You will inherit it in equal portions, since I swore to give it to your ancestors. So this land will fall to you as an inheritance.

“This is to be the border of the land:

On the north side it will extend from the Mediterranean Sea by way of Hethlon and Lebo-hamath to Zedad,

So the border will run from the sea to Hazar-enon at the border of Damascus, with the territory of Hamath to the north. This will be the northern side.

On the east side it will run between Hauran and Damascus, along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel; you will measure from the northern border to the eastern sea. This will be the eastern side.

On the south side it will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, and on to the Brook of Egypt as far as the Mediterranean Sea. This will be the southern side.

On the west side the Mediterranean Sea will be the border, from the southern border up to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This will be the western side.

“You are to divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel.

In whatever tribe the foreigner lives, you will assign his inheritance there.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

This holy donation will be set apart for the priests alone. It will be 8⅓ miles long on the northern side, 3⅓ miles wide on the western side, 3⅓ miles wide on the eastern side, and 8⅓ miles long on the southern side. The Lord’s sanctuary will be in the middle of it.

They must not sell or exchange any of it, and they must not transfer this choice part of the land, for it is holy to the Lord.

This is the land you are to allot as an inheritance to Israel’s tribes, and these will be their portions.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

He agreed with them about this and tested them for 10 days.

The Chaldeans answered the king, “No one on earth can make known what the king requests. Consequently, no king, however great and powerful, has ever asked anything like this of any diviner-priest, medium, or Chaldean.

Because of this, the king became violently angry and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

urging them to ask the God of heaven for mercy concerning this mystery, so Daniel and his friends would not be killed with the rest of Babylon’s wise men.

As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but in order that the interpretation might be made known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.

“This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation.

“In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever.

The king said to Daniel, “Your God is indeed God of gods, Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.”

Some Chaldeans took this occasion to come forward and maliciously accuse the Jews.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to give you an answer to this question.

Therefore I issue a decree that anyone of any people, nation, or language who says anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be torn limb from limb and his house made a garbage dump. For there is no other god who is able to deliver like this.”

In the visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this:

There was a tree in the middle of the earth,
and its height was great.

This word is by decree of the observers;
the matter is a command from the holy ones.
This is so the living will know
that the Most High is ruler
over the kingdom of men.
He gives it to anyone He wants
and sets the lowliest of men over it.

This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because none of the wise men of my kingdom can make the interpretation known to me. But you can, because you have the spirit of the holy gods.”

This is the interpretation, Your Majesty, and this is the sentence of the Most High that has been passed against my lord the king:

All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar.

the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built by my vast power to be a royal residence and to display my majestic glory?”

The king called out to bring in the mediums, Chaldeans, and astrologers. He said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and gives me its interpretation will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain around his neck, and have the third highest position in the kingdom.”

did this because Daniel, the one the king named Belteshazzar, was found to have an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and perception, and the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems. Therefore, summon Daniel, and he will give the interpretation.”

Now the wise men and mediums were brought before me to read this inscription and make its interpretation known to me, but they could not give its interpretation.

However, I have heard about you that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain around your neck, and have the third highest position in the kingdom.”

“But you his successor, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.

Therefore, He sent the hand, and this writing was inscribed.

“This is the writing that was inscribed:

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN.

This is the interpretation of the message:

MENE means that God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.

Then these men said, “We will never find any charge against this Daniel unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God.”

As soon as the king heard this, he was very displeased; he set his mind on rescuing Daniel and made every effort until sundown to deliver him.

“While I was considering the horns, suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. There were eyes in this horn like a man’s, and it had a mouth that spoke arrogantly.

I approached one of those who were standing by and asked him the true meaning of all this. So he let me know the interpretation of these things:

As I was watching, this horn waged war against the holy ones and was prevailing over them

“This is what he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, different from all the other kingdoms. It will devour the whole earth, trample it down, and crush it.

The 10 horns are 10 kings who will rise from this kingdom. Another, different from the previous ones, will rise after them and subdue three kings.

“This is the end of the interpretation. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts terrified me greatly, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself.”

Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the speaker, “How long will the events of this vision last—the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and of the host to be trampled?”

I heard a human voice calling from the middle of the Ulai: “Gabriel, explain the vision to this man.”

Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but this day public shame belongs to us: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel—those who are near and those who are far, in all the countries where You have dispersed them because of the disloyalty they have shown toward You.

Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not appeased the Lord our God by turning from our iniquities and paying attention to Your truth.

Now, Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and made Your name renowned as it is this day, we have sinned, we have acted wickedly.

He gave me this explanation: “Daniel, I’ve come now to give you understanding.

Know and understand this:
From the issuing of the decree
to restore and rebuild Jerusalem
until Messiah the Prince
will be seven weeks and 62 weeks.
It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat,
but in difficult times.

I was left alone, looking at this great vision. No strength was left in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless.

He said to me, “Daniel, you are a man treasured by God. Understand the words that I’m saying to you. Stand on your feet, for I have now been sent to you.” After he said this to me, I stood trembling.

“At the appointed time he will come again to the South, but this time will not be like the first.

Then I, Daniel, looked, and two others were standing there, one on this bank of the river and one on the other.

When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, He said this to him:

Go and marry a promiscuous wife
and have children of promiscuity,
for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity
by abandoning the Lord.

Therefore, this is what I will do:
I will block her way with thorns;
I will enclose her with a wall,
so that she cannot find her paths.

And I will punish her for the days of the Baals
when she burned incense to them,
put on her rings and jewelry,
and went after her lovers,
but forgot Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

For this reason the land mourns,
and everyone who lives in it languishes,
along with the wild animals and the birds of the sky;
even the fish of the sea disappear.

Hear this, priests!
Pay attention, house of Israel!
Listen, royal house!
For the judgment applies to you
because you have been a snare at Mizpah
and a net spread out on Tabor.

This is why I have used the prophets
to cut them down;
I have killed them with the words of My mouth.
My judgment strikes like lightning.

Israel’s arrogance testifies against them,
yet they do not return to Yahweh their God,
and for all this, they do not seek Him.

They turn, but not to what is above;
they are like a faulty bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of the cursing of their tongue.
They will be ridiculed for this in the land of Egypt.

For this thing is from Israel—
a craftsman made it, and it is not God.
The calf of Samaria will be smashed to bits!

They will be roused like birds from Egypt
and like doves from the land of Assyria.
Then I will settle them in their homes.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Hear this, you elders;
listen, all you inhabitants of the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?

Even now—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
turn to Me with all your heart,
with fasting, weeping, and mourning.

After this
I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity;
then your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your old men will have dreams,
and your young men will see visions.

Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for holy war;
rouse the warriors;
let all the men of war advance and attack!

I raised up some of your sons as prophets
and some of your young men as Nazirites.
Is this not the case, Israelites?
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Listen to this message that the Lord has spoken against you, Israelites, against the entire clan that I brought from the land of Egypt:

Listen and testify against the house of Jacob—
this is the declaration of the Lord God,
the God of Hosts.

Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan
who are on the hill of Samaria,
women who oppress the poor
and crush the needy,
who say to their husbands,
“Bring us something to drink.”

You will go through breaches in the wall,
each woman straight ahead,
and you will be driven along toward Harmon.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Offer leavened bread as a thank offering,
and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings,
for that is what you Israelites love to do!
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Listen to this message that I am singing for you, a lament, house of Israel:

Woe to those who are at ease in Zion
and to those who feel secure on the hill of Samaria—
the notable people in this first of the nations,
those the house of Israel comes to.

But look, I am raising up a nation
against you, house of Israel—
this is the declaration of the Lord,
the God of Hosts—
and they will oppress you
from the entrance of Hamath
to the Brook of the Arabah.

The Lord God showed me this: He was forming a swarm of locusts at the time the spring crop first began to sprout—after the cutting of the king’s hay.

The Lord relented concerning this. “It will not happen,” He said.

The Lord God showed me this: The Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land.

The Lord relented concerning this. “This will not happen either,” said the Lord God.

He showed me this: The Lord was standing there by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand.

for Amos has said this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.’”

Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

Your wife will be a prostitute in the city,
your sons and daughters will fall by the sword,
and your land will be divided up
with a measuring line.
You yourself will die on pagan soil,
and Israel will certainly go into exile
from its homeland.

The Lord God showed me this: A basket of summer fruit.

Hear this, you who trample on the needy
and do away with the poor of the land,

Because of this, won’t the land quake
and all who dwell in it mourn?
All of it will rise like the Nile;
it will surge and then subside
like the Nile in Egypt.

And in that day—
this is the declaration of the Lord God—
I will make the sun go down at noon;
I will darken the land in the daytime.

Hear this! The days are coming—
this is the declaration of the Lord God—
when I will send a famine through the land:
not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.

Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Didn’t I bring Israel from the land of Egypt,
the Philistines from Caphtor,
and the Arameans from Kir?

so that they may possess
the remnant of Edom
and all the nations
that are called by My name—
this is the Lord’s declaration—

He will do this.

Hear this! The days are coming—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
when the plowman will overtake the reaper
and the one who treads grapes,
the sower of seed.
The mountains will drip with sweet wine,
and all the hills will flow with it.

The vision of Obadiah.

This is what the Lord God has said about Edom:

We have heard a message from the Lord;
a messenger has been sent among the nations:
“Rise up, and let us go to war against her.”

Though you seem to soar like an eagle
and make your nest among the stars,
even from there I will bring you down.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

The captain approached him and said, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up! Call to your god. Maybe this god will consider us, and we won’t perish.”

“Come on!” the sailors said to each other. “Let’s cast lots. Then we’ll know who is to blame for this trouble we’re in.” So they cast lots, and the lot singled out Jonah.

Then they said to him, “Tell us who is to blame for this trouble we’re in. What is your business and where are you from? What is your country and what people are you from?”

Then the men were even more afraid and said to him, “What is this you’ve done?” The men knew he was fleeing from the Lord’s presence, because he had told them.

So they said to him, “What should we do to you to calm this sea that’s against us?” For the sea was getting worse and worse.