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Lamentations - Daniel


LAMENTATIONS
THE
LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAS.

And it came to pass, after Israel was carried into captivity, and Jerusalem was desolate, that Jeremias, the prophet, sat weeping, and mourned with this lamentation over Jerusalem; and with a sorrowful mind, sighing and moaning, he said:

LAMENTATIONS 1
CHAPTER I.

1 Aleph.  How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people? how is the mistress of nations become as a widow; the princess of provinces made tributary?
2 Beth.  *Weeping, she hath wept in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: there is none to comfort her among all them that were dear to her: all her friends have despised her, and are become her enemies.
3 Ghimel.  Juda hath removed her dwelling-place, because of her affliction, and the greatness of her bondage; she hath dwelt among the nations, and she hath found no rest; all her persecutors have taken her in the midst of straits.
4 Daleth.  The ways of Sion mourn, because there are none that come to the solemn feast: all her gates are broken down; her priests sigh; her virgins are in affliction; and she is oppressed with bitterness.
5 He.  Her adversaries are become her lords; her enemies are enriched; because the Lord hath spoken against her for the multitude of her iniquities; her children are led into captivity, before the face of the oppressor.
6 Vau.  And from the daughter of Sion, all her beauty is departed; her princes are become like rams, that find no pastures; and they are gone away without strength before the face of the pursuer.
7 Zain.  Jerusalem hath remembered the days of her affliction, and prevarication of all her desirable things which she had from the days of old, when her people fell in the enemy's hand, and there was no helper; the enemies have seen her, and have mocked at her sabbaths.
8 Heth.  Jerusalem hath grievously sinned, therefore is she become unstable; all that honoured her, have despised her, because they have seen her shame; but she sighed, and turned backward.
9 Teth.  Her filthiness is on her feet, and she hath not remembered her end; she is wonderfully cast down, not having a comforter: behold, O Lord, my affliction, because the enemy is lifted up.
10 Jod.  The enemy hath put out his hand to all her desirable things; for she hath seen the Gentiles enter into her sanctuary, of whom thou gavest commandment that they should not enter into thy church.
11 Caph.  All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given all their precious things for food to relieve the soul: see, O Lord, and consider, for I am become vile.
12 Lamed.  O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow; for he hath made a vintage of me, as the Lord spoke in the day of his fierce anger.
13 Mem.  From above he hath sent fire into my bones, and hath chastised me; he hath spread a net for my feet; he hath turned me back; he hath made me desolate, wasted with sorrow all the day long.
14 Nun.  The yoke of my iniquities hath watched; they are folded together in his hand, and put upon my neck; my strength is weakened; the Lord hath delivered me into a hand, out of which I am not able to rise.
15 Samech.  The Lord hath taken away all my mighty men out of the midst of me; he hath called against me the time, to destroy my chosen men; the Lord hath trodden the wine-press for the virgin daughter of Juda.
16 Ain.  *Therefore do I weep, and my eyes run down with water, because the comforter, the relief of my soul, is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed.
17 Phe.  Sion hath spread forth her hands, there is none to comfort her: the Lord hath commanded against Jacob, his enemies are round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.
18 Sade.  The Lord is just, for I have provoked his mouth to wrath; hear, I pray you, all ye people, and see my sorrow: my virgins, and my young men are gone into captivity.
19 Coph.  I called for my friends, but they deceived me: my priests and my ancients pined away in the city, while they sought their food, to relieve their souls.
20 Res.  Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress, my bowels are troubled; my heart is turned within me, for I am full of bitterness: abroad the sword destroyeth, and at home there is death alike.
21 Sin.  They have heard that I sigh, and there is none to comfort me; all my enemies have heard of my evil, they have rejoiced that thou hast done it: thou hast brought a day of consolation, and they shall be like unto me.
22 Thau.  Let all their evil be present before thee; and make vintage of them, as thou hast made vintage of me for all my iniquities: for my sighs are many, and my heart is sorrowful.
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*
2:  Jer. xiii. 17.
16:  Jer. xiv. 17.
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LAMENTATIONS 2
CHAPTER II.

1 Aleph.  How hath the Lord covered with obscurity the daughter of Sion in his wrath! how hath he cast down from heaven to the earth the glorious one of Israel, and hath not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.
2 Beth.  The Lord hath cast down headlong, and hath not spared all that was beautiful in Jacob: he hath destroyed in his wrath the strong holds of the virgin of Juda, and brought them down to the ground: he hath made the kingdom unclean, and the princes thereof.
3 Ghimel.  He hath broken, in his fierce anger, all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he hath kindled in Jacob as it were a flaming fire, devouring round about.
4 Daleth.  He hath bent his bow as an enemy; he hath fixed his right hand as an adversary; and he hath killed all that was fair to behold in the tabernacle of the daughter of Sion; he hath poured out his indignation like fire.
5 He.  The Lord is become as an enemy: he hath cast down Israel headlong, he hath overthrown all the walls thereof: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath multiplied in the daughter of Juda the afflicted, both men and women.
6 Vau.  And he hath destroyed his tent as a garden, he hath thrown down his tabernacle: the Lord hath caused feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Sion: and hath delivered up king and priest to reproach, and to the indignation of his wrath.
7 Zain.  The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath cursed his sanctuary: he hath delivered the walls of the towers thereof into the hand of the enemy: they have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in the day of a solemn feast.
8 Heth.  The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Sion: he hath stretched out his line, and hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: and the bulwark hath mourned, and the wall hath been destroyed together.
9 Teth.  Her gates are sunk into the ground: he hath destroyed, and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more, and her prophets have found no vision from the Lord.
10 Jod.  The ancients of the daughter of Sion sit upon the ground, they have held their peace: they have sprinkled their heads with dust, they are girded with haircloth, the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.
11 Caph.  My eyes have failed with weeping, my bowels are troubled: my liver is poured out upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people, when the children, and the sucklings, fainted away in the streets of the city.
12 Lamed.  They said to their mothers: Where is corn and wine? when they fainted away, as the wounded in the streets of the city: when they breathed out their souls in the bosoms of their mothers.
13 Mem.  To what shall I compare thee? or to what shall I liken thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? to what shall I equal thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Sion? for great as the sea is thy destruction: who shall heal thee?
14 Nun.  Thy prophets have seen false and foolish things for thee: and they have not laid open thy iniquity, to excite thee to penance: but they have seen for thee false revelations and banishments.
15 Samech.  All they that passed by the way have clapped their hands at thee: they have hissed, and wagged their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying: Is this the city of perfect beauty, the joy of all the earth?
16 Phe.  All thy enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they have hissed, and gnashed with the teeth, and have said: We will swallow her up: lo, this is the day which we looked for: we have found it, we have seen it.
17 *Ain.  The Lord hath done that which he purposed, he hath fulfilled his word, which he commanded in the days of old: he hath destroyed, and hath not spared, and he hath caused the enemy to rejoice over thee, and hath set up the horn of thy adversaries.
18 Sade.  Their heart cried to the Lord upon the walls of the daughter of Sion: *Let tears run down like a torrent day and night: give thyself no rest, and let not the apple of thy eye cease.
19 Coph.  Arise, give praise in the night, in the beginning of the watches: pour out thy heart like water, before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands to him for the life of thy little children, that have fainted for hunger at the top of all the streets.
20 Res.  Behold, O Lord, and consider whom thou hast thus dealt with: shall women then eat their own fruit, their children of a span long: shall the priest, and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 Sin.  The child and the old man lie without on the ground: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword: thou hast slain them in the day of thy wrath: thou hast killed, and shewn them no pity.
22 Thau.  Thou hast called, as to a festival, those that should terrify me round about, and there was none in the day of the wrath of the Lord that escaped and was left: those that I brought up, and nourished, my enemy hath consumed them.
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*
17:  Lev. xxvi. 14.; Deut. xxviii. 15.
18:  Jer. xiv. 17.; Supra i. 16.
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LAMENTATIONS 3
CHAPTER III.

1 Aleph.  I am the man that see my poverty by the rod of his indignation.
2 Aleph.  He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, and not into light.
3 Aleph.  Only against me he hath turned, and turned again his hand all the day.
4 Beth.  My skin and my flesh he hath made old, he hath broken my bones.
5 Beth.  He hath built round about me, and he hath compassed me with gall, and labour.
6 Beth.  He hath set me in dark places, as those that are dead for ever.
7 Ghimel.  He hath built against me round about, that I may not get out: he hath made my fetters heavy.
8 Ghimel.  Yea, and when I cry, and entreat, he hath shut out my prayer.
9 Ghimel.  He hath shut up my ways with square stones, he hath turned my paths upside down.
10 Daleth.  He is become to me as a bear lying in wait: as a lion in secret places.
11 Daleth.  He hath turned aside my paths, and hath broken me in pieces, he hath made me desolate.
12 Daleth.  He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for his arrows.
13 He.  He hath shot into my reins the daughters of his quiver.
14 He.  I am made a derision to all my people, their song all the day long.
15 He.  He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath inebriated me with wormwood.
16 Vau.  And he hath broken my teeth one by one, he hath fed me with ashes.
17 Vau.  And my soul is removed far off from peace, I have forgotten good things.
18 Vau.  And I said: My end, and my hope is perished from the Lord.
19 Zain.  Remember my poverty, and transgression, the wormwood and the gall.
20 Zain.  I will be mindful, and remember, and my soul shall languish within me.
21 Zain.  These things I shall think over in my heart, therefore will I hope.
22 Heth.  The mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed: because his commiserations have not failed.
23 Heth.  They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness.
24 Heth.  The Lord is my portion, said my soul: therefore will I wait for him.
25 Teth.  The Lord is good to them that hope in him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26 Teth.  It is good to wait with silence for the salvation of God.
27 Teth.  It is good for a man, when he hath borne the yoke from his youth.
28 Jod.  He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace: because he hath taken it up upon himself.
29 Jod.  He shall put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.
30 Jod.  He shall give his cheek to him that striketh him, he shall be filled with reproaches.
31 Caph.  For the Lord will not cast off for ever.
32 Caph.  For if he hath cast off, he will also have mercy, according to the multitude of his mercies.
33 Caph.  For he hath not willingly afflicted, nor cast off the children of men.
34 Lamed.  To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the land,
35 Lamed.  To turn aside the judgment of a man before the face of the most High,
36 Lamed.  To destroy a man wrongfully in his judgment, the Lord hath not approved.
37 *Mem.  Who is he that hath commanded a thing to be done, when the Lord commandeth it not?
38 Mem.  Shall not both evil and good proceed out of the mouth of the Highest?
39 Mem.  Why hath a living man murmured, man suffering for his sins?
40 Nun.  Let us search our ways, and seek, and return to the Lord.
41 Nun.  Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens.
42 Nun.  We have done wickedly, and provoked thee to wrath: therefore thou art inexorable.
43 Samech.  Thou hast covered in thy wrath, and hast struck us: thou hast killed, and hast not spared.
44 Samech.  Thou hast set a cloud before thee, that our prayer may not pass through.
45 Samech.  Thou hast made me as an outcast, and refuse, in the midst of the people.
46 Phe.  All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
47 Phe.  Prophecy is become to us a fear, and a snare, and destruction.
48 Phe.  My eye hath run down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 Ain.  My eye is afflicted, and hath not been quiet, because there was no rest:
50 Ain.  Till the Lord regarded, and looked down from the heavens.
51 Ain.  My eye hath wasted my soul, because of all the daughters of my city.
52 Sade.  My enemies have chased me, and caught me like a bird, without cause.
53 Sade.  My life is fallen into the pit, and they have laid a stone over me.
54 Sade.  Waters have flowed over my head: I said: I am cut off.
55 Coph.  I have called upon thy name, O Lord, from the lowest pit.
56 Coph.  Thou hast heard my voice: turn not away thy ear from my sighs, and cries.
57 Coph.  Thou drewest near in the day, when I called upon thee: thou saidst: Fear not.
58 Res.  Thou hast judged, O Lord, the cause of my soul, thou the Redeemer of my life.
59 Res.  Thou hast seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me, judge thou my judgment.
60 Res.  Thou hast seen all their fury, and all their thoughts against me.
61 Sin.  Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, all their imaginations against me.
62 Sin.  The lips of them that rise up against me: and their devices against me all the day.
63 Sin.  Behold, their sitting down, and their rising up, I am their song.
64 Thau.  Thou shalt render them a recompense, O Lord, according to the works of their hands.
65 Thau.  Thou shalt give them a buckler of heart, thy labour.
66 Thau.  Thou shalt persecute them in anger, and shalt destroy them from under the heavens, O Lord.
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*
37:  Amos iii. 6.
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LAMENTATIONS 4
CHAPTER IV.

1 Aleph.  How is the gold become dim, the finest colour is changed, the stones of the sanctuary are scattered in the top of every street?
2 Beth.  The noble sons of Sion, and they that were clothed with the best gold: how are they esteemed as earthen vessels, the work of the potter's hands?
3 Ghimel.  Even the sea monsters have drawn out the breast, they have given suck to their young, the daughter of my people is cruel, like the ostrich of the desert.
4 Daleth.  The tongue of the sucking child hath stuck to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the little ones have asked for bread, and there was none to break it unto them.
5 He.  They that were fed delicately have died in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet, have embraced the dung.
6 Vau.  And the iniquity of the daughter of my people is made greater than the sin of Sodom, *which was overthrown in a moment, and hands took nothing in her.
7 Zain.  Her Nazarites were whiter than snow, purer than milk, more ruddy than the old ivory, fairer than the sapphire.
8 Heth.  Their face is now made blacker than coals, and they are not known in the streets: their skin hath stuck to their bones, it is withered, and is become like wood.
9 Teth.  It was better with them that were slain by the sword, than with them that died with hunger: for these pined away, being consumed for want of the fruits of the earth.
10 Jod.  The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 Caph.  The Lord hath accomplished his wrath, he hath poured out his fierce anger; and he hath kindled a fire in Sion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.
12 Lamed.  The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world would not have believed, that the adversary and the enemy should enter in by the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Mem.  For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her.
14 Nun.  They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they were defiled with blood: and when they could not help walking in it, they held up their skirts.
15 Samech.  Depart, you that are defiled, they cried out to them: Depart, get ye hence, touch not: for they quarrelled, and being removed, they said among the Gentiles: He will no more dwell among them.
16 Phe.  The face of the Lord hath divided them, he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, neither had they pity on the ancients.
17 Ain.  While we were yet standing, our eyes failed, expecting help for us in vain, when we looked attentively towards a nation that was not able to save.
18 Sade.  Our steps have slipped in the way of our streets, our end draweth near: our days are fulfilled, for our end is come.
19 Coph.  Our persecutors were swifter than the eagles of the air: they pursued us upon the mountains, they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
20 Res.  The breath of our mouth, Christ the Lord, is taken in our sins: to whom we said: Under thy shadow we shall live among the Gentiles.
21 Sin.  Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Hus: to thee also shall the cup come, thou shalt be made drunk, and naked.
22 Thau.  Thy iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Sion, he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he visited thy iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he hath discovered thy sins.
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*
6:  Gen. xix. 4.
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LAMENTATIONS 5
CHAPTER V.

THE PRAYER OF JEREMIAS, THE PROPHET.

1 Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider and behold our reproach.
2 Our inheritance is turned to aliens: our houses to strangers.
3 We are become orphans without a father: our mothers are as widows.
4 We have drunk our water for money: we have bought our wood.
5 We were dragged by the necks, we were weary, and no rest was given us.
6 We have given our hand to Egypt, and to the Assyrians, that we might be satisfied with bread.
7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not: and we have borne their iniquities.
8 Servants have ruled over us: there was none to redeem us out of their hand.
9 We fetched our bread at the peril of our lives, because of the sword in the desert.
10 Our skin was burnt as an oven, by reason of the violence of the famine.
11 They oppressed the women in Sion, and the virgins in the cities of Juda.
12 The princes were hanged up by their hand: they did not respect the persons of the ancients.
13 They abused the young men indecently: and the children fell under the wood.
14 The ancients have ceased from the gates: the young men from the choir of the singers.
15 The joy of our heart is ceased, our dancing is turned into mourning.
16 The crown is fallen from our head: woe to us, because we have sinned.
17 Therefore is our heart sorrowful, therefore are our eyes become dim.
18 For Mount Sion, because it is destroyed, foxes have walked upon it.
19 But thou, O Lord, shalt remain for ever, thy throne from generation to generation.
20 Why wilt thou forget us for ever? why wilt thou forsake us for a long time?
21 Convert us, O Lord, to thee, and we shall be converted: renew our days, as from the beginning.
22 But thou hast utterly rejected us, thou art exceedingly angry against us.
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BARUCH
THE PROPHECY OF BARUCH.

BARUCH 1
CHAPTER I.

The Jews of Babylon send the book of Baruch, with money, to Jerusalem, requesting their brethren there to offer sacrifice, and to pray for the king and for them, acknowledging their manifold sins.

1 And *these are the words of the book, which Baruch, the son of Nerias, the son of Maasias, the son of Sedecias, the son of Sedei, the son of Helcias, wrote in Babylonia.
2 In the fifth year, in the seventh day of the month, at the time that the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and burnt it with fire.
3 And Baruch read the words of this book in the hearing of Jechonias, the son of Joakim, king of Juda, and in the hearing of all the people that came to hear the book.
4 And in the hearing of the nobles, the sons of the kings, and in the hearing of the ancients, and in the hearing of the people, from the least even to the greatest of them, that dwelt in Babylonia, by the river Sodi.
5 And when they heard it they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the Lord.
6 And they made a collection of money, according to every man's power.
7 And they sent it to Jerusalem, to Joakim, the priest, the son of Helcias, the son of Salom, and to the priests, and to all the people, that were found with him in Jerusalem:
8 At the time when he received the vessels of the temple of the Lord, which had been taken away out of the temple, to return them into the land of Juda, the tenth day of the month Sivan, the silver vessels, which Sedecias, the son of Josias, king of Juda, had made.
9 After that, Nabuchodonosor, the king of Babylon, had carried away Jechonias, and the princes, and all the powerful men, and the people of the land from Jerusalem, and brought them bound to Babylon.
10 And they said: Behold we have sent you money, buy with it holocausts, and frankincense, and make meat-offerings, and offerings for sin at the altar of the Lord our God:
11 And pray ye for the life of Nabuchodonosor, the king of Babylon, and for the life of Baltasaar, his son, that their days may be upon earth as the days of heaven:
12 And that the Lord may give us strength, and enlighten our eyes, that we may live under the shadow of Nabuchodonosor, the king of Babylon, and under the shadow of Baltasaar, his son, and may serve them many days, and may find favour in their sight.
13 And pray ye for us to the Lord our God: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, and his wrath is not turned away from us even to this day.
14 And read ye this book, which we have sent to you to be read in the temple of the Lord, on feasts, and proper days.
15 *And you shall say: To the Lord our God belongeth justice, but to us confusion of our face: as it is come to pass at this day to all Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
16 To our kings, and to our princes, and to our priests, and to our prophets, and to our fathers.
17 *We have sinned before the Lord our God, and have not believed him, nor put our trust in him:
18 And we were not obedient to him, and we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his commandments which he hath given us.
19 From the day that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, we were disobedient to the Lord our God: and going astray we turned away from hearing his voice.
20 *And many evils have cleaved to us, and the curses which the Lord foretold by Moses, his servant: who brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.
21 And we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God, according to all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us:
22 And we have gone away every man after the inclinations of his own wicked heart, to serve strange gods, and to do evil in the sight of the Lord our God.
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*
1:  A.M. circiter 3404, A.C. 600.
15:  Infra ii. 6.
17:  Dan. ix. 5.
20:  Deut. xxviii. 15.
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BARUCH 2
CHAPTER II.

A further confession of the sins of the people, and of the justice of God.

1 Wherefore the Lord our God hath made good his word, that he spoke to us, and to our judges that have judged Israel, and to our kings, and to our princes, and to all Israel and Juda:
2 That the Lord would bring upon us great evils, such as never happened under heaven, as they have come to pass in Jerusalem, *according to the things that are written in the law of Moses:
3 That a man should eat the flesh of his own son, and the flesh of his own daughter.
4 And he hath delivered them up to be under the hand of all the kings that are round about us, to be a reproach, and desolation among all the people, among whom the Lord hath scattered us.
5 And we are brought under, and are not uppermost: because we have sinned against the Lord our God, by not obeying his voice.
6 *To the Lord our God belongeth justice: but to us, and to our fathers, confusion of face, as at this day.
7 For the Lord hath pronounced against us all these evils that are come upon us:
8 And we have not entreated the face of the Lord our God, that we might return every one of us from our most wicked ways.
9 And the Lord hath watched over us for evil, and hath brought it upon us: for the Lord is just in all his works which he hath commanded us:
10 And we have not hearkened to his voice, to walk in the commandments of the Lord, which he hath set before us.
11 *And now, O Lord God of Israel, who hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and with signs, and with wonders, and with thy great power, and with a mighty arm, and hast made thee a name as at this day,
12 We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we have acted unjustly, O Lord our God, against all thy justices.
13 Let thy wrath be turned away from us: for we are left a few among the nations, where thou hast scattered us.
14 Hear, O Lord, our prayers, and our petitions, and deliver us for thy own sake: and grant that we may find favour in the sight of them that have led us away.
15 That all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, and that thy name is called upon Israel, and upon his posterity.
16 *Look down upon us, O Lord, from thy holy house, and incline thy ear, and hear us.
17 *Open thy eyes, and behold: **for the dead that are in hell, whose spirit is taken away from their bowels, shall not give glory and justice to the Lord:
18 But the soul that is sorrowful for the greatness of evil she hath done, and goeth bowed down, and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul giveth glory and justice to thee, the Lord.
19 For it is not for the justices of our fathers that we pour out our prayers, and beg mercy in thy sight, O Lord our God.
20 But because thou hast sent out thy wrath, and thy indignation upon us, as thou hast spoken by the hand of thy servants, the prophets, saying:
21 Thus saith the Lord: Bow down your shoulder, and your neck, and serve the king of Babylon: and you shall remain in the land which I have given to your fathers.
22 But if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, to serve the king of Babylon: I will cause you to depart out of the cities of Juda, and from without Jerusalem.
23 And I will take away from you the voice of mirth, and the voice of joy, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, and all the land shall be without any footstep of inhabitants.
24 And they hearkened not to thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon: and thou hast made good thy words, which thou spokest by the hands of thy servants, the prophets, that the bones of our kings, and the bones of our fathers, should be removed out of their place:
25 And behold they are cast out to the heat of the sun, and to the frost of the night: and they have died in grievous pains, by famine, and by the sword, and in banishment.
26 And thou hast made the temple, in which thy name was called upon, as it is at this day, for the iniquity of the house of Israel, and of the house of Juda.
27 And thou hast dealt with us, O Lord our God, according to all thy goodness, and according to all that great mercy of thine:
28 As thou spokest by the hand of thy servant, Moses, in the day when thou didst command him to write thy law before the children of Israel,
29 Saying: *If you will not hear my voice, this great multitude shall be turned into a very small number among the nations, where I will scatter them:
30 For I know that the people will not hear me, for they are a people of a stiff neck: but they shall turn to their heart in the land of their captivity:
31 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God: and I will give them a heart, and they shall understand: and ears, and they shall hear.
32 And they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and shall be mindful of my name.
33 And they shall turn away themselves from their stiff neck, and from their wicked deeds: for they shall remember the way of their fathers, that sinned against me.
34 And I will bring them back again into the land which I promised with an oath to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they shall be masters thereof: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be diminished.
35 And I will make with them another covenant that shall be everlasting, to be their God, and they shall be my people: and I will no more remove my people, the children of Israel, out of the land that I have given them.
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*
2:  Deut. xxviii. 53.
6:  Supra i. 15.
11:  Dan. ix. 15.
16:  Deut. xxvi. 15.; Isa. lxiii. 15.
17:  Isa. xxxvii. 17. and lxiv. 9. --- ** Ps. cxiii. 17.
29:  Lev. xxvi. 14.; Deut. xxviii. 15.
====================

BARUCH 3
CHAPTER III.

They pray for mercy, acknowledging that they are justly punished for forsaking true wisdom.  A prophecy of Christ.

1 And now, O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, the soul in anguish, and the troubled spirit, crieth to thee:
2 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for thou art a merciful God, and have pity on us: for we have sinned before thee.
3 For thou remainest for ever, and shall we perish everlastingly?
4 O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead of Israel, and of their children, that have sinned before thee, and have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord their God, wherefore evils have cleaved fast to us.
5 Remember not the iniquities of our fathers, but think upon thy hand, and upon thy name at this time:
6 For thou art the Lord our God, and we will praise thee, O Lord:
7 Because for this end thou hast put thy fear in our hearts, to the intent that we should call upon thy name, and praise thee in our captivity, for we are converted from the iniquity of our fathers, who sinned before thee.
8 And behold we are at this day in our captivity, whereby thou hast scattered us to be a reproach, and a curse, and an offence, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, who departed from thee, O Lord our God.
9 Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life: give ear, that thou mayst learn wisdom.
10 How happeneth it, O Israel, that thou art in thy enemies' land?
11 Thou art grown old in a strange country, thou art defiled with the dead: thou art counted with them that go down into hell.
12 Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom:
13 For if thou hadst walked in the way of God, thou hadst surely dwelt in peace for ever.
14 Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is understanding: that thou mayst know also where is length of days and life, where is the light of the eyes, and peace.
15 Who hath found out her place? and who hath gone in to her treasures?
16 Where are the princes of the nations, and they that rule over the beasts that are upon the earth?
17 That take their diversion with the birds of the air,
18 That hoard up silver and gold, wherein men trust, and there is no end of their getting? who work in silver, and are solicitous, and their works are unsearchable.
19 They are cut off, and are gone down to hell, and others are risen up in their place.
20 Young men have seen the light, and dwelt upon the earth: but the way of knowledge they have not known,
21 Nor have they understood the paths thereof, neither have their children received it, it is far from their face.
22 It hath not been heard of in the land of Chanaan, neither hath it been seen in Theman.
23 The children of Agar also, that search after the wisdom that is of the earth, the merchants of Merrha, and of Theman, and the tellers of fables, and searchers of prudence and understanding: but the way of wisdom they have not known, neither have they remembered her paths.
24 O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast is the place of his possession!
25 It is great, and hath no end: it is high and immense.
26 There were the giants, those renowned men that were from the beginning, of great stature, expert in war.
27 The Lord chose not them, neither did they find the way of knowledge: therefore did they perish.
28 And because they had not wisdom, they perished through their folly.
29 Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds?
30 Who hath passed over the sea, and found her, and brought her preferably to chosen gold?
31 There is none that is able to know her ways, nor that can search out her paths:
32 But he that knoweth all things, knoweth her, and hath found her out with his understanding: he that prepared the earth for evermore, and filled it with cattle and four-footed beasts:
33 He that sendeth forth light, and it goeth: and hath called it, and it obeyeth him with trembling.
34 And the stars have given light in their watches, and rejoiced:
35 They were called, and they said: Here we are: and with cheerfulness they have shined forth to him that made them.
36 This is our God, and there shall no other be accounted of in comparison of him.
37 He found out all the way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob, his servant, and to Israel, his beloved.
38 Afterwards he was seen upon earth, and conversed with men.
====================

BARUCH 4
CHAPTER IV.

The prophet exhorts to the keeping of the law of wisdom: and encourages the people to be patient, and to hope for their deliverance.

1 This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law, that is for ever: all they that keep it, shall come to life: but they that have forsaken it, to death.
2 Return, O Jacob, and take hold of it, walk in the way by its brightness, in the presence of the light thereof.
3 Give not thy honour to another, nor thy dignity to a strange nation.
4 We are happy, O Israel: because the things that are pleasing to God are made known to us.
5 Be of good comfort, O people of God, the memorial of Israel:
6 You have been sold to the Gentiles, not for your destruction: but because you provoked God to wrath, you are delivered to your adversaries.
7 For you have provoked him who made you, the eternal God, offering sacrifice to devils, and not to God.
8 For you have forgotten God, who brought you up, and you have grieved Jerusalem, that nursed you.
9 For she saw the wrath of God coming upon you, and she said: Give ear, all you that dwell near Sion, for God hath brought upon me great mourning:
10 For I have seen the captivity of my people, of my sons, and my daughters, which the Eternal hath brought upon them.
11 For I nourished them with joy: but I sent them away with weeping and mourning.
12 Let no man rejoice over me, a widow, and desolate: I am forsaken of many for the sins of my children, because they departed from the law of God.
13 And they have not known his justices, nor walked by the ways of God's commandments, neither have they entered by the paths of his truth and justice.
14 Let them that dwell about Sion come, and remember the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Eternal hath brought upon them.
15 For he hath brought a nation upon them from afar, a wicked nation, and of a strange tongue:
16 Who have neither reverenced the ancient, nor pitied children, and have carried away the beloved of the widow, and have left me all alone without children.
17 But as for me, what help can I give you?
18 But he that hath brought the evils upon you, he will deliver you out of the hands of your enemies.
19 Go your way, my children, go your way: for I am left alone.
20 I have put off the robe of peace, and have put upon me the sackcloth of supplication, and I will cry to the most High in my days.
21 Be of good comfort, my children, cry to the Lord, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the princes, your enemies.
22 For my hope is in the Eternal, that he will save you: and joy is come upon me from the holy One, because of the mercy which shall come to you from our everlasting Saviour.
23 For I sent you forth with mourning, and weeping: but the Lord will bring you back to me with joy and gladness for ever.
24 For as the neighbours of Sion have now seen your captivity from God, so shall they also shortly see your salvation from God, which shall come upon you with great honour, and everlasting glory.
25 My children, suffer patiently the wrath that is come upon you: for thy enemy hath persecuted thee, but thou shalt quickly see his destruction: and thou shalt get up upon his neck.
26 My delicate ones have walked rough ways, for they were taken away as a flock made a prey by the enemies.
27 Be of good comfort, my children, and cry to the Lord: for you shall be remembered by him that hath led you away.
28 For as it was your mind to go astray from God; so when you return again, you shall seek him ten times as much.
29 For he that hath brought evils upon you, shall bring you everlasting joy again with your salvation.
30 Be of good heart, O Jerusalem: for he exhorteth thee, that named thee.
31 The wicked that have afflicted thee, shall perish: and they that have rejoiced at thy ruin, shall be punished.
32 The cities which thy children have served, shall be punished: and she that received thy sons.
33 For as she rejoiced at thy ruin, and was glad of thy fall: so shall she be grieved for her own desolation.
34 And the joy of her multitude shall be cut off, and her gladness shall be turned to mourning.
35 For fire shall come upon her from the Eternal, long to endure, and she shall be inhabited by devils for a great time.
36 *Look about thee, O Jerusalem, towards the east, and behold the joy that cometh to thee from God.
37 For behold thy children come, whom thou sentest away scattered, they come gathered together from the east even to the west, at the word of the holy One, rejoicing for the honour of God.
____________________
*
36:  Infra v. 5.
====================

BARUCH 5
CHAPTER V.

Jerusalem is invited to rejoice, and behold the return of her children out of their captivity.

1 Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of thy mourning, and affliction: and put on the beauty, and honour of that everlasting glory which thou hast from God.
2 God will clothe thee with the double garment of justice, and will set a crown on thy head of everlasting honour.
3 For God will shew his brightness in thee, to every one under heaven.
4 For thy name shall be named to thee by God for ever: the peace of justice, and honour of piety.
5 Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high: *and look about towards the east, and behold thy children gathered together from the rising to the setting sun, by the word of the holy One, rejoicing in the remembrance of God.
6 For they went out from thee on foot, led by the enemies: but the Lord will bring them to thee, exalted with honour, as children of the kingdom.
7 For God hath appointed to bring down every high mountain, and the everlasting rocks, and to fill up the valleys, to make them even with the ground: that Israel may walk diligently to the honour of God.
8 Moreover, the woods, and every sweet-smelling tree, have overshadowed Israel, by the commandment of God.
9 For God will bring Israel with joy in the light of his majesty, with mercy, and justice, that cometh from him.
____________________
*
5:  Supra iv. 36.
====================

BARUCH 6
CHAPTER VI.

The epistle of Jeremias to the captives, as a preservative against idolatry.

A copy *of the epistle that Jeremias sent to them that were to be led away captives into Babylon, by the king of Babylon, to declare to them according to what was commanded him by God.

1 *For the sins that you have committed before God, you shall be carried away captives into Babylon by Nabuchodonosor, the king of Babylon.
2 And when you are come into Babylon, you shall be there many years, and for a long time, even to seven generations; and after that I will bring you away from thence with peace.
3 *But now, you shall see in Babylon gods of gold, and of silver, and of stone, and of wood, borne upon shoulders, causing fear to the Gentiles.
4 Beware, therefore, that you imitate not the doings of others, and be afraid, and the fear of them should seize upon you.
5 But when you see the multitude behind, and before, adoring them, say you in your hearts: Thou oughtest to be adored, O Lord.
6 For my angel is with you: And I myself will demand an account of your souls.
7 For their tongue that is polished by the craftsman, and themselves laid over with gold and silver, are false things, and they cannot speak.
8 And as if it were for a maiden that loveth to go gay: so do they take gold and make them up.
9 Their gods have golden crowns upon their heads: whereof the priests secretly convey away from them gold, and silver, and bestow it on themselves.
10 Yea, and they give thereof to prostitutes, and they dress out harlots: and again when they receive it of the harlots, they adorn their gods.
11 And these gods cannot defend themselves from the rust, and the moth.
12 But when they have covered them with a purple garment, they wipe their face, because of the dust of the house, which is very much among them.
13 This holdeth a sceptre as a man, as a judge of the country, but cannot put to death one that offendeth him.
14 And this hath in his hand a sword, or an axe, but cannot save himself from war, or from robbers, whereby be it known to you, that they are not gods.
15 Therefore, fear them not.  For as a vessel that a man uses when it is broken becometh useless, even so are their gods:
16 When they are placed in the house, their eyes are full of dust by the feet of them that go in.
17 And as the gates are made sure on every side upon one that hath offended the king, or like a dead man carried to the grave, so do the priests secure the doors with bars and locks, lest they be stripped by thieves.
18 They light candles to them, and in great number, of which they cannot see one: but they are like beams in the house.
19 And they say that the creeping things which are of the earth, gnaw their hearts, while they eat them and their garments, and they feel it not.
20 Their faces are black with the smoke that is made in the house.
21 Owls, and swallows, and other birds, fly upon their bodies, and upon their heads, and cats in like manner.
22 Whereby you may know that they are no gods.  Therefore fear them not.
23 The gold also which they have, is for shew, but except a man wipe off the rust, they will not shine: for neither when they were molten, did they feel it.
24 Men buy them at a high price, whereas there is no breath in them.
25 *And having not the use of feet, they are carried upon shoulders, declaring to men how vile they are.  Be they confounded also that worship them.
26 Therefore if they fall to the ground, they rise not up again of themselves, nor if a man set them upright, will they stand by themselves, but their gifts shall be set before them, as to the dead.
27 The things that are sacrificed to them, their priests sell and abuse: in like manner also their wives take part of them, but give nothing of it either to the sick, or to the poor.
28 The child-bearing and menstruous women touch their sacrifices: knowing, therefore, by these things that they are not gods, fear them not.
29 For how can they be called gods? because women set offerings before the gods of silver, and of gold, and of wood:
30 And priests sit in their temples, having their garments rent, and their heads and beards shaven, and nothing upon their heads.
31 And they roar and cry before their gods, as men do at the feast when one is dead.
32 The priests take away their garments, and clothe their wives and their children.
33 And whether it be evil that one doth unto them, or good, they are not able to recompense it: neither can they set up a king, nor put him down:
34 In like manner they can neither give riches, nor requite evil.  If a man make a vow to them, and perform it not: they cannot require it.
35 They cannot deliver a man from death nor save the weak from the mighty.
36 They cannot restore the blind man to his sight: nor deliver a man from distress.
37 They shall not pity the widow, nor do good to the fatherless.
38 Their gods, of wood, and of stone, and of gold, and of silver, are like the stones that are hewn out of the mountains: and they that worship them shall be confounded.
39 How then is it to be supposed, or to be said, that they are gods?
40 Even the Chaldeans themselves dishonour them: who when they hear of one dumb that cannot speak, they present him to Bel, entreating him, that he may speak,
41 As though they could be sensible that have no motion themselves: and they, when they shall perceive this, will leave them: for their gods themselves have no sense.
42 The women also, with cords about them, sit in the ways, burning olive-stones.
43 And when any one of them, drawn away by some passenger, lieth with him, she upbraideth her neighbour, that she was not thought as worthy as herself, nor her cord broken.
44 But all things that are done about them, are false: how is it then to be thought, or to be said, that they are gods?
45 And they are made by workmen, and by goldsmiths.  They shall be nothing else but what the priests will have them to be.
46 For the artificers themselves that make them, are of no long continuance.  Can those things then that are made by them, be gods?
47 But they have left false things and reproach to them that come after.
48 For when war cometh upon them, or evils: the priests consult with themselves, where they may hide themselves with them.
49 How then can they be thought to be gods, that can neither deliver themselves from war, nor save themselves from evils?
50 For seeing they are but of wood, and laid over with gold, and with silver, it shall be known hereafter that they are false things, by all nations and kings: and it shall be manifest that they are no gods, but the work of men's hands, and that there is no work of God in them.
51 Whence, therefore, is it known that they are not gods, but the work of men's hands, and no work of God is in them?
52 They cannot set up a king over the land, nor give rain to men.
53 They determine no causes, nor deliver countries from oppression: because they can do nothing, and are as daws between heaven and earth.
54 For when fire shall fall upon the house of these gods of wood, and of silver, and of gold, their priests indeed will flee away, and be saved: but they themselves shall be burnt in the midst like beams.
55 And they cannot withstand a king and war.  How then can it be supposed, or admitted that they are gods?
56 Neither are these gods of wood, and of stone, and laid over with gold, and with silver, able to deliver themselves from thieves or robbers: they that are stronger than them,
57 Shall take from them the gold, and silver, and the raiment wherewith they are clothed, and shall go their way, neither shall they help themselves.
58 Therefore it is better to be a king that sheweth his power: or else a profitable vessel in the house, with which the owner thereof will be well satisfied: or a door in the house, to keep things safe that are therein, than such false gods.
59 The sun, and the moon, and the stars being bright, and sent forth for profitable uses, are obedient.
60 In like manner the lightning, when it breaketh forth, is easy to be seen: and after the same manner the wind bloweth in every country.
61 And the clouds, when God commandeth them to go over the whole world, do that which is commanded them.
62 The fire also being sent from above to consume mountains, and woods, doth as it is commanded.  But these neither in shew, nor in power, are like to any one of them.
63 Wherefore it is neither to be thought, nor to be said, that they are gods: since they are neither able to judge causes, nor to do any good to men.
64 Knowing, therefore, that they are not gods, fear them not.
65 For neither can they curse kings, nor bless them.
66 Neither do they shew signs in the heaven to the nations, nor shine as the sun, nor give light as the moon.
67 Beasts are better than they, which can fly under a covert, and help themselves.
68 Therefore there is no manner of appearance that they are gods: so fear them not.
69 For as a scarecrow in a garden of cucumbers keepeth nothing, so are their gods of wood, and of silver, and laid over with gold.
70 They are no better than a white thorn in a garden, upon which every bird sitteth.  In like manner also their gods of wood, and laid over with gold, and with silver, are like to a dead body cast forth in the dark.
71 By the purple also and the scarlet which are moth-eaten upon them, you shall know that they are not gods.  And they themselves at last are consumed, and shall be a reproach in the country.
72 Better, therefore, is the just man that hath no idols: for he shall be far from reproach.
____________________
*
[Title:] A.M. 3405, A.C. 599.
1:  Jer. xxv. 9.
3:  Isai. xliv. 10.
25:  Isaiah xlvi. 7.
====================
====================

EZECHIEL
THE PROPHECY OF EZECHIEL.

EZECHIEL 1
CHAPTER I.

The time of Ezechiel's prophecy: he sees a glorious vision.

1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, *in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, when I was in the midst of the captives, **by the river Chobar, the heavens were opened, and I saw the visions of God.
2 On the fifth day of the month, the same was the fifth year of the captivity of king Joachin,
3 The word of the Lord came to Ezechiel, the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chobar: and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.
4 And I saw, and behold a whirlwind came out of the north: and a great cloud, and a fire infolding it, and brightness was about it: and out of the midst thereof, that is, out of the midst of the fire, as it were the resemblance of amber:
5 And in the midst thereof the likeness of four living creatures: and this was their appearance: there was the likeness of a man in them.
6 Every one had four faces, and every one four wings.
7 Their feet were straight feet, and the sole of their foot was like the sole of a calf's foot, and they sparkled like the appearance of glowing brass.
8 And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides: and they had faces, and wings on the four sides.
9 And the wings of one were joined to the wings of another.  They turned not when they went: but every one went straight forward.
10 And as for the likeness of their faces: there was the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side of all the four: and the face of an ox, on the left side of all the four: and the face of an eagle over all the four.
11 And their faces, and their wings, were stretched upward: two wings of every one were joined, and two covered their bodies:
12 And every one of them went straight forward: whither the impulse of the spirit was to go, thither they went: and they turned not when they went.
13 And as for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like that of burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps.  This was the vision running to and fro in the midst of the living creatures, a bright fire, and lightning going forth from the fire.
14 And the living creatures ran, and returned like flashes of lightning.
15 Now, as I beheld the living creatures, there appeared upon the earth by the living creatures one wheel with four faces.
16 And the appearance of the wheels, and the work of them, was like the appearance of the sea: and the four had all one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the midst of a wheel.
17 When they went, they went by their four parts: and they turned not when they went.
18 The wheels had also a size, and a height, and a dreadful appearance: *and the whole body was full of eyes round about all the four.
19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels also went together by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels also were lifted up with them.
20 Whithersoever the spirit went, thither as the spirit went the wheels also were lifted up withal, and followed it: for the spirit of life was in the wheels.
21 When those went these went, and when those stood these stood, and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels also were lifted up together, and followed them: for the spirit of life was in the wheels.
22 And over the heads of the living creatures was the likeness of the firmament, as the appearance of crystal, terrible to behold, and stretched out over their heads above.
23 And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other, every one with two wings covered his body, and the other was covered in like manner.
24 And I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, as it were the voice of the most high God: when they walked, it was like the voice of a multitude, like the noise of an army, and when they stood, their wings were let down.
25 For when a voice came from above the firmament, that was over their heads, they stood, and let down their wings.
26 And above the firmament, that was over their heads, was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of the sapphire-stone, and upon the likeness of the throne, was a likeness as of the appearance of a man above upon it.
27 And I saw as it were the resemblance of amber, as the appearance of fire within it round about: from his loins and upward, and from his loins downward, I saw as it were the resemblance of fire shining round about.
28 As the appearance of the rainbow when it is in a cloud on a rainy day: this was the appearance of the brightness round about.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3409, A.C. 595. --- ** Infra iii. 23. and x. 20. and xliii. 3.
18:  Infra x. 12.
====================

EZECHIEL 2
CHAPTER II.

The prophet receives his commission.

1 This *was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.  And I saw, and I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one that spoke.  And he said to me: Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak to thee.
2 And the spirit entered into me after that he spoke to me, and he set me upon my feet: and I heard him speaking to me,
3 And saying: Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious people, that hath revolted from me, they, and their fathers, have transgressed my covenant even unto this day.
4 And they to whom I send thee are children of a hard face, and of an obstinate heart: and thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God:
5 If so be they at least will hear, and if so be they will forbear, for they are a provoking house: and they shall know that there hath been a prophet in the midst of them.
6 And thou, O son of man, fear not, neither be thou afraid of their words: for thou art among unbelievers and destroyers, and thou dwellest with scorpions.  Fear not their words, neither be thou dismayed at their looks: for they are a provoking house.
7 And thou shalt speak my words to them, if perhaps they will hear, and forbear: for they provoke me to anger.
8 But thou, O son of man, hear all that I say to thee: and do not thou provoke me, as that house provoketh me: open thy mouth, and eat what I give thee.
9 And I looked, and behold, a hand was sent to me, wherein was a book rolled up: and he spread it before me, *and it was written within and without: and there were written in it lamentations, and canticles, and woe.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3409.
9:  Apoc. i. 5.
====================

EZECHIEL 3
CHAPTER III.

The prophet eats the book, and receives further instructions: the office of a watchman.

1 And *he said to me: Son of man, eat all that thou shalt find: eat this book, and go speak to the children of Israel.
2 And I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that book:
3 And he said to me: Son of man, thy belly shall eat, and thy bowels shall be filled with this book, which I give thee.  *And I did eat it: and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.
4 And he said to me: Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and thou shalt speak my words to them.
5 For thou art not sent to a people of a profound speech, and of an unknown tongue, but to the house of Israel:
6 Nor to many nations of a strange speech, and of an unknown tongue, whose words thou canst not understand: and if thou wert sent to them, they would hearken to thee.
7 But the house of Israel will not hearken to thee: because they will not hearken to me: for all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead, and an obstinate heart.
8 Behold I have made thy face stronger than their faces, and thy forehead harder than their foreheads.
9 I have made thy face like an adamant and like flint: fear them not, neither be thou dismayed at their presence: for they are a provoking house.
10 And he said to me: Son of man, receive in thy heart, and hear with thy ears, all the words that I speak to thee:
11 And go get thee in to them of the captivity, to the children of thy people, and thou shalt speak to them, and shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: If so be they will hear, and will forbear.
12 And the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great commotion, saying: Blessed be the glory of the Lord, from his place.
13 And the noise of the wings of the living creatures striking one against another, and the noise of the wheels following the living creatures, and the noise of a great commotion.
14 The spirit also lifted me, and took me up: and I went away in bitterness, in the indignation of my spirit: for the hand of the Lord was with me, strengthening me.
15 And I came to them of the captivity, to the heap of new corn, to them that dwelt by the river Chobar, and I sat where they sat: and I remained there seven days mourning in the midst of them.
16 And at the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
17 *Son of man, I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel: and thou shalt hear the word out of my mouth, and shalt tell it them from me.
18 If, when I say to the wicked, Thou shalt surely die: thou declare it not to him, nor speak to him, that he may be converted from his wicked way, and live: the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at thy hand.
19 But if thou give warning to the wicked, and he be not converted from his wickedness, and from his evil way: he indeed shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.
20 Moreover, if the just man shall turn away from his justice, and shall commit iniquity: I will lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die, because thou hast not given him warning: he shall die in his sin, and his justices, which he hath done, shall not be remembered: but I will require his blood at thy hand.
21 But if thou warn the just man, that the just may not sin, and he doth not sin: living he shall live, because thou hast warned him, and thou hast delivered thy soul.
22 And the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he said to me: Rise, and go forth into the plain, and there I will speak to thee.
23 And I rose up, and went forth into the plain: and behold the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory which *I saw by the river Chobar: and I fell upon my face.
24 And the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet: and he spoke to me, and said to me: Go in, and shut thyself up in the midst of thy house.
25 And thou, O son of man, behold they shall put bands upon thee, and they shall bind thee with them: and thou shalt not go forth from the midst of them.
26 And I will make thy tongue stick fast to the roof of thy mouth, and thou shalt be dumb, and not as a man that reproveth: because they are a provoking house.
27 But when I shall speak to thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: He that heareth, let him hear: and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a provoking house.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3409.
3:  Apoc. x. 9. and 10.
17:  Infra xxxiii. 7.
23:  Supra i. 3.
====================

EZECHIEL 4
CHAPTER IV.

A prophetic description of the siege of Jerusalem, and the famine that shall reign there.

1 And *thou, O son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and draw upon it the plan of the city of Jerusalem.
2 And lay siege against it, and build forts, and cast up a mount, and set a camp against it, and place battering rams round about it.
3 And take unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face resolutely against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it: it is a sign to the house of Israel.
4 And thou shalt sleep upon thy left side, and shalt lay the iniquities of the house of Israel upon it, according to the number of the days that thou shalt sleep upon it, and thou shalt take upon thee their iniquity.
5 And I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6 And when thou hast accomplished this, thou shalt sleep again upon thy right side: and *thou shalt take upon thee the iniquity of the house of Juda forty days: a day for ayear, yea, a day for a year I have appointed to thee.**
7 And thou shalt turn thy face to the siege of Jerusalem, and thy arm shall be stretched out: and thou shalt prophesy against it.
8 Behold I have encompassed thee with bands: and thou shalt not turn thyself from one side to the other, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.
9 And take to thee wheat and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side: three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
10 And thy meat that thou shalt eat, shall be in weight twenty staters a-day: from time to time thou shalt eat it.
11 And thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time thou shalt drink it.
12 And thou shalt eat it as barley-bread baked under the ashes: and thou shalt cover it, in their sight, with the dung that cometh out of a man.
13 And the Lord said: So shall the children of Israel *eat their bread, all filthy, among the nations whither I will cast them out.
14 And I said: Ah, ah, ah, O Lord God, behold my soul hath not been defiled, and from my infancy even till now, I have not eaten any thing that died of itself, or was torn by beasts, and no unclean flesh hath entered into my mouth.
15 And he said to me: Behold I have given thee neat's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt make thy bread therewith.
16 And he said to me: Son of man: *Behold, I will break in pieces the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care: and they shall drink water by measure, and in distress.
17 So that when bread and water fail, every man may fall against his brother, and they may pine away in their iniquities.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3409.
6:  Num. xiii. 34. --- ** Jer. lii. 30.
13:  Osee ix. 4.
16:  Infra v. 16. and xiv. 13.
====================

EZECHIEL 5
CHAPTER V.

The judgments of God upon the Jews are foreshewn under the type of the prophet's hair.

1 And *thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, that shaveth the hair: and cause it to pass over thy head, and over thy beard; and take thee a balance to weigh in, and divide the hair.
2 A third part thou shalt burn with fire in the midst of the city, according to the fulfilling of the days of the siege; and thou shalt take a third part, and cut it in pieces with the knife all round about; and the other third part thou shalt scatter in the wind, and I will draw out the sword after them.
3 And thou shalt take thereof a small number; and shalt bind them in the skirt of thy cloak.
4 And thou shalt take of them again, and shalt cast them in the midst of the fire, and shalt burn them with fire; and out of it shall come forth a fire into all the house of Israel.
5 Thus saith the Lord God: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations, and the countries round about her.
6 And she hath despised my judgments, so as to be more wicked than the Gentiles; and my commandments, more than the countries that are round about her; for they have cast off my judgments, and have not walked in my commandments.
7 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Because you have surpassed the Gentiles that are round about you, and have not walked in my commandments, and have not kept my judgments, and have not done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you:
8 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Behold I come against thee, and I myself will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the Gentiles.
9 And I will do in thee that which I have not done: and the like to which I will do no more, because of all thy abominations.
10 Therefore, the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers: and I will execute judgments in thee, and I will scatter thy whole remnant into every wind.
11 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God: Because thou hast violated my sanctuary with all thy offences, and with all thy abominations: I will also break thee in pieces, and my eye shall not spare, and I will not have any pity.
12 A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and shall be consumed with famine in the midst of thee: and a third part of thee shall fall by the sword round about thee: and a third part of thee will I scatter into every wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.
13 *And I will accomplish my fury, and will cause my indignation to rest upon them, and I will be comforted; and they shall know, that I the Lord have spoken it in my zeal, when I shall have accomplished my indignation in them.
14 And I will make thee desolate, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of every one that passeth by.
15 And thou shalt be a reproach, and a scoff, an example, and an astonishment amongst the nations that are round about thee, when I shall have executed judgments in thee in anger, and in indignation, and in wrathful rebukes.
16 I the Lord have spoken it: When I shall send upon them the grievous arrows of famine, which shall bring death, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will gather together famine against you:* and I will break among you the staff of bread.
17 And I will send in upon you famine, and evil beasts, unto utter destruction: and pestilence, and blood shall pass through thee, and I will bring in the sword upon thee.  I, the Lord, have spoken it.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3409.
13:  Zach. i. 8.
16:  Supra iv. 16.; Infra xiv. 16.
====================

EZECHIEL 6
CHAPTER VI.

The punishment of Israel, for their idolatry: a remnant shall be blessed.

1 And *the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, set thy face towards the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them.
3 And say: *Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus Faith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, and to the rocks, and the valleys: Behold, I will bring upon you the sword, and I will destroy your high places.
4 And I will throw down your altars, and your idols shall be broken in pieces: and I will cast down your slain before your idols.
5 And I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before your idols: and I will scatter your bones round about your altars,
6 In all your dwelling-places.  The cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be thrown down, and destroyed, and your altars shall be abolished, and shall be broken in pieces; and your idols shall be no more, and your temples shall be destroyed, and your works shall be defaced.
7 And the slain shall fall in the midst of you; and you shall know that I am the Lord.
8 And I will leave in you some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when I shall have scattered you through the countries.
9 And they that are saved of you shall remember me amongst the nations to which they are carried captives: because I have broken their heart that was faithless, and revolted from me: and their eyes that went a fornicating after their idols: and they shall be displeased with themselves, because of the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.
10 And they shall know that I, the Lord, have not spoken in vain that I would do this evil to them.
11 Thus saith the Lord God: Strike with thy hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say: Alas, for all the abominations of the evils of the house of Israel: for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.
12 He that is far off, shall die of the pestilence: and he that is near, shall fall by the sword: and he that remaineth, and is besieged, shall die by the famine: and I will accomplish my indignation upon them.
13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when your slain shall be amongst your idols, round about your altars, in every high hill, and on all the tops of mountains, and under every woody tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they burnt sweet-smelling frankincense to all their idols.
14 And I will stretch forth my hand upon them: and I will make the land desolate, and abandoned from the desert of Deblatha, in all their dwelling-places: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3410.
3:  Infra xxxvi. 2.
====================

EZECHIEL 7
CHAPTER VII.

The final desolation of Israel, from which few shall escape.

1 And *the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 And thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God to the land of Israel: The end is come, the end is come upon the four quarters of the land.
3 Now is an end come upon thee, and I will send my wrath upon thee, and I will judge thee according to thy ways: and I will set all thy abominations against thee.
4 And my eye shall not spare thee, and I will shew thee no pity: but I will lay thy ways upon thee, and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and you shall know that I am the Lord.
5 Thus saith the Lord God: One affliction, behold an affliction is come.
6 An end is come, the end is come, it hath awaked against thee: behold it is come.
7 Destruction is come upon thee that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of slaughter is near, and not of the joy of mountains.
8 Now very shortly I will pour out my wrath upon thee, and I will accomplish my anger in thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and I will lay upon thee all thy crimes.
9 And my eye shall not spare, neither will I shew mercy: but I will lay thy ways upon thee, and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and you shall know that I am the Lord that strike.
10 Behold the day, behold it is come: destruction is gone forth, the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.
11 Iniquity is risen up into a rod of impiety: nothing of them shall remain, nor of their people, nor of the noise of them: and there shall be no rest among them.
12 The time is come, the day is at hand: let not the buyer rejoice: nor the seller mourn, for wrath is upon all the people thereof.
13 For the seller shall not return to that which he hath sold, although their life be yet among the living.  For the vision which regardeth all the multitude thereof, shall not go back: neither shall man be strengthened in the iniquity of his life.
14 Blow the trumpet, let all be made ready, yet there is none to go to the battle: for my wrath shall be upon all the people thereof.
15 The sword without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field, shall die by the sword; and they that are in the city, shall be devoured by the pestilence and the famine.
16 And such of them as shall flee, shall escape: and they shall be in the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them trembling, every one for his iniquity.
17 All hands shall be made feeble, and all knees shall run with water.
18 *And they shall gird themselves with haircloth, and fear shall cover them, and shame shall be upon every face, and baldness upon all their heads.
19 Their silver shall be cast forth, and their gold shall become a dunghill.  *Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord.  They shall not satisfy their soul, and their bellies shall not be filled: because it hath been the stumbling-block of their iniquity.
20 And they have turned the ornament of their jewels into pride, and have made of it the images of their abominations, and idols; therefore, I have made it an uncleanness to them.
21 And I will give it in the hands of strangers for spoil, and to the wicked of the earth for a prey, and they shall defile it.
22 And I will turn away my face from them, and they shall violate my secret place: and robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.
23 Make a shutting up: for the land is full of the judgment of blood, and the city is full of iniquity.
24 And I will bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses: and I will make the pride of the mighty to cease, and they shall possess their sanctuary.
25 When distress cometh upon them, they will seek for peace and there shall be none.
26 Trouble shall come upon trouble, and rumour upon rumour, and they shall seek a vision of the prophet; and the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.
27 The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with sorrow, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled.  I will do to them according to their way, and will judge them according to their judgments: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3410.
18:  Isai. xv. 2.; Jer. xlviii. 37.
19:  Prov. xi. 4.; Sophon. i. 18.; Eccli. v. 10. and 13.
====================

EZECHIEL 8
CHAPTER VIII.

The prophet sees, in a vision, the abominations committed in Jerusalem, which determine the Lord to spare them no  longer.

1 And *it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the ancients of Juda sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.
2 And I saw, and behold a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins, and downward, fire: and from his loins, and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the appearance of amber.
3 *And the likeness of a hand was put forth, and took me by a lock of my head: and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the vision of God into Jerusalem, near the inner gate, that looked towards the north, where was set the idol of jealousy to provoke to jealousy.
4 And behold the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision which I had seen in the plain.
5 And he said to me: Son of man, lift up thy eyes towards the way of the north.  And I lifted up my eyes towards the way of the north: and behold on the north side of the gate of the altar the idol of jealousy in the very entry.
6 And he said to me: Son of man, dost thou see, thinkest thou, what these are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should depart far off from my sanctuary? and turn thee yet again and thou shalt see greater abominations.
7 And he brought me in to the door of the court: and I saw, and behold a hole in the wall.
8 And he said to me: Son of man, dig in the wall.  And when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.
9 And he said to me: Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they commit here.
10 And I went in and saw, and behold every form of creeping things, and of living creatures, the abomination, and all the idols of the house of Israel were painted on the wall all round about.
11 And seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and Jezonias, the son of Saphan, stood in the midst of them, that stood before the pictures: and every one had a censer in his hand: and a cloud of smoke went up from the incense.
12 And he add to me: Surely thou seest, O son of man, what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every one in private in his chamber: for they say: The Lord seeth us not, the Lord hath forsaken the earth.
13 And he said to me: If thou turn thee again, thou shalt see greater abominations which these commit.
14 And he brought me in by the door of the gate of the Lord's house, which looked to the north: and behold women sat there mourning for Adonis.
15 And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man: but turn thee again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
16 And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord: and behold at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, having their backs towards the temple of the Lord, and their faces to the east: and they adored towards the rising of the sun.
17 And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man: Is this a light thing to the house of Juda, that they should commit these abominations which they have committed here: because they have filled the land with iniquity, and have turned to provoke me to anger? and behold they put a branch to their nose.
18 Therefore I also will deal with them in my wrath: my eye shall not spare them, neither will I shew mercy: and when they shall cry to my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3410.
3:  Dan. xiv. 35.
====================

EZECHIEL 9
CHAPTER IX.

All are ordered to be destroyed that are not marked in their foreheads.  God will not be entreated for them.

1 And *he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying: The visitations of the city are at hand, and every one hath a destroying weapon in his hand.
2 And behold six men came from the way of the upper gate, which looketh to the north: and each one had his weapon of destruction in his hand: and there was one man in the midst of them clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn at his reins: and they went in, and stood by the brazen altar.
3 And the glory of the Lord of Israel went up from the cherub, upon which he was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man that was clothed with linen, and had a writer's inkhorn at his loins.
4 And the Lord said to him: Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem: *and mark Thau upon the foreheads of the men that sigh, and mourn for all the abominations that are committed in the midst thereof.
5 And to the others he said in my hearing: Go ye after him through the city, and strike: let not your eyes spare, nor be ye moved with pity.
6 Utterly destroy old and young, maidens, children and women: but upon whomsoever you shall see Thau, kill him not, and begin ye at my sanctuary.  So they began at the ancient men, who were before the house.
7 And he said to them: Defile the house, and ill the courts with the slain: go ye forth.  And they went forth, and slew them that were in the city.
8 And the slaughter being ended, I was left: and I fell upon my face, and crying, I said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God, wilt thou then destroy all the remnant of Israel, by pouring out thy fury upon Jerusalem?
9 And he said to me: The iniquity of the house of Israel, and of Juda, is exceedingly great, and the land is filled with blood, and the city is filled with perverseness: for they have said: The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not.
10 Therefore neither shall my eye spare, nor will I have pity: I will requite their way upon their head.
11 And behold the man that was clothed with linen, that had the inkhorn at his back, returned the word, saying: I have done as thou hast commanded me.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3410.
4:  Exod. xii. 7.
====================

EZECHIEL 10
CHAPTER X.

Fire is taken from the midst of the wheels under the cherubims, and scattered over the city.  A description of the cherubims.

1 And *I saw, and behold in the firmament that was over the heads of the cherubims, there appeared over them as it were the sapphire-stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.
2 And he spoke to the man, that was clothed with linen, and said: Go in between the wheels that are under the cherubims, and fill thy hand with the coals of fire that are between the cherubims, and pour them out upon the city.  And he went in, in my sight:
3 And the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court.
4 And the glory of the Lord was lifted up from above the cherub to the threshold of the house: and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord.
5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubims was heard even to the outward court as the voice of God Almighty speaking.
6 And when he had commanded the man that was clothed with linen, saying: Take fire from the midst of the wheels that are between the cherubims: he went in and stood beside the wheel,
7 And one cherub stretched out his arm from the midst of the cherubims to the fire that was between the cherubims: and he took, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen: who took it and went forth.
8 And there appeared in the cherubims the likeness of a man's hand under their wings.
9 And I saw, and behold there were four wheels by the cherubims: one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was to the sight like the chrysolite-stone:
10 And as to their appearance, all four were alike: as if a wheel were in the midst of a wheel.
11 And when they went, they went by four ways: and they turned not when they went: but to the place whither they first turned, the rest also followed, and did not turn back.
12 And their whole body, and their necks, and their hands, and their wings, and the circles were full of eyes, round about the four wheels.
13 And these wheels he called voluble, in my hearing.
14 And every one had four faces: one face was the face of a cherub, and the second face, the face of a man: and in the third was the face of a lion: and in the fourth the face of an eagle.
15 And the cherubims were lifted up: this is the living creature that I had seen by the river Chobar.
16 And when the cherubims went, the wheels also went by them: and when the cherubims lifted up their wings, to mount up from the earth, the wheels staid not behind, but were by them.
17 When they stood, these stood: and when they were lifted up, these were lifted up: for the spirit of life was in them.
18 And the glory of the Lord went forth from the threshold of the temple: and stood over the cherubims.
19 And the cherubims lifting up their wings, were raised from the earth before me: and as they went out, the wheels also followed: and it stood in the entry of the east gate of the house of the Lord: and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.
20 *This is the living creature, which I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chobar: and I understood that they were cherubims.
21 Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings: and the likeness of a man's hand was under their wings.
22 And as to the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces which I had seen by the river Chobar, and their looks, and the impulse of every one to go straight forward.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3410.
20:  Supra i. 1. and 3.
====================

EZECHIEL 11
CHAPTER XI.

A prophecy against the presumptuous assurance of the great ones.  A remnant shall be saved, and receive a new spirit and a new heart.

1 And *the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the east gate of the house of the Lord, which looketh towards the rising of the sun: and behold in the entry of the gate five and twenty men: and I saw in the midst of them Jezonias, the son of Azur, and Pheltias, the son of Banaias, princes of the people.
2 And he said to me: Son of man, these are the men that study iniquity, and frame a wicked counsel in this city,
3 Saying: Were not houses lately built?  This city is the cauldron, and we the flesh.
4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, thou son of man.
5 And the spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said to me: Speak: Thus saith the Lord: Thus have you spoken, O house of Israel, for I know the thoughts of your heart.
6 You have killed a great many in this city, and you have filled the streets thereof with the slain.
7 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Your slain, whom you have laid in the midst thereof, they are the flesh, and this is the cauldron: and I will bring you forth out of the midst thereof.
8 You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, saith the Lord God.
9 And I will cast you out of the midst thereof, and I will deliver you into the hand of the enemies, and I will execute judgments upon you.
10 You shall fall by the sword: I will judge you in the borders of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
11 This shall not be as a cauldron to you, and you shall not be as flesh in the midst thereof: I will judge you in the borders of Israel.
12 And you shall know that I am the Lord: because you have not walked in my commandments, and have not done my judgments, but you have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you.
13 And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pheltias, the son of Banaias, died: and I fell down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice: and said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God: wilt thou make an end of all the remnant of Israel?
14 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
15 Son of man, thy brethren, thy brethren, thy kinsmen, and all the house of Israel, all they to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said: Get ye far from the Lord, the land is given in possession to us.
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because I have removed them far off among the Gentiles, and because I have scattered them among the countries, I will be to them a little sanctuary in the countries whither they are come.
17 Therefore, speak to them: Thus saith the Lord God: I will gather you from among the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries wherein you are scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
18 And they shall go in thither, and shall take away all the scandals, and all the abominations thereof from thence.
19 *And I will give them one heart, and will put a new spirit in their bowels: and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh:
20 That they may walk in my commandments, and keep my judgments, and do them: and that they may be my people, and I may be their God.
21 But as for them whose heart walketh after their scandals and abominations, I will lay their way upon their head, saith the Lord God.
22 And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and the wheels with them: and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.
23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood over the mount that is on the east side of the city.
24 And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into Chaldea to them of the captivity, in vision, by the spirit of God: and the vision which I had seen was taken up from me.
25 And I spoke to them of the captivity all the words of the Lord, which he had shewn me.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3410.
19:  Jer. xxxi. 39.; Infra xxxvi. 26.
====================

EZECHIEL 12
CHAPTER XII.

The prophet foresheweth, by signs, the captivity of Sedecias, and the desolation of the people: all which shall quickly come to pass.

1 And *the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a provoking house: who have eyes to see, and see not: and ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a provoking house.
3 Thou, therefore, O son of man, prepare thee all necessaries for removing, and remove by day in their sight: and thou shalt remove out of thy place to another place in their sight, if so be they will regard it: for they are a provoking house.
4 And thou shalt bring forth thy furniture as the furniture of one that is removing by day in their sight: and thou shalt go forth in the evening in their presence, as one goeth forth that removeth his dwelling.
5 Dig thee a way through the wall before their eyes: and thou shalt go forth through it.
6 In their sight thou shalt be carried out upon men's shoulders, thou shalt be carried out in the dark: thou shalt cover thy face, and shalt not see the ground: for I have set thee for a sign of things to come to the house of Israel.
7 I did, therefore, as he had commanded me: I brought forth my goods by day, as the goods of one that removeth: and in the evening I digged through the wall with my hand: and I went forth in the dark, and was carried on men's shoulders in their sight.
8 And the word of the Lord came to me in the morning, saying:
9 Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the provoking house, said to thee: What art thou doing?
10 Say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: This burden concerneth my prince that is in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel, that are among them.
11 Say: I am a sign of things to come to you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them: they shall be removed from their dwellings, and go into captivity.
12 And the prince that is in the midst of them, shall be carried on shoulders, he shall go forth in the dark: they shall dig through the wall to bring him out: his face shall be covered, that he may not see the ground with his eyes.
13 *And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my net: and I will bring him into Babylon, into the land of the Chaldeans, and he shall not see it, and there he shall die.
14 And all that are about him, his guards, and his troops, I will scatter into every wind: and I will draw out the sword after them.
15 And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have dispersed them among the nations, and scattered them in the countries.
16 And I will leave a few men of them from the sword, and from the famine, and from the pestilence: that they may declare all their wicked deeds among the nations whither they shall go: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
18 Son of man, eat thy bread in trouble: and drink thy water in hurry and sorrow.
19 And say to the people of the land: Thus saith the Lord God to them that dwell in Jerusalem, in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread in care, and drink their water in desolation: That the land may become desolate from the multitude that is therein, for the iniquity of all that dwell therein.
20 And the cities that are now inhabited, shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate: and you shall know that I am the Lord.
21 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
22 Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel? saying: The days shall be prolonged, and every vision shall fail.
23 Say to them, therefore: Thus saith the Lord God: I will make this proverb to cease, neither shall it be any more a common saying in Israel: and tell them that the days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.
24 For there shall be no more any vain visions, nor doubtful divination in the midst of the children of Israel.
25 For I the Lord will speak: and what word soever I shall speak, it shall come to pass, and shall not be prolonged any more: but in your days, ye provoking house, I will speak the word, and will do it, saith the Lord God.
26 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
27 Son of man, behold the house of Israel, they that say: The vision that this man seeth, is for many days to come: and this man prophesieth of times afar off.
28 Therefore say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Not one word of mine shall be prolonged any more: the word that I shall speak shall be accomplished, saith the Lord God.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3411, A.C. 593.
13:  Infra xvii. 20.
====================

EZECHIEL 13
CHAPTER XIII.

God declares against false prophets and prophetesses, that deceive the people with lies.

1 And *the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, prophesy thou against the prophets of Israel that prophesy: and thou shalt say to them that prophesy out of their own heart: Hear ye the word of the Lord:
3 Thus saith the Lord God: *Woe to the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit, and see nothing.
4 Thy prophets, O Israel, were like foxes in the deserts.
5 You have not gone up to face the enemy, nor have you set up a wall for the house of Israel, to stand in battle in the day of the Lord.
6 They see vain things, and they foretell lies, saying: The Lord saith: whereas the Lord hath not sent them: and they have persisted to confirm what they have said.
7 Have you not seen a vain vision, and spoken a lying divination: and you say: The Lord saith: whereas I have not spoken.
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because you have spoken vain things, and have seen lies: therefore, behold I come against you, saith the Lord God.
9 And my hand shall be upon the prophets that see vain things, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the council of my people, nor shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am the Lord God.
10 Because they have deceived my people, saying: Peace, and there is no peace: and the people built up a wall, and they daubed it with dirt without straw.
11 Say to them that daub without tempering, that it shall fall: for there shall be an overflowing shower, and I will cause great hailstones to fall violently from above, and a stormy wind to throw it down.
12 Behold, when the wall is fallen: shall it not be said to you: Where is the daubing wherewith you have daubed it?
13 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Lo, I will cause a stormy wind to break forth in my indignation, and there shall be an overflowing shower in my anger: and great hailstones in my wrath to consume.
14 And I will break down the wall that you have daubed with untempered mortar: and I will make it even with the ground, and the foundation thereof shall be laid bare: and it shall fall, and shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and you shall know that I am the Lord.
15 And I will accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that daub it without tempering the mortar, and I will say to you: The wall is no more, and they that daub it are no more.
16 Even the prophets of Israel that prophesy to Jerusalem, and that see visions of peace for her: and there is no peace, saith the Lord God.
17 And thou, son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people that prophesy out of their own heart: and do thou prophesy against them.
18 And say: Thus saith the Lord God: Woe to them that sew cushions under every elbow: and make pillows for the heads of persons of every age to catch souls: and when they caught the souls of my people, they gave life to their souls.
19 And they violated me among my people, for a handful of barley, and a piece of bread, to kill souls which should not die, and to save souls alive which should not live, telling lies to my people that believe lies.
20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I declare against your cushions, wherewith you catch flying souls: and I will tear them off from your arms; and I will let go the souls that you catch, the souls that should fly.
21 And I will tear your pillows, and will deliver my people out of your hand, neither shall they be any more in your hands to be a prey: and you shall know that I am the Lord.
22 Because with lies you have made the heart of the just to mourn, whom I have not made sorrowful: and have strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his evil way, and live.
23 Therefore, you shall not see vain things, nor divine divinations any more, and I will deliver my people out of your hand; and you shall know that I am the Lord.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3411.
3:  Jer. xxiii. 1.; Infra iv. 9.[xiv. 9.?] and xxxiv. 2.
====================

EZECHIEL 14
CHAPTER XIV.

God suffers the wicked to be deceived, in punishment of their wickedness.  The evils that shall come upon them for their sins: from which they shall not be delivered by the prayers of Noe, Daniel, and Job.  But a remnant shall be preserved.

1 And *some of the ancients of Israel came to me, and sat before me.
2 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
3 Son of man, these men have placed their uncleannesses in their hearts, and have set up before their face the stumbling-block of their iniquity; and shall I answer when they inquire of me?
4 Therefore, speak to them, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Every man of the house of Israel, that shall place his uncleannesses in his heart, and set up the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and shall come to the prophet, enquiring of me by him: I the Lord will answer him, according to the multitude of his uncleannesses.
5 That the house of Israel may be caught in their own heart, with which they have departed from me through all their idols.
6 Therefore, say to the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: Be converted, and depart from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
7 For every man of the house of Israel, and every stranger among the proselytes in Israel, if he separate himself from me, and place his idols in his heart, and set the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and come to the prophet to enquire of me by him: I the Lord will answer him by myself.
8 And I will set my face against that man, and will make him an example, and a proverb, and will cut him off from the midst of my people; and you shall know that I am the Lord.
9 *And when the prophet shall err, and speak a word: I the Lord have deceived that prophet; and I will stretch forth my hand upon him, and will cut him off from the midst of my people Israel.
10 And they shall bear their iniquity; according to the iniquity of him that inquireth, so shall the iniquity of the prophet be.
11 That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, nor be polluted with all their transgressions: but may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord of hosts.
12 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
13 Son of man, when a land shall sin against me, so as to transgress grievously, I will stretch forth my hand upon it, *and will break the staff of the bread thereof: and I will send famine upon it, and will destroy man and beast out of it.
14 And if these three men, Noe, Daniel, and Job, shall be in it: they shall deliver their own souls by their justice, saith the Lord of hosts.
15 And if I shall bring mischievous beasts also upon the land to waste it; and it be desolate, so that there is none that can pass because of the beasts:
16 If these three men shall be in it, as I live, saith the Lord, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters: but they only shall be delivered, and the land shall be made desolate.
17 Or if I bring the sword upon that land, and say to the sword: Pass through the land: and I destroy man and beast out of it:
18 And these three men be in the midst thereof: as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they themselves alone shall be delivered.
19 Or if I also send the pestilence upon that land, and pour out my indignation upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:
20 And Noe, and Daniel, and Job, be in the midst thereof: as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter: but they shall only deliver their own souls by their justice.
21 For thus saith the Lord: Although I shall send in upon Jerusalem my four grievous judgments, the sword and the famine, and the mischievous beasts, and the pestilence, to destroy out of it man and beast:
22 Yet there shall be left in it some that shall be saved, who shall bring away their sons and daughters: behold they shall come among you, and you shall see their way, and their doings: and you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, in all things that I have brought upon it.
23 And they shall comfort you, when you shall see their ways, and their doings: and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord God.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3411.
9:  Supra xiii. 3.
13:  Supra iv. 16. and v. 16.
====================

EZECHIEL 15
CHAPTER XV.

As a vine cut down is fit for nothing but the fire: so it shall be with Jerusalem, for her sins.

1 And *the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, what shall be made of the wood of the vine, out of all the trees of the woods that are among the trees of the forests?
3 Shall wood be taken of if, to do any work, or shall a pin be made of it, for any vessel to hang thereon?
4 Behold it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire hath consumed both ends thereof, and the midst thereof is reduced to ashes: shall it be useful for any work?
5 Even when it was whole it was not fit for work, how much less, when the fire hath devoured, and consumed it, shall any work be made of it?
6 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: As the vine-tree among the trees of the forests which I have given to the fire to be consumed, so will I deliver up the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
7 And I will set my face against them: they shall go out from fire, and fire shall consume them: and you shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have set my face against them.
8 And I shall have made their land a wilderness, and desolate, because they have been transgressors, saith the Lord God.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3411.
====================

EZECHIEL 16
CHAPTER XVI.

Under the figure of an unfaithful wife, God upbraids Jerusalem with her ingratitude and manifold disloyalties: but promiseth mercy by a new covenant.

1 And *the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations.
3 And thou shalt say: Thus saith the Lord God to Jerusalem: Thy root, and thy nativity is of the land of Chanaan, thy father was an Amorrhite, and thy mother a Cethite.
4 And when thou wast born, in the day of thy nativity thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed with water for thy health, nor salted with salt, nor swaddled with clouts.
5 No eye had pity on thee to do any of these things for thee, out of compassion to thee: but thou wast cast out upon the face of the earth in the abjection of thy soul, in the day that thou wast born.
6 And passing by thee, I saw that thou wast trodden under foot in thy own blood: and I said to thee when thou wast in thy blood: Live: yes, I said to thee: Live in thy blood.
7 I caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field: and thou didst increase and grow great, and advancedst, and camest to woman's ornament: thy breasts were fashioned, and thy hair grew: and thou wast naked, and full of confusion.
8 And I passed by thee, and saw thee: and behold thy time was the time of lovers: and I spread my garment over thee, and covered thy ignominy.  And I swore to thee, and I entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God: and thou becamest mine.
9 And I washed thee with water, and cleansed away thy blood from thee: and I anointed thee with oil.
10 And I clothed thee with embroidery, and shod thee with violet-coloured shoes: and I girded thee about with fine linen, and clothed thee with fine garments.
11 I decked thee also with ornaments, and put bracelets on thy hands, and a chain about thy neck.
12 And I put a jewel upon thy forehead and ear-rings in thy ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head.
13 And thou wast adorned with gold, and silver, and wast clothed with fine linen, and embroidered work, and many colours: thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil, and wast made exceedingly beautiful: and wast advanced to be a queen.
14 And thy renown went forth among the nations for thy beauty: for thou wast perfect through my beauty, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.
15 But trusting in thy beauty, thou playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and thou hast prostituted thyself to every passenger, to be his.
16 And taking of thy garments thou hast made thee high places sowed together on each side: and hast played the harlot upon them, as hath not been done before, nor shall be hereafter.
17 And thou tookest thy beautiful vessels, of my gold, and my silver, which I gave thee, and thou madest thee images of men, and hast committed fornication with them.
18 And thou tookest thy garments of divers colours, and coveredst them: and settest my oil and my sweet incense before them.
19 And my bread which I gave thee, the fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast set before them for a sweet odour; and it was done, saith the Lord God.
20 And thou hast taken thy sons, and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne to me: and best sacrificed the same to them to be devoured.  Is thy fornication small?
21 Thou hast sacrificed and given my children to them, consecrating them by fire.
22 And after all thy abominations, and fornications, thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked, and full of confusion, trodden under foot in thy own blood.
23 And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (wo, wo to thee, saith the Lord God)
24 That thou didst also build thee a common stew, and madest thee a brothel house in every street.
25 At every head of the way thou hast set up a sign of thy prostitution: and hast made thy beauty to be abominable: and hast prostituted thyself to every one that passed by, and hast multiplied thy fornications.
26 And thou hast committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, men of large bodies, and hast multiplied thy fornications to provoke me.
27 Behold, I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and will take away thy justification: and I will deliver thee up to the will of the daughters of the Philistines that hate thee, that are ashamed of thy wicked way.
28 Thou hast also committed fornication with the Assyrians, because thou wast not yet satisfied: and after thou hadst played the harlot with them, even so thou wast not contented.
29 Thou hast also multiplied thy fornications in the land of Chanaan with the Chaldeans: and neither so wast thou satisfied.
30 Wherein shall I cleanse thy heart, saith the Lord God: seeing thou dost all these the works of a shameless prostitute?
31 Because thou hast built thy brothel house at the head of every way, and thou hast made thy high place in every street: and wast not as a harlot that by disdain enhanceth her price,
32 But as an adulteress, that bringeth in strangers over her husband.
33 Gifts are given to all harlots: but thou hast given hire to all thy lovers, and thou hast given them gifts to come to thee from every side, to commit fornication with thee.
34 And it hath happened in thee contrary to the custom of women in thy fornications, and after thee there shall be no such fornication: for in that thou gavest rewards, and didst not take rewards, the contrary hath been done in thee.
35 Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord.
36 Thus saith the Lord God: Because thy money hath been poured out, and thy shame discovered through thy fornications with thy lovers, and with the idols of thy abominations by the blood of thy children whom thou gavest them:
37 Behold, I will gather together all thy lovers with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all whom thou hast loved, with all whom thou hast hated: and I will gather them together against thee on every side, and will discover thy shame in their sight, and they shall see all thy nakedness.
38 *And I will judge thee as adulteresses, and they that shed blood are judged: and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.
39 And I will deliver thee into their hands, and they shall destroy thy brothel house, and throw down thy stews: and they shall strip thee of thy garments, and shall take away the vessels of thy beauty: and leave thee naked, and full of disgrace.
40 And they shall bring upon thee a multitude, and they shall stone thee with stones, and shall slay thee with their swords.
41 *And they shall burn thy houses with fire, and shall execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and thou shalt cease from fornication, and shalt give no hire any more.
42 And my indignation shall rest in thee: and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will cease and be angry no more.
43 Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast provoked me in all these things: wherefore I also have turned thy ways upon thy head, saith the Lord God, and I have not done according to thy wicked deeds in all thy abominations.
44 Behold, every one that useth a common proverb, shall use this against thee, saying: As the mother was, so also is her daughter.
45 Thou art thy mother's daughter, that cast off her husband, and her children: and thou art the sister of thy sisters, who cast off their husbands, and their children: your mother was a Cethite, and your father an Amorrhite.
46 And thy elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister that dwelleth at thy right hand is Sodom, and her daughters.
47 But neither hast thou walked in their ways, nor hast thou done a little less than they according to their wickednesses: thou hast done almost more wicked things than they in all thy ways.
48 As I live, saith the Lord God, thy sister Sodom herself, and her daughters, have not done as thou hast done, and thy daughters.
49 *Behold this was the iniquity of Sodom thy sister, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance, and the idleness of her, and of her daughters: and they did not put forth their hand to the needy, and to the poor.
50 And they were lifted up, and committed abominations before me: and I took them away as thou hast seen.
51 And Samaria committed not half thy sins: but thou hast surpassed them with thy crimes, and hast justified thy sisters by all thy abominations which thou hast done.
52 Therefore do thou also bear thy confusion, thou that hast surpassed thy sisters with thy sins, doing more wickedly than they: for they are justified above thee, therefore be thou also confounded, and bear thy shame, thou that hast justified thy sisters.
53 And I will bring back and restore them by bringing back Sodom with her daughters, and by bringing back Samaria, and her daughters: and I will bring those that return of thee in the midst of them.
54 That thou mayest bear thy shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, comforting them.
55 And thy sister Sodom, and her daughters shall return to their ancient state: and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their ancient state: and thou, and thy daughters, shall return to your ancient state.
56 And Sodom, thy sister, was not heard of in thy mouth, in the day of thy pride,
57 Before thy malice was laid open: as it is at this time, making thee a reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all the daughters of Palestine round about thee, that encompass thee on all sides.
58 Thou hast borne thy wickedness, and thy disgrace, saith the Lord God.
59 For thus saith the Lord God: I will deal with thee, as thou hast despised the oath, in breaking the covenant:
60 And I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth: and I will establish with thee an everlasting covenant.
61 And thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed: when thou shalt receive thy sisters thy elder and thy younger: and I will give them to thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.
62 And I will establish my covenant with thee: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord,
63 That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and mayest no more open thy mouth because of thy confusion, when I shall be pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3411.
38:  Infra xxiii. 10.
41:  4 Kings xxv. 9.
49:  Gen. xix. 24.
====================

EZECHIEL 17
CHAPTER XVII.

The parable of the two eagles and the vine.  A promise of the cedar of Christ and his church.

1 And *the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel,
3 And say: Thus saith the Lord God: A large eagle with great wings, long-limbed, full of feathers, and of variety, came to Libanus, and took away the marrow of the cedar.
4 He cropt off the top of the twigs thereof: and carried it away into the land of Chanaan, and he set it in a city of merchants.
5 And he took of the seed of the land, and put it in the ground for seed, that it might take a firm root over many waters: he planted it on the surface of the earth.
6 And it sprung up and grew into a spreading vine of low stature, and the branches thereof looked towards him: and the roots thereof were under him.  So it became a vine, and grew into branches, and shot forth sprigs.
7 And there was another large eagle, with great wings, and many feathers: and behold this vine, bending as it were her roots towards him, stretched forth her branches to him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.
8 It was planted in a good ground upon many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and bear fruit, that it might become a large vine.
9 Say thou: Thus saith the Lord God: Shall it prosper then? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and strip off its fruit, and dry up all the branches it hath shot forth, and make it wither: and this without a strong arm, or many people, to pluck it up by the root?
10 Behold, it is planted: shall it prosper then? shall it not be dried up when the burning wind shall touch it, and shall it not wither in the furrows where it grew?
11 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
12 Say to the provoking house: Know you not what these things mean?  Tell them: Behold the king of Babylon cometh to Jerusalem: and he shall take away the king and the princes thereof, and carry them with him to Babylon.
13 And he shall take one of the king's seed, and make a covenant with him, and take an oath of him.  Yea, and he shall take away the mighty men of the land.
14 That it may be a low kingdom and not lift itself up, but keep his covenant and observe it.
15 But he hath revolted from him and sent ambassadors to Egypt, that it might give him horses, and much people.  And shall he that hath done thus prosper, or be saved? and shall he escape that hath broken the covenant?
16 As I live, saith the Lord God: In the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he hath made void, and whose covenant he broke, even in the midst of Babylon shall he die.
17 And not with a great army, nor with much people shall Pharao fight against him: when he shall cast up mounts, and build forts, to cut off many souls.
18 For he had despised the oath, breaking his covenant, and behold he hath given his hand: and having done all these things, he shall not escape.
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: As I live, I will lay upon his head the oath he hath despised, and the covenant he hath broken.
20 *And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my net: and I will bring him into Babylon, and will judge him there for the transgression by which he hath despised me.
21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword: and the residue shall be scattered into every wind: and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken.
22 Thus saith the Lord God: I myself will take of the marrow of the high cedar, and will set it: I will crop off a tender twig from the top of the branches thereof, and I will plant it on a mountain high and eminent.
23 On the high mountains of Israel will I plant it, and it shall shoot forth into branches, and shall bear fruit, and it shall become a great cedar: and all birds shall dwell under it, and every fowl shall make its nest under the shadow of the branches thereof.
24 And all the trees of the country shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, and exalted the low tree: and have dried up the green tree, and have caused the dry tree to flourish.  I the Lord have spoken, and have done it.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3411.
20:  Supra xii. 13.; Infra xxxii. 3.
====================

EZECHIEL 18
CHAPTER XVIII.

One man shall not bear the sins of another, but every one his own: if a wicked man truly repent, he shall be saved: and if a just man leave his justice, he shall perish.

1 And *the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What is the meaning
2 That you use among you this parable as a proverb in the land of Israel, saying: *The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge?
3 As I live, saith the Lord God, this parable shall be no more to you a proverb in Israel.
4 Behold all souls are mine: as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, the same shall die.
5 And if a man be just, and do judgment and justice,
6 And hath not eaten upon the mountains, nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel: and hath not defiled his neighbour's wife, nor come near to a menstruous woman:
7 And hath not wronged any man: but hath restored the pledge to the debtor, hath taken nothing away by violence: *hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment:
8 Hath not lent upon usury, nor taken any increase: hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, and hath executed true judgment between man and man:
9 Hath walked in my commandments, and kept my judgments, to do truth: he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God.
10 And if he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that hath done some one of these things:
11 Though he doth not all these things, but that eateth upon the mountains, and that defileth his neighbour's wife:
12 That grieveth the needy and the poor, that taketh away by violence, that restoreth not the pledge, and that lifteth up his eyes to idols, that committeth abomination:
13 That giveth upon usury, and that taketh an increase: shall such a one live? he shall not live.  Seeing he hath done all these detestable things, he shall surely die, his blood shall be upon him.
14 But if he beget a son, who seeing all his father's sins, which he hath done, is afraid, and shall not do the like to them:
15 That hath not eaten upon the mountains, nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and hath not defiled his neighbour's wife:
16 And hath not grieved any man, nor withholden the pledge, nor taken away with violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and covered the naked with a garment:
17 That hath turned away his hand from injuring the poor, hath not taken usury and increase, but hath executed my judgments, and hath walked in my commandments: this man shall not die for the iniquity of his father, but living he shall live.
18 As for his father: because he oppressed, and offered violence to his brother, and wrought evil in the midst of his people, behold he is dead in his own iniquity.
19 And you say: Why hath not the son borne the iniquity of his father?  Verily, because the son hath wrought judgment and justice, hath kept all my commandments, and done them, living he shall live.
20 *The soul that sinneth, the same shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, and the father shall not bear the iniquity of the son: the justice of the just shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
21 But if the wicked do penance for all his sins which he hath committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment, and justice, living he shall live, and shall not die.
22 I will not remember all his iniquities that he hath done: in his justice which he hath wrought, he shall live.
23 *Is it my will that a sinner should die, saith the Lord God, and not that he should be converted from his ways, and live?
24 But if the just man turn himself away from his justice, and do iniquity according to all the abominations which the wicked man useth to work, shall he live? all his justices which he hath done, shall not be remembered: in the prevarication, by which he hath prevaricated, and in his sin, which he hath committed, in them he shall die.
25 And you have said: *The way of the Lord is not right.  Hear ye, therefore, O house of Israel: Is it my way that is not right, and are not rather your ways perverse?
26 For when the just turneth himself away from his justice, and committeth iniquity, he shall die therein: in the injustice that he hath wrought he shall die.
27 And when the wicked turneth himself away from his wickedness, which he hath wrought, and doth judgment, and justice: he shall save his soul alive.
28 Because he considereth and turneth away himself from all his iniquities which he hath wrought, he shall surely live, and not die.
29 And the children of Israel say: The way of the Lord is not right.  Are not my ways right, O house of Israel, and are not rather your ways perverse?
30 Therefore will I judge every man according to his ways, O house of Israel, saith the Lord God.*  Be converted, and do penance for all your iniquities: and iniquity shall not be your ruin.
31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, by which you have transgressed, and make to yourselves a new heart, and a new spirit: and why will you die, O house of Israel?
32 *For I desire not the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God, return ye, and live.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3411.
2:  Jer. xxxi. 29.
7:  Isai. lviii. 7.; Mat. xxv. 35.
20:  Deut. xxiv. 16.; 4 Kings xiv. 6.; 2 Par. xxv. 4.
23:  Infra xxi. 23. and xxxiii. 11.; 2 Peter iii. 9.
25:  Infra xxxiii. 20.
30:  Mat. iii. 2.; Lu. iii. 3.
32:  Supra xviii. 23.; Infra xxxiii. 11.; 2 Pet. iii. 9.
====================

EZECHIEL 19
CHAPTER XIX.

The parable of the young lions; and of the viine that is wasted.

1 Moreover *take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2 And say: Why did thy mother, the lioness, lie down among the lions, and bring up her whelps in the midst of young lions?
3 And she brought out one of her whelps, and he became a lion: and he learned to catch the prey, and to devour men.
4 And the nations heard of him, and took him, but not without receiving wounds: and they brought him in chains into the land of Egypt.
5 But she seeing herself weakened, and that her hope was lost, took one of her young lions, and set him up for a lion.
6 And he went up and down among the lions, and became a lion: and he learned to catch the prey, and to devour men.
7 He learned to make widows, and to lay waste their cities: and the land became desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring.
8 And the nations came together against him on every side out of the provinces, and they spread their net over him, in their wounds he was taken.
9 And they put him into a cage, they brought him in chains to the king of Babylon: and they cast him into prison, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
10 Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the water: her fruit and her branches have grown out of many waters.
11 And she hath strong rods, to make sceptres for them that bear rule, and her stature was exalted among the branches: and she saw her height in the multitude of her branches.
12 But she was plucked up in wrath, and cast on the ground, *and the burning wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods are withered, and dried up: the fire hath devoured her.
13 And now she is transplanted into the desert, in a land not passable, and dry.
14 And a fire is gone out from a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit: so that she now hath no strong rod, to be a sceptre of rulers.  This is a lamentation, and it shall be for a lamentation.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3411.
12:  Osee xiii. 15.
====================

EZECHIEL 20
CHAPTER XX.

God refuses to answer the ancients of Israel, inquiring by the prophet: but by him setteth his benefits before their eyes, and their heinous sins: threatening yet greater punishments, but still mixt with mercy.

1 And *it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, there came men of the ancients of Israel to inquire of the Lord; and they sat before me.
2 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
3 Son of man, speak to the ancients of Israel, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Are you come to inquire of me?  As I live, I will not answer you, saith the Lord God.
4 If thou judgest them, if thou judgest, O son of man, declare to them the abominations of their fathers.
5 And say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up my hand for the race of the house of Jacob: and appeared to them in the land of Egypt, and lifted up my hand for them, saying: I am the Lord your God:
6 In that day I lifted up my hand for them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt, into a land which I had provided for them, flowing with milk and honey, which excelleth amongst all lands.
7 And I said to them: Let every man cast away the scandals of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
8 But they provoked me, and would not hearken to me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of his eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: and I said I would pour out my indignation upon them, and accomplish my wrath against them, in the midst of the land of Egypt.
9 But I did otherwise for my name's sake, that it might not be violated before the nations, in the midst of whom they were, and among whom I made myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
10 Therefore I brought them out from the land of Egypt, and brought them into the desert.
11 *And I gave them my statutes, and I shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them.
12 *Moreover, I gave them also my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them: and that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.
13 But the house of Israel provoked me in the desert: they walked not in my statutes, and they cast away my judgments, which if a man do he shall live in them: and they grievously violated my sabbaths.  I said, therefore, that I would pour out my indignation upon them in the desert, and would consume them.
14 But I spared them for the sake of my name, lest it should be profaned before the nations, from which I brought them out in their sight.
15 So I lifted up my hand over them in the desert, not to bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, the best of all lands.
16 Because they cast off my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, and violated my sabbaths: for their heart went after idols.
17 Yet my eye spared them, so that I destroyed them not: neither did I consume them in the desert.
18 And I said to their children in the wilderness: Walk not in the statutes of your fathers, and observe not their judgments, nor be ye defiled with their idols:
19 I am the Lord your God: walk ye in my statutes, and observe my judgments, and do them.
20 And sanctify my sabbaths, that they may be a sign between me and you: and that you may know that I am the Lord your God.
21 But their children provoked me, they walked not in my commandments, nor observed my judgments, to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them: and they violated my sabbaths: and I threatened to pour out my indignation upon them, and to accomplish my wrath in them in the desert.
22 But I turned away my hand, and wrought for my name's sake, that it might not be violated before the nations, out of which I brought them forth in their sight.
23 Again I lifted up my hand upon them in the wilderness, to disperse them among the nations, and scatter them through the countries:
24 Because they had not done my judgments, and had cast off my statutes, and had violated my sabbaths, and their eyes had been after the idols of their fathers.
25 Therefore I also gave them statutes that were not good, and judgments, in which they shall not live.
26 And I polluted them in their own gifts, when they offered all that opened the womb, for their offences: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
27 Wherefore speak to the house of Israel, O son of man, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Moreover, in this also your fathers blasphemed me, when they had despised and contemned me:
28 And I had brought them into the land, for which I lifted up my hand to give it them: they saw every high hill, and every shady tree, and there they sacrificed their victims, and there they presented the provocation of their offerings, and there they set their sweet odours, and poured forth their libations.
29 And I said to them: What meaneth the high place to which you go? and the name thereof was called high-place even to this day.
30 Wherefore say to the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: Verily, you are defiled in the way of your fathers, and you commit fornication with their abominations.
31 And you defile yourselves with all your idols unto this day, in the offering of your gifts, when you make your children pass through the fire: and shall I answer you, O house of Israel?  As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not answer you.
32 Neither shall the thought of your mind come to pass, by which you say: We will be as the Gentiles, and as the families of the earth, to worship stocks and stones.
33 As I live, saith the Lord God, I will reign over you with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
34 And I will bring you out from the people, and I will gather you out of the countries, in which you are scattered, I will reign over you with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of people, and there will I plead with you face to face.
36 As I pleaded against your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt: even so will I judge you, saith the Lord God.
37 And I will make you subject to my sceptre, and will bring you into the bands of the covenant.
38 And I will pick out from among you the transgressors, and the wicked, and will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord.
39 And as for you, O house of Israel: thus saith the Lord God: Walk ye every one after your idols, and serve them.  But if in this also you hear me not, but defile my holy name any more with your gifts, and with your idols.
40 In my holy mountain, in the high mountain of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel serve me: all of them, I say, in the land in which they shall please me, and there will I require your first fruits, and the chief of your tithes, with all your sanctifications.
41 I will accept of you for an odour of sweetness, when I shall have brought you out from the people, and shall have gathered you out of the lands into which you are scattered, and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.
42 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have brought you into the land of Israel, into the land for which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers.
43 And there you shall remember your ways, and all your wicked doings with which you have been defiled: and you shall be displeased with yourselves in your own sight, for all your wicked deeds which you committed.
44 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have done well by you for my own name's sake, and not according to your evil ways, nor according to your wicked deeds, O house of Israel, saith the Lord God.
45 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
46 Son of man, set thy face against the way of the south, and drop towards the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field.
47 And any to the south forest: Hear the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will kindle a fire in thee, and will burn in thee every green tree, and every dry tree: the flame of the fire shall not be quenched: and every face shall be burned in it, from the south even to the north.
48 And all flesh shall see, that I the Lord have kindled it, and it shall not be quenched.
49 And I said: Ah, ah, ah, O Lord God: they say of me: Doth not this man speak by parables?
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3411.
11:  Lev. xviii. 5.; Rom. x. 5.
12:  Exod. xx. 8. and xxxi. 13.; Deut. v. 12.
====================

EZECHIEL 21
CHAPTER XXI.

The destruction of Jerusalem by the sword is further described.  The ruin also of the Ammonites is foreshewn.  And finally Babylon, the destroyer of others, shall be destroyed.

1 And *the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and let thy speech flow towards the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel:
3 And say to the land of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I come against thee, and I will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off in thee the just, and the wicked.
4 And forasmuch as I have cut off in thee the just, and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh, from the south even to the north.
5 That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn my sword out of its sheath, not to be turned back.
6 And thou, son of man, mourn with the breaking of thy loins, and with bitterness sigh before them.
7 And when they shall say to thee: Why mournest thou? thou shalt say: For that which I hear: because it cometh, and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be made feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and water shall run down every knee: behold it cometh, and it shall be done, saith the Lord God.
8 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
9 Son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Say: The sword, the sword is sharpened, and furbished.
10 It is sharpened to kill victims: it is furbished that it may glitter: thou removest the sceptre of my son, thou hast cut down every tree.
11 And I have given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, that it may be in the hand of the slayer.
12 Cry, and howl, O son of man, for this sword is upon my people, it is upon all the princes of Israel, that are fled: they are delivered up to the sword with my people; strike, therefore, upon thy thigh,
13 Because it is tried: and that, when it shall overthrow the sceptre, and it shall not be, saith the Lord God:
14 Thou, therefore, O son of man, prophesy, and strike thy hands together, and let the sword be doubled, and let the sword of the slain be tripled: this is the sword of a great slaughter, that maketh them stand amazed,
15 And languish in heart, and that multiplieth ruins.  In all their gates I have set the dread of the sharp sword, the sword that is furbished to glitter, that is made ready for slaughter.
16 Be thou sharpened, go to the right hand, or to the left, which way soever thou hast a mind to set thy face.
17 And I will clap my hands together, and will satisfy my indignation: I the Lord have spoken.
18 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
19 And thou, son of man, set thee two ways, for the sword of the king of Babylon to come: both shall come forth out of one land: and with his hand he shall draw lots, he shall consult at the head of the way of the city.
20 Thou shalt make a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and to Juda, unto Jerusalem, the strong city.
21 For the king of Babylon stood in the highway, at the head of two ways, seeking divination, shuffling arrows: he enquired of the idols, and consulted entrails.
22 On his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in slaughter, to lift up the voice in howling, to set engines against the gates, to cast up a mount, to build forts.
23 And he shall be in their eyes as one consulting the oracle in vain, and imitating the leisure of sabbaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.
24 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because you have remembered your iniquity, and have discovered your prevarications, and your sins have appeared in all your devices: because, I say, you have remembered, you shall be taken with the hand.
25 But thou profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come that hath been appointed in the time of iniquity:
26 Thus saith the Lord God: Remove the diadem, take off the crown: is it not this that hath exalted the low one, and brought down him that was high?
27 I will shew it to be iniquity, iniquity, iniquity: but this was not done, till he came to whom judgment belongeth, and I will give it him.
28 *And thou son of man prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord God concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach, and thou shalt say: sword, O sword, come out of the scabbard to kill, be furbished to destroy, and to glitter.
29 Whilst they see vain things in thy regard, and they divine lies: to bring thee upon the necks of the wicked that are wounded, whose appointed day is come in the time of iniquity.
30 Return into thy sheath.  I will judge thee in the place wherein thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.
31 And I will pour out upon thee my indignation: in the fire of my rage will I blow upon thee, and will give thee into the hands of men that are brutish and contrive thy destruction.
32 Thou shalt be fuel for the fire, thy blood shall be in the midst of the land, thou shalt be forgotten; for I, the Lord, have spoken it.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3411.
28:  Gen. xlix. 10.
====================

EZECHIEL 22
CHAPTER XXII.

The general corruption of the inhabitants of Jerusalem: for which God will consume them as dross in his furnace.

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, *saying:
2 And thou son of man, dost thou not judge, dost thou not judge the city of blood?
3 And thou shalt shew her all her abominations, and shalt say: Thus saith the Lord God: This is the city that sheddeth blood in the midst of her, that her time may come: and that hath made idols against herself, to defile herself.
4 Thou art become guilty in thy blood which thou hast shed: and thou art defiled in thy idols which thou hast made: and thou hast made thy days to draw near, and hast brought on the time of thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach to the Gentiles, and a mockery to all countries.
5 Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall triumph over thee: thou filthy one, infamous, great in destruction.
6 Behold the princes of Israel, every one hath employed his arm in thee, to shed blood.
7 They have abused father and mother in thee; they have oppressed the stranger in the midst of thee; they have grieved the fatherless and widow in thee.
8 Thou hast despised my sanctuaries, and profaned my sabbaths.
9 Slanderers have been in thee to shed blood, and they have eaten upon the mountains in thee, they have committed wickedness in the midst of thee.
10 They have discovered the nakedness of their father in thee, they have humbled the uncleanness of the menstruous woman in thee.
11 *And every one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife, and the father-in-law hath wickedly defiled his daughter-in-law, the brother hath oppressed his sister the daughter of his father, in thee.
12 They have taken gifts in thee to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and hast covetously oppressed thy neighbours; and then hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God.
13 Behold, I have clapped my hands at thy covetousness, which thou hast exercised; and at the blood that hath been shed in the midst of thee.
14 Shall thy heart endure, or shall thy hands prevail, in the days which I will bring upon thee?  I, the Lord, have spoken, and will do it.
15 And I will disperse thee in the nations, and will scatter thee among the countries, and I will put an end to thy uncleanness in thee.
16 And I will possess thee in the sight of the Gentiles, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.
17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
18 Son of man, the house of Israel is become dross to me: all these are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace: they are become the dross of silver.
19 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Because you are all turned into dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you together in the midst of Jerusalem.
20 As they gather silver, and brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace, that I may kindle a fire in it to melt it: so will I gather you together in my fury and in my wrath, and will take my rest: and I will melt you down.
21 And I will gather you together, and will burn you in the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst thereof.
22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall you be in the midst thereof: and you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have poured out my indignation upon you.
23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
24 Son of man, say to her: Thou art a land that is unclean, and not rained upon in the day of wrath.
25 There is a conspiracy of prophets in the midst thereof: like a lion that roareth and catcheth the prey, they have devoured souls; they have taken riches and hire, they have made many widows in the midst thereof.
26 Her priests have despised my law, and have defiled my sanctuaries: they have put no difference between holy and profane: nor have distinguished between the polluted and the clean: and they have turned away their eyes from my sabbaths, and I was profaned in the midst of them.
27 *Her princes in the midst of her, are like wolves ravening the prey to shed blood, and to destroy souls, and to run after gains, through covetousness.
28 And her prophets have daubed them without tempering the mortar, seeing vain things, and divining lies unto them, saying: Thus saith the Lord God: when the Lord hath not spoken.
29 The people of the land have used oppression, and committed robbery: they afflicted the needy and poor, and they oppressed the stranger by calumny without judgment.
30 And I sought among them for a man that might set up a hedge, and stand in the gap before me in favour of the land, that I might not destroy it: and I found none.
31 And I poured out my indignation upon them; in the fire of my wrath I consumed them: I have rendered their way upon their own head, saith the Lord God.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3411.
11:  Jer. v. 8.
27:  Mich. iii. 11.; Soph. iii. 3.
====================

EZECHIEL 23
CHAPTER XXIII.

Under the name of the two harlots, Oolla and Ooliba, are described the manifold disloyalties of Samaria and Jerusalem, with the punishment of them both.

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, *saying: Son of man, there were two women, daughters of one mother:
3 And they committed fornication in Egypt, in their youth they committed fornication: there were their breasts pressed down, and the teats of their virginity were bruised.
4 And their names were Oolla, the elder, and Ooliba, her younger sister: and I took them, and they bore sons and daughters.  Now for their names: Samaria is Oolla, and Jerusalem is Ooliba.
5 And Oolla committed fornication against me, and doated on her lovers, on the Assyrians that came to her.
6 Who were clothed with blue, princes, and rulers, beautiful youths, all horsemen, mounted upon horses.
7 And she committed her fornications with those chosen men, all sons of the Assyrians: and she defiled herself with the uncleanness of all them on whom she doated.
8 Moreover also,she did not forsake her fornications which she had committed in Egypt: for they also lay with her in her youth, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured out their fornication upon her.
9 Therefore have I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the sons of the Assyrians, upon whose lust she doaed.
10 *They discovered her disgrace, took away her sons and daughters, and slew her with the sword: and they became infamous women, and they executed judgments in her.
11 And when her sister, Ooliba, saw this, she was mad with lust more than she: and she carried her fornication beyond the fornication of her sister.
12 Impudently prostituting herself to the children of the Assyrians, the princes, and rulers that came to her, clothed with divers colours, to the horsemen that rode upon horses, and to young men, all of great beauty.
13 And I saw that she was defiled, and that they both took one way.
14 And she increased her fornications: and when she had seen men painted on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans set forth in colours,
15 And girded with girdles about their reins, and with dyed turbans on their heads, the resemblance of all the captains, the likeness of the sons of Babylon, and of the land of the Chaldeans, wherein they were born.
16 She doated upon them with the lust of her eyes, and she sent messengers to them into Chaldea.
17 And when the sons of Babylon were come to her to the bed of love, they defiled her with their fornications, and she was polluted by them, and her soul was glutted with them.
18 And she discovered her fornications, and discovered her disgrace: and my soul was alienated from her as my soul was alienated from her sister.
19 For she multiplied her fornications, remembering the days of her youth, in which she played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
20 And she was mad with lust after lying with them, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses: and whose issue as the issue of horses.
21 And thou hast renewed the wickedness of thy youth, when thy breasts were pressed in Egypt, and the paps of thy virginity broken.
22 Therefore, Ooliba, thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will raise up against thee all thy lovers, with whom thy soul hath been glutted: and I will gather them together against thee round about.
23 The children of Babylon, and all the Chaldeans, the nobles, and the kings, and princes, all the sons of the Assyrians, beautiful young men, all the captains, and rulers, the princes of princes, and the renowned horsemen.
24 And they shall come upon thee well appointed with chariot and wheel, a multitude of people: they shall be armed against thee on every side with breastplate, and buckler, and helmet: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee by their judgments.
25 And I will set my jealousy against thee, which they shall execute upon thee, with fury: they shall cut off thy nose and thy ears: and what remains shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons, and thy daughters, and thy residue shall be devoured by fire.
26 And they shall strip thee of thy garments, and take away the instruments of thy glory.
27 And I will put an end to thy wickedness in thee, and thy fornication brought out of the land of Egypt: neither shalt thou lift up thy eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more.
28 For thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver thee into the hands of them whom thou hatest, into their hands with whom thy soul hath been glutted.
29 And they shall deal with thee in hatred, and they shall take away all thy labours, and shall let thee go naked, and full of disgrace, and the disgrace of thy fornication shall be discovered, thy wickedness, and thy fornications.
30 They have done these things to thee, because thou hast played the harlot with the nations among which thou wast defiled with their idols.
31 Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister, and I will give her cup into thy hand.
32 Thus saith the Lord God: Thou shalt drink thy sister's cup, deep, and wide: thou shalt be had in derision and scorn, which containeth very much.
33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness, and sorrow: with the cup of grief, and sadness, with the cup of thy sister, Samaria.
34 And thou shalt drink it, and shalt drink it up even to the dregs, and thou shalt devour the fragments thereof, thou shalt rend thy breasts: because I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.
35 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because thou hast forgotten me, and hast cast me off behind thy back, bear thou also thy wickedness, and thy fornications.
36 And the Lord spoke to me, saying: Son of man, dost thou judge Oolla, and Ooliba, and dost thou declare to them their wicked deeds?
37 Because they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and they have committed fornication with their idols: moreover also their children, whom they bore to me, they have offered to them to be devoured.
38 Yea, and they have done this to me.  They polluted my sanctuary on the same day, and profaned my sabbaths.
39 And when they sacrificed their children to their idols, and went into my sanctuary the same day, to profane it: they did these things even in the midst of my house.
40 They sent for men coming from afar, to whom they had sent a messenger: and behold they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, and didst paint thy eyes, and wast adorned with women's ornaments.
41 Thou sattest on a very fine bed, and a table was decked before thee: whereupon thou didst set my incense and my ointment.
42 And there was in her the voice of a multitude rejoicing: and to some that were brought of the multitude of men, and that came from the desert, they put bracelets on their hands, and beautiful crowns on their heads.
43 And I said to her that was worn out in her adulteries: Now will this woman still continue in her fornication.
44 And they went in to her, as to a harlot: so went they in unto Oolla, and Ooliba, wicked women.
45 They, therefore, are just men: these shall judge them as adulteresses are judged, and as shedders of blood are judged: because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.
46 For thus saith the Lord God: Bring a multitude upon them, and deliver them over to tumult and rapine:
47 And let the people stone them with stones, and let them be stabbed with their swords: they shall kill their sons and daughters, and their houses they shall burn with fire.
48 And I will take away wickedness out of the land: and all women shall learn, not to do according to the wickedness of them.
49 And they shall render your wickedness upon you, and you shall bear the sins of your idols: and you shall know that I am the Lord God.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3411.
10:  Supra xvi. 38.
====================

EZECHIEL 24
CHAPTER XXIV.

Under the parable of a boiling pot, is shewn the utter destruction of Jerusalem: for which the Jews at Babylon shall not dare to mourn.

1 And *the word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, the tenth day of the month, saying:
2 Son of man, write thee the name of this day, on which the king of Babylon hath set himself against Jerusalem to-day.
3 And thou shalt speak by a figure, a parable, to the provoking house, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Set on a pot, set it on, I say; and put water into it.
4 Heap together into it the pieces thereof, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder, choice pieces and full of bones.
5 Take the fattest of the flock, and lay together piles of bones under it: the seething thereof is boiling hot, and the bones thereof are thoroughly sodden in the midst of it.
6 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Wo to the bloody city, to the pot whose rust is in it, and its rust is not gone out of it: cast it out piece by piece, there hath no lot fallen upon it.
7 For her blood is in the midst of her, she hath shed it upon the smooth rock: she hath not shed it upon the ground, that it might be covered with dust.
8 And that I might bring my indignation upon her, and take my vengeance: I have shed her blood upon the smooth rock, that it should not be covered.
9 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: *Wo to the bloody city, of which I will make a great bonfire.
10 Heap together the bones, which I will burn with fire: the flesh shall be consumed, and the whole composition shall be sodden, and the bones shall be consumed.
11 Then set it empty upon burning coals, that it may be hot, and the brass thereof may be melted; and let the filth of it be melted, in the midst thereof, and let the rust of it be consumed.
12 Great pains have been taken, and the great rust thereof is not gone out, not even by fire.
13 Thy uncleanness is execrable: because I desired to cleanse thee, and thou art not cleansed from thy filthiness: neither shalt thou be cleansed, before I cause my indignation to rest in thee.
14 I, the Lord, have spoken: it shall come to pass, and I will do it: I will not pass by, nor spare, nor be pacified: I will judge thee according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, saith the Lord.
15 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
16 Son of man, behold I take from thee the desire of thy eyes with a stroke: and thou shalt not lament, nor weep: neither shall thy tears run down.
17 Sigh in silence; make no mourning for the dead: let the tire of thy head be upon thee, and thy shoes on thy feet, and cover not thy face, nor eat the meat of mourners.
18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening: and I did in the morning as he had commanded me.
19 And the people said to me: Why dost thou not tell us what these things mean that thou doest?
20 And I said to them: The word of the Lord came to me, saying:
21 Speak to the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the glory of your realm, and the thing that your eyes desire, and for which your soul feareth: your sons and your daughters, whom you have left, shall fall by the sword.
22 And you shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your faces, nor shall you eat the meat of mourners.
23 You shall have crowns on your heads, and shoes on your feet; you shall not lament nor weep, but you shall pine away for your iniquities, and every one shall sigh with his brother.
24 And Ezechiel shall be unto you for a sign of things to come: according to all that he hath done, so shall you do, when this shall come to pass: and you shall know that I am the Lord God.
25 And thou, O son of man, behold in the day wherein I will take away from them their strength, and the joy of their glory, and the desire of their eyes, upon which their souls rest, their sons and their daughters.
26 In that day when he that escapeth shall come to thee, to tell thee;
27 In that day, I say, shall thy mouth be opened to him that hath escaped, and thou shalt speak, and shalt be silent no more: and thou shalt be unto them for a sign of things to come: and you shall know that I am the Lord.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3414, A.C. 590.
9:  Nahum iii. 1.; Habac. ii. 12.
====================

EZECHIEL 25
CHAPTER XXV.

A prophecy against the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and Philistines, for their malice against the Israelites.

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, set thy face against the children of Ammon, and thou shalt prophesy of them.
3 *And thou shalt say to the children of Ammon: Hear ye the word of the Lord God: Thus saith the Lord God: Because thou hast said: Ha, ha, upon my sanctuary, because it was profaned; and upon the land of Israel, because it was laid waste; and upon the house of Juda, because they are led into captivity:
4 Therefore, will I deliver thee to the men of the east for an inheritance, and they shall place their sheepcotes in thee, and shall set up their tents in thee: they shall eat thy fruits, and they shall drink thy milk.
5 And I will make Rabbath a stable for camels, and the children of Ammon a couching-place for flocks: and you shall know that I am the Lord.
6 For thus saith the Lord God: Because thou hast clapped thy hands, and stamped with thy foot, and hast rejoiced with all thy heart against the land of Israel;
7 Therefore, behold, I will stretch forth my hand upon thee, and will deliver thee to be the spoil of nations, and will cut thee off from among the people, and destroy thee out of the lands, and break thee in pieces: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.
8 Thus saith the Lord God: Because Moab and Seir have said: Behold, the house of Juda is like all other nations:
9 Therefore, behold, I will open the shoulder of Moab from the cities, from his cities, I say, and his borders, the noble cities of the land of Bethiesimoth, and Beelmeon, and Cariathaim,
10 To the people of the east with the children of Ammon, and I will give it them for an inheritance, that there may be no more any remembrance of the children of Ammon among the nations.
11 And I will execute judgments in Moab: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
12 Thus saith the Lord God: Because Edom hath taken vengeance to revenge herself of the children of Juda, and hath greatly offended, and hath sought revenge of them:
13 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: I will stretch forth my hand upon Edom, and will take away out of it man and beast, and will make it desolate from the south: and they that are in Dedan, shall fall by the sword.
14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom, by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to my wrath and my fury: and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord God.
15 Thus saith the Lord God: Because the Philistines have taken vengeance, and have revenged themselves with all their mind, destroying and satisfying old enmities:
16 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will stretch forth my hand upon the Philistines, and will kill the killers, and will destroy the remnant of the sea coast.
17 And I will execute great vengeance upon them, rebuking them in fury: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.
____________________
*
3:  A.M. 3417, A.C. 387.; Jer. xlix. 7.
====================

EZECHIEL 26
CHAPTER XXVI.

A prophecy of the destruction of the famous city of Tyre by Nabuchodonosor.

1 And *it came to pass in the eleventh year, the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, because Tyre hath said of Jerusalem: Aha, the gates of the people are broken, she is turned to me: I shall be filled, now she is laid waste.
3 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I come against thee, O Tyre, and I will cause many nations to come up to thee, as the waves of the sea rise up.
4 And they shall break down the walls of Tyre, and destroy the towers thereof: and I will scrape her dust from her, and make her like a smooth rock.
5 She shall be a drying-place for nets in the midst of the sea, because I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and she shall be a spoil to the nations.
6 Her daughters also that are in the field, shall be slain by the sword: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
7 For thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will bring against Tyre Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, the king of kings, from the north, with horses, and chariots, and horsemen, and companies, and much people.
8 Thy daughters that are in the field, he shall kill with the sword: and he shall compass thee with forts, and shall cast up a mount round about: and he shall lift up the buckler against thee.
9 And he shall set engines of war and battering rams against thy walls, and shall destroy thy towers with his arms.
10 By reason of the multitude of his horses, their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and wheels, and chariots, when they shall go in at thy gates, as by the entrance of a city that is destroyed.
11 With the hoofs of his horses he shall tread down all thy streets: thy people he shall kill with the sword: and thy famous statues shall fall to the ground.
12 They shall waste thy riches, they shall make a spoil of thy merchandise: and they shall destroy thy walls, and pull down thy fine houses: and they shall lay thy stones, and thy timber, and thy dust, in the midst of the waters.
13 *And I will make the multitude of thy songs to cease, and the sound of thy harps shall be heard no more.
14 And I will make thee like a naked rock, thou shalt be a drying place for nets, neither shalt thou be built any more: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.
15 Thus saith the Lord God to Tyre: Shall not the islands shake at the sound of thy fall, and the groans of thy slain, when they shall be killed in the midst of thee?
16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones: and take off their robes, and cast away their broidered garments, and be clothed with astonishment: they shall sit on the ground, and with amazement shall wonder at thy sudden fall.
17 And taking up a lamentation over thee, they shall say to thee: How art thou fallen, that dwellest in the sea, renowned city, that wast strong in the sea, with thy inhabitants, whom all did dread?
18 Now shall the ships be astonished in the day of thy terror: and the islands in the sea shall be troubled, because no one cometh out of thee.
19 For thus saith the Lord God: When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited: and shall bring the deep upon thee, and many waters shall cover thee:
20 And when I shall bring thee down with those that descend into the pit to the everlasting people, and shall set thee in the lowest parts of the earth, as places desolate of old, with them that are brought down into the pit, that thou be not inhabited: and when I shall give glory in the land of the living,
21 I will bring thee to nothing, and thou shalt not be, and if thou be sought for, thou shalt not be found any more for ever, saith the Lord God.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3416.
13:  Jer. vii. 34.
====================

EZECHIEL 27
CHAPTER XXVII.

A description of the glory and riches of Tyre: and of her irrecoverable fall.

1 And *the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Thou, therefore, O son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyre:
3 And say to Tyre, that dwelleth at the entry of the sea, being the mart of the people for many islands: Thus saith the Lord God: O Tyre, thou hast said: I am of perfect beauty,
4 And situate in the heart of the sea.  Thy neighbours, that built thee, have perfected thy beauty:
5 With fir-trees of Sanir they have built thee, with all sea planks: they have taken cedars from Libanus to make thee masts.
6 They have cut thy oars out of the oaks of Basan: and they have made thee benches of Indian ivory, and cabins, with things brought from the islands of Italy.
7 Fine broidered linen from Egypt was woven for thy sail, to be spread on thy mast: blue and purple from the islands of Elisa, were made thy covering.
8 The inhabitants of Sidon, and the Arabians were thy rowers: thy wise men, O Tyre, were thy pilots.
9 The ancients of Gebal, and the wise men thereof, furnished mariners, for the service of thy various furniture: all the ships of the sea, and their mariners, were thy factors.
10 The Persians, and Lydians, and the Lybians, were thy soldiers, in thy army: they hung up the buckler and the helmet in thee for thy ornament.
11 The men of Arad were with thy army upon thy walls round about: the Pygmeans also that were in thy towers, hung up their quivers on thy walls round about: they perfected thy beauty.
12 The Carthaginians, thy merchants, supplied thy fairs with a multitude of all kinds of riches, with silver, iron, tin, and lead.
13 Greece, Thubal, and Mosoch, they were thy merchants: they brought to thy people slaves and vessels of brass.
14 From the house of Thogorma they brought horses, and horsemen, and mules, to thy market.
15 The men of Dedan were thy merchants: many islands were the traffic of thy hand, they exchanged for thy price teeth of ivory, and ebony.
16 The Syrian was thy merchant, by reason of the multitude of thy works, they set forth precious stones, and purple, and broidered works, and fine linen, and silk, and chodchod, in thy market.
17 Juda, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants with the best corn: they set forth balm, and honey, and oil, and rosin, in thy fairs.
18 The men of Damascus were thy merchants in the multitude of thy works, in the multitude of divers riches, in rich wine, in wool of the best colour.
19 Dan, and Greece, and Mosel, have set forth in thy marts wrought iron: stacte, and calamus were in thy market.
20 The men of Dedan were thy merchants in tapestry for seats.
21 Arabia, and all the princes of Cedar, they were the merchants of thy hand: thy merchants came to thee with lambs, and rams, and kids.
22 The sellers of Saba, and Reema, they were thy merchants: with all the best spices, and precious stones, and gold, which they set forth in thy market.
23 Haran, and Chene, and Eden, were thy merchants: Saba, Assur, and Chelmad, sold to thee.
24 They were thy merchants in divers manners, with bales of blue cloth, and of embroidered work, and of precious riches, which were wrapped up, and bound with cords: they had cedars also in thy merchandise.
25 The ships of the sea, were thy chief in thy merchandise: and thou wast replenished, and glorified exceedingly in the heart of the sea.
26 Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the south wind hath broken thee in the heart of the sea.
27 Thy riches, and thy treasures, and thy manifold furniture, thy mariners, and thy pilots, who kept thy goods, and were chief over thy people: thy men of war also, that were in thee, with all thy multitude that is in the midst of thee: shall fall in the heart of the sea, in the day of thy ruin.
28 Thy fleets shall be troubled at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.
29 And all that handled the oar, shall come down from their ships: the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall stand upon the land.
30 And they shall mourn over thee with a loud voice, and shall cry bitterly: and they shall cast up dust upon their heads, and shall be sprinkled with ashes.
31 And they shall shave themselves bald for thee, and shall be girded with hair-cloth: and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of soul, with most bitter weeping.
32 And they shall take up a mournful song for thee, and shall lament thee: What city is like Tyre, which is become silent in the midst of the sea?
33 Which by thy merchandise, that went from thee by sea, didst fill many people: which by the multitude of thy riches, and of thy people, didst enrich the kings of the earth.
34 Now thou art destroyed by the sea, thy riches are in the bottom of the waters, and all the multitude that was in the midst of thee is fallen.
35 All the inhabitants of the islands are astonished at thee: and all their kings, being struck with the storm, have changed their countenance.
36 The merchants of people have hissed at thee: thou art brought to nothing, and thou shalt never be any more.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3416, A.C. 588.
====================

EZECHIEL 28
CHAPTER XXVIII.

The king of Tyre, who affected to be like to God, shall fall under the like sentence with Lucifer.  The judgment of Sidon.  The restoration of Israel.

1 And *the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man: say to the prince of Tyre: Thus saith the Lord God: Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said: I am God, and I sit in the chair of God, in the heart of the sea: whereas, thou art a man, and not God: and hast set thy heart as if it were the heart of God.
3 Behold thou art wiser than Daniel: no secret is hid from thee.
4 In thy wisdom, and thy understanding, thou hast made thyself strong: and hast gotten gold, and silver, into thy treasures.
5 By the greatness of thy wisdom, and by thy traffic thou hast increased thy strength: and thy heart is lifted up with thy strength.
6 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Because thy heart is lifted up as the heart of God:
7 Therefore behold, I will bring upon thee strangers, the strongest of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy beauty.
8 They shall kill thee, and bring thee down: and thou shalt die the death of them that are slain in the heart of the sea.
9 Wilt thou yet say before them that slay thee: I am God; whereas thou art a man, and not God, in the hand of them that slay thee?
10 Thou shalt die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.
11 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyre:
12 And say to him: Thus saith the Lord God: Thou wast the seal of resemblance, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty,
13 Thou wast in the pleasures of the paradise of God: every precious stone was thy covering: the sardius, the topaz, and the jasper, the chrysolite, and the onyx, and the beryl, the sapphire, and the carbuncle, and the emerald: gold, the work of thy beauty: and thy pipes were prepared in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou a cherub stretched out, and protecting, and I set thee in the holy mountain of God, thou hast walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day of thy creation, until iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise, thy inner parts were filled with iniquity, and thou hast sinned: and I cast thee out from the mountain of God, and destroyed thee, O covering cherub, out of the midst of the stones of fire.
17 And thy heart was lifted up with thy beauty: thou best lost thy wisdom in thy beauty, I have cast thee to the ground: I have set thee before the face of kings, that they might behold thee.
18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thy iniquities, and by the iniquity of thy traffic: therefore, I will bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, to devour thee: and I will make thee as ashes upon the earth in the sight of all that see thee.
19 All that shall see thee among the nations, shall be astonished at thee: thou art brought to nothing, and thou shalt never be any more.
20 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
21 Son of man, set thy face against Sidon: and thou shalt prophesy of it,
22 And shalt say: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I come against thee, Sidon, and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall execute judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
23 And I will send into her pestilence, and blood in her streets: and they shall fall, being slain by the sword, on all sides, in the midst thereof: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
24 And the house of Israel shall have no more a stumbling-block of bitterness, nor a thorn causing pain on every side round about them, of them that are against them: and they shall know that I am the Lord God.
25 Thus saith the Lord God: When I shall have gathered together the house of Israel, out of the people among whom they are scattered: I will be sanctified in them before the Gentiles: and they shall dwell in their own land, which I gave to my servant, Jacob.
26 And they shall dwell therein secure, and they shall build houses, and shall plant vineyards, and shall dwell with confidence, when I shall have executed judgments upon all that are their enemies round about: and they shall know that I am the Lord their God.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3415.
====================

EZECHIEL 29
CHAPTER XXIX.

The king of Egypt shall be overthrown, and his kingdom wasted.  It shall be given to Nabuchodonosor, for his service against Tyre.

1 In *the tenth year, the tenth month, the eleventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharao, king of Egypt: and thou shalt prophesy of him, and of all Egypt:
3 Speak, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I come against thee, Pharao, king of Egypt, thou great dragon that liest in the midst of thy rivers, and sayest: The river is mine, and I made myself.
4 But I will put a bridle in thy jaws: and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick to thy scales: and I will draw thee out of the midst of thy rivers, and all thy fish shall stick to thy scales.
5 And I will cast thee forth into the desert, and all the fish of thy river: thou shalt fall upon the face of the earth; thou shalt not be taken up nor gathered together: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the earth, and to the fowls of the air.
6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord: *because thou hast been a staff of a reed to the house of Israel.
7 When they took hold of thee with the hand, thou didst break and rent all their shoulder; and when they leaned upon thee, thou brokest and weakenedest all their loins.
8 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will bring the sword upon thee: and cut off man and beast out of thee.
9 And the land of Egypt shall become a desert and a wilderness: and they shall know that I am the Lord: because thou hast said: The river is mine, and I made
10 Therefore, behold I come against thee, and thy rivers: and I will make the land of Egypt utterly desolate, and wasted by the sword, from the tower of Syene even to the borders of Ethiopia.
11 The foot of man shall not pass through it, neither shall the foot of beasts go through it; nor shall it be inhabited during forty years.
12 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the lands that are desolate, and the cities thereof in the midst of the cities that are destroyed, and they shall be desolate for forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.
13 For thus saith the Lord God: At the end of forty years, I will gather the Egyptians from the people among whom they had been scattered.
14 And I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and will place them in the land of Phatures, in the land of their nativity, and they shall be there a low kingdom:
15 It shall be the lowest among other kingdoms, and it shall no more be exalted over the nations; and I will diminish them, that they shall rule no more over the nations.
16 And they shall be no more a confidence to the house of Israel, teaching iniquity, that they may flee, and follow them: and they shall know that I am the Lord God.
17 And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, *in the first month, in the first of the month: that the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
18 Son of man, Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, hath made his army to undergo hard service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: and there hath been no reward given him, nor his army for Tyre, for the service that he rendered me against it.
19 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will set Nabuchodonosor, the king of Babylon, in the land of Egypt: *and he shall take her multitude, and take the booty thereof for a prey, and rifle the spoils thereof: and it shall be wages for his army,
20 And for the service that he hath done me against it: I have given him the land of Egypt, because he hath laboured for me, saith the Lord God.
21 In that day a horn shall bud forth to the house of Israel, and I will give thee an open mouth in the midst of them: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3415, A.C. 589.
6:  Isai. xxxvi. 6.
17:  A.M. 3432, A.C. 572.
19:  Jer. xlvi. 2.
====================

EZECHIEL 30
CHAPTER XXX.

The desolation of Egypt and her helpers: all her cities shall be wasted.

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, *saying:
2 Son of man, prophesy and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Howl ye, wo, wo to the day:
3 For the day is near, yea the day of the Lord is near; a cloudy day, it shall be the time of the nations.
4 And the sword shall come upon Egypt: and there shall be dread in Ethiopia, when the wounded shall fall in Egypt, and the multitude thereof shall be taken away, and the foundations thereof shall be destroyed.
5 Ethiopia, and Lybia, and Lydia, and all the rest of the crowd, and Chub, and the children of the land of the covenant, shall fall with them by the sword.
6 Thus saith the Lord God: They also that uphold Egypt shall fall, and the pride of her empire shall be brought down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord, the God of hosts.
7 And they shall be desolate in the midst of the lands that are desolate, and the cities thereof shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.
8 And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have set a fire in Egypt, and all the helpers thereof shall be destroyed.
9 In that day shall messengers go forth from my face, in ships, to destroy the confidence of Ethiopia; and there shall be dread among them in the day of Egypt: because it shall certainly come.
10 Thus saith the Lord God: I will make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nabuchodonosor, the king of Babylon.
11 He, and his people with him, the strongest of nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords upon Egypt, and shall fill the land with the slain.
12 And I will make the channels of the rivers dry, and will deliver the land into the hand of the wicked: and will lay waste the land, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I, the Lord, have spoken it.
13 *Thus saith the Lord God: I will also destroy the idols, and I will make an end of the idols of Memphis: and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will cause a terror in the land of Egypt.
14 And I will destroy the land of Phatures, and will make a fire in Taphnis, and will execute judgments in Alexandria.
15 And I will pour out my indignation upon Pelusium, the strength of Egypt, and will cut off the multitude of Alexandria.
16 And I will make a fire in Egypt: Pelusium shall be in pain, like a woman in labour, and Alexandria shall be laid waste, and in Memphis there shall be daily distresses.
17 The young men of Heliopolis, and of Bubastus, shall fall by the sword; and they themselves shall go into captivity.
18 And in Taphnis, the day shall be darkened when I shall break there the sceptres of Egypt, and the pride of her power shall cease in her: a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall be led into captivity.
19 And I will execute judgments in Egypt: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, *in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
21 Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharao, king of Egypt; and behold it is not bound up, to be healed, to be tied up with clothes, and swathed with linen, that it might recover strength, and hold the sword.
22 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Behold I come against Pharao, king of Egypt, and I will break into pieces his strong arm, which is already broken: and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand:
23 And I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and scatter them through the countries.
24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and will put my sword in his hand: and I will break the arms of Pharao, and they shall groan bitterly, being slain before his face.
25 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharao shall fall: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have given my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall have stretched it forth upon the land of Egypt.
26 And I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and will scatter them through the countries, and they shall know that I am the Lord.
____________________
*
1:  Jer. xliii. and xliv. and xlvi.
13:  Zac. xiii. 2.
20:  A.M. 3416.
====================

EZECHIEL 31
CHAPTER XXXI.

The Assyrian empire fell for their pride: the Egyptian shall fall in like manner.

1 And *it came to pass in the eleventh year, the third month, the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, speak to Pharao, king of Egypt, and to his people: To whom art thou like, in thy greatness?
3 Behold, the Assyrian was like a cedar in Libanus, with fair branches, and full of leaves, of a high stature, and his top was elevated among the thick boughs.
4 The waters nourished him, the deep set him up on high, the streams thereof ran round about his roots, and it sent forth its rivulets to all the trees of the country.
5 Therefore was his height exalted above all the trees of the country: and his branches were multiplied, and his boughs were elevated because of many waters.
6 And when he had spread forth his shadow, all the fowls of the air made their nests in his boughs, and all the beasts of the forest brought forth their young under his branches, and the assembly of many nations dwelt under his shadow.
7 And he was most beautiful for his greatness, and for the spreading of his branches: for his root was near great waters.
8 The cedars in the paradise of God were not higher than he, the fir-trees did not equal his top, neither were the plane-trees to be compared with him for branches: no tree in the paradise of God, was like him in his beauty.
9 For I made him beautiful, and thick set with many branches: and all the trees of pleasure, that were in the paradise of God, envied him.
10 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God Because he was exalted in height, and shot up his top green and thick, and his heart was lifted up in his height:
11 I have delivered him into the hands of the mighty one of the nations, he shall deal with him: I have cast him out according to his wickedness.
12 And strangers and the most cruel of the nations shall cut him down, and cast him away upon the mountains, and his boughs shall fall in every valley, and his branches shall be broken on every rock of the country: and all the people of the earth shall depart from his shadow, and leave him.
13 All the fowls of the air dwelt upon his ruins, and all the beasts of the field were among his branches.
14 For which cause none of the trees by the waters shall exalt themselves for their height: nor shoot up their tops among the thick branches and leaves, neither shall any of them that are watered stand up in their height: for they are all delivered unto death to the lowest parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down into the pit.
15 Thus saith the Lord God: In the day when he went down to hell, I brought in mourning, I covered him with the deep: and I withheld its rivers, and restrained the many waters: Libanus grieved for him, and all the trees of the field trembled.
16 I shook the nations with the sound of his fall, when I brought him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of pleasure, the choice and best in Libanus, all that were moistened with waters, were comforted in the lowest parts of the earth.
17 For they also shall go down with him to hell to them that are slain by the sword: and the arm of every one shall sit down under his shadow in the midst of the nations.
18 To whom art thou like, O thou that art famous and lofty among the trees of pleasure?  Behold, thou art brought down with the trees of pleasure, to the lowest parts of the earth: thou shalt sleep in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are slain by the sword: this is Pharao, and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3416.
====================

EZECHIEL 32
CHAPTER XXXII.

The prophet's lamentation for the king of Egypt.

1 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, *in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharao, the king of Egypt, and say to him: Thou art like the lion of the nations, and the dragon that is in the sea: and thou didst push with the horn in thy rivers, and didst trouble the waters with thy feet, and didst trample upon their streams.
3 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: *I will spread out my net over thee with the multitude of many people, and I will draw thee up in my net.
4 And I will throw thee out on the land; I will cast thee away in the open field; and I will cause all the fowls of the air to dwell upon thee; and I will fill the beasts of all the earth with thee.
5 And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and will fill thy hills with thy corruption.
6 And I will water the earth with thy stinking blood upon the mountains, and the valleys shall be filled with thee.
7 *And I will cover the heavens, when thou shalt be put out, and I will make the stars thereof dark: I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
8 I will make all the lights of heaven to mourn over thee, and I will cause darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God, when thy wounded shall fall in the midst of the land, saith the Lord God.
9 And I shall provoke to anger the heart of many people, when I shall have brought in thy destruction among the nations upon the lands which thou knowest not.
10 And I will make many people to be amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when my sword shall begin to fly upon their faces: and they shall be astonished on a sudden, every one for his own life, in the day of thy ruin.
11 For thus saith the Lord God: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee.
12 By the swords of the mighty I will overthrow thy multitude: all these nations are invincible: and they shall waste the pride of Egypt, and the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.
13 I will destroy also all the beasts thereof, that were beside the great waters: and the foot of man shall trouble them no more, neither shall the hoof of beasts trouble them.
14 Then will I make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord God:
15 When I shall have made the land of Egypt desolate: and the land shall be destitute of her fulness, when I shall have struck all the inhabitants thereof: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
16 This is the lamentation, and they shall lament therewith: the daughters of the nations shall lament therewith: for Egypt, and for the multitude thereof they shall lament therewith, saith the Lord God.
17 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, *in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
18 Son of man, sing a mournful song for the multitude of Egypt: and cast her down, both her, and the daughters of the mighty nations to the lowest part of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.
19 Whom dost thou excel in beauty? go down and sleep with the uncircumcised.
20 They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain with the sword: the sword is given, they have drawn her down, and all her people.
21 The most mighty among the strong ones shall speak to him from the midst of hell, they that went down with his helpers, and slept uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
22 Assur is there, and all his multitude: their graves are round about him, all of them slain, and that fell by the sword.
23 Whose graves are set in the lowest parts of the pit: and his multitude lay round about his grave: all of them slain, and fallen by the sword, they that heretofore spread terror in the land of the living.
24 There is Elam, and all his multitude, round about his grave, all of them slain, and fallen by the sword: that went down uncircumcised to the lowest parts of the earth: that caused their terror in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with them that go down into the pit.
25 In the midst of the slain they have set him a bed among all his people: their graves are round about him: all these are uncircumcised, and slain by the sword: for they spread their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with them that descend into the pit: they are laid in the midst of the slain.
26 There is Mosoch, and Thubal, and all their multitude: their graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, and slain, and falling by the sword, though they spread their terror in the land of the living.
27 And they shall not sleep with the brave, and with them that fell uncircumcised, that went down to hell with their weapons, and laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities were in their bones: because they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
28 So thou also shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt sleep with them that are slain by the sword.
29 There is Edom and her kings, and all her princes, who with their army are joined with them that are slain by the sword: and have slept with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down into the pit.
30 There are all the princes of the north, and all the hunters: who were brought down with the slain, fearing and confounded in their strength: who slept uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword, and have borne their shame with them that go down into the pit.
31 Pharao saw them, and he was comforted concerning all his multitude, which was slain by the sword: Pharao, and all his army, saith the Lord God:
32 Because I have spread my terror in the land of the living, and he hath slept in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword: Pharao, and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3417, A.C. 587.
3:  Supra xii. 13. and xvii. 20.
7:  Isai. xiii. 10.; Joel ii. 10. and iii. 15.; Mat. xxiv. 29.
17:  A.M. 3417.
====================

EZECHIEL 33
CHAPTER XXXIII.

The duty of the watchman appointed by God: the justice of God's ways: his judgments upon the Jews.

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say to them: When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man, one of their meanest, and make him a watchman over them:
3 And he see the sword coming upon the land, and sound the trumpet, and tell the people:
4 Then he that heareth the sound of the trumpet, whosoever he be, and doth not look to himself, if the sword come and cut him off, his blood shall be upon his own head.
5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and did not look to himself; his blood shall be upon him: but if he look to himself, he shall save his life.
6 And if the watchman see the sword coming, and sound not the trumpet, and the people look not to themselves, and the sword come and cut off a soul from among them; he indeed is taken away in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at the hand of the watchman.
7 *So thou, O son of man, I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore, thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, and shalt tell it them from me.
8 When I say to the wicked: O wicked man, thou shalt surely die: if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked man from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at thy hand.
9 But if thou tell the wicked man, that he may be converted from his ways, and he be not converted from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
10 Thou therefore, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: Thus you have spoken, saying: Our iniquities and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live?
11 *Say to them: As I live, saith the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live.  Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways: and why will you die, O house of Israel?
12 Thou therefore, O son of man, say to the children of thy people: The justice of the just shall not deliver him, in what day soever he shall sin; and the wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him, in what day soever he shall turn from his wickedness; and the just shall not be able to live in his justice, in what day soever he shall sin.
13 Yea, if I shall say to the just that he shall surely live, and he, trusting in his justice, commit iniquity, all his justices shall be forgotten: and in his iniquity, which he hath committed, in the same shall he die.
14 And if I shall say to the wicked: Thou shalt surely die: and he do penance for his sin and do judgment and justice;
15 And if that wicked man restore the pledge, and render what he had robbed, and walk in the commandments of life, and do no unjust thing, he shall surely live, and shall not die.
16 None of his sins, which he hath committed, shall be imputed to him; he hath done judgment and justice, he shall surely live.
17 And the children of thy people have said: The way of the Lord is not equitable: whereas, their own way is unjust.
18 For when the just shall depart from his justice, and commit iniquities, he shall die in them.
19 And when the wicked shall depart from his wickedness, and shall do judgments and justice, he shall live in them.
20 And you say: *The way of the Lord is not right: I will judge every one of you according to his ways, O house of Israel.
21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year* of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that there came to me one that was fled from Jerusalem, saying: The city is laid waste.
22 And the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before he that was fled came; and he opened my mouth till he came to me in the morning, and my mouth being opened, I was silent no more.
23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
24 Son of man, they that dwell in these ruinous places in the land of Israel, speak, saying: Abraham was one, and he inherited the land; but we are many, the land is given us in possession.
25 Therefore say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: You that eat with the blood and lift up your eyes to your uncleannesses, and that shed blood: shall you possess the land by inheritance?
26 You stood on your swords, you have committed abominations, and every one hath defiled his neighbour's wife: and shall you possess the land by inheritance?
27 Say thou thus to them: Thus saith the Lord God: As I live, they that dwell in the ruinous places shall fall by the sword: and he that is in the field, shall be given to the beasts to be devoured: and they that are in holds and caves, shall die of the pestilence.
28 And I will make the land a wilderness and a desert, and the proud strength thereof shall fail; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, because there is none to pass by them.
29 And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have made their land waste and desolate, for all their abominations which they have committed.
30 And thou, son of man: the children of thy people, that talk of thee by the walls, and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, each men to his neighbour, saying: Come, and let us hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord.
31 And they come to thee, as if a people were coming in, and my people sit before thee: and hear thy words, and do them not: for they turn them into a song of their mouth, and their heart goeth after their covetousness.
32 And thou art to them as a musical song, which is sung with a sweet and agreeable voice: and they hear thy words, and do them not.
33 And when that which was foretold shall come to pass, (for behold it is coming) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.
____________________
*
7:  Supra iii. 17.
11:  Supra xviii. 32.
20:  Supra xviii. 25.
21:  A.M. 3417, A.C. 587.
====================

EZECHIEL 34
CHAPTER XXXIV.

Evil pastors are reproved: Christ, the true pastor, shall come and gather together his flock from all parts of the earth, and preserve it for ever.

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, prophesy concerning the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to the shepherds: Thus saith the Lord God: *Wo to the shepherds of Israel, that fed themselves: should not the hocks be fed by the shepherds?
3 You eat the milk, and you clothed yourselves with the wool, and you killed that which was fat: but my flock you did not feed.
4 The weak you have not strengthened, and that which was sick you have not healed; that which was broken you have not bound up, and that which was driven away you have not brought again, neither have you sought that which was lost: but you ruled over them with rigour, and with a high hand.
5 And my sheep were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became the prey of all the beasts of the field, and were scattered.
6 My sheep have wandered in every mountain, and in every high hill; and my flocks were scattered upon the face of the earth, and there was none that sought them; there was none, I say, that sought them.
7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
8 As I live, saith the Lord God, forasmuch as my flocks have been made a spoil, and my sheep are become a prey to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd; for my shepherds did not seek after my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flocks:
9 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
10 Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I myself come upon the shepherds, I will require my flock at their hand, and I will cause them to cease from feeding the flock any more; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more: and I will deliver my flock from their mouth, and it shall no more be meat for them.
11 For thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I myself will seek my sheep, and will visit them.
12 As the shepherd visiteth his flock, in the day when he shall be in the midst of his sheep that were scattered; so will I visit my sheep, and will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered, in the cloudy and dark day.
13 And I will bring them out from the peoples, and will gather them out of the countries, and will bring them to their own land; and I will feed them in the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the habitations of the land:
14 I will feed them in the most fruitful pastures, and their pastures shall be in the high mountains of Israel; there shall they rest on the green grass, and be fed in fat pastures upon the mountains of Israel.
15 I will feed my sheep: and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.
16 I will seek that which was lost; and that which was driven away, I will bring again; and I will bind up that which was broken, and I will strengthen that which was weak, and that which was fat and strong I will preserve: and I will feed them in judgment.
17 And as for you, O my flocks, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, of rams and of he-goats.
18 Was it not enough for you to feed upon good pastures? but you must also tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures: and when you drank the clearest water, you troubled the rest with your feet.
19 And my sheep were fed with that which you had trodden with your feet; and they drank what your feet had troubled.
20 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God to you: Behold, I myself will judge between the fat cattle and the lean.
21 Because you thrusted with sides and shoulders, and struck all the weak cattle with your horns, till they were scattered abroad.
22 I will save my flock, and it shall be no more a spoil; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.
23 *And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David the prince, in the midst of them: I, the Lord, have spoken it.
25 And I will make a covenant of peace with them, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they that dwell in the wilderness, shall sleep secure in the forests.
26 And I will make them a blessing round about my hill: and I will send down the rain in its season, there shall be showers of blessing.
27 And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be in their land without fear: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have broken the bonds of their yoke, and shall have delivered them out of the hand of those that rule over them.
28 And they shall be no more for a spoil to the nations; neither shall the beasts of the earth devour them, but they shall dwell securely without any terror.
29 And I will raise up for them a bud of renown: and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither shall they bear any more the reproach of the Gentiles.
30 And they shall know that I, the Lord, their God, am with them, and that they are my people, the house of Israel: saith the Lord God.
31 *And you my flocks, the flocks of my pasture, are men; and I am the Lord your God, saith the Lord God.
____________________
*
2:  Jer. xxiii. 1.; Supra xiii. 3.
23:  Isai. xl. 11.; Osee iii. 5.; John i. 45. and x. 11. and 14.
31:  John x. 11.
====================

EZECHIEL 35
CHAPTER XXXV.

The judgment of Mount Seir, for their hatred of Israel.

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, set thy face against Mount Seir, and prophesy concerning it, and say to it:
3 Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I come against thee, Mount Seir, and I will stretch forth my hand upon thee, and I will make thee desolate and waste.
4 I will destroy thy cities, and thou shalt be desolate; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.
5 Because thou hast been an everlasting enemy, and hast shut up the children of Israel, in the hands of the sword in the time of their affliction, in the time of their last iniquity.
6 Therefore as I live, saith the Lord God, I will deliver thee up to blood, and blood shall pursue thee: and whereas thou hast hated blood, blood shall pursue thee.
7 And I will make Mount Seir waste and desolate; and I will take away from it him that goeth and him that returneth.
8 And I will fill his mountains with his men that are slain: in thy hills, and in thy vallies, and in thy torrents they shall fall that are slain with the sword.
9 I will make thee everlasting desolations, and thy cities shall not be inhabited: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord God.
10 Because thou hast said: The two nations, and the two lands shall be mine, and I will possess them by inheritance: whereas the Lord was there.
11 Therefore as I live, saith the Lord God, I will do according to thy wrath, and according to thy envy, which thou hast exercised in hatred to them: and I will be made known by them, when I shall have judged thee.
12 And thou shalt know that I, the Lord, have heard all thy reproaches, that thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying: They are desolate, they are given to us to consume.
13 And you rose up against me with your mouth, and have derogated from me by your words: I have heard them.
14 Thus saith the Lord God: When the whole earth shall rejoice, I will make thee a wilderness.
15 As thou hast rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was laid waste, so will I do to thee: thou shalt be laid waste, O Mount Seir, and all Idumea: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
====================

EZECHIEL 36
CHAPTER XXXVI.

The restoration of Israel, not for their merits, but by God's special grace.  Christ's baptism.

1 And thou son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say: *Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord:
2 Thus saith the Lord God: Because the enemy hath said of you: Aha, the everlasting heights are given to us for an inheritance.
3 Therefore prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Because you have been desolate, and trodden under foot on every side, and made an inheritance to the rest of the nations, and are become the subject of the talk, and the reproach of the people:
4 Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the brooks, and to the vallies, and to desolate places, and ruinous walls, and to the cities that are forsaken, that are spoiled, and derided by the rest of the nations round about.
5 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: In the fire of my zeal I have spoken of the rest of the nations, and of all Edom, who have taken my land to themselves, for an inheritance with joy, and with all the heart, and with the mind: and have cast it out to lay it waste.
6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains, and to the hills, to the ridges, and to the vallies: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I have spoken in my zeal, and in my indignation, because you have borne the shame of the Gentiles.
7 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: I have lifted up my hand, that the Gentiles who are round about you, shall themselves bear their shame.
8 But as for you, O mountains of Israel, shoot ye forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel: for they are at hand to come.
9 For lo I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be ploughed and sown.
10 And I will multiply men upon you, and all the house of Israel: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the ruinous places shall be repaired.
11 And I will make you abound with men and with beasts: and they shall be multiplied, and increased: and I will settle you as from the beginning, and will give you greater gifts than you had from the beginning: and you shall know that I am the Lord.
12 And I will bring men upon you, my people Israel, and they shall possess thee for their inheritance: and thou shalt be their inheritance, and shalt no more henceforth be without them.
13 Thus saith the Lord God: Because they say of you: Thou art a devourer of men, and one that suffocatest thy nation:
14 Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, nor destroy thy nation any more, saith the Lord God:
15 Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the nations any more, nor shalt thou bear the reproach of the people, nor lose thy nation any more, saith the Lord God.
16 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it with their ways, and with their doings: their way was before me like the uncleanness of a menstruous woman.
18 And I poured out my indignation upon them for the blood which they had shed upon the land, and with their idols they defiled it.
19 And I scattered them among the nations, and they are dispersed through the countries: I have judged them according to their ways, and their devices.
20 And when they entered among the nations whither they went, *they profaned my holy name, when it was said of them: This is the people of the Lord, and they are come forth out of his land.
21 And I have regarded my own holy name, which the house of Israel hath profaned among the nations to which they went in.
22 Therefore thou shalt say to the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: It is not for your sake that I will do this, O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations whither you went.
23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the Gentiles, which you have profaned in the midst of them: that the Gentiles may know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord of hosts, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
24 For I will take you from among the Gentiles, and will gather you together out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25 And I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your filthiness, and I will cleanse you from all your idols.
26 *And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit in the midst of you: and I will cause you to walk in my commandments, and to keep my judgments, and do them.
28 And you shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
29 And I will save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for corn, and will multiply it, and will lay no famine upon you.
30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you bear no more the reproach of famine among the nations.
31 And you shall remember your wicked ways, and your doings that were not good: and your iniquities, and your wicked deeds shall displease you.
32 It is not for your sakes that I will do this, saith the Lord God, be it known to you: be confounded, and ashamed at your own ways, O house of Israel.
33 Thus saith the Lord God: In the day that I shall cleanse you from all your iniquities, and shall cause the cities to be inhabited, and shall repair the ruinous places.
34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, which before was waste in the sight of all that passed by.
35 They shall say: This land that was untilled is become as a garden of pleasure: and the cities that were abandoned, and desolate, and destroyed, are peopled and fenced.
36 And the nations, that shall be left round about you, shall know that I, the Lord, have built up what was destroyed, and planted what was desolate, that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it.
37 Thus saith the Lord God: Moreover in this shall the house of Israel find me, that I will do it for them: I will multiply them as a flock of men.
38 As a holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts: so shall the waste cities be full of flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
____________________
*
1:  Supra vi. 3.
20:  Isai. lii. 5.; Rom. ii. 24.
26:  Supra xi. 19.
====================

EZECHIEL 37
CHAPTER XXXVII.

A vision of the resurrection of dry bones, foreshewing the deliverance of the people from their captivity.  Juda and Israel shall be all one kingdom under Christ.  God's everlasting covenant with the Church.

1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and brought me forth in the spirit of the Lord; and set me down in the midst of a plain that was full of bones.
2 And he led me about through them on every side: now they were very many upon the face of the plain, and they were exceeding dry.
3 And he said to me: Son of man, dost thou think these bones shall live?  And I answered: O Lord God, thou knowest.
4 And he said to me: Prophesy concerning these bones: and say to them: Ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
5 Thus saith the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will send spirit into you, and you shall live.
6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to grow over you, and will cover you with skin; and I will give you spirit, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
7 And I prophesied as he had commanded me: and as I prophesied there was a noise, and behold a commotion: and the bones came together, each one to its joint.
8 And I saw, and behold the sinews, and the flesh came up upon them: and the skin was stretched out over them, but there was no spirit in them.
9 And he said to me: Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, O son of man, and say to the spirit: Thus saith the Lord God: Come, spirit, from the four winds, and blow upon these slain, and let them live again.
10 And I prophesied as he had commanded me: and the spirit came into them, and they lived: and they stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
11 And he said to me: Son of man: All these bones are the house of Israel: they say: Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost, and we are cut off.
12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves, and will bring you out of your sepulchres, O my people: and will bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have opened your sepulchres, and shall have brought you out of your graves, O my people:
14 And shall have put my spirit in you, and you shall live, and I shall make you rest upon your own land: and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and done it, saith the Lord God:
15 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
16 And thou, son of man, take thee a stick, and write upon it: Of Juda, and of the children of Israel, his associates: and take another stick and write upon it: For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, and of his associates.
17 And join them one to the other into one stick, and they shall become one in thy hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak to thee, saying: Wilt thou not tell us what thou meanest by this?
19 Say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel that are associated with him: and I will put them together with the stick of Juda, and will make them one stick: and they shall be one in his hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou hast written, shall be in thy hand, before their eyes.
21 And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from the midst of the nations whither they are gone; and I will gather them on every side, and will bring them to their own land.
22 *And I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all; and they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided any more into two kingdoms.
23 Nor shall they be defiled any more with their idols, nor with their abominations, nor with all their iniquities; and I will save them out of all the places in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
24 *And my servant David shall be king over them, and they shall have one shepherd; they shall walk in my judgments, and shall keep my commandments, and shall do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land which I gave to my servant Jacob, wherein your fathers dwelt, and they shall dwell in it, they and their children, and their children's children, for ever; and David, my servant, shall be their prince for ever.
26 *And I will make a covenant of peace with them, it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will establish them, and will multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever.
27 And my tabernacle shall be with them: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the sanctifier of Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for ever.
____________________
*
22:  John x. 16.
24:  Isai. xl. 11.; Jer. xxiii. 5.; Supra xxxiv. 23.; Dan. ix. 24.; John i. 45.
26:  Psal. cix. 4. and cxvi. 2.; John xii. 34.
====================

EZECHIEL 38
CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Gog shall persecute the Church in the latter days.  He shall be overthrown.

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 *Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Mosoch and Thubal: and prophesy of him,
3 And say to him: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I come against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Mosoch and Thubal.
4 And I will turn thee about, and I will put a bit in thy jaws; and I will bring thee forth, and all thy army, horses and horsemen, all clothed with coats of mail, a great multitude, armed with spears, and shields, and swords.
5 The Persians, Ethiopians, and Lybians with them, all with shields and helmets.
6 Gomer, and all his bands, the house of Thogorma, the northern parts, and all his strength, and many peoples with thee.
7 Prepare and make thyself ready, and all thy multitude that is assembled about thee: and be thou commander over them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: at the end of years thou shalt come to the land that is returned from the sword, and is gathered out of many nations, to the mountains of Israel, which have been continually waste: but it hath been brought forth out of the nations, and they shall all of them dwell securely in it.
9 And thou shalt go up and come like a storm, and like a cloud to cover the land, thou and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
10 Thus saith the Lord God: In that day projects shall enter into thy heart, and thou shalt conceive a mischievous design.
11 And thou shalt say: I will go up to the land which is without a wall, I will come to them that are at rest, and dwell securely: all these dwell without a wall, they have no bars nor gates:
12 To take spoils, and lay hold on the prey, to lay thy hand upon them that had been wasted, and afterwards restored, and upon the people that is gathered together out of the nations, which hath begun to possess and to dwell in the midst of the earth.
13 Saba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tharsis, and all the lions thereof, shall say to thee: Art thou come to take spoils? behold, thou hast gathered thy multitude to take a prey, to take silver, and gold, and to carry away goods and substance, and to take rich spoils.
14 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: Thus saith the Lord God: Shalt thou not know, in that day, when my people of Israel shall dwell securely?
15 And thou shalt come out of thy place from the northern parts, thou and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company and a mighty army.
16 And thou shalt come upon my people of Israel like a cloud, to cover the earth.  Thou shalt be in the latter days, and I will bring thee upon my land; that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord God: Thou then art he, of whom I have spoken in the days of old, by my servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in the days of those times, that I would bring thee upon them.
18 And it shall come to pass in that day, in the day of the coming of Gog upon the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my indignation shall come up in my wrath.
19 And I have spoken in my zeal, and in the fire of my anger, that in that day there shall be a great commotion upon the land of Israel:
20 *So that the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the ground, and all men that are upon the face of the earth, shall be moved at my presence: and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the hedges shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
21 And I will call in the sword against him in all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man's sword shall be pointed against his brother.
22 And I will judge him with pestilence, and with blood, and with violent rain, and vast hailstones: I will rain fire and brimstone upon him, and upon his army, and upon the many nations that are with him.
23 And I will be magnified, and I will be sanctified: and I will be known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
____________________
*
2:  Infra xxxix. 1.; Apoc. xx. 7.
20:  Mat. xxiv. 29.; Luke xxi. 25.
====================

EZECHIEL 39
CHAPTER XXXIX.

God's judgment upon Gog.  God's people were punished for their sins: but shall be favoured with everlasting kindness.

1 And thou, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I come against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Mosoch and Thubal.
2 And I will turn thee round, and I will lead thee out, and will make thee go up from the northern parts; and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel.
3 And I will break thy bow in thy left hand, and I will cause thy arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou and all thy bands, and thy nations that are with thee: I have given thee to the wild beasts, to the birds, and to every fowl, and to the beasts of the earth to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the face of the field; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and on them that dwell confidently in the islands; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
7 And I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel, and my holy name shall be profaned no more; and the Gentiles shall know that I am the Lord, the holy one of Israel.
8 Behold, it cometh, and it is done, saith the Lord God; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
9 And the inhabitants shall go forth of the cities of Israel, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, the shields, and the spears, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves and the pikes; and they shall burn them with fire seven years.
10 And they shall not bring wood out of the countries, nor cut down out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire, and shall make a prey of them to whom they had been a prey, and they shall rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give Gog a noted place for a sepulchre in Israel; the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea, which shall cause astonishment in them that pass by; and there shall they bury Gog, and all his multitude, and it shall be called the valley of the multitude of Gog.
12 And the house of Israel shall bury them for seven months, to cleanse the land.
13 And all the people of the land shall bury him, and it shall be unto them a noted day, wherein I was glorified, saith the Lord God.
14 And they shall appoint men to go continually about the land, to bury and to seek out them that were remaining upon the face of the earth, that they may cleanse it; and after seven months they shall begin to seek.
15 And they shall go about passing through the land; and when they shall see the bone of a man, they shall set up a sign by it, till the buriers bury it in the valley of the multitude of Gog.
16 And the name of the city shall be Amona, and they shall cleanse the land.
17 And thou, O son of man, saith the Lord God, say to every fowl, and to all the birds, and to all the beasts of the field: Assemble yourselves, make haste, come together from every side to my victim, which I slay for you, a great victim upon the mountains of Israel: to eat flesh, and drink blood.
18 You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and you shall drink the blood of the princes of the earth: of rams, and of lambs, and of he-goats, and bullocks, and of all that are well fed and fat.
19 And you shall eat the fat till you be full, and shall drink blood till you be drunk of the victim which I shall slay for you.
20 And you shall be filled at my table with horses, and mighty horsemen, and all the men of war, saith the Lord God.
21 And I will set my glory among the nations; and all nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 And the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God, from that day and forward.
23 And the nations shall know that the house of Israel were made captives for their iniquity, because they forsook me, and I hid my face from them: and I delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and they fell all by the sword.
24 I have dealt with them according to their uncleanness and wickedness, and hid my face from them.
25 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and will have mercy on all the house of Israel: and I will be jealous for my holy name.
26 And they shall bear their confusion, and all the transgressions wherewith they have transgressed against me, when they shall dwell in their land securely, fearing no man:
27 And I shall have brought them back from among the nations, and shall have gathered them together out of the lands of their enemies, and shall be sanctified in them, in the sight of many nations.
28 *And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, because I caused them to be carried away among the nations; and I have gathered them together unto their own land, and have not left any of them there.
29 And I will hide my face no more from them, for I have poured out my spirit upon all the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.
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*
28:  Supra xxxvi. 23.
====================

EZECHIEL 40
CHAPTER XL.

The prophet sees in a vision the rebuilding of the temple: the dimensions of several parts thereof.

1 In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, the tenth day of the month, the fourteenth year *after the city was destroyed: in the self-same day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me thither.
2 In the visions of God he brought me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain: upon which there was as the building of a city, bending towards the south.
3 And he brought me in thither: and behold a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed in his hand: and he stood in the gate.
4 And this man said to me: Son of man, see with thy eyes, and hear with thy ears, and set thy heart upon all that I shall shew thee: for thou art brought hither that they may be shewn to thee: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.
5 And behold there was a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits and a hand breadth: and he measured the breadth of the building one reed, and the height one reed.
6 And he came to the gate that looked toward the east, and he went up the steps thereof: and he measured the breadth of the threshold of the gate one reed; that is, one threshold was one reed broad:
7 And every little chamber was one reed long, and one reed broad: and between the little chambers were five cubits:
8 And the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate within, was one reed.
9 And he measured the porch of the gate eight cubits, and the front thereof two cubits: and the porch of the gate was inward.
10 And the little chambers of the gate that looked eastward were three on this side, and three on that side: all three were of one measure, and the fronts of one measure, on both parts.
11 And he measured the breadth of the threshold of the gate ten cubits: and the length of the gate thirteen cubits:
12 And the border before the little chambers one cubit: and one cubit was the border on both sides: and the little chambers were six cubits on this side and that side.
13 And he measured the gate from the roof of one little chamber to the roof of another, in breadth five and twenty cubits: door against door.
14 He made also fronts of sixty cubits: and to the front the court of the gate on every side round about.
15 And before the face of the gate, which reached even to the face of the porch of the inner gate, fifty cubits.
16 And slanting windows in the little chambers, and in their fronts, which were within the gate on every side round about: and in like manner there were also in the porches windows round about within, and before the fronts the representation of palm-trees.
17 And he brought me into the outward court, and behold there were chambers, and a pavement of stone in the court round about: thirty chambers encompassed the pavement.
18 And the pavement in the front of the gates, according to the length of the gates, was lower.
19 And he measured the breadth, from the face of the lower gate to the front of the inner court without, a hundred cubits, to the east, and to the north.
20 He measured also both the length and the breadth of the gate of the outward court, which looked northward.
21 And the little chambers thereof, three on this side, and three on that side; and the front thereof, and the porch thereof, according to the measure of the former gate, fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
22 And the windows thereof, and the porch, and the gravings, according to the measure of the gate that looked to the east, and they went up to it by seven steps, and a porch was before it.
23 And the gate of the inner court was over-against the gate of the north, and that of the east; and he measured from gate to gate a hundred cubits.
24 And he brought me out to the way of the south, and behold the gate that looked to the south; and he measured the front thereof, and the porch thereof, according to the former measures.
25 And the windows thereof, and the porches round about, as the other windows; the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
26 And there were seven steps to go up to it; and a porch before the doors thereof; and there were graven palm-trees, one on this side, and another on that side, in the front thereof.
27 And there was a gate of the inner court towards the south; and he measured from gate to gate towards the south, a hundred cubits.
28 And he brought me into the inner court at the south gate; and he measured the gate according to the former measures.
29 The little chamber thereof and the front thereof, and the porch thereof, with the same measures; and the windows thereof, and the porch thereof, round about it, was fifty cubits in length, and five and twenty cubits in breadth.
30 And the porch round about was five and twenty cubits long, and five cubits broad.
31 And the porch thereof to the outward court, and the palm-trees thereof in the front: and there were eight steps to go up to it.
32 And he brought me into the inner court by the way of the east; and he measured the gate according to the former measures.
33 The little chamber thereof, and the front thereof, and the porch thereof as before; and the windows thereof, and the porches thereof, round about it, was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
34 And the porch thereof, that is, of the outward court; and the graven palm-trees in the front thereof, on this side and on that side; and the going up thereof was by eight steps.
35 And he brought me into the gate that looked to the north; and he measured according to the former measures.
36 The little chamber thereof, and the front thereof, and the porch thereof, and the windows thereof, round about it, was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
37 And the porch thereof looked to the outward court; and the graving of palm-trees, in the front thereof, was on this side and on that side; and the going up to it was by eight steps.
38 And at every chamber was a door in the forefronts of the gates; there they washed the holocaust.
39 And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side; that the holocaust, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering might be slain thereon.
40 And on the outward side, which goeth up to the entry of the gate that looketh toward the north, were two tables; and at the other side, before the porch of the gate, were two tables.
41 Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side: at the sides of the gate were eight tables, upon which they slew the victims.
42 And the four tables for the holocausts were made of square stones; one cubit and a half long, and one cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high, to lay the vessels upon, in which the holocaust, and the victim is slain.
43 And the borders of them were of one handbreadth, turned inwards round about: and upon the tables was the flesh of the offering.
44 And without the inner gate were the chambers of the singing men in the inner court, which was on the side of the gate that looketh to the north; and their prospect was towards the south, one at the side of the east gate, which looketh toward the north.
45 And he said to me: This chamber, which looketh towards the south, shall be for the priests that watch in the wards of the temple.
46 But the chamber that looketh towards the north, shall be for the priests that watch over the ministry of the altar.  These are the sons of Sadoc, who, among the sons of Levi, come near to the Lord, to minister to him.
47 And he measured the court a hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits broad, four square; and the altar that was before the face of the temple.
48 And he brought me into the porch of the temple; and he measured the porch five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side; and the breadth of the gate three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side.
49 And the length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits, and there were eight steps to go up to it.  And there were pillars in the fronts; one on this side, and another on that side.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3430, A.C. 574.
====================

EZECHIEL 41
CHAPTER XLI.

A description of the temple, and of all the parts of it.

1 And he brought me into the temple, and he measured the fronts six cubits broad on this side, and six cubits on that side, the breadth of the tabernacle.
2 And the breadth of the gate was ten cubits; and the sides of the gate five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side; and he measured the length thereof forty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.
3 Then going inward he measured the front of the gate two cubits; and the gate six cubits; and the breadth of the gate seven cubits.
4 And he measured the length thereof twenty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits, before the face of the temple; and he said to me: This is the holy of holies.
5 And he measured the wall of the house six cubits; and the breadth of every side-chamber four cubits round about the house on every side.
6 And the side-chambers one by another, were twice thirty-three; and they bore outwards, that they might enter in through the wall of the house in the sides round about, to hold in, and not to touch the wall of the temple.
7 And there was a broad passage round about, going up by winding stairs, and it led into the upper loft of the temple all round; therefore was the temple broader in the higher parts; and so from the lower parts they went to the higher by the midst.
8 And I saw in the house the height round about, the foundations of the side-chambers, which were the measure of a reed, the space of six cubits:
9 And the thickness of the wall for the side-chamber without, which was five cubits; and the inner house was within the side-chambers of the house.
10 And between the chambers was the breadth of twenty cubits round about the house on every side.
11 And the door of the side-chambers was turned towards the place of prayer: one door was toward the north, and another door was toward the south: and the breadth of the place for prayer, was five cubits round about.
12 And the building that was separate, and turned to the way that looked toward the sea, was seventy cubits broad: and the wall of the building, five cubits thick round about: and ninety cubits long.
13 And he measured the length of the house, a hundred cubits: and the separate building, and the walls thereof, a hundred cubits in length.
14 And the breadth before the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, a hundred cubits.
15 And he measured the length of the building over-against it, which was separated at the back of it: and the galleries on both sides a hundred cubits: and the inner temple, and the porches of the court.
16 The thresholds, and the oblique windows, and the galleries round about on three sides, over-against the threshold of every one, and floored with wood all round about: and the ground was up to the windows, and the windows were shut over the doors.
17 And even to the inner house, and without all the wall round about, within and without, by measure.
18 And there were cherubims and palm-trees wrought, so that a palm-tree was between a cherub and a cherub, and every cherub had two faces.
19 The face of a man was toward the palm-tree on one side, and the face of a lion was toward the palm-tree on the other side: set forth through all the house round about.
20 From the ground even to the upper parts of the gate, were cherubims and palm-trees wrought in the wall of the temple.
21 The threshold was four-square, and the face of the sanctuary, sight to sight.
22 The altar of wood was three cubits high: and the length thereof was two cubits: and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood.  And he said to me: This is the table before the Lord.
23 And there were two doors in the temple, and in the sanctuary.
24 And in the two doors on both sides were two little doors, which were folded within each other: for there were two wickets on both sides of the doors.
25 And there were cherubims also wrought in the doors of the temple, and the figures of palm-trees, like as were made on the walls: for which cause also the planks were thicker in the front of the porch without.
26 Upon which were the oblique windows, and the representation of palm-trees on this side, and on that side, in the sides of the porch, according to the sides of the house, and the breadth of the walls.
====================

EZECHIEL 42
CHAPTER XLII.

A description of the courts, chambers, and other places belonging to the temple.

1 And he brought me forth into the outward court, by the way that leadeth to the north, and he brought me into the chamber that was over-against the separate building, and over-against the house toward the north.
2 In the face of the north door was the length of a hundred cubits: and the breadth of fifty cubits.
3 Over-against the twenty cubits of the inner court, and over-against the pavement of the outward court that was paved with stone, where there was a gallery joined to a triple gallery.
4 And before the chambers was a walk ten cubits broad, looking to the inner parts of a way of one cubit.  And their doors were toward the north:
5 Where were the store-chambers lower above: because they bore up the galleries, which appeared above out of them from the lower parts, and from the midst of the building.
6 For they were of three stories, and had not pillars, as the pillars of the courts: therefore did they appear above out of the lower places, and out of the middle places, fifty cubits from the ground.
7 And the outward wall that went about by the chambers, which were towards the outward court on the forepart of the chambers, was fifty cubits long.
8 For the length of the chambers of the outward court was fifty cubits: and the length before the face of the temple, a hundred cubits.
9 And there was under these chambers, an entrance from the east, for them that went into them out of the outward court.
10 In the breadth of the outward wall of the court that was toward the east, over-against the separate building, and there were chambers before the building.
11 And the way before them was like the chambers which were toward the north: they wore as long as they, and as broad as they: and all the going is to them, and their fashions, and their doors were alike.
12 According to the doors of the chambers that were towards the south: there was a door in the head of the way, which way was before the porch, separated towards the east as one entereth in.
13 And he said to me: The chambers of the north, and the chambers of the south, which are before the separate building: they are holy chambers, in which the priests shall eat, that approach to the Lord into the holy of holies: there they shall lay the most holy things, and the offering for sin, and for trespass: for it is a holy place.
14 And when the priests shall have entered in, they shall not go out of the holy places into the outward court: but there they shall lay their vestments, wherein they minister, for they are holy: and they shall put on other garments, and so they shall go forth to the people.
15 Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me out by the way of the gate that looked toward the east: and he measured it on every side round about.
16 And he measured toward the east, with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds with the measuring reed round about.
17 And he measured toward the north, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.
18 And towards the south he measured five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.
19 And toward the west he measured five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed.
20 By the four winds he measured the wall thereof on every side round about, five hundred cubits long, and five hundred cubits broad, making a separation between the sanctuary and the place of the people.
====================

EZECHIEL 43
CHAPTER XLIII.

The glory of God returns to the new temple.  The Israelites shall no more profane God's name by idolatry: the prophet is commanded to shew them the dimensions, and form of the temple, and of the altar, with the sacrifices to be offered thereon.

1 And he brought me to the gate that looked towards the east.
2 And behold the glory of the God of Israel came in by the way of the east: and his voice was like the noise of many waters, and the earth shone with his majesty.
3 *And I saw the vision according to the appearance which I had seen when he came to destroy the city: and the appearance was according to the vision **which I had seen by the river Chobar: and I fell upon my face.
4 And the majesty of the Lord went into the temple by the way of the gate that looked to the east.
5 And the spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court: and behold the house was filled with the glory of the Lord.
6 And I heard one speaking to me out of the house, and the man that stood by me,
7 Said to me: Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever: and the house of Israel shall no more profane my holy name, they and their kings by their fornications, and by the carcasses of their kings, and by the high places.
8 They who have set their threshold by my threshold, and their posts by my posts: and there was but a wall between me and them: and they profaned my holy name by the abominations which they committed: for which reason I consumed them in my wrath.
9 Now, therefore, let them put away their fornications, and the carcasses of their kings far from me: and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever.
10 But thou, son of man, shew to the house of Israel the temple, and let them be ashamed of their iniquities, and let them measure the building:
11 And be ashamed of all that they have done.  Shew them the form of the house, and of the fashion thereof, the goings out, and the comings in, and the whole plan thereof, and all its ordinances, and all its order, and all its laws, and thou shalt write it in their sight: that they may keep the whole form thereof, and its ordinances, and do them.
12 This is the law of the house upon the top of the mountain: All its border round about is most holy; this then is the law of the house.
13 And these are the measures of the altar by the truest cubit, which is a cubit and a hand breadth: the bottom thereof was a cubit, and the breadth a cubit: and the border thereof unto its edge, and round about, one hand breadth: and this was the trench of the altar.
14 And from the bottom of the ground to the lowest brim two cubits, and the breadth of one cubit: and from the lesser brim to the greater brim four cubits, and the breadth of one cubit.
15 And the ariel itself was four cubits: and from the ariel upward were four horns.
16 And the ariel was twelve cubits long, and twelve cubits broad, four-square, with equal sides.
17 And the brim was fourteen cubits long, and fourteen cubits broad in the four corners thereof: and the crown round about it was half a cubit, and the bottom of it one cubit round about: and its steps turned toward the east.
18 And he said to me: Son of man, thus saith the Lord God: These are the ceremonies of the altar, in what day soever it shall be made: that holocausts may be offered upon it, and blood poured out.
19 And thou shalt give to the priests, and the Levites, that are of the race of Sadoc, who approach to me, saith the Lord God, to offer to me a calf of the herd for sin.
20 And thou shalt take of his blood, and shalt put it upon the four horns thereof, and upon the four corners of the brim, and upon the crown round about: and thou shalt cleanse, and expiate it.
21 And thou shalt take the calf, that is offered for sin: and thou shalt burn him in a separate place of the house without the sanctuary.
22 And in the second day thou shalt offer a he-goat without blemish for sin: and they shall expiate the altar, as they expiated it with the calf.
23 And when thou shalt have made an end of the expiation thereof, thou shalt offer a calf of the herd without blemish, and a ram of the flock without blemish.
24 And thou shalt offer them in the sight of the Lord: and the priests shall put salt upon them, and shall offer them a holocaust to the Lord.
25 Seven days shalt thou offer a he-goat for sin daily: they shall offer also a calf of the herd, and a ram of the flock without blemish.
26 Seven days shall they expiate the altar, and shall cleanse it: and they shall consecrate it.
27 And the days being expired, on the eighth day and thence forward, the priests shall offer your holocausts upon the altar, and the peace-offerings: and I will be pacified towards you, saith the Lord God.
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*
3:  Supra ix. 1. --- ** Supra i. 2.
====================

EZECHIEL 44
CHAPTER XLIV.

The east gate of the sanctuary shall be always shut.  The uncircumcised shall not enter into the sanctuary: nor the Levites that have served idols: but the sons of Sadoc shall do the priestly functions, who stood firm in the worst of times.

1 And he brought me back to the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary, which looked towards the east: and it was shut.
2 And the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut: it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it: because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, and it shall be shut.
3 For the prince.  The prince himself shall sit in it, to eat bread before the Lord: he shall enter in by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.
4 And he brought me by the way of the north gate in the sight of the house: and I saw, and behold the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord: and I fell on my face.
5 And the Lord said to me: Son of man, attend with thy heart, and behold with thy eyes, and hear with thy ears all that I say to thee concerning all the ceremonies of the house of the Lord, and concerning all the laws thereof: and mark well the ways of the temple, with all the goings out of the sanctuary.
6 And thou shalt say to the house of Israel, that provoketh me: Thus saith the Lord God: Let all your wicked doings suffice you, O house of Israel:
7 In that you have brought in strangers uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, and to defile my house: and you offer my bread, the fat, and the blood: and you have broken my covenant by all your wicked doings.
8 And you have not kept the ordinances of my sanctuary: but you have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.
9 Thus saith the Lord God: No stranger uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, no stranger that is in the midst of the children of Israel.
10 Moreover, the Levites that went away far from me, when the children of Israel went astray, and have wandered from me after their idols, and have borne their iniquity:
11 They shall be officers in my sanctuary, and door-keepers of the gates of the house, and ministers to the house: they shall slay the holocausts, and the victims of the people: and they shall stand in their sight, to minister to them.
12 Because they ministered to them before their idols, and were a stumbling-block of iniquity to the house of Israel: therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity:
13 And they shall not come near to me, to do the office of priest to me, neither shall they come near to any of my holy things that are by the holy of holies: but they shall bear their shame, and their wickednesses which they have committed.
14 And I will make them door-keepers of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.
15 But the priests, and Levites, the sons of Sadoc, who kept the ceremonies of my sanctuary, when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me, to minister to me: and they shall stand before me, to offer me the fat, and the blood, saith the Lord God.
16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and to keep my ceremonies.
17 And when they shall enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments: neither shall any woollen come upon them, when they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.
18 They shall have linen mitres on their heads, and linen breeches on their loins, and they shall not be girded with any thing that causeth sweat.
19 And when they shall go forth to the outward court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them up in the store chamber of the sanctuary, and they shall clothe themselves with other garments: and they shall not sanctify the people with their vestments.
20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor wear long hair: but they shall only poll their heads.
21 And no priest shall drink wine when he is to go into the inner court.
22 *Neither shall they take to wife a widow, nor one that is divorced, but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel: but they may take a widow also, that is the widow of a priest.
23 And they shall teach my people the difference between holy and profane, and shew them how to discern between clean and unclean.
24 And when there shall be a controversy, they shall stand in my judgments, and shall judge: they shall keep my laws, and my ordinances in all my solemnities, and sanctify my sabbaths.
25 And they shall come near no dead person, lest they be defiled, only their father and mother, and son and daughter, and brother and sister, that hath not had another husband: for whom they may become unclean.
26 And after one is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.
27 And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary to the inner court, to minister unto me in the sanctuary, he shall offer for his sin, saith the Lord God.
28 *And they shall have no inheritance, I am their inheritance: neither shall you give them any possession in Israel, for I am their possession.
29 They shall eat the victim both for sin and for trespass: and every vowed thing in Israel shall be theirs.
30 *And the first-fruits of all the first-born, and all the libations of all things that are offered, shall be the priest's: and you shall give the first-fruits of your meats to the priest, that he may return a blessing upon thy house.
31 *The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or caught by a beast, whether it be fowl or cattle.
____________________
*
22:  Lev. xxi. 14.
28:  Num. xviii. 20.; Deut. xviii. 1.
30:  Exod. xxii. 29.
31:  Lev. xxii. 8.
====================

EZECHIEL 45
CHAPTER XLV.

Portions of land for the sanctuary, for the city, and for the prince.  Ordinances for the prince.

1 And when you shall begin to divide the land by lot, separate ye first-fruits to the Lord, a portion of the land to be holy, in length twenty-five thousand and in breadth ten thousand: it shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about.
2 And there shall be for the sanctuary on every side five hundred by five hundred, four-square round about: and fifty cubits for the suburbs thereof round about.
3 And with this measure thou shalt measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand, and in it shall be the temple, and the holy of holies.
4 The holy portion of the land shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to the ministry of the Lord: and it shall be a place for their houses, and for the holy place of the sanctuary.
5 And five and twenty thousand of length, and ten thousand of breadth shall be for the Levites, that minister in the house: they shall possess twenty store-chambers.
6 And you shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, according to the separation of the sanctuary, for the whole house of Israel.
7 For the prince also on the one side and on the other side, according to the separation of the sanctuary, and according to the possession of the city, over-against the separation of the sanctuary, and over-against the possession of the city: from the side of the sea even to the sea, and from the side of the east; even to the east.  And the length according to every part from the west border to the east border.
8 He shall have a portion of the land in Israel: and the princes shall no more rob my people: but they shall give the land to the house of Israel, according to their tribes:
9 Thus saith the Lord God: Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: cease from iniquity and robberies, and execute judgment and justice, separate your confines from my people, saith the Lord God.
10 You shall have just balances, and a just ephi, and a just bate.
11 The ephi and the bate shall be equal, and of one measure: that the bate may contain the tenth part of a core, and the ephi the tenth part of a core: their weight shall be equal according to the measure of a core.
12 *And the sicle hath twenty obols.  Now twenty sicles, and five and twenty sicles, and fifteen sicles make a mna.
13 And these are the first-fruits, which you shall take: the sixth part of an ephi of a core of wheat, and the sixth part of an ephi of a core of barley.
14 The measure of oil also, a bate of oil is the tenth part of a core: and ten bates make a core: for ten bates fill a core.
15 And one ram out of a flock of two hundred, of those that Israel feedeth for sacrifice, and for holocausts, and for peace-offerings, to make atonement for them, saith the Lord God.
16 All the people of the land shall be bound to these first-fruits, for the prince in Israel.
17 And the prince shall give the holocaust, and the sacrifice, and the libations on the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the sabbaths, and on all the solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall offer the sacrifice for sin, and the holocaust, and the peace-offerings, to make expiation for the house of Israel.
18 Thus saith the Lord God: In the first month, the first of the month, thou shalt take a calf of the herd, without blemish, and thou shalt expiate the sanctuary.
19 And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering: and he shall put it on the posts of the house, and on the four corners of the brim of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court.
20 And so shalt thou do in the seventh day of the month, for every one that hath been ignorant, and hath been deceived by error, and thou shalt make expiation for the house.
21 In the first month, the fourteenth day of the month, you shall observe the solemnity of the Pasch: seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten.
22 And the prince on that day shall offer for himself, and for all the people of the land, a calf for sin.
23 And in the solemnity of the seven days he shall offer for a holocaust to the Lord, seven calves, and seven rams without blemish daily, for seven days: and for sin a he-goat daily.
24 And he shall offer the sacrifice of an ephi for every calf, and an ephi for every ram: and a hin of oil for every ephi.
25 In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, in the solemn feast, he shall do the like for the seven days: as well in regard to the sin-offering, as to the holocaust, and. the sacrifice, and the oil.
____________________
*
12:  Exod. xxx. 13.; Lev. xxvii. 25.; Num. iii. 47.
====================

EZECHIEL 46
CHAPTER XLVI.

Other ordinances for the prince and fir the sacrifices.

1 Thus saith the Lord God: The gate of the inner court, that looketh toward the east, shall be shut the six days on which work is done; but on the sabbath day it shall be opened, yea, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.
2 And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate from without, and he shall stand at the threshold of the gate: and the priests shall offer his holocaust, and his peace-offerings: and he shall adore upon the threshold of the gate, and shall go out: but the gate shall not be shut till the evening.
3 And the people of the land shall adore at the door of that gate before the Lord, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons.
4 And the holocaust that the prince shall offer to the Lord on the sabbath day, shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish.
5 And the sacrifice of an ephi for a ram: but for the lambs what sacrifice his hand shall allow: and a hin of oil for every ephi.
6 And on the day of the new moon a calf of the herd without blemish: and the six lambs, and the rams shall be without blemish.
7 And he shall offer in sacrifice an ephi for a calf, an ephi also for a ram: but for the lambs, as his hand shall find: and a hin of oil for every ephi.
8 And when the prince is to go in, let him go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and let him go out the same way.
9 But when the people of the land shall go in before the Lord, in the solemn feasts, he that goeth in by the north gate to adore, shall go out by the way of the south gate: and he that goeth in by the way of the south gate, shall go out by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go out at that over-against it.
10 And the prince in the midst of them, shall go in when they go in, and go out when they go out.
11 And in the fairs, and in the solemnities, there shall be the sacrifice of an ephi to a calf, and an ephi to a ram: and to the lambs, the sacrifice shall be as his hand shall find: and a hin of oil to every ephi.
12 But when the prince shall offer a voluntary holocaust, or voluntary peace-offerings to the Lord: the gate that looketh towards the east shall be opened to him, and he shall offer his holocaust, and his peace-offerings, as it is wont to be done on the sabbath day: and he shall go out, and the gate shall be shut after he is gone forth.
13 And he shall offer every day for a holocaust to the Lord, a lamb of the same year without blemish: he shall offer it always in the morning.
14 And he shall offer the sacrifice for it morning by morning, the sixth part of ephi: and the third part of a bin of oil, to be mingled with the fine flour: a sacrifice to the Lord by ordinance, continual and everlasting.
15 He shall offer the lamb, and the sacrifice, and the oil, morning by morning: an everlasting holocaust.
16 Thus saith the Lord God: If the prince give a gift to any of his sons: the inheritance of it shall go to his children, they shall possess it by inheritance.
17 But if he give a legacy out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his until the year of release, and it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall go to his sons.
18 And the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance by violence, nor of their possession: but out of his own possession he shall give an inheritance to his sons: that my people be not dispersed every man from his possession.
19 And he brought me in by the entry, that was at the side of the gate, into the chambers of the sanctuary that were for the priests, which looked toward the north.  And there was a place bending to the west.
20 And he said to me: This is the place where the priests shall boil the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering: where they shall dress the sacrifice, that they may not bring it out into the outward court, and the people be sanctified.
21 And he brought me into the outward court, and he led me about by the four corners of the court: and behold there was a little court in the corner of the court, to every corner of the court there was a little court.
22 In the four corners of the court were little courts disposed, forty cubits long, and thirty broad: all the four were of one measure.
23 And there was a wall round about compassing the four little courts, and there were kitchens built under the rows round about.
24 And he said to me: This is the house of the kitchens wherein the ministers of the house of the Lord shall boil the victims of the people.
====================

EZECHIEL 47
CHAPTER XLVII.

The vision of the holy waters issuing out from under the temple: the borders of the land to be divided among the twelve tribes.

1 And he brought me again to the gate of the house, and behold waters issued out from under the threshold of the house toward the east: for the forefront, of the house looked toward the east: but the waters came down to the right side of the temple, to the south part of the altar.
2 And he led me out by the way of the north gate, and he caused me to turn to the way without the outward gate, to the way that looked toward the east: and behold there ran out waters on the right side.
3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went out towards the east, he measured a thousand cubits: and he brought me through the water up to the ancles.
4 And again he measured a thousand, and he brought me through the water up to the knees.
5 And he measured a thousand, and he brought me through the water up to the loins.  And he measured a thousand, and it was a torrent, which I could not pass over: for the waters were risen so as to make a deep torrent, which could not be passed over.
6 And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man.  And he brought me out, and he caused me to turn to the bank of the torrent.
7 And when I had turned myself, behold on the bank of the torrent were very many trees on both sides.
8 And he said to me: These waters that issue forth toward the hillocks of sand to the east, and go down to the plains of the desert, shall go into the sea, and shall go out, and the waters shall be healed.
9 And every living creature that creepeth whithersoever the torrent shall come, shall live: and there shall be fishes in abundance after these waters shall come thither, and they shall be healed, and all things shall live to which the torrent shall come.
10 And the fishers shall stand over these waters, from Engaddi even to Engallim there shall be drying of nets: there shall be many sorts of the fishes thereof, as the fishes of the great sea, a very great multitude:
11 But on the shore thereof, and in the fenny places they shall not be healed, because they shall be turned into salt pits.
12 And by the torrent on the banks thereof, on both sides, shall grow all trees that bear fruit: their leaf shall not fall off, and their fruit shall not fail: every month shall they bring forth first-fruits, because the waters thereof shall issue out of the sanctuary: and the fruits thereof shall be for food, and the leaves thereof for medicine.
13 Thus saith the Lord God: This is the border, by which you shall possess the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: for Joseph hath a double portion.
14 And you shall possess it, every man in like manner as his brother: concerning which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for a possession.
15 And this is the border of the land: toward the north side, from the great sea by the way of Hethalon, as men go to Sedada.
16 Emath, Berotha, Sabarim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Emath, the house of Tichon, which is by the border of Auran.
17 And the border from the sea even to the court of Enon, shall be the border of Damascus, and from the north to the north: the border of Emath, this is the north side.
18 And the east side is from the midst of Auran, and from the midst of Damascus, and from the midst of Galaad, and from the midst of the land of Israel, Jordan making the bound to the east sea, and thus you shall measure the east side.
19 And the south side southward is from Thamar, even to the waters of contradiction of Cades: and the torrent, even to the great sea: and this is the south side southward.
20 And the side toward the sea, is the great sea, from the borders straight on, till thou come to Emath: this is the side of the sea.
21 And you shall divide this land unto you by the tribes of Israel:
22 And you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you, and to the strangers that shall come over to you, that shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as men of the same country born among the children of Israel: they shall divide the possession with you in the midst of the tribes of Israel.
23 And in what tribe soever the stranger shall be, there shall you give him possession, saith the Lord God.
====================

EZECHIEL 48
CHAPTER XLVIII.

The portions of the twelve tribes, of the sanctuary, of the city, and of the prince.  The dimensions and gates of the city.

1 And these are the names of the tribes from the borders of the north, by the way of Hethalon, as they go to Emath, the court of Enan, the border of Damascus northward, by the way of Emath.  And from the east side thereof, to the sea shall be one portion for Dan.
2 And by the border of Dan, from the east side, even to the side of the sea, one portion for Aser:
3 And by the border of Aser, from the east side, even to the side of the sea, one portion for Nephthali.
4 And by the border of Nephthali, from the east side, even to the side of the sea, one portion for Manasses.
5 And by the border of Manasses, from the east side, even to the side of the sea, one portion for Ephraim.
6 And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side, even to the side of the sea, one portion for Ruben.
7 And by the border of Ruben, from the east side, even to the side of the sea, one portion for Juda.
8 And by the border of Juda, from the east side, even to the side of the sea, shall be the first-fruits which you shall set apart, five and twenty thousand in breadth, and in length, as every one of the portions from the east side, to the side of the sea: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst thereof.
9 The first-fruits which you shall set apart for the Lord: shall be the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand.
10 And these shall be the first-fruits of the sanctuary for the priests: toward the north, five and twenty thousand in length, and toward the sea, ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east, also ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south, five and twenty thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the Lord shall be in the midst thereof.
11 The sanctuary shall be for the priests of the sons of Sadoc, who kept my ceremonies, and went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites also went astray.
12 And for them shall be the first-fruits of the first-fruits of the land holy of holies, by the border of the Levites.
13 And the Levites in like manner shall have by the borders of the priests five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth.  All the length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.
14 And they shall not sell thereof, nor exchange, neither shall the first-fruits of the land be alienated, because they are sanctified to the Lord.
15 But the five thousand that remain in the breadth over-against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof.
16 And these are the measures thereof: on the north side four thousand and five hundred: and on the south side four thousand and five hundred: and on the east side four thousand and five hundred: and on the west side four thousand and five hundred.
17 And the suburbs of the city shall be to the north two hundred and fifty, and to the south two hundred and fifty, and to the east two hundred and fifty, and to the sea two hundred and fifty.
18 And the residue in length by the first-fruits of the sanctuary, ten thousand toward the east, and ten thousand toward the west, shall be as the first-fruits of the sanctuary: and the fruits thereof shall be for bread to them that serve the city.
19 And they that serve the city, shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel.
20 All the first-fruits, of five and twenty thousand, by five and twenty thousand, four-square, shall be set apart for the first-fruits of the sanctuary, and for the possession of the city.
21 And the residue shall be for the prince on every side of the first-fruits of the sanctuary, and of the possession of the city over-against the five and twenty thousand of the first-fruits, unto the east border: toward the sea also, over-against the five and twenty thousand, unto the border of the sea, shall likewise be the portion of the prince: and the first-fruits of the sanctuary, and the sanctuary of the temple, shall be in the midst thereof.
22 And from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, which are in the midst of the prince's portions: what shall be to the border of Juda, and to the border of Benjamin, shall also belong to the prince.
23 And for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, one portion for Benjamin.
24 And over-against the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, one portion for Simeon.
25 And by the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, one portion for Issachar.
26 And by the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, one portion for Zabulon.
27 And by the border of Zabulon, from the east side to the side of the sea, one portion for Gad.
28 And by the border of Gad, the south side southward: and the border shall be from Thamar, even to the waters of contradiction of Cades, the inheritance over-against the great sea.
29 This is the land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel: and these are the portions of them, saith the Lord God.
30 And these are the goings out of the city: on the north side thou shalt measure four thousand and five hundred.
31 And the gates of the city according to the names of the tribes of Israel, three gates on the north side, the gate of Ruben one, the gate of Juda one, the gate of Levi one.
32 And at the east side, four thousand and five hundred: and three gates, the gate of Joseph one, the gate of Benjamin one, the gate of Dan one.
33 And at the south side, thou shalt measure four thousand and five hundred: and three gates, the gate of Simeon one, the gate of Issachar one, the gate of Zabulon one.
34 And at the west side, four thousand and five hundred, and their three gates, the gate of Gad one, the gate of Aser one, the gate of Nephthali one.
35 Its circumference was eighteen thousand: and the name of the city from that day, The Lord is there.
====================
====================

DANIEL
THE PROPHECY OF DANIEL.

DANIEL 1
CHAPTER I.

Daniel and his companions are taken into the palace of the king of Babylon: they abstain from his meat and wine, and succeed better with pulse and water.  Their excellence in wisdom.

1 In the third year *of the reign of Joakim, king of Juda, Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem, and besieged it.
2 And the Lord delivered into his hands Joakim, the king of Juda, and part of the vessels of the house *of God: and he carried them away into the land of Sennaar, to the house of his god, and the vessels he brought into the treasure-house of his god.
3 And the king spoke to Asphenez, the master of the eunuchs, that he should bring in some of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes,
4 Children in whom there was no blemish, well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, acute in knowledge, and instructed in science, and such as might stand in the king's palace, that he might teach them the learning, and the tongue of the Chaldeans.
5 And the king appointed them a daily provision, of his own meat, and of the wine of which he drank himself, that being nourished three years, afterwards they might stand before the king.
6 Now there were among them of the children of Juda, Daniel, Ananias, Misael, and Azarias.
7 And the master of the eunuchs gave them names: to Daniel, Baltassar: to Ananias, Sidrach: to Misael, Misach: and to Azarias, Abdenago.
8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not be defiled with the king's table, nor with the wine which he drank: and he requested the master of the eunuchs that he might not be defiled.
9 And God gave to Daniel grace and mercy in the sight of the prince of the eunuchs.
10 And the prince of the eunuchs said to Daniel: I fear my lord, the king, who hath appointed you meat and drink: who if he should see your faces leaner than those of the other youths, your equals, you shall endanger my head to the king.
11 And Daniel said to Malasar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Ananias, Misael, and Azarias:
12 Try, I beseech thee, thy servants for ten days, and let pulse be given us to eat, and water to drink:
13 And look upon our faces, and the faces of the children that eat of the king's meat: and as thou shalt see, deal with thy servants.
14 And when he had heard these words, he tried them for ten days.
15 And after ten days, their faces appeared fairer and fatter than all the children that ate of the king's meat.
16 So Malasar took their portions, and the wine that they should drink: and he gave them pulse.
17 And to these children God gave knowledge, and understanding in every book, and wisdom: but to Daniel the understanding also of all visions and dreams.
18 And when the days were ended, after which the king had ordered they should be brought in: *the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nabuchodonosor.
19 And when the king had spoken to them, there were not found among them all such as Daniel, Ananias, Misael, and Azarias: and they stood in the king's presence.
20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the diviners, and wise men, that were in all his kingdom.
21 *And Daniel continued even to the first year of king Cyrus.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3398, A.C. 606.
2:  Jer. xxv. 1.
18:  A.M. 3401.
21:  Infra vi. 28.
====================

DANIEL 2
CHAPTER II.

Daniel, by divine revelation, declares the dream of Nabuchodonosor, and the interpretation of it.  He is highly honoured by the king.

1 In *the second year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, Nabuchodonosor had a dream, and his spirit was terrified, and his dream went out of his mind.
2 Then the king commanded to call together the diviners and the wise men, and the magicians, and the Chaldeans: to declare to the king his dreams: so they came and stood before the king.
3 And the king said to them: I saw a dream: and being troubled in mind I know not what I saw.
4 And the Chaldeans answered the king in Syriac: O king, live for ever: tell to thy servants thy dream, and we will declare the interpretation thereof.
5 And the king answering, said to the Chaldeans: The thing is gone out of my mind: unless you tell me the dream, and the meaning thereof, you shall be put to death, and your houses shall be confiscated.
6 But if you tell the dream, and the meaning of it, you shall receive of me rewards, and gifts, and great honour: therefore, tell me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
7 They answered again and said: Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will declare the interpretation of it.
8 The king answered and said: I know for certain that you seek to gain time, since you know that the thing is gone from me.
9 If, therefore, you tell me not the dream, there is one sentence concerning you, that you have also framed a lying interpretation, and full of deceit, to speak before me till the time pass away.  Tell me, therefore, the dream, that I may know that you also give a true interpretation thereof.
10 Then the Chaldeains answered before the king, and said: There is no man upon earth, that can accomplish thy word, O king; neither doth any king, though great and mighty, ask such a thing of any diviner, or wise man, or Chaldean.
11 For the thing that thou askest, O king, is difficult: nor can any one be found that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose conversation is not with men.
12 Upon hearing this, the king in fury, and in great wrath, commanded that all the wise men of Babylon should be put to death.
13 And the decree being gone forth, the wise men were slain: and Daniel and his companions were sought for, to be put to death.
14 Then Daniel inquired concerning the law and the sentence, of Arioch, the general of the king's army, who was gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon.
15 And he asked him that had received the orders of the king, why so cruel a sentence was gone forth from the face of the king.  And when Arioch had told the matter to Daniel,
16 Daniel went in, and desired of the king, that he would give him time to resolve the question and declare it to the king.
17 And he went into his house, and told the matter to Ananias, and Misael, and Azarias, his companions:
18 To the end that they should ask mercy at the face of the God of heaven concerning this secret, and that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19 Then was the mystery revealed to Daniel by a vision in the night: and Daniel blessed the God of heaven,
20 And speaking, he said: Blessed be the name of the Lord from eternity and for evermore: for wisdom and fortitude are his.
21 And he changeth times and ages: taketh away kingdoms, and establisheth them: giveth wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that have understanding:
22 He revealeth deep and hidden things, and knoweth what is in darkness: and light is with him.*
23 To thee, O God of our fathers, I give thanks, and I praise thee: because thou hast given me wisdom and strength: and now thou hast shewn me what we desired of thee, for thou hast made known to us, the king's discourse.
24 After this Daniel went in to Arioch, to whom the king had given orders to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and he spoke thus to him: Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will tell the solution to the king.
25 Then Arioch in haste brought in Daniel to the king, and said to him: I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Juda, that will resolve the question to the king.
26 The king answered, and said to Daniel, whose name was Baltassar: Thinkest thou indeed that thou canst tell me the dream that I saw, and the interpretation thereof?
27 And Daniel made answer before the king, and said: The secret that the king desireth to know, none of the wise men, or the philosophers, or the diviners, or the soothsayers, can declare to the king.
28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth mysteries, who hath shewn to thee, O king Nabuchodonosor, what is to come to pass in the latter times.  Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these:
29 Thou, O king, didst begin to think in thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth mysteries shewed thee what shall come to pass.
30 To me also this secret is revealed, not by any wisdom that I have more than all men alive: but that the interpretation might be made manifest to the king, and thou mightest know the thoughts of thy mind.
31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold there was as it were a great statue: this statue, which was great and high, tall of stature, stood before thee, and the look thereof was terrible.
32 The head of this statue was of fine gold, but the breast and the arms of silver, and the belly and the thighs of brass.
33 And the legs of iron, the feet part of iron and part of clay.
34 Thus thou sawest, till a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands: and it struck the statue upon the feet thereof that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of a summer's thrashing-floor, and they were carried away by the wind: and there was no place found for them: but the stone that struck the statue, became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream: we will also tell the interpretation thereof before thee, O king.
37 Thou art a king of kings: and the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, and strength, and power, and glory:
38 And all places wherein the children of men, and the beasts of the field do dwell: he hath also given the birds of the air into thy hand, and hath put all things under thy power: thou, therefore, art the head of gold.
39 And after thee shall rise up another kingdom, inferior to thee, of silver: and another third kingdom of brass, which shall rule over all the world.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as iron.  As iron breaketh into pieces, and subdueth all things, so shall that break, and destroy all these.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet, and the toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron: the kingdom shall be divided, but yet it shall take its origin from the iron, according as thou sawest the iron mixed with the miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay: the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43 And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall be mingled indeed together with the seed of man, but they shall not stick fast one to another, as iron cannot be mixed with clay.
44 But in the days of those kingdoms, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, and his kingdom shall not be delivered up to another people: and it shall break in pieces, and shall consume all these kingdoms: and itself shall stand for ever.
45 According as thou sawest, that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and broke in pieces, the clay and the iron, and the brass, and the silver, and the gold, the great God hath shewn the king what shall come to pass hereafter, and the dream is true, and the interpretation thereof is faithful.
46 Then king Nabuchodonosor fell on his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer in sacrifice to him victims and incense.
47 And the king spoke to Daniel, and said: Verily, your God is the God of gods, and Lord of kings, and a revealer of hidden things: seeing thou couldst discover this secret.
48 Then the king advanced Daniel to a high station, and gave him many and great gifts: and he made him governor over all the provinces of Babylon: and chief of the magistrates over all the wise men of Babylon.
49 And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, over the works of the province of Babylon: but Daniel himself was in the king's palace.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3401, A.C. 603.
22:  1 Cor. iv. 5.; 1 John i. 6.; John i. 9. and viii. 12.
====================

DANIEL 3
CHAPTER III.

Nabuchodonosor sets up a golden statue: which he commands all to adore: the three children, for refusing to do it, are cast into the fiery furnace; but are not hurt by the flames.  Their prayer, and canticle of praise.

1 King Nabuchodonosor *made a statue of gold, of sixty cubits high, and six cubits broad, and he set it up in the plain of Dura, of the province of Babylon.
2 Then Nabuchodonosor, the king, sent to call together the nobles, the magistrates, and the judges, the captains, the rulers, and governors, and all the chief men of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the statue which king Nabuchodonosor had set up.
3 Then the nobles, the magistrates, and the judges, the captains, and rulers, and the great men that were placed in authority, and all the princes of the provinces, were gathered together to come to the dedication of the statue, which king Nabuchodonosor had set up.  And they stood before the statue which king Nabuchodonosor had set up.
4 Then a herald cried with a strong voice: To you it is commanded, O nations, tribes, and languages:
5 That in the hour that you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, and of the flute, and of the harp, of the sackbut, and of the psaltery, and of the symphony, and of all kind of music, ye fall down and adore the golden statue which king Nabuchodonosor hath set up.
6 But if any man shall not fall down and adore, he shall the same hour be cast into a furnace of burning fire.
7 Upon this, therefore, at the time when all the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the flute, and the harp, of the sackbut, and the psaltery, of the symphony, and of all kind of music, all the nations, tribes, and languages fell down and adored the golden statue which king Nabuchodonosor had set up.
8 And presently at that very time some Chaldeans came and accused the Jews,
9 And said to king Nabuchodonosor: O king, live for ever:
10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree that every man that shall hear the sound of the trumpet, the flute, and the harp, of the sackbut, and the psaltery, of the symphony, and of all kind of music, shall prostrate himself, and adore the golden statue:
11 And that if any man shall not fall down and adore, he should be cast into a furnace of burning fire.
12 Now there are certain Jews, whom thou hast set over the works of the province of Babylon, Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago: these men, O king, have slighted thy decree: they worship not thy gods, nor do they adore the golden statue which thou hast set up.
13 Then Nabuchodonosor in fury, and in wrath, commanded that Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago should be brought: who immediately were brought before the king.
14 And Nabuchodonosor, the king, spoke to them, and said: Is it true, O Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, that you do not worship my gods, nor adore the golden statue that I have set up?
15 Now, therefore, if you be ready, at what hour soever, you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, harp, sackbut, and psaltery, and symphony, and of all kind of music, prostrate yourselves, and adore the statue which I have made: but if you do not adore, you shall be cast the same hour into the furnace of burning fire: and who is the God that shall deliver you out of my hand?
16 Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, answered, and said to king Nabuchodonosor: We have no occasion to answer thee concerning this matter.
17 For behold our God, whom we worship, is able to save us from the furnace of burning fire, and to deliver us out of thy hands, O king.
18 But if he will not, be it known to thee, O king, that we will not worship thy gods, nor adore the golden statue which thou hast set up.
19 Then was Nabuchodonosor filled with fury: and the countenance of his face was changed against Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, and he commanded that the furnace should be heated seven times more than it had been accustomed to be heated.
20 And he commanded the strongest men that were in his army, to bind the feet of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, and to cast them into the furnace of burning fire.
21 And immediately these men were bound, and were cast into the furnace of burning fire, with their coats, and their caps, and their shoes, and their garments.
22 For the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace was heated exceedingly.  And the flame of the fire slew those men that had cast in Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago.
23 But these three men, that is, Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, fell down bound in the midst of the furnace of burning fire.
24 And they walked in the midst of the flame, praising God, and blessing the Lord.
25 Then Azarias standing up, prayed in this manner, and opening his mouth in the midst of the fire, he said:
26 Blessed art thou, O Lord, the God of our fathers, and thy name is worthy of praise, and glorious for ever:
27 For thou art just in all that thou hast done to us, and all thy works are true, and thy ways right, and all thy judgments true.
28 For thou hast executed true judgments in all the things that thou hast brought upon us, and upon Jerusalem, the holy city of our fathers: for according to truth and judgment, thou hast brought all these things upon us for our sins.
29 For we have sinned, and committed iniquity, departing from thee: and we have trespassed in all things:
30 And we have not hearkened to thy commandments, nor have we observed nor done as thou hadst commanded us, that it might go well with us.
31 Wherefore, all that thou hast brought upon us, and every thing that thou hast done to us, thou hast done in true judgment:
32 And thou hast delivered us into the hands of our enemies that are unjust, and most wicked, and prevaricators, and to a king unjust, and most wicked beyond all that are upon the earth.
33 And now we cannot open our mouths: we are become a shame, and reproach to thy servants, and to them that worship thee.
34 Deliver us not up for ever, we beseech thee, for thy name's sake, and abolish not thy covenant.
35 And take not away thy mercy from us, for the sake of Abraham, thy beloved, and Isaac, thy servant, and Israel, thy holy one:
36 To whom thou hast spoken, promising that thou wouldst multiply their seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is on the sea shore.
37 For we, O Lord, are diminished more than any nation, and are brought low in all the earth this day for our sins.
38 Neither is there at this time prince, or leader, or prophet, or holocaust, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, or place of first-fruits before thee,
39 That we may find thy mercy: nevertheless, in a contrite heart and humble spirit let us be accepted.
40 As in holocausts of rams, and bullocks, and as in thousands of fat lambs: so let our sacrifice be made in thy sight this day, that it may please thee: for there is no confusion to them that trust in thee.
41 And now we follow thee with all our heart, and we fear thee, and seek thy face.
42 Put us not to confusion, but deal with us according to thy meekness, and according to the multitude of thy mercies.
43 And deliver us according to thy wonderful works, and give glory to thy name, O Lord:
44 And let all them be confounded that shew evils to thy servants, let them be confounded in all thy might, and let their strength be broken:
45 And let them know that thou art the Lord, the only God, and glorious over all the world.
46 Now the king's servants that had cast them in, ceased not to heat the furnace with brimstone and tow, and pitch, and dry sticks,
47 And the flame mounted up above the furnace nine and forty cubits:
48 And it broke forth, and burnt such of the Chaldeans as it found near the furnace.
49 But the angel of the Lord went down with Azarias and his companions into the furnace: and he drove the flame of the fire out of the furnace,
50 And made the midst of the furnace like the blowing of a wind bringing dew, and the fire touched them not at all, nor troubled them, nor did them any harm.
51 Then these three, as with one mouth praised and glorified and blessed God, in the furnace, saying:
52 Blessed art thou, O Lord, the God of our fathers; and worthy to be praised, and glorified, and exalted above all for ever: and blessed is the holy name of thy glory: and worthy to be praised, and exalted above all, in all ages.
53 Blessed art thou in the holy temple of thy glory: and exceedingly to be praised, and exceeding glorious for ever.
54 Blessed art thou on the throne of thy kingdom, and exceedingly to be praised and exalted above all for ever.
55 Blessed art thou that beholdest the depths, and sittest upon the cherubims: and worthy to be praised and exalted above all for ever.
56 Blessed art thou in the firmament of heaven: and worthy of praise, and glorious for ever.
57 All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
58 O ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
59 *O ye heavens, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
60 O all ye waters that are above the heavens, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
61 O all ye powers of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
62 O ye sun and moon, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
63 O ye stars of heaven, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
64 O every shower and dew, bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
65 O all ye spirits of God, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
66 O ye fire and heat, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
67 O ye cold and heat, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
68 O ye dews and hoar frost, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
69 O ye frost and cold, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
70 O ye ice and snow, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
71 O ye nights and days, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
72 O ye light and darkness, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
73 O ye lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
74 O let the earth bless the Lord: let it praise and exalt him above all for ever.
75 O ye mountains and hills, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
76 O all ye things that spring up in the earth, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
77 O ye fountains, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
78 O ye seas and rivers, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
79 O ye whales, and all that move in the waters, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
80 O all ye fowls of the air, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
81 O all ye beasts and cattle, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
82 O ye sons of men, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all for ever.
83 O let Israel bless the Lord: let them praise and exalt him above all for ever.
84 O ye priests of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
85 O ye servants of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
86 O ye spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
87 O ye holy and humble of heart, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
88 O Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.  For he hath delivered us from hell, and saved us out of the hand of death, and delivered us out of the midst of the burning flame, and saved us out of the midst of the fire.
89 O give thanks to the Lord, because he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever and ever.
90 O all ye religious, bless the Lord, the God of gods: praise him, and give him thanks, because his mercy endureth for ever and ever.
91 Then Nabuchodonosor, the king, was astonished, and rose up in haste, and said to his nobles: Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?  They answered the king, and said: True, O king.
92 He answered, and said: Behold, I see four men loose, and walking in the midst of the fire, and there is no hurt in them, and the form of the fourth is like the son of God.
93 Then Nabuchodonosor came to the door of the burning fiery furnace, and said: Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, ye servants of the most high God, go ye forth, and come.  And immediately Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago went out from the midst of the fire.
94 And the nobles, and the magistrates, and the judges, and the great men of the king, being gathered together, considered these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies, and that not a hair of their head had been singed, nor their garments altered, nor the smell of the fire had passed on them.
95 Then Nabuchodonosor breaking forth, said: Blessed be the God of them, to wit, of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that believed in him: and they changed the king's word, and delivered up their bodies, that they might not serve nor adore any god, except their own God.
96 By me, therefore, this decree is made: That every people, tribe, and tongue, which shall speak blasphemy against the God of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, shall be destroyed, and their houses laid waste: for there is no other God that can save in this manner.
97 Then the king promoted Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, in the province of Babylon.
98 Nabuchodonosor, the king, to all peoples, nations, and tongues, that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied unto you.
99 The most high God hath wrought signs and wonders towards me.  It hath seemed good to me therefore to publish
100 His signs, because they are great: and his wonders, because they are mighty: and his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, *and his power to all generations.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3417, A.C. 587.
59:  Ps. cxlviii. 4.
100:  Infra iv. 31. and vii. 14.
====================

DANIEL 4
CHAPTER IV.

Nabuchodonosor's dream, by which the judgments of God are denounced against him for his pride, is interpreted by Daniel, and verified by the event.

1 I, Nabuchodonosor, was at rest in my house, *and flourishing in my palace:
2 I saw a dream that affrighted me: and my thoughts in my bed, and the visions of my head, troubled me.
3 Then I set forth a decree, that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought in before me, and that they should shew me the interpretation of the dream.
4 Then came in the diviners, the wise men, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers, and I told the dream before them: but they did not shew me the interpretation thereof:
5 Till their colleague Daniel, came in before me, whose name is Baltassar, according to the name of my god, who hath in him the spirit of the holy gods: and I told the dream before him.
6 Baltassar, prince of the diviners, because I know that thou hast in thee the spirit of the holy gods, and that no secret is impossible to thee: tell me the visions of my dreams that I have seen, and the interpretation of them?
7 This was the vision of my head in my bed: I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was exceeding great.
8 The tree was great and strong: and the height thereof reached unto heaven: the sight thereof was even to the ends of all the earth.
9 Its leaves were most beautiful, and its fruit exceeding much: and in it was food for all: under it dwelt cattle, and beasts, and in the branches thereof the fowls of the air had their abode: and all flesh did eat of it.
10 I saw in the vision of my head upon my bed, and behold a watcher, and a holy one came down from heaven.
11 He cried aloud, and said thus: Cut down the tree, and chop off the branches thereof: shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruits: let the beasts fly away that are under it, and the birds from its branches.
12 Nevertheless, leave the stump of its roots in the earth, and let it be tied with a band of iron and of brass, among the grass, that is without, and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let its portion be with the wild beasts in the grass of the earth.
13 Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given him: and let seven times pass over him.
14 This is the decree by the sentence of the watchers, and the word And demand of the holy ones: till the living know, that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men: and he will give it to whomsoever it shall please him, and he will appoint the basest *man over it.
15 I, king Nabuchodonosor, saw this dream: thou, therefore, O Baltassar, tell me quickly the interpretation: for all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to declare the meaning of it to me: but thou art able, because the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.
16 Then Daniel, whose name was Baltassar, began silently to think within himself for about one hour: and his thoughts troubled him.  But the king answering, said: Baltassar, let not the dream and the interpretation thereof trouble thee.  Baltassar answered, and said: My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thy enemies.
17 The tree which thou sawest, which was high and strong, whose height reached to the skies, and the sight thereof into all the earth:
18 And the branches thereof were most beautiful, and its fruit exceeding much, and in it was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and the birds of the air had their abode in its branches.
19 It is thou, O king, who art grown great and become mighty: for thy greatness hath grown, and hath reached to heaven, and thy power unto the ends of the earth.
20 And whereas the king saw a watcher, and a holy one come down from heaven, and say: Cut down the tree, and destroy it, but leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, and let it be bound with iron and brass, among the grass without, and let it be sprinkled with the dew of heaven, and let his feeding be with the wild beasts, till seven times pass over him.
21 This is the interpretation of the sentence of the most High, which is come upon my lord, the king.
22 They shall cast thee out from among men, and thy dwelling shall be with cattle, and with wild beasts, *and thou shalt eat grass, as an ox, and shalt be wet with the dew of heaven: and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
23 But whereas he commanded, that the stump of the roots thereof, that is, of the tree, should be left: thy kingdom shall remain to thee, after thou shalt have known that power is from heaven.
24 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to thee, *and redeem thou thy sins with alms, and thy iniquities with works of mercy to the poor: perhaps he will forgive thy offences.
25 All these things came upon king Nabuchodonosor.
26 At the end of twelve months he was walking in the palace of Babylon.
27 And the king answered, and said: Is not this the great Babylon, which I have built, to be the seat of the kingdom, by the strength of my power, and in the glory of my excellence?
28 And while the word was yet in the king's mouth, a voice came down from heaven: To thee, O king Nabuchodonosor, it is said: Thy kingdom shall pass from thee.
29 And they shall cast thee out from among men, and thy dwelling shall be with cattle and wild beasts: thou shalt eat grass like an ox, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
30 The same hour the word was fulfilled upon Nabuchodonosor, and he was driven away from among men, and did eat grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven: till his hairs grew like the feathers of eagles, and his nails like birds' claws.
31 Now at the end of the days, *I, Nabuchodonosor, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my sense was restored to me: and I blessed the most High, and I praised and glorified him that liveth for ever: **for his power is an everlasting power, and his kingdom is to all generations.
32 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing before him: for he doth according to his will, *as well with the powers of heaven, as among the inhabitants of the earth: and there is none that can resist his hand, and say to him: Why hast thou done it?
33 At the same time my sense returned to me, and I came to the honour and glory of my kingdom: and my shape returned to me: and my nobles, and my magistrates, sought for me, and I was restored to my kingdom: and greater majesty was added to me.
34 Therefore I, Nabuchodonosor, do now praise, and magnify, and glorify the King of heaven: because all his works are true, and his ways judgments, and them that walk in pride he is able to abase.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3434, A.C. 570.
14:  1 Kings ii. 8. and xvi. 11. & seq.
22:  Infra v. 21.
24:  Eccli. iv. 8.
31:  A.M. 3442, A.C. 562. --- ** Supra iii. 100.
32:  Jer. xxiii. 13.; Ps. cxv. 3.
====================

DANIEL 5
CHAPTER V.

Baltassar's profane banquet: his sentence is denounced by a hand writing on the wall, which Daniel reads and interprets.

1 Baltassar, *the king made a great feast for a thousand of his nobles: and every one drank according to his age.
2 And being now drunk, he commanded that they should bring the vessels of gold and silver, which Nabuchodonosor, his father, had brought away out of the temple, that was in Jerusalem, that the king and his nobles, and his wives, and his concubines, might drink in them.
3 Then were the golden and silver vessels brought, which he had brought away out of the temple that was in Jerusalem: and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.
4 They drank wine, and praised their gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, and of wood, and of stone.
5 In the same hour there appeared fingers, as it were of the hand of a man, writing over-against the candlestick, upon the surface of the wall of the king's palace: and the king beheld the joints of the hand that wrote.
6 Then was the king's countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him: and the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees struck one against the other.
7 And the king cried out aloud to bring in the wise men, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers.  And the king spoke, and said to the wise men of Babylon: Whosoever shall read this writing, and shall make known to me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with purple, and shall have a golden chain on his neck, and shall be the third man in my kingdom.
8 Then came in all the king's wise men, but they could neither read the writing, nor declare the interpretation to the king.
9 Wherewith king Baltassar was much troubled, and his countenance was changed: and his nobles also were troubled.
10 Then the queen, on occasion of what had happened to the king, and his nobles, came into the banquet-house: and she spoke, and said: O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, neither let thy countenance be changed.
11 There is a man in thy kingdom that hath the spirit of the holy gods in him: and in the days of thy father knowledge and wisdom were found in him: for king Nabuchodonosor, thy father, appointed him prince of the wise men, enchanters, Chaldeans, and soothsayers, thy father, I say, O king:
12 Because a greater spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, and interpretation of dreams, and shewing of secrets, and resolving of difficult things, were found in him, that is, in Daniel: whom the king named Baltarssar.  Now, therefore, let Daniel be called for, and he will tell the interpretation.
13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king.  And the king spoke, and said to him: Art thou Daniel of the children of the captivity of Juda, whom my father, the king, brought out of Judea?
14 I have heard of thee, that thou hast the spirit of the gods, and excellent knowledge, and understanding, and wisdom are found in thee.
15 And now the wise men, the magicians, have come in before me, to read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof; and they could not declare to me the meaning of this writing.
16 But I have heard of thee, that thou canst interpret obscure things, and resolve difficult things: now if thou art able to read the writing, and to shew me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with purple, and shalt have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third prince in my kingdom.
17 To which Daniel made answer, and said before the king: Thy rewards be to thyself, and the gifts of thy house give to another: but the writing I will read to thee, O king, and shew thee the interpretation thereof.
18 O king, the most high God gave to Nabuchodonosor, thy father, a kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and honour.
19 And for the greatness that he gave to him, all people, tribes, and languages trembled, and were afraid of him: whom he would, he slew: and whom he would, he destroyed: and whom he would, he set up: and whom he would, he brought down.
20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit hardened unto pride, he was put down from the throne of his kingdom, and his glory was taken away.
21 *And he was driven out from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses, and he did eat grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven: till he knew that the most High ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he will set over it whomsoever it shall please him.
22 Thou also, his son, O Baltassar, hast not humbled thy heart, whereas thou knewest all these things:
23 But hast lifted thyself up against the Lord of heaven: and the vessels of his house have been brought before thee: and thou, and thy nobles, and thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them: and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and of gold, and of brass, of iron, and of wood, and of stone, that neither see, nor hear, nor feel: but the God who hath thy breath in his hand, and all thy ways, thou hast not glorified.
24 Wherefore, he hath sent the part of the hand which hath written this that is set down.
25 And this is the writing that is written: Mane, Thecel, Phares.
26 And this is the interpretation of the word.  Mane: God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it.
27 Thecel: thou art weighed in the balance, and art found wanting.
28 Phares: thy kingdom is divided, and is given to the Medes and Persians.
29 Then by the king's command Daniel was clothed with purple, and a chain of gold was put about his neck: and it was proclaimed of him that he had power as the third man in the kingdom.
30 The same night Baltassar, the Chaldean king, was slain.*
31 And Darius, the Mede, succeeded to the kingdom, being threescore and two years old.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3466, A.C. 538.
21:  Supra iv. 22.
30:  A.M. 3466, A.C. 538.
====================

DANIEL 6
CHAPTER VI.

Daniel is promoted by Darius: his enemies procure a law forbidding prayer: for the transgression of this law, Daniel is cast into the lion's den: but miraculously delivered.

1 It seemed good to Darius, and he appointed over the kingdom a hundred and twenty governors, to be over his whole kingdom.
2 And three princes over them, of whom Daniel was one: that the governors might give an account to them, and the king might have no trouble.
3 And Daniel excelled all the princes, and governors: because a greater spirit of God was in him.
4 And the king thought to set him over all the kingdom; whereupon the princes, and the governors, sought to find occasion against Daniel, with regard to the king: and they could find no cause, nor suspicion, because he was faithful, and no fault, nor suspicion was found in him
5 Then these men said: We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, unless perhaps concerning the law of his God.
6 Then the princes, and the governors, craftily suggested to the king, and spoke thus unto him: King Darius, live for ever:
7 All the princes of the kingdom, the magistrates, and governors, the senators, and judges, have consulted together, that an imperial decree, and an edict be published: That whosoever shall ask any petition of any god, or man, for thirty days, but of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.
8 Now, therefore, O king, confirm the sentence, *and sign the decree: that what is decreed by the Medes and Persians may not be altered, nor any man be allowed to transgress it.
9 So king Darius set forth the decree, and established it.
10 Now, when Daniel knew this, that is to say, that the law was made, he went into his house: and opening the windows in his upper chamber towards Jerusalem, he knelt down three times a day, and adored, and gave thanks before his God, as he had been accustomed to do before.
11 Wherefore those men carefully watching him, found Daniel praying and making supplication to his God.
12 And they came and spoke to the king concerning the edict: O king, hast thou not decreed, that every man that should make a request to any of the gods, or men, for thirty days, but to thyself, O king, should be cast into the den of the lions?  And the king answered them, saying: The word is true, according to the decree of the Medes and Persians, which it is not lawful to violate.
13 Then they answered, and said before the king: Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Juda, hath not regarded thy law, nor the decree that thou hast made: but three times a day he maketh his prayer.
14 Now when the king had heard these words, he was very much grieved, and in behalf of Daniel he set his heart to deliver him, and even till sun-set he laboured to save him.
15 But those men perceiving the king's design, said to him: Know thou, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, that no decree which the king hath made, may be altered.
16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of the lions.  And the king said to Daniel: Thy God, whom thou always servest, he will deliver thee.
17 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den: which the king sealed with his own ring, and with the ring of his nobles, that nothing should be done against Daniel.
18 And the king went away to his house, and laid himself down without taking supper, and meat was not set before him, and even sleep departed from him.
19 Then the king rising very early in the morning, went in haste to the lions' den:
20 And coming near to the den, cried with a lamentable voice to Daniel, and said to him: Daniel, servant of the living God, hath thy God, whom thou servest always, been able, thinkest thou, to deliver thee from the lions?
21 And Daniel answering the king, said: O king, live for ever:
22 *My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut up the mouths of the lions, and they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him justice hath been found in me: yea, and before thee, O king, I have done no offence.
23 Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and he commanded that Daniel should be taken out of the den: and Daniel was taken out of the den, and no hurt was found in him, because he believed in his God.
24 And by the king's commandment, those men were brought that had accused Daniel: and they were cast into the lions' den, they and their children, and their wives: and they did not reach the bottom of the den, before the lions caught them, and broke all their bones in pieces.
25 Then king Darius wrote to all people, tribes, and languages, dwelling in the whole earth: Peace be multiplied unto you.
26 It is decreed by me, that in all my empire and my kingdom all men dread and fear the God of Daniel.  For he is the living and eternal God for ever: and his kingdom shall not be destroyed, and his power shall be for ever.
27 He is the deliverer, and saviour, doing signs and wonders in heaven, and in earth: who hath delivered Daniel out of the lions' den.
28 *Now Daniel continued unto the reign of Darius, and the reign of Cyrus, the Persian.
____________________
*
8:  Esther i. 19.
22:  1 Mac. ii. 60.
28:  Supra i. 21.
====================

DANIEL 7
CHAPTER VII.

Daniel's vision of the four beasts, signifying four kingdoms: of God sitting on his throne: and of the opposite kingdoms of Christ and antichrist.

1 In the first year of Baltassar, king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream: and the vision of his head was upon his bed: and writing the dream, he comprehended it in a few words: and relating the sum of it in short, he said:
2 I saw in my vision by night, and behold the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
3 And four great beasts, different one from another, came up out of the sea.
4 The first was like a lioness, and had the wings of an eagle: I beheld till her wings were plucked off, and she was lifted up from the earth, and stood upon her feet as a man, and the heart of a man was given to her.
5 And behold another beast, like a bear, stood up on one side: and there were three rows in the mouth thereof, and in the teeth thereof, and thus they said to it: Arise, devour much flesh.
6 After this I beheld, and lo, another like a leopard, and it had upon it four wings, as of a fowl, and the beast had four heads, and power was given to it.
7 After this I beheld in the vision of the night, and lo, a fourth beast, terrible and wonderful, and exceeding strong, it had great iron teeth, eating and breaking in pieces, and treading down the rest with his feet: and it was unlike to the other beasts which I had seen before it, and had ten horns.
8 I considered the horns, and behold another little horn sprung out of the midst of them: and three of the first horns were plucked up at the presence thereof: and behold eyes like the eyes of a man were in this horn, and a mouth speaking great things.
9 I beheld till thrones were placed, and the ancient of days sat: his garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like clean wool: his throne like flames of fire: the wheels of it like a burning fire.
10 A swift stream of fire issued forth from before him: *thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him: the judgment sat, and the books were opened.
11 I beheld, because of the voice of the great words which that horn spoke: and I saw that the beast was slain, and the body thereof was destroyed, and given to the fire to be burnt:
12 And that the power of the other beasts was taken away: and that times of life were appointed them for a time, and a time.
13 I beheld, therefore, in the vision of the night, and lo, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the ancient of days: and they presented him before him.
14 And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes and tongues shall serve him: *his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom, that shall not be destroyed.
15 My spirit trembled; I, Daniel, was affrighted at these things, and the visions of my head troubled me.
16 I went near to one of them that stood by, and asked the truth of him concerning all these things, and he told me the interpretation of the words, and instructed me:
17 These four great beasts, are four kingdoms, which shall arise out of the earth.
18 But the saints of the most high God shall take the kingdom: and they shall possess the kingdom for ever and ever.
19 After this I would diligently learn concerning the fourth beast, which was very different from all, and exceeding terrible: his teeth and claws were of iron: he devoured and broke in pieces, and the rest he stamped upon with his feet:
20 And concerning the ten horns that he had on his head: and concerning the other that came up, before which three horns fell: and of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and was greater than the rest.
21 I beheld, and lo, that horn made war against the saints, and prevailed over them,
22 Till the ancient of days came and gave judgment to the saints of the most High, and the time came, and the saints obtained the kingdom.
23 And thus he said: The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be greater than all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns of the same kingdom, shall be ten kings: and another shall rise up after them, and he shall be mightier than the former, and he shall bring down three kings.
25 And he shall speak words against the High One, and shall crush the saints of the most High: and he shall think himself able to change times and laws, and they shall be delivered into his hand until a time, and times, and half a time.
26 And judgment shall sit, that his power may be taken away, and be broken in pieces, and perish even to the end.
27 And that the kingdom, and power, and the greatness of the kingdom, under the whole heaven, may be given to the people of the saints of the most High: whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all kings shall serve him, and shall obey him.
28 Hitherto is the end of the word.  I, Daniel, was much troubled with my thoughts, and my countenance was changed in me: but I kept the word in my heart.
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*
10:  Apoc. v. 11.
14:  Supra iii. 100. and iv. 31.; Micheas iv. 7.; Luke i. 32.
====================

DANIEL 8
CHAPTER VIII.

Daniel's vision of the ram and he-goat, interpreted by the angel Gabriel.

1 In *the third year of the reign of king Baltassar, a vision appeared to me.  I, Daniel, after what I had seen in the beginning,
2 Saw in my vision when I was in the castle of Susa, which is in the province of Elam: and I saw in the vision that I was over the gate of Ulai.
3 And I lifted up my eyes, and saw: and behold a ram stood before the water, having two high horns, and one higher than the other, and growing up.  Afterward
4 I saw the ram pushing with his horns against the west, and against the north, and against the south: and no beasts could withstand him, nor be delivered out of his hand: and he did according to his own will, and became great.
5 And I understood: and behold a he-goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and he touched not the ground, and the he-goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
6 And he went up to the ram that had the horns, which I had seen standing before the gate, and he ran towards him in the force of his strength.
7 And when he was come near the ram, he was enraged against him, and struck the ram: and broke his two horns, and the ram could not withstand him: and when he had cast him down on the ground, he stamped upon him, and none could deliver the ram out of his hand.
8 And the he-goat became exceeding great: and when he was grown, the great horn was broken, and there came up four horns under it towards the four winds of heaven.
9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn: and it became great against the south, and against the east, and against the strength.
10 And it was magnified even unto the strength of heaven: and it threw down of the strength, and of the stars, and trod upon them.
11 And it was magnified even to the prince of the strength: and it took away from him the continual sacrifice, and cast down the place of his sanctuary.
12 And strength was given him against the continual sacrifice, because of sins: and truth shall be cast down on the ground, and he shall do and shall prosper.
13 And I heard one of the saints speaking, and one saint said to another I know not to whom, that was speaking: How long shall be the vision, concerning the continual sacrifice, and the sin of the desolation that is made: and the sanctuary, and the strength be trodden under foot?
14 And he said to him: Unto evening and morning two thousand three hundred days: and the sanctuary shall be cleansed.
15 And it came to pass when I, Daniel, saw the vision, and sought the meaning, that behold there stood before me as it were the appearance of a man.
16 And I heard the voice of a man between Ulai: and he called, and said: Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.
17 And he came and stood near where I stood: and when he was come, I fell on my face trembling, and he said to me: Understand, O son of man, for in the time of the end the vision shall be fulfilled.
18 And when he spoke to me, I fell flat on the ground: and he touched me, and set me upright,
19 And he said to me: I will shew thee what things are to come to pass in the end of the malediction: for the time hath its end.
20 The ram, which thou sawest with horns, is the king of the Medes and Persians.
21 And the he-goat, is the king of the Greeks, and the great horn that was between his eyes, the same is the first king.
22 But whereas when that was broken, there arose up four for it, four kings shall rise up of his nation, but not with his strength.
23 And after their reign, when iniquities shall be grown up, there shall arise a king of a shameless face, and understanding dark sentences.
24 And his power shall be strengthened, but not by his own force: and he shall lay all things waste, and shall prosper, and do more than can be believed.  And he shall destroy the mighty, and the people of the saints,
25 According to his will, and craft shall be successful in his hand: and his heart shall be puffed up, and in the abundance of all things he shall kill many: and he shall rise up against the prince of princes, and shall be broken without hand.
26 And the vision of the evening and the morning, which was told, is true: thou, therefore, seal up the vision, because it shall come to pass after many days.
27 And I, Daniel, languished, and was sick for some days: and when I was risen up, I did the king's business, and I was astonished at the vision, and there was none that could interpret it.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3451, A.C. 553.
====================

DANIEL 9
CHAPTER IX.

Daniel's confession and prayer; Gabriel informs him concerning the seventy weeks to the coming of Christ.

1 In *the first year of Darius, the son of Assuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who reigned over the kingdom of the Chaldeans:
2 The first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by books the *number of the years, concerning which the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, the prophet, that seventy years should be accomplished of the desolation of Jerusalem.
3 And I set my face to the Lord, my God, to pray and make supplication with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.
4 And I prayed to the Lord, my God, and I made my confession, and said: *I beseech thee, O Lord God, great and terrible, who keepest the covenant, and mercy to them that love thee, and keep thy commandments.
5 *We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly, and have revolted: and we have gone aside from thy commandments, and thy judgments.
6 We have not hearkened to thy servant,s the prophets, that have spoken in thy name to our kings, to our princes, to our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
7 To thee, O Lord, justice: but to us confusion of face, as at this day to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, to them that are near, and to them that are far off, in all the countries whither thou hast driven them, for their iniquities by which they have sinned against thee.
8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our princes, and to our fathers, that have sinned.
9 But to thee, the Lord our God, mercy and forgiveness, for we have departed from thee:
10 And we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord, our God, to walk in his law, which he set before us by his servants, the prophets.
11 And all Israel have transgressed thy law, and have turned away from hearing thy voice, and the malediction, and the curse, *which is written in the book of Moses, the servant of God, is fallen upon us, because we have sinned against him.
12 And he hath confirmed his words which he spoke against us, and against our princes that judged us, that he would bring in upon us a great evil, such as never was under all the heaven, according to that which hath been done in Jerusalem.
13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: and we entreated not thy face, O Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and think on thy truth.
14 And the Lord hath watched upon the evil, and hath brought it upon us: the Lord, our God, is just in all his works which he hath done: for we have not hearkened to his voice.
15 *And now, O Lord, our God, who hast brought forth thy people out of the land of Egypt, with a strong hand, and hast made thee a name as at this day: we have sinned, we have committed iniquity,
16 O Lord, against all thy justice: let thy wrath and thy indignation be turned away, I beseech thee, from thy city, Jerusalem, and from thy holy mountain.  For by reason of our sins, and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem, and thy people, are a reproach to all that are round about us.
17 Now, therefore, O our God, hear the supplication of thy servant, and his prayers: and shew thy face upon thy sanctuary, which is desolate, for thy own sake.
18 Incline, O my God, thy ear, and hear: open thy eyes, and see our desolation, and the city upon which thy name is called: *for it is not for our justifications that we present our prayers before thy face, but for the multitude of thy tender mercies.
19 O Lord, hear: O Lord, be appeased: hearken, and do: delay not, for thy own sake, O my God: because thy name is invocated upon thy city, and upon thy people.
20 Now while I was yet speaking, and praying, and confessing my sins, and the sins of my people of Israel, and presenting my supplications in the sight of my God, for the holy mountain of my God:
21 As I was yet speaking in prayer, behold the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, *flying swiftly, touched me at the time of the evening sacrifice.
22 And he instructed me, and spoke to me, and said: O Daniel, I am now come forth to teach thee, and that thou mightest understand.
23 From the beginning of thy prayers the word came forth: and I am come to shew it to thee, because thou art a man of desires: therefore, do thou mark the word, and understand the vision.
24 *Seventy weeks are shortened upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, that transgression may be finished, and sin may have an end, and iniquity may be abolished; and everlasting justice may be brought; and vision and prophecy may be fulfilled; and the Saint of saints may be anointed.
25 Know thou, therefore, and take notice: that from the going forth of the word, to build up Jerusalem again, unto Christ, the prince, there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: and the street shall be built again, and the walls, in straitness of times.
26 And after sixty-two weeks Christ shall be slain: and the people that shall deny him shall not be his.  And a people, with their leader, that shall come, shall destroy the city, and the sanctuary: and the end thereof shall be waste, and after the end of the war the appointed desolation.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many, in one week: and in the half of the week the victim and the sacrifice shall fail: and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation: and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3467, A.C. 537.
2:  Jer. xxv. 11. and xxix. 10.
4:  2 Esd. i. 5.
5:  Bar. i. 17.
11:  Deut. xxvii. 14.
15:  Bar. i. 1.; Ex. xiv. 22.
18:  Jer. xxv. 29.; Ps. xlviii. 2. 9. and ci. 8.
21:  Supra viii. 16.
24:  Mat. xxiv. 15.; John i. 45.
====================

DANIEL 10
CHAPTER X.

Daniel having humbled himself, by fasting and penance, seeth a vision, with which he is much terrified: but he is comforted by an angel.

1 In *the third year of Cyrus, king of the Persians, a word was revealed to Daniel, surnamed Baltassar, and a true word, and great strength: and he understood the word: for there is need of understanding in a vision.
2 In those days I, Daniel, mourned the days of three weeks.
3 I ate no desirable bread, and neither flesh, nor wine, entered into my mouth, neither was I anointed with ointment: till the days of three weeks were accomplished.
4 And in the four and twentieth day of the first month I was by the great river, which is the Tigris.
5 And I lifted up my eyes, and I saw: and behold a man clothed in linen, and his loins were girded with the finest gold:
6 And his body was like the chrysolite, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as a burning lamp: and his arms, and all downward even to the feet, like in appearance to glittering brass: and the voice of his word like the voice of a multitude.
7 And I, Daniel alone, saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw it not: but an exceeding great terror fell upon them, and they fled away, and hid themselves.
8 And I, being left alone, saw this great vision: and there remained no strength in me, and the appearance of my countenance was changed in me, and I fainted away, and retained no strength.
9 And I heard the voice of his words: and when I heard I lay in a consternation upon my face, and my face was close to the ground.
10 And behold a hand touched me, and lifted me up upon my knees, and upon the joints of my hands.
11 And he said to me: Daniel, thou man of desires, understand the words that I speak to thee, and stand upright: for I am sent now to thee.  And when he had said this word to me, I stood trembling.
12 And he said to me: Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thy heart to understand, to afflict thyself in the sight of thy God, thy words have been heard: and I am come for thy words.
13 But the prince of the kingdom of the Persians resisted me one and twenty days: and behold Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there by the king of the Persians.
14 But I am come to teach thee what things shall befall thy people in the latter days, for as yet the vision is for days.
15 And when he was speaking such words to me, I cast down my countenance to the ground, and held my peace.
16 And behold as it were the likeness of a son of man touched my lips: then I opened my mouth and spoke, and said to him that stood before me: O my lord, at the sight of thee my joints are loosed, and no strength hath remained in me.
17 And how can the servant of my lord speak with my lord? for no strength remaineth in me; moreover, my breath is stopped.
18 Therefore, he that looked like a man, touched me again, and strengthened me.
19 And he said: Fear not, O man of desires, peace be to thee: take courage, and be strong.  And when he spoke to me, I grew strong, and I said: Speak, O my lord, for thou hast strengthened me.
20 And he said: Dost thou know wherefore I am come to thee?  And now I will return, to fight against the prince of the Persians.  When I went forth, there appeared the prince of the Greeks coming.
21 But I will tell thee what is set down in the scripture of truth: and none is my helper in all these things, but *Michael, your prince.
____________________
*
1:  A.M. 3478, A.C. 536.
21:  Apoc. xii. 7.
====================

DANIEL 11
CHAPTER XI.

The angel declares to Daniel many things to come, with regard to the Persian and Grecian kings: more especially with regard to Antiochus, as a figure of antichrist.

1 And from the first year of Darius, the Mede, I stood up, that he might be strengthened, and confirmed.
2 And now I will shew thee the truth.  Behold, there shall stand yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be enriched exceedingly above them all: and when he shall be grown mighty by his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.
3 But there shall rise up a strong king, and shall rule with great power: and he shall do what he pleaseth.
4 And when he shall come to his height, his kingdom shall be broken, and it shall be divided towards the four winds of the heaven: but not to his posterity, nor according to his power with which he ruled.  For his kingdom shall be rent in pieces, even for strangers, besides these.
5 And the king of the south shall be strengthened, and one of his princes shall prevail over him, and he shall rule with great power: for his dominion shall be great.
6 And after the end of years they shall be in league together: and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make friendship, but she shall not obtain the strength of the arm, neither shall her seed stand: and she shall be given up, and her young men that brought her, and they that strengthened her in these times.
7 And a plant of the bud of her roots shall stand up: and he shall come with an army, and shall enter into the province of the king of the north: and he shall abuse them, and shall prevail.
8 And he shall also carry away captive into Egypt their gods, and their graven things, and their precious vessels of gold and silver: he shall prevail against the king of the north.
9 And the king of the south shall enter into the kingdom, and shall return to his own land.
10 And his sons shall be provoked, and they shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and he shall come with haste like a flood: and he shall return, and be stirred up, and he shall join battle with his forces.
11 And the king of the south being provoked, shall go forth, and shall fight against the king of the north, and shall prepare an exceeding great multitude, and a multitude shall be given into his hand.
12 And he shall take a multitude, and his heart shall be lifted up, and he shall cast down many thousands: but he shall not prevail.
13 For the king of the north shall return, and shall prepare a multitude much greater than before: and in the end of times, and years, he shall come in haste with a great army, and much riches.
14 *And in those times many shall rise up against the king of the south, and the children of prevaricators of thy people shall lift up themselves to fulfil the vision, and they shall fall.
15 And the king of the north shall come, and shall cast up a mount, and shall take the best fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, and his chosen ones shall rise up to resist, and they shall not have strength.
16 And he shall come upon him, and do according to his pleasure, and there shall be none to stand against his face: and he shall stand in the glorious land, and it shall be consumed by his hand.
17 And he shall set his face to come to possess all his kingdom, and he shall make upright conditions with him: and he shall give him a daughter of women, to overthrow it: and she shall not stand, neither shall she be for him.
18 And he shall turn his face to the islands, and shall take many: and he shall cause the prince of his reproach to cease, and his reproach shall be turned upon him.
19 And he shall turn his face to the empire of his own land, and he shall stumble, and fall, and shall not be found.
20 And there shall stand up in his place one most vile, and unworthy of kingly honour: and in a few days he shall be destroyed, not in rage nor in battle.
21 And there shall stand up in his place one despised, and the kingly honour shall not be given him: and he shall come privately, and shall obtain the kingdom by fraud.
22 And the arms of the fighter shall be overcome before his face, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.
23 And after friendships, he will deal deceitfully with him: and he shall go up, and shall overcome with a small people.
24 And he shall enter into rich and plentiful cities: and he shall do that which his fathers never did, nor his fathers' fathers: he shall scatter their spoils, and their prey, and their riches, and shall forecast devices against the best fenced places: and this until a time.
25 And his strength, and his heart, shall be stirred up against the king of the south, with a great army: and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with many and very strong succours: and they shall not stand, for they shall form designs against him.
26 And they that eat bread with him, shall destroy him, and his army shall be overthrown: and many shall fall down slain.
27 And the heart of the two kings shall be to do evil, and they shall speak lies at one table, and they shall not prosper: because as yet the end is unto another time.
28 And he shall return into his land with much riches: and his heart shall be against the holy covenant, and he shall succeed, and shall return into his own land.
29 At the time appointed he shall return, and he shall come to the south, but the latter time shall not be like the former.
30 And the galleys and the Romans shall come upon him, and he shall be struck, and shall return, and shall have indignation against the covenant of the sanctuary, and he shall succeed: and he shall return, and shall devise against them that have forsaken the covenant of the sanctuary.
31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall defile the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the continual sacrifice, and they shall place there the abomination unto desolation.
32 And such as deal wickedly against the covenant shall deceitfully dissemble: but the people that know their God shall prevail and succeed.
33 And they that are learned among the people shall teach many: and they shall fall by the sword, and by fire, and by captivity, and by spoil for many days.
34 And when they shall have fallen, they shall be relieved with a small help: and many shall be joined to them deceitfully.
35 And some of the learned shall fall, that they may be tried, and may be chosen, and made white, even to the appointed time: because yet there shall be another time.
36 And the king shall do according to his will, and he shall be lifted up, and shall magnify himself against every god: and he shall speak great things against the God of gods, and shall prosper, till the wrath be accomplished.  For the determination is made.
37 And he shall make no account of the God of his fathers: and he shall follow the lust of women, and he shall not regard any gods: for he shall rise up against all things.
38 But he shall worship the god Maozim, in his place: and a god whom his fathers knew not, he shall worship with gold, and silver, and precious stones, and things of great price.
39 And he shall do this to fortify Maozim with a strange god, whom he hath acknowledged, and he shall increase glory, and shall give them power over many, and shall divide the land gratis.
40 And at the time prefixed the king of the south shall fight against him, and the king of the north shall come against him like a tempest, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with a great navy, and he shall enter into the countries, and shall destroy, and pass through.
41 And he shall enter into the glorious land, and many shall fall: and these only shall be saved out of his hand, Edom, and Moab, and the principality of the children of Ammon.
42 And he shall lay his hand upon the lands: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 And he shall have power over the treasures of gold, and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt: and he shall pass through Lybia, and Ethiopia.
44 And tidings out of the east, and out of the north, shall trouble him: and he shall come with a great multitude to destroy and slay many.
45 And he shall fix his tabernacle, Apadno, between the seas, upon a glorious and holy mountain: and he shall come even to the top thereof, and none shall help him.
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*
14:  Isai. xix. 1.
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DANIEL 12
CHAPTER XII.

Michael shall stand up for the people of God: with other things relating to antichrist, and the end of the world.

1 But *at that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people: and a time shall come, such as never was from the time that nations began, even until that time.  And at that time shall thy people be saved, every one that shall be found written in the book.
2 And many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth, shall awake: *some unto life everlasting, and others unto reproach, to see it always.
3 But they that are learned, *shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: and they that instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time appointed: many shall pass over, and knowledge shall be manifold.
5 And I, Daniel, looked, and behold as it were two others stood: one on this side upon the bank of the river, and another on that side, on the other bank of the river.
6 And I said to the man that was clothed In linen, that stood upon the waters of the river: How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
7 And I heard the man that was clothed in linen, that stood upon the waters of the river, *when he had lifted up his right hand, and his left hand to heaven, and had sworn by him that liveth for ever, that it should be unto a time, and times, and half a time.  And when the scattering of the band of the holy people shall be accomplished, all these things shall be finished.
8 And I heard, and understood not.  And I said: O my lord, what shall be after these things?
9 And he said: Go, Daniel, because the words are shut up, and sealed until the appointed time.
10 Many shall be chosen, and made white, and shall be tried as fire: and the wicked shall deal wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the learned shall understand.
11 And from the time when the continual sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination unto desolation shall be set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred ninety days.
12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh unto a thousand three hundred thirty-five days.
13 But go thou thy ways until the time appointed: and thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot unto the end of the days.
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*
1:  Apoc. xii. 7.
2:  Mat. xxv. 46.; John v. 29.
3:  Wis. iii. 7.
7:  Apoc. x. 5.
====================

DANIEL 13
CHAPTER XIII.

The history of Susanna, and the two elders.

1 Now *there was a man that dwelt in Babylon, and his name was Joakim:
2 And he took a wife, whose name was Susanna, the daughter of Helcias, a very beautiful woman, and one that feared God.
3 For her parents being just, had instructed their daughter according to the law of Moses.
4 Now Joakim was very rich, and had an orchard near his house: and the Jews resorted to him, because he was the most honourable of them all.
5 And there were two of the ancients of the people appointed judges that year, of whom the Lord said: Iniquity came out from Babylon, from the ancient judges, that seemed to govern the people.
6 These men frequented the house of Joakim, and all that had any matters of judgment came to them.
7 And when the people departed away at noon, Susanna went in, and walked in her husband's orchard.
8 And the old men saw her going in every day, and walking: and they were inflamed with lust towards her:
9 And they perverted their own mind, and turned away their eyes, that they might not look unto heaven, nor remember just judgments.
10 So they were both wounded with the love of her, yet they did not make known their grief one to the other.
11 For they were ashamed to declare to one another their lust, being desirous to have to do with her:
12 And they watched carefully every day to see her.  And one said to the other:
13 Let us now go home, for it is dinner time.  So going out, they departed one from another.
14 And turning back again, they came both to the same place: and asking one another the cause, they acknowledged their lust: and then they agreed upon a time, when they might find her alone.
15 And it fell out, as they watched a fit day, she went in on a time, as yesterday and the day before, with two maids only, and was desirous to wash herself in the orchard: for it was hot weather.
16 And there was nobody there, but the two old men that had hid themselves, and were beholding her.
17 So she said to the maids: Bring me oil, and washing balls, and shut the doors of the orchard, that I may wash me.
18 And they did as she bade them: and they shut the doors of the orchard, and went out by a back door to fetch what she had commanded them, and they knew not that the elders were hid within.
19 Now when the maids were gone forth, the two elders arose, and ran to her, and said:
20 Behold the doors of the orchard are shut, and nobody seeth us, and we are in love with thee: wherefore consent to us, and lie with us.
21 But if thou wilt not, we will bear witness against thee, that a young man was with thee, and therefore thou didst send away thy maids from thee.
22 Susanna sighed, and said: I am straitened on every side: for if I do this thing, it is death to me: and if I do it not, I shall not escape your hands.
23 But it is better for me to fall into your hands without doing it, than to sin in the sight of the Lord.
24 With that Susanna cried out with a loud voice: and the elders also cried out against her.
25 And one of them ran to the door of the orchard, and opened it.
26 So when the servants of the house heard the cry in the orchard, they rushed in by the back door, to see what was the matter.
27 But after the old men had spoken, the servants were greatly ashamed: for never had there been any such word said of Susanna.  And on the next day,
28 When the people were come to Joakim, her husband, the two elders also came full of wicked device against Susanna, to put her to death.
29 And they said before the people: Send to Susanna, daughter of Helcias, the wife of Joakim.  And presently they sent.
30 And she came with her parents, and children, and all her kindred.
31 Now Susanna was exceeding delicate, and beautiful to behold.
32 But those wicked men commanded that her face should be uncovered, (for she was covered) that so at least they might be satisfied with her beauty.
33 Therefore her friends, and all her acquaintance wept.
34 But the two elders rising up in the midst of the people, laid their hands upon her head.
35 And she weeping looked up to heaven, for her heart had confidence in the Lord.
36 And the elders said: As we walked in the orchard alone, this woman came in with two maids, and shut the doors of the orchard, and sent away the maids from her.
37 Then a young man that was there hid came to her, and lay with her.
38 But we that were in a corner of the orchard, seeing this wickedness, ran up to them, and we saw them lie together.
39 And him indeed we could not take, because he was stronger than us, and opening the doors, he leaped out:
40 But having taken this woman, we asked who the young man was, but she would not tell us: of this thing we are witnesses.
41 The multitude believed them, as being the elders, and the judges of the people, and they condemned her to death.
42 Then Susanna cried out with a loud voice, and said: O eternal God, who knowest hidden things, who knowest all things before they come to pass,
43 Thou knowest that they have borne false witness against me: and behold I must die, whereas I have done none of these things, which these men have maliciously forged against me.
44 And the Lord heard her voice.
45 And when she was led to be put to death, the Lord raised up the holy spirit of a young boy, whose name was Daniel:
46 And he cried out with a loud voice: I am clear from the blood of this woman.
47 Then all the people turning themselves towards him, said: What meaneth this word that thou hast spoken?
48 But he standing in the midst of them, said: Are ye so foolish, ye children of Israel, that without examination or knowledge of the truth, you have condemned a daughter of Israel?
49 Return to judgment, for they have borne false witness against her.
50 So all the people turned again in haste, and the old men said to him: Come, and sit thou down among us, and shew it us: seeing God hath given thee the honour of old age.
51 And Daniel said to the people: Separate these two far from one another, and I will examine them.
52 So when they were put asunder one from the other, he called one of them, and said to him: O thou that art grown old in evil days, now are thy sins come out, which thou hast committed before:
53 In judging unjust judgments, oppressing the innocent, and letting the guilty to go free, whereas the Lord saith: *The innocent and the just thou shalt not kill.
54 Now then if thou sawest her, tell me under what tree thou sawest them conversing together: He said: Under a mastic tree.
55 And Daniel said: Well hast thou lied against thy own head: for behold the angel of God having received the sentence of him, shall cut thee in two.
56 And having put him aside, he commanded that the other should come, and he said to him: O thou seed of Chanaan, and not of Juda, beauty hath deceived thee, and lust hath perverted thy heart:
57 Thus did you do to the daughters of Israel, and they for fear conversed with you: but a daughter of Juda would not abide your wickedness.
58 Now, therefore, tell me, under what tree didst thou take them conversing together.  And he answered: Under a holm tree.
59 And Daniel said to him: Well hast thou also lied against thy own head: for the angel of the Lord waiteth with a sword to cut thee in two, and to destroy you.
60 With that all the assembly cried out with a loud voice, and they blessed God, who saveth them that trust in him.
61 And they rose up against the two elders, (for Daniel had convicted them of false witness by their own mouth) and they did to them as they had maliciously dealt against their neighbour,
62 *To fulfill the law of Moses: and they put them to death, and innocent blood was saved in that day.
63 But Helcias, and his wife, praised God, for their daughter, Susanna, with Joakim, her husband, and all her kindred, because there was no dishonesty found in her.
64 And Daniel became great in the sight of the people from that day, and thence forward.
65 And king Astyages was gathered to his fathers; and Cyrus, the Persian, received his kingdom.
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*
1:  A.M. 3398, A.C. 606.
53:  Exod. xxiii. 7.
62:  Deut. xix. 18. and 19.
====================

DANIEL 14
CHAPTER XIV.

The history of Bel; and of the great serpent, worshipped by the Babylonians.

1 And Daniel was the king's guest, and was honoured above all his friends.
2 Now the Babylonians had an idol called Bel: and there was spent upon him every day twelve great measures of fine flour, and forty sheep, and sixty vessels of wine.
3 The king also worshipped him, and went every day to adore him: but Daniel adored his God.  And the king said to him: Why dost thou not adore Bel?
4 And he answered, and said to him: Because I do not worship idols made with hands, but the living God, that created heaven and earth, and hath power over all flesh.
5 And the king said to him: Doth not Bel seem to thee to be a living god?  Seest thou not how much he eateth and drinketh every day?
6 Then Daniel smiled, and said: O king, be not deceived: for this is but clay within, and brass without, neither hath he eaten at any time.
7 And the king being angry, called for his priests, and said to them: If you tell me not who it is that eateth up these expenses, you shall die.
8 But if you can shew that Bel eateth these things, Daniel shall die, because he hath blasphemed against Bel.  And Daniel said to the king: Be it done according to thy word.
9 Now the priests of Bel were seventy, besides their wives, and little ones, and children.  And the king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel.
10 And the priests of Bel said: Behold we go out: and do thou, O king, set on the meats, and make ready the wine, and shut the door fast, and seal it with thy own ring:
11 And when thou comest in the morning, if thou findest not that Bel hath eaten up all, we will suffer death, or else Daniel, that hath lied against us.
12 And they little regarded it, because they had made under the table a secret entrance, and they always came in by it, and consumed those things.
13 So it came to pass after they were gone out, the king set the meats before Bel: and Daniel commanded his servants, and they brought ashes, and he sifted them all over the temple before the king: and going forth, they shut the door, and having sealed it with the king's ring, they departed.
14 But the priests went in by night, according to their custom, with their wives, and their children: and they eat and drank up all.
15 And the king arose early in the morning, and Daniel with him.
16 And the king said: Are the seals whole, Daniel?  And he answered: They are whole, O king.
17 And as soon as he had opened the door, the king looked upon the table, and cried out with a loud voice: Great art thou, O Bel, and there is not any deceit with thee.
18 And Daniel laughed: and he held the king, that he should not go in: and he said: Behold the pavement, mark whose footsteps these are.
19 And the king said: I see the footsteps of men, and women, and children.  And the king was angry.
20 Then he took the priests, and their wives, and their children: and they shewed him the private doors by which they came in, and consumed the things that were on the table.
21 The king, therefore, put them to death, and delivered Bel into the power of Daniel: who destroyed him and his temple.
22 And there was a great dragon in that place, and the Babylonians worshipped him.
23 And the king said to Daniel: Behold, thou canst not say now, that this is not a living god: adore him, therefore.
24 And Daniel said: I adore the Lord, my God: for he is the living God: but that is no living god.
25 But give me leave, O king, and I will kill this dragon without sword or club.  And the king said: I give thee leave.
26 Then Daniel took pitch, and fat, and hair, and boiled them together: and he made lumps, and put them into the dragon's mouth, and the dragon burst asunder.  And he said: Behold him whom you worshipped.
27 And when the Babylonians had heard this, they took great indignation: and being gathered together against the king, they said: The king is become a Jew.  He hath destroyed Bel, he hath killed the dragon, and he hath put the priests to death.
28 And they came to the king, and said: Deliver us Daniel, or else we will destroy thee and thy house.
29 And the king saw that they pressed upon him violently: and being constrained by necessity: he delivered Daniel to them.
30 And they cast him into the den of lions, and he was there six days.
31 And in the den there were seven lions, and they had given to them two carcasses every day, and two sheep: but then they were not given unto them, that they might devour Daniel.
32 Now there was in Judea a prophet called Habacuc, and he had boiled pottage, and had broken bread in a bowl: and was going into the field, to carry it to the reapers.
33 And the angel of the Lord said to Habacuc: Carry the dinner which thou hast into Babylon, to Daniel, who is in the lions' den.
34 And Habacuc said: Lord, I never saw Babylon, nor do I know the den.
35 *And the angel of the Lord took him by the top of his head, and carried him by the hair of his head, and set him in Babylon, over the den, in the force of his spirit.
36 And Habacuc cried, saying: O Daniel, thou servant of God, take the dinner that God hath sent thee.
37 And Daniel said: Thou hast remembered me, O God, and thou hast not forsaken them that love thee.
38 And Daniel arose and eat.  And the angel of the Lord presently set Habacuc again in his own place.
39 And upon the seventh day the king came to bewail Daniel: and he came to the den, and looked in, and behold Daniel was sitting in the midst of the lions.
40 And the king cried out with a loud voice, saying: Great art thou, O Lord, the God of Daniel.  And he drew him out of the lions' den.
41 But those that had been the cause of his destruction, he cast into the den, and they were devoured in a moment before him.
42 Then the king said: Let all the inhabitants of the whole earth fear the God of Daniel: for he is the Saviour, working signs, and wonders in the earth: who hath delivered Daniel out of the lions' den.
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*
35:  Ezec. viii. 3.
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This blog is for serious exhortation to faith in this time of the Great Apostasy.