Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



"Come now, and let us argue," says Yahweh. "Even though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white like snow; even though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and you are obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and you rebel, you shall be devoured [by the] sword. For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken."


For forty years the {Israelites} traveled in the wilderness until all the nation, the warriors that left Egypt, perished, because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh. To them Yahweh swore that they would not see the land that he swore to their ancestors to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

"{And then} if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God {by diligently observing} all of his commandments and his statutes that I [am] commanding you {today}, then all of these curses shall come upon you, and they shall overtake you: "You [shall] be cursed in the city, and [you shall] be cursed in the field. "Your basket [shall] be cursed and your kneading trough. read more.
"The fruit of your womb [shall] be cursed and the fruit of you ground, the calves of your cattle and the lambs of your flock. "You shall be cursed {when you come in}, and you [shall] be cursed {when you go out}. "Yahweh will send upon you the curse, the panic, and the threat {in everything that you undertake}, {until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly} {because of} the evil of your deeds in that you have forsaken me. Yahweh will cause the plague to cling to you {until it consumes you} from the land that you [are] going to, to take possession of it. Yahweh will afflict you with the wasting diseases and with the fever and with the inflammation and with the scorching heat and with the sword and with the blight and with the mildew, and they shall pursue you {until you perish}. And your heavens that [are] over your heads shall be [like] bronze, and the earth that [is] under you [shall be like] iron. Yahweh will change the rain of your land [to] fine dust and [to] sand; from the heaven it shall come down upon you {until you are destroyed}. "Yahweh shall cause you to be defeated {before} your enemies; on one road you shall go {against} them, but you will flee on seven roads {before} them, and you shall become a thing of horror to all of the kingdoms of the earth. And your dead bodies shall be as food for all of the birds of the heaven and to the animals of the earth, and there shall not be {anyone to frighten them away}. "Yahweh shall afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scurvy and with {the skin rash that cannot be healed}. Yahweh shall afflict you with madness and with blindness and with confusion of heart. And you shall be groping at noon just as the blind person gropes in the dark, and you shall not succeed [in finding] your way, and you shall only be abused and robbed {all the time}, and there will not be {anyone who will rescue you}. You shall become engaged to a woman, but another man shall sleep with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not live in it; a vineyard you shall plant, but you shall not enjoy it. Your ox [shall] [be] slaughtered before your eyes, and you shall not eat it; your donkey [shall be] stolen [right] {before you}, and it shall not be returned to you; your sheep and your goats [shall] be given to your enemies, and {there shall not be anyone who rescues you}. Your sons and your daughters [shall be] given to other people, and {you will be looking on} {longingly} for them all day, {but you will be powerless to do anything}. A people that you do not know shall consume the harvest of your land and all your labor, and you will be only oppressed and crushed {for the rest of your lives}. You shall become mad {because of what your eyes shall see}. Yahweh shall strike you with grievous boils on the knees and on the upper thighs [from which] {you will not be able to be healed}, from the sole of your foot and up to your crown. Yahweh will bring you and your king whom you set up over you to a nation that you or your ancestors have not known, and there you will serve other gods [of] wood and stone. And you will become a horror and a proverb and ridicule among all the peoples where Yahweh drives you there. "You shall carry out much seed to the field, but you shall gather little [produce], for the locust shall devour it. You shall plant vineyards and you shall dress [them], but you shall not drink wine and you shall not gather grapes, for the worm shall eat it. There shall be olive trees for you in all of your territory, but you shall not anoint [yourself], for your olives shall drop off. You shall bear sons and daughters, but they shall not be {yours}, for they shall go into captivity. The cricket shall take possession of all your trees and the fruit of your ground. The alien that [is] in your midst shall ascend over you, higher [and] higher, but you shall go down lower [and] lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be [the] head, but you shall be [the] tail. "And all of these curses shall come over you, and they shall pursue you, and they shall overtake you {until you are destroyed}, because {you did not listen} to the voice of Yahweh your God, {by observing} his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. And they shall be among you as a sign and as a wonder and among your offspring {forever}. "{Because} [of the fact] that you did not serve Yahweh your God with joy and with gladness of heart for the abundance of everything, then you shall serve your enemies, whom Yahweh will send against you [under conditions of] famine, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of everything; and he shall place a yoke of iron on your neck {until he has destroyed you}. Yahweh will raise [up] against you a nation from far [off], from the end of the earth, [attacking] as the eagle swoops [down], {a nation whose language you will not understand}, {a grim-faced nation} {who does not show respect} to [the] old and [the] young [and] does not show pity. And it shall consume the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground {until you are destroyed}, [and] who will not leave for you [any] grain, wine, and olive oil, {calves of your herds}, and {lambs of} your flock {until it has destroyed you}. And it shall besiege you in all your towns {until your high and fortified walls fall}, which you [are] trusting in {throughout your land}; and it shall besiege you in all of your towns in all of your land that Yahweh your God has given to you. And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and your daughters, whom Yahweh your God gave to you, {during the siege and during the distress} your enemy inflicts upon you. The most refined and the very sensitive man among you {shall be mean with his brother} and {against his beloved wife} and against the rest of his children that he has left over, {by refraining from giving} to [even] one of them any of the meat of his children that he eats, because [there is] not anything [that is] left over for him {during the siege and distress} that your enemy inflicts upon you. The most refined and the [most] delicate [woman] among you, who shall not venture to put the sole of her foot on the ground from being [so] delicate and from [such] gentleness, {shall be mean to her beloved husband} and against her son and against her daughter, and [even] concerning her afterbirth {that goes out} from between her feet and [also] concerning her children that she bears, because she eats them for lack of anything in secret {during the siege and during the distress} that your enemy inflicts upon her in your {towns}. "If {you do not diligently observe} all the words of this law written in this scroll by revering this glorious and awesome name, Yahweh your God, then Yahweh shall overwhelm [you] with your plagues and the plagues of your offspring, severe plagues and lasting illnesses, grievous and enduring. And he shall bring back upon you all the diseases of Egypt [concerning] which {you were in dread} {because of them}. Also any illness and any plague that [is] not written in the scroll of this law, he shall bring them, Yahweh, upon you until you are destroyed. And you shall remain {only a few people} in place of [the fact] you were [formerly] as the stars of heaven as far as number [is concerned], because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. {And then} as Yahweh delighted over you {to make you prosperous} to make you numerous, so Yahweh shall delight over you to exterminate you and to destroy you, and [so] you shall be plucked from the land that you [are] going there to take possession of it. And Yahweh shall scatter you among all the nations from [one] end of the earth up to the [other] end of the earth, and there you shall serve other gods that you have not known nor your ancestors, [gods of] wood and stone. And among these nations you shall not find rest, and [there] shall not be a resting place for the sole of your foot, and Yahweh shall give you there an anxious heart and a weakening of eyes and a languishing of [your] inner self. And {your life shall hang in doubt before you}, and you shall be startled night and day, and you shall not be confident of your life. In the morning you shall say, '{If only it was evening}!' and in the evening you shall say '{If only it was morning}!' because of the dread of your heart that you shall feel, and because of the sight of your eyes that you shall see. And Yahweh shall bring you back [to] Egypt in ships by the route that I {promised} to you [that] '{You shall not see it again}!' And you shall sell yourself there to your enemies as slaves and as female slaves, but there will not be a buyer."

and the curse, if you [do] not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but [rather] you turn from the way that I [am] commanding you {today} to go after other gods that you have not known.

But if you refuse and you rebel, you shall be devoured [by the] sword. For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken."


Now go, write it on a tablet with them, and inscribe it on a scroll, {that} it may be {for the time to come}, forever, forever. For it [is] a people of rebellion, deceitful children, children [who are] not willing to hear the instruction of Yahweh, who say to those who do see, "You must not see!" and to the seers, "You must not see truth for us; speak smooth things to us, see illusions, read more.
turn aside from [the] way, turn aside from [the] path, put an end to the holy one of Israel from our face." Therefore the holy one of Israel says this: "Because you [are] rejecting this word and you trust in oppression and {cunning} and you rely on it, therefore this iniquity shall come for you like a breach about to fall, bulging out on a high wall {that breaks} suddenly, [in] an instant. And he breaks it like a vessel of {a potter} breaks, [that] is crushed; he has no compassion, and no potsherd is found among its fragments {to take fire} from [the] hearth, or {to skim} water from [the] cistern." For the Lord Yahweh, the holy one of Israel, said this: "In returning and rest you shall be saved; your strength shall be in quietness and in trust." But you were not willing, and you said, "No! For we will flee on horses!" Therefore you shall flee! And, "We will ride on swift horses!" Therefore your pursuers shall be swift! One thousand {because of} a threat of one, {because} of a threat of five you shall flee, until you are left like flagstaff on {top} of mountain, and like signal on hill.

But, if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you rebel against {what Yahweh says}, then the hand of Yahweh will be against you [as it was] against your ancestors.

But if you refuse and you rebel, you shall be devoured [by the] sword. For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken."

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh, 'Look, I [am] going to send you from the face of the earth. This year you [will] die because you have spoken rebellion against Yahweh.'" And Hananiah the prophet died in that [same] year in the seventh month.

"But they rebelled and were rebellious against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them to turn back to you, and they did great blasphemies. Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemy, and they brought trouble to them. Then in the time of their trouble they cried out to you, and you heard from the heavens, and according to your great compassions, you gave them saviors, and you saved them from the hand of their enemies. But when they had rest they returned to doing evil before you, and you abandoned them in the hand of their enemies, and they ruled over them. Then they returned and cried out to you, and from the heavens you heard and many times rescued them according to your compassions. read more.
You warned them so that they would return to your law. Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to your commandments but sinned against your judgments that a person must do so that they may live. They turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not listen. You were patient toward them for many years, and you have warned them by your spirit through the hand of your prophets, but they did not listen. So you gave them into the hand of the nations of the lands. But in your great compassions you did not put an end to them, and you did not abandon them. For you are a gracious and compassionate God.

Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his loyal love, and his wonderful deeds for [the] children of humankind, for he satisfies [the] longing soul, and [the] hungry soul he fills with good. [Those who] sat in darkness and gloom, prisoners of misery and iron-- read more.
because they rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High, he therefore humbled their heart with trouble. They stumbled and there was no helper.

And I prayed to Yahweh my God, and I made confession and I said, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and loyal love with [those who] love him and with [those who] keep his commandments, we have sinned and we have done wrong and we acted wickedly and we rebelled and [have been] turning aside from your commandments and from your ordinances. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors and to all the people of the land. read more.
"{Righteousness belongs to you, O Lord}, and on us [is] open shame, [just] as [it is] this day to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all Israel, {those who are near and those who are far off} in all the lands [to] which you have driven them, because of their infidelity which they displayed against you. Yahweh, on us [is] open shame, on our kings, on our princes, and on our ancestors, because we have sinned against you. {Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord, our God}, for we have rebelled against him,


But, if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you rebel against {what Yahweh says}, then the hand of Yahweh will be against you [as it was] against your ancestors.

But they rebelled against me, and they were not willing to listen to me; each [one] {did not throw away} the detestable things of their eyes; and {they did not abandon} the idols of Egypt, and I decided to pour out my rage on them, to fully vent my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

" '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, 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. read more.
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 if you refuse and you rebel, you shall be devoured [by the] sword. For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken."

"Report to the nations, 'Here they are!' Proclaim against Jerusalem, 'Besiegers [are] coming {from a distant land}, and they raise their voice against the cities of Judah.' Like watchers of a field they were against her from all around, because she has rebelled against me," {declares} Yahweh. "You obtained this for yourself [because of] your way and your deeds. This [is] your doom, for [it is] bitter, yes, it has reached up to your heart."

And I will purge the rebels from [among] you and the [ones] transgressing against me; I will bring them out from the land {where they are living as aliens}, but into the land of Israel they will not come, and [then] you will know that I [am] Yahweh.


He said to him, "Thus says Yahweh: 'Because you have let the man I devoted for destruction go from [your] hand, your life shall be in place of his life and your people in place of his people.'"

Take me to court; let us enter into judgment together. You, {make an account} so that you may be in the right.

Perhaps [when] the house of Judah hears all the disasters that I [am] planning to do to them, then they may turn back each one from his evil way, and I will forgive their guilt and their sin."

"Come now, and let us argue," says Yahweh. "Even though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white like snow; even though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and you are obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and you rebel, you shall be devoured [by the] sword. For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken."


{If only} {they had such a mind}'; [that is], to fear me and to keep all my commandments {at all times}, so that {it will go well} for them and for their children {forever}.

Perhaps their plea will fall {before} Yahweh and each one will turn away from his evil way, for great [is] the anger and wrath that Yahweh pronounced against this people."

And Yahweh said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why is your face fallen? If you do well {will I not accept you}? But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. And its desire [is] for you, but you must rule over it." Then Cain said to his brother Abel, ["Let us go out into the field."] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. read more.
Then Yahweh said to Cain, "Where [is] Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" And he said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground.