of Messiah.
8 That is why it says, “When He went up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”
9 But what does “He went up” mean, except that He also first went down into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who went down is also the One who went up far above all the heavens, to fill all.
11 And He Himself gave some as emissaries, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as shepherds and teachers
12 for the perfecting of the set-apart ones, to the work of service to a building up of the body of the Messiah,
13 until we all come to the unity of the belief and of the knowledge of the Son of Elohim, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the completeness of Messiah,
14 so that we should no longer be children, tossed and borne about by every wind of teaching, by the trickery of men, in cleverness, unto the craftiness of leading astray,a
15 but, maintaining the truth in love, we grow up in all respects into Him who is the head, Messiah,
16 from whom the entire body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the working by which each part does its share, causes growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
17 So this I say, and witness in the Master, that you should no longer walk as the gentiles walk,a in the futility of their mind,
18 having been darkened in their understanding, having been estranged from the life of Elohim, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart,
19 who, having become callous, have given themselves up to indecency, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But you have not so learned Messiah,
21 if indeed you have heard Him and were taught by Him, as truth is in יהושע:
22 that you put off – with regard to your former way of life – the old man, being corrupted according to the desires of the deceit,
23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and that you put on the renewed mana which was created according to Elohim, in righteousness and set-apartness of the truth.
25 Therefore, having put off the false, speak truth, each one with his neighbour, for we are members of one another.
26 “Be wroth, but do not sin.” Do not let the sun go down on your rage,
27 nor give place to the devil.
28 Let him who stole steal no more, but rather let him labour, working with his hands what is good, so that he has somewhat to share with those in need.
29 Let no corrupt word come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for the use of building up, so as to impart what is pleasant to the hearers.
30 And do not grieve the Set-apart Spirit of Elohim, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and displeasure, and uproar, and slander be put away from you, along with all evil.
32 And be kind towards one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as Elohim also forgave you in Messiah.
Job 38
38 | 1 Then יהוה answered Iyoḇ out of the whirlwind, and said,
2 “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Now gird up your loins like a man, and I ask you, and you answer Me.
4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.
5 Who set its measurements, if you know? Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 Upon what were its foundations sunk? Or who laid its corner-stone,
7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of Elohim shouted for joy?
8 Or who enclosed the sea with doors, when it burst forth and came from the womb;
9 when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band;
10 and assigned for it My law, and set bars and doors;
11 and said, ‘This far you have come, but no farther, and here your proud waves stop?’
12 Have you ever commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place,
13 to take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wrong be shaken out of it?
14 It is changed like clay under a seal, and they stand out like a garment.
15 And their light is withheld from the wrong, and the arm lifted up is broken.
16 Have you come to the sources of the sea? Or have you walked about in the recesses of the deep?
17 Were the gates of death revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
18 Have you understood the breadth of the earth? Declare, if you know it all.
19 Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,
20 that you should take it to its boundary, and know the paths to its home?
21 Do you know? For you would have been born then, and the number of your days been many!
22 Have you entered into the storehouses of snow, or have you seen the storehouses of hail,
23 which I have kept for the time of distress, for the day of fighting and battle?
24 Where is the way that light is divided, or the east wind scattered over the earth?
25 Who has cleft a channel for the overflowing water, or a way for the thunderclaps,
26 to make rain fall on land where no one is, a wilderness in which there is no man;
27 to satisfy the wild and waste places, and to make the seeds of grass to sprout?
28 Does the rain have a father? Or who has brought forth the drops of dew?
29 From whose belly comes the ice? And who gave birth to the frost of the heavens?
30 The waters harden like stone, and the surface of the deep is frozen.
31 Do you bind the bands of Kimah, or loosen the cords of Kesil?
32 Do you bring out the constellations in its season? Or do you lead the Bear with its sons?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Or do you set their rule over the earth?
34 Do you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that floods of water cover you?
35 Do you send out lightnings, and they go and say to you, ‘Here we are!’?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the heart?
37 Who has wisdom to count the clouds, or to tip over the bottles of the heavens,
38 when the dust hardens in clumps, and the clods cling together?
39 Do you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in dens, sit in the cover of their hiding place?
41 Who provides food for the raven, when its young ones cry to Ěl, and wander about without food?
2 Baruk 49-53
(CEPHER TRANSLATION)
49| 1NEVERTHELESS, I will again ask from you, O EL ELOHIYM, yea, I will ask mercy from him who made all things.
2 In what shape will those live who live in your day? Or how will the splendour of those who are after that time continue?
3 Will they then resume this form of the present and put on these entrammelling members which are now involved in evils and in which evils are consummated or will you perchance change these things which have been in the world as also the world?
50 | 1 AND he answered and said unto me: Hear Baruk this word, and write in the remembrance of your heart all that you shall learn.
2 For the earth shall then assuredly restore the dead, which it now receives, in order to preserve them. It shall make no change in their form, but as it has received so shall it restore them, and as I delivered them unto it, so also shall it raise them.
3 For then it will be necessary to show to the living that the dead have come to life again, and that those who had departed have returned again.
4 And it shall come to pass when they have severally recognized those whom they now know, then judgment shall grow strong, and those things which before were spoken of shall come.
51 | 1 AND it shall come to pass, when that appointed day has gone by that then shall the aspect of those who are condemned be afterwards changed, and the glory of those who are justified.
2 For the aspect of those who now act wickedly shall become worse than it is, as they shall suffer torment.
3 Also as for the glory of those who have now been justified in my Torah, who have had understanding in their life, and who have planted in their heart the root of wisdom, then their splendour shall be glorified in changes, and the form of their face shall be turned into the light of their beauty, that they may be able to acquire and receive the world which does not die, which is then promised to them.
4 For over this above all shall those who come then lament that they rejected my Torah and stopped their ears that they might not hear wisdom or receive understanding.
5 When therefore they see those, over whom they are now exalted, but who shall then be exalted and glorified more than they, they shall respectively be transformed the latter into the splendour of angels, and the former shall yet more waste away in wonder at the visions and in the beholding of the forms.
6 For they shall first behold and afterwards depart to be tormented.
7 But those who have been saved by their works and to whom the Torah has been now a hope and understanding an expectation and wisdom a confidence shall wonders appear in their time.
8 For they shall behold the world which is now invisible to them and they shall behold the time which is now hidden from them:
9 And time shall no longer age them.
10 For in the heights of that world shall they dwell and they shall be made like unto the angels and be made equal to the stars, and they shall be changed into every form they desire, from beauty into loveliness, and from light into the splendour of glory.
11 For there shall be spread before them the extents of Paradise, and there shall be shown to them the beauty of the majesty of the living creatures which are beneath the throne and all the armies of the angels who are now held fast by my word, lest they should appear, and are held fast by a command, that they may stand in their places till their advent comes.
12 Moreover, there shall then be excellency in the righteous surpassing that in the angels.
13 For the first shall receive the last, those whom they were expecting, and the last those of whom they used to hear that they had passed away.
14 For they have been delivered from this world of tribulation and laid down the burden of anguish.
15 For what then have men lost their life and for what have those who were on the earth exchanged their soul?
16 For then they chose not for themselves this time which beyond the reach of anguish could not pass away: but they chose for themselves that time whose issues are full of lamentations and evils; and they denied the world which ages not those who come to it; and they rejected the time of glory so that they shall not come to the honour of which I told you before.
52 | 1 AND I answered and said: How can we forget those for whom woe is then reserved?
2 And why therefore do we again mourn for those who die? Or why do we weep for those who depart to She’ol?
3 Let lamentations be reserved for the beginning of that coming torment and let tears be laid up for the advent of the destruction of that time.
4 But even in the face of these things will I speak and as for the righteous what will they do now?
5 Rejoice ye in the suffering which ye now suffer: for why do ye look for the decline of your enemies?
6 Make ready your soul for that which is reserved for you and prepare your souls for the reward which is laid up for you.
53 | 1AND when I had said these things I fell asleep there and I saw a vision and lo! a cloud was ascending from a very great sea, and I kept gazing upon it, and lo! it was full of waters white and black, and there were many colours in those selfsame waters, and as it were the likeness of great lightning was seen at its summit.
2 And I saw the cloud passing swiftly in quick courses, and it covered all the earth.
3 And it came to pass after these things that cloud began to pour upon the earth the waters that were in it.
4 And I saw that there was not one and the same likeness in the waters which descended from it.
5 For in the first beginning they were black and many for a time, and afterwards I saw that the waters became bright, but they were not many, and after these things again I saw black waters, and after these things again bright, and again black and again bright how this was done twelve times, but the black were always more numerous than the bright.
6 And it came to pass at the end of the cloud, that lo! It rained black waters, and they were darker than had been all those waters that were before, and fire was mingled with them, and where those waters descended, they wrought devastation and destruction.
7 And after these things I saw how that lightning which I had seen on the summit of the cloud, seized hold of it and hurled it to the earth.
8 Now that lightning shone exceedingly so as to illuminate the whole earth and it healed those regions where the last waters had descended and wrought devastation.
9 And it took hold of the whole earth, and had dominion over it.
10 And I saw after these things, and lo! twelve rivers were ascending from the sea, and they began to surround that lightning and to become subject to it.
11 And by reason of my fear I awoke.
Thank you for joining us as we read through the entire WORD of GOD! As for me and My House, we will serve the LORD.
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