when Yahweh God formed the man [of] dust from the ground, and he blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

And Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

And out of the ground Yahweh God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and he brought [each] to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called that living creature [was] its name.

And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine which was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, to Gerar.

And the thin and ugly cows ate the former seven healthy cows.

"{And} if they do not believe you and they will not listen to the voice of the former sign, [then] they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

He will rededicate to Yahweh the days of his separation and bring a ram-lamb {in its first year} as a guilt offering. The former days [of his vow] will fall away because his separation was defiled.

Then the standard of the camp of the descendants of Dan, who formed a rear guard for all the camps, set out according to their divisions; Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai [was] over its division.

Because Heshbon [was] the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land from his hand until Arnon.

Balak again sent many princes, [who were more] honored {than the former}.

"Yes, ask, please, about former days that {preceded you} from the day that God created humankind on the earth; [ask even] from [one] end of the heaven up to the [other] end of heaven {whether anything ever happened} like this great thing or {whether anything like it was ever heard}.

"At that time Yahweh said to me, 'Carve for yourself two tablets of stone [just] as the former [ones], and come up the mountain to me, and you shall make for yourself an ark of wood.

And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former [tablets], which you smashed, and you must put them in the ark.'

And [so] I made an ark {of acacia wood}, and I carved two tablets of stone like the former [ones], and I went up the mountain [with] the two tablets in my hand.

And I stayed on the mountain [just] as [during] the former forty days and forty nights, and Yahweh listened to me also on that occasion; Yahweh was not willing to destroy you.

"You shall not move the boundary [marker] of your neighbor that {former generations} set up on your property in the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you to take possession of it.

And from there he went up against the inhabitants of Debir (the former name of Debir [was] Kiriath Sepher).

And Judah went against the Canaanites living in Hebron (the former name of Hebron [was] Kiriath Arba). And they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

And from there they went to the inhabitants of Debir (the former name of Debir [was] Kiriath Sepher).

And the house of Joseph spied out Bethel (the former name of the city was Luz).

And they called the name of the city Dan, after Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the former name of the city [was] Laish.

(Now this {was the custom in former times} in Israel concerning the kinsman-redemption and transfer of property: to confirm the matter, a man removed his sandal and gave [it] to his fellow countryman. This [was] the manner of attesting in Israel.)

Then Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and encamped in the valley of Elah, and they formed ranks [for the] battle to meet [the] Philistines.

I will make a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them so that they can dwell {in their own place}. They will not tremble [any] longer, and the children of wickedness will not afflict them again, as in the former days.

Then she said, "In former times, {they would always say}, 'By all means, let them inquire in Abel,' and so they settled things.

Until this day they [are] doing according to their former customs; none of them [are] fearing Yahweh, and none of them [are] doing according to their statutes, to their decisions, to the law, or to the commands that Yahweh commanded the descendants of Jacob [to] which he had given the name Israel.

They did not listen but kept on doing according to their former customs.

And they found fertile and good pasture, and the land [was] very broad, quiet, and at ease, for the former inhabitants there [were] from Ham.

Now these [were] the measurements of Solomon for building the house of God: the length in cubits by the former measurement [was] sixty cubits, and the width [was] twenty cubits.

And Yahweh was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of David his father and did not seek after the Baals,

The former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and they took food and wine from them, besides forty shekels. Also, their servants controlled the people, but I did not do so because of the fear of God.

While this one was still speaking, {another} came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three divisions, and they made a raid on the camels, and they carried them away, and they struck your servants {by the edge of the sword}, but I escaped, [even] I alone, to tell you."

"Indeed, please inquire of former generations, and consider {what their ancestors have found},

Look, before God {I am like you}; I myself was also formed from clay.

You defined all [the] boundaries of [the] earth; Summer and winter--you formed them.

Do not remember against us former iniquities; let your mercies meet us quickly because we are brought very low.

Where [are] your former acts of loyal love, O Lord, [that] you swore to David by your faithfulness?

Will [the] one who planted [the] ear not hear? Will [the] one who formed [the] eye not see?

to whom belongs the sea that he made, and [the] dry land [that] his hands formed.

There [the] ships sail. Leviathan [is there] that you formed to play with.

There is neither remembrance of former generations, nor will there be remembrance of future generations.

Do not say, "Why were the former days better than these?" For [it is] not from wisdom [that] you ask this.

{But there will be no gloom for those who were in distress}. In former times he treated [the] land of Zebulun and Naphtali with contempt, but in the future he will honor the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee [of] the nations.

Have you not heard from {a long time ago}? I have made it from days of primeval time, and I formed it. Now I have brought it [about], and it is for fortified cities to collapse into heaps of destroyed stones.

Let them bring [them], and let them tell us what will happen. Tell us what the former things [are] {so that} we may take [them to] our heart and know their outcome. Declare to us the things to come;

Look! the former things have come, and I declare new things. I {announce} [them] to you before they sprout up."

But now thus says Yahweh, he who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel: "You must not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called [you] by your name; {you are mine}.

everyone who is called by my name, and whom I created for my glory, whom I formed, indeed whom I made."

Let all the nations gather together, and let [the] peoples assemble. Who among them has declared this, and {declared} [the] former things to us? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be in the right, and let them hear and say, "[It is] true!"

"You [are] my witnesses," {declares} Yahweh, "and my servant whom I have chosen so that you may know and believe {in} me and understand that I [am] he. No god was formed before {me}, and none shall be after me.

"You must not remember [the] former things, and you not must consider [the] former things.

this people whom I formed for myself, so they might {make known} my praise.

Thus says Yahweh, who made you, and who formed you in [the] womb and will help you: you must not fear, my servant Jacob, and Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

"Remember these things, Jacob, and Israel, for you [are] my servant: I formed you; you [are] my servant; Israel, you will not be forgotten by me!

Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, and he who formed you in [the] womb: "I [am] Yahweh, who made everything, who stretched out [the] heavens alone, who spread out the earth--who [was] with me?--

For thus says Yahweh, {who created} the heavens, he [is] God, {who formed} the earth and {who made} it. He himself established it; he did not create it [as] emptiness-- he formed it for inhabiting. "I [am] Yahweh and there is none besides [me].

Declare and present [your case], also let them consult together! Who {made this known} from {former times}, declared it from {of old}? [Was it] not I, Yahweh? And there is no [other] god besides [me], a righteous God besides me, and no savior besides me.

Remember [the] former things from {a long time ago}, for I [am] God and there is none besides [me], God and [there is] none like me,

who calls a bird of prey from [the] east, the man of his plan from a country from afar. Indeed I have spoken; indeed I will bring it [to being]. I have formed [it]; indeed I will do it.

"I declared the former things from {of old}, and they went out from my mouth. And I {announced} them suddenly; I acted, and they came [to pass],

And now Yahweh says, who formed me from [the] womb as a servant for him, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might not be gathered, for I am honored in the eyes of Yahweh, and my God has become my strength.

Every weapon formed against you shall not succeed, and you shall declare guilty every tongue [that] rises against you for judgment. This [is] the inheritance of the servants of Yahweh, and their {legal right} from me," {declares} Yahweh.

And they shall build [the] ancient ruins, they shall erect [the] former deserted [places]. And they shall restore [the] {devastated cities}, [the] deserted [places] of {many generations}.

Whoever blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of trustworthiness, and the one who swears an oath in the land shall swear by the God of trustworthiness, because the former troubles are forgotten, and they are hidden from my eyes.

For look! I [am] about to create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered, and they shall not {come to mind}.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came out from [the] womb I consecrated you; I appointed you [as] a prophet to the nations."

They have turned back to the iniquities of their former ancestors, who refused to obey my words, and they have gone after other gods, to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I {made} with their ancestors."

"Thus says Yahweh who made [the earth], Yahweh who formed it to establish it, Yahweh [is] his name:

In peace you will die, and as [there was] burning for your ancestors, the former kings who were {before you}, so they will burn for you, and they will lament for you, "Alas, lord!" For [the] word I have spoken,' {declares} Yahweh." '"

"{Take again} for yourself another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll which Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, has burned.

Grow up; I will make you like a plant of the field." And you grew up, and you became tall and {reached full womanhood}. [Your] breasts were formed, and your hair had grown, but you [were] naked and bare.

And [as for] your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and you and your daughters will return to your former state.

And I will cause {your population} to increase for you, and domestic animals, [even] they will be numerous, and they will be fruitful, and I will cause you to be inhabited like your {ancient times}, and I will do good [things] more than [in] your former times, and you will know that I [am] Yahweh.

"Thus says the Lord Yahweh, '[Are] you he of whom I spoke in former days by the hand of my servants the prophets of Israel [who] were prophesying in those days for years [that I would] bring you against them?

And the king of the north will again raise a multitude, greater than the former, and {at the end of some years} he will surely come with great army and with great supplies.

And you, O Migdal-Eder, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you it will come, and the former dominion will come, [the] reign of the daughter of Jerusalem.

'Who among you [is] left that saw this house in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it seem like nothing {to you}?

'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.'"

"Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Return from your evil ways and your evil deeds!" ' But they did not hear and they did not pay attention to me," {declares} Yahweh.

[Are] not [these] the words that Yahweh proclaimed {through} the former prophets, when Jerusalem and {its surrounding towns} were inhabited and at ease, and the Negev and the Shephelah were inhabited?'"

{They made their hearts adamant} in order not to hear the law and the words that Yahweh of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets; [therefore] great wrath came from Yahweh of hosts.

But now {I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days},' {declares} Yahweh of hosts.

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.

And the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to Yahweh, like [in the] days of old and like [in] former years.