Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Condescension of God » Expostulates with backsliding israel
"Present your legal case," says Yahweh. "Bring your evidence," says the king of Jacob. 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; tell [us] the things coming {hereafter}, that we may know that you [are] gods. Indeed, do good or do evil, that we may be afraid and see together. read more.
Look! you [are] nothing, and your work [is] something worthless; whoever chooses you [is] an abomination.
Look! you [are] nothing, and your work [is] something worthless; whoever chooses you [is] an abomination.
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}. When you pass through the waters, I [will be] with you, and through the rivers, they shall not flow over you. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, and [the] flame shall not scorch you. For I [am] Yahweh, your God, the holy one of Israel, your savior. I give you Egypt [as] ransom, Cush and Seba in place of you. read more.
Because you are precious in my eyes, you are honored, and I myself love you, and I give people in place of you, and nations in place of your life. You must not fear, for I [am] with you. I will bring your {offspring} from [the] east, and I will gather you from [the] west. I will say to the north, 'Give!' and to [the] south, 'You must not withhold!' Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the end of the earth-- everyone who is called by my name, and whom I created for my glory, whom I formed, indeed whom I made." Bring out [the] people blind yet with eyes, and deaf, though they have ears. 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. I myself [am] Yahweh, and there is no savior besides me! I myself declared and saved, and I {proclaimed}. And there was no {strange god} among you. And you [are] my witnesses," {declares} Yahweh, "and I [am] God. Indeed, from [this] day I [am] the one, and no one can deliver from my hand. I perform, and who can {cancel it}?" Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the holy one of Israel: "For your sake I will send [to] Babylon, and I will cause all of them to fall down [as] fugitives, and {the Chaldeans}, their rejoicing on the ships. I [am] Yahweh, your holy one, the creator of Israel, your king." Thus says Yahweh, who {makes} a way in the sea and a path in [the] mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and mighty one. Together they lie down; they cannot rise. They are extinguished, quenched like wick. "You must not remember [the] former things, and you not must consider [the] former things. Look! I [am] about to do a new thing! Now it sprouts! Do you not perceive it? Indeed, I will {make} a way in the wilderness, rivers in [the] desert.
Because you are precious in my eyes, you are honored, and I myself love you, and I give people in place of you, and nations in place of your life. You must not fear, for I [am] with you. I will bring your {offspring} from [the] east, and I will gather you from [the] west. I will say to the north, 'Give!' and to [the] south, 'You must not withhold!' Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the end of the earth-- everyone who is called by my name, and whom I created for my glory, whom I formed, indeed whom I made." Bring out [the] people blind yet with eyes, and deaf, though they have ears. 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. I myself [am] Yahweh, and there is no savior besides me! I myself declared and saved, and I {proclaimed}. And there was no {strange god} among you. And you [are] my witnesses," {declares} Yahweh, "and I [am] God. Indeed, from [this] day I [am] the one, and no one can deliver from my hand. I perform, and who can {cancel it}?" Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the holy one of Israel: "For your sake I will send [to] Babylon, and I will cause all of them to fall down [as] fugitives, and {the Chaldeans}, their rejoicing on the ships. I [am] Yahweh, your holy one, the creator of Israel, your king." Thus says Yahweh, who {makes} a way in the sea and a path in [the] mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and mighty one. Together they lie down; they cannot rise. They are extinguished, quenched like wick. "You must not remember [the] former things, and you not must consider [the] former things. Look! I [am] about to do a new thing! Now it sprouts! Do you not perceive it? Indeed, I will {make} a way in the wilderness, rivers in [the] desert.
"I let myself be sought by [those who] did not ask; I let myself be found by [those who] did not seek me. I said, 'Here I am; here I am!' to a nation [that] did not call on my name; I spread out my hands all day to a stubborn people, those who walk after their thoughts [in] the way [that is] not good, the people {who provoke} me to anger continually to my face, slaughtering for sacrifices in the garden, and making smoke offerings on bricks, read more.
{who sit} in graves and spend the night in {secret places}, {who eat} the flesh of swine with a fragment of impurity [in] their vessels, {who say}, "{Keep to yourself}! You must not come near me, for I am [too] holy for you!" These [are] a smoke in my {nostrils}, a fire burning all day. Look! [It] is written before me: I will not be silent, but I will repay; and I will repay in the fold of their garment your iniquities and the iniquities of your ancestors together, says Yahweh, because they made smoke offerings on the mountains and they taunted me on the hills, I will measure their punishment [from the] beginning into the fold of their garment." Thus says Yahweh: "Just as the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say 'You must not destroy it, for [there is] a blessing in it,' so I will do for the sake of my servants {by} not destroying {everyone}. And I will bring descendant s out from Jacob, and a {people} from Judah to take possession of my mountain, and my chosen ones shall inherit it, and my servants shall settle there. And Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks, and the valley of Achor a resting place for herds for my people who have sought me. But you {who forsake} Yahweh, forgetting {my holy mountain}, who set a table for Fortune, and who {pour out} a jug of mixed wine for Destiny, and I will remit you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, because I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not listen, but you did the evil in my eyes, and you chose that in which I do not delight." Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! My servants shall eat but you, you shall be hungry. Look! My servants shall drink but you, you shall be thirsty. Look! My servants shall rejoice but you, you shall be ashamed. Look! My servants shall shout {for joy}, but you, you shall cry out {for pain} and howl {for sadness}. And you shall leave your name to my chosen ones as a curse, and the Lord Yahweh will kill you, and he will {give} his servants another name. 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.
{who sit} in graves and spend the night in {secret places}, {who eat} the flesh of swine with a fragment of impurity [in] their vessels, {who say}, "{Keep to yourself}! You must not come near me, for I am [too] holy for you!" These [are] a smoke in my {nostrils}, a fire burning all day. Look! [It] is written before me: I will not be silent, but I will repay; and I will repay in the fold of their garment your iniquities and the iniquities of your ancestors together, says Yahweh, because they made smoke offerings on the mountains and they taunted me on the hills, I will measure their punishment [from the] beginning into the fold of their garment." Thus says Yahweh: "Just as the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say 'You must not destroy it, for [there is] a blessing in it,' so I will do for the sake of my servants {by} not destroying {everyone}. And I will bring descendant s out from Jacob, and a {people} from Judah to take possession of my mountain, and my chosen ones shall inherit it, and my servants shall settle there. And Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks, and the valley of Achor a resting place for herds for my people who have sought me. But you {who forsake} Yahweh, forgetting {my holy mountain}, who set a table for Fortune, and who {pour out} a jug of mixed wine for Destiny, and I will remit you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, because I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not listen, but you did the evil in my eyes, and you chose that in which I do not delight." Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! My servants shall eat but you, you shall be hungry. Look! My servants shall drink but you, you shall be thirsty. Look! My servants shall rejoice but you, you shall be ashamed. Look! My servants shall shout {for joy}, but you, you shall cry out {for pain} and howl {for sadness}. And you shall leave your name to my chosen ones as a curse, and the Lord Yahweh will kill you, and he will {give} his servants another name. 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.
A {saying}: 'Look, [if] a man divorces his wife, and she goes from him {and she becomes another man's wife}, will he return to her again?' Will not that land be greatly defiled? And you have prostituted [yourself] [with] many lovers, [would] you now return to me?" {declares} Yahweh. "Lift up your eyes at [the] barren heights, and see where you have not been ravished. Beside the roads you sat for them like an Arab in the desert, and you have defiled [the] land with your fornication and with your wickedness. Therefore rain showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come. Yet {you have} [the] forehead of a woman prostitute, you refuse to be ashamed. read more.
Have you not just now called to me, 'My father, you [are] the close friend of my youth? Will he be angry {forever}? Will he maintain [it] {always}'? Look, you have spoken, but you have done all the evil that you could." Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah, the king, "Have you seen what apostate Israel has done? She has gone on every high hill and under every leafy tree and she has prostituted [herself] there. And I thought, 'After her doing all these [things] to me she will return,' but she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw [it]. And I saw that {for this very reason, that} on account of apostate Israel committing adultery I divorced her and gave the letter of divorce to her. Yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid and she went and prostituted [herself] also. And it was because of the frivolity of her fornication that she defiled the land and committed adultery with the stone and with the tree. Yet even in all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, {but only} in pretense," {declares} Yahweh. Then Yahweh said to me, "Apostate Israel has proved herself more upright than treacherous Judah. Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, 'Return, apostate Israel,' {declares} Yahweh. 'I will not cause my {anger} to fall on you. For I [am] loyal,' {declares} Yahweh. 'I will not be angry {forever}. Only acknowledge your guilt, that against Yahweh your God you have rebelled, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every leafy tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,' {declares} Yahweh." "Return, apostate children," {declares} Yahweh. "For {I am your master}, and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan, and I will bring you [to] Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart and they will feed you knowledge and insight.
Have you not just now called to me, 'My father, you [are] the close friend of my youth? Will he be angry {forever}? Will he maintain [it] {always}'? Look, you have spoken, but you have done all the evil that you could." Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah, the king, "Have you seen what apostate Israel has done? She has gone on every high hill and under every leafy tree and she has prostituted [herself] there. And I thought, 'After her doing all these [things] to me she will return,' but she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw [it]. And I saw that {for this very reason, that} on account of apostate Israel committing adultery I divorced her and gave the letter of divorce to her. Yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid and she went and prostituted [herself] also. And it was because of the frivolity of her fornication that she defiled the land and committed adultery with the stone and with the tree. Yet even in all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, {but only} in pretense," {declares} Yahweh. Then Yahweh said to me, "Apostate Israel has proved herself more upright than treacherous Judah. Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, 'Return, apostate Israel,' {declares} Yahweh. 'I will not cause my {anger} to fall on you. For I [am] loyal,' {declares} Yahweh. 'I will not be angry {forever}. Only acknowledge your guilt, that against Yahweh your God you have rebelled, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every leafy tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,' {declares} Yahweh." "Return, apostate children," {declares} Yahweh. "For {I am your master}, and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan, and I will bring you [to] Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart and they will feed you knowledge and insight.
"Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' Listen, now, house of Israel, is my way not fair? [Is it] not your ways [that] are not fair? When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and he does injustice, then he will die because of them; because of his injustice that he did he will die! And when the wicked turns from his wickedness that he did and he does justice and righteousness, {he will preserve his life}. read more.
And if he sees and he returns from all of his transgressions that he did, surely he will live; he will not die! And [yet] they, the house of Israel, say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' [Are] not my ways fair, house of Israel? {Are not your ways unfair?} "Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one according to his ways," {declares} the Lord Yahweh. "Repent and turn around from all of your transgression, and it will not be as a stumbling block of iniquity to you. Throw {away from yourselves} all of your transgressions that you committed, and make {for yourselves} a new heart and new spirit, and [so] why will you die, house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of the dying," {declares} the Lord Yahweh. "And [so] repent and live!"
And if he sees and he returns from all of his transgressions that he did, surely he will live; he will not die! And [yet] they, the house of Israel, say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' [Are] not my ways fair, house of Israel? {Are not your ways unfair?} "Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one according to his ways," {declares} the Lord Yahweh. "Repent and turn around from all of your transgression, and it will not be as a stumbling block of iniquity to you. Throw {away from yourselves} all of your transgressions that you committed, and make {for yourselves} a new heart and new spirit, and [so] why will you die, house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of the dying," {declares} the Lord Yahweh. "And [so] repent and live!"
"And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, {saying}, 'So you said, {saying}, "Indeed, our transgressions and our sins [are] on us, and because of them we [are] rotting, and how can we live?" ' Say to them, '{As I live},' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, '{Surely I have no delight} in the death of the wicked, {except} in [the] wicked returning from his way, and he lives. Turn back! Turn back from your ways, O evil [ones], for why should you die, house of Israel?' "So you, son of man, say to {your people} [that] the righteousness of the righteous shall not save him in the day of his transgression, and the wickedness of the wicked {will not cause him to stumble} on the day of his returning from his wickedness; and [the] righteous will not be able to live by it on the day when he returns to his sin. read more.
When I say to the righteous, 'Certainly he will live,' and he trusted in his righteousness, and he [turns and he] does injustice, all of his righteousness will not be remembered, and because of his injustice that he did, because of it he will die. And when I say to the wicked, 'Certainly you will die,' but he returns from his sin and he does justice and righteousness-- [for example], [the] wicked returns a pledge for a loan, he restores {stolen property}, he goes in the statutes of life [so as] not to do injustice--certainly he will live; he will not die. All of his {sins that he committed}, they will not be remembered against him, and he did justice and righteousness; certainly he will live. "Yet {your people} say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' [yet] their way is not fair. When [the] righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, then he will die {because of it}. And when the wicked turns from his wickedness, and he does justice and righteousness, because of it {he will certainly live}! Yet you said, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' I will judge you, house of Israel, each [person] according to his ways."
When I say to the righteous, 'Certainly he will live,' and he trusted in his righteousness, and he [turns and he] does injustice, all of his righteousness will not be remembered, and because of his injustice that he did, because of it he will die. And when I say to the wicked, 'Certainly you will die,' but he returns from his sin and he does justice and righteousness-- [for example], [the] wicked returns a pledge for a loan, he restores {stolen property}, he goes in the statutes of life [so as] not to do injustice--certainly he will live; he will not die. All of his {sins that he committed}, they will not be remembered against him, and he did justice and righteousness; certainly he will live. "Yet {your people} say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' [yet] their way is not fair. When [the] righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, then he will die {because of it}. And when the wicked turns from his wickedness, and he does justice and righteousness, because of it {he will certainly live}! Yet you said, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' I will judge you, house of Israel, each [person] according to his ways."
Hear now what Yahweh says: "Arise! Plead [your case] with the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice." Hear, O mountains, the indictment of Yahweh, and you eternal foundations of the earth, for Yahweh has an indictment against his people, and against Israel he contends. "O my people, what have I done to you, and how have I wearied you? Answer me! read more.
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and from the house of slavery I redeemed you. And I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you. O my people, remember what Balak the king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, and [what happened from] Shittim to Gilgal, so that you might know the righteous acts of Yahweh." With what shall I approach Yahweh, and bow down to God on high? Shall I approach him with burnt offerings, with bull calves a year old? Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriads of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body [for the] sin of my soul? He has told you, O mortal, what [is] good, and what does Yahweh ask from you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? The voice of Yahweh calls to the city ([it is] sound judgment to fear your name): "Hear, staff! Now who has appointed it?
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and from the house of slavery I redeemed you. And I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you. O my people, remember what Balak the king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, and [what happened from] Shittim to Gilgal, so that you might know the righteous acts of Yahweh." With what shall I approach Yahweh, and bow down to God on high? Shall I approach him with burnt offerings, with bull calves a year old? Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriads of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body [for the] sin of my soul? He has told you, O mortal, what [is] good, and what does Yahweh ask from you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? The voice of Yahweh calls to the city ([it is] sound judgment to fear your name): "Hear, staff! Now who has appointed it?
From the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my rules, and have not kept [them]! Return to me and I will return to you," says Yahweh of hosts, "but you say, 'How shall we return?' Will a human [dare to] rob God? Yet you [are] robbing me! And you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In the tithes and the contributions! You [are] being cursed with curse, for you [are] robbing me, the whole nation [of you]! read more.
Bring the whole tithe to {the storehouse}, so that there will be food in my house, and test me please in this," says Yahweh of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour forth for you {an overflowing blessing}. I will rebuke the devourer for you; it will not destroy the fruit of your soil; your vine in the field will not be unfruitful," says Yahweh of hosts. "And all the nations will call you blessed, because you will be {a land in which one takes joy}," says Yahweh of hosts. "Your words have been harsh against me," says Yahweh. "But you say, 'How have we spoken together against you?' You have said, '[It is] useless to serve God! What [is the] gain if we keep his requirements, and if we walk as mourners {before} Yahweh of hosts? And now we [are] calling [the] arrogant blessed! Not only do those who do wickedness prosper; they also test God and they escape!'"
Bring the whole tithe to {the storehouse}, so that there will be food in my house, and test me please in this," says Yahweh of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour forth for you {an overflowing blessing}. I will rebuke the devourer for you; it will not destroy the fruit of your soil; your vine in the field will not be unfruitful," says Yahweh of hosts. "And all the nations will call you blessed, because you will be {a land in which one takes joy}," says Yahweh of hosts. "Your words have been harsh against me," says Yahweh. "But you say, 'How have we spoken together against you?' You have said, '[It is] useless to serve God! What [is the] gain if we keep his requirements, and if we walk as mourners {before} Yahweh of hosts? And now we [are] calling [the] arrogant blessed! Not only do those who do wickedness prosper; they also test God and they escape!'"