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.
____________________
*
2: Jer. xiii. 17.
16: Jer. xiv. 17.
====================
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.
____________________
*
17: Lev. xxvi. 14.; Deut. xxviii. 15.
18: Jer. xiv. 17.; Supra i. 16.
====================
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.
____________________
*
37: Amos iii. 6.
====================
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.
____________________
*
6: Gen. xix. 4.
====================
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.
====================
====================
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.
____________________
*
1: A.M. circiter 3404, A.C. 600.
15: Infra ii. 6.
17: Dan. ix. 5.
20: Deut. xxviii. 15.
====================
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.
____________________
*
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.
____________________
*
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.
____________________
*
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.
____________________
*
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.
____________________
*
14: Isai. xix. 1.
====================
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.
____________________
*
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.
____________________
*
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.
____________________
*
35: Ezec. viii. 3.
====================
====================
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This blog is for serious exhortation to faith in this time of the Great Apostasy.