Reference: Urim and Thummim
Fausets
(See HIGH PRIEST; EPHOD.) ("lights and perfections".) The article "the" before each shows their distinctness. In De 33:8 the order is reversed "thy Thummim and thy Urim." Urim is alone in Nu 27:21; 1Sa 28:6 Saul is answered neither by dreams nor by Urim. Thummim is never by itself. Inside the high priest's breast-plate were placed the Urim and Thummim when he went in before the Lord (Ex 28:15-30; Le 8:8). Mentioned as already familiar to Moses and the people. Joshua, when desiring counsel to guide Israel, was to "stand before Eleazar the priest, who should ask it for him after the judgment of Urim before Jehovah" (Nu 27:21). Levi's glory was "thy Thummim and thy Urim are with thy Holy One," i.e. with Levi as representing, the whole priestly and Levitical stock sprung from him (De 33:8-9).
In Ezr 2:63 finally those who could not prove their priestly descent were excluded from the priesthood "till there should stand up a priest with Urim and Thummim." Theteraphim apparently were in Ho 3:4; Jg 17:5; 18:14,20,30, the unlawful substitute for Urim (compare 1Sa 15:23 "idolatry," Hebrew teraphim; and 2Ki 23:24, margin). Speaker's Commentary thinks that lots were the mode of consultation, as in Ac 1:26; Pr 16:33. More probably stones with Jehovah's name and attributes, "lights" and "perfections," engraven on them were folded within the ephod. By gazing at them the high priest with ephod on, before the Lord, was absorbed in heavenly ecstatic contemplation and by God was enabled to declare the divine will.
The Urim and Thummim were distinct from the 12 stones, and were placed within the folds of the double choshen. Philo says that the high priest's breast-plate was made strong in order that he might wear as an image the two virtues which his office needed. So the Egyptian judge used to wear the two figures of Thmei (corresponding to Thummim), truth and justice; over the heart of mummies of priests too was a symbol of light (answering to Urim). No image was tolerated on the Hebrew high priest; but in his choshen the white diamond or rock crystal engraven with "Jehovah," to which in Re 2:17 the "white stone" with the "new name written" corresponds, belonging to all believers, the New Testament king-priests. Compare Ge 44:5,15; Ps 43:5, "send out Thy light and Thy truth, let them lead me."
Also 1Sa 14:19. Never after David are the ephod and its Urim and Thummim and breast-plate used in consulting Jehovah. Abiathar is the last priest who uses it (1Sa 23:6-9; 28:6; 2Sa 21:1). The higher revelation by prophets superseded the Urim and Thummim. Music then, instead of visions, became the help to the state of prayer and praise in which prophets revealed God's will (1Sa 9:9).
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Is that not the cup of which my lord drinketh, and doth he not prophesy therein? Ye have evil done that ye have done.'"
And Joseph said unto them, "What deed is this which ye have done? Wist ye not that such a man as I can prophesy?"
And thou shalt make the breastlap of example with broidered work: even after the work of the ephod shalt thou make it: of gold, jacinth, scarlet, purple and twined bysse shalt thou make it. Foursquare it shall be and double, a hand breadth long and a hand breadth broad. read more. And thou shalt fill it with four rows of stones. In the first row shall be a Sardius, a Topaz and Smaragdus. The second row, a Ruby, Sapphire and Diamond. The third, Ligurius, an Agate and Amethyst. The fourth, a Turquoise, Onyx and Jasper. And they shall be set in gold in their enclosures. And the stones shall be graven as signets be graven: with the names of the children of Israel, even with twelve names every one with his name according to the twelve tribes. And thou shalt make upon the breastlap two fastening chains of pure gold and wreathen work. And thou shalt make likewise upon the breastlap two rings of gold and put them on the edges of the breastlap, and put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings which are in the edges of the breastlap. And the two ends of the two chains thou shalt fasten in the two rings, and put them upon the shoulders of the ephod: on the foreside of it. And thou shalt yet make two rings of gold, and put them in the two edges of the breastlap even in the borders thereof toward the inside of the ephod that is over against it. And yet two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and put them on the two sides of the ephod, beneath over against the breastlap, below where the sides are joined together upon the broidered girdle of the ephod. And they shall bind the breastlap by his rings unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of jacinth, that it may lie close unto the broidered girdle of the ephod, that the breastlap be not loosed from the ephod. "And Aaron shall bear the names of the children Israel in the breastlap of example upon his heart, when he goeth into the holy place, for a remembrance before the LORD always. And thou shalt put in the breastlap of example Light and Perfectness: that they be even upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the LORD and Aaron shall bear the example of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD always.
And he put the breastlap thereon, and put in the breastlap light and perfectness.
And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest which shall ask counsel for him, after the manner of the light, before the LORD: And at the mouth of Eleazar shall both he and all the children of Israel with him, and all the congregation, go in and out."
And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest which shall ask counsel for him, after the manner of the light, before the LORD: And at the mouth of Eleazar shall both he and all the children of Israel with him, and all the congregation, go in and out."
And unto Levi he said, "Thy perfectness and thy light be according unto the man of thy mercy, who thou hast tempted at Massah, when ye strove by the waters of strife.
And unto Levi he said, "Thy perfectness and thy light be according unto the man of thy mercy, who thou hast tempted at Massah, when ye strove by the waters of strife. He that sayeth unto his father and mother, 'I saw him not,' and unto his brethren, 'I knew not,' and to his son, 'I know not': for they have observed thy words and kept thy covenant.
And the man Micah had a chapel of gods, and made an ephod and images, and filled the hand of one of his sons which became his priest.
Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, "Know ye not that there is in these houses an ephod and images; and a graven image and an image of metal? Now therefore consider what ye have to do."
And the priest was glad and took the ephod and the images, and the graven image, and went with the people.
And the children of Dan set them up the graven image. And Jonathan the son of Gershon, the son of Manasseh and his sons were the priests unto the tribe of the Danites, until they were carried away out of the land captive.
Before time in Israel, when a man went to seek an answer of God, thus wise he spake: "Come, and let us go to the Seer." For he that is now called a prophet, was in the old time called a Seer.
And while Saul talked unto the priest, the people that were in the host of the Philistines ran more and more. And Saul said unto the priest, "Withdraw thine hand."
For rebelliousness is as the sin of witchcraft; and stubbornness is wickedness and idolatry. Because therefore thou hast cast away the word of the LORD, therefore hath the LORD cast away thee also, from being king."
And it chanced when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah that he brought an ephod in his hand. And it was told Saul, that David was come to Keilah. Then said Saul, "God hath delivered him into mine hand. For he is shut in, that he is come into a town with gates and bars." read more. And Saul called all the people to war, for to go to Keilah to besiege David and his men. But David had knowledge that Saul imagined mischief against him, and said therefore to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod."
And Saul asked counsel of the LORD, but the LORD answered him not: neither by dream, nor by the light, nor yet by prophets.
And thereto workers with spirits, soothsayers, Images of witchcraft, idols and all other abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah put out of the way to make good the words of the law, which were written in the book that Helkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.
And Hathirsatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy, till there rose up a priest with the light and perfectness.
Why art thou so heavy, O my soul, and why art thou so disquieted within me? O put thy trust in God, for I will yet give him thanks, which is the help of my countenance, and my God.
The lots are cast into the lap, but their fall standeth in the LORD.
Thus the children of Israel shall sit a great while without king and prince, without offering and alter, without priest and revelation.
And they gave forth their lots, and the lot fell on Mathias. And he was counted with the eleven apostles.
Let him that hath ears hear what the spirit sayth unto the congregations: To him that overcometh will I give to eat Manna that is hid, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it.'
Hastings
These denote the two essential parts of the sacred oracle by which in early times the Hebrews sought to ascertain the will of God. Our OT Revisers give as their meaning 'the Lights and the Perfections' (Ex 28:36 Revised Version margin). This rendering
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And thou shalt put in the breastlap of example Light and Perfectness: that they be even upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the LORD and Aaron shall bear the example of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD always.
And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave thereon, as signets are graven, 'The holiness of the LORD,'
And he put the breastlap thereon, and put in the breastlap light and perfectness.
And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest which shall ask counsel for him, after the manner of the light, before the LORD: And at the mouth of Eleazar shall both he and all the children of Israel with him, and all the congregation, go in and out."
And unto Levi he said, "Thy perfectness and thy light be according unto the man of thy mercy, who thou hast tempted at Massah, when ye strove by the waters of strife.
And the lot of the children of Joseph fell from Jordan by Jericho, unto the water of Jericho eastward, and the wilderness that goeth up from Jericho throughout mount Bethel:
And the second lot came out unto the tribe of the children of Simeon by their kindreds. And their inheritance fell in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Judah.
And Saul said unto the LORD God of Israel, "Give perfect knowledge." And Saul and Jonathan were caught, and the people escaped free.
Then David asked the LORD's advice, saying, "Shall I go and smite the Philistines?" And the LORD said unto David, "Go, and smite the Philistines and save Keilah." Then said David's men unto him, "See, we be afraid here in Judah. What shall we then be, when we come to Keilah, to the host of the Philistines?" read more. Then David asked the LORD again. And the LORD answered him and said, "Up, and go to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hands."
And Saul asked counsel of the LORD, but the LORD answered him not: neither by dream, nor by the light, nor yet by prophets.
But David took a good courage to him in the LORD his God and said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, "Bring me the ephod." And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. And David asked the LORD, saying, "Shall I follow after this company? And shall I overtake them?" And he said to him, "Follow, for thou shalt overtake them and recover the prey."
And Hathirsatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy, till there rose up a priest with the light and perfectness.
And Hathirsatha said unto them that they should not eat of the most holy, till there came up a Priest with light and perfectness.
For the king of Babylon shall stand in the turning of the way, at the head of the two trees: to ask counsel at the soothsayers, casting the lots with his arrows; to ask counsel at the Idols, and to look in the liver.
Morish
The signification of these Hebrew words is 'lights' and 'perfections.' They were distinct from the gems on the breastplate, for Moses put the breastplate upon Aaron, "also he put in or 'on' the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim." Le 8:8. It is clear that God answered questions by means of the Urim and Thummim. Nu 27:21; De 33:8; 1Sa 28:6. On the return of the Jews from Babylon some, who claimed to be priests but could not show their genealogy, were not allowed to eat of the holy things until there should stand up a priest with Urim and Thummim, and an answer be obtained from God. This great privilege has never yet been restored. Ezr 2:63; Ne 7:65.
It may be remarked that there is no record as to the construction of the Urim and Thummim, nor of their form. The first mention of them is in Ex 28:30; "Thou shalt put in or 'on' the breastplate of judgement the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the Lord," as if God had given them to Moses, and had merely to tell him what to do with them
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And thou shalt put in the breastlap of example Light and Perfectness: that they be even upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the LORD and Aaron shall bear the example of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD always.
And he put the breastlap thereon, and put in the breastlap light and perfectness.
And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest which shall ask counsel for him, after the manner of the light, before the LORD: And at the mouth of Eleazar shall both he and all the children of Israel with him, and all the congregation, go in and out."
And unto Levi he said, "Thy perfectness and thy light be according unto the man of thy mercy, who thou hast tempted at Massah, when ye strove by the waters of strife.
And Hathirsatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy, till there rose up a priest with the light and perfectness.
And Hathirsatha said unto them that they should not eat of the most holy, till there came up a Priest with light and perfectness.
Smith
U'rim and Thum'mim
(light and perfection). When the Jewish exiles were met on their return from Babylon by a question which they had no data for answering, they agreed to postpone the settlement of the difficulty till there should rise up "a priest with Urim and Thummim."
The inquiry what those Urim and Thummim themselves were seems likely to wait as long for a final and satisfying answer. On every side we meet with confessions of ignorance. Urim means "light," and Thummim "perfection." Scriptural statements. --The mysterious words meet us for the first time, as if they needed no explanation, in the description of the high Priest's apparel. Over the ephod there is to be a "breastplate of judgment" of gold, scarlet, purple and fine linen, folded square and doubled, a "span" in length and width. In it are to be set four rows of precious stones, each stone with the name of a tribe of Israel engraved on it, that Aaron "may bear them on his heart." Then comes a further order. In side the breastplate, as the tables of the covenant were placed inside the ark,
are to be placed "the Urim and the Thummim," the light and the perfection; and they too are to be on Aaron's heart when he goes in before the Lord.
Not a word describes them. They are mentioned as things-already familiar both to Moses and the people, connected naturally with the functions of the high priest as mediating between Jehovah and his people. The command is fulfilled.
They pass from Aaron to Eleazar with the sacred ephod and other pontificalia.
When Joshua is solemnly appointed to succeed the great hero-law-giver he is bidden to stand before Eleazar, the priest, "who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim," and this counsel is to determine the movements of the host of Israel.
In the blessings of Moses they appear as the crowning glory of the tribe of Levi: "thy Thummim and thy Urim are with thy Holy One."
De 33:8-9
In what way the Urim and Thummim were consulted is quite uncertain. Josephus and the rabbins supposed that the stones gave out the oracular answer by preternatural illumination; but it seems to be far simpler and more in agreement with the different accounts of inquiries made by Urim and Thummim,
4/3/type/mstc'>1Sa 14:3,18-19; 23:2,4,9,11-12; 28:6; Jg 20:28; 2Sa 5:23
etc., to suppose that the answer was given simply by the word of the Lord to the high priest comp.
Joh 11:51
when, clothed with the ephod and the breastplate, he had inquired of the Lord. Such a view agrees with the true notion of the breastplate.
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And thou shalt put in the ark, the witness which I shall give thee.
And thou shalt make the breastlap of example with broidered work: even after the work of the ephod shalt thou make it: of gold, jacinth, scarlet, purple and twined bysse shalt thou make it. Foursquare it shall be and double, a hand breadth long and a hand breadth broad. read more. And thou shalt fill it with four rows of stones. In the first row shall be a Sardius, a Topaz and Smaragdus. The second row, a Ruby, Sapphire and Diamond. The third, Ligurius, an Agate and Amethyst. The fourth, a Turquoise, Onyx and Jasper. And they shall be set in gold in their enclosures. And the stones shall be graven as signets be graven: with the names of the children of Israel, even with twelve names every one with his name according to the twelve tribes. And thou shalt make upon the breastlap two fastening chains of pure gold and wreathen work. And thou shalt make likewise upon the breastlap two rings of gold and put them on the edges of the breastlap, and put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings which are in the edges of the breastlap. And the two ends of the two chains thou shalt fasten in the two rings, and put them upon the shoulders of the ephod: on the foreside of it. And thou shalt yet make two rings of gold, and put them in the two edges of the breastlap even in the borders thereof toward the inside of the ephod that is over against it. And yet two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and put them on the two sides of the ephod, beneath over against the breastlap, below where the sides are joined together upon the broidered girdle of the ephod. And they shall bind the breastlap by his rings unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of jacinth, that it may lie close unto the broidered girdle of the ephod, that the breastlap be not loosed from the ephod. "And Aaron shall bear the names of the children Israel in the breastlap of example upon his heart, when he goeth into the holy place, for a remembrance before the LORD always. And thou shalt put in the breastlap of example Light and Perfectness: that they be even upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the LORD and Aaron shall bear the example of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD always.
And thou shalt put in the breastlap of example Light and Perfectness: that they be even upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the LORD and Aaron shall bear the example of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD always.
And he put the breastlap thereon, and put in the breastlap light and perfectness.
And Moses took off Aaron's clothes and put them upon Eleazar his son, and Aaron died there in the top of the mount.
And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest which shall ask counsel for him, after the manner of the light, before the LORD: And at the mouth of Eleazar shall both he and all the children of Israel with him, and all the congregation, go in and out."
And unto Levi he said, "Thy perfectness and thy light be according unto the man of thy mercy, who thou hast tempted at Massah, when ye strove by the waters of strife. He that sayeth unto his father and mother, 'I saw him not,' and unto his brethren, 'I knew not,' and to his son, 'I know not': for they have observed thy words and kept thy covenant.
and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron waiting upon it at that time - and they said, "Shall we go out any more to battle against the children of Benjamin our brethren, or shall we cease?" And the LORD said, "Go. For tomorrow I will deliver them into your hands."
And Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, was the LORD's priest in Shiloh and bare an ephod. But the people knew not that Jonathan was gone.
And then Saul said unto Ahijah, "Bring hither the ark of God." For the ark of God was at the time with the children of Israel. And while Saul talked unto the priest, the people that were in the host of the Philistines ran more and more. And Saul said unto the priest, "Withdraw thine hand."
Then David asked the LORD's advice, saying, "Shall I go and smite the Philistines?" And the LORD said unto David, "Go, and smite the Philistines and save Keilah."
Then David asked the LORD again. And the LORD answered him and said, "Up, and go to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hands."
But David had knowledge that Saul imagined mischief against him, and said therefore to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod."
Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Or will Saul come as thy servant heareth say? LORD God of Israel, tell thy servant." And the LORD said, "He will come." Then said David, "Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?" And the LORD said, "They will deliver you."
And Saul asked counsel of the LORD, but the LORD answered him not: neither by dream, nor by the light, nor yet by prophets.
And Hathirsatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy, till there rose up a priest with the light and perfectness.
And Hathirsatha said unto them that they should not eat of the most holy, till there came up a Priest with light and perfectness.
This spake he not of himself: but being high priest that same year, prophesied he that Jesus should die for the people,
Watsons
URIM AND THUMMIM. The high priests of the Jews, we are told, consulted God in the most important affairs of their commonwealth, and received answers by the Urim and Thummim. What these were, is disputed among the critics. Josephus, and some others, imagine the answer was returned by the stones of the breastplate appearing with an unusual lustre when it was favourable, or in the contrary case dim. Others suppose, that the Urim and Thummim were something enclosed between the folding of the breastplate; this some will have to be the tetragrammaton, or the word ????, Jehovah. Christophorus de Castro, and after him Dr. Spencer, maintain them to be two little images shut up in the doubling of the breastplate, which gave the oracular answer from thence by an articulate voice. Accordingly, they derive them from the Egyptians, who consulted their lares, and had an oracle, or teraphim, which they called Truth. This opinion, however, has been sufficiently confuted by the learned Dr. Pococke and by Witsius. The more common opinion among Christians concerning the oracle by Urim and Thummim, and which Dr. Prideaux espouses, is, that when the high priest appeared before the veil, clothed with his ephod and breastplate, to ask counsel of God, the answer was given with an audible voice from the mercy seat, within the veil; but, it has been observed, that this account will by no means agree with the history of David's consulting the oracle by Abiathar, 1Sa 23:9,11; 30:7-8; because the ark, on which was the mercy seat, was then at Kirjathjearim; whereas David was in the one case at Ziklag, and in the other in the forest of Hareth. Braunius and Hottinger have adopted another opinion: they suppose, that, when Moses is commanded to put in the breastplate the Urim and Thummim, signifying lights and perfections in the plural number, it was meant that he should make choice of the most perfect set of stones, and have them so polished as to give the brightest lustre; and, on this hypothesis, the use of the Urim and Thummim, or of these exquisitely polished jewels, was only to be a symbol of the divine presence, and of the light and perfection of the prophetic inspiration; and, as such, constantly to be worn by the high priest in the exercise of his sacred function, especially in consulting the oracle.
Michaelis observes: That in making distributions of property, and in cases of disputes relative to meum [mine] and tuum, [thine,] recourse was had to the lot, in default of any other means of decision, will naturally be supposed. The whole land was partitioned by lot; and that, in after times, the lot continued to be used, even in courts of justice, we see from Pr 16:33; 18:18; where we are expressly taught to remember, that it is Providence which maketh the choice, and that therefore we ought to be satisfied with the decision of the lot, as the will of God. It was for judicial purposes, in a particular manner, that the sacred lot called Urim and Thummim was employed; and on this account the costly embroidered pouch, in which the priest carried this sacred lot on his breast, was called the judicial ornament. "But was this sacred lot used likewise in criminal trials?" Yes, says Michaelis, only to discover the guilty, to convict them; for in the only two instances of its use in such cases which occur in the whole Bible, namely, in Jos 7:14-18; 1Sa 14:37-45, we find the confessions of the two delinquents, Achan and Jonathan, annexed. It appears also to have been used only in the case of an oath being transgressed which the whole people had taken, or the leader of the host in their name, but not in the case of other crimes; for an unknown murder, for example, was not to be discovered by recourse to the sacred lot.
The inner sanctuary, within the veil of the tabernacle, observes Dr. Hales, or most holy place, was called the oracle, 1Ki 6:16, because there the Lord communed with Moses, face to face, and gave him instructions in cases of legal difficulty or sudden emergency, Ex 25:22; Nu 7:89; 9:8; Ex 33:11; a high privilege granted to none of his successors. After the death of Moses a different mode was appointed for consulting the oracle by the high priest, who put on "the breastplate of judgment," a principal part of the pontifical dress, on which were inscribed the words Urim and Thummim, emblematieal of divine illumination; as the inscription on his mitre, "Holiness to the Lord," was of sanctification, Ex 28:30-37; Le 8:8. Thus prepared, he presented himself before the Lord to ask counsel on public matters, not in the inner sanctuary, which he presumed not to enter, except on the great day of national atonement, but without the veil, with his face toward the ark of the covenant, inside; and behind him, at some distance, without the sanctuary, stood Joshua, the judge, or person who wanted the response, which seems to have been given with an audible voice from within the veil, Nu 27:21, as in the case of Jos 6:6-15; of the Israelites during the civil war with Benjamin, Jg 20:27-28; on the appointment of Saul to be king, when he hid himself, 1Sa 10:22-24; of David, 1Sa 22:10; 23:2-12; 30:8; 2Sa 5:23-24; of Saul, 1Sa 28:6. This mode of consultation subsisted under the tabernacle erected by Moses in the wilderness, and until the building of Solomon's temple; after which we find no instances of it. The oracles of the Lord were thenceforth delivered by the prophets; as by Ahijah to Jeroboam 1Ki 11:29; by Shemaiah to Rehoboam, 1Ki 12:22; by Elijah to Ahab, 1Ki 17:1; 21:17-29; by Michaiah to Ahab and Jehoshaphat, 1Ki 22:7; by Elisha to Jehoshaphat and Jehoram, 2Ki 3:11-14; by Isaiah to Hezekiah, 2Ki 19:6-34; 20:1-11; by Huldah to Josiah, 2Ki 22:13-20; by Jeremiah to Zedekiah, Jer 32:3-5, &c. After the Babylonish captivity, and the last of the prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the oracle ceased; but its revival was foretold by Ezr 2:63, and accomplished by Christ, who was himself the oracle, under the old and new covenants, Ge 15:1; Joh 1:1. See BREASTPLATE.
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After these deeds, the word of God came unto Abram in a vision, saying, "Fear not Abram, I am thy shield; and thy reward shall be exceeding great."
"There I will meet thee and will commune with thee from upon the mercy seat from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of witness, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
And thou shalt put in the breastlap of example Light and Perfectness: that they be even upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the LORD and Aaron shall bear the example of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD always. And thou shalt make the tunicle unto the ephod, altogether of jacinth. read more. And there shall be a hole for the head in the midst of it, and let there be a bond of woven work round about the collar of it: as it were the collar of a partlet, that it rend not. And beneath upon the hem, thou shalt make pomegranates of Jacincth, of scarlet, and of purple round about the hem, and bells of gold between them round about: that there be ever a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, round about upon the hem of the tunicle. And Aaron shall have it upon him when he ministereth, that the sound may be heard when he goeth into the holy place before the LORD and when he cometh out, that he die not. And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave thereon, as signets are graven, 'The holiness of the LORD,' and put it on a lace of Jacincth and tie it unto the mitre,
And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And when Moses turned again in to the host, the lad Joshua, his servant, the son of Nun, departed not out of the tabernacle.
And he put the breastlap thereon, and put in the breastlap light and perfectness.
And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of witness to speak with him, he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of witness: even from between the two cherubims he spake unto him.
And Moses said unto them, "Tarry, that I may hear what the LORD will command you."
And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest which shall ask counsel for him, after the manner of the light, before the LORD: And at the mouth of Eleazar shall both he and all the children of Israel with him, and all the congregation, go in and out."
And Joshua the son of Nun called unto the priests, and said unto them, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD." And he said unto the people, "Go and compass the city: And let the men of arms go before the ark of the LORD." read more. And when Joshua had spoken unto the people, the seven priests that bare the seven trumpets of rams horns before the ark of the LORD went forth and blew with the horns, and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed after them. And the men of arms went before the priests that blew with the horns, and the common people came after the ark: and as they went, they blew with the horns. And Joshua commanded the people, saying, "Shout not nor let your voice be heard, or any word proceed out of your mouths, until the day I bid you shout: and then shout." And so the ark of the LORD compassed the city and went about it once: and then they returned unto the host and lodged there. And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD, and seven priests bare seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD, and as they went, blew with the horns. And the men of arms went before them, and the common people came after the ark of the LORD: and as they went, they blew with the horns. And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned again into the host, and so they did six days long. And the seventh day they rose early: even with the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only that they compassed the city seven times.
Tomorrow morning ye shall come by your tribes. And the tribe which the LORD shall find guilty, shall come by kindreds. And the kindred which the LORD shall find guilty, shall come by households. And the household which the LORD shall find faulty, shall come man by man. And he that is found in the excommunication shall be burnt with fire, both he and all that pertaineth unto him, because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.'" read more. And so Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes: and the tribe of Judah was caught. Then he brought the kindreds of Judah, and found the kindred of the Zerahites guilty. And he brought the kindred of the Zerahites by householders, and Zabdi was caught. And he brought his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah in the tribe of Judah was caught.
And they asked the LORD - for there was the ark of the covenant of God, in those days; and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron waiting upon it at that time - and they said, "Shall we go out any more to battle against the children of Benjamin our brethren, or shall we cease?" And the LORD said, "Go. For tomorrow I will deliver them into your hands."
Then they asked the LORD further, whither the man should come thither. And the LORD answered, "Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff." And they ran and fetched him thence. And when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from the shoulders upward. read more. And Samuel said to all the people, "There! See ye whom the LORD hath chosen, and how there is none like him among all the company?" And all the people shouted and said, "God save the king!"
which asked counsel of the LORD for him, and gave him victuals, and the sword of Goliath the Philistine also."
Then David asked the LORD's advice, saying, "Shall I go and smite the Philistines?" And the LORD said unto David, "Go, and smite the Philistines and save Keilah." Then said David's men unto him, "See, we be afraid here in Judah. What shall we then be, when we come to Keilah, to the host of the Philistines?" read more. Then David asked the LORD again. And the LORD answered him and said, "Up, and go to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hands." And so David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, and drave away their cattle and slew a great slaughter of them. And so David saved the inhabiters of Keilah. And it chanced when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah that he brought an ephod in his hand. And it was told Saul, that David was come to Keilah. Then said Saul, "God hath delivered him into mine hand. For he is shut in, that he is come into a town with gates and bars." And Saul called all the people to war, for to go to Keilah to besiege David and his men. But David had knowledge that Saul imagined mischief against him, and said therefore to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod."
But David had knowledge that Saul imagined mischief against him, and said therefore to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod." Then said David, "O LORD God of Israel, thy servant heareth that Saul is about to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. read more. Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Or will Saul come as thy servant heareth say? LORD God of Israel, tell thy servant." And the LORD said, "He will come."
Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Or will Saul come as thy servant heareth say? LORD God of Israel, tell thy servant." And the LORD said, "He will come." Then said David, "Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?" And the LORD said, "They will deliver you."
And Saul asked counsel of the LORD, but the LORD answered him not: neither by dream, nor by the light, nor yet by prophets.
But David took a good courage to him in the LORD his God and said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, "Bring me the ephod." And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. And David asked the LORD, saying, "Shall I follow after this company? And shall I overtake them?" And he said to him, "Follow, for thou shalt overtake them and recover the prey."
And David asked the LORD, saying, "Shall I follow after this company? And shall I overtake them?" And he said to him, "Follow, for thou shalt overtake them and recover the prey."
And he sealed twenty cubits in the end of the temple, both floor and walls, with Cedar, and dressed it within to be the quyre and place most holy.
And it chanced, at that season, as Jeroboam was gone out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him by the way, having a new mantle on him, and they two alone in the field.
Then came the word of God unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
And Elijah the Tishbite, which was of the inhabiters of Gilead, said unto Ahab, "As truly as the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, save as I appoint it."
And the word of the LORD came unto Elijah the Tishbite, saying, "Up, and go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria. Behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth: for he is gone down thither, to take possession of it. read more. And say unto him, 'Thus sayeth the LORD: thou hast killed and thereto gotten possession.' And say moreover unto him, 'Thus sayeth the LORD: in the place where dogs lapped the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lap even thy blood also.'" And Ahab said to Elijah, "Hast thou found me thine enemy at any time?" And he said, "Yea, because thou art utterly given to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD. Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will make clean riddance of thee, and will destroy unto Ahab all that pisseth against the wall, and if ought be prisoned or forsaken in Israel: and will make thine house, like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the angering wherewith thou hast angered and made Israel sin." And thereto against Jezebel came the word of the LORD, saying, "Dogs shall eat Jezebel, under the walls of Jezreel. And he that dieth of Ahab in the town, him shall dogs eat: and he that dieth in the fields, him shall the fowls of the air eat." For there was none at all like Ahab, that was so utterly given to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, and that because Jezebel his wife pricked him forward. And therefore he did exceeding abominably, in following Idols, in all things like as did the Amorites which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. When Ahab heard those words, he rent his clothes and put sackcloth about his flesh and fasted, and lay in sack and went comfortless. And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, "Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? Because he so submitteth himself before me, I will not bring that evil in his days: but in his son's days, I will bring evil upon his house."
And Jehoshaphat said, "Is there never a Prophet of the LORD's here, more, that we might enquire of him?"
But Jehoshaphat said, "Is there here no prophet of the LORD's, that we may enquire of the LORD by him?" And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, "Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat which poured water on the hands of Elijah." And Jehoshaphat said, "The word of the LORD is with him." And so the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went down to him. read more. And Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What have I to do with thee? Get thee to the prophets of thy father and of thy mother." And the king of Israel said unto him, "Oh nay, but hath the LORD called these three kings to deliver them into the hands of the Moabites?" And Elisha said, "As sure as the LORD of Hosts liveth - in whose sight I stand - and it were not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor yet see ye."
Isaiah said to them, "So shall you say to your master: 'Thus sayeth the LORD: be not afraid of the words thou heardest, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have railed on me. For I will send him a blast that he shall hear tidings, and so return to his own land: And I will overthrow him with the sword even in his own land.'" read more. And Rabshakeh went back again and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah: for he had heard how that he was departed from Lachish. And he heard tidings of Tirhakah king of the black Moors, how that he was come out to fight against him. And thereupon he departed and sent messengers unto Hezekiah, saying, "Thus say to Hezekiah king of Juda, 'Let not thy God carry thee out of the way, in whom thou so trustest, saying: Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, how they have utterly destroyed them. And how then shouldest thou escape? Hath the gods of the heathen delivered them which mine ancestors have destroyed: as Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and the king of Hena and the king of Ivvah?'" When Hezekiah had received the letter of the hand of the messenger and had read it, he went into the house of the LORD and laid it abroad before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, "LORD God of Israel which dwellest between the Cherubs, thou art God alone over all the kingdoms of the earth, and thou hast made both heaven and earth. LORD, bow thine ears and hear; Open LORD thine eyes and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to rail on the living God. But of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed nations and their lands, and have set fire on their gods. For they were no gods - but the work of the hands of man; even wood and stone. And therefore they destroyed them. Now therefore LORD our God, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know, that thou LORD art God alone." And Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel, that thou hast prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria: I have heard it. This is the thing that the LORD sayeth of him: He hath despised thee, O virgin daughter of Zion; he hath shaken his head at thee, thou daughter of Jerusalem. Whom hast thou railed on, and whom hast thou reviled? Against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and hast lift up thine eyes so high? Even against the holy one of Israel! By the hand of thy messengers thou hast railed on the Lord and said, 'With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, even along by the sides of Lebanon, and have cut off the high Cedar trees, and the lusty fir trees thereof, even to the wood of Carmel that belongeth thereto! I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the soles of my feet have I dried up the sea!' But hast thou not heard how I have ordained such a thing a great while ago, and have prepared it from the beginning? And now I bring it forth and it shall be to destroy and to bring strong cities into rude heaps of stones. And the inhabiters of them shall be of little power, and faint-hearted and confounded. They shall be like the grass of the field and green herbs, and as the hay on the tops of the houses which withereth afore it come to any height. I know where thou dwellest, and thy coming out and going in know I too; and how thou settest up thy bristles against me. And because thou settest up thy bristles against me, and that thy raging is come up to mine ears: therefore I will put a ring in thy nose and a bit in thy lips, and will bring thee back again the same way thou camest. And this shall be a sign unto thee: In this year, eat that which is fallen. In the second year, such as groweth of itself. In the third year, sow and reap and plant vineyards; and eat the fruit thereof. For the daughter of Judah that is escaped and left, shall yet again take rooting downward and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and a number that shall escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of Hosts shall bring this thing to pass. Wherefore thus sayeth the LORD, of the king of Assyria: He shall not come to this city, nor shoot arrow into it, nor come before with shield nor cast any bank against it - but shall go back again the way he came, and shall not come at this city, sayeth the LORD. For I will defend this city and save it, for mine own sake and for David my servant's sake."
About that time Hezekiah was sick unto the death. And the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, "Thus sayeth the LORD: put thine household in an order, for thou shalt die and not live." And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and besought the LORD, saying, read more. "Oh LORD, remember yet how I have walked before thee truly and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight," and wept a great pace. And Isaiah was scarce gone out into the middle of the city, but that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people: 'Thus sayeth the LORD God of David thy father. I have heard thy prayer and seen thy tears. Behold, I will heal thee, and this day three days thou shalt go up into the house of the LORD. And I will lengthen thy days yet fifteen years, and will deliver both thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city for mine own sake, and for David my servant's sake." And Isaiah said, "Bring a lump of figs." And they brought and put it on the sore, and he recovered. Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, "What is the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day?" And Isaiah said, "This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back again ten degrees?" And Hezekiah said, "It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees. Therefore I will not that: but let the shadow go backward ten degrees." And Isaiah the Prophet called to the LORD, and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward by which it had gone down, in the dial of Ahaz.
"Go ye and seek of the LORD for me, and the people, and for all Judah; concerning the words of this book that is found. For it is a great wrath of the LORD that is kindled upon us, that our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do in all points as it is written therein." And Hilkiah the high priest and Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went unto Huldah the Prophetess, wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah the son of Harahas keeper of the robes - which Prophetess dwelt in Jerusalem in the second ward - and communed with her. read more. And she said to them, "Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel: 'Tell the man that sent you to me, thus sayeth the LORD: behold I will bring evil upon this place and on the dwellers therein - even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read - because they have forsaken me and have burnt offerings unto other gods, to anger me with all the works of their hands. Therefore is my wrath kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched. But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall ye say: thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel, as touching the words which thou heardest. Because thine heart did melt and thou meekedest thyself before me, the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place and the inhabiters of the same, how that it should be destroyed and made accursed: and tearest thy clothes and weepest before me: of that also I have heard sayeth the LORD. And therefore, see, I will receive ye unto thy fathers and will fetch thee unto thy grave in peace, thine eyes shall see none of the evil which I will bring upon this place." And they brought the king word again.
And Hathirsatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy, till there rose up a priest with the light and perfectness.
The lots are cast into the lap, but their fall standeth in the LORD.
The lot pacifieth the variance, and parteth the mighty asunder.
where Zedekiah the king of Judah caused him to be laid, because he had prophesied of this manner, "Thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, I will deliver this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, which shall take it. As for Zedekiah the king of Judah, he shall not be able to escape the Chaldeans, but surely he shall come into the hands of the king of Babylon: which shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and one of them shall look another in the face. read more. And Zedekiah shall be carried unto Babylon, and there shall he be, until the time that I visit him, sayeth the LORD. But if thou takest in hand to fight against the Chaldeans, thou shalt not prosper."
In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God: and the word was God.