Reference: Jerusalem
American
The chief city of the Holy Land, and to the Christian the most illustrious in the world. It is situated in 31 degrees 46'43" N. lat., and 35 degrees 13' E. long. on elevated ground south of the center of the country, about thirty-seven miles from the Mediterranean, and about twenty-four from the Jordan. Its site was early hallowed by God's trial of Abraham's faith, Ge 22; 2Ch 3:1. It was on the border of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, mostly within the limits of the former, but reckoned as belonging to the latter, because conquered by it, Jos 15:8; 18:16,28; Jg 1:1-8. The most ancient name of the city was Salem, Ge 14:18; Ps 76:2; and it afterwards was called Jebus, as belonging to the Jebusites, Jg 19:10-11. Being a very strong position, it resisted the attempts of the Israelites to become the sole masters of it, until at length its fortress was stormed by David, 2Sa 5:6,9; after which it received its present name, and was also called "the city of David." It now became the religious and political center of the kingdom, and was greatly enlarged, adorned, and fortified. But its chief glory was, that in its magnificent temple the ONE LIVING AND TRUE GOD dwelt, and revealed himself.
After the division of the tribes, it continued the capital of the kingdom of Judah, was several times taken and plundered, and at length was destroyed at the Babylonian captivity, 2Ki 14:13; 2Ch 12:9; 21:16; 24:23; 25:23; 36:3,10; 17-20. After seventy years, it was rebuilt by the Jews on their return from captivity about 536 B. C., who did much to restore it to its former splendor. About 332 B. C., the city yielded to Alexander of Macedon; and not long after his death, Ptolemy of Egypt took it by an assault on the Sabbath, when it is said the Jews scrupled to fight. In 170 B. C., Jerusalem fell under the tyranny of Antiochus Epiphanes, who razed its walls, set up an image of Jupiter in the temple, and used every means to force the people into idolatry. Under the Maccabees, however, the Jews, in 163 B. C., recovered their independence. Just a century later, it was conquered by the Romans. Herod the Great expended vast sums in its embellishment. To the city and temple thus renovated the ever-blessed Messiah came, in the fullness of time, and made the place of his feet glorious. By his rejection and crucifixion Jerusalem filled up the cup of her guilt; the Jewish nation perished from off the land of their fathers, and the city and temple were taken by Titus and totally destroyed, A. D. 70-71. Of all the structures of Jerusalem, only three towers and a part of the western wall were left standing. Still, as the Jews began to return thither, and manifested a rebellious spirit, the emperor Adrian planted a Roman colony there in A. D. 135, and banished the Jews, prohibiting their return on pain of death. He changed the name of the city to Aelia Capitolina, consecrated it to heathen deities, in order to defile it as much as possible, and did what he could to obliterate all traces both of Judaism and Christianity. From this period the name Aelia became so common, that the name Jerusalem was preserved only among the Jews and better-informed Christians. In the time of Constantine, however, it resumed its ancient name, which it has retained to the present day. Helena, the mother of Constantine, built two churches in Bethlehem and on mount Olivet, about A. D. 326; and Julian, who, after his father, succeeded to the empire of his uncle Constantine, endeavored to rebuild the temple; but his design, and that of the Jews, whom he patronized, was frustrated, as contemporary historians relate, by an earthquake, and by balls of fire bursting forth among the workmen, A. D. 363.
The subsequent history of Jerusalem may be told in a few words. In 613, it was taken by Chosroes king of Persia, who slew, it is said, 90,000 men, and demolished, to the utmost of his power, whatever the Christians had venerated: in 627, Heraclius defeated Chosroes, and Jerusalem was recovered by the Greeks. Soon after command the long and wretched era of Mohammedanism. About 637, the city was taken from the Christians by the caliph Omar, after a siege of four months, and continued under the caliphs of Bagdad till 868, when it was taken by Ahmed, a Turkish sovereign of Egypt. During the space of 220 years, it was subject to several masters, Turkish and Saracenic, and in 1099 it was taken by the crusaders under Godfrey Bouillon, who was elected king. He was succeeded by his brother Baldwin, who died in 1118. In 1187, Saladin, sultan of the East, captured the city, assisted by the treachery of Raymond, count of Tripoli, who was found dead in his bed on the morning of the day in which he was to have delivered up the city. It was restored, in 1242, to the Latin princes, by Saleh Ismael, emir of Damascus; they lost it in 1291 to the sultans of Egypt, who held it till 1382. Selim, the Turkish sultan, reduced Egypt and Syria, including Jerusalem, in 1517, and his son Solyman built or reconstructed the present walls in 1534. Since then it has remained under the dominion of Turkey, except when held for a short time, 1832-4, by Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt. At present, this city is included in the pashalic of Damascus, though it has a resident Turkish governor.
Jerusalem is situated on the central tableland of Judea, about 2,400 feet above the Mediterranean. It lies on ground which slopes gently down towards the east, the slope being terminated by an abrupt declivity, in some parts precipitous, and overhanging the valley of Jehoshaphat or of the Kidron. This sloping ground is also terminated on the south by the deep and narrow valley of Hinnom, which constituted the ancient southern boundary of the city, and which also ascends on its west side, and comes out upon the high ground on the northwest. See GIHON. But in the city itself, there were also two ravines or smaller valleys, dividing the land covered by buildings into three principal parts or hills. ZION, the highest of these, was in the southwest quarter of the city, skirted on the south and west by the deep valley of Hinnom. On its north and east sides lay the smaller valley "of the cheesemongers," or Tyropoeon also united, near the northeast foot of Zion, with a valley coming down from the north. Zion was also called, The city of David; and by Josephus, "the upper city." Surrounded anciently by walls as well as deep valleys, it was the strongest part of the city, and contained the citadel and the king's palace. The Tyropoeon separated it from Acra on the north and Moriah on the northeast. ACRA was less elevated than Zion, or than the ground to the northwest beyond the walls. It is called by Josephus "the lower city." MORIAH, the sacred hill, lay northeast of Zion, with which it was anciently connected at its nearest corner, by a bridge over the Tyropoeon, some remnants of which have been identified by Dr. Robinson. Moriah was at first a small eminence, but its area was greatly enlarged to make room for the temple. It was but a part of the continuous ridge on the east side of the city, overlooking the deep valley of the Kidron; rising on the north, after a slight depression, into the hill Bezetha, the "new city" of Joephus, and sinking away on the south into the hill Ophel. On the east of Jerusalem, and stretching from north to south, lies the Mount of Olives, divided from the city by the valley of the Kidron, and commanding a noble prospect of the city and surrounding county. Over against Moriah, or a little further north, lies the garden of Gethsemane, with its olive trees, at the foot of the Mount of Olives. Just below the city, on the east side of the valley of the Kidron, lies the miserable village of Siloa; farther down, this valley unites with that of Hinnon, at a beautiful spot anciently "the king's gardens;" still below, is the well of Nehemiah, anciently En-rogel; and from this spot the united valley winds among mountains southward and eastward to the Dead sea. In the mouth of the Tyropoeon, between Ophel and Zion, is the pool of Siloam. In the valley west and northwest of Zion are the two pools of Gihon, the lower being now broken and dry. In the rocks around Jerusalem, and chiefl
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. (He was the priest of God Most High).
Then the border goes up [by] the Valley of Ben Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites from [the] south (that [is], Jerusalem); and the border goes up to the top of the mountain that [lies] opposite the valley of Hinnom to the west, which is at the end of the valley of Rephaim to the north;
the border goes down to the foot of the mountain, which [is] opposite the Valley of Ben Hinnom, which [is] in the valley of Rephaim to the north; then it does down the valley of Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites to the south, and then it goes down [to] En Rogel.
Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that [is], Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath; fourteen cities and their villages. This [is] the inheritance of the descendants of Benjamin according to their families.
After the death of Joshua, the {Israelites} inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Who will go up first for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?" And Yahweh said, "Judah will go up. I hereby give the land into his hand." read more. And Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Go up with me into my allotment, and let us fight against the Canaanites; then I too will go with you into your allotment." And Simeon went with him. And Judah went up, and Yahweh gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek. At Bezek they came upon Adoni-bezek, and they fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. And Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued after him; they caught him and cut off {his thumbs and big toes}. Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings with {their thumbs and big toes} cut off used to pick up [scraps] under my table; just as I have done, so God has repaid to me. And they brought him [to] Jerusalem, and he died there. The descendants of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, {put it to the sword}, and {set the city on fire}.
But the man was not willing to spend the night, and he got up and went; and he arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). [He had] with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine. They [were] near Jebus, and {the day was far spent}, and the servant said to his master, "Please, come, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and let us spend the night in it."
The king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. They said to David, "You will not come here, for even the blind and the lame can turn you back, saying, 'David cannot come here.'"
David occupied the fortress and called it the city of David. And David built all around [it] from the Millo and {inward}.
Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-Shemesh. Then they came [to] Jerusalem, and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim up to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits!
Then Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had established, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Then afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of the Gihon in the valley, and for the entrance into the Gate of the Fishes. And it encircled the Ophel and raised it very high. Then he placed strong commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.
I crossed over to the Fountain Gate and to the King's Pool, but there was no place for {my mount} to cross over.
Shallun son of Col-Hozeh, the commander of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and erected its doors, its bolts, its bars, and [he built] the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king's garden, right up to the steps going down from the city of David.
Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, [is] {Mount Zion}, {in the far north}, [the] city of [the] great king.
Jerusalem that is built as a city that is joined together, where [the] tribes go up, the tribes of Yah [as] a testimony for Israel, to give thanks to the name of Yahweh.
Those who trust in Yahweh [are] like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, [but] abides forever. [As] mountains [are] round about Jerusalem, so Yahweh [is] round about his people, from now until forever.
But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother.
But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to tens of thousands of angels, to the festal gathering
The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never go outside again, and I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God, and my new name.
Easton
called also Salem, Ariel, Jebus, the "city of God," the "holy city;" by the modern Arabs el-Khuds, meaning "the holy;" once "the city of Judah" (2Ch 25:28). This name is in the original in the dual form, and means "possession of peace," or "foundation of peace." The dual form probably refers to the two mountains on which it was built, viz., Zion and Moriah; or, as some suppose, to the two parts of the city, the "upper" and the "lower city." Jerusalem is a "mountain city enthroned on a mountain fastness" (comp. Ps 68:15-16; 87:1; 125:2; 76:1-2; 122:3). It stands on the edge of one of the highest table-lands in Palestine, and is surrounded on the south-eastern, the southern, and the western sides by deep and precipitous ravines.
Illustration: Plan of Ancient Jerusalem Illustration: Plan of Modern (1897) Jerusalem Illustration: Section Across Jerusalem Illustration: Jerusalem from Mt Scopus Illustration: David Street
It is first mentioned in Scripture under the name Salem (Ge 14:18; comp. Ps 76:2). When first mentioned under the name Jerusalem, Adonizedek was its king (Jos 10:1). It is afterwards named among the cities of Benjamin (Jg 19:10; 1Ch 11:4); but in the time of David it was divided between Benjamin and Judah. After the death of Joshua the city was taken and set on fire by the men of Judah (Jg 1:1-8); but the Jebusites were not wholly driven out of it. The city is not again mentioned till we are told that David brought the head of Goliath thither (1Sa 17:54). David afterwards led his forces against the Jebusites still residing within its walls, and drove them out, fixing his own dwelling on Zion, which he called "the city of David" (2Sa 5:5-9; 1Ch 11:4-8). Here he built an altar to the Lord on the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite (2Sa 24:15-25), and thither he brought up the ark of the covenant and placed it in the new tabernacle which he had prepared for it. Jerusalem now became the capital of the kingdom.
After the death of David, Solomon built the temple, a house for the name of the Lord, on Mount Moriah (B.C. 1010). He also greatly strengthened and adorned the city, and it became the great centre of all the civil and religious affairs of the nation (De 12:5; comp. De 12:14; 14:23; 16:11-16; Ps 122).
After the disruption of the kingdom on the accession to the throne of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, Jerusalem became the capital of the kingdom of the two tribes. It was subsequently often taken and retaken by the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and by the kings of Israel (2Ki 14:13-14; 18:15-16; 23:33-35; 24:14; 2Ch 12:9; 26:9; 27:3-4; 29:3; 32:30; 33:11), till finally, for the abounding iniquities of the nation, after a siege of three years, it was taken and utterly destroyed, its walls razed to the ground, and its temple and palaces consumed by fire, by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon (2Ki 25; 2Ch 36; Jer 39), B.C. 588. The desolation of the city and the land was completed by the retreat of the principal Jews into Egypt (JER 40-44), and by the final carrying captive into Babylon of all that still remained in the land (Jer 52:3), so that it was left without an inhabitant (B.C. 582). Compare the predictions, De 28; Le 26:14-39.
But the streets and walls of Jerusalem were again to be built, in troublous times (Da 9:16,19,25), after a captivity of seventy years. This restoration was begun B.C. 536, "in the first year of Cyrus" (Ezr 1:2-3,5-11). The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah contain the history of the re-building of the city and temple, and the restoration of the kingdom of the Jews, consisting of a portion of all the tribes. The kingdom thus constituted was for two centuries under the dominion of Persia, till B.C. 331; and thereafter, for about a century and a half, under the rulers of the Greek empire in Asia, till B.C. 167. For a century the Jews maintained their independence under native rulers, the Asmonean princes. At the close of this period they fell under the rule of Herod and of members of his family, but practically under Rome, till the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70. The city was then laid in ruins.
The modern Jerusalem by-and-by began to be built over the immense beds of rubbish resulting from the overthrow of the ancient city; and whilst it occupies certainly the same site, there are no evidences that even the lines of its streets are now what they were in the ancient city. Till A.D. 131 the Jews who still lingered about Jerusalem quietly submitted to the Roman sway. But in that year the emperor (Hadrian), in order to hold them in subjection, rebuilt and fortified the city. The Jews, however, took possession of it, having risen under the leadership of one Bar-Chohaba (i.e., "the son of the star") in revolt against the Romans. Some four years afterwards (A.D. 135), however, they were driven out of it with great slaughter, and the city was again destroyed; and over its ruins was built a Roman city called Aelia Capitolina, a name which it retained till it fell under the dominion of the Mohammedans, when it was called el-Khuds, i.e., "the holy."
In A.D. 326 Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with the view of discovering the places mentioned in the life of our Lord. She caused a church to be built on what was then supposed to be the place of the nativity at Bethlehem. Constantine, animated by her example, searched for the holy sepulchre, and built over the supposed site a magnificent church, which was completed and dedicated A.D. 335. He relaxed the laws against the Jews till this time in force, and permitted them once a year to visit the city and wail over the desolation of "the holy and beautiful house."
In A.D. 614 the Persians, after defeating the Roman forces of the emperor Heraclius, took Jerusalem by storm, and retained it till A.D. 637, when it was taken by the Arabians under the Khalif Omar. It remained in their possession till it passed, in A.D. 960, under the dominion of the Fatimite khalifs of Egypt, and in A.D. 1073 under the Turcomans. In A.D. 1099 the crusader Godfrey of Bouillon took the city from the Moslems with great slaughter, and was elected king of Jerusalem. He converted the Mosque of Omar into a Christian cathedral. During the eighty-eight years which followed, many churches and convents were erected in the holy city. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was rebuilt during this period, and it alone remains to this day. In A.D. 1187 the sultan Saladin wrested the city from the Christians. From that time to the present day, with few intervals, Jerusalem has remained in the hands of the Moslems. It has, however, during that period been again and again taken and retaken, demolished in great part and rebuilt, no city in the world having passed through so many vicissitudes.
In the year 1850 the Greek and Latin monks residing in Jerusalem had a fierce dispute about the guardianship of what are called the "holy places." In this dispute the emperor Nicholas of Russia sided with the Greeks, and Louis Napoleon, the emperor of the French, with the Latins. This led the Turkish authorities to settle the question in a way unsatisfactory to Russia. Out of this there sprang the Crimean War, which was protracted and sanguinary, but which had important consequences in the way of breaking down the barriers of Turkish exclusiveness.
Modern Jerusalem "lies near the summit of a broad mountain-ridge, which extends without interruption from the plain of Esdraelon to a line drawn between the southern end of the Dead Sea and the southeastern corner of the Mediterranean." This high, uneven table-land is everywhere from 20 to 25 geographical miles in breadth. It was anciently known as the mountains of Ephraim and Judah.
Jerusalem is a city of contrasts, and differs widely from Damascus, not merely because it is a stone town in mountains, whilst the latter is a mud city in a plain, but because while in Damascus Moslem religion and Oriental custom are unmixed with any foreign element, in Jerusalem every form of religion, every nationality of East and West, is represented at one time.
Jerusalem is first mentioned under that name in the Book of Joshua, and the Tell-el-Amarna collection of table
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. (He was the priest of God Most High).
" 'But if you do not listen to me and you do not carry out all these commands, and if you reject my statutes and if your inner self abhors my regulations, to not carry out all my commands [by] your breaking my covenant, read more. I {in turn} will do this to you: then I will summon onto you horror, the wasting disease, and the fever that wastes eyes and that drains away life; and you shall sow your seed {in vain}, and your enemies shall eat it. And I will set my face against you, and you shall be defeated {before} your enemies; and your haters shall rule over you, and you shall flee away, but there shall not be {anybody who is pursuing} you. " 'And if in spite of these [things] you do not listen to me, then I will continue to discipline you seven times for your sins. And I will break the pride of your strength; and I will make your heaven like iron and your land like copper. And your strength shall be consumed {in vain}; and your land shall not give its produce, and the land's trees shall not give their fruit. " 'And if you go against me [in] hostility and you are not willing to listen to me, then I will add a plague onto you seven times according to your sins. And I will send {wild animals} out among you, and they shall make you childless, and they shall cut down your domestic animals, and they shall make you fewer; and your roads shall be desolate. " 'And if you do not accept correction from me through these [things], but you go against me [in] hostility, then I myself will also go against you in hostility, and I myself also will strike you seven times for your sins. And I will bring upon you a sword that seeks vengeance [for the] covenant, and you shall be gathered to your cities; and I will send a plague in your midst, and you shall be given into [the] hand of an enemy. At my breaking [the] {supply} of bread for you, then ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall return your bread by weight; and you shall eat [it], and you shall not be satisfied. " 'And if through this you do not listen to me and you go against me in hostility, then I will go against you in hostile anger, and also I myself will discipline you seven times for your sins. And you shall eat the flesh of your sons; and the flesh of your daughters you shall eat. And I will destroy your high places, and I will cut down your incense altars, and I will place your corpses on your idols' corpses; and my inner self shall abhor you. And I will lay your cities [in] ruins, and I will lay waste your sanctuaries; and I shall not smell your [sacrifices'] appeasing fragrance. And I myself will lay waste the land, and your enemies who are living in it shall be appalled over it. And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw a sword behind you; and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a ruin. Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths all the days of its lying desolate, and you [shall be] in the land of your enemies; then the land shall rest, and it shall enjoy its Sabbaths. All the days of its lying desolate it shall rest [for the time] that it had not rested during your Sabbaths while you were living on it. As for the ones who remain among you, I will bring fearfulness in their hearts in the land of their enemies; and a sound of a windblown leaf shall pursue them, and they shall flee [like] flight {before} a sword, and they shall fall, but there shall not be a pursuer. And they shall stumble over {one another} as {from before} a sword, but there shall not be a pursuer; and {you shall have no resistance} {before} your enemies. And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you. And because of their guilt, the ones among you who remain shall decay in the land of their enemies; and also because of the iniquities of their ancestors, they shall decay with them.
{But only} to the place that Yahweh your God will choose from all [of] your tribes to place his name there as his dwelling shall you seek, and there you shall go.
{but only} at the place that Yahweh will choose among one of your tribes; there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all [the things] that I [am] commanding you.
And you shall eat {before} Yahweh your God in the place that he will choose to make to dwell his name there the tithe of your grain, your wine and your olive oil and the firstling of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to revere Yahweh your God {always}.
And you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite that [is] in your {towns} and the alien and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst in the place that Yahweh your God will choose to let his name dwell there. And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and [so] {you shall diligently observe} these rules. read more. "You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths for yourselves seven days {at the gathering in of the produce} from your threshing floor and from your press; and you shall rejoice at your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite and the orphan and the widow that [are] in your {towns}. Seven days you shall celebrate [your] feast to Yahweh your God at the place Yahweh will choose, for Yahweh your God shall bless you in all of your produce and in all [of] the work of your hand, and you shall surely [be] rejoicing. Three times in the year all [of] your males shall appear {before } Yahweh your God at the place that he will choose, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear {before Yahweh} empty-handed.
And it happened that when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua captured Ai and had utterly destroyed it (just as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he did to Ai and its king) and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them,
After the death of Joshua, the {Israelites} inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Who will go up first for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?" And Yahweh said, "Judah will go up. I hereby give the land into his hand." read more. And Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Go up with me into my allotment, and let us fight against the Canaanites; then I too will go with you into your allotment." And Simeon went with him. And Judah went up, and Yahweh gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek. At Bezek they came upon Adoni-bezek, and they fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. And Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued after him; they caught him and cut off {his thumbs and big toes}. Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings with {their thumbs and big toes} cut off used to pick up [scraps] under my table; just as I have done, so God has repaid to me. And they brought him [to] Jerusalem, and he died there. The descendants of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, {put it to the sword}, and {set the city on fire}.
But the man was not willing to spend the night, and he got up and went; and he arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). [He had] with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine.
And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem and placed his weapons in his tent.
He reigned over Judah at Hebron [for] seven years and six months; and he reigned over all Israel and Judah at Jerusalem [for] thirty-three years. The king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. They said to David, "You will not come here, for even the blind and the lame can turn you back, saying, 'David cannot come here.'" read more. David captured the fortress of Zion, the city of David. David had said, "On that day {when we attack the Jebusites}, one must attack the lame and the blind, [those] who hate the soul of David, by [means of] the water supply." For thus the blind and the lame would say, "He cannot come into the house." David occupied the fortress and called it the city of David. And David built all around [it] from the Millo and {inward}.
Then Yahweh sent a plague into Israel from the morning {until the agreed time}, and from the people from Dan to Beersheba, seventy thousand men died. When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, Yahweh regretted about the evil, and he said to the angel who brought destruction among the people, "Enough, now relax your hand." Now the angel of Yahweh [was] at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. read more. David spoke to Yahweh when he saw the angel destroying among the people, and he said, "Look, I have sinned and I have done wrong, but these sheep, what did they do? Please let your hand be against me and against the house of my father." Then Gad came to David on that same day and said to him, "Go up and erect an altar to Yahweh at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite." So David went up according to the word of Gad, as Yahweh had commanded. Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants coming over to him, so Araunah went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. Then Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" David said, "To buy from you the threshing floor, to build an altar to Yahweh who brought a halt to the plague on the people." Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer what [is] good in his eyes. Look, here [are] the cattle for the burnt offering and the threshing sledge and the yokes of the oxen for the firewood. All of this Araunah hereby gives to the king." Then Araunah said to the king, "May Yahweh your God respond favorably for you." Then the king said to Araunah, "No, but {I will certainly buy} it from you for a price; I don't want to offer to Yahweh my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the cattle for fifty shekels of silver. David built an altar to Yahweh there, and he offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then Yahweh responded to [his] prayer for the land and brought the plague to a halt from upon Israel.
Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-Shemesh. Then they came [to] Jerusalem, and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim up to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits! He also took all of the gold and silver and all the vessels found [in] the temple of Yahweh and in the treasury rooms of the palace of the king, as well as the {hostages}; then he returned to Samaria.
Then Hezekiah gave all of the silver found [in] the temple of Yahweh and in the storerooms of the house of the king. At that time, Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Yahweh and the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and he gave them to the king of Assyria.
Then Pharaoh Neco confined him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, from reigning in Jerusalem, and imposed a levy on the land of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of Josiah his father, and he changed his name to Jehoiakim. Then he took Jehoahaz and brought [him] to Egypt, and he died there. read more. The silver and the gold Jehoiakim gave to Pharaoh; however, he taxed the land to give the silver {to meet the demands of Pharaoh}. Each according to assessment, he exacted [payment] of the silver and the gold from the people of the land to give to Pharaoh Neco.
He deported all of Jerusalem: all of the commanders, ten thousand of the skilled warriors, and the artisans; no one was left over except the poorest of the people of the land.
And they carried him on the horses and buried him with his ancestors in the city of Judah.
He built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh, and {he did much restoration} on the wall of Ophel.
Then afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of the Gihon in the valley, and for the entrance into the Gate of the Fishes. And it encircled the Ophel and raised it very high. Then he placed strong commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.
"Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: Yahweh, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. And he himself has appointed me to build a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever among you [who is] from all of his people, may his God be with him and may he go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and may he build the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel. He is the God who [is] in Jerusalem.
So the heads of the {families} for Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites--to all whose spirit God had stirred--[prepared] to go up and build the house of Yahweh which is in Jerusalem. And all of their neighbors {helped them} with objects of silver, gold, possessions, domestic animal , and with valuable gifts--besides all of [the] freewill offering. read more. And Cyrus the king brought out the objects of the house of Yahweh that Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. Cyrus the king of Persia let them go out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. Now these were the inventories: thirty gold metal dishes, one thousand silver metal dishes, twenty-nine vessels, thirty bowls of gold, four hundred and ten matching silver metal bowls, and one thousand other objects. All of the objects of gold and silver metal [were] five thousand four hundred. All this Sheshbazzar brought up along with the exiles from Babylonia to Jerusalem.
A mountain of God [is] the mountain of Bashan; a mountain of [many] peaks [is] the mountain of Bashan. Why do you look with hostility, O many-peaked mountains? This mountain God desires for his dwelling. Yes, Yahweh will abide [in it] forever.
God [is] known in Judah. His name [is] great in Israel. His den has been in Salem, his lair in Zion.
[As] mountains [are] round about Jerusalem, so Yahweh [is] round about his people, from now until forever.
For because of the {anger} of Yahweh this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until his casting them from his {presence}. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
Lord, according to all your righteousness, please let your anger and your rage turn away from your city Jerusalem, {your holy mountain}, because through our sins and through the iniquities of our ancestors Jerusalem and your people have become an object of mockery among all of our neighbors.
Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, pay heed and act! You must not delay {for your sake}, my God; because {your city and your people are called by your name}."
And you must know and you must understand [that] from [the] time of the going out of [the] word to restore and build Jerusalem until [an] anointed [one]-- leader--[will be] {seven weeks and sixty-two weeks}; it will be restored and will be built [with] streets and moat, but {in a time of oppression}.
Fausets
Jeru-, "the foundation" (implying its divinely given stability, Ps 87:1; Isa 14:32; so spiritually, Heb 11:10); -shalem, "of peace". The absence of the doubled "sh" forbids Ewald's derivation, jerush- "possession". Salem is the oldest form (Ps 76:2; Heb 7:2; Ge 14:18). Jebusi "the Jebusite" (Jos 15:8; 18:16,28; Jg 19:10-11) and the city itself. Jebus, the next form, Jerusalem the more modern name. Melchi-zedek ("king of righteousness") corresponds to Adoni-zedek," lord of righteousness," king of Jerusalem (Jos 10:1), the name being a hereditary title of the kings of Jerusalem which is "the city of righteousness" (Isa 1:21-26). Psalm 110 connects Melchizedek with Zion, as other passages do with Salem. The king of Salem met Abram after his return from the slaughter of the kings, therefore near home (Hebron, to which Jerusalem was near).
The valley of Shaveh, the king's dale (Ge 14:17; 2Sa 18:18), was the valley of Kedron, and the king of Sodom had no improbable distance to go from Sodom in meeting him here (two furlongs from Jersalem: Josephus, Ant. 7:10, section 3). Ariel, "lion of God," is another designation (Isa 29:1-2,7). (See ARIEL.) Also "the holy city" (Mt 4:5; 27:53; Re 11:3). AElius Hadrianus, the Roman emperor, built it (A.D. 135), whence it was named AElia Capitolina, inscribed still on the well known stone in the S. wall of the Aksa. Jerusalem did not become the nation's capital or even possession until David's time, the seat of government and of the religious worship having been previously in the N. at Shethem and Shiloh, then Gibeah and Nob (whence the tabernacle and altar were moved to Gibeon). (See DAVID.) The boundary between Judah and Benjamin ran S. of the city hill, so that the city was in Benjamin, and Judah enclosed on two sides the tongue or promontory of land on which it stood, the valley of Hinnom bounding it W. and S., the valley of Jehoshaphat on the E.
The temple situated at the connecting point of Judah and northern Israel admirably united both in holiest bonds. Jerusalem lies on the ridge of the backbone of hills stretching from the plain of Jezreel to the desert. Jewish tradition placed the altars and sanctuary in Benjamin, the courts of the temple in Judah. The two royal tribes met in Jerusalem David showed his sense of the importance of the alliance with Saul of Benjamin by making Michal's restoration the condition of his league with Abner (2Sa 3:13). Its table land also lies almost central on the middle route from N. to S., and is the watershed of the torrents passing eastward to Jordan and westward to the Mediterranean (Eze 5:5; 38:12; Ps 48:2).
It lay midway between the oldest civilized states; Egypt and Ethiopia on one hand, Babylon, Nineveh, India, Persia, Greece, and Rome on the other; thus holding the best vantage ground whence to act on heathendom. At the same time it lay out of the great highway between Egypt and Syria and Assyria, so often traversed by armies of these mutually hostile world powers, the low sea coast plain from Pelusium to Tyre; hence it generally enjoyed immunity from wars. It is 32 miles from the sea, 18 from Jordan, 20 from Hebron, 36 from Samaria; on the edge of one of the highest table lands, 3700 ft. above the Dead Sea; the N.W. part of the city is 2,581 ft. above the Mediterranean sea level; Mount Olivet is more than 100 ft. higher, namely, 2,700 ft. The descent is extraordinary; Jericho, 13 miles off, is 3,624 ft. lower than Olivet, i.e. 900 ft. below the Mediterranean. Bethel to the N., 11 miles off, is 419 ft. below Jerusalem. Ramleh to the W., 25 miles off, is 2,274 ft. lower. To the S. however the hills at Bethlehem are a little higher, 2,704; Hebron, 3,029. To the S.W. the view is more open, the plain of Rephaim beginning at the S. edge of the valley of Hinnom and stretching towards the western sea. To the N.W. also the view reaches along the upper part of the valley of Jehoshaphat.
The city is called "the valley of vision" (Isa 22:1-5), for the lower parts of the city, the Tyro-peon (the cheesemakers), form a valley between the heights. The hills outside too are "round about" it (Ps 125:2). On the E. Olivet; on the S. the hill of evil counsel, rising from the vale of Hinnom; on the W. the ground rises to the borders of the great wady, an hour and a half from the city; on the N. a prolongation of mount Olivet bounds the prospect a mile from the City. Jer 21:13,"inhabiters of the valley, rock of the plain" (i.e. Zion). "Jerusalem the defensed" (Eze 21:20), yet doomed to be "the city of confusion," a second Babel (confusion), by apostasy losing the order of truth and holiness, so doomed to the disorder of destruction like Babylon, its prototype in evil (Isa 24:10; Jer 4:23). Seventeen times desolated by conquerors, as having become a "Sodom" (Isa 1:10). "The gates of the people," i.e. the central mart for the inland commerce (Eze 26:2; 27:17; 1Ki 5:9). "The perfection of beauty" (La 2:15, the enemy in scorn quoting the Jews' own words), "beautiful for situation" (Ps 48:2; 50:1-2).
The ranges of Lebanon and Antilebanon pass on southwards in two lower parallel ranges separated by the Ghor or Jordan valley, and ending in the gulf of Akabah. The eastern range distributes itself through Gilead, Mesh, and Petra, reaching the Arabian border of the Red Sea. The western range is the backbone of western Palestine, including the hills of Galilee, Samaria, Ephraim, Benjamin, and Judah, and passing on into the Sinaitic range ending at Ras Mohammed in the tongue of land between the two arms of the Red Sea. The Jerusalem range is part of the steep western wall of the valley of the Jordan and the Dead Sea. W. of this wall the hills sink into a lower range between it and the Mediterranean coast plain. The eastern ravine, the valley of Kedron or Jehoshaphat running from N. to S., meets at the S.E. grainer of the city table land promontory the valley of Hinnom, which on the W. of the precipitous promontory first runs S., then bends eastward (S. of the promontory) until it meets the valley of Jehoshaphat at Bir Ayub; thence as one they descend steeply toward the Dead Sea. The promontory itself is divided into two unequal parts by a ravine running from S. to N. The western part or "upper city" is the larger and higher.
The eastern part, mount Moriah and the Acra or "lower city" (Josephus), constitute the lower and smaller; on its southern portion is now the mosque of Omar. The central ravine half way up sends a lateral valley running up to the general level at the Jaffa or Bethlehem gate. The central ravine or depression, running toward the Damascus gate, is the Tyropeon. N. of Moriah the valley of the Asmonaeans running transversely (marked still by the reservoir with two arches, "the pool of Bethesda" so-called, near St. Stephen's gate) separates it from the suburb Bezetha or new town. Thus the city was impregnably entrenched by ravines W., S., and E., while on the N. and N.W. it had ample room for expansion. The western half is: fairly level from N. to S., remembering however the lateral valley spoken of above. The eastern hill is more than 100 ft. lower; the descent thence to the valley, the Bir Ayub, is 450 ft. The N. and S. outlying hills of Olivet, namely, Viri Galilaei, Scopus, and mount of Offence, bend somewhat toward the city, as if "standing round about Jerusalem." The neighbouring hills though not very high are a shelter to the city, and the distant hills of Moab look like a rampart on the E.
The route from the N. and E. was from the Jordan plain by Jericho and mount Olivet (Lu 17:11; 18:35; 19:1-29,45,2 Samuel 15-16; 2Ch 28:15). The route from Philistia and Sharon was by Joppa and Lydda, up the two Bethherons to the high ground at Gibeon, whence it turned S. and by Ramah and Gibeah passed over the N. ridge to Jerusalem. This was the road which armies took in approaching the city, and it is still the one for heavy baggage, though a shorter and steeper road through Amwas and the great wady is generally taken by travelers from Jaffa to Jerusalem. The gates were:
(1) that of Ephraim (2Ch 25:23), the same probably as that
(2) of Benjamin (Jer 20:2), 400 cubits from
(3) "the corner gate" (2Ch 25:23).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
After his return from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who [were] with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that [is], the Valley of the King). And Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. (He was the priest of God Most High).
And Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. (He was the priest of God Most High).
{But only} to the place that Yahweh your God will choose from all [of] your tribes to place his name there as his dwelling shall you seek, and there you shall go. And you shall bring there your burnt offerings and your sacrifices and your tithes and {your donations} and your votive gifts and your freewill offerings and the firstling of your herd and your flock. read more. And you shall eat there {before} Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice {in all your endeavors}, you and your family [in] which Yahweh your God has blessed you. "You must not do [just] as we [are] doing here {today}, {each according to all that is right in his eyes}. For you have not come up to now to the resting place and to the inheritance that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you. But you will cross the Jordan, and you will settle in the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving you as an inheritance, and he will give rest to you from all your enemies from all around, and you will live securely, {and then} [at] the place that Yahweh your God will choose, to let his name dwell there, there you shall bring all [the things] I [am] commanding you, your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and {your donations}, and all [of] the choice [things], your votive gifts that you vow to Yahweh. And you shall rejoice {before} Yahweh your God, you and your sons and your daughters and your slaves and your slave women and the Levite who [is] in your {towns}, because there is not for him a plot of ground and an inheritance with you. "Take care for yourself so that you do not offer your burnt offerings at [just] any place that you happen to see, {but only} at the place that Yahweh will choose among one of your tribes; there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all [the things] that I [am] commanding you. "But {whenever you desire} you may slaughter, and you may eat meat according to the blessing of Yahweh your God that he has given to you in all [of] your {towns}; the unclean and the clean may eat it [just] as [they would] the gazelle and as the deer. Only the blood you must not eat, [but] on the ground you must pour it like water. You are not allowed to eat in your {towns} the tithe of your grain and your wine and your olive oil and the firstborn of your herd and your flock and all [of] your votive gifts that you vowed and your freewill offering and {your donations}. But only {before} Yahweh your God you shall eat it, at the place that Yahweh your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite who [is] in your {towns}, and you must rejoice {before} your God {in all your undertakings}. {Take care} so that you do not neglect the Levite all [of] your days on your land. "When Yahweh your God enlarges your territory [just] as he has {promised} to you, and you say 'I want to eat [some] meat,' {because you want it}, {whenever you desire} you may eat meat. If the place that Yahweh your God will choose to put his name there is [too] far from you, and you slaughter any of your herd and any of your flock that Yahweh has given to you [just] as I have commanded you, then you may eat whenever you desire in your {towns}.
And it happened that when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua captured Ai and had utterly destroyed it (just as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he did to Ai and its king) and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them,
And it happened that when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua captured Ai and had utterly destroyed it (just as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he did to Ai and its king) and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them,
Then the border goes up [by] the Valley of Ben Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites from [the] south (that [is], Jerusalem); and the border goes up to the top of the mountain that [lies] opposite the valley of Hinnom to the west, which is at the end of the valley of Rephaim to the north;
Then the border goes up [by] the Valley of Ben Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites from [the] south (that [is], Jerusalem); and the border goes up to the top of the mountain that [lies] opposite the valley of Hinnom to the west, which is at the end of the valley of Rephaim to the north;
the border goes down to the foot of the mountain, which [is] opposite the Valley of Ben Hinnom, which [is] in the valley of Rephaim to the north; then it does down the valley of Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites to the south, and then it goes down [to] En Rogel.
the border goes down to the foot of the mountain, which [is] opposite the Valley of Ben Hinnom, which [is] in the valley of Rephaim to the north; then it does down the valley of Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites to the south, and then it goes down [to] En Rogel.
Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that [is], Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath; fourteen cities and their villages. This [is] the inheritance of the descendants of Benjamin according to their families.
Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that [is], Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath; fourteen cities and their villages. This [is] the inheritance of the descendants of Benjamin according to their families.
And Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Go up with me into my allotment, and let us fight against the Canaanites; then I too will go with you into your allotment." And Simeon went with him. And Judah went up, and Yahweh gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek. read more. At Bezek they came upon Adoni-bezek, and they fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. And Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued after him; they caught him and cut off {his thumbs and big toes}. Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings with {their thumbs and big toes} cut off used to pick up [scraps] under my table; just as I have done, so God has repaid to me. And they brought him [to] Jerusalem, and he died there. The descendants of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, {put it to the sword}, and {set the city on fire}.
But the descendants of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived among the descendants of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
All the lords of Shechem and Beth-Millo gathered, and they went and made Abimelech as king, near [the] oak of [the] pillar that [is] at Shechem.
When all the lords of the tower of Shechem heard, they went to the vault of the temple of El-Berith.
So the whole army cut down each one branch for himself and followed Abimelech, and they put [them] against the vault and set the vault ablaze with fire on those [inside], so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and women.
But the man was not willing to spend the night, and he got up and went; and he arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). [He had] with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine.
But the man was not willing to spend the night, and he got up and went; and he arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). [He had] with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine. They [were] near Jebus, and {the day was far spent}, and the servant said to his master, "Please, come, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and let us spend the night in it."
They [were] near Jebus, and {the day was far spent}, and the servant said to his master, "Please, come, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and let us spend the night in it." But his master said to him, "We will not turn aside to the city of foreigners, who [are] not from the {Israelites}; we will cross over up to Gibeah."
And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem and placed his weapons in his tent.
He said, "Good. {I will make a covenant with you}. I am asking only one thing from you: You shall not see my face unless you bring Michal the daughter of Saul when you come to see {me}."
{For some time}, when Saul was king over us, {you were leading Israel in and out}. Yahweh had said to you, 'You shall be the shepherd of my people Israel, and you will be the leader over Israel.'"
The king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. They said to David, "You will not come here, for even the blind and the lame can turn you back, saying, 'David cannot come here.'" David captured the fortress of Zion, the city of David. read more. David had said, "On that day {when we attack the Jebusites}, one must attack the lame and the blind, [those] who hate the soul of David, by [means of] the water supply." For thus the blind and the lame would say, "He cannot come into the house." David occupied the fortress and called it the city of David. And David built all around [it] from the Millo and {inward}.
When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, Yahweh regretted about the evil, and he said to the angel who brought destruction among the people, "Enough, now relax your hand." Now the angel of Yahweh [was] at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. David spoke to Yahweh when he saw the angel destroying among the people, and he said, "Look, I have sinned and I have done wrong, but these sheep, what did they do? Please let your hand be against me and against the house of my father." read more. Then Gad came to David on that same day and said to him, "Go up and erect an altar to Yahweh at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite." So David went up according to the word of Gad, as Yahweh had commanded. Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants coming over to him, so Araunah went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. Then Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" David said, "To buy from you the threshing floor, to build an altar to Yahweh who brought a halt to the plague on the people." Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer what [is] good in his eyes. Look, here [are] the cattle for the burnt offering and the threshing sledge and the yokes of the oxen for the firewood. All of this Araunah hereby gives to the king." Then Araunah said to the king, "May Yahweh your God respond favorably for you." Then the king said to Araunah, "No, but {I will certainly buy} it from you for a price; I don't want to offer to Yahweh my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the cattle for fifty shekels of silver. David built an altar to Yahweh there, and he offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then Yahweh responded to [his] prayer for the land and brought the plague to a halt from upon Israel.
Solomon intermarried with Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and he took the daughter of Pharaoh and brought her to the city of David until he finished building his house, the house of Yahweh, and the walls of Jerusalem all around.
His house where he would live in the next courtyard on the inside of the porch was like this work, and he would make a house like this porch for the daughter of Pharaoh whom Solomon had taken [as wife].
This [is] the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the house of Yahweh and his house, the Millo, the walls of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
As soon as the daughter of Pharaoh went up from the city of David to her house which he built for her, then he built the Millo.
As soon as the daughter of Pharaoh went up from the city of David to her house which he built for her, then he built the Millo.
Also [he made] three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went up over each of the small shields; and the king put them [into] the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
The king made the silver in Jerusalem as the stones, and the cedars he made as the sycamore fig trees which are in the Shephelah in abundance.
At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the mountain which {faces} Jerusalem and for Molech, the abomination of the {Ammonites}.
This [is] the reason that he rebelled against the king: [when] Solomon built the Millo, he closed the gap of the city of David his father.
Jeroboam said to his wife, "Please get up and disguise yourself so that they will not know that you [are] the wife of Jeroboam, and go [to] Shiloh. Look, Ahijah the prophet is there, and he spoke concerning me [before I became] king over this people.
But Judah did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and they annoyed him more than their fathers did with their sins that they had committed. They also built for themselves high places and stone pillars and sacred poles on every high hill and under every green tree. read more. There were also male shrine prostitutes in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which Yahweh had driven out from before the {Israelites}. It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and he took the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and he took all the treasures of the king's house. He took the small gold shields that Solomon had made, so King Rehoboam made small copper shields in place of them and {entrusted them} to the commanders of the royal guard who keep the doorway of the king's house. Whenever the king came [to] the house of Yahweh, the royal guard carried them and brought them back to the alcove room of the royal guard.
Also, he had Maacah his mother removed from the office of queen mother, [as] she had made a repulsive image for the Asherah. Asa also cut down her repulsive image and burned it in the Wadi Kidron.
He brought the holy objects of his father and his [own] holy objects to the house of Yahweh, silver and gold and utensils.
and another third at the gate of Sur, and a third at the gate behind the runners, shall guard the post of the palace alternately.
and another third at the gate of Sur, and a third at the gate behind the runners, shall guard the post of the palace alternately.
He took the commanders of the hundreds and the Carites and the runners and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the temple of Yahweh. And they marched by the way of the runner's gate [to] the palace of the king, and he sat on the throne of the kings.
It happened in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash that the priests had not repaired the damage in the temple. So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the priests, and he said to them, "Why are you not repairing the damage in the temple? Now, you shall not take money from your treasurers for the damage in the temple. You must provide it." read more. So the priests agreed not to take money from the people and not to repair the damage to the temple. Then Jehoiada the priest took a certain chest and bored a hole in its lid, and he put it beside the altar to the right as a man enters into the temple of Yahweh; then the priests who were keepers of the threshold would put there all of the money brought into the temple. It happened that when they saw a great deal of money in the chest, the secretary of the king and the high priest would come up, put the money in bags, then count the money found in the temple of Yahweh. They placed the money, [which was] weighed out, into the hands of the workers who were appointed over the temple of Yahweh, and they paid [it to] the skilled craftsmen of wood and [to] the builders working on the temple of Yahweh and to the masons and the stonecutters, to buy timber and stones for hewing, in order to repair the damage of the temple of Yahweh, and for all who went to the temple to repair it. Only, for the temple of Yahweh, there were not any silver basins, snuffers, bowls for drinking wine, trumpets, or any vessel of gold or silver from the money being brought [to] the temple of Yahweh. For they gave that to all the workers, and they repaired the temple of Yahweh with it. They did not [have to] settle accounts with the men into whose hands they placed the money to give to the workers, for they [were] dealing honestly. [The] money of [the] guilt offering and [the] money of [the] sin offering was not brought into the temple of Yahweh, but were [each] for the priests.
Then Rezin the king of Aram went up [with] Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel against Jerusalem for battle, and they besieged Ahaz but were not able to {defeat} him. At that time, Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram and drove out the Judeans from Elath. The Arameans came to Elath and have lived there until this day.
Now the remainder of the acts of Hezekiah, all of his powerful [deeds], and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought the water into the city, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?
He brought out the Asherah image from the temple of Yahweh outside of Jerusalem to the Wadi of the Kidron and burnt it {there}; then he pulverized [it] to dust and threw its dust upon the tombs of the children of the people.
Then he brought all of the priests from the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests from Geba up to Beersheba burned incense. He tore down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the city, which were on the left of each gate of the city.
So Yahweh sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, raiding bands of Aram, raiding bands of Moab, and raiding bands of the {Ammonites}. He had sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Yahweh that he had spoken by the hand of his servants the prophets.
At that time, the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came [to] Jerusalem, and the city came under the siege. Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city [while] his servants were besieging it. read more. Jehoiachin king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his court officials. The king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. Then he took from there all of the treasures of the temple of Yahweh and the treasures of the palace of the king. He cut up all of the vessels of gold which Solomon the king of Israel had made in the temple of Yahweh, as Yahweh had foretold.
Then the city was breached, and all of the men of war [entered] by night by way of the gate between the wall which was by the garden of the king, and the Chaldeans [were] against the city all around, so he left by the way of the Arabah.
Then David said, "Whoever strikes the Jebusites first will be chief and commander." And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first and became chief.
And he built the city all around from the Millo and up to the circuit. And Joab restored the remainder of the city.
Then David said, "This will be the house of Yahweh God, and this altar of burnt offering for Israel."
For Shuppim and Hosah [it went out] for the west, at the gate of Shalleketh, on the road that goes up, guard for guard.
And Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built cities as strongholds in Judah. He built Bethlehem, Etah, Tekoa, read more. Beth-Zur, Socoh, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that [are] in Judah and in Benjamin. And he strengthened the fortifications and put commanders in them, [along with] stores of food, olive oil, and wine. And in all the cities [he put] shields and spears, and he greatly strengthened them. So he had Judah and Benjamin. Now the priests and the Levites who [were] throughout all Israel took their stand with him from all their territories. For the Levites left their pasturelands and their property and came to Judah and to Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to Yahweh. And he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the bull calves that he had made. Then after them, from all the tribes of Israel, those who set their heart to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to offer to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors. And they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and made Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, secure for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.
And the {Israelites} fled from before Judah, and God gave them into their hand. And Abijah and his people struck a great blow against them, and the dead from Israel [that] fell [were] five hundred thousand chosen men. read more. And the {Israelites} were subdued at that time, and the people of Judah were victorious, for they relied upon Yahweh the God of their ancestors. And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and Ephron with its villages. And Jeroboam did not regain strength again in the days of Abijah. And Yahweh plagued him and he died.
And when Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the vile idols from all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of Yahweh that was in front of the portico of Yahweh.
Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of Yahweh before the new courtyard.
When Jehoram ascended to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and murdered all his brothers with the sword, and even some of the princes of Israel.
So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah until this day. Then Libnah [also] revolted at that time from under his hand, because he had forsaken Yahweh, the God of his ancestors. Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah, and he enticed the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful, and he led Judah astray. read more. And a letter from Elijah the prophet came to him, saying, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father: 'Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father or in the ways of Asa, the king of Judah, but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful like the unfaithfulness of the house of Ahab, and have also murdered your brothers of the house of your father who [were] better than you, behold, Yahweh is inflicting a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, and you yourself [will be afflicted] with great illness, with sickness in your bowels, until your bowels come out on account of the illness, day by day.'" And Yahweh stirred up the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs who [were] {near} the Cushites against Jehoram. And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions found in the house of the king, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz his youngest son. And after all this Yahweh afflicted him in his bowels with an illness for [which there was] no cure. And it happened [that] {after many days, at the end of two years}, his bowels came out because of his illness, and he died in terrible agony. And his people did not make a fire for him like the fire for his ancestors. He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no [one's] regret. And they buried him in the city of David, but not in the burial sites of the kings.
And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his place, for the band of men who had come with the Arabs to the camp had murdered all the older sons. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah, reigned.
and one third at the house of the king, and one third at the Gate of the Foundation. And all the people [shall be] in the courtyards of the house of Yahweh.
And he took the commanders of hundreds, the noblemen, the governors over the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of Yahweh. And they came through the upper gate [to] the house of the king, and they set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.
And he took the commanders of hundreds, the noblemen, the governors over the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of Yahweh. And they came through the upper gate [to] the house of the king, and they set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.
For the sons of the wicked Athaliah had broken into the house of God and had used all the holy vessels of the house of Yahweh for the Baals.
And Joash the king of Israel captured Amaziah the king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-Shemesh. And they brought him [to] Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits.
And Joash the king of Israel captured Amaziah the king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-Shemesh. And they brought him [to] Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits.
And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and he strengthened them.
And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and he strengthened them.
He built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh, and {he did much restoration} on the wall of Ophel.
Then the men designated by name arose and took the captives and from the plunder clothed all their nakedness. So they clothed them, gave them sandals, gave them food to eat, gave them water to drink, anointed them, and guided them with the donkeys [provided] for all those who stumbled, and brought them to Jericho, the city of the palm trees, next to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.
In the first year of his kingship, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh and strengthened them.
And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had established with the people, for the matter happened suddenly.
Then afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of the Gihon in the valley, and for the entrance into the Gate of the Fishes. And it encircled the Ophel and raised it very high. Then he placed strong commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.
Then afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of the Gihon in the valley, and for the entrance into the Gate of the Fishes. And it encircled the Ophel and raised it very high. Then he placed strong commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.
Then Hilkiah and those whom the king [had sent] went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, son of Tikvath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the garments. (Now she was living in Jerusalem in the second district.) And they spoke to her concerning this.
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon went up against him, and he bound him with bronze fetters to bring him to Babylon. And Nebuchadnezzar brought to Babylon the objects of the house of Yahweh and put them into the temple in Babylon.
And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to Yahweh, the God of Israel.
Now the seventh month drew near and the {Israelites} [were] in the cities, [so] the people gathered as {one} in Jerusalem.
Now the seventh month drew near and the {Israelites} [were] in the cities, [so] the people gathered as {one} in Jerusalem. And Jeshua son of Jehozadak and his brothers the priests stood up, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers built the altar of the God of Israel, in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. read more. They set up the altar on its foundations, because {they were in terror} because of the peoples of the lands. And they offered burnt offerings on it for Yahweh, burnt offerings for the morning and the evening. And they kept the feast of booths, as it is written, and [offered] burnt offerings day by day in number according to the ordinance {as described for each day}.
And they kept the feast of booths, as it is written, and [offered] burnt offerings day by day in number according to the ordinance {as described for each day}. After [this, they presented] the daily sacrifice of burnt offerings, [the offerings] for the New Moon Festival, and for all of the appointed times consecrated for Yahweh and for all who gave a freewill offering to Yahweh. read more. From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh. But the temple of Yahweh was not yet founded.
Also, the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took away from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to the temple in Babylonia, King Cyrus removed them from the temple in Babylonia and they were given to Sheshbazzar, whom he appointed governor.
Also, let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylonia, be returned and brought to the temple in Jerusalem to its place. Put them in the house of God."
So the elders of the Jews were building and prospering, through the prophecy of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building by the command of the God of Israel and by the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia. This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
I went out during the night at the gate of the valley by the Dragon spring and to the Dung Gate. And I examined the walls in Jerusalem and its gates that had been destroyed by the fire.
Then Eliashib the high priest and his brothers the priests arose and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and erected its doors. They consecrated it up to the Tower of the Hundred and up to the Tower of Hananel.
Jehoiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam repaired the old Yeshanah Gate. They laid its beams and erected its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
Shallun son of Col-Hozeh, the commander of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and erected its doors, its bolts, its bars, and [he built] the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king's garden, right up to the steps going down from the city of David. After him Nehemiah son of Azbuk, commander of half of the district of Beth Zur, repaired up to [a point] opposite the burial sites of David, and up to the artificial pool and to the house of the mighty warriors.
{next to him} Ezer son of Jeshua, commander of Mizpah, repaired a second section of a wall opposite of the ascent of the armory at the angle. After him Baruch son of Zabbai zealously repaired a second section of a wall from the angle up to the doorway of the house of Eliashib the high priest. read more. After him Meremoth son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz, repaired a second section of a wall from the doorway of the house of Eliashib up to the end of the house of Eliashib. After him the priests, men from the vicinity, repaired. After them Benjamin and Hasshub repaired opposite their house. After them Azariah son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah, repaired beside his house. After him Binnui son of Henadad repaired a second section of a wall from the house of Azariah up to the angle up to the corner.
Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his house. After them Zadok son of Immer repaired opposite his house. After him Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, keeper of the East Gate, repaired.
After him Malkijah, {one of the goldsmiths}, repaired up to the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Enrollment Gate and up to the upper room of the corner.
Then he said before his brothers and the army of Samaria, "What are the feeble Jews doing? Will they restore [these things] for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the piles of rubble--even those burned up?"
At the Fountain Gate opposite them they went up the steps of the city of David, at the assent to the wall, over the house of David, and up to the Water Gate to the east.
and over the Gate of Ephraim, at the Old Gate, at the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, and [to] the Sheep Gate. And they [stopped and] stood at the Gate of the Guard.
Before this, Eliashib the priest who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God--the one related to Tobiah-- prepared for [Tobiah] a large chamber where they had formerly put the grain offering, the frankincense, the [temple] objects, tithes of grain, wine, and oil commanded for the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the offerings of the priests. read more. During all of this, I was not in Jerusalem because in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. At the end of [some] days I asked permission from the king [to leave]. So I came to Jerusalem. And I came to learn of the wrong that Eliashib had done for Tobiah by making him a room in the courtyard of the house of God. It was very displeasing for me, and I threw all of the objects from the house of Tobiah outside of the chamber. And I spoke [in order], and they cleansed the chambers. Then I returned the objects of the house of God--the grain offering and the frankincense.
One from the sons of Jehoiada, son of the high priest Eliashib, [who was] the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonote [was there]. I chased him away from me.
Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, [is] {Mount Zion}, {in the far north}, [the] city of [the] great king.
Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, [is] {Mount Zion}, {in the far north}, [the] city of [the] great king.
The Supreme God, God, Yahweh, has spoken and summoned [the] earth, from [the] rising of [the] sun to its setting. From Zion, [the] perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
God [is] known in Judah. His name [is] great in Israel. His den has been in Salem, his lair in Zion.
And he rejected the tent of Joseph, and did not chose the tribe of Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah, {Mount Zion} that he loved. read more. And he built his sanctuary like [the] heights, like [the] earth that he established forever. And he chose David his servant and took him from [the] sheepfolds. He brought him from following nursing ewes to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.
[As] mountains [are] round about Jerusalem, so Yahweh [is] round about his people, from now until forever.
For Yahweh has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his habitation. "This [is] my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it. read more. I will bless its provisions abundantly; I will satisfy its poor with bread. I will also clothe its priests with salvation, and its faithful will shout exuberantly for joy. There I will cause a horn to grow for David; I will set a lamp for my anointed one. I will clothe his enemies with shame, but on him his crown will flourish."
Thus, {I accomplished far more} than anyone who [was] before me in Jerusalem--indeed, my wisdom stood by me.
Hear the word of Yahweh, rulers of Sodom! Listen [to] the teaching of our God, people of Gomorrah!
How has a faithful city become like a whore? Full of justice, righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. Your silver has become [as] dross; Your wine [is] diluted with waters. read more. Your princes [are] rebels and companions of thieves. Every one loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not defend [the] orphan and [the] legal dispute of [the] widow does not come before them. Therefore, the declaration of the Lord Yahweh of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: "Ah, I will be relieved of my enemies, and I will avenge myself on my foes. And I will turn my hand against you; I will purify your dross like lye, and I will remove all [of] your tin. And I will restore your judges, as at the first, and your counselors, as at the beginning. After this {you will be called} the city of righteousness, faithful city.
And it shall happen in the future of the days the mountain of the house of Yahweh [shall] be established; it will be among the highest of the mountains, and it shall be raised from [the] hills. All [of] the nations shall travel to him;
And what will one answer [the] messengers of [the] nation? That Yahweh has founded Zion, and the needy of his people will take refuge in it.
[The] oracle of [the] valley of vision: {What business do you have going} up, all of you, to the roofs, {noisy}, tumultuous city, exultant town? Your slain [are] not slain by [the] sword, nor [are they] dead from battle. read more. All of your rulers have fled together without a bow; all of {you who were found} were captured. They were captured together; they had fled far away. Therefore I said, "Look away from me, let me {weep bitterly}; you must not insist on comforting me for the destruction of the daughter of my people." For the Lord Yahweh of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in [the] valley of vision, tearing down of walls and a cry for help to the mountains.
and you saw that the breaches in the walls of the city of David were many, and you gathered the waters of the lower pool. And you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. read more. And you made a reservoir between the walls for the waters of the old pool, but you did not look to its maker, and you did not see {the one who created it long ago}.
[The] city of emptiness is broken; every house is shut {so that no one can enter};
Ah! Ariel, Ariel, [the] city [where] David encamped! Add year to year, let festivals recur. Yet I will inflict Ariel, and there shall be mourning and lamentation, and it shall be to me like an altar hearth.
And the multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, all those who fight [against] her and her stronghold, and those who inflict her shall be like dream, a vision of [the] night.
I looked at the earth, and behold, it was wasteland and emptiness, and to the heavens, and [they were] without their light.
and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, which [is at] the entrance of the Gate of the Potsherd, and proclaim there the words that I speak to you.
"Then you shall break the jar before the eyes of the men who go with you. And you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "So I will break this people and this city as one breaks the vessel of the potter, [so] that it is not able to be repaired again. And in Topheth they will bury {until there is no room to bury}.
Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that [were] in the upper Gate of Benjamin, which [was] by the temple of Yahweh.
Look, I [am] against you, O inhabitants of the valley, O rock of the plain," {declares} Yahweh; "you who say, 'Who can descend against us, or who can enter into our hiding place?'
For thus says Yahweh of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the stands, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city,
Look, the siege ramps have come up [to] the city to capture it, and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword, the famine, and the plague, and what you spoke happened, and look, you [are] seeing [it].
Look, the siege ramps have come up [to] the city to capture it, and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword, the famine, and the plague, and what you spoke happened, and look, you [are] seeing [it].
For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, that were torn down [to make a defense] against the siege ramps and against the sword:
And the army of Pharaoh had come out from Egypt, and the Chaldeans, who were laying siege to Jerusalem, heard their report and they withdrew from Jerusalem. And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet, {saying}, read more. "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'This is what you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire [of] me, "Look, the army of Pharaoh, which set out to help you, [is] going to return to his land Egypt. And the Chaldeans will return, and they will fight against this city, and they will capture it, and they will burn it with fire." ' Thus says Yahweh: 'You must not deceive yourselves, {saying}, "Surely the Chaldeans will go from us," for they will not go. For [even] if you struck the whole army of [the] Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and [only] men pierced through remained among them, each one in his tent, they would rise up and they would burn this city with fire.'" {And then}, at the withdrawing of the army of the Chaldeans from Jerusalem {before} the army of Pharaoh,
And all the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the Middle Gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim [the] chief officer, Nergal-sharezer [the] high official, with all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.
{And then} in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth [day] of the month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came against Jerusalem, he and all his army. And they laid siege to it, and built siege works against it all around.
In the fourth month, on [the] ninth [day] of the month, the famine in the city became severe and there was no food for the people of the land.
Now in the fifth month, on the tenth [day] of the month, which [was the] nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan [the] captain of [the] guard, who stood {before} the king of Babylon, entered into Jerusalem. And he burned the {temple} of Yahweh, and the palace of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house he burned with fire. read more. And all the army of [the] Chaldeans who [were] with [the] captain of [the] guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around.
He has bent his bow like an enemy; he has set his right hand like a foe, and he has slain all [the] treasures of [the] eye; in the tent of the daughter of Zion, he has poured out his anger like fire.
They clap hands over you, all who pass along the way; they hiss and they shake their head, at the daughter of Jerusalem. Is this the city of which it is said, "A perfection of beauty, a joy for all the earth?"
Our skin is hot like an oven because of the scorching famine. They raped women in Zion, young women in the cities of Judah. read more. They hang princes by their hand; they do not show respect before elders.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This [is] Jerusalem in the midst of the nations [where] I have put her, and countries [are] around her.
And he took from the seed of the kingship, and he made with him a covenant, and {he brought him under oath}, and he took the rulers of the land, so that [they would] be a humble kingdom and not lift itself up to keep his covenant {in order for it to stand}. read more. But he rebelled against him by sending his messengers [to] Egypt to give to him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he escape doing these [things], and can he break [the] covenant and escape? {As I live},' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, '{surely} in the place of the king {who made} him king, who despised his oath and who broke his covenant with him--in the midst of Babylon he will die. And not with a great army and with a great crowd will Pharaoh work with him in the war, at the pouring out of a siege ramp and the building of siege works to destroy many lives. And he despised [the] oath to break covenant. And, look, he gave his hand [in pledge], and [yet] he did all of these [things]. He will not escape.'
You must mark a road for [the] coming of [the] sword [to] Rabbah of the {Ammonites} and [to] Judah, in Jerusalem [the] fortified.
In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem, to put [up] battering rams, to open mouth for slaughter, {to raise the battle cry}, to put [up] battering rams against gates, to build a siege ramp, to build siege works.
"Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, 'Ah! The gates of the peoples are broken; it has swung [open] to me; I shall be filled, [for] it lies in ruins!'
Judah and the land of Israel [were] trading [with] you with wheat from Minnith and millet and honey and olive oil and balm; [all these] they gave [for] your wares.
to loot loot, and to plunder plunder, {to assail} inhabited ruins and people gathered together from [various] peoples [and who are] acquiring livestock and goods [and] dwelling at the center of the world.
The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds from Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah the king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Jehoash, two years {before} the earthquake.
"And there shall be on that day"--a declaration of Yahweh-- "a {loud outcry} from the Fish Gate, and a wailing from the Second District, and a loud crashing from the hills.
"[Is it] a time for you yourselves to dwell in your houses that have been paneled [while] this house [is] desolate?" And so then, thus says Yahweh of hosts: '{Consider your ways}! read more. You have sown much but have harvested little. You have eaten without [being] satisfied; {you have drunk without being satiated}; you have worn clothes without [being] warm; the one who earns wages puts it in {a pouch with holes}.' Thus says Yahweh of hosts: '{Consider your ways}! Go up the mountain and bring wood and build the house so that I may be pleased with it and honored,' says Yahweh. 'You have looked for much, and look! [It came] to little; and [when] you brought [it] home, I blew it [away]. Why?' {declares} Yahweh of hosts. 'Because my house [is] desolate and you [are] running each to your own house!
All the land will be transformed into a desert plateau from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But it will rise up high and it will stay in its place from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of [the] former gate, up to the Corner Gate and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses.
Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the highest point of the temple
or by the earth, because it is the footstool of his feet, or by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great king.
For nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in [various] places. But all these [things] [are] the beginning of birth pains.
"So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken about by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place" (let the one who reads understand),
and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
And it happened that while traveling toward Jerusalem, he was passing through {the region between} Samaria and Galilee.
Now it happened that as he drew near to Jericho, a certain blind man was sitting on the side of the road begging.
And he entered [and] traveled through Jericho. And {there was} a man {named} Zacchaeus, and he was a chief tax collector, and he [was] rich.
And {there was} a man {named} Zacchaeus, and he was a chief tax collector, and he [was] rich. And he was seeking to see Jesus--who he was--and he was not able to as a result of the crowd, because he was short in stature. read more. And he ran on ahead [and] climbed up into a sycamore tree so that he could see him, because he was going to go through [that way]. And when he came to the place, Jesus looked up [and] said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, because it is necessary [for] me to stay at your house today!" And he came down quickly and welcomed him joyfully. And [when they] saw [it], they all began to complain, saying, "He has gone in to find lodging with a man who is a sinner!" And Zacchaeus stopped [and] said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am paying [it] back four times [as much]!" And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost." Now [while] they were listening to these [things], he went on [and] told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. Therefore he said, "A certain nobleman traveled to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. And summoning ten of his own slaves, he gave them ten minas and said to them, 'Do business {until I come back}.' But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to be king over us!' And it happened that when he returned [after] receiving the kingdom, he ordered these slaves to whom he had given the money to be summoned to him, so that he could know what they had gained by trading. So the first arrived, saying, 'Sir, your mina has made ten minas more!' And he said to him, 'Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful in a very small thing, {have authority} over ten cities.' And the second came, saying, 'Sir, your mina has made five minas.' So he said to this one also, 'And you be over five cities.' And another came, saying, 'Sir, behold your mina, which I had put away for safekeeping in a piece of cloth. For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man--you withdraw what you did not deposit, and you reap what you did not sow!' He said to him, '{By your own words} I will judge you, wicked slave! You knew that I am a severe man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. And why did you not give my money to the bank, and I, [when I] returned, would have collected it with interest?' And to the bystanders he said, 'Take away from him the mina and give [it] to the one who has the ten minas!' And they said to him, 'Sir, he has ten minas.' 'I tell you that to everyone who has, [more] will be given. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. But these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them--bring [them] here and slaughter them [in] my presence!'" And [after he] had said these [things], he traveled on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. And it happened that when he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, to the hill called [the Mount] of Olives, he sent two of the disciples,
And he entered into the temple [courts] [and] began to drive out those who were selling,
"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.
to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth of everything--in the first place, [his name] is translated "king of righteousness," and then also "king of Salem," that is, "king of peace";
For he was expecting the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder [is] God.
And I will grant [authority] to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy [for one] thousand two hundred sixty days, dressed in sackcloth."
Hastings
JERUSALEM
I. Situation.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. (He was the priest of God Most High).
And he said, "Take your son, your only child, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains where I will tell you."
When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, I will wipe them out.
Joshua said, "By this you will know that [the] living God [is] in your midst, and he will certainly drive out the Canaanites {from before you}, and the Hittites, Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites.
Then the border goes up [by] the Valley of Ben Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites from [the] south (that [is], Jerusalem); and the border goes up to the top of the mountain that [lies] opposite the valley of Hinnom to the west, which is at the end of the valley of Rephaim to the north;
the border goes down to the foot of the mountain, which [is] opposite the Valley of Ben Hinnom, which [is] in the valley of Rephaim to the north; then it does down the valley of Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites to the south, and then it goes down [to] En Rogel.
Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that [is], Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath; fourteen cities and their villages. This [is] the inheritance of the descendants of Benjamin according to their families.
Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that [is], Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath; fourteen cities and their villages. This [is] the inheritance of the descendants of Benjamin according to their families.
At Bezek they came upon Adoni-bezek, and they fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. And Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued after him; they caught him and cut off {his thumbs and big toes}. read more. Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings with {their thumbs and big toes} cut off used to pick up [scraps] under my table; just as I have done, so God has repaid to me. And they brought him [to] Jerusalem, and he died there. The descendants of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, {put it to the sword}, and {set the city on fire}.
But the descendants of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived among the descendants of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
But the descendants of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived among the descendants of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
But the man was not willing to spend the night, and he got up and went; and he arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). [He had] with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine. They [were] near Jebus, and {the day was far spent}, and the servant said to his master, "Please, come, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and let us spend the night in it."
They [were] near Jebus, and {the day was far spent}, and the servant said to his master, "Please, come, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and let us spend the night in it."
David [was] thirty years old when he began to reign; he reigned forty years. He reigned over Judah at Hebron [for] seven years and six months; and he reigned over all Israel and Judah at Jerusalem [for] thirty-three years. read more. The king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. They said to David, "You will not come here, for even the blind and the lame can turn you back, saying, 'David cannot come here.'" David captured the fortress of Zion, the city of David. David had said, "On that day {when we attack the Jebusites}, one must attack the lame and the blind, [those] who hate the soul of David, by [means of] the water supply." For thus the blind and the lame would say, "He cannot come into the house." David occupied the fortress and called it the city of David. And David built all around [it] from the Millo and {inward}.
David occupied the fortress and called it the city of David. And David built all around [it] from the Millo and {inward}. David {continued growing stronger and stronger}, and Yahweh the God of hosts [was] with him.
When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, Yahweh regretted about the evil, and he said to the angel who brought destruction among the people, "Enough, now relax your hand." Now the angel of Yahweh [was] at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
This [is] the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the house of Yahweh and his house, the Millo, the walls of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
As soon as the daughter of Pharaoh went up from the city of David to her house which he built for her, then he built the Millo.
As soon as the daughter of Pharaoh went up from the city of David to her house which he built for her, then he built the Millo.
This [is] the reason that he rebelled against the king: [when] Solomon built the Millo, he closed the gap of the city of David his father.
It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem,
and another third at the gate of Sur, and a third at the gate behind the runners, shall guard the post of the palace alternately.
Jehoash king of Judah took all of the holy objects that Jehoshaphat, Joram, and Ahaziah his ancestors, the kings of Judah, had devoted, and all his holy objects and all of the gold found in the treasuries of the temple of Yahweh, and [in] the palace of the king, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram, so that he went up from Jerusalem.
Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-Shemesh. Then they came [to] Jerusalem, and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim up to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits! He also took all of the gold and silver and all the vessels found [in] the temple of Yahweh and in the treasury rooms of the palace of the king, as well as the {hostages}; then he returned to Samaria.
Only the high places were not removed; the people still [were] sacrificing and offering incense on the high places. He built the upper gate of the temple of Yahweh.
Then Rezin the king of Aram went up [with] Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel against Jerusalem for battle, and they besieged Ahaz but were not able to {defeat} him.
In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all of the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.
It happened in that night that an angel of Yahweh went out, and he struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of Assyria. When they got up early in the morning, look! All of them [were] dead corpses.
Now the remainder of the acts of Hezekiah, all of his powerful [deeds], and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought the water into the city, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?
Jehoiachin king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his court officials. The king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, and as [he was about] to destroy [it], Yahweh saw and was grieved on account of the calamity. Then he said to the angel, the destroyer, "[It is] enough; slacken your hand." And the angel of Yahweh was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
For Shuppim and Hosah [it went out] for the west, at the gate of Shalleketh, on the road that goes up, guard for guard.
And Yahweh stirred up the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs who [were] {near} the Cushites against Jehoram.
And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and he strengthened them.
And he made siege machines in Jerusalem designed [by] skillful men to be [set] upon the towers and upon the corners to shoot arrows and large slingstones. And his fame went out far, for he helped marvelously, for he was strong.
Then afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of the Gihon in the valley, and for the entrance into the Gate of the Fishes. And it encircled the Ophel and raised it very high. Then he placed strong commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.
Malkijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-Moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens.
Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and erected its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall up to the Dung Gate.
Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and erected its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall up to the Dung Gate.
Shallun son of Col-Hozeh, the commander of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and erected its doors, its bolts, its bars, and [he built] the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king's garden, right up to the steps going down from the city of David.
Yahweh has sworn and he will not change [his mind], "You [are] a priest forever according to the manner of Melchizedek."
Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, "Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on [the] highway of [the] washer's field.
Look, you trust in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, which [if] a man leans on it, goes into his hand and bores through it! Such [is] Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all those who trust in him.
And [the] Spirit lifted me up, and it brought me to the eastern gate, the one facing east, of the temple of Yahweh. And look, there were twenty-five men in the doorway of the gate, and I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur in the midst of them, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, the commanders of the people.
And they recognized him, that this one was the one who used to sit [asking] for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him.
Morish
Jeru'salem
Great interest naturally attaches to this city because of its O.T. and N.T. histories, and its future glory. The signification of the name is somewhat uncertain: some give it as 'the foundation of peace;' others 'the possession of peace.' Its history has, alas, been anything but that of peace; but Hag 2:9 remains to be fulfilled: "in this place will I give peace," doubtless referring to the meaning of 'Jerusalem.' The name is first recorded in Jos 10:1 when Adoni-zedec was its king, before Israel had anything to do with it, and four hundred years before David obtained full possession of the city. 2Sa 5:6-9. This name may therefore have been given it by the Canaanites, though it was also called JEBUS. Jg 19:10. It is apparently symbolically called SALEM, 'peace,' in Ps 76:2;* and ARIEL, 'the lion of God,' in Isa 29:1-2,7; in Isa 52:1 'the holy city,' as it is also in Mt 4:5; 27:53. The temple being built there, and Mount Zion forming a part of the city, made Jerusalem typical of the place of blessing on earth, as it certainly will be in a future day, when Israel is restored.
* On the TELL AMARNA TABLETS (see THE TELL AMARNA TABLETS under 'Egypt') Jerusalem occurs several times as u-ru-sa-lim, the probable signification of which is 'city of peace.'
Jerusalem was taken from the Jebusites and the city burnt, Jg 1:8; but the Jebusites were not all driven out, for some were found dwelling in a part of Jerusalem called the fort, when David began to reign over the whole of the tribes. This stronghold was taken, and Jerusalem became the royal city; but the great interest that attaches to it arises from its being the city of Jehovah's election on the one hand, and the place of Jehovah's temple, where mercy rejoiced over judgement. See ZION and MORIAH. In Solomon's reign it was greatly enriched, and the temple built. At the division of the kingdom it was the chief city of Judah. It was plundered several times, and in B.C. 588 the temple and city were destroyed by the king of Babylon. In B.C. 536, after 70 years (from B.C. 606, when the first captivity took place, Jer 25:11-12; 29:10), Cyrus made a declaration that God had charged him to build Him a house at Jerusalem, and the captives were allowed to return for the purpose. In B.C. 455 the commission to build the city was given to Nehemiah. It existed, under many vicissitudes, until the time of the Lord, when it was part of the Roman empire. Owing to the rebellion of the Jews it was destroyed by the Romans, A.D. 70.
Its ruins had a long rest, but in A.D. 136 the city was rebuilt by Hadrian and called ?lia Capitolina. A temple to the Capitoline Jupiter was erected on the site of the temple. Jews were forbidden, on pain of death, to enter the city, but in the fourth century they were admitted once a year. Constantine after his conversion destroyed the heathen temples in the city. In A.D. 614 Jerusalem was taken and pillaged by the Persians. In 628 it was re-taken by Heraclius. Afterwards it fell into the hands of the Turks. In 1099 it was captured by the Crusaders, but was re-taken by Saladin. In 1219 it was ceded to the Christians, but was subsequently captured by Kharezmian hordes. In 1277 it was nominally annexed to the kingdom of Sicily. In 1517 it passed under the sway of the Ottoman Sultan, and became a part of the Turkish empire. It has already sustained about thirty sieges, and although in the hands of the Jews now its desolations are not yet over!
The beautiful situation of Jerusalem is noticed in scripture; it stands about 2593 feet above the sea, and the mountains round about it are spoken of as its security. Ps 125:2; La 2:15. Between the mountains and the city there are valleys on three sides: on the east the valley of the Kidron, or Jehoshaphat; on the west the valley of Gihon; and on the south the valley of Hinnom. The Mount of Olives is on the east, from whence the best view of Jerusalem is to be had. On the S.W. lies the Mount of Offence, so called because it is supposed that Solomon practised idolatry there. On the south is the Hill of Evil Counsel; the origin of which name is said to be that Caiaphas had a villa there, in which a council was held to put the Lord to death. But these and many other names commonly placed on maps, have no other authority than that of tradition. To the north the land is comparatively level, so that the attacks on the city were made on that side.
The city, as it now stands surrounded by walls, contains only about one-third of a square mile. Its north wall running S.W. extends from angle to angle, without noticing irregularities, about 3930 feet; the east 2754 feet; the south 3425 feet; and the west 2086 feet; the circumference being about two and a third English miles. Any one accustomed to the area of modern cities is struck with the small size of Jerusalem. Josephus says that its circumference in his day was 33 stadia, which is more than three and three-quarters English miles. It is clear that on the south a portion was included which is now outside the city. Also on the north an additional wall enclosed a large portion, now called BEZETHA; but this latter enclosure was made by Herod Agrippa some ten or twelve years after the time of the Lord. Traces of these additional walls have been discovered and extensive excavations on the south have determined the true position of the wall.
Several gates are mentioned in the O.T. which cannot be traced; it is indeed most probable they do not now exist. On the north is the Damascus gate, and one called Herod's gate walled up; on the east an open gate called St. Stephen's, and a closed one called the Golden gate; on the south Zion gate, and a small one called Dung gate; on the west Jaffa gate. A street runs nearly north from Zion gate to Damascus gate; and a street from the Jaffa gate runs eastward to the Mosque enclosure These two streets divide the city into four quarters of unequal size. Since the formation of the State of Israel a large modern city has built up to the North West of the Old City.
There is a fifth portion on the extreme S.E. called MORIAH, agreeing, as is supposed, with the Mount Moriah of the O.T., on some portion of which the temple was most probably built. It is now called 'the Mosque enclosure,' because on it are built two mosques. It is a plateau of about 35 acres, all level except where a portion of the rock projects near the centre, over which the Mosque of Omar is built. To obtain this large plain, walls had to be built up at the sides of the sloping rock, forming with arches many chambers, tier above tier. Some chambers are devoted to cisterns, and others are called Solomon's stables. That horses have been kept there at some time appears evident from rings being found attached to the walls, to which the horses were tethered.
Josephus speaks of Jerusalem being built upon two hills with a valley between, called the TYROPOEON VALLEY. This lies on the west of the Mosque enclosure and runs nearly north and south. Over this valley the remains of two bridges have been discovered: the one on the south is called the 'Robinson arch,' because that traveller discovered it. He judged that some stones which jutted out from the west wall of the enclosure must have been part of a large arch. This was proved to have been the case by corresponding parts of the arch being discovered on the opposite side of the valley. Another arch was found complete, farther north, by Captain Wilson, and is called the 'Wilson arch.' Below these arches were others, and aqueducts.
Nearly the whole of this valley is filled with rubbish. There may have been another valley running across the above, as some suppose; but if so, that also is choked with debris, indeed the modern city appears to have been built upon the ruins of former ones, as is implied in the prophecy of Jer 9:11; 30:18. The above-named bridges would unite the Mosque enclosure, or Temple area, with the S.W. portion of the city, which is supposed to have included ZION.
The Jews are not allowed in the Temple area, therefore they assemble on a spot near Robinson's arch, called the JEWS' WAILING PLACE, where they can approach the walls of the area which are built of very
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And it happened that when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua captured Ai and had utterly destroyed it (just as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he did to Ai and its king) and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them,
The descendants of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, {put it to the sword}, and {set the city on fire}.
But the man was not willing to spend the night, and he got up and went; and he arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). [He had] with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine.
The king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. They said to David, "You will not come here, for even the blind and the lame can turn you back, saying, 'David cannot come here.'" David captured the fortress of Zion, the city of David. read more. David had said, "On that day {when we attack the Jebusites}, one must attack the lame and the blind, [those] who hate the soul of David, by [means of] the water supply." For thus the blind and the lame would say, "He cannot come into the house." David occupied the fortress and called it the city of David. And David built all around [it] from the Millo and {inward}.
When the king commanded, they quarried great stones [and] precious stones to lay [the] foundation of the house [with] hewn stones.
Now while the temple was being built, it was built [with] stones finished [at the] quarry, [so that] no hammer or stone shaping tool or any instrument of iron was heard in the temple as it was being built.
[As] mountains [are] round about Jerusalem, so Yahweh [is] round about his people, from now until forever.
And {even if only a tenth part remain}, {again she will be destroyed} like terebinth or like [an] oak, which although felled, a tree stump [remains] in them. [The] seed of holiness [will be] her tree stump."
Ah! Assyria, the rod of my anger, and a staff is in their hand: my wrath! I send him against a godless nation, and I command him against the people of my wrath, to capture spoil and to carry off plunder, and to make them a trampling place, like [the] clay of [the] streets.
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and you have not remembered the rock of your refuge; therefore you plant plants of pleasantness, and you {plant} a vine of a foreigner. On your planting day you make [them] grow, and in the morning [of] your sowing you bring [them] into bloom, [yet] the harvest will flee in a day [of] sickness and incurable pain.
Ah! Ariel, Ariel, [the] city [where] David encamped! Add year to year, let festivals recur. Yet I will inflict Ariel, and there shall be mourning and lamentation, and it shall be to me like an altar hearth.
And the multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, all those who fight [against] her and her stronghold, and those who inflict her shall be like dream, a vision of [the] night.
Awake! Awake; put on your strength, Zion! Put on the garments of your beauty, Jerusalem, {holy city}! For [the] uncircumcised and [the] unclean shall not {continue to} enter you any longer.
Thus says Yahweh: "Heaven [is] my throne, and the earth [is] the footstool for my feet. Where [is] this house that you would build for me? And where [is] this resting place for me? And my hand has made all these [things], and all these {came to be}," {declares} Yahweh, "but I look to this [one]: to [the] humble and [the] contrite of spirit and [the one] frightened at my word. read more. The one who slaughters bull strikes a man; the one who slaughters lamb for sacrifice breaks the neck [of] a dog. The one who offers an offering, [the] blood of swine; the one who offers frankincense blesses an idol. Indeed, they themselves have chosen their ways, and their soul delights in their abhorrence.
And I will make Jerusalem as heaps [of ruins], a lair of jackals, and the towns of Judah I will make a desolation, {without inhabitants}.
And all this land will become a site of ruins, a desolation, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. {And then} when [the] seventy years [are] fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,' {declares} Yahweh, 'for their iniquity, and [the] land of [the] Chaldeans, and I will make it {an everlasting waste}.
For thus says Yahweh, '{As soon as the time has passed}, seventy years for Babylon, I will attend to you, and I will fulfill my good word to you, to bring you back to this place.
Thus says Yahweh: 'Look, I [will] restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob, and I will have compassion on his dwellings, and [the] city will be rebuilt upon its mound, and [the] citadel fortress will stand on its rightful site.
"Look, days [are] coming," {declares} Yahweh, "and the city will be rebuilt for Yahweh, from the Tower of Hananel [to] the Corner Gate. And {the measuring line} will still go out immediately in front [of] it to the hill of Gareb, and it will turn [to] Goah. read more. And the whole of the valley [of] the corpses, and the ashes, and all the cultivated fields up to the wadi of Kidron, up to the corner of the Gate of the Horses [toward the] east [will be] holy to Yahweh. It will not be uprooted, and it will not be overthrown again {forever}."
They clap hands over you, all who pass along the way; they hiss and they shake their head, at the daughter of Jerusalem. Is this the city of which it is said, "A perfection of beauty, a joy for all the earth?"
And {the remaining part} of five thousand [cubits] in the width {by} twenty-five thousand [cubits], [is] unholy; it is for the city as dwelling and as pastureland; and the city will be [located] {in the middle of it}. And these [shall be] its measurements: [on] its side to [the] north, four thousand five hundred [cubits]; and [on] its side to [the] south, four thousand five hundred [cubits]; and [on] {the eastern side}, four thousand five hundred [cubits]; and [on] {the western side}, four thousand five hundred [cubits]. read more. And a pastureland shall be for the city northwards, two hundred and fifty [cubits], southwards two hundred and fifty [cubits], and eastwards two hundred and fifty [cubits], and westwards two hundred and fifty [cubits]. And the rest in [its] length {alongside} {the holy district}, ten thousand [cubits] eastwards and ten thousand westwards; and it shall be {alongside} {the holy district} and its yield shall be as food for the workers of the city. And the workers of the city from all the tribes of Israel shall cultivate it. All of the contribution, twenty-five thousand by twenty five thousand [cubits] square, you shall set apart [as] {the holy district} [along] with the property of the city.
And these [shall be] the exits of the city: From {the north side}, four thousand and five hundred [cubits] [by] measurement. And the gates of the city [shall be] according to the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates [to the] north, the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one. read more. And on [the] east side, four thousand five hundred [cubits], [and] three gates, and [so] the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one. And [on] [the] south side, four thousand five hundred [cubits] by measurement, and [so] three gates, the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one. [And] on the west side, four thousand five hundred [cubits], [and] their gates three, the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one. All around [the city] [is] eighteen thousand [cubits], and the name of the city from [that] day [is] "Yahweh [Is] There"!
'The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,' says Yahweh of hosts, 'and in this place I will give peace' {declares} Yahweh of hosts.'"
Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Old men and old women shall again sit in the public squares of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand {because of great age}.
Look! A day [is] coming for Yahweh, when your plunder will be divided in your midst. I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, and they will loot the houses, and the women will be raped; half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be cut off from the city.
{And then} on that day, living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea, and the other half to the western sea; it will happen [both] in the summer and in the winter. And Yahweh will be king over all the earth; on that day Yahweh will be one and his name one. read more. All the land will be transformed into a desert plateau from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But it will rise up high and it will stay in its place from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of [the] former gate, up to the Corner Gate and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses.
Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the highest point of the temple
and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
Smith
Jeru'salem
(the habitation of peace), Jerusalem stands in latitude 31 degrees 46' 35" north and longitude 35 degrees 18' 30" east of Greenwich. It is 32 miles distant from the sea and 18 from the Jordan, 20 from Hebron and 36 from Samaria. "In several respects," says Dean Stanley, "its situation is singular among the cities of Palestine. Its elevation is remarkable; occasioned not from its being on the summit of one of the numerous hills of Judea, like most of the towns and villages, but because it is on the edge of one of the highest table-lands of the country. Hebron indeed is higher still by some hundred feet, and from the south, accordingly (even from Bethlehem), the approach to Jerusalem is by a slight descent. But from any other side the ascent is perpetual; and to the traveller approaching the city from the east or west it must always have presented the appearance beyond any other capital of the then known world --we may say beyond any important city that has ever existed on the earth --of a mountain city; breathing, as compared with the sultry plains of Jordan, a mountain air; enthroned, as compared with jericho or Damascus, Gaza or Tyre, on a mountain fastness." --S. & P. 170,
1. Jerusalem, if not actually in the centre of Palestine, was yet virtually so. "It was on the ridge, the broadest and most strongly-marked ridge of the backbone of the complicated hills which extend through the whole country from the plain of Esdraelon to the desert." Roads. --There appear to have been but two main approaches to the city:--
1. From the Jordan valley by Jericho and the Mount of Olives. This was the route commonly taken from the north and east of the country.
2. From the great maritime plain of Philistia and Sharon. This road led by the two Beth-horons up to the high ground at Gibeon, whence it turned south, and came to Jerusalem by Ramah and Gibeah, and over the ridge north of the city. Topography. --To convey an idea of the position of Jerusalem, we may say, roughly, that the city occupies the southern termination of the table-land which is cut off from the country round it on its west, south and east sides by ravines more than usually deep and precipitous. These ravines leave the level of the table-land, the one on the west and the other on the northeast of the city, and fall rapidly until they form a junction below its southeast corner. The eastern one --the valley of the Kedron, commonly called the valley of Jehoshaphat --runs nearly straight from north by south. But the western one --the valley of Hinnom-- runs south for a time, and then takes a sudden bend to the east until it meets the valley of Jehoshaphat, after which the two rush off as one to the Dead Sea. How sudden is their descent may be gathered from the fact that the level at the point of junction -about a mile and a quarter from the starting-point of each-- is more than 600 feet below that of the upper plateau from which they began their descent. So steep is the fall of the ravines, so trench-like their character, and so close do they keep to the promontory at whose feet they run, as to leave on the beholder almost the impression of the ditch at the foot of a fortress rather than of valleys formed by nature. The promontory thus encircled is itself divided by a longitudinal ravine running up it from south to north, called the valley of the Tyropoeon, rising gradually from the south, like the external ones, till at last it arrives at the level of the upper plateau, dividing the central mass into two unequal portions. Of these two, that on the west is the higher and more massive, on which the city of Jerusalem now stands, and in fact always stood. The hill on the east is considerably lower and smaller, so that to a spectator from the south the city appears to slope sharply toward the east. Here was the temple, and here stands now the great Mohammedan sanctuary with its mosques and domes. The name of MOUNT ZION has been applied to the western hill from the time of Constantine to the present day. The eastern hill, called MOUNT MORIAH in
See Mount
See Mount, Mountain
See Zion
See Moriah
was as already remarked, the site of the temple. It was situated in the southwest angle of the area, now known as the Haram area, and was, as we learn from Josephus, an exact square of a stadium, or 600 Greek feet, on each side. (Conder ("Bible Handbook," 1879) states that by the latest surveys the Haram area is a quadrangle with unequal sides. The west wall measures 1601 feet, the south 922, the east 1530, the north 1042. It is thus nearly a mile in circumference, and contains 35 acres. --ED.) Attached to the northwest angle of the temple was the Antonia, a tower or fortress. North of the side of the temple is the building now known to Christians as the Mosque of Omar, but by Moslems called the Dome of the Rock. The southern continuation of the eastern hill was named OPHEL, which gradually came to a point at the junction of the valleys Tyropoeon and Jehoshaphat; and the norther BEZETHA, "the new city," first noticed by Josephus, which was separated from Moriah by an artificial ditch, and overlooked the valley of Kedron on the east; this hill was enclosed within the walls of Herod Agrippa. Lastly, ACRA lay westward of Moriah and northward of Zion, and formed the "lower city" in the time of Josephus.
See Ophel
Walls. --These are described by Josephus. The first or old wall was built by David and Solomon, and enclosed Zion and part of Mount Moriah. (The second wall enclosed a portion of the city called Acra or Millo, on the north of the city, from the tower of Mariamne to the tower of Antonia. It was built as the city enlarged in size; begun by Uzziah 140 years after the first wall was finished, continued by Jotham 50 years later, and by Manasseh 100 years later still. It was restored by Nehemiah. Even the latest explorations have failed to decide exactly what was its course. (See Conder's Handbook of the Bible, art. Jerusalem.) The third wall was built by King Herod Agrippa, and was intended to enclose the suburbs which had grown out on the northern sides of the city, which before this had been left exposed. After describing these walls, Josephus adds that the whole circumference of the city was 33 stadia, or nearly four English miles, which is as near as may be the extent indicated by the localities. He then adds that the number of towers in the old wall was 60, the middle wall 40, and the new wall 99. Water Supply --(Jerusalem had no natural water supply, unless we so consider the "Fountain of the Virgin," which wells up with an intermittent action from under Ophel. The private citizens had cisterns, which were supplied by the rain from the roofs; and the city had a water supply "perhaps the most complete and extensive ever undertaken by a city," and which would enable it to endure a long siege. There were three aqueducts, a number of pools and fountains, and the temple area was honeycombed with great reservoirs, whose total capacity is estimated at 10,000,000 gallons. Thirty of these reservoirs are described, varying from 25 to 50 feet in depth; and one, call the great Sea, would hold 2,000,000 gallons. These reservoirs and the pools were supplied with water by the rainfall and by the aqueducts. One of these, constructed by Pilate, has been traced for 40 miles, though in a straight line the distance is but 13 miles. It brought water from the spring Elam, on the south, beyond Bethlehem, into the reservoirs under the temple enclosure. --ED.) Pools and fountains. --A part of the system of water supply. Outside the walls on the west side were the Upper and Lower Pools of GIHON, the latter close under Zion, the former more to the northwest on the Jaffa road. At the junction of the valleys of Hinnom and Jehoshaphat was ENROGEL, the "Well of Job," in the midst of the king's gardens. Within the walls, immediately north of Zion, was the "Pool of Hezekiah." A large pool existing beneath the temple (referred to in Ecclus. 1:3) was probably supplied by some subterranean aqueduct. The "King's Pool" was probably identical with the "Fountain of the Virgin," at the southern angle of Moriah. It possesses the peculiar
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. (He was the priest of God Most High).
And it happened that when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua captured Ai and had utterly destroyed it (just as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he did to Ai and its king) and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them,
The descendants of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, {put it to the sword}, and {set the city on fire}.
and another third at the gate of Sur, and a third at the gate behind the runners, shall guard the post of the palace alternately.
and another third at the gate of Sur, and a third at the gate behind the runners, shall guard the post of the palace alternately.
He took the commanders of the hundreds and the Carites and the runners and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the temple of Yahweh. And they marched by the way of the runner's gate [to] the palace of the king, and he sat on the throne of the kings.
Only the high places were not removed; the people still [were] sacrificing and offering incense on the high places. He built the upper gate of the temple of Yahweh.
Then the city was breached, and all of the men of war [entered] by night by way of the gate between the wall which was by the garden of the king, and the Chaldeans [were] against the city all around, so he left by the way of the Arabah.
For Shuppim and Hosah [it went out] for the west, at the gate of Shalleketh, on the road that goes up, guard for guard.
Then Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had established, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
and one third at the house of the king, and one third at the Gate of the Foundation. And all the people [shall be] in the courtyards of the house of Yahweh.
And Joash the king of Israel captured Amaziah the king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-Shemesh. And they brought him [to] Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits.
And Joash the king of Israel captured Amaziah the king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-Shemesh. And they brought him [to] Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits.
And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and he strengthened them.
And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and he strengthened them.
And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and he gathered them into the eastern square.
And he appointed commanders for battle over the people and gathered them to himself into the public square of the gate of the city. And he spoke to their hearts, saying,
Then afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of the Gihon in the valley, and for the entrance into the Gate of the Fishes. And it encircled the Ophel and raised it very high. Then he placed strong commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.
Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month on the twentieth day of the month. All the people sat in the public square of the house of God trembling because of this matter and from the rains.
I went out during the night at the gate of the valley by the Dragon spring and to the Dung Gate. And I examined the walls in Jerusalem and its gates that had been destroyed by the fire.
I went out during the night at the gate of the valley by the Dragon spring and to the Dung Gate. And I examined the walls in Jerusalem and its gates that had been destroyed by the fire.
So I went up by the valley during the night and was examining the wall. Then I returned and came to the Valley Gate and returned.
Then Eliashib the high priest and his brothers the priests arose and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and erected its doors. They consecrated it up to the Tower of the Hundred and up to the Tower of Hananel.
Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and erected its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall up to the Dung Gate.
Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and erected its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall up to the Dung Gate.
Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and erected its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall up to the Dung Gate.
Shallun son of Col-Hozeh, the commander of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and erected its doors, its bolts, its bars, and [he built] the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king's garden, right up to the steps going down from the city of David.
Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his house. After them Zadok son of Immer repaired opposite his house. After him Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, keeper of the East Gate, repaired.
After him Malkijah, {one of the goldsmiths}, repaired up to the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Enrollment Gate and up to the upper room of the corner. Between the upper room of the corner to the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and merchants repaired.
All of the people gathered as one to the public square before the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses that Yahweh had commanded Israel.
He read from it facing the public square before the Water Gate from dawn until noon that day, opposite the men, women, and those with understanding. The ears of all the people [were attentive] to the book of the law.
So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, in their courtyards, in the courtyards of the house of God, in the public square of the Water Gate, and in the public square of the Gate of Ephraim.
So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, in their courtyards, in the courtyards of the house of God, in the public square of the Water Gate, and in the public square of the Gate of Ephraim.
At the Fountain Gate opposite them they went up the steps of the city of David, at the assent to the wall, over the house of David, and up to the Water Gate to the east.
At the Fountain Gate opposite them they went up the steps of the city of David, at the assent to the wall, over the house of David, and up to the Water Gate to the east.
and over the Gate of Ephraim, at the Old Gate, at the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, and [to] the Sheep Gate. And they [stopped and] stood at the Gate of the Guard.
and over the Gate of Ephraim, at the Old Gate, at the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, and [to] the Sheep Gate. And they [stopped and] stood at the Gate of the Guard.
and over the Gate of Ephraim, at the Old Gate, at the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, and [to] the Sheep Gate. And they [stopped and] stood at the Gate of the Guard.
and over the Gate of Ephraim, at the Old Gate, at the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, and [to] the Sheep Gate. And they [stopped and] stood at the Gate of the Guard.
"Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem, and look please, and take note, and search at its public squares, if you can find a person [who] does justice, [who] seeks honesty, so that I may forgive it.
For the number of your towns are your gods, Judah, and the number of the streets of Jerusalem [are the] altars you have set up to the shameful things, to make smoke offerings to Baal.
Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that [were] in the upper Gate of Benjamin, which [was] by the temple of Yahweh.
"Look, days [are] coming," {declares} Yahweh, "and the city will be rebuilt for Yahweh, from the Tower of Hananel [to] the Corner Gate.
And the whole of the valley [of] the corpses, and the ashes, and all the cultivated fields up to the wadi of Kidron, up to the corner of the Gate of the Horses [toward the] east [will be] holy to Yahweh. It will not be uprooted, and it will not be overthrown again {forever}."
{And when} he [was] at the Gate of Benjamin, there [was] {a sentry on duty} whose name [was] Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, {saying}, "You [are] deserting to the Chaldeans!"
So King Zedekiah commanded, and they handed Jeremiah over in the courtyard of the guard, and they gave to him a round loaf of bread from the street of the bakers {every day} until the finishing of all the bread from the city. And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.
"And there shall be on that day"--a declaration of Yahweh-- "a {loud outcry} from the Fish Gate, and a wailing from the Second District, and a loud crashing from the hills.
All the land will be transformed into a desert plateau from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But it will rise up high and it will stay in its place from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of [the] former gate, up to the Corner Gate and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses.
All the land will be transformed into a desert plateau from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But it will rise up high and it will stay in its place from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of [the] former gate, up to the Corner Gate and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses.
All the land will be transformed into a desert plateau from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But it will rise up high and it will stay in its place from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of [the] former gate, up to the Corner Gate and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses.
Watsons
JERUSALEM, formerly called Jebus, or Salem, Jos 18:28; Heb 7:2, the capital of Judea, situated partly in the tribe of Benjamin, and partly in that of Judah. It was not completely reduced by the Israelites till the reign of David, 2Sa 5:6-9. As Jerusalem was the centre of the true worship, Ps 122:4, and the place where God did in a peculiar manner dwell, first in the tabernacle, 2Sa 6:7,12; 1Ch 15:1; 16:1; Ps 132:13; 135:2, and afterward in the temple, 1Ki 6:13; so it is used figuratively to denote the church, or the celestial society, to which all that believe, both Jews and Gentiles, are come, and in which they are initiated, Ga 4:26; Heb 12:22; Re 3:12; 21:2,10. Jerusalem was situated in a stony and barren soil, and was about sixty furlongs in length, according to Strabo. The territory and places adjacent were well watered, having the fountains of Gihon and Siloam, and the brook Kidron, at the foot of its walls; and, beside these, there were the waters of Ethan, which Pilate had conveyed through aqueducts into the city. The ancient city of Jerusalem, or Jebus, which David took from the Jebusites, was not very large. It was seated upon a mountain southward of the temple. The opposite mountain, situated to the north, is Sion, where David built a new city, which he called the city of David, whereto was the royal palace, and the temple of the Lord. The temple was built upon Mount Moriah, which was one of the little hills belonging to Mount Sion.
Through the reigns of David and Solomon, Jerusalem was the metropolis of the whole Jewish kingdom, and continued to increase in wealth and splendour. It was resorted to at the festivals by the whole population of the country; and the power and commercial spirit of Solomon, improving the advantages acquired by his father David, centred in it most of the eastern trade, both by sea, through the ports of Elath and Ezion-Geber, and over land, by the way of Tadmor or Palmyra. Or, at least, though Jerusalem might not have been made a depot of merchandise, the quantity of precious metals flowing into it by direct importation, and by duties imposed on goods passing to the ports of the Mediterranean, and in other directions, was unbounded. Some idea of the prodigious wealth of Jerusalem at this time may be formed by stating, that the quantity of gold left by David for the use of the temple amounted to
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that [is], Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath; fourteen cities and their villages. This [is] the inheritance of the descendants of Benjamin according to their families.
The king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. They said to David, "You will not come here, for even the blind and the lame can turn you back, saying, 'David cannot come here.'" David captured the fortress of Zion, the city of David. read more. David had said, "On that day {when we attack the Jebusites}, one must attack the lame and the blind, [those] who hate the soul of David, by [means of] the water supply." For thus the blind and the lame would say, "He cannot come into the house." David occupied the fortress and called it the city of David. And David built all around [it] from the Millo and {inward}.
{Then the anger of Yahweh was kindled} against Uzza, and God struck him down there because of the indiscretion, and he died there beside the ark of God.
It [was] told to King David, "Yahweh has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and all that [is] his because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the city of David with jubilation.
And I will dwell {among} the {Israelites}, and I will not forsake my people Israel."
and he took the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and he took all the treasures of the king's house. He took the small gold shields that Solomon had made, so King Rehoboam made small copper shields in place of them and {entrusted them} to the commanders of the royal guard who keep the doorway of the king's house.
In the reign of Ahasuerus, at the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated from Aramaic.
Then the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped, and was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Then King Darius issued forth a decree, and they searched the house of the treasury of scrolls being stored in Babylonia. But it was in Ecbatana in the province of Media, in the citadel, that a certain scroll had written on it, "A record. read more. In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued forth a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem. Let the house be built, the place where sacrifices are offered and let its foundations be raised. Its height [shall be] sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, with three layers of great stones and a layer of timber. Let the new expenses be paid from the house of the king. Also, let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylonia, be returned and brought to the temple in Jerusalem to its place. Put them in the house of God." "Now then, Tattenai governor of [the province] Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates, the envoys who are in [the province] Beyond the River--keep far away from there. Leave this work of the house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God on its site. And I issue forth a decree for what you should do for these elders of the Jews to build this house of God. The full expense will be paid to these men from the riches of the king from the taxes of [the province] Beyond the River, without delay. Whatever may be needed--{young bulls}, young rams, sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil for the priests in Jerusalem--let it be given to them day by day with no negligence, that they may offer incense offerings to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his children. Furthermore, I issue forth a decree that if any person violates this decree, let a beam be pulled out from his house and let him be impaled on it. And let his house be made a pile of rubble on [account of] this. May the God who has set his name there overthrow any king or people who sets his hand to alter [or] to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, issue forth a decree. Let it be done with diligence." Then Tattenai the governor of the [province] Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates consequently did with diligence what Darius the king ordered. So the elders of the Jews were building and prospering, through the prophecy of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building by the command of the God of Israel and by the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia. This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
where [the] tribes go up, the tribes of Yah [as] a testimony for Israel, to give thanks to the name of Yahweh.
How desolate the city sits [that] was full of people! She has become like a widow, [once] great among the nations! Like a woman of nobility in the provinces, she has become a forced laborer. She weeps bitterly in the night, her tears [are] on her cheeks; she has no comforter among all her lovers. All her friends have been unfaithful to her; they have become her enemies. read more. Judah has gone into exile with misery and under hard servitude; she lives among the nations, she has not found a resting place; all her pursuers have overtaken her amidst [her] distress. The roads of Zion [are] mourning because no one comes to the festival. All her gates [are] desolate, her priests groan; her young women [are] worried, and she herself suffers bitterly. Her foes have become [her] {master}, her enemies are at ease; Yahweh has made her suffer because of the greatness of her transgressions. Her children have gone away, captive before the foe. All her majesty has gone away from the daughter of Zion; her princes have become like young stags that have not found pasture; they have gone away without strength, before the pursuer.
How, {in his anger}, the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion in a cloud! He has thrown down from heavens [to] earth the splendor of Israel, and he has not remembered his footstool in the day of {his anger}. The Lord has devoured; he has not shown mercy to all the dwellings of Jacob; he has broken down in his wrath the fortifications of the daughter of Judah; he has leveled to the ground, he has dishonored the kingdom and its commanders. read more. He has cut down {in fierce anger} all the might of Israel; he has withdrawn his right hand from the faces of [the] enemy, and he has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire, it has consumed all around. He has bent his bow like an enemy; he has set his right hand like a foe, and he has slain all [the] treasures of [the] eye; in the tent of the daughter of Zion, he has poured out his anger like fire. The Lord has become like an enemy; he has destroyed Israel; he has destroyed all its citadel fortresses; he has ruined all its fortifications and multiplied lamentation and mourning in the daughter of Judah. He has broken down {his dwelling} place like the garden; he has ruined his appointed feasts; Yahweh has made [them] forget in Zion {festival} and Sabbath, and he has despised in his anger king and priest. The Lord has rejected his altar; he has rejected his sanctuary; he has delivered into the hands of the enemy the walls of its citadel fortresses. They have cried out in the house of Yahweh like a day of an appointed feast. Yahweh has planned to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He measured [with] a line; he has not restrained his hand from destroying; he caused rampart and wall to mourn; together they have languished away. Her gates have sunk into the earth; he has ruined and broken her bars, her kings and its princes [are] among the nations; there is no more law. Also, her prophets have not found a revelation from Yahweh.
They clap hands over you, all who pass along the way; they hiss and they shake their head, at the daughter of Jerusalem. Is this the city of which it is said, "A perfection of beauty, a joy for all the earth?"
And I will spread out my net on him, and he will be captured in my hunting snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die.
But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother.
to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth of everything--in the first place, [his name] is translated "king of righteousness," and then also "king of Salem," that is, "king of peace";
But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to tens of thousands of angels, to the festal gathering
The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never go outside again, and I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God, and my new name.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and lofty mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,