Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



By the rivers of Babylon we sit down and weep when we remember Zion. On the poplars in her midst we hang our harps, for there our captors ask us to compose songs; those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying: "Sing for us a song about Zion!" read more.
How can we sing a song to the Lord in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand be crippled! May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, and do not give Jerusalem priority over whatever gives me the most joy.

Indeed, your servants take delight in her stones, and feel compassion for the dust of her ruins.


For the sake of the temple of the Lord our God I will pray for you to prosper.

May the Lord bless you from Zion, that you might see Jerusalem prosper all the days of your life, and that you might see your grandchildren. May Israel experience peace!

So I say: "Don't look at me! I am weeping bitterly. Don't try to console me concerning the destruction of my defenseless people."

Your perpetual ruins will be rebuilt; you will reestablish the ancient foundations. You will be called, 'The one who repairs broken walls, the one who makes the streets inhabitable again.'

"For the sake of Zion I will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines brightly and her deliverance burns like a torch."

I post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they should keep praying all day and all night. You who pray to the Lord, don't be silent! Don't allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.

Be happy for Jerusalem and rejoice with her, all you who love her! Share in her great joy, all you who have mourned over her!

As a mother consoles a child, so I will console you, and you will be consoled over Jerusalem." When you see this, you will be happy, and you will be revived. The Lord will reveal his power to his servants and his anger to his enemies.

I wish that my head were a well full of water and my eyes were a fountain full of tears! If they were, I could cry day and night for those of my dear people who have been killed.

"Tell these people this, Jeremiah: 'My eyes overflow with tears day and night without ceasing. For my people, my dear children, have suffered a crushing blow. They have suffered a serious wound.

You who have escaped the sword, go, do not delay. Remember the Lord in a faraway land. Think about Jerusalem. We are ashamed because we have been insulted. Our faces show our disgrace. For foreigners have invaded the holy rooms in the Lord's temple.'

(Kaf) My eyes are worn out from weeping; my stomach is in knots. My heart is poured out on the ground due to the destruction of my helpless people; children and infants faint in the town squares.

Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed. (Ayin) Tears flow from my eyes and will not stop; there will be no break until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees what has happened. read more.
What my eyes see grieves me -- all the suffering of the daughters in my city.


I post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they should keep praying all day and all night. You who pray to the Lord, don't be silent!




By the rivers of Babylon we sit down and weep when we remember Zion. On the poplars in her midst we hang our harps, for there our captors ask us to compose songs; those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying: "Sing for us a song about Zion!" read more.
How can we sing a song to the Lord in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand be crippled! May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, and do not give Jerusalem priority over whatever gives me the most joy. Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. They said, "Tear it down, tear it down, right to its very foundation!"

"For the sake of Zion I will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines brightly and her deliverance burns like a torch." Nations will see your vindication, and all kings your splendor. You will be called by a new name that the Lord himself will give you. You will be a majestic crown in the hand of the Lord, a royal turban in the hand of your God. read more.
You will no longer be called, "Abandoned," and your land will no longer be called "Desolate." Indeed, you will be called "My Delight is in Her," and your land "Married." For the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married to him. As a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you. As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride, so your God will rejoice over you. I post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they should keep praying all day and all night. You who pray to the Lord, don't be silent! Don't allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.



Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her! Fortify the walls of Jerusalem!


A song of ascents, by David. I was glad because they said to me, "We will go to the Lord's temple." Our feet are standing inside your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a city designed to accommodate an assembly. read more.
The tribes go up there, the tribes of the Lord, where it is required that Israel give thanks to the name of the Lord. Indeed, the leaders sit there on thrones and make legal decisions, on the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May those who love her prosper! May there be peace inside your defenses, and prosperity inside your fortresses!



"For the sake of Zion I will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines brightly and her deliverance burns like a torch."

I post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they should keep praying all day and all night. You who pray to the Lord, don't be silent! Don't allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.





Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May those who love her prosper! May there be peace inside your defenses, and prosperity inside your fortresses! For the sake of my brothers and my neighbors I will say, "May there be peace in you!"





I post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they should keep praying all day and all night. You who pray to the Lord, don't be silent! Don't allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.


Early the next morning they marched out to the Desert of Tekoa. When they were ready to march, Jehoshaphat stood up and said: "Listen to me, you people of Judah and residents of Jerusalem! Trust in the Lord your God and you will be safe! Trust in the message of his prophets and you will win."

How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the assembly of scoffers! Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord's commands; he meditates on his commands day and night. He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts.

He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; in this regard there was none like him among the kings of Judah either before or after. He was loyal to the Lord and did not abandon him. He obeyed the commandments which the Lord had given to Moses. The Lord was with him; he succeeded in all his endeavors. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to submit to him. read more.
He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from the watchtower to the city fortress.

Then you will succeed, if you carefully obey the rules and regulations which the Lord ordered Moses to give to Israel. Be strong and brave! Don't be afraid and don't panic!

He wholeheartedly and successfully reinstituted service in God's temple and obedience to the law, in order to follow his God.

The household of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.

Make sure you are very strong and brave! Carefully obey all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful in all you do. This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper and be successful.

Do the job the Lord your God has assigned you by following his instructions and obeying his rules, commandments, regulations, and laws as written in the law of Moses. Then you will succeed in all you do and seek to accomplish, and the Lord will fulfill his promise to me, 'If your descendants watch their step and live faithfully in my presence with all their heart and being, then,' he promised, 'you will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.'

He followed God during the lifetime of Zechariah, who taught him how to honor God. As long as he followed the Lord, God caused him to succeed.

Indeed, God is mighty; and he does not despise people, he is mighty, and firm in his intent. He does not allow the wicked to live, but he gives justice to the poor. He does not take his eyes off the righteous; but with kings on the throne he seats the righteous and exalts them forever. read more.
But if they are bound in chains, and held captive by the cords of affliction, then he reveals to them what they have done, and their transgressions, that they were behaving proudly. And he reveals this for correction, and says that they must turn from evil. If they obey and serve him, they live out their days in prosperity and their years in pleasantness.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May those who love her prosper! May there be peace inside your defenses, and prosperity inside your fortresses!